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Major League Baseball (MLB) held it’s draft this week. Now unlike the drafts in the other major sports it will take three, four or maybe even five years before any of these players make it to the major leagues. There is also a chance that some of the players drafted very high in this draft will never make it to the major leagues. It’s what makes the MLB draft truly different from the other sports as you are really drafting for the future of your team.

Now the Chicago White Sox had the 10th pick in the first round of the draft and they used it to take Zack Collins a catcher from the University of Miami. Collins is a left handed hitter who batted .358 with 15 homers this past season. Collins even walked (71) more times than he struck out (59) in his current season; which is rare in baseball these days. Collins was actually good enough to be drafted right out of high school. The Cincinnati Reds took him in the 27th round of the 2013 draft, but chose to attend Miami instead. Collins has what appears to be good size for a catcher at 6’3 and 230 pounds. His scouting report describes him as a left-handed power hitter with a very patient approach at the plate. I’m sure your wondering by no why I selected the 10th player taken in the draft and decided to write about him. Well after hearing all the positives about Collins from the experts the next thing they would say is that the White Sox would need to find a new position for him because he’s too good of a hitter to catch. Now I’m not sure when this started, but when did baseball teams decide that they didn’t need good hitters at catcher. I would think the fastest way to the major league level would be by being a good hitting catcher. The experts have said that Collins has trouble with his defense especially his foot work behind the plate. Now he’s 21 years old and I would think that the White Sox would have a catching instructor who could work with Collins on this; don’t they. This of course is the way baseball is going now. The Minnesota Twins moved Joe Mauer to 1st base. There’s talk ever season of the San Francisco Giants find a different position for Buster Posey. Even the other Chicago the Cubs looked to have made the decision that Kyle Schwarber was an outfielder before he got hurt early this season. It’s odd that with all the Sabermetrics and Analytics teams use and it seeming that offense is the keys to these stats that teams would sacrifice offense at the catching position. Now I understand that Mauer was moved because of health concerns and that’s why the talk of moving Posey comes up, but when the Cubs where going to develop Schwarber as a catcher we attended one of his minor league games and where did he play in that game; you guessed Designated Hitter (DH); not sure how that helped his catching skills. Now this isn’t the first time this idea has come up. Some of the greatest catchers in baseball where tried at different positions with varying degrees of success. Johnny Bench played 3rd base, 1st base and spent some time in the outfield  Carlton Fisk played a few games at 3rd base, a  few games at 1st base and 41 games in leftfield before the White Sox realized that he was better off behind the plate. Yogi Berra played 260 career games in the outfield. I’m sure there are many more examples of this, but there are three Hall of Fame players who where moved from the catcher position only to end up back there. I ask again; is there a rule against having a catcher who can put up quality offensive numbers? Posey is easily considered the best offensive catcher in baseball, but who’s #2? Do you still like St. Louis’  Yader Molina, but how many more seasons is Molina going to play. He’s 33 right now and in his 13th season. Going to back to back World Series out Salvador Perez of the Kansas City Royals on a lot of peoples radar. Even if they’re your 1, 2 and 3 could you come up with a good Top 5. Besides Posey is there a catcher in the majors right now that you see as an offensive threat. At the start of the season I thought that Devin Mesoraco of the Cincinnati Reds had a chance to join this small group of offensive catchers, but he’s proven that he can’t stay healthy. Do you have a choice? If so I hope it’s better than mine.

I’m sure you’ve heard the saying like I have that a playoff series hasn’t started until the home team losses a game. Well if that’s the case then the NBA Finals started last night. It was another double-digit victory as the Golden State Warriors took a 3 games to 1 lead on the Cleveland Cavaliers with a 108-97 victory in Cleveland Friday night. Stephen Curry led the Warriors with 38 points. Curry was 7 of 13 from behind the 3-point line. Klay Thompson scored 25 points while Harrison Barnes was the other Golden State starter with double digit points scoring 14 points. Barnes made 4 of the 5 3-point shots he took. Andre Iguodala came off the Warriors bench to score 10 points and lead the tam in assists with 7. Draymond Green grabbed a team high 12 rebounds for Golden State. Four of the five Cavaliers starters scored in double figures led by Kyrie Irving’s 34 points. LeBron James added 25 points while leading the team with 13 rebounds as well as assists with 9. Tristan Thompson and J.R. Smith each scored 10 points while Kevin Love came off the bench to add 11 points for Cleveland. Love is recovering from a concussion; so Richard Jefferson got the start in his place.

Golden State will look to end the series at home on Monday night. Golden State is looking to become back to back champions with a series win. If they don;t close out the series Monday night the teams would return to Cleveland for Game 6 on Thursday night. So do you have the series coming back to “The Land”? Or do the Warriors close it out in 5?

 

 

@Burketime

 

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It had to be a bit of a surprise when the Los Angeles Dodgers designated outfielder Carl Crawford for assignment. Crawford has about a year and a half left on the 7 year $142 million dollar deal he signed with the Boston Red Sox back in 2010. Los Angeles will be on the hook for about $35 million left on Crawford’s contract. The Dodgers do have a lot of outfielders and with Andre Either working his way back from injury and the fact that Howie Kendrick has been able to move to the outfield there just weren’t enough at bats to go around. The Dodgers have quite a few young outfielders as well. Enrique (Kiki) Hernandez and Joc Pedersen are 24, Yasiel Puig (who is out injured right now) and Trayce Thompson are both 25 and Scott Van Slkye is 29. While it’s fair to say that Crawford got caught in a numbers game he wasn’t really producing when he was playing. Crawford appeared in 30 games and was hitting .185. Injuries really took away the speed part of Crawford’s game. While he still was a double digit a year steals player with the Dodgers, he was nowhere close to the 60 steals a year player he was with the Tampa Bay Rays in 2009. You have to think that once Crawford clears waivers and a team can bring him in for the league minimum there will be a team or two that will be willing to take a look at him and see what he has left.

Jhonny Peralta has returned to the St. Louis Cardinals after fracturing his left thumb in spring training. Now to make room on the roster for Peralta the Cardinals sent 2nd baseman Kolten Wong to Triple-A Memphis. Wong finished 3rd in the Rookie of the Year voting in 2014 and last season hit .262 while playing in 150 games. With Wong hitting just .222 in 49 games this season and the good play of shortstop Aledmys Diaz it was Wong headed to the minors. Peralta will be asked to play 3rd base and Matt Carpenter will be moved to 2nd base. The Cardinals are 30-28 and find themselves 10 1/2 games out of 1st place.  Will Peralta’s return give the Cardinals a little bit of a jump start or are they going to be looking to make a trade to try and improve there team.

Has Jurickson Profar finally arrived? Believe it or not Profar is just 23 years old, but it seems like baseball people have been talking about him for 10 years already. The Texas Rangers signed him as an amateur free agent in 2009 and looked to be on the fast track to the majors. Profar had a brief 9 game stop at the major league level in 2012 before appearing in 85 games in 2013. As it was looking like Profar would be an everyday player for the Rangers, he lost the entire 2014 season to injury. The injury was so bad that Profar player just 12 games during the 2015 season. Finally healthy Profar started the 2016 at AAA-Round Rock and was brought up by the Rangers when Roughned Odor was suspended 8 games. Profar has appeared in 11 games for the Rangers this season and is hitting .380. Even with Odor back from suspension the Rangers found a spot for Profar in the line up by playing him at 1st base. It might make it easier for the Rangers to keep Profar at the major league level because he is a true utility player. In his short major league career Profar has played 1st base, 2nd base, Shortstop, 3rd base as well as leftfield. Texas of course is an American League team and while he wouldn’t be the prototypical guy for it Profar could be used as a DH at times. We’ll have to wait and see how the Rangers handle him.

Tonight we get Game 3 of the NBA Finals and if you’ve been listening to The Podcast, you know I just don’t care. Anyway, the Golden State Warriors won the first two games on their home court and they’ll look to take Game 3 tonight in Cleveland. Kevin  Love was hit in the back of the head during Game 2 and did not practice with the Cavaliers on Tuesday. Love is in the NBA’s concussion protocol and while no decision has been made on his availability for Game 3 the term that’s being thrown around is that the Cavaliers are “optimistic” Love will play. The Cavaliers officially listed Love as questionable for Game 3. Before Love can return to action there are several steps that the NBA requires a concussed player to complete before he returns to the court, including tests of physical exertion, agility work and non-contact team drills. Love got his concussion when Golden State’s Harrison Barnes collided with him as the two went for an offensive rebound with five minutes remaining in the second quarter Sunday. No foul was called on the play.

Is Game 3 a must win for Cleveland? Golden State is coming in on a 5 game winning streak since being down 3 games to 1 to the Oklahoma City Thunder. Golden State cruised to easy wins in the first two finals games and a lot of that had to do with the fact that the Cavaliers shot just 35.6% in those games. A return to their home court should help the Cavaliers shooting, but will that be enough to get the Cavaliers a win. Cleveland is undefeated at home in the 2016 playoffs. Don’t forget that Golden State won Game 6 in Cleveland to win the title last season. Who else from the Cavaliers needs to step up and help LeBron James out for the Cavaliers to get a win at home in Game 3. Is a healthy Kevin Love a key or do they need Kyrie Irving, Tristan Thompson or J.R. Smith to step up tonight. Can the Cavaliers find a way to hold down the outside shooting of Golden State. What seemed to be the downfall of Oklahoma City in there series against Golden State was they seemed to trade two-pointers for three-pointers.  Can the Cavaliers stop that from happening to them in Game 3 and get their first win in the NBA Finals?

@Burketime

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The Diamondbacks/Cubs series wraps up with Patrick Corbin taking on Jake Arrieta looking for his 10th win of the season.  He starts off the first inning with a K followed up by a walk and then two more strike outs to end the inning.  Corbin would get the first two outs of the bottom half but then gives up a single passed shortstop to Kris Bryant who would advance to second when Jorge Soler gets hit by a pitch.  Javier Baez would ground out to end the inning.

The second inning, The Great One off his game gives up two singles to Chris Herrman and Chris Owings.  Yasmany Thomas would see the first pitch as a ball but then takes the next one to right center scoring both Chris’s making it a two RBI double.  Jake would settle down by striking out the next three batters to end the top half of the second.  Arizona 2-0.  With one out in the bottom half of the inning, Matt Szczur would send a line drive to left for a single but would be forced out when Miguel Montero sends a ground ball to Goldschmidt who throws it to short for the force.  With two outs, The Great One steps in the box and sends a double to center scoring Montero.  Fowler would end the inning with a ground out to third.  Cubs 1, Arizona 2.  The top of the third and Jake only strikes out two batters and gets the other to ground out.  Corbin would only have one K in the bottom half but it would be a 1-2-3 inning for him also.

Arreita would again strike out three batters to end the inning but not before giving up another single to Chris Owings.  Corbin repeats his third inning with one K and 1-2-3 inning.  The top of the fifth would see Jake giving up lead off single to his counter part Corbin, and then three straight singles to Michael Bourn, Phil Gosselin and Goldschmidt, which his would score an RBI.  He would get Jake Lamb to strike out for the second out of the inning.  Chris Herrmann would get his second single of the game but Phil would get caught in a run down for the third out.  Arizona 3, Cubs 1.  The bottom half, Montero would lead off with a single and then advance on Jake’s sac bunt but he wouldn’t cross home as Fowler and Zobrist would both ground out.

Trevor Cahill would enter the game in the top of the sixth and get the first two batters out, gives up a walk to Brandon Drury but ends the inning striking out Corbin.  Corbin stays in the game get the first two batters to ground out.  With two outs, Javier Baez would send one just over the right field basket for his fourth home run of the season.  Russell would ground out to end the inning.

Cahill still in the game strikes out the first two batters and then appears to strike out Goldscmidt on a check swing, but it turns out to be ball 4.  Joel Maddon walks out of the dug out and questions the call no before even making it to the field is ejected.  He “gets his money’s worth” making his case for a short delay.  Justin Grimm comes into the game getting Jake Lamb would ground out to end the inning.  Corbin still in the game, strikes out two and gets one batter to ground out.

