Cubs took the series!

Posted: June 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Game 4 of the Dodgers/Cubs series puts Dodger prospect Julio Urias versus Kyle Hendricks.  Kyle starts it off with a 1-2-3 inning but gave up a leadoff single to Chase Utley who was forced out on Corey Seagers double play.  Julio copies almost identically but lured Kris Bryant into the inning ended double play.  Top of the second would be perfect for Kyle. 

Rizzo would lead off the second with a base on balls and would move over to second on Jorge Soler’s single to second.  Russell strikes out but Javier Baez sends a soft line drive to center scoring Rizzo.  Soler would end up at third on a fielding error.  Miguel Montero would ground out to second but would get credited with an RBI scoring Soler. That would be all for the Cubs, 2-0. 

Hendricks would lead off the third by hitting Carl Crawford but would get the next three batters out.  Jason Heyward would get a single in the bottom half but that would be all the Cubs action.  Kyle gets a ground out on Seager, walks Justin Turner but ends the inning getting Adrian Gonzalez to ground into a double play.  

Jorge Soler leads off with a single in the bottom of the fourth, Russell lines out but Baez drives him in with a home run to left field.  Cubs up 4-0. 

Kyle starts the 5th with a strike out but gives up a 1 out solo home run to Trace Thompson.  But he does get out of the inning.  Julio gets the first out in the bottom half but gives up back to back solo home runs to Heyward and Bryant.  Cubs up 6-1.  

Enrique Hernandez leads off with single and advances on Utley’s ground out.  Seager sends a fly ball to Soler scoring Hernandez as a sac fly.  Chris Hatcher comes into replace Urias and walks Russell but gets the next three batters out.  Cubs up 6-2.  

Hendricks and Hatcher both have perfect seventh innings but Hatcher strikes out all three batters.  Hendricks continues his perfect inning streak into the eighth.  J.P. Howell enters the bottom half giving up a leadoff home run to Anthony Rizzo for his 12th of the year.  Louis Coleman replaces J.P. giving up a single to Matt Szczur but gets both Russell and Baez out.  Montero walks.  With two men on and two outs, Maddon pinch hits for Kyle with Tommy La Stella who K’s to end the inning.  Cubs up 7-2.  

Travis Wood comes into the ninth for Hendricks getting Utley to ground out but walks Corey Seager.  However, Justin Turner ends the game with a double play Baez to Rizzo.  Cubs win 7-2 and takes the series!  

Kyle went 8 innings giving up 2 runs on 3 hits with 1 walk.  He did strike out 6 batters.  

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

Nothing Lester short than 2 Runs to Win

Posted: June 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports
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Game 3 of the four game home stand against the Dodogers.  Jon Lester takes on Mike Bolsinger.  It would start off pretty rough for Lester giving up a leadoff home run to Enrique Hernandez.  He’d get Justin Turner to strikeout but would give up a single to Corey Seagar.  That would be all the action in the first as he’d get the next two batters to ground out.  Bolsinger would put Dexter Fowler on by hitting him and then adding Jason Heyward to first with a walk.   

Lester’s second inning would be a turkey, striking out all three batters.  Mike would get the first out but hits Javier Baez who snags his third stolen base of the season.   Lester would have another perfect inning in the top of the third.  

Fowler would lead off the bottom half of the third with his second walk of the day.  With one out, Fowler would score on Kris Bryant’s 12th home run of the season.  That would be all the scoring in the bottom half of the third for the Cubs.  Lester would continue his perfect inning streak but with two outs gives up a double to Trace Thompson who wouldn’t score as Lester gets Joc Pederson to ground out.  Bolsinger would score his first perfect inning of the game.  A J Ellis would see the only hit as a single in the fifth.  

Lester would continue to contain the Dodgers in the sixth as Dave Roberts brings in Pedro Baez to keep the Cubs at bay.  Neither men would allow a batter in the seventh.  Lester comes back out for the eighth inning continuing to shut down the Dodgers.  Casey Fien would replace Baez and give up a two out single to Heyward but wouldn’t give up any insurance runs for the Cubs.  

