August 15, 2019 3:42 am
Last at-bat home runs put unbeaten Chinese Taipei and undefeated Bay County, MI into Thursday night’s PONY League World Series championship game.
Defending champion Chinese Taipei scored single runs in five different innings, including Sun, Yi Lei’s solo home run in the top of the seventh, giving the Asia-Pacific Zone champions a 5-4 win over Youngstown, OH, eliminating the Host Area titlists. Anthony Malagise hit a two-run homer in the third for Youngstown, giving the Ohio squad a 4-2 lead, but they managed only one hit and two baserunners over the final four innings off winning pitcher Chang, Yuan Kai. Chang came on in relief to start the fourth and struck out five and walked one.
Bay County claimed its first-ever berth in the PONY World Series championship game with a 2-1 win over Simi Valley, CA. For the third straight game, the North Zone champions took the lead for good in the sixth inning, this time on Jace Giffel’s lead-off home run, setting the final score. Simi Valley scored its only run in the third as Landon Sawyer scored on Ethan Pena’s sacrifice fly. Bay County tied the game in the fifth. Devin Schular singled, was sacrificed to second and scored on Landon Sella’s RBI single. Kegan LaPan got the win in relief of Cole Schmidt, getting the starter out of a bases-loaded, no out jam in the sixth. Austin Neff was the hard-luck loser, allowing just two runs and six hits over six innings.
Our coverage begins Thursday evening at 6:40 pm. Follow the action on WJPA-AM (1450) and on our PONY World Series webpage: CLICK HERE
August 14, 2019 11:39 pm
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Albert Pujols had two hits and three RBIs Wednesday and set the major league record for career hits by a foreign-born player, leading the Los Angeles Angels to a 7-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pujols had an RBI single in the 4th inning. His 3,167th hit moved him past fellow Dominican Republic native Adrian Beltre (3,166) and into sole possession of 15th place for career hits. Luis Rengifo also drove in two runs for the Angels, who snapped a three-game home losing streak. Dillon Peters (3-1) allowed two runs in six innings while striking out six after an erratic start. Melky Cabrera and Elias Diaz each had an RBI for the Pirates, who failed to complete a three-game sweep of the Angels. Pittsburgh has not won three in a row since July 1-3, against the Chicago Cubs. Chris Archer (3-9) allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings, and his streak of starts without a win reached 12 games. It is the longest such span in Archer’s eight-year career. The Angels scored four runs in the fourth inning to erase a two-run deficit. Los Angeles moved in front on Rengifo’s double to left field. The Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds overran the ball when it dropped in, and it bounced all the way to warning track. Rengifo kept running, rounding third and sliding headfirst into home to give the Angels a two-run lead. The 39-year-old Pujols drove in Los Angeles’ first run with his record-setting single. David Fletcher followed with an RBI double that tied the game at 2-all. Pittsburgh pulled within 4-3 in the seventh inning. Diaz scored from third when Erik Gonzalez hit into a double play. Pujols put the Angels ahead 6-3 with a two-run single in the eighth inning. Rengifo drove in Pujols to make it 7-3. Diaz had an RBI single in the ninth inning for the final margin of victory. The Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Peters loaded the bases with no outs with a walk and hitting two batters. Josh Bell hit into a double play that scored Kevin Newman, and Cabrera had an RBI single to right that made it 2-0.
August 13, 2019 3:41 am
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) – Mitch Keller earned his first major league victory, Jacob Stallings had a homer and a two-run double, and the Pittsburgh Pirates snapped their eight-game losing streak with a 10-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Monday night. Kevin Newman, Josh Bell and Bryan Reynolds also homered for the Pirates, who won for just the third time in 21 games and only the fifth time since the All-Star break. Pittsburgh jumped to an early 6-0 lead on Jose Suarez (2-4) and the road-weary Angels, who played in Boston on Sunday. Keller (1-1) came up from the minors to make his fourth big league start, and the Pirates’ top pitching prospect finally secured his first win. The rangy right-hander yielded five hits, two walks and just one earned run over five innings, striking out four and pitching out of two late jams. Max Stassi drove in his first run for the Angels, but Los Angeles opened a seven-game homestand by losing for the ninth time in 11 games. Starling Marte had three hits for the Pirates, who have skidded out of playoff contention over the past month. They began their first series at the Big A since 2013 by trouncing a similarly sliding opponent, starting with a three-run first inning. After Bell drove home the first run with a single, infield errors by Matt Thaiss and Albert Pujols gift-wrapped two more runs while the Pirates batted around. Newman led off the second with his seventh homer of the season, and the Pirates added two more runs in the third on Stallings’ double down the left field line. Stallings, a 29-year-old catcher with 16 career RBIs entering the game, matched his career high with three RBIs. Suarez yielded seven hits and six runs over three innings in his third consecutive rough start. Stassi, the veteran catcher recently acquired by the Angels from Houston, got his first RBI since May 8 with a long fly to center in the fourth. Stallings homered in the fifth, and Reynolds and Bell both connected in the sixth. All three homers came off Jose Rodriguez, who came up from the minors to make his second appearance of the season for LA.
