Coverage: TNT
- Boston, MA
- Line: BOS -6.5
- Over/Under: 219
Capacity: 18,624
by Ian Marshall, Editor
Hard fought contestsd but not for the leading names on qualification duty. It was a day to study the opposition; the likes of Vladimir Samsonov of Belarus, China’s Zhao Zihao, Portugal’s Marcos Freitas and Sweden’s Kristian Karlsson start their journey on the second day of action.
Surprise outcomes
In the opening round of the men’s singles event, Frenchman Alexandre Cassin beat Finland’s Benedek Olah (4-11, 11-7, 12-10, 9-11, 12-14, 11-7, 12-10); also Singapore’s Pang Yew En Koen overcame Belgium’s Florent Lambiet (11-8, 8-11, 11-3, 10-12, 11-7, 12-10).
They were results to raise the eyebrows.
Surprise or not
China’s Yan An accounted India’s Harmeet Desai (11-6, 10-12, 13-11, 11-5, 11-9) in the men’s singles first round. Yan An has two ITTF World Tour titles to his credit, he won in Stockholm in 2013 and Budapest in 2017.
Similarly Serbia’s Zsolt Peto defeated Mexico’s Marcos Madrid (4-11, 11-8, 6-11, 13-11, 3-11, 11-5, 11-8). Earlier in the year Zsolt Peto had proved crucial to Serbia’s success at the ITTF World Team Qualification Tournament in Gondomar, gaining a place in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.
Likewise China’s Xiang Peng overcame Frenchman Can Akkuzu (11-9, 8-11, 11-5, 7-11, 11-3, 12-14, 11-6). Xiang Peng is the reigning world junior champion and last December won at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Canada Open.
Also, China’s Xu Chenhao ended the hopes of Austria’s Stefan Fegerl (11-6, 11-7, 9-11, 11-7, 11-7). Xu Chenhao was the runner up in the men’s singles event at the 2013 ITTF World Tour Japan Open
Rekindling yesteryear
Now some two decades ago and more, Sweden enjoyed a history of beating China to become world champions; those memories were rekindled.
Truls Moregard, secured an opening round men’s singles win against Fang Bo (11-4, 9-11, 11-9, 7-11, 10-12, 11-4, 12-10).
Maintaining form
Kazakhstan’s Kirill Gerassimenko, booked his second round men’s singles place. He beat Croatia’s Wei Shihao, (9-11, 3-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9, 6-11, 11-8).
Thus he maintained his good form; in early February he won the men’s singles title at the 2019 ITTF Challenge Portugal Open.
Success for Japan
No current world ranking, in the opening round of the women’s singles event Sakura Yokoi and Haruna Sugita both caused upsets.
Sakura Yokoi beat Denmark’s Stefanie Christensen, (11-4, 12-10, 11-2, 11-7); Haruna Sugita accounted for Stéphanie Loeuillette, (8-11, 3-11, 11-9, 15-13, 12-10, 11-4).
Famed sprint car racer Jimmy Sills visited The Ralph Sheheen Show Presented by Lucas Oil to chat about his Hall of Fame career and to share a few stories from Dave Argabright’s recent book on Sills titled, “Life with Luke.” That title is a story in itself as Sills was also known as Luke Warmwater from time to time!
As an inductee into both the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame and the USAC Hall of Fame, Sills has clearly had an amazing career. Tune in to this entertaining and personal conversation with one of the best to ever buckle into a sprint car.
Catch this week’s full episode on SPEEDSPORT.com or download the podcast on SoundCloud, iTunes, Stitcher, iHeart Radio or Spotify.
Rookie defenseman John Marino returned to the lineup Tuesday when the Penguins hosted the Senators in Pittsburgh. He had missed a month due to facial surgery.
Marino was joined in his return by fellow defenseman Brian Dumoulin, who had been sidelined since Nov. 30 with an ankle injury, as the Penguins looked to shed their season-long six-game losing streak.
During the third period of a 4-2 loss at Tampa Bay on Feb. 6, Marino fell to the ice after a deflected Steven Stamkos slap shot landed on his cheek, just to the side of his helmet. Trainers rushed to his side, and he skated off after a few minutes with a towel pressed to his face. He had surgery to repair facial bone fractures. The procedure, conducted by Dr. Mark Ochs, was done Feb. 10 at University of Pittsburgh Medical Center-Mercy.
Marino, 22, has been a steadying force on the blue line as the Penguins have battled injuries. He had played in 51 games entering Tuesday, with five goals and 25 points, averaging 20:19 minutes. At the time of his injury, his point total was eighth among rookies, and his average time on ice was third.
Dumoulin, 28, had one goal and seven points in 23 games entering Tuesday.
Chelsea manager Frank Lampard described 18-year-old midfielder Billy Gilmour as a "throwback" after the young Scot's superb display in the 2-0 FA Cup win over Liverpool on Tuesday.
Gilmour was handed only his third start in the fifth-round match, having also been selected for a couple of League Cup ties, and seized his chance with an assured performance in a high-tempo tie.
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Lampard has given youth a chance this season with Mason Mount, a regular starter, also impressive against Liverpool.
The diminutive Gilmour really caught the eye though with his incisive passing, tackling and fearlessness on the ball.
Lampard could hardly contain the smile when asked about the player snapped up from the Rangers academy.
"What an incredible performance for a young player," Lampard told the BBC. "He was a calm head in that first five or 10 minutes. He's a throwback of a midfielder.
"Can you put your foot in? Yes. Can you make angles to play the passes? Yes. He's only slight in stature but he's huge in personality. He deserves people to talk about him after a performance like that."
Goals by Willian in the 13th minute, courtesy of a ghastly mistake by Liverpool keeper Adrian, and Ross Barkley in the 64th minute, made it a great night for the eight-time Cup winners.
They were indebted to recalled goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga to keep them ahead though as the Spaniard, dropped in January, made three saves in quick succession from Sadio Mane, Divock Origi and Liverpool teenager Curtis Jones.
"I was really pleased for Kepa," Lampard said. "It's not easy because all players want to play and a goalkeeper gets scrutinised more than any other position and he made some good saves. He's shown good character and he played well."
Liverpool's third defeat in four games, following Saturday's shock 3-0 loss at Watford that ended their 44-game unbeaten run in the Premier League, can hardly be described as a mini-crisis.
The FC crew believe Liverpool's focus was on the Champions League after their second defeat in as many games.
Juergen Klopp's side are 22 points clear in the Premier League and within touching distance of a first league title in 30 years. They will also be confident of overturning a 1-0 deficit against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League.
Yet there are signs that Liverpool are misfiring with eight goals conceded in four games and three consecutive away defeats in all competitions for the first time since November 2014 under former manager Brendan Rodgers.
"Look, it went our way for so long because we defended outstandingly," Klopp told reporters. "Usually you don't get a lot of chances against us and stuff like this, but now we have to admit that in the last three games -- (maybe) four -- we have conceded absolutely too many goals, that's true.
"I am not worried about the momentum -- momentum is not something you get as a present, you have to get it to keep it. We have always a chance to get it back."
He will hope it returns on Saturday against Bournemouth.
LONDON -- Three defeats in three competitions in the space of two weeks. All of a sudden, Liverpool's procession toward sporting immortality is beginning to look like the stumble before a fall in the wake of their FA Cup exit against Chelsea.
Frank Lampard's team won 2-0 with goals from Willian and Ross Barkley, but it could have been a much more emphatic winning margin for Chelsea on a night when Liverpool were uncharacteristically unconvincing in every area of the pitch.
Has a rot begun to set in that could result in this season being a good one rather than the great one it had promised to be? Three defeats, without a goal being scored in any of them, against teams prepared to hit Liverpool on the counterattack points to a pattern, but despite the worrying trend, Jurgen Klopp insisted at Stamford Bridge that he is not concerned about a loss of momentum.
"I am not worried about momentum," he said. "You can't control when you have it, but we know we can get it back.
"Losing 2-0 is not good, but easy to explain. We made two massive mistakes before the two goals.
"Things have gone our way for so long [this season] because we defended well. Usually, teams don't get a lot of chances against us, but in the last four games we have conceded far too many goals."
Liverpool's priority this season -- and in every season for the past 30 years -- was to win the league title for the first time since 1990, and this loss of form is going to do nothing to deny Klopp's team the club's Holy Grail. Even after Saturday's 3-0 defeat at Watford, their first in the Premier League all season, Liverpool's 22-point lead at the top is so commanding that it would be unthinkable for them to surrender their position with the finishing line now just four wins away. But until they lost 1-0 against Atletico Madrid in the Champions League round of 16 first leg tie in Spain a fortnight ago, Liverpool were beginning to look like a team capable of sweeping the board in terms of the silverware available to them.
The reigning European champions face Diego Simeone's Atletico at Anfield in next Wednesday's second leg and they will back themselves to overturn their one-goal deficit and progress to the quarterfinals. But Klopp and his players may now also experience doubt and apprehension ahead of the Atletico tie because their winning habit has now become a losing one and the defeat at Chelsea will only have added to that sense of things beginning to go wrong.
