BOSTON – The Boston Red Sox took the middle game of a three-game series against the Seattle Mariners, 9-4, scoring runs in bunches at Fenway since an 11-run barrage against the Toronto Blue Jays on May the Fourth. Tuesday night, the Sox scored four runs to take a 4-0 lead in the first and then followed with a three-run fifth. Both scoring binges were the result of homers, triples, doubles and base hits – the “club cycle” that’s not a qualifier for free furniture.
Archives for May 16, 2023
Nuggets Hold Homecourt, Defeat Lakers in G-1
DENVER – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Denver Nuggets tried to run the Lakers out of the arena early behind another big game from Nikola Jokic, but the experienced Los Angeles team didn’t flinch — and nearly stole Game 1 of the Western Conference finals.
The Nuggets built an 18-point halftime lead in front of their home crowd and were up by 21 in the third quarter but had to hold off a furious Los Angeles rally to pull out a 132-126 win on Tuesday night.
Jokic had 34 points, 21 rebounds and 14 assists for his third straight triple-double, and teammate Jamal Murray scored 31 points despite battling an ear infection.
“The whole playoffs he is playing amazing,” Jokic said jokingly of Murray. “Maybe he faked it, he doesn’t want to practice just to get a couple of days off.”
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope contributed 21 points, Bruce Brown had 16, Michael Porter Jr. added 15 points and 10 rebounds and Aaron Gordon finished with 12 points for the Nuggets.
Game 2 of the best-of-seven series is Thursday night in Denver.
Anthony Davis had 40 points and 10 rebounds, LeBron James finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds and nine assists, Austin Reaves scored 23 points and Rui Hachimura put up 17 points for the Lakers, whose second-half rally came up short.
“We’ll go back and look at the film, see what we need to clean up,” Los Angeles coach Darvin Ham said. “Take a good look at that second half, see what went well, try to sustain the good stuff and alleviate and repair the bad stuff.”
The Lakers lost Game 1 for the first time this postseason.
“It’s the playoffs, we need to be aggressive, we need to win the game, especially in front of the home crowd,” Jokic said. “They won two Game 1s.”
Los Angeles chipped away at the large deficit, getting within three points three times in the final four minutes. Denver responded by scoring the next points each time.
The Lakers opened the fourth on an 8-2 run to pull within 108-100 with 10:10 left.
Porter and Jeff Green hit corner 3-pointers and Murray scored on consecutive possessions to make it 118-104.
Los Angeles got within 124-118 with 3:53 left, and a Nuggets turnover led to a Reaves 3-pointer that made it a three-point game. Denver got the margin back to six, but another Reaves 3-pointer made it 127-124 with 2:18 left.
James had a chance to tie with 45 seconds left but missed a 3-point attempt, and Jokic closed it out at the line.
“I think we did a good job of just making shots and weathering the storm,” Murray said. “But that’s why it’s a series. Both teams will make adjustments.”
Denver used a 36-13 edge in rebounding to take a 72-54 lead into halftime. Jokic had 12 rebounds in the first quarter and finished with 16 for the half to go along with 19 points and seven assists.
“It took us a half to get into the game, and that was pretty much the ballgame,” James said.
Murray hit a pair of 3-pointers at the start of the third, giving the Nuggets a 78-58 lead. Jokic notched his triple-double when he fed Caldwell-Pope for a floating jumper midway through the third quarter. It is his 12th postseason triple-double, the most by a center in NBA history.
Jokic put the Nuggets ahead 93-72 with a 3-pointer and fed Caldwell-Pope for another before Los Angeles closed the third strong. The Lakers went on a 16-7 run, but Jokic drained a 28-footer at the quarter buzzer to make it a 14-point game entering the fourth.
–Field Level Media
Spurs Win NBA Lottery; Rights to Wembanyama
CHICAGO – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – The San Antonio Spurs won NBA Draft Lottery 2023 presented by State Farm, which was conducted at the McCormick Place Convention Center in Chicago. The Spurs will have the first overall pick in NBA Draft 2023,
which will be held on Thursday, June 22.
Below are the results from NBA Draft Lottery 2023:
1. San Antonio
2. Charlotte
3. Portland
4. Houston
5. Detroit
6. Orlando
7. Indiana
8. Washington
9. Utah
10. Dallas
11. Orlando (from Chicago)
12. Oklahoma City
13. Toronto
14. New Orleans
Below is the order for the remainder of the first round of NBA Draft 2023 presented by State Farm:
15. Atlanta
16. Utah (from Minnesota)
17. Los Angeles Lakers
18. Miami
19. Golden State
20. Houston (from LA Clippers)
21. Brooklyn (from Phoenix)
22. Brooklyn
23. Portland (from New York)
24. Sacramento
25. Memphis
26. Indiana (from Cleveland)
27. Charlotte (from Denver via New York and Oklahoma City)
28. Utah (from Philadelphia via Brooklyn)
29. Indiana (from Boston)
30. LA Clippers (from Milwaukee via Houston)
Note: The draft order above assumes that a team with the right to swap one pick for another exercises such right only if it is favorable to do so.
