WJPA Sports

DENVER (AP) — Jake McCarthy hit a leadoff inside-the-park home run off Paul Skenes and the Colorado Rockies survived another tense ninth inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Saturday night.  Skenes (6-7) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Colorado on May 12, and hasn’t won since that outing.  Tomoyuki Sugano (8-4) went six innings, and Jaden Hill picked up his second save.  Pittsburgh, as it did Friday night, had the tying run on third with less that two outs in the ninth. Hill came on and hit Nick Gonzalez to load the bases before striking out Tyler Callihan. Jake Mangum then hit a grounder to third baseman Kyle Karros, and the game ended when umpires determined Karros was interfered with by Billy Cook.  The game started with matching leadoff home runs. Spencer Horowitz blasted a 434-footer into the second deck in right field to start the night, his fifth career leadoff homer, and McCarthy answered with more flare.  McCarthy drove a liner to center field that got by the diving Mangum and rolled to the wall. Callihan had trouble picking it up, allowing McCarthy to race around the bases and beat the relay throw home.

(AP) – The early results are in: This U.S men’s national team is for real in this World Cup. With a creative offensive attack producing goals in front of stadium-shaking home crowds, the Americans have already won their group and booked their place in the knockout round. A final group stage match against Turkey in Los Angeles awaits. The optimism and expectations of a deep run in the tournament are rising quickly.

TORONTO (AP) — Deniz Undav scored twice after being subbed on in the second half as Germany defeated Ivory Coast 2-1 on Saturday and clinched a spot in the knockout phase at the World Cup. Four minutes into stoppage time, Undav received a pass from Felix Nmecha in front of the net and rifled it past Ivory Coast goalkeeper Yahia Fofana to give the Germans a comeback win. Undav’s first goal of the match came after Nadiem Amiri sent in a long ball – that striker Kai Havertz let pass him by – onto the boot of Undav, who slammed it into the back of the net at the 68th minute. Both Amiri and Undav had subbed on eight minutes earlier.

SOUTHAMPTON, N.Y. (AP) — Wyndham Clark had the right answer for a tough Shinnecock Hills. He was even tougher. Clark shot a 70 in demanding conditions with a collection of big par saves. He wound up with a six-shot lead in the U.S. Open over Scottie Scheffler and three others going into the final round. No one has ever lost a six-shot lead after 54 holes in U.S. Open history. Scheffler shot a 69. That was one of only two rounds under par. He’s going after a little history himself. A win on his 30th birthday gives him the career Grand Slam.