Diamondbacks right-hander Trevor Cahill left his start three pitches into the second inning after taking a line drive off his right side the previous inning.
Cahill was struck by a line drive off the bat of Miami’s Marcell Ozuna on the final out of the first inning. He walked off the field on his own and returned to the mound for the second inning.

It was another day — and another series, really — in which a lot of things did not go the Diamondbacks’ way. Their starter left the game in the second inning. Their offense registered just four hits. And yet the Diamondbacks won Wednesday, giving them a three-game series victory against the Miami Marlins this week at Chase Field.
It could be just a good team eking out wins over an inferior one, but their 3-1 victory on Wednesday had the feel of so many others before it this season. The Diamondbacks have had stretches in which their starters have struggled and others in which their relievers have faltered. Currently it’s their hitters who are in the throes of a slump.

Just what is it we want from LeBron James?
Perfection? A triple-double every game? To be like Mike?

BOSTON – Chicago Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville put Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane on the same line to create a spark and they managed to set the team’s offense ablaze.
The problem for the Blackhawks was that the Bruins also had their best offensive showing of the series.

MIAMI – LeBron James got ready for the biggest game of the season by watching cartoons.
It’s all about keeping things in perspective.

Will Claye, Ryan Whiting, Brigetta Barrett and Georganne Moline are among the Arizona track stars returning to the spotlight this week to build on their performances at the London Olympics.
All are ranked among the top 10 in the world this year going into the USA Outdoor Championships, Thursday-Sunday in Des Moines. With a top-three finish at nationals, they will qualify for the World Championships, Aug. 10-18 in Moscow.

Until two detrimental walks in the eighth inning, Marlins starter Jose Fernandez had shut down the Diamondbacks.
Fernandez powered through the lineup in 7 1/3 innings of work, facing at most four batters in any given inning. He allowed only three hits before outfielder Jason Kubel battled him for a walk, the first baserunner the Diamondbacks had since the third inning of their 3-1 matinee win at Chase Field on Wednesday.

Recap: Cody Ross belted a three-run home run in the eighth to boost the Diamondbacks to a series-clinching 3-1 win over the Miami Marlins in front of 26,867 at Chase Field on Wednesday.Ross, pinch-hitting for reliever David Hernandez, came to the plate hitless in his previous 14 at-bats, but broke that skid by planting a ball into the left-field stands to put the Diamondbacks up 3-0. It was his third home run of the season and fifth pinch-hit homer of his career.

It was Doug Collins, back when he was the best analyst in basketball at TNT, who once said that NBA teams should hire and fire coaches and general managers as a tandem.
Collins, who stepped aside as coach of the 76ers after this past season, still feels the same way.

One day after police first arrived at the home of New England Patriots tight end Aaron Hernandez to question him about the possible murder of one his associates, news broke of a lawsuit filed by a Connecticut man claiming Hernandez shot him in the face in February.
A complaint filed last Thursday in a South Florida district court by attorneys for Alexander S. Bradley alleges Hernandez aimed a gun at the plaintiff and discharged the weapon as the two were in a vehicle traveling from Miami toward Palm Beach, Fla., on or about Feb. 13.

Around three or four weeks ago, long before Miguel Montero’s bat began to show signs of life, he was sitting in the Diamondbacks clubhouse when teammate Eric Chavez gave him a quick pep talk.
Montero was ice cold, his batting average below .200, but Chavez wanted him to know how good he had been playing defensively and how no one would ever know from watching him catch that he was struggling so badly at the plate.

Diamondbacks 3, Marlins 2
Recap: After the Marlins capped off a rally in the ninth the night before, it was the Diamondbacks’ turn Tuesday as Paul Goldschmidt belted a tie-breaking home run to lead off the bottom of the ninth to snap a four-game losing streak in front of 21,067 at Chase Field.

Too much thinking will doom a ballplayer. Straight up doom him.
That’s why when Diamondbacks catcher Miguel Montero talks baseball with teammate Martin Prado, he makes sure he doesn’t bring up statistics or streaks or slumps or anything numbers related.

