Archive for the ‘baseball’ Category

1st Sweep of the year!

Posted: May 4, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Sorry couldn’t come up with a good pun for sweeps and Pirates.  The second J in the 4 out of 5 Cubs starting pitchers, Jon Lester looking for his third win of the season against Juan Nicasio and the Bucs.  Dexter Fowler would leadoff another game with a hit, a single to right. Kris Bryant would get on with a walk but Juan gets out of the inning.  Lester also only gives up one hit in the bottom half.   Both pictures would see four batters each.  

Fowler would leadoff the third by reaching first again but this time it was by a base on balls.  La Stella would reach with Fowler being forced out.  With two outs Rizzo would reach on a fielding error.  With two on and two out, Zobrist would send a line drive to right field over the fence for his second dinger of the year.  Then Baez and Russell would reach on singles prompting a visit to the mound but that would calm Juan down and get Ross to fly out.  Cubs up 3-0. Both men would get through the fourth but not with out a little trouble.  

Rizzo would leadoff the fifth with his seventh double of the year.  Baez would send a line drive down the left field line that would be ruled a ground rule double but scoring Rizzo. Juan would get through the rest of the inning without any more runs.  Lester would give up two runs in the bottom of the fifth but still no runs for the Bucs.  Cubs up 4-0.  

Ryan Vogelson would come into and make it a quick 1-2-3 inning. Lester would allow two baserunners in the bottom half but get out without any damage.  With Ryan still pitching, Rizzo would lead off the seventh inning with his ninth home run of the season.  Adam Warren would come in for relief of Lester and get the first out but would give up a double to right for Andrew McCutchen.  Matt Joyce would replace pitcher Vogelson and hit a monster 2 run home run to center field.  That would be all for that inning but the Cubs only up by 3.  

Set up man Tony Watson would come into the game walking Ross but gets the next three guys out.  Pedro Strop for the Cubs would have similar results.  Mark Melancon comes into the ninth, trying to avoid adding to the Cubs lead.  He would give up singles to Rizzo and Bryant, who would end up at third on Anthony’s.  Baez would ground into a force out but Bryant scores putting the Cubs up now 6-2.  Hector Rondon would be lights out in the bottom of the ninth, although he didn’t get the save, Cubs get thier first sweep of the season!   

Cubs pitching holding it all together today.  Lester with 5 2/3, would give up a high 8 hits to the Bucs but would strikeout 5 and only walk 2.  The bullpen in 3 1/3 would walk no one, only give up three hits and 2 earned runs.  Great road trip the Cubbies.  But now it’s time for Bryce Harper and the Nationals! 

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: May 4, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, football, NASCAR, sports
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NASCAR

Last weekend the NASCAR series was at the Talladega Superspeedway for the Geico 500. Now there are plenty of people out there who watch NASCAR just for the accidents.If you happen to be one of those people this race did not disappoint you. Only 21 out of the 40 cars that started finished on the lead lap. Some of the top drivers got themselves caught up in accidents and in the cases of Kasey Kahne and Dale Earnhardt Jr. they got caught up in two accidents. If you haven’t seen the video yet you should look for the one where Earnhardt Jr, is involved in his second accident of the race. As he’s driving his steering wheel comes off in his hands and he has to grab the connecting rod to try and steer the car. This second accident took Earhardt Jr. out of the race and he ended up finishing 40th. Now Talladega races can get wild as they are restrictor plate races and the cars run together in big group at or around 200 miles per hour.So that normally means when one car starts to crash they take quite a few cars with them. It can also work out to your advantage if you’re in the right place at the right time when these accidents take place. Brad Keslowski ended up in the best plat at Talladega as he led 46 laps and won the race. Kyle Busch cane home 2nd with Austin Dillon in 3rd, Jamie McMurray in 4th and  Chase Elliott who started the race on the pole came home 5th. Tony Stewart was credited with a 6th place finish, but got out of the car at the first caution and Ty Dillon spent most of the race in the car. According to NASCAR rules the driver that starts the race gets credit for where it finishes. Stewart just returned from a back injury and his doctor advise him to get out of the car and allow Dillon to substitute. Dillon did qualify the car and it was set up for him. Stewart ended up running about 50 laps before giving way to Dillon. Matt Kenseth’s run of bad luck continued. He led 39 laps and look to have a car that could contend, but he got caught up in an accident with Danica Patrick and had to settle for a 23rd place finish. On the Sunday Sports Time Radio podcast Chris Olmstead gave us his 3 drivers to look for in victory lane. He did take Earnhardt Jr, but being that it was a restrictor plate race just about everyone would’ve pick him. He did netter with his other two drivers as Kyle Busch came home 2nd for him and his other choice was Chase Elliott who finished 5th. The Sprint Cup series heads to Kansas Speedway for the Go Bowling 400 on Saturday night.

