July 6, 2020 2:55 am
UNDATED (AP) – Deputy Commissioner Bill Daly says the NHL and NHL Players’ Association have agreed on protocols to resume the season but are still negotiating a collective bargaining agreement extension. The league’s board of governors and players’ executive committee and full membership must approve it for it to happen. If ratified, the agreement will end a pandemic-forced shutdown for 31 teams across North America that began in mid-March. Games would resume in late July or early August with 24 teams taking part in expanded playoffs, finishing with the Stanley Cup being awarded in October.
July 6, 2020 3:07 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) – West Virginia University has postponed the start of men’s basketball workouts for two weeks after five players and one staff member tested positive for the coronavirus. The workouts were scheduled to start on Monday. The decision was announced Sunday in consultation with university medical officials. The starting date for the workouts has been pushed back to July 20. Those testing positive will self-isolate for 14 days. Contract tracing has identified additional people who could have been exposed and they will go into quarantine as well. Recent positive virus tests among West Virginia sports teams also include four in football and one in women’s soccer.
July 6, 2020 2:52 am
DETROIT (AP) – Bryson DeChambeau got the result he was looking for from transforming his body. With jaw-dropping drives and some clutch putts, DeChambeau won the Rocket Mortgage Classic by three strokes Sunday for his first victory of the season and sixth overall. DeChambeau shot a 7-under 65 at Detroit Golf Club to finish at a career-best 23-under 265. DeChambeau came into the week with six straight top-eight finishes and was the only player with top 10s in the first three events after the restart from the coronavirus. He won for the first time since the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in November 2018. Matthew Wolff was second.
July 6, 2020 2:53 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Kevin Harvick took advantage of Denny Hamlin’s late crash and wound up winning his third Brickyard 400 title. The Cup points leader beat Matt Kenseth across the yard of brick by 0.743 seconds to win his fourth race of the season. Harvick won for the 53rd time to move within one of tying Lee Petty for 11th on NASCAR’s career list, and it gave Stewart-Haas Racing a sweep of the weekend following Chase Briscoe’s win Saturday in the Xfinity Series race. For the third straight race, Harvick and Hamlin were in a league of their own. Until the stunning twist as the sun was setting over the historic 2.5-mile oval, it looked is if Harvick and Hamlin would sweep the top two spots for the third consecutive race. Harvick beat Kenseth off the final restart with two laps to go and pulled away for the victory.
July 5, 2020 7:11 am
Pittsburgh Pirates first baseman Josh Bell is using his platform to educate himself and others about racial injustice. Bell says he felt angry following the death of George Floyd at the hands of police back in May. Bell is trying to channel his anger into positive change. He’s started a book club with his teammates that focuses on social issues. He is also using his Instagram account to promote “Social Reform Sunday,” which highlights different aspects of inequality. Bell says his ability to reach out to the community has helped ease some of the pain he felt after Floyd’s passing.
July 5, 2020 7:12 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Freddie Freeman tests positive for COVID-19. Masahiro Tanaka gets hit in the head by a line drive. David Price announces he won’t play this season for the sake of his health and his family’s health. Sobering examples of the game’s potential danger took place at camps across the country as Major League Baseball teams continued preparing to start their pandemic-shortened season later this month. The return of baseball didn’t offer much cause for celebration on this Fourth of July. Yankees pitcher Masahiro Tanaka was alert and sent to a hospital after he was hit in the head by a line drive off the bat of slugger Giancarlo Stanton during live batting practice Saturday, a frightening scene during the team’s first official summer camp workout. Tanaka’s hat flew off and he immediately collapsed to the ground, cradling his head at Yankee Stadium. Trainers quickly ran to Tanaka, who stayed down for a few minutes before sitting up. Trainers tended to his head and appeared to check his vision. Tanaka was helped to his feet and walked off the field with help. Yankee’s Manager Aaron Boone also announced that All-Star infielder DJ LeMahieu and right-hander Luis Cessa tested positive for the coronavirus before traveling to New York and are self-isolating at home.
July 5, 2020 7:14 am
DETROIT (AP) – Matthew Wolff had a roller-coaster round that went well enough Saturday to give him a three-shot lead in the Rocket Mortgage Classic. Wolff shot his second straight 8-under 64 to move into position for his second PGA Tour victory. He was at 19-under 197 at Detroit Golf Club. Armour and Bryson DeChambeau were tied for second after 67s. Wolff made a 14-foot eagle putt at the 559-yard, par-5 14th to pull into a tie with Armour at 17 under, and added birdies on the par-3 15th and par-5 17th. He finished with the eagle, nine birdies, five pars and three bogeys.
July 5, 2020 7:13 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – NASCAR’s extravagant weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been rocked by its first driver testing positive for the coronavirus. Seven-time NASCAR champion Jimmie Johnson will miss what was supposed to be his final Brickyard 400 as he quarantines following the Friday test result. He was asymptomatic but wife Chani had tested positive, so Johnson had himself checked. Johnson on Sunday had hoped to tie Jeff Gordon and Michael Schumacher as the only drivers with five victories at Indianapolis. Instead, Justin Allgaier will drive the Hendrick Motorsports No. 48 Chevrolet.
July 4, 2020 3:21 am
UNDATED (AP) – A person familiar with the discussions told The Associated Press the NFL plans to consider the NFL Players Association’s recommendation to cancel the preseason though the league prefers to cut the schedule in half. The NFL decided Wednesday to cut its preseason from four games to two. The union’s board of player representatives voted Thursday to ask the league to cancel the entire preseason schedule, according to two people who were part of that conversation. The four people spoke on condition of anonymity because the league and the union haven’t reached an agreement.
July 4, 2020 3:20 am
NEW YORK(AP) – New Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is busy on and off the field this week. Cole and his wife, Amy, celebrated the birth of their first child on Tuesday. Cole has been working out at Yankee Stadium. After a near-miss in the World Series last year with Houston, the All-Star right-hander is hoping to help pitch the Yankees to their first championship since 2009. He signed to a $324 million, nine-year contract that set a record as the highest for a pitcher. Cole says the delay caused by the pandemic might benefit the Yankees because it allowed many to heal. The Yankees open on July 23 at Washington.
