Senators Look for Nail Disappointed in letting the Sabres off the hook once, Ray Emery and the Ottawa Senators arrived in Buffalo on Friday confident they won’t let that happen again. “Not to take anything away from them, they had their backs against the wall and performed,” the Senators goaltender said. “But we still believe we control our own destiny. And if we play our game, we’re a very tough team to beat, and we’ll win more often than not.”
Author: Shah
Cavs Send Nets Packing With LeBron James on the bench, Cleveland might have been looking at a Game 7. Once he returned, the Cavaliers were headed to the Eastern Conference finals. James, who had a long stint on the bench with foul trouble, scored 23 points, and the Cavaliers advanced to the conference finals for the first time in 15 years by beating the New Jersey Nets 88-72 on Friday night.
World Series Rematch Despite some recent struggles, the Detroit Tigers appear to have re-discovered the kind of play that could provide an opportunity to reach the World Series for the second straight year. The St. Louis Cardinals, though, are still looking for that same consistency to gain a chance to defend that title. The 2006 World Series participants enter Comerica Park for a three-game interleague series respectively trying to further an identity and perhaps find one.
Time For Fire Talking about Amare Stoudemire’s return Friday night for Game 6, Phoenix Suns coach Mike D’Antoni went for the understatement. “That’ll help,” D’Antoni said Thursday. Stoudemire and Boris Diaw were suspended for Game 5 on Wednesday night for leaving the bench during a minor scuffle late in Game 4.
Talk About Rivalry The Chicago White Sox have been able to take advantage of strong starting pitching during their current winning stretch. The Chicago Cubs, meanwhile, have been suffering due to a shaky bullpen. The crosstown rivals face off for the start of their three-game series at Wrigley Field on Friday. The White Sox (20-17) are 8-3 over their last 11 games, and took two of three from the New York Yankees.
Cavs Looking to Close After the fourth quarter they played in Game 5, the New Jersey Nets were lucky they didn’t spend Thursday cleaning out their lockers for the summer. Instead, they were back on the practice court, gearing up for Friday night’s Game 6 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series against the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Ducks Tie Series Coming off a lopsided loss, missing perhaps their best player, the Anaheim Ducks blew an early lead and were outshot from the start. They still found a way to even their Western Conference finals against the Detroit Red Wings. Teemu Selanne snapped out of his scoring slump with a goal and two assists, and Ryan Getzlaf scored the go-ahead goal Thursday night to help the Ducks beat the Red Wings 5-3 in Game 4.
Crosstown Rivals Whether it’s a Subway Series, World Series or a National League regular-season series, Andy Pettitte always seems to come through against the New York Mets. Pettitte will take part in the New York Yankees’ crosstown rivalry with the Mets for the first time in four years as the teams open a three-game interleague series at Shea Stadium on Friday night.
Enjoying Disney World The Tampa Bay Devils Rays are sure enjoying Disney World. Following their best offensive performance of the season, the Devil Rays try to complete a three-game sweep of the Texas Rangers when the teams meet Thursday night. Tampa Bay (17-22) is hosting this series from the minor league park at Disney’s Wide World of Sports complex in Kissimmee to try and increase its fan base.
Ramirez Batting Third The Florida Marlins have bounced back from their recent offensive slump, and Hanley Ramirez is leading the way from an unfamiliar position – the third spot in the batting order. The Marlins and Ramirez go for their third straight win as they close out a four-game set against the Pittsburgh Pirates at PNC Park on Thursday.