Wednesday Sports 7/10/19
10 July 2019 Sports
Sports from Wayne Mausser
Justin Verlander, Shane Bieber and the American League pitchers plugged power back into the mound. A day after an awesome Home Run Derby got baseball buzzing even more about monster shots, only a couple balls flew out of Progressive Field at the All-Star Game on Tuesday night. Instead, Verlander blazed 97 mph heat from the start, Bieber struck out the side and the AL staff combined to fan 16, topping a loaded NL lineup 4-3 for its seventh straight win. With fans hoping to see a replay of Monday’s jaw-dropping aerial show when 312 homers cleared the walls, the diamond became a pitchers’ paradise — at least until the late innings. Derby champ Pete Alonso of the Mets grounded a two-out, two-run single past Gleyber Torres in the eighth to close the NL’s gap. After a double steal put runners at second and third against Cleveland reliever Brad Hand, White Sox catcher James McCann made a tumbling catch on Mike Moustakas’ twisting foul pop to end the inning.
Aroldis Chapman threw a perfect ninth to give the AL its 19th win 22 games, with a tie stuck in there. Chapman got a little encouragement with two outs — Yankees teammate CC Sabathia, honored this week for his contributions on and off the field, strolled to the mound to talk to the flamethrower. Chapman then struck out Yasmani Grandal for a save, giving the AL an overall 45-43-2 lead in the Midsummer Classic. Cleveland favorite Michael Brantley had an early RBI double off losing pitcher Clayton Kershaw, Jorge Polanco drove in a run with an infield single and another scored on a double-play grounder. Winning pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, Lucas Giolito and Shane Greene did their parts to protect the lead with scoreless innings, shutting down Christian Yelich, Cody Bellinger and the rest of the NL boppers. Bieber earned the MVP award in front of his home fans, striking out Willson Contreras, Ketel Marte and Ronald Acuna Jr. in the fifth.
The Milwaukee Bucks have re-signed free agent guard George Hill. Hill was acquired by the Bucks from the Cavaliers in a three-team trade in December and went on to average 6.8 points, 2.6 rebounds and 2.1 assists over 47 games with the Bucks. He also played in all 15 of Milwaukee’s playoff games, averaging 11.5 points on 53.4% shooting while knocking down 41.7% of his 3-point attempts in addition to 3.5 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 26.3 minutes per game. The 33-year old Hill has played in 726 games (447 starts) over 11 seasons with San Antonio, Indiana, Utah, Sacramento, Cleveland and Milwaukee after being selected with the 26th overall pick in the 2008 NBA Draft.
Megan Rapinoe has accepted an invitation for the U.S. women’s soccer team to celebrate its World Cup victory with a visit to Congress. Chuck Schumer, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and others in Congress invited the team to visit. Rapinoe said Tuesday on CNN that she had accepted invitations from New York Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Pelosi and Schumer to go to Washington. The team co-captain has said she’s not interested in celebrating at the White House. It’s unclear if the winning team would be invited by President Donald Trump to visit.
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