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Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: November 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports
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The Chicago Cubs offense got going last night and they cruised to a 9-3 victory in Game 6 of the World Series. The Cubs victory sets up a one game playoff for it all. It’s game 7 tonight in Cleveland.

Kris Bryant got the Cubs offense going in the top of the 1st as he hit a solo home run with 2 outs. Back to back singles by Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist brought up Addison Russell with two on and two out. Russell hit a fly ball to right centerfield that looked like it would be the third out of the inning. Indians rightfielder Lonnie Chisenhall and centerfield Tyler Naquin had a miscommunication and the ball fell in for a double. Rizzo scored easily and it took a tough slide by Zobrist into Indians catcher Roberto Perez insured he’d score. Going to the mound with w 3-run lead helped Jake Arrieta relax and he struck out 4 Indians in the first two innings. With one swing of the bat in the top of the 3rd inning the Cubs blew the game open. Kyle Schwarber drew a walk and then after the first out was made Rizzo and Zobrist out together back to back singles again. That brought up Russell with the bases loaded. Russell hit a grand slam to centerfield to give the Cubs a 7-0 lead. The Indians had their best scoring chance in the bottom of the 4th inning. Jason Kipnis doubled and then after a strikeout of Francisco Lindor,  Mike Napoli singled to center to bring Kipnis home. A hit batsmen and a walk loaded the bases for Cleveland, but another strikeout by Arrieta ended the threat with just 1 run being scored. Kipnis struck again as he hit a solo home run in the botton of the 5th to make it a 7-2 game. A walk to Chisenhall started the panic by Cubs manager Joe Maddon as Arrieta was removed for Mike Montgomery who got out of the inning. Montgomery hit a rough spot in the bottom of the 7th inning and with runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs he was removed for Aroldis Chapman. While Chapman got out of the inning it was another panic move by Maddon to use your closer with a 5-run lead. After building a lead the Cubs bats had kind of went silent against the Indians bullpen until the top of the 9th. After two outs Bryant singled. Rizzo came up next and hit a 2-run home run to rightfield to out the game away for the Cubs. For some unknown reason Chapman actually cane out to start the 9th inning. After walking the lead off man Chapman was finally taken out of the game. Pedro Strop came in and got the first guy he faced to fly out. The Strop threw a wild pitch and then gave up a single and a run scored. Jason Heyward made an almost perfect throw to 2nd base to nail Perez who was trying to stretch his hit into a double. After a walk Strop was pulled and Travis Wood came into the game to get the hot hitting Kipnis to foul out to short to end the game.

The Cubs out up 13 hits in the game with the 3 though 6 spots in the order getting 11 of them. Bryant was 4 for 5, Rizzo was 3 for 5, Zobrist was 2 for 4 and Russell was 2 for 5 with 6 RBI’s. Schwarber and Javier Baez had the Cubs other two hits. Rizzo drove in 2 with his home run and it was Bryant who had the Cubs other RBI.

The Indians had 6 hits in the game and Kipnis had 3 of them. Mike Napoli, Jose Ramirez and Perez each had one hit for Cleveland. Kipnis along with Napoli and Perez each had an RBI for Cleveland.

Arrieta went 5 2/3rd innings to get the win. He gave up 2 runs in 3 hits while walking 3 and striking out 9. Montgomery worked an inning giving up a hit and a walk. Chapman pitched 1 1/3rd innings giving up a run, a hit, a walk while getting one strikeout. Strop worked 2/3rd of an inning giving up a hit and a walk. Then Wood pitched the final 1/3rd of an inning.

Josh Tomlin lasted just 2 1/3rd innings giving up 6 runs on 6 hits while walking 1 batter. Dan Otero was the fist of five relievers used by the Indians. He pitched 2/3rd of an inning giving up a run on a hit. Danny Salazar pitched 2 innings giving up a hit and striking out 4. Jeff Manship went 2/3rd of an inning and allowed 1 hit and recorded a strikeout. Zach McAllister pitched 1 1/3rd innings giving up 2 hits. Mike Clevenger worked the final 2 innings for Cleveland and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits while walking 2 and striking out 1.

So we’re headed to a Game 7 with Kyle Hendricks making the start for the Cubs and Corey Kluber coming back a 3 days rest again for Cleveland. Hendricks went 4 1/3rd innings in his only World Series start. He gave up 6 hits walked 2 and struck out 6 while not giving up a run. Kluber is 2-0 in his 2 World Series starts covering 12 innings. Kluber has giving up 9 hits, 1 unearned run, 1 walk and has struck out 15 batters. It’s a good pitching match up for a Game 7.

There will be a lot of questions for Game 7. How much does Kluber have left? How quickly will Maddon panic (again) and pull Hendricks? Will the Cubs offense show up against Kluber? Will someone else besides Kipnis for Cleveland? We didn’t see Bryan Shaw, Cody Allen or Andrew Miller in Game 6; so they’ve had some extra rest and I’m sure they’ll all make a Game 7 appearance. Who in the Cubs bullpen does Maddon trust? Terry Francona has completely out managed Maddon in this World Series and will see if this will cost the Cubs. The Cubs are the better team, but Francona has made the moves to keep his team in the series with a chance to win. Maddon is running scared and making panic moves right and left. This is an advantage for Cleveland, but the Cubs have better talent and should win out.

So who do you have getting the win tonight? The Cleveland Indians or the Chicago Cubs?

Listen to Sports Time Radio live on BlogTalkRadio.com or find the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

Chicago Bulls 118 Brooklyn Nets 88

Posted: November 1, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls picked up there 3rd win of this young NBA and there 1st road win as they cruised past the Brooklyn Nets by 30 points 118-88. The Bulls jumped out to a quick lead, but the Nets came back to tie the game at 7-7. From there the Bulls went on a 31 to 13 run and the Bulls found themselves ahead 38-20 at the end of the 1st quarter. The 2nd quarter played out much more evenly, but the Bulls did add 3 points to there lead as they outscored the Nets 27-24 and went into halftime with a 65-44 lead. After halftime the Bulls where able to add to there lead in both the 3rd quarter outscoring Brooklyn 28-22 and with the starters on the bench for most of it the Bulls outscored the Nets in the 4th quarter 25-22. This was the fourth time in a row the Bulls have won on the Nets home court.

