Chase Utley #26 of the Philadelphia Phillies bats during a baseball game against the Washington Nationals. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
MLB
PHILLIES SCORE LATE TO BEAT THE NATS
Philadelphia Phillies ace Cole Hamels tossed seven shutout innings at the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, but that wasn't good enough to lead the Phils to victory. It took a pinch hit off the bat of super-sub Greg Dobbs to lift Philadelphia over the Washington Nationals 1-0.
Hamels gave up just four hits, walked two, and struck out 11. But Washington starter Jason Bergmann was equally stingy. Bergmann also went seven shutout innings to give his team a chance to win.
The game was scoreless until the top of the ninth inning when Dobbs delivered the game-winning hit off Nationals reliever Jon Rauch (2-1) to plate pinch-runner Eric Bruntlett.
Phillies reliever Tom Gordon (4-2) earned the win, while closer Brad Lidge collected his 11th save of the season.
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Milwaukee 7, Pittsburgh 2
Florida 3, Arizona 2
Houston 4, Chicago Cubs 2
Atlanta 6, New York Mets 1
San Francisco 6, Colorado 5
San Diego 3, St. Louis 2
Los Angeles Dodgers 4, Cincinnati 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Boston 2, Kansas City 1
Detroit 12, Seattle 8
Chicago White Sox 4, Cleveland 1
Minnesota 11, Texas 4
Baltimore 12, New York 2
Los Angeles Angels 3, Toronto 1
Tampa Bay 3, Oakland 2
NBA
CELTICS KEEP HOME STREAK ALIVE
The Boston Celtics know that all they have to do is to keep doing what they've done, and they'll have a championship. If they can continue to feed off a grateful-to-have-a-contending-team-again TD Banknorth Garden crowd every time they play at home-as they did in their 88-79 win over the Detroit Pistons on Tuesday-the crown is theirs.
For the ninth straight postseason time and the fifteenth consecutive time overall, the Celtics won at home. It doesn't even matter so far that they have not won a playoff road game. They are still in the driver's seat. They will attempt to make it 10 straight wins in Boston on Thursday for Game 2.
Paul Pierce (22) and Kevin Garnett (26) gave the Pistons all they could handle as Boston shot 52 percent against a very tough defensive team. Detroit shot just 42 percent as their offense stalled against the Celtics' toughness.
Tayshaun Prince led the Pistons with 16 while Richard Hamilton had 15. Antonio McDyess led all rebounders with 11 boards.
NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
EASTERN CONFERENCE FINALS
BOSTON VS. DETROIT
Game 1: Boston 88, Detroit 79
Boston leads series 1-0
Game 2: Thursday at Boston
WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS
LOS ANGELES LAKERS VS.
Game 1: Wednesday at Los Angeles
NHL
STANLEY CUP FINALS
Detroit vs. Pittsburgh
Game 1: Saturday at Detroit
SPORTS SPECTRUM INSIDER
Getting to the heart of what matters in life -- in the words of an athlete in the news.
TODAY'S FEATURE:
MARK TEIXEIRA, first baseman, Atlanta Braves
BIO NOTE: Teixeira is in his first full season with the Atlanta Braves.
RECENT NEWS: On Tuesday, Teixeira went 3 for 3 in the first game of the Braves' two-game doubleheader sweep of the New York Mets.
FAITH QUOTE: "My faith helps keep me grounded. I know that no matter what I do here-my success or my failure on the field-that there's a higher thing going on for me with God and with Jesus. To be able to have that kind of faith, it makes the failures, especially here, not as important. The most important thing is my faith and my relationship with God." -Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
NCAA
SHOELESS RON HEAD TO AFRICA
In the November-December edition of Sports Spectrum magazine, Victor Lee wrote about a little-known organization called Samaritan's Feet, which is run by Manny Ohonme. That organization became famous in January when Ron Hunter, the basketball coach at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI), decided to coach a game without shoes to highlight the ministry of Samaritan's Feet. And now Coach Hunter and his team are getting ready to take a shipment of shoes to people in Nigeria who don't have any. Hunter's effort led to more than 200,000 pairs of shoes being donated for the cause. And it's more than just the shoes. Ohonme told Sports Spectrum that when Samaritan's Purse distributes the shoes, "We always tell them about our best friend: Jesus."
