June 24, 2022 1:11 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Michael Chavis hit a tying home run in the eighth before pulling off a defensive gem and delivering a game-ending single in the 10th, sending the Pittsburgh Pirates over the Chicago Cubs 8-7. Chavis’ solo homer made it 7-all after the Cubs scored five times in the top of the eighth. In the 10th, Chavis charged a slow grounder by Jason Heyward toward first base and threw out Patrick Wisdom at the plate. The call stood after a Chicago challenge. In the bottom half, Chavis blooped a single to right and automatic runner Ke’Bryan Hayes scored in a collision with catcher Wilson Contreras. Hayes remained down for a few moments before walking off under his own power. Hayes homered earlier in the game.
June 24, 2022 3:13 am
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) – Rory McIlroy fought off a sinus bug to shoot an 8-under 62 on Thursday for a share of the first-round lead with J.T. Poston in the Travelers Championship. Coming off a fifth-place tie Sunday in the U.S. Open after winning the Canadian Open the previous week, the second-ranked McIlroy had a bogey-free morning round – highlighted by a 47-foot birdie putt on the par-4 seventh. McIlroy matched the lowest opening round of his PGA Tour career. Poston had five straight birdies on Nos. 13-17 and made the turn at 6-under 29, giving rise to thoughts of Jim Furyk’s record 58 on the same TPC River Highlands course in 2016. Poston added birdies on Nos. 7 and 9.
June 24, 2022 3:14 am
UNDATED (AP) – The New York Racing Association suspended trainer Bob Baffert for one year Thursday for repeated medication violations. A panel credited Baffert for time served from an initial suspension that makes the two-time Triple Crown-winning trainer eligible to saddle horses in New York again by late January. The ban is shorter than the two-year suspension Churchill Downs handed Baffert after Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit tested positive for a substance that is not allowed on race day. Baffert’s camp asked for a stay of the NYRA suspension that was immediately denied.
June 23, 2022 3:09 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nazem Kadri scored at 12:02 of overtime — perhaps with too many Colorado players on the ice — and the Avalanche beat Tampa Bay 3-2 on Wednesday night in Game 4 of the Stanley Cup Final to move within a victory of dethroning the two-time defending champion Lightning. Playing for the first time since June 4 due to a thumb injury, Kadri skated in on Andrei Vasilevskiy and slipped a shot under the goaltender’s right arm to give Colorado a 3-1 series lead. Without specifically saying Tampa Bay felt Colorado had too many men on the ice for the winning goal, Lightning coach Jon Cooper suggested the goal should not have been allowed. Game 5 is Friday night in Denver.
June 22, 2022 3:10 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Bligh Madris hit his first major league home run and fellow rookie Roansy Contreras pitched five solid innings to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 7-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. Madris connected in the sixth for a solo shot to right-center field off Mark Leiter Jr. to close the scoring. It came a day after Madris had three hits in his big league debut. Contreras allowed one run and four hits while striking out three and walking two. The Pirates won their third straight game and the Cubs lost for the 13th time in 15 games.
June 22, 2022 3:11 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed veteran defensive end Larry Ogunjobi to a one-year deal. The signing shores up a position of need following Stephon Tuitt’s retirement earlier this month. The 28-year-old Ogunjobi spent last season with the Cincinnati Bengals. A tentative three-year agreement to play for the Chicago Bears was nullified when Ogunjobi failed a physical. He was recovering from foot surgery at the time of the signing. Ogunjobi played well last season for the Bengals, recording a career-high seven sacks. His arrival gives the Steelers another veteran to help shore up a run defense that finished dead last in the league in 2022.
June 22, 2022 1:36 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – Four-time All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski has announced he is retiring and won’t join Tom Brady for a third season in Tampa Bay. The four-time Super Bowl champion with the Patriots and Buccaneers thanked his teammates and coaches over the years in a post on Instagram and said he’s going back to “chilling out.” The 33-year-old retired in 2019 after nine seasons with the Patriots. He returned in 2020 when Brady went to Tampa and the close friends teamed up to help the Buccaneers win a Super Bowl in 2021. Gronkowski had 621 catches for 9,286 yards and 92 touchdowns in the regular season. He had 98 receptions for 1,389 yards and 15 TDs in the postseason.
June 21, 2022 3:00 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Newly promoted Oneil Cruz drove in four runs and Bligh Madris got three hits in his major league debut, sparking the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 12-1 romp over the Chicago Cubs. Both rookies were called up from Triple-A Indianapolis earlier in the day. Cruz, considered Pittsburgh’s top prospect, hit a three-run double to deep center field in the third inning. The 6-foot-7 Cruz also hit an RBI single as the Pirates set a season high for runs. He started the final two games of last season when he became the tallest shortstop in major league history. Madris hit a two-run single in the second inning in his first at-bat the majors. Madris became the first Pirates player to have a three-hit game in his debut since Jason Kendall in 1996.
June 21, 2022 2:57 am
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole lost his no-hit bid in the eighth inning when Tampa Bay’s Isaac Paredes led off by grounding a clean single to center field. Paredes hit a slider that bounced off the pitcher’s mound and into the outfield on Cole’s 105th pitch at Tropicana Field. New York led 2-0. The 31-year-old right-hander had struck out 12 and walked three through seven innings. This was the second time this month that Cole started out with six hitless innings. He took a perfect game into the seventh against Detroit on June 3 before Jonathan Schoop’s two-out single.
June 21, 2022 2:55 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Steven Stamkos, Pat Maroon and Ondrej Palat each had a goal and an assist, and the Tampa Bay Lightning scored four times in the second period and beat the Colorado Avalanche 6-2 in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Final. Anthony Cirelli, Nicholas Paul and Corey Perry also scored to help the two-time defending champion Lightning bounce back after playing poorly while losing the first two games on the road. Nikita Kucherov and Victor Hedman had two assists, and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 37 shots. Stamkos, Paul, Maroon and Perry scored in the second period, when the Lightning chased Colorado goalie Darcy Kuemper while pulling away to trim their series deficit to 2-1. Gabriel Landeskog had two goals and Mikko Rantanen had two assists for the Avalanche. Game 4 is Wednesday night.