Brooklyn had been the best 3-point shooting team early in the season as they where making 37.3% of the 3-point shots they took last night they made just 5 of 31 from behind the 3-point line or just 16%. For the game the Nets where 33 of 96 from the floor for a 34.4%. In comparison the Bulls shot 50.6% overall in the game going 45 for 89. From behind the 3-point line the Bulls shot 40.7% going 11 of 27.

Four of the five Bulls starters scored in double figures led by Jimmy Butler with 22 points. Taj Gibson had 14 points and a game high 11 rebounds. Dwayne Wade added 12 points while Rajon Rondo put up 10 points. Nikola Mirotic came off the Bulls bench to score 16 points and grab 10 rebounds while Isaiah Canaan 15 points and a game high 6 assists. Doug McDermott also got into double figures off the Bulls bench putting up 12 points.

Bulls guard Michael Carter-Williams went down in the first half with a knee injury. It was called a sprained knee, but Carter-Williams will have an MRI today to check it out.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets on scoring with 15 points. Jeremy Lin had 14 points, a team high 4 assists and 4 steals. Brook Lopez had 13 points and Sean Kilpatrick came in off the Brooklyn bench to score 13 points. Trevor Booker and Luis Scola where the Nets leading rebounders in the game with 8 boards apiece.

With the win the Bulls improved to 3-0. The Bulls stay on the road as they head to Boston to take on the 2-1 Celtics on Wednesday. The game will be national televised on ESPN. The Nets fell to 1-3 and also play again Wednesday as they host the 2-1 Detroit Pistons.

 

Chicago Bulls 118 Indiana Pacers 101

Posted: October 29, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls used a big 2nd quarter to pull away from the Indiana Pacers and improve to 2-0 early in the 2016-17 season. The made nine changes to their roster this off season with three of those changes being to the starting line up. With all those moves you might think the Bulls would struggle at the start of the season, but not so far. It’s just two games, but it’s two games and two wins against two teams that where predicted to make the Eastern Conference playoffs.

It was a tight 1st quarter with the teams being tied 8 different times before the Bulls where able to gain a four point advantage 24-20 at the end of the quarter. The Bulls had a 3-point lead with 9:52 left in the 2nd quarter and then went on a 16-point run to pull away from the Pacers. The Bulls outscored Indiana 38-21 and went into halftime with a 21-point lead 62 to 41. The 3rd quarter was pretty evenly matched, but the Bulls found a way to add 4 more points to their lead outscoring the Pacers 30-26. With the score 92-67 heading into the 4th quarter Jimmy Butler, Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rondo where given the 4th quarter off. With those three on the bench the Pacers manage to cut the lead to 11 points at 112-101, but there was just two minutes left in the game. The Pacers did outscore the Bulls in the 4th quarter 34-26, but the Bulls scored the final 6 points of the game to get to  the 118-101 final score.

Doug McDermott came off the Bulls bench and made five of the six 3-pointers he took as he led the Bulls in scoring with 23 points. Jimmy Butler had 16, points Dwayne Wade scored 14 points while Taj Gibson and Robin Lopez each added 12 points. Gibson also grabbed a game high 8 rebounds. While Rondo may have been the only Bulls starter to not score in double figures he did hand a game high 13 assists. Isaiah Canaan added 11 points off the bench as well for the Bulls.

The Pacers where led in scoring by Myles Turner and Paul George who each tallied 20 points. Joe Young and Glen Robinson III came off the Pacers bench to each score 11 points. Thaddeus Young also scored in double figures scoring 10 points and grabbing a team high 5 rebounds. Jeff Teague Had a rough night shooting the basketball going 0 for 7 in the game as well as missing the only 3-point shot he took. While Teague didn’t score in the game he did hand out 8 assists to lead the team in that category.

On Monday the 2-0 Bulls play there first road game of the season as they head to Brooklyn to take on the Nets. The Pacers who fell to 1-2 with the loss Head home to host the Los Angeles Lakers.

How was your week

Posted: October 29, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports
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Baseball is definitely a tough sport to predict. For the first time in 71 years there was a World Series game at Wrigley Field and the weather cooperated. It was in the 60’s; not bad for late October and the wind was blowing out. It sure looked like we’d see some offense last night, but Josh Tomlin and Kyle Hendricks had other ideas.

