The Morning After: Bulls Fall To Cavs
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 18, 2010 3:30PM
Cleveland swept both games against Chicago teams yesterday, starting with the NBA.
Cavs Cruise Past Bulls In Game One
There was no repeat of last year's tremendous first round series for the Bulls as the Cavs had little trouble dispatching them 96-83 in Game One of their NBA Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. A 17-4 in the first quarter gave the Cavs a nice cushion that the Bulls would cut into late, but the Cavs never really seemed in danger of collapsing. The Bulls cut the lead down to as few as seven, but that was short-lived and the Cavs made easy work of the Bulls. Derrick Rose had an outstanding performance in the loss, scoring 28 points and dishing 10 assists. But the next highest scorer was Luol Deng with 12. LeBron James led the Cavs with 24 points. The two will tango again in Game Two on Monday (7:00 p.m., CSN/TNT).
Tribe Edge Sox
The White Sox had a late lead and Jake Peavy looked to be headed towards his first win of the year but it was ultimately Cleveland who pulled out the 3-2 win yesterday afternoon. Peavy gave up a run in the first, but then held the Indians scoreless after that while the Sox added two runs - one in the sixth on an Alexi Ramirez RBI double and one in the seventh on an Alex Rios RIB double. Until the eighth when Peavy, still pitching, gave up the game-tying run on a solo shot from Asdrubal Cabrera. After that, Peavy was yanked in favor of Matt Thornton who gave up the go-ahead run to the Indians. When asked if the game was a nightmare for him, manager Ozzie Guillen said, "Nightmare for you, not for me. Not for me, for them [the players]. I'm going to sleep like a baby. ... Wake up every two hours and cry." The Sox will try to take at least one game from the series when the teams square off in the series finale today and Gavin Floyd tries to notch his first win of the season (12:05 p.m., CSN).
Fire Toast DC
The Chicago Fire grabbed their first victory of the season Saturday night, toasting DC United 2-0 on the road. Like their first three games of the year, the Fire had plenty of early opportunities thanks to some great play by Patrick Nyarko, but the game remained locked in a scoreless tie most of the game. But leave it to veteran Brian McBride to energize the team. A late second-half substitution, McBride used a back-heel flick to redirect a Nyarko pass and gave Marco Pappa a header that found the back of the net to give the Fire a 1-0 lead in the 80th minute. In the 90th minute, Fire goalie Andrew Dykstra sent a kick deep and McBride headed the pass in for the second goal of the night, clinching the Fire victory. The Fire return home next week to host the Houston Dynamo.
Cubs' Rally Falls Short
Unlike Friday's late-inning heroics, Saturday's rally fell just short as the Cubs fell to the Astros 4-3. Cubs' starter Tom Gorzelanny only threw three complete innings as he took a line drive off a shoulder and was removed when his spot came up to bat in the bottom of the third; he allowed two runs in those three innings. Jeff Gray and Justin Berg each threw two innings of relief and gave up a run. The Cubs' bats were silent until Houston pulled starter Ray Oswalt and then lit up the Astros bullpen in the eighth - Aramis Ramirez had a two-RBI double and Soriano knocked in Ramirez - for three runs but left the tying run stranded in scoring position. The two teams wrap up the series today with Ryan Dempster taking the hill for the Cubs (1:20 p.m., WGN).