St. Louis has reason to celebrate for the next few days after the Blues won the Stanley Cup for the first time since becoming an NHL franchise in 1967. Jordan Binnington stopped 32 shots and the Blues took Game 7 of the final by defeating the Bruins, 4-1 in Boston.
Binnington made a host of outstanding saves, including a sprawling stop against Joakim Nordstrom near the crease with St. Louis leading 2-0 midway through the third period. Ryan O’Reilly put the Blues ahead 16:47 into the first period on an assist from Alex Pietrangelo, who doubled the lead with less than eight seconds left in the opening period. O’Reilly led the Blues with 23 points in the postseason and received the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP. He was the first player since Wayne Gretzky in 1985 to score in four straight Stanley Cup final games. St. Louis blew it open with goals by Brayden Schenn and Zach Sanford about four minutes apart in the second half of the third period.
Binnington’s shutout bid ended when Matt Grzelcyk tallied with 2:10 remaining, but Blues fans still had reason to play their new celebration song - Laura Branigan’s “Gloria” - following the game. The Cup title caps a tremendous comeback to what began as a very disappointing season for St. Louis. The Blues fired head coach Mike Yeo after 19 games and owned the league’s worst point total the morning of Jan. 3 before coming within one point of capturing the Central Division title. St. Louis had never won a Stanley Cup final contest until Game 2 of this series, dropping 13 in a row. The Bruins lost their last three home games to fall short in their bid for a seventh Stanley Cup and first since 2011.
NBA
Kevin Durant has ended the suspense concerning the injury he suffered during Game 5 of the NBA Finals on Monday. The Golden State Warriors All-Star forward has confirmed that he has undergone surgery for a ruptured right Achilles tendon. Durant got hurt about two minutes into the second quarter after scoring 11 points in just 12 minutes. Durant posted on social media Wednesday the severity of his injury. He was in action for the first time since suffering a strained right calf during Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Rockets.
MLB
The Diamondbacks earned a 2-0 win over the Phillies as Merrill Kelly tossed three-hit ball over seven innings. Greg Holland finished the three-hitter, earning his 10th save in 11 tries. Christian Walker’s RBI single put Arizona ahead in a two-run fifth.
The Red Sox pulled out a 4-3 win over Texas when Mookie Betts worked out a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth. Andrew Benintendi doubled twice and added a triple, driving in two runs for the Red Sox as they ended a three-game skid and avoided falling below .500 for the first time in more than a month. Christian Vázquez led off the ninth with a double after his throwing error helped the Rangers tie the game the previous inning.
Elsewhere in the majors, Cole Hamels was productive at the plate and on the mound for the Chicago Cubs Wednesday afternoon while also making a few enemies in the Colorado Rockies’ dugout. Hamels singled twice in three at-bats and drove in two runs as the Cubs blew out the Rockies, 10-1 in Denver. He also struck out nine over seven scoreless innings and contributed to what became a beanball war. Rockies star third baseman Nolan Arenado had to leave the game in the fifth inning with a left forearm contusion after being plunked by a Hamels pitch. Colorado reliever Brian Shaw nailed Hamels in the right foot with a pitch in the seventh inning, and Rockies rookie Phillip Diehl hit Anthony Rizzo in the eighth, drawing a warning to both dugouts from home plate umpire Roberto Ortiz. Rizzo was hit three times in the series. Kyle Schwarber blasted a three-run homer and had four RBIs as the Cubs ended a five-game road losing streak. Javier Báez furnished a two-run shot and Jason Heyward had a two-run single to help Chicago end Colorado’s 10-game home winning streak.
Mike Moustakas smacked a two-run homer while the Brewers scored three times in the 14th inning to beat the Astros, 6-3. Jesús Aguilar added a pinch-hit RBI single as Milwaukee won for the fifth time in six games despite striking out a season-high 24 times. Ryan Braun, Yasmani Grandal and Eric Thames also went deep for the Brewers, who kept their half-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central.
The Braves rallied to beat Pirates, 8-7 in extra innings to take a one-game lead over Philadelphia atop the NL East. Austin Riley tied the game with a solo homer in the ninth inning and scored the winning run on Ozzie Albies' double off Michael Feliz in the 11th. Riley finished with three hits and three ribbies in Atlanta’s sixth consecutive victory.
Jordan Yamamoto pitched seven innings to win his major league debut as the Marlins blasted the Cardinals, 9-0 to end a six-game losing streak. The rookie also earned an RBI with a squeeze bunt and limited St. Louis to three hits while throwing 95 pitches. Garrett Cooper hit a grand slam in the second inning and was a double shy of the cycle.
Kevin Pillar homered for the first time in more than a month and Donovan Solano had two hits and two RBIs as the Giants doubled up the Padres, 4-2. Evan Longoria drove in the go-ahead run with an infield single in the fifth inning after San Diego made two errors. Winning pitcher Shaun Anderson pitched four-hit ball over six innings and had a season-high six strikeouts.
