July 21, 2022 3:49 am
RALEIGH. N.C. (AP) – Charles Johnson, the former Colorado receiver who won a Super Bowl title with New England in a nine-year NFL career, has died. He was 50. The university confirmed Johnson’s death Wednesday through Heritage High School, the Wake Forest school where he was an assistant athletic director. WNCN-TV in Raleigh reported Wednesday that police found a body in a hotel room Sunday during a welfare check at a Hampton Inn and Suites and that a preliminary investigation indicated no signs of foul play. Johnson was selected 17th overall by Pittsburgh in 1994 and played for the Steelers, Philadelphia, New England and Buffalo. At Colorado, Johnson was a freshman on the Buffaloes’ 1990 national championship team.
July 20, 2022 3:41 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Giancarlo Stanton and Byron Buxton homered back-to-back in the fourth inning to rally the American League over the National League 3-2 in the All-Star Game. It was the AL’s ninth straight victory in the Midsummer Classic. Nine-time All-Star Clayton Kershaw got the first start of his career for the NL and pitched one inning. He gave up a leadoff single to Los Angeles two-way star Shohei Ohtani. The NL got a solo shot by Paul Goldschmidt and Dodgers star Mookie Betts had an RBI single in the first. Dodger Stadium hosted the All-Star Game for the first time since 1980.
July 20, 2022 3:43 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Clayton Kershaw’s news conference after his first All-Star Game start was nearly over when Blake Grice spoke up. The 10-year-old from Denver said his grandfather was a Dodgers fan and a Redondo Beach native who died of brain cancer. Meeting Kershaw allowed Blake to check off an item on his grandfather’s bucket list. Kershaw smiled and grabbed Blake in a protective hug. Kershaw is reminded of what he means to baseball and to Los Angeles during every start he makes at Dodger Stadium. He serendipitously got his first chance to start an All-Star Game in his home park, and he met the occasion with an eventful, scoreless first inning.
July 20, 2022 3:45 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred is defending the sport’s treatment of minor leaguers, prompting immediate criticism from the players’ advocacy group. Manfred says the sport has made “real strides in the last few years in terms of what minor league players are paid.” A minor league advocacy group called Manfred’s comments “callous and false.”
July 19, 2022 1:45 pm
With a huge role in WPIAL and PIAA baseball championships and an NCAA tournament win under his belt, former Canon-McMillan star Cam Weston was drafted last night by the Baltimore Orioles, the first pick in the eighth round of the MLB Amateur Draft. Now a junior at the University of Michigan, Weston tossed 81.2 innings this year for the Wolverines, second most on the squad, finishing the season with a 5-4 record with 92 strikeouts vs. 38 walks, including 2.1 scoreless innings of relief in the NCAA tournament win over Oregon. The right-hander was named to the Big Ten All-Tournament team following the Wolverines’ championship run. Weston was on the mound for the final inning when Canon-McMillan won the 2018 PIAA 6A Baseball championship, closing out a 10-3 win over Bensalem for the Big Macs’ second state baseball title.
July 19, 2022 3:46 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Washington Nationals star Juan Soto won his first Home Run Derby. He held off Seattle Mariners rookie Julio Rodríguez in the final 19-18. The 23-year-old Soto hit 53 total homers to win the mid-season power showcase, showing off his incredible talent. Soto was locked in at the plate even during a tumultuous recent stretch packed with speculation about his possible departure from the Nats after turning down a huge contract extension. Soto beat Cleveland’s José Ramírez 18-17 in the first round before getting past 42-year-old Albert Pujols 16-15 to reach the final.
July 19, 2022 3:47 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – A lot of baseball fans are likely to be rooting for the All-Star Game to be tied after nine innings on Tuesday night at Dodger Stadium. That’s because of a new rule this year that says if the All-Star Game goes to extra innings, it will instead be decided by a Home Run Derby. The American League and National League will each send up three hitters, and they’ll get three swings apiece to determine the winner. With the All-Star Home Run Derby always popular the night before the game, Major League Baseball decided to make a slugging showcase part of the Midsummer Classic. New York Mets star Pete Alonso has already told NL manager Brian Snitker that hed gladly take part.
July 19, 2022 3:49 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Major League Baseball is considering a pitch clock for next year along with shift limits, larger bases and restrictions on pickoff attempts. A clock experiment in the minor leagues cut the average this year to 2 hours, 37 minutes from 3 hours, 4 minutes at a similar point for non-clock games last year. The average time of nine-inning MLB games increased from 2 hours, 43 minutes in 2003 to 3 hours, 13 minutes in 2020 before dropping to 3 hours, 2 minutes so far this season. An 11-person competition committee with six management representatives, four players and one umpire will make the decisions. Limited use of robot plate umpires is possible as early as 2024.
July 18, 2022 3:01 am
DENVER (AP) — Kevin Newman and Michael Chavis had three hits apiece, and the Pittsburgh Pirates ended their 12-game road trip with a 8-3 win over the Colorado Rockies. Jason Delay and Jake Marisnick also had two hits and Tyler Beede (1-1) pitched two innings of relief for the Pirates. Pittsburgh had a season-high 16 hits to end a four-game skid and finish its 11-day, four-city trip 6-6.Elías Díaz doubled and tripled for Colorado, which had its five-game winning streak snapped. Brendan Rodgers and C.J. Cron had two hits each and Austin Gomber allowed three runs — two earned — in five innings of work for the Rockies.
July 18, 2022 3:06 am
The Pittsburgh Pirates selected shortstop Termarr Johnson with the fourth overall selection in the 2022 First-Year Player Draft on Sunday. The 18-year-old Johnson was rated the No. 4 prospect in the draft by both MLB Pipeline and Baseball America and was tabbed by the latter as the “Best Pure Hitter”, second- “Closest to the Majors” and tied for third for “Best Defensive Infielder” among high school players in this year’s draft. MLB Pipeline also rated Johnson as the “Best Hitter” in this year’s draft class. As a junior in 2021, the five-foot-10, 175-pound left-handed hitter was rated by Baseball America as the No. 1 high school draft prospect in the country after he hit .417 with eight doubles, five triples, nine home runs and 23 stolen bases. Johnson, who graduated from Mays (GA) High School, was a 2021 Perfect Game All-American Classic selection. The club has selected right-handed pitcher Thomas Harrington with the 36th overall selection in the Competitive Balance A Round, and left-handed pitcher Hunter Barco with the 44th overall pick in the Second Round. Harrington, who turned 21 on July 12, went 12-2 with a 2.53 ERA (26 ER in 92.2 IP), 111 strikeouts against just 18 walks and a .204 opponent average in 15 starts for Campbell University last season, earning Big South Pitcher of the Year honors after he led all NCAA pitchers in wins and set new school records in both wins and strikeouts. Barco, 21, went 5-2 with a 2.50 ERA (14 ER in 50.1 IP), 69 strikeouts, 11 walks and a .187 opponents average in nine starts with the University of Florida in 2022 before undergoing season-ending Tommy John Surgery in May. Prior to suffering the injury, he was named the No. 1 pitcher in college baseball by D1 Baseball on March 30 and earned SEC Pitcher of the Week and Dick Howser Trophy National Pitcher of the Week honors on February 22.
