December 14, 2022 2:08 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates have signed right-handed pitcher Vince Velasquez to a one-year, $3.15 million contract. The 30-year-old Velasquez spent last season working primarily as a reliever with the Chicago White Sox but will be a starter in Pittsburgh. Velasquez went 3-3 with a 4.78 ERA in 27 appearances for Chicago, with nine starts. He pitched well down the stretch for the White Sox, posting a 2.92 ERA with 24 strikeouts in his final 11 games with Chicago.
December 13, 2022 3:57 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Evgeni Malkin pounced on a loose puck and fired it into the net with 34 seconds remaining to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins by the Dallas Stars 2-1. Malkin’s ninth goal of the year came after Bryan Rust’s shot attempt from in close was poke-checked away. While Rust’s momentum carried him into Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger, Malkin fired the puck into the open net to push Pittsburgh’s winning streak to six. Pierre-Olivier Joseph scored his first goal of the season for Pittsburgh. Tristan Jarry stopped 26 shots to improve to 9-0-2 in his last 11 starts. Roope Hintz collected his 12th goal of the season for Dallas. Oettinger made 23 saves but had no chance on Malkin’s game-winner.
December 13, 2022 3:54 am
Mississippi State says football coach Mike Leach has died following complications from a heart condition at the age of 61. The pioneering coach helped revolutionize the college football passing game with the Air Raid offense. A third-year coach at Mississippi State, Leach had been hospitalized over the weekend and had a bout of pneumonia late this season. In 21 seasons as a head coach at Texas Tech, Washington State and Mississippi State, Leach went 158-107. Six of the 20 best passing seasons in major college football history were by quarterbacks who played for Leach, including four of the top six.
December 13, 2022 3:53 am
DOHA, Qatar (AP) – Tears are flowing from soccer’s biggest superstars as they make emotional exits from what might be their last World Cup. First it was Neymar, then it was Cristiano Ronaldo and it could be Lionel Messi next. Momentum is building behind Messi’s push to cap his one-of-a-kind career by winning the World Cup for the first time. The 35-year-old Argentina playmaker has carried his team to the semifinals almost in the same way Diego Maradona led the South American nation to the title in 1986. Now in Argentina’s way is Croatia. The 2018 runner-up is establishing a reputation as the most stubborn and durable of opponents and boasts one of soccer’s most graceful players in Luka Modric.
December 13, 2022 3:52 am
GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – Mac Jones threw for 235 yards, Raekwon McMillan had a crucial fumble return for a touchdown and the New England Patriots earned a 27-13 win on Monday night over the Arizona Cardinals, who lost starting quarterback Kyler Murray in the first quarter to a potentially serious knee injury. New England trailed 13-10 at the break but tied the game at 13-all early in the third quarter after a short field goal. The Patriots got their game-changing play and a 20-13 lead later in the third when McMillan scooped up a fumble and returned it 23 yards for a touchdown. Murray was hurt on the third play of the game, immediately changing the complexion of the evening.
December 12, 2022 3:55 am
Paul Silas, a member of three NBA championship teams and LeBron James’ first coach in the league, has died at the age of 79. Silas’ family announced his death on Sunday. The family revealed the death through the Houston Rockets, for whom Silas’ son, Stephen, is a second-generation head coach. Silas’ daughter, Paula Silas-Guy, told The New York Times that her father died Saturday night of cardiac arrest. Paul Silas won exactly 400 games as a coach, including playoffs. He played for two championship teams in Boston and another in Seattle. He was a head coach in San Diego, Charlotte, New Orleans and Cleveland.
December 12, 2022 3:53 am
CINCINNATI (AP) – Joe Burrow shook off a sloppy start to throw two touchdown passes and the Cincinnati Bengals beat the Cleveland Browns 23-10. The Bengals ended a five-game skid to their Ohio rivals. Cincinnati has won five straight and nine of 11 and kept pace with Baltimore in the AFC North. Burrow picked up his first win in five starts against the Browns, whose playoff hopes are now all but nonexistent. Cleveland quarterback Deshaun Watson was sharper than in his debut with the team last week and threw his first touchdown pass in 707 days, a 13-yarder to David Njoku in the third quarter.
December 12, 2022 3:50 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin said he didn’t know “the details regarding the sequence” that led to rookie quarterback Kenny Picket initially being cleared to play before being put into concussion protocol during a 16-14 loss to Baltimore. Pickett was shaken up after getting sacked by Baltimore linebacker Roquan Smith at the end of Pittsburgh’s first drive. He was evaluated by medical personnel and cleared to return, playing one more series before being ruled out for the remainder of the game and replaced by Mitch Trubisky. Tomlin said Pickett was pulled after he became symptomatic.
December 12, 2022 3:48 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – J.K. Dobbins ran for 120 yards and a touchdown in his return from a knee injury, helping the Baltimore Ravens overcome the loss of backup quarterback Tyler Huntley to beat the Pittsburgh Steelers 16-14. Huntley filled in for injured star Lamar Jackson but entered concussion protocol in the second half. He was replaced by undrafted rookie free agent Anthony Brown. Justin Tucker kicked three field goals to help Baltimore end a four-game losing streak to the Steelers.
December 11, 2022 7:56 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Navy’s Anton Hall Jr. fumbled at the goal line in the second overtime and that helped set up Quinn Maretzki’s 39-yard winning field goal as Army beat The Midshipmen 20-17 in the first OT game in 123 games of the rivalry series. There wasn’t much offense throughout the game until the waning moments of regulation when Maretzki kicked a 37-yarder with 1:53 left to tie the game at 10-all. Navy leads the series against Army 62-54-7. The Black Knights have won five of the last seven meetings.
