April 11, 2025 3:10 pm
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Justin Rose is in the Masters record book with his fifth time being atop the leaderboard after the opening round. That’s not the objective at Augusta National. It’s still a start he wouldn’t trade. Rose sets out to try to build on his three-shot lead on a course ever so slightly softened by some overnight rain. The previous four times Rose had at least a share of the 18-hole lead he broke par only once. Rory McIlroy had a sloppy finish to his first round and shot 72. He also plays in the morning. Scottie Scheffler plays in the afternoon.
April 11, 2025 3:11 pm
CLEVELAND (AP) — Joe Flacco is heading back to Cleveland. The veteran NFL quarterback agreed to terms with the Browns on a one-year deal. Flacco won the league’s Comeback Player of the Year award in 2023 after leading an inspiring late-season surge that carried the Browns to the playoffs. He spent last season in Indianapolis, throwing for 12 touchdowns and seven interceptions in eight games, including a 2-4 mark as a starter. The 40-year-old Flacco joins a quarterback room that includes Kenny Pickett. Cleveland acquired the former first-round draft pick in a deal with Philadelphia in March.
April 10, 2025 4:30 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Justin Rose showed there’s more than two players capable of winning a Masters green jacket. With all the attention on Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy he matched his personal best at Augusta National with a 65. That gives Rose a three-shot lead over Scheffler, Ludvig Aberg and Corey Conners. McIlroy took two double bogeys in the closing stretch and was seven shots behind. Rose now has led the opening round five times. That’s a Masters record. But he doesn’t have a green jacket to show for it. Scheffler says he was happy with a bogey-free start.
April 10, 2025 4:31 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — For a sports renowned for moving slowly, the Masters can’t get started fast enough. Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are the main attractions for the most anticipated major of the golf season. The final day of rehearsal brought 9-hole practice rounds and the Par 3 Tournament. The Masters is so different from the other majors. It has the smallest field on the prettiest course. And players have been waiting nine months for the next major. Scheffler says it’s all about preparation. McIlroy says if players aren’t ready by now then they probably have no chance of winning a green jacket.
April 10, 2025 2:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joey Bart singled in the winning run with the bases loaded in the 13th inning to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Cardinals despite six hitless innings from Erick Fedde. The Pirates loaded the bases Wednesday against Chris Roycroft with no outs as Alexander Canario and Bryan Reynolds drew walks. Andrew McCutchen hit into a force out, but Bart hit a drive that bounced into the stands and scored automatic runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa. The Cardinals took a no-hitter into the seventh inning before Endy Rodriguez ended it. Fedde was pulled after throwing 88 pitches, 51 for strikes. (Photo: AP)
April 10, 2025 2:16 am
(AP) – Longtime NHL executive Ray Shero has died. He was 62. The Minnesota Wild announced Shero’s death Wednesday. It was not immediately clear how Shero died or where he was. Shero had been a senior adviser to Wild general manager Bill Guerin. The son of Hall of Fame coach Fred Shero, Ray worked in the league since the mid-90s and was GM of the Pittsburgh Penguins when they won the Stanley Cup in 2009. (Photo: AP)
April 8, 2025 4:27 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates ace Paul Skenes was knocked around a bit by the St. Louis Cardinals, allowing a career-high five runs in a 5-3 loss at frigid PNC Park. Skenes (1-1), who was electric in his first two starts this season, was spotty this time around. The 22-year-old reigning National League Rookie of the Year allowed six hits with a walk and seven strikeouts as his ERA more than doubled from 1.46 to 3.44. Victor Scott II had two hits, including a two-run triple off Skenes in the third. Brendan Donovan also had two hits in St. Louis, which won for only the second time in eight games.
April 9, 2025 4:29 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Erik Karlsson scored his 200th career goal to help the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Chicago Blackhawks 5-0. Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang also scored for Pittsburgh, which lost 3-1 at Chicago on Sunday. Kevin Hayes added two goals in the third period. Tristan Jarry made 26 saves in his second shutout of the season and No. 21 for his career. The 34-year-old Karlsson made it 2-0 with his 11th goal of the season 4:45 into the second. He became the 23rd defenseman in NHL history to reach 200 goals.
April 9, 2025 4:31 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) — Jon Rahm and Bryson DeChambeau are getting a rare chance to compete against all the best players. That’s where the world of golf is at the moment with the PGA Tour and Saudi-backed LIV Golf unable to come to any kind of agreement. The Masters is the first time in nine months Scottie Scheffler and Rory McIlroy are playing for a major prize against Rahm and DeChambeau and Brooks Koepka and Cameron Smith. Rahm says it doesn’t make the Masters any more special. DeChambeau says his dream hasn’t changed. He wants to win a Masters green jacket.
April 8, 2025 4:26 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Joey Bart, Andrew McCutchen and Isiah Kiner-Falefa each drove in two runs, and the Pittsburgh Pirates handed St. Louis its fourth consecutive loss with an 8-4 victory over the Cardinals. Bart connected in the first inning for his first homer of the season. He also hit an RBI triple during Pittsburgh’s four-run seventh. Pirates right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski pitched five innings of one-run ball in his first win as a starting pitcher. Rookie Thomas Harrington pitched four innings for his first save in his second career game, helping the Pirates win back-to-back games for the first time this season.
