On a night when one of the best Red Sox hitters of all time had his number retired, the longest hitting streak in the majors this season was also retired, along with the Red Sox four game string of wins.
Maybe it was having Wade Boggs, a a player known for his superstitious pre-game rituals being in the ballpark for his pre-game ceremony to hang his number twenty-six along the right field facade along with eight other Red Sox immortals. Maybe it was the manager moving him up to bat lead-off for the first time this season. Maybe it's just that keeping a hitting streak going in major league baseball is really, really hard.
Whatever the reason, Jackie Bradley Jr.'s twenty-nine game hitting streak ended last night at Fenway Park as the Red Sox fell to the Colorado Rockies 8-2.
JBJ went 0 for 4, even though he flied out twice to the warning track and and least one of those balls looked like it was going to be a home run when it left his bat. Still, he did pass Boggs, who hit in twenty-eight straight games, and despite the error I made yesterday on the sports report, thankfully corrected by a diligent listener via Twitter, I can accurately say now that JBJ finishes his streak tied with Johnny Damon, who also hit in twenty-nine straight games, and finishes behind Tris Speaker and Nomar Garciappara who had streaks that reached thirty. The Little Professor, Dom Dimaggio retains the number one ranking for longest Red Sox hitting streak of all time at 34 games. But there is another streak still going on of significance, as Xander Bogaerts got a hit to run his streak to nineteen straight games, so we'll see how far he can carry that. But of greater concern for the Red Sox now is Clay Buchholz, who had another terrible start last night, giving up three two-run home runs, and with Eduardo Rodriguez almost set to return from injury, Buchholz is looking very much like the odd man out.
In the Bronx, CC Sabathia gave up just two earned runs but lacked support from his Yankee teammates who couldn't solve A.J. Happ in a 3-1 loss yesterday. Happ allowed one run on a solo homer by Starlin Castro but gave up just two other harmless hits over seven innings to improve to 6-2 on the year. The Yanks head out on the road next for a ten-game trip starting tonight in Tampa Bay against the Rays.
To the NHL and when you think of the Pittsburgh Penguins the names that immediately spring to mind are superstars like Sidney Crosby, Evegni Malkin, and perhaps for those of the older school of thought, Mario Lemieux. But last night it was an unheralded rookie who will be the talk of Steel City this morning. Bryan Rust scored both goals in Pittsburgh 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning in game seven of the eastern conference finals last night, and that performance returns the Penguins to the Stanley Cup finals with a chance to win their first Cup since 2009. This was as good a game seven as you could imagine and had the added drama of the return of Tampa's superstar Steven Stamkos, playing in his first game in over two months since being treated for a blood clot condition. Stamkos played just under twelve minutes in total ice time but in that span had a breakaway against Pittsburgh goalie Matt Murray, another rookie who's making quite the name for himself in Pittsburgh, and he turned Stamkos away on the attempt. This sets up a final between the Penguins and the San Jose Sharks, a franchise that has never won a Cup or even been to the finals. The smart money's on Pittsburgh but my heart's rooting for the San Jose.
In the NBA playoffs, the Golden State Warriors were one game from elimination, down three games to one to the Oklahoma City Thunder last night, but the Warriors were playing at home, the crowd was raucous, and most importantly, Stephen Curry played like the two-time MVP he is, pouring in 31 points in Golden State's 120-111 victory that sends the series back to Oklahoma City for game six. And it's not as if the Thunder's dynamic duo of Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant had an off night. The two combined for 71 points but the Warriors offense was too much with Klay Thompson adding twenty-seven to Curry's thirty-one point effort. The Thunder had better play game six at home like it's game seven, because if this series gets back to Oakland, their upset chances go way way down.
At the French Open tennis tournament Serena Williams has breezed into round 3. On the mens' side Rafael Nadal advanced as well and in doing so won his career 200th grand slam match. Andy Murray, after surviving a five-set marathon that took two days to play, a match he won after losing the first two sets, will play against Ivo Karlovic. We'll see if there's any fatigue carry-over for Murray.
Organizers of the twenty-eighth Vermont City Marathon are taking measures to prepare for extreme temperatures during Sunday's race in Burlington. RunVermont Executive Director Peter Delaney says his organization is planning additional relief efforts because temperatures during the race are forecast to be in the eighties.
Finally, the UVM athletic department has announced that womens' lacrosse coach Jen Johnson will not return to coach the team next season. Department officials say the decision was mutual and that a nationwide search will begin for replacement. Johnson led the Catamolunts to a 6-10 record this year.
