June 6, 2025 4:31 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Framber Valdez pitched seven strong innings, Isaac Paredes homered twice, and the Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-2 after a lengthy rain delay. Valdez (6-4) won his fifth straight decision by limiting the Pirates to two runs on five hits with three walks and a season-high 11 strikeouts after waiting out the delay that pushed the start of the game back 3 hours and 22 minutes. Paredes hit his 13th homer of the season leading off the fourth against Mitch Keller (1-8). His 14th, a two-run shot in the ninth, put the game away. Jared Triolo had two hits and scored twice for the Pirates.
June 6, 2025 4:33 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers is back for a 21st season. The four-time NFL MVP agreed to terms on a one-year deal with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The decision ends months of “Will he? Or won’t he?” speculation for Rodgers, who even visited the team’s facility in March but took his time before deciding to join Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. Rodgers is coming off a season in which he threw 28 touchdowns against 11 interceptions for the Jets, who limped to a 5-12 finish. Financial terms of the deal were not announced.
June 6, 2025 4:35 am
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Tyrese Haliburton scored with 0.3 seconds left for Indiana’s first and only lead of the game and the Pacers, the last-minute comeback kings of these playoffs, did it again to beat the Oklahoma City Thunder 111-110 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night. The Pacers were down by 15 with 9:42 left, matching the biggest fourth-quarter comeback in a finals game since Dallas came from 15 down to beat Miami on June 2, 2011. The coach of those Mavericks: Rick Carlisle. The coach of these Pacers: Rick Carlisle.
June 6, 2025 4:25 am
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — NiJaree Canady scattered six hits and pitched her way out of a seventh-inning jam, and Texas Tech forced a decisive third game in the Women’s College World Series with a 4-3 victory over Texas in Game 2 on Thursday night. The Game 3 showdown on Friday matches teams looking for their first national title. Canady, who allowed a go-ahead, two-run single for Texas while trying to walk a member of the Longhorns in the sixth inning of an eventual 2-1 loss in the series opener on Wednesday, again went the distance for the Red Raiders. She has pitched every inning in the super regionals and World Series and carried a 4-1 lead to the seventh.
June 5, 2025 4:13 pm
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers is back for a 21st season. A person with knowledge of the decision tells The Associated Press that the four-time NFL MVP plans to sign with the Pittsburgh Steelers. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity Thursday because Rodgers has yet to sign a contract. The decision ends months of ‘will he or won’t he’ for Rodgers, who even visited the team’s facility in March but took his time before deciding to join Mike Tomlin in Pittsburgh. Rodgers is coming off a season in which he threw 28 touchdowns against 11 interceptions for the Jets, who limped to a 5-12 finish.
June 5, 2025 4:35 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh’s Mike Burrows held Houston in check into the sixth inning to pick up the first victory of his career as a starter as the Pirates topped the Astros 3-0. Burrows, whose rise through the Pirates system was slowed by Tommy John surgery in 2023, allowed five hits and struck out six in 5 1/3 innings. The 25-year-old right-hander took a significant step forward after giving up eight runs in 8 1/3 innings across his first two starts. David Bednar worked the ninth for his seventh save. Starter Ryan Gusto took the loss for Houston.
June 5, 2025 1:16 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dan Muse is the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins have hired the former New York Rangers assistant and tasked him with helping the franchise navigate a rebuild during the twilight of longtime captain Sidney Crosby’s career. Muse replaces Mike Sullivan. Sullivan and the Penguins split in April after a near decade-long tenure that included a pair of Stanley Cup titles. The Rangers quickly scooped up Sullivan, naming him head coach in early May. The 42-year-old Muse was hired after a month-long search by Penguins general manager and director of hockey operations Kyle Dubas. Muse’s hiring leaves the Boston Bruins as the last of eight offseason head coaching vacancies.
June 5, 2025 4:33 am
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — Reese Atwood hit a go-ahead, two-run single for Texas in the sixth inning, when Texas Tech ace NiJaree Canady was trying to walk her intentionally and the Longhorns beat the Red Raiders 2-1 in Game 1 of the Women’s College World Series finals on Wednesday night. Teagan Kavan pitched a three-hitter for Texas (54-11), which can secure its first national title with a victory in Game 2 on Thursday night. Texas Tech (53-12) would have to win two straight to claim its first championship in its first WCWS appearance. Canady allowed four hits and struck out seven, but she has lost four of five career starts against Texas, with two of those defeats for the Red Raiders this season and two for her previous school, Stanford. You can hear game two tonight on WJPA 1450AM beginning at 7:45 p.m.
June 4, 2025 4:26 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Lance McCullers Jr. pitched six sparkling innings for his first win since 2022, and Christian Walker and Isaac Paredes hit late home runs as the Houston Astros beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-0. McCullers won a tight duel with Pirates ace Paul Skenes, allowing just two hits and one walk while striking out seven. It was his first win since Sept. 21, 2022, at Tampa Bay. The right-hander missed the past two seasons because of injuries, then was winless in his first five starts this year after being activated from the injured list on May 4. Skenes was nearly as dazzling in defeat, giving up one run and three hits in eight innings. He struck out eight and walked one.
June 4, 2025 4:23 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Nick Gonzales was back in the Pittsburgh Pirates starting lineup on Tuesday night for the first time since breaking his left ankle while hitting a home run on opening day in Miami on March 27. The second baseman was activated from the 60-day injured list before Tuesday’s series opener of a three-game series with the visiting Houston Astros. Gonzales had been sidelined with a non-displaced fracture. The 26-year-old Gonzales played nine rehab games with Triple-A Indianapolis and hit .194. In other roster moves, right-handed reliever Kyle Nicolas was recalled from Triple-A, and infielder/outfielder Nick Solak was designated for assignment.
