July 12, 2019 3:40 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The National League Central is providing Major League Baseball a needed dose of pennant fever. All five teams are separated by just 4 1/2 games coming out of the All-Star break. The other five divisions have at least a 5 1/2-game gap between first and second. Chicago Cubs manager Joe Maddon says the division is tight because all five teams are trying to win. That includes upstart Cincinnati and resilient Pittsburgh, which are in the thick of the race with the Cubs, Milwaukee and St. Louis.
July 11, 2019 1:29 pm
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) – Serena Williams will play in the Wimbledon final for the 11th time and will be looking for her eighth title at the All England Club. The 23-time Grand Slam singles champion beat Barbora Strycova 6-1, 6-2 in the semifinals on Centre Court. Williams converted four of her five break points, while Strycova failed on all three of her chances. The 11th-seeded American, who lost in last year’s final, will face Simona Halep in Saturday’s championship match. Williams needs one more major title to equal the all-time record of 24 set by Margaret Court.
July 11, 2019 3:54 am
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. (AP) – Former New York Yankees pitcher and controversial baseball author Jim Bouton has died at age 80. Throwing so hard that his cap flew off his head, Bouton was 21-8 with six shutouts in 1963, his second season in the majors. He went 18-13 with four more shutouts in 1964 before winning a pair of World Series games against the Cardinals that fall. But his playing career was forever eclipsed by his 1970 book “Ball Four,” the first tell-all baseball memoir that angered many in the game’s establishment. It chronicled his 1969 season with the Seattle Pilots and Houston Astros, but it also detailed Yankees great Mickey Mantle’s carousing, and the use of stimulants in the major leagues. He was ostracized by players and management for exposing those secrets, waiting decades to be invited to a Yankees Old Timer’s game. Bouton’s family said he died Wednesday at the home he shared with wife Paula Kurman. He fought a brain disease linked to dementia and was in hospice care. Bouton also had two strokes in 2012.
July 10, 2019 3:50 am
UNDATED (AP) – Commissioner Rob Manfred says Major League Baseball has been unable to find any changes in the manufacturing process of balls. Manfred also insists that MLB has given no direction toward the alteration of baseball and denies that owners want to see more home runs. A May 2018 report by professors specializing in physics, mechanical engineering, statistics and mathematics concluded there was less drag on the ball, causing more homers. Batters have hit 3,691 homers in 1,345 games, on pace for 6,669. That would be 9% over the record 6,105 hit in 2017.
Astros hurler Justin Verlander is among several pitchers who have intimated recently that the balls are juiced. Manfred countered by saying “manipulation of the baseball is a great conspiracy theory.” Manfred also said that extending protective netting down foul lines is a ballpark-to-ballpark decision because of differing configurations. Following a series of foul balls that injured fans, Major League Baseball mandated ahead of the 2018 season that netting extend to the far end of each dugouts. Still, several fans have been hurt by foul balls this season.
July 10, 2019 3:49 am
CLEVELAND (AP) – Make it seven straight wins for the American League in the All-Star Game. Joey Gallo’s solo homer in the seventh inning gave the AL a 4-1 lead before the junior circuit hung on for a 4-3 win over the National League in Cleveland. The story for the American League was on the mound as nine hurlers each threw one inning and combined to allow just five hits while striking out 16. Indians hurler and game MVP Shane Bieber gave the local fans a thrill by striking out the side in the fifth. Liam Hendriks and Aroldis Chapman also fanned three in their one inning of work.
Former Indian Michael Brantley opened the scoring with an RBI double off loser Clayton Kershaw, scoring Astros teammate Alex Bregman. Gary Sanchez began the junior circuit’s second rally by leading off the fifth with a double before scoring on Jorge Polanco’s single. Charlie Blackmon put the NL on the board with a two-out homer in the sixth, but the AL regained control on a run-scoring double-play grounder and a solo homer by Joey Gallo. The insurance runs came in handy once Home Run Derby winner Pete Alonso delivered a two-run single in the eighth. Masahiro Tanaka worked a scoreless second to get the win. Pirates first baseman Josh Bell went one-for-two with an infield single in the second. The American League leads the overall series, 45-43-2.
July 9, 2019 3:48 am
CLEVELAND (AP) – Pirates first baseman Josh Bell didn’t last long in the Home Run Derby. He was ousted in the first round by Atlanta’s Ronald Acuna 25-18. Bell, however, will be in the starting lineup for the National League Tuesday night. He will be the designated hitter and bat sixth. As for the derby, Pete Alonso didn’t have the most round-trippers in the Home Run Derby on Monday, but he hit them when it mattered. The New York Mets rookie first baseman is $1 million richer after defeating Toronto Blue Jays slugger Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the final. Needing 23 homers to beat Guerrero, Alonso connected for a homer to left-center before flipping his bat high into the air and hugging his pitcher, cousin Derek Morgan. Guerrero lost the derby despite hitting a record 91 home runs in the three rounds compared to 57 by the winner. Alonso disappointed the local fans by homering on his final swing to defeat Indians first baseman Carlos Santana, 14-13. He was booed as he walked away from the plate. Alonso repeated his walk-off magic by going deep on his last swing to beat Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., 20-19. Guerrero advanced to the final by winning a prodigious second-round battle against Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson. They were tied after regulation and overtime before Guerrero hit two in the second three-swing run-off to beat Pederson, 40-39. Guerrero eliminated Athletics third baseman Matt Chapman in the first round by belting 29 home runs, which was the derby record until the semifinals.
