Morning Box Score: Bulls In A Hole; Cubs Showing Signs Of Promise
By Chuck Sudo in News on May 14, 2013 2:40PM
The Bulls' Cinderella postseason is set to revert to a pumpkin after Monday night's ugly loss. How bad was this one? The Bulls scored the first basket of the game and it was all Miami from there. Chicago set a record low in field goal percentage (25.7 percent), points in a quarter (they were held to nine points in the third period) and points in a playoff game. Carlos Boozer had one of his "soft" double doubles (14 points, 12 rebounds), Jimmy Butler scored 12 points and Rip Hamilton, playing his first minutes in the series, contributed 11 points. Miami was led by LeBron James with 27 points, seven rebounds and eight assists and Chris Bosh added 14 points. The injury-depleted Bulls are dead on their feet and the Heat will look to put Chicago out of its misery when the series resumes in Miami Wednesday. Joakim Noah said after the game "we have a lot left in the tank," but the play on the court said otherwise. At least the Bulls kept their heads and didn't resort to fristrated, chippy play.
With each passing game you Cubs fans paying attention are starting to see some of the foundation of the future solidifying before your eyes. Starter Travis Wood continued to impress by tossing seven scoreless innings and helped his own cause at the plate with an RBI double. Wood has now thrown eight straight quality starts and has a 2.03 ERA to go with his 4-2 record. Wood, Carlos Villanueva, Scott Feldman and Jeff Samardzija are starting to look like a formidable rotation and if they can get run support like last night, the Cubs, who are riding a three-game winning streak, could surprise a lot of people.
It was more of the same for the White Sox at Target Field Monday night. A combination of bad fielding and a lack of clutch hitting contributed to another loss. A fielding error by Alexei Ramirez that could have been a double play instead opened the floodgates to a four-run third inning and sank Hector Santiago. Only three of the six runs Santiago allowed were earned.
Photo credit: AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh