October 6, 2020 3:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Kansas City Chiefs had to wait an extra day to face the New England Patriots, but it was worth it. The Chiefs shut down a sputtering offense in a 26-10 win over the Patriots. New England had to play without former MVP quarterback Cam Newton, who was sidelined after contracting COVID-19. Brian Hoyer was ineffective for almost three full quarters before being replaced by Jarrett Stidham, who led a touchdown drive to put the Pats within 13-10. New England also played without top running back Sony Michel due to a quad injury. Tyreek Hill and Mecole Hardman grabbed short scoring passes from Patrick Mahomes Jr., who 236 yards passing in a somewhat shaky performance by his standards. Tyrann Mathieu returned a late interception for the clinching touchdown as the Chiefs improved to 4-0 while dropping the Patriots to 2-2.
Like the Chiefs, the Green Bay Packers are 4-0 following a 30-16 win over the Atlanta Falcons. Aaron Rodgers passed for 327 yards and tossed three of his four TD passes to Robert Tonyan. The Packers QB has thrown for 13 touchdowns without an interception this year. The Packers have opened the season scoring 30 points in each of their first four games for the first time in team history. Todd Gurley’s two touchdown runs couldn’t stop the Falcons from their first 0-4 start since 1999, when they followed a Super Bowl season by going 5-11.
October 6, 2020 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – Both the New York Yankees and Houston Astros are 3-0 this postseason after taking Game 1 of their respective AL Division Series. The Yankees banged out four home runs in a 9-3 smashing of the Rays. Tampa Bay led 3-2 until Kyle Higashioka and Aaron Judge belted solo shots off Tampa Bay starter and loser Blake Snell in the fifth inning. The Yanks put it out of reach with a five-run ninth capped by Giancarlo Stanton’s grand slam. Clint Frazier also hit a solo blast and Aaron Hicks went 3-for-4 with two RBIs for New York. Gerrit Cole struck out eight and allowed three runs over six innings, including homers by Randy Arozarena and Ji-Man Choi. In Los Angeles, Carlos Correa homered twice and had four RBIs in the Astros’ 10-5 rout of the Athletics. The A’s led 5-3 in the sixth until George Springer laced an RBI double and scored on Jose Altuve’s two-run single. Houston plated four in the sixth following an error by shortstop Marcus Semien with two out and nobody on. Alex Bregman also homered for the Astros, who entered the postseason after compiling a losing record. Khris Davis, Sean Murphy and Matt Olson homered for the Athletics, who will try to even the series on Tuesday.
October 6, 2020 2:32 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Jack Johnson experiment is over in Pittsburgh. The Penguins have placed the 33-year-old defenseman on waivers so it can buy out the remaining three years of the deal he signed with the club in 2018. Johnson has struggled to keep pace with faster forwards during his tenure in Pittsburgh and the contract became an albatross of sorts for a team that pledged to get faster and younger following a qualifying-round playoff exit to Montreal. The Penguins did extend a qualifying offer to goalie Matt Murray, though he figures to be traded in the near future after the team signed Tristan Jarry to a three-year deal over the weekend.
October 5, 2020 3:55 am
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. (AP) – Jimmy Butler has willed the Miami Heat to victory in Game 3 of the NBA Finals. Butler recorded a triple-double of 40 points, 13 assists and 11 rebounds while playing 45 minutes of the Heat’s 115-104 triumph over the Los Angeles Lakers. He was 14 for 20 from the field in the third 40-point triple-double in finals history. Butler allowed Miami to pull within two games to one in the series. Tyler Herro and Kelly Olynyk each had 17 points for Miami, which got 13 from Duncan Robinson and 12 from Jae Crowder. LeBron James had 25 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists for the Lakers, while Kyle Kuzma and Markieff Morris each had 19 points off the bench. Anthony Davis managed 15 for Los Angeles.
Game 4 is Tuesday.