Lester comes back out for the ninth getting the first two batters out.  Howie Kendrick with a pitchers count, 1-2 swings for the fences on a high fast ball only to go down swinging giving Jon his 13th complete game of his career.  

Jon goes nine innings giving up only 1 run, 4 hits.  He would not give up a walk but strikes out 10 batters.   This gives the bullpen son much needed rest but it also shows that Lester still has it.  It’s June and the Cubs are still at the top.  Octobers right around the corner! 

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

Let’s Call it Wednesday!

Posted: June 1, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, hockey, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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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

Cubs can’t Dodge this loss

Posted: May 31, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Jake Arrieta’s 11th start of the season and he is looking for his 10h win of the season against the Los Angeles Dodgers and Scott Kazmir, who is looking for his 5th win of the season.  Jake would start the game off getting the first two batters in the first but would give up a line drive single to center field by Adrian Gonzalez.  That would be all the action after Joc Pederson strikes out to end the top half.  Dexter Fowler would lead off with a walk but he forced out at second on Jason Heyward’s ground ball to second base.  Bryant would strike out but with Anthony Rizzo at the plate, Heyward would steal second base. Then Rizzo would reach after being hit by the pitch.  Ben Zobrist would strike out to end the inning.  Jake would almost have a 1-2-3 second inning but Miguel Montero’s fielding error would allow Yasmini Grandal to reach first and then Montero’s throwing error would advance him to second base.  It would be Kazmir who would score the perfect inning.  In the top of the third, Jake would get the first two batters out but give up a single to Corey Seager but get Gonzalez o end the inning.  Fowler would get the only hit in the bottom half of the third but get picked off trying to snag second to make it a 1-2-3 inning.  

Jake would get his first perfect inning in the top half of the fourth but not before Joel Maddon had to challenge the tag at first on Trace Thompson.  Scott would record the same in the bottom half.  Jake would lead off the fifth by walking Grandal who would be forced out on Carl Crawford’s ground ball to short stop but he would be forced out on Kazmir’s inning ending double play.  Kazmir would continue to silence the Cub’s bats with his third consecutive perfect inning.  Both men would only see three batters each in the sixth inning.  

Jake would start the seventh inning off by getting the first two batters out but would walk the next three batters to load the bases for pitcher Scott Kazmir.  Dave Roberts would not hesitate to pinch hit for him with Justin Turner who would strike out to end the inning and bring us to the stretch.  The Cubs continuing the tradition of baseball would use the video board to show Vin Skully singing the seventh inning stretch, in honor of Harry Carrey, which was a pretty cool moment.  Sorry, I cannot give an other word for it.  They also congratulated him on 67 years in the business.  Joe Blanton would enter the game in the bottom half of the seventh and continue the silencing of the Cubs bats.  

The top of the eighth would bring in Clayton Richard for the Cubs who would make the game interesting by giving up three straight singles to Chase Utley, Corey Seager and Gonzalez who drives in Utley for the first run of the ballgame prompting Maddon to go to the pen and bring in Adam Warren.  He would get Joc to fly out for the first out of the inning but walk Trace to load the bases.  With Howie Kendrick up to bat, Warren would bring it to a full count getting him to fly out to Heyward but it would be scored as a sacrifice fly as Seager would score run number two of the the evening.  Yasmani would pop out to shortstop Addison Russel to end the inning.  Blanton would continue what Kazmir started with his second consecutive perfect inning.  Dodgers 2-0.

Maddon would bring Warren back out for the top of the ninth and give up two singles Crawford and pinch hitting Enrique Hernandez.  Man now on first and third and Maddon goes back to the pen for Trevor Cahill.  He would get Utley to strike out but gives up a three run homer to Seager.  Cahill would get Gonzalez to ground out and Pederson to fly out to end the inning.  The Cubs only have one more shot to win this game with Tommy La Stella leading off agains Adam Liberatore.  Adam gets La Stella and Fowler to fly out and Heywrd would go down swinging to end the game, 5-0 Dodgers.

Jake would go seven innings striking out 8 walking 4 and only giving up 2 hits.  Richard and Warren wouldn’t be so lucky giving up four rounds on five hits but they didn’t give up a walk.  Two more games to go.  Let’s Go Cubs! 

