September 20, 2019 3:41 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Shed Long had three hits and scored the go-ahead run in the 11th on an unusual inning-ending double play as the Seattle Mariners beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-5 on Thursday. The Mariners swept the three-game series between last-place teams and sent the Pirates to their sixth straight loss. Long reached base on first baseman Jose Osuna’s error to start the 11th and Omar Narvaez singled with one out to put runners on the corners. Austin Nola then hit a chopper to second baseman Kevin Kramer – rather than flip the ball to second, he ran at Narvaez, who alertly stopped and began to retreat. Kramer then threw to first, and Narvaez was eventually tagged in a 4-3-6-2 rundown as Long scored. Kramer likely would’ve had no chance to throw home at the start to get Long. Long also drove in two runs. Pittsburgh’s Jake Elmore had three hits and two RBIs. Brandon Brennan (3-6) pitched one scoreless inning and rookie Erik Swanson worked around a walk in the 11th for his first career save. Clay Holmes (1-2) took the loss, though the winning run was unearned. Mariners left-handed Yusei Kikuchi lasted four innings in what figures to be his next-to-last start of the season, allowing four runs and eight hits with one strikeout and one walk. Signed from Japan to a three-year, $43-million contract in the offseason, Kikuchi has made 31 starts and pitched 155 2/3 innings. He is 6-10 with 5.55 ERA. Pirates starter Joe Musgrove gave up four runs – two earned – and five hits in five innings. He struck out six and walked two. Seattle tied the score at 5-all in the seventh on Nola’s two-out single after Elmore put Pittsburgh ahead 5-4 in the fifth with an RBI single. Both teams had four-run second innings. Long’s two-run single capped the Mariners’ half in which Braden Bishop hit an RBI single and another run scored on shortstop Cole Tucker’s throwing error. The Pirates got run-scoring doubles from Elias Diaz, Elmore and Musgrove before Kevin Newman capped the inning with an RBI single. Elmore’s hit snapped a 0-for-19 skid.
September 18, 2019 3:44 am
UNDATED (AP) – Eli Manning’s NFL career began when he took over for Hall of Famer Kurt Warner midway through the New York Giants’ 2004 season. Giants coach Pat Shurmur is making a quarterback change following the team’s 0-2 start, announcing that Daniel Jones is replacing Manning under center. Jones was taken by the Giants with the sixth overall pick in this year’s NFL draft and looked impressive during preseason. He started three seasons at Duke, completing 60% of his passes for 8,201 yards, 52 touchdowns and 29 interceptions before turning pro after his junior year.
Manning led the Giants to Super Bowl titles following the 2007 and ’11 seasons, beating Tom Brady and the Patriots both times. He’s broken every Giants career record for quarterbacks and has started all but one game since taking over for Warner 15 years ago. Elsewhere in the NFL: Saints quarterback Drew Brees says he is scheduled to undergo surgery on his throwing thumb tomorrow, adding that he’ll dedicate himself to a rehabilitation process to get back to playing as quickly as he can. Brees tore a ligament in the right thumb when he made contact with Los Angeles defensive tackle Aaron Donald during the follow-through of a throw in Sunday’s loss to the Rams. Rehabilitation is estimated to take about six weeks, but that timeline could change after surgery.
September 17, 2019 3:51 am
UNDATED (AP) – The NHL is guaranteed labor peace for the next three seasons after the players association announced it is declining to trigger its opt-out clause. Meetings between owners and players have been going on since February and increased in frequency in recent weeks. The league did not opt out of the CBA, with Commissioner Gary Bettman citing momentum and the importance of labor peace overriding the issues owners might have. Player concerns include escrow payments, health care, Olympic participation and the definition of what qualifies as hockey-related revenue. The last CBA was negotiated in 2013 and runs through the 2021-22 season.
September 16, 2019 3:44 am
CHICAGO (AP) – Star first baseman Anthony Rizzo was pulled from a game Sunday with a sprained right ankle, putting a damper on the Chicago Cubs’ 16-6 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Rizzo was injured fielding a bunt at first base in the third inning. He had to be helped off the field and could not put pressure on the leg. X-rays taken at Wrigley Field showed no fractures, and an MRI has been scheduled for Monday. Chicago’s postseason pursuit has already been hindered by an injury to shortstop Javier Baez, who is out for the rest of the regular season with a hairline fracture of his left thumb. The Cubs maintained their one-game lead over Milwaukee for the second NL wild card. The Nationals are 1 1/2 games ahead of Chicago for the first wild card. Kris Bryant homered twice, and Ian Happ, Kyle Schwarber and Jonathan Lucroy also connected as Chicago battered Pittsburgh for a third straight day. The Cubs scored a total of 47 runs on 49 hits in completing the three-game sweep. Chicago starter Jose Quintana was pulled after allowing five runs in the third inning, when he fell apart following Rizzo’s injury. After Erik Gonzalez’s leadoff double, Pirates starter Trevor Williams bunted toward third base. Rizzo charged aggressively from first and rolled his ankle a few steps before fielding the ball. He threw wide to first base and dropped to the ground in pain. Brad Wieck (1-1) later replaced Quintana with two on and struck out both batters he faced to end the inning. The Cubs rallied for five runs in the bottom of the inning to lead 8-5, starting with Bryant’s second homer of the game and ending when reliever Michael Feliz threw wildly on an appeal play at third base. Williams (7-7) allowed seven runs in 2 1/3 innings. Pablo Reyes drove in three runs for the Pirates. Bryant gave the Cubs an early lead with a three-run blast in the first. Happ, who replaced Rizzo, hit a two-run shot in the fifth to make it 12-6. Jason Heyward drove in a run in the sixth and Schwarber hit a two-run shot in the seventh. Lucroy capped the scoring with a solo homer in the eighth.
