March 26, 2026 4:33 am
NEW YORK (AP) — On the eve of opening day, Paul Skenes set forth lofty goals for the Pittsburgh Pirates. He says they want to win the NL Central or at least make the playoffs. That pursuit begins Thursday, when the reigning NL Cy Young Award winner pitches against Juan Soto, Bo Bichette and a revamped New York Mets lineup in a nationally televised opener at Citi Field. Freddy Peralta makes his Mets debut on the mound after the two-time All-Star was acquired from Milwaukee in a January trade. Even thinking about the postseason is a notable step forward for the thrifty Pirates, who finished last in the NL Central at 71-91 last season. They haven’t won a division title since 1992 or qualified for the playoffs since 2015.
March 26, 2026 4:36 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Aaron Judge went hitless on opening day for the first time and struck out four times for the first time since September 2024, but the New York Yankees still produced plenty of offense and beat San Francisco 7-0 in the debut of Giants manager Tony Vitello as the major league season began. José Caballero drove in the go-ahead run with an RBI single in a five-run second and also lost the first challenge taken to Major League Baseball’s so-called robot umpire, unsuccessfully appealing a strike by Logan Webb in the fourth. Max Fried allowed two hits in 6 1/3 scoreless innings.
March 26, 2026 4:34 am
NEW YORK (AP) — The playoff race in the NHL’s Eastern Conference comes down to seven teams fighting for five spots over the final three weeks of the season. It’s possible that the teams finishing ninth and 10th in the East tie or break the record for the most standings points among those who fail to qualify. Montreal, Columbus, Pittsburgh, Boston, Ottawa and the New York Islanders all have more points than Pacific-Division leading Anaheim, and Detroit has the same amount. They’ll jockey for positioning down the stretch knowing that a single loss could be the difference.
March 26, 2026 4:38 am
The only person left out of millions who entered men’s and women’s NCAA tournament brackets in ESPN’s competition is an eighth-grader from suburban Pittsburgh. His name is Otto Schellhammer, and you can bet the 14-year-old is enjoying his one shining moment. He is 48-0 through the first weekend of the women’s tournament, and he’ll try to push it to 56-0 when the Sweet 16 takes place on Friday and Saturday. The record for ESPN’s competition is 57-0. The exact odds of a perfect bracket are steep: Most mathematicians put the number at around 1 in 28 billion.
March 25, 2026 4:23 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nathan MacKinnon scored his NHL-leading 46th goal as the Colorado Avalanche eased by the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2. Martin Necas scored twice for the Avalanche, who atoned for a lopsided home loss to the Penguins by returning the favor in Pittsburgh. Scott Wedgewood made 27 saves to pick up the victory. Penguins defenseman Kris Letang collected his 800th career point by assisting on Egor Chinakov’s first-period goal, but it wasn’t enough to keep Pittsburgh from losing for the third time in four games. The Penguins played without star forward Evgeni Malkin, who is day-to-day with an upper-body injury.
March 25, 2026 4:27 am
The NFL is preparing for the possibility of replacement officials in the 2026 season, proposing a rule change for one season that would allow the replay center in New York to correct any “clear and obvious” mistakes by on-field officials in case of a work stoppage. The competition committee released its proposed rule changes for next season, including some small tweaks to the kickoff rule and allowing the replay center to eject players for flagrant acts on plays that were not penalized on the field. The changes will be considered by the owners at next week’s league meetings and would need to be approved by at least 24 of the 32 teams.
March 25, 2026 4:25 am
North Carolina has parted ways with men’s basketball coach Hubert Davis after five seasons leading the tradition-rich program. The school announced the decision Tuesday night, saying it had made “a leadership change” to end Davis’ tenure as successor to retired Hall of Fame coach Roy Williams. That run featured multiple high points, but also wild swings of results. The final blow was Thursday’s first-round loss to VCU in the NCAA Tournament. The Tar Heels blew a 19-point lead for the biggest first-round comeback in tournament history.
March 24, 2026 4:23 am
BRADENTON, Fla. (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates have assigned veteran right-handed pitcher Mike Clevinger to their minor league camp. The 35-year-old Clevinger had been hoping to earn a spot on the club’s opening day roster after agreeing to a minor league deal just before spring training began. Clevinger went 1-0 with a 5.02 ERA in 14 1/3 innings for Pittsburgh this spring, starting two games and coming out of the bullpen in two others.
March 24, 2026 4:21 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Andrew McCutchen will be on the opening day roster for the Texas Rangers. They expect the 39-year-old former MVP outfielder who joined the team on a minor league contract less than three weeks ago to split some time at designated hitter, maybe play a few games in the field and be a mentor to their young, talented outfielders. Chris Young, the team’s president of baseball operations, said Monday that McCutchen will be part of the 26-man squad when the season opens Thursday at Philadelphia. The 2013 National League MVP and five-time All-Star with Pittsburgh won a roster spot over Mark Canha, another veteran outfielder in camp on a minor league deal.
March 24, 2026 4:22 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh has hired College of Charleston coach Robin Harmony to take over its struggling women’s basketball program. Harmony is replacing Tory Verdi, who was fired after three seasons. Harmony spent the last seven seasons at Charleston, winning 122 games and leading the Cougars to their first-ever women’s NCAA Tournament berth this season. A native of Hershey, Pennsylvania, Harmony had a standout college career at Miami before going into coaching. Prior to Charleston, Harmony spent six seasons at Lamar, guiding the Cardinals to three Southland Conference regular-season titles.
