Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Magic try again to finish off the Cavs, while the Pens skate into Detroit for the opening game of the Stanley Cup final.
Tipping off on the hardwood . . .
The Cavaliers will try to tie up their best-of-seven series with the Magic on Saturday night when the Eastern Conference Finals shifts back to Orlando for Game 6. LeBron James poured in 37 points on Thursday night to lead the Cavs to a 112-102 victory and cut Orlando‘s series lead to 3-2. Mo Williams added 24 points in the win for Cleveland, while Zydrunas Ilgauskas picked up 16 points. Hedo Turkoglu had 29 points for the Magic, and Dwight Howard added 24 points and 10 rebounds. Game 7, if required, would be played in Cleveland on Monday.
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Meeting up on the diamond . . .
White Sox ace Mark Buehrle gets the ball on Saturday as his team continues its road series in Kansas City. The lefthander has allowed more than three runs in just one start so far this season, and he’s sitting at 6-1 with a 2.59 ERA. Buerhle got a no-decision vs. the Royals back in his season debut on April 7. Gil Meche (2-5, 4.55 ERA) hasn’t picked up a win since May 3, but the righthander held his own in that duel with Buerhle back on April 7 – one earned run in seven innings.
Elsewhere around the American League on Saturday it’ll be Boston at Toronto, Minnesota at Tampa Bay, Detroit at Baltimore, Oakland at Texas, Seattle at the Angels, and the Yankees at Cleveland. CC Sabathia (4-3, 3.42 ERA) takes the mound for New York; he’s allowed just six earned runs over his past 32 innings. Fausto Carmona (2-4, 6.42 ERA) was rocked by the Rays in his previous outing, allowing five runs in 1 1-3 innings. Carmona beat the Yankees back on April 18.
Over in the National League on Saturday it’ll be Florida at the Mets, Atlanta at Arizona, the Dodgers at the Cubs, Houston at Pittsburgh, Washington at Philadelphia, Cincinnati at Milwaukee, San Diego at Colorado, and St. Louis at San Francisco. Cardinals starter Chris Carpenter is 2-0 through four starts and hasn’t given up an earned run this season (through 23 innings pitched). Giants counterpart Barry Zito has now lost three in a row and sits at 1-5 with a 4.02 ERA.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
It’ll be Penguins vs. Red Wings once again in the Stanley Cup final this season, with Pittsburgh looking for a better result this time around. Those two teams will meet in Detroit on Saturday night to drop the puck on the championship series, with the Wings pegged as -165 home favorites for the opener. The oddsmakers also have Detroit listed as -150 favorites to win the series, despite the injuries to star players Pavel Datsyuk (foot) and Nicklas Lidstrom (lower body). The healthy Pens swept the Canes last round, while the Wings knocked out the Hawks in five.