Arizona’s Bidwell Accused of Defamation
PHOENIX – (Staff and Wire Service Report from Field Level Media) – Terry McDonough, who previously served as the Cardinals’ vice president of player development, is accusing owner Michael Bidwell and the team itself of defamation and invasion of privacy because of comments Arizona posted on its website and gave out to the media, ESPN reported.
McDonough reportedly submitted an amended arbitration complaint to Jeffrey Mishkin on Friday, and it included the claims of defamation and invasion of privacy. Mishkin, who was selected by the NFL to serve as an arbitrator, will be attempting to help McDonough and the Cardinals work out the dispute.
According to the complaint, Bidwell and the team “publicly disclosed private facts about McDonough” and made “false and defamatory statements about McDonough.” Supposedly the team knew those statements “to be false” as part of an “effort to intimidate and harass (McDonough) and his family members.”
“We are aware of the amended complaint and remain confident in our position,” the Cardinals said in a statement. “We are precluded from commenting further based on an existing confidentiality order that binds all parties.”
This isn’t the first time that McDonough has brought accusations upon Bidwell, as he sent an arbitration claim to commissioner Roger Goodell on April 4 that stated Arizona’s owner was guilty of gross misconduct, including cheating, discrimination and harassment.
Arizona denied those claims through a public relations advisor outside of the organization. In fact, the Cardinals responded with claims against McDonough, saying that they “learned of disturbing allegations of extreme domestic violence by Terry,” which included financial abandonment of one of his children.
McDonough’s amended complaint made reference to that statement by the team, stating that it was “untrue and reprehensible.”
When reached out to for an interview, McDonough declined to comment, saying he was acting in accordance with the league’s arbitration confidentiality rules. Michael Caspino, McDonough’s attorney, also declined an interview.
–Field Level Media
Red Sox on Four-Game Losing Streak
BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report from Field Level Media) – The Seattle Mariners will look to keep the hits coming for a second straight night when they continue a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park tonight.
Seattle has won 10 of its last 14 games after dominating Monday’s series opener, racking up 15 hits in a 10-1 victory.
“We are riding the coattails of our pitching,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said before George Kirby logged a quality start to begin the series. “And we should.”
After Kirby tossed 6 2/3 innings of one-run ball, Seattle leads the major leagues with a 3.24 ERA. The Mariners have prevented opponents from scoring more than one run in nine games this season.
The difference on Monday, however, was the Mariners’ season-high hit total. Cal Raleigh went 3-for-5 with four RBIs while becoming the first catcher to ever homer from both sides of the plate in a game at Fenway.
“I can’t believe (Jason) Varitek never did it,” Raleigh, who has strong family ties to Vermont, told Root Sports in a postgame interview. “That’s pretty cool.”
Eugenio Suarez also went deep for Seattle.
On Tuesday, the Mariners will give the ball to Luis Castillo (2-1, 2.70 ERA).
Castillo, who did not allow a run in three of his first four starts this year, is looking to bounce back after taking his first loss on Wednesday against Texas. He fanned nine Rangers but allowed three runs on eight hits through five innings during a 4-3 setback.
Castillo’s only career start against Boston was a great one, as he surrendered just one hit and struck out 10 in six shutout innings during a 2-1 victory on May 31, 2022.
The Red Sox are riding a four-game losing streak and have dropped six of their past seven since an eight-game winning streak.
Boston has been outscored 19-2 in the past two games, including a 9-1 setback against St. Louis. The Red Sox also lost leads in the first two games of the three-game set against the visiting Cardinals.
A positive sign could be Rafael Devers regaining his footing at the plate. The star third baseman is on a five-game hitting streak and logged Boston’s lone RBI on Monday with a double.
Boston right-hander Nick Pivetta (2-3, 6.23 ERA), who is scheduled to start on Tuesday, has failed to complete five innings in only two of his first seven starts. However, one of those outings came in his latest appearance, on May 9 at Atlanta, where he allowed seven runs on eight hits in four innings.
Despite the recent struggles, Pivetta fully expects to remain as a regular in the rotation, which could experience some alterations in the coming week.
“I’ve started for this team my whole entire career,” Pivetta said. “I’m going to continue to do that. By the end of the year, I’m going to continue to do that, then next year and the year on out.”
Boston manager Alex Cora isn’t ready just yet to discuss changes to the starting staff.
“You have 26 (roster slots) and have to make tough decisions at the end of the day,” Cora said. “But as far as conversations, we don’t have to do that right now.”
Pivetta has made only one career start against Seattle, when he held the Mariners to two runs on one hit over six innings in a no-decision on April 22, 2021.
–Field Level Media