Local Sports

Class 1A, 2A Baseball, Softball Heads to Peoria for State Finals

Class 2A baseball state semifinal matchups in Peoria

 

At Dozer Park

 

Aurora Christian 3:00pm

Pleasant Plains

 

Rock Island Alleman 5:00pm

Teutopolis

 

Class 3A boys baseball sectional final action Saturday....

 

At Morton

 

Galesburg 11:00am

Dunlap

 

At Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin

 

Chatham Glenwood 10:00am

Effingham 

 

Class 4A boys baseball sectional final action Saturday....

 

At Illinois Wesleyan

 

Edwardsville 11:00am

Normal West

 

Class 2A girls softball state semifinals in Peoria....

 

At East Peoria

 

Pinckneyville 5:30pm

Olympia

 

Class 3A softball sectional final action....

 

At Peoria Notre Dame

 

Pontiac 5:00pm (tonight)

Geneseo

 

At Mt. Zion

 

Charleston 11:00am (Saturday)

Mt. Zion

Cardinals, White Sox Win Thursday

>>Cardinals Down Phillies

 

Dakota Hudson tossed six effective innings, Jedd Gyorko hit a two-run homer and the Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3 Thursday.

 

Marcell Ozuna, Matt Wieters and Matt Carpenter also went deep for the Cardinals , who avoided their first sweep against Philadelphia since 2006.

 

Hudson (4-3) allowed four hits and one run in his fourth straight quality start. All of those outings followed losses and three resulted in wins for St. Louis.

 

Jordan Hicks got the last three outs for his 11th save in 12 tries after three relievers worked two innings. Right fielder Dexter Fowler made a leaping catch into the stands to catch a foul ball to end the game.

 

Phillies starter Jerad Eickhoff (2-3) gave up four runs and eight hits in 6 1/3 innings.

 

The Cardinals jumped ahead 2-0 in the second on a pair of solo homers. Ozuna hit his 16th on a 1-2 pitch the opposite way into the right-field stands. One out later, Wieters drove one out to right for his second homer in two days and third this season.

 

Gyorko's two-run shot in the seventh made it 4-1. Carpenter connected off Edgar Garcia as a pinch-hitter in the seventh.

 

After Carlos Martinez tossed a scoreless seventh, the Phillies rallied against him in the eighth.

Andrew McCutchen walked and Jean Segura hit a single. Andrew Miller entered and Bryce Harper ripped an RBI single off him. John Gant replaced Miller and Rhys Hoskins singled in another run to cut it to 5-3.

 

But Gant retired Cesar Hernandez on an infield popup, struck out Scott Kingery and pinch-hitter J.T. Realmuto flew out.

 

The Cardinals twice intentionally walked Hoskins to load the bases after Harper hit doubles. The strategy paid off because the Phillies only managed one run. Hernandez had an RBI fielder's choice grounder in the fourth but lined into an inning-ending double play in the sixth.

 

Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.76 ERA) starts Friday night at home against the Chicago Cubs. He is 3-0, 1.32 in six career appearances, including four starts, vs. the Cubs.

 

>>White Sox Pound Indians

 

Yonder Alonso and Jose Abreu each hit a two-run homer, and the Chicago White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 10-4 on Thursday night for their season-high fourth straight victory.

Alonso also doubled and scored on Eloy Jimenez's two-run double, helping Chicago move within one game of Cleveland for second place in the AL Central. Jimenez and Leury Garcia each had three hits, and Manny Banuelos (3-4) pitched 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball for his first win in a month.

 

With two outs and Abreu on first in the third, Alonso drove a 1-1 pitch from Carlos Carrasco over the wall in right-center to give the White Sox a 4-2 lead. It was Alonso's first homer since May 12 and No. 7 on the year.

 

Carrasco (4-6) matched a season high by allowing six runs and 10 hits over 6 1/3 innings in his third consecutive loss. The right-hander had enjoyed great success versus Chicago since 2017, going 7-1 with a 1.09 ERA in his previous 10 appearances against the White Sox, including a 2-0 record and 12 scoreless innings over two starts this year.

 

Carrasco allowed Garcia's leadoff single in the seventh and struck out Yoan Moncada before he was replaced by Dan Otero. Abreu greeted the reliever with a drive to left for his team-high 15th homer , making it 7-3 White Sox.

 

Jordan Luplow went deep for Cleveland, and Carlos Santana drove in two runs in the opener of a four-game series. Jason Kipnis finished with two hits after he was robbed by Ryan Cordell's diving play on his sinking liner to right in the ninth.

 

Luplow led off the sixth with a drive to center for his fourth homer off Banuelos this season. Five of Luplow's seven homers this year have come against the White Sox.

 

Cleveland right-hander Trevor Bauer (4-4, 3.99 ERA) looks to get back on track when the series resumes Friday night. Bauer has struggled this month, going 0-3 with a 6.52 ERA in his last five starts. Dylan Covey (0-4, 5.47 ERA) pitches for Chicago. The 27-year-old right-hander is 0-3 with a 5.75 ERA in his last four outings.

Raptors Convincingly Down Warriors in NBA Finals Game 1

Pascal Siakam scored a playoff career-high 32 points and the Raptors made a smashing NBA Finals debut, beating the Golden State Warriors 118-109 on Thursday night.

 

The Raptors hardly looked like newcomers to the NBA's biggest stage, controlling the action most of the way against a Golden State team beginning its fifth straight NBA Finals appearance.

 

Kawhi Leonard added 23 points and Marc Gasol had 20 for the Raptors, who weren't in awe of the setting or their opponents who had played 22 NBA Finals games in the last four years.

 

Stephen Curry scored 34 points and Klay Thompson had 21 for the Warriors, who had won all four Game 1s in the last four years.

 

Siakam then went 6 for 6 in the third quarter to keep Golden State from gaining much ground, and the Raptors kept their lead around double digits for much of the final quarter, countering every attempt the Warriors made to catch up.

 

Toronto shot 50.6 percent from the field and the Warriors never found an answer for Siakam, the finalist for Most Improved Player who has a nice start for an NBA Finals MVP resume.

 

The native of Cameroon and nicknamed Spicy P was red hot, shooting 14 for 17 from the field - and he tipped in his own shot on the last of those misses with 54 seconds to play.

 

DeMarcus Cousins made it back from a torn left quadriceps to come off the bench in his first NBA Finals game, but the Warriors remained without Kevin Durant, the MVP of the last two NBA Finals. He traveled to Toronto but it's unclear if he'll play before the series returns to the Bay Area, with Warriors coach Steve Kerr saying he would have to go through practice first.

 

Game 2 is Sunday night in Toronto, which is hosting an NBA Finals game for the first time after the Raptors entered the league as an expansion team in 1995.

Illinois' Acton Named Second Team All-American

Illinois closer Garrett Acton was named to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-America second team, the publication announced Thursday. Acton leads the nation with 19 saves. 

 

Acton is Illinois' sixth All-American in the last five years, joining Tyler Jay (2015), Kevin Duchene (2015), David Kerian (2015), Cody Sedlock (2016) and Bren Spillane (2018). He set the Illinois and Big Ten record with his 19 saves, while owning a 2.23 ERA and .121 batting average against in 32 1/3 innings, on his way to All-Big Ten first team honors. 

 

Acton's 19 saves are two more than the next closest in the nation (Andrew Gross, UT Arlington) and three more than any player in the NCAA Tournament (Holden Powell, UCLA). 

 

The closer has also been impressive in the classroom, earning the Junior GPA Award for the highest GPA of all junior student-athletes at Illinois. 

 

Acton looks to add to his record-setting season this weekend at the Oxford Regional, where Illinois will take on Clemson in the NCAA Tournament opener Friday. The game will be aired live on ESPNU at 3 p.m. CT. 

Boys Baseball, Girls Softball Postseason Recap

Class 3A boys baseball Sectional scores....

 

At Morton

 

Galesburg 3

Normal U-High 2

 

Lincoln 1

Dunlap 2

 

At Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin

 

Charleston 2

Chatham Glenwood 6

 

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 2

Effingham 3

 

Class 4A boys baseball Sectional scores....

 

At Illinois Wesleyan

 

Moline 5 F-11

Normal West 6

 

Class 3A girls softball Sectional action....

 

At Milliken

 

Charleston 2 F-8

Chatham Glenwood 1

 

Rochester 0 susp. - Game will be resumed today 4:30 p.m. start time

Mt. Zion 1

 

At Peoria Notre Dame

 

Pontiac 2

Galesburg 0

Cubs, Sox Win Wednesday, Cardinals Blasted By Phillies

Kyle Hendricks pitched eight terrific innings, Kyle Schwarber homered for the second straight game and Kris Bryant added a solo shot in his return to the lineup to help the Chicago Cubs avoid a sweep with a 2-1 win over the Houston Astros on Wednesday night.

 

The game included a scary and jarring moment when a young fan sitting near third base was hit by a foul line drive off the bat of Albert Almora Jr. in the fourth inning. A photo taken by The Associated Press showed the girl apparently conscious and crying as she was whisked away and nearby fans looked on.

 

After the game, the Astros issued a statement saying the fan was taken to a hospital but did not disclose any further details on her condition.

 

Almora, the Cubs' center fielder, and other players from both teams were visibly shaken by the scene.

 

Still upset after the game, a somber Almora said he received ''unofficial updates'' on the girl's condition but was advised not to share any details.

 

Hendricks (5-4) allowed four hits and one run with seven strikeouts for his fourth straight win. Steve Cishek worked a perfect ninth for his fifth save.

 

Schwarber got things going for the Cubs with his second leadoff homer this season. He sent the third pitch from Wade Miley (5-3) into left-center for his 10th home run.

 

There were two outs in the third when Bryant, who missed the previous two games after an outfield collision with Jason Heyward on Sunday, homered to straightaway center field to make it 2-0.

 

Alex Bregman doubled to start the Houston fourth before advancing to third on a single by Michael Brantley. The Astros cut the lead to 2-1 when Bregman scored on a sacrifice fly by Josh Reddick.

 

But the Astros had trouble stringing hits together apart from in that inning and went 1 for 5 with runners in scoring position as they played without injured stars Jose Altuve, George Springer and Carlos Correa.

 

Miley yielded six hits and two runs while striking out a season-high nine in seven innings. The loss ended his four-game winning streak.

 

Yu Darvish starts Friday in the opener of a three-game series at St. Louis. Darvish (2-3, 5.40 ERA) allowed 12 hits and six runs in a season-high seven innings of an 8-6 win against the Reds last time out.

 

>>Sox Outslug Royals

 

Six innings after being beaned with a pitch from Kansas City starter Glenn Sparkman, Tim Anderson doubled in the go-ahead run in the eighth, lifting the Chicago White Sox to an 8-7 victory over the Royals on Wednesday night.

Jose Abreu hit a three-run homer, Yoan Moncada also connected and the White Sox swept a three-game series for the first time this season.

 

Sparkman struck Anderson in the bill of his helmet in the second with nobody out, a runner on first and the White Sox leading 2-1. Anderson's helmet was knocked off his head, and plate umpire Mark Carlson immediately ejected the 27-year-old right-hander.

 

Last month, he was hit by Kansas City's Brad Keller in the backside after an elaborate bat flip on a home run in his previous at-bat. That sparked a benches-clearing scuffle. Keller was suspended five games and Anderson for one.

 

Jorge Soler homered and drove in three runs for Kansas City.

 

Kelvin Herrera (2-3) got the win despite giving up two runs and Alex Colome got the final three outs for his 11th save. He saved all three games of the series.

 

Ian Kennedy (0-2) took the loss.

 

After Sparkman was ejected, Yolmer Sanchez greeted Jorge Lopez with an RBI single, scoring Eloy Jimenez from second base. Charlie Tilson then made it 4-1 with an RBI groundout. Abreu's three-run smash made it 7-1.

 

Kansas City put together a four-run sixth against a tiring Reynaldo Lopez (career-high 118 pitches) to pull within 7-5. The Royals then tied the game with two runs in the eighth off Herrera.

 

Manny Banuelos (2-4, 7.71 ERA) makes his seventh start of the season Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series with Cleveland. RHP Carlos Carrasco (4-5, 4.60) pitches for the Indians.

 

>>Phillies Blast Cardinals

 

Bryce Harper hit his 10th homer, his 200th career double and drove in four before fouling a ball off his foot and exiting in the fifth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 11-4 following a rain delay Wednesday night.

The hot-hitting Harper had his second straight multihit, multi-RBI game against the Cardinals. He drove a two-run homer to left-center in the third and followed an inning later with a two-run hustle a double. Harper hit a chopper that rolled into right - and he kept motoring. He slid head-first to beat the tag and slapped his hands in celebration of the milestone hit.

 

Aaron Nola (6-0) struck out eight over seven innings, a needed lift to save a bullpen depleted by injuries. Scott Kingery and Maikel Franco hit back-to-back homers in the fifth, and Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run shot two batters later to blow the game open.

 

Matt Weiters homered for the Cardinals, who lost their third straight game and seven of their last 10.

 

Dakota Hudson (3-3, 4.22 ERA) takes the mound for the Cardinals in the series finale Thursday against Phillies RHP Jerad Eickhoff (2-2, 3.86).

Blues Outlast Bruins in Overtime To Even Series

After clanging the potential winner off the post in the final two minutes of regulation, Carl Gunnarsson scored on a delayed penalty 3:51 into overtime to give St. Louis a 3-2 victory over the Boston Bruins and tie the Stanley Cup Final at a game apiece.

 

Jordan Binnington made 21 saves, and Robert Bortuzzo and Vladimir Tarasenko scored in regulation to send a game in the championship series to overtime for the first time since 2016.

 

It was the Blues' first victory in the Stanley Cup Final in franchise history after 13 straight losses.

 

Charlie Coyle and Joakim Nordstrom scored and Tuukka Rask made 33 saves for Boston, which won 4-2 in Game 1 on Monday night for their eighth straight postseason victory.

 

Gunnarsson also assisted on Bortuzzo's first-period goal and then hit the post behind Rask with about 2 minutes left in regulation. In the final minute, Boston's David Pastrnak had a chance off a faceoff, but Binnington turned it away.

 

After a furious first period that ended in a 2-all tie, the teams went on defense in the second. Despite four penalties, including a high-sticking, blood-drawing double-minor against Boston's Connor Clifton, neither team was able to score.

 

It stayed tied through a hard-hitting third period, with both teams failing to convert good scoring chances and avoid overtime.

 

But after the break, it was all Blues.

 

Boston did not get off a shot in the overtime, and the Eastern Conference champs struggled to clear it out of their own zone. Alexander Steen drew a hooking penalty in front of the net, and the Blues pulled Binnington for an extra skater.

 

Gunnarsson worked it around to the blue line, passed it to Oskar Sundqvist and then got it back for a rifle shot over Rask's stick side into the corner of the net.

 

Game 3 is Saturday night in St. Louis.

Clinton Girls Softball Sectional Action Moved To Today; IHSA Postseason Recap

Class 3A boys baseball sectional action today....

 

At Morton

 

Galesburg 4:30pm

Normal U-High

 

Lincoln 7:00pm

Dunlap

 

At Springfield Sacred Heart-

 

Charleston 4:30pm

Chatham Glenwood

 

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 6:30pm

Effingham

 

Class 4A boys baseball sectional action today....

 

At Illinois Wesleyan

 

Normal West 6:00pm

Moline

 

Class 3A girls softball sectional action today....

 

At Clinton - Game moved to Wednesday (5/29) due to field conditions.

 

Charleston 4:30pm

Chatham Glenwood 

 

Rochester 6:30pm

Mt. Zion

 

At Peoria Notre Dame - Postponed to [Wednesday] at 4:30

 

Pontiac 4:30pm

Galesburg

 

Geneseo 6:30pm

Canton 

Annual High School Football Shrine Game Date Announced

The Illinois Coaches Association and the Shriners of Illinois will host the 45th annual Illinois High School Shrine Game on June 15th at Tucci Stadium on the campus of Illinois Wesleyan University.

 

Kick-off for the 45th annual game is scheduled for Saturday, June 15th at 11:00a.m.  The pregame festivities will begin at the stadium starting at 10am.  

 

One hundred eight of the state’s best football players participate in this all-star game to raise money for Shriners Hospital for Children, the official philanthropy of Shriners International. More information about scheduled events, along with rosters & coaches for both the East and West teams, can be found at www.ilshrinegame.com.

 

Each year at the Shrine Game, two patients from the Shiners Hospital for Children are chosen to be the prince and princess. The princess is Sheowly Hurd from Dunlap who is a patient at the Shriners Hospital in St Louis. 

 

The prince and princess are honorary representatives from each hospital that will benefit from the money raised through the game. Last year’s event raised nearly $33,000 that went directly to providing outstanding medical care for children at the Shriners Hospitals for Children.

 

The goal is to create a fun and exciting environment for the players, families, Shrine kids, and Shriners and to make this a signature event for the Shriners of Illinois. 

NFLPA Telling Players To Plan for Stoppage

With the NFL's collective bargaining agreement (CBA) with the NFLPA set to expire after the 2020 season, the two sides have been busy trying negotiate a new deal this offseason, and although things seem to be going well, DeMaurice Smith is still telling players to plan for a work stoppage. 

 

Smith, who serves as the executive director of the NFLPA, sent out an email to agents around the league this week telling them to make sure their clients are financially prepared for a lockout or strike of at least one year. 

 

"We are advising players to plan for a work stoppage of at least a year in length," the email states. 

 

The email was obtained by the Sports Business Journal.

 

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell has made it clear that he would like to see a deal done soon. Goodell was actually asked about negotiations during a brief press conference at the NFL's spring meeting last week. 

 

"I do hope it is sooner rather than later," Goodell said of the new CBA, via the New York Times.

 

The last time the NFL had to cancel games due to a work stoppage came in 1987.  

Sox Edge Royals in Game Resumed from Monday, Win Regularly Scheduled Game Wednesday; Cubs, Cardinals Lose

Lucas Giolito struck out 10 while winning his fifth straight start and the Chicago White Sox posted their second victory of the day, beating the Kansas City Royals 4-3 on Tuesday night.

 

Hours after Yolmer Sanchez hit an RBI single in the ninth inning to give Chicago a 2-1 win in the resumption of a suspended game, Giolito (7-1) put on quite a performance.

 

The right-hander gave up a three-run homer to Alex Gordon in the first, then retired 22 of his final 24 batters. Giolito allowed three hits over eight innings, matched a career high for strikeouts and improved to 6-0 in his past eight starts. In his previous outing, he threw his first career shutout, a four-hitter against Houston.

 

Alex Colome worked the ninth for his 10th save in 10 chances after getting the win earlier in the day. And the White Sox made it back-to-back victories after losing six of eight.

 

Brad Keller (3-6) gave up four runs and 10 hits in six innings for Kansas City. The Royals have lost nine of 12.

 

The White Sox tied it in the third on an RBI single by Leury Garcia and back-to-back sacrifice flies by Jose Abreu and Yonder Alonso. Charlie Tilson made it 4-3 with an RBI single in the fourth.

 

Glenn Sparkman (1-1, 2.92) makes his second start of the season for Kansas City.

 

Reynaldo Lopez (3-5, 6.03 ERA) tries to bounce back after getting tagged for eight runs in 3 2/3 innings in a loss at Minnesota on Friday.

 

>>'Stros Outlast Cubs

 

Alex Bregman homered twice, his second a tiebreaking two-run shot in the sixth inning that propelled the injury-weakened Astros to a 9-6 win over the Chicago Cubs that gave manager AJ Hinch his 500th career victory.

Roberto Osuna struck out one in a perfect ninth for his 15th save.

 

David Bote homered twice for the Cubs and Jason Heyward, Addison Russell and Kyle Schwarber each hit one. The Cubs have piled up 21 home runs in their last seven games, but have only won twice in that stretch.

 

Houston's Michael Brantley had two hits and two RBIs and catcher Garrett Stubbs added two hits and drove in a run in his major league debut, a day after Jack Mayfield played in his first major league game.

 

Jon Lester lost his third straight decision by allowing eight hits and a season-high seven earned runs.

 

The Astros led by a run when Heyward tied it by opening the second inning with his solo shot off rookie Corbin Martin. The Cubs went back-to-back and took a 2-1 lead when Russell homered for the second straight game on his shot to right-center.

 

There was one out in the inning when the Cubs went deep again, this time on a shot by Bote, which bounced off the wall above the seats in left field to make it 3-1.

 

Bregman got Houston within one with his first home run. Mayfield walked with no outs in the fourth before a one-out double by Jake Marisnick. Stubbs singled to score Mayfield and tie it before an RBI single by Derek Fisher put Houston up 4-3.

 

Fisher stole second base with two outs and Brantley's double, which bounced off the wall in center field, scored two to push Houston's lead to 6-3.

 

Bote hit a two-run homer off Josh James (2-0) in the sixth inning and Schwarber tied it at 6-6 with a solo shot on the next at-bat.

 

Fisher walked with two outs in the sixth to end Lester's night. He was replaced by Brach, who was greeted by Bregman's second homer to put Houston up 8-6. An RBI double by Marisnick extended the lead to 9-6 in the seventh.

 

Martin yielded five hits and three runs in 3 2/3 innings.

 

Kris Bryant sat out for a second straight game after he was injured in an outfield collision with Heyward on Sunday. Maddon said he was feeling better on Tuesday and could play on Wednesday.

 

Kyle Hendricks (4-4, 3.34 ERA) will start for Chicago in the finale of this series on Wednesday night. Hendricks allowed six hits and three runs in six innings in his last start but did not factor into the decision in a 6-5 loss to the Reds.

 

Wade Miley (5-2, 3.32) is scheduled to start for the Astros on Wednesday. Miley struck out a season-high eight in his last start to extend his winning streak to four games.

 

>>Phillies Down Cardinals

 

Cesar Hernandez hit a go-ahead two-run homer, Nick Pivetta threw five tough innings and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the slumping St. Louis Cardinals 4-3 Tuesday night.

Pivetta (3-1) allowed three runs and three hits, striking out six in his first start since a demotion to Triple-A after posting an 8.35 ERA in his first four starts.

 

Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna hit homers in the first inning, but the Cardinals wasted a 3-0 lead and lost for the 11th time in 15 games.

 

Hernandez gave the NL East-leading Phillies a 4-3 lead in the fourth when he launched his sixth homer of the season off the facing of the second deck in right field.

 

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (4-5) gave up four runs and eight hits in six innings with a season-high 10 strikeouts.