Hendricks gave up two singles in the Top of the 1st, but struck out Mike Napoli looking to end the threat. Tomlin went 1,2,3 in the bottom of the inning. Both teams managed singles in the 2nd inning, but didn’t threaten. A two out walk in the 3rd didn’t amount to anything for Cleveland while Tomlin worked another 1,2,3 inning. The Indians had the first real threat of the game in the Top of the 4th inning. A lead off single and then a one out single had runners on 2nd and 3rd. A fielder’s choice put moved a runner to 3rd with two outs, but Hendricks struck out Roberto Perez to end the inning. Tomlin walked the lead off man in the bottom of the inning, but went 1,2,3 after that to end the inning. The Indians put together another threat in the Top of the 5th. A single, a sacrifice by Tomlin, a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases and ended Hendricks night after 4 1/3rd. Justin Grimm came out of the Cubs bullpen and induced a double play ground ball out of the Indians hottest hitter Francisco Lindor to end the scoring threat. A lead off single and two ground outs pout a Cubs runner on 3rd with two outs and the pitchers spot up. Miguel Montero came up to pinch hit and Andrew Miller came out of the Indians bullpen to face him. Montero looked over matched early in the at bat, but managed to hit a solid line drive, but it was right at the rightfielder for the final out of the inning. That closed the book on Tomlin after 4/2/3rd innings. Carl Edwards Jr. entered the game in the Top of the 6th and worked a 1,2,3 inning. Miller did the same in the bottom of the inning and we’re still 0-0 going into the 7th; who would’ve thought. A single, a sacrifice and a wild pitch out pinch runner Michael Martinez on 3rd with one out and the Indians where threatening again. Rajai Davis walked and Coco Crisp came up to pinch hit for Miller. Crisp singled to rightfield to drive in the only run of the night and out the Indians up 1-0. On the play Jorge Soler threw Davis out at 3rd for the 2nd out of the inning. Mike Montgomery came in top relieve Edwards Jr. and got Jason Kipnis to ground out to end the inning. Bryan Shaw came in to pitch the bottom of the inning and got two ground outs to start. Soler hit a wind aided triple down the rightfield line and the Cubs had a chance. Jason Heyward came in to run for Soler, but Shaw got Javier Baez to ground out to end the inning. Montgomery got the first out of the 8th inning and then was replaced by Pedro Stop who retired the next two hitters. Shaw got the first two outs in the bottom of the inning, but a Dexter Fowler singled chased Shaw and Cody Allen came in to try to get the 4 out save. Allen struck out Kris Bryant to end the 8th inning. Aroldis Chapman entered to pitch the Top of the 9th. Chapman struck out the first two batters he faced and then got a ground out for a 1,2,3 inning. Anthony Rizzo singled to lead off the bottom of the 9th and was pinch ran for by Chris Coghlan. A strikeout and a ground out moved Coghlan to 2nd with two outs, Heyward got an infield single to move Coghlan to 3rd, Heyward stole second; so the Cubs had the winning run on the bases with Baez at the plate. Allen struck out Baez to end the game. You could’ve never convinced me that this would be a 1-0 game, but it was and the Indians got the win and have taken a 2 games to 1 lead in the series.

Miller picked up the win pitching 1 1/3rd innings with Allen getting the save. Edwards Jr. ended up being the tough luck loser in this one. The Indians had 8 hits in the game with Lindor and Jose Ramirez each getting two hits apiece. The Cubs had 5 hits in the game with Soler being the only player with more than one hit.

Cleveland will look to take a commanding lead in the series as their ace Corey Kluber takes the mound. Kluber was the Game 1 winner pitching 6 innings giving up 4 hits and striking out 9. Kluber has made 4 post season starts and is 3-1 with an ERA of 0.74. The Cubs turn to veteran John Lackey who is making his first start of this World Series. Lackey has made two post season starts and hasn’t had a decision, but his ERA is 5.63. Can Kluber pitch the Indians to a 3 games to 1 lead or will the veteran Lackey even the series for the Cubs?

Not that it’s anything new, but Russell Westbrook had a triple-double last night. The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 113-110 in overtime with Westbrook leading the way. Westbrook put up 51 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. It’s the first time since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in 1975 that a player scored 50 or more points in a triple-double. Westbrook played 45 minutes in the game and took 44 shots while recording his 1st triple-double of the season and 39th of his career. Westbrook led the NBA in triple-doubles last season with 18. It was the second triple-double of the NBA season as LeBron James had one opening night against the New York Knicks.

Besides Westbrook’s big night Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans followed up his 50 point opening night by outing up 45 points last night against the Golden State Warriors. Davis has had double-doubles in both games as well. He had 17 rebounds ion the opening game and 15 last night. Davis is also playing a lot of minutes to start the season. He played 41 in the first game and 40 last night. Sadly his big numbers haven’t helped the Pelicans win a game. They lost opening night to the Denver Nuggets 107-102 and last night the Warriors beat them 122-114. The Pelicans will look for their first win of the season tonight in San Antonio as they face the 2-0 Spurs. How many points will Davis score tonight?

You can listen to Sports Time Radio at BlogTalkRadio.com or find the podcast anytime you’d like at TuneIn.com

Follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Chicago Bulls 105 Boston Celtics 99

Posted: October 28, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The NBA season started for the Chicago Bulls last night and they got a 105-99 win over the Boston Celtics. This is a good win for the new look Bulls to start the season with. The Celtics are predicted to be one of the top teams in the Eastern Conference while the Bulls are predicted in most cases to miss the playoffs. Of course it’s just the first game of the season; so don’t buy those Bulls playoff tickets just yet, but it’s still better to start with a won than a loss.

The Bulls came out with a solid 30 point 1st quarter and took a 10 point lead 30-20 going into the 2nd quarter. It took the Celtics some time, but they started to chip away at the lead. Boston was able to knock a couple of points off the Bulls lead by outscoring them 29-27 in the 2nd quarter. On the plus side the Bulls where still up 8 points headed into halftime 57-49. The Celtics knocked a couple of more points off the Bulls lead in the 3rd quarter, but again it was just 2 points as they outscored the Bulls 24-22. That gave the Bulls a 79-73 lead heading into the final quarter. It looked as though the Bulls would cruise to a victory as the stretched their lead to 14 points (95-81) in the middle of the 4th quarter. Of course it’s never that easy in the NBA as every team seems to have a run in them and Boston had there’s as they scored 11 straight points to make it a 95-92 game. The teams traded buckets to make it a 101-99 game. Then with about 30 seconds left in the game the Celtics committed a turnover and Dwayne Wade nailed a 3-pointer to give the Bulls a 5-point lead and seal the victory.

Jimmy Butler played a team high 37 minutes and led the Bulls in scoring with 24 points. Butler made 4 of the 6 3-point shots he took in the game. Wade also made 4 of the 6 3-pointers he took and ended the night with 22 points. In a starting role Taj Gibson put up 18 points and grabbed a game high 10 rebounds. Nikola Mirotic came off the Bulls bench to add 15 points. Like Wade Rajon Rondo was making his Bulls debut and he handed out a game high 9 assists against his former team.

