July 1, 2019 6:26 am
UNDATED (AP) – Blue Jays rookie Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is set to become the youngest participant in Home Run Derby history when he swings for the $1 million prize in Cleveland on July 8. The son of Hall of Famer Vladimir Guerrero, will be 20 years, 114 days old for the derby. Major League Baseball has confirmed that Guerrero has joined a field that includes Brewers outfielder Christian Yelich (YEH’-lihch), Mets first baseman Pete Alonso, Pirates slugger Josh Bell and Indians first baseman Carlos Santana. The final three participants will be announced Wednesday.
July 1, 2019 5:48 am
Justin Verlander, Gerrit Cole and four of their Houston Astros teammates will lead the American League squad at the All-Star Game in Cleveland on July 9. Major League Baseball unveiled full rosters for the midsummer showcase Sunday, and the Astros top all big league clubs with six players. No other AL club has more than three. Alex Bregman, George Springer and Michael Brantley will be in the starting lineup for the AL, and Verlander, Cole and Ryan Pressly are on the pitching staff. It will be the first trip to Cleveland for those Astros since Game 3 of last year’s AL Division Series, when Houston won 11-3 to complete a sweep. The Dodgers, Brewers and Rockies lead the NL with four players each. The Los Angeles contingent includes Cody Bellinger, Clayton Kershaw, Hyun-Jin Ryu and Walker Buehler – plenty of familiar faces for manager Dave Roberts.
June 30, 2019 11:13 pm
MILWAUKEE (AP) – Brandon Woodruff cruised to his 10th win of the season, Eric Thames homered and tripled, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 on Saturday night. Woodruff (10-2) allowed one earned run and six hits with six strikeouts in 7 2/3 innings, helping the Brewers improve to 4-5 on their current 10-game homestand. The right-hander remains among the National League leaders in wins and strikeouts. While Woodruff hardly broke a sweat, counterpart Jordan Lyles (5-4) threw two wild pitches, hit a batter, gave up a home run and allowed three earned runs in six innings in his first start since being placed on the 10-day injured list with hamstring tightness. Lyles is 0-2 in three starts this season against Milwaukee. The Pirates scored in the first when Colin Moran doubled to right to score Kevin Newman. Newman reached on a single, extending his hitting streak to 19 games, the longest by a Pittsburgh rookie since 1900. After drawing a walk, Christian Yelich knotted the game at 1 in the bottom half, scoring from third on a failed pickoff attempt at first base. Lyles was looking to catch Ryan Braun napping, but the right-hander made an errant throw. Thames tripled down the right-field line, scoring Braun and putting the Brewers ahead 2-1. That was all the cushion Woodruff would need. Thames added another run in the fourth on a solo blast to right, his 11th. Thames now has hit safely in 10 of his last 12 starts. Josh Hader picked up his 20th save.
June 30, 2019 11:12 pm
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) – Serena Williams says she’s feeling better as Wimbledon is about to get started.
Her coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, says the seven-time Wimbledon champion doesn’t have pain anymore in a left knee that was at least partly responsible for Williams playing only 12 matches so far this season and not getting a chance to prepare properly for tournaments. It’s hard to know what Williams will be able to do at the All England Club. The draw put her in a quarter of the bracket with defending champion Angelique Kerber, two other past champions a No. 1 and some top-notch grass-court players.
June 27, 2019 1:41 pm
LONDON (AP) -Roger Federer has been seeded above Rafael Nadal for Wimbledon, despite the Spaniard being higher in the rankings. Top-ranked Novak Djokovic is seeded No. 1, with Federer second and Nadal third. Kevin Anderson is fourth despite being eighth in the rankings, a bump after reaching the men’s final last year. The men’s seedings for Wimbledon are based on the rankings, but with extra points for grass-court tournaments in the last year. The women’s seedings follow the rankings, with French Open champion Ash Barty at No. 1 ahead of Naomi Osaka and Karolina Pliskova.
June 27, 2019 1:40 pm
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) – Vanderbilt has captured its second College World Series title in its four appearances, and first since 2014. Mason Hickman and Jake Eder combined for 14 strikeouts as the Commodores clobbered Michigan, 8-2. Hickman struck out 10 in six innings and limited the Wolverines to one hit after he gave up three in a row to start the game. Pat DeMarco homered for Vandy.
June 5, 2019 9:34 am
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Kevin Durant still isn’t ready to return for the Golden State Warriors as he works back from a strained right calf he suffered during the Western Conference semifinals. Durant didn’t practice with the Warriors in Oakland leading into Game 3 of the NBA Finals, and he has yet to get on the court for a structured session with the two-time defending champions. He suffered the injury on May 8. He is listed as questionable for Game 3 on Wednesday night. In addition, backup big man Kevon Looney suffered a non-displaced cartilage fracture on the right side of his collarbone area and will miss the remainder of the finals.
June 5, 2019 9:33 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Austin Riley and Josh Donaldson hit three-run home runs in consecutive innings, and the Atlanta Braves rallied for 12-5 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night. Freddie Freeman added a two-run homer, his 15th, in a three-run ninth inning that sealed the Braves third straight win. Riley sent a slider from Kyle Crick (2-2) over the wall in right field for his ninth home run of the season in the seventh, turning a 5-3 deficit into a one-run lead. Donaldson pushed the lead to 9-5 in the eighth with a 439-foot shot to left-center field for his eighth. Dan Winkler (2-1) had one strikeout in a scoreless sixth inning to get the win. Three Pirates errors partially contributed to five Braves runs. The three on Riley’s home run came after left fielder Bryan Reynolds dropped a soft line drive from Nick Markakis with one out in the seventh.
June 16, 2020 3:42 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred says there may be no major league games this year after a breakdown in talks between teams and the players’ union on how to split up money in a season delayed by the coronavirus pandemic. The league also revealed several players have tested positive for COVID-19. Two days after union head Tony Clark declared additional negotiations futile, Deputy Commissioner Dan Halem sent a seven-page letter to players’ association chief negotiator Bruce Meyer asking the union whether it will waive the threat of legal action and tell MLB to announce a spring training report date and a regular-season schedule. These were just the latest escalating volleys in a sport viewing disagreement over starting the season as a preliminary battle ahead of bargaining to replace the labor contract that expires on Dec. 1, 2021.
June 16, 2020 3:41 am
MOON TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) – Robert Morris is leaving the Northeast Conference to join the Horizon League. The school will become the 12th member of the Horizon League on July 1. Robert Morris will join the league in 10 sports, including men’s and women’s basketball as well as soccer and track and field. The Colonials have become an NEC power in men’s and women’s basketball in recent years. The men’s program has reached the NCAA Tournament four times in the last 11 years while the women’s program has won the NEC’s automatic bid seven times in the last 14 seasons. In conjunction with the move to the Horizon League, Robert Morris announced that its football program will be joining the Big South as an associate member in 2021.