NBA
DONAGHY GRABS LEAGUE ON WAY DOWN
If it wasn't enough that Tim Donaghy violated multiple rules and standards of decorum when he used his position as an NBA referee in gambling capers-now he is trying to drag the NBA down with him. Donaghy's lawyers first said their client should be treated with special regard because he told the league what he knew about gambling. But now the lawyer is making all kinds of allegations against the league-perhaps in an effort to make his client not look so bad by comparison. Whatever the cause, it seems to be a sour grapes effort to get back at the NBA for catching Donaghy at his ill-conceived schemes.
MLB
COACH-LESS BULLS GET FIRST PICK
They don't have a coach, but the Chicago Bulls have something important to their return to glory: the No. 1 draft pick in the June 26 draft. Now, in addition to figuring out who will be guiding the team from the bench, John Paxson has to figure out whether Michael Beasley or Derrick Rose would look best in Bulls red and white. While it is surely exciting for the Bulls to have jumped from No. 9 to No. 1 in the selection order, the current NBA season proves that shrewd trades may be more vital to immediate success than a high draft pick. This time last year the Boston Celtics were licking their wounds after falling in the draft and losing out on getting a super-hot 19 year-old. So Danny Ainge went to work to do something even better. He got Ray Allen. Then he got Kevin Garnett. And now he's just seven wins from a title. And Portland and Seattle, who got last year's equivalent of Beasley and Rose in Greg Oden and Kevin Durant, missed the playoffs. So, while the Bulls gained an advantage, those who didn't get the low-numbered lottery picks needn't despair.
NFL
SOME EXPLAINING TO DO
So, the NFL opts out of its "labor" agreement with the players-and the reason given is that the players are getting too much of the pie. That would indicate, it seems, that owners want to scale back on their spending a little-perhaps show some restraint in handing over huge sums of money in a tight economy. Then Arthur Blank turns around and gives Matt Ryan $35 million. Just writes the dude a check for enough money to buy 271,000 barrels of crude oil. Now Matt Ryan seems like a nice enough guy, and Blanks can do whatever he wants with his Home Depot earnings, but if owners are crying fiscal restraint, does it help their cause to shell out a 35 million-clam signing bonus to a guy who has never stared down a single NFL defender, never completed one NFL pass, and has not even beat out Joey Harrington for the top QB spot in Atlanta? This seems to be a confusing inconsistency for the owners to try to spin into wisdom. Meanwhile, the Dallas Cowboys also decided to hand over $45 million ($16 million guaranteed as bonuses) to a running back, Marion Barber, who has exactly one NFL start under his belt. But then this is the league that is building two $1 billion stadiums during an economic downturn. The fiscal mysteries of the NFL aren't limited to Atlanta.
SPRINT CUP STANDINGS
We are 11 races into the 2008 NASCAR season. The next race is Saturday is the NASCAR Sprint All-Star Challenge at the Lowe's Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina. This is not a points race, so the standings will stay the same until May 25 when the Coca-Cola 600 takes place at the same speedway. The Chase for the Cup looks like this.
1. Kyle Busch 1,690
2. Jeff Burton 1,611
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,556
4. Denny Hamlin 1,500
5. Clint Bowyer 1,490
6. Jimmy Johnson 1,442
7. Carl Edwards 1,400
8. Tony Stewart 1,397
9. Kevin Harvick 1,396
10. Jeff Gordon 1,326
11. Greg Biffle 1,308
12. David Ragan 1,266
THIS JUST IN
Notes of significance from the Christian sports community
New Book: The Mulligan
By Wally Armstrong
After ending a successful career as a PGA golfer, Wally Armstrong began a venture of teaching golf and of using gold analogies to teach biblical principles. One of his latest ventures is teaching timeless truths through golf is a book called The Mulligan. It's a book that can be used by the Christian for edification, and it can be given to the non-Christian as an outreach tool. Find out more about the book at www.wallyarmstrong.com.