Boston’s Isaiah Thomas was the game’s leading scorer with 25 points. Avery Bradley played a game high 41 minutes and scored 16 points for the Celtics. Jae Crowder chipped in 14 points and got into a heated exchange with Butler in the 4th quarter, Interestingly Crowder and Butler where college teammates at Marquette. Al Horford was Boston’s big off season signing and he scored 11 points and grabbed a team high 7 rebounds in his debut with the team. Horford also tied with Bradley for the team lead in assists with 5 of them.

The 1-0 Bulls host the 1-0 Indiana Pacers on Saturday night while the 1-1 Celtics stay on the road as they take on the 1-0 Charlotte Hornets also on Saturday night.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 26, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Uncategorized
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The NBA season tipped off last night with three games on the schedule. The season started in Cleveland where the Cavaliers got their championship rings and hung their championship banner. After that the Cavaliers took the floor to face the New York Knicks. There are times that teams will start off flat after a championship ceremony, but not the Cavaliers. They got out to a 10-point lead after the 1st quarter 28 -18. The Knicks worked there way back into the game scoring 27 2nd quarter points while the Cavaliers where only able to put up 20 points. So going into halftime the Cavaliers held a 48-45 lead. The 2nd half belonged to the Cavaliers. Cleveland put up 34 3rd quarter points and 35 4th quarter points. The Knicks just couldn’t stay with them as they managed just 19 3rd quarter points and 24 4th quarter points as they watched the Cavaliers pull away to a 117-88 victory.

LeBron James started the season off with a triple-double as he scored 19 points handed out 14 assists and grabbed 11 rebounds. Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers in scoring with 29 points. Kevin Love added 23 points and grabbed a team high 12 rebounds. Richard Jefferson was the only other Cleveland player to score in double figures as he scored 13 points off the bench.

The Knicks where led by Carmelo Anthony with 19 points. Derrick rose scored 18 points in his Knicks debut. Kristaps Porzingis was the only other Knicks player in double figures with 16 points. Pozingis also had a team high 7 rebounds while Brandon Jennings led the Knicks in assists with 5.

The second game of the night and the one that was on TNT had the Portland Trail Blazers beating the Utah Jazz 113-104. Both teams out up 26 points apiece in the 1st quarter, but Portland took the lead going into halftime 54-46 by scoring 28 2nd quarter points while the Jazz scored just 20 2nd quarter points. The Jazz came out and pout up 37 3rd quarter points to the Trail Blazers 23; so going into the 4th quarter the Jazz had a 83-77 lead. In the 4th quarter it was Portland’s turn to go off as they put up 36 points in the quarter to Utah’s 21 points to take the 113-104 victory.

Damien Lilliard had a game high 39 points and led the Trail Blazers in rebounds with 9 and assists with 6. C.J. McCollum had 25 points while Alan Crabbe (18 points) and Noah Vonleh (11 points) came off the bench to score in double digits.

Four of the five Utah starters scored I  double figures led by Joe Johnson’s 29 points. Rodney Hood had 26 points while George Hill had 19 points and a team high 6 assists while Rudy Gobert had a double-double with 12 points and a game high 14 rebounds.

The night wrapped up with a Western Conference marquee match up, but ended with a surprising final score. The San Antonio Spurs went into Oracle Arena and easily beat the new look Golden State Warriors 129-100. The Spurs outscored the Warriors in every quarter of the game. It was 31-20 in the 1st, 33-26 in the 2nd, 33-31 in the 3rd and then 32-23 in the 4th quarter. Now to be fair the Spurs are a very good team, but no one expected them to win this game by 29 points.

The Spurs Kawhi Leonard led all scorers with 35 points. LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 and grabbed 14 rebounds. Three players off the Spurs benched scored in double figures. Patty Mills had 11 points and a team high 5 assists. Jonathon Simmons had 20 points while Manu Ginobili added 10 points.

Golden State was led by Kevin Durant who had a double-double with 27 points and 10 rebounds. Stephen Curry was one point behind Durant with 26 in the game, Draymond Green also tallied a double-double with 18 points and a team high 12 rebounds. Green also had a team high 6 assists and added 5 steals. Klay Thompson was the only other Golden State player in double figures with 11 points. The Warriors live by the 3-point shot and last night they died by it. Golden State went 7 for 33 (21.2%) on 3-point shots last night.

There are 10 games on the NBA schedule tonight. The Miami Heat are at the Orlando Magic. The Dallas Mavericks are at the Indiana Pacers. The Brooklyn Nets are at the Boston Celtics. The Detroit Pistons are at the Toronto Raptors. The Charlotte Hornets are at the Milwaukee Bucks. The Minnesota Timberwolves are at the Memphis Grizzlies. The Oklahoma City Thunder are at the Philadelphia 76ers on ESPN. The Sacramento Kings are at the Phoenix Suns. The night on the hardwood wraps up with the Houston Rockets at the Los Angeles Lakers also on ESPN.

It took until Week 7 for me to finally get a “W” in our pick contest, but I got one. I was 9-6 for Week 7 and that was good enough for a win. Dan the Man and Mr. Fantasy finished just a game behind me at 8-7 while Schaumburg Stu came in under .500 at 7-8. Overall for the season Schaumburg Stu is still in the lead with a record of 63-44. Dan the Man held onto the 2nd spot at 60-47. I have the 3rd spot at 57-50 with Mr. Fantasy a game behind me at 56-51. I guess will see if I can get two wins in a row with my Week 8 picks.

The Chase for the Sprint Cup narrowed their field from 12 to 8 after this weekends race at Talladega Speedway. Brad Keslowski, Martin Truex Jr, Chase Elliott and Austin Dillon where knocked out of the “The Chase”. The 8 remaining drivers in “the Chase’ are headed to Martinsville Speedway for Sunday’s Goody’s 500. The elite 8 drivers are Joey Logano, Jimmie Johnson, Kevin Harvick, Kurt Busch, Kyle Busch, Denny Hamlin, Carl Edwards and Matt Kenseth. This is the first chance for these 8 drivers to qualify for the Sprint Cup final with a win. After Sunday’s race these drivers will have two more chances to qualify for the final with a win. On November 6th they’re at Texas Motor Speedway for the AAA 500 and then they’re at Phoenix International Raceway for the Cam-Am 500 on November 13th. A driver can either get into the final with a win or be in the Top 4 in points to move on to the final race at Homestead-Miami Speedway on November 20th for the Ford Ecoboost 400. It looks like a solid field of 8 drivers and it appears as though anyone of them could win the Sprint Cup. Who’s your favorite to win?