@danzeeeman
The Podcast

A W for the Boys 

Posted: May 30, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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The Dodgers are in town coming off a pretty hot streak winning 6 of 7, starting today with Memorial Day.  Alex Wood challenges Jason Hammel.  Hammel starts off getting the first two batters out but Justin Turner reaches on an error, Heyward drops the shallow fly ball.  He would walk Adrian Gonzalez but gets Joc Pederson to pop out in fowl territory.  Ben Zobrist leading off with Fowler getting the day off, walks but that would be all for the first inning.  It would be a quick top of the second for Hammel.  Wood catches Jorger Soler looking at strike 3.  Addison Russell would single to right and then advance on Javier Baez’s quick bunt to 1st.  David Ross would single to left to load the bases for Jason Hammel who would go down on a called 3rd strike.  Up for his second at bat but this time with bases loaded, Zobrist strikes out.  

We’d have a short delay at that start of the second with what appeared to be an issue with Hammel’s hamstring after throwing one warm up pitch ending his day.  After commercial break the Cubs have Travis Wood entering the game to pitch to Alex Wood getting him to strike out then getting the next two batters out.  Heyward would leadoff the third with a K but Bryant would single despite the shift to the left side of the infield.  Rizzo would line one at Adrian Gonzalez who tags first.  Jorge Soler would reach first on a base on balls. Addison lines out to short to end the inning.  

Travis Wood has a 1-2-3 4th inning. Alex Wood gets the first two batters out then walks David Ross.  Ross would make the last out being caught trying to snag second base.  Wood has another 1-2-3 inning.   We need some runs in the bottom half.  Zobrist woul leadoff with what should have been a single turns into a three bagger on an error by Puig giving Ben a single and continuing his hitting streak to 16 games.  Heyward would hit a slow roller to Gonzalez getting an infield hit scoring Ben.  Anthony Rizzo sends a breaking ball to Puig, Heyward challenges the arm, on the relay to Gonzalez, Yasmani Grandal appears to close his glove too soon and drops the ball allowing Jason to score.  Russell K’s to end the inning but the Cubs are up 2-0. 

Travis Wood starts the top of the sixth as Alex Wood is removed for a pinch hitter but it would be yet another 1-2-3 inning.  Louis Coleman comes in and gets the first two batters out.  Matt Szczur pinch hits for Wood but strikes out to end the inning.  

Justin Grimm enters the game to continue to hold the Dodgers to one hit.  Casey Fein enters the game in relief to also make it a 1-2-3 inning.  Pedro Strop prevents the Dodgers from scoring and getting a hit in the eighth.  J.P. Howell starts the bottom half of the eighth by hitting Rizzo.  Tim Federowicz makes it two outs with a 6-4-3 double play.  Russell belts a single to center to keep the inning alive.  Manager Dave Roberts enters the game getting Baez to pop out.  Hector Rondon Comes in to get his 9th save of the season!  Cubs Win! 

There hasn’t been an update on Hammel yet but I’m hoping it will be minor but the other way to look at it, is this what we can expect for the second half of the season which has been his pattern.   Travis Wood took four innings striking out four but gave up no hits or walks.  Grimm, Strop and Rondon all took three innings giving up no hits or walks also combining for four strike outs.  

I personally can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a Cubs team play this well and continuously.  One down three to go!  

@danzeeeman
The Podcast

Grab your Broom, it’s a Sweep!

Posted: May 29, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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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

Shark Attack

Posted: May 29, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, Minor League Baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio
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As a fan of the San Francisco Giants, I find conjecturing about the future to be one of the most compelling of all baseball-related activities. With their recent past, and with this year’s team assuming the mantle of continued success, the Giants offer up unlimited opportunities for this pastime.

I mean, one can pose meaningful questions about every MLB team, but some have more relevance than others. For either Atlanta or Minnesota it could be, which team will lose a hundred games first? For LA it could be, will Yasiel Puig ever figure out what constitutes appropriate major league behavior, or is he stuck in middle school?

For the Chicago Cubs, one of baseball’s ongoing legends and not for any reason that the Cubs care to dwell on, it’s simply a matter of, will it finally happen?

