October 7, 2019 9:25 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Jay Gruden has been fired as head coach of the Washington Redskins after an 0-5 start to his sixth season. The team announced the move Monday and said offensive line coach Bill Callahan would replace Gruden on an interim basis. Owner Daniel Snyder and team president Bruce Allen informed Gruden he was out early Monday morning, a day after a 33-7 loss to the New England Patriots.
October 7, 2019 3:50 am
WASHINGTON (AP) – Russell Martin delivered a two-run double and a two-run homer as the Los Angeles Dodgers hammered the Washington Nationals, 10-4 to take a two-games-to-one lead in the NL Division Series. Martin’s double put Los Angeles ahead to stay and sparked a seven-run sixth that began when Game 1 starter Patrick Corbin replaced Anibal Sanchez. Kike Hernandez also hit a two-run double in the sixth before Justin Turner capped the rally with a three-run homer. Meanwhile in St. Louis, the Atlanta Braves have a two-games-to-one lead in the NL Division Series following their second straight win. The Braves were held to four hits before scoring three times off closer Carlos Martinez in the ninth inning to pull out a 3-1 victory over the Cardinals in St. Louis. The Redbirds were one out from a 1-0 win until Dansby Swanson laced an RBI double and scored on Adam Duvall’s two-run single.
October 6, 2019 6:10 am
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) – Kenny Pickett threw a 26-yard touchdown pass to V’Lique Carter with 38 seconds remaining, and Pittsburgh rallied to beat Duke 33-30 on Saturday night after wasting a 23-point lead. Pickett finished 29 of 48 for 268 yards with three touchdown passes to help the Panthers (4-2, 1-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) claim a wild victory – their fifth straight in this Coastal Division series – after the teams combined for 10 total turnovers with each scoring TDs in the final 90 seconds. Pitt led 26-3 with less than 3 minutes left in the third quarter, only to have the Blue Devils turn three straight turnovers into touchdowns and then take a 30-26 lead on Quentin Harris’ 44-yard touchdown pass to Deon Jackson with 1:30 remaining. Pickett needed just four plays to put the Panthers back in front. He found Carter over the middle and the Pitt running back got past defensive back Marquis Waters with a spin move on his way to the end zone. Patrick Jones II then sacked Harris on the third play of Duke’s next drive, jarring the ball loose, and Phil Campbell III recovered it with 22 seconds to play. Harris finished 18 of 43 for 165 yards with two rushing touchdowns for the Blue Devils (3-2, 1-1). But he had five of Duke’s six turnovers – two interceptions and a fumble during a four-play span of the first quarter, plus a third-quarter fumble in addition to the game-sealer. Pickett threw TDs covering 19 yards to Taysir Mack and 4 yards to Nakia Griffin-Stewart for the Panthers, and Paris Ford returned one of his two interceptions 26 yards for a touchdown before he was ejected for targeting.
October 5, 2019 3:51 am
(AP) – The New York Yankees did a bit of everything in taking the opener of their AL Division Series against the Twins on Friday. Torres delivered a tiebreaking, two-run double in the fifth inning before DJ LeMahieu collected four RBIs as the Yankees routed Minnesota, 10-4 in the Bronx. The game was tied 3-3 until Torres hit a sharp grounder that glanced off third baseman Miguel Sano, allowing Aaron Judge and Brett Gardner to score. Torres also had one of the Yankees’ three stolen bases. Cameron Maybin swiped a pair of bags for New York. LeMahieu and Gardner belted solo homers in the sixth before LeMahieu lined a three-run double in the seventh to put the game out of reach. The Yanks finished with six extra-base hits, including a pair of doubles from cleanup hitter Edwin Encarnacion. Judge made two diving catches in right field as the AL East champions handed Minnesota its major league-record 14th consecutive playoff defeat – 11 of them to the Yankees since 2004. The Yankees also received excellent relief pitching after James Paxton was reached for three runs while striking out eight over 4 2/3 innings. Six relievers combined to hold the Twins to two hits, including Sano’s solo homer off winning pitcher Tommy Kahnle. Jorge Polanco and Nelson Cruz also went deep for the Twins, who will try to even the series Saturday at Yankee Stadium. Masahiro Tanaka is scheduled to pitch for New York against Randy Dobnak. In Houston, Justin Verlander and Jose Altuve have sparked the Astros to victory in the opener of their American League Division Series against the Tampa Bay Rays. Verlander struck out eight while holding the Rays to one hit over seven innings of the Astros’ 6-2 victory. The 21-game winner during the regular season didn’t allow a hit until Brandon Lowe singled leading off the fifth. Altuve opened the scoring with a two-run blast in the fifth. The second baseman has homered in Game 1 of the ALDS for three straight years and had nine home runs in 33 career postseason games Houston doubled its lead later in the fifth when Lowe (low) misplayed a popup for an error. Yordan Alvarez and Yuli Gurriel followed with RBI doubles in the seventh to make it 6-0. The Rays will face another 20-game winner on Saturday as Gerrit Cole is slated to take the mound against Blake Snell. Cole won his last 16 decisions this season and led the majors in strikeouts. The Nationals have wrested home-field advantage from the NL’s top seed. The Nats bounced back from Thursday’s 6-0 loss in Los Angeles by downing the Dodgers, 4-2. Stephen Strasburg was sharp over six innings as he limited Los Angeles to a run and three hits while striking out 10. He outdueled Clayton Kershaw, who was reached for three runs and six hits over six frames. Nationals ace Max Scherzer struck out the side in the eighth, three days after he was relieved by Strasburg in Washington’s 4-3 wild-card win over the Brewers. Daniel Hudson turned it into a nail-bitter by loading the bases in the ninth on a Justin Turner double and a couple walks. But the Washington closer preserved the win by fanning Corey Seager. Anthony Rendon provided an RBI double off Kershaw to put the Nationals ahead, 3-0 in the second inning. The Dodgers eventually got within 3-2 on Max Muncy’s solo homer in the seventh, but Asdrubal Cabrera lined an RBI single in the eighth to put the Nats ahead by a pair. The series resumes on Sunday. In Atlanta, Mike Foltynewicz has helped the Braves even their NL Division Series at a game apiece. Foltynewicz was sharp in the Braves’ 3-0 shutout of the Cardinals, limiting St. Louis to three hits while striking out seven over seven innings. He continued his string of strong performances after going 6-1 with a 2.65 ERA over his last 10 regular-season starts. The Braves struck early as Josh Donaldson provided an RBI single in the bottom of the first. But the score remained 1-0 until pinch-hitter Adam Duvall launched a two-run homer in the seventh. Mark Melancon picked up the save, one day after surrendering four runs in Atlanta’s 7-6 loss to the Cards. Melancon gave up consecutive one-out singles to Paul Goldschmidt and Marcell Ozuna before getting Yadier Molina and Kolten Wong to strike out. The runs came off Jack Flaherty, who fanned eight and allowed eight hits over seven frames. The series resumes Sunday in St. Louis, where Adam Wainwright will start for the Cardinals against Mike Soroka.
