November 12, 2020 3:47 am
UNDATED (AP) – This weekend’s college football schedule continues to shrink. Saturday’s game between 12th-ranked Georgia and host Missouri has been postponed due to COVID-19 issues involving the Tigers, who are short on players. It’s the fourth Saturday game involving SEC teams to be postponed by the coronavirus. The Big Ten game between third-ranked Ohio State and host Maryland has been canceled because of an elevated number of COVID-19 cases within the Terrapins program. Maryland has halted team-related activities after eight players tested positive for COVID-19 over the last seven days. Eight games across major college football have been called off this week. Overall, 55 games involving FBS teams have been canceled or postponed since late August.
November 12, 2020 3:45 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The state of Ohio has swept this year’s Cy Young Awards. Cleveland Indians ace Shane Bieber has claimed the American League Cy Young Award in a unanimous vote, while Cincinnati’s Trevor Bauer is the National League winner. Bieber went 8-1 with a 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts in 77 1/3 innings during the pandemic-shortened season. He led the majors in ERA and strikeouts while tying Cubs ace Yu Darvish for the most wins. Bieber is the first Indian to win pitching’s Triple Crown since Bob Feller in 1940. Twins hurler Kenta Maeda finished second in the balloting by the Baseball Writers Association of America, ahead of Toronto’s Hyun-Jin Ryu. Bauer went 5-4 with an NL-best 1.73 ERA in 11 starts, helping the Reds reach the playoffs for the first time since 2013. The 29-year-old right-hander struck out 100 in 73 innings and led the majors with two shutouts, a pair of seven-inning performances on doubleheader days. Bauer is the first Cy Young winner for Cincinnati, the majors’ oldest franchise. He received 27 of 30 first-place votes.
November 11, 2020 2:34 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers have placed four more players on the COVID-19 list, including quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. The move comes a day after tight end Vance McDonald went on the list after testing positive following a 24-19 win at Dallas that pushed the Steelers to 8-0. Running back Jaylen Samuels, offensive lineman Jerald Hawkins and linebacker Vince Williams joined Roethlisberger on the list Tuesday. The reserve/COVID-19 list is either for players who have tested positive or have been in close contact with someone who has. All players who have been in close contact must quarantine for five days and are unable to visit the team’s practice facility but can participate virtually. They must pass COVID-19 tests throughout the week to have an opportunity to play Sunday when the Steelers host the Cincinnati Bengals.
November 11, 2020 3:45 am
UNDATED (AP) – No. 1 Alabama at LSU and No. 5 Texas A&M at Tennessee won’t be played Saturday because of COVID-19 issues, raising the number of Southeastern Conference football games postponed this week to three. The Aggies and Volunteers will be rescheduled for Dec. 12, but the Crimson Tide’s game against the defending national champion Tigers is in danger of not being played at all. Both teams are coming off their open dates and LSU already has a game against No. 6 Florida scheduled for Dec. 12 that had to be postponed last month. In the American Athletic Conference, Memphis at Navy was postponed as the Midshipmen struggled with COVID-19 cases for a second straight week.
November 11, 2020 3:43 am
UNDATED (AP) – It’s official: The NBA is coming back Dec. 22. The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association have struck a deal on rules for this coming season, setting the stage for what will be a frenzied few weeks before games resume. Teams will play a 72-game schedule. The league said a new system will be used to ensure that the split of basketball-related income continues, one of the many details that had to be collectively bargained with the union because the current agreement between the sides had a great deal of language that needed reworking because of the coronavirus pandemic.
November 11, 2020 3:42 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates have named former big-league catcher John Baker their director of coaching and player development. The move is the latest step in an organizational shuffling designed to help end the Pirates’ freefall. Pittsburgh has finished last in the NL Central in each of the last two seasons. The 39-year-old Baker comes to the Pirates from the Chicago Cubs, where he spent the last five years in their baseball operations department. Baker hit .247 during a seven-year big league-career with the Marlins, Padres and Cubs.
November 10, 2020 3:51 am
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) – Nick Folk kicked a 51-yard field goal as time expired, and Cam Newton and the New England Patriots rallied to beat the winless New York Jets 30-27 to end a four-game losing streak. Newton had two touchdown runs and the second tied it at 27 with 1:57 remaining, erasing a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit. After the Jets went three-and-out, the Patriots got the ball back with 47 seconds left and went to work to put Folk in position for the winning field goal. The Jets dropped to 0-9 for the first time in franchise history, and this was an agonizing loss.
November 10, 2020 2:40 am
(WPXI) – Pittsburgh Steelers tight end Vance McDonald has tested positive for the coronavirus, according to sources and a release from the team Monday. The Steelers said that McDonald was immediately quarantined. The Steelers have not said how many others in the organization were in close contact with him. McDonald has been placed on the Reserve/COVID-19 list. This comes a day after Pittsburgh moved to 8-0 with a close win in Dallas. No other details were released regarding how this could impact the Steelers’ upcoming game at home against the Bengals. A Steelers staff member tested positive for the coronavirus a few days ago and was also placed into quarantine.
November 10, 2020 2:09 am
AUGUSTA, Ga. (AP) – Former Masters champion Sergio Garcia is the second player to withdraw from Augusta National after testing positive for the coronavirus. Garcia won the green jacket three years ago for his only major. Joaquin Niemann of Chile announced on social media last week that he tested positive. That brings the field to 94 players on the first day of Masters week. Garcia won the Sanderson Farms Championship last month for his first U.S. victory since his Masters win. He missed the cut last week in Houston. That was the first domestic PGA Tour event that allowed limited fans.
November 9, 2020 3:50 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Ben Roethlisberger threw all three of his touchdown passes after shrugging off a knee injury, rallying Pittsburgh to a 24-19 victory over the Dallas Cowboys and keeping the Steelers as the NFL’s only unbeaten team. Pittsburgh is 8-0 for the first time in the storied franchise’s history despite an upset bid from the Cowboys. Garrett Gilbert was the fourth different starting quarterback in five games for Dallas. His first career start ended up being a lift for an offense on a team that still lost its fourth straight game without Dak Prescott.