Travis Wood comes into the 8th giving a lead off single to Hermann who advances on Ahmed’s sac bunt.  Wood gets Tomas to strike out then intentionally walks Drury.  Rickie Weeks, Jr, pinch hits for Corbin to pop out to end the inning.  Tyler Clippard enters the bottom half of the 8th getting Fowler to fly out to left.  Zobrist walks, but Bryant strikes out and Soler grounds out to end the inning.

Wood stays in for the ninth, striking out Michael Bourn to be replaced by Adam Warren.  Adam gets Gosselin to ground out but walks Goldshmidt.  He does end the inning by getting Jake Lamb to line out.  Brad Ziegler enters the game for the Dbacks getting the first two batters out.  Anthony Rizzo walks to breath some life into Wrigley.  With two outs and Rizzo on first Miguel Montero steps into the box and sends a soft grounder to Goldscmidt to end the inning.

Although the Cubs lost 3 to 2, Arreita strikes out 12 in 5 innings walking 1 but giving up an unusual 9 hits that would score the 3 runs.  The bullpen really kept things together with four innings giving up only 1 hit on 6 strike outs.  The Cubs embark on a 9 game road trip headed east, #LetsGoCubs.

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

I don’t sleep a whole bunch. I don’t know if it’s my work schedule that I’ve been on for 20 plus years or if I’m just wired like that, but if I get 3 or 4 hours of sleep in a row I’m lucky. When that 5 hour night of sleep comes through it’s amazing. When I wake up in the middle of the night I fire up the computer and catch up ion what’s going on in the sporting world. Sometimes it’s as easy as checking a box score or going through my fantasy line up to see how my night went. Other nights it’s looking up an injury to see ow long a player might be out or looking for blog material. The times I hate it the most is when I turn on the computer and I see a headline like I saw early this morning; Muhammad Ali passes away at 74.

No questions asked Muhammad Ali was “The Greatest”. He referred to himself as that all the time in his interviews and the bottom line is he’s the best boxer of all time. There will always be people out there with arguments for other boxers, but as great as those guys where they don’t compare to Ali. Not only was Ali great in the ring, but the promos he did for his fights where incredible and some of the things he’d do with Howard Cosell where legendary.  Ali was also a social activist. Don’t forget that in 1967 Ali was stripped of the heavyweight title for refusing to serve in the U.S. Army and was looking at a possible prison sentence. Due to that legal trouble it was 3 1/2 years before Ali would fight again. Ali had some of the most talked about fights in the heavyweight division and boxing as a whole. He had the Rumble in the Jungle against George Foreman in Kinshasa, Zaire as well as the Thrilla in Manila against Joe Frazier. Ali won both of these high profile fights by the way. It seemed as though the bigger the stage the better Ali performed. Ali was a 3-time heavyweight champion and don’t forget that he also won an Olympic gold medal as a light heavyweight when he beat Zbigniew Pietrzlowski of Poland in September of 1960.  Ali had many nicknames for himself or the things he’d do in the ring and if he didn’t live up to them he got closer than anybody else could. Sadly I wasn’t even 10 years old when Ali had some of the biggest fights of his career, but looking back at what he did in the ring and what he stood for outside of the ring he was far and away “The Greatest” and he lost his final fight early this morning at 74 years old.

The San Francisco Giants are 35-22 and have a 5 1/2 game lead in the National League West. On Wednesday Hunter Pence was running down the 1st base line when he suddenly stopped and grabbed the back of his right leg. Pence came out of the game immediately and was diagnosed with a torn hamstring that will require surgery. Pence is scheduled to be out about 8 weeks. Pence was hitting .298 with 7 home runs and had driven in a team leading 36 runs. While it appears that Pence will return in August the question is; do the Giants need to look into the trade market for an outfielder? San Francisco has veteran Gregor Blanco on the roster and 25 year old Mac Williamson was called up from Triple-A Sacramento to fill Pence’s roster spot. Don’t forget that outfielder Angel Pagan has also had some injuries this season. Pagan has what I believe is his second strained left hamstring of the season and the Giants are hoping he can recover without having to go on the disabled list. Pagan was unable to stay off the disabled list as the Giants put him on it May 24th and called up Jarrett Parker to take his roster spot. Also 2nd baseman Joe Panik was dealing with a sore groin earlier in the week, but has returned to the starting line up. San Francisco is currently carrying 4 outfielders on their roster. They have Williamson, Parker, Blanco and Denard Span. They do have some flexibility as Brandon Belt has spent time in the outfield. If Belt is needed in the outfield that would allow San Francisco to give Buster Posey a break from behind the plate as he would most likely fill in for Belt at 1st base. So looking at what the Giants have here we go back to the question of; do they need to deal for an outfielder? Of course with the season only being about 1/3rd of the way over which teams are ready to start making deals and would San Francisco look for a high profile outfielder or just a guy who could be used in a rotation when Pence returns. There are always the rebuilding teams like the Milwaukee Brewers, Cincinnati Reds and Atlanta Braves. I’m not sure if the Braves have an outfielder that would fit the Giants needs and would they want to pay the price for a high salaried player like Jay Bruce or even Ryan Braun. Could the New York Yankees Carlos Beltran be an answer. While Beltran is making $15 million this season it is the last year of his deal. Of course Beltran does have a history of injuries himself and you have to wonder if he could play everyday. I think if the Giants decide to make a trade it will be for a player along the lines of Oswaldo Arcia of the Minnesota Twins. Arcia has struggled to start the season; hitting just .217, but did hit .276 in limited time last season. He hits left handed and is just 25 years old. Now I’m not saying that Arcia will be the player that San Francisco acquires, but I think if they do deal for an outfielder it will be a player like Arcia.

What do you think? Do the Giants need to go out and get the top outfielder on the market or can they get by these 8 weeks with just the players they’ve called up from the minors?

You can listen to The Podcast by clicking the link and you can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Even though the Golden State Warriors came back from being down 3 games to 1 in the Western Conference Finals and advanced with the chance to win the NBA title for the second straight season. It seemed that the talk turned pretty quickly to where Kevin Durant will be playing next season. Durant is entering free agency for the first time in his career and has played his entire career for the Oklahoma City Thunder. You have to figure that just about every team in the NBA will contact Durnat’s agent to see if there’s a chance he’d be willing to come t there team. Don’t forget the Washington Wizards hired Durant’s former head coach Scott Brooks hoping that might give them an inside track. Even the top Western Conference teams have been mentioned as a posssible landing spot for Durant. Golden State has been mentioned as being interested as well as the San Antonio Spurs would be interested in Durant’s services. There’s also been mention of the Boston Celtics who have a ton of draft picks and could build the team around Durant. Then there was some talk of Durant going to Los Angeles, but not to play for the Lakers, but for the Clippers. Of course I believe that might have to be a sign and trade with a player like Blake Griffin heading to Oklahoma City, but it could be possible. Not I’m sure between now and when NBA free agency kicks off in about a month there will be even more teams added to the Kevin Durant derby. Now if I had to put my money down on something happened I’d go with him staying wit the Thunder. I’m guessing he’ll sign a short term Max deal with an opt out like LeBron James has done with the Cleveland Cavaliers. Durant could get just under $26 million a season from the Thunder; so maybe he signs a 2-year deal with an opt out after the first year and then he could get even more money as the NBA salary cap continues to go up. Don’t forget that Russell Westbrook and Serge Ibaka are both under contract with Oklahoma City for one more season. Wouldn’t it make sense for Durant to return to the Thunder for one more run at the NBA title; especially after as close as they where to knocking Golden State out of the playoffs this season. It could be quite a situation for Oklahoma City if Durant, Westbrook and Ibaka all hit free agency at the same time after the 2016-17 season. Would it be worth it if they won the NBA title next season and then those three players headed into free agency?

The NBA Finals tip off tomorrow and it’s rematch of last season with the Golden State Warriors defending their title against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The biggest difference between this season and last is that the Cavaliers will be healthy than last years finals. Both Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving are 100% this time the two teams meet for the title. Even with the Cavaliers being in better health it appears as though Golden State is still the trendy pick. On the Sports Time radio podcast Ben Beeken from DunkinWithWolves.com has the Warriors winning the series in 6 games. Even though Dan the Man didn’t give a number of games for the series he also has Golden State repeating as champions. I didn’t make a pick on the podcast yesterday, but I believe that Golden State will will the series in five games. It seems that everyone I’ve heard predict the series has Golden State winning in five or six games. Who do you have winning the NBA title?

Here’s an odd stat for you and maybe you can win a bar bet or two with it. Anderson Varejao is the first player to play for the teams meeting in the NBA finals in the same season. Varejao started the season with the Cavaliers where he played 31 games. After being realeased by Cleveland he signed on with the Warriors where played in 22 regular season games. and 11 playoff games so far.

The Stanley Cup Finals dropped the puck on Monday night as the San Jose Sharks where in Pittsburgh to take on the Penguins. Pittsburgh jumped out to a 2-0 lead after the 1st period on goals by Bryan Rust and Conor Sheary.The Penguins really looked like the better team throughout the 1st period. Pittsburgh had 15 shots on goal in the 1st period while San Jose could only muster 4 shots on goal. In the 2nd period it appeared as though the teams switched roles. Goals by Tomas Hertl and Patrick Marleau even the game at 2-2 after 2 periods of action. The game stayed at 2-2, but the Penguins where getting quite a few shots on goal and you had to wonder if soponer or later if the puck would find it’s way into the back of the net. At 17:27 of the 3rd period Nick Bonino beat Sharks goalie Martin Jones and give Pittsburgh the 3-2 lead and as it turned out the game winning goal. The Penguins doubled up the Sharks shot totals in the 3rd period as Pitttsburgh had 18 shots on goal to San Jose’s 9. The Penguins did go 0 for 3 on the power play while the Sharks went 1 for 2. So Pittsburgh won Game 1 at home and tonight the Penguins look to win Game 2 at home before the series shifts to San Jose.

While the St. Louis Blues didn’t quite make there goal of winning the Stanley Cup the team did well enough for them to want to bring back head coach Ken Hitchcock for next season. During his press conference;  Hitchcock announced that the 2016-17 season will be his final season coaching in the NHL.Hitchcock guided the Blues to the Western Conference finals this year following a regular season in which St. Louis finished with 107 points, the fourth-highest total in franchise history. Four of the top five regular-season finishes in St. Louis franchise history have come with Hitchcock behind the bench. Next season will be Hitchcock’s 20th as an NHL head coach. He won the Stanley Cup with the Dallas Stars in 1999 and has a career record of 757-453-194. He ranks fourth all-time in regular season wins and is likely headed to the Hall of Fame when he’s done.

You can listen to The Podcast by clicking the link and you can follow me on Twitter @Burketime

Game 3, Phillies throw 24 year-old Vince Velasuez to the Cubs, who number 3 John Lackey takes to the mound.  Lackey throws two perfect innings compared to Velasquez, who gives up three singles in the first to Dexter Fowler, Jason Heywrad and Anthony Rizzo who’s single brings in Fowler for the first run of the game.  Miguel Montero leads off the second inning with a 2-0 fly ball that hits the right field score board.  

Lackey would start the third off by walking Tyler Goeddel but he’d get his counterpart Velasquez to pop out and then strikes out both Peter Bourjos and Odubel Herrera.  Velazquez would get Fowler and Heyward out but would give up a single to Kris Bryant.  Then Anthony Rizzo would walk.  Ben Zobrist would continue his hitting streak with his 7th home run of the season putting the Cubs up by 5.  

John would give up a lead off double to Freddy Galvis but gets Andres Blanco to ground out.  Maikel Franco would walk.  Tommy Joseph would step two the plate with one out and opportunity to cut down the Cubs lead.  He ends up sending a ground ball to Zobrist to Rizzo for an inning ending double play.  Vince gets his first 1-2-3 inning of the day.  In the fifth, Lackey would give up two singles and a walk but gets out of the inning.  Vince would walk to Fowler to lead off the fifth.  Fowler would be forced out at second on Heywards ground ball but Heyward would advance to second on an error by Galvis. Bryant would single to center racking up his 37th RBI of the season.  Velazquez would get Zobrist to strike out.  Montero would send a soft line drive to left scoring Bryant.  Brett Oberholtzer would replace Vince to end the inning with Russel’s force out.  Cubs up 7-0.  

