Today's Sports

Isotopes win series finale, 10-2

The Albuquerque Isotopes collected a season-high eight extra-base hits as they routed the Oklahoma City RedHawks in the finale of their series Tuesday.
Right fielder Matt Angle homered twice, the first multi-home run outing of his career for Albuquerque as it cruised to a 10-2 victory at Isotopes Park.
The win for the Isotopes (31-28) gave them a series split with Oklahoma City. The Isotopes have a travel day today before eight road games against New Orleans and Round Rock. They will return to Albuquerque June 14.
Albuquerque scored five runs in the bottom of the sixth to break open the contest. Oklahoma City scored a run in the top of the sixth to cut the Albuquerque advantage to 4-2 but Dee Gordon came through with a two-run triple and Nick Buss drove in two runs with a ground-rule double later in the inning.
Red Patterson, who started Tuesday’s game, was added to the Isotopes’ roster earlier in the day. He had been dropped to rookie-level Ogden June 1 but right-hander Angel Castro was placed on the disabled list with a left oblique strain, necessitating the move.
Oklahoma City (32-25), which won on Saturday and Monday, is tied with Round Rock in the PCL American Southern standings and those teams lead Albuquerque by 2 games.

Isotopes hit 6-million fan mark

A major athletic event in the area has been nixed due to the Thompson Ridge Fire.
The Run the Caldera, which is hosted annually by the Valles Caldera National Preserve, is canceled for this year. The Run the Caldera, which was scheduled for both Saturday and Sunday, was scheduled to have better than 500 runners from the area participate.
The Thompson Ridge Fire, which has covered approximately 9,300 acres and reached the Valle Grande Tuesday evening, doesn’t seem to be slowing down much and the Run the Caldera organizers felt the safety of those involved in the races couldn’t be guaranteed.
“The fire line has expanded over all of our courses,” said VCNP spokesperson Terry McDermott. “Even if the fire stopped today, there are still a lot of hot spots and fallen trees.”
The Run the Caldera will not be rescheduled this year. VCNP officials said everyone who had registered will get a full refund of their entry fee.
All other activity at the preserve, including fishing and hiking, has been suspended until further notice. McDermott said the VCNP was attempting to get a hold of those who had reservations to visit the area.
Unfortunately for local athletes having area events canceled or postponed due to fire conditions is becoming a common occurrence.

PARIS (AP) — Less than 48 hours after learning of the death of his childhood coach, Novak Djokovic was on court at the French Open, determined to complete a career Grand Slam in honor of the woman he likened to a "second mother."

Still grieving, Djokovic began shakily Monday. Six of the match's first seven unforced errors were his. After one poor exchange, he chucked his racket hard enough to break it. He dropped a set for the only time in four matches so far.

After recovering quickly to dispatch 16th-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 and reach the quarterfinals at a 16th consecutive major tournament, Djokovic spoke from the heart about the passing of Jelena Gencic, who was 76.

"It hasn't been easy, but this is life. You know, life gives you things (but also) takes away close people," Djokovic said. "We were very close throughout my whole life, and she taught me a lot of things that are part of me, part of my character."

Gencic connected with a 6-year-old Novak at a tennis camp, then worked with him for five years.

"I feel even more responsible now to go all the way in this tournament," said the No. 1-ranked Djokovic, who owns six Grand Slam titles but none from Roland Garros. "I want to do it for her."

MIAMI (AP) — Their season, their legacy, their reign atop the NBA was all at stake, and the Miami Heat responded in a manner befitting defending champions — with a blowout.

LeBron James scored 32 points and grabbed eight rebounds, ailing Dwyane Wade matched his postseason high with 21 points, and the Heat ran away from the Indiana Pacers 99-76 in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference series on Monday night.

In the NBA Finals for the third straight year, the Heat will play the San Antonio Spurs in Game 1 on Thursday in Miami.

"They're just an amazing group of guys," Heat managing general partner Micky Arison said after handing the East trophy to Chris Andersen. "They've given us an incredible season so far, but it's a long way from over."

It could have ended on Monday, of course. The Heat had alternated wins and losses with the Pacers in the first six games of the series, and were coming off their worst offensive outing of the year in Game 6.

They responded with a rout, despite shooting just under 40 percent, well below their norm.

"By any means necessary ... we took care of business," James said.