August 20, 2026 2:44 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates have acquired veteran catcher Christian Bethancourt from the New York Yankees. The 34-year-old had been playing for the Yankees’ Triple-A affiliate. Pittsburgh expects Bethancourt to join them in Los Angeles for a three-game set against the Dodgers. Bethancourt has appeared in 427 major league games, hitting .229 with 35 home runs. Pittsburgh is seeking depth at catcher as Endy Rodriguez deals with hip inflammation. Bethancourt, who spent time in the Pirates’ farm system in 2021, hit .270 in the minors for the Cubs and Yankees this season.
August 18, 2026 4:22 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Braxton Ashcraft allowed five hits over eight efficient innings, Oneil Cruz homered in his return from the injured list, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers 4-1. Ashcraft struck out four and didn’t issue a walk while throwing just 80 pitches. The 26-year-old right-hander was coming off the first complete game of his career in a win over Miami last week. He gave up a fifth-inning homer to Tigers rookie Brett Callahan but otherwise cruised to his fourth win in five starts. Cruz had been out since early June with a broken left hand.
August 19, 2026 4:25 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Milwaukee Brewers matched baseball’s modern-era record for the biggest shutout, beating the Seattle Mariners 22-0 on Tuesday night behind three-run homers from Christian Yelich, David Hamilton and Luis Lara and a two-run shot by Jake Bauers. The major league-best Brewers matched a franchise record for runs in a game. Since 1901, the only previous 22-0 shutouts were by Pittsburgh over the Chicago Cubs on Sept. 16, 1975 and by Cleveland over the New York Yankees on Aug. 31, 2004. Kyle Hamilton allowed two hits in five innings, and three relievers followed, with catcher Gary Sánchez working the ninth. The Brewers scored nine times in the eighth against Mariners infielder Leo Rivas.
August 19, 2026 4:23 am
STATE COLLEGE, Pa. (AP) — Penn State’s 2025 season ended with a four-game winning streak including a victory over Clemson in the Pinstripe Bowl. But that came after an 0-6 start in Big Ten play that saw the Nittany Lions tumble from the College Football Playoff picture and longtime coach James Franklin fired midway. through the losing skid. The Nittany Lions hired Matt Campbell from Iowa State. He has retooled the staff and roster and there’s a sense of hope around the program with competition at almost every spot. The Nittany Lions open the season at home against Marshall on Sept. 5.
August 19, 2026 4:25 am
LAND O’ LAKES, Fla. (AP) — Bill Rasmussen, who co-founded cable TV sports giant ESPN, has died at the age of 93. ESPN historian Mike Soltys says Rasmussen died Tuesday at his Florida home from the effects of Parkinson’s disease. Rasmussen and his son Scott came up with the idea of a network carrying sports around the clock, and it would revolutionize Americans’ TV-watching habits. ESPN debuted in 1979. But the Rasmussens didn’t stick around long. They were forced out after only a year by ESPN majority owner Getty Oil. Bill Rasmussen and ESPN were estranged until 1999, when company executives invited him to the 20th anniversary celebration. Rasmussen was inducted into the Sports Broadcasting Hall of Fame in 2025.
August 18, 2026 4:20 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kevin McGonigle hit a two-run homer, and the Detroit Tigers held off the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-5 on Monday night and moved into a three-way tie for the final AL wild-card spot. Brett Callahan and Hao-Yu Lee also drove in two runs as the Tigers built an 8-1 lead before Pittsburgh scored four times in the sixth. Zach McKinstry and both hit RBI singles in the first, and McGonigle’s two-run shot in the second, his 13th of the season, made it 4-0. McGonigle singled and advanced to second on a wild pitch in the sixth.
August 18, 2026 4:21 am
LATROBE, Pa. (AP) — Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike McCarthy’s first training camp with the team ended a day early after storms disrupted the practice schedule. Bumpy weather in western Pennsylvania over the last few weeks forced the Steelers to modify their practice plans, but McCarthy says he doesn’t intend to suggest the team stop making its annual trek to the small college about an hour east of Pittsburgh. McCarthy said the intimate environment at Saint Vincent is an invaluable part of the team-building process.
August 18, 2026 4:23 am
Ohio State and Oregon give the Big Ten Conference the top two teams in The Associated Press Top 25 preseason rankings for the first time in 65 years. The Buckeyes received 40 first-place votes in the poll of 69 media members. Oregon was No. 1 on 14 ballots. Ohio State is now tied with Alabama for second most preseason No. 1 rankings behind Oklahoma’s 10. Oregon has its highest preseason ranking in program history. Georgia, Notre Dame and Texas round out the top five. Defending national champion Indiana is No. 6 and followed by Miami, Texas A&M, Mississippi and Oklahoma.
August 18, 2026 4:25 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Los Angeles Lakers governor Jeanie Buss is legally contesting her siblings’ plan to sell the family’s remaining 17.8% minority ownership stake in the team to Josh Kushner and Bob Iger, according to a letter obtained by The Associated Press. The oft-quarreling siblings told ESPN they had voted to sell the family trust’s remaining interest in the 17-time NBA champion team purchased by their father in 1979. The decision would have ended Jeanie Buss’ tenure as the Lakers’ governor because the job requires at least 15% ownership of the team. Jeanie Buss has told her siblings through her attorney that no sale can happen without Jeanie Buss’ approval.
August 17, 2026 4:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bryan Reynolds, Brandon Lowe, and Nick Yorke each had two RBIs to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Boston Red Sox 8-3 after a 2 1/2-hour rain delay. The tarp came out after the sixth inning at 3:35 p.m. local time, and play resumed at 6:05. The Pirates won their franchise-best eighth consecutive home series against an AL opponent, a streak extending back to a three-game sweep of Detroit from July 21-23, 2025. Reynolds got Pittsburgh on the board first with an RBI double in the first, and scored when Lowe added a single. The Red Sox started a rally in the fifth on Connor Wong’s three-run homer, but the delay halted any momentum towards a 29th comeback win.
