August 21, 2022 7:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Jake Fraley’s two-run home run highlighted a four-run outburst in the fourth inning and Justin Dunn earned his first win in 16 months as the Cincinnati Reds beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-1. Fraley’s sixth homer of the season landed in the Allegheny River and increased the Reds’ lead to 5-0. Dunn (1-1) allowed one run in five innings in his third start since being called up from Triple-A Louisville. It was his first win since April 15, 2021, when he was pitching for Seattle and beat Baltimore in the second game of a doubleheader.
August 21, 2022 7:47 am
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Kenny Pickett’s second preseason performance was as impressive as his first, and it came against better competition. Pittsburgh’s rookie quarterback completed 6 of 7 passes for 76 yards and a touchdown in a 16-15 victory at Jacksonville on Saturday night. Pickett, who threw two TD passes while working with the third-team offense last week against Seattle, was on the field much earlier against the Jaguars. Although his first series was mostly a mess because of miscues, his second was about as good as could be expected. The 20th overall pick directed a 63-yard touchdown drive in the final minute of the first half. He capped the 42-second series with an 11-yard toss to running back Benny Snell.
August 20, 2022 4:15 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Michael Chavis hit a bases-loaded single in the bottom of the ninth to cap a two-run rally and lift the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the Cincinnati Reds. The Pirates trailed 4-3 going into the ninth but tied it on Kevin Newman’s run-scoring double with one out. The Reds then intentionally walked Bryan Reynolds to put runners on first and second and brought in left-handed reliever Ross Detwiler. Detwiler hit Ben Gamel with a pitch to load the bases and Chavis lined a single into short left field to score Newman. The Pirates have won back-to-back games following a six-game losing streak. (Photo: AP)
August 20, 2022 4:16 am
Jason Varitek led Altamonte Springs out of Florida to the 1984 Little League World Series championship game. Varitek, Ed Vosberg and Michael Conforto are the only three players to play in the Little League Baseball World Series, College World Series and Major League Baseball World Series. Now Boston’s game-planning coordinator, the 50-year-old Varitek is headed back to where he burst through on the national scene when the Red Sox play the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday night in the fifth MLB Little League Classic. The game is played at 2,366-seat Historic Bowman Field in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.
August 20, 2022 4:17 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Panthers head into 2022 looking to prove 2021 was no fluke. Pitt won its first ACC title last season behind the play of quarterback Kenny Pickett and wide receiver Jordan Addison. Pickett is now in the NFL and Addison has transferred to Southern California. USC transfer Kedon Slovis and Nick Patti are fighting for the right to replace Pickett while the defense will be led by defensive tackle Calijah Kancey. Pitt is ranked 17th in the preseason AP Top 25 and opens the season at home against rival West Virginia on Sept. 1.
August 19, 2022 3:49 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Bryan Reynolds hit two home runs, JT Brubaker pitched seven shutout innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped a six-game losing streak, beating the Boston Red Sox 8-2. The Pirates avoided a three-game sweep and sent Boston back to one game under .500 at 59-60. The Red Sox are five games behind Toronto for the third and final AL wild-card spot. Reynolds hit a pair of two-run homers. He connected in the first, and his drive in the fifth was the 3,000th home run at PNC Park since it opened in 2001. Reynolds and Kevin Newman each had three hits and scored three times. Brubaker allowed two hits, walked none and struck out seven.
August 19, 2022 3:51 am
BEREA, Ohio (AP) – Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson will serve an 11-game unpaid suspension, pay a $5 million fine and undergo required professional evaluation and counseling following accusations of sexual misconduct by two dozen women. Watson was accused of sexually harassing and coercing women during massage therapy sessions while he played for the Houston Texans. The league had sought to ban him for at least one year for violating its personal conduct policy. Watson’s suspension begins Aug. 30, when he won’t be allowed at the team’s facility. He may return for the Browns’ game on Dec. 4 in Houston. Cleveland traded for the three-time Pro Bowler in March, signing him to a fully guaranteed $230 million contract
August 19, 2022 3:53 am
The Big Ten has announced its new, seven-year media rights deal with Fox, NBC and CBS that is believed to be the richest ever struck with a college sports conference. A person familiar with the contracts tells The Associated Press that the conference’s soon-to-be 16 member universities eventually will share more than $1 billion in revenue per year. Starting in 2024, when USC and UCLA join the conference, Big Ten football Saturdays will be structured similar to the NFL. That means three marquee games being carried in consecutive time slots on three different major TV networks.
August 18, 2022 2:50 am
New Taipei City scored three runs on just one hit in the fourth inning, then made the lead stand up to win the 70th PONY League World Series championship. Lee, Cheng-Yen doubled with one out. Shih, Cheng-Yu was hit by a pitch, then both runners advanced with stolen bases. Sun, Kai-You hit a grounder to third but the throw to the plate was too late to get Lee. Yang, Wen-Wai hit into a force play at second, scoring Shih, and later scored on a fielding error. NTC added its final run an inning later. Hong, Wei-Zhe. Hong singled with one out and moved to third on a double by Lin, Xin-Hong. Lee grounded softly to short, scoring Hong.
Monterrey scored its only run in the fifth. Roy Kim walked with one out, moved to second on Diego Alvarado’s basehit and both moved up 80 feet when Isai Garza drew a walk. After a strikeout, Yosiro Eguia singled to score Kim before another strikeout left the bases loaded.
Lu, Guan-Wei got the win, working 3.2 innings, scattering five hits and striking out three. Lee, Cheng Yen worked the final 2.2 innings, allowing two singles and striking out seven to pick up the title game save. Lu made four appearances in the World Series, a total of 11.0 innings and did not allow an earned run. The championship is the 11th all-time for teams from Taiwan, all since 1994. They have won five straight World Series in which they’ve appeared, 2015-2016, 2018-2019, 2022.
The World Series Batting championship went to Aiden Revette (Bay County, MI) who was 8-for-13 (.615) with 8 singles and 3 RBI. The John D. Voytek Award, presented to Washington County’s leading hitter, went to L.J. Zidek who went 9-for-18 (.500) with a home run., two triples (tying a PLWS record), 6 runs scored and 5 RBI.
The ERA award was decided by a tie-breaker between Israel Herrera (Monterrey) and Lu, Guan-Wei. Neither allowed an earned run and pitched the minimum required 5.0 innings. Herrera allowed only 4 hits in his work and was named the winner.
August 18, 2022 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Christian Arroyo had three hits and three RBIs, Alex Verdugo reached base five times and 42-year-old Rich Hill won for the first time in nearly two months as the Boston Red Sox beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-3. .The Red Sox won for the fifth time in six games and got back to .500 at 59-59. Boston is four games behind Toronto for the third and final AL wild-card spot. Arroyo hit a two-run double and scored on Kike Hernandez’s sacrifice fly in the second inning as Boston went ahead for good 3-2. Pittsburgh has lost six games in a row.