 

Edgar Garcia got five outs, Seranthony Dominguez retired all four batters he faced and Hector Neris finished for his 10th save in 10 tries.

 

The Cardinals quickly jumped ahead following a 50-minute rain delay during which Pivetta got soaked jogging in from the bullpen.

 

Goldschmidt slammed a hanging slider into the left-field seats for his 11th homer. After Paul DeJong was hit by a pitch, Ozuna ripped a two-run shot the opposite way to right for his 15th homer.

 

Pivetta helped himself with a one-out single in the third. Andrew McCutchen also singled and Bryce Harper lined a two-run double with two outs to cut the deficit to 3-2.

 

Harper hit another double in the fifth, but was thrown out by center fielder Harrison Bader trying to score on Rhys Hoskins' single.

 

Harper also struck out twice and leads the majors with 75.

 

Genesis Cabrera makes his major league debut for the Cardinals on Wednesday night against Phillies RHP Aaron Nola (5-0, 4.53 ERA). Nola is 3-2, 2.59 in five career starts vs. St. Louis.

Boys Baseball, Girls Softball Postseason Scores, Schedule

Class 2A Boys Baseball Supersectional scores...

 

At Springfield Lincoln Land C.C.

 

Pleasant Plains 12 F-5

Tuscola 2

 

Class 1A Girls Softball Supersectional scores...

 

At Illinois Wesleyan U.

 

Villa Grove 0

Peru St. Bede 5

 

Class 2A Girls Softball Supersectional scores...

 

At Athens

 

Piasa Southwestern 1

Olympia 4

 

Class 3A Girls softball Sectional action today....

 

At Clinton

 

Charleston 4:30pm

Chatham Glenwood

 

Rochester 6:30pm

Mt. Zion

 

At Peoria Notre Dame

 

Pontiac 4:30pm

Galesburg

Illinois State Headed To Louisville For NCAA Tournament

For the first time since 2010 and the fourth time in program history, the Illinois State baseball team (34-24) is headed to the NCAA Tournament as the Redbirds earned an at-large bid to the Louisville Regional where they will play Indiana (36-21) on Friday at 1 p.m. CT at Jim Patterson Stadium. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

 

The host Louisville Cardinals (43-15) will play Illinois-Chicago (29-21) at 5 p.m. CT Friday to round out the regional field. 

 

It was a busy week last week for Illinois State. The Redbirds earned the No. 3 seed at the regional and shared the Missouri Valley Conference regular season title with Dallas Baptist. Right fielder Joe Aeilts was named MVC Joe Carter Player of the Year, left-handed starting pitcher Brent Headrick was named Pitcher of the Year first year head coach Steve Holm was honored as the MVC Dan Callahan Coach of the Year. Along with Aeilts and Headrick, juniors Joe Butler and John Rave were named to the All-MVC First Team. Sophomore Jack Butler was named to the All-MVC honorable Mention team and Rave was also named to the All-MVC Defensive Team for a third straight season.

Illinois Headed To Oxford For NCAA Tournament

The Illinois baseball team was selected for the 2019 NCAA Baseball Tournament, the NCAA announced Monday. 

 

Illinois is a No. 2 seed and will travel to Oxford, Mississippi, to face No. 3-seed Clemson in the tournament's first round Friday at 3 p.m. CT televised nationally on ESPNU.

 

The Illini will play again either Saturday at noon or at 6 pm. 

 

Regional host and No. 12 national seed Ole Miss will take on No. 4 seed Jacksonville State in the other first round matchup at Swayze Field. The double elimination regionals are hosted at 16 sites with the winners advancing to the NCAA Super Regional at campus sites to be determined. 

 

Illinois will be making its fourth tournament appearance in the last nine years, all under head coach Dan Hartleb. Hartleb has taken Illinois to more NCAA Tournaments than any previous Illini head coach.

Cubs Fall To Astros; White Sox, Royals Suspended

>>Astros Hold Off Cubs

 

Jack Mayfield made his major league debut, getting a hit and driving in a run to help Houston to a 6-5 win over the Chicago Cubs.

 

Gerrit Cole tied a season high with 12 strikeouts in six solid innings and the Astros reached Cole Hamels early and held on for the victory in the opener of an interleague series.

 

Anthony Rizzo hit a two-run homer in the first inning, but Cole (5-5) dominated after that, allowing two singles and striking out 10 over the next five innings.

 

Playing without injured stars Jose Altuve and George Springer, and Carlos Correa, who got a day off, the Astros cut the deficit to one in the second and scored five times off Hamels (4-1) in the third to take a 6-2 lead.

 

Yuli Gurriel had three hits and an RBI and Derek Fisher and Alex Bregman added two hits each as the Astros won for the third time in four games.

 

Hamels, who had allowed just six runs combined in his last three starts, yielded seven hits and a season-high six runs in four innings for his first loss.

 

Albert Almora Jr., homered off Roberto Osuna to start the ninth. Addison Russell added a solo shot with one out and Bote singled before Osuna struck out Schwarber. He got his 14th save when he struck out Javier Baez to end it.

 

Jon Lester (3-3, 2.68) is scheduled to start for Chicago on Tuesday night. Lester has a 9.72 ERA in his last two starts after posting a 1.16 ERA in his first seven starts this season.

 

Astros rookie Corbin Martin (1-1, 4.97) will start for Houston. Martin allowed six hits and four runs, three earned, in 3 1/3 innings of a 4-0 loss to the White Sox in his last start.

 

>>Sox, Royals Rained Out

 

Yolmer Sanchez hit a tying single, then entertained his White Sox teammates with a dugout show during a long rain delay before Chicago's game against the Kansas City Royals was suspended in the fifth inning with the score 1-all Monday.

The teams will pick up Tuesday where they left off, with two outs in the bottom of the fifth and a runner on second. Play is set to begin at 5:40 p.m. EDT, before the regularly scheduled night game.

 

The clubs waited through a 2-hour, 55-minute delay with the White Sox batting in fifth. The game resumed for only five minutes, long enough for Sanchez to hit an RBI single, before play was halted again. The suspension was announced an hour later.

 

The rain was coming down hard in the fourth when Kansas City's Adalberto Mondesi doubled and scored from third on Hunter Dozier's two-out single .

 

Chicago had runners on first and second with one out in the fifth after James McCann and Jose Rondon singled against Homer Bailey. Sanchez had a 2-1 count before the first delay hit.

 

Once the game resumed, Sanchez immediately hit a tying single against Brian Flynn.

 

Rondon got caught rounding second on the play when right fielder Whit Merrifield threw behind the runner. Sanchez moved to second when Flynn bounced a pitch to Ryan Cordell. Play was stopped again.

 

Bailey gave up three hits in 4 1/3 innings. Chicago's Ivan Nova went five innings, allowing six hits.

Brad Keller (3-5, 4.43 ERA) goes for his second straight win after tossing seven solid innings against St. Louis last week. He was 0-4 in his previous six starts.

 

Coming off a four-hitter for his first major league shutout, Lucas Giolito (6-1, 2.77 ERA) looks to keep his dominant run going Tuesday. He has won four straight starts and is 5-0 with a 1.98 ERA in his past seven outings.

Bruins Double Up Blues in Game 1 of Stanley Cup Finals

The Boston rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the St. Louis Blues 4-2 in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Finals on Monday night.

 

Sean Kuraly scored to break a third-period tie and assisted on another goal, and Tuukka Rask stopped 18 shots to help the Bruins complete their comeback from a two-goal deficit. 

 

Brad Marchand added an empty netter with about three minutes left, but the unofficial clincher came when Krug got up off the ice after losing his helmet in a tussle with David Perron in front of the Boston net.

 

Jordan Binnington made 34 saves for the Blues, who haven't been back to the final since getting swept by Boston in 1970. But it was Boston which was struggling with a long layoff - at least early on.

 

Brayden Schenn made it 1-0 lead midway through the first period on a third-chance shot. In the first minute of the second, David Pastrnak got sloppy behind the Bruins' net and Schenn was there again, this time to pass it to Vladimir Tarasenko in the slot to make it 2-0.

 

Game 2 in the best-of-seven series is Wednesday night.

Odorizzi, two more homers give Twins 7-0 win over White Sox

Jake Odorizzi dazzled and Max Kepler hit a three-run homer an estimated 429 feet into the wall of juniper bushes in center field to help the Twins win 7-0 over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

 

Eddie Rosario hit his 16th home run - which is second in the American League to Houston's George Springer - for three runs to cap a four-run third inning against Chicago starter Dylan Covey. Kepler's 12th homer was No. 104 for the Twins, which leads the majors. They also own the top home run differential at plus-43.

 

Minnesota has won 11 of its past 12 games and swept a series for the seventh time this season. The Twins swept eight series all of last season.

 

Odorizzi (7-2) allowed one hit in 5 1/3 scoreless innings to win his seventh straight decision, and he finished without allowing a run for the fifth time in his past six starts. He combined with four relievers for Minnesota's sixth shutout of the season.

 

Odorizzi has given up three runs in his past 35 2/3 innings for a 0.76 ERA and he's struck out 38 batters over that span. In six starts at home this season, the right-hander has given up five runs in 36 1/3 innings.

 

He struck out nine batters on Saturday, while the White Sox tied a season-high with 16 strikeouts. They were outscored 26-5 in the three-game series.

Senzel helps Reds pound Cubs 10-2

Nick Senzel had three hits, scored four times and cut down a runner at the plate, helping Tanner Roark and Cincinnati beat the Chicago Cubs 10-2 on Sunday.

 

Led by Senzel, the top third of Cincinnati's lineup collected seven of the Reds' season-high 17 hits. Joey Votto singled twice in his third consecutive multihit game, and Eugenio Suarez finished with two hits and three RBIs.

 

The Reds also got five scoreless innings from Roark (4-3) in the rubber game of their weekend set against the NL Central leaders. Cincinnati lost 14 of its previous 19 series against Chicago.

 

The Cubs were hurt by a shaky performance by Jose Quintana (4-4), and their dreary afternoon got even worse when Kris Bryant departed with an injury after colliding with center fielder Jason Heyward in the sixth inning.

 

With two outs and Senzel on first, Heyward and Bryant converged on Suarez's fly ball toward the gap in right-center. It looked as if Heyward and Bryant both called for it before running into each other, and the ball went off Heyward's glove.

 

Bryant, a natural third baseman who occasionally plays the outfield, stayed down as Senzel scored and Suarez hustled into third. Maddon and a trainer ran out to take a look, and the 2016 NL MVP gingerly walked off the field after a short conversation.

 

Maddon said he hadn't watched the replay, but he was told Bryant was hit in the head/neck area. Bryant was cleared to fly with the team to Houston for the start of its six-game road trip.

 

Senzel singled and scored in the first and third innings. He was nearly picked off in the third, but second baseman Daniel Descalso dropped a throw during the rundown. The rookie was shaken up when he collided with David Bote as he got into second, but he stayed in and scampered home on Suarez's sacrifice fly.

 

The Cubs strung together three consecutive singles with two out in the bottom half of the third, but Senzel threw out Anthony Rizzo when he attempted to score from second on Willson Contreras' liner to center.

 

Contreras and Javier Baez homered for Chicago. But it wasn't nearly enough on a tough day for Quintana, who allowed five earned runs and a career-high 12 hits in 5 1/3 innings.

 

Backup catcher Victor Caratini worked the ninth for the Cubs and surrendered Curt Casali's first homer of the season, a two-run drive to left.

McCann's bases-loaded walk lifts Braves past Cardinals in 10

Ozzie Albies finished a 10-pitch at-bat by singling in the tying run in the ninth inning to kick-start the Braves to a 4-3, 10-inning come-from-behind win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

 

Brian McCann drew a bases-loaded walk off reliever Tyler Webb for the go-ahead run in the 10th.

 

Albies forced extra innings by fouling off five consecutive 3-2 pitches from Andrew Miller before ripping a one-out hit to right to tie the score at 3-3.

 

Atlanta, which trailed 3-0 before scoring three in the ninth to tie it, has won 12 of 16 and captured its fifth successive series by winning two of three from St. Louis.

 

The Braves won for only the second time in 19 games when trailing after eight innings.

 

Freeman reached on an infield single with one out and moved to second on a walk to Donaldson and advanced to third on Nick Markakis' fly ball to center field. After Austin Riley was intentionally walked to load the bases, McCann drew a five-pitch walk from Tyler Webb (0-1) that brought in Freeman with the go-ahead run.

 

Jacob Webb (3-0) picked up the win with a scoreless ninth and Luke Jackson got the last three outs for his seventh save in 11 tries.

 

Ronald Acuna Jr. had two hits for Atlanta.

 

The Cardinals have lost four of six and have not won back-to-back games since May 1.

 

Donaldson and Riley's run-scoring hits in the ninth came off closer Jordan Hicks.

 

St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty gave up three hits and struck out seven in a 91-pitch outing over six scoreless innings.

 

The Cardinals scored two unearned runs against Atlanta starter Julio Teheran in the fourth. Kolten Wong reached on a two-base error by Riley, who dropped a line drive in left field. Harrison Bader followed with a run-scoring single to right. He eventually scored on a wild throw to the plate by Donaldson at third.

 

Yadier Molina pushed the lead to 3-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

 

Teheran gave up just two hits and three runs - one earned - in five innings. He walked four and struck out one.

 

Molina suffered a bruise on his right thumb in the fifth inning. He stayed in the game.

Rochester Blanks Lady Maroons for Regional Title

Reagan Miles twirled a sparkling seven shutout innings leading Rochester to a 4-0 win over Clinton in Class 3A girls softball regional final action from Rochester High School Friday afternoon.

 

Miles struck out 11 and allowed only four base runners. 

 

The Lady Maroons were led by Kianna Easton, who finished 2-for-3 and Amanda Tool reached base twice against Miles with a walk and single. 

 

Jose Deatherage homered for Rochester. 

 

The Lady Maroons end their season 10-17 overall. Rochester improves to 26-3 and will come to Clinton next week for Sectional action.

Lady Maroons Go For Regional Title Tonight in Rochester

The Clinton Lady Maroons will go for a 3A Regional title tonight when they take on Regional host, Rochester at 4:30 pm this afternoon is girls softball action. 

 

The Lady Maroons are back in a Regional title game for the third time in four years but have come up empty each time. 

 

The Lady Maroons' Mac Armstrong has been strong in circle. She twirled a shutout against Springfield Wednesday afternoon and allowed a run in four innings Monday in an 18-1 win over Springfield Lanphier.

 

Tonight, Rochester poses a new challenge. At 25-3 overall, the Lady Rockets lost their three games in Central State Eight Conference play and came in second in the conference to Normal U-High. The Lady Rockets have also only allowed 36 runs all season and have won 6 in a row, the latest a 10-0 win over Springfield Southeast Tuesday in Regional action.

 

The winner of tonight's game plays Tuesday at Clinton High School in Sectional action against the winner of tomorrow's matchup between Mt. Zion and Paris. 

 

Tonight's game's first pitch is 4:30 pm from Rochester. Hear the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, at Amazon Alexa and at the WHOW mobile app.

 

Class 3A girls softball Regional final action tonight....

 

At Bartonville

 

Limestone 4:00pm

Canton

 

At Galesburg 

 

Peoria Notre Dame 4:30pm

Galesburg

 

At Normal

 

Pontiac 4:30pm

Normal U-High

 

Saturday softball 3A Regional final action....

 

At Mahomet 

 

Charleston 11:00am

Mahomet-Seymour

 

At Rantoul

 

Mt. Zion 10:00am

Paris

 

At Taylorville

 

Chatham Glenwood 11:00am

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin

 

Saturday softball 4A Regional final action....

 

At Pekin

 

Normal West 11:00am

Moline 

 

Softball 1A Sectional final action today....

 

At Meridian

 

Windsor 3:30pm

Meridian

 

Saturday Softball 1A Sectional final action....

 

At Champaign St. Thomas More

 

Catlin Salt Fork 10:00am

Villa Grove

 

Softball 2A Sectional final action today....

 

At Brimfield

 

Tremont 4:30pm

Rockridge

 

Saturday 2A Softball Sectional final action....

 

At Olympia

 

Tolono Unity 11:00am

Olympia

 

>>Boys Baseball Postseason Championships

 

Class 1A Boys baseball sectional final action Saturday....

 

At Illinois Wesleyan

 

Ottawa Marquette 11:00am

LeRoy

 

At Danville Schlarman

 

Catlin Salt Fork 10:00am

Mt. Pulaski

 

Class 2A Boys baseball sectional final action Saturday....

 

At Bloomington Central Catholic

 

St. Joseph-Ogden 11:00am

Tuscola

 

Class 3A boys baseball Regional final action Saturday....

 

At Bloomington 

 

Normal -High 11:00am

Bloomington

 

At Illinois Valley Central

 

Galesburg 11:00am

Peoria Notre Dame

 

At Dunlap

 

Dunlap 12:00noon

Limestone

 

At Mahomet-Seymour

 

Champaign Central 3:00pm

Charleston

 

At Morton

 

Morton 11:00am

Lincoln

 

At Paris

 

Effingham 10:00am

Mattoon

 

At Quincy Notre Dame

 

Quincy Notre Dame 11:00am

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin

 

At Taylorville

 

Rochester 10:00am

Chatham Glenwood

 

Boys baseball Class 4A Regional final action....

 

At Moline 

 

Normal Community 1:00pm

Moline

 

At Normal West

 

Normal West 10:00am

Pekin

Michigan Comes Back Twice to Eliminate Illinois from Big Ten Tournament

Jordan Nwogu drilled a two-run double with two outs in the bottom of the ninth to push Michigan past Illinois 5-4 on Thursday in the Big Ten Tournament.

 

Ako Thomas also had a pair of RBIs for Michigan (39-17), which rallied from a 3-0 hole to solidify its at-large NCAA Tournament hopes.

 

Michigan tied it at 3-all on a two-RBI double by Thomas in the bottom of the seventh. The Wolverine pitchers couldn’t hold it, walking three batters — including a go-ahead run — in the top of the eighth.

But Garrett Acton (2-3), the national leader with 19 saves, allowed runners to reach first and third — and Nwogu drilled a walk-off double to the left field gap.

 

Kellen Sarver had a pair of RBIs for Illinois (36-19), the first team to be sent home from Omaha.

Illinois State Rallies Past Indiana State to Advance in Missouri Valley Tournament

Illinois State defeated Indiana State by a final score of 10-7 on Thursday evening at Duffy Bass Field during the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. 

 

The Sycamores scored six runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 7-3 lead, however, the Redbirds responded with five runs in the home half to take the lead, and eventually won the game. 

 

Aidan Huggins finished 3-for-3 with two runs batted in and scored twice. John Rave finished 2-for-5 with a double, two RBIs and a run and Jack Butler drove in two with a double. 

 

Matt Walker went 5 1/3 allowing five runs, four earned and struck out two. 

 

ISU will take on Dallas Baptist tomorrow at 3 p.m. in a battle of 2-0 teams at the tournament.

Sox Win, Cubs Lose Thursday

>>Giolito Brilliant As Sox Blank Astros

 

Lucas Giolito pitched a four-hitter for his first major league shutout, rookie Eloy Jimenez hit his third homer in two games and the White Sox beat the Astros 4-0.

 

Yoan Moncada had an RBI double and Tim Anderson added a run-scoring single for the White Sox, who earned a four-game series split by handing Houston its first set of consecutive losses since May 1-2.

 

Giolito (6-1) struck out a season-best nine and walked one in winning his fourth start in a row and fifth straight decision.

 

It was the first nine-inning complete game by a White Sox pitcher since Chris Sale beat Kansas City 7-4 in September 2016, and their first complete-game shutout since Sale threw a two-hitter in a 1-0 win at Tampa Bay on April 15, 2016.

 

Giolito threw 82 of his season-high 107 pitches for strikes against a first-place team that began the day leading the majors with an .860 OPS and had homered in 19 consecutive games.

 

Jimenez, who was 0 for 7 in the first two games of the series before hitting two homers in a win Wednesday night, connected off fellow rookie Corbin Martin (1-1) for a solo shot in the fourth inning that made it 4-0.

 

Martin gave up six hits and four runs over 3 1/3 innings in his third career start.

 

Yolmer Sanchez, who had three hits, doubled to start the third before Martin walked Charlie Tilson. Moncada followed with an RBI double to put Chicago up 1-0. A single by Anderson came next to score Tilson. Moncada scored on an error by Martin when his pickoff attempt to first was high.

 

Reynaldo Lopez (3-4, 5.14 ERA) starts Friday when Chicago opens a three-game series against the AL Central-leading Twins. Lopez has been strong in his last three starts, posting a 2.29 ERA.

 

>>Phillies Outlast Cubs in Slugfest

 

Jean Segura and J.T. Realmuto homered off Jon Lester, and the Phillies beat the Cubs 9-7 on Thursday for a split of the four-game series between division leaders.

Andrew McCutchen added two hits and two RBIs as Philadelphia won for the fifth time in seven games. Aaron Nola (5-0) pitched 5 1/3 innings of three-run ball in his second straight victory.

 

The Phillies won 5-4 in 10 innings in the series opener Monday night. They also held the lead each of the previous two days, only to falter down the stretch. But they managed to hold off the Cubs in the finale behind Hector Neris' adventurous four-out save.

 

After pitcher Tyler Chatwood's pinch-hit double got Chicago within two in the ninth, Neris struck out Addison Russell and retired Victor Caratini on a fly ball to left to close out his eighth save in eight chances. Neris entered with runners on first and second in the eighth and retired Javier Baez on a deep fly ball to left.

 

Anthony Rizzo and Kyle Schwarber homered for Chicago, which had won three of four. Rizzo finished with four hits and three RBIs, but the NL Central-leading Cubs were unable to overcome a second consecutive shaky performance by Lester (3-3).

 

Lester was charged with four earned runs and seven hits in his second straight loss. The ace left-hander has allowed nine earned runs and 17 hits in his last two outings after yielding five earned runs and 35 hits in his first seven starts combined.

 

Lester was 8-0 with a 1.49 ERA in 10 career starts against the Phillies before Thursday.

 

Kyle Hendricks (4-4, 3.21 ERA) pitches Friday in the opener of a three-game series against Cincinnati. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 1.47 ERA in four May starts. Anthony DeSclafani (2-2, 4.60 ERA) gets the ball for the visiting Reds.

Illinois Drops Big Ten Tourney Opener

Maryland hit two home runs in the eighth inning Wednesday to break a 1-1 tie and beat the No. 20 Illinois baseball team 6-2 in the Big Ten Tournament's first round at TD Ameritrade Park.

