October 8, 2020 3:46 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger says he feels as if he’s “starting from scratch” after the team’s unexpected week off. The Steelers were given Week 4 off by the NFL after the league postponed Pittsburgh’s game against Tennessee because of a COVID-19 outbreak on the Titans. Roethlisberger says he believes his team “got the short end” of the decision to call the game. The 38-year-old Roethlisberger says he spent a portion of the weekend playing catch with his son. The Steelers return to action at home this week against cross-state rival Philadelphia.
October 8, 2020 2:57 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Matt Murray’s time in Pittsburgh is over. The Penguins sent the two-time Stanley Cup-winning goaltender to Ottawa in exchange for forward prospect Jonathan Gruden and a second-round pick in the 2020 draft. Murray became expendable when Pittsburgh rewarded All-Star Tristan Jarry with a three-year contract over the weekend. Murray went 117-53-19 with a 2.67 goals against average and a .914 save percentage in five seasons with the Penguins. He helped the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017 but has struggled in recent years with his form and his health and spent much of last season splitting time with Jarry.
October 7, 2020 3:55 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – The Los Angeles Dodgers had a walk in the park to start the National League Division Series. The Dodgers had already drawn nine free passes before Mookie Betts got their first hit the sixth inning. They went ahead to stay on Corey Seager’s sacrifice fly right after that in a 5-1 win over the NL West rival San Diego Padres. Game 2 in the best-of-five series is Wednesday night. The Dodgers walked 10 times, matching the NLDS record for a nine-inning game. San Diego used nine pitchers for the third time in four postseason games. Meanwhile, the Atlanta Braves have taken the opener of their NL Division Series. The Braves trailed 4-1 and 4-3 before erupting for six runs in the seventh inning of a 9-5 victory over the Miami Marlins. Travis d’Arnaud put Atlanta ahead with a three-run homer right after Marcell Ozuna tied the game with an RBI single. Dansby Swanson capped the rally with a two-run blast that put the Braves ahead, 9-4. Ronald Acuna Jr. became the youngest player to lead off the first inning with a home run. But Miguel Rojas answered back with a solo blast before Garrett Cooper’s two-run double highlighted the Marlins’ three-run third. Ozuna and d’Arnaud each provided run-scoring doubles in the bottom of the third to jumpstart the Braves. The Marlins are without left fielder Starling Marte, who continues to recover from a broken hand suffered in Game 1 of their Wild Card Series with the Cubs. Game 2 is Wednesday at Houston.
October 7, 2020 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Houston Astros are one win away from reach the American League Championship Series for the fourth straight year. Not bad for a team that finished two games under .500 during the truncated regular season. George Springer homered twice and the Astros grabbed a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series by downing the Oakland Athletics, 5-2. Springer put Houston ahead to stay with a two-run blast in the third inning. The Astros closed the scoring on back-to-back solo shots by Martin Maldonado and Springer in the fifth. Framber Valdez shook off solo homers by Khris Davis and Chad Pinder to get the win, allowing just three other hits over seven innings. Losing pitcher Sean Manaea was pulled after Maldonado’s homer, charged with four runs over 4 1/3 innings. The Astros can complete the sweep on Wednesday.
The Rays were able to even their AL Division Series at a game apiece despite two more long home runs by Giancarlo Stanton. Randy Arozarena, Mike Zunino, Manuel Margot and Austin Meadows hit home runs for Tampa Bay in a 7-5 downing of the New York Yankees. Rays pitchers compiled 18 strikeouts, with Tyler Glasnow setting a team-record with 10 while allowing four runs and just three hits over five innings. Glasnow was twice victimized by Stanton, who has three home runs in the series and five in his last four postseason games. The Rays knocked around J.A. Happ, who entered for Deivi Garcia in the second inning. Happ surrendered Zunino’s two-run shot off the facade of the second deck in left with two outs in the second for a 2-1 lead. Happ also served up Manuel Margot’s two-run homer to straightaway center with one out in the third, making it 5-1 and allowing Tampa Bay to withstand Stanton’s three-run blast.
October 7, 2020 3:48 am
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) – The Los Angeles Lakers have given themselves three chances to win their first NBA championship in a decade. Anthony Davis drained a game-clinching, 3-pointer with 39.5 seconds left as the Lakers downed the Miami Heat, 102-96 to take a three-games-to-one lead in the Finals. The long bucket made it 100-91, starting the celebration that took the Lakers all night to earn. LeBron James finished with 28 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists in helping L.A. bounce back from Sunday’s 115-104 loss to Miami. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope scored 15 and Danny Green added 10 for the Lakers, who didn’t trail at any point in the final 20-plus minutes. Jimmy Butler scored 22 points for Miami, which got 21 from Tyler Herro and 17 from Duncan Robinson. Bam Adebayo delivered 15 points in his first game since missing two straight with a neck injury. The Lakers can wrap up the series on Friday.
