Elias Says...
Special to ESPN.com
NBA
LeBron records a triple-double in Miami's one-point win
LeBron James registered 30 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists to lead the Heat to a 103-102 Game 1 overtime victory over the Pacers on Wednesday. James is only the third player in NBA playoff history to record a triple-double in a one-point win. The other two players to do that were New York's Walt Frazier, who had 10 points, 14 assists and 12 rebounds in a 112-111 win over Milwaukee on April 13, 1970; and Boston's Rajon Rondo who registered 13 points, 17 assists and 12 rebounds in a 92-91 win over Philadelphia on May 12, 2012. James was the only one of the three who hit the game-winning basket.
LeBron hits the game-winner in Game 1
LeBron James hit a game-winning shot with no time remaining in overtime to give Miami a 103-102 victory over Indiana in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals on Wednesday. The last player to score the game-winning points in an NBA playoff game with less than one second remaining in an overtime period was LeBron himself, when his layup through traffic with 0.9 seconds remaining gave the Cavaliers a 121-120 win over the Wizards in Game 5 of a first-round playoff series in 2006.
NHL
Crosby nets his 40th career playoff goal
Sidney Crosby scored the 40th playoff goal of his NHL career in the Penguins' 7-3 win in Game 4 of their series against the Senators. Crosby reached the 40-goal mark in his 77th career playoff game, which is faster than any other active player. The only other active players to attain the 40-goal plateau in fewer than 90 playoff games are Jaromir Jagr (86) and Henrik Zetterberg (87).
Letang notches four assists
Defenseman Kris Letang assisted on four of the Penguins' seven goals in their Game 4 victory over the Senators. It was only the fifth time in the last 14 years that a defenseman recorded four assists in an NHL playoff game. The other D-men with four-assist games in postseason play since 1999 were Chris Chelios (2002), Nicklas Lidstrom (2007), Matt Carle (2010) and Zdeno Chara (2013 - Boston at Toronto, Game 4). Letang is the third defenseman in Penguins history to notch four assists in a playoff game. Paul Coffey did that twice (1989 and 1991) and Larry Murphy once (1991).
MLB
Cozart solves Harvey
Zack Cozart had four hits, all off starting pitcher Matt Harvey, in the Reds' 7-4 win over the Mets on Wednesday afternoon. Prior to Wednesday, no major-league player had four hits off Harvey in their career, let alone in one game. The most career hits Harvey had allowed to any player prior to Cozart's performance was three to Juan Pierre and Jimmy Rollins.
Cincinnati Reds, New York Mets
Bautista ties it in the ninth, wins it in the tenth
Jose Bautista hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning and then ended the game with a single in the bottom of the 10th inning in Toronto's 4-3 victory over Tampa Bay on Wednesday night. Bautista is the first player in Blue Jays' history to hit a game-tying home run in the ninth inning and then produce a game-ending hit in extra innings.
Over the last 20 years, only three other major-league players have tied a game with a ninth-inning home run and had a game-ending hit an inning later: Kansas City's Raul Ibanez against the Indians on July 21, 2002, the White Sox' Joe Crede against Toronto on August 27, 2002 and Arizona's Lyle Overbay against San Diego on September 10, 2011.
A grand night for Gattis
Evan Gattis hit a grand-slam home run in the fourth inning to help lead the Braves to an 8-3 win over the Twins on Wednesday afternoon. Gattis is the first Braves rookie catcher to homer with the bases loaded since Greg Olson did it against the Reds on June 12, 1990.
Gattis' slam came on a 3-0 pitch from Vance Worley. Over the last 10 seasons, just two other players have hit grand slams off a 3-0 pitch in a regular season game: Hideki Matsui against the Rockies on June 26, 2010 and Jason Lane against the Brewers on August 29, 2006. (Reggie Sanders hit a 3-0 grand slam against the Padres in a playoff game in 2005.)
Rangers ride three first-inning runs to victory
The Rangers scored three runs in the first inning and held on for a 3-1 win over the A's on Wednesday afternoon. Texas had scored only 12 runs in the first inning all season prior to Wednesday, which was the fewest runs scored in the opening inning for any team in the major leagues.
