Friday Sports – Tigers sweep Seattle

MLB – Major League Baseball
Last night
Detroit Tigers 2, Seattle Mariners 1
Cubs and White Sox were out

Tigers 2, Mariners 1 – Javier Báez hits a two-run home run in the 8th inning, the Tigers hold M's to 1 hit and cap their 3-game sweep with a 2-1 win
Javier Báez hit a two-run home run in the eighth inning and the Detroit Tigers held the Seattle Mariners to one hit and earned a 2-1 victory, completing a three-game sweep. The teams played each other for the sixth time in nine days. Detroit won two of three games in Seattle last week. The Mariners went seven scoreless innings with their starter for the second straight game, again surrendering the lead to Yimi García. On Wednesday, he allowed Kerry Carpenter's home run to tie the game in a 3-2 loss after 10 innings. Shelby Miller (6-7) earned the win with 1 1/3 hitless innings as a relief pitcher. Jason Foley pitched the ninth inning for his 16th save in Detroit's fourth straight win.
Bryce Miller allowed two hits and nine strikeouts in seven innings for Seattle. The Mariners scored a total of four runs in the three-game series.

Tonight
Toronto (Rodríguez 1-5) at Chicago Cubs (Hendricks 3-10), 2:20 p.m.
NY Yankees (Cole 3-2) at Detroit (TBD), 6:40 p.m News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 6:15
Chicago White Sox (Crochet 6-9) at Houston (Arrighetti 5-10), 8:10 p.m

MLB – Cubs Hall of Famer Ryne Sandberg says he is cancer-free
Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg says he is cancer-free. The Chicago Cubs star made the announcement on Instagram Thursday, nearly seven months after announcing he had metastatic prostate cancer. Sandberg says he “rang the bell this morning!” He thanked his family, friends, medical team and fans for their support. Sandberg has kept well-wishers updated on his progress via an Instagram account and said last month that scans had shown no signs of cancer. Sandberg batted .285 with 282 home runs, 1,061 RBIs and 344 steals in 16 major league seasons. He made his major league debut with Philadelphia in 1981 and appeared in 13 games with the Phillies before being traded to the Chicago Cubs in January 1982.

WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association
Last night
Phoenix Mercury 85, Chicago Sky 65

Mercury 85, Sky 65 – Kahleah Copper scores 29 points in her return to Chicago and the Mercury beat the Sky 85-65
Kahleah Copper scored 29 points in her return to Chicago, Brittney Griner had 23 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five blocks and the Phoenix Mercury beat the short-handed Sky 85-65. Copper, the 2021 Finals MVP, hit 12 of 19 shots in her first game against Chicago since her February transfer. Copper scored 13 points in the first quarter, on 5 of 8 shooting, to help Phoenix take a 30-12 lead. Copper finished the half with 18 points and Griner added 12 as the Mercury extended their lead to 50-28 at halftime. The Mercury led by double digits throughout the second half.

Tonight
Phoenix, Indiana, 7:30 p.m.

Saturday
Chicago to Los Angeles, 5:00 p.m.

Sunday
Seattle, Indiana, 3:30 p.m.

WNBA – Indy to host the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game
Indianapolis will host the 2025 WNBA All-Star Game next July at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. This year's game was played in front of a sold-out crowd of 16,407 at the Footprint Center in Phoenix and was the most-watched WNBA All-Star Game with 3.44 million television viewers. Indianapolis is hosting the event for the first time. The All-Star Game will be held on July 19. A three-point contest and a skills test will be held on July 18. The Indiana Fever have the WNBA's highest attendance at nearly 17,000 fans per game, fueled by rookie sensation Caitlin Clark.

NCAAHKY – Wrigley Field will host two college hockey doubleheaders
Wrigley Field will host two college hockey doubleheaders in January after hosting the NHL Winter Classic between the Chicago Blackhawks and St. Louis Blues on New Year's Eve. The Frozen Confines: Big Ten Hockey Series will be played on Jan. 3 and 4 and will include three men's games and one women's game. The men's games are Penn State vs. Notre Dame and Ohio State vs. Michigan on Jan. 3 and Wisconsin vs. Michigan State on Jan. 4. Reigning national champion Ohio State will face Wisconsin in a women's game on Jan. 4.

