November 28, 2019 4:00 am
PITTSBURGH, Pa. — The Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday announced that Derek Shelton has been named the 41st Manager in the history of the organization. The announcement was made by Pirates General Manager Ben Cherington. The 49-year-old Shelton has 15 years of coaching experience at the Major League level. He spent the last two seasons as the Bench Coach with the Minnesota Twins, after having served as Quality Control Coach for the Toronto Blue Jays during the 2017 season. Prior to his time in Toronto, Shelton spent seven seasons as the Hitting Coach for the Tampa Bay Rays and remains the longest tenured hitting coach in Tampa Bay’s history. Shelton began his big league coaching career with the Cleveland Indians, serving as Hitting Coach from 2005-09. “I have known Derek for more than 15 years and have great admiration for his passion for the game and players, work ethic, curiosity, and desire to learn,” Cherington said. “He has worked and learned from some of the best in the game, and in turn has helped players and colleagues learn and improve during his 20 years of coaching and managing. We are confident Derek will help lead an elite playing and coaching environment at the Major League level and be a true partner to all of baseball operations as we challenge each other to get better every day. I want to thank our entire baseball operations group for their tireless work over the past several weeks of this search. We are thrilled to get to work with Derek and continue building toward a winning team in Pittsburgh.” “My family and I are thrilled to have the opportunity to join the Pittsburgh community and are humbled to be a part of this storied franchise,” Shelton said. “One of the most exciting things for me during the interview process was just how evident the passion for Pittsburgh and the desire to succeed was with everyone I interacted with. Shelton spent three seasons (2000-2002) as a manager in the New York Yankees’ farm system and captured two league championships. He led the GCL Yankees to first-place finishes in 2000 (38-22 record) and 2001 (35-25), with the team winning the title in 2001 after losing in the finals in 2000. Shelton also led the Staten Island club to a league-best record (48-26) and a New York-Penn League championship in 2002.
November 27, 2019 3:46 am
UNDATED (AP) – Ohio State jumped LSU to No. 1 in the College Football Playoff rankings with two weeks to go before selection Sunday. LSU slipped to two and Clemson remained No. 3 while Georgia held on at four. If playoff history holds form, three of those top four teams will reach the semifinals. Alabama remained No. 5 with Utah moving up a spot to No. 6. The Utes are the only Pac-12 team in the top 10 after Oregon dropped eight spots to 14th. Oklahoma is seventh followed by Minnesota, Baylor and Penn State. In each of the first five years of the playoff, three of the top four teams in the rankings heading into rivalry weekend reached the semifinals, including the No. 1 team every time.
November 26, 2019 3:47 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Lamar Jackson has made another case for the NFL’s most valuable player award. Jackson tied a career high with five touchdown passes while completing 15 of 20 throws for 169 yards in leading the Baltimore Ravens to a 45-6 blowout over the Rams in Los Angeles. Marquise Brown and Willie Snead each grabbed two scoring passes from Jackson, who also ran for 95 yards on just eight carries. Mark Ingram rushed for 111 yards and a TD and caught a scoring pass. Ingram helped the 9-2 Ravens get their seventh straight win and become the fourth team in this century to score touchdowns on its first six drives in a game. Baltimore consistently shredded the Rams’ defense, racking up 480 yards and controlling the ball for almost 40 minutes. Jerod Goff threw for 212 yards and was picked off twice as Los Angeles fell to 6-5.
November 25, 2019 3:52 am
CINCINNATI (AP) – Steelers quarterback Mason Rudolph says he “couldn’t believe” a claim that he used a racial slur against Browns defensive lineman Myles Garrett before their altercation in Cleveland. Garrett was suspended indefinitely for yanking off Rudolph’s helmet and hitting him with it near the end of the Browns’ 21-7 victory on Nov. 14. ESPN reported that during his suspension hearing, Garrett told NFL officials that Rudolph had used a racial slur. After Pittsburgh’s 16-10 win over Cincinnati on Sunday, Rudolph repeated that he didn’t make any such comment. “It’s totally untrue and I couldn’t believe it and I couldn’t believe he would go that route after the fact, but it is what it is,” Rudolph told reporters. “I think I’ve moved on.” NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy said last week that the league investigated Garrett’s claim and “found no such evidence” of the slur. The teams have a rematch next week in Pittsburgh.