 

Maryland (29-27) powered past Illinois with two-run homers from Maxwell Costes and Justin Vought in the eighth. After the Terrapins added another run in the ninth, Illinois scored a put two runners on to bring the potential tying run to the on-deck circle, but two straight punch outs ended the threat. 

 

Andy Fisher started and turned in his fifth straight quality start for Illinois. Fisher worked 6 1/3 innings, allowing only one run on five hits and striking out four. Sean Leland (6-3) took the loss after allowing the two homers in one inning.

 

Hunter Parsons (10-3) was dominant for Maryland, going 7 1/3 innings and allowing one run on four hits. He threw 123 pitches to earn his 10th win of the year. 

 

Illinois (36-18) has a long road back in the tournament bracket, having to win four straight games in three days to get to Sunday's championship. Illinois would have to win Thursday at 9 a.m. CT, Friday at 3:30 p.m. CT, Saturday at 9 a.m. CT and again Saturday at 5 p.m. CT to get to the championship game Sunday at 1 p.m. CT.

 

Illinois drops to Thursday's losers' bracket game at 9 a.m. CT against Michigan.

Illinois State Tops Southern Illinois in Missouri Valley Conference Tourney Opener

Illinois State defeated Southern Illinois in its first Missouri Valley Conference game, 4-1 from Normal. 

 

Brent Headrick and Colton Johnson faced just five batters over the minimum in the victory. Headrick fired seven, one-run innings allowing two walks and struck out four. 

 

Derek Parola finished 2-for-4 with a solo home run. Joe Butler and Nick Zouras drove in runs for ISU as well.

 

The Redbirds (33-22) will play the winner of Evansville and Indiana State tomorrow at 7 p.m.

Cardinals Split Double Header With Royals; Sox Turn Triple Play, Hit Grand Slam in Win; Cubs Blast Phillies

>>Cardinals, Royals Split Double Header

 

Brad Keller threw seven-plus innings of two-hit baseball, Jorge Soler hit a three-run homer and the Kansas City Royals beat St. Louis 8-2 Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader. The Cardinals have lost 10 of 12.

 

He worked around leadoff walks in the first, second and fourth innings and had retired 12 of 13 batters before Matt Carpenter walked and Paul Goldschmidt singled to start the eighth, ending Keller's day.

 

Jorge Soler's drive into the left field seats off Michael Wacha (3-2) capped a six-run third and made it 7-0.

 

Whit Merrifield had two hits, drove in a run and scored once. Adalberto Mondesi had two hits, drove in two and scored. Nicky Lopez reached three times and scored twice and Hunter Dozier hit a pair of sacrifice flies.

 

Marcel Ozuna and Matt Carpenter went deep as part of a four-homer barrage and the St. Louis Cardinals split a doubleheader with the Kansas City Royals by winning the second game 10-3 on Wednesday night.

 

Ozuna capped a 12-pitch at-bat by blasting a three-run homer off Homer Bailey over the right field wall to give the Cardinals a 3-0 lead in the first. Carpenter set the tone against Bailey, who threw 42 pitches in the inning, with a nine-pitch walk.

 

Dexter Fowler and Kolten Wong also homered as St. Louis had as many home runs in the second game as it did hits in the opener.

 

Adam Wainwright (4-4) battled through control issues with 55 of his 103 pitches going for strikes. In five innings, he allowed three runs, six hits, walked four and struck out two.

 

John Gant, Andrew Miller, Carlos Martinez and John Brebbia combined for four scoreless innings of relief.

 

Hunter Dozier's 10th home run of the year off of Wainwright in the fifth inning travelled 420 feet. Adalberto Mondesi had a pair of hits, scored and drove in a run.

 

Miles Mikolas (4-4, 4.88 ERA) will look to bounce back in the opener of a three-game set against the Atlanta Braves and RHP Mike Foltynewicz (0-3, 6.91 ERA). Miles gave up seven runs in a career-low 1 1/3 innings in his last start at Texas last Friday.

 

>>Cubs Double Up Phillies

 

Cole Hamels struggled in his first start against his original team, Albert Almora Jr. hit his first career grand-slam and the Cubs rallied from an early three-run deficit with three homers, beating the Philadelphia Phillies 8-4 Wednesday night.

With the game tied at 3 in the fifth, Almora launched Cole Irvin's changeup into the shrubs in the center-field batter's eye.

 

Anthony Rizzo hit his 12th homer, a mammoth shot in the third inning that struck the neon beer sign atop the right field scoreboard, tying it at 3-all. That allowed Hamels to escape with a no-decision and remain unbeaten this season, despite allowing three runs on nine hits and two walks through four innings.

 

Javier Baez added a solo shot in the seventh.

 

Tyler Chatwood (3-0) earned the win with four innings of one-run, three-hit relief. Steve Cishek worked around a single and got the final three outs.

 

Andrew McCutchen had three hits, including a solo homer off Chatwood in the eighth. Jean Segura extended his hitting streak to 13 games with a single and a double as the Phillies dropped their second straight to Chicago in a four-game series between division leaders.

 

Irvin (2-1) was roughed up for seven runs on seven hits after winning his first two starts following his recall from Triple-A.

 

Aaron Nola (4-0, 4.47) faces Cubs LHP Jon Lester (3-2, 2.09) in the series finale on Thursday afternoon. Lester is 8-0 with a 1.49 ERA in 10 career starts against the Philadelphia. Nola has allowed just one run in four of his last five starts and is 2-0 with a 2.30 ERA over the span.

 

>>White Sox Solve Astros

 

Charlie Tilson hit a grand slam for his first career homer and the White Sox turned the only triple play in the majors this season during a 9-4 victory.

It's the first time in franchise history the White Sox have smacked a grand slam and pulled off a triple play in the same game - and only the fourth time a major league team has done it since 1979. The last club to accomplish the feat was the Detroit Tigers on Sept. 8, 2017.

 

Eloy Jimenez homered twice for Chicago, and Tilson's slam highlighted a six-run sixth inning.

The Astros got a homer from Alex Bregman in a three-run fourth to go on top before Chicago's big inning.

 

White Sox starter Ivan Nova (3-4) allowed 10 hits but just three runs in seven-plus innings to bounce back after giving up nine runs in his previous start. He was helped by a defense that turned four double plays and ended the third inning with Chicago's first triple play since July 2016 against Atlanta.

 

With runners on first and second, speedy Jake Marisnick hit a grounder down the third base line to Moncada. He stepped on the bag for the first out and threw to Yolmer Sanchez at second. Sanchez relayed to first, where the ball just beat Marisnick.

 

Gerritt Cole yielded seven hits and six runs while striking out seven in five-plus innings.

 

Lucas Giolito (5-1, 3.35 ERA) pitches the series finale Thursday. Giolito allowed three hits and one run over five innings against the Blue Jays in his last start to extend his winning streak to a career-high four games.

UPDATED: Lady Maroons Blank Springfield, Advance to Regional Final

Mac Armstrong went the distance for the Clinton Lady Maroons and shut out Springfield High School 4-0 in a Regional semifinal matchup at the Rochester High School in the Class 3A softball postseason. 

 

Armstrong set down the first 11 batters she faced before a two-out single gave the Lady Senators their first hit of the day. 

 

Springfield would muster just five more base runners the rest of the game and Armstrong did not allow a runner to reach third base. She struck out three, walked one and allowed three total hits.

 

The Lady Maroons were led offensively by Elly Maier who logged the game's only extra-base hit with an RBI double in the fifth inning. Winds were consistently blowing to right field and center field throughout the game but no one could muscle anything more than bloop base hits or ground balls through the infield. Polen finished 2-for-2 with a walk, run scored and RBI.

 

Camdyn Alsup finished 2-for-3 with a run scored. Savannah Clifton finished 2-for-4 with a run driven in. Amanda Tool also drove in a run for the Lady Maroons.

 

Clinton will take on Rochester at Rochester High School Friday afternoon for a Regional title. The Rockets shut out Clinton in a Regional semifinal game last year at Mahomet-Seymour and knocked the Lady Maroons out of the postseason in 2017 with an 11-3 in a Regional title game at Clinton High School. The Lady Maroons lost in a Regional final in 2016 to Effingham, 1-0. 

 

Friday's matchup is the third Regional championship game appearance in four seasons for Clinton. 

 

Game time is 4:30 pm from Rochester. Hear the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

 

Class 3A Regional semifinal softball scores from Wednesday....

 

At Bartonville

 

East Peoria 3

Limestone 7

 

At Chillicothe

 

Metamora 1

Geneseo 9

 

Illinois Valley Central 6

Streator 3

 

At Galesburg

 

Peoria Notre Dame 5

Macomb 0

 

At Taylorville

 

Chatham Glenwood 13

Decatur MacArthur 0

 

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 10

Taylorville 7

 

Class 4A Regoinal semifinal softball scores from Wednesday....

 

At Pekin

 

Moline 8

Normal Community 1

 

Class 1A Sectional semifinal softball scores from Wednesday....

 

At Champaign St. Thomas More

 

Fisher 2

Villa Grove 3

 

At Meridian

 

Casey-Westfield 1

Meridian 2

 

Class 2A Sectional semifinal softball scores from Wednesday....

 

At Brimfield

 

Quincy Notre Dame 2

Tremont 10

 

At Newton

 

Breese Mater Dei 5

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 2

 

At Olympia

 

Olympia 4

St. Joseph-Ogden 2

 

Class 3A Regional semifinal action today....

 

At Limestone

 

Washington 4:30pm

Canton

 

At Chillicothe

 

Geneseo 4:30pm

Illinois Valley Central

 

At Galesburg

 

Galesburg 6:30pm

Dunlap

 

>>Class 1A boys baseball sectional semifinal action

 

At Illinois Wesleyan

 

Delavan 0

Ottawa Marquette 2

 

LeRoy 3

Woodhull AlWood 0

 

Class 2A boys baseball Sectional semifinal action from Wednesday

 

At Bloomington Central Catholic

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 8

St. Joseph-Ogden 16

 

Tuscola 8

Clifton Central 3

 

Class 3A boys baseball Regional semifinal action from Wednesday....

 

At Bloomington 

 

Normal U-High 11

Pontiac 1

 

At Illinois Valley Central

 

Illinois Valley Central 0

Peoria Notre Dame 7

 

At Dunlap

 

Dunlap 11 F-5

Canton 0

 

Limestone 9

Macomb 1

 

At Mahomet-Seymour

 

Champaign Central 15

Mt. Zion 1

 

Charleston 7

Mahomet-Seymour 1

 

At Morton

 

Morton 10

East Peoria 2

 

Lincoln 3

Washington 0

 

At Paris

 

Mattoon 6

Champaign Centennial 2

 

At Quincy Notre Dame

 

Quincy Notre Dame 10

Springfield Lanphier 0

 

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 5 @ University of Illinois Springfield

Springfield 0

 

At Taylorville

 

Rochester 4

Springfield Southeast 2

 

Class 4A boys baseball regional semifinal action from Wednesday....

 

At Moline 

 

Normal Community 4

Rock Island 2

 

At Normal West

 

Normal West 8

Minooka 3

 

Class 3A boys baseball regional semifinal action today.....

 

At Bloomington 

 

Metamora 4:00pm

Bloomington 

 

At Taylorville

 

Chatham Glenwood 4:30pm

Taylorville  

Clinton Softball Takes on Springfield At Rochester Regional

The Clinton Lady Maroons will take on Springfield in today's Class 3A Rochester regional semifinal action.

 

The Lady Maroons rolled past Springfield Lanphier 18-1 on Monday at Clinton High School. Springfield, the four seed in the sectional, did not have a first round game.

 

Game time today is 4:30 pm. Hear all the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, the WHOW mobile app and at Amazon Alexa.

 

Class 3A Regional semifinal scores from Wednesday....

 

At Mahomet-Seymour

 

Charleston 11

Mattoon 0

 

Mahomet-Seymour 8

Effingham 6

 

At Normal U-High

 

Morton 0

Pontiac 10

 

Bloomington 1

Normal U-High 2

 

At Rantoul

 

Mt. Zion 13 F-5

Rantoul 3

 

At Rochester

 

Rochester 10 F-5

Springfield Southeast 0

 

Class 3A Regional semifinal action today....

 

At Limestone

 

East Peoria 4:30pm - POSTPONED FROM TUESDAY

Limestone

 

At Chillicothe

 

Geneseo 4:30pm - POSTPONED FROM TUESDAY

Metamora

 

Streato 6:30pm - POSTPONED FROM TUESDAY

Illinois Valley Central

 

At Galesburg 

 

Peoria Notre Dame 4:30pm - POSTPONED FROM TUESDAY

Macomb

 

At Taylorville

 

Chatham Glenwood 4:30pm - POSTPONED FROM TUESDAY

Decatur MacArthur

 

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 6:30pm - POSTPONED FROM TUESDAY

Taylorville

 

Class 1A Sectional semifinal softball scores from Tuesday....

 

At Champaign St. Thomas More

 

Heyworth 2

Catlin Salt Fork 3

 

At Meridian

 

Casey-Westfield 1 susp. AFTER 5

Meridian 0

Game was suspended in the top of the 5th inning and will be resumed on Wednesday, 05/22 at 6:00 pm

 

Class 2A Sectional semifinal softball scores from Tuesday....

 

At Olympia

Tolono Unity 5

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 4

 

Class 2A Sectional semifinal action for today....

 

At Newton

 

Breese Mater Dei 4:30pm - POSTPONED FROM TUESDAY

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond

 

At Olympia

 

Olympia 4:30pm

St. Joseph-Ogden

 

>>Boys Baseball Regional, Sectional Matchups

 

Class 1A Boys baseball Sectional semifinal action today....

 

At Illinois Wesleyan U.

 

Ottawa-Marquette 4:00pm

Delavan

 

 

LeRoy 6:00pm

Woodhull-AlWood

 

At Danville Schlarman

 

Catlin Salt Fork 4:30pm

Bethany Okaw Valley

 

Mt. Pulaski 6:30pm

Cissna Park

 

Class 2A Boys baseball Sectional semifinal action today....

 

At Bloomington Central Catholic

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 4:30pm

St. Joseph-Ogden

 

Tuscola 7:00pm

Clifton Central

 

Class 3A boys baseball Regional semifinal action today....

 

At Bloomington

 

Normal U-High 4:00pm

Pontiac

 

At Chillicothe

 

Peoria Notre Dame 7:00pm

Illinois Valley Central

 

At Dunlap

 

Dunlap 4:30pm

Canton

 

Limestone 6:30pm

Macomb

 

At Mahomet-Seymour

 

Champaign Central 4:00pm

Mt. Zion

 

Charleston 6:00pm

Mahomet-Seymour

 

At Morton

 

Morton 4:30pm

East Peoria

 

Lincoln 7:00pm

Washington

 

At Paris

 

Effingham 4:00pm

Paris

 

Mattoon 6:30pm

Champaign Centennial

 

At Quincy Notre Dame

 

Quincy Notre Dame 5:00pm

Springfield Lanphier

 

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 4:00pm @ University of Illinois Springfield

Springfield (H.S.)

 

At Taylorville

 

Rochester 4:30pm

Springfield Southeast

 

Class 4A Boys baseball regional semifinal action today....

 

At Moline

 

Normal Community 4:30pm

Rock Island

 

At Normal West

 

Normal West 4:30pm

Minooka

Cubs Win, Sox Lose, Cards Washed Out

>>Cubs Hold Off Phillies

 

Javy Baez's pinch-hit single capped a two-run, ninth-inning rally and lifted the Cubs over Philadelphia 3-2 on Tuesday night to stop the Phillies' four-game winning streak.

 

Baez didn't start for a second straight game because of a jammed right heel, but the 2018 NL MVP runner-up came through immediately off the bench with the game on the line.

 

Bryant had three hits and used his speed to slide home with two runs.

 

Chicago trailed 2-1 starting the ninth, but Juan Nicasio (0-2) walked Bryant leading off, Anthony Rizzo doubled and, after Willson Contreras hit a shallow flyout, Jason Heyward was intentionally walked.

 

Bryant scored when Albert Almora Jr. hit a chopper toward first, and Nicasio's underhand toss to catcher J.T. Realmuto was late, a call upheld by a video review. Baez, lined Nicasio's first pitch to right over a drawn-in infield.

 

Kyle Ryan (1-1) got two outs for the win.

 

Phillies slugger Bryce Harper went 0 for 4 and failed to reach base at Wrigley Field for the first time in 19 games. Jean Segura doubled in the first to extend his hitting streak to 12 games.

 

Andrew McCutchen hit a two-run single in the seventh off Brandon Kintzler to put the Phillies ahead.

Cubs starter Jose Quintana allowed two hits in six shutout innings, leaving after 100 pitches.

 

Philadelphia's Zach Eflin settled down after a 32-pitch first inning that included three walks and allowed one run and six hits in six innings.

 

Cole Hamels (4-0, 3.13) makes his first start against the Philadelphia on Wednesday. The Phillies drafted Hamels and he won 114 games for the Phillies before he was traded to Texas in July 2015.

 

Phillies rookie LHP Cole Irvin (2-0, 2.77) won his first two starts after his recall from Triple-A.

 

>>Astros Stay Hot, Down White Sox

 

Justin Verlander took a no-hitter into the seventh inning and struck out a season-high 12 to lead the Astros to a 5-1 win over the White Sox.

Verlander (8-1) was in control from the first pitch, allowing one hit and walking one in eight innings for his fourth straight win and the seventh in eight starts. The only hit off him came when Jose Abreu sent the first pitch of his at-bat just over the wall and out of reach of a leaping Jake Marisnick in straightaway center field with one out in the seventh to cut the lead to 5-1.

 

Yuli Gurriel hit a solo homer off Dylan Covey (0-3) in the fourth inning to give the Astros home runs in 18 straight games, tying the second-longest streak in franchise history.

 

Verlander, who threw no-hitters in 2007 and 2011, retired his first five batters with three strikeouts before walking Yonder Alonso with two outs in the second. But he got right back on track, sitting down Tim Anderson to end the inning.

 

He needed just 11 pitches to strike out the side in the third inning.

 

Yoan Moncada struck out to start the seventh before Abreu's homer. Verlander received a hearty ovation after ending his night with a perfect eighth before Hector Rondon took over for the ninth and finished the one-hitter.

 

Covey allowed four hits, walked four and allowed four runs in four-plus innings.

 

Ivan Nova (2-4, 7.42) will start for Chicago on Wednesday night. Nova will try and bounce back after yielding eight hits and nine runs in three innings of a 10-2 loss to Toronto in his last start.

 

Gerrit Cole (4-4, 3.56) is scheduled to start for Houston when the series continues Wednesday. Cole, who leads the majors with 93 strikeouts, struck out seven in five scoreless innings of Houston's 3-1 win over Boston in his last start.

 

>>Cardinals, Royals Rained Out

 

The opener of the I-70 series between the St. Louis Cardinals and the Kansas City Royals was postponed because of a forecast for severe weather and rescheduled as part of a day-night doubleheader on Wednesday.

 

The National Weather Service said there was a ''threat for severe thunderstorms producing tornadoes, strong winds, large hail, and additional flash flooding'' on Tuesday night.

 

Michael Wacha (3-1), who had been scheduled to start for St. Louis on Tuesday, will pitch the game against Kansas City's Brad Keller (2-5).

 

Homer Bailey (4-4), the Royals' starter Tuesday, will pitch the night game against Adam Wainwright (3-4).

 

St. Louis has lost seven of 10 games. Kansas City won Sunday to stop a four-game losing streak.

Blues Punch Ticket to Stanley Cup

David Perron had a goal and an assist, Jordan Binnington picked up his franchise-record 12th playoff win and the Blues eliminated the San Jose Sharks with a 5-1 win in Game 6 of the Western Conference final Tuesday night.

 

Tarasenko, Brayden Schenn and Tyler Bozak also scored for St. Louis, which will face the Boston Bruins for the championship. Ivan Barbashev got an empty-netter with 2:15 left, Ryan O'Reilly had three assists and Binnington stopped 25 shots.

 

St. Louis won three consecutive games to advance to the franchise's first Cup Final since 1970. That series also pitted the Blues against the Bruins.

 

San Jose played without injured forwards Joe Pavelski and Tomas Hertl and defenseman Erik Karlsson. Injury attrition played a role for the Sharks, who played seven games in each of the first two rounds.

 

Dylan Gambrell scored his first career goal for San Jose, which lost for the first time in five elimination games this postseason. Martin Jones made 14 stops.

 

St. Louis grabbed control with a fast start.

 

Perron tipped in Sammy Blais' shot just 92 seconds into the game. Tarasenko made it 2-0 with a well-placed wrist shot at 16:16.

 

Tarasenko got his eighth goal of the postseason just seven seconds after San Jose forward Barclay Goodrow was sent off for tripping.

 

St. Louis D Vince Dunn missed his third consecutive game with an upper-body injury. He took a puck to the mouth in the first period of Game 3. 

 

Game 1 is Monday night in Boston.

Illinois Gets Four Selected to All Big Ten First Team

Four members of the No. 20 Illinois Baseball team were selected to the All-Big Ten First Team, the Big Ten Conference announced Tuesday. 

 

Garrett Acton, Andy Fisher, Michael Massey and Zac Taylor were all honored as first-team selections, tied for the fourth-most Illini on the first team since the All-Big Ten teams began in 1949.

 

Jack Yalowitz was a third-team pick, Cam McDonald made the All-Freshman Team and David Craan was selected as Illinois' Sportsmanship Award honoree.

 

Massey has had a consistent climb to All-Big Ten first team honors after being voted to the second team as a sophomore and third team as a freshman, hitting .323 with five homers and 26 RBIs, ranked sixth in the Big Ten in hits (65), eighth in batting average and leads Big Ten second basemen in nearly every statistical category.

 

Taylor has had a huge season despite missing 14 games with an injury. He has not appeared enough to rank on the Big Ten's batting average chart (would be fourth), yet he led the Big Ten with 20 steals and hit 10 homers. Taylor became the first player in Illinois history with 10+ home runs and 10+ stolen bases in back-to-back seasons.

 

Fisher has a 7-1 record and 2.65 ERA. The left hander ranks fourth in the Big Ten in batting average against (.205), fourth in innings (88.1), sixth in ERA (2.65) and eighth in strikeouts (85). He'll start Wednesday's Big Ten Tournament opener for Illinois.

