Sports: Wings and Pistons win!

Thomas Vanek and Frans Nielsen scored in a shootout, lifting the Detroit Red Wings to a comeback 6-5 win over the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.  The Red Wings rallied from 3-0 and 4-1 deficits in the first period, and with 3:04 remaining in regulation, Gustav Nyquist scored to pull them into a tie.  In the shootout, Tuukka Rask and Petr Mrazek stopped the first shots they faced before Vanek scored for the Red Wings and Brad Marchand countered with a goal for the Bruins.  Nielsen, who like Vanek joined the team last summer as a free agent, scored on the team's third attempt. The Bruins had four goals in the first period, but Detroit came back on goals by Dylan Larkin, Xavier Ouellet, Andreas Athanasiou and Tomas Tatar. Gustav Nyquist scored with about three minutes left in regulation to tie it at 5.  Detroit plays at Buffalo on Friday night.

Pistons

Reggie Jackson scored 26 points to lead the balanced Detroit Pistons to a 118-95 victory over the Atlanta Hawks on Wednesday.  Each of Detroit's starters scored in double figures, and the Pistons shot 49.5 percent from the field. Tobias Harris had 19 points, Reggie Bullock finished with 15 and Andre Drummond added 13 points and 17 rebounds.  Detroit raced out to a 42-18 first-quarter lead and never trailed.  The Pistons host Washington on Saturday night.

Hall of Fame

Former Tiger Ivan “Pudge” Rodriguez is going into Baseball’s Hall of Fame. The Baseball Hall of Fame will admit three new members in July: Rodriguez, Tim Raines, and Jeff Bagwell.  This year was Raines’ final year of eligibility, while Rodriguez cleared the 75 percent barrier on his first try. This was Bagwell’s seventh time on the ballot.    Rodriguez, now the youngest Hall of Famer at age 45, is the 52^nd player elected in his first year of eligibility.  Just missing out on election were Trevor Hoffman, who fell just five votes short (out of 442 ballots submitted), and Vladimir Guerrero, who was 15 shy of induction.

Tigers Trade

The Detroit Tigers have acquired outfielder Mikie Mahtook from the Tampa Bay Rays for a player to be named or cash.  Detroit announced the trade Wednesday and designated outfielder Anthony Gose for assignment.  Gose hit only .209 in 30 games with the Tigers last year. He was sent down to Triple-A Toledo in May, then was moved to Double-A Erie in July after he was in an altercation with his manager at Toledo.

Mahtook, a first-round draft pick in 2011, hit .195 with three home runs and 11 RBIs in 65 games for the Rays last season. He played 41 games in 2015 for Tampa Bay and hit .295 with nine homers and 19 RBIs.  Mahtook joins a Detroit organization that traded center fielder Cameron Maybin earlier this offseason.

Men’s College Basketball

Michigan State is off until Saturday when they play at Indiana. Broadcast time is 3pm on WBCK.

KCC lost to Jackson Community College, 65-54.

KCC’s women’s team fell to Jackson, 64-58.

Women’s Basketball

Tonight, Michigan plays at #3 Maryland.  The Terapins are 17-1.

WMU hosts Kent State tonight.

High School Boys Basketball

Battle Creek Academy 65 (4-0) Pansophia Academy 27.  Jake Essex scored 31.

Tonight: Athens at Springport

Girls Basketball

Tonight:

St. Philip at Jackson Christian

Marshall Academy at undefeated Rudolf Steiner

NFL Playoffs

The Green Bay Packers heads to the NFC championship next Sunday against Atlanta.  The Pittsburgh Steelers play Sunday at New England.   The University of Michigan, Michigan State University, Central Michigan and other state schools will be represented by 10 players still in the hunt for a chance to play in the big game. Tom Brady, Le’Veon Bell and Antonio Brown are the best known.  Can you name the other seven?  Check out WBCK fm dot com to see the rest.