NFL

I thought this was a bit of an odd story. The National Football Leagu has warned it’s players that if they’re traveling to China or Mexico they have to be careful about any meat they might eat. Any meat produced in China or Mexico may potentially contains Clenbuterol, which is banned under the league’s performance enhancing substance policy.  The independent administrator of the NFL’s drug testing program sent out a memo to players warning them of this possibility. Clenbuterol is a muscle-building and weight-loss stimulant. Oddly the NFL has scheduled a Monday Night Football game in Mexico City on November 21st. The Oakland raiders will take on the Houston Texans in that game. The Raiders also hosted a fan fest as part of the NFL draft this past Saturday in Mexico City. Last season Houston’s left tackle Duane Brown tested positive for Clenbuterol after he took a trip to Mexico on the Texans bye week and ate Mexican beef. After a month long process, Brown was finally cleared in April, sources said, allowing him to avoid what would have been a 10 game suspension. Hopefully NFL players take notice and don;t have t go though the same situation as Brown did. Now this just isn’t an issue that the NFL is dealing with. In 2011, five players on Mexico’s national soccer team tested positive for Clenbuterol, and the country’s federation ruled the positive tests were caused by contaminated meat. Then again at the 2011 Under-17 World Cup held in Mexico, FIFA found a majority of all players tested had traces of Clenbuterol in their system. Mexican cattle ranchers are banned from using Clenbuterol as a growth enhancer, but reports suggest that it is still used widely.

MLB

What if anything will the New York Yankees do. General Manager Brian Cashman mentioned yesterday in the New York papers that things had to change with this team, but what. After last nights 4-1 loss to the Baltimore Orioles the Yankees are 8-16 and in last place in the American League East. Now it is still very early in the season, but the Yankees find themselves 6 1/2 games out of 1st place. Now of course you can always make a change at manager, but is this really Joe Girardi’s fault. I’m sure you’ve heard the term; you can’t fire the players; so Girardi may end up being the fall guy for the Yankees. Maybe the Yankees record has more to do with the fact that only Masahiro Tanaka has an ERA under 3.00 at 2.87 in the starting rotation. The other starters C.C. Sabathia (5.06), Nathan Eovaldi (5.46), Luis Severino (6.31) and Michael Pineda (6.33) round out the Yankees rotation. Also no Yankees starting pitcher has more than 1 win. While the bullpen will get some help soon as Aroldis Chapman will be returning from suspension. Of course the back end of the Yankees bullpen has been good. Delin Betances has appeared in 12 games covering 11 2/3rd innings. He has 5 holds, 24 strikeouts, a WHIP of 0.94 and an ERA of 3.09. Andrew Miller has been handling closer duties while Chapman is out. Miller has appeared in 10 games pitching 10 innings. He has 5 saves, 16 strikeouts, a WHIP of 0.40 and an ERA of 0.00; so he hasn’t given up an earned run. Stat wise the hitting looks to be pretty solid. Chase Headley does appear to be struggling hitting just .147. Alex Rodriquez (A-Rod) isn’t hitting for a high average (.194), but does lead the team in home runs with 5 and is tied for the team lead in RBI’s with Starlin Castro at 12. Of course A-Rod strained a hamstring last night running out a ground ball and looks like he’ll end up on the disabled list. Now the Yankees are an older team with a lot of high salary guys coming to the end of their contracts. Can you fix this team? or do you just hope they come around as the weather warms up.

Listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast on BlogTalkRadio.com you can also find me on Twitter @Burketime

Cubs take the booty!

Posted: May 3, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Tonight in Pittsburgh Jake Arrieta takes on The Cutch, Andrew McCuthen and crew.  On The Podcast, the other day, which I don’t remember, the Big Jack had mentioned an interesting theory the Bucs had in store for The Great One, pitching him inside to get him on base.  I’m not sure if this was a ploy to knock him off his game but to me that’s not something you throw out, you just do it because if so, he definitely had time to prepare himself. Either way it would seem he started off shaky but we’ll get to that in a sec.  Dexter Fowler would leadoff the game with a hit to continue his hit streak but would be out on Soler’s 5-4-3 double play.  Arrieta would walk the first two batters, John Jaso and McCutchen but would strike out David Freese and get the next two batters out.  

Going into the 2cd Johnathon Niesse would hit Rizzo to lead off the game.  Zobrist would move him to third on his double.  Baez would ground out scoring Rizzo. Russell and Federowicz would walk to load the bases.  Now that theory about pitching Arreita inside didn’t seem to work because Jake would single to center scoring Ben.  That would be all the runs scored in the second. Bryant would get a single in the third but that would be all the action for the third.  

Russell would leadoff the fourth with a walk and end up at third on Tim Federowicz’s double.  With Fowler in the box, Niesse would throw a wild pitch scoring Russell.  It my have thrown him off his game because he walks Fowler, then gives up RBI singles to both Soler and Bryant.  Rizzo would also join the RBI club of the night hitting an RBI double.  The inning would end but the Cubs would be up 6-0 After four.   And the Pirates, well The Great One is no hitting them through four.  Niesse would make it through the fifth but that would be all for him. AJ Schugel would start the sixth inning off and get a 1-2-3 inning in the sixth seventh and eighth. 

Arrieta would continue his no hitter with two outs in the bottom of the seventh. Francisco Cervelli would single to Soler in left breaking up Jakes possible second no hitter of the year.  Jake would come out in the top of the eighth and be replaced by Trevor Cahill who would give up a lead off single to Sean Rodriguez.  Chris Stewart would pinch hit for Schugel and reach on a throwing error by Russell.  John Jaso would ground out but Rodriguez would score the Pirates first run of the game. 

Jared Hughes would come into the top of the ninth giving up a lead off line drive single to Kris Bryant. Rizzo would hit his second double of the game. Zobrist would a sac fly to McCutchen scoring Bryant.  Hughes would get out of the inning giving the Bucs a shot at redemption.  The bottom of the ninth would be Trevor Cahill’s.  He would get David Freese to ground out but would walk Matt Joyce.  With 2 outs and one man on and Starling Marte comes to the plate and grounds out to Rizzo.  Gregory Polanco would be the last hope but would also ground out to Rizzo ending the Pirates only chance at getting close to catching up with the first place Cubs.  

Another great performance by the Cubs pitching staff.  Jake “The Great” Arrieta would give up only 2 hits and only walk 2 batters while striking out 5.  Trevor Cahill would only give up 1 hit and only walk 1 batter while giving up the only run and striking out 2.   

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

Cubs hit 7 seas in Pittsburgh

Posted: May 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, Sports Time Radio
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Jason Hammel looks for one of his biggest outings against the also hot streaking Pittsburgh Pirates and thier #2 Gerrit Cole.  Now I have to be honest, today on The Podcast I not only went against the Cubs but I questioned thier ability to perform against a playoff contending team like the Pirates, who’ve also been tearing up their opennents.  They must have had us on in the clubhouse and dugout (I wish) because they shut me up.  As I predicted though, Dexter Fowler would lead off the game with a single, at least I was spot on with that but Cole would get out of the inning.  Hammel would get leadoff man John Jaso to ground out but would give up a solo home run to Andrew McCutchen.  Both pitchers would have relatively easy 2cd innings.  

Fowler would leadoff the third with a walk.  With two men out Rizzo would step into the box and send a fly ball to right scoring Dexter!  Zobrist would send a line drive single to right scoring Rizzo. Russell would end the inning swinging but the Cubs would go up 2-1.  The every other inning theory says they both had again relatively easy fourth innings.  

With the leadoff man out, Kris Bryant would walk and reach third on Rizzo’s second double of the game.  Zobrist would get his second RBI of the game with a sac fly to center.  Cole would hit Russell and then walked Matt Szczur prompting a pitching change, with A.J. Schugel.  David Ross would send a soft line drive to right, scoring both Rizzo and Russell.  Hammel would strikeout ending the inning but the Cubs would be up 6-1.  

Jason Hammel would give up a leadoff single to Jody Mercer and then a walk to Jason Rogers  but would get the next three batters out including McCutchen but not before Jody Mercer would score.  Kyle Lobstein would come in for the Pirates giving up a lead off double to Fowler but would get out of the inning with out any damage.  Hammel would start off the sixth by hitting Starling Marte which would bring a coaching visit to the mound.  With Adam Warren pitching, Marte would get caught stealing but he would get out of the inning with out a run.  

Lobstein would hit Zobrist to start the inning off but would get Addison to pop out.  Baez would single pushing Zobrist. Soler would pinch hit for Adam Warren and on a wild pitch Zobrist would score but Soler would pop out.  Cubs up 7-2.  

