Quick Hitters
Smith pitches, hits Marlins to 4-0 win over Padres
MIAMI — Caleb Smith pitched into the sixth inning and had an RBI single for his first career hit to help the Miami Marlins beat the San Diego Padres 4-0 Friday night.
Smith (5-6) gave up four hits and two walks while striking out five in 5 1/3 innings. Brad Ziegler pitched 1 2/3 innings, and Drew Steckenrider and Kyle got three outs each to finish the shutout.
Brian Anderson had three hits and Cameron Maybin had two for the Marlins, who have won three of four. J.T. Realmuto, Lewis Brinson, and Yadiel Rivera each drove in a run without a hit.
The Marlins took control of the game in the middle innings scoring twice in the fourth, once in the fifth, and once in the sixth.
Justin Bour walked to open the fourth and moved to third on Maybin’s double. One out later, Brinson had a sacrifice fly to get the Marlins on the scoreboard. After an intentional walk to Rivera, Smith followed with his run-scoring single to right.
Starlin Castro drew a walk to load the bases, but Eric Lauer (24) got out of the inning by striking out Anderson.
Rivera’s two-out walk with the bases loaded in the fifth pushed the lead to 3-0, and Realmuto grounded into a fielder’s chose in the sixth to cap the scoring.
Lauer allowed three runs and six hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked seven.
Eric Hosmer and Jose Pirela each had two hits for the Padres.
Bulldogs, Beavers, UNC, UW win super regional openers
Mississippi State, Oregon State, North Carolina and Washington won their openers in the NCAA Tournament best-of-three super regionals Friday and each is one win away from advancing to the College World Series.
Elijah MacNamee hit his second home run of the game, and second walk-off shot of the NCAA Tournament, to give Mississippi State a 10-8 win over Vanderbilt in Nashville, Tennessee.
Luke Heimlich turned in another strong performance on the mound and Trevor Larnach and Adley Rutschman hit back-to-back home runs in the first inning to lead the No. 3 national seed Beavers to an 8-1 win over Minnesota in Corvallis, Oregon.
No. 6 North Carolina got home runs from Cody Roberts and Michael Busch, and Cooper Criswell held No. 11 Stetson to one run over five innings in the Tar Heels’ 7-4 win in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
Levi Jordan and AJ Graffanino each drove in two runs, and Washington survived All-Pac 12 closer Alex Hardy’s shaky outing to beat Cal State Fullerton 8-5 in Fullerton, California.
Mississippi State won a wild game thanks to MacNamee again. MacNamee, who hit a three-run homer in the third inning, came up with a man on first and one out in the bottom of the ninth. He drove Zach King’s 0-2 pitch over the left-field wall and sprinted around the bases.
Last week, with the Bulldogs’ down to their last strike in a regional elimination game against Florida State, MacNamee connected for a 3-2 win. MacNamee has eight homers in his last 15 games after hitting none in his first 32.
CLEVELAND — Golden State. Golden still.
Stephen Curry scored 37 points, NBA Finals MVP Kevin Durant added 20 and a triple-double and the Warriors stamped themselves a dynasty after winning their second straight title and third in four years Friday night, 108-85 over the Cleveland Cavaliers to complete a sweep and perhaps drive LeBron James from his home again to chase championships.
Overcoming obstacles all season long, the Warriors were not going to be denied and won the fourth straight finals matchup against Cleveland with
Warriors 108 Cavaliers 85
ease.
“This is so hard to do and doing it three out of four years is incredible,” guard Klay Thompson said.
It was the first sweep in the NBA Finals since 2007, when James was dismissed by a powerful San Antonio team in his first one. His eighth straight appearance didn’t go well either, and now there’s uncertainty where the superstar will play next.
James, who said he broke his right hand in frustration following Game 1, finished with 23 points and spent the final minutes on the bench, contemplating what went wrong and maybe his next move.
Following the game, he sat quietly in his corner locker with a towel draped over his head. He arrived at his postgame news conference with a large brace on his right hand from a “self-inflicted” injury.
Act IV between the Warriors and Cavs featured a drama-filled and controversial Game 1. But from there on, Durant, Curry, Thompson, Draymond Green and the rest of this California crew showed why they’re the game’s gold standard.
And they may stay that way.
“Can’t get enough of this feeling so we’re going to celebrate it together,” Curry said.
Not wanting to give the Cavs or their fans any hope despite the fact that no team has ever overcome a 3-0 deficit in the NBA playoffs, the Warriors built a nine-point halftime lead when Curry ignored a closeout by James and dropped a 3-pointer.
Then the league’s best team tightened the screws on Cleveland in the third quarter, outscoring the Cavs 25-13 and prompting Golden State fans to begin those drawn-out “War-eeeorrss” chants that provide a perfect musical accompaniment to their 3-point barrages.
By the start of the fourth quarter, the only question was whether Curry would win his first NBA Finals MVP or if it would go to Durant for the second year in a row.
And again, it was Durant, who added 12 rebounds and 10 assists — more satisfaction and validation for a player who couldn’t beat the Warriors so he joined them.
After surviving a rougher-than-usual regular sea-