October 5, 2020 3:57 am
UNDATED (AP) – A person familiar with the situation says another Tennessee Titans player and another staff member have tested positive for the coronavirus, while the rest of the NFL returned no new positives. The latest Titan to test positive is fullback Khari Blasingame, putting the team’s cases at 18 since Tuesday. Patriots starting quarterback Cam Newton and Chiefs practice squad quarterback Jordan Ta’amu were both added to the NFL’s COVID-19 reserve list Saturday, forcing the league to postpone the Patriots’ game at Kansas City until Monday night. The negative test results include a New Orleans Saints player who tested positive on Saturday.
October 5, 2020 3:58 am
UNDATED (AP) – Oklahoma has dropped out of The Associated Press college football poll for the first time since September 2016, while Iowa State jumped back into the Top 25 after a day of upsets.
There largely was stability at the top of the rankings after No. 1 Clemson, No. 2 Alabama, No. 3 Georgia and No. 4 Florida all won big, though the Bulldogs and Gators switched spots.
Five teams dropped out of the rankings after eight ranked teams lost Saturday, six of them to unranked opponents.
October 5, 2020 3:59 am
JACKSON, Miss. (AP) – Sergio Garcia birdied the final hole of the Sanderson Farms Championship for his first PGA Tour win since the 2017 Masters. Garcia delivered two key shots on the back nine, the last one an 8-iron to 30 inches of the stick on 18. He closed with a 5-under 67 and won for the 10th consecutive year worldwide. Peter Malnati closed with a career-best 63 and and walked off the course as the leader before falling short in his bid for a second PGA title.
October 4, 2020 4:21 am
The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed goaltender Tristan Jarry to a three-year contract, it was announced Saturday by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford. The contract will run through the 2022-23 season and carries an average annual value of $3.5 million. Jarry, 25, enjoyed a career year in 2019-20 with Pittsburgh, leading to his first career NHL All-Star Game selection. He set career highs across the board in games played (33), wins (20), goals-against average (2.43), save percentage (.921) and shutouts (3). Jarry’s goals-against average (9th) and save percentage (8th) both ranked in the top-10 in the NHL.
October 4, 2020 7:24 am
PITTSBURGH — North Carolina State head coach Dave Doeren kept waiting for quarterback Devin Leary to take a firm grasp of the starting job. Doeren knew Leary had all the tools necessary to provide some stability at a position where there’s been little of it recently for the Wolfpack. At some point, Doeren figured it would all come together for the charismatic redshirt sophomore with the big arm. That point arrived in the fourth quarter on Saturday at Heinz Field against No. 24 Pittsburgh. Twice the Wolfpack needed to go the length of the field to reclaim the lead. Twice they did it, the last time coming on a 13-yard strike from Leary to Emeka Emezie with 23 seconds to go to give N.C. State a stunning 30-29 victory over the previously unbeaten Panthers. Leary, making his first start of the season, drove the Wolfpack 79 yards in 12 plays, the last a perfect back-shoulder throw to Emezie, who made a perfect spinning grab to give N.C. State its first victory over a ranked team since 2017. Leary finished 28 of 44 for 336 yards and four touchdowns as the Wolfpack (2-1, 2-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) bounced back from a dismal loss at Virginia Tech to stop Pitt’s bid for the program’s first 4-0 start since 2000.
October 4, 2020 7:25 am
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. — Leddie Brown scored a 3-yard touchdown run in the second overtime after West Virginia’s defense made a stop, and the Mountaineers outlasted Baylor 27-21 on Saturday. West Virginia (2-1, 1-1 Big 12) squeaked out the win in a game where offensive consistency was rare and mistakes were plentiful. Baylor (1-1, 1-1) surpassed 200 rushing yards a week ago against Kansas but managed 256 yards overall against West Virginia. West Virginia’s defense chased down Baylor’s Charlie Brewer all day. They sacked him six times, had 11 tackles for loss and forced two interceptions. Brewer threw three touchdown passes, but his interception in the second overtime proved costly.
