Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Red Sox host the Twins, the Habs try to dig out of a hole, and golfers take to the links in events in both Irving and Surrey.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .
The American League schedule on Thursday offers up Kansas City at Cleveland, Detroit at Oakland, Toronto at Seattle, Tampa Bay at the Yankees, Baltimore at Texas, the Angels at the White Sox, and Minnesota at Boston. Francisco Liriano (4-2, 2.63 ERA) is slated to take on Jon Lester (3-2, 3.91 ERA) in that Twins/Red Sox matchup. Lefthander Liriano is coming off back-to-back losses to the Yankees and Orioles, but he beat the Red Sox (seven shutout innings) back on April 15. Lefthander Lester faced the Twins in a start on April 12, surrendering four earned runs on nine hits over five innings and striking out five in that defeat.
Over in the National League on Thursday the lineup features Cincinnati at Atlanta, the Cubs at Philadelphia, Florida at St. Louis, Milwaukee at Pittsburgh, the Mets at Washington, Colorado at Houston, San Diego at the Dodgers, and San Francisco at Arizona. Tim Lincecum (5-0, 1.76 ERA) is scheduled to pitch for the Giants on Thursday against the Diamondbacks\’ Rodrigo Lopez (2-2, 3.81 ERA). Righthander Lincecum beat the Astros in his last trip to the mound, allowing just one earned run on four hits over eight innings of work. Righthander Lopez is coming off a win over the Braves in which he gave up one run over eight innings.
Taking a trip around the rink . . .
The National Hockey League offers up Game 3 of the Eastern Conference final on Thursday night, with the Canadiens looking to break out of a 2-0 series deficit at home against the Flyers. The Habs were blanked for the second straight contest in Game 2 in Philadelphia on Tuesday night, losing 3-0. Danny Briere, Simon Gagne, and Ville Leino had the goals for the Flyers in that victory, while Michael Leighton stopped all 30 Montreal shots for a second straight shutout. Canadiens goalie Jaroslav Halak made 20 saves on 23 Philly shots in the defeat.
Rounding out the Roundup . . .
The PGA Tour will tee it up in the HP Byron Nelson Championship at the TPC Four Seasons Resort in Irving, Texas starting on Thursday morning. Hunter Mahan is the 15/1 Vegas favorite to win this week\’s tour stop, with Dustin Johnson just behind him on that odds list at 20/1. Y.E. Yang and Ben Crane are both at 22/1 odds to win in Irving, with Sean O\’Hair at 25/1. Defending champion Rory Sabbatini is back at 40/1 odds to repeat as the winner. The European Tour will stage the BMW PGA Championship at the Wentworth Club in Surrey, England starting Thursday, with Lee Westwood the 10/1 favorite to win that event.
And finally, there\’s one game on the WNBA\’s schedule for Thursday, with San Antonio at Tulsa. The Silver Stars were defeated 75-70 by Atlanta in their first game of the season over the weekend, while the Shock are coming off an 80-74 defeat to Minnesota in the opening game for the relocated franchise. Amber Holt had a team-high 16 points for Tulsa the day, while Marion Jones went scoreless.