Justin Grimm would come into the game and get out of the 7th by only giving up one hit.  With Lobstein still in the game, he would get out of the eighth by only giving up a double to Bryant.  Pedro Strop would replace Grimm by striking out Matt Joyce.  Marte would single to center but that would be all she wrote with Francisco Cervelli grounding into a double play.  Arquimedes Caminero would replace Lobstein and with two outs would give up a single to Baez and walk Ross.  Clayton Richard would come into the game pinch hitting for Strop but would ground out to end the inning. 

Travis Wood comes into close out the game and starts it off by striking out Gregory Polanco. With two outs he’d walk Jody Mercer but would strike out Jason Rogers to end the game.   Cubs pitching would prove to be a huge strength tonight especially the bullpen combined only giving up 2 hits and striking out 6 batters with only two walks.  Hammel is now 4-0 with 5 games started and only 29 innings.  Until tomorrow! 

The Podcast
@danzeeeman

Cubs split the series

Posted: May 1, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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The Cubs enter May with the best record in the MLB and continue to liter the warning track in front of their dugout.  Julio Teheran takes on John Lackey looking for his fourth win of the season and trying to improve his ERA.  Lackey would have a quick 1-2-3 first inning.  Fowler would continue his hot streak with a leadoff single, deep into shortstop.   Heyward would send a screamer right back at Teherhan moving Dexter to second.  Kris Bryant back in the line up would strikeout on a caught foul tip.  Anthony Rizzo would walk and with Bez Zobrist up to bat both men would steal but Ben would get caught watching the ball cross the plate for his first K of the day. 

Aside from the leadoff hit by Fowler in the first, both men would cruise through the first four innings with out a run crossing the plate and for Lackey, no hits through four.  His first hit would be given up to Kelly Johnson, who would attempt a bunt, throwing Lackey off enough for a double to left.  Johnson would be pushed over to third and then score on Jace Peterson’s sac fly to right.  Lackey would get out of the inning but it would be 1-0 Braves. 

The top of the sixth would prove to be trouble for Lackey, he’d give up a single to Mallex Smith, the walk Nick Markakis.  Erik Aybar would move up the runners with a bunt, setting up Freddie Freeman for an intentional walk.  Adonis Garcia would reach on a fielding error scorin Smith.  Kelly Johnson would get an unusual RBI in his inning ending double play, Zobrisy would miss the tag on Garcia, throw to Rizzo for the out, who would throw back to Ben for the tag to end the inning. 

Mallax Smith would leadoff the eighth with a double to the left center gap but get tagged out trying to stretch it for three.  Lackey would finish the eighth.  Jim Johnson would replace Julio getting the lead off man to line out. Matt Szczur would reach on a bunt.  Fowler would push Matt to third on a double who would then score on Heyward’s ground out to second base with Hunter Cevanka on the mound, Fowler at third.  Arodyis Vizcaino would come in to face Bryant giving up a base hit scoring Fowler.  But Rizzo would end the inning with a K.  Braves 3, Cubs 2.  

Travis Wood starts the ninth off against Freeman getting him to ground out.  He’d give up a walk to Francoeur but get Johnson to fly out.  Justin Grimm would come into the game, throwing a wild pitch to advance the runner but would get the last out.  

Zobrist would lead off the ninth with a walk.  He would make it to third on Vizcaino’s throwing error to try to pick off Ben.  Zobrist would then score on Russell’s single to right, tying it at three but Aroydis would get out of it taking us into extra innings.  Hector Rondon would come into the 10th, getting the first out but Daniel Castro would single to right advancing to third on Mallax’s single to left.  Markakis would send a fly ball to left, scoring Castro.  Rondon would finish the inning off.    4-3.  

Jason Grilli would start the 10th off by getting Fowler to ground out, then get Heyward to strikeout.  Kris Bryant with two outs and a 3-2 count would walk bringing Rizzo to the plate.  However, Rizzo would fly out to left.  Still a great game for the Cubs, not what we wanted but they can’t win them all.

@danzeeeman
The Podcast

Angel Pagan puts the fizz in Giants’ pop!

Posted: May 1, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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As April fades into May, we see that both the Chicago Cubs (17-5) and San Francisco Giants (11-12) sit atop the standings in their respective divisions, despite the different routes they have traveled to get there.

