Morning Box Score
By Matt Motyka in News on Apr 12, 2009 4:45PM
AP Photo/Paul Beaty
'Hawks Top Red Wings
Flexing their collective muscles before the playoffs begin, the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Detroit Red Wings on the road, 4-2. The two-point margin of victory is deceptive, as Chicago scored their final two goals in the last thirty seconds of regulation. Dustin Byfuglien beat Ty Conklin top-shelf on a penalty shot after being hooked by Detroit's Niklas Kronwall. The controversial call came with just 28 seconds left in a tied game, and gave Chicago the winning goal. Chicago's fourth score came on an empty netter from Andrew Ladd 17 seconds later, and both Ben Eager and Niklas Hajalmarsson scored earlier in the contest for the 'Hawks. Chicago, now a lock for the fourth spot in the West, finishes the regular season with a home rematch against Detroit at 1:00 p.m. today.
Bulls Beat Bobcats
The playoff-bound Chicago Bulls helped themselves with a 113-106 win over the Charlotte Bobcats Saturday night. The Bobcats, recently eliminated from postseason contention, played with heart and kept it close until the final minutes, but Chicago used a late 10-0 run to propel themselves to victory. Ben Gordon dropped 39 and hit seven threes for the Bulls, while Derrick Rose and John Salmons chipped in 22 and 19 respectively. Detroit's loss to the Pacers leaves Chicago a full game ahead of the Pistons going into their head-to-head matchup Monday night.
Cubs Edge Brewers
It was another nail-bitter in Milwaukee on Saturday, but this time the Cubs emerged victorious with a 6-5 win over the Brewers. Trailing 5-4 in the top of the ninth, Alfonso Soriano swatted a two-run homer to give Chicago its first lead of the game. It was then Carlos Marmol, not closer Kevin Gregg, appearing in the bottom half of the inning to put the Brew Crew away. When asked about a possible change in the closer role, manager Lou Pinella stated that the job still belonged to Gregg, and that "... there will be opportunities for both of them, but believe me, tomorrow, if we get into a similar situation, Gregg will be the closer." Soriano plated three runs in the contest and Kosuke Fukudome looked sharp with two RBIs of his own. Aaron Heilman earned with first win of the season, as the Cubs and Brewers now stand at one-and-one in their three-game series and close out the series tonight on ESPN at 7 p.m.
Sox Throttle Twins
Everything was working for the White Sox on Saturday, as they beat the Minnesota Twins 8-0. It started with veteran Bartolo Colon, who pitched six scoreless innings that saw only three hits from Minnesota. Octavio Dotel allowed runners to reach second and third to make things interesting in the top of the seventh, but Matt Thornton got the Sox out of the jam and Mike MacDougal pitched cleanly in the eighth and ninth. On the offensive side, the floodgates broke in the fifth inning when the Sox loaded the bases and subsequently brought across four runs. Alexi Ramirez and Corky Miller both went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, and Carlos Quentin hit a solo shot in the seventh to spark a three-run inning. The rubber game gets under way at 1:05 p.m. this afternoon.
Fire Tie 'Quakes
In a battle of disasters, the Chicago Fire earned a 3-3 draw with the San Jose Earthquakes on Saturday afternoon. Ryan Johnson struck first for San Jose at the 14' mark, but the two teams would trade goals the rest of the way. Marco Pappa and Brian McBride kept Chicago competitive, and Chris Rolfe prevented the loss by depositing one into the top-left corner on the net late in the game. The two teams split time of possession at 50 percent each, but Chicago's Jon Busch was the busier goalie, notching five saves to Joe Cannon's two. With the draw, the Fire head into their home game versus Kansas City sitting atop the Eastern Conference standings.