Friday Morning Sports Update-09/24/2021

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MLB – Major League Baseball
Yesterday
Chicago White Sox 7, Cleveland Indians 2 – 7 Innings/Game 1
Cleveland Indians 5, Chicago White Sox 3 – 7 Innings/Game 2
Cubs and Tigers are off

White Sox 7, Indians 2/Indians 5, White Sox 3 – White Sox take division crown
The American League has its first division title winner of the season.  The White Sox have clinched the AL Central title by taking Game 1 of a doubleheader with the Indians, 7-2.  Tim Anderson homered twice and had four RBIs while Chicago built a 7-0 lead by the second inning. Luis Robert and Eloy Jimenez added back-to-back solo homers for the White Sox, who will be making back-to-back postseason appearances for the first time in their 121-season history. The Sox hadn’t won a division crown since 2008.  In the nightcap, Oscar Mercado delivered a two-run, walk-off homer in the seventh as Cleveland earned a split with a 5-3 victory. Owen Miller hit a two-run single to put the Indians ahead in the sixth, but Chicago tied it in the seventh on an error by Yu Chang.

Tonight
St. Louis Cardinals at Chicago Cubs, 2:20 p.m./8:05 p.m. (doubleheader)
Chicago White Sox at Cleveland Indians, 7:10 p.m.
Kansas City Royals at Detroit Tigers, 7:10 p.m.                Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM 6:50 p.m.

MLB – MLB, union send notices of intent to seek labor changes
Major League Baseball and the players’ association sent the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service letters of intent to seek new labor terms as the Dec. 1 expiration of the sport’s collective bargaining agreement approaches. The notices are a formality under federal labor law required during every negotiation. They were exchanged on Aug. 26 by Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem and Ian Penny, the general counsel of the Major League Baseball Players Association. Negotiations have proceeded slowly and both sides appear to be bracing for a lockout that could start either on Dec. 1 or when players are scheduled to report to spring training.

NFL – National Football League – Week 3
Tonight
Carolina Panthers at Houston Texans, 8:20 p.m.

Panthers 24, Texas 9 – Panthers down Houston on Thursday night
The Carolina Panthers completed a 24-9 win over the Texans after losing Christian McCaffrey to an injury early in the second quarter. Sam Darnold threw for 304 yards and ran for two touchdowns, putting the game away when he bulled in from 1-yard out to make it 24-9 with four minutes left.

Sunday
Baltimore Ravens at Detroit Lions, 1:00 p.m.                    Rock 107 WIRX 12:00
Chicago Bears at Cleveland Browns, 1:00 p.m.
Indianapolis Colts at Tennessee Titans, 1:00 p.m.

NFL – Lions coach compares Ravens QB Lamar Jackson to Michael Vick
Lamar Jackson makes dynamic plays with his speedy legs and powerful right arm, lifting the Baltimore Ravens to impressive wins such as their latest one over Kansas City. Detroit Lions coach Dan Campbell says Jackson’s skill set compares to Michael Vick Jackson is also close to the former Atlanta Falcons and Philadelphia Eagles quarterback in the NFL record books. He ran for 100 yards for the ninth time in the regular season to pull within one of Vick’s league record in the win over the Chiefs.

NFL – Ready or not, Bears QB Fields starting against Browns
Justin Fields’ moment arrived quickly. The Bears weren’t going to start the rookie quarterback until they were sure he was ready. Well ready or not, he’ll make his first NFL start on Sunday in Cleveland because Andy Dalton has an injured knee. Fields played in Chicago’s first two games, but starting is different. The former Ohio State star will be facing a revamped Cleveland defense trying to sort through some early-season struggles. The Browns are expected to have wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. He hasn’t played since suffering a season-ending injury in October.

NCAAFB – College Football – Week 5
Saturday
(12) Notre Dame vs. (18) Wisconsin, 12:00 p.m.       Soldier Field, Chicago
Florida International at Central Michigan, 12:00 p.m.
San Jose State at Western Michigan, 2:00 p.m.
Texas State at Eastern Michigan, 2:00 p.m.
Rutgers at (19) Michigan, 3:30 p.m.                        News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 2:30
Nebraska at (20) Michigan State, 7:00 p.m.              Superhits 103.7 Cosy-FM 5:30

NCAAFB – No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 12 Notre Dame meet at Soldier Field
No. 18 Wisconsin and No. 12 Notre Dame meet at Soldier Field in a matchup of teams with playoff hopes and early-season issues. The Badgers will try to get quarterback Graham Mertz on track after he did not throw a touchdown pass in either of the team’s first two games. The Fighting Irish are unbeaten, but have injuries and inexperience on the offensive line making it hard to protect quarterback Jack Coan, the transfer from Wisconsin. Badgers quarterback Graham Mertz has yet to throw a touchdown pass.

NCAAFB – No. 19 Michigan hosts Rutgers in Big Ten opener of unbeatens
No. 19 Michigan and Rutgers open Big Ten play in a matchup of unbeatens on Saturday at the Big House. The Wolverines have not won a Big Ten title in 17 years, their longest drought. The Scarlet Knights have a chance to end a drought of their own. They have not beaten a ranked team since knocking off No. 23 South Florida in 2009. Michigan leads the nation in rushing. Among Big Ten teams, Rutgers ranks in the middle of the pack against the run.

