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.
August 4, 2020 3:57 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Raiders will play their first season in Las Vegas without any fans at their home games because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The team sent a letter to season ticket holders saying that after discussions with health care officials and local leaders, the decision was made not to allow fans. Both the New York Jets and Giants previously announced they would play without fans this season. Most other teams are hoping to be able to have at least limited crowds.
August 3, 2020 3:51 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Javier Báez singled through a drawn-in infield in the bottom of the 11th, scoring David Bote from third base and giving the Chicago Cubs a 2-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bote, who made the last out in the 10th, started the inning on second base as mandated by Major League Baseball’s extra-inning rule for the pandemic-shortened season. He advanced to third on a deep fly to right by Anthony Rizzo and jogged home on Baez’s first career game-ending hit against Cody Ponce. Jeremy Jeffress worked a scoreless 11th for the win. The game was delayed 64 minutes by rain before the bottom of the ninth.
August 3, 2020 3:52 am
MIAMI (AP) – The nightmarish first stop of the season for the Miami Marlins has finally ended. On Sunday the Marlins left Philadelphia, where they were stranded for a week after their season-opening series because of a coronavirus outbreak that sidelined half of the team. The Marlins, minus the affected players who already returned to Miami, traveled to Baltimore, where they are scheduled to resume play Tuesday. A person familiar with the situation says that for the second day in a row, the Marlins had no new positive tests among players and staff. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the results had not been publicly released.
August 3, 2020 3:54 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Philadelphia Flyers have taken Game 1 of their NHL round-robin series that will determine seeding in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Michael Raffl had a goal and an assist while the Flyers scored three times in the second period of a 4-1 victory against the Boston Bruins in Toronto. Raffl opened the scoring 5:33 into the period and set up Nate Thompson about four minutes later. Phillipe Myers restored Philadelphia’s two-goal lead late in the period, eight seconds after Chris Wagner got the Bruins within 2-1. Scott Laughton also scored and Carter Hart turned back 34 shots in the Flyers’ 10th win in their last 11 games overall.