 

Acton set the Illinois and Big Ten record for saves in a season with 19, a mark that also leads the nation.

ISU Dominates Missouri Valley Conference Season Awards

Illinois State outfielder Joe Aeilts and Redbird pitcher Brent Headrick highlight the 2019 MVC all-conference baseball teams, being tabbed Joe Carter Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Illinois State's Steve Holm has been named the league's Dan Callahan Coach of the Year, after leading the Redbirds to their third regular-season title in program history and the second seed in this week's MVC Baseball Championship. 

 

Indiana State pitcher Collin Liberatore was named Newcomer of the Year and Sycamore third baseman Jake Means earned Defensive Player of the Year honors. Missouri State rookie outfielder Dakota Kotowski was tabbed the league's Freshman of the Year.

 

Aielts and Headrick along with fellow juniors Joe Butler and John Rave were first team all conference. Aeilts slashed .349/.404/.570 with seven doubles, four home runs, 19 RBI, and 18 runs scored. Headrick tossed 48 innings allowing 12 runs (seven earned) on 30 hits. He walked just 13 batters and fanned 60 while opponents hit just .175 off of the left-handed pitcher. Rave slashed .289/.343/.598 during the conference season. The preseason All-MVC first-teamer led the team in conference play with 97 at-bats, 22 runs scored, eight home runs, 22 RBI, and 58 total bases. Joe Butler leads the Redbirds this conference season with a .422 batting average, a .489 on-base percentage, and a .614 slugging percentage. The junior third basemen also led the 'Birds in hits (35), and tied for the team lead with one triple while doubling eight times with two home runs, 12 RBI, and 19 runs scored. 

 

Sophomore Jack Butler was named to the All-Honorable Mention team. Rave was also named to the All-MVC Defensive Team for a third straight season.

Illinois Baseball Checks in at No. 20 in DIBaseball.com Poll Headed to Big Ten Tournament

The No. 20 Illinois baseball team travels to Omaha, Nebraska, this week for the 2019 Big Ten Baseball Tournament at TD Ameritrade Park. The Illini are the No. 3 seed and will face No. 6-seeded Maryland in the tournament's opener Wednesday at 9 a.m. CT. 

 

Illinois (36-17, 15-9 Big Ten) is making its 23rd Big Ten Tournament appearance and will look for its fifth tournament title (1989, 1990, 2000, 2011). The conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament goes to the winner of the eight-team, double-elimination Big Ten Tournament. 

 

The Illini have an opportunity to add to its already strong NCAA Tournament resume. Illinois' RPI is at No. 22 with help from its 11-5 record against the top 50, the No. 5 winning percentage in the nation against the top 50. The Illini are squarely on the bubble to host an NCAA Regional in Champaign as one of the top 16 teams in the nation.

 

Illinois' Wednesday matchup with Maryland (28-27, 12-12 Big Ten) gives the Illini a chance to avenge one of its only series losses of the season. Andy Fisher will get the ball against Maryland's Hunter Parsons, a rematch of the two teams' Friday game on April 5, when Maryland rallied with four runs in the ninth to beat Illinois 4-2 at Illinois Field. 

 

The winner of Illinois vs. Maryland will face the winner of No. 2 seed Michigan vs. No. 7 seed Ohio State at 5 p.m. CT Thursday. The two games' losing teams will play Thursday at 9 a.m. CT.

All Big Ten Tournament games will be televised nationally on Big Ten Network.

Illinois State's Nick Zouras Missouri Valley Conference Baseball Player of the Week

Illinois State catcher Nick Zouras has been named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week, announced by the conference office Monday afternoon.

 

Zouras helped Illinois State take home a share of the MVC regular season title this weekend with a series victory on Sunday over Evansville, 11-4. The senior led the Redbirds offensively, as he slashed .538/.538/.769 going 7-for-13 at the plate with three doubles, six RBI, and four runs scored.

 

The Prospect Heights, Illinois, native was a perfect 4-for-4 in the series opener with two RBI and two runs scored in the Redbirds 11-2 win. Zouras went 1-for-4 with a RBI and two runs scored on Saturday. He finished on Senior Day going 2-for-5 with three RBI including the go-ahead RBI in the fifth inning, and then added a two-run double in the seventh inning to secure the series victory over Evansville.

 

The No. 2 seeded Redbirds will open the MVC baseball tournament on Wednesday, May 22 at 3 p.m. Illinois State will play the winner of the No. 6 Bradley versus No. 8 Southern Illinois game on Tuesday.

Cubs, White Sox Lose Monday

Jake Arrieta allowed one run over six innings in his return to Wrigley Field, J.T. Realmuto hit a solo homer in the 10th and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 5-4 on Monday.

 

Realmuto connected with two outs against Kyle Ryan (0-1), driving a 1-2 fastball a few rows into the left-field seats to decide the opener of a four-game series between the NL East and Central leaders. But the night belonged to Arrieta.

 

Hector Neris (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth. Adam Morgan struck out Jason Heyward leading off the 10th, and Juan Nicasio earned his first save since last June 28 when he got Daniel Descalso to ground into a double play after giving up a single to Albert Almora Jr.

 

Philadelphia scored three runs with two outs in the sixth against Darvish for a 3-1 lead. Realmuto hit an RBI single, and Cesar Hernandez followed with a two-run triple to right that ricocheted off the side wall and bounced over Heyward's head.

 

The Cubs scored three in the eighth against Seranthony Dominguez. Descalso drove in two with a triple to left-center, then was rewarded home when the relay from shortstop Jean Segura ricocheted off his right foot and into Chicago's dugout.

 

Philadelphia tied the game in the ninth against Brad Brach when Maikel Franco doubled and came home on a two-out bloop single to right by Segura.

 

Darvish gave up three runs, four hits and three walks in six innings while striking out seven.

Anthony Rizzo had three hits, including an RBI single.

 

Zach Eflin (5-4, 2.89 ERA) tries for his fourth win in five starts.

 

Jose Quintana (4-3, 3.68) has lost two straight starts after going 4-0 in his previous five.

 

 

 

Jake Marisnick and Tyler White homered and Brad Peacock had another solid start to lead the

Astros over the Chicago White Sox 3-0.

 

With George Springer, who leads the American League with 17 homers, out with a stiff back the Astros got pop from the bottom of the lineup to give them at least one homer in 17 straight games.

They have 40 home runs in that span, and the two long balls Monday night helped them to their 11th

win in 12 games.

 

Peacock (5-2) allowed two hits and fanned nine in five innings for his third straight win. He has allowed just two runs combined in his last three starts after giving up 11 combined in his previous three outings.

 

Ryan Pressly pitched a scoreless eighth to extend his MLB-record streak of appearances without allowing a run to 40, and Roberto Osuna gave up a hit in the ninth, preserving the shutout and earning his 12th save.

 

The White Sox used five pitchers on a bullpen day which began with Ryan Burr (1-1), who had made 22 relief appearances in two seasons with the team, but whose last start came at Arizona State on Feb. 23, 2014. He allowed one hit and one run - which was unearned, in two innings.

 

Eloy Jimenez was reinstated from the 10-day injured list before Monday's game, taking the roster spot of OF Nicky Delmonico, who was optioned to Triple-A Charlotte on Sunday. Jimenez has been on the injured list since April 28 after sustaining a high ankle sprain two days earlier.

 

Dylan Covey (0-2, 4.41 ERA) will start for Chicago on Tuesday. Covey did not factor in the decision after allowing two hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings against Toronto in his last start.

 

Justin Verlander (7-1, 2.38) is scheduled to start for Houston on Tuesday. Verlander yielded two hits and one run in seven innings against Detroit for his third straight win the last time out.

Blues Look To Close Out Western Conference Finals At Home Tonight

The team that sat dead last in the NHL when the calendar flipped to 2019 is now one win away from the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1970.

 

That kind of turnaround sounds like a cheesy movie of the week, but it's the scenario before the St. Louis Blues after they blasted the host San Jose Sharks 5-0 Sunday afternoon to take a 3-2 lead in the Western Conference finals.

 

The Blues will look to close out the best-of-seven series Tuesday at home when they host Game 6. The winner of the series will face the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Final.

 

The Sharks suffered through a war of attrition in what may have been their final home game of the season. Defenseman Erik Karlsson and forward Tomas Hertl didn't play in the third period, while captain Joe Pavelski left early in the final frame after taking a hard check.

 

Jaden Schwartz's trio of goals gives him 12 in the playoffs, one more than he collected through the regular season, while Vladimir Tarasenko netted a penalty shot goal in a three-point game. Tarasenko has collected at least one point in every game this series.

UPDATED: Lady Maroons Advance To Regional Semifinals; Boys Baseball Falls At Pontiac

As heard on WHOW, the Clinton Lady Maroons defeated Springfield Lanphier by a score of 18-1 in 4 innings on Monday evening. 

 

The Lady Maroons were led at the plate by Camydn Alsup who went 3 for 4 with 3 RBIs including a 2 run double. Kianna Easton was 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs. Savanah Clifton was 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs and Amanda Tool was 2 for 2 with 2 RBIs. 

 

Mackenzie Armstrong took the win pitching 4 innings, allowing 1 run on 3 hits, walking none and striking out 3. 

 

The Lady Maroons advance to the 3A Regional Semifinals at Rochester on Wednesday. The Lady Maroons will play against Springfield High School with first pitch set for 4:30 pm. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, and on the WHOW app.

 

Class 3A Regional quarterfinal softball scores....

 

Limestone 24 F-4

Peoria Manual 0

 

At Decatur MacArthur

 

Decatur MacArthur 16

Decatur Eisenhower 1

 

Effingham 11 F-5

Champaign Central 1

 

Morton 13

Lincoln 9

 

Macomb 15

Peoria 0

 

Mattoon 8

Champaign Centennial 3

 

Metamora 18 F-4

Peoria Richwoods 1

 

Rantoul 8

Urbana 3

 

Springfield Southeast 12

Jacksonville 11

 

>>Big Second Inning Lifts Pontiac Over Clinton

 

Pontiac scored five runs in the second inning and that was the difference as they rolled past Clinton 7-3 in boys baseballl Class 3A Regional quarterfinal action from Pontiac Monday afternoon. 

 

Michael Oswald drove in three runs as part of a 2-for-4 afternoon. Braden Cross and Logan Peterson each had a double.

 

The Maroons finish their 2019 campaign 8-12 overall. Pontiac moves on to take on Normal U-High Wednesday afternoon in Bloomington. 

 

Boys baseball Class 3A Regional quarterfinal scores from Monday.....

 

East Peoria 6

Streator 5

 

Geneseo 10

Peoria 0

 

Jacksonville 6

Springfield Lanphier 7

 

Mahomet-Seymour 10

Urbana 3

 

Mt. Zion 7

Rantoul 3

 

Peoria Richwoods 1

Canton 6

 

Springfield Southeast 6

Decatur MacArthur 3

 

Taylorville 10

Decatur Eisenhower 0

 

Class 3A Regional semifinal softball action today....

 

At Bartonville

 

East Peoria 4:30pm

Limestone

 

At Illinois Valley Central

 

Geneseo 4:30pm

Metamora

 

Streator 6:30pm

Illinois Valley Central

 

At Galesburg

 

Peoria Notre Dame 4:30pm

Macomb

 

At Mahomet-Seymour

 

Mahomet-Seymour 6:00pm

Effingham

 

At Rantoul

 

Mt. Zion 4:30pm

Rantoul

 

Paris 6:30pm

Danville

 

At Rochester

 

Rochester 4:30pm

Springfield Southeast

 

At Taylorville

 

Chatham Glenwood 4:30pm

Decatur MacArthur

 

Springfield Sacred Heart-Griffin 6:30pm

Taylorville

 

Class 4A Regional semifinal softball action today....

 

At Pekin

 

Normal West 4:30pm

Pekin

Maroons Open Regional Play At Pontiac; Lady Maroons Host Springfield Lanphier

The Class 3A, 4A baseball and softball postseaon opens this afternoon with a day full of regional semifinal action.

 

The Clinton Maroons head to Pontiac for a Regional semifinal game as a part of the Bloomington Regional. A windy day Saturday resulted in a slugfest in Taylorville as the Maroons ended their campaign with a 26-12 loss to the Tornadoes.

 

Game time this afternoon from Pontiac is 4:30 pm.

 

The Lady Maroons will host Springfield Lanphier as a part of the Rochester regional. First pitch this afternoon from Clinton High School is 4:30 pm. Hear all the action on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM WHOW and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

 

Other Class 3A Regional semifinal girls softball action today....

 

Limestone 4:30pm

Peoria Manual

 

Decatur MacArthur 4:30pm

Decatur Eisenhower

 

Lincoln 4:30pm

Morton

 

Effingham  4:30pm

Champaign Central

 

Macomb 4:30pm

Peoria

 

Mattoon 4:30pm

Champaign Centennial

 

Metamora 4:30pm

Peoria Richwoods

 

Rantoul 4:30pm

Urbana

 

Springfield Southeast 4:30pm

Jacksonville

 

Boys baseball Class 3A Regional semifinal action....

 

East Peoria 4:30pm

Streator

 

Geneseo 4:30pm

Peoria

 

Jacksonville 4:30pm

Springfield Lanphier

 

Mahomet-Seymour 4:30pm

Urbana 

 

Mt. Zion 4:30pm

Rantoul

 

Peoria Richwoods 4:30pm

Canton

 

Springfield Southeast 4:30pm

Decatur MacArthur

Illinois Earns 3-Seed in This Week's Big Ten Tournament

Illinois earned the No. 3 seed for the 2019 Big Ten Tournament and will play No. 6-seeded Maryland at 9 a.m. CT on Wednesday at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha. The winner of Illinois vs. Maryland will play the winner of Michigan vs. Ohio State at 5 p.m. CT on Thursday, while the two losing teams play Thursday at 9 a.m. CT.

 

The Big Ten Tournament is an eight-team double elimination tournament. Four wins in five days are required to win the tournament, which runs through the championship game Sunday, May 26 at 1 p.m. CT.

 

Illinois is No. 22 in the RPI, the best in the Big Ten and has won 14 of their last 18 games.

Illinois State Earns Co-Missouri Valley Conference Regular Season Title, To Host MVC Tournament

An 11-4 win in the regular season finale gave the Illinois State Redbirds a share of the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference regular season title. ISU finished the regular season 32-22 and 14-7 in MVC play heading into the conference tournament held next week in Normal.

 

Illinois State will open its tournament action on Wednesday, May 22 when the team will play the winner of the first round game between Bradley and Southern Illinois in a 3 p.m. first pitch. 

Cubs Win; Cardinals, Sox Lose Sunday

Steve Cishek pitched 2 1/3 scoreless innings for his fourth save as the Cubs held on for a 6-5 win.

Chicago led 6-1 before Washington closed to within one on a three-run homer by Anthony Rendon in the sixth inning and a solo home run by Howie Kendrick in the seventh.

 

Cishek retired Rendon with a man on to end the seventh and allowed a single in the eighth before a 1-2-3 ninth.

 

Anthony Rizzo homered and Albert Almora Jr. had three hits for the Cubs, who took two of three from the Nationals and improved to 10-1-1 in their past 12 series.

 

Kyle Hendricks (4-4) retired the first 11 Washington batters and didn't allow a hit until Kurt Suzuki's single leading off the fifth, but gave up four runs and six hits in 5 2/3 innings. Hendricks had been masterful in May, allowing just one earned run over his past three starts (25 innings).

 

Washington starter Jeremy Hellickson (2-3) allowed three runs and four hits with three walks in three innings.

 

Yu Darvish (2-3, 5.14) starts the opener of a three-game series against former Cub Jake Arrieta and the visiting Philadelphia Phillies.

 

>>Blue Jays Down White Sox

 

Vlad Guerrero, Jr. hit another home run, Danny Jansen and Billy McKinney also connected and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox 5-2 on Sunday.

Guerrero has hit all four of his homers in the past six games and is 7 for 21 with nine RBIs during that span. The 20-year-old didn't homer in his first 13 games after making his debut in late April.

Guerrero's two-run drive broke a 1-all tie in the eighth inning. Jansen added a two-run homer in the ninth.

 

Jose Abreu drove in both runs for the White Sox.

 

Daniel Hudson (3-1) worked a scoreless seventh. Ken Giles gave up an RBI double to the first batter he faced, then got four outs for his 10th save.

 

Kelvin Herrera (1-3) took the loss.

 

Toronto starter Trent Thornton allowed one run and three hits in six innings. White Sox starter Reynaldo Lopez gave up one run and four hits in six innings.

 

The White Sox have not named a starter Monday night for the opener of a four-game series at Houston and likely will go with a bullpen day. Chicago was winless in seven games last season against the Astros, who will start RHP Brad Peacock (4-2, 4.01 ERA).

 

>>Ranger Outlast Cardinals in Extra Innings

 

Danny Santana connected for a pinch-hit home run in the eighth inning and then scoring the winning run in the 10th on a sacrifice fly by Nomar Mazara off Martinez that lifted Texas over the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4.

The Rangers rallied for two runs in the 10th and won for the fourth time in five games. The Cardinals dropped their fifth straight series and haven't won consecutive games since taking five in a row from April 27-May 1.

 

Dexter Fowler's solo homer in the ninth off Texas reliever Chris Martin made it 3-all.

 

The Cardinals went ahead in the 10th when Harrison Bader doubled off Jeanmar Gomez (1-0) and scored on a sacrifice fly by Paul DeJong.

 

Rougned Odor opened the Texas 10th with a single off Jordan Hicks (1-2), Santana walked and Calhoun had a tying single.

 

Hicks threw 39 pitches, the most of his two-year major league career.

 

DeJong drove in three runs for the Cardinals.

 

St. Louis starter Jack Flaherty gave up two runs on four hits with two walks and five strikeouts in six innings. Choo led off the first with a home run.

 

Rangers starter Drew Smyly sought his first win since Sept. 13, 2016, having missed the next two major league seasons following Tommy John surgery. He pitched four innings, allowing two runs in the first.

 

Michael Wacha (3-1, 4.93 ERA) will make his fifth career start against the Kansas City Royals on Tuesday and his first at home. Wacha is 3-1 with a 2.56 ERA against Kansas City.

Koepka Holds Off DJ For Second Straight PGA Championship Title

Brooks Koepka completed a stellar effort at Bethpage Black on Sunday, winning the 2019 PGA Championship in wire-to-wire fashion -- the first to do so since 1983 -- by ending every round as the clubhouse leader. The defending champion at the event, Koepka won his second straight PGA Championship and becomes the first golfer in history to hold consecutive titles at two different major championships simultaneously, the other being the U.S. Open.

 

Entering Sunday's final round, Koepka led all of his challengers by seven strokes entering Round 4, something that had happened nine other times after 54 holes in a major since 1900. Those nine all went on to victory, as did Koepka eventually, but the champion saw his lead shrink to as little as a single stroke down the stretch following four straight bogeys on holes 11-14.

 

Dustin Johnson was hot on Koepka's heels but simply unable to get the job done over the final few holes, finishing 6 under after posting a 69 on Sunday. Koepka shot a 4-over 74 to finish 8 under for the tournament, playing his first major championship round over par since the 2018 Open.

 

Jordan Spieth tied for third at two-under. This is Spieth's first top-10 finish in 10 months (2018 Open Championship) and first top-20 finish of the season.

 

Rory McIlroy logged his ninth top-10 of the season here thanks to a pair of 69s on the weekend. 

Regional Baseball and Softball Scores; Baseball, Softball Regional Final Matchups

Class 1A girls softball Regional final results from Friday

 

At Heyworth

Heyworth     3    F
LeRoy     2

 

At Villa Grove

Villa Grove         10    F-5
Decatur St. Teresa    0

 

Saturday Regional final action....

 

At Bethany Okaw Valley

Meridian  3     F
Central A & M 2

 

Class 2A Regional final action today....

 

At Fairbury

Olympia      2    F
Prairie Central 1

 

At Newton

Newton       3   F
Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 7

 

At Teutopolis

Shelbyville  0   F
Teutopolis   3

 

Saturday Regional final matchups....

 

At Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

Bloomington Central Catholic    1   F
Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley          3

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

St. Joseph-Ogden      5   F
Maroa-Forsyth           1

 

At Pittsfield

Petersburg PORTA         0   F
Williamsville                    2

 

At Tolono Unity

Tolono Unity         3   F
Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin  1


Class 1A Baseball Regional final matchups for Saturday

 

At LeRoy

LeRoy         17   F
Peoria Christian  5

 

At Mt. Pulaski

Mt. Pulaski         10   F
Decatur St. Teresa 7

 

At Roanoke-Benson

Delavan         10    F
Peoria Heights 0

 

Class 2A boys baseball Regional final action Saturday....

 

At Georgetown-Ridge Farm

Tuscola         12  F
Fithian (Oakwood)  2

 

At Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley    0   F
Bloomington Central Catholic  1

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

Maroa-Forsyth         3   F
Pleasant Plains        5

 

At Tolono Unity

St. Joseph-Ogden        3   F
Monticello                     1

Jr. High State Qualifier Walk Through

Per CJHS Maroons Twitter account the State Qualifiers in Track for 8th grade are Seth Varble in Discus, Isaac Webb in Shot Put and Discus, and Megan Stevens in Pole Vault.  In 7th Grade is Alaina Helfand in Pole Vault, Dawson Graves in 800, Nick Feathers in Shot Put and Discus and Brock Newberry in Shot Put and Discus.

 

This morning the school had their traditional send-off for State Qualifiers with a hall walk to wish them luck. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Regional Baseball Scores; Baseball, Softball Regional Final Matchups

Class 1A Regional baseball semifinal scores from Thursday....

 

At LeRoy

 

Peoria Christian 6

Heyworth 4

 

At Central A & M

 

Meridian 0 F-5

Decatur LSA 10

 

At Mt. Pulaski

 

Decatur St. Teresa 13

Blue Ridge 3

 

Class 2A Regional semifinal scores....

 

At Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 11

Tri-Valley 3

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

 

Pleasant Plains 9

Argenta -Oreana 1

 

At Pana

 

Shelbyville 11 F-5

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 1

 

At Tolono Unity

 

Monticello 10

Unity 5

 

Class 1A Regional final matchups for Saturday

 

At LeRoy

 

LeRoy 11:00am

Peoria Christian

 

At Mt. Pulaski

 

Mt. Pulaski 10:00am

Decatur St. Teresa

 

At Roanoke-Benson

 

Delavan 11:00am

Peoria Heights

 

Class 2A boys baseball Regional semifinal action today....

