April 7, 2023 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Tristan Jarry stopped 27 shots and the Pittsburgh Penguins kept pace in the race for one of the two wild-card spots in the Eastern Conference with a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. The Penguins bounced back from a miserable performance in a loss to New Jersey by putting together three complete periods, a rarity for most of the last three months. Kris Letang, Rickard Rakell, Jason Zucker and Jeff Carter scored for Pittsburgh. Marc-Andre Fleury fell to 4-4 all-time against Pittsburgh, where he won three Stanley Cups before leaving in 2017. The Wild lost in regulation for just the third time in their last 24 games.
April 7, 2023 3:49 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Brooks Koepka is in a three-way share of the lead at the Masters with Jon Rahm and Viktor Hovland. Koepka is trying to regain his reputation as a major player. Right now he gets attention as a surprise defector to Saudi-based LIV Golf. All he cares about his having healthy legs. He opened with a 65. Rahm was even more spectacular in his round of 65. That’s because he four-putted for double bogey on the first hole. He followed with seven birdies and an eagle. Hovland played bogey-free. Tiger Woods limped his way to a 74 and was nine back.
April 7, 2023 3:51 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods had three birdies and five bogeys during an opening round of 74 at the Masters on Thursday, leaving him in contention to play the weekend but hardly to win the tournament. He had two tough lip-outs on the front nine, a couple of poor pitch shots that led to bogeys, and some bad luck at the 18th led to his final bogey. It was the worst opening round for Woods at the Masters since 2005, when he followed another 74 with 65-66-71 to capture the fourth of his five green jackets. But he’s hardly the same player these days. He is now a combined 16 over for his last four rounds at Augusta National.
April 6, 2023 2:14 am
BOSTON (AP) — Mitch Keller struck out seven, Carlos Santana homered and Bryan Reynolds knocked in his seventh run of the season as the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a three-game sweep of the Red Sox with a 4-1 win Wednesday. Ke’Bryan Hayes drove in a run with a perfectly-placed bunt in the sixth and Santana added an RBI double during a two-run seventh that put the Pirates up 4-0. Pittsburgh improved to 4-2 on a cold, gray and blustery afternoon at Fenway Park, where the game-time temperature was 41 degrees. The Red Sox fell to 2-4.
April 6, 2023 3:53 am
A strong threat of rain and thunderstorms forced the New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles to postpone their home openers on Thursday. All three teams announced Wednesday the openers will be pushed back a day with the Mets playing host to the Miami Marlins, the Phillies taking on the Cincinnati Reds and the Orioles facing the New York Yankees on Friday. All three cities had weather forecasts calling for at least a 70% chance of rain and thunderstorms on Thursday, the National Weather Service reported on its website. Weather also led the Minnesota Twins to postpone their home opener vs. the Houston Astros to Friday.
April 6, 2023 3:52 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Masters chairman Fred Ridley is hopeful of a Masters just like any other. Ridley says the interaction with LIV players at the champions dinner made it feel like everything was normal in the golf world. But it’s been all the chatter for the last 10 months. The Masters gets underway on Thursday. Tiger Woods is playing. Phil Mickelson is back in the field. Bad weather is in the forecast. Ridley believes the Masters is above it all. He says every player in the field wants the same thing. And that’s to be wearing a green jacket on Sunday afternoon.
April 5, 2023 3:46 am
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — Dawson Mercer scored his first career hat trick and the New Jersey Devils beat the fading Penguins 5-1, putting Pittsburgh’s bid for a 17th straight Stanley Cup playoff berth in serious jeopardy. Dougie Hamilton and Timo Meier also scored for the Devils and Vitek Vanecek made 22 saves as New Jersey rebounded from its worst loss of the season. Coupled with Florida’s win over Buffalo, the Panthers moved a point ahead of the Penguins in the race for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. Both teams have four games left, but they don’t play each other.
April 4, 2023 3:48 am
BOSTON (AP) — Ji Hwan Bae hit his first career homer, Bryan Reynolds went deep for the third time in two games and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Boston Red Sox 4-1. Roansy Contreras held the Red Sox to three hits over 5 2/3 innings. He retired 13 straight after giving up a run in the first. David Bednar got the final three outs for his third save. Reynolds’ drive off Nick Pivetta went into Boston’s bullpen and made it 3-1 in the third. He added an RBI single in the seventh. Bostoin’s run came on Masataka Yoshida’s first-inning groundout.
April 5, 2023 3:49 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Tiger Woods is at the Masters for the 25th time. Not even he knows how much longer he will keep playing. Woods says he doesn’t know how many more he has in him because of injuries to his legs and back. He describes his right leg as being full of hardware. Woods brings a degree a normalcy to this Masters that is filled with chatter and speculation about LIV Golf. Woods still draws the biggest crowd. Now he sees if he can match the Masters record held by Fred Couples and Gary Player of making 23 cuts in a row.
April 4, 2023 3:53 am
BOSTON (AP) — Bryan Reynolds hit a pair solo home runs, Jason Delay added another and the Pittsburgh Pirates edged the Boston Red Sox 7-6. On a mild evening in which the teams combined for six home runs, Masataka Yoshida hit his first since joining the Red Sox from Japan’s Orix Buffaloes. Yoshida and Triston Casas hit two-run drives and Rafael Devers added a solo shot. Reynolds had his fourth multihomer game, his first since last Aug. 12 at home against Boston. Pirates starter Johan Oviedo and Boston’s Kutter Crawford had short nights.
