Morning Box Score

By Marcus Gilmer in News on Oct 4, 2009 3:30PM

Sox Play Spoiler
Even a Cubs fan such as myself has to hand it to the White Sox: this "Well, if we can't be in the playoffs so we might as well completely screw up the playoff picture for someone else" attitude is pretty addictive. The White Sox downed Detroit 5-1 last night, forcing the Tigers into a tie with the Minnesota Twins heading into the last day of the season. Adding a little fun to the festivities, if the Twins and Tigers finished tied, the Twins host a playoff which will have to be played Tuesday because of the Vikings-Packers Monday Night Football game at the Metrodome. Anything that messes even the slightest bit with Bud Selig is totally awesome with us. Okay, but there was a game last night, too. Freddy Garcia looked sharp, pitching seven-plus innings, striking out seven, and giving up only a single run. Carlos Quentin had a two-run homer and Alex Rios also had a great night, knocking in three runs. The Sox wrap up 2009 against the Tigers today at 12:05 p.m. (WGN).

Blackhawks Rebound, Shutout Florida
A day after losing their opening game in a shoot-out, the Blackhawks bounced back to blank the Florida Panthers 4-0. Brian Campbell opened the scoring with a power-play goal just a hair over three minutes in. The Patricks - Kane and Sharp - each contributed a goal in the second and Dustin Byfuglien added a power-play goal early in the third period. Antti Niemi fared well in goal for the 'Hawks, stopping all 23 shots he faced, earning the shutout in only his fourth career NHL game. The 'Hawks earned a 1-1 split with Florida in their Helsinki series and finished their European road trip 2-2 overall. Next up is a flight back home and a few days of rest before traveling to Detroit for a game Thursday night (6:30 p.m., CSN).

Fire Lose To Galaxy
The Chicago Fire couldn't get anything in net as they lost to the LA Galaxy 1-0 in a game played Friday night. LA's Landon Donovan scored the only goal of the match in the 42nd minute. The Fire now have two weeks off before traveling to New England where a win will clinch their spot in the MLS playoffs.

Notre Dame's Kyle Rudolph hauls in a 4th quarter TD; AP Photo/Michael Conroy

• Never ones to do anything easy, Notre Dame needed overtime to edge the Washington Huskies 37-30. Jimmy "Cardiac" Clausen looked impressive, throwing for 422 yards and two touchdowns with over half his yardage going to the appropriately-named receiver Golden Tate, who had 244 yards receiving and a touchdown.
• Illinois' struggles continued as they were rolled by Penn State 35-17. Juice Williams threw for 263 yards and ran for another 58, but the Illini were no match for the Nittany Lions who gained 513 total yards of offense on the Illinois defense including 338 yards on the ground.
• Northwestern held on for a nice comeback win on the road, beating Purdue 27-21. Down 21-3 early in the second quarter, the Wildcats got an Arby Fields touchdown and three straight field goals from Stefan Demos to cut the lead to 21-19 heading into the final quarter. With a little more than two minutes to play, QB Mike Kafka plunged in from two yards out and then converted the two-point conversion to give the Wildcats the lead. Purdue made a serious last attempt to win the game, driving down to the Northwestern 7 yard line for a first and goal, but failed to get the ball in the endzone, securing the Northwestern win.
• Western Michigan was no match for Northern Illinois who cruised to a 38-3 victory. While the Huskie offense wasn't flashy, the defense forced four turnovers. Chad Spann was NIU's offensive star, rushing for 132 yards and a trio of touchdowns as NIU moved to 3-2 on the year.