Tampa Bay Area Buzz: Wild & Crazy Sports Weekend

May 3, 2014; Louisville, KY, USA; Victor Espinoza aboard California Chrome (5) celebrates after winning the 2014 Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs. Mandatory Credit: Richard Mackson-USA TODAY Sports

What you missed in a jam-packed weekend of sports:

Tampa Bay Rays:

The Tampa Bay Rays won 2 of 3 over the weekend against the AL East Division leading New York Yankees. In Game 1 on Friday, the Rays offense broke open a 5-5 tie game in the 14th inning by scoring 5 runs in the top of the inning to win 10-5. Both teams combined for 38 hits in a game that lasted almost 6 hours and the Rays turned a double-play that in the scorebook, will look like a phone number.

The Rays dropped the second game of the series 9-3 after jumping out to an early 3-0 lead against Masahiro Tanaka. The Yankees chased Jake Odorizzi early and were able to pile on the runs behind the bat of Mark Teixiera (2-4, HR, 3 RBI). In Sunday’s rubber match, the Rays continued their success against CC Sabathia, chasing him after 3 2/3 innings. Sabathia allowed 10 hits and 5 runs, including an inside-the-park 3 run HR by Wil Myers. Erik Bedard earned his first win in a Rays uniform and the Rays now lead the season series 4-3.

The Rays finished their road trip at 5-5 and are currently 2 games out of first place in the AL East. The team has an off day on Monday before opening a 6 game homestand against the Orioles and Indians. Tampa Bay also made some roster moves on Sunday, designating RP Health Bell for assignment. In his place, right-hander Nate Karns has been called up to the major league club.

NBA Playoffs:

The Indiana Pacers, Oklahoma City Thunder, Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, and Brooklyn Nets all won their respective Game 7s over the weekend to advance to the second round of the NBA playoffs. The top two seeds on both sides of the bracket advanced, setting up the match-ups below:

NHL Playoffs:

The Chicago Blackhawks won two games over the weekend to take an early 2-0 lead in their series against the Minnesota Wild. The Boston Bruins avenged their opening 2OT loss to the Montreal Canadiens with a 5-3 on Saturday to even the series at 1. The New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins are tied at 1-1 after each team took a game over the weekend. The Los Angeles Kings continued their magic with a come from behind victory over the Anaheim Ducks in overtime on Saturday, taking the first game in the series. The Kings forced OT with less than 10 seconds left in regulation and then finished off the Ducks in OT to win their 5th straight game.

140th Kentucky Derby:

The odds on favorite at 5/2, California Chrome took the 140th running of the Kentucky Derby by 1 3/4 lengths. Commanding Curve and Danza finished second and third in the race, though the big story was the unlikely pedigree of the winner, ridden by Victor Espinoza. Churchill Downs reported an estimated $186.6M was wagered on the race, an increase of 1% over 2013. The race also attracted 164,906 people, the second largest crowd in Derby history.

Boxing:

Floyd Mayweather Jr. defeated Marcos Maidana by majority decision on Saturday night to unify the welterweight world titles. The fight was scored 117-111, 116-112 in favor of Mayweather, with the third judge calling it a draw at 114-114. The post-fight news conference got a little testy, with Mayweather’s camp taking issue with the low blows thrown by Maidana. There was also a lot of controversy leading up to the fight regarding Maidana’s gloves, an issue that wasn’t resolved until hours before the fight. Looks like we might see a rematch in September…

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