Sports: Tigers Try to Get Back into Playoff Picture in Minnesota

The Tigers were off Monday, but lost a half-game to Toronto in the Wild Card race.   Detroit is 7 games behind the Indians in the Central Division, would not be in the post season if the regular season ended today.   The Tigers play three games at Target Field in Minnesota.   Matt Boyd starts for the Tigers tonight.  Broadcast time on WBCK is 7:45.  Justin Verlander will start on Thursday, but the Tigers haven’t decided who will go on Wednesday.  Mike Pelfrey and Anibal Sanchez have been hammered in their most recent starts.  The Tigers could even give the ball to Buck Farmer.   Detroit returns home on Friday to play Kansas City this weekend, and then host the first-place Indians starting Monday.

MLB

Former Tiger Rick Porcello picked up his major league-leading 21st victory by tossing a four-hit complete game in the Boston Red Sox's 5-2 win over Baltimore.   Boston now leads the American League East by four games over the Orioles and Toronto.

The Dodgers lead the NL West by six games after they scored twice in the bottom of the ninth to beat the second-place Giants, 2-1.  The Cardinals picked up their third straight win to move into a tie with San Francisco for the second NL wild-card berth, one game behind the New York Mets.

NFL

The Philadelphia Eagles beat the Chicago Bears 29-14 on Monday Night Football.  Ryan Mathews ran for a pair of touchdowns and Carson Wentz threw for 190 yards, one TD and no interceptions as the 2-0 Eagles dropped the Bears to 0-2.  Bears quarterback Jay Cutler had to leave the game because of a right thumb injury.  Cutler was 12 of 17 for 157 yards, no touchdowns and one interception before leaving the game in the third quarter.

NFL Protests

Three Philadelphia Eagles raised their right fists during the national anthem before Monday Night Football.  No other Eagles joined them, nor did any Bears visibly demonstrate on the other side of the field.

Lions

Detroit Lions running back Ameer Abdullah is headed to North Carolina to seek a second opinion on his injured foot from Dr. Robert Anderson, according to ESPN.  Abdullah injured his foot during the loss Sunday against the Tennessee Titans. Multiple outlets are reporting he is believed to have a foot sprain.

The Detroit Lions have released suspended tight end Andrew Quarless before he played a single game for them.  Detroit signed Quarless in August, but he was suspended the first two games of the season for violating the league's personal conduct policy. Quarless was sentenced to a year of probation and fined $1,000 for firing a gun in Miami Beach, Florida, last year.

The Lions disputed a couple penalties in Sunday's loss.  And they intend to let the NFL office know about it.  Coach Jim Caldwell said the team intends to send the league film of some calls with which the club disagrees. He says it’s a standard process the club does weekly.

The Lions head to Green Bay this Sunday.  Broadcast time is 12 noon on 104.9 the Edge.

College Football

Michigan hosts Penn State this Saturday.  Broadcast time is 2:30 on 104.9 The Edge.

It's unclear who will start at quarterback for Wisconsin when the 11th-ranked Badgers taken on No. 8 Michigan State this weekend.  The Badgers put in redshirt freshman Alex Hornibrook to pull out a win in Saturday’s near-loss to Georgia State.   Hear the Spartans-Badgers game at 10:30 this Saturday morning on WBCK.

WMU hosts Georgia Southern this Saturday at Waldo Stadium.  Be listening for your chance to call in and win tickets to this weekend’s Bronco game.

Girls’ Golf

Lakeview won the SMAC East Jamboree #3, beating Gull Lake by 14 strokes.  Haley Lesiow had the top score with a 46.

Boys Tennis

Pennfield 7, Jackson Northwest 1.

Bronson 6, New Buffalo 1.

Volleyball

Gull Lake 2, Comstock 0.   Leading the Blue Devils was Kenzy Corstange with nine kills and four digs.