You can listen to Sports Time Radio live on BlogTalkRadio.com or you can listen to the podcast any time you’d like at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

How was your week?

Posted: October 22, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, hockey, sports
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The NHL is just 5 or so games into the regular season and even though they haven’t played very many games there are only 2 undefeated team left in the league. The Washington Capitals are 3-0 while the Vancouver Canucks are off to a 4-0 start. The Montreal Canadiens don’t have a loss, but they’re 3-0-1; so do you count them as undefeated? While there are 11 teams with just 1 win this early in the season every team does have at least that 1 win. It’s way too early to panic if you’re teams not doing well, but it looks as though there’s a little parity at the start of the NHL season.

Stat wise early on Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks and Brad Marchand of the Boston Bruins lead the league with 9 total points. Richard Panik of the Chicago Blackhawks and Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs have 5 goals apiece to lead the league. Burns and Marchand are the assists leaders with 6 each. Marchand along with his Bruins teammate David Pastrnak are the +/- leaders at +9 to start the season. Cam Talbot of the Edmonton Oilers is leading at goaltenders in wins at 4 to start the season. Al Montoya who’s filling in for an injured Cary Price in the Canadiens net is off to a good start with a Goals Against Average of 1.30. Montoya also leads in Save Percentage at .962. Montoya along with Semyon Varlamov of the Colorado Avalanche and Phillip Grubauer of the Washington Capitals each have 1 shutout this season.

I know it’s extremely early in the NHL season and these teams and these players might not stay at the top of the leaderboard as the season moves on, but it’s fun to look and see who’s off to the best starts. Then you never know if a player gets on a run he can carry that momentum for a while and he might be a great add to your fantasy team.

The Sports Time Radio auction style fantasy draft is tonight. Stephen Curry is ranked as the #1 player on the board and he’s followed by his new teammate Kevin Durant. Are you willing to pay over $100 for either of these guys? I believe that’s what they both went for in last years draft. James Harden is 3rd, Russell Westbrook is 4th and Karl Anthony Towns is 5th in the player rankings. I am very high on Westbrook as I think he’s going to play like he has something to prove every night. Westbrook pout up huge stats while sharing the basketball with Durant; so how will he do with Durant now in Golden State. Since there’s no set draft order for the players I have to hope that I have the money to compete when Westbrook’s name come up for bid. The Top   fills out with Kawhi Leonard at #6, Giannis Antetokounmpo at #7, Chris Paul at #8, Paul George at #9 and Anthony Davis at #10. This is a head to head style category league; so players who do more than one things well can be very important to your team. It’s a solid Top 10 list, but for are league Harden can be a tough guy to have as all he does is score. If you end up with him you have to find players to help you fill out your other categories, but to be fair having a big time scorer isn’t a terrible thing. The other Top 10 guy that I have to stay away from is Davis. There’s no doubt that he’s a great player and one of the best players in the NBA. when he’s healthy. Davis played in 61 games last season and has never played in more than 68 games in a season. Health and even sometimes rest is something you have to take into consideration when drafting. LeBron James who is one of the best and in some people’s mind the best player in the NBA is one of those type of players. James is ranked #11 in our league, but with the talk of him getting more games off how much is he worth this season? If you get James for let’s say 60 games and there’s a cheaper player a tier lower who’ll you’ll get for 80 games the guy playing 80 games will do more for your category league than James will. Plus you’ll have some extra money to spend somewhere else. I actually learned this first hand two seasons ago. I ended up with Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili all of the San Antonio Spurs. You hear those names and you think they’re all great players and probably Hall of Fame players. The issue ended up being their head coach Greg Popovich likes to rest his players and as you all know this a player who’s not playing doesn’t do anything for your fantasy team no mater what format you’re in. It’s always fun to do the draft even though sometimes it can be long, but it’s time for the NBA to get started.

Game 6 of the NLCS is tonight. The Chicago Cubs have a 3 games to 2 lead and they have the league E.R.A. Leader Kyle Hendricks player card on the mound. The Los Angeles Dodgers turn to their ace Clayton Kershaw to get the series to a Game 7. Looking at the pitching match up you might say the Dodgers have an advantage, but don’t under estimate Hendricks with how well he’s pitched at Wrigley Field this season. So while Kershaw may have an advantage I don’t think it’s as big as some people will. One big advantage both pitchers will have is weather. It’s going to be much colder in Wrigley Field tonight than it has for any other game in this series and that’s not good hitting weather. This was the pitching match up for Game 2. The Dodgers got a 1-0 victory in that game with the only run being scored on an Adrian Gonzalez home run. Hendricks was handled like we’ve seen most starters handled in these playoffs. He pitched just 5 1/3rd innings while Kershaw was allowed to pitch and went 7 full innings before turning the baseball over to Kenley Jansen for the final 2 innings. It’s setting up to be a low scoring game and you never know the team that scores first might get a win. So will we see a Game 7 tomorrow? Or will the Cubs be packing their bags for Cleveland and Game 1 of the World Series?

Sports Time Radio can be heard on the BlogTalkRadio.com website as well as on TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: October 19, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, football, sports
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During the regular season the Chicago Cubs tied for 14th in baseball with a batting average of .256. They finished 13th in home runs with 199. They struck out the 9th most in baseball with 1339 strikeouts, but they led baseball in walks with 656.

In the post season combined the Cubs are hitting .185; that’s 8th out of the 10 teams that made the playoffs. The New York Mets are 9th at .133 and the Baltimore Orioles are 10th at .100. Of course the Mets and the Orioles only had 1 post season game to put up their numbers. The Cubs have had 7 post season games. The Cubs have 7 post season home runs. That’s the lowest number of the 4 teams still playing. They’ve struck out 63 times in the post season which is 3rd out of the 4 teams still playing. Only the Cleveland Indians have struck out less than the Cubs. They’ve walked 17 times which is 3rd again they are ahead of the Cleveland Indians out of the teams still in the post season.

