October 5, 2019 3:56 am
LAS VEGAS (AP) – Las Vegas resident Kevin Na had a pair of eagles on the back nine before completing a 9-under 62 that gives him a share of the second-round lead in the PGA’s Shriners Hospitals for Children Open. Na eagled the par-5 13th and 16th holes and added birdies on the par-3 17th and par-4 18th to match Lucas Glover, Patrick Cantlay and Brian Stuard at 12-under 130. Na won the 2011 tournament for the first of his three tour titles. Glover shot 63, also making an eagle on the 15th. Cantlay eagled the par-4 15th in a 64, and Stuard shot 65. Matt Jones was a stroke back after a 63.
October 5, 2019 3:54 am
ST. LOUIS (AP) – The St. Louis Blues have locked up one of their top centers by signing Brayden Schenn to an eight-year contract extension worth $52 million. The 28-year-old Schenn was acquired in a trade with Philadelphia in 2017 and put up a career-high 28 goals and 70 points the following season, earning an All-Star nod in the process. Schenn helped the Blues win their first Stanley Cup last spring, scoring 54 points in the regular season and 12 more in the playoff run.
October 4, 2019 3:40 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Steelers and Baltimore Ravens will have new faces at the forefront of one of the AFC’s most heated rivalries when they meet at Heinz Field. Lamar Jackson will start at quarterback for the Ravens, with Mason Rudolph getting the nod for the Steelers. It’s the first time the two teams have met without Joe Flacco or Ben Roethlisberger at quarterback since 2007. The Steelers have won four of the past five meetings.
October 4, 2019 3:16 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates have fired pitching coach Ray Searage and bench coach Tom Prince. The moves came four days after the team fired manager Clint Hurdle. The Pirates slumped to a 69-93 finish in 2019 due in part to injuries that ravaged the starting rotation. Pittsburgh posted a team ERA of 5.18, second-worst in the National League behind Colorado.
October 3, 2019 12:46 pm
NEW YORK (AP) – Mickey Callaway has been fired by the New York Mets after missing the playoffs in both his seasons as manager. The move Thursday, which was widely expected, comes four days after New York wrapped up an 86-76 season that marked a nine-win improvement over his 2018 debut. But a strong second half wasn’t enough to save the embattled Callaway, who had one year remaining on his contract. New York went 46-26 following the All-Star break and made an unlikely charge into the National League wild-card race, only to be eliminated during the final week. The Mets become the seventh team seeking a new manager this offseason, joining the Angels, Cubs, Giants, Padres, Pirates and Royals.
October 3, 2019 3:43 am
Former Cardinals owner William V. Bidwill has died at 88, according to the team. The bowtie-wearing Bidwill headed a family operation that dated to 1932, when his father Charles purchased the Chicago Cardinals, reportedly for $50,000. Young Bidwill was a ballboy for the 1947 team that won the franchise’s lone NFL championship.
October 2, 2019 3:51 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Cubs coaches Mark Loretta and Will Venable are being considered for the team’s managerial opening. Loretta and Venable join David Ross as the club’s only internal candidates to replace Joe Maddon, whose contract expired after the Cubs missed the playoffs this year for the first time since 2014. The 48-year-old Loretta was Maddon’s bench coach this year after spending the previous nine seasons in San Diego’s front office. He hit .295 in 15 years in the majors with Milwaukee, Houston, San Diego, Boston and the Los Angeles Dodgers. Venable has been the Cubs’ first base coach for the past two seasons. He also worked in Chicago’s front office before moving to the coaching staff. The 36-year-old Venable played in the majors for nine years, batting .249 with 81 homers.
October 2, 2019 3:47 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Washington’s Juan Soto delivered a bases-loaded single against Josh Hader that scored three runs with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning, and the Nationals rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 in the NL wild-card game Tuesday night. After Hader loaded the bases by hitting one batter, walking another and allowing a bloop single, Soto took a 96 mph fastball to right, and the ball skipped under outfielder Trent Grisham’s glove. That error allowed one of the runs to cross the plate. Stephen Strasburg threw three scoreless innings to earn the win in the first relief appearance of his major league career, regular season or playoffs. Daniel Hudson pitched the ninth for the save. The Nationals, so familiar with playoff heartache, advanced to face the NL West champion Dodgers in the best-of-five Division Series. Game 1 is Thursday in Los Angeles. Meanwhile, Sean Manaea will start Wednesday’s AL wild-card game for the Oakland Athletics against the Tampa Bay Rays just more than a year removed from shoulder surgery. The left-hander earned the nod over Mike Fiers in a tough decision. Manaea returned from injury later than he had hoped but immediately found a groove. He went 4-0 with 1.21 ERA in five September starts following the operation last September.
October 1, 2019 3:53 am
UNDATED (AP) – Another major league team is in the market for a manager. Angels skipper Brad Ausmus has been dismissed after going 72-90 in his lone season at the helm. He took over for Mike Scioscia (SOH’-shuh), who led Los Angeles to its only World Series title in 2002 and lasted 19 years at the post. The Angels have made the playoffs just once since 2009 and struggled this year despite the presence of star outfielder Mike Trout, two-way player Shohei Ohtani and others. The dismissal has sparked speculation that former Angels bench coach Joe Maddon will take over. Maddon and the Cubs parted company on Sunday.
September 30, 2019 3:57 am
UNDATED (AP) – Manager Joe Maddon will not be back with the Cubs next season after they failed to make the playoffs for the first time in five years. Maddon and Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein announced the move before the team’s season finale at St. Louis. Maddon’s contract expired after Sunday’s game. The Cubs ended a 108-year World Series championship drought when Maddon led the club to the 2016 title. The Cubs also made it to the NL Championship Series in 2015 and 2017 and reached the playoffs as a wild card last season. Chicago was poised to reach the postseason this month until a nine-game losing streak led to the Cubs’ elimination.
