June 20, 2022 4:01 am
PITTSBURGH — The Pirates will call up shortstop Oneil Cruz, the No. 22 prospect in baseball as well as outfielder Bligh Madris, manager Derek Shelton confirmed following Jack Suwinski’s three-homer performance on Father’s Day. “Now’s the time that we think [Cruz] can help us,” Shelton said. “We’ve talked about a lot of things developmentally. There’s still things we’re going to continue to work on, but we think now’s the time that he’s going to help us.” There has been speculation that Cruz would be called up at some point during this homestand, but the flames were only further fanned when he was left out of Triple-A Indianapolis’s lineup for its game on Sunday.
June 20, 2022 3:56 am
BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) – The unsettled future of golf was in the surest of hands over the final four tantalizing hours of the U.S. Open. The sport, almost always at its best when major titles are at stake, went on a wild ride courtesy of Matt Fitzpatrick and Will Zalatoris, two 20-somethings in search of their first major titles but playing like they’d been doing this for years. There were ties, lead changes and enough momentum shifts to make an NBA crowd edgy. There was tension. In the end, it was a career-defining shot from a fairway bunker that gave Fitzpatrick a one-shot victory. And a putt missed by a whisker that left Zalatoris holding his head in his hands in agony after yet another excruciating close call at a major. Oh, so, close, Zalatoris finishes 2nd in yet another major
June 19, 2022 7:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The San Francisco Giants don’t overwhelm with their bats. Or their pitching. Or their defense. Their margin of error isn’t quite as wide as the two rivals they are trying to chase down in the loaded NL West. That’s fine with manager Gabe Kapler, who is happy to play the matchups, substitute freely and rely on a fair amount of grit and veteran leadership to hang around in one of the hottest races in baseball. Brandon Crawford delivered a pair of late RBI and the Giants took advantage of a shaky performance by Pittsburgh’s bullpen to rally for a 7-5 win on Saturday that pushed San Francisco to a season-best 10 games over .500 (37-27). The surge has the Giants in the mix with the Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres in one of the toughest divisions in the majors. Seven different Giants scored, six different players drove in runs, and starting pitcher Alex Wood (5-5) and five relievers did just enough to give San Francisco its 13th win in its last 19 games. Crawford tied the game at 4 with an RBI single off Pirates reliever Wil Crowe (3-4) in the sixth and provided some insurance with an RBI double in the ninth after Pittsburgh intentionally walked Brandon Belt. Wilmer Flores and Austin Slater homered for the Giants and Luis González added two hits for San Francisco, including an RBI double in the eighth. Alex Wood (5-5) surrendered a three-run homer to Pittsburgh’s Diego Castillo in the fourth but hung around long enough to win his second straight start. Wood allowed four runs on six hits with two walks and four strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings. San Francisco reliever Jake McGee got Pittsburgh’s Tyler Heineman to pop out to Flores at first base with the bases loaded to end the eighth after a 10-pitch at-bat to preserve a one-run lead. Camilo Doval retired the Pirates in order for his 11th save and second in two days. Pittsburgh starter Jose Quintana allowed three runs in 5 1/3 innings before the bullpen let it slip away.
June 19, 2022 7:47 am
DENVER (AP) — Cale Makar barely broke a smile after scoring his second goal and Colorado’s seventh of the night. He fist-bumped Mikko Rantanen to thank him for the pass and skated to the bench. He and the Avalanche are calm, confident and rolling. They’re now two wins from dethroning the two-time defending champions. Looking like by far the better team, the Avalanche overwhelmed the Tampa Bay Lightning 7-0 in Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Saturday night to take a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. Coach Jared Bednar called it “as close to perfect of a game as you can get from your players.” Valeri Nichushkin scored his seventh and eighth goals of the playoffs and continued to be the best player on the ice in the final, Game 1 overtime hero Andre Burakovsky beat Andrei Vasilevskiy again and even defensive defenseman Josh Manson and 35-year-old grinder Darren Helm got in on the fun with a goal apiece. Makar, who didn’t even have a shot on goal in Game 1, scored twice in the third period, inciting chants of “We want the Cup!” from a fired up crowd. Rarely have the Lightning been completely outclassed during this run of postseason success, but they also hadn’t faced an opponent like the Avalanche, who forced them into one uncharacteristic mistake after another. Colorado was dominant in every facet of the game to move two victories away from its first title since 2001 and the first by this core led by Nathan MacKinnon. The Avalanche go to Tampa for Game 3 on Monday night up in the series despite no goals in the series from MacKinnon, who at times has played like a man possessed in an effort to finally break though and hoist the Cup. They still became just the third team in NHL history to score three-plus goals in the first period of Games 1 and 2 in the final.