You can see how things have really went down in the playoffs. Now the Cubs are facing better pitching in every game than they would in the regular season. There’s a reason why people say “Good pitching beats good hitting”. Now after putting up 8 runs in Game 1 it looked as though the Cubs might be out of there slump. 7 innings of Clayton Kershaw and 2 innings of Kenley Jansen put the Cubs bats right back into a slump as they combined to shut them out and even the series at 1 game apiece. In Game 3 last night the Cubs failed to score again. This time it was 6 innings of Rich Hill, an innings of Joe Blanton, 2/3rd of an inning from Grant Dayton and an inning and 1/3 from Jansen that did the job as the Dodgers took the game 6-0.

We’re moving on to Game 4 tonight and the Cubs are turning to veteran John Lackey to try and even the series at 2 games apiece. Lackey was 11-8 with a 3.35 ERA during the season. Lackey lasted 4 innings and gave up 3 runs while getting a no decision in his NLDS series start. The Dodgers are going with 20-year old rookie Julio Urias as their Game 4 starter. Urias was 5-2 with a 3.39 ERA in the regular season. Urias has not made a post season start, but did come in in relief and threw 2 scoreless innings. Is it a must win for the Cubs tonight? If they where to lose Game 4 tonight would they see Kershaw as the Game 5 starter in Dodgers stadium to try and close out the series.

The Toronto Blue Jays got there first win in Game 4 of the ALCS 5-1 over the Cleveland Indians. Aaron Sanchez went 6 innings giving up 1 run on 2 hits while walking 2 and striking out 5. Brett Cecil, Jason Grilli and Roberto Osuna all pitched an inning after Sanchez. None of them allowed a run while Cecil and Osuna each struck out 2 batters. Corey Kluber made the start for the Indians. He lasted 5 innings giving up 2 runs on 4 hits while walking 2 and striking out 7. Dan Otero worked a scoreless inning out of the Cleveland bullpen, but Bryan Shaw really struggled. Shaw pitched just 1/3rd of an inning and gave up 2 hits, 2 runs, 1 earned and walked 1. Mike Clevinger followed Shaw and gave up 1 run on 1 hit while walking 1 and striking out 1 over an 1 2/3rd.

Josh Donaldson provided some power for the Blue Jays going 1 for 3 with a solo home run. Edwin Encarnacion went 2 for 4 and drove in 2 runs. Ezequiel Carrera had 2 hits; one being a triple and drove in a run. Kevin Pillar had the other RBI for the Blue Jays. The Indians only had two hits in the game and they where both doubles. Tyler Naquin had one and Roberto Perez had the other with Perez’s double driving in the Indians run.

Marco Estrada comes back to start Game 5 for the Blue Jays. Estrada pitched a complete game in Game 1, but took the loss. Estrada gave up 2 runs on 6 hits over 8 innings in Game 1. The Indians are going with Ryan Merritt as their Game 5 starter. Merritt has one career start and 11 career innings all this past season. Can the Blue Jays even the series? Or will there season be over after Game 5.

Mr. Fantasy had a very good Week 6 in our pick contest going 12-3 to take the win for the week, Schaumburg Stu and I tied at 9-6 while Dan the Man was a game behind us at 8-7. Overall for the season Schaumburg Stu is still in the lead at 56-36. Dan the Man is in 2nd with a record of 52-40. Then it’s Mr. Fantasy and I tied at 48-44 on the season. We’ll see if someone has a big Week 7.

It looks like the Pittsburgh Steelers are going to be without there starting quarterback Ben Roethlisberger for to 6 weeks. Roethlisberger had surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee. The Steelers where informed of the timetable by Dr. James Bradley who performed Roethlisberger’s surgery on Monday. Pittsburgh was hoping to have Roethlisberger back by Week 9, but it looks like it’s going to be a little longer before he can return. Roethlisberger has thrown 16 touchdowns and 6 interceptions while totaling 1685 yards while completing 64.2% of his passes. The Steelers are 4-2 and if it’s just 4 weeks that Roethlisberger misses he’ll miss this week’s games at home against the New England Patriots. Pittsburgh’s bye week is Week 8. Then there’s a road game against the Baltimore Ravens and then a home game against the Dallas Cowboys. If it’s 6 weeks Roethlisberger is going to  miss you can add road games against the Cleveland Browns and Indianapolis Colts. The 1st place Steelers turn to Landry Jones as their starter. Jones is 1-1 in 2 career starts, but has played in 11 career games. Jones has 3 touchdowns and 4 interceptions in his career and completes 57.1% of his passes. Can the Steelers hold on to 1st place while “Big” Ben is out? If he misses 6 weeks or 5 games; what will the Steelers record be in the game Roethlisberger misses?

Listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com the podcast is also available any time at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

The Sports Time Radio Awards (Baseball)

Posted: October 15, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The top hitter in the American League is:

Mookie Betts (33) of the Boston Red Sox. Betts hit .318 in 158 games with 31 home runs and 113 RBI’s. He had 42 doubles, 5 triples and 26 stolen bases and an OPS of .892.

2nd was Jose Altuve (31) of the Houston Astros. 3rd was David Ortiz (29) of the Boston Red Sox. 4th was Miguel Cabrera (21) of the Detroit Tigers. 5th was Mike Trout (15) of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim. 6th was Robinson Cano (13) of the Seattle Mariners. 7th was Dustin Pedroia (12) of the Boston Red Sox. Adrian Beltre (10) of the Texas Rangers finished 8th and Nelson Cruz (9) of the Seattle Mariners and Mark Trumbo (9) of the Baltimore Orioles tied for the final spot.