October 6, 2020 3:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Kansas City Chiefs had to wait an extra day to face the New England Patriots, but it was worth it. The Chiefs shut down a sputtering offense in a 26-10 win over the Patriots. New England had to play without former MVP quarterback Cam Newton, who was sidelined after contracting COVID-19. Brian Hoyer was ineffective for almost three full quarters before being replaced by Jarrett Stidham, who led a touchdown drive to put the Pats within 13-10. New England also played without top running back Sony Michel due to a quad injury. Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman grabbed short scoring passes from Patrick Mahomes Jr., who 236 yards passing in a somewhat shaky performance by his standards. Tyrann Mathieu returned a late interception for the clinching touchdown as the Chiefs improved to 4-0 while dropping the Patriots to 2-2.
Like the Chiefs, the Green Bay Packers are 4-0 following a 30-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Aaron Rodgers passed for 327 yards and tossed three of his four TD passes to Robert Tonyan. The Packers QB has thrown for 13 touchdowns without an interception this year. The Packers have opened the season scoring 30 points in each of their first four games for the first time in team history. Todd Gurley’s two touchdown runs couldn’t stop the Falcons from their first 0-4 start since 1999, when they followed a Super Bowl season by going 5-11.
October 6, 2020 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – Both the New York Yankees and Houston Astros are 3-0 this postseason after taking Game 1 of their respective AL Division Series. The Yankees banged out four home runs in a 9-3 smashing of the Rays. Tampa Bay led 3-2 until Kyle Higashioka and Aaron Judge belted solo shots off Tampa Bay starter and loser Blake Snell in the fifth inning. The Yanks put it out of reach with a five-run ninth capped by Giancarlo Stanton’s grand slam. Clint Frazier also hit a solo blast and Aaron Hicks went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for New York. Gerrit Cole struck out eight and allowed three runs over six innings, including homers by Randy Arozarena and Ji-Man Choi. In Los Angeles, Carlos Correa homered twice and had four RBIs in the Astros’ 10-5 rout of the Athletics. The A’s led 5-3 in the sixth until George Springer laced an RBI double and scored on Jose Altuve’s two-run single. Houston plated four in the sixth following an error by shortstop Marcus Semien with two out and nobody on. Alex Bregman also homered for the Astros, who entered the postseason after compiling a losing record. Khris Davis, Sean Murphy and Matt Olson homered for the Athletics, who will try to even the series on Tuesday.
October 6, 2020 2:32 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Jack Johnson experiment is over in Pittsburgh. The Penguins have placed the 33-year-old defenseman on waivers so it can buy out the remaining three years of the deal he signed with the club in 2018. Johnson has struggled to keep pace with faster forwards during his tenure in Pittsburgh and the contract became an albatross of sorts for a team that pledged to get faster and younger following a qualifying-round playoff exit to Montreal. The Penguins did extend a qualifying offer to goalie Matt Murray, though he figures to be traded in the near future after the team signed Tristan Jarry to a three-year deal over the weekend.
October 5, 2020 3:55 am
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) – Jimmy Butler has willed the Miami Heat to victory in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Butler recorded a triple-double of 40 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds while playing 45 minutes of the Heat’s 115-104 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers. He was 14 for 20 from the field in the third 40-point triple-double in finals history. Butler allowed Miami to pull within two games to one in the series. Tyler Herro and Kelly Olynyk each had 17 points for Miami, which got 13 from Duncan Robinson and 12 from Jae Crowder. LeBron James had 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Lakers, while Kyle Kuzma and Markieff Morris each had 19 points off the bench. Anthony Davis managed 15 for Los Angeles.
Game 4 is Tuesday.
October 5, 2020 3:57 am
UNDATED (AP) – A person familiar with the situation says another Tennessee Titans player and another staff member have tested positive for the coronavirus, while the rest of the NFL returned no new positives. The latest Titan to test positive is fullback Khari Blasingame, putting the team’s cases at 18 since Tuesday. Patriots starting quarterback Cam Newton and Chiefs practice squad quarterback Jordan Ta’amu were both added to the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list Saturday, forcing the league to postpone the Patriots’ game at Kansas City until Monday night. The negative test results include a New Orleans Saints player who tested positive on Saturday.