October 4, 2019 3:48 am
ATLANTA (AP) – Marcell Ozuna and Kolten Wong delivered two-run doubles in the ninth inning before the St. Louis Cardinals held off the Atlanta Braves, 7-6 in Game 1 of the National League Division Series. The Braves held a 3-1 lead in the eighth until Paul Goldschmidt hit a solo homer and Matt Carpenter delivered an RBI single. Ronald Acuna Jr. and Freddie Freeman homered in the bottom of the ninth off closer Carlos Martinez before the Redbirds’ closer got the last two outs to complete the victory. Meanwhile, in Los Angeles, Walker Buehler combined with three relievers on a two-hitter as the Los Angeles Dodgers took the opener of their NL Division Series with the Washington Nationals, 6-0. Buehler was fantastic for six innings, striking out eight and holding Washington to one hit. Max Muncy had three RBIs, including a two-run single that put the Dodgers up 4-0 in the seventh before pinch-hitters Gavin Lux and Joc Pederson belted solo homers in the eighth off Hunter Strickland.
October 4, 2019 3:46 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Conor Sheary scored twice against his old team and Carter Hutton stopped 26 shots in the Buffalo Sabres’ 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night in the opener for both teams. Rasmus Dahlin also scored to help Buffalo give Ralph Krueger a victory in his Sabres coaching debut. Buffalo beat Pittsburgh in regulation for the first time since April 23, 2013. Sheary, who won two Stanley Cups with the Penguins, has four goals and six points in four games against his former team. Evgeni Malkin scored on the power play for Pittsburgh. Matt Murray made 38 saves. Pittsburgh had 15 wins in its past 18 games against the Sabres, dating to Oct. 5, 2013. The Penguins also previously won eight of nine home games against the Sabres and 11 of 15 since PPG Paints Arena opened in 2010-11.
October 3, 2019 3:44 am
UNDATED (AP) – The St. Louis Blues hoisted their first Stanley Cup banner to the rafters Wednesday night before falling to the 2018 champions. Jakub Vrana scored at 2:51 of overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 3-2 victory at St. Louis. Sammy Blais and Alex Pietrangelo scored in the first eight minutes to give the Blues a 2-0 led over Washington. Blais scored on the Blues’ first shot 53 seconds into the game, and Pietrangelo added a power-play goal. But reigning goal-scoring champ Alex Ovechkin got the Capitals within 2-1 later in the first period before Dmitry Orlov tied it in the second. Ryan O’Reilly had the secondary assist on the two St. Louis goals. Lars Eller set up the Caps’ first two tallies and John Carlson also finished with two assists.
October 1, 2019 3:52 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NFL has run out of patience with Vontaze Burfict and his overly-aggressive hits. The Oakland Raiders linebacker has been suspended for the remainder of the season by the league for his helmet-to-helmet hit on Indianapolis tight end Jack Doyle. The hit came in the first half of Sunday’s 31-24 victory over the Colts. Burfict will miss the final 12 games of the season and any playoff games for “repeated violations of unnecessary roughness rules.” He has been suspended three times in his career for hits violating the league’s player safety rules. Burfict had served two three-game suspensions already in his career and had been warned about severe punishment for future infractions.
September 30, 2019 3:57 am
UNDATED (AP) – The St. Louis Cardinals have won their first division title in four years by trouncing the Chicago Cubs. The Cardinals are NL Central champions after Jack Flaherty limited the Cubs to a pair of hits over seven innings of the Redbirds’ 9-0 victory. Flaherty received early run support as St. Louis grabbed an 8-0 lead by the third inning after dropping the first two games of the series.
Matt Carpenter’s three-run blast gave the Cards an eight-run cushion. Dexter Fowler belted a two-run homer in the second and Paul Goldschmidt added a solo blast after his RBI single put the Cardinals ahead in the first inning. The outcome sets up a division series between the Cardinals and Braves.
September 30, 2019 3:52 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – The Pittsburgh Pirates have fired manager Clint Hurdle. The decision was made after a stunning second-half collapse that dropped the Pirates to last in the National League Central and included a series of off-the-field issues. Pittsburgh entered the final day of the regular season 69-92, including a 25-47 mark since the All-Star break. Hurdle went 735-720 in nine seasons with Pittsburgh, helping the club emerge from 20 years of losing to reach the playoffs three straight years from 2013-15.
