July 3, 2021 3:50 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Justin Marks is a former race car driver who just bought a seat at the table with NASCAR’s biggest powerbrokers. The 40-year-old this week announced he had purchased Chip Ganassi’s NASCAR team to expand Trackhouse Racing and become a legitimate player in the nation’s top stock car racing series. Marks tells The Associated Press he’d been positioning himself from a capital standpoint for several years to make a big move in his growing motorsports portfolio. The bombshell sale has created anxiety for the current Ganassi employees, but Marks told them he’s determined to retain as many as possible.
July 2, 2021 3:49 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Corbin Burnes went beyond seven innings for the first time in the majors, helping the Milwaukee Brewers match their longest winning streak in seven years with a 7-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The NL Central-leading Brewers have won nine in a row for the first time since April 4-13, 2014, outscoring opponents 66-23 during the streak. Burnes allowed one run on four hits with five strikeouts in a career-high 7 1/3 innings. He lasted seven innings twice before in the majors, once this season against the Arizona Diamondbacks on June 6.
July 2, 2021 3:54 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The Major League All-Star Game will include two slugging sons of former big leaguers. Padres outfielder Fernando Tatis Jr. will be among the starters for the National League, while Blue Jays outfielder Vladimir Guerrero Jr. will represent the American League. They are among nine first-time All-Stars elected Thursday to start the July 13 game at Colorado’s Coors Field. Guerrero will be joined in the AL starting lineup by Toronto teammates Marcus Semien and Teoscar Hernandez. The rest of the AL starters are Royals catcher Salvador Perez, Red Sox infielders Rafael Devers and Xander Bogaerts, Angels DH Shohei Ohtani, and Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge. Angels outfielder Mike Trout was selected as a starter but won’t be available. Reds outfielders Nick Castellanos and Jesse Winker are NL starters, as are Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman and outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. Giants catcher Buster Posey, Pirates second baseman Adam Frazier and Cardinals third baseman Nolan Arenado round out the NL lineup.
July 2, 2021 3:50 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers have signed kicker Sam Sloman to a one-year contract, giving veteran Chris Boswell some competition going into training camp. Sloman made 10 of 13 field goals as a rookie last season while splitting time between Tennessee and the Los Angeles Rams. Boswell connected on 19 of 20 field goals and 34 of 38 extra points last season, though he did miss three games late in the year because of an injury. Boswell has two years remaining on his current contract.
July 1, 2021 3:45 am
DENVER (AP) – Jon Gray tossed six strong innings in another solid outing for Colorado starters, and the Rockies beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-2. Garrett Hampson had four hits for the Rockies, who swept the three-game series and improved to 28-16 at home. Colorado is just 6-31 on the road.A day after being no-hit by German Marquez for eight innings the Pirates jumped on Gray for their first runs of the series. Adam Frazier led off the game with a triple, scored on a sacrifice fly and Bryan Reynolds homered for a quick 2-0 lead.It was Reynolds’ 14th of the year.Gray (5-6) didn’t give up another hit before leaving four a pinch hitter in the sixth. He walked four — one intentional — hit a batter and struck out five to continue the strong run of outings by Colorado starters.
July 1, 2021 3:50 am
DALLAS (AP) – The NCAA has cleared the way for athletes to profit off their fame and celebrity. The move comes just as legislation is set to become law in a dozen states that would allow for that kind of compensation. The NCAA wants to have federal laws or its own rules regarding the issue known as NIL but was forced to seek a temporary solution. The decision applies to more than 450,000 athletes across all three divisions of the NCAA.
July 1, 2021 3:46 am
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Will Bednar and Landon Sims combined on a one-hitter, Mississippi State scored early and built on its lead, and the Bulldogs won their first national championship with a 9-0 victory over Vanderbilt in the deciding third game of the College World Series finals. Bednar was working on three days’ rest and walked three of the first five batters he faced before retiring 15 in a row. He turned the game over to the Bulldogs’ star closer to start the seventh. It’s Mississippi State’s first national title in a team sport.
July 1, 2021 3:49 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The Tampa Bay Lightning lead the Stanley Cup Final two games to none after beating the Montreal Canadiens 3-1 on Wednesday night. Andrei Vasilevskiy made a playoff career-high 42 saves to keep the defending champions in the game and Blake Coleman scored the Game 2 winner on a highlight-reel diving buzzer beater in the second period. Montreal outshot Tampa Bay 43-23 and was the better team for much of the night. But the Lightning beat Carey Price three times and showed they can lean on great goaltending and score opportunistic goals much like the Canadiens. Game 3 is Friday night in Montreal.
June 30, 2021 3:44 am
DENVER (AP) – German Marquez came within three outs of what would have been a record-tying eighth no-hitter this season before allowing Ka’ai Tom’s single leading off the ninth inning in the Colorado Rockies 8-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates. The 26-year-old Venezuelan right-hander faced one batter over the minimum. Jacob Stallings was hit in the left ribs by a knuckle-curve with a 1-2 count and one out in the second inning, and Phillip Evans checked his swing and walked on a 3-2 slider that went low and outside with one out in the fifth. Kevin Newman then grounded into an inning ending double play.
June 30, 2021 3:45 am
UNDATED (AP) – Seattle Mariners pitcher Hector Santiago has become the first player disciplined under Major League Baseball’s crackdown on grip-enhancing foreign substances, receiving a 10-game penalty. The punishment was announced two days after Santiago was ejected from a game at the Chicago White Sox. Santiago has appealed the decision to MLB special adviser John McHale Jr., allowing him to play until the appeal is decided.
