WJPA Sports

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brandon Lowe homered off Detroit closer Kenley Jansen with two outs in the ninth inning to lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 4-3 win over the Tigers. Rafael Flores Jr. hit a pair of homers for Pittsburgh, including a tying shot off Jansen with one out in the ninth. Lowe followed two batters later with a towering shot to right field that clanged off the foul pole. The homer was the 27th this season for Lowe, the most in club history by a second baseman. Mason Montgomery pitched a scoreless top of the ninth to pick up the win.

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.

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.

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.

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.