The top hitter in the National League is:

Nolan Arenado (34) of the Colorado Rockies. Arenado hit .294 in 160 games with 41 home runs and 133 RBI’s. He had 35 doubles, 6 triples and 2 stolen bases and an OPS of .932

2nd was Kris Bryant (30) of the Chicago Cubs. 3rd was Daniel Murphy (27) of the Washington Nationals. 4th was Anthony Rizzo (20) of the Chicago Cubs. 5th was Charlie Blackmon (18) of the Colorado Rockies. 6th was Joey Votto (14) of the Cincinnati Reds. 7th was D.J. LeMahieu (11) of the Colorado Rockies. 8th was Freddie Freeman (10) of the Atlanta Braves. 9th was Ryan Braun (8) of the Milwaukee Brewers and in 10th was Corey Seager (7) of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

The top starting pitcher in the American League is:

Rick Porcello (39) of the Boston Red Sox. Porcello was 22-4 in 33 starts with an ERA of 3.15. He had 3 complete games, 223 innings and 189 strikeouts.

2nd was J.A. Happ (33) of the Toronto Blue Jays. There was a tie for 3rd between Justin Verlander (21) of the Detroit Tigers and Aaron Sanchez (21) of the Toronto Blue Jays. There was a 3-way tie for 5th between Corey Kluber (14) of the Cleveland Indians, Masahiro Tanaka (14) of the New York Yankees and Cole Hamels (14) of the Texas Rangers. 8th place went to Chris Sale (11) of the Chicago White Sox. 9th was Danny Duffy (9) of the Kansas City Royals and 10 was Jose Quintana (4) of the Chicago White Sox.

The top starting pitcher in the National League is:

Jon Lester (37) of the Chicago Cubs. Lester was 19-5 in 32 starts with an ERA of 2.44. He had 2 complete games, 202 2/3rd innings and 197 strikeouts.

2nd was Max Schrezer (31) of the Washington Nationals. 3rd was Kyle Hendricks of the Chicago Cubs. There was a tie for 4th between teammates as San Francisco Giants Johnny Cueto (19) and Madison Bumgarner (19) took that spot. 6th was Jake Arrieta (16) of the Chicago Cubs. Noah Syndergaard (15) of the New York Mets was 7th. 8th went to Jose Fernandez (9) of the Miami Marlins. In 9th was Kenta Maeda (7) of the Los Angeles Dodgers and in 10th was Tanner Roark (6) of the Washington Nationals.

The top set up man in the American League is:

Nate jones (17 of the Chicago White Sox. Jones appeared in 71 games and recorded 28 holds. He had a 5-3 record with an ERA of 2.29 and picked up 3 saves.

2nd was Kelvin Herrera (14) of the Kansas City Royals. 3rd was Will Harris (13) of the Houston Astros.th ) )of the was Dellin Betances ( 7) of the New York Yankees and  5th was Jake Diekman (3) of the Texas Rangers.

The top set up man in the National League is:

Addison Reed (21) of the New York Mets. Reed appeared in 80 games and recorded 40 holds. He had a 4-2 record with an ERA of 1.97 and picked up 1 save.

2nd was joe Blanton (15) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. 3rd was Kyle Barraclough ((9) of the Miami Marlins. 4th was Neftali Feliz (6) of the Pittsburgh Pirates and 5th went to Felipe Rivero (3) of the Pittsburgh Pirates.

The top closer in the American League is:

Zach Britton (21) of the Baltimore Orioles. Britton was 47 out of 47 in saves chances. He was 2-1 with an ERA of 0.54 in 69 games.

2nd was Alex Colome (15) of the Tampa Bay Rays. There was a tie for 3rd between Wade Davis (7) of the Kansas City Royals and San Dyson (7) of the Texas Rangers. 5th went to Francisco Rodriguez (4) of the Detroit Tigers.

The top closer in the National league is:

Mark Melancon (17) of the Washington Nationals/Pittsburgh Pirates. Melancon was 47 for 51 in save chances. He was 2-2 with an ERA of 1.64 in 75 games.

2nd was Kenley Jansen (15) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. 3rd was Jeurys Familia (13) of the New York Mets. 4th went to A.J. Ramos (6) of the Miami Marlins and 5th went to Jeanmar Gomez (3) of the Philadelphia Phillies.

The top rookie hitter in the American League is:

Gary Sanchez (19) of the New York Yankees. Sanchez hit .299 with 20 home runs and 42 RBI’s in 53 games. He added 12 doubles a stolen base and an OPS of 1.032.

2nd was Nomar Mazara (14) of the Texas Rangers. 3rd was Tyler Naquin (11) of the Cleveland Indians. 4th was Ryon Healy (7) of the Oakland A’s and 5th went to Tim Anderson (3) of the Chicago White Sox.

The top rookie hitter in the National League is:

Corey Seager (16) of the Los Angeles Dodgers. Seager hit .309 with 26 home runs and 72 RBI’s in 157 games. He added 40 doubles, 5 triples and 3 stolen bases with an OPS of .877.

2nd was Trevor Story (15) of the Colorado Rockies. 3rd was Aledmys Diaz (9) of the St. Louis Cardinals. There was a tie for 4th between Brandon Drury (7) of the Arizona Diamondbacks and Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals.

The top rookie pitcher in the American League is:

Michael Fulmer (21) of the Detroit Tigers. Fulmer started 26 games and had a record of 11-7 with an ERA of 3.06. He had 1 shutout and 1 complete game and totaled 132 strikeouts in 159 innings.

2nd was Tony Barnette (12) of the Texas Rangers. 3rd was Chris Devenski (10) of the Houston Astros. 4th went to Ryan Dull (6) of the Oakland A’s while 5th went to Edwin Diaz (5) of the Seattle Mariners.

The top rookie pitcher in the National League is:

Seung Hwan Oh (17) of the St. Louis Cardinals. Oh had 19 saves in 23 chances. He pitched in 76 games and had a record of 6-3 with an ERA of 1.92. Oh recorded 103 strikeouts in 79 2/3rd innings.

