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Midwest/Regional Sports Brief: 4/8/18

Sports

April 8th, 2018 by Ric Hanson

DENVER (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored his first goal in 10 games, Jonathan Bernier stopped 32 shots and the Colorado Avalanche earned the final playoff spot in the Western Conference with a 5-2 win over the St. Louis Blues. Defensemen Samuel Girard and Tyson Barrie scored, while captain Gabriel Landeskog and Matt Nieto added empty-netters for the Avalanche, who earned the West’s second wild card and head to the postseason for the first time since 2013-14.

ST. LOUIS (AP) — In the coldest home start in Cardinals’ history, Jose Martinez homered and drove in four runs as St. Louis ended the Arizona Diamondbacks’ four-game winning streak with a 5-3 victory. It was 37 degrees at gametime with a wind chill of 29. The previous recorded low in St. Louis was 38 degrees for the first pitch on April 16, 1961, against Cincinnati.

UNDATED (AP) — Frigid temperatures all over the big leagues have forced players, fans and even pooches to bundle up. It’s been a pattern across the majors so far this season, with a wintry mix blanketing baseball. It was a record-low of 27 degrees for the first pitch at Target Field, so frigid the Minnesota Twins and Seattle Mariners abandoned the bullpens. Ski masks were in style at Busch Stadium, and it was wicked cold at Fenway Park when the Red Sox limbered up.

CLEVELAND (AP) — Indians starter Trevor Bauer complained about baseball’s new rules to speed up the game following a 1-0 loss to the Kansas City Royals. Bauer allowed a home run to Lucas Duda on the first pitch in the seventh inning. Bauer said he wasn’t loose before throwing the pitch to Duda. Ian Kennedy pitched six shutout innings and combined with three relievers on a six-hitter.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — This year’s wrestling World Cup was supposed to be one of the most intriguing tournaments outside of the Olympics in years. The powerhouse Russian and Iranian teams were looking to topple the Americans. They were the team winner at last year’s world championships. Unfortunately for fans, the Russians and Iranians failed to show up in Iowa.