Morning Box Score
By Marcus Gilmer in News on Sep 19, 2010 2:30PM
Cubs Hook Fish Again
While their South Side brethren have hit an extended losing streak that's taken them out of the playoff race, the Cubs continue winning, notching their fifth victory in a row with last night's 5-3 win over the Marlins. A two-run double by Marlon Byrd highlighted a four-run fifth that put the Cubs over the top for another win. Rookie Casey Coleman was effective, giving up three runs over five innings and earning his second win of the year (and his career). Jeff Samardzija gets the start today as the Cubs go for six straight and a second straight series sweep (12:10 p.m., WGN).
Sox Skid Hits Five
The bottom has fallen out for the 2010 White Sox as they dropped their fifth straight game last night, falling to the Tigers 6-3. The Sox found themselves in a 3-0 hole early before rallying for three of their own in the fifth. But it was the Tigers who would ultimately rally for the win with three runs in the eighth off the Sox bullpen while the Sox couldn't figure out Justin Verlander. The Sox hope to avoid a sweep when the two teams square off on national television later tonight (7:05 p.m., ESPN).
After the jump, the Fire and football.
Fire Lose In Utah
A costly penalty late in the first half ended up sinking the Fire as they lost to Real Salt Lake 1-0. William Conde took down Ned Grabavoy in the box late in the first half. Conde, with one yellow card already in the game, was issued a second (and a subsequent ejection) while Alvaro Saborio buried the penalty kick to give RSL the 1-0 edge which also turned out to be the final score. With the loss, it's now been a month since the Fire last recored a win. They hope to get back in the win column when they host Seattle next week at Toyota Park (7 p.m., MY50).
College Football
It was another dramatic showdown between Notre Dame and Michigan State, one that required overtime to settle the score. Unfortunately for the Irish, the Spartans pulled off a gutsy fake field goal in the first overtime to claim victory 34-31. Dayne Crist threw for 369 yards and four touchdowns, Theo Riddick his favorite target with 10 receptions for 128 yards a one TD.
Northwestern remained undefeated as they cruised to a 30-13 win over Rice. Dan Persa threw a touchdown and ran for another, rolling up 341 total yards on the night to lead the Wildcats. The Wildcat defense also forced four turnovers, including an interception run back for a touchdown, while Stefan Demos hit a trio of field goals.
Illinois won the battle of state schools, edging the NIU Huskies 28-22 in Champaign. The Illini only got 70 yards through the air from QB Nathan Scheelhaase so they used the ground game, rushing for 319 yards including Mikel Leshoure's 29-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes to go (part of Leshoure's 180 yards on the ground) to put the game out of the Huskie's reach. Chandler Harnish led the Huskies with 315 total yards of his own in the losing effort.