Even though they are currently tied for first place in the National League West, courtesy of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ six game losing streak, the outlook has not been brilliant for the San Francisco Giants in April. They were crushed Friday night in New York by the Mets, 13-1, and they dropped a 6-5 decision on Saturday evening, as the Mets extended their winning streak to eight.The Cubs are 8-2 in their last ten games and missed the opportunity to break their franchise record for wins in April because of Saturday’s rainout with the Atlanta Braves (5-18). 

The Giants, on the other hand, were swept in their first four games of the most recent homestead by the Arizona Diamondbacks, before rallying to take five of the final six between the San Diego Padres, who they swept, and the Miami Marlins, who dropped two of three.

Between Jake Peavy (1-2, 8.61 ERA, 2.00 WHIP) walking guys on Friday night, and Matt Cain (0-3, 7.00 ERA, 1.59 WHIP) hitting batters with pitches on Saturday, the Giants were giving runs away like they were going out of style. Granted it would have made no difference on Friday, but those two hit batsmen in Saturday’s game cost Cain his first victory this season. 

Of course, prior to doubling their run production for Cain on Saturday by scoring three runs, the Giants had managed to score only three runs total in Cain’s first four starts, shades of deja vu from early on in his career, when the longest tenured Giants gained sympathy for his lack of run support.

Still, there is no getting around his 7.00 earned run average and his 1.59 WHIP in the opening month of the season. As much as he has looked good on the mound, especially early on in games, Cain needs a shakeup, or maybe a shakedown, to stir things up and activate his confidence. 

Otherwise, the Dodgers are going to get their act together, and leave San Francisco behind while it continues to allow Cain to try and pitch his way back into some semblance his former self.

Peavy is actually worse statistically than Cain, despite going seven innings against the Marlins eight days ago, while giving up just two runs. That’s the frustrating part with both Cain and Peavy, the fact that both have looked sharp at times, and clueless at others.

Despite the sagging back end of the rotation, there are some incredibly bright spots for the Giants, including the fact that they have struck out the fewest of any teams in the National League (155); only the Los Angeles Angels (123) have whiffed fewer times in all of MLB. 

Angel Pagan is batting .315 with 17 RBIs in the early going, but it is his positive attitude that has been the most noteworthy component of the team’s new left fielder. Pagan’s willingness to put the team first when Denard Span came on board, by shifting from center field to left, paved the way for the smooth transition in the outfield.

Bruce Bochy’s strategy of batting Pagan ninth, giving the team two consecutive speedsters in the batting order after the first inning, has proven to be an effective tool in light of Pagan’s quick start. The former Met has epitomized the role that chemistry plays within the Giants organization, and it is showing up in more tangible ways as far as batting average and production as the season wears on.

Johnny Cueto’s 4-1 win/loss record and his 2.65 ERA are examples of his contributions on the field, but it is his charismatic presence that cannot be underestimated, as far as providing leadership and motivation to the team. His ability to stay on an even keel no matter what is going on around him, contributes to the team’s ability to respond accordingly.

The Giants seem to be more relaxed when Cueto is on the mound, a reflection of the Dominican native’s ability to keep the team loose. The season is still early but it is obvious that the one-two punch of Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto will be an effective combo against any other two starters in the league.

Of course, when it comes to pitching, the Cubs with a team ERA of 2.39, have almost half the earned run average of the Giants, 4.70. 

The season may be only one month old, but this has got to change if the Giants are going to be able to establish the confidence needed to make a serious run at a fourth title in seven years.
That being said, confidence does not seem to be lacking on the Cubs these days.
@BelllSpringsMark  

You can find more of Mark’s writing on China Basin Chatter

How was your week

Posted: April 30, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Auto Racing, baseball, basketball, NASCAR, sports
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During the 1st round of the NHL playoffs they gave us two quality Game 7’s. After last night it’s the NBA’s turn to try and give us two quality Game 7’s. There where three NBA playoff series played last night that all could’ve ended. Two of them are going to a Game 7 on Sunday while just one of them came to a conclusion.

NBA

Game 1 featured the Toronto Raptors trying to close out the Indiana Pacers. It was a tight game early on. Toronto had a 2 point lead after the 1st quarter 22-20 and was able to extend that lead to 4 points going into half time at 44-40. The 2nd half belong to the Pacers. Indiana outscored Toronto 31-20 in the 3rd quarter to take a 71-64 lead. There was no 4th quarter comeback by the Raptors like in Game 5 as the Pacers kept the pressure on and put up 30 points in the 4th quarter to just 19 points for Toronto yo get us t the 101-83 final and force a Game 7 Sunday in Toronto Air Canada Centre.

