October 20, 2019 7:53 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 29 shots against his former team, leading the Vegas Golden Knights to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night. Fleury recorded his 445th win, tying Terry Sawchuck for seventh on the NHL career list. Fleury, who made his second career start for Vegas against the Penguins in Pittsburgh, also registered his 57th career shutout. The Golden Knights won for the fourth time in five games. Paul Stastny scored his fourth of the season, a power-play goal in the second period, and William Karlsson and Mark Stone added empty-netters in the final 90 seconds. Fleury kept the puck out with a sliding cross-crease shoulder save on Juuso Riikola’s power-play chance in the third period. Pittsburgh had several quality chances during another third-period power play, but came up empty against Fleury. Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese hit the crossbar earlier in the period. Tristan Jarry made 21 saves for Pittsburgh, which had won five in a row. The Penguins played without six regulars, including five of their top nine forwards and a defenseman from their No. 1 pairing. Jared McCann was held out after he scored in Friday’s home win against Dallas. He has missed two of the team’s last three games after also sitting out on Wednesday. Defenseman Brian Dumoulin was a late scratch after taking pregame warmups. Forwards Evgeni Malkin, Alex Galchenyuk, Nick Bjugstad and Bryan Rust are all on injured reserve. Fleury allowed five goals on 38 shots in a 5-4 loss against the Penguins in his initial return to Pittsburgh on Feb. 6, 2018. He didn’t start when Vegas last played in Pittsburgh on Oct. 11, 2018. Fleury, the No. 1 overall pick in 2003, spent his first 13 seasons in Pittsburgh and helped the Penguins win three Stanley Cup titles before Vegas selected him in the 2017 expansion draft. Fans gave Fleury a loud ovation as soon as he hit the ice for pregame warmups. Fleury chatted with several former teammates prior to the game, including starting goaltender Matt Murray, who had the night off. Fleury also playfully threw passes to Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and defenseman Kris Letang during pregame warmups. Fleury made a sharp first-period pad save on a Patric Hornqvist one-timer during a Pittsburgh power play. Letang hit the post on Fleury’s blocker side later in the period. Vegas opened the scoring after Aston-Reese was whistled for goaltender interference on Fleury. Stastny one-timed a Cody Glass pass into a partially open net at 3:48 for his fourth goal in five games.
October 19, 2019 7:43 am
Canon-McMillan clinched a Class 6A playoff berth despite losing to Central Catholic. Peters Township knocked off Bethel Park to stay in a first-place tie with Allegheny 8 Conference co-leader Moon. Burgettstown edged Brentwood to win the Three Rivers Conference championship. Wash High stayed unbeaten and will play McGuffey next Friday for the Century Conference title. West Greene capped a clean run to the Tri-County South championship while California beat Chartiers-Houston to win a playoff spot and eliminate the Bucs in the process. All told, seven of the 14 Washington County teams have qualified for the WPIAL playoffs. West Greene is the only Greene County playoff qualifier.
October 18, 2019 3:47 am
NEW YORK (AP) – George Springer and Carlos Correa each hit three-run homers and the Houston Astros got another wild ace off the hook to beat the sloppy New York Yankees 8-3 Thursday night and reach the cusp of a second World Series visit in three years. The Astros lead the AL Championship Series 3-1, putting the 2017 World Series winners on the brink of a showdown with the NL champion Washington Nationals. Houston still has Justin Verlander and Gerrit Cole queued up for this series, and the Yankees will have to beat both to survive. Verlander will start Game 5 on Friday night against James Paxton.
October 17, 2019 3:47 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Rain has pushed Game 4 of the AL Championship Series to Thursday night. The Houston Astros and New York Yankees will play tomorrow night instead, with Game 5 on Friday at Yankee Stadium and Game 6 in Houston on Saturday if necessary. Houston leads the series 2-1. It’s expected that Houston will start Zack Greinke against the Yankees’ Masahiro Tanaka in a rematch of Game 1. Tanaka pitched six sterling innings as New York won the opener 7-0. Both clubs had planned to use bullpen openers Wednesday, and the day off will be welcome for New York after manager Aaron Boone used five relievers to cover 4 2/3 innings Tuesday. Of course, now the teams might play the final four games without a day off, culminating in Game 7 on Sunday. With the Yankees leaning heavily on their bullpen this month, the starter-driven Astros could be at an advantage. Greinke, a 2009 Cy Young Award winner acquired from Arizona at the July 31 trade deadline, has struggled through two starts this postseason. He allowed six runs and couldn’t finish the fourth inning against Tampa Bay in Game 3 of the AL Division Series, and the Yankees hammered two homers and scored three runs against him in six innings in the ALCS opener.