 

At Georgetown-Ridge Farm

 

Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin 4:30pm

Fithian Oakwood

 

Class 2A boys baseball Regional final action Saturday....

 

At Georgetown-Ridge Farm

 

Tuscola 11:00am

(Winner of Regional semifinal game today)

 

At Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

 

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 11:00am

Bloomington Central Catholic

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

 

Maroa-Forsyth 11:00am

Pleasant Plains

 

At Tolono Unity

 

St. Joseph-Ogden 11:00am

Monticello

 

Class 1A girls softball Regional final action this afternoon....

 

At Heyworth

 

Heyworth 4:30pm

LeRoy

 

At Villa Grove

 

Villa Grove 4:30pm

Decatur St. Teresa

 

Saturday Regional final action....

 

At Bethany Okaw Valley

 

Meridian 11:00am

Central A & M

 

Class 2A Regional final action today....

 

At Fairbury

 

Olympia 4:30pm

Prairie Central

 

At Newton

 

Newton 4:30pm

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond

 

At Teutopolis

 

Shelbyville 4:30pm

Teutopolis

 

Saturday Regional final matchups....

 

At Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 11:00am

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

 

St. Joseph-Ogden 11:00am

Maroa-Forsyth

 

At Pittsfield

 

Petersburg PORTA 11:00am

Williamsville

 

At Tolono Unity

 

Tolono Unity 11:00am

Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin

Illinois State Rolls Past Evansville

Illinois State defeated Evansville Thursday afternoon at Duffy Bass Field, 11-2. 

 

The Redbirds got hits from eight of the nine starters in the lineup. Starting pitcher, Brent Headrick earns the victory, and now has beaten every team in conference play. 

 

John Rave's third inning home run to deep center field scored Nick Zouras and Aidan Huggins to stake Headrick to a 3-0 lead. In the bottom of the seventh inning, Joe Aeilts hit a bases-clearing double to drive home three runs. Zouras would later drive home two more runs on a single to center field. He would later score in the inning on a throwing error. Illinois State led Evansville, 10-2 after seven innings.

 

Rave and Aeilts each drove in three and scored twice, each finishing 1-for-4. Zouras was 4-for-4 with two runs batted in and scored twice. 

 

The 'Birds improve to 31-21, 13-6 MVC on the season with the win And return to action tonight for game two against Evansville. First pitch from Duffy Bass Field is scheduled for 5 p.m.

Illinois Drops Michigan State; Still Alive for Big Ten Regular Season Title

The No. 23 Illinois baseball team pounded six extra-base hits Thursday night, including homers from Zac Taylor and Kellen Sarver, to win at Michigan State, 8-4. Illinois took the opener of the three-game series and won for the 13th time in the last 16 games.

 

Illinois (35-16, 14-8 Big Ten) trailed 2-0 early but scored three in the fourth sparked by Taylor and Sarver's back-to-back homers to start the inning. Jack Yalowitz tripled off the wall and scored later in the inning, part of a three-hit day to bring his career hit total to 200. 

 

Yalowitz also scored three runs to lead Illinois. Branden Comia had three hits and three RBIs and Grant Van Scoy scored twice. 

 

After Comia plated two runs in the ninth to take a 8-3 lead, Michigan State (19-33, 7-14 Big Ten) rallied to load the bases in the ninth inning and bring the potential tying run to the on-deck circle. Illinois went to Garrett Acton, who worked three straight outs to record his national-leading 18th save. Acton tied the Big Ten record for saves held by Ohio State's Jake Hale in 2009 (18).

 

Andy Fisher (7-1) started and put together his fourth straight quality start to earn his seventh win. Fisher settled in to throw 6 2/3 innings while allowing three runs on seven hits. Fisher has allowed three earned runs or fewer in 11 straight starts.

Illinois and Michigan State are back at the ballpark Friday night at 5:35 p.m. CT for Game 2 of the series. The regular season finale is scheduled for Sunday at 12:05 p.m. CT.

Koepka Dominates Daunting Bethpage Black To Take Day 1 Lead at PGA Championship

Brooks Koepka was in one of the early groups out on the course at Bethpage Black in the 101st PGA Championship, so his course-record 63 lingered over the rest of the field as everyone tried to chase the defending champion and clubhouse leader's early advantage at 7 under. By the end of the afternoon only one player, Danny Lee, was within three strokes of Koepka. 

 

Dustin Johnson, Jason Day, Jordan Spieth and Phil Mickelson are all in the top 10 on the leaderboard technically, but that top 10 doesn't feel as close to the top when the leader is up six strokes heading into Friday. 

 

The largest comeback to win we've seen in PGA Championship after 18 holes was eight strokes, so in theory, there are 52 golfers still within that comeback precedent. Tiger Woods, at 2 over, is not included in that group. Woods started his day with a double bogey and spent much of the early round grinding with few birdie opportunities. When he got good looks, he was able to take advantage and found himself moving with some momentum after back-to-back birdies. 

 

With just 17 players under par, a big winner on Thursday was Bethpage Black itself. Koepka and Lee may have come out unscathed, but it's unsustainable to expect those same results the rest of the week. When the setbacks come, the leaders are going to be required to have a championship caliber response in order to keep this cushion on the rest of the field. 

Cardinals, Cubs Lose Again

>>Reds Continue To Cool Off Cubs, Win 4-2 Thursday

 

Eugenio Suarez singled home the go-ahead run during a fifth-inning downpour and added another RBI single Thursday night as Cincinnati pulled away to a 4-2 victory that slowed the Chicago Cubs' momentum.

 

Chicago came into the series on the best surge in the majors, having won or split 10 straight series.

Jose Quintana (4-3) gave up Jose Peraza's solo homer with one out, his first since April 26. After a pair of singles, Quintana threw back-to-back wild pitches off the sloppy mound that let in a run.

 

Suarez's two-out single made it 3-2 . He added another RBI single in the seventh, and the bullpen held the Cubs to a pair of hits the rest of the way.

 

Luis Castillo (5-1) gave up two runs on two hits and a walk, all in the first inning. The Cubs got a break when Wilson Contreras' grounder down the line hit the front edge of third base and caromed away from Suarez for a two-run double.

 

Castillo retired his next 14 batters after the bad-hop hit.

 

Raisel Iglesias retired the side in the ninth for his ninth save in 11 chances.

 

Kris Bryant walked in his first plate appearance, extending his career-best streak to 25 games reaching base safely. It's the longest streak by a Cub since Ben Zobrist also reached in 25 straight games in 2017.

 

Javier Baez doubled and singled, extending his hitting streak to a career-high 14 games. It's the longest by a Cub since Anthony Rizzo's identical streak in 2017.

 

Cole Hamels (3-0) opens a series in Washington, facing Max Scherzer (2-4). Hamels allowed one run in seven innings during his last start against Milwaukee.

 

>>Braves Pound Cardinals Again

 

Austin Riley went 3 for 4 and drove in a run, Julio Teheran pitched five-plus scoreless innings, and the Atlanta Braves won for the fifth time in six games with a 10-2 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals on Thursday night.

Riley, who homered in his second major league at-bat Wednesday, doubled off the top of the wall in the second inning and singled in a run in the third. He scored twice.

 

Teheran (3-4) allowed two hits - a bloop single by Yadier Molina to begin the fifth and a single by Paul Goldschmidt to begin the sixth - and drove in two runs with a sacrifice bunt in the second and a single in the third. Teheran, who has a 0.53 ERA over his last three starts, walked four and struck out four.

 

Nick Markakis had an RBI double in the three-run third as Atlanta took a 5-0 lead.

 

The Braves led 2-0 in the second. Markakis walked, advanced to third on Riley's double and crossed the plate on Brian McCann's sacrifice fly. Riley scored from third on Teheran's bunt.

Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright (3-4) gave up five runs, five hits and five walks with two strikeouts in four innings.

 

Marcel Ozuna's 13th homer cut the lead to 5-1 in the sixth off Jacob Webb. Matt Carpenter homered off Touki Toussaint to make it 9-2 in the eighth.

 

Atlanta went up 8-1 in the bottom of the sixth on RBI singles by Freddie Freeman, Josh Donaldson and Markakis. Ronald Acuna Jr.'s RBI single in the seventh made it 9-1, and Freeman hit his eighth homer in the eighth.

 

Miles Mikolas (4-3, 3.83 ERA) will make his 10th start when St. Louis begins a three-game series at Texas. In four career starts in the Rangers' ballpark, the former Texas hurler is 0-4 with a 13.73 ERA.

Paris Ten-Runs Clinton

Five runs in the bottom of the sixth inning allowed Paris to walk-off with a ten-run 14-4 win over Clinton Wednesday afternoon from Paris High School.

 

Paris jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Maroons scored two runs in the top of the third inning but Paris responded with three runs in the bottom of half of the frame to go up 9-2. 

 

The Maroons scored two more runs in the top of the sixth, but Paris put the game away with their five-run sixth inning.

 

The five-run sixth was the second five-run inning of the game as Mason Hutchings three-run home run was highlighted a five-run second inning. Hutchings finished 4-for-4 with a triple as well. Garrett King was 2-for-3 with a triple and Bryan Kohlmeyer finished 2-for-4 with a double.

 

Drew Stacey led the Maroons at the plate. He was 3-for-4 with a double. He also threw 2 2/3 innings of relief, allowing two runs, one earned, three hits struck out two and issued a walk. 

 

The Maroons dropped to 8-10 overall.

 

>>Baseball, Softball Postseason Scores

 

Class 1A Regional semifinal baseball scores....

 

At LeRoy

 

LeRoy 10

Lexington 0

 

At Central A & M

 

Central A & M 3

Bethany Okaw Valley 7

 

At Mt. Pulaski

 

Mt. Pulaski 12

Champaign Judah Christian 2

 

At Roanoke-Benson

 

Delavan 9

Hartsburg-Emden 4

 

Class 2A Regional semifinal baseball scores.....

 

At Georgetown-Ridge Farm

 

Tuscola 5

Georgetown-Ridge Farm 2

 

At Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

 

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 6

Prairie Central 3

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

 

Maroa-Forsyth 13 F-5

Warrensburg-Latham 2

 

At Fieldcrest

 

Eureka 9

El Paso-Gridley 2

 

At Tolono Unity

 

St. Joseph-Ogden 3

Broadlands Heritage 2

 

At Watseka

 

Olympia 2

Hoopeston 3

 

At Williamsville

 

Williamsville 3

Petersburg PORTA 4

 

Girls softball Class 1A Regional Semifinal scores.....

 

At Bethany Okaw Valley

 

Arcola 0

Central A & M 8

 

At Heyworth

 

Blue Ridge 2

LeRoy 3

 

Class 2A Regional semifinal softball scores......

 

At Prairie Central

 

Prairie Central 10

Lexington 0

 

At Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

 

Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley 4

Tri-Valley 0

 

Class 1A Boys baseball regional semifinal action today....

 

At LeRoy

 

Peoria Christian 4:30pm

Heyworth

 

At Central A & M

 

Decatur LSA 4:30pm

Meridian

 

At Mt. Pulaski

 

Decatur St. Teresa 4:30pm

Blue Ridge

 

Class 2A Regional semifinal baseball action today....

 

At Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 4:30pm

Tri-Valley

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

 

Pleasant Plains 4:30pm

Argenta-Oreana

 

At Pana

 

Shelbyville 4:30pm

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond

 

At Tolono Unity

 

Monticello 4:30pm

Tolono Unity

 

At Tremont

 

Tremont 4:30pm

Dee-Mack

Cards, Cubs Lose Wednesday

>>Reds Outlast Cubs

 

Yasiel Puig hit an RBI single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning Wednesday night, rallying the Reds to a 6-5 victory over the Chicago Cubs. He tossed his bat away in celebration and got soaked with ice water by teammates.

 

Puig's had a mostly disappointing debut with the Reds, who got him in an offseason trade with the Dodgers. He was 0 for 4 with three strikeouts when he came to bat in the 10th against Brad Brach (3-1). The bases were loaded and the Cubs used five infielders, hoping for a groundball.

 

Instead, Puig drove the ball to center - it smacked off the base of the wall - and flipped his bat away in celebration. Puig is batting only .212.

 

Amir Garrett (3-1) escaped a two-on threat in the 10th inning.

 

The Cubs' stingy bullpen let a solid start by Yu Darvish go to waste. Darvish fanned 11 and Addison Russell hit a two-run homer - his first since returning from a 40-game suspension for domestic violence - to help the Cubs to a 5-3 lead.

 

Eugenio Suarez's homer off Carl Edwards Jr. tied it in the eighth, only the fourth time the Cubs have blown such a late lead.

 

The Cubs were encouraged by Darvish's best performance of the season. He allowed five hits and a pair of runs in 5 1/3 innings at the ballpark where his 2018 season ended.

 

Russell and Albert Almora Jr. connected off Sonny Gray, who came to the Reds in an offseason trade with the Yankees and has yet to win in nine starts. Kyle Schwarber also homered.

 

Kris Bryant singled in the 10th, extending his streak to 24 consecutive games reaching safely. It's the longest active streak in the majors and the longest by a Cub since Ben Zobrist reached in 25 straight games in 2017. Javier Baez singled in the 10th, extending his career-best hitting streak to 13 games.

 

Jose Quintana (4-2) is 4-1 with a 2.29 ERA in his last six starts. The left-hander is 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA in two career starts at Great American Ball Park.

 

Luis Castillo (4-1) went 2-1 in five starts against the Cubs last season with a 4.74 ERA.

 

>>Braves Blank Cardinals

 

Austin Riley homered in his big league debut Wednesday night, leading Atlanta to a 4-0 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals and signaling the arrival of another top prospect for the Baby Braves.

Mike Soroka turned in another strong start with three-hit ball over seven scoreless innings, but this night belonged to the 22-year-old Riley. He was called up from Triple-A Gwinnett before the game after Ender Inciarte went on the injured list with a sore back.

 

Riley, who started in left field and batted sixth, struck out swinging against Michael Wacha in the first at-bat of what the Braves hope will be a long major league career.

 

Then, leading off the fourth, Riley showed why he was leading the International League with 15 homers and 39 RBIs.

 

Riley launched a high fastball deep into the left-field seats, a 438-foot drive that gave the Braves a 2-0 lead.

 

Riley hit another drive to the edge of the warning track his next time up, and handled a couple of chances without any problem in left. Normally a third baseman, he figures to mostly play left field at least during his initial stint in the big leagues. Josh Donaldson is locked in at third base for 2019 with a one-year, $23 million deal.

 

After taking over as a defensive replacement for Riley, Charlie Culberson sealed the victory with a two-run homer in the eighth.

 

Even younger than Riley, the 21-year-old Soroka (4-1) lowered his ERA to 0.98 in six starts. The right-hander has yet to allow more than one earned run in any of his appearances, and this was his best one yet.

 

Soroka escaped a bases-loaded jam in the third, getting Paul Goldschmidt to ground into an inning-ending double play. He stared down another trouble spot in the sixth when the Cardinals put runners at second and third, fanning Jose Martinez to snuff out the threat.

 

In the eighth, Dan Winkler walked the first two St. Louis hitters on eight pitches, but Luke Jackson worked out of the jam - this time, it was Paul DeJong hitting into a double play - and finished up for his fifth save in six chances.

 

Wacha (3-1) surrendered only four hits and one earned run over five innings.

 

Atlanta also scored when the Cardinals pitcher threw one away at third base after appearing to pick off Ronald Acuna Jr., who was able to trot home when the ball skidded under the glove of Matt Carpenter.

 

In the rubber game of the series, RHP Adam Wainwright (3-3, 4.15) goes for the Cardinals against Atlanta RHP Julio Teheran (2-4, 4.26).

Sharks Hold Off Blues in Overtime

Erik Karlsson scored 5:23 into overtime after the officials missed a hand pass by Timo Meier, and the Sharks rallied to beat the St. Louis Blues 5-4 on Wednesday night to take a 2-1 lead in the Western Conference final.

 

But it was the final sequence that likely will live on long after the series is over, possibly sparking a discussion about the NHL's replay rules.

 

Meier used his right hand to knock a loose puck toward the front of the net. Gustav Nyquist then passed it over to Karlsson, who beat Jordan Binnington for his second goal of the game.

 

Binnington and the Blues complained immediately. They felt the play should have been blown dead when Nyquist got the puck, but it continued.

 

The officials huddled while Karlsson and the Sharks celebrated, but the goal stood.

 

The Blues led 4-3 before Logan Couture tied it with 61 seconds left in regulation. Joe Thornton scored twice for San Jose, and Martin Jones made 28 saves.

 

Perron had two goals for St. Louis, and Vladimir Tarasenko and Alexander Steen also scored. Colton Parayko had three assists, and Binnington made 27 stops.

 

The Blues trailed 2-0 after one and 3-1 in the second before rallying.

 

Tarasenko, who faced criticism after a lackluster performance in Game 1, started the comeback with his first goal in six games at 4:05 of the second. Perron tied it by beating Jones on the stick side with a wrist shot from the left dot with 3:57 left.

 

St. Louis went on a power play after Brent Burns took down Oskar Sundqvist late in the period. Perron scored his second goal of the series a minute later, giving the Blues the lead with their first power-play goal in 19 chances with the man advantage.

 

It was Perron's first multigoal playoff performance in 73 games.

 

Game 4 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in St. Louis.

PGA Championship Opens Today

Upon the release of the 2019 PGA Championship tee times, there weren't a lot of surprises -- only the reminder that Tiger Woods really did win a major championship, and that in and of itself remains a stunner. Woods will be grouped with the two other most-recent major champions, Brooks Koepka and Francesco Molinari, on Thursday and Friday at Bethpage Black as the 101st PGA Championship kicks into gear in Farmingdale, New York.

 

That's not the only huge group, though. Rory McIlroy, Phil Mickelson and Jason Day -- all former PGA Championship winners -- are playing together in the afternoon (1:38 p.m. ET on Thursday) following the 8:24 a.m. tee time from Tiger and friends. Rickie Fowler, Bubba Watson and Justin Rose (8:02 a.m. on Thursday) will all play together over the first few days as well. The Sergio Garcia and Adam Scott group (7:40 a.m. on Thursday) took a hit with Justin Thomas pulling out, though Dustin Johnson, Jon Rahm and Jordan Spieth (1:16 p.m. on Thursday) round out the last of the supergroups playing together the first two days.

 

It is not out of the norm for Tiger Woods to be the favorite at a major championship. It happens all the time, though perhaps not in recent years. What's particularly notable this time around is that Woods is actually a deserving favorite this week at Bethpage Black for the 2019 PGA Championship.

 

Brooks Koepka, Dustin Johnson, Rory McIlroy and Rickie Fowler fall in among the favorites to win this weekend. 

Baseball, Softball Postseason Recap

>>Girls Softball Postseason Scores

 

In Class 1A Regional Semifinal Action Tuesday.....

 

At Bethany Okaw Valley

 

Nokomis 3 F-5

Meridian 13

 

At Dwight

 

Fisher 11

St. Anne 1

 

At Heyworth

 

Armstrong 0 F-4

Heyworth 15

 

At Villa Grove

 

Villa Grove 14

Champaign St. Thomas More 0

 

Decatur St. Teresa 7

Cerro Gordo 0

 

Class 2A Regional Softball semifinal action Tuesday....

 

At Prairie Central

 

Olympia 12

El Paso-Gridley 1

 

At G.C.M.S.

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 5

Hoopeston 0

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

 

St. Joseph-Ogden 11 F-5

Monticello 0

 

Maroa.-Forsyth 3

Argenta-Oreana 0

 

At Newton

 

Arthur-Lovington-Atwood-Hammond 1

Robinson 0

 

At Pittsfield

 

Petersburg PORTA 8

Pittsfield 0

 

Williamsville9

New Berlin 1

 

At Riverton

 

Pleasant Plains 2

Auburn 1

 

At Teutopolis

 

Tuscola 2 F/8

Shelbyville 3

 

At Tolono Unity

 

Tolono Unity 7

Fithian Oakwood 2

 

Georgetown-Ridge Farm 0

Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin 8

 

Class 1A Regional Semifinal Action today.....

 

At Bethany Okaw Valley

 

Central A & M 4:30pm

Arcola

 

At Heyworth

 

LeRoy 4:30pm

Blue Ridge

 

Class 2A Regional Semifinal Action today.....

 

At Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley

 

G.C.M.S. 4:30pm

Tri-Valley

 

>>Boys Baseball Regional Action Today

 

Class 1A boys baseball regional action today....

 

At LeRoy

 

LeRoy 4:30pm

Lexington

 

At Central A & M

 

Bethany Okaw Valley 4:30pm

Central A & M

 

At Mt. Pulaski

 

Mt. Pulaski 4:30pm

Champaign Judah Christian

 

At Roanoke-Benson

 

Delavan 4:30pm

Hartsburg-Emden

 

Class 2A Regional Semifinal action today....

 

At Georgetown-Ridge Farm

 

Tuscola 4:30pm

Georgetown-Ridge Farm

 

At G.C.M.S.

 

G.C.M.S. 4:30pm

Prairie Central

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

 

Maroa-Forsyth 4:30pm

Warrensburg-Latham

 

At Fieldcrest

 

Eureka 4:30pm

El Paso-Gridley

 

At Tolono Unity

 

St. Joseph-Ogden 4:30pm

Broadlands Heritage

 

At Watseka

 

Olympia 4:30pm

Hoopeston

 

At Williamsville

 

Williamsville 4:30pm

Petersburg PORTA

Cards, Cubs Win Tuesday; Sox Fall to Indians

>>Cubs Stay Hot, Beat Reds

 

Kyle Hendricks had a career-high three hits, including a two-run double , and worked into the ninth inning Tuesday night, leading the surging Chicago Cubs to a 3-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

 

Hendricks' RBI double put the Cubs in line for yet another win over Cincinnati. The liner over Nick Senzel's head in center field - only Hendricks' second hit of the season - made it 2-0 in the second inning. He added two more singles and lined out.

 

Hendricks left after walking Senzel to open the ninth on his 97th pitch. Steve Cishek got the last two outs for his third save in four chances.

 

Willson Contreras had a sacrifice fly for Chicago's other run. Kris Bryant had three hits and extended his career-best streak to 23 consecutive games reaching base safely. Javier Baez singled twice and extended his hitting streak to a career-high 12 games, the longest by a Cub this season.

