MLB
DETROIT TAKES ANOTHER STEP UP THE HILL
After falling to the bottom of the major league standings just two weeks into the season, the highly regarded Detroit Tigers have finally begun to show a little life. On Tuesday at Comerica Park in the Motor City, the Tigers got home runs from Gary Sheffield, Miguel Cabrera, Magglio Ordonez, and Carlos Guillen to beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5.
As they did on Monday for their first Motown home win of the season, Detroit had to dig out of a hole to avoid falling further down the mountainous deficit they have created for themselves. They trailed 4-3 going into the bottom of the eighth before scoring three times to take a 6-4 lead. The big blow in that inning was a two-run home run by Cabrera, scoring Ordonez in front of him.
The Twins got a home run from Justin Morneau.
Todd Jones pitched the ninth for Detroit and picked up his third save of the season. The win went to Clay Rapada. It was his first career win. The Tigers picked him up last summer in the trade that sent Craig Monroe to the Chicago Cubs.
With the win, Detroit improves to 4-10 while Minnesota dips to 6-8 on the season.
OTHER SCORES
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Chicago White Sox 4, Oakland 1
LA Angels 7, Texas 4
New York Yankees 5, Tampa Bay 3
Toronto 11, Baltimore 3
Boston 5, Cleveland 3
Seattle 11, Kansas City 6
NATIONAL LEAGUE
LA Dodgers 11, Pittsburgh 2
San Diego 6, Colorado 0
Philadelphia 4, Houston 3
St. Louis 6, Milwaukee 1
Chicago 9, Cincinnati 5
Florida 4, Atlanta 0
New York Mets 6, Washington 0
Arizona 8, San Francisco 2
NBA
L.A. ENDS SEASON AS TOP TEAM IN THE WEST
A season that began in disarray and acrimony has ended for the LA Lakers with the Western Conference crown and home-court advantage in the playoffs. The Lakers beat Sacramento 124-101 to ensure those two eventualities on Tuesday.
The Lakers were helped on Tuesday by their huge midseason acquisition, Pau Gasol, who scored 22 points to lead the team in scoring. Kobe Bryant had 20.
The Kings got 32 points from Quincy Douby while Beno Udrih had 22. Not exactly the most famous one-two punch in the NBA. The Kings limp off into the offseason with a 38-44 record for their efforts in 2007-2008.
Meanwhile, the Lakers, with their unexpected 57-25 mark wait to find out whether they will face the Denver Nuggets or the Dallas Mavericks in their first-round playoff matchup.
OTHER NBA SCORES
Orlando 121, Atlanta 105
Portland 113, Memphis 91
New Orleans 114, LA Clippers 92
New Jersey 112, Charlotte 108 (OT)
Detroit 115, Minnesota 103
FINAL DAY OF THE SEASON SCHEDULE
WEDNESDAY
Philadelphia at Charlotte
Washington at Orlando
Detroit at Cleveland
New York at Indiana
New Jersey at Boston
Atlanta at Miami
Utah at San Antonio
Milwaukee at Minnesota
Toronto at Chicago
LA Clippers at Houston
New Orleans at Dallas
Memphis at Denver
Portland at Phoenix
Seattle at Golden State
NHL
SHARKS NIP FLAMES; EVEN SERIES
Joe Thornton guided the puck past Mikka Kiprusoff as the scoreboard clock dipped under the 10-second mark at the Saddledome in Calgary on Tuesday to give the visiting San Jose Sharks a 3-2 win over the Flames.
With that last-gasp shot Thornton helped his Sharks even their series with the Flames at two wins each.
Calgary got on the board first when Jarome Iginla scored at the 3:19 mark of the initial stanza. The Sharks tied it at 10:56 of the second when Ryane Clowe got goal No. 4 of the playoffs. Dion Phaneuf of the Flames put his team back on top late in the second.
In the third stanza, Jonathan Cheechoo re-tied the game at 15:06, setting up Thornton's shot at herodom.
The Sharks pelted Kiprusoff with 32 shots while Calgary managed just 10 attempts.
Now the teams move on to San Jose for Friday's Game 5.
OTHER PLAYOFF SCORES
Colorado 5, Minnesota 1
Series even at 2-2
Anaheim 4, Dallas 2
Dallas leads the series 2-1
Montreal 1, Boston 0
Montreal leads the series 3-1
Philadelphia 6, Washington 3
Philadelphia leads the series 2-1
NFL
MARK YOUR CALENDAR; SCHEDULE RELEASED
The New York Giants, defending Super Bowl champions, will host the first NFL game of the 2008 season on September 4. Jim Zorn's Washington Redskins will visit the Giants Stadium for that Thursday night matchup as the league's 256-game schedule gets underway. The schedule contains two games played on foreign soil. On October 26, New Orleans will play San Diego at Wembley Stadium in London, and on December 7, the Buffalo Bills and the Miami Dolphins will battle at Rogers Centre in Toronto.
