BOSTON - MAY 19: Jason Varitek #33 of the Boston Red Sox and teammate J.D. Drew #7 against the Kansas City Royals at Fenway Park. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)
MLB
COLON WINS IN RETURNS TO MAJORS
Bartolo Colon won 21 games and the American League Cy Young Award in 2005. After two years of injuries and ineffectiveness, Colon returned to the big leagues with the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night, and he pitched five strong innings to earn the victory. Boston 6, Kansas City 3.
Colon, who last pitched in the big leagues for the Los Angeles Angels, gave up six hits and just two earned runs to get the win.
Jacob Ellsbury got the Red Sox' attack started with a leadoff home run in the bottom of the first inning. The Sox' right fielder finished with three hits and three runs scored.
Jason Varitek also homered for Boston.
Brett Tomko (2-5) started and took the loss for Kansas City.
The Red Sox improved to a major league best 20-5 at home and moved two games in front of the Tampa Bay Rays in the AL East.
AMERICAN LEAGUE SCORES
New York Yankees 8, Baltimore 0
Los Angeles Angels 4, Toronto 3
Detroit 9, Seattle 4
Chicago White Sox 7, Cleveland 2
Texas 10, Minnesota 1
Oakland 9, Tampa Bay 1
NATIONAL LEAGUE SCORES
Milwaukee 4, Pittsburgh 1
Atlanta 11, New York Mets 4
Philadelphia 12, Washington 2
St. Louis 11, San Diego 3
Florida 3, Arizona 1
Houston 5, Chicago Cubs 3
Los Angeles Dodgers 5, Cincinnati 2
San Francisco 3, Colorado 2 - 10 innings
NBA
BRYANT WILLS LAKERS PAST SPURS
Something inside of Kobe Bryant awoke midway through the third quarter of Game 1 of the Los Angeles Lakers-San Antonio Spurs series, and before the Spurs knew what hit them, the Lakers were walking off the court with an 89-85 win.
The Spurs were rolling along in the third, leading by as much as 20 points when two things happened. The Lakers clamped down on defense, and Bryant ramped up on offense. First he started firing pinpoint alley oop passes to Pau Gasol, who threw them down. Then he suddenly became unstoppable. He faked, stopped, started, and scooped his way around whoever was guarding him to begin to pile up points. On one play against Manu Ginobili, he put on about five moves before finally burying a shot off the glass.
Bryant had two points at halftime. When the final buzzer sounded, he had 27, scoring more than half of this teams 46 second-half points.
The Spurs production throughout the game went from 27 points in the first to 24 in the second, to 21 in the third, and down to a paltry 13 in the deciding fourth quarter. San Antonio led by seven as the fourth quarter started but were outscored by 11 points.
Pau Gasol had 19 points to supplement Bryant's 27.
Tim Duncan did all he could, scoring 30 points and grabbing 18 rebounds. Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker, though, were a combined 10 for 30 from the floor, including just 2 for 7 from behind the arc. Parker scored 18, but Ginobili had just 10.
The Lakers are 7-0 at home during the playoffs.
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. SAN ANTONIO
Game 1: Los Angeles 89, San Antonio 85
Los Angeles leads series 1-0
Game 2: Friday 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:
CHAD MOELLER, catcher, New York Yankees
BIO NOTE: Chad Moeller has been catching in the majors since 2000 when he broke in with the Minnesota Twins. In his best season at the plate, he hit .286 for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2002.
RECENT NEWS: On Wednesday, Moeller went 2 for 5 with an RBI as the Yankees beat the Baltimore Orioles 8-0.
FAITH QUOTE: "The Bible is where the answers are. The truth lies within Jesus. When you're sick of trying everything else and sick of looking for answers, seek Jesus and you will find the truth. He'll reveal himself to you, and somebody will be there who will say the right thing at the right time and move you in the right direction. But you've got to be willing to follow it. It's not blind faith; it's supported and it's justified. You'll see Him work in your life time after time." -Sports Spectrum magazine
MINI MEMOS
Putting the SS spin on today's sports news
DANCING WITH A CAREER
Jason Taylor has been working out. That's plain to see for anyone who tuned in to watch Taylor break a few moves on Dancing With The Stars. Problem is, he's not been working out with his Miami Dolphins' teammates. And that has widened the rift between Miami's top defender and Miami's top Tuna, Bill Parcells. Now it appears that the next time Taylor shows up on national TV in a competitive format, he'll be trading in his natty suit for a uniform that does not have Dolphin colors. He has missed some voluntary workouts in Davie, Florida, and now his new coach, Tony Sparano, is suggesting that Taylor will not be at training camp in July. Which seems to indicate that the Dolphins will trade him, release him, or in some other way remove him from their roster. Could it be possible that Taylor, who has long desired to have his name in the spotlights of Hollywood, will turn his back on football completely and turn his attention to acting?
MLB
PADRES' WOES CONTINUE
It's not bad enough that the San Diego Padres have the worst record in baseball. It's not bad enough that they are already double-digits out of first place in the NL West. It's not bat enough that their top pitcher, Jake Peavy, is on the disabled list with a bum wing. No, the San Diego Padres had still more bad things happen to them on Wednesday. For one, their starting pitcher, Michael Young, took a line drive off the bat of Albert Pujols right on the nose, breaking it. Then, just a couple of pitches later, Pujols slid into catcher Josh Bard, spraining the Padres' backstop's left ankle and knocking him out of the game. And, of course, the Padres lost the game 11-3. It appears that it's going to be a long, hot summer at Petco Park in 2008.
NBA
SCHULTZ ADDS NEW COMPLAINT TO SUIT
Howard Schultz, it seems, is sticking his neck out for Seattle. The man has no obligation to do anything. He sold the Seattle SuperSonics a couple of years ago. He has his money, and he has his own problems to deal with. But he decided to go to bat for the city of Seattle by suing new Sonics owner Clay Bennett, who is seeking to move the team to Oklahoma City. Schultz' lawsuit already had two key components: negligent misrepresentation and fraudulent inducement. Now he is adding a third: breach of contract. Schultz contends that Bennett promised to do all he could to keep the team in Seattle as a prerequisite to buying the team from Schultz. But Schultz is suggesting that Bennett never really intended to keep the team there, and that his efforts to keep the Sonics in the Northwest were not good-faith efforts. Schultz has a passion for the Sonics, it seems, and he is acting accordingly.
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.