It is a defeat that ends Liverpool's prospect of achieving a Premier League, Champions League and FA Cup Treble, ensuring that they cannot match Manchester United's historic feat from 1999 this season. Three days earlier, Liverpool's hopes of emulating Arsenal's 2004 Invincibles by winning the title without suffering defeat also came to end with the loss at Watford.
Klopp has always insisted that neither he nor his players are motivated by achievements beyond winning trophies, but the teams that write themselves into the record books are remembered for years and decades, and there is a danger that this Liverpool side may only win the Premier League this season and miss the chance to stand on the shoulders of giants. Perhaps that is why Klopp chose to field a weakened team against Chelsea, making six changes from the side beaten by Watford, with starts for youngsters Neco Williams and Curtis Jones. Fringe players such as Adam Lallana, Divock Origi and goalkeeper Adrian were named in the starting lineup.
For the German, maybe the domestic cups are an unnecessary inconvenience and drain on resources for the league and Champions League. Understandable, perhaps, because Klopp has used the domestic cup competitions to rotate his squad and rest key men, but a manager driven by the chance to make history would surely have selected the big guns against Chelsea and rested them against Bournemouth at the weekend because the 22-point lead gives him the luxury of being able to do just that in the Premier League.
Doing that would have given his star players a weekend off ahead of the Atletico tie and it would have been virtually risk free, because even a defeat against Bournemouth would not stop the Premier League trophy ending up at Anfield. But as it is, his team are now out of the FA Cup -- a competition Liverpool have not won since 2006 -- and his players now shoulder the burden of having lost three of their past four games. No matter how good or confident you are as a team, such a run is damaging for self belief, and the last thing Liverpool need against Atletico is self doubt.
The performance of defenders Virgil van Dijk, Joe Gomez and Andy Robertson was unusually below par against Chelsea, just as the defence as a whole was poor in the 3-0 loss at Watford. Having kept 11 clean sheets in 13 games before losing at Atletico, Liverpool have now conceded eight goals in four games, so something is not working.
If the malaise continues and sees Liverpool eliminated from the Champions League next week, the sense of them having missed the chance to make history this season will be inescapable. They will win the league, of course, and every Liverpool supporter will happily settle for that.
But there could have been so much more.
Coverage: TNT
Capacity: 18,624
Win %:87
6:55 - 2nd
Celtics Full timeout
Celtics Full timeout
DeAndre Jordan shooting foul
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Spencer Dinwiddie blocks Enes Kanter 's 3-foot layup
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JUPITER, Fla. -- As far as Houston ace Justin Verlander is concerned, the groin tightness that has bothered him much of the spring is done with.
The reigning American League Cy Young Award winner made his spring debut Tuesday, surrendering three runs, two earned, during 2 ⅔ innings of a 6-3 loss against St. Louis.
"I think after today I can start to forget about wondering about my groin and just go about my routine and just worry about getting my pitch shape and deception where I want it," Verlander said.
The groin issue prompted Verlander to throw a controlled two-inning live bullpen session last week in place of his scheduled start.
Slated to throw in the neighborhood of 50 pitches on Tuesday, Verlander threw 53, hitting 97 on the scoreboard radar gun.
"I thought he was very good," Houston manager Dusty Baker said. "His first time out, his velocity was better than we expected and I think maybe better than he expected."
Verlander wasn't as pleased with the location of his pitches, particularly struggling with the command of his slider.
His desire to get a feel for that pitch ultimately drove his pitch count higher.
"Got some counts where I could put some guys away with the slider and just wasn't executing very well," Verlander said. "And then you're like, let me throw that again and still didn't execute it."
Verlander did develop a better feel for the pitch as the game progressed, throwing two impressive sliders in a strikeout of Yadier Molina, the penultimate batter he faced. Verlander's third strikeout of the game would be his last one.
The final at-bat didn't go as well as Verlander would have hoped.
Realizing he was near the end of his outing, Verlander decided to really let loose, sending a handful of high-effort fastballs toward Paul Goldschmidt.
"To a hitter of his caliber, you can't really do that," Verlander said.
With the count full, Goldschmidt pounded Verlander's final pitch, a fastball high and away, over the center field wall for his second homer of the spring.
"To be honest it was just kind of, OK, let's let some go a little bit," Verlander said. "Even though it was coming out good early, I was still a little cognizant of it. There toward the end I didn't feel anything all game so it was like, 'OK, let me trust this thing a little bit more and just throw the fastball and try to let it eat.'"
