July 25, 2020 3:59 am
TORONTO (AP) – The displaced Toronto Blue Jays will play in Buffalo, New York, this year amid the pandemic. The team had been looking for a major league ballpark after the Canadian government didn’t allow the club to play in Toronto, but was unsuccessful in securing a big league site. The Blue Jays say the greater part of their home schedule will be played in the home of the club’s Triple-A affiliate. The Blue Jays’ first game in Buffalo will be either on July 31 against the Phillies or on Aug. 11 against the Marlins.
July 25, 2020 4:01 am
NFL training camps are set to open after the league and the players’ union reached agreement on several issues. Those issues included future salary cap mechanisms and how players can opt out of the upcoming season because of the coronavirus. The NFL Players Association’s executive committee and 32 player representatives approved the offers Friday. Players who decide they want to opt out have until Aug. 3 to do so, and they will receive a stipend from the owners. The amount of the stipend will be $350,000 for medical opt outs and $150,000 for voluntary opt outs. Chiefs offensive lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif became the first player to opt out of the upcoming NFL season on Friday. He’s choosing to put his medical degree to use on the front lines of the coronavirus pandemic rather than helping the Kansas City Chiefs defend their first Super Bowl title in 50 years.
July 26, 2020 3:38 am
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (pacathletics.org)–There will be no football this fall for Presidents’ Athletic Conference teams including Washington & Jefferson, Waynesburg, Westminster, Bethany, Grove City, St. Vincent and Thiel. Men’s and women’s soccer and cross country along with women’s volleyball have also been parked until spring. Football-only members Carnegie-Mellon and Case Western Reserve previously announced a suspension of fall athletics.
The League’s Presidents Council voted unanimously on the following decisions related to athletic competition in the fall 2020 semester:
- To postpone fall 2020 athletic competitions in the NCAA-defined “high-contact” and “medium contact” sports of football, men’s and women’s soccer, women’s volleyball and men’s and women’s cross country until the spring 2021 semester, due to the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
- The NCAA-defined “low contact” fall 2020 sports of women’s tennis and men’s and women’s golf will tentatively be permitted to compete this fall with conference competition only, as previously announced, barring additional NCAA or state guidelines/restrictions. The conference will also explore logistical options for holding fall athletic competitions in other “low contact” sports such as men’s and women’s outdoor track and field and men’s tennis, which have typically held their traditional seasons in the spring in past years.
- Tentative modified spring varsity game/competition schedules in football, soccer, volleyball and cross country will be developed by the PAC Scheduling Working Group and released in the near future.
- In addition, the PAC Presidents’ Council also agreed to not hold any winter sport varsity competitions prior to January 1, 2021.
All decisions were made during the most recent PAC Presidents’ Council virtual meeting held on Thursday, July 23.
July 25, 2020 4:00 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Atlantic Coast Conference and Notre Dame are considering whether the Fighting Irish will give up their treasured football independence for the 2020 season play as a member of the league. Two people involved in the ACC’s discussions say the league is looking at an 11-game schedule that would include 10 conference games. It would start Sept. 12. Notre Dame would play a full 10-game ACC schedule. Whether those games would count in the standings and the Irish would be eligible to participate in the ACC championship game for a slot in the Orange Bowl is still to be determined.
July 24, 2020 3:47 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – First-year Pittsburgh Pirates manager Derek Shelton will have a homecoming of sorts when the club opens the 2020 season in St. Louis. Shelton grew up in southern Illinois and his parent’s first date was to a St. Louis Cardinals game. The former minor league catcher spent 14 seasons as a major league assistant before the Pirates hired him to replace Clint Hurdle last fall. The 49-year-old Shelton has won his players over with his upbeat attitude and his focus while trying to manage in the middle of a global pandemic.
July 24, 2020 3:49 am
UNDATED (AP) – The New York Yankees have opened the Major League Baseball season by defeating the defending World Series champs. Giancarlo Stanton and newcomer Gerrit Cole led the Yanks to a 4-1, rain-shortened win at Washington. Stanton opened the scoring with a two-run blast in the first inning off Max Scherzer, who struck out 11 over 5 1/3. Cole tossed one-hit ball over five innings and blanked the Nationals after Adam Eaton’s solo shot in the first. The Yankees had runners on first and third with one out in the sixth when the game was called. Dr. Anthony Fauci had the honor of throwing out the first pitch, a toss that skipped between home plate and the Nationals’ dugout. Washington had to begin the season without slugger Juan Soto. The outfielder tested positive for COVID-19 and was put on the injured list hours before gametime.
August 6, 2020 5:51 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Kevin Newman’s pinch-hit two-run single with one out in the bottom of the ninth lifted the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 victory over the Minnesota Twins. Newman ended Pittsburgh’s seven-game losing streak when he took a pitch from Minnesota closer Taylor Rogers (1-1) and laced it up the middle against a drawn-in infield to score Cole Tucker and Bryan Reynolds. Gregory Polanco added a three-run home run for the Pirates. Miguel Sano hit a three-run shot for the Twins. Byron Buxton and Eddie Rosario also went deep but the bullpen faltered late to snap Minnesota’s seven-game winning streak.
July 24, 2020 3:54 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Mookie Betts singled for his first hit with Los Angeles and scored the go-ahead run in an 8-1 opening victory over the San Francisco Giants in a fan-less Dodger Stadium. Betts went 1 for 5, a day after signing a $365 million contract covering 2021-32. Kike Hernandez homered and drove in five runs while tying his career high with four hits. Dustin May became the first Dodgers rookie to start on opening day since Fernando Valenzuela in 1981 after Clayton Kershaw went on the injured list because of a back issue. Gabe Kapler managed his first game for the Giants.
July 24, 2020 3:50 am
Major League Baseball and the players’ union have agreed to expand the playoffs from 10 teams to 16 for the pandemic-delayed season. According to MLB, each of the 16 teams will participate in a best-of-three first round before heading into a best-of-five Division Series. A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that MLB agreed to guarantee a postseason pool that would be $50 million if the entire postseason is played.
July 24, 2020 3:51 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NFL team formerly known as the Redskins will go by the Washington Football Team for the 2020 season. The temporary name gives the organization time to choose a new moniker. Washington will keep its burgundy and gold colors and replace the Indian head logo on helmets with a player’s jersey number. Owner Dan Snyder recently dropped the Redskins name amid pressure from sponsors and after decades of criticism from Native American advocacy groups.
