Chicago Sports Roundup for May 17th, 2013

Cubs

Anthony Rizzo doubled and scored today.

Today the Chicago Cubs fell to the New York Mets 3-2 in what was a pitcher's duel from the start. Despite a rare quality start from Edwin Jackson the Cubs fell due to another pitching gem by Matt Harvey who pitched into the 8th. His ERA sits at 1.55 for the year and he has to be in the running for the NL Cy Young.

The Cubs are 17-24 on the year and try and get back on track tomorrow at the Friendly Confines (1:10 ET). Scott Feldman (3-3) will face off against Jeremy Hefner (0-4) in game 2 of a three game series.

Sale looks to match his outing from last time

White Sox

The Chicago White Sox had a nice 5-4 win yesterday against the overrated Los Angeles Angels and play them tonight in Anaheim at 10:05 ET. Chris Sale(4-2) takes the hill after nearly pitching a perfect game in his last outing. The Angels will roll out C. J. Wilson (3-2) to take the challenge.

Jennings enjoyed the best season of his career.

Bears

News was light today in regards to the Chicago Bears but cornerback Tim Jennings was selected as the 69th best player in the NFL today by NFL.com. Jennings tied a franchise record with 9 interceptions last year in an impressive season opposite Charles Tillman. Both Tillman and Jennings made the pro bowl as starters.

Derrick will be back next year... right?

Bulls

The offseason begins for the Bulls who were eliminated on Wednesday by the Miami Heat. Questions are plentiful as the Bulls need to decide on what players to bring back and which to let go. The likes of Nate Robinson and Marco Belinelli may be gone due to a tight cap space. One could argue that a major offseason acquisition for the Bulls will be a healthy Derrick Rose. It's all up in the air from there.

Stalberg may be a healthy scratch from now on.

Blackhawks

The Chicago Blackhawks enjoyed arguably their best playoff game on Wednesday in a 4-1 domination of the Detroit Red Wings. The Hawks looked faster, fresher, and just plain better in all phases. Dave Bolland looks great in his return from injury as he had many good scoring chances and clearly got under Detroit's skin.

Before game one it was announced that Coach Quenneville was benching Viktor Stalberg who had played all but one game during the regular season. It's believed that Q wasn't happy with Stalberg's production and figured that the return of Dave Bolland was the perfect time to send a message. Stalberg is in the last year of his contract. The Hawks play the Wings in game two tomorrow at noon at the Madhouse. 

Chicago Blackhawks vs. Detroit Red Wings Series Preview

During the regular season the Chicago Blackhawks were the best team in the NHL. One would argue that the only team in the Western Conference that could possibly beat the Hawks in a playoff series was the Anaheim Ducks considering their 2-0-1 record against them in the regular season.

While the Hawks were coasting to a 4-1 series win over the Minnesota Wild, the Detroit Red Wings were locked in a battle with the Ducks in a grueling seven games series that needed overtime in four of those contests.

During this series the Red Wings needed to travel across three time zones numerous times. There is a reason why they are being moved to the Eastern Conference next season. That is what makes this matchup between the Hawks and Wings so enticing is that it will be the last time they play each other in the playoffs barring a Stanley Cup Final.

Anthony Rizzo's New Deal

Anthony Rizzo, like the Cubs' bullpen, struggled mightily through the month of April as he posted just a .224 batting average with an OBP of .315. He still managed to hit eight home runs which is enough to lead the team.

It seems that the weather has been heating up in the month of May as has Rizzo's bat who is hitting .439 for the month and getting on base at a .477 clip.

It seems Rizzo now has another reason to celebrate the month of May with his new 7 year $41 million dollar deal.

Anthony Rizzo hope to hit many home runs in a Cub uniform.
(Credit: bengrey Wiki Commons Fair Use)

Ken Rosenthal broke news of the deal on Twitter as it seems the Cubs got a steal for what hopes to be the power left handed first baseman for the future.

The parameters are very team friendly as there is no no trade clause in the deal. Thankfully Jim Hendry was not in charge of this signing. There are two club options that could bring the deal to 9 years for $68 million with escalators that could max it at $73 million. Not to bad if he pans out.

This means that the Cubs have both Starlin Castro and Anthony Rizzo shored up for awhile and they can begin building the team around them.

I like the deal personally. I think we just solidified 1st base for years to come. What do you think of it?