April 21, 2024 6:34 am
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — It may look like an NHL team has just fallen into Salt Lake City’s lap. But local organizers say the Arizona Coyotes’ relocation to Utah is the product of a yearslong effort to beckon professional hockey and other elite sports to the capital city. The move marks a coming-of-age moment for Salt Lake City as a pro sports hub in the Mountain West. It gives the midsize market its second major professional sports franchise and a chance to prove that it can sustain multiple pro teams year-round. Hockey fans outside of Utah are not yet convinced the city can support its new team.
April 20, 2024 4:06 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Brayan Bello allowed one hit in six innings as the Boston Red Sox breezed past the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-1. Bello struck out seven against two walks. The lone hit he surrendered was a leadoff double by Jack Suwinski in the bottom of the second. The right-hander retired the last 11 batters he faced as the Red Sox bounced back from a dismal homestand by handing the Pirates their fourth straight loss. Boston hit four home runs, including a two-run shot in the fifth by Rob Refsnyder that chased Pittsburgh starter Quinn Priester.
April 20, 2024 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins are heading into another long summer. Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for a second straight year despite a late surge that brought the club to the brink of the postseason. General manager/director of hockey operations Kyle Dubas says the responsibility for the club’s failure lies with him. Dubas has a lengthy to-do list in the offseason. The first order of business will be locking up longtime captain Sidney Crosby to a new deal. Crosby is entering the final season of the 12-year deal he signed in 2012. The 36-year-old remains one of the NHL’s best players, piling up 94 points in his 19th season.
April 19, 2024 4:25 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates left-hander Aroldis Chapman has been suspended two games and fined an undisclosed amount for his “inappropriate actions” against the New York Mets on Monday night. Michael Hill, Major League Baseball’s senior vice president for on-field operations, says Chapman’s suspension begins Friday when the Pirates are scheduled to host Boston. Chapman could appeal, which would delay the punishment until that process is complete. Chapman was ejected by plate umpire Edwin Moscoso after Harrison Bader doubled in the eighth inning of the Pirates’ 6-3 loss to the Mets. Pirates manager Derek Shelton says Chapman “evidently said something that the umpire did not like.”
April 19, 2024 4:27 am
The 2024 NFL draft has the potential to set a record for most players on offense selected in the first round. No draft has seen more than 19 players on offense chosen in the first round. That happened three times, most recently in 2009. Many draft experts are predicting more than 20 offensive players will go in the first round and some have up to 25. The AP’s final mock draft had 22 going in the first round, including 10 offensive linemen, six wide receivers, five quarterbacks and one tight end. Only once in the past 57 years have the first seven picks all been offensive players. That happened in 2021.
April 18, 2024 4:37 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Simon Holmstrom scored the go-ahead goal in the third period, Ilya Sorokin stopped Sidney Crosby on a late penalty shot and the playoff-bound New York Islanders edged the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-4. Samuel Bolduc and Brock Nelson each had a goal and an assist, and Casey Cizikas and Kyle Palmieri also scored for the Islanders, who ended the regular season having won eight of their last nine (8-0-1). Sorokin finished with 39 saves. Pittsburgh’s Jeff Carter had a goal in what was likely his final NHL game. Rickard Rakell, Evgeni Malkin and Valtteri Puustinen also scored for the Penguins.
April 18, 2024 2:56 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Starling Marte hit his 150th career homer, powering the New York Mets to a 9-1 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates and a sweep of a three-game series. Marte, who spent the first eight seasons of his career with the Pirates, hit the milestone two-run homer off the railing beyond the left-center field fence to give the Mets a 2-1 lead in the third inning. Tyrone Taylor hit a two-run single in the sixth and Harrison Bader homered on the next pitch for the Mets, who are 10-3 since an 0-5 start. Brandon Nimmo’s two-run single capped a three-run eighth.
April 16, 2024 4:30 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Jose Hernandez balked home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, Jeff McNeil added an RBI double and the New York Mets beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1. Joey Wendle came off the bench and delivered a tying double for the Mets, who have won nine of 12 following an 0-5 start to move over .500 for the first time since early June last year. New York came back to beat the Pirates for the second consecutive night and has won four straight series after dropping its first two. Wendle replaced an ailing Brett Baty at third base in the top of the seventh and doubled off losing pitcher Luis Ortiz moments later. Reed Garrett struck out six over two scoreless innings in relief of Mets starter Jose Quintana.
April 17, 2024 4:32 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Although the Pittsburgh Pirates lost a close ballgame, they might have found their future ace. And like it or not, they’re going to handle him with kid gloves. Rookie right-hander Jared Jones fired five shutout innings in his fourth major league start, throwing 50 of 59 pitches for strikes against the Mets. Featuring a 97-99 mph fastball and a 90-92 mph slider, Jones struck out seven, walked none and allowed just one hit. But with the 22-year-old pitching on four days’ rest for the first time in the majors, he was pulled by manager Derek Shelton after five innings.
April 17, 2024 4:34 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — T.J. Oshie scored into an empty net in the rare situation of a team pulling its goaltender in a tie game, and the Washington Capitals are in the playoffs after beating the Philadelphia Flyers 2-1. Philadelphia coach John Tortorella pulled goalie Samuel Ersson for an extra attacker because his team needed to win in regulation to keep its hopes alive. Oshie’s goal with exactly 3 minutes left came perhaps a minute after Detroit scored to force overtime in Montreal, eliminating the Flyers. The Capitals will face the NHL-best New York Rangers in the first round.