NCAAFB – Michigan State aims to maintain momentum versus Nebraska
Michigan State aims to maintain momentum against Nebraska at home on Saturday. The Spartans are off to a strong start with wins at then-No. 24 Miami and against Northwestern on the road. The Cornhuskers lost a closely contested game to then-No. 3 Oklahoma last week. They are desperately hoping to avoid an 0-2 start in the Big Ten and a losing record near the midway mark of the season. How Nebraska’s defense fares against MSU’s running back Kenneth Walker will likely be pivotal in the game. The Wake Forest transfer is averaging a nation-high 164.3 yards rushing per game.

NHL – Toews practices with Blackhawks on 1st day of training camp
The new-look Chicago Blackhawks opened training camp with their captain back on the ice. Jonathan Toews skated with a group that included longtime teammate Patrick Kane. They are the last remaining players from a run of three Stanley Cup titles in six seasons. Toews missed all of last season with what he has described as chronic immune response syndrome. He also says he had an antibody test that showed he had COVID-19 at one point. The team says it has a 100% vaccination rate against COVID-19.

NHL – NHL training camps open with several big-name stars missing
Some of the NHL’s stars are not on the ice for the start of training camps. Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, Buffalo’s Jack Eichel, Washington’s Nicklas Backstrom, Philadelphia’s Kevin Hayes and Montreal’s Carey Price are injured. Toronto’s Auston Matthews and Detroit’s Dylan Larkin are limited and working their way back. Vancouver’s Quinn Hughes and Elias Pettersson and Ottawa’s Brady Tkachuk remain unsigned. San Jose’s Evander Kane is staying away as the league investigates abuse allegations. The regular season is still more than two weeks away.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association – 2021 Playoffs
Last Night
Chicago Sky 81, Dallas Wings 64

Sky 81, Wings 64 Copper, Parker help Sky hold off Wings in playoff opener
Kahleah Copper scored 23 points, Candace Parker had a double-double and the Chicago Sky beat the Dallas Wings 81-64 in a first-round WNBA playoff game. Parker finished with 11 points, 15 rebounds, seven assists and three steals for the sixth-seeded Sky. Sixth-seeded Chicago advances to a second-round game on Sunday to face third-seeded Minnesota, while the seventh-seeded Wings were eliminated from the playoffs. Courtney Vandersloot had 17 points, eight rebounds and six assists, nine in the fourth quarter. Allie Quigley added 15 points for Chicago. Arike Ogunbowale led Dallas with 22 points and Satou Sabally added 12.

MHSAA – High School Sports
Last Night
Football
Non-Conference
Muskegon Catholic Central (4-1) 29, Benton Harbor (0-5) 12

8-Man Football
Martin (5-0) 62, Bloomingdale (1-4) 0

Boys Soccer
St. Joseph 8, Battle Creek Central 0
Mattawan 2, Lakeshore 1
Brandywine 6, Lake Michigan Catholic 3
Michigan Lutheran 3, Berrien Springs 2
Watervliet 6, Niles 0
Schoolcraft 4, Buchanan 2
Hudsonville Unity Christian 8, South Haven 0
Hartford 9, Kalamazoo Christian 2
Kalamazoo Hackett 2, Three Rivers 0
Comstock 5, Parchment 1
Portage Central 0, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 0 – TIE
Kalamazoo Central 0, Portage Northern 0 – TIE

Volleyball
Three Rivers 3, Dowagiac 1
Otsego 3, Sturgis 0
Edwardsburg 3, Plainwell, 2
Niles 3, Vicksburg 0
Kalamazoo Christian 3, Watervliet 0
Centreville 3, Decatur 0
Kalamazoo Hackett 3, Lawton 0
Cassopolis 3, Bloomingdale 1
Marcellus 3, Hartford 0

Tonight
Football – All games at 7:00 unless posted otherwise
SMAC
Kalamazoo Central (1-3) at Lakeshore (3-1), 7:30 p.m.     97.5 Y-Country WYTZ
Portage Central (2-2) at Battle Creek Lakeview (3-1)
Mattawan (1-3) at Portage Northern (1-3)

Non-Conference
Okemos (0-4) at St. Joseph (4-0)                                      News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM
Gull Lake (1-3) at Battle Creek Central (2-2)
South Haven (4-1) 1, Allegan (1-4) 0*South Haven wins by forfeit
Watervliet (4-0) at Berrien Springs (4-0)
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix (0-4) at Buchanan (1-3)
Brandywine (2-2) at Lawton (4-0)

Wolverine Conference
Three Rivers 1 (3-2), Dowagiac (0-5) 0*Three Rivers wins by forfeit
Sturgis (0-4) at Otsego (1-3)
Edwardsburg (4-0) at Plainwell (4-0)
Niles (3-1) at Vicksburg (3-1)

Southwest 10
Cassopolis (3-1) at Decatur (1-3)
Comstock (2-2) at Hartford (0-4)
Centreville at White Pigeon (4-0)

SAC
Coloma (0-4) at Kalamazoo United (2-2)
Galesburg-Augusta (0-4) at Delton-Kellogg (2-2)
Constantine (4-0) at Parchment (3-1)
Schoolcraft 03 at Saugatuck (2-2)

8-Man Football
Red Arrow Raiders (2-2) at Eau Claire (2-2)
Wyoming Tri-Unity (1-3) at Bridgman (4-0)
Blanchard-Montabella (3-1) at Mendon (3-1)

Saturday
8-Man Football
Twin Cities Sharks (0-4) at Manistee Catholic Central (1-3), 2:00 p.m.
Fennville (1-3) at Marcellus (3-1)