November 1, 2020 7:36 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Chris Archer’s $11 million option for 2021 has been declined by the Pittsburgh Pirates, and the 32-year-old right-hander became a free agent. Archer will receive a $250,000 buyout, completing a contract he agreed to with Tampa Bay in April 2014. The deal originally guaranteed $25.5 million over six seasons and included a $9 million club option for 2020 that the Pirates exercised. Archer was a two-time All-Star with the Rays, then was traded to the Pirates on July 31, 2018, for right-hander Tyler Glasnow, outfielder Austin Meadows and a player to be named, who later became minor league right-hander Shane Baz.
October 31, 2020 4:29 am
The Pittsburgh Pirates claimed catcher Michael Perez off waivers from the Tampa Bay Rays on Friday. Perez appeared in 38 games in 2020. He went 2 for 7 with a home run and 3 RBI in 8 post season games this year. In addition to the claim of Perez, Kevin Kramer, Luke Maile, Yacksel Rios and Jason Martin were reinstated from the injured list and outrighted off the 40 man roster. John Ryan Murphy cleared waivers and was outrighted. The Minnesota Twins claimed Brandon Waddell and the Mets claimed Nick Tropeano off the Pirates roster. There are currently 36 players on the Pittsburgh’s 40 man roster.
October 31, 2020 4:20 am
(AP) – Hall of Fame cornerback Herb Adderley has died at 81. His death was confirmed on Twitter by his cousin Nasir Adderley, a safety for the Los Angeles Chargers. No details were given.
Adderley played on six NFL title teams over a 12-year career with Green Bay and Dallas. He was a star running back at Michigan State, but Packers coach Vince Lombardi switched him to defense. He played in four of the first six Super Bowls and won five titles with Green Bay and one with Dallas. Along with former teammates Fuzzy Thurston and Forrest Gregg, Adderley is one of three players in pro football history to play on six championship teams. After his retirement, Adderley was a crusader for the rights of former players.
October 31, 2020 4:18 am
(AP) The college football bowl season includes 37 games and starts Dec. 19, the day most of the major college football conferences are set to play their championship games. College football’s postseason schedule was finally set Friday. Several games, including the Holiday Bowl in San Diego and the Hawaii Bowl, have already been cancelled for this season because of issues related to the coronavirus pandemic. But there will still be opportunities for 72 teams to go bowling in the 36 games that lead up to the College Football Playoff national championship game on Jan. 11 in Miami Gardens, Florida.
October 30, 2020 3:47 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – Matt Ryan threw for 281 yards and ran for a touchdown, Younghoe Koo made four field goals and the Atlanta Falcons held on to beat the Carolina Panthers 25-17 to avoid a series season sweep. The Falcons have had a penchant for squandering leads this season, coming into the game 1-3 when leading entering the fourth quarter. Carolina was driving late, but Atlanta stalled the rally when Blidi Wreh-Wilson intercepted Teddy Bridgewater near the Falcons’ 10-yard line with 1:04 remaining. Todd Gurley grinded out 46 yards rushing and a touchdown, and Julio Jones added 137 yards receiving.
October 29, 2020 3:44 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers will take the third-longest sack streak in NFL history with them when they travel to Baltimore to face the Ravens. The Steelers have had at least one sack in 64 games, five short of the record set by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers between 1999 and 2003. Pittsburgh will have its hands full extending its streak to 65 games when it takes on Baltimore and reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson. Jackson is one of the league’s most dynamic players, though the Steelers sacked him five times when the teams met in Pittsburgh last season.
October 29, 2020 3:47 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Major League Baseball says Justin Turner risked the safety of others by violating coronavirus protocols when he celebrated the Los Angeles Dodgers’ World Series win with his teammates and refused instructions from security to leave Globe Life Field. The commissioner’s office said Wednesday that it is starting a full investigation of the 35-year-old third baseman. Turner was pulled from Tuesday night’s game following the seventh inning after MLB was notified that he had tested positive for COVID-19. Dodgers president of baseball operations Andrew Friedman said Turner was quarantined in a doctor’s office off to the side. But he later returned to the field and took down his mask to pose for a team photo on the field. The commissioner’s office said it will consult with the players’ association as part of its investigation. The union was in the process of gathering facts on the events.
October 29, 2020 3:48 am
BOSTON (AP) – The Boston Marathon has been postponed once again. The Boston Athletic Association says it won’t hold the race as scheduled in April because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Organizers say it will be put off “at least until the fall of 2021.” This year’s marathon was initially postponed from April until the fall and later canceled outright. It was to be the 124th edition of the world’s oldest and most prestigious annual 26.2-mile race.
October 28, 2020 3:58 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – For the first time in 32 years the Los Angeles Dodgers can call themselves World Series champions. The Dodgers closed out their seventh championship by rallying for a 3-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays in Game 6 of the Fall Classic. It erases the pain felt by the Dodgers and their fans following World Series losses in 2017 and ’18. The Rays led 1-0 until Los Angeles scored twice in the bottom of the sixth. Austin Barnes came home on a wild pitch by reliever Nick Anderson before Mookie Betts outraced first baseman Ji-Man Choi’s throw to the plate on a fielder’s choice. Betts put a capper on the clincher by leading off the bottom of the eighth with a home run. The Dodgers’ rally occurred right after Rays starter Blake Snell was lifted with one out in the sixth. He allowed just two hits while striking out nine in a 73-pitch performance. Manager Kevin Cash pulled the 2018 AL Cy Young Award winner immediately after Austin Barnes singled. Snell’s next three batters would have been Betts, Corey Seager and Justin Turner, who were a combined 0-for-6 with six strikeouts against the left-hander on Tuesday. Instead, Cash went with Anderson, who was charged with at least one run in each of his last seven appearances. Tampa Bay’s lone run came courtesy of a first-inning blast by Randy Arozarena. It was Arozarena’s 10th home run this postseason, extending his major league record. The Dodgers allowed just five hits, two coming after starter Tony Gonsolin was pulled with two out in the second inning. Julio Urias retired all seven batters he faced to get the save. Winning pitcher Victor Gonzalez struck out three of the four batters he faced. Nick Anderson took the loss. Seager was named the MVP of the series. Seager batted .400 with a .556 on-base percentage, two home runs and five RBIs in 26 plate appearances. The Dodgers had played 5,014 regular season games and were in their 114th postseason contest since Orel Hershiser struck out Oakland’s Tony Phillips for the final out of the 1988 World Series.
October 27, 2020 2:52 am
The WPIAL Soccer Playoffs continue all this week. Chartiers-Houston’s girls squad was eliminated by Steel Valley, leaving only the top seeded Peters Township girls & boys teams alive in the playoffs. The brackets started with four Washington County girls teams and six boys squads along with one from Greene County. Brackets links are posted below along with a rundown for the remaining teams from the two-county area.
WPIAL Girls WPIAL Boys (click for brackets)
Wednesday Quarterfinals:
Girls 1A Steel Valley 5, Chartiers-Houston 1
Thursday Quarterfinals:
Girls 4A #1 Peters Township (10-1-1) vs. #8 Seneca Valley (8-3), 6:30 pm at Peters Township
Saturday Quarterfinals:
Boys 4A #1 Peters Township (11-1-1) vs. #9 Baldwin (8-6-1), 12 noon at Peters Township