Lackey would have an easy  1-2-3, 6ht inning.  Brett would get the first two outs but would walk the bases loaded but would get out of the inning without adding any more runs.  Lackey would get the first two outs of the 7th then gives up a solo home run to Tyler Goeddel.  He would give up a walk but then ends the inning with a pop out.  David Hernandez would enter the game and give up a walk to Montero then a single to Russell but Matt Szczur would ground into an inning ending double play.  

Travis Wood replaces Lackey in the top of the 8th getting the first two batters out but then gives up a single to Andres Blanco.  Joel Maddon would visit the mound bringing Pedro Strop I no the game getting Maikel Franco to ground out.  Colton Murray enters the bottom of the 8th striking out Tommy La Stella, then Fowler would line out to center.  Another pitching change for the Phills, Hector Neris strikes out Jason Heyward.  

Justin Grimm enters the game in top of the ninth.  He would give up a lead off home run to Tommy Joseph but would get the next three batters out no problem ending the game and the Phillies chance to take one of the three games.  Grab your brooms because it was a sweep!  We start a four game series with the Dodgers on Memroial Day.  

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

The Pittsburgh Penguins evened up there Eastern Conference finals series with the Tampa Bay Lighting at 3 game apiece with a 5-2 win in Game 6 last night. It looked as tough Pittsburgh was headed for an easy victory. Phil Kessel scored the only goal of the 1st period to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead. Then in the 2nd period a goal by Kris Letang and then another by Sidney Crosby gave the Penguins a 3-0 lead and it seems as the game was pretty much settled. Then in the 3rd period Brian Boyle scored unassisted for Tampa bay t make it 3-1. Then a second goal by Boyle cut the Penguins lead to just one goal at 3-2. That was as close as the Lighting would get as Bryan Rust and Nick Bonino added 3rd period goals for the Penguins to make the final score 5-3 and send the series to a Game 7 Thursday night in Pittsburgh. The Penguins went back to Matt Murray on goal and he stopped 28 of the 30 shots he faced in Game 6. You have to figure he’ll get the call in net for Game 7. Andrei Vasilevskiy has been solid in goal for the Lighting, but you have to wonder if we’ll see Ben Bishop in Game 7 if he’s close to being ready to go.

Over in the Western Conference the San Jose Sharks took a 3 games to 2 lead in there series against the St. Louis Blues with a 6-3 win in St. Louis. San Jose will have a chance to close out the series tonight as they host the Blues in Game 6. With there season on the line tonight the Blues announced that Brian Elliott will be the starting goalie for Game 6 in San Jose. Jake Allen started the previous two games against San Jose. Elliott is undefeated this postseason in elimination games, winning a pair of Game 7’s against the Blackhawks and Stars. Overall, Elliott is 9-8 with a .925 save percentage this postseason. San Jose will stick with Martin Jones in goal. Jones is 11-6 with a goals against average of 2.13 and a save percentage of .918.  Joe Pavelski and Logan Couture are leading San Jose in points this post season with 21 apiece while the Blues are led by Robby Fabbri who has 15 points. If St. Louis wins tonight and forces a Game 7 it will be played back at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis on Friday night.

Are the Golden State Warriors in trouble? Last night the Oklahoma City Thunder took a 3 games to 1 lead in the Western Conference finals over the Warriors with an easy 118-94 victory. This is the second game in a row that Oklahoma City has won the game by 20 plus points. While it was a 24 point margin of victory last night in Game 4 in Game 3 they won by 28 points 133-105. Oklahoma City got out to a double digit lead early, but by the end of the 1st quarter Golden State had cut the lead to just 4 at 30-26. The 2nd quarter is where the game really swung Oklahoma City’s way as they outscored Golden State 42-27 in the quarter and took a 72-53 lead into the locker room at halftime. Golden State did manage to knock 7 points off the lead by outscoring Oklahoma City 29-22 in the 3rd quarter, but it was already to little too late. With a 94-82 going int the 4th quarter Oklahoma City actually added to there lead outscoring Golden State 24-12 in the final quarter.

All five of the Thunder’s starters scored in double figures led by Russell Westbrook’s 36 points. Those 36 points where part of Westbrook’s triple-double as he added a team high 11 assists and 11 rebounds. Kevin Durant had 26 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds. Serge Ibaka and Andre Roberson each scored 17 points while Roberson grabbed a team high 12 rebounds. Steve Adams chipped in 11 points for Oklahoma City while Dion Waiters scored 10 points off the Thunder bench.

Golden State was led by Klay Thompson with 26 points. Stephen Curry scored 19 points, but was just 2 of 10 from behind the 3-point line. Curry did hand out a team high 5 assists. Harrison Barnes was the only other Golden State player to reach double figures had 11 points. Draymond Green who let’s face it shouldn’t even of been playing in this game led the Warriors in rebounds with 11. Golden State shot 9 of 30 (30.0%) from behind the 3-point line in the game. Golden State does head home for Game 5 facing elimination, but as we know they’re very good at home.

In the Eastern Conference finals; who had the Toronto Raptors winning both of there games at home and evening the series at 2 games apiece. There where people who thought that the Raptors wouldn’t win a game in this series and now they’ve won two. Are they a real threat to win this series? Game 5 is tonight in Cleveland and it’s going to be tough for the Raptors to win there as the Cavaliers get a large disparity in fouls called. I did get a chuckle out of the huge flop LeBron James took when he git hit in the face in I think Game 3. The referees being incredibly stupid called a technical foul on one of the three Toronto players standing there when as it turned out it was LeBron’s own teammate Tristan Thompson who hit him in the face. Does the NBA still fine players for flopping? and would there dare try and fine LeBron for his terrible flop?

