October 21, 2021 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves are both one victory away from meeting in the World Series. Yordan Alvarez had three hits and three RBIs as the Astros hammered the Red Sox, 9-1 in Game 5 of the AL Championship Series. Alvarez opened the scoring with a second-inning blast and added a two-run double that ignited Houston’s five-run sixth. Framber Valdez was superb over eight innings, limiting the Bosox to a run and three hits while striking out five. Valdez blanked the Red Sox until Rafael Devers homered in the seventh. He also became the first pitcher of the postseason to work eight innings. Yuli Gurriel also had three ribbies for the Astros. Chris Sale absorbed the loss, allowing four runs and three hits with seven strikeouts over 5 1/3 innings. Two of the runs were unearned, thanks to an error by first baseman Kyle Schwarber in the sixth. The Astros can advance to the World Series on Friday in Houston.
The Braves are up three games to one in their NL Championship Series after throttling the Dodgers, 9-2 in Los Angeles. Eddie Rosario homered twice in his second four-hit game of the series. Adam Duvall and Freddie Freeman also went deep for Atlanta, which bounced right back from blowing a late lead in an agonizing loss Tuesday. The Braves tagged Julio Urias for three home runs over the first three innings. Urias was reached for five runs and eight hits in five innings. He was baseball’s only 20-game winner this season. The Dodgers finally broke through on AJ Pollock’s two-run single in the fifth, but that was one of just four hits allowed by six Atlanta hurlers on what became a bullpen game. The Braves can finish up the series on Thursday in LA.
October 21, 2021 2:06 am
The WPIAL announced the 2021 soccer playoffs Wednesday afternoon and posted links for the brackets CLICK HERE! It may not look like what we’re used to seeing (they’re working on it) but all the bracket links area there and will be updated moving through the tournaments. There are a dozen Washington County boys & girls teams along with the Waynesburg girls in this year’s pairings.
Boys:
4A #2 Peters Township, first-round bye
4A #4 Canon-McMillan, first-round bye
3A #14 Trinity at #3 Franklin Regional, Saturday, 2 pm
2A #4 Charleroi hosts #13 Keystone Oaks, Monday, 6:30 pm
2A #8 McGuffey hosts #9 North Catholic, Monday, 6:30 pm
1A #4 Bentworth vs. #13 Beaver County Christian, Tuesday, 6 pm at South Park
1A #16 Chartiers-Houston vs. #1 Greensburg Central Catholic, Tuesday, 6 pm at Mt. Pleasant
Girls:
4A #6 Peters Township hosts #11 Pine-Richland, Monday, 6:30 pm
3A #12 Trinity at #5 Montour, Monday, 6:30 pm
2A #16 McGuffey vs. #17 Waynesburg, Saturday, 12 noon at Chartiers-Houston-**
1A #6 Chartiers-Houston hosts #11 South Side Beaver, Saturday, 2 pm
1A #15 Bentworth vs. #2 Springdale, Saturday, 1 pm at Kiski Area
**-McGuffey/Waynesburg winner vs. #1 North Catholic, Tuesday, 8 pm at Mars Area
October 21, 2021 3:56 am
UNDATED (AP) – Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield will sit out Thursday’s game against the Denver Broncos with a painful left shoulder injury. Cleveland announced that backup Case Keenum will start, ending speculation about whether Mayfield would try to push through an injury to his non-throwing shoulder that he suffered last month and has worsened in recent weeks. Keenum has made 62 career NFL starts, most recently for Washington in 2019.
October 20, 2021 2:41 am
Citing on-going positive COVID tests, Frazier has notified Washington that it will not play this Friday’s high school football game. Frazier’s game last week at Beth-Center was canceled when the Commodores did not have enough players available due to positive tests and contact tracing protocols. Administrators at Frazier today indicated that, while they would have 15-16 healthy players available this Friday, having only two full days of practice ahead of game day would not put their student-athletes in a positive situation. Based on these player safety concerns, Frazier will forfeit the game to Washington, the second forfeit win of the year for the section-leading Little Prexies. WHS received a forfeit win over Beth-Center several weeks ago.