Every starter for the Pacers scored put up double digit points led by Paul George with 21. George also led the Pacers in rebounds with 11 and assists in 6. Myles Turner had 15 points, Monta Ellis scored 14 points while George Hill and Ian Mahinmi each scored 12 points for Indiana. DeMarre Carroll and Corey Joseph (off the bench) led Toronto in scoring with 15 points apiece. Jonas Valanciunas with 14 points and Kyle Lowry with 10 points where the other two Raptors to score in double figures. Lowry also led Toronto with 10 assists while Bismack Biyombo came off the Toronto bench to lead the team with 10 rebounds.

In the 2nd game of the night it was the Miami Heat’s turn to force a Game 7 as they  picked up a 97-90 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. Now the series returns to Miami’s American Airlines Arena for Sunday’s Game 7. It was a tight game most of the way as Miami managed to take a 3 point lead 27-24 after the 1st quarter. They where able to extend the lead to 59-50 going into halftime by outscoring Charlotte 32-26 in the 2nd quarter. The Hornets where able to cut into the Miami lead in the 3rd quarter by 4 points. Charlotte outscored Miami 20-16 in the 3rd quarter and went into the 4th quarter trailing 75-70. The Heat went on to use a 22-20 scoring advantage in the 4th quarter to pull out the 97-90 victory and force that Game 7.

All of Miami’s starters scored in double figures led by Dwayne Wade wit 23 points. Wade also led the Heat in assists with 4. Luol Deng had 21 points, Goran Dragic had 14 points, Hasan Whiteside had 12 points and Joe Johnson added 11 points for Miami. Whiteside, Dragic and Udonis Haslem (off the bench) each grabbed 7 rebounds to tie for the team lead. Whiteside also blocked 4 shots in the game. Only three Hornets players scored in double figures in the game. Kemba Walker had a team high and game high 37 points and added a team leading 5 assists. Al Jefferson added 18 points and a team leading 9 rebounds while Cody Zeller came off the Hornets bench to add 12 points.

The Charlotte/Miami is scheduled to tip off Sunday’s NBA action at Noon while the Indiana/Toronto game is the third game of the night and is schedule t tip off at 7:00 p.m. While these 1st round series are wrapping up a couple of 2nd round series will be getting underway. The Oklahoma City Thunder visit the San Antonio Spurs to start Round 2 of the playoffs and on Sunday the Portland Trail Blazers are at the Golden State Warriors (Sunday at 2:30 pm) to get their series started.

Speaking of the Trail Blazers. They had a hard fought 106-103 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers to advance to the 2nd round of the playoffs. Even missing there top two players the Clippers held tough. The game was tied at 24 after the 1st quarter and at the half Portland had just a 2 point lead 50-48. It was the Clippers who came out in the 3rd quarter and took the lead outscoring the Trail Blazers 34-30 and went into the 4th quarter with there own 2 point lead 82-80. The Trail Blazers appeared to pull away when C.J. McCollum’s 3-pointer made it 98-91 with 4:49 left, but the Clippers came back. Los Angeles had cut the lead to 98-95 before McCollum hit another 3-pointer to make it 101-95 with about 2 minutes to play. The Clippers again came back and tied the game on a pair of Jamal Crawford free throws at 103. It was Mason Plumlee putting the game away for the Trail Blazers hitting 3 of the 4 free throws he took and when a 42 foot Austin Rivers last second shot was off the mark Portland was leaded to the 2nd round.

Damian Lillard led Portland in scoring with 28 points and a team high 7 assists while McCollum added 20 points. Three other Trail Blazers scored in double digits. Maurice Harkless had 14 points, Allen Crabbe came off the bench t add 13 points and Al-Farouq Aminu added 10 points. Plumlee not only hit those late free throws, but he grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the team. Jamal Crawford showed everyone why he was the NBA’s 6th man of the year as he had a game high 32 points off the bench to lead the Clippers. Austin Rivers scored 21 points and had a team high 8 assists. J.J. Reddick and DeAndre Jordan added 15 points with Jordan grabbing a game high 20 rebounds before spraining his ankle and having to leave the game. Jeff Green also scored 11 points for the Clippers.

MLB

Dee Gordon was suspended 80 games this week for testing positive for multiple performance enhancing drugs. Gordon tested positive for two anabolic steroids, exogenous testosterone and clostebol. This is known as a “Stack” but these two drugs aren’t commonly used in a “Stack”. Clostebol is described as a simple testosterone derivative, adding one molecule to the standard hormone, so rather than adding different properties in, it’s essentially doubling the dose. The testosterone that Gordon had in his system was cypionate. You may have actually seen that name before in the ads for “Low T” as it’s the commonly prescribed drug for that. It seems odd looking at Gordon’s body type that he would test positive for PED’s.  He issued a statement apologizing for the positive test while going on to say he didn’t knowingly ingest the banned substances. Knowingly or not the positive test is going to cost Gordon 80 games away from the 11-11 Miami Marlins and it will also cost him about $1.3 million dollars this season.