The NFL handed out the Super Bowl for the 2019, 2020 and the 2021 seasons. For 2017 the game will be held in Houston’s NRG Stadium. The other Super Bowl that was already on the books was 2018 and that will be played in the Minnesota Vikings new U.S. Bank stadium. For 2019 the Super Bowl goes to Atlanta and will be played at the Mercedes-Benz stadium. The 2020 game will be at the New Miami stadium, Miami Gardens home of the Dolphins. I’m not sure why, but for some reason the NFL listed this game as being played in South Florida with no details of which city it would be in. Then finally the 2021 Super Bowl will be played at the home of the Los Angeles Rams in Inglewood, California as long as the stadium is ready; which hopefully it will be by 2021.

 

 

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While it is just May as we like to say on the podcast May is coming to an end next week. When the calendar turns to June will you worry about your favorite baseball team then? I’m think if you’re a fan of the New York Mets you might want to get started a little early. The Mets are currently 23-18 and in 3rd place in the National League East just 2 1/2 games behind the division leading Washington Nationals.

Is there possible an issue with the Mets starting rotation? The team is being built around it’s young pitching and those young pitchers did get the Mets into the World Series last season. There have been some cracks in that young pitching foundation that the Mets need to keep their eye on. Steven Matz made his 7th start last night after being skipped in the rotation because of elbow soreness. Even with 11 days off Matz pitched 7 innings giving up 3 hits, 2 earned runs and striking out 8 while picking up the win in the Mets 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Matz made 9 starts for the Mets last season and 3 of those where in the post season. Matz is 6-1 this season with an ERA of 2.81 in his 7 starts, but at 241 years old will the Mets have to watch his innings as the season moves along. While there doesn’t seem to be any injury concerns with Jacob deGrom his velocity seems to be a little down in his last couple of starts; which where no decisions. deGrom did miss a couple of starts earlier this season as he left the team to attend to a medical issue with his newborn son. He’s made 3 starts since returning to the Mets and is 0-1 after winning his first 3 starts of the season. deGrom’s ERA is 2.50 on the season and you have to wonder if it’s just a case of him building up his arm strength again, but it is something the Mets have to watch. Then there’s Mat Harvey. Harvey started on Thursday night against the division leading Nationals. He lasted just 2 2/3rd of an inning, gave up 8 hits, 9 runs 6 of them earned while walking 2 and striking out 2. Harvey was boo’d off the field when Mets manager Terry Collins came out to remove him from the game. Harvey hasn’t last more than 6 innings in any of his 9 starts this season. Harvey is 3-6 and his ERA is 5.77 in his 9 starts this season. There have been no reports about any injuries, but if you remember just a few weeks back Harvey himself said he felt a little off was the term he used. Harvey had that terrible outing against the Nationals, but his start before that wasn’t much either. He pitched 5 2/3rd innings while giving up 5 earned runs on 11 hits, but struck out 6 against the Colorado Rockies. I don;t think that anyone noticed that start because it was in Coors Field and many pitchers have had trouble there. According to reports that came out on Friday Harvey will not be skipped in the rotation and is due t make his next start against the Nationals again on Tuesday, May 24th; this time the game is in Washington’s Nationals Park.Bartolo Colon and Noah Syndergaard are the other two pitchers holding down the Mets rotation. Colon has made 8 starts and is 3-3 with an ERA of 3.75, There’s nothing wrong with those numbers out of a 5th starter especially when you find out that pitcher is 42 years old. Is Syndergarrd the ace of this staff? He’s 4-2 in 8 starts, but has the lowest ERA among the starers at 2.19. 7 of his 8 starts have been quality starts and he’s struck out 65 batters while walking just 9 on the season. Syndergaard has a WHIP of 0.99 and his K/9 or strikeouts per 9 innings ratio is 10.97 this season. You’d think that talent like tis can easily get the Mets back into the playoffs and don;t forget that Zack Wheeler is due to return in a couple of weeks. Wheeler had Tommy John surgery last season and is finishing up his recovery. I am wondering if some of the struggles this young Mets staff has had reminded any long time fans of the team of the Jason Isringhausen, Paul Wilson, Bill Pulsipher pitching trio that the Mets where going to be built around in the late 90’s.

The Tampa Bay Lighting jumped out to a 4-0 lead last night and looked as though they’d easily even up there Eastern Conference Finals series with the Pittsburgh Penguins at 2 games apiece. While the Lighting did even up the series with the Penguins there was nothing easy about it. Tampa bay got goals from Ryan Callahan and Andrew Sustr in the 1st period t take a 2-0 lead. Callahan’s goal came 27 seconds into the game. Tampa Bay added 2 more goals in the 2nd period as Jonathan Drouin and Tyler Johnson put the puck in the net and effectively ended the night of Pittsburgh starting goaltender Matt Murray. With Marc-Andre Fleury back in goal the Penguins seem to get a little lift even down 4-0. Phil Kessel got the Penguins on the scoreboard at 1:18 of the 3rd period with a goal. Play settled down for about 10 minutes and then Evgeni Malkin scored the Penguins 2nd goal of the period. It’s still 4-2 Lighting; so there was no need for their fans to panic; yet. When Chris Kunitz scored just after the 13 minute mark of the period to make it a 1-goal game at 4-3 I’m sure Lighting fans where worried. Fleury was pulled for the extra skater with about 4 minutes left in the game, but Andrei Vasilevskiy held on in goal for Tampa Bay and they took Game 4.

Game 5 is Sunday night as the series heads back to Pittsburgh’s Consol Energy Center. Puck drop is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.

The second leg of horse racing Triple-Crown The Preakness Stakes is today. Kentucky Derby winner Nyquist is the favorite at 3 to 5. Can Nyquist win here? There is another horse that while not the betting favorite is close. Exaggerator is going off at 3 to 1. I believe I heard that these 2 horses have matched up 4 times and Nyquist has won all 4 of those races. Will today be the day Exaggerator finally beats Nyquist or will Nyquist move on to the Belmont Stakes with a chance t win the Triple-Crown. I know everyone is just waiting for my pick since I know so much about horse racing. I decided that I’m going with Cherry Wine at 20 to 1 to win the Preakness. That of course menas stay as far away from that horse as possible.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers didn’t show any rust coming off their 9 day lay off as they easily handled the Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals 115-84. The Cavaliers put up 33 points in the 1st quarter to take a 5-point lead 33-28. They followed that up with a 33 point 2nd quarter to really extend the lead going into halftime to 66-44. Still pressing in the 3rd quarter the Cavaliers added 6 points to the lead by outscoring the Raptors 29-23 in the 3rd. With a 95-67 heading into the 4th quarter the Cavaliers still outscored the Raptors in the quarter 20-17 to get the game to the 115-84 final and a 1-0 lead in the series.

