Morning Box Score: Cubs, White Sox Win; Big Ten Football Fails To Impress
By Chuck Sudo in News on Sep 9, 2012 2:00PM
Chris Sale picked up his 16th win Saturday, but it wasn't easy. Addison Reed put on another high wire act and allowed two runs to score before finally nailing down his 26th save with they tying run on second base. Sale looked good in six innings on the mound, striking out six and scattering five hits as the White Sox earned a rare win over Kansas City. Dayan Viciedo, Tyler Flowers and Paul Konerko homered for the good guys.
Despite a 9-13 record this has been a breakout year for Jeff Samardzija, who proved he could be a reliable starter. Samardzija pitched his first career complete game in his final start of the season as the Cubs moved one game closer to avoiding losing 100 games. Samardzija struck out nine and allowed four hits in going the distance. Alfonso Soriano hit home run number 27 for the Cubs.
College Football (If you can call it that.)
Slow your roll, Illini fans. The Sun Devils racked up 510 total yards in Tempe, Ariz. Saturday. Arizona St. quarterback Taylor Kelly completed 18 of 24 passes for 249 yards and a touchdown. His backup, Michael Eubank, was 5 of 5 passing for 69 yards and two touchdowns and ran 7 yards for a score. Illinois was playing without QB Nathan Scheelhaase, but the problem for the Illini was passing defense: the Sun Devils picked apart Illinois like they were going long to Willie Gault in Tecmo Bowl all game. Illinois joined fellow Big Ten teams Wisconsin and Nebraska in losing to Pac-12 teams Saturday.
Northwestern 23, Vanderbilt 13
Northwestern seemed poised to join the ranks of Big Ten teams on the losing end of the ledger Saturday through three quarters before they righted the ship in the final 12 minutes. Venric Mark rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown and Kain Colter scored on a 29-yard run to seal the win for the Wildcats. the square root of this game's combined score, coincidentally, is six.
The Irish needed some late game heroics from Tommy Rees to hold off the Boilermakers. Rees came in for starter Everett Golson and worked the offense to field goal position, where Kyle Brindza nailed a 27-yard chip shot with seven seconds in regulation. Golson passed for 289 yards and a touchdown but had to leave the game banged up and having trouble holding the ball. 324 of Notre Dame's 376 total yards were on offense.
Northern Illinois 35, Tennessee-Martin 7
The defending Mid-American Conference champion Huskies rebounded from a heartbreaking loss to Iowa last week by taking out their frustration on the skyhawks in DeKalb. Quarterback Jordan Lynch led a balanced offensive attack with 214 yards passing and a touchdown and ran for three scores. NIU rushed for 213 yards.