NASCAR

The NASCAR Sprint Cup series moves the the Talladega Superspeedway for the Geico 500 on Sunday. Qualifying will be held today for the pole position. Chris Olmstead from Beyond the Flag will join the Sunday podcast to preview the race. Every week Chris will also give you his 3 drivers to look for in victory lane. Last week Chris went with Matt Kenseth (7th), Joey Logano (8th) and Chase Elliott (12th); who does Chris have this week? Tune in tomorrow at 10:00 a.m. and listen to The Podcast to hear Chris and find out who he’s picking.

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

 

 

 

Posted: April 29, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Day game two and you never know in April what the weather will be like but the forecast was clear enough to get this one on the books.  The veteran John Lester vs 2013 first rounder, Aaron Blair.  

Both pitchers duel it out for three full innings without any real damage to either’s pitching count or ERA.  Lester would leadoff the fourth inning with three straight balls to Freddie Freeman, he would get the green light on 3-0 and send one deep into the right field bleachers, putting the Braves up 1-0.  Blair would make it through the fourth but would give up a lead off double to Javier Baez.  The Cubs would tie up with one out and a man on second, when David Ross would send a shot to left field scoring Baez.  Lester would end the inning with a double play.  Both men would make it through the sixth with no real issues but it’s the seventh, where things get exciting.  Jeff Francoeur would lead off with a single he would throw a wild pitch, then walks Tyler Flowers.  Erik Aybar would reach by simply bunting the ball back to Jon Lester, knowing he couldn’t make the throw to first.  Madden would come out to the mound to calm down Lester, which it would work.  He would strike out the next two batters and gets Nick Markakis to ground out ending his half of the inning.  

The Braves would bring in Alexi Ogando.  Rizzo would leadoff the bottom half with a walk, Soler would single.  Baez would ground out moving up both batters.  The Braves would put Russell on first but Ross would end the inning with a 4-6-3 double play if your scoring at home.  

Pedro Strop would move quickly through his portion of the eighth.  Jim Johnson would come into the game to try and stop the Cubs.  Tommy La Stella would lead off with a double would be caught trying to reach third on a infield ground ball by Dexter Fowler.  Heyward would walk.  Zobrist would single to load the bases.  Rizzo would send a line drive to center scoring Fowler.  Cubs up 2-1, with Mr. Hitting Instructor, Matt Szczur would challenge new pitcher, Chris Withrow.  With bases loaded, 1 out and an 0-1 count, Withrow would serve up a 92 mph fastball right over the plate, Szczur would send one into the bleachers for his first grand slam of his career! 

Hector Rondon would come into the ninth to preserve Pedro Strop’s chance for a win.  Francoeur would fly out to right, Flowers would strikeout.  Erik Aybar would ground out to Rizzo.  

Cubs Win!  Cubs Win!  First to 17.  They shoot to close out April with the best record in the MLB! 

@DanZeeeMan

The Podcast 

Jake the Great!

Posted: April 28, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Soooo last nights matchup pitting Mr. “No one will under cut my work,” Jake Arrieta takes on Milwaukee Brewers 0-3 Taylor Jungmann.  It would appear that the extra day of rest would through The Great One off.  He would give up a single to lead off man Jonathan Villar who would steal second, with #3 in the lineup Ryan Braun.  With one man on and one out, Braun would reach on a walk.  Catcher Jonathan Lucroy would walk but not before the double steal would go into effect.  He wouldn’t let it get to him by striking out the next two batters to prevent the Brew Crew from scoring.  

Dexter Fowler would spark the Cubs with a leadoff single to center.  Heyward would pop out. Chris Bryant would reach after getting hit.  Rizzo would walk to load the bases.  Ben Zobrist with bases loaded would send a ground ball to right scoring Fowler and Bryant!  Cubs up 2-0 after 1 inning.  David Ross would lead off the second with his second home run of the season.   3-0 Cubs after 2.  Kris Bryant would lead off the third with a single and score on Anthony Rizzo’s double to right.  Tommy La Stella would send a line drive to right to right scoring Rizzo.  