Kyrie Irving led the Cavaliers with 27 points and handed out a team high 5 assists. LeBron James shot 11 for 13 from the field on his way to a 24 point night. Kevin Love was the only other Cleveland player to score in double figures with 14 points. Richard Jefferson came off the Cavaliers bench to lead the team in rebounding with 11. The Cavaliers went 41 of 74 (55.4%) from inside the 3-point line in the victory.

Toronto was led by DeMar DeRozan with 18 points. DeRozan also tied for the team lead in assists with Kyle Lowry at 5 apiece.  Bismack Biyombo made every shot he took as he went 5 for 5 from the field and made both his free throw attempts for 12 points. Biyombo also tied for the team lead in rebounds with Lowry and James Johnson at 4. Johnson also came off the Raptors bench to add 10 points. In comparison to  Cleveland’s 55.4% the Raptors shot just 42.1% from inside the 3-point line going 32 for 76.

Game 2 will be tomorrow (Thursday) night in Cleveland. Do the Raptors have a chance to even the series? or will the Cavaliers make it 10 straight playoff victories this season?

If you listened to the Sports Time radio podcast yesterday (Tuesday) I was convinced that the Los Angeles Lakers would move up in the NBA Draft Lottery and get the #1 overall pick. I was wrong; not only didn’t the Lakers move up no one did. The Philadelphia 76ers had the best chance to get the #1 pick and they did. The Lakers stayed at 2 with the Boston Celtics at #3 on a pick they acquired from the Brooklyn Nets. The Phoenix Suns have two lottery picks and the first one is at #4. The Minnesota Timberwolves are at #5 with the New Orleans Pelicans at #6. The Denver Nuggets will pick 6th as they picked up this pick in a deal with the New York Knicks. The Sacramento Kings will pick 8th while the Raptors have the well traveled 9th pick as it was originally owned by Denver, but was sent to the Knicks and then to Toronto. The Milwaukee Bucks are at #10 with Orlando Magic at #11 and Utah Jazz at #12. The Suns show up again at #13 with a pick they acquired from the Washington Wizards. The Chicago Bulls round out the lottery with the 14th pick. The draft will be held in Brooklyn at Barclays Center on Thursday, June 23, 2016.

Both the Eastern and Western Conference finals in the NHL are tied at 1-1. The Pittsburgh Penguins used a quick goal by Sidney Crosby in overtime of Game 2 on Monday to tie up the series with the Tampa Bay Lighting. The series now shifts to Tampa Bay’s Amalie Arena for tonight’s Game 3 and Friday nights Game 4.

Tommy Wingels put the San Jose Sharks up 1-0 in the 1st period of last nights game against the St. Louis Blues. Brent Burns had a power play goal in the 2nd period to make it 2-0 Sharks. Burns added another power play goal at the start of the 3rd period and then a Dainius Zubrus empty net goal made it 4-0 as the Sharks evened the series with the Blues. The series will head out west to San Jose’s SAP Center for Game 3 on Thursday and then Game 4 on Saturday night.

The suspensions where handed down by Major League Baseball (MLB) for the bench clearing brawl in Sunday’s Texas Rangers/Toronto Blue Jays game. To no one’s surprise Roughned Odor got the longest suspension of anyone at 8 games. I was quite surprised to hear that Jose Bautista received just a 1 game suspension. I really thought that Bautista would end up getting something in the 3 to 5 game area, but it turned out to be just 1. Blue Jays manager John Gibbons got a 3 game suspension. Remember Gibbons had been ejected earlier in the game and came back out on the field during the fight. Blue Jays 1st base coach Tim Leiper also got a 1 game suspension as he was also ejected, but came back out onto the field when the fight broke out. The other suspension I was a little surprised by was the 3 game one Jesse Chavez got. While Chavez did hit Prince Fielder in retaliation I thought 3 games was a little high for that. Rangers shortstop Elvis Andrus was the other player to receive a suspension; he got 1 game. While Toronto’s Josh Donaldson and Rangers bench coach Steve Buechele where both ejected during the brawl they weren’t suspended, but where fined. It appears as Odor will be accessed the largest fine at a reported $5000. There where four other players who where just fined for the parts in the brawl. Rangers pitchers San Dyson, A.J. Griffin and Matt Bush; who hit Bautista along with catcher Robinson Chirinos where all fined as was Toronto outfielder Kevin Pillar.

The Rangers series clinching victory Sunday was the final regular season meeting between the two clubs. A feud had been simmering between the teams since Bautista’s bat flip in last year’s American League Division Series.

Fredi Gonzalez became the first manager to get fired this season as the 9-28 Atlanta Braves made the move before their game against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. Brian Snitker, manager of Atlanta’s Triple-A Gwinnett farm team, will replace Gonzalez as the Braves’ interim manager through the end of the season. Snitker was Atlanta’s third-base coach from 2006 to 2013. Snitker also had two stints with Atlanta as the bullpen coach in 1985 and from 1988 to 1990. Gonzalez learned he was likely to be fired about an hour after Monday night’s loss, when he received an automated email from an airline notifying him that he was scheduled to be on a flight from Pittsburgh to Atlanta on Tuesday, even though the Braves are playing the Pirates through Thursday. Braves general manager John Coppolella and president of baseball operations John Hart had planned to inform him Tuesday morning. Gonzalez, 52, managed the Marlins from 2007 to 2010 and was named manager in Atlanta in 2011 after Hall of Famer Bobby Cox retired. He coached third base for the Braves for four years before landing the Marlins job. Gonzalez wasn’t the only one fired. Braves bench coach Carlos Tosca, an assistant under Gonzalez in Atlanta and Miami, was also let go. First-base coach Terry Pendleton, a former Braves great, will become bench coach, with bullpen coach Eddie Perez moving to first. Gwinnett pitching coach Marty Reed will take Perez’s spot.

