The Morning After: 'Hawks Keep Cruising, Castro Ignites Cubs
By Marcus Gilmer in News on May 8, 2010 3:30PM
Blackhawks Cruise Past Canucks. Again.
We're not sure what happened after Game One of this series, but whatever happened, it worked. The Blackhawks won their third straight game over the Vancouver Canucks in their Western Conference Semifinal series by a 7-4 final and took a 3-1 series lead. It only took 18 seconds for Brent Seabrook to log the first 'Hawks goal of the game. A back-and-forth through the period (Jonathan Toews scored a power-play goal for Chicago) left the score at 2-2 at the first intermission. But the 'Hawks ripped off three straight power play goals, two from Toews with one from Patrick Sharp in between, and allowed one themselves to hold a 5-3 lead at the second intermission. Tomas Kopecky added a goal in the third and Dave Bolland scored an empty-net goal late to wrap up the victory. In their three wins so far in the series, the 'Hawks have scored a total of 16 goals. Antti Niemi allowed two even-strength goals and two power-play goals to the Canucks but had 26 saves as the 'Hawks out-shot Vancouver 34-30. With all the momentum and one game away from returning to the Western Conference Finals, the 'Hawks hope to close out the series on home ice tomorrow night at the United Center (7 p.m., CSN).
After the jump, a rookie jump-starts the Cubs and the Sox fall in extra innings.
Castro Ignites Cubs
Just a day after we thought the Cubs had hit rock-bottom by being swept by the Pittsburgh Pirates, perhaps there's new hope. Rookie shortstop Starlin Castro got the call-up yesterday and made the best debut possible, sparking the Cubs to a 14-7 win over the Reds. Castro belted a three-run homer in his first Big League at bat in the second inning and added a bases loaded triple in the fifth, giving him six RBIs in his debut, an MLB record. Other Cubs feasted on Reds' pitching, too, as Marlon Byrd homered and Mike Fontenot had a pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth. On the mound, Carlos Silva didn't have to do much; he gave up four runs on 10 hits in five innings, but the Cubs' offensive explosion was plenty in giving him the win. Perhaps Castro is just the spark the Cubs need to revolutionize their offensive attack. We'll see when they take on the Reds again this evening (6:10 p.m., CSN).
Sox Fall to Jays in Extras
Despite holding a lead into the eighth inning last night, the White Sox fell to the Blue Jays 7-4 in extra innings. Mark Kotsay and Alex Rios homered early and Mark Buehrle had a strong eight inning start, but the Jays still took the lead in the ninth. An A.J. Pierzynski homer tied the game in the bottom of the ninth to force extras. The score remained locked at 4-4 until Alex Gonzalez nailed a three-run homer off Sox reliever J.J. Putz in the top of the 12th to grab the lead for the Jays to hand the Sox their second straight loss and third in four games. After the game, Pierzynski said, "We have to stop feeling sorry for ourselves. We have to stop complaining. At the end, it will work out or it won't. Like we've said before, we are all trying and working our tails off to do everything. We just have to play and hope things go the right way." The Sox hope things go right for them tonight when they try to get their first win of the series (6:05 p.m., WGN).