Another perfect night for O's Davis
Chris Davis went 4-for-4 with a home run to lead the Orioles to a 6-3 win over the Yankees on Wednesday night. It marked the second time this season that Davis has gone 4-for-4 with a homer, having also done that on April 3 at Tampa Bay. Only two other Orioles players have gone 4-for-4 or better with a home run in multiple games in a single season since the team moved to Baltimore in 1954: Don Baylor in 1973 and Eddie Murray in 1987.
Verlander wins despite shaky performance
Justin Verlander came away with a victory despite allowing five runs in his five innings of work in the Tigers' 11-7 win over the Indians on Wednesday. It marked only the second time in his career that Verlander earned a win in a game in which he allowed at least five runs. The only other time that happened was on July 7, 2009, when Verlander allowed five runs, three of which were earned, but got the victory in an 8-5 Tigers' win over the Royals. Prior to Wednesday, Verlander was 1-36 with 11 no decisions in the 48 starts in which he had given up at least five runs.
De La Rosa masters D'Backs again
Jorge De La Rosa allowed only one run while pitching into the sixth inning and earned the victory in Colorado's win over Arizona at Coors Field on Wednesday afternoon. De La Rosa is now 8-0 at home against the Diamondbacks in his career. Only two active pitchers have at least eight wins without a loss against a particular opponent in their home ballpark: Jered Weaver (9-0 at home against Texas) and Barry Zito (9-0 at home against Seattle).
Arizona Diamondbacks, Colorado Rockies
Desmond comes through in extra innings
Ian Desmond singled in Bryce Harper in the top of the 10th inning for what proved to be the winning run in Washington's 2-1 win over San Francisco on Wednesday afternoon. Desmond is now hitting .389 (7-for-18) in extra innings over the last two seasons, tied with Jon Jay for the third highest such average in the majors over that span behind Hanley Ramirez (.467) and Yadier Molina (.400) (minimum: 15 at bats). In his first three seasons in the major leagues (2009-2011), Desmond hit just .156 in extra innings (5-for-32).
Angels rough up Maurer
Brandon Maurer allowed 11 hits and two walks in just three innings of work in the Mariners 7-1 loss to the Angels on Wednesday afternoon. Only four other Mariners' pitchers have allowed at least 13 batters to reach base safely while recording fewer than 10 outs in a game: Randy Johnson on April 10, 1994 against Toronto, Greg Hibbard on June 13, 1994 against Texas, John Halama on June 9, 2000 against San Francisco and Freddy Garcia on June 24, 2002 against Oakland.
An impressive start to the season for Liriano
Francisco Liriano pitched seven shutout innings and earned the victory in the Pirates' 1-0 win over the Cubs on Wednesday. Liriano has won each of his first three starts and allowed one or fewer run in each of them. Over the last 95 seasons, only one other Pirates pitcher has allowed as few as one run and earned a win in each of his first three starts of a season: Dave LaPoint, who did that in his first three starts with Pittsburgh after joining the team in a trade with the White Sox in August of 1988.
Lee tosses three hit shutout...and has two hits of his own
Cliff Lee pitched a three-hit shutout and went 2-for-4 at the plate in Philadelphia's 3-0 win over Miami on Wednesday. It is the second time that Lee has tossed a shutout while allowing three or fewer hits and contributed to the offense with two hits of his own since he joined the Phillies (he did that against the Marlins on June 16, 2011). Prior to Lee, no Phillies' pitcher had done that since Steve Carlton on October 1, 1980 against the Cubs (2-hit shutout, 2 hits at the plate).
Shields hit with another tough loss
James Shields allowed only two runs in seven innings but was hit with loss in the Astros' 3-1 win over the Royals on Wednesday. It is the 14th time that Shields has lost a start in which he allowed two or fewer runs since he made his major-league debut on May 31, 2006. That is the most such losses for any American League starting pitcher over that span (second most: 11 by John Danks and Ervin Santana).
Buchholz stays unbeaten
Clay Buchholz allowed only one run over seven innings and earned the victory in the Red Sox' 6-2 win over the White Sox on Wednesday. Buchholz ran his record to 7-0 and lowered his ERA to 1.73 in his 10 starts. Only one other Red Sox pitcher has gone 7-0 or better with an ERA below 2.00 through his first 10 starts of a season: Sonny Siebert, who was 8-0 with a 1.62 ERA through 10 starts in 1971.