Former Braves All-Star Chipper Jones is said to not interested in managing the Braves this season,

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We had what has to be considered the first upset in the NBA playoffs. On Thursday the Oklahoma City Thunder defeated the San Antonio Spurs 113-99 to take Game 6 and win that playoffs series 4 games to 2. As Oklahoma City advances to the Western Conference Finals to face the Golden State Warriors the talk turned to what will San Antonio look like next season. The media stupidly wanted an immediate decision from Tim Duncan on if he would be back next season, but of course he didn’t have an answer. Duncan who just turn 40 years of age on April 25th was the #1 pick in the draft by the Spurs in 1997 and has spent the last 19 seasons with the Spurs. Duncan had a down year in 2015-16.San Antonio did what they could to keep Duncan healthy. He played in 61 games and averaged just 25.2 minutes per game which was a career low. Duncan also had his lowest points per game average (8.6) and rebounds per game (7.3) averages in his career. If Duncan does decide to retire he is a sure fire Hall of Fame selection. Duncan won 5 NBA championships with San Antonio and was Finals MVP 3 times. He was a 15 time All-Star and won the MVP of that game 1 time. He was also the league MVP in back to back seasons in 2001-02 and 2002-03. Duncan also won the Rookie of the Year in 1997-98. Besides Duncan the Spurs will also have to wait and see if Manu Ginobili decides to retire. Ginobili will turn 39 on July 28 and just completed his 14th NBA season. Don’t forget Ginobili didn’t start playing in the NBA until he was 25. Ginoblil played professionally in Argentine starting in 1995 before moving to Europe to play in Italy. San Antonio drafted Ginobili drafted in the 2nd round of the 1999 draft, but he choose to stay with his Italian team Kinder Bologna, which he helped win the 2001 Italian Championship, the 2001 and 2002 Italian Cups, and the 2001 Euroleague, where he was named the Euroleague 2000–01 Euroleague Finals MVP.[6] He was also named the Italian League MVP in 2000–01 and 2001–02, and made the Italian League’s All-Star Game three times during this period. Ginobili has won 4 NBA tiles with the Spurs. He is also a 2-time All-Star and was elected 6-Man of the Year in  2008. The 2015-16 season was the first time since his rookie season that Ginobili didn’t average double digit points per game. Will Duncan and Ginobili decide to retire? or will they try to make one more championship run in 2016-17?

Now over in the Eastern Conference it seems as though the Cleveland Cavaliers have been waiting two weeks to find out if they’ll play the Toronto Raptors or Miami Heat in the conference finals. Miami picked up a 103-91 victory on Friday night to force the series to a 7th game. The teams meet Sunday afternoon to decide who will move on t face the Cavaliers. Besides possible to much these playoffs couldn’t of went better for Cleveland. The Cavaliers are a perfect 8-0 in the playoffs with sweeps of the Detroit Pistons in the first round and the Atlanta Hawks in the second round. As the Cavaliers wait for their next opponent you have to wonder what kind of shape that opponent will be in. Hasan Whiteside has a sprained MCL and has already been ruled out of Game 7 against Toronto and who knows if he’ll be ready to play in the conference finals. Luol Deng did play for Miami last night, but took just 5 shots as he’s dealing wit a wrist injury and is less than 100%. If the Heat do advance Deng’s injury will linger through that series. On the Toronto side Jonas Valanciunas left the series in Game 5 with a ankle injury and has been ruled out for the remained of this series. Would that ankle be healthy enough to allow him to play in a series against Cleveland. Also for Toronto Demarre Carroll played just 25 minutes in Game 6 because of a wrist injury. Carroll also took just 4 shots in Game 6. He’ll play in Game 7 and would also play if the Raptors advance, but he’s another player who won’t be 100%. It looks as though no matter which team advances to face Cleveland the Cavaliers are going to have a huge advantage health wise heading into the Eastern Conference Finals.

The NHL is down to just 4 teams and the Tampa Bay Lighting took the first game of the Eastern Conference Finals 3-1 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. It appeared with Steven Stamkos already out for Tampa Bay that Pittsburgh would have an advantage. Then when the Lighting’s Tyler Johnson went knee to knee with the Penguins Chris Kunitz and had to miss some ice time Tampa Bay had to wonder what was next. Sadly for the Lighting what happened next was goaltender Ben Bishop needed to be stretchered off the ice with 7:35 left in the 1st period. It looked as though Bishop caught a skate on the ice and fell awkwardly injuring a knee. It was reported that Bishop’s x-rays where negative for structural damage, but his status for Game 2 in uncertain. Bishop is a Vezina Trophy nominee, but like last seasons playoffs if he’s going to miss time back up  Andrei Vasilevskiy will take over in net. Tampa Bay got out to a 1-0 lead when Alex Killorn scored his 4th goal of the playoffs at 14:46 of the 1st period. The Lighting extended that lead to 3-0 on 2nd period goals by Ondrej Palat at 2:33 of the period and then Jonathan Drouin at 18:25. Pittsburgh picked up it’s only goal of the game in the 2nd period as well when Patric Hornqvist scored at 19:05 of the period. Pittsburgh had 16 shots on goal in the 3rd period, Vasilevskiy turned them all away. For the game he stopped 25 of the 26 shots he faced after replacing Bishop. Game 2 is Monday night in Pittsburgh. The Western Conference Finals doesn’t start until Sunday night and that features the San Jose Sharks and the St. Louis Blues. The Blues have home ice and have reached the Conference finals by knocking off the defending champion Chicago Blackhawks in the 1st round and the #1 seeded Dallas Stars in the 2nd round. San Jose reached the Conference finals by beating the Los Angeles Kings in 5 games and then winning a Game 7 against the Nashville Predators to take that series.

Just to get it a record Dan the Man has picked Pittsburgh to come out of the Eastern conference after they knocked off his Washington Capitals. Dan also likes San Jose to represent the Western Conference in the Stanley Cup finals.

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