NFL – National Football League preseason
Last night
Philadelphia Eagles 14, New England Patriots 13

Saturday
Cincinnati Bengals at Chicago Bears, 1:00 p.m.
Detroit Lions at Kansas City Chiefs, 4:00 p.m.
Arizona Cardinals at Indianapolis Colts, 7:00 p.m.

NFL – Jennifer King was a successful basketball coach and couldn’t pass up the chance to play in the NFL
Jennifer King was a standout basketball coach when she made the difficult decision to pursue a career in football. She didn't look back. Within three years of entering the sport, King became the first black full-time coach in the NFL when Washington hired her as an assistant running backs coach. She spent three seasons with the Commanders before joining Matt Eberflus' staff with the Chicago Bears this year as an offensive assistant, focusing on the running backs. King is one of 15 women full-time coaches in the NFL this season – a new league record.

NFL – Harbaugh says Kaepernick will not be a player or coach for the Chargers this year
If Colin Kaepernick wants to join the Los Angeles Chargers, it won't happen until next year at the earliest. And according to coach Jim Harbaugh, he will only be an assistant coach. “I like Colin, but he's not going to be on the coaching staff, which is the plan for this year. And he's not going to play on the roster,” Harbaugh said after practice Thursday. Harbaugh told USA Today Sports earlier this week that he contacted Kaepernick shortly after being named coach on Jan. 24 to ask him about joining the Chargers staff. Kaepernick, who turns 37 on Nov. 3, is still hoping to return to the field despite not playing since 2016. During the recent Olympics in Paris, he told Britain's Sky Sports News that he was still training.

NCAASWM – Notre Dame suspends men’s swimming one year after NCAA gambling violations
Notre Dame has suspended its men's swimming program for at least a year after an outside review found that members of the team violated NCAA rules by betting among themselves on the outcomes of their meets. The review also found that team members “did not treat each other with dignity and respect.” Athletic director Pete Bevacqua said in a statement Thursday that not all team members were involved in the misconduct and that coach Chris Lindauer and his staff have fully cooperated with the review. Members of the team are allowed to transfer, but NCAA sanctions could be imposed on those who violated anti-gambling rules.

Football – Mauricio Pochettino negotiates a job as US soccer coach
A person familiar with the negotiations told the Associated Press that Mauricio Pochettino and the U.S. Soccer Federation are working toward a deal that would make him coach of the men's national team. Pochettino previously coached Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. The person said Pochettino had agreed to become U.S. coach, but no final agreement had been reached. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal had not yet been finalized. Pochettino is a 52-year-old Argentine. He would replace Gregg Berhalter, less than 22 months before the Americans host the 2026 World Cup. The USSF declined to comment.

MWL – Midwest League Baseball
Last night
Great Lakes 4, Lake County 2 – Game 1
Great Lakes 4, Lake County 1 – Game 2
Lansing 6, West Michigan 5
South Bend 6, Cedar Rapids 4

Tonight
Great Lakes Loons at Lake County Captains, 7 p.m
West Michigan Whitecaps at Lansing Lugnuts, 7:05 p.m.
South Bend Cubs at Cedar Rapids Kernels, 7:35 p.m.

MHSAA – Michigan High School Athletic Association
Saturday
Boys Football
Justin Bailey Memorial Football Shootout at Portage Central
Portage Northern vs. Grand Ledge, 9:00 a.m.
St. Joseph vs. Rockford, 10:15 a.m.
Vicksburg vs. Grand Ledge, 10:15 a.m.
Portage Central vs. Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 9:00 a.m.
St. Joseph vs. Ada Forest Hills Eastern, 11:30 a.m.
Portage Central vs. Rockford, 12:45 p.m.
Portage Northern vs. Grand Rapids Union, 12:45 p.m.
Traverse City West vs. Mattawan, 2:00 p.m.
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix vs. Sturgis, 2:00 p.m.
Bangor vs Paw Paw, 3:15 p.m.
Bangor vs. Sturgis, 4:30 p.m.
Plainwell vs. Traverse City West, 4:30 p.m.
East Lansing vs. Mattawan, 5:45 p.m.
Kalamazoo Loy Norrix vs. Paw Paw, 5:45 p.m.