September 14, 2019 4:17 am
CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) – Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh Penguins are eager to move forward after an ugly first-round sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders. The Penguins won back-to-back Stanley Cups before last season’s disappointment. Pittsburgh traded productive winger Phil Kessel to Arizona in the offseason. The Penguins started training camp on Friday.
September 14, 2019 4:16 am
UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. (AP) – No. 13 Penn State used a pair of late defensive stands to hold off rival Pittsburgh 17-10. The Nittany Lions turned the Panthers away twice in the fourth quarter. Pitt couldn’t score a touchdown despite having the ball at the Penn State 1 midway through the final frame. Pitt’s last-ditch possession ended with quarterback Kenny Pickett’s heave to the end zone falling incomplete. Journey Brown ran for 109 yards and a score for Penn State, which improved to 53-43-4 all-time against the Panthers.
September 10, 2019 3:45 am
NEW ORLEANS (AP) – Will Lutz drilled a 58-yard field goal as time expired to kick the New Orleans Saints to a 30-28 victory against the Houston Texans. Lutz also hit a 47-yarder late in the fourth quarter to give New Orleans a 27-21 cushion in the final minute, but New Orleans needed his sturdy leg again after DeShaun Watson hit Kenny Stills for a 37-yard touchdown with 37 seconds to play. Drew Brees (breez) was 32 of 43 for 370 yards, two touchdowns and one interception for the Saints, who trailed 21-10 in the second half.
September 9, 2019 3:07 am
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) – The New England Patriots trolled the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday and then blew them out Sunday night. A day after the acquiring former Steelers malcontent Antonio Brown, the defending Super Bowl champions showed they might not even need him, getting 341 yards and three touchdown passes from 42-year-old Tom Brady to beat Pittsburgh 33-3. Phillip Dorsett caught two touchdown passes, including a 58-yard score, and Josh Gordon – another disgruntled receiver who wore out his welcome elsewhere – caught one TD pass. On the night New England unveiled its sixth NFL championship banner, Super Bowl MVP Julian Edelman caught six passes for 83 yards and also completed a throw to help the Patriots begin their quest for back-to-back titles. The last team to do that: New England in 2003 and ’04. Facing the last team to beat them, the Patriots opened a 20-0 lead before Pittsburgh kicked a field goal on fourth-and-goal from the 1 with 10:17 left in the third quarter. Brady responded with a 58-yard touchdown pass to Dorsett and a 27-3 lead. Dorsett, who will be moving down the depth chart Monday when the Patriots make Brown’s signing official, had four catches for 95 yards and the first multi-score game of his career. Ben Roethlisberger completed 27 of 47 passes for 277 yards and an interception, with much of the production coming on non-scoring drives in garbage time. The offense showed the effects of losing two of its biggest playmakers: Brown, who talked and tweeted his way out of both Pittsburgh and Oakland in one offseason, and running back Le’Veon Bell, a two-time All-Pro who sat out all of last season to avoid a franchise tag. In their place, James Conner gained 21 yards on 10 carries; the Steelers gained only 32 yards rushing in all. Top receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster caught six passes for 78 yards, 26 of it coming on one throw in the final six minutes with the Steelers already trailing 33-3. The drive ended when Roethlisberger threw it into the end zone from the 41-yard line and was picked off by Devin McCourty. The Steelers had five full possessions in the first half and punted on four of them, going three-and-out three times.
September 8, 2019 7:12 am
Zack Swartz and Zahmere Robinson led the way as Wash High won for the 700th time in school history, taking down Summit Academy, 58-16, Saturday afternoon. The Little Prexies jumped in front with 26 first-quarter points. Swartz threw three TD passes and ran for two scores. Robinson scored three times including a 90-yard run to put the game’s first points on the board. Caleb Jackson, Mike Allen, Asa Charnik and Chance Cohen also scored, Cohen on a 80+yard kick return. Wash High (700-366-61) is just the fourth WPIAL team to amass 700 wins, joining Jeannette (750), New Castle (741) and Aliquippa (726). Greensburg Salem (695) is poised to be the next team to cross the 700-win threshold, followed by Clairton (684).
September 7, 2019 4:00 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Serena Williams lost her temper and then lost the match when she played for last year’s U.S. Open championship. She gets another chance Saturday night, again seeking a record-tying 24th Grand Slam singles title when she faces 19-year-old Canadian Bianca Andreescu. The 37-year-old Williams has lost all three major finals she has reached since returning from giving birth, including to Naomi Osaka in Flushing Meadows last year. That match is best remembered for Williams’ arguments with chair umpire Carlos Ramos. She remains one behind Margaret Court’s record for most Grand Slam trophies and seeks her seventh at the U.S. Open, 20 years after winning her first. Andreescu, 33-4 this season, can become the first Canadian woman to win a Grand Slam title.
