June 29, 2021 3:51 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The Tampa Bay Lightning are three wins away from joining the Philadelphia Flyers, New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins and Edmonton Oilers as the only expansion teams to repeat as Stanley Cup champions. Nikita Kucherov provided a pair of third-period goals and registered an assist as the Lightning whipped the Montreal Canadiens, 5-1 in Tampa. Kucherov put the Bolts up 3-1 early in the third period with a fluky goal that Canadiens defenseman Ben Chiarot tried to bat down with his hand before it wound up in the net. He scored again at 11:25 of the third, then assisted on Steven Stamkos’ power-play goal that made it 5-1 with just over a minute to go. Kucherov leads all playoff scorers with 23 assists and 30 points. Eric Cernak and Yanni Gourde also scored, and Brayden Point had three assists. Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 18 shots and blanked the Canadiens until Chiarot scored on a deflection off Sergei Sergachev late in the second period. Game 2 is Wednesday in Tampa.
June 28, 2021 3:51 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Max Kranick pitched five perfect innings in his major league debut before a 64-minute rain delay forced him from the game, and the Pittsburgh Pirates went on to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2. In a season in which there have already been a modern-day record seven no-hitters, Kranick made a bid for perhaps the most unlikely premiere performance of all-time.The 23-year-old righty, who had never pitched above the High-A levels of the minors until this season, set down all 15 batters he faced. Kranick struck out three and threw only 50 pitches. The Pirates led 7-0 when the rain forced a halt. Duane Underwood Jr. relieved to begin the sixth. He set the side down in order in the sixth before giving up a leadoff double to Dylan Carlson to begin the seventh.
June 28, 2021 3:52 am
MONTREAL (AP) – Montreal Canadiens forward Joel Armia has been placed in the NHL’s COVID-19 protocol and won’t travel with the team to Tampa Bay for Monday’s Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final. Armia has already posted playoff career bests with five goals and eight points in 17 games. Coach Dominique Ducharme is out until Friday when the Canadiens host Game 3. He remains in isolation since testing positive for COVID on June 18.
June 28, 2021 3:53 am
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) – The PGA’s Travelers Championship became a marathon at the end. Harris English birdied the eighth hole of sudden death to win the tournament, beating Kramer Hickok. The lengthy playoff came after both birdied the final hole of regulation to force the playoff. It matched the second-longest sudden-death playoff in PGA Tour history, and the longest since the 1949 Motor City Open. English shot a 5-under 65 to finish the fourth round at 13 under.
June 27, 2021 7:37 am
ST. LOUIS — Adam Wainwright pitched into the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt and Paul DeJong hit solo home runs and the St. Louis Cardinals ended a five-game losing streak, beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 Saturday. The 39-year-old Wainwright (6-5) again stepped up as the Cardinals’ stopper. Since June 9, he has broken St. Louis skids of six, three, two and five games. Wainwright allowed one run and six hits, and was pulled after giving up a leadoff single in the seventh. He struck out eight and walked one. Now in his 16th major league season, he has gone into the seventh inning in eight of his last 12 starts. Wainwright improved to 18-7 in 43 career outings against the Pirates, including 38 starts. Genesis Cabrera, Giovanny Gallegos and Alex Reyes each pitched a scoreless inning in relief. Reyes had a perfect ninth for his 18th save in 18 opportunities. JT Brubaker (4-7) gave up three runs on six hits in six innings. Yadier Molina had two hits and drove in the other St. Louis run. The Cardinals entered the game having dropped seven of eight and 18 of their past 24 games. The win snapped a 10-game losing streak to NL Central teams. DeJong, back in the starting lineup after not playing Friday, put St. Louis ahead 2-0 with a solo home run in the second inning. The Cardinals scored in the first inning on a two-out RBI single by Molina. Pittsburgh cut the lead to 2-1 when Gregory Polanco led off the fourth with a home run.
June 27, 2021 7:43 am
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) — Kramer Hickok finished the third round of the Travelers Championship too late in the day to go fly fishing again. He’ll have to wait until Sunday to try to reel in the biggest catch of his career. The 29-year-old minor league tour regular shot a 2-under 68 on Saturday to tie for the lead with three-time winner Bubba Watson. Hickok, who has never won on the PGA Tour, opened a two-stroke lead before bogeying the final two holes. Watson shot a 68 at the TPC River Highlands, picking up three strokes on Hickok over the final two holes. Jason Day was also also in a tie for the lead before a bogey on No. 18 dropped him into a three-way tie at minus-9. Hickock was 12 under — two strokes ahead of Day and three in front of Watson — heading to the 17th before flying the green and missing a 10-foot par putt. He was still a stroke ahead of the final pairing before three-putting from 8 feet on No. 18 to fall back into a tie.
June 26, 2021 4:10 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Wil Crowe gave up four runs over five innings for his first major league win, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 5-4 for their fifth victory in seven games following a 10-game losing streak. Jacob Stallings and Phillip Evans drove in two runs each for the Pirates. St. Louis has lost five straight, seven of eight and 18 of 24, dropping a season-worst four games under .500 at 36-40. The Cardinals are fourth in the NL Central, seven games back of first-place Milwaukee. Crowe was making his 13th big league start and 14th appearance.
June 26, 2021 4:14 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – It didn’t take long for the Pittsburgh Steelers to find a replacement for David DeCastro. The Steelers have signed five-time Pro Bowl guard Trai Turner to a one-year deal shortly after cutting DeCastro in a somewhat surprising move. Financial terms were not disclosed, but Pittsburgh did find itself with a little money to spend after releasing DeCastro, a six-time Pro Bowler and two-time All-Pro. Turner comes to Pittsburgh three months after being let go by the Los Angeles Chargers. The 28-year-old Turner spent just one season in Los Angeles, playing in a career-low nine games.
June 26, 2021 4:12 am
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) – The Tampa Bay Lightning have advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the second straight year by defeating the New York Islanders, 1-0 in Game 7 of the semifinals. Yanni Gourde put the Bolts ahead with a short-handed goal 1:49 into the second period, setting up a meeting with the Montreal Canadiens. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 18 saves in his second shutout in three games.
June 26, 2021 4:17 am
CROMWELL, Conn. (AP) – Jason Day fired an 8-under 62 in taking the second-round lead at the PGA’s Travelers Championship in Connecticut. Day is 9 under as he seeks his first top-3 finish in three years. The former world No. 1 missed three straight cuts before he tied for 44th at the PGA Championship. Day then withdrew from the Memorial with a back injury and did not qualify for last week’s U.S. Open. First-round co-leader Kramer Hickok was at 10 under before flying the green on the par-3 16th hole and then three-putting from 18 feet for a double bogey. Hickok is one shot off the lead with Bubba Watson, whose neon pink driver broke apart mid-swing on the second tee before he completed a 4-under 66.
