July 21, 2019 7:43 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Joe Musgrove scattered two hits over six innings, collected his first double of the season and scored on a textbook head-first slide to beat a throw by Philadelphia right fielder Bryce Harper and lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 5-1 win on Saturday night. Musgrove (7-8) tied a season high with eight strikeouts, walked two and allowed only an unearned run in the sixth to win his third consecutive decision. Batting just .133 this season, Musgrove opened the scoring by doubling with one out in the third off Zach Eflin (7-10), then racing home ahead of a strong throw from Harper after a sharp single to right by Bryan Reynolds. Starling Marte went 3 for 4 with a pair of doubles and an RBI for the Pirates. Corey Dickerson added two doubles and an RBI as Pittsburgh won for just second time in its last eight games on a night the franchise honored the 40th anniversary of the 1979 team that won the World Series. This year’s group is unlikely to follow in the footsteps of Hall of Fame first baseman Willie Stargell and All-Star outfielder Dave Parker, but received a needed jolt from Musgrove while trying to emerge from a post All-Star break funk that has dropped them off the pace in the NL Central. The Phillies managed just three singles against Musgrove and three Pittsburgh relievers to fall to 4-5 since the All-Star break. Eflin, who entered with just one victory in his last six starts and a 13.00 ERA in July, ran into trouble in the third and drop to 2-7 on the road. Reynolds came home on Marte’s first double of the night and Marte raced across the plate on a soft single to center by Josh Bell to give the Pirates an early 3-0 lead. Eflin lasted just four innings, giving up three runs on five hits with three strikeouts as his ERA ticked up to a season-high 4.25. The Phillies scratched across a run in the fifth when a walk and an error by Bell at first base put runners in scoring position with no outs. Brad Miller scored on a groundout by Adam Haseley but Musgrove returned from a 28-minute rain delay to strike out pinch-hitter Nick Williams and Scott Kingery to end the threat.
July 20, 2019 6:54 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Although Bryce Harper had the tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning, it was Jean Segura’s lengthy at-bat in the following inning to drive in an insurance run that was the talk of the Philadelphia Phillies’ clubhouse. Segura came to the plate with two outs and the bases loaded and forced Pittsburgh reliever Kyle Crick to throw 13 pitches before he hit a slow roller to the right of first baseman Josh Bell. Segura, playing through a banged-up left heel suffered when he fouled a ball off his foot on Monday, gutted it out and beat a covering Crick to the base by a fraction of a second. That gave the Phillies a two-run lead and they added three more in the ninth on a night they finished with 15 hits in a 6-1 victory over the Pirates on Friday night. The Phillies won back-to-back games for the first time since July 2, and did it with important late-game contributions in both. Harper’s single off Pirates reliever Richard Rodriguez (3-4) in the seventh scored pinch-hitter Brad Miller to give the Phillies their first lead of the game. Miller reached on a single to left and advanced on a walk and fielder’s choice to set the table for Harper, who finished 2 for 5 with a double. The run snapped a 19-game scoreless streak for Rodriguez. Rookie outfielder Adam Haseley added a solo homer, his second in two games, and a run-scoring double to cap it for the Phillies. In the ninth, Maikel Franco drove in J.T. Realmuto with another infield single, Cesar Hernandez scored on a wild pitch and Haseley plated Franco with a double. The rally made a winner of Juan Nicasio (2-3), who pitched one-third of an inning in relief of starter Arrieta. Arrieta worked 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball. He struck out four and allowed six hits. He’s been dealing with a bone spur in his elbow but has allowed two runs over 10 2/3 innings in his last two starts. Pirates starter Jordan Lyles bounced back from his worst start of the season, striking out seven in 5 2/3 innings while allowing one run. In his previous start, he gave up seven runs and didn’t get out of the first inning.
July 19, 2019 3:51 am
UNDATED (AP) – Seattle’s NHL expansion team has announced its general manager – Ron Francis, a Hall of Famer and a two-time Stanley Cup winner. He will have complete control of operations under Seattle Hockey Partners CEO Tod Leiweke. The yet-to-be-named team will debut in 2021. The Seattle club said Thursday it has more than 32,000 season ticket deposit holders and another 25,000 on a waiting list Francis had a prolific NHL career. He finished with 1,798 points in 1,731 games over 23 seasons for the Hartford Whalers/Carolina Hurricanes, Toronto Maple Leafs and Pittsburgh Penguins, where he won the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992.
July 18, 2019 3:54 am
UNDATED (AP) – A police report says the death of former Nashville Predators captain Greg Johnson was an apparent suicide, according to the Detroit News. The paper says it obtained a Rochester Police report, and that Johnson was found by his wife shortly before 10 a.m. on July 7. A gun and a single bullet were found near him. No suicide note was left. The Oakland County Medical Examiner declined to discuss findings from an autopsy. Johnson was with Nashville for the franchise’s first season in the league. He spent the last seven years of his career with the Predators. He also played for Detroit, Pittsburgh and Chicago during his 12 years in the NHL. Johnson was 48.
July 16, 2019 3:45 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – Miles Mikolas pitched an eight-hitter and Tyler O’Neill hit a pair of two-run homers, leading the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-0 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. It was the first complete game this season and second overall for Mikolas (6-9), who lasted just four innings in his last start before the All-Star game. He struck out three and walked none while throwing 100 pitches. It was first complete game by a Cardinals pitcher this season. Mikolas had the only one last year on May 21 against Kansas City. Mikolas pitched out of three jams. In the fifth with two outs, he gave up singles by Corey Dickerson and Kevin Newman. A balk put runners on second and third. Mikolas got Jacob Stallings to ground out, ending the inning. In the sixth, he allowed one-out singles to Adam Frazier and Brian Reynolds, his third hit. Starling Marte grounded into an inning-ending double play. He also hit into a double play in the first inning. In the seventh, Colin Moran doubled with one out and was stranded at third. St. Louis has won three games in a row. O’Neill had his first career multi-homer game, and drove in four runs for the second time in the last three games. He also singled to finish with three hits. The Pirates have lost four consecutive games.
July 15, 2019 3:48 am
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) – Novak Djokovic has become the first man in 71 years to win Wimbledon after facing match points in the final, coming back to beat Roger Federer in an unprecedented fifth-set tiebreaker Sunday. The top-seeded Serb outlasted Federer 7-6, 1-6, 7-6, 4-6, 13-12 in a match that lasted nearly five hours to win his fifth championship at the All England Club and second in a row. The triumph earned Djokovic his 16th Grand Slam trophy, moving him closer to the only men ahead of him in tennis history: Federer with 20, and Rafael Nadal with 18. Federer, who turns 38 next month, has won Wimbledon eight times dating to 2003, and this was his record 12th appearance in the title match. But Djokovic is now 3-0 against Federer in Wimbledon finals and 4-0 against him in five-setters. This is the first year Wimbledon has used deciding-set tiebreakers.
July 14, 2019 7:34 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Jon Lester homered, tied a career high with three RBIs and pitched effectively into the seventh inning to lead the Chicago Cubs past the Pittsburgh Pirates 10-4 on Saturday. All-Star catcher Willson Contreras’ three-run homer and Lester’s two-run single off the left-field wall were the big hits in the Cubs’ seven-run first inning. The 35-year-old left-hander connected for his third career home run – all with the Cubs at Wrigley Field – for the NL Central leaders. Lester (9-6) allowed three runs on eight hits, while striking out six and walking none in 6 2/3 innings. Addison Russell drove in two runs as the Cubs won for the fourth time in five games. Starling Marte hit a pair of solo shots to give him three homers in two days in Chicago. Jung Ho Kang launched a long solo homer. Chicago sent 12 batters to the plate in the first and chased Pittsburgh starter Jordan Lyles (5-6) after only two outs. Anthony Rizzo beat a shift with a dribbling RBI single to left to start the scoring before Contreras hit his 19th homer to the basket in right-center. After Lester drove in two more, Javier Baez added an RBI double. Lyles yielded seven runs on four hits and four walks before being replaced by Chris Stratton. Lester’s homer to left made it 8-0 in the third. Russell singled in two runs in the fourth to open it to 10-0. Kang homered in the fifth and Marte connected in the sixth. Lester was replaced by Brandon Kintzler with in the seventh after the Pirates stroked three singles to made it 10-3. Marte homered again in the eighth off Randy Rosario.
July 13, 2019 4:18 am
The Cubs downed the Pirates, 4-3 on Jason Heyward’s RBI single in the bottom of the eighth. Kris Bryant hit a solo homer to spark a three-run seventh, but the Cubs blew the 3-0 lead before earning their third win in its last four games. Starling Marte’s three-run blast tied it in the eighth for the Pirates.
July 12, 2019 3:23 pm
Roger Federer will play for a record-extending ninth Wimbledon title in his 12 final at the All England Club after beating Rafael Nadal 7-6 (3), 1-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Centre Court.
The 20-time Grand Slam singles champion will face Novak Djokovic for the title on Sunday. Federer’s serve served him well against his Spanish rival, who won their last meeting at Wimbledon in the 2008 final – taking the epic fifth set 9-7 as darkness descended. The Swiss great finished with 14 aces this time and landed 69% of his first serves. Federer won his record eighth Wimbledon title in 2017, but lost to Djokovic in the final in both 2014 and 2015.
July 12, 2019 1:34 pm
Novak Djokovic has reached the Wimbledon final for the sixth time. The defending champion came through a tough match against Roberto Bautista Agut on Centre Court 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2.
Djokovic is a four-time champion at the All England Club and will play either Roger Federer or Rafael Nadal on Sunday for another title. Federer and Nadal were to play next on Centre Court.
Djokovic was broken once in the second set, allowing Bautista Agut to even the score. But the top-seeded Serb saved two break chances in the third set and won easily in the fourth, though he needed five match points in the final game to close it out. With the victory, Djokovic has reached his 25th Grand Slam final. He won 15 of the previous 24.
In the Wimbledon final, Djokovic is 4-1. His only loss was against Andy Murray in 2013.