For me a big part this postulating about October, centers on The Shark, the moniker affixed to Jeff Samardzija. He arrived with this nickname and has lived up to it from day one. A shark is big, he is aggressive, he is silent and he is deadly.

All of last winter there were whispers, some of them clearly audible within baseball circles. Weren’t the Giants taking quite a chance, what with that 4.96 ERA in 2015, and all those home runs?

And what about all of this pitch-tipping talk? Does anyone think that it’s possible for everyone in baseball to know about this characteristic, without maybe the White Sox and Samardzija himself, also being privy to this knowledge?

At six-five, 235 pounds, right-handed Samardzija IS big, complementing southpaw Madison Bumgarner’s height and weight. With an approximate strikeout-to-walk ratio of 4-1 (62-18), an ERA of 2.54 in ten games started, and a WHIP of 1.06, one can ascertain that The Shark is aggressive.

Samardzija is a team player, meshing well with the Giants, and he keeps a low profile. He goes about the business of performing competitively by letting his actions set the tone, not his mouth. The image of him breaking that bat over his knee a few weeks ago looms large. The Shark is silent.

Finally he has won seven games and is tied with Johnny Cueto for the club lead. Both are well ahead of the pace for twenty-game win seasons. The Shark is deadly.

The Cubs (.702) are also deadly; they currently have the best record in baseball at 33-14. The Giants’ own 31-20 (.608) record pales in comparison.

I have put forth the proposition that these two teams will meet in October. Nothing has occurred thus far to deter this line of reasoning. If I am correct, one team will go on for the opportunity to win its first world championship since Teddy Roosevelt was President, while the other has the chance to win its fourth title in seven years.

When two teams have such a wealth of talent and success within their ranks, intangible factors assume greater proportions. Having played for the Cubs the bulk of his career, I might expect Samardzija’s level of play to reflect that deep association.

It’s no secret that players inevitably put their best game on display when they meet a former team. Whereas it’s just human nature, it takes on added dimensions in baseball when so much is at stake.

I expect that we will see The Shark display all of those four qualities I just mentioned when this October match-up occurs and it could be just the edge that the Giants need to delay the Cubs’ success story for at least another year.

After all, 2017 is not an even-numbered year.

@BellSpringsMark

Cubs show no Brotherly Love

Posted: May 28, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, fantasy, post season, sports, Sports Time Radio
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Game 2 of the Cubs home stand against Phillies.  Kyle Hendricks takes on Jared Eickoff, with both men looking to get thier third win of the season.  Kyle would make it through three innings without a blemish.  Jared wouldn’t be SE lucky.   Dexter Fowler on a 3-1 count would send a fly ball that would have just enough on it to be a home run to start the day off.  Then Jason Heyward would send a fly ball to to right for a double.  With two outs, Ben Zobrist stretches his hitting streak to 14 games with an RBI.  After 1, Cubs up by 2.  

With one out in the bottom of the second, both Addison Russel and Kyle Hendricks would single but Fowler would fly out to make it two outs.  It’s okay, because Heyward would hit his second double of the day scoring Russell but Kyle would be thrown out at the plate.  Cubs up 3-0.  

The bottom of the third would see Anthony Rizzo get hit by a pitch with one out.  On two outs and Soler at the plate, Rizzo would get caught stealing second.  The fourth inning would see Kyle give up his first hit of the day to Freddy Galvis but that would be all for the Phills.  Jerad would get his first clean inning getting all three batters out in a row and repeat it in the bottom half of the fifth where Hendricks would give up another hit in the top half.  

Kyle would hit Galvis in the top of the sixth but no runs cross the plate. Kris Bryant would lead off with a single. Zobrist would single and Soler would walk.  Miguel Montero would ground out but Bryant would score.  With the inning over, the Cubs are up 4-0.  Hendricks would give up a two out double but no runs.  Andre Bailey enters the game stopping the Cubs from scoring any more runs.  

Hendricks has a 1-2-3 top half of the eighth.  Elvis Araujo enters the game for the Phillies preventing the Cubs again from adding to thier lead. Hendricks comes back out to stop what he started but gives up a lead off double to Galvis, who’s had Kyles number all day.  He would advance to third on Maikel Franco’s ground out to second.  Kyle would then strike out Ryan Howard but in the dropped third strike, Montero would throw to first but the throw back from Rizzo would not be in time to catch Galvis at home.  Kyle would end the game after that with a ground out.   He would pitch a complete game giving up 5 hits, walking no one but striking out 7.  Great outing for Kyle, proving he deserves his spot in the rotation and giving the pen a day off.  

