October 20, 2020 3:45 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers are preparing for life without linebacker Devin Bush. The second-year pro left their 38-7 win over Cleveland with what coach Mike Tomlin called a “significant” left knee injury and is likely out for the season. Robert Spillane filled in capably in Bush’s absence, getting six tackles in the first extended playing time of his career. The Steelers will likely have to find ways to get creative to make up for the loss of Bush, who had not missed a snap all season before going down. Pittsburgh travels to fellow unbeaten Tennessee this week.
October 20, 2020 3:43 am
UNDATED (AP) – Penn State says running back Journey Brown could miss the season due to a “medical condition” that was discovered during the offseason. 247 Sports first reported the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions could be without their leading rusher from 2019. The school confirmed it in a statement. Penn State opens its season Saturday at Indiana. The Nittany Lions already took a significant loss this offseason when All-America linebacker Micah Parsons opted out in August. Brown, a fourth-year junior, ran for 890 yards, 12 touchdowns and 6.8 yards per carry last season.
October 20, 2020 3:54 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – The Los Angeles Dodgers and Tampa Bay Rays open the World Series Tuesday in Arlington, Texas. It’s a matchup of the top teams in each league, although the Dodgers and Rays needed seven games to win their championship series. Former Pirate Tyler Glasnow will be the Rays’ Game 1 starter, one day before Blake Snell takes the mound. Glasnow was 5-1 with a 4.08 ERA in 11 starts during the regular season and 2-1 with a 4.66 ERA in four postseason starts. The Dodgers will counter with Clayton Kershaw for the series opener. The three-time NL Cy Young Award winner is 2-1 with a 3.32 ERA in four postseason starts, leaving him with an 11-12 record in his postseason career. The Dodgers have home field advantage based on their regular-season winning percentage and will bat last in games 1, 2, 6, and 7.
October 19, 2020 3:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – James Conner ran for 101 yards and a touchdown and the Pittsburgh Steelers battered the Cleveland Browns in a 38-7 blowout victory. Pittsburgh improved to 5-0 for the first time since 1978 with the win. Ben Roethlisberger added 162 yards passing and a score as Pittsburgh emphatically ended Cleveland’s four-game winning streak while extending the Browns’ skid at Heinz Field to 17 and counting. The Browns (4-2) were unable to get anything going against a defense that sacked aching Baker Mayfield four times. Mayfield also threw a pair of interceptions and was pulled late in the third quarter.
October 19, 2020 3:52 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – The Los Angeles Dodgers are National League champions for the 25th time after winning the last three games of their NLCS against Atlanta. The Dodgers erased deficits of 2-0 and 3-2 before completing a 4-3 win over the Braves in Game 7. Cody Bellinger gave L.A. the lead with a solo homer off Chris Martin in the seventh, one inning after Kike Hernandez tied it with a solo blast. Will Smith furnished a two-run single for the Dodgers, who will take on the Rays in the World Series beginning Tuesday. The Braves were held to three hits, none after Austin Riley’s RBI single with nobody out in the fourth inning. Atlanta had runners on second and third with no outs in the fourth before a pair of base-running blunders led to a 5-2-5-6 double play. The Braves put just one player on base the rest of the night and were robbed of a home run when right fielder Mookie Betts reached above the wall to take one away from Freddie Freeman. Winning pitcher Julio Urias retired all nine hitters he faced to get to 2-0 in the series. Although the Dodgers are in the World Series for the third time in four years, they are seeking their first championship since 1988.
October 19, 2020 4:02 am
UNDATED (AP) – Clemson is spending a seventh consecutive week atop The Associated Press college football poll. The Tigers extended their team-record run as No. 1 by crushing Georgia Tech, 73-7 in Atlanta. It was the most lopsided ACC game ever, the most points scored by Clemson in a road game and the most ever allowed by the Yellow Jackets since the modern era. Clemson picked up 54 first-place votes, while second-ranked Alabama claimed the remaining eight. Notre Dame is third, followed by Georgia, Ohio State, Oklahoma State, Texas A&M, Penn State, Cincinnati and Florida. The Bulldogs fell one notch with Saturday’s 41-24 loss at Alabama, and North Carolina dropped from fifth to 14th with a 31-28 setback at Florida State.
October 18, 2020 3:09 am
Here’s a rundown of the weekend’s high school football results and what this week’s games mean.
6A Canon-McMillan lost at North Allegheny, 35-0. Coupled with Mt. Lebanon’s win over Norwin, the Big Macs go into the final week one game back of the Blue Devils for the final playoff spot. Canon-McMillan hosts Norwin while Mt. Lebanon visits Seneca Valley.
5A Peters Township clinched at least a share of the Allegheny Six Conference title with a 45-7 win over Bethel Park. The Indians finish the regular season at West Allegheny.
4A Trinity lost to Belle Vernon, 52-14, ending the Hillers hopes of returning to the playoffs.
2A McGuffey blanked Chartiers-Houston, 56-0, to win the Century Conference title, the Highlanders’ first championship since 1994. The win also set up a winner-take-all showdown for second place and a likely playoff berth when Frazier visits Wash High next week. Those teams each won 39-0 games–Frazier against Beth-Center and Wash High at Charleroi. Waynesburg lost a non-conference game against Ligonier Valley.
1A California beat Carmichaels Saturday night 49-20, with the Trojans taking the Tri-County South championship. Avella hosts Carmichaels next Friday with second place and a WPIAL playoff berth going to the winner. Bentworth and the West Greene at Jeff-Morgan are also alive to finish third and enter the WPIAL wild card discussions.
October 18, 2020 3:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers will face the Cleveland Browns without Pro Bowl guard David DeCastro and wide receiver Diontae Johnson. The AFC North-leading Steelers ruled both players out due to injury. DeCastro left last Sunday’s win over Philadelphia with an abdominal injury and did not practice all week. Rookie Kevin Dotson will start in place of DeCastro. Johnson, Pittsburgh’s second-leading receiver, injured his back on a punt return against the Eagles and practiced sparingly this week. His absence means a larger role for rookie Chase Claypool, who scored four times against Philadelphia.
October 18, 2020 7:32 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Corey Seager’s sweet swing. Walker Buehler’s calm. Kenley Jansen’s resurgence. The Los Angeles Dodgers got what they needed — again. Seager homered again, Buehler pitched six scoreless innings and the Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 3-1 on Saturday to send the NL Championship Series to a winner-take-all finale. Los Angeles avoided elimination for the second time in less than 24 hours, staying alive in its pursuit of a third pennant in four years. It hasn’t won a championship since 1988.
October 18, 2020 7:31 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) — By now, every baseball fan has heard of remarkable rookie Randy Arozarena. They’re fast becoming familiar with his World Series-bound Tampa Bay teammates, too. They kept doing that in Game 7 of the AL Championship Series on Saturday night. Arozarena homered again, 36-year-old Charlie Morton was brilliant against his former team and the Rays silenced the Houston Astros 4-2 to reach the World Series for just the second time. The Rays will face either the Los Angeles Dodgers or Atlanta Braves in the World Series in Arlington, Texas, starting Tuesday night. Game 7 of the NLCS is Sunday night. Right fielder Manuel Margot squeezed Aledmys Diaz’s flyball in his glove for the final out and fireworks burst overhead as the Rays began to celebrate the AL pennant in an NL ballpark, a byproduct of the pandemic-shortened season. That would start with Arozarena, who set a rookie record with his seventh home run — a two-run shot in the first — and was chosen ALCS MVP.
