August 7, 2020 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – A total of 66 players have opted out of the 2020 NFL season due to the coronavirus pandemic, nearly half of them linemen. Twenty offensive linemen and 11 on defense opted out before Thursday’s deadline. Players with a medical opt out will receive a $350,000 stipend, whole those voluntarily opting out receive $150,000 as an advance against future salaries. No team has come close to New England in losing players for the upcoming season, which begins Sept. 10 with Houston at Super Bowl champion Kansas City. The Patriots, already minus several stars who left in free agency – including, of course, Tom Brady to Tampa Bay – saw eight opt outs: running back Brandon Bolden, offensive tackle Marcus Cannon, safety Patrick Chung, linebacker Dont’a Hightower, tight end Matt LaCosse, wide receiver Marqise Lee, offensive lineman Najee Toran and fullback Dan Vitale. Hightower, Cannon and Chung were key contributors in recent seasons.
August 7, 2020 3:49 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers coach Mike Tomlin is wary of what lies ahead as his team prepares for the 2020 season. The Steelers did not have a single player opt out of the season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but Tomlin says there are still many challenges ahead. Tomlin said he’s not sure he’s “extremely confident” that the NFL won’t hit some bumps along the way. Tomlin added the team is proceeding with caution, and it will require players being responsible away from the field to help prevent COVID-19 outbreaks in locker rooms around the league.
August 7, 2020 3:53 am
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Jason Day’s name hasn’t been on the leaderboard lately in the majors. Brooks Koepka’s is there all the time. Day opened the the PGA Championship with a bogey-free round of 5-under 65 at the TPC Harding Park. Right behind was Koepka, going after a third straight PGA Championship title. No one has ever won this major three straight times in stroke play. And only six players in history have won the same major three straight times. Koepka had six birdies and was among those at 66. Tiger Woods had a new putter and opened with a 68. Bulked-up Bryson DeChambeau, the longest driver on tour, broke his driver, which he has nicknamed “the Kraken.” It cracked when he bent over to pick up his tee, the club snapped under him. His support team fetched another shaft.
August 6, 2020 3:48 am
TORONTO (AP) – Jeff Petry scored 5:33 into the third period as the Montreal Canadiens rallied from two goals down and beat Pittsburgh 4-3 in Game 3, pushing the Penguins to the brink of elimination in the best-of-five series. Shea Weber had a goal and two assists for Montreal, Paul Byron added a goal and an assist, and Jonathan Drouin also scored. Carey Price stopped 30 shots for the Canadiens. Montreal can advance to the normal first round with 16 teams with win in Game 4 on Friday. Patric Hornqvist, Jason Zucker and Teddy Blueger scored for fifth-seeded Pittsburgh, which led 3-1 after Blueger’s goal 5:34 into the second. Matt Murray finished with 27 saves.
August 6, 2020 3:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball is cracking down on coronavirus safety protocols, mandating that players and staff wear face coverings at all times, including in the dugouts and bullpens, except for players on the field of play. The league sent a memo to teams Wednesday outlining changes to its 2020 operations manual after outbreaks on the Miami Marlins and St. Louis Cardinals led to 21 postponements in the first two weeks of a shortened 60-game season. The memo, obtained by The Associated Press on Wednesday night, says that repeated or flagrant violators of the protocols could be banned from participating in the 2020 season and postseason.
August 5, 2020 3:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger is confident he is fully recovered from right elbow surgery that ended his 2019 season. Roethlisberger says he had three flexor tendons rip off the bone near halftime of Week 2 against Seattle. He underwent a procedure to reattach the tendons shortly thereafter, ending his 16th NFL season early. Roethlisberger says it wasn’t fun watching the team limp to an 8-8 record without him. The 38-year-old says he didn’t seriously consider retirement and that he believes he has enough left in the tank to lead the team to a seventh Super Bowl title.
August 5, 2020 3:52 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina says he’s one of the players on the team who tested positive for COVID-19. The nine-time All-Star revealed his results in a Spanish-language Instagram post. Soon afterward, the Cardinals issued a release naming six of the players who have tested positive. The others are infielders Paul DeJong, Edmundo Sosa and Rangel Ravelo along with pitchers Junior Fernandez and Kodi Whitley. The outbreak resulted in the postponement of the Cardinals’ scheduled three-game weekend series at Milwaukee as well as a four-game series with Detroit.
August 4, 2020 3:52 am
TORONTO (AP) – Sidney Crosby, Jason Zucker and Jake Guentzel scored for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-1 victory over the Montreal Canadiens, tying the best-of-five qualifying series at one game apiece. Jesperi Kotkaniemi scored for the Canadiens. The Canadiens opened the series with a 3-2 overtime win on Saturday, but were flat from the start in Game 2 and never recovered. Game 3 is Wednesday night.
August 4, 2020 3:50 am
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) – Nelson Cruz’s RBI single in the bottom of the ninth inning gave the Minnesota Twins a 5-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates for their fourth straight win. Cruz knocked in two runs to raise his season total to 14 RBIs. He drove a pitch from Pirates reliever and former Twins draft pick Nick Burdi over the head of center fielder Cole Tucker with runners at second and third and one out to knock in Jorge Polanco. The Pirates have lost five straight games.
August 4, 2020 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) – Seven St. Louis Cardinals players and six staff members have tested positive for COVID-19, causing Major League Baseball to postpone the team’s four-game series at Detroit. The series was to have been played at Comerica Park from Tuesday through Thursday. St. Louis has been in quarantine since Thursday in Milwaukee, where the Cardinals’ series last weekend was postponed, and the team is being tested daily. The Cardinals are the second team sidelined by the novel coronavirus since the season started July 23. The Miami Marlins are set to resume play Tuesday in Baltimore.
