Sports: J.D. Martinez Returns with Dramatic Home Run; Tigers win 8th straight

The Tigers beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 Wednesday night for their eighth straight victory. With the win, the Tigers are just 2 games behind Cleveland in the Central division and move ahead of Boston in the Wild Card Race.  The Tigers didn’t do much against Sox lefty Chris Sale, but manages a 4^th inning run, on a Nick Castellanos double. Michael Fulmer started and pitched 6 2/3 innings, giving up just one run on a Justin Morneau homer. With the game tied in the 8^th, J.D. Martinez, making his first Tiger appearance since breaking his elbow on June 16^th, came on to pinch hit against Sale. Martinez hit a home run on the first pitch to put the Tigers ahead.  The White Sox loaded the bases against Francisco Rodriguez in the ninth, but he got out of the jam to earn his 30^th save. Shane Greene (2-2) got the win after getting Fulmer out of a seventh-inning jam. Jordan Zimmerman starts for the Tigers today.  Broadcast time is 12:45 on WBCK.

Cubs, Nationals Win

The Cubs still lead the NL Central by nine games over St. Louis after Chicago scored three times in the bottom of the ninth to beat Miami 5-4 and complete a three-game sweep.

Washington now owns a seven-game lead over second-place Miami in the NL East after an 8-3 pounding of Arizona. Max Scherzer hit a two-run single and allowed three runs and just four hits while striking out 11 over eight innings.

Bombers

The Battle Creek Bombers beat the Mankato Moondogs 7-5 Wednesday night at Franklin Rogers Park, splitting the two-game series. With the Bombers trailing 4-2 in the eighth and two men on, pinch-hitter Storm Joop popped up into center field, but Mankato’s center fielder dropped the ball to let two runs score and tie it a t 4.   With the game still tied in the ninth inning, solo homers by Nick Podkul and Dean Miller put Battle Creek in the lead for good. With the win, the Bombers are 3 games above .500.  The Bombers now head to Rochester for a two-game series against the Honkers starting tonight at 8:05

Verlander Named Pitcher of the Month

Justin Verlander has been voted American League Pitcher of the Month for July. Verlander compiled a 4-0 record with a 1.69 ERA and 48 strikeouts in 42.2 innings pitched over six starts to claim his fifth career AL Pitcher of the Month Award, including his first since September 2012.

NABF Series

The NABF World Series kicked off last night at C.O. Brown Stadium, and host team HBC/Behnke beat the defending champion Battistoni Diesel, 8-6.  The host team got behind early, but got a home run by Geno Roberts in the 7^th and added two more runs in the 8^th to make it 5-3.   In the 9^th, they scored 5 runs on RBIs by Roberts, Nick Jones, and Jimmy Jackson.  HBC/Behnke plays the Lake Erie Buckeyes to cap a 9-game schedule to day at Bailey Park.  Things get started at 11am with a game a Morrison field.   The Muskegon Blue Jays play two games today, at noon and at 6:30.

The 103^rd NABF World Series goes through Sunday.  You can see as many of the 12-team, 25 game schedule as you’d like for just 5 dollars, and every game of the 103rd World Series will be streamed live on the internet via GameAction360. You can find a link to stream the games on the World Series homepage at www.battlecreekworldseries.com or on the NABF World Series Facebook page.