April 5, 2025 4:49 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Judge marked his 1,000th game by hitting his sixth homer of the season and the New York Yankees beat Pittsburgh 9-4 in the Pirates’ home opener. Judge’s shot to the seats in right-center in the seventh off Tim Mayza — who surrendered Judge’s 61st home run during Judge’s record-breaking 2022 season — boosted his career total to 321, the most by a player through his first 1,000 games. Those 321 homers also matched the number hit by Babe Ruth during his first 1,000 games with the Yankees. Judge has 17 RBIs in seven games.
April 5, 2025 4:53 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The baseball season is a week old. Some fans in Pittsburgh, however, have already seen enough. A plane carrying a banner urging Pirates owner Bob Nutting to sell the team flew over PNC Park ahead of Pittsburgh’s home opener against the New York Yankees. The banner also included a link to a website urging fans to find ways to protest Nutting’s stewardship. The Pirates have not reached the postseason in a decade. Nutting says he understands and appreciates the fans’ frustrations and that his focus is on helping the team finding a way to win.
April 4, 2025 4:27 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Robert Thomas scored a power-play goal in overtime and the St. Louis Blues tied a franchise record with their 11th consecutive win, 5-4 over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Jake Neighbours scored twice and Pavel Buchnevich and Jordan Kyrou also scored for the Blues. Joel Hofer made 24 saves as St. Louis set a franchise record with its 10th straight home win. Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Rutger McGroarty each had a goal and an assist and Connor Dewar also scored for the Penguins. Tristan Jarry made 14 saves as Pittsburgh lost its fourth straight road contest.
April 4, 2025 4:31 am
KING OF PRUSSIA, Pa. (AP) — Torpedo bats drew attention over the weekend when the New York Yankees hit a team-record nine homers in one game. Using a strikingly different model in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin, the bat has become baseball’s latest fad. All-Star and even amateur hardball players all want to take their swings with the bat. The torpedo bat took the league by storm in only 24 hours, and days later, the calls and orders, and test drives — from big leaguers to rec leaguers — are humming inside Victus Sports. The company is the official bat of MLB and has seen sales and interest spike in the bat.
April 4, 2025 4:33 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — JuJu Watkins, the sensational sophomore who led Southern California to its best season in nearly 40 years, is The Associated Press women’s college basketball Player of the Year. Watkins, whose Trojans won the Big Ten regular-season title for their first conference crown in 31 years, received 29 votes and Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo got the other two. Watkins is the first USC player to win the award and just the fourth to do it as a sophomore, joining Oklahoma’s Courtney Paris and UConn stars Maya Moore and Breanna Stewart.
April 3, 2025 2:13 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Paul Skenes needed nearly three innings to warm up, then struck out six over seven innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Tampa Bay Rays 4-2 at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Oneil Cruz hit his second home run of the season and drove in another to give Skenes, the 2024 National League Rookie of the Year, his first win of 2025. The 22-year-old right-hander did not walk a batter and was on the mound when the Rays scored an unearned run in the sixth. Skenes generated 13 swings-and-misses, but did not strike out his first batter until the third inning, a career first for him. (Photo: AP)
April 3, 2025 4:31 am
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball’s average salary broke the $5 million barrier on opening day for the first time, according to a study by The Associated Press. Juan Soto’s record $61.9 million pay from the New York Mets led the way. The Mets topped payrolls for the third straight opening day, at $322.6 million, just ahead of the World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers at $319.5 million. Those two teams each spent roughly five times as much as the Miami Marlins, who at $64.9 million ended the Athletics’ three-year streak as the lowest spender. The average rose 3.6%, up from a 1.5% increase last year.
April 3, 2025 4:29 am
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — Alex Ovechkin moved three goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record with No. 892 in the Washington Capitals’ game at the Carolina Hurricanes on Wednesday night. Ovechkin beat Frederik Andersen for a 10th time in 13 career games against the Danish netminder. The 39-year-old Russian has 39 goals this season and is on track to reach 40 for a record 14th time despite missing 16 games because of a broken left fibula. The first-place Capitals have seven games left this season.
April 1, 2025 4:34 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Jake Mangum collected three more hits and Shane Baz struck out a career-high 10 in six innings, helping the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 7-0. Mangum drove in two runs and scored twice, one day after he went 4 for 4 with two steals in his second major league game. Brandon Lowe homered as Tampa Bay earned its third consecutive win. Lowe finished with three hits and three RBIs. Baz allowed seven hits and walked none in his first start of the season. Pittsburgh right-hander Thomas Harrington (0-1) permitted six runs and seven hits in four innings in his major league debut.
April 2, 2025 4:37 am
PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Steelers owner Art Rooney II says there are “positive signs” that Aaron Rodgers will play in Pittsburgh. The four-time NFL MVP worked out recently with new Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf after previously visiting the team. Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said Monday that he’s staying in touch with Rodgers and is comfortable with Mason Rudolph as the starting quarterback. The Steelers allowed Russell Wilson (Giants) and Justin Fields (Jets) to leave in free agency and brought back Rudolph. Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff game since reaching the AFC title game following the 2016 season.