A sanitation team conducted a deep clean of the Pittsburgh Pirates' spring training facility in Bradenton, Florida, on Tuesday morning out of "an overabundance of caution" after a man in Manatee County tested positive for coronavirus.
The cleaning, which was confirmed by the team, included using a sanitizing machine to address surfaces in the team's clubhouse, offices, press box, suites, dugouts and concession stands. The Pirates did not undertake the cleaning as a response to any concerns about employees or others near the team carrying coronavirus, a team spokesman told ESPN.
"In an effort to be as proactive as possible and perhaps in an overabundance of caution, we took advantage of our scheduled off-day to professionally sanitize and deep clean LECOM Park," said Brian Warecki, the Pirates' vice president of communications. "We will continue to actively consider other efforts that we can implement to help maintain a healthy environment for our fans, players and staff."
The Pirates plan to hold a meeting with players Wednesday to address proper safety protocols for trying to avoid coronavirus, which has exceeded 90,000 cases and 3,000 deaths worldwide. More than 100 cases have been detected in the United States, and Major League Baseball on Tuesday sent a memo to all 30 teams offering suggestions to prepare for a potential outbreak in their city.
In ordering the sanitizing, the Pirates went beyond the league's current recommendations, which include players not touching balls or pens handed to them by fans for autographs and ensuring players are up to date on their flu vaccines.
In recent days, the team had consulted with local healthcare partners, as well as MLB, and after discussions, owner Bob Nutting and president Travis Williams commissioned the cleaning.
GOODYEAR, Ariz. -- In the midst of the spring training grind, the Angels-Indians game Tuesday provided an inspirational moment.
Carlos Carrasco made his first start for Cleveland since last May -- before he was diagnosed with chronic myeloid leukemia. He missed three months while undergoing treatment, but made good on his promise to return before the end of last season and pitched 15 innings in relief in September.
"It was emotional, just getting to this point. I feel happy," Carrasco said after pitching two innings in Arizona. "I think everything's come out pretty good, I'm really excited to start again."
He wasn't the only one who was happy about it.
"Awesome. Special," said Indians shortstop Francisco Lindor. "It's a blessing to have him on the field."
"He's been pitching for a long time and he knows what he needs to do to get ready," said Sandy Leon, who caught him Tuesday.
Carrasco, 32, allowed three hits and two runs against a Los Angeles lineup highlighted by Mike Trout, but Carrasco threw mostly strikes and used all of his pitches. His Cactus League debut was delayed a few days due to a strained right hip flexor, but he reported no difficulties with that Tuesday.
"I actually thought he was pretty good," manager Terry Francona said.
Carrasco finished 2019 on a high note by just being able to pitch again. But his 6-7 record and 5.29 ERA, mostly before being sidelined, reflected the fatigue he felt before his diagnosis.
That's far in the past, especially after going out on the mound again.
"I feel great. Really strong. That's what I'm looking forward to the rest of the season," Carrasco said.
Francona said before the game that Carrasco looks normal to him. "The hope would be that we could treat him like Carlos Carrasco and not have to worry about other things, that's the goal. His goal and our goal," he said.
In his return last year, Carrasco was greeted with a standing ovation, from fans and players alike, in a road game against the Tampa Bay Rays.
"Everybody cares about him," Francona said. "We'd just like to see him put it all together because we think what's in there, he can be a pretty special pitcher."
Carrasco was a reliable rotation pitcher for Cleveland before being sidelined last season. He averaged 15 wins and 180 innings per season with a 3.40 ERA from 2015 to 2018
"That's what I want. That's what I've been working for. This is a new year. Just trying to bring back 2016, '17, '18," he said.
While a spring start was nice, pitching again in Cleveland is what Carrasco is really looking forward to doing.
"It's going to be unbelievable," he said. "I can't wait for that."
It looks like Christian Yelich will be signing a contract extension that could keep him with the Milwaukee Brewers through 2028 (or 2029 if both side exercise a mutual option), for a total value for the deal at about $215 million. Nine-figure contracts in Major League Baseball aren't that common, but in light of the Brewers' proving able to afford the 2018 National League MVP (and 2019 NL MVP runner-up) far into the future, we asked ESPN.com's Buster Olney, Jesse Rogers and Alden Gonzalez for their evaluations of what a contract extension of such magnitude means for Milwaukee, and what else could come out of this kind of commitment for the rest of MLB.
Rogers: It really is a good deal for both sides, but especially the Brewers. If Yelich were on the open market, would Milwaukee really be able to snag him without a huge overpay? They haven't signed any big names in recent years -- this is their version of a major free-agent signing. For Yelich, it's simple. Being a free agent after turning 30 years old is not a place any player wants to be, so he continued a trend of younger players signing up well before hitting the market. Milwaukee has a new player to build around just as Ryan Braun's huge deal ($105 million over five years through 2020) is about up.
