July 6, 2021 3:55 am
UNDATED (AP) – Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died following a nearby errant fireworks blast. A medical examiner in Michigan says an autopsy has determined that Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Matiss Kivlenieks died of chest trauma. Police in Novi, Michigan, said the mortar-style firework tilted slightly and started to fire toward people nearby Sunday night. A police spokesman says the 24-year-old Kivleniek was in a hot tub and tried to get clear with several other people. Prior to the autopsy, police said Kivlenieks was believed to have slipped and hit his head on concrete while running from a malfunctioning firework. Kivlenieks appeared in two games for the Blue Jackets this season, recording a 3.40 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage.
July 5, 2021 3:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Tyler Anderson pitched seven sparkling innings and the Pittsburgh Pirates ended Milwaukee’s 11-game winning streak with a 2-0 victory over the Brewers. Kevin Newman homered and Wilmer Difo had an RBI double as the Pirates stopped a six-game slide. Milwaukee managed just three hits off Anderson, who broke a personal five-game skid. The left-hander struck out six and walked two while throwing 93 pitches. Milwaukee’s winning streak was the second-longest in franchise history. The Brewers won their first 13 games in 1987. David Bednar and Richard Rodriguez finished the four-hitter with one inning apiece. Rodriguez earned his 11th save in 13 opportunities by completing the Pirates’ third shutout of the season.
July 5, 2021 3:45 am
The Tampa Bay Lightning insist they are not thinking about winning the Stanley Cup back home in Game 5 despite families not being allowed in Montreal for a potential second consecutive celebration in isolation in Canada. The Lightning are looking to sweep the Canadiens in the final in Game 4 Monday night at Bell Centre. Coach Jon Cooper and captain Steven Stamkos say the team is focused only on the start of the next game and not looking ahead. That’s the product of the Lightning’s recent playoff past falling short in potential close-out games. Stamkos says a lot can happen in a playoff series that makes he and his teammates want to end this one now.
July 5, 2021 3:53 am
DETROIT (AP) – Cam Davis earned his first PGA Tour title when Troy Merritt missed a 6-foot par putt on the fifth hole of a playoff at the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Davis closed with a 5-under 67 to match Merritt and Joaquin Niemann at 18-under 270 at Detroit Golf Club. Niemann dropped out of the playoff with a bogey on the first extra hole, his first bogey of the week. Niemann had a chance to win it on the 72nd hole, but left a 17-foot putt high. Davis holed a 50-foot sand shot for eagle on the par-5 17th and birdied the par-4 18th.
July 5, 2021 3:53 am
ELKHART LAKE, Wis. (AP) – Chase Elliott has won the NASCAR Cup Series race at Road America to wrap up a playoff spot and continue his uncanny success on road courses. Kyle Busch took a brief lead on a restart on the 46th of 62 laps, but Elliott caught up to him at Turn 11 and had passed him by Turn 12. The restart followed a caution that came when Anthony Alfredo spun off course. Elliott stayed in front the rest of the way for his second road-course victory of the year and seventh overall. He won by 5.705 seconds over Christopher Bell. Busch was third, followed by Kurt Busch and Denny Hamlin.
July 4, 2021 5:22 am
Kathy McConnell-Miller led the Trinity girls basketball team to consecutive 21-win seasons and a pair of WPIAL runner-up finishes. Earlier this week, McConnell-Miller was named as the new women’s head basketball coach at Gulf Coast State College in Panama City FL. The Seton-La Salle & Virginia graduate previously was head coach at Tulsa and Colorado and served as a collegiate assistant at Pitt, Illinois and Rutgers. Back in January, McConnell-Miller led the Hillers to a 49-42 win over Chartiers Valley, snapping the Colts’ state-record 64-game winning streak. CV, coached by Tim McConnell, the Trinity coach’s brother, avenged that loss by beating the Hillers in the WPIAL Finals, 62-40. Trinity did not advance to the state playoffs due to COVID-19. A year earlier, after losing to Chartiers Valley in the WPIAL Finals, the Hillers reached the state quarterfinals but their game vs. Gettysburg was paused, then cancelled by the pandemic.
July 4, 2021 7:17 am
PITTSBURGH — Omar Narváez had five hits, Avisaíl García drove in five runs and Jace Peterson added four RBI as the Milwaukee Brewers rolled to their 11th straight victory, 11-2 over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday. It is the Brewers’ longest winning streak since they began the 1987 season with a franchise-record 13 victories in a row. The NL Central leaders have outscored their opponents 84-28 during the streak. The five hits — all singles — were a career high for Narváez, who previously had two four-hit games. He lined out in the ninth inning to finish 5 for 6. Narváez lifted his batting average to .303, quite an improvement from last year. He hit .176 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season after being acquired from Seattle in an offseason trade. Peterson and García each had three of the Brewers’ 16 hits. Peterson is 16 for 33 with 11 RBI in his last 13 games while primarily filling in at second base for injured Kolten Wong. Christian Yelich scored three times and drew three walks. Eric Lauer (3-3) allowed one run and four hits in 6 1/3 innings. He struck out four and walked four while beating Pittsburgh for the first time in five career starts. The Pirates’ losing streak reached six games. They have scored just seven runs during the skid. Pittsburgh rookie Cody Ponce (0-2) lasted only 1 2/3 innings in his second start of the season. He was tagged for five runs and six hits while walking three and striking out three. Ponce left after being examined on the mound by an athletic trainer, and the Pirates said he had right arm soreness. Ponce was a Brewers second-round draft pick in 2015 and was facing them for the first time.
July 4, 2021 7:19 am
The two regular-season games between Milwaukee and Phoenix this season fit the same script. Both were extremely high scoring. Both went down to the wire. Both saw Phoenix win by a single point, with a free throw by Devin Booker ending up as the game winner each time. There was also this: Giannis Antetokounmpo couldn’t be guarded in either game. And now, it’s the Bucks and Suns — forever tied together after Milwaukee won a 1969 coin flip after the teams’ first seasons for Lew Alcindor — in the NBA Finals, with Antetokounmpo’s status a major question. The NBA’s title series is set: Game 1 between the Bucks and Suns will be in Phoenix on Tuesday night, the last matchup of this compressed season that navigated its way through the coronavirus pandemic, players and coaches testing positive for COVID-19, and a slew of injuries to some of the game’s biggest stars — Antetokounmpo and Phoenix’s Chris Paul included. Paul is back, set to play in the NBA Finals for the first time in his career. Antetokounmpo can only hope to be that fortunate.
July 3, 2021 4:01 am
(AP) – The Milwaukee Brewers’ winning streak has reached double digits. Adrian Houser scattered four hits over 6 2/3 innings of the Brewers’ 7-2 win over the Pirates. Houser allowed one run, struck out five and walked two in his longest outing since last August. Willy Adames had three hits for the Brewers, including a first-inning homer off JT Brubaker. Jace Peterson and Jackie Bradley Jr. also hit solo shots off Brubaker in the third. Tyrone Taylor’s two-run triple in the sixth gave the NL Central leaders a four-run cushion.
July 3, 2021 3:59 am
The Pirates have selected infielder Wilmer Difo from Indianapolis. Difo hit .244 with two doubles and two RBI in 12 games. Difo was with the Pirates from April 4 through June 6 before he was designated for assignment. Difo has started 14 games for the Pirates this season. To make room on the active roster, infielder Erik Gonzalez has been placed on the 10 day injured list. To free up room on the 40 man roster, RHP Trevor Cahill has been moved to the 60 day injured list.