 

Yu Darvish (2-3) walked six batters in four innings of a 4-1 win over Miami in his last start. He's 2-0 in three career starts against the Reds with a 1.93 ERA.

 

Sonny Gray (0-4) makes his ninth try to get his first win with the Reds, who got him in a trade with the Yankees. The Reds are 2-6 in his starts.

 

>>Cardinals Pound Braves

 

St. Louis hit four home runs, including three-run shots by Marcell Ozuna , Yadier Molina and Kolten Wong, and the Cardinals beat struggling right-hander Mike Foltynewicz and the Braves 14-3 on Tuesday.

Jack Flaherty (4-3) did not allow a hit through four innings. St. Louis led 11-0 before Flaherty gave up three runs and three hits in the fifth.

 

Foltynewicz (0-3) gave up eight runs, matching his career high, while lasting only 4 2/3 innings.

Ozuna's homer gave the Cardinals a 3-0 lead in the first. Dexter Fowler led off the fourth with a homer to right, and Molina's shot knocked Foltynewicz out of the game and was the big hit in a six-run fifth.

 

Wong added to the lead with his three-run homer off Jonny Venters in the ninth.

 

Flaherty allowed three runs on three hits in six innings despite matching his career high with five walks. He had six strikeouts.

 

Michael Wacha (3-0, 5.35) is 0-2 in five career games, including three starts, against the Braves entering Wednesday night's game. He allowed two runs in a no-decision in his only previous start at SunTrust Park in May 7, 2017.

 

Mike Soroka (3-1, 1.21) has allowed only four earned runs in five starts this season entering his first career start against St. Louis.

 

>>Indians Shut Out White Sox

 

Jordan Luplow hit two of Cleveland's five homers, Carlos Carrasco cruised through seven innings and the Indians pounded the White Sox 9-0 on Tuesday.

Roberto Perez, Jake Bauers and Jose Ramirez also went deep as the light-hitting Indians muscled up against Manny Banuelos and Josh Osich to end Chicago's three-game winning streak.

 

The 25-year-old Luplow has hit all four of his homers this season against Chicago and three off Banuelos. His previous two drives against the White Sox left-hander came in a rain-shortened 5-0 win in Cleveland last Thursday. Luplow hit six home runs in brief looks the past two years with Pittsburgh.

 

Cleveland entered hitting just .219, tied with Toronto for worst in the American League. The Indians also came in with only 36 home runs in 40 games, second lowest in the league and fourth lowest in the majors.

 

Carrasco (4-3) scattered six singles and struck out six, while walking none, in his second straight solid start. Oliver Perez, Dan Otero and A.J. Cole combined to complete the seven-hitter.

 

Banuelos (2-3) was roughed up for the third straight outing. The left-hander yielded five runs on four hits and three walks before leaving the game with none out in the fifth with a left shoulder strain.

 

Both teams are off on Wednesday. White Sox RHP Dylan Covey (0-2). 5.91 takes the mound in Chicago on Thursday night against Toronto RHP Marcus Stroman (1-6, 3.12).

New Orleans Scores No. 1 Overall Pick in NBA Draft Lottery

The 2019 NBA Draft Lottery brought all sorts of drama and intrigue as the New Orleans Pelicans won the right to the No. 1 overall pick. They had just a six percent chance of landing the top pick coming into the draft, but the odds were in their favor on Tuesday night. 

 

Rounding out the top five is the Memphis Grizzlies, New York Knicks, Los Angeles Lakers and Cleveland Cavaliers. Knicks fans didn't get the No. 1 pick they were hoping for, but No. 3 is a solid landing spot. As for the Lakers, they made a big leap. They were in the No. 11 slot heading into the lottery, and had just a 9.4 percent chance of jumping into the top four, but that's just where they landed at No. 4. 

 

The Suns, who had the second-worst record in the regular season, had a 14 percent chance of the No. 1 pick, but fell all the way to No. 6.

 

With Duke sensation Zion Williamson expected to be the No. 1 overall pick, there was plenty at stake this year. Every team would have been thrilled to win the right to take the big man, who is one of the best prospects to come along in years. 

 

The Draft Lottery -- held annually since 1985 -- determines the order in which teams who did not make the playoffs will select in that year's NBA Draft. Technically, the first four picks were the only ones decided by the lottery system. After the first four picks, the remaining teams were ordered by the inverse of their regular season records. 

IHSA Baseball, Softball Regional Quarterfinal Scores

Class 1A Softball scores....

 

Mt. Pulaski 14

Champaign St. Thomas More 18

 

Bethany Okaw Valley 1

Nokomis 2

 

Class 2A Softball scores.....

 

Monticello 17

Warrensburg-Latham 7

 

Dee-Mack 1

Eureka 5

 

Shelbyville 2

Sullivan 1

 

Baseball Class 1A scores.....

 

Armstrong 3 F-10

Champaign St. Thomas More 2

 

Astoria 16

Illini Central 11

 

Bloomington Cornerstone Christian Academy 0 F-6

Heyworth 10

 

Meridian 16

Arcola 5

 

Baseball Class 2A Scores.....

 

Petersburg PORTA 8

Riverton 1

 

Sullivan 2

Pana 4

 

Warrensburg-Latham 6

Buffalo Tri-City 5

 

Class 1A Softball Regional semifinal action today.....

 

At Bethany Okaw Valley

 

Meridian 4:30pm

Nokomis

 

At Heyworth

 

Heyworth 4:30pm

Armstrong

 

At Villa Grove

 

Villa Grove 4:30pm

Champaign St. Thomas More

 

Decatur St. Teresa 6:30pm

Cerro Gordo

 

Class 2A Softball Regional semifinal action today.....

 

At Prairie Central

 

Olympia 4:30pm

El Paso-Gridley

 

At G.C.M.S

 

Bloomington Central Catholic 4:30pm

Hoopeston

 

At Maroa-Forsyth

 

St. Joseph-Ogden 4:30pm

Monticello

 

Maroa-Forsyth 6:30pm

Argenta-Oreana

 

At Teutopolis

 

Tuscola 4:30pm

Shelbyville

 

At Tolono Unity

 

Tolono Unity 4:30pm

Fithian Oakwood

 

Georgetown-Ridge Farm 6:30pm

Bismarck-Henning-Rossville-Alvin

Blues Even Series With Sharks Heading Back to St. Louis

Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo scored his first career postseason goal late in the second period that helped the Blues overcome another big game from San Jose's Logan Couture with a 4-2 victory over the Sharks on Monday night that tied the Western Conference final at one game apiece.

 

Jaden Schwartz, Vince Dunn and Oskar Sundqvist also scored and Jordan Binnington made 23 saves to send the Blues home for Game 3 on Wednesday night tied in the series.

 

Couture scored his goals in a span of 1:59, giving him an NHL-leading 13 this postseason but the Sharks couldn't get anything else and lost their third straight Game 2 after winning the series opener. Martin Jones made 21 saves.

 

The Blues then answered late in the period with thanks to Bortuzzo. He passed the puck from the point to Tyler Bozak and skated in behind Joe Thornton. He then took a pass from Joel Edmundson and beat Jones with a backhander into the top corner for his first goal in 31 playoff games.

 

Bortuzzo added a big blocked shot in the third when Kevin Labanc got a pass in the slot with time to shoot, negating one of the few good chances San Jose had in the third. The Blues then killed off a power play later in the period before getting the insurance goal with 3:08 remaining when Alexander Steen fed Sundqvist on a rush for the goal that made it 4-2.

Moncada Powers Sox Past Tribe

Yoan Moncada hit two of Chicago's four solo homers and Reynaldo Lopez pitched 7 2/3 effective innings, helping the White Sox beat the Cleveland Indians 5-2 on Monday night.

 

Jose Abreu and Welington Castillo also connected for Chicago, which earned its third straight win. The White Sox improved to 4-3 against the Indians this season after they went 5-14 against the Tribe last year.

 

Lopez (3-4) allowed one earned run and two hits, struck out six and walked two. It was the right-hander's first win since he fanned 14 in a 4-1 victory over Detroit on April 28.

 

Francisco Lindor hit his 13th career leadoff homer for Cleveland, which lost for the third time in four games. Lindor also hit a sacrifice fly in the third, singled in the sixth and walked in the eighth, but that was pretty much it for the light-hitting Indians.

 

Lopez retired his last eight batters. Aaron Bummer got one out before Alex Colome finished the two-hitter for his eighth save in eight chances.

 

The White Sox went ahead to stay with two-out homers in each of the first three innings. Abreu hit his 10th homer off Shane Bieber (2-2) in the first, and Castillo went deep in the second. After Lindor's sacrifice fly tied it at 2, Moncada belted a shot to right in the bottom half for his eighth of the season.

 

Moncada homered again in the sixth, this time on a drive to left , and Yolmer Sanchez doubled in Castillo in the seventh.

 

Bieber allowed five runs and seven hits in 6 1/3 innings in the first road loss of his career. The right-hander was 9-0 with a 3.22 ERA in 15 appearances on the road coming into the day.

 

Indians right-hander Carlos Carrasco (3-3, 4.91 ERA) and White Sox left-hander Manny Banuelos (2-2, 6.67 ERA) face each other again Tuesday night. Carrasco picked up a five-inning shutout when rain cut short Thursday's game in Cleveland, handing the Indians a 5-0 victory. Banuelos allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings.

Baseball, Softball Regional Play Opens Today

The IHSA Class 1A and 2A baseball and softball postseason opens today with Regional quarterfinal action across the state. Here's a look at the first matchups of the spring postseason.

 

Class 1A Baseball Regional quarterfinal action....

 

At Armstrong

 

Armstrong 4:30pm

Champaign St. Thomas More

 

At Astoria

 

Astoria 4:30pm

Illini Central

 

At Cerro Gordo

 

Cerro Gordo 4:30pm

Champaign Judah Christian

 

At Danville Schlarman

 

Danville Schlarman 4:30pm

Fisher

 

At Hartsburg-Emden

 

Hartsburg-Emden 4:30pm

Peoria Quest Charter Academy

 

At Heyworth

 

Heyworth 4:30pm

Bloomington Cornerstone Christian Academy

 

At Lexington

 

Lexington 4:30pm

Ridgeview

 

At Meridian

 

Meridian 4:30 pm

Arcola

 

At Central A & M

 

Central A & M 4:30pm

Kansas

 

Class 1A Softball Regional quarterfinal action....

 

At Astoria .

 

Astoria 4:30pm

Delavan

 

At Mt. Pulaski

 

Mt. Pulaski 4:30pm

Champaign St. Thomas More

 

At Nokomis

 

Nokomis 4:30pm

Bethany Okaw Valley

 

Class 2A Regional Softball quarterfinal action...

 

At Dee-Mack

 

De-Mack 4:30pm

Eureka

 

At Monticello

 

Monticello 4:30pm

Warrensburg-Latham

 

At Riverton

 

Riverton 4:30pm

Athens

 

At Shelbyville

 

Shelbyville 4:30pm

Sullivan

Illinois Sweeps Purdue

The No. 25 Illinois baseball team finished a three-game sweep of Purdue with a 6-4 win Sunday at Illinois Field. 

 

Jeff Korte, Branden Comia, Michael Massey and Kellen Sarver all had two hits to pace the Illinois offense. Korte drove in the final go-ahead run on a triple in the sixth, then scored on one of Michael Michalak's two sacrifice flies. 

 

Purdue (19-31, 7-13 Big Ten) tied a world record by not striking out in the game, but had just three hits after the third inning. The Boilermakers had a 3-2 lead in the fourth and tied it 4-4 in the sixth before Illinois pulled ahead and finished them off.

 

Both teams used five pitchers, ending with Illinois closer Garrett Acton picking up his 17th save. Acton is tied with UT Arlington's Andrew Gross for the national lead and one save away from tying the Big Ten record held by Ohio State's Jake Hale in 2009 (18).

 

Illinois finishes the regular season Thursday-Saturday at Michigan State.

 

It was a grind of a weekend for Illinois, which won in 12 innings Friday, waited out a four-hour rain delay Saturday and celebrated 14 seniors on Senior Day Sunday. The seniors celebrated their graduation weekend with Illinois' seventh weekend sweep of the season.

 

Illinois (34-16, 13-8 Big Ten) won its fifth straight Big Ten series and moved to 12-3 in its last 15 games. The Illini have jumped up to a tie for third place in the Big Ten standings, one game back of second-place Indiana.

 

The Illini officially clinched a berth in the eight-team Big Ten Tournament, which starts May 22 at TD Ameritrade Park in Omaha, Nebraska. 

Illinois State Drops Series Finale to Bradley Sunday

Illinois State lost the final game of the series at Bradley on Sunday afternoon, 7-2. 

 

The Redbirds scored their runs in the final inning of the game, but ultimately fell short. In the top of the ninth inning, Jeremy Gaines hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive home Joe Aeilts. Joe Butler would later score in the inning on a balk to conclude the scoring in the game.

 

Joe Butler finished 2-for-4 with a double, Jack Butler finished 1-for-3 with a double as well. 

 

The Redbirds (30-21, 12-6) are back in action on Tuesday against SIUE.

Cubs, White Sox Win; Cardinals Lose Sunday

>>Sox Down Blue Jays

 

Lucas Giolito allowed one run in seven innings to win his second straight start, Tim Anderson and Yonder Alonso homered and Chicago beat the Toronto Blue Jays 5-1 on Sunday.

 

Giolito (4-1) gave up four hits, matched his season high with eight strikeouts and improved to 2-0 with a 1.64 ERA in his past four games.

 

Four of Toronto's first seven batters got hits, including three of the first four, but Giolito allowed just two batters to reach after the first.

 

Rowdy Tellez had an RBI single in the first inning. Teoscar Hernandez hit a leadoff single in the second and Randal Grichuk walked to begin the fourth, but those were the only blemishes in a stretch that saw Giolito retire 20 of 22 batters.

 

Ryan Burr and Aaron Bummer each pitched one inning to complete a four-hitter in the finale of a seven-game trip.

 

Toronto lost for the 10th time in 12 games and dropped to a season-worst eight games below .500. The Blue Jays have scored two or fewer in eight of their past 10 games.

 

Anderson hit a three-run homer in a five-run fourth that included Alonso's two-run homer.

 

Aaron Sanchez (3-4) lost his third straight start, allowing five runs in six innings. He struck out 11, one shy of his career high, including five of his first six.

 

White Sox center fielder Leury Garcia stayed down after crashing into an unpadded section of the outfield wall as he hauled in Justin Smiak's deep drive in the third. Garcia finished the inning, but was replaced in the batting order by Carlos Rondon in the fourth.

 

Toronto's Vladimir Guerrero Jr. doubled in the first, extending his streak of reaching safely to five plate appearances. Guerrero went 0 for 3 the rest of the day.

 

Reynaldo Lopez (2-4, 6.38) starts the opener of a two-game series against Cleveland on Monday. Lopez faced the Indians in his previous start, allowing three runs in six innings.

 

>>Cubs Rolls Brewers

 

Jon Lester worked his way through 6 2/3 innings, Kris Bryant hit a two-run homer and the Cubs beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-1 to take a weekend series between the top teams in the NL Central.

Taking the mound a day after Chicago used seven relievers during a 2-1 victory in 15 innings, Lester allowed an unearned run and nine hits while throwing a season-high 116 pitches. The ace left-hander lowered his ERA to a major league-best 1.16.

 

The 35-year-old Lester (3-1) struck out six and walked one while becoming the first Cubs lefty to go three consecutive starts without allowing an earned run since Ken Holtzman in 1969.

 

Bryant had three hits and scored three times, reaching safely for a career-best 22nd straight game and helping the division-leading Cubs close out an 8-2 homestand. Javier Baez collected two more hits, extending his hitting streak to a career high-tying 11 games.

 

Milwaukee wasted a solid start by Jhoulys Chacin (3-4), who permitted two runs, one earned, and six hits in six innings. The Brewers finished with nine hits, but left nine runners on base.

 

After Baez's two-out RBI double gave Chicago a 2-1 lead in the fifth, Milwaukee put runners on the corners with no outs in the sixth. Lester wiggled out of the jam with some help from Baez, who cut down Jesus Aguilar at the plate when the big first baseman tried to score on Hernan Perez's one-out grounder to shortstop.

 

Lester departed with runners at the corners in the seventh, and Brandon Kintzler struck out Aguilar looking to end the inning. Kintzler also worked the eighth - making an impressive grab on Ben Gamel's inning-ending liner - and Steve Cishek finished for his second save.

 

Bryant gave Chicago a 4-1 lead when he drove a 3-1 pitch from Adrian Houser deep to left-center with two outs in the seventh. It was Bryant's seventh homer in his last 15 games and No. 8 on the year.

 

Kyle Hendricks starts Tuesday night in the opener of a three-game series at Cincinnati. Hendricks (2-4, 3.19 ERA) has allowed only an unearned run in 17 innings over his past two starts. RHP Tanner Roark (3-1, 3.27 ERA) goes for the Reds. 

 

>>Pirates Power Back Past Cardinals

 

Josh Bell homered and drove in a career-high five runs to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 10-6 win over the St. Louis Cardinals on Sunday.

Adam Frazier added a two-run, tiebreaking pinch-hit double as the Pirates scored five times in the seventh inning and twice in the eighth to rally from a 6-3 deficit.

 

Pittsburgh has won six of eight, including the final three of its four-game series at St. Louis.

 

Bell went 4-for-4, extending his hitting streak to a major league-best 12 games. He reached base five times, including an intentional walk, and is 20-for-49 (.408) during the streak with four homers and 16 RBIs.

 

Bell's three-run homer off John Brebbia (1-2) in the seventh tied the game at 6-6. Francisco Cervelli, who had three hits, followed with a double, Melky Cabrera drew a walk and then Frazier smacked a two-run double to right.

 

Paul Goldschmidt and Jose Martinez homered for the Cardinals, who have lost five of six and nine of 11.

 

Chris Stratton (1-2), acquired from the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday, worked a scoreless sixth for the win.

 

Brebbia (1-2) gave up three runs on three hits in one inning.

 

Colin Moran added two-run double in the eighth to conclude the scoring.

 

Martinez, who went 3-for-5, had a two-run homer in the third. 

 

St. Louis starter Dakota Hudson gave up three runs on nine hits over six innings.

 

Jack Flaherty (3-3, 4.32) will face Atlanta RHP Mike Foltynewicz (0-2, 5.94) as the teams begin a three-game series Tuesday. The Cardinals were shut out in each of Flaherty's last two starts.

Ozuna, Fowler lead Cardinals in 17-4 rout of Pirates

Dexter Fowler drove in three runs, Marcell Ozuna had four RBIs and the Cardinals cruised to a 17-4 route of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night.

 

Paul Goldschmidt reached base four times and had three hits and two RBIs for the Cardinals, who managed just one run in their previous 21 innings but bounced back with 16 hits and recorded a season high in runs.

 

St. Louis, which won for just the second time in eight games, sent nine or more batters to the plate three times over the first six innings.

 

Gregory Polanco homered and drove in three runs for the Pirates, who lost their second in a row after winning five of six.

 

Fowler broke a 1-1 tie with a two-run, ground-rule double that highlighted a four-run, second-inning surge for the Cardinals.

 

St. Louis sent 10 to the plate in a five-run fourth inning that pushed its lead to 11-2. Jose Martinez drew a bases-loaded walk, Molina hit an RBI single and Kolten Wong had a run-scoring double. Pirates first baseman Josh Bell also had a fielding error that allowed two runs to score in the inning.

Shildt was impressed that his team was able to get the job done without a home run - just 10 singles and six doubles

 

Michael Wacha (3-0) allowed four runs and nine hits over 5 2/3 innings to pick up his first win in three starts for the Cardinals.

 

Joe Musgrove (1-4) lasted just three innings for Pirates, giving up eight runs and six hits.

 

Pittsburgh took a short-lived 1-0 lead on a solo homer by Polanco in the first.

 

The Pirates' Melky Cabrera had a 12-game hitting streak snapped with an 0-for-4 performance.

Bryant, Rizzo homer to lead Cubs past Marlins 4-1

Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo homered and Chicago won for the 10th time in 11 games, beating the Miami Marlins 4-1 on Thursday.

 

Bryant sparked a two-run first with his sixth homer in 12 games. Rizzo connected for the sixth time in 11 games with a two-run drive in the fifth against Trevor Richards. And the Cubs overcame another shaky outing by Yu Darvish.

 

Darvish walked six - one shy of a season high - in just four innings, giving him 11 in his past two starts. Though the four-time All-Star allowed just one run and one hit, only 50 of his 97 pitches were strikes.

 

Mike Montgomery (1-0) threw a three-hit ball over five scoreless innings in his return from a strained lat muscle and the NL Central-leading Cubs headed into a weekend series against second-place Milwaukee on a winning note.

 

The major league-worst Marlins lost for the 10th time in 12 games, and Richards (0-5) remained winless in eight starts. The right-hander gave up four runs and seven hits in five innings.

Indians blank White Sox 5-0 in rain-shortened game

Carlos Carrasco held Chicago to two hits, Jordan Luplow hit his first two home runs of the season and the Indians defeated the White Sox 5-0 in a game that was called after five innings following a rain delay of 2 hours, 34 minutes.

 

When Roberto Perez started throwing the ball around the infield following one of the right-hander's six strikeouts, Carrasco quickly put a stop to it.

 

Chicago right fielder Charlie Tilson slipped and fell on the wet grass in the fifth as he camped under a fly ball hit by Francisco Lindor that landed for an RBI double. The play capped a three-run inning.

 

Left fielder Nicky Delmonico battled the rain and the footing to catch Jose Ramirez's fly ball.

 

Carrasco (3-3) struck out six and didn't walk a batter. The right-hander gave up an infield hit to Jose Abreu in the first before retiring the next nine hitters. Yonder Alonso doubled with two outs in the fourth, but Carrasco struck out James McCann to end an 11-pitch at-bat.

 

Luplow hit solo homers in the second and fifth off Manny Banuelos (2-2) helping Cleveland gain a split of the four-game series.

 

Chicago's left-hander had a rocky second inning in which he gave up a leadoff homer to Luplow, a wild pitch that allowed a runner to score from second base and three walks.

 

Luplow's first home run landed in the left field bleachers. After two walks, Banuelos' pitch to Tyler Naquin was in the dirt. The ball rolled toward Chicago's dugout and Jake Bauers scored from second standing up before McCann retrieved it.

 

Banuelos appeared to get hit on the upper part of his pitching arm by Carlos Santana's one-hop grounder to the mound but remained in the game. He allowed five runs in 4 1/3 innings.