For a complete look at the NFL schedule, go to www.nfl.com.
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life
TODAY'S FEATURE
RYAN HALL, marathon runner
BIO NOTE: Hall is a member of the US Olympic marathon team, and he is training for the Beijing Olympics. Hall's wife, Sara, is attempting to make the team as a long-distance runner as well.
RECENT NEWS: On Sunday, Hall finished fifth in the London Marathon with a time of 2:06:17-just one minute two seconds behind the winner Martin Lel of Kenya. Hall was the only American to finish in the Top 10.
FAITH QUOTE: "Whether you're an athlete, a student, a spouse, or an employee, it is crucial that you live your life with integrity. We need to be passionate about following Christ as closely as we can and doing the things He tells us to do through His Word, through other people, and what we sense He's saying to us directly."
-Sports Spectrum magazine
Go to GodTube.com and search Ryan Hall to hear his Christian testimony.
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
Golf
TIGER ON THE MEND
First, no Grand Slam. Now, no golf at all. Tiger Woods will be missing from the PGA Tour for up to six weeks after undergoing surgery on Tuesday. His left knee has been operated on two other times in the past-in 1994 and in 2002. Among the tournaments Woods will miss as he recovers from surgery are the Players Championship and perhaps the Memorial.
NBA
SCHULTZ WANTS HIS TEAM BACK
Let's say you have a 1965 Mustang, which you have cherished for a long time, keeping it in mint condition. But money gets tight and you decide to sell your pony. A guy comes along with the right among of cash, and you say to him that you'll sell your ride to him if he promises to take good care of it. You exchange the money for the title, turn over the keys, shed a tear, and watch him drive away in your Iacocca Special. About a month later, you happen to go to the local drag strip, and you see your old car there. They guy has put slicks on the rear of your stock classic and is tearing down the track at 100 miles an hour. So you get a lawyer and sue him for not using the car as you agreed. Will you win that lawsuit? That's a lot like the deal going on in Seattle, where the SuperSonics are one game away from being trucked to Oklahoma City. Howard Schultz is upset because Clay Bennett, who now owns the team, is headed out of town with it. So he has hired a team of barristers to see if he can bar Bennett from bolting. Can you get something back after you sold it? Won't this open up a can of worms? Will the native Americans try to retrieve Manhattan? Will Russia attempt to get Alaska back? And what about Babe Ruth, Boston? Do we smell lawsuit?
Baseball
GOOD GUYS AMONG EARLY SEASON LEADERS
A quick glance at the early season stats lists in major league baseball reveals quite a few strong Christians among the leadership. That is especially true among the leaders in wins for pitchers in the National League. Tied for the lead are believers Micah Owings and Brandon Webb of the Diamondbacks, Jake Peavy of the Padres, and Braden Looper of the Cardinals. Surprising youngster Nate McLouth is another follower of Jesus who is having a good start. The Pirates' slugger is second in the NL in hitting at .391 and fourth in RBI with 14. Albert Pujols is fourth in the league in hitting at .378. In the AL, Luke Scott, who joined Baltimore in the offseason, is hitting .386, good enough for third in the league. Raul Ibanez, who is little known but has put together back-to-back 100-plus RBI seasons, is second in the AL in home runs with five and third in RBI with 14. On the mound, Brian Bannister, a Christian whose dad played in the majors, is tied for the top spot in wins with three while Mariano Rivera, who spends time each winter ministering to kids in the Dominican Republic with SCORE International, has five saves-second in the league.
SPRINT CUP STANDINGS
With eight races in the books, here's a look at the leaders in the Sprint Cup standings. The next race will take the drivers to Talladega for the Aaron's 499.
| Driver |
Points
|
| 1. Jeff Burton |
1215
|
| 2. Kyle Busch |
1135
|
| 3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. |
1129
|
| 4. Jimmie Johnson |
1116
|
| 5. Kevin Harvick |
1112
|
| 6. Denny Hamlin |
1078
|
| 7. Tony Stewart |
1078
|
| 8. Clint Bowyer | 1044 |
| 9. Carl Edwards | 1041 |
| 10. Greg Biffle |
1039
|
SPORTS SPECTRUM RADIO
SS DAILY INTERVIEW
To hear today's interview, go to the Sports Spectrum radio home page. It can be found at www.sport.org.
THE WEDNESDAY GUEST
C. J. WOOLUM, men's basketball coach, Christopher Newport University.
It's time to take a look back at the NCAA basketball season that recently ended with Kansas winning the national championship. Woolum will re-cap the year with a special emphasis on the under-rated coaches who made a little extra noise this season: Tony Bennett, Washington State; Rick Byrd, Belmont; and Bob McKillop, Davidson.
