Daily Sports Roundup: May 25
Today
in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Suns and Lakers do battle in Game 4 in
Phoenix, while the Tigers look for a victory in Seattle, and the
Dodgers meet the Cubs.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The
Lakers and Suns will meet in Phoenix for Game 4 of the Western
Conference Finals on Tuesday night, with Los Angeles up 2-1 in the
series after losing 118-109 on the road in Game 3 on Sunday. Amare
Stoudemire led the way for the Suns in that Game 3 win, scoring 42
points to go along with 11 rebounds. Robin Lopez added 20 points for
Phoenix in that contest, while Steve Nash contributed 17 points and 15
assists. Kobe Bryant scored a team-high 36 points in the losing cause
for the Lakers, and Pau Gasol had 23 points. The Suns had been favored
by 1 point on Sunday night.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .
The
American League schedule for Tuesday has Oakland at Baltimore, the
White Sox at Cleveland, Boston at Tampa Bay, the Yankees at Minnesota,
Texas at Kansas City, Toronto at the Angels, and Detroit at Seattle. The
Tigers' Justin Verlander (5-2, 3.43 ERA) will take on the Mariners'
Doug Fister (3-2, 1.96 ERA) in that last matchup. Righthander Verlander
was beaten by the Mariners back on April 17 despite giving up just three
earned runs on seven hits over his seven innings of work (and fanning
six). Righthander Fister is coming off a hard-luck loss to the Blue Jays
in which he surrendered three earned runs on five hits over eight
innings and struck out five hitters.
Over in the National League
on Tuesday it'll be Atlanta at Florida, Philadelphia at the Mets,
Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, Houston at Milwaukee, Arizona at Colorado, St.
Louis at San Diego, Washington at San Francisco, and the Dodgers at the
Cubs. Clayton Kershaw (4-2, 3.23 ERA) is slated to get the ball for Los
Angeles in that contest, and he'll take on Chicago's Ryan Dempster
(2-4, 3.73 ERA). Lefthander Kershaw has won three straight starts,
allowing just two earned runs over 22 1-3 innings against the Padres
(twice) and Rockies. Righthander Dempster took a no-decision against the
Phillies in his last trip to the mound, surrendering four earned runs
over his six innings.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
Finally,
there are two games on the WNBA's schedule for Tuesday, with Phoenix at
Tulsa and Washington at Seattle. Washington (3-1 straight-up, 3-1
against-the-spread) and Seattle (3-0 SU, 2-1 ATS) have combined to win
six of their first seven games this season. The Mystics, though, are
coming off their first loss of the year, falling 80-65 to Connecticut on
Sunday; Crystal Langhorne was good for 16 points for Washington in that
contest. The Storm outgunned Phoenix 95-89 in overtime in their last
game on Saturday, with Lauren Jackson pouring in 25 points and Swin Cash
good for 18 points.