 

Luplow homered to center with one out in the fifth. Ramirez singled in the first and has reached base in 18 consecutive games, the longest active streak in the AL.
 

Clinton vs Meridian Baseball Postponed Thursday; CIC Update

CIC Baseball

 

Wednesday's games 05/08 
Clinton 10, Central A&M 5 Final
Tuscola 15, Warrensburg-Latham 5 Final 

 

Thursday's game 05/09 
Clinton hosts Meridian - Postponed to Saturday at 10a @ CHS
Shelbyville @ Decatur St. Teresa*
Tuscola @ Windsor/Stew-Stras 

 

Friday's games 05/10 
Decatur St. Teresa @ Macon Meridian* 
Altamont @ Shelbyville 
Warrensburg-Latham @ Mt. Pulaski 


UPDATED THRU 05/08: 

                         CONF    ALL 

                          W-L    W-L 

Tuscola                           13-0   24-2 

Shelbyville                      11-2   18-9

Clinton                             6-6    8-8

Sullivan                            6-8   8-18  

Decatur St. Teresa           5-7  10-15 

Macon Meridian               4-7   6-11 

Warrensburg-Latham       3-10   9-15 

Central A&M                     3-11   7-16 

 

 

CIC SOFTBALL

 

Wednesday's games 05/08 

Central A&M 4, Clinton 0 Final/Game 1 
Central A&M 8, Clinton 3 Final 
Sullivan 13, Decatur St. Teresa 3 Final
Macon Meridian 7, Shelbyville 0 Final 
Tuscola 15, Warrensburg-Latham 2 Final

 

Thursday's games 05/09
Macon Meridian @ Nokomis 
Shelbyville @ Decatur St. Teresa* 
Cumberland @ Tuscola

 

Friday's games 05/10 
Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond @ Central A&M 
Decatur St. Teresa @ Macon Meridian* 
Tuscola @ Georgetown Ridge-Farm 
Warrensburg-Latham @ Mt. Pulaski 


UPDATED THRU 05/08: 

                       CONF     ALL 

                        W-L     W-L 

Macon Meridian              12-0    23-4 

Tuscola                           13-1    27-2

Central A&M                    10-4    17-5 

Clinton                              6-7    8-15

Shelbyville                       6-7   10-14 

Warrensburg-Latham      5-8   13-15 

Sullivan                           2-12    7-16 

Decatur St. Teresa          0-12    5-20

Eickhoff allows 3 hits in 8 innings, Phillies blank Cards

Jerad Eickhoff allowed three hits in eight innings, Cesar Hernandez homered and drove in three runs and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-0 on Wednesday.

 

Aided by a pair of double plays, Eickhoff (2-1) faced just two batters over the minimum through the first seven innings as the NL East-leading Phillies took two of three from the Cardinals and won for the fifth time in their last seven games. Eickhoff threw a season-high 106 pitches and has allowed one run over 20 innings in his last three starts.

 

Seranthony Dominguez worked the ninth to complete the three-hitter.

 

After winning 20 of their first 30 games, the Cardinals lost for the sixth time in their last seven.

 

Odubel Herrera sparked a four-run fifth inning for the Phillies with an RBI double. Herrera has hit safely in 16 of his 18 career games at Busch Stadium.

 

Hernandez capped the rally with a two-run double. A fielding error by Matt Carpenter helped set up the big frame for the Phillies. It was one of two errors by the Cardinals, who also committed two miscues Tuesday night that led to six unearned runs for the Phillies in the second inning of an 11-1 loss.

 

Hernandez drove a slider from Giovanny Gallegos into the right-field bullpen in the seventh. He went 3 for 5 and has hit in 10 straight games against St. Louis.

 

Jack Flaherty (3-3) faced just one batter over the minimum in his first four innings before getting derailed by a 43-pitch fifth.

Ramirez's 2-run homer in 9th gives Indians walk-off win

Jose Ramirez hit a two-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning Wednesday night, giving Cleveland a 5-3 win over the Chicago White Sox that snapped an Indians' losing streak that felt like more than three games.

 

Francisco Lindor singled with one out against Jace Fry (1-1) before Jason Kipnis struck out. Chicago manager Rick Renteria brought in right-hander Kelvin Herrera to face the switch-hitting Ramirez and Lindor stole second on a 2-1 pitch.

 

Ramirez crushed Herrera's next pitch - a 96 mph fastball - through a stiff wind blowing straight into home plate that knocked down at least six previous flies and kept them in the ballpark.

 

Brad Hand (2-1) pitched a perfect ninth for the win as the Indians improved to just 5-9 in the AL Central.

 

Shane Bieber allowed the White Sox just one run in 19 innings over three starts, gave up two singles and a sacrifice in the seventh before No. 9 hitter Ryan Cordell hit a game-tying, two-run single.

 

The Indians finally generated some offense in the fourth, scoring three runs off Lopez, who entered with a 14.14 ERA in two previous starts at Progressive Field.

Heyward homer gives Cubs 3-2 win in 11th in Russell's return

Jason Heyward homered leading off the 11th inning to lift Chicago over the Miami Marlins 3-2 Wednesday in Addison Russell's return to the majors.

 

Heyward lined a 1-2 pitch from Jose Quijada into the basket in left field, helping Chicago bounce back after blowing a 2-1 lead in the ninth. Carl Edwards Jr. (1-1), recalled from the minors Monday, pitched a perfect 11th with two strikeouts to get the win.

 

Kris Bryant hit a three-run drive in the ninth Tuesday in a 5-2 win. The Cubs have won nine of 10.

Kyle Hendricks allowed an unearned run and five hits over eight innings. Javier Baez drove in a run, and Anthony Rizzo had two hits and sparkling fielding plays on two bunts for Chicago.

 

Miami's Miguel Rojas tied it at 2 when he drove in Neil Walker from third on a groundout against Steve Cishek. Walker singled off Kyle Ryan to lead off the inning.

 

The Cubs recalled Russell from Triple-A Iowa after he completed a 40-game suspension for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy and spent extra time in the minors to get ready. Chicago started Russell at second base and in the eighth spot in the batting order. He went 0 for 3 with a walk.

 

Russell was eligible to rejoin the team May 3, but the Cubs had planned to recall him next week. Chicago moved that up after infielder/outfielder Ben Zobrist went on the restricted list Wednesday to take an indefinite leave for undisclosed personal matters. Infielder Daniel Descalso remains limited to pinch hitting because of a sore left ankle.

 

Hendricks struck out seven and walked none coming off a complete game shutout last Friday against St. Louis. The right-hander retired the last eight hitters he faced.

 

Starlin Castro had three hits and had an RBI. Jose Urena allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits through seven innings.

 

The major league-worst Marlins have lost 9 of 11, despite getting a second straight solid performance from a starter and a solid bullpen effort.

 

The Marlins took a 1-0 lead in the first on an unearned run, although Hendricks was responsible for the putting the runner on base. Hendricks fielded leadoff man Curtis Granderson's dribbler but threw high to first for an error. Granderson advanced to third on a single and groundout, then came home on Castro's single.

IHSA Class 3A Regional Pairings Announced

The IHSA Class 3A regional pairings were announced earlier today. The Maroons will travel to Pontiac on May 20 for a 4:30 pm game. The Lady Maroons will host Springfield Lanphier on May 20 at 4:30 pm.

Maroons Top Central A&M

In a game heard on WHOW, the Clinton Maroons defeated Central A&M by a score of 10-5 on Wednesday evening. Drew Stacy took the win pitching 6 innings, giving up 5 runs on 4 hits, walking 4, and striking out 3. Stacy led the Maroons at the plate with a grand slam. Matthew Overton went 1 for 4 with 2 RBIs. Michael Oswald went 1 for 4 with 2 RBIs, and Garrett Wayne was 1 for 3 with an RBI double.

 

Lane Whitney took the loss for Central A&M pitching 5 1/3 innings, allowing 10 runs on 5 hits, walking 2, striking out 5, and had 3 hit batters. Bryson Burgener went 2 for 3 with an RBI.

 

The Maroons are scheduled to play Merdian tomorrow.

 

Tune in Monday, May 13, as the Lady Maroons welcome in Rochester. You can hear the game live on the Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW, online at dewittdailynews.com, and on the WHOW app.

HS SOFTBALL: Mahomet-Seymour Outlasts Monticello

Mahomet-Seymour landed the last punch in a back-and-forth 11-9 win over Monticello in non-conference girls softball action Tuesday afternoon at Mahomet-Seymour High School.

 

The Lady Bulldogs jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning and freshman pitcher Karley Yergler went through the Lady Sages lineup 9-up and 9-down the first time through the order, but Monticello broke through in the fourth inning thanks to two defensive miscues by Mahomet-Seymour and scored four runs to take a 4-3 lead without an extra-base hit. 

 

Skyler Frye and Avery Oberheim drove in runs in the inning and the first four batters reached base and came around to score.

 

The Lady Bulldogs responded in the bottom of the fourth inning to tie the score on Abby Akers run-scoring single. Ashley Wheeler walked to start the inning and Ashley Campbell reached on an error. After Yergler's humpback liner was snagged by Max Daniels at third, Wheeler was caught too far off second base and was thrown out on a double play before Akers brought in Campbell, who got into scoring position on a wild pitch. Akers was thrown out trying to steal third to end the inning. 

 

In the fifth inning, the Lady Sages took at 6-4 lead on a two-run home run by Miranda Fogal. 

 

The Lady Bulldogs scored four in the bottom half of the inning to go up 8-6. Aubrie Shore led off with double, back-to-back errors allowed the tying runs to score and Akers broke the tie with a two-run single after back-to-back walks loaded the bases with one out. 

 

The Lady Sages responded with a three-run sixth inning to go up 9-8. Caitlyn Kessler reached on a one-out single, three straight walks brought in a run and Fogal came up big again with a two-run double that put Monticello on top, but the rally was ended on the play when Frye was thrown out at the plate.

 

Again, Mahomet-Seymour responded in the bottom half of the inning with the winning three runs. A single, walk and error started the inning with the tying run scoring on an error. With one out, Wheeler's sac-fly RBI to center field gave the Lady Bulldogs the final margin, 11-9.

 

The Lady Sages had a chance in the top of the seventh inning. Oberheim led the inning off with her third hit of the game. After Addison Wichus struck out and Oberheim moved up to third during the at-bat, Josie Nelson walked but Kessler hit into a double play to end the game. 

 

Mahomet-Seymour's Shore picked up the win in circle in relief of Yergler and finished 2-for-4 with a single and double and two runs scored. Campbell doubled, tripled, drove in two and scored twice. Akers finished 2-for-3 with three RBIs. 

 

Monticello was led by Oberheim who finished 3-for-4 and drove in two. Kessler finished 2-for-4 and scored a run. Fogal homered, doubled, walked, scored twice and drove in four. Lizzie Stiverson, Daniels and Frye each scored two runs apiece for the Lady Sages. 

 

Mahomet-Seymour improves to 14-8 overall while the Lady Sages drop to 8-12. Monticello will travel to Bloomington Central Catholic for their Illini Prairie Conference and season finale before heading to Regionals next week.

Cubs, White Sox Win Tuesday; Cardinals Crush By Phillies

>>White Sox Blank Indians

 

Lucas Giolito carried a shutout into the eighth inning and closer Alex Colome pitched out of an eventful jam as the White Sox recorded their first shutout of 2019 in a 2-0 win over the Cleveland Indians Tuesday afternoon. 

 

The powerless Indians wasted a strong outing by starter Jefry Rodriguez (0-2) and were shut out for the second time in three games. Cleveland has scored just one run in the past 27 innings.

 

Giolito, who allowed just three hits, retired the leadoff hitter to start the eighth. The right-hander was lifted after 105 pitches for reliever Jace Fry, who got the second out before the Indians loaded the bases on a single, double and walk.

 

Chicago closer Alex Colome came in and appeared to get two quick strikes on Carlos Santana. But third base umpire Marty Foster ruled Santana checked his swing on a 0-1 pitch, and ejected manager Rick Renteria, who came out of the dugout and argued along with waving his arms in disgust.

 

Colome then struck out Santana, freezing him on a 3-2 pitch that appeared low. The right-hander then worked the ninth for his seventh save in seven tries.

 

The Indians managed just five hits - three by Francisco Lindor, and two by Jason Kipnis.

 

Cleveland had scoring chances in the fourth, sixth and eighth with Santana at the plate. He's been their best hitter all season, but couldn't come through.

 

James McCann drove in one of Chicago's runs with a single in the sixth. He's batting .422 (19 of 45) with nine RBIs in his past 11 games.

 

Reynaldo Lopez (2-4, 6.69 ERA) is 0-3 with an 8.31 ERA in three career starts against Cleveland. He hasn't won on the road since Sept. 15 against Baltimore.

 

Shane Bieber (2-1, 3.16 ERA) pitched a career-high 7 2/3 innings against Seattle in his last start Friday. As a rookie last season, he went 1-0 and didn't allow an earned run in 12 2/3 innings against Chicago.

 

>>Cubs Rebound For Win Over Marlins

 

Kris Bryant hit a tiebreaking three-run homer with two out in the ninth inning, lifting the Chicago Cubs to a 5-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.

With runners on the corners, Bryant drove a 1-2 pitch from Adam Conley (1-4) through a strong wind and into the bleachers in left-center for his third career game-ending drive.

 

It was Bryant's fifth homer in his last 10 games and No. 6 on the year. The 2016 NL MVP was bothered by an inflamed left shoulder last season and had just 13 homers in 102 games. His previous low was 26 as a rookie in 2015.

 

Albert Almora Jr. also connected as the Cubs won for the eighth time in nine games. Steve Cishek (1-1) worked a scoreless ninth for the victory.

 

Martin Prado had two hits and drove in a run for Miami, which rallied for a 6-5 victory in the series opener Monday night. Jorge Alfaro had an RBI single.

 

Jason Heyward opened the Chicago ninth with a walk, and Kyle Schwarber was hit by a pitch. After pinch hitter Daniel Descalso advanced the runners with a sacrifice, Almora hit a grounder to Miguel Rojas with the infield in, and the shortstop fired to Alfaro to get Heyward at the plate.

 

Bryant then went deep for the third consecutive game for the first time in his career.

 

Miami wasted a terrific start by Caleb Smith, who struck out a career-high 11 in 6 2/3 innings. The left-hander allowed two runs and five hits.

 

Lester yielded two unearned runs and eight hits in six innings. He worked out of jams in the fifth and sixth to keep the score tied.

 

Chicago jumped in front in the first on a chilly night at Wrigley Field. Bryant reached on a wind-aided triple and scored on a sacrifice fly by Javier Baez.

 

Miami righty Jose Urena (1-5, 5.45 ERA) faces righty Kyle Hendricks (2-4, 3.93 ERA) in the third game of the four-game series Wednesday night. Urena has struggled this season and allowed five runs in six innings against Atlanta in his last outing. Hendricks is coming off an 81-pitch shutout against St. Louis on Friday.

 

>>Phillies Crush Cardinals

 

Bryce Harper, hit a grand slam, his first with the Phillies, and Rhys Hoskins added four hits, including a homer, to spark Philadelphia to an 11-1 rout of the St. Louis Cardinals on Tuesday night.

Harper's homer capped a six-run second inning. Philadelphia took advantage of two errors and two walks as all six runs were unearned.

 

Aaron Nola (3-0) allowed three hits in six innings, giving up one run. He struck out seven.

 

Dakota Hudson (2-3) gave up eight runs in five innings.

 

Harper, who finished 2-for-3 with a walk before being lifted in the eighth, has hit well at Busch Stadium. In 21 career games, he is hitting .315 with six homers and 17 RBI.

 

Jerad Eickhoff (1-1, 2.05) did not figure in the decision in his last start against Washington. He struck out seven to give him 27 in 22 innings through four appearances (including three starts) this season.

 

Jack Flaherty (3-2, 4.17) lost in his last start at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs. He earned his first major league win with a 13-strikeout masterpiece in a 5-1 win over Philadelphia last May 20.

Blues Outlast Stars in Epic Game 7 Double Overtime Win

Pat Maroon scored 5:50 into the second overtime, Jordan Binnington made 29 saves and the St. Louis Blues outlasted the Dallas Stars 2-1 in Game 7 of their Western Conference semifinal playoff series.

 

St. Louis will face the winner of the San Jose-Colorado series in the conference final.

 

Maroon slammed in a loose puck after Robert Thomas hit the goal post on a rush down the right wing. The puck then bounced off Dallas goalie Ben Bishop and dropped in the crease.

 

It was the second game-winning goal of the series for Maroon, who savored the moment in front of dozens of family and friends.

 

Binnington, a Calder Trophy finalist, improved to 8-5 in postseason play. He stopped Radek Faksa on a breakaway in the opening period and also made some key stops in the second extra period.

Vince Dunn also scored for St. Louis.

 

Bishop made 52 saves and Mats Zuccarello scored for Dallas, which dropped to 5-8 in Game 7s in franchise history.

 

It marked the first time in NHL history that three playoff series were decided in overtime in Game 7 in the same year. San Jose eliminated Vegas and Carolina beat Washington in the first round.

 

St. Louis, which improved to 9-8 in Game 7s, outshot Dallas 54-30, including 41-16 in regulation. But Bishop was terrific against his first NHL team, keeping the Stars in the game with a handful of big-time stops in regulation and the overtimes.

 

The Blues jumped in front when Dunn converted a shot from the point 13:30 into the first period. It was his first career playoff goal.

 

Zuccarello then jumped on a fortunate deflection for Dallas, tying it at 1 at 15:55. A clearing attempt by St. Louis forward David Perron hit referee Marc Joannette and bounced into the slot. Binnington was looking in the other direction and never saw Zuccarello's shot.

 

Bishop came into the contest with two shutouts in his only two Game 7 appearances, both with the Tampa Bay Lightning.

 

He made several key saves during a 34-minute stretch when the Blues outshot Dallas 27-2 from the start of the second period.

 

Bishop, a Veznia Trophy finalist, made 46 successive saves before Maroon's tally.

 

St. Louis plays either San Jose or Colorado in the Western Conference final, which will be decided with Game 7 on Wednesday.

Clinton Downs Warrensburg-Latham

Michael Oswald went the distance Monday afternoon in Clinton as the Maroons rolled past Warrensburg-Latham 7-4 in Central Illinois Conference boys baseball action Monday at Clinton High School.

 

Oswald allowed two earned runs on eight hits, issuing two walks and struck out eight for his third win. 

 

Oswald also walked twice finishing 1-for-2 at the plate. Rustin Wertz finished 2-for-3 with a solo home run in the second inning and Logan Peterson went deep for a 2-run home run in the fifth inning that gave the Maroons a three run advantage. 

 

Brayden Closs drove in two with a two-run double. Connor Henne finished 3-for-3 for the Cardinals and Brendan Taylor was 2-for-4.

 

The Cardinals fall to 3-8 in the CIC and 9-13 overall. The Maroons improve to 7-8 overall and are 5-6 in the CIC, moving into third place in the conference.

 

The Maroons host Meridian this afternoon.

 

CIC boys baseball scores from Monday....

 

Shelbyville 13

Meridian 1

 

Tuscola 12

Sullivan 2

 

CIC Girls softball action from Monday....

 

Warrensburg-Latham 16

Clinton 15 9 innings

 

Tuscola 10

Sullivan 0 Game 1 

 

Tuscola 11

Sullivan 0 Game 2 

 

Boys baseball action today....

 

Warrensburg-Latham vs. Central A&M

Decatur LSA @ Decatur St. Teresa 

Shelbyville @ Pana

Sullivan @ Arthur-Lovington/Atwood-Hammond 

 

CIC girls softball action for today....

 

St. Elmo @ Central A&M 

 

Clinton @ Sullivan 

Champaign Central @ Decatur St. Teresa 

Macon Meridian @ Riverton  

Newton @ Shelbyville 

Tuscola @ Tolono Unity 

Warrensburg-Latham @ Pana 

Illinois Baseball Notes

>>Illinois' Andy Fisher Big Ten Pitcher of the Week After Big Performance Against Ranked Indiana

 

Illinois senior Andy Fisher was named the Big Ten Pitcher of the Week following a dominant performance Friday against No. 19 Indiana. Fisher threw eight shutout innings to help Illinois win the series.

 

Fisher limited Indiana to three hits and tied a season high with nine strikeouts, as the Illini handed Indiana its second shutout of the season in a 4-0 victory. The left-hander allowed only two base runners to reach second base and retired 14 in a row from the third to seventh innings.

 

It is Fisher's first Big Ten Pitcher of the Week honor. It is Illinois' second Big Ten weekly honor, joining Jack Yalowitz's Big Ten Player of the Week award from March 11. 

 

>>Illinois Rejoins College Baseball Rankings After Weekend Series Win Over No. 19 Indiana

 

Illinois entered the D1Baseball.com rankings for the third time this season, checking in at No. 25 in Monday's poll. The Illini are No. 18 in the latest RPI.

 

Illinois (31-16, 10-8 Big Ten) was previously ranked Feb. 25 and March 25. The Illini are 5-2 against ranked opponents, tying the most wins against the top 25 in the Dan Hartleb era.

 

With the series win over Indiana, the Illini put themselves back in the conversation to host an NCAA regional. Illinois is 12-5 (.706) against the RPI top 50 for the No. 5 winning percentage in the nation against the top 50.

Cardinals, Sox Win Monday; Cubs Win Streak Ends vs Marlins

>>Cardinals Blank Phillies

 

Miles Mikolas pitched seven stellar innings and Yadier Molina hit one of three home runs that powered St. Louis past the Philadelphia Phillies 6-0 on Monday night.

 

Matt Carpenter and Paul DeJong also went deep as the Cardinals snapped a four-game skid.

 

Mikolas (4-2) allowed only three hits in his second-longest outing this year. He struck out a season-high five and did not issue a walk.

 

John Brebbia and Jordan Hicks finished the five-hitter. It was the second shutout this season for St. Louis.

 

Molina added two singles for a three-hit game. In his last 16 games at home, he has three homers and 18 RBIs. He has hit safely in 14 of those games, batting .349 during that span.

 

The Cardinals chased starter Vince Velasquez (1-2) in the fifth when he gave up two homers sandwiched around a single. He allowed five runs on four hits and five walks.

 

Molina got the first St. Louis hit when he belted a 2-2 pitch into the left field seats in the fourth inning. He drove in Jose Martinez, who drew his second walk from Velasquez. Molina's third home run of the season extended his hitting streak to 12 games.