October 17, 2019 3:15 am
Two of Independent Professional Baseball’s oldest and most established Leagues are pleased to announce that they will join forces. Beginning with the 2020 season, five former members of the Can-Am League will merge into the Frontier League. Members of the Frontier League and the new teams from the Can-Am League will make up the 14 team circuit. The New Jersey Jackals, Quebec Capitales, Rockland Boulders, Sussex County Miners and Trois-Rivieres Aigles will play in the Can-Am Division. The Washington Wild Things and Lake Erie Crushers will join the Division as well. The seven remaining teams will make up the West Division of the Frontier League. Those teams are the Evansville Otters, Florence Freedom, Gateway Grizzlies, Joliet Slammers, Schaumburg Boomers, Southern Illinois Miners, and the Windy City ThunderBolts. The Washington Wild Things will play in the Can Am Division, which will take them to the New Jersey Shore and north into Quebec City in Canada. Wildthings owner Stu Williams is excited about the new league but looks to other possibilities that baseball teams can take advantage of. He would like to see about putting together a concert series that would play in each of the 14 cities in the league. The New League will be known as the Frontier league and they will play a 96 game schedule beginning on May 14th and ending on the Sunday before Labor Day.
October 16, 2019 3:49 am
NEW YORK (AP) – The Houston Astros now have back-to-back victories since opening the American League Championship Series with a 7-0 loss to the New York Yankees. Gerrit Cole tossed seven shutout innings today and the Astros homered twice in a 4-1 win over the Yankees in the Bronx. Cole struck out seven and worked around five walks by holding New York to four hits. The right-hander has won his last 19 decisions since allowing six runs over five innings of a 9-4 loss to the White Sox on May 22. Cole is 3-0 with 32 strikeouts and a 0.40 ERA in three starts this postseason.
Jose Altuve and Josh Reddick hit solo homers off losing pitcher Luis Severino, who gave up five hits over 4 1/3 innings. Altuve opened the scoring two batters into the game and provided two of the Astros’ seven hits. Reddick added a second-inning blast to make it 2-0. Altuve also scored on a wild pitch in the seventh before Yuli Gurriel lifted a sacrifice fly later in the inning. The Yankees were blanked until red-hot Gleyber Torres homered off Joe Smith. Torres is 5-12 with two home runs and six RBIs in the series after hitting .417 with a home run, three doubles and four ribbies in the division series against the Twins. Game 4 is Wednesday in the Bronx. Both managers have said they will make it a bullpen day.
October 15, 2019 3:48 am
UNDATED (AP) – The National League Championship Series could end as soon as Tuesday evening. The Nationals have grabbed a three-games-to-none lead with another stifling pitching performance in an 8-1 thrashing of the St. Louis Cardinals. Stephen Strasburg provided the latest gem by a Nats starter, striking out 12 and allowing an unearned run and seven hits over seven innings. Strasburg’s performance leaves Washington starters with an ERA of zero over 21 2/3 innings in the series. He also lowered his career postseason ERA to 1.10 over 41 innings.
Howie Kendrick doubled three times and had three RBIs for the Nationals, who are one win away from the first National League pennant in franchise history. Kendrick doubled home a pair to cap a four-run third and added an RBI double in the fifth. Ryan Zimmerman added to the Nationals’ 11-hit attack with an RBI double and a run-scoring single. Victor Robles homered in the sixth inning after missing Washington’s previous five games with a hamstring injury. The Cardinals’ lone run came when outfielder Juan Soto misplayed Paul DeJong’s single, allowing Jose Martinez to score from second. Losing pitcher Jack Flaherty was tagged for four runs and five hits over five innings. The Nationals have more runs in the series than the Cardinals have hits. Washington has outscored St. Louis, 13-2 while limiting the Redbirds to 11 hits. Patrick Corbin will try to close out the pennant for the Nationals Tuesday against Dakota Hudson.