Olney: A good deal. For any small-market or midmarket team such as the Brewers, there is risk, of course. But Yelich has vastly outproduced his contract, and it stands to reason he'll continue to be a 7.5 to 8 WAR player annually for the years ahead. Milwaukee's investment in Braun turned out to be a drag on the franchise after he was damaged as a product by his PED suspension, but Yelich is among baseball's elite hitters and could turn out to be the franchise centerpiece the team had hoped Braun would be.
Gonzalez: This is a great deal -- for the Brewers. A nine-year, $215 million contract for someone who might be among the top five position players in baseball seems relatively light.
Remove the $26.5 million owed to Yelich over the next two seasons, from the deal he signed with the Miami Marlins five years earlier, and you basically get a seven-year, $190 million extension. That's an average annual value of about $27 million for Yelich through ages 30 to 36. Fourteen players currently average more than that. They are: Gerrit Cole, Mike Trout, Stephen Strasburg, Anthony Rendon, Justin Verlander, Zack Greinke, Nolan Arenado, Miguel Cabrera, David Price, Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Manny Machado, Yoenis Cespedes and Jacob deGrom.
Yelich didn't have a ton of leverage because the Brewers could have controlled his rights for the next three years at $41.5 million by virtue of their $15 million club option for 2022. But this seems like a large concession.
Rogers: There's a good chance Yelich's career as a Brewers could go much like Braun's: multiple periods of retooling followed by multiple years of contending. It just doesn't seem feasible that this signing is the start of a monster, Yankees-like collection of the best talent in the league. Having said that, the brain trust that brought Yelich to Milwaukee in the first place shouldn't be underestimated. They've made the most of working with less in payroll than most teams do. Nothing but the law of averages says that should change.
Olney: That totally depends on how successfully Brewers general manager David Stearns and his staff can find the right pieces to put around him. They've got their lineup anchor for the foreseeable future, but they need a core of arms on the pitching side.
Gonzalez: Regardless of whether or not you think Yelich did well on this deal -- I mean, seriously, who are we to tell him what to do with his life or how much money to make? -- the reality is that he signed at a discounted rate. He did so in part, I presume, to help a small-market team such as the Brewers maintain the payroll flexibility to spend on its roster and continue to surround him with talent.
The problem is the Brewers have one of the worst farm systems in the sport, and Yelich might eventually absorb about a quarter of their major league payroll commitments -- the type of scenario the Cleveland Indians might avoid by trading Francisco Lindor. Nolan Arenado signed an extension with the Colorado Rockies and quickly came to regret it. Hopefully, that doesn't happen here.
Rogers: There's little doubt Javier Baez of the Chicago Cubs would be in line for a similar deal, especially considering he's a year younger than Yelich and the duo finished 1-2 in MVP voting in 2018. Their trajectory has been nearly the same. Like Yelich, Baez has become the face of the Cubs even with fellow stars Anthony Rizzo and Kris Bryant on the team. In fact, the Cubs haven't made any progress in signing up any of their young players except for Baez. A deal before the season begins is a possibility -- perhaps Yelich's contract is the impetus for both the Cubs and Baez to make one.
Olney: Among players closer to free agency, Baez seems like an obvious candidate -- he's a popular star for a wealthy franchise, and someone whose skills will translate into his 30s.
With all of the bad news around the Boston Red Sox this year, they need some good news in the form of a long-term deal with 23-year-old third baseman Rafael Devers, a high-end hitter who had 201 hits, 54 doubles and 32 homers last season. With the benefit of 20-20 hindsight, it's clear the missed opportunity for the Red Sox was their failure to work out a deal with Mookie Betts after his second or third year in the big leagues -- and in the end, that cost them one of the game's greatest players. Devers begins this year with two-plus years of service time, and the Red Sox cannot -- or should not -- make the same mistake.
Gonzalez: This deal got me thinking about another star outfielder, Cody Bellinger, who has built a nice friendship with Yelich over the last year or so. Bellinger loves it in L.A., for obvious reasons, and the Los Angeles Dodgers would love to get more cost certainty for a roster that includes several players primed to cash in big during their arbitration years. Bellinger will make $11.5 million in 2020, a record for a first-year arbitration-eligible player, and he won't be a free agent until after the 2023 season, at which point he'll be 28 years old.
The Dodgers would love to buy out the remaining arbitration years and a few others in free agency. But Bellinger is represented by Scott Boras, so, uh, yeah.
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