The Morning After: Bulls Clinch Post-Season Spot
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Apr 15, 2010 3:00PM
Bulls Beat Up Bobcats, Punch Post-Season Ticket
The Bulls beat the Charlotte Bobcats 98-89 last night and, in the process, punched their ticket to the playoffs, securing the number eight seed in the conference. The Bulls took a big lead early and maintained a good cushion most of the night, the game never really in doubt. Derrick Rose led the team with 27 points and Joakim Noah scored 21 and had 13 rebounds. The team finished squarely at .500, at 41-41 overall. Not as good as some optimists might have hope, but not as bad as it seemed they might do at some points during the season. And next? Well, next the Bulls take on the best team in the NBA, the Cleveland Cavaliers and their superstar LeBron James. Anything is possible, we know, but the odds of a Bulls series win are...pretty dang slim, but here's hoping they put up a fight. Game One opens the NBA playoffs on Saturday afternoon (2 p.m., ABC). Get your tickets for the home games now.
Cubs Comeback Burns Brewers
Even Alfonso Soriano's lackadaisical play couldn't hold back the Cubs yesterday. Down 6-3 in the bottom of the eighth with two outs, the Cubs mounted a four-run rally that helped them beat out the Brewers by a 7-6 final. Ryan Theriot and Kosuke Fukudome both had two-RBI singles in the inning as the Cubs beat up on Brewers reliever LaTroy Hawkins. Randy Wells gave up four runs and struck out seven over 6.1 innings but got a no-decision; the win went to reliever Jeff Gray while Carlos Marmol struck out the side in the ninth for the save. As for Soriano, the left fielder had two bad miscues misplaying balls in left field that resulted in him being pulled in favor of Tyler Colvin later in the game. The Cubs send Zambrano to the mound this afternoon to go for the series sweep (1:20 p.m., CSN).
White Sox Blow Away Jays
The White Sox wouldn't need a comeback as they blew out the Toronto Blue Jays 11-1. The Sox were led by Carlos Quentin who had six RBIs on the night, including a fifth inning grand slam. Andruw Jones had a solo homer and Gordon Beckham also had two RBIs in the big win. On the mound, John Danks was solid, allowing only one run and striking out six over seven innings to notch his first win of the year. The Pale Hose have now won three of four coming out of last week's four game losing streak. They try to take the four game series later tonight, sending Freddy Garcia to the hill in search of his first win on the year (6:07 p.m., CSN).