July 7, 2019 8:14 am
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) – There’s a three-way tie for the lead through three rounds of the PGA’s 3M Open in Minnesota. Matthew Wolff fired a 9-under 62 to pull even with Collin Morikawa and Bryson DeChambeau at 15 under in the inaugural event at TPC Twin Cities. The 20-year-old Wolff won the NCAA individual title on Memorial Day and is playing in his third event since turning pro. Morikawa shot a 64, while DeChambeau had a 70 after opening the round with a two-stroke edge. Wyndham Clark had a 64 and is tied for fourth with Adam Hadwin at minus-14.
July 7, 2019 8:11 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Kevin Newman and Starling Marte each drove in three runs, leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 12-2 win over the Milwaukee Brewers on Saturday night. Newman had four hits, including a home run, after going 0 for 5 in a 7-6 loss to Milwaukee on Friday. Melky Cabrera also homered for the Pirates. Dario Agrazal (2-0) allowed two runs in six innings after being recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis to start in place of Trevor Williams, who was placed on the paternity list Saturday. The rookie right-hander gave up those runs on two homers, one by Mike Moustakas in the first and another by Yasmani Grandal two innings later. After waiting out a rain delay of more than two hours, Moustakas gave the Brewers a quick 1-0 lead with his 25th homer of the season. But Newman hit a two-run single in the bottom of the first to cap Pittsburgh’s four-run inning. Each of the Pirates’ first four runs came with two outs, starting with Colin Moran’s single and Corey Dickerson’s double. Grandal homered in the third to cut the deficit to two runs at 4-2, but Newman sent a slider from Adrian Houser (2-3) in the fourth 375 feet over the right-field wall for his sixth homer of the season. The Brewers missed a chance get even – or take the lead – when Lorenzo Cain left the bases loaded by grounding to second. Marte’s triple drove in two more to put Pittsburgh ahead 7-2 in the sixth. He made it 8-2 on a single to left in the eighth. Brewers shortstop Orlando Arcia and second baseman Keston Hiura collided while converging on a groundball by Moran in the eighth, which plated two to give Pittsburgh a 10-2 lead. Arcia sat up while being carted off and waving to the crowd; Hiura remained in the game. Houser gave up more than three runs for the second time in 19 appearances – including five starts – this season, allowing five on seven hits in four innings. Cabrera capped the scoring with a two-run homer in the eighth.
July 7, 2019 8:09 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – Pittsburgh’s Felipe Vázquez has been named to the National League All-Star team for this year’s All-Star Game in Cleveland. This is the second straight season the 28-year-old Vázquez has been selected to participate in the All-Star Game. Vázquez entered Saturday tied for fifth among all National League pitchers with 19 saves. Since the beginning of the 2017 campaign, he has recorded a total of 77 saves; the third-most among all National League pitchers in that time behind Kenley Jansen (102) and Wade Davis (87). Vázquez converted each of his first 14 save opportunities of the 2019 campaign before being charged with his only blown save on June 1. Since the beginning of the 2018 campaign, Vázquez has also recorded 148 strikeouts, which are the third-most by any left-handed reliever in Major League Baseball behind Josh Hader (222) and Brad Hand (161). Vázquez ranks sixth all-time in Pirates history with 77 career saves, trailing only Kent Tekulve (158), Mike Williams (140), Dave Giusti (133), Mark Melancon (130) and Joel Hanrahan (82). He has converted 47 of his last 50 save chances dating back to May 30 of last season. Among all Major League closers in that time with at least 30 save chances, only Toronto’s Ken Giles (30-for-31, 96.8 pct.) and San Diego’s Kirby Yates (40-of-42, 95.2 pct.) have posted a better save percentage than Vázquez (94.0 pct.). This is now the seventh time in the last nine seasons the Pirates will send multiple representatives to the All-Star Game.
July 6, 2019 3:59 am
BLAINE, Minn. (AP) – Bryson DeChambeau sizzled at TPC Twin Cities to take a two-shot lead at the midway mark of the PGA’s 3M Open. DeChambeau carded nine birdies in a career-low 62 that leaves him 14 under through 36 holes. He sank four putts from 20-plus feet, including the No. 7 and No. 8 holes during a commanding surge on his second nine. Adam Hadwin arrived in the clubhouse in second place at 12-under, after five birdies in a steely performance on the back nine amid an on-and-off drizzle during the afternoon.
First-round leader Scott Piercy is part of a four-way tie for third with Sam Burns, Brian Harman and Sam Saunders at 10 under.
