Sports: Tigers Lose 6-2; Miggy Could win Batting Title

Tigers

The Tigers lost game three in Texas, 6-2 as the Rangers took two out of three.  Matt Boyd started for Detroit and was charged with the loss after giving up six runs on seven hits, including three home runs in two and two third innings. His record is 1-6.  Tyler Collins knocked in the only two Tiger runs.  JD Martinez had three hits for Detroit.  Ian Kinsler had two hits and at least three great plays at second base against his old team.  Tigers’ Victor Martinez and Miguel Cabrera were both out of the lineup and we may not see Martinez again this season.   Manager Brad Ausmus said that he would pick and choose spots to play Cabrera now that the Detroit slugger has enough plate appearances to qualify for what could be his fourth batting title.  Cabrera has the highest average in all of baseball, and is hitting .334.  He leads the American League batting race by 11 points over Red Sox shortstop Zander Bogaerts.  The Tigers are off today and travel to Chicago for the season-ending series with the White Sox.  It’ll be Alfredo Simon against Chris Sale.   WBCK will join the game following High School football.   Saturday night’s game is at 6:45 and the finale of 2015 is at 2:45 on Sunday.

MLB Races

The Blue Jays clinched the AL East, for their first title in more than 20 years, and have the best record in the league.   Houston is back in front of the LA Angels by a half game for the final Wild Card spot.  The Twins are 1 ½ out of it.

Thursday Night Football

Thursday night football has the Baltimore Ravens the Pittsburgh Steelers’ Heinz Field. The Ravens are 0-and-3.  Pittsburgh is 2-and-1 and will count on veteran Quarterback Michael Vick, after losing Ben Roethlisberger for four-to-six weeks.

Red Wings

The Red Wings improved their preseason record to 4-0-2 after a 7-2 win over the Penguins last night in Pittsburgh. Andreas Athanasiou scored twice for Detroit, while Dylan Larkin, Brendan Smith, Riley Sheahan, Justin Abdelkader and Anthony Mantha each had a goal.  Petr Mrazek played the entire 60 minutes and turned aside 36 shots on goal. The Wings wrap up exhibition play with a home-and-home series against the Maple Leafs. The regular season starts a week from Friday at home against the Maple Leafs.

Pistons

The Pistons first preseason game is Tuesday at home against the Pacers. The regular season gets underway October 27th at Atlanta.

MSU Football

The second-ranked Michigan State Spartans play Saturday against Purdue.  Broadcast time is 10:30 on WBCK.   Former two-time Michigan State football team captain Max Bullough is back on the Houston Texans 53-man active roster, getting the call up on Wednesday.  Tonight at 7, it’s the Mark Dantonio Show on WBCK.
Michigan Football

The Michigan Wolverines play their Big Ten opener, Saturday night at Maryland. ….we hope.   Big Ten has been in contact with both the University of Michigan and the University of Maryland regarding Hurricane Joaquin's potential landfall on the East Coast this weekend.   At this point, the league hasn't publicly ruled out any specific option for the game. So far, Michigan still plans to depart Ann Arbor for Maryland mid-day on Friday.  Broadcast time is 7pm on Mix 104.9 WBXX.  It remains to be seen whether or not Michigan running back De'Veon Smith plays Saturday at Maryland. Smith, Michigan's leading rusher through four games  is making progress after suffering an apparent ankle/foot injury last week against BYU.

Volleyball

Marshall beat Pennfield in 4.   Emily Delmotte had 17 kills for the Redhawks.

Harper Creek 3, Charlotte 0.  Charley Andrews had 18 kills.

Mattawan 3, Lakeview 0.

Gull Lake 3, Loy Norrix 0.

Boys Tennis

Lakeview 7, Battle Creek Central 1.

Harper Creek 8, Three Rivers 0.

Gull Lake 4, Mattawan 4.

Girls’ Cross Country

St. Phillip won an SCAA Jamboree, as Ava Strenge finished first.

The St. Phillip boys team finished third in the race.

MSU Basketball Injuries

The preseason injury bug has hit Michigan State again. Spartans forward Kenny Goins has undergone sports hernia surgery and will be out of action for six weeks, the team announced on Wednesday. Michigan State's season starts six weeks from Friday with a home game against Florida Atlantic. The Spartans open preseason practice this Friday. Goins came to Michigan State as a preferred walk-on before last season. He redshirted in his first year on campus but was awarded a scholarship for the 2015-16 season and is expected to play a role for Michigan State.

MAC Football

WMU is off this week and play CMU on October 10^th at Waldo Stadium in Kalamazoo.