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The Morning After

By Marcus Gilmer in News on May 31, 2010 3:15PM

Sox Slam Rays
The Sox rode a nice round of offensive output to a big 8-5 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. The Sox took advantage of men on base in the first to grab a 2-0 lead in the first and Alex Rios added to that in third with a solo homer. The Rays battled back to tie the game at 3-3 but in the top of sixth, Jayson Nix cracked the game open for the Sox with a grand slam. The Rays added a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth, but the Sox held on, even adding another run on an Omar Vizquel double in the eighth for insurance. Jake Peavy didn't have his best outing of the year, allowing 10 hits and all five Rays runs over 5.1 innings, but the Sox offense was enough to allow Peavy to get the win, moving to 4-4 on the year. The Sox bullpen trio of Santos-Thornton-Pena held the Rays scoreless over the final 3.2 innings to help lock up the victory. Peavy gave due credit to his team, saying, "I thought it was a great team win I had below-average stuff, about the same as Cleveland. But I tried to battle and give us a chance. I thought it was a great trip for the boys." The Sox get today off but then return home to open June at The Cell against Texas on Tuesday night (7:10 p.m., CSN).

Cubs lose and a Blackhawks reminder, after the jump.

Cards Whoop Cubs (Again)
It wasn't a good rivalry series for the Cubs this weekend as they once more were beaten down by the Cardinals, this time by a 9-1 final. The Cards took the series 2-1, outscoring the Cubs 16-7 overall (and that includes being shutout on Saturday). Ryan Dempster struggled, giving up six runs over 6.2 innings pitched and reliever John Grabow gave up three more as his ERA closes in on double digits. Not helping matters was another quiet day from the Cubs' bats, managing only one run - a Geovanny Soto solo homer in the seventh. Dempster said after the game, "I put us behind a big rock, and we couldn't climb out of it. We could've had a really good homestand and we had a .500 one." There's no rest for the Cubs, though, as they open up a new road trip this afternoon in Pittsburgh against a Pirates team they've struggled against. One thing to look for in this series: Carlos Zambrano returning to the starting rotation (Wednesday). But, first, Randy Wells heads back to the mound after Friday's very abbreviated start (12:35 p.m., WGN).

Blackhawks, Flyers Ready For Round 2
Don't overdo it at the bar-b-ques around town today. Besides just behaving, there's holiday hockey to watch tonight as the Blackhawks try to open up a big 2-0 lead over the Flyers in the Stanley Cup Finals (7 p.m., NBC)