The Reds cruised to a 7-2 win over the Indians after becoming the first visiting team in 118 years to open a game with consecutive home runs. Rookie Nick Senzel and Joey Votto provided the early homers before Eugenio Suárez and Curt Casali went deep to help the Reds snap an eight-game losing streak in interleague play. Anthony DeSclafani gave up one run and four hits in 5 2/3 innings to even his record at 3-3.
The Mariners squandered a 6-4 lead in the ninth before scoring three times on three Minnesota errors to earn a 6-3 win against the Twins. Daniel Vogelbach homered and drove in four runs, while Shed Long collected three RBIs. Byron Buxton hit a tying two-run shot off Anthony Bass with no outs in the ninth.
Ramon Laureano launched a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning to send the Athletics past the Rays, 6-2. Matt Olson homered for the second consecutive game, a solo shot off Yonny Chirinos in the sixth that put Oakland ahead 2-0. But A’s starter Brian Anderson had to settle for a no-decision after leaving with the two-run lead and one out in the seventh.
Brandon Dixon broke an eighth-inning tie with a sacrifice fly that sent the Tigers past the Royals, 3-2. Miguel Cabrera also had a sacrifice fly for Detroit, and Ronny Rodriguez hit an RBI double. Jorge Soler drove in both Kansas City runs but flied out with a runner on to end the game.
Rowdy Tellez hit a grand slam to cap a six-run fifth as the Blue Jays outscored the Orioles, 8-6 to halt a five-game skid. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had three hits and Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had two RBIs for Toronto, which matched its run total from the previous five games combined. Edwin Jackson (1-4) allowed two runs in five innings of relief to get a victory in his 400th big league game.
In MLB news, the chief prosecutor in the Dominican Republic says the alleged gunman and five others have been detained in the shooting of former Red Sox star David Ortiz at a bar in the country on Sunday. Local authorities have provided no information about why a group of young men would try to kill their country's most beloved sports hero. Four other suspects were also being pursued in the shooting, which witnesses said was carried out by two men on a motorcycle, assisted by two other groups of people in cars. Police say the coordinator of the shooting was offered 400,000 Dominican pesos, or about $7,800, to carry out the crime. Meanwhile, Ortiz’ wife says her husband remains in intensive care and making “good progress” at a Boston hospital. Tiffany Ortiz added that the player known as Big Papi was able to walk a few steps.
Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton homered twice in a minor league rehab game with Class A Tampa on Wednesday. Stanton hasn't played for the Yanks since March 31 due to three separate injuries, two during rehab assignments.
The Giants activated catcher Buster Posey off the 10-day injured list before Wednesday’s game against the Padres. Posey missed eight games with a right hamstring injury sustained in Baltimore on June 1. The six-time All-Star also was out for six games in May with concussion symptoms.
The Blue Jays have placed closer Ken Giles on the 10-day injured list with right elbow inflammation. Manager Charlie Montoyo expects Giles to serve the minimum time on the IL while Joe Biagini serves as the closer.
COLLEGE ADMISSIONS
A former head sailing coach at Stanford will avoid prison after he admitted to accepting bribes in the college admissions cheating scheme. John Vandemoer apologized to his friends, family, the sailing team and Stanford during the sentencing hearing Wednesday in Boston federal court. U.S. District Court Judge Rya Zobel sentenced him to one day in prison, which he was deemed to have served. He will pay a $10,000 fine and serve two years of supervised release, including six months of home confinement with electronic monitoring.
MICHIGAN STATE
A former dean who had oversight of now-imprisoned sports doctor Larry Nassar at Michigan State University has been found guilty of neglect of duty but acquitted on a more serious criminal sexual conduct charge. William Strampel was also convicted Wednesday of misconduct in office. The 71-year-old Strampel was the dean of the College of Osteopathic Medicine and had been accused of abusing his power to sexually harass female students.
TOUR DE FRANCE
Chris Froome will miss this year's Tour de France after a "bad crash" in training. Team INEOS leader Dave Brailsford says the four-time champion sustained a suspected fractured femur in a 40 mph crash. The British cyclist was riding in gusty winds and Brailsford says he seemed to lose control of his front wheel when trying to clear his nose.
GABRIELE GRUNEWALD
Gabriele Grunewald, one of the country's top middle-distance runners, has died at her home in Minneapolis after inspiring many with her long and public fight against cancer. She was 32. Grunewald was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in the saliva glands in 2009 while running for the University of Minnesota. Following surgery and radiation therapy, she went on to finish second in the 1,500 meters at the 2010 NCAA championships. She kept on running through three more bouts with the disease, forging a career as a professional athlete and U.S. champion while enduring surgeries, radiation treatments, chemotherapy and immunotherapy.
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