October 20, 2021 3:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Joe Pavelski and Alexander Radulov scored in a shootout to lift the Dallas Stars over the Pittsburgh Penguins 2-1. Pavelski and Radulov both beat Pittsburgh goaltender Tristan Jarry with backhands to help Dallas end its season-opening four-game trip on a high note. Michael Raffl also scored his second goal of the season for the Stars. Goaltender Braden Holtby turned aside 27 shots in regulation overtime and stopped the Penguins’ Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang in the shootout.
October 20, 2021 3:55 am
BOSTON (AP) – The Houston Astros have knotted the AL Championship Series at two games apiece by finally regaining their hitting stroke. The Astros erupted for seven runs in the ninth inning to come away with a 9-2 thumping of the Red Sox. It was a 2-2 game until Jason Castro’s RBI single opened the floodgates. Michael Brantley broke it open with a three-run double before Yordan Alvarez, Carlos Correa and Kyle Tucker followed with RBI singles to empty Fenway Park. The Red Sox managed just five hits and failed to score after Xander Bogaerts belted a two-run homer in the first inning. Alex Bregman homered for the Astros, who are guaranteed a Game 6 at home. Game 5 is Wednesday in Boston.
October 20, 2021 3:53 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Five outs from a three-games-to-none deficit in the NL Championship Series, the Los Angeles Dodgers rallied to beat the Atlanta Braves. Mookie Betts provided the tiebreaking single while the Dodgers erupted for four runs in the eighth inning to pull out a 6-5 victory over the Braves. Cody Bellinger tied it with a three-run blast off losing pitcher Luke Jackson. Corey Seager opened the scoring with a two-run homer for LA. Atlanta trailed 2-0 in the fourth inning until Joc Pederson, Adam Duvall and Dansby Swanson delivered RBI singles ahead of Eddie Rosario’s bases-loaded walk. Duvall also singled home a fifth-inning run. Tony Gonsolin was credited with the win after getting out of an eighth-inning jam. Kenley Jansen struck out the side in the ninth to get the save.
October 19, 2021 3:47 am
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – All NFL football fans ready to anoint the Buffalo Bills as the best team in the AFC may want to cool their jets for a while. Derrick Henry scored his third touchdown with 3:05 left before the Titans stopped quarterback Josh Allen on a fourth-down sneak to end the Bills’ four-game winning streak, 34-31. The AFC East-leading Bills drove to the Titans 3 on their final possession and could have sent the game to overtime with a field goal. Instead, they went for the win and turned the ball over on downs with 12 seconds left. Henry finished with 143 yards, topping 100 for the fifth consecutive game. He also had a 76-yard TD run and a 3-yarder. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill added another TD run against a Buffalo defense that came in third against the run. Allen finished with 353 yards passing and three TDs. Both teams are 4-2, one game behind Baltimore for the conference lead.
October 19, 2021 3:41 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers are 3-3 heading into their bye week thanks in large part to linebacker T.J. Watt. Watt became the first player in NFL history to have two sacks and a forced fumble in overtime in a 23-20 win over Seattle. Watt’s strip-sack of Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith set up Chris Boswell’s game-winning field goal. The Steelers have won two straight following a 1-3 start. They will get a chance to rest up before traveling to Cleveland on Halloween to face the Browns.
October 19, 2021 3:42 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh is hoping its appearance in the AP college football poll is more than a cameo. The Panthers climbed into the rankings at No. 23 after improving to 5-1 with a blowout win on the road at Virginia Tech. This is the fifth time in coach Pat Narduzzi’s seven seasons that Pitt has been ranked for at least one week. The Panthers are hoping for an extended stay in the polls. They’ll get a chance to impress the voters next week when national power Clemson visits Heinz Field.