Go Cubs Go!!!

@DanZeeeMan
The Podcast

How was your week?

Posted: May 28, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, football, sports
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The Cleveland Cavaliers became the first team to lock down a spot in the NBA Finals with a 113-87 victory over the Toronto Raptors. This was the first time in  the series that a home tam had lost a game. The Cavaliers won Game 1, 2 and 4 in Cleveland while Toronto had surprisingly held serve winning Games 3 and 4 in Toronto. The Cavaliers built a 6-point lead 31-25 after the 1st quarter and just continued to add to it. They extended the lead to 55-41 going into halftime and that was pretty much the end of it for Toronto. The Raptors where able to cut into the Cavaliers lead in the 3rd quarter, but the 2 points they knocked off the lead wasn’t enough to get them back in the game. The Raptors outscored the Cavaliers 33-31 in the 3rd quarter, but that cut the Cleveland lead to 12 points at 86-74. The Cavaliers where able to pull away in the 4th quarter as they outscored the Raptors 27-13 to get the game to it’s final score of 113-87.

LeBron James led the way with 33 points for the Cavaliers. Kyrie Irving scored 30 points and had a team high 9 assists while Kevin Love scored 20 points and grabbed a team high 12 rebounds. J.R. Smith also scored in double figures adding 15 points as four of the five Cavaliers starters scored in double figures. The Cavaliers where an impressive 17 of 31 (54.8%) from behind the 3-point line in the game.

It seems for the raptors when Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan play well they win those game. Well both Lowry and DeRozan shot 50% from the floor. Lowry had 35 points while DeRozan added 20 points. Lowry shoot 11 of 22 from the field and was 6 of 12 from behind the 3-point line and 7 for 7 from the free throw line. DeRozan was 9 of 18 from the floor and made both free throws he shot; he did miss his only 3-point attempt of the game. Lowry and DeRozan also tied for the team lead in assists with 3 apiece while Bismack Biyombo grabbed a team high 9 rebounds.

This is the second straight season that Cleveland will represent the Eastern Conference in the NBA Finals, but this is the 6th consecutive trip to the NBA Finals for LeBron James. He went four seasons in a row with the Miami Heat and then of course these last two seasons with the Cavaliers. The other seven players to accomplish this feat where all members of the 1950’s and 1960’s Boston Celtics dynasties. Those seven other players are Bill Russell, Sam Jones, K.C. Jones, Satch Sanders, Tommy Heinsohn, Frank Ramsey, and Bob Cousy.

The last year James did not play in an NBA Finals was 2010 – which marked Kobe Bryant’s last title with the Los Angeles Lakers. LeBron played in another Finals in 2007 with Cleveland, and sports a record of 2-4 so far – both titles coming with the Heat.

In the 6th round of the NFL draft the Baltimore Ravens took Navy quarterback Keenan Reynolds. The Ravens will look to use Reynolds as a return man and wide receiver. Of course the issue when you draft any player from a service academy is they have a commitment to that branch of the service. Of Friday at his graduation speech at the Naval Academy  Secretary of Defense Ashton Carter said Reynolds can defer his military service to play in the NFL. This was considered the final step in allowing Reynolds to play for the Ravens.  It was two weeks ago when Secretary of the Navy Ray Mabus submitted a request where he “strongly recommended” that Reynolds be cleared to join the NFL after a standout college career. Mabus recently said he couldn’t think of “a better ambassador for the United States Navy or for the United States military than Keenan Reynolds.” Reynolds finished his college career as the FBS’ all-time leader in total touchdowns (88), rushing yards by a quarterback (4,559) and points scored (530).