Randall Delgado has faced the Miami Marlins more than any other team, definitely not something the Marlins are happy about.
Making his first career start, the former Atlanta Braves right-hander dealed for seven innings Tuesday collecting a no-decision as the Diamondbacks defeated the Marlins 3-2. Delgado entered the game with a 2-0 record and a 1.10 ERA against the club from South Beach, but his team had 3-0 record when he took the mound.

MIAMI — For three quarters, it was not LeBron James’ finest night.
The Miami Heat superstar entered Game 6 of the NBA Finals against the San Antonio Spurs averaging 31.5 points, 10 rebounds and 6.4 assists in 11 elimination games. But entering the fourth quarter Tuesday night, James had missed nine of 12 shots, and the Heat trailed by 10 points.

Being a first-round draft pick — even at 15th overall — wasn’t enough to convince right-hander Braden Shipley that becoming a major-leaguer was now a reality, but signing his first contract sure did.
“The dream was going to come true for me, and it did,” Shipley said. “Everything’s pretty surreal right now and a really exciting time.”

SANDY, Utah – June has belonged to Jozy Altidore and the magic of the month continued Tuesday night when the forward scored his fourth consecutive goal in the U.S. soccer team’s 1-0 victory against Honduras in World Cup qualifying.
The USA hasn’t lost a home qualifier in 25 games and with the result the Americans (4-1-1) remain comfortably in first place in the six-team regional standings heading into summer break. The USA’s next World Cup qualifier isn’t until Sept. 6 against Costa Rica.

One of the questions heading into the Mercury’s season was how DeWanna Bonner, who was second in the league with 20.6 points per game through the team’s injury-laden 2012 season, was going to play now that the Mercury have more weapons on the floor.
For the first three games of the season (all Mercury losses), the answer was “not well.”

The U.S. Golf Association is not opposed to inflicting cruel and unusual punishment at its premier championship, so here’s something it might want to consider.
Award the “Phil Mickelson Medal” to the runner-up in the U.S. Open.

The Coyotes and coach Dave Tippett continue to engage in contract talks as they await a resolution to the team’s four-year ownership saga, but they haven’t finalized a new deal.
“Not done yet,” Tippett said via text message Tuesday.

Draft prospects have been impressed on their Suns visits to find Jeff Hornacek being the only NBA head coach to run the draft workouts.
Hornacek will follow that up with another rare head-coach move. He will coach his team’s entry at the NBA Summer League next month in Las Vegas.

MIAMI — Danny Green could have taken his ball, his ego, and his foolish pride, and gone on his way. Never to step foot on San Antonio Spurs territory again.
He had been deemed an outcast by one of the greatest basketball coaches there ever was in November 2010, getting cut by Gregg Popovich just six days after signing a 10-day contract in his second season out of North Carolina, and there were still 29 other teams that could have used a player with his sort of skill-set.

BOSTON — The Boston Bruins threw their version of a perfect game to beat the Chicago Blackhawks 2-0 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final Monday night.
Goalie Tuukka Rask made 28 saves. Patrice Bergeron was 24-4 in the face-off circle. Defenseman Dennis Seidenberg blocked six shots. Third liner Daniel Paille scored the game-winner and created another goal with a strong drive to the net. When the Bruins are at their best, it’s always a performance starring an ensemble cast.

PHOENIX — What started as an attempt to protest what he thought was fair and right eventually fizzled into an unwanted distraction, and that was reason enough for Diamondbacks right-hander Ian Kennedy to drop the appeal of his 10-game suspension elicited for his actions in last Tuesday’s brawl with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“I figured it was the best thing for the team just so we could put it past us,” Kennedy said. “I was just ready to move on and serve the suspension.”

PHOENIX — Diamondbacks right-hander Ian Kennedy dropped his appeal of a 10-game suspension for his role in last Tuesday’s brawl with the Los Angeles Dodgers.
Kennedy began serving the suspension before Monday’s game against the Miami Marlins.