Baseball Goes In Streaks

The hot teams cooled a bit over the weekend in Major League Baseball. Can’t win ‘em all. And some of those feeling the chill warmed up a little.

The New York Mets saw an eight-game winning streak end as they lost 6-1 to the San Francisco Giants. The Miami Marlins’ streak ended at seven as they fell 14-5 to the Milwaukee Brewers. And on the other end of the spectrum, the Cincinnati Reds terminated a six-game losing streak by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 in 11 innings.

Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw threw a three-hit shutout, struck out 14 and drove in the game’s only run with a single in the third inning as the Dodgers broke out of a six-game losing streak with a 1-0 win over the San Diego Padres. Kershaw allowed only three singles.

NBA

The Miami Heat not only forced a Game 7 but dominated it. The Heat blew out the Charlotte Hornets 106-73 on Sunday and now move on to a meeting with the Toronto Raptors. The Raptors topped the Indiana Pacers 89-84, giving the Raptors their first playoff series win since 2001. And even without Stephen Curry (knee), the Golden State Warriors opened their second-round series by beating the Portland Trail Blazers 118-106. The Atlanta Hawks ousted the Boston Celtics on Saturday and will meet the Cleveland Cavaliers.

NHL

Washington Capitals defenseman Brooks Orpik drew a three-game penalty for an excessively late hit in his club’s Game 2 loss to the Pittsburgh Penguins. The San Jose Sharks hold a 2-0 lead over the Nashville Predators after Sunday’s 3-2 win. The St. Louis Blues scored on a power play in overtime to beat the Dallas Stars 4-3 in overtime, evening their series.

NASCAR

The GEICO 500 at Talladega Superspeedway looked like a South Florida grocery store parking lot just before a holiday. Cars went every which way, dodging, weaving, even crashing on pit road. Brad Keselowski survived this high-speed version of bumper cars to win his fourth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race.

ELSEWHERE
The NFL draft concluded on Saturday, with 253 players selected. … The University of Maryland men’s lacrosse team, ranked No. 3, won its 11th consecutive game, beating No. 8 Johns Hopkins 11-8 on Saturday in Baltimore. This is one of the great rivalries in the sport and the win gave Maryland outright possession of the Big Ten title.
 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman