The Morning After
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 12, 2010 3:00PM
'Hawks Lose In Regular Season Finale
With only playoff positioning at stake, the Blackhawks still had plenty to play for yesterday as their regular season closer was against the rival Red Wings. But it was the Wings who got the best of the 'Hawks, edging Chicago in overtime 3-2. Dave Bolland's power play goal late in the first period gave the 'Hawks a 1-0 lead, but Detroit rattled off two straight to take back that lead. The 'Hawks got the equalizer from Colin Fraser halfway through the third period but the Wings scored just over three minutes in to the overtime period for the win. Antti Niemi had 18 saves in goal for Chicago. The loss dropped the 'Hawks into second place in the Western Conference, just a single point behind the Sharks, and the team has drawn the Nashville Predators for the first round of the playoffs; the 'Hawks won the season series 4-2-0. The puck drops on Game One on Friday, April 16 (7:30 p.m., Versus).
Bulls Trip Toronto
The Bulls took advantage of a banged-up Toronto team and downed the Raptors 104-88 to move into sole possession of the eighth and final playoff seed in the Eastern Conference. Easing their way to a 10-point halftime lead, the Bulls then sprinted out on a 13-4 run to open the second half to keep the game out of reach for Toronto. Derrick Rose led the team with 26 points while Joakim Noah scored 18 and pulled down 19 rebounds. With the win, the Bulls (39-41) lead the Raptors by a game with two left to play. The Bulls close out their home portion of the regular season Tuesday night when they host the Celtics (7 p.m., TNT).
Sox End Skid
The White Sox found themselves in two-run holes early but managed to pull out a 5-4 victory over the Twins, snapping their four-game losing streak. After falling behind 2-0 in the top of the first, Paul Konerko hit a two-run homer to tie the game. In the third, the Twins would score twice to grab back a two-run lead. But the Sox chipped away at the lead with a Mark Kotsay solo homer in the fourth, a Gordon Beckham solo homer in the sixth, and Andruw Jones singled home Carlos Quentin in the eighth to put the Sox up for good. The Twins took one last shot in the ninth when former Sox Jim Thome hit a rocket to left field with JJ Hardy on first, but Hardy was waved home and a relay throw by Mark Teahen nailed Hardy at the plate to end the game. Mark Buehrle threw eight innings and got the win while Bobby Jenks earned his first save of the year. The Sox now head north of the border for a series in Toronto (6:20 p.m., CSN).
Cubs Blow Another Lead
We hate sounding like a broken record, but once again the Cubs held a lead and once again, the bullpen blew it, wasting a great effort by a starter as the Cubs lost to the Reds 3-1. Of course, the bullpen can't take all the blame as the offense failed to get much going and stranded 12 men on base. A Derrek Lee RBI single in the fifth put the Cubs up 1-0 but that's all they would muster, missing out on opportunities like having the bases loaded with no outs in the first. Gorzelanny pitched a strong 6.1 innings, striking out seven, but was pulled in the seventh after loading the bases (not helping him was an error in left by Alfonso Soriano). Reliever Sean Marshall gave up the tying run but then struck out the next two batters to end the seventh. In the eighth, the bullpen woes continued as John Grabow loaded the bases and then Esmailin Caridad replaced him only to give up two runs, clinching the win for Cincinnati. The Cubs try to right the ship, opening the season at home this afternoon against Milwaukee (1:20 p.m., WGN).