June 23, 2023 4:37 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Victor Wembanyama is the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, headed to San Antonio with enormous expectations to become basketball’s newest sensation. The selection of the 19-year-old from France that had been a foregone conclusion for months was announced by NBA Commissioner Adam Silver on Thursday night at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Wembanyama arrives with far more height and hype than most No. 1 picks. Listed at 7-foot-4, he dominated his French league in his final season there, leading all players in scoring, rebounding and blocked shots. Brandon Miller of Alabama was the No. 2 pick by the Charlotte Hornets and Scoot Henderson went third to the Portland Trail Blazers.
June 22, 2023 1:13 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Kyle Hendricks pitched effectively into the seventh inning and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-3 to complete a three-game sweep. Nico Hoerner homered and tripled for the Cubs, who have won eight of nine. Ian Happ doubled twice and drove in three runs for Chicago. Josh Palacios had an RBI double for Pittsburgh but couldn’t stop the Pirates from dropping their ninth straight game. Pittsburgh has managed just 20 runs during a slide that’s seen the Pirates drop from first to fourth in the NL Central.
June 22, 2023 4:35 am
Henrik Lundqvist headlines the Hockey Hall of Fame’s goaltender-heavy class of 2023. Fellow netminders Tom Barrasso and Mike Vernon were also among the five players elected. Former NHL forward Pierre Turgeon and Canadian women’s hockey star Caroline Ouellette were also chosen. Stanley Cup-winning coach Ken Hitchcock and late executive Pierre Lacroix were picked in the builder category. Lundqvist is set to be inducted into the Hall in his first year of eligibility after winning Olympic gold for Sweden in 2006 and a pro career that included backstopping the New York Rangers to 11 playoff appearances in 12 seasons.
June 22, 2023 4:31 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Clark Haggans, an outside linebacker who won a Super Bowl with the Pittsburgh Steelers during a 13-year career that included stops in Arizona and San Francisco, has died. He was 46. The Larimer County coroner’s office responded to a residence in Fort Collins, Colorado, on Monday to investigate the death of a male identified as Haggans. An autopsy was performed Wednesday with the cause and manner of death pending further investigation. Haggans spent eight of his 13 NFL seasons with the Steelers. His best year came in 2005 when he had a career-high nine sacks and added another in the Super Bowl as the Steelers beat Seattle. He retired after the 2012 season with 46 1/2 sacks.
June 20, 2023 4:40 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Marcus Stroman held Pittsburgh to five hits over seven masterful innings as the Chicago Cubs beat the reeling Pirates 4-0. Stroman (9-4) struck out five against one walk and never let the Pirates get to third base while winning his seventh straight start. Stroman needed just 97 pitches to get 21 outs, dropping his ERA to 2.28, tops in the National League. Tucker Barnhart hit his first home run of the season for Chicago. Michael Tauchman added his second homer in three games for the Cubs. The Pirates have dropped eight straight games.
June 21, 2023 4:41 am
PARIS (AP) — Officials say French investigators have searched the Paris Olympic organizers’ headquarters as part of corruption investigations into contracts linked to the Games. This is the third straight time graft allegations have dogged a Summer Olympics. The Paris organizing committee said in a statement that a search was underway Tuesday at their headquarters in the suburb of Saint-Denis. It said it was cooperating. It would not comment further. An official with the financial prosecutor’s office said the search was linked to two preliminary investigations related to the Olympics that had not previously been made public. The official was not authorized to be publicly named according to office policy.
June 20, 2023 4:42 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Drew Smyly gave up three hits in five innings and the surging Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-0. Smyly (7-4) worked around five walks to win his second straight start following a three-game losing streak. Mike Tauchman finished with three hits and drove in three runs for Chicago. Dansby Swanson added two hits as Chicago spoiled the major-league debut of highly touted Pirates prospect Henry Davis. Davis, the top pick in the 2021 draft, doubled in his first major-league at-bat but couldn’t stop the Pirates from losing their seventh straight.
June 20, 2023 4:39 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Eight-time major champion Tom Watson is the latest to want answers on the PGA Tour’s new business partnership with Saudi backers of LIV Golf. He has sent a letter to PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan asking if the deal was the only way to solve the tour’s financial hardship. The tour has an agreement with the Saudi sovereign wealth fund and the European tour to pool businesses in a new for-profit company. One person who has seen the agreement says it contains assurances the tour would keep a controlling voting interest no matter how much money the Saudis invested.
June 19, 2023 4:39 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates are calling up heralded prospect Henry Davis. the top pick in the 2021 draft, to help the team that has lost six straight games and tumbled from the top spot in the NL Central. Pirates manager Derek Shelton said after Sunday’s 5-2 loss to division-leading Milwaukee that Davis, who has played catcher and outfield, will join the team at PNC Park on Monday for the start of a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs. The 23-year-old Davis is hitting .284 with 11 home runs and 30 RBIs in 51 combined games Double-A and Triple-A this season.
June 19, 2023 4:44 am
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Raimel Tapia’s sacrifice fly to deep center put Milwaukee ahead in a four-run eighth inning for the Brewers, who rallied to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-2 on Sunday and sweep the three-game series. The Brewers remain a half game ahead of the Reds in the National League Central. Pittsburgh is now two and a half games behind Milwaukee and has lost six straight. Tapia’s deep fly to center, which Ji Hwan Bae caught as he crashed into the wall, appeared as though it might carry over the fence for a grand slam.