While the Ravens got some good news with Reynolds they also had an issue this week as the NFL forced Baltimore to cancel one week of organized team activities and fined both the team and coach John Harbaugh on Thursday for violating off season rules. The Ravens acknowledged the punishment by releasing a statement on Thursday. It’s being reported that the Ravens were fined $343,057 and Harbaugh was fined $137,223. Apparently the rule that was broken was when the Ravens put rookies and first-year players in pads for a five-minute period at a recent rookie mini-camp. This is the second time in six years that the NFL has punished the Ravens for violating off-season rules. In 2010, Baltimore had to cancel the final week of OTA’s, after six players complained to the players’ union about late meetings and two others reported being held too long on the field after practice. I honestly didn’t know that either of these things would be a violation. I thought that it was just part of your job as an NFL player, but what do I know. This punishment was similar to what the Seattle Seahawks  received in 2014. The team was fined $200,000 and Carroll was hit with a $100,000 fine. The Seahawks also lost two days of mandatory mini-camp for violating non-contact rules in the off-season.

It seems like there’s been talk of Julio Urias being brought up to the major for quite a while now. Well last night it finally happened as Urias made his major league debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers. Urias started against the New York Mets and it was quite the debut performance a lot of people expected. The Dodgers had announced that they would keep Urias to 85 pitches in this start and he did get close to that total, but it was in just 2 2/3rd innings. Urias gave up 5 hits, 3 runs (all earned) while walking 4 and striking out 3. Urias pitch count reached 81 in his short outing. Urias wasn’t involved in the decision; a 6-5 win for the Mets.

Dick Calmus was the last teenager to start a game for the Dodgers back in 1963 and he didn’t get out of the 1st inning. I’m sure there are a lot of people out thinking that it was Fernando Valenzuela. While Valenzuela did pitch for the Dodgers as a teenager it was out of the bullpen; he actually didn’t start a game for Los Angeles until he was 20 years old. Felix Hernandez was the last teenager to make a start in the majors. Hernandez started for the Seattle Maruners on August 4th 2005 against the Detroit Tigers. Hernandez pitched 5 innings gave up 1 run, 3 hits with 2 walks and 4 strikeouts. With the way starting pitchers are handled now they may be a big gap between Julio Urias and the next teenage starter.

 

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

An Afternoon W

Posted: May 27, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports
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The Cubs are back home after a day off to take on the Philadelphia Phillies and pitcher Adam Morgan.  Jon Lester would make it a quick first half but not Morgan.  He’d give up a one out double to Ben Zobrist who would score the first run of the on Jorge Solers’s two out single to left. The Phills would give Lester a little trouble with two singles in the second but not enough to produce any runs.  Morgan would have a 1-2-3 second.  

Lester would give up give up a leadoff single in the third to Peter Bourjos.  He would move to third on Freddy Galvis’s fly ball to Dexter Fowler that is dropped and scored as an error.  Bourjos would tie the game on Maikel Franco’s sac fly to right.  Ben Zobrist would be the only one to reach a base in the bottom half of the third. 

Lester would give up one hit in the fourth to Tyler Goeddel.  Jorge Soler would lead off the fourth with a solo home run to left center.  With one out Addison Russell would walk and Javier Baez would single.  With a 1-0 count David Ross would get one tossed to him launching his 100th career home run.  With two outs, Dexter Fowler would triple but wouldn’t cross the plate.  Cubs are now up 5-1. 

Lester would give up a single and a walk in the top of the 5th but no runs would cross the plate.  With Morgan still in the game, Kris Bryant would lead off with his 11th single.  Andrew Bailey would enter the game getting the next three batters out.  Cubs up 6-1. 

The sixth inning would see Lester giving up a walk but no hits or runs.  Brett Oberholtz would come in for the Phillies, giving up a lead off single to Baez but after Ross’s strikeout, Lester would end the inning with a 1-6-3 double play.  

The seventh inning would be all for Leater after one out and a double to Odubel Hererra.  Trevor Cahill would come in and give up s single to Galvis then to Franco scoring Herrera.  Colton Murray comes into the game giving up a walk to Bryant but no additional runs.  

The eight inning would go by pretty quickly for both pitchers.  Hector Rondon comes into the 9th giving up a single but ending the game with 3-6-1 double play.  

It was a great outing by Lester sand the bullpen to continue thier winning streak.  Go Cubs Go!

@DanZeeeMan
The Pocast

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