August 24, 2021 3:47 am
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) – The Big Ten is the latest Power Five conference to announce that a team must forfeit if it doesn’t have enough players available for a league game because of COVID-19. The Big Ten said the team that forfeits will be assessed a loss in the conference standings and its opponent will be credited with a win. If both teams are unable to compete on the date of as scheduled conference game because of COVID-19, and the game can’t be rescheduled, it will be considered a no contest. The Power Five conferences appear headed toward having similar forfeit policies.
August 24, 2021 3:49 am
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) -Tony Finau is a winner on the PGA Tour again. Finally. Finau ended a drought of more than five years and 142 tournaments on the PGA Tour by winning The Northern Trust in a playoff. But he needed some help. Cameron Smith hit his tee shot over a wall and out of play on the first extra hole. Earlier, Jon Rahm played the closing stretch with two bogeys and no birdies to fall out of the lead. Finau shot 30 on the back nine and closed with a 65 at Liberty National. The victory moves him atop the FedEx Cup.
August 23, 2021 3:47 am
According to various reports, the Pirates have placed outfielder Gregory Polanco on waivers. If Polanco is not claimed by Tuesday, he can become a free agent or join Triple-A Indianapolis. He is the highest-paid and longest tenured Pirates player with a salary of $11.6 Million this year.
August 23, 2021 3:42 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Adam Wainwright allowed two hits in eight masterful innings and Paul Goldschmidt homered to lead the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0. The Cardinals snapped a two-game skid and kept the Pirates from earning their first series sweep of the season. They remain the only team in the majors without one. Wainwright threw 106 pitches and retired his final 11 hitters. He hasn’t permitted a run in his past 19 innings against the Pirates and has won his last seven decisions against them. The 39-year-old right-hander struck out nine and did not walk a batter in improving to 20-7 lifetime against Pittsburgh.
August 23, 2021 3:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – Hockey Hall of Famer Rod Gilbert has died at 80. Gilbert spent his entire career with the New York Rangers from 1962-77, putting up big numbers despite a spinal fusion. He was the team’s all-time scoring leader when he was released by the team, finishing with 406 goals and 1,021 points. The eight-time All-Star also played for Team Canada in the Summit Series against the USSR in 1972. Gilbert was a First Team All-Star in 1972, the year he helped the Rangers reach the Stanley Cup Final as one-third of the famous GAG Line with Jean Ratelle and Vic Hadfield. The team didn’t provide details of Gilbert’s death.
August 23, 2021 3:51 am
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) – There’s a chance the rain-delayed Northern Trust could spill into Tuesday. In a memo sent to players Sunday night, PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan said he is amending the bad weather guidelines to allow for a Tuesday finish regardless of how much golf is played Monday. Monahan cited the importance and the sequential nature of the FedEx Cup playoffs in making an exception to the guidelines. The tour said spectators would not be allowed for the final round because of some 6 inches of rain that had left walking routes impassable by Sunday night.
August 22, 2021 7:17 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Ben Roethlisberger turned in a perfect passer rating of 158.3 and led the Steelers’ first-team offense to a pair of touchdowns as Pittsburgh defeated the Detroit Lions 26-20. Roethlisberger had his initial opportunity to work with first-year offensive coordinator Matt Canada during an in-game setting. The 39-year-old Roethlisberger ran Canada’s up-tempo approach to near perfection in three series. He finished 8 of 10 for 137 yards and two touchdowns, both to rookie tight end Pat Freiermuth.
August 22, 2021 7:17 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Yoshi Tsutsugo and Kevin Newman homered and Ke’Bryan Hayes added a two-run single, rallying the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-4 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Leadoff hitter Ben Gamel added three hits and a walk, and Jacob Stallings had two hits for the Pirates. Edmundo Sosa, Tyler O’Neill and Paul Goldschmidt each had two hits for St. Louis. Genesis Cabrera (2-4) allowed three runs on four hits in the seventh to take the loss.
August 22, 2021 7:18 am
JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) – Jon Rahm and Cameron Smith are getting an unscheduled day off after moving into a first-place tie through three rounds of the PGA’s Northern Trust in New Jersey. Smith fired a course-record 11-under 60 to pull even with Rahm at minus-11. Smith had a chance for the 13th sub-60 score on the PGA Tour before he missed a 12-foot birdie putt on 18 at Liberty National. Rahm twice hit into the water on the second- and third-easiest holes, dropped a combined three shots and had to rally for a 67. Rahm and Smith were one shot ahead of Erik van Rooyen of South Africa, who made 10 birdies for a 62. The final round has been moved to Monday due to the threat of Hurricane Henri in the forecast for northern New Jersey.
August 21, 2021 4:02 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Mitch Keller struck out six over five solid innings, Gregory Polanco drove in two runs and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the St. Louis Cardinals 4-0. Pinch-hitter Yoshi Tsutsugo hit his first homer with Pittsburgh in the ninth. Keller walked one and worked around six hits in picking up his first victory since May 29. He had allowed 10 earned runs across 14 1/3 innings in his previous three starts since being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis. Three relievers covered the final four innings to preserve the shutout.