June 19, 2022 7:49 am
BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) — Eight players spent time atop the leaderboard, all of them getting kicked around — some worse than others — on a U.S. Open course that felt every bit like the toughest test in golf on a cool, windy afternoon at The Country Club. Saturday was a classic U.S. Open, all about survival, a highlight reel of golf carnage. Will Zalatoris and Matt Fitzpatrick kept the damage to a bare minimum, giving them another crack at a major championship that is 18 holes away and feels so much longer. Zalatoris, who lost in a playoff at the PGA Championship last month at Southern Hills, made only one bogey — a staggering feat on a beast of a Brookline course — for a 3-under 67. Fitzpatrick played in the final group at the PGA Championship. Now the 27-year-old from England is on familiar turf at The Country Club, where he won the U.S. Amateur in 2013. He was equally steady and ran off three birdies over his last five holes for a 68. Most telling: They didn’t make any double bogeys. That’s what knocked defending U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm out of the lead on the final hole. The Spaniard thought he had seen it all — including a shot he played back-handed from the base of a tree on the eighth hole — until he took three swipes from sand in two bunkers.
June 18, 2022 3:52 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Carlos Rodón scattered two hits over eight sharp innings and the San Francisco Giants edged the reeling Pittsburgh Pirates 2-0. Rodón won his second straight start and lowered his ERA to 2.84 after striking out eight against two walks as the Giants sent the Pirates to their 10th loss in 11 games. Luis Gonzalez and Joc Pederson homered for San Francisco. The Giants have won six of seven and 12 of 18.
June 18, 2022 4:03 am
The Pittsburgh Pirates placed infielder Tucupito Marcano on the COVID injured list. To take his place they recalled infielder Liover Peguero from Double-A Altoona. Peguero will be making his major league debut wearing number 60. He is touted as the Pirates number 5 prospect by several baseball publications. In 54 games this year in Altoona Peguero is hitting .292 with 17 doubles, 4 triples and 5 home runs with 30 RBI versus right handed pitching. In other moves, the Pirates placed outfielder efCanaan Smith-Njigba on the 60 day injured list retroactive to June 15 with a wrist injury. They selected left handed pitcher Cam Vieaux from Triple-A Indianapolis. Vieaux will also be making his major league debut wearing number 68. He has gone 3-0 with 23 strikeouts and a 2.28 ERA.
June 18, 2022 4:05 am
BROOKLINE, Mass. (AP) – The storm clouds never arrived at the U.S. Open. Only the stars did. Collin Morikawa leads the way in his quest for a third straight year winning a major. He had a 66 to match the low score this week at The Country Club. That gave him a share of the lead with Joel Dahmen, a popular everyman on the PGA Tour. In the group one shot behind is defending U.S. Open champion Jon Rahm and Rory McIlroy. Another shot back is Masters champ Scottie Scheffler. Morikawa, Rahm and Scheffler have won four of the last nine majors.
June 17, 2022 2:56 am
BOSTON (AP) — The Golden State Warriors are NBA champions once again, topping the Boston Celtics 103-90 for their fourth title in the last eight seasons. Stephen Curry scored 34 points for the Warriors, who claimed the franchise’s seventh championship overall. And this one completed a journey like none other, after a run of five consecutive finals, then a plummet to the bottom of the NBA, and now a return to greatness just two seasons after having the league’s worst record. For Curry, Klay Thompson, Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, it’s a fourth championship. The first three rings came in 2015, 2017 and 2018, when Golden State was dynastic and made five consecutive trips to the finals.
June 17, 2022 2:58 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers have hired John Tortorella as their new coach, hoping the veteran can help lead them to their first Stanley Cup since 1975. Tortorella coached Tampa Bay to a Stanley Cup title in 2004. He also coached the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. He was fired in May 2021 after six seasons with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Flyers finished this season with a 25-46-11 record under Alain Vigneault and Mike Yeo and were last in the Metropolitan Division.
