WJPA Sports

MIAMI (AP) — Braxton Ashcraft threw a complete-game three-hitter, Rafael Flores had a pair of three-run homers and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 13-1. Jared Triolo and Jacob Gonzalez also went deep for the Pirates, who snapped a three-game skid. Pittsburgh’s Jake Mangum went 3 for 4 with three runs scored. Ashcraft struck out 10 and walked one in his 85-pitch outing. The Pirates’ Nick Gonzales had a walk and two singles. His two singles increased Gonzales’ multi-hit games to a major league-leading 48

Due to persistent inclement weather and unsafe playing conditions, the championship game of the 2026 PONY League World Series has been cancelled. Organizers said they determined that the field was unplayable. Out of an abundance of caution for the safety of the players and all involved, the game between Chinese Taipei and Washington County, PA was called off.  The Asia-Pacific Zone team is leaving town Thursday morning and there is no opportunity to play the game. This cancellation comes on the heals of the decision to eliminate four 1-loss teams after Tuesday’s game could not be played on the natural grass field. Abe Key, President of PONY Baseball, said that this is the first time in the seventy-five-year history of the league that they have had to make this decision.  He offered apologies to all involved and said, “sometimes, Mother Nature does not cooperate.”

Major League Baseball is back at the Field of Dreams after a four-year hiatus while the community around tiny Dyersville, Iowa, worked on building a permanent ballpark. The Minnesota Twins will play the Philadelphia Phillies on Thursday next to where the 1989 movie was filmed. MLB staged games in a temporary facility there in 2021 and 2022. Acres of corn rows sit beyond the outfield walls in a visible connection to the film that featured Kevin Costner turning his farmland into a ballfield, where he saw the ghosts of former baseball players — including his late father — emerge from the corn.

Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Aaron Rodgers has one regret about starting his final NFL season with an exhibition game against the team that drafted him. He would have preferred Thursday’s matchup with the Packers take place in Green Bay rather than Pittsburgh. Rodgers wanted to have one final moment in the place where he spent his first 18 seasons and won four MVP awards and a Super Bowl. Rodgers has announced that he will retire after this season. There’s no indication whether Rodgers will play Thursday.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers are being sold for the second time in a year, going to businessmen Josh Kushner and Bob Iger for a record-breaking price. This sale agreement is $12.5 billion, according to a person familiar with the terms who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Wednesday because neither side revealed specific details. ESPN first reported Wednesday that Kushner and Iger are buying the NBA’s most valuable franchise. The businessmen had been involved in trying to get an expansion team for Las Vegas. By buying the Lakers, Iger and Kushner simply don’t have to wait for that decision. Expansion might not take place until the 2028-29 season.