August 12, 2019 3:48 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Lane Thomas hit a go-ahead grand slam in the seventh inning, Paul Goldschmidt and Dexter Fowler also homered, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 11-9 Sunday. St. Louis rallied from an 8-4 deficit to sweep the three-game series and move into second place in the NL Central, two games behind the Chicago Cubs. Josh Bell had two homers and four RBIs for Pittsburgh, which has lost eight straight. Pablo Reyes added a solo shot in the ninth. Thomas, a rookie outfielder playing his 21st game, drove in five runs. His first career slam came off Kyle Crick (3-7) and put the Cardinals ahead 9-8. He also had an RBI triple in the fourth. John Gant (8-0) tossed a scoreless seventh to pick up the win. Andrew Miller picked up his fourth save in six tries. Goldschmidt hit his team-high 26th homer in the first inning and started the five-run seventh-inning rally with a leadoff single. Marcell Ozuna followed with a single, and Crick hit back-to-back batters to set the stage for Thomas’ third homer of the season. Fowler hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Geoff Hartlieb. Bell hit two-run homers in the first and fifth innings. It was the fifth multihomer game of his career, all this season. The homers, his 28th and 29th, were his first since July 5. He has an NL-leading 68 extra-base hits. Pittsburgh starter Steven Brault gave up four earned runs on five hits over 4 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three. Brault had a seven-game hitting streak halted with an 0-for-2 performance. He came into the contest on an 8-for-10 run. Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas surrendered five earned runs and seven hits over five innings. He gave up both home runs to Bell. St. Louis outfielder Jose Martinez left the game in the fifth with right shoulder discomfort.
August 11, 2019 7:14 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Adam Wainwright gave up a home run on the first pitch of the game but not much else, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 Saturday night. The contending Cardinals won their second in a row after ending a five-game losing streak. Wainwright (8-8) allowed six hits, including the home run by Adam Frazier, and struck out eight in six innings. He improved to 6-2 this season at home. Giovanny Gallegos pitched 2 1/3 innings of scoreless relief before yielding to Carlos Martinez, who got two outs for his 12th save in 15 chances. Joe Musgrove (8-11) gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings. Tommy Edman doubled in the Cardinals sixth and scored the go-ahead run when shortstop Kevin Newman’s relay throw to third evaded Colin Moran and rolled into the Pittsburgh dugout. Paul Goldschmidt followed with a single, Marcell Ozuna doubled and Paul DeJong hit an RBI single. St. Louis made it 1-all when Ozuna grounded into a double play with the bases loaded and no out for the second straight night in the bottom of the first.
August 9, 2019 6:56 am
The world has come to Washington County! The 2019 DICK’S Sporting Goods PONY World Series opens today. The first game is set for 5:30 p.m. as Arecibo, Puerto Rico takes on Hagerstown, Maryland. At 8 p.m. it will be Youngstown, Ohio against Guasave, Mexico. Saturday will feature Brownsville, Texas taking on Bay County, Michigan at noon. At 2:30 p.m, the host Washington County team goes up against London, U.K. Teams from Taipei, China and Simi Valley, California are also here. They will see action Saturday afternoon. A champion will be crowned Thursday night August 15th at Lew Hay’s PONY Field in the title game at 7 p.m. Follow the action on WJPA-AM (1450) and on our PONY World Series webpage: CLICK HERE!
August 7, 2019 3:45 am
UNDATED (AP) – Seattle Mariners infielder Tim Beckham has been suspended 80 games as part of baseball’s joint drug agreement after testing positive for a banned substance. Beckham’s suspension is effective immediately and ends his season. Beckham was hitting .237 with 15 home runs and 47 RBIs in 88 games this season, his first in Seattle. In a statement released through the players’ association, Beckham says he took a product from a “trusted source, who had advised it was safe to take.”
