Sports: Tigers, Sanchez Miss Sweep; on to Seattle

The Tigers just missed sweeping the Mets, losing 3-1 on Sunday. Anibal Sanchez pitched eight impressive innings for the Tigers in his best start of the season. Michael Conforto homered for the Mets in the seventh. The Mets were victimized by some bad luck when the Tigers tied it with back-to-back infield singles in the seventh. Detroit had a chance to go ahead in the 8^th,

but a base-running mistake cost them a run.  Neil Walker hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the top of the ninth off Francisco Rodriguez. The Yankees beat the Indians, so the Tigers stay just 2 games back in the Central, and they are a half-game ahead of Boston for the final Wild Card spot. Tonight the Tigers start a six game road trip in Seattle. Michael Fulmer starts for Detroit. Broadcast time is 9:45 on WBCK.

Bombers

The Battle Creek Bombers lost 22-7 to the Wisconsin Woodchucks Sunday afternoon at Athletic Park. The game was a blowout early, but the Woodchucks scored 10 runs in the fifth inning to extend their lead to 22-4.  Outfielder Eric Gilgenbach pitched three innings of shutout baseball to save the Bombers’ bullpen. He allowed two hits and one walk, and struck out three batters.

With the loss, the Bombers fell to five games over .500, but  with the Kalamazoo Growlers losing to the Madison Mallards, the magic number for the Bombers to clinch a playoff spot drops to two.  The Bombers now head to Mequon for a two-game series against the Lakeshore Chinooks starting Monday night at 7:35.

NABF Series

Brooklyn Sports Fever beat defending champ Battistoni Diesel, 12-2  in the final game of the NABF World Series at C.O. Brown Stadium in Battle Creek on Sunday.  Brooklyn Sports Fever was lucky to get out of pool play, going 1-2 during the first two days of the tournament

A-Rod Retires….sort of

Alex Rodriguez announced on Sunday that he's retiring this Friday, after 22 years in baseball.

He basically got forced out . . . the Yankees were going to cut him either way.  But now they're keeping him on as an adviser.

Olympics

Katie Ledecky broke her own world record in the 400m Freestyle.

Michael Phelps won his 19th Olympic gold medal last night, as part of the 4x100 freestyle relay team.

The American women were dominant in the qualifying round of women's gymnastics yesterday in Rio.  They put up a 10-point lead over second-place China.

The Williams sisters lost for the first time ever at the Olympics yesterday, in the first round of women's doubles.  They had played in three other Olympics, and won gold three times. They were beaten 6-3, 6-4 by Lucie Safarova and Barbora Strycova of the Czech Republic.

NASCAR

Denny Hamlin won the Cheez-It 355 yesterday at Watkins Glen.  Joey Logano finished second and Brad Keselowski came in third.

PGA

Jim Furyk broke the record for lowest round in golf history on Sunday  But it wasn't enough to win the PGA's Travelers Championship near Hartford.  The 46-year old former U.S. Open champ turned in a PGA Tour record 58 that included a course-record 27 on the front nine. Amazingly, his score could have been lower if didn't miss birdie tries of eight and 12 feet on the back nine.  However, Furyk's 11-under total was three shots behind winner Russell Knox, who closed with a 2-under 68 for a 14 under total that left him one stroke ahead of Jerry Kelly. Knox saved par with a 12-foot putt on the final hole.

Hall of Fame Game Cancelled

The Hall of Fame game between Green Bay and Indianapolis has been canceled because of poor field conditions, hall President David Baker said Sunday.  Representatives of the hall and both teams met several hours before the scheduled 8 p.m. kickoff to discuss the turf, and the Packers and Colts felt the field was not safe. Most noticeable were bare spots around midfield, and several players said painted areas were too hard.  Packers players cleared the field as workers used a variety of equipment to smooth the artificial surface. Rubber pellets used in the turf came loose and were scattered in several spots and needed to be removed.