October 14, 2019 3:50 am
HOUSTON (AP) – It took 11 innings, but the Houston Astros were able to even the American League Championship Series at a game apiece. Carlos Correa delivered a walk-off, solo homer off J.A. Happ in the 11th inning to give the Astros a 3-2 triumph over the New York Yankees. It was just Houston’s second hit since George Springer tied the game with a solo blast in the fifth inning off Adam Ottavino. Correa also opened the scoring with an RBI double in the second inning off Yankees starter James Paxton, who lasted just 2 1/3 innings. The lead held up until Justin Verlander surrendered his first hit of the night, a two-run homer by Aaron Judge in the fourth. Verlander struck out seven and gave up five hits over 6 2/3 innings. Josh James struck out the only batter he faced in the 11th inning to get the win. Yankees slugger Giancarlo Stanton was held out of the starting lineup due to a quad injury. Game 3 is Tuesday at Yankee Stadium. Gerrit Cole is slated to pitch for Houston that night against Luis Severino.
October 14, 2019 3:42 am
CARSON, Calif. (AP) — James Conner scored two touchdowns, Devin Bush recovered a pair of turnovers and Devlin Hodges won his first NFL start as the Pittsburgh Steelers held off the Los Angeles Chargers 24-17 on Sunday night. Conner had his first game with both a rushing and receiving touchdown and accounted for 119 scrimmage yards (41 rushing, 78 receiving). Hodges, who was elevated into the starting spot after Mason Rudolph suffered a concussion last week against Baltimore, didn’t look fazed. He completed 15 of 20 for 132 yards and benefited from a running game that helped control the clock. Benny Snell led the way with 75 yards on 17 carries. Bush forced turnovers on the Chargers second and third drives. The rookie linebacker scored his first NFL touchdown when he scooped up a backward pass from Philip Rivers that Melvin Gordon was unable to handle and went 9 yards to give the Steelers a 7-0 lead. Bush got his second turnover four plays later when he intercepted a Rivers’ pass that was deflected by defensive end Tyson Alualu at the line of scrimmage. That would lead to Conner’s first TD . The Chargers (2-4) trailed 24-0 after three quarters but rallied to get within seven on a Chase McLaughlin field goal and two TD passes from Rivers to Hunter Henry. After Henry’s 11-yard TD catch made it 24-17, Los Angeles tried an onside kick with 1:28 remaining but it was recovered by Steelers. The Chargers forced a three-and-out and got the ball at the 1 after a punt, but Rivers was picked off by Cameron Sutton to preserve the Steelers win to improve to 2-4. Rivers was 26 of 44 for300 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while Henry, who missed the past four games due to a knee injury, had eight receptions for 100 yards. Conner gave the Steelers a 14-0 lead with 4:39 remaining in the first quarter with a 12-yard run around left end on a nice block from left tackle Alejandro Villanueva.
Conner put Pittsburgh up by three touchdowns with 6:34 remaining in the second when he caught a short pass from Hodges and went 26 yards up the right sideline after Chargers linebacker Jatavis Brown was unable to tackle the third-year running back at the 25. Los Angeles didn’t get on the board until one minute into the fourth quarter on Chase McLaughlin’s 38-yard field goal. Rivers ended the offense’s seven-quarter drought without a touchdown when he found Hunter Henry in the back of the end zone from 5 yards out with 7:13 remaining.
October 13, 2019 7:45 am
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) – Noah Cain ran for a five-yard touchdown with 5:17 left and 10th-ranked Penn State held off No. 17 Iowa 17-12 on Saturday night, its first win over a ranked opponent this season. Cain finished with 102 yards for the Nittany Lions (6-0, 3-0 Big Ten), who extended their winning streak over the Hawkeyes (4-2, 1-2) to six games. A matchup between two of the nation’s top defenses turned when Iowa’s Nate Stanley threw an interception near midfield with 9:22 remaining. Penn State drove 35 yards on a gassed Iowa defense, and the last of three straight runs by Cain made it 17-6. Iowa pulled within 17-12 when Stanley found Brandon Smith for a 33-yard TD pass with 2:31 to go. The Hawkeyes’ two-point try failed though, and Cain converted a crucial third down that ensured that Iowa never saw the ball again. Up 7-6 late in the third quarter, Penn State recovered a fumble at Iowa’s 16 and Sean Clifford connected on an apparent touchdown pass to Pat Freiermuth that was overturned on review. Iowa then held the Nittany Lions at the 1-foot line, and two straight holding calls forced them to settle for a 33-yard field goal. KJ Hamler caught seven passes, including a 22-yarder for a TD, for Penn State. Stanley threw for 286 yards, but the Hawkeyes ran for just 70 yards on 30 attempts.