August 5, 2019 3:57 am
GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) – J.T. Poston has won the Wyndham Championship for his first PGA Tour title, shooting an 8-under 62 for a one-stroke victory over Webb Simpson. Poston tied Henrik Stenson’s 2-year-old tournament record at 22-under 258. He became the first player since Lee Trevino in 1974 to win a 72-hole stroke-play event on tour without any bogeys or worse. The native North Carolinian began his round three strokes back and eventually took the lead for good with a birdie on the par-5 15th hole.
August 5, 2019 3:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Mets star Robinson Cano appears headed back to the injured list after straining his left hamstring, an injury that overshadowed Noah Syndergaard’s sparkling outing in a 13-2 rout of the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday that pulled New York within one game of .500 for the first time since mid-June. Cano lined a hit to right in the fourth inning, his third hit of the game and ninth hit in his last 15 at-bats. He pulled up after rounding first and grabbed at the back of his leg. Melky Cabrera threw to shortstop Kevin Newman, who tagged out Cano. Cano limped as he returned to the dugout. In his first season with the Mets after being acquired from Seattle, the 36-year-old Cano was limited to one game between May 22 and June 16 because of a strained left quadriceps. He is hitting .252 with 10 homers and 32 RBIs. New York, which won for the ninth time in 10 games, began the day four games back for the second NL wild card. The Mets had not been within one game of .500 since they were 33-34 before play on June 13. Pittsburgh, wearing the gold and black throwback uniforms of the Pirates 1979 World Series champions, lost its seventh straight series and is 4-18 since the All-Star break. The Pirates are last in the NL Central at 48-63. J.D. Davis hit a 449-foot home run into the fourth floor of the left-field rotunda, on a first-inning changeup from Joe Musgrove (8-10). Syndergaard (8-5) allowed three hits, singled twice and pitched shutout ball into the seventh. After allowing Bryan Reynolds to single with one out in the first, Syndergaard didn’t give up another hit until Jose Osuna doubled with one out in the seventh. Colin Moran hit an RBI single later in the inning. Syndergaard had multiple hits in a game for the first time since Sept. 27, 2016, against Miami and scored after each of his two singles. Michael Conforto homered on Musgrove’s third pitch, his 22nd home run this season, and Davis’ two-run homer put the Mets ahead 3-0. Jeff McNeil also homered for the Mets, who led 6-0 by the third, 8-0 by the fourth and 11-0 by the sixth and 13-0 by the seventh. Musgrove gave up eight runs and 10 hits in 3 1/3 innings, raising his ERA to 4.69. Jose Osuna homered in the ninth off Jeurys Familia.
August 4, 2019 7:57 am
CANTON (AP) — Ty Law has become the first Pro Football Hall of Famer from New England’s standout defense that won three Super Bowls in the early 2000s. Law, one of the most versatile and physical cornerbacks the NFL has seen, was inducted Saturday night. “Hopefully, that’ll open up the door, finally letting one of us in, and hopefully that opens up the flood gates for a lot of other deserving guys to one day be Hall of Famers, as well,” Law said. Law, whose uncle is Hall of Fame running back Tony Dorsett, was selected for five Pro Bowl teams and was a two-time All-Pro. He finished with 53 career interceptions, twice leading the NFL in that category, had more than 800 tackles, 169 passes defensed, five sacks, and scored seven times. He was a first-round pick by New England out of Michigan in 1995 and played 15 seasons in the NFL, 10 with the Patriots. He also had two one-year stints with the New York Jets and with Kansas City, and one with Denver. Perhaps Law’s most noteworthy game came in the 2002 Super Bowl, when his hard-hitting style upset Rams receivers and threw off the “Greatest Show on Turf. That was emblematic of his attacking style – and soon after led to rules changes limiting how physical defenders could be against receivers. Law was presented by his friend, Byron Washington, and paid hefty tribute to his hometown of Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, which also produced Hall of Famer Mike Ditka. “We are a community built on love, strength, struggle, and that Quiptown pride,” he said. “We did it, Aliquippa. We are in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.” Law joins fellow corner Champ Bailey, Pat Bowlen, Gil Brandt, Tony Gonzalez, Ed Reed, Kevin Mawae and Johnny Robinson in the Class of 2019.
