October 20, 2022 3:46 am
HOUSTON (AP) – Justin Verlander struck out 11 in six strong innings and Yuli Gurriel, Chas McCormick and Jeremy Peña all homered to power the Houston Astros to a 4-2 win over the New York Yankees in their AL Championship Series opener. The Astros are in their sixth consecutive ALCS, looking to reach the World Series for the fourth time in that span, against a New York team in the LCS for the first time since being eliminated by Houston in 2019. The game was tied 1-all in the sixth when Gurriel connected off reliever Clarke Schmidt for a solo shot that put Houston on top. Two batters later, McCormick sent a sinker from Schmidt into right field to make it 3-1.
October 20, 2022 3:49 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Brandon Drury hit a go-ahead, two-run single during a five-run rally in the fifth inning and the San Diego Padres stunned Aaron Nola and the Philadelphia Phillies 8-5 to tie their all-wild card NL Championship Series at one game apiece. The outburst started with Padres catcher Austin Nola hitting an RBI single off his younger brother that brought the sellout, towel-twirling crowd of 44,607 at Petco Park to life. Three innings earlier, the Phillies took a 4-0 lead with a rally that included bloop hits, a sun-aided double on a gorgeous, 92-degree afternoon and some shoddy Padres defense.
October 19, 2022 3:54 am
PITTSBURGH — (WPXI) – Kenny Pickett is scheduled to practice fully on Wednesday, according to Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin. The announcement from Tomlin comes days after Kenny Pickett suffered a concussion against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Pickett, the team’s starting quarterback on the depth chart, left the game in the third quarter with the Steelers leading over the Buccaneers. Mitch Trubisky then closed the door, leading to a potential quarterback controversy. However, Tomlin shut down any of that noise, as the Steelers will start Pickett if he is healthy. “If he can play, he will play,” Tomlin said. Tomlin noted that he did not want to ‘blow in the wind’ or ‘flip the script’ on the quarterback situation. That has been consistent messaging on Tomlin’s part, as he wants the team to know which quarterback to rally around on a week-to-week basis.
October 19, 2022 3:47 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) – Bryce Harper homered again, Kyle Schwarber hit a jaw-dropping, 488-foot drive and Zack Wheeler was brilliant in throwing one-hit ball for seven innings to lead the Philadelphia Phillies over the San Diego Padres 2-0 in the opening game of the all-wild card NL Championship Series. Wheeler and two relievers combined on a one-hitter for the Phillies, who will try to take a 2-0 lead when they send Aaron Nola to mound to oppose Blake Snell on Wednesday afternoon. Schwarber’s incredible shot on Yu Darvish’s first pitch of the sixth had an exit velocity of 119.7 mph. Harper homered in his third straight playoff game.
October 19, 2022 3:50 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge staggered Cleveland with early homers, and the New York Yankees rocked past the Guardians 5-1 in the decisive Game 5 of their AL Division Series to set up another rematch with Houston for the pennant. Yankees manager Aaron Boone won his gamble by starting Nestor Cortes on three days’ rest over Jameson Taillon, making the late switch after Monday night’s rainout. Cleveland starter Aaron Civale struggled. With two on and two outs in the ninth and ace Gerrit Cole warming up in case, Yankees second baseman Gleyber Torres stepped on the bag to end it, then mimicked rocking a baby with the ball — a jab at Guardians slugger Josh Naylor, who made the motion rounding the bases after a homer off Cole in Game 4.
October 18, 2022 3:48 am
MONTREAL (AP) – Kirby Dach scored 3:09 into overtime, lifting the Montreal Canadiens to a 3-2 victory over Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nick Suzuki had a goal and an assist for Montreal, which trailed 2-0 after two periods. Cole Caufield also scored, and Kaiden Guhle had two assists. It was Dach’s first goal since he was acquired in a July trade with Chicago. Evgeni Malkin had two goals for Pittsburgh, and Bryan Rust had two assists. DeSmith made 36 saves.
October 18, 2022 3:51 am
INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) – Dustin Hopkins kicked four field goals, including a 39-yarder with 2:38 remaining in overtime, and the Los Angeles Chargers rallied for a 19-16 victory over the Denver Broncos. The Chargers have won three straight to improve to 4-2. They are tied with Kansas City atop the AFC West. The game appeared to be headed toward a tie until Denver’s Montrell Washington muffed JK Scott’s punt at the Broncos 32-yard line. It was recovered by Deane Leonard at the 28.
October 18, 2022 3:49 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The decisive Game 5 of the AL Division Series between the Cleveland Guardians and New York Yankees has been postponed by rain after a 2 1/2-hour delay and rescheduled for Tuesday at 4:07 p.m. Both teams took batting practice ahead of the scheduled 7:07 p.m. start. Major League Baseball announced a delay at 6:20 p.m., rain started falling at 7:30 p.m. and the postponement was announced at 9:38 p.m. It was the second postponement of the series following Game 2 at Yankee Stadium being pushed back a day until last Friday. Cleveland or New York will start the AL Championship Series at Houston on Wednesday night.
October 18, 2022 3:53 am
North Carolina is No. 1 in the preseason AP Top 25 men’s basketball poll. The national runner-up from last season returns four of five starters and received 47 of 62 first-place votes. Gonzaga is No. 2, followed by Houston and Kentucky. Kansas and Baylor, the last two national champions, are tied for fifth. Duke, led by new coach Jon Scheyer, is seventh with UCLA, Creighton and Arkansas rounding out the top 10. The Big 12 and SEC lead the way with five teams apiece in the Top 25.
October 17, 2022 3:52 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Mitch Trubisky came on for an injured Kenny Pickett to throw a 6-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter and the Pittsburgh Steelers stunned Tom Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers 20-18. The Steelers (2-4) snapped a four-game losing streak by relying on a largely anonymous defense missing almost its entire starting secondary. Brady struggled to take advantage behind an offensive line that had issues protecting him. The 45-year-old completed 25 of 40 passes for 243 yards. His 11-yard touchdown strike to Leonard Fournette cut Pittsburgh’s lead to two with less than 5 minutes to go. Steelers linebacker Devin Bush broke up the 2-point conversion. Pittsburgh sealed the win by draining the rest of the clock.
