January 22, 2021 3:58 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – The Washington Capitals will be without three-time NHL MVP Alex Ovechkin and three other prominent players for at least the next four games because of COVID-19 protocols. That announcement comes from coach Peter Laviolette and leaves the Caps without the quartet for two games each against the Sabres and Islanders. Ovechkin was placed on the league’s unavailable list Wednesday along with center Evgeny Kuznetsov, goaltender Ilya Samsonov and defenseman Dmitry Orlov. Laviolette indicated there was a positive virus test and the league did contact tracing. Washington was fined $100,000 for breaking pandemic protocol for the players being in a hotel room together unmasked.
January 21, 2021 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – Three-time MVP Alex Ovechkin and three other Washington Capitals players have been added to the NHL’s COVID-19 list and the team has been fined $100,000 by the league for violating coronavirus protocols. Center Evgeny Kuznetsov, defenseman Dmitry Orlov and top goalie Ilya Samsonov are the other Capitals who can’t practice for the time being. Five players from the Carolina Hurricanes also have been on that list and that team’s games were called off by the league through “at least” Saturday.
January 21, 2021 3:54 am
UNDATED (AP) – Outfielder Michael Brantley has agreed to a $32 million, two-year contract with the Houston Astros, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press. The deal is pending completion of a physical. Brantley spent the last two seasons in Houston after playing for Cleveland for his first 10 MLB seasons. Brantley hit .300 with five homers and 22 RBIs in 46 games in last year’s pandemic-shortened season.
January 21, 2021 2:43 am
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) – Longtime NFL quarterback Philip Rivers has decided to retire after playing one season with the Indianapolis Colts. His decision at age 39 comes less than two weeks after the Colts suffered a 27-24 loss at Buffalo in the wild-card round of the playoffs. Rivers spent his first 16 seasons with the San Diego/Los Angeles Chargers after they acquired him in a draft-day trade that sent Eli Manning to the New York Giants in 2004. Rivers finishes his career ranked among the league’s top five in career completions, career yards passing and career TDs. He never played in a Super Bowl.
January 20, 2021 3:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Sidney Crosby scored 1:11 into overtime to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 5-4 victory over the Washington Capitals. Crosby collected his third goal of the season when he pounced on a rebound off a Kris Letang shot and flipped it by Vitek Vanecek and into the open net to give the Penguins their second win over their rivals in three days. Colton Sceviour, Evgeni Malkin, Teddy Blueger and Jake Guentzel also scored for Pittsburgh. Tom Wilson scored twice for the Capitals. Evgeny Kuznetsov and Lars Eller both picked up their first goals of the season but Washington let leads of 3-1 and 4-2 slip away.
January 20, 2021 3:51 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Justin Champagnie tied a career-high 31 points on 12-for-15 shooting and grabbed 14 rebounds, and Pittsburgh held off Duke for a 79-73 win. It was the fifth 20-plus point, 10-plus rebound effort for the sophomore Champagnie in just his eighth game of the season for the Panthers . Following Matthew Hurt’s layup with 1:23 remaining to bring Duke within 75-73, Au’Diese Toney threw down a dunk off a pass from Johnson with 56 seconds left to seal the win despite the fact the Panthers missed four foul shots in the last 17 seconds. Jalen Johnson scored a career-high 24 points for Duke.
January 20, 2021 3:58 am
Hall of Fame pitcher Don Sutton has died. He was a stalwart of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ rotation spanning an era from Sandy Koufax to Fernando Valenzuela. The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, says Sutton died at his home in Rancho Mirage, California, after a long struggle with cancer. He was 75. The Atlanta Braves, where Sutton was a long-time broadcaster, said he died in his sleep. Sutton had a career record of 324-256 and an ERA of 3.26. He spent 16 of his 23 major league seasons with the Dodgers.
January 20, 2021 3:59 am
UNDATED (AP) -Tiger Woods has undergone a fifth back surgery that has put the start to his new year on hold. Woods did not say when he had the microdiscetomy, only that doctors deemed it a success and expect a full recovery. He will miss two tournaments he normally plays in Southern California – the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines and the Genesis Invitational at Riviera. Woods still plans to be at Riviera as the tournament host. He says the surgery was to remove a pressurized disc fragment that was giving him nerve pain last month when he played the PNC Championship with 11-year-old son Charlie.
January 19, 2021 3:58 am
SAN DIEGO (AP) — The San Diego Padres are adding yet another pitcher to their rotation, agreeing to bring right-hander Joe Musgrove to his hometown team in a trade with the Pittsburgh Pirates, according to a person familiar with the deal. Another person confirmed the New York Mets were also involved in the trade, acquiring left-hander Joey Lucchesi from San Diego. The people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Monday because the deal had not been announced. Musgrove, who played at Grossmont High in suburban El Cajon, California, will join a rotation that includes Yu Darvish and Blake Snell, who were obtained in blockbuster trades after Christmas. Musgrove will head from a Pirates team that had the worst record in the majors during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season to a Padres club that ended a 13-year playoff drought and believes it can contend for the World Series title. The Pirates will get a number of prospects in return, including well-regarded outfielder Hudson Head. The Pirates also get three young pitchers; Pittsburgh native David Bednar, Omar Cruz and Drake Fellow from San Diego. They also get catcher/outfielder Endy Rodriguez from the Mets. Musgrove, Pittsburgh’s opening day starter in 2020, went 1-5 with a 3.86 ERA last season, striking out 55 in 39 2/3 innings.
January 19, 2021 8:57 am
NEW YORK (AP) – New York Mets general manager Jared Porter has been fired after sending graphic, uninvited text messages and images to a female reporter in 2016 when he was working for the Chicago Cubs in their front office. Mets owner Steve Cohen says “we have terminated Jared Porter this morning.” ESPN reported that Porter sent dozens of texts to the woman. ESPN said it obtained a copy of the text history. New York hired the 41-year-old Porter last month after he spent the past four seasons with the Arizona Diamondbacks as senior vice president and assistant general manager. Mets president Sandy Alderson said Porter acknowledged to him a serious error in judgment.
