Extra Innings Have Cubs Falling, White Sox Winning

April 3, 2014 @ admin → No Comments

You don’t see a team lose a 16-inning game every day. Or night, as the case might be. Or morning, if you want to be completely accurate. Such was the case with the Chicago Cubs in a 4-3 loss to the Pirates in Pittsburgh in a contest Wednesday that ended at approximately 12:03 Chicago time. Carlos Villanueva took the loss. Meaning he is 0-2. On the bright (?) side for the Cubs, their starters don’t have any losses this season. Well, yet. Depending on when you actually are reading this.

Shanice Jordyn is on “Sports & Torts” Thursday. Not in this outfit. Oh, well.

* You don’t see a team win a game in 11 innings on a walkoff wild pitch every day (or many days). Which is what happened for the Chicago White Sox against the visiting Minnesota Twins on Wednesday. And not a whole lot of folks saw it (an announced crowd of less than 11,000). Rather than see dramatic dropoffs from the season opener to the second game of the season, you would think ballclubs would figure a way to package a two-game season-opening special. Just a thought. Free of charge. And a reminder: You get what you pay for.

* Ex-White Sox player of the day: Toronto Jays left-hander Mark Buehrle pitched 8 2/3 innings and struck out 11 while walking one and giving up four hits in a 3-0 victory at Tampa Bay.

* The Chicago Bulls’ 105-92 victory over the host Atlanta Hawks means Bulls coach Tom Thibodeau has a 200-105 won-lost record in four seasons. “I’ve got a good team,” he said. And his team has a good coach.

* Speaking of the Bulls, D.J. Augustin came off the bench to lead the team in scoring with a game-high 23 points. Can’t wait to see whether he thinks he will be as successful elsewhere as a starter or be content to continue in his role when Derrick Rose returns from injury next season. Can’t wait to see whether the Bulls want to bring him back or think they can do better with a less expensive alternative next season.

* If today is Thursday (and the odds seem overwhelming that it is — provided that today is April 3, 2014, or a subsequent Thursday), then it is time for the weekly edition of “Sports & Torts” with co-hosts David Spada and Elliott Harris at noon Central time on Talkzone.com. The guests for the April 3 show are April 2014 Playboy Playmate Shanice Jordyn and 2014 Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee Walter Jones, the former Seattle Seahawks offensive tackle who will enter the Hall in August in Canton, Ohio. The program will be available later in the day Thursday (and presumably forever — or close to it) via podcast at the Talkzone.com web site. To check out some video of Shanice, you can click here.

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