September 24, 2020 2:52 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Chad Kuhl pitched seven sharp innings and Colin Moran and Bryan Reynolds hit home runs in the Pittsburgh Pirates’ 7-0 victory over the slumping Chicago Cubs on Thursday. Kuhl finished his comeback season on a strong note, allowing two hits, struck out five hits and three walks. He sat out last season while rehabbing after Tommy John surgery. The Cubs, who clinched a postseason berth Tuesday, are stumbling toward the playoffs with five losses in six games. They have scored two or fewer runs in each of the five defeats.
September 24, 2020 2:54 am
The postponed football game between No. 7 Notre Dame and Wake Forest will be moved to Dec. 12, while the Demon Deacons also are moving their nonconference game against Campbell a week earlier to Oct. 2. The ACC’s revamped scheduling model allows for 11 games to be played over 13 weeks through Dec. 5, as well as the possibility of playing Dec. 12. Meanwhile, Ohio State says it is cutting a handful of jobs, furloughing hundreds of other employees and asking coaches to take pay cuts to deal with a budget shortfall expected to be over $100 million because of the pandemic. Athletic director Gene Smith says none of the 36 sports will be cut and athlete support services will be maintained.
September 24, 2020 2:52 am
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) – Steven Stamkos played sparingly in his return to action, but he opened the scoring in the first period of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 5-2 victory against the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup final. Stamkos was playing for the first time in almost seven months and didn’t hit the ice over the final two periods. Victor Hedman’s power-play goal was the eventual game-winner as the Lightning took a two-games-to-one lead in the series.
September 23, 2020 9:31 am
CANTON, OH — Chicago Bears Hall of Fame running back Gale Sayers, one of the most electrifying players in NFL history, died Wednesday. He was 77. Pro Football Hall of Fame president David Baker announced Sayers’ death. No cause was provided. “All those who love the game of football mourn the loss of one of the greatest to ever play this game with the passing of Chicago Bears legend Gale Sayers,” Baker said in a statement. “He was the very essence of a team player — quiet, unassuming and always ready to compliment a teammate for a key block. Gale was an extraordinary man who overcame a great deal of adversity during his NFL career and life. “The “Kansas Comet” burst onto the scene in the National Football League and captured the attention of all of America. Despite playing only 68 NFL games because of an injury-shortened career, Gale was a clear-cut — and first-ballot — Hall of Famer for his accomplishments on the field and for the man of character he was in life.
September 23, 2020 2:32 am
PITTSBURGH – Catcher Jacob Stallings drove a 94 mph fastball from Andrew Chafin into the left-field seats allowing the Pittsburgh Pirates to walk-off with a 3-2 win over the Chicago Cubs. An inning earlier, Chicago first baseman, Anthony Rizzo spoiled Steven Brault’s stellar start, lining a game-tying two-run home run to right off Pirates reliever Sam Howard. Brault worked seven scoreless innings, allowing just two hits in his season finale. Snapping a five-game losing skid, the walk-off home run by Stallings is the first of his career and the first for the Pirates in the COVID-shortened 2020 season. The Cubs clinched a playoff spot despite the loss, returning to the post-season after a one-year absence, their first year out of the playoffs since 2014.
September 23, 2020 2:34 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Two more NFL head coaches and their teams have been fined for not wearing masks on the sideline. A person with knowledge of the punishment says Jon Gruden of the Raiders and Sean Payton of the Saints were each fined $100,000 for not wearing masks on the sideline. The teams were fined $250,000. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the league wasn’t announcing specific fines. The league already handed out similar punishments to Denver’s Vic Fangio, San Francisco’s Kyle Shanahan and Seattle’s Pete Carroll.
September 23, 2020 2:35 am
UNDATED (AP) – Notre Dame’s game at Wake Forest on Saturday has been postponed after positive COVID-19 tests landed 13 Fighting Irish players in isolation and another 10 in quarantine. Notre Dame says the process of rescheduling the game is underway. Both teams are off Oct. 3. Notre Dame said 94 football players were tested for COVID-19 on Monday and of those seven were positive. Those players were in isolation along with others who tested positive last week.
September 23, 2020 2:36 am
UNDATED (AP) – Belmont Stakes winner Tiz the Law won’t run in next month’s Preakness, spoiling what would have been a highly anticipated rematch with Kentucky Derby winner Authentic. The Preakness on Oct. 3 at Pimlico concludes this year’s reconfigured Triple Crown series, which was run out of order because of the coronavirus pandemic. Jack Knowlton, managing partner of the Sackatoga Stable, which owns Tiz the Law, tweeted that it’s “disappointing Tiz the Law will not be able to run in the Preakness.” Knowlton says the colt will be pointed toward the Breeders’ Cup at Keeneland in November.
September 22, 2020 3:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jon Lester scattered four hits over six innings and the Chicago Cubs inched closer to their first NL Central title since 2017 with a 5-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Lester struck out one and walked one to pick up his first victory since Aug. 11. He retired the first nine batters he faced and kept the lowest-scoring team in the majors in check. Kyle Schwarber responded to being benched in the middle of a loss to Minnesota by doubling twice and driving in a pair of insurance runs in the eighth with a shot to the gap in right-center field.
September 22, 2020 3:49 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – The Las Vegas Raiders have won their first game in a new hometown. Derek Carr threw three touchdown passes and the Raiders rallied from an early 10-point deficit to beat the Saints, 34-24. Carr was in complete control for most of the night, completing 28 of 38 passes for 282 yards. Darren Waller caught 12 of the passes for 103 yards as Carr’s most trusted option. Carr engineered four straight scoring drives in the second and third quarters to turn a 10-0 deficit into a 24-17 lead. Saints quarterback Drew Brees was 26 of 38 for 312 yards with one TD and one interception.
