June 5, 2019 9:33 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Austin Riley and Josh Donaldson hit three-run home runs in consecutive innings, and the Atlanta Braves rallied for 12-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. Freddie Freeman added a two-run homer, his 15th, in a three-run ninth inning that sealed the Braves third straight win. Riley sent a slider from Kyle Crick (2-2) over the wall in right field for his ninth home run of the season in the seventh, turning a 5-3 deficit into a one-run lead. Donaldson pushed the lead to 9-5 in the eighth with a 439-foot shot to left-center field for his eighth. Dan Winkler (2-1) had one strikeout in a scoreless sixth inning to get the win. Three Pirates errors partially contributed to five Braves runs. The three on Riley’s home run came after left fielder Bryan Reynolds dropped a soft line drive from Nick Markakis with one out in the seventh.
June 16, 2020 3:42 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says there may be no major league games this year after a breakdown in talks between teams and the players’ union on how to split up money in a season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The league also revealed several players have tested positive for COVID-19. Two days after union head Tony Clark declared additional negotiations futile, Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem sent a seven-page letter to players’ association chief negotiator Bruce Meyer asking the union whether it will waive the threat of legal action and tell MLB to announce a spring training report date and a regular-season schedule. These were just the latest escalating volleys in a sport viewing disagreement over starting the season as a preliminary battle ahead of bargaining to replace the labor contract that expires on Dec. 1, 2021.
June 16, 2020 3:41 am
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) – Robert Morris is leaving the Northeast Conference to join the Horizon League. The school will become the 12th member of the Horizon League on July 1. Robert Morris will join the league in 10 sports, including men’s and women’s basketball as well as soccer and track and field. The Colonials have become an NEC power in men’s and women’s basketball in recent years. The men’s program has reached the NCAA Tournament four times in the last 11 years while the women’s program has won the NEC’s automatic bid seven times in the last 14 seasons. In conjunction with the move to the Horizon League, Robert Morris announced that its football program will be joining the Big South as an associate member in 2021.
June 11, 2020 3:57 am
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says there is a “100%” chance of big league ball this year. Major League Baseball will make another proposal to start the pandemic-delayed season in empty ballparks, but Manfred vowed to unilaterally order opening day if an agreement is not reached. The players’ association made its second proposal Tuesday, asking for an 89-game regular season and 100% of prorated salaries. MLB’s plan a day earlier was for a 76-game season, would guarantee 50% of prorated salaries and hinge 25% in additional money on the postseason’s completion.
June 9, 2020 3:42 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NCAA is considering a six-week plan for football teams to prepare for the start of their seasons that includes two weeks when teams can hold walk-throughs before full practices start. A copy of the Football Oversight Committee’s plan, which still needs to be approved by the Division I Council, was obtained by The Associated Press. Sports Illustrated first reported on the one-page document. The oversight committee has been working on a six-week model to lead into the season for weeks. It calls for two weeks preceding the start of a typical preseason practice schedule during which time teams can do up 20 hours per week or weight training, conditioning, film study, meetings and walk-throughs with coaches. Players would not be permitted to wear helmets and pads during walk-throughs, but a ball could be used for instruction. NCAA rules state teams can begin preseason practice 29 days before the date of their first game. The walk-through period would begin 14 days before preseason practice, according to the proposal. The plan has not been finalized but could be approved within two weeks.
June 8, 2020 4:13 am
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) – NASCAR’s All-Star Race will be a midweek event on July 15 at Charlotte Motor Speedway as part of a new revision to the schedule that runs through the first weekend of August. The revisions involve Pocono Raceway and the speedways in Indianapolis, Kentucky, Texas, Kansas and New Hampshire. NASCAR made no mention of whether spectators will be allowed at any of the events but Indianapolis, Kentucky and Kansas all said their events would not have fans. NASCAR leadership has not been available for public comment since May 17.
June 6, 2020 4:01 am
TOKYO (AP) – Next spring has been set as a possible deadline by a local lawmaker for deciding if the postponed Tokyo Olympics can go ahead. That’s the judgment of former Japanese Olympic minister Toshikai Endo. Japanese television NHK quoted him at a meeting of the ruling Liberal Democratic Party. The Tokyo Olympics are to open on July 23, 2021. They were postponed this year because of the coronavirus pandemic. Endo is the latest powerful politician to speak out this week about the games, bracing the Japanese public for possible changes and costs. Tokyo Governor Yurkio Koike said Thursday the games were likely to be downsized and undergo many changes.
June 5, 2020 3:46 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NBA continues to take positive steps toward resuming a season that was suspended in March because of the coronavirus pandemic. The league Board of Governors has approved a 22-team format for restarting the season in late July at the Disney campus near Orlando, Florida. The format calls for each team playing eight games to determine playoff seeding plus the possible utilization of a play-in tournament for the final spot in each conference postseason field. The 22-team plan includes all teams that were holding playoff spots when the season was stopped, plus all other clubs within six games of a postseason berth. That means 13 teams from the Western Conference and nine from the East.
June 3, 2020 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) – All 32 NFL teams have been told by Commissioner Roger Goodell to hold training camps at their home facilities this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Most NFL teams stay at their training complexes year-round, but Dallas, Pittsburgh, Kansas City and Buffalo are among those that stage training camp elsewhere. The Cowboys and Steelers are scheduled for the Hall of Fame game in Canton, Ohio, on Aug. 6 and will be the first two teams to report in late July. Dallas usually trains in Oxnard, California, and Pittsburgh in nearby Latrobe, Pennsylvania. Soon, the NFL is hopeful of having club complexes fully open, but under strict medical guidelines including social distancing protocols.
June 3, 2020 3:51 am
The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame is considering new dates for the induction of its star-studded Class of 2020. Hall president John Doleva says dates to replace the postponed August ceremony include mid-October and next spring. With Kobe Bryant due to be enshrined posthumously, it’s certain to be a big event. Kevin Garnett and Tim Duncan also are members of the induction class. So is college coach Eddie Sutton, who died last month. The Hall in Springfield, Massachusetts, is also getting ready to unveil its completely renovated museum.