November 23, 2019 8:26 am
WPIAL Football Brackets
Wash High lost to Avonworth Saturday afternoon in the WPIAL Class 2A championship game at Norwin. The Little Prexies lost by a score of 28-6.
Peters Township made its first-ever appearance in a WPIAL football championship when the Indians took on Gateway Saturday, also at Norwin. Peters lost however, 21-20.
PIAA Football Brackets
Dylan Mallozzi ran for two scores while quarterback Shane Stump threw for one touchdown and ran for another Friday night, leading Thomas Jefferson to a 28-13 win over three-time defending PIAA champion Cathedral Prep. Mallozzi ran 27 times for 151 yards, capping the opening drive with a one yard run. Then, trying to run out the clock, the senior running back scampered untouched 33 yards in the last two minutes to seal the win, the Jaguars’ first against the Ramblers after three straight playoff losses. Unbeaten Thomas Jefferson moves to next weekend’s state semifinals against Lampeter-Strasburg, a 35-21 winner over Berks Catholic in Friday’s District 3 championship game. Date/time/site have not been announced.
November 23, 2019 3:47 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers are scrambling on offense following a series of injuries to high-profile skill players. The Steelers will be without running back James Conner and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster when they travel to Cincinnati. Center Maurkice Pouncey is also out while serving a suspension for his role in a fight last week against Cleveland. Running back Trey Edmunds called the situation “unique” but said the Steelers can’t use the injuries as an excuse.
November 22, 2019 3:51 am
Former Vikings kicker and Monongahela native Fred Cox has died at age 80, according to the team. Cox scored a Vikings-record 1,365 points while often kicking in nasty conditions because Minnesota played outdoors during his career from 1963-77. He was second to George Blanda on the NFL’s all-time scoring list. Cox was a running back in high school and at the University of Pittsburgh. He also invented the nerf football and became a chiropractor in the 1970’s. Cox died at his home in Minnesota.
November 21, 2019 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – The Toronto Maple Leafs have fired head coach Mike Babcock and replaced him with Sheldon Keefe. The move comes after the Maple Leafs absorbed their sixth consecutive loss to fall to 9-10-4 this season. They were 173-133-45 in 351 regular-season games under Babcock, but they never won a playoff series. The 39-year-old Keefe has a long history with Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas (DOO’-buhs) and was in his fifth season as coach of the AHL’s Toronto Marlies.
November 19, 2019 3:45 am
MEXICO CITY (AP) – The Kansas City Chiefs have regained a half-game lead in the AFC West by winning in Mexico City. Daniel Sorenson picked off Philip Rivers at the goal line with 18 seconds remaining to preserve the Chiefs’ 24-17 victory over the Chargers. Mike Williams made a spectacular 50-yard catch with 44 seconds to play and Los Angeles got to the Kansas City 14 before Rivers tossed his fourth interception of the night. Patrick Mahomes passed for 182 yards and hit Travis Kelce (KEHL’-see) for his only touchdown. LeSean McCoy and Darrel Williams rushed for touchdowns as the 7-4 Chiefs hung on to win the fourth regular-season NFL game played in Mexico. Kansas City leads its division by a half-game over Oakland. Rivers passed for 353 yards during his first four-interception game since November 2016. The Chargers are 4-7 following their fifth loss in seven games.
November 19, 2019 3:40 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Xavier Johnson scored 13 second-half points to lead Pittsburgh through a slow first half and over Monmouth, 63-50. Pitt was stifled early by the visiting Hawks and their own poor shooting in the opening 20 minutes of play. The Panthers made just one of their first nine field goals and three of their first 17.