 

St. Louis put together a big inning in the fifth, sending nine batters to the plate. Carpenter led off with a homer and, after Paul Goldschmidt singled, DeJong hit his seventh home run of the season.

 

Phillies reliever Edgar Garcia, making his big league debut, got an out but then gave up singles to Martinez and Molina. A wild pitch advanced both before Kolten Wong's sacrifice fly accounted for the fourth run of the inning and a 6-0 lead.

 

Aaron Nola (2-0, 5.06 ERA) gave up one run and seven hits over 5 2/3 innings in his last start against Detroit but did not figure in the decision. He is 2-2 with a 2.84 ERA in four career starts against St. Louis.

 

Dakota Hudson (2-2, 4.80) will be making his first regular-season appearance against the Phillies. He had a career-high seven strikeouts and went six innings for the first time in his last start, a 2-1 loss at Washington.

 

>>Sox Slam Tribe

 

Tim Anderson hit a two-run single in the sixth inning that ended Trevor Bauer's evening as the Chicago White Sox routed the Cleveland Indians 9-1 Monday night and stopped a three-game losing streak. Yoan Moncada also had a two-run homer and four RBIs off the right-hander.

Bauer (4-2) matched his career highs by allowing eight runs and seven earned runs in five-plus innings, raising his ERA from 2.45 to 3.42. Chicago ended his streak of starts allowing four earned runs or fewer at 60, the second-longest run since 1970 behind Greg Maddux's 106 from 1991-94.

 

Yoan Moncada homered in the first and James McCann hit a solo shot in the fourth. Leury Garcia had three singles in three at-bats against Bauer, while Anderson had two hits and is batting .339 with an MLB-leading 12 stolen bases.

 

Ivan Nova (1-3) went seven innings, allowing one run and eight hits, for his first win with the White Sox. He was 0-3 in eight starts since his last win on Sept. 21 with Pittsburgh against Milwaukee.

Jason Kipnis singled, doubled and drove in Cleveland's lone run in the fifth.

 

Lucas Giolito (2-1) makes his second start since returning from a strained left hamstring. He struck out seven in a five-inning no-decision against Boston last week.

 

Jefry Rodriguez (0-1) will be recalled from Triple-A Columbus for his third start. He gave up one run over a career-high seven innings in his last appearance, on April 24 against Miami.

 

>>Marlins Outlast Red Hot Cubs

 

Pedro Strop walked three batters in the ninth inning and Miami took advantage, rallying for three runs to pull out a 6-5 victory Monday night that ended the Cubs' winning streak at seven games.

Jon Berti hit his first major league homer, a solo shot off Cole Hamels in the sixth to tie it at 3 after the Cubs had jumped ahead 3-0 against Sandy Alcantara in the first.

 

Chicago led 4-3 entering the ninth, but Strop (1-2) issued two walks and then yielded a pinch-hit single to Walker as Miami loaded the bases. Strop walked Rosell Herrera to force in the tying run with nobody out. Berti came home from third to put Miami ahead 5-4 when Miguel Rojas grounded out against Ryan.

 

Martin Prado hit a comebacker to Ryan, who looked back Walker a step toward third after he had come halfway home. But when Ryan threw to first to retire Prado, Walker sprinted across the plate with the third run of the inning.

 

Adam Conley (1-3) pitched a scoreless eighth for the win. Sergio Romo worked around a solo homer by Kris Bryant and single by Anthony Rizzo in the ninth to earn his sixth save.

 

The Marlins pulled it out despite walking 10 batters themselves.

 

Starlin Castro and Brian Anderson each had an RBI for the last-place Marlins.

 

Rizzo lined a two-run shot in the first for his 200th career homer. Kyle Schwarber and Willson Contreras each had an RBI single.

 

Rizzo homered for the fifth time in eight games and for the 199th time with the Cubs, moving him past Hank Sauer into ninth place in franchise history.

 

Hamels allowed three runs and five hits while striking out seven in his third straight no-decision. Alcantara yielded three runs on four hits and six walks in five innings.

 

Caleb Smith (3-0, 2.00 ERA) takes the mound against Chicago ace Jon Lester (2-1, 1.73) on Tuesday night. Lester has been his old self in two outings since coming back from a left hamstring strain, yielding one run and five hits while striking out 13 over 12 innings. Smith has won his last three starts, going six innings in each one and allowing only two runs over 18 innings.

Blues, Stars Game 7 Tonight

As the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars prepare for Tuesday's winner-take-all deciding game of their Stanley Cup playoff second-round series, the easy theory would be the Blues have the upper hand.

 

It's the Blues who should have all the momentum, having taken Sunday's Game 6 by a 4-1 count.

 

It's the Blues who will play host for the series clincher, with their rabid fans ready to back them with a berth in the Western Conference final on the line.

 

However, the Blues have only won two of six home games so far this postseason -- a stunning lack of home-ice success for a team that's one win away from reaching the Western Conference final.

 

Curiously, the last time either squad played a Game 7 was against each other. St. Louis defeated Dallas 6-1 in the 2016 second round.

 

Vezina Trophy finalist Ben Bishop left Sunday's game shortly after he was drilled in the collar bone by a booming slap shot from Colton Parayko, a play in which the Blues scored while Bishop was writhing on the ice in pain, but on Monday Dallas coach Jim Montgomery said Bishop will play the biggest game of the season.

 

If experience comes into play, the Blues did stave off elimination and have that positive experience to draw up.

Maroons & Lady Maroons In Action Monday

CIC Baseball Monday

Monday's games 05/06

Warrensburg-Latham @ Clinton*  
Macon Meridian @ Shelbyville* 4:15 p.m. 
Sullivan @ Tuscola*

 

CIC Baseball Standings to start the week....

                                   CONF    ALL 

                                      W-L    W-L 

Tuscola                         11-0   22-2 

Shelbyville                     9-2  14-11

Decatur St. Teresa        5-6   9-14 

Sullivan                         5-7   7-15 

Clinton                           4-6    6-8  

Macon Meridian             4-6   6-10  

Warrensburg-Latham        3-7   9-12

Central A&M                   2-9   6-14 


CIC Softball Monday

Monday's games 05/06 
Sullivan @ Tuscola* (Game 1) 
Sullivan @ Tuscola* (Game 2) 
Clinton @ Warrensburg-Latham* 


CIC Softball Standings to start the week....


                                     CONF     ALL 

                                      W-L     W-L 

Macon Meridian            10-0    21-4 

Tuscola                          10-1    24-1 

Central A&M                  6-4    12-5

Shelbyville                     6-4   10-11 

Clinton                            5-4    11-6 

Warrensburg-Latham      4-7   12-13 

Sullivan                           1-9    6-12 

Decatur St. Teresa          0-11    5-18
 

Redbirds Stifled in Series Finale Against Sycamores, 6-1

Illinois State lost the series finale at Duffy Bass Field on Sunday afternoon to Indiana State. 6-1. The Redbirds scored just one run on two hits in the contest. The loss drops the Redbirds to 28-20, 10-5 MVC.

 

The Sycamores scored three runs in the top of the third inning to jump ahead of the Redbirds, 3-0.
Indiana State added two runs to its lead in the top of the fifth inning to make the score, 5-0.
The Redbirds got their only run in the home half of the sixth inning when Parola singled home Aidan Huggins to make the score, 5-1.


The Sycamores extended their lead by one in the top of the eighth inning to conclude the scoring in the game. Indiana State defeated Illinois State, 6-1 to claim first place in the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Redbirds return to action next weekend when the team travels west on Interstate 74 to take on Bradley in a three-game conference series.

No. 19 Indiana Wins Sunday, Illinois Wins Series

After limiting No. 19 Indiana to three hits in each of the first two games of a three-game series, the Hoosiers broke out for nine runs to beat the Illinois baseball team 9-2 at Illinois Field. Illinois won the series to hand Indiana its first Big Ten series loss of the season.

 

Illinois (31-16, 10-8 Big Ten) fell to 5-2 against ranked opponents and 12-5 against the RPI top 50. 

Indiana (31-16, 12-6 Big Ten), which entered the weekend leading the nation in homers, had homers from Elijah Dunham, Cole Barr, and Ryan Fineman. Drew Ashley led Indiana with three hits and Matt Lloyd added two hits.

 

Indiana's Andrew Saalfrank shutout Illinois over seven innings, allowing only four hits and walking three. Casey Dodge hit a two-run homer in the ninth and Michael Massey had three of the Illini's seven hits, including two doubles. 

 

Illinois stays at home for three games next weekend against Purdue.

Bogaerts hits slam in 7-run 8th, Red Sox beat White Sox 9-2

Xander Bogaerts hit a grand slam in Boston's seven-run eighth inning to give the Red Sox a 9-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Sunday.

 

Mitch Moreland went 2 for 3 with two RBIs, and J.D. Martinez and Eduardo Nunez each had an RBI single as Boston won for the sixth time in seven games to move within a game of .500 at 17-18.

The surging Red Sox had a nine-run third inning in Saturday night's 15-2 win.

 

Jose Abreu and Ryan Cordell each had a solo homer for Chicago, which has dropped three straight.

With the score tied at 2, Boston broke things open with an eighth-inning that started in bizarre fashion.

 

With one out, Rafael Devers hit a liner off reliever Kelvin Herrera (0-2) that short-hopped the wall and bounced straight to left fielder Nicky Delmonico. Devers was nearly halfway to second before he stopped and scrambled back to first.

 

Shortstop Tim Anderson caught Delmonico's throw and fired to first base, but the ball skipped about 10 feet past Abreu as Devers slid in. Devers then got up and headed for second. Abreu scrambled after the ball but slipped as he threw to second. The throw skipped past Anderson and rolled into the center as Devers went to third. Anderson and Abreu each were assessed a throwing error.

 

Following a walk to Michael Chavis, Moreland singled to center to score Devers and give Boston a 3-2 lead.

 

Two batters later, with the bases loaded, pinch hitter Nunez hit a swinging bunt down the third-base line. Third baseman Yoan Moncada had no play and let the ball roll, hoping it would go foul. The ball, though, stayed fair and hit off the third base bag, giving Nunez an RBI single to make it 4-2.

 

Left-hander Caleb Frare replaced Herrera and walked Andrew Benintendi - firing a fastball over catcher Welington Castillo on ball four - to force in a run.

 

Right-hander Juan Minaya, who was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte before the game, was brought in to face Bogaerts, who capped the rally with the grand slam on an 0-1 pitch.

 

Brandon Workman (2-1) worked a scoreless seventh to get the win.

Cubs pound Cardinals 13-5 for 7th straight win

Kris Bryant hit his fourth career grand slam in Chicago's six-run eighth inning, and the Cubs pounded the St. Louis Cardinals 13-5 on Sunday night for their season-high seventh consecutive victory.

 

Willson Contreras, Anthony Rizzo, and David Bote each drove in two runs, helping the Cubs leapfrog the Cardinals for first place in the NL Central. Ben Zobrist had two hits and made two nice plays in left field as Chicago completed its first three-game sweep of St. Louis since September 2017.

Paul DeJong and Marcell Ozuna went deep in the ninth for St. Louis, which lost its season-high fourth straight game. Adam Wainwright (3-3) pitched five-plus innings while dropping to 11-4 in 26 career games at Wrigley Field.

 

The Cardinals got at least one hit in seven innings but left nine runners on base. Jose Quintana (4-1) also received some help from his defense.

 

Contreras threw out Paul Goldschmidt attempting to steal second in the first. The versatile Zobrist cut down Matt Carpenter trying to go from first to third on Goldschmidt's one-out single in the third, then made a diving grab to rob Yadier Molina of a hit with a runner on first in the fourth.

 

Contreras' ninth homer helped Chicago build a 3-0 lead. St. Louis pulled within one on Molina's two-run double in the sixth, but Kolten Wong left runners on the corners when he bounced out on Quintana's 103rd and final pitch.

 

The Cubs poured it on with 10 runs in their last three at-bats. Rizzo doubled in two runs and Contreras added an RBI single in the sixth. Zobrist singled home Albert Almora Jr. in the seventh, and Bote and Almora each doubled in a run before Bryant went deep in the eighth.

Blues force Game 7 with 4-1 win over Stars, stunned Bishop

Colton Parayko's hard shot from the slot hit Ben Bishop's left shoulder, knocking the goalie onto his back and deflecting the puck to deep in the circle. Alexander Steen took a shot from there that was redirected by Jaden Schwartz over the still laid-out goalie in a 4-1 victory to force Game 7 in the second-round Western Conference semifinal series.

 

Schwartz's eighth goal of the playoffs with 12:23 left made it 3-1, and was the first of two goals by the Blues in a 33-second span.

 

Pietrangelo scored only 63 seconds into the game and David Perron also had a goal for the Blues, who will be on home ice for the deciding game Tuesday night.

 

St. Louis rookie goalie Jordan Binnington stopped 22 shots, allowing only a power-play goal by Tyler Seguin in the first period.

 

Bishop, who came into the game with a .936 save percentage in the playoffs, allowed four goals on 20 shots. Khodobin had five saves in the final 12 minutes.

 

The two quick goals by St. Louis came right after Dallas couldn't score with Binnington sprawled on the ice.

 

Perron put the Blues ahead to stay at 2-1 with an interesting goal in what was otherwise a somewhat pedestrian second period.

 

Oskar Sundqvist skated deep into the right circle and passed back across the front of the net. Perron, with Klingberg between him and Bishop, reached his stick around the defender to poke the puck in for his third goal of the playoffs.

 

The Stars' 23 shots matched their fewest in the playoffs. Their goal came with 8:25 left in the first period when Mats Zuccarello made a pass from the top of the right circle and Seguin's shot got under Binnington and trickled past the line to make it 1-1.

 

St. Louis had eight shots on goal before Dallas finally got its first nearly nine minutes into the game. The Stars then went nearly seven minutes before their first shot of the second period.

Monticello Routes Warrensburg-Latham

Brett Macak blasted a two-run home run in the first inning propelling Monticello to a 14-0 ten-run rule, five-inning win over Warrensburg-Latham in non-conference boys baseball action Friday afternoon in Monticello.

 

Asher Bradd was 3-for-3 with three runs scored, two runs driven in and a stolen base. Alek Bundy was 1-for-3 with three runs scored, two stolen bases, two walks, and an RBI. Andrew Ellison was 2-for-4 with two RBIs and two runs scored. Hunter Williams was 2-for-3 with two doubles and two runs scored. Hunter Williams also made two spectacular defensive diving catches, one to end the game, in left field. 

 

Ellison fired four shutout innings and struck out three. 

 

The Sages scored three runs in the first, six runs in the second and five runs in the fourth. 

 

Garrett Allen finished 2-for-3 with a stolen base. Jackson Cook walked twice. 

 

They improve to 13-6 overall while Warrensburg-Latham drops to 9-12. 

Maroons Baseball Sets Conference Game Make Up Dates

With the postseason nearing, the Clinton Maroons baseball team will use next week to make up a pair of postponed games.

 

Coach John Hickman indicates no makeup date has been made for yesterday's postponed matchup with Meridian, however, next week the Maroons will host Warrensburg-Latham Monday and will host Central A&M Wednesday. 

 

Hear Wednesday's matchup with Central A&M starting at 4:30 pm on The Big 1520 AM/92.3 FM/106.5 FM WHOW and online at dewittdailynews.com. 

White Sox Walk Off On Red Sox; Cardinals Fall to Nationals

>>White Sox Walk-Off On Red Sox

 

Nicky Delmonico hit a three-run homer with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Chicago White Sox a 6-4 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Thursday night.

 

It was Chicago's second straight walk-off win. Yonder Alonso had a two-run single in the nightcap of Wednesday's doubleheader against Baltimore for a 7-6 victory.

 

Chicago's rally in the ninth began with a one-out error by third baseman Rafael Devers as he charged a slow grounder by Jose Rondon.

 

Alonso followed with a single to put runners at the corners. Delmonico, who entered as a pinch hitter in the seventh, then drove a hanging slider from Ryan Brasier (1-1) over the fence in right-center to win it.

 

Carson Fulmer (1-1) got two outs for the win.

 

James McCann also homered and had two hits for the White Sox.

 

Andrew Benintendi homered, J.D. Martinez had three hits and Devers drove in two runs as Boston had its three-game winning streak snapped.

 

Boston left-hander Chris Sale (0-5, 6.30 ERA) faces his former team in the second game of the series Friday night. Sale is 1-1 with a 4.15 ERA in two starts against Chicago. Right-hander Reynaldo Lopez (2-3, 6.03) pitches for the White Sox after striking out a career-high 14 in his last outing.

 

>>Nationals Outlast Rain, Cardinals

 

Stephen Strasburg reached 1,500 strikeouts in fewer innings than any pitcher in major league history, and the Washington Nationals beat the St. Louis Cardinals 2-1 after a long rain delay Thursday to salvage the finale of a four-game series.

The start was delayed by rain for 2 hours, 32 minutes.

 

Despite the strong performance by Strasburg, the Nationals (13-17) fired pitching coach Derek Lilliquist after the game and replaced him with minor league pitching coordinator Paul Menhart. 

Strasburg (3-1) lasted 6 2/3 innings, giving up a run on six hits with two walks and nine strikeouts.

 

Sean Doolittle walked the first batter he faced but struck out pinch-hitter Paul Goldschmidt on a check swing with the bases loaded to end the eighth. Doolittle finished for his fourth save.

 

Dakota Hudson (2-2) allowed two runs, one earned, and four hits in six innings. Kolten Wong hit an RBI single and Yairo Munoz had three hits for St. Louis, which had won five straight.

 

The teams combined for 14 hits, all singles.

 

The Nationals scored twice in the fourth without an RBI.

 

Jack Flaherty (3-1, 4.06 ERA) pitches when the Cardinals open a three-game series Friday at the Chicago Cubs. Flaherty has not allowed a run in 12 innings this season during day games.

Southern Illinois Slams Illinois

Southern Illinois broke a 2-2 tie Tuesday with one run in the sixth inning, four in the seventh and five the eighth to beat the Illinois baseball team 12-3 at Itchy Jones Stadium. Illinois previously swept SIU in a three-game series to win the season series 3-1.

 

Illinois (28-15) gave Southern Illinois 15 free passes, 12 walks and three hit by pitches. All of Southern's runs in the seventh were driven in on free passes with two outs, three on walks and one on a hit batter, as SIU broke the game open.

 

Southern Illinois (18-22) snapped a 10-game losing streak. SIU was led by Philip Archer's two hits, two runs and two RBIs, including a two-run homer in the second inning. Nikola Vasic added two hits and two RBIs, Grey Epps hit solo homer in the sixth, Aiden McMahan drove in three runs, and Alex Lyon scored three times.

 

Zac Taylor led Illinois with two hits and scored all three of the Illini's runs. Taylor, Ben Troike, Kellen Sarver, Cam McDonald and Grant Van Scoy all hit doubles. 

 

Illinois returns Wednesday to Illinois Field to face Indiana State to start a seven-game homestand. 

Cardinals, Cubs Win Tuesday; Sox, O's Washed Out

>>Cardinals Edge Nationals

 

Adam Wainwright pitched neatly into the seventh inning, helping himself by kicking the ball over to first for a key out, and St. Louis beat the Washington Nationals 3-2 on Tuesday night.

 

The NL Central-leading Cardinals rallied for their fourth straight victory.

 

St. Louis was down 2-0 when Kolten Wong came up with the bases loaded and two out in the fourth. He drove in Paul DeJong with a perfectly placed bunt up the third base line , and Harrison Bader followed with a two-run single.

 

Wainwright (3-2) allowed two runs and six hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out five and walked two.

Washington had a chance to get to him in the second, loading the bases with two out. Anibal Sanchez then hit a comebacker that Wainwright inadvertently kicked over to Paul Goldschmidt for the easy out , ending the inning.

 

The Nationals grabbed a 2-0 lead on consecutive homers by Adam Eaton and Victor Robles in the third. But the Cardinals rallied in the fourth.

 

Sanchez struck out seven in five innings. He allowed five hits and walked two.

 

Miles Mikolas (2-2, 5.29 ERA) pitches Wednesday. He gave up four runs and 12 hits in 6 2/3 innings in his last start at Nationals Park on Sept. 5.

 

Max Scherzer (1-3, 4.12 ERA) has struck out an average of 14.85 per 9-innings in his last three starts versus the Cardinals.

 

>>Cubs Get By Mariners

 

Kyle Schwarber hit a two-run homer with two out in the eighth, and the Chicago Cubs topped the Seattle Mariners 6-5 for their third consecutive victory.

Brandon Brennan (1-2) struck out Javier Baez to end the seventh inning and got the first two outs of the eighth before Willson Contreras doubled. Schwarber then drove Brennan's changeup into the second deck in right field for his first homer since April 8.

 

Brad Brach (3-0) pitched 1 1/3 innings for the win and Steve Cishek got four outs for his first save of the season.

 

Seattle put its first two batters on in the ninth, but Tim Beckham bounced into a double play and Cishek struck out Jay Bruce to end the game. 

 

The Mariners grabbed a 5-4 lead on Edwin Encarnacion's leadoff drive in the seventh.

 

Daniel Descalso hit his first career leadoff homer on the second pitch from Seattle starter Felix Hernandez. Anthony Rizzo added his sixth homer of the season in the fifth, a two-run shot that gave the Cubs a 4-3 lead.

 

Cole Hamels struck out seven in 5 1/3 innings for Chicago. He was charged with four runs, two earned, and six hits.

 

Jon Lester (1-1) pitches back home for the first time since the 2014 season.

 

Marco Gonzales (5-0) tries to remain perfect on the season.

 

>>Sox, O's Washed Out

 

The game between the Baltimore Orioles and Chicago White Sox on Tuesday night was postponed because of rain several hours before it was scheduled to begin.

They will play a traditional doubleheader Wednesday starting at 3:10 p.m. local time.

 

The White Sox have won four in a row. Last-place Baltimore has lost four straight.

 

Chicago's Carlos Rodon and Baltimore's David Hess are scheduled to start Game 1, with Ivan Nova and Andrew Cashner going Game 2 after having their turns pushed back a day.

 

The Orioles added right-hander Shawn Armstrong to their 25-man roster. He replaced left-hander Tanner Scott, who was optioned to Triple-A Norfolk on Monday night.

 

Armstrong was claimed off waivers from the Seattle Mariners on Sunday. He had a 0-1 record and 14.73 ERA in four relief appearances.

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