There was a tie for 2nd between Kenta Maeda ( 13) of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Junior Guerra (13) of the Milwaukee Brewers. 4th went to Kyle Barraclough (5) of the Miami Marlins and 5th went to Ryan Buchter (4) of the San Diego Padres.

How was your week

Posted: October 15, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, hockey, sports
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The Cleveland Indians took Game 1 of the ALCS 2-0 over the Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night. Corey Kluber showed why he was a Cy Young candidate pitching 6 1/3rd innings of shutout baseball against a very good hitting Blue Jays line up. After Kluber the Indians went to their bullpen; first to Andrew Miller to hold the game for and 1 1/3rd innings and to closer Cody Allen for a 1 inning save and a 1-0 lead in the series. Kluber gave up 6 hits and walked 2 while striking out 6 batters. Kluber’s pitch total piled up as he reached 100 pitches over his 6 1/3rd innings. Miller did give up a hit, but struck out 5 while Allen struck out 1 batters in his inning of work.

The Blue Jays got very good pitching out of Marco Estrada, but just couldn’t give him any runs to work with. Estrada saved the Blue Jays bullpen pitching an 8 inning complete game. Estrada gave up 2 runs on 6 hits while walking 2 and striking out 6. A 2-run home run by Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor  in the bottom of the 6th inning was the only real mistake Estrada made. Estrada was able to get through the game on just 101 pitches.

The Indians got 6 hits in the game and 3 of them where by Lonnie Chisenhall. Interestingly Chisenhall got his 3 hits while seeing just 4 pitches. Lindor was 2 for 3 with a run scored and 2 RBI’s. Carlos Santana had the other Indians hit while Jason Kipnis scored the other run after he walked in front of the Lindor home run.

The Blue Jays got 7 hits in the game with 2 Josh Donaldson, Edwin Encarnacion and Michael Saunders each getting 2 hits a piece. One of Encarnacion’s hits was a double. Troy Tulowitzki had the other hit for Toronto. The Blue Jays may be dealing with an injury as 2nd baseman Devon Travis left the game in the bottom of the 5th inning with what was being called a right knee injury.

The teams turn right around for Game 2 this afternoon. Toronto is sending 20-game winner J.A. Happ to the mound to try to even the series while the Indians are going with Josh Tomlin as their Game 2 starter. Originally Trevor Bauer was going to get the Game 2 start for Cleveland, but he cut the pinky on his throwing finger and needed stitches. Because of the injury Bauer has been moved back to Game 3.

The NLCS gets started tonight with the Chicago Cubs hosting the Los Angeles Dodgers. In a must win situation in Game 5 of the NLDS the Dodgers pulled out all the stops. Closer Kenley Jansen pitched 2 1/3rd innings in the game while throwing 51 pitches; so there’s a good chance he won’t be available for a closing situation tonight. Then after making a start on 3-days rest Clayton Kershaw came in to get the save in Game 5. Kershaw did only throw 7 pitches in the game, but he had to warm up and again he was coming off a start he had made on 3-days rest. So taking this all into consideration the Cubs should have a big advantage in Game 1 and maybe even in the series. The Dodgers are going with Kenta Maeda as their Game 1 starter. Maeda took the loss in Game 3 of the NLDS. He lasted just 3 innings and gave up 4 runs. The Cubs in contrast where able to set up their starting rotation and will go with Jon Lester in Game 1. Lester threw 8 shutout innings while picking up the win in Game 1 of the NLDS. There was some talk yesterday that Kershaw will try to come back for Game 2, but that it would be for just 5 or 6 innings. While the Dodgers are scrambling the Cubs are set. They know that it’s Kyle Hendricks in Game 2, Jake Arrieta in Game 3 and John Lackey in Game 4. Not only is the rotation set, but the Cubs will have a full bullpen to use if needed. That has to be a big plus for the Cubs coming into this series.

Now both teams have some hitters they’d like to see get going in this series. While Corey Seager did hit 2 home runs in the series against Washington his average was just .130. Adrian Gonzalez homered in the NLDS as well, but his average was just .200. Chase Utley at .188 and Yasmani Grandal at .125 are two other players the Dodgers would like to see start hitting. On the Cubs side both Anthony Rizzo and Addison Russell where 1 for 15 (.067) in the NLDS series. Jason Heyward’s hitting struggles continued into the first round of the playoffs as he hit .083 in the NLDS. Dexter Fowler at .133 and Ben Zobrist at .188 are two other guys the Cubs would like to see get going in this series against the Dodgers. Both teams where able to advance with these hitters struggling, but it could make things so much easier for them of a few or even better all of them could get on some type of hot streak even for a game or two.

We had our fantasy hockey draft last Saturday night and I was pretty happy with the way my team came out. Then the injury bug hit me right before the season started and then into the first couple of games. I grabbed defenseman Kevan Miller of the Boston Bruins late in our draft. It’s a category league and he is a solid plus minus guy though his career. Miller broke his ankle right before the season started and needed surgery on it. Miller is scheduled to be out 6 to 8 weeks. Then the season started and Evander Kane of the Buffalo Sabres went crashing into the boards in their first game of the season and cracked 3 ribs. There’s no real timetable for Kane’s return as Sabres head coach was quoted as saying “It’s weeks, depending on the severity, and in the oblique area it’s something you’re going to deal with even when you come back with the rotation and the discomfort.” Then believe it or not I picked up one more injury. In the first game of his season Bryan Little of the Winnipeg Jets collided with Bryan Bickel of the Carolina Hurricanes and got hurt. Little has a Lower Body Injury and is expected to be out an indefinite period of time. Winnipeg head coach Paul Maurice said “We’ll have a better idea of just how long in a couple weeks.” So it’s going to be weeks before they even know how long Little will be out. Hopefully your fantasy hockey season didn’t get off to the same type of start mine did. Looks like I need to get on the waiver wire.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio on BlogTalkRadio.com or you can go and listen to the podcast any time you’d like on TuneIn.com

I’m on Twitter @Burketime

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