Taylor Jungmann would only last 3 2/3 innings with 5 earned runs but the Brew Crea would get out of the fourth with giving up any runs.  After his scuffle in the first, Jake would cruise through the first half of the game but would give up a single to Jonathan Villar who would steal second and score thier first run of the game on Alex Presley’s double to right breaking The Great One’s scoreless streak at the Freindly Confines.  

Chris Capuano would come into the fifth and load the bases with walks.  Fowler would ground into a force out getting the run back, putting the Cubs up 6-1.  Madden would pull Arrieta after 5 for Justin Grimm.  Sam Freeman would come into the sixth for Milwaukee.  He would give up a leadoff hit to Javier Baez and then would walk the bases loaded for Addison Russell who would ground into a force out scoring Baez but would get out of the inning. 

Trevor Cahill would start the seventh with a strike out, give up a hit, then a strike out, walk and pop out to end the inning.  He would get two batters out but after a fielding error and a walk would be replaced by Pedro Strop who would end the inning on a strike out.  

Neil Ramirez would come into the ninth inning, leading off with a K but would give up a double to Villar who would move to third on a wild pitch.  Alex Presley would score him on a sac fly.  Ryan Braun would ground out to end the game.  7-2. 

Jake would get his fifth win of the season but not a quality start striking out 6, walking 4 and giving up just three hits with a run.   The Cubs bullpen would continue to protect thier starting pitcher as they have all month long giving up only 3 hits and 1 run but striking out 7.   

Another W in the books! 

@danzeeeman
The Podcast

Best record in the MLB; 15-5

Posted: April 26, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, Minor League Baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The first place Cubs are back in the friendly confines to begin a six game home series starting with the last place Milwaukee Brewers.  However, with tonight’s starting pitcher’s records, you’d think they were on their respective teams opponents.  1-2 Kyle Hendricks faces 3-1, Jimmy Nelson.  Should be interesting for Cubs hitters with Jimmy in, either they’ll strike out several times or knock bombs off him.  The wind should be blowing out for another W.  

I was wrong by game time, the wind was actually blowing in from right.  Well here we go.  Hendricks would start off with a 1-2-3 inning but would walk the first batter of the second, Chris Carter.  He would end up at third on Kirk Nieuwenhuusdouvle to center.  Aaron Hill would send a fly ball to left scoring Carter on a sac fly.  That would be the only run Kyle would give up. He’d strike out four walk one and only give up one more hit through five.  

Nelson would cruise through four innings with out much damage but it would be the fifth, where he’d lead off Soler with a walk, Russell would single and David Ross would move them over with a sac bunt.  Madden would pinch hit for Hendricks. Tommy La Stella would walk, loading the bases.  Fowler would send Soler across the plate with a sac fly to center.  Heyward would ground out to end the inning.  

Adam Warren would cruise through the sixth and seventh inning retire all six batters he faced.  In the bottom of the sixth, Bryant would reach on an error and would move over to second on a Ben Zobrist walk. Carlos Torres would come into the game getting Soler to fly out but would give up a triple to center field scoring both Bryant and Zobrist.  Cubs up 3-1.  

Javier Baez would lead off the bottom of the seventh with a single to center and would be called out trying to steal second.  The Cubs would challenge and it would be over turned.  Bryant would walk, then Rizzo would double scoring Baez, putting the Cubs up 4-1, giving Adam Warren a chance at the W.  

A bunch of changes would happen but basically Pedro Strop would come into the eighth with not his best stuff.  He’d walk Aaron Hill and on the next batter throw a wild pitch advancing Hill, who would end up at third on a ground out.  He would walk Colin Walsh, setting up pinch hitter Ryan Braun, who would double to right.  Strop would make it interesting but would get a strike out before Travis Wood would come in to finish the inning.  

Michael Blazek would make it an exciting bottom of the eighth by loading the bases but would ultimately end the inning with out any more runs.  Hector Rondon would come into close out the game searching for his fourth save of the season. He would get through the first two batters no problem but would give up a single to Nieuwenhuis but would end the game with a deep pop out to Kris Bryant who was transitioned to left field.  

I predicted that Jimmy Nelson would get strikeouts or throw home runs.  With the wind blowing in, home runs weren’t in abundance but he did get six K’s in 5 1/3 innings.  Hendricks would only go 5 innings with a no decision.  Aside from Strops trouble, the Cubs bullpen would finish the Brewers off taking the first game of the series.  Tommorow/today, whenever you read this, MLB player of the week and Mr Two-NoHitter Arrieta takes to the rubber, can he make it three???

@DanZeeeMan

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