September 6, 2019 2:59 am
UNDATED (AP) – Star receiver Antonio Brown is not with the Oakland Raiders four days before the season opener amid reports he could be suspended over a confrontation with general manager Mike Mayock. Mayock said at the beginning of practice Thursday that Brown wasn’t at the Raiders facility and won’t be practicing a day after Brown posted a letter from the GM on social media detailing nearly $54,000 in fines for missing a practice and walkthrough. ESPN reported earlier Thursday that the two had a confrontation over the posting of the letter and that the Raiders plan to suspend Brown. Teams have the right under the collective bargaining agreement to suspend players up to four games for conduct detrimental to the team. A suspension would also void the more than $29 million in guarantees over the next two seasons contained in Brown’s contract with the Raiders.
September 6, 2019 2:55 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Brian Moran became the first player in major league history to make his debut while facing his brother on the mound, striking out younger sibling Colin in the Marlins’ 10-7 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday night. Brian (1-0) entered in the fourth inning with the Marlins trailing 5-2. After Bryan Reynolds led off with a groundout, Colin stepped to the plate having doubled in each of his first two at-bats. The 30-year-old Brian fell behind 3-1 before throwing back-to-back sliders to strike out Colin looking. The 26-year-old Colin shouted toward the mound on his way back to the dugout. Moran hit Josh Bell with a pitch and then got Melky Cabrera to fly out in his only inning of work. The Marlins rallied for four runs in the fifth, allowing Brian to get the win. Colin finished 2-for-4. They became the first siblings to face each other in a pitcher-batter scenario with one of the brothers making his major league debut, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
September 5, 2019 2:57 am
UNDATED (AP) – Ezekiel Elliott has a new contract with the Dallas Cowboys, just in time for the regular season. The star running back and the club agreed on a $90 million, six-year extension that will make him the NFL’s highest-paid player at his position and end a holdout that lasted the entire preseason. Elliott will get $50 million guaranteed. The $15 million-per-year average on the extension surpasses the $14.4 million Todd Gurley got from the Los Angeles Rams last summer. Gurley’s guarantee was $45 million. The 24-year-old has a contract that totals $103 million over the next eight seasons.
September 3, 2019 3:52 am
LOUISVILLE, Ky. (AP) – Ninth-ranked Notre Dame has opened its season by spoiling Scott Satterfield’s first game as Louisville’s head coach. Ian Book threw for a touchdown and ran for another as the Irish dumped the Cardinals, 35-17 at Louisville. Jahmir Smith had a pair of short rushing touchdowns for Notre Dame, which trailed 14-7 in the first quarter before Tony Jones Jr. ran for an 11-yard TD. Jones carried 15 times for 112 yards to help the Irish outgain the Cardinals, 425-383. Louisville freshman Javian Hawkins rushed for 122 yards on 19 carries.
September 3, 2019 3:49 am
UNDATED (AP) – The St. Louis Cardinals remain three games ahead of the second-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central following victories by both teams this afternoon. Adam Wainwright scattered four hits over seven scoreless innings as the Cardinals won for the 10th time in 12 games, 3-1 over the Giants. Kolten Wong delivered a run-scoring triple and Paul DeJong had an RBI single as Wainwright reached the 10-win plateau for the 10th time in his career. The Cubs kept pace by scoring five times in the seventh inning to rally past the Mariners, 5-1. Kyle Schwarber’s bases-loaded triple broke a 1-1 tie and sent Chicago to its first win in three games. Anthony Rizzo went 2-for-2 and was hit by two pitches. He’s now the Cubs’ all-time leader in being hit by pitches with 139, topping the mark of 137 set by Frank Chance over a century ago.
September 1, 2019 8:00 am
DENVER (AP) – One thought raced through Joe Musgrove’s mind as he watched Kevin Newman launch the first pitch of the game into the seats. “Hell yeah,” the Pittsburgh starter said. The Pirates have been having a lot of those moments against Colorado this weekend as their offense has battered Rockies pitchers for three games. Josh Bell hit his 35th homer, one of three on the night for Pittsburgh in an 11-4 rout of Colorado on Saturday night. The Pirates had 17 hits and have now recorded at least 15 in each game of the series, tying the franchise record for a three-game span set in 1936. Newman has nine of Pittsburgh’s 48 hits, including three homers, in 14 at-bats in the series, and this was his second leadoff shot. Jose Osuna also connected, and the Pirates won for the 14th time in 18 games at Coors Field. Pittsburgh will try for a four-game sweep Sunday. “It’s not like they’re taking hitting pills and show up. They’ve been working to be better,” manager Clint Hurdle said of his team. “It’s a combination of them getting pitches to hit and not missing them, and (the Rockies’) rotation is not the rotation they started the year with. They’re trying to do the best they can with what they got.” Ryan McMahon and Daniel Murphy homered for the Rockies, who have lost five in a row and 11 of 13. A loss Sunday would be the second time in a week Colorado has been swept in a four-game series. Colorado finished 9-19 in August during which the pitching staff posted a 6.36 ERA, the worst in franchise history for the month. Pitchers also tied a team record by allowing 56 home runs in August. Not even the feel-good story of Tim Melville could help the Rockies on Saturday. In his first two starts since being recalled Aug. 21, the 29-year-old journeyman was 1-0 with a 0.75 ERA. After two innings and five runs – four earned – Saturday, his ERA was 3.21. Newman connected off Melville (1-1) during a two-run first. The Pirates added three more in the second, two on a double by Bryan Reynolds. Reynolds had three hits and a front-row seat for Newman’s 426-foot blast leading off the game. “I’m on deck just starting to get loose and he hits a homer and I’m like, ‘OK, here we go,”‘ Reynolds said. “He’s been doing it all year but it’s safe to say he likes playing here. Every time he’s up there he’s getting a hit, hitting it over the fence.” McMahon hit is 19th in the second and Colorado added another in the third, but Bell and Osuna had solo homers in the fourth off Wes Parsons to make it 7-2. Bell’s 35 homers are a franchise record for a switch-hitter. Musgrove (9-12) went six innings to get his first win in six starts thanks to another big lead early. “I can’t say enough about our offense,” he said.
August 31, 2019 4:04 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Defending ACC Coastal Division champion Pittsburgh hosts Virginia in a season opener with some serious stakes. The Cavaliers are the preseason favorite to win the Coastal in 2019 thanks in large part to versatile quarterback Bryce Perkins. The Cavaliers, however, have beaten the Panthers just once since Pitt joined the ACC in 2013. Perkins says his team needs to be ready because it has a target on its back thanks to the offseason hype. Meanwhile in Central PA, led by defensive end Yetur Gross-Matos and standout linebacker Micah Parsons, the Nittany Lions are young. But they also have depth and talent unlike previous seasons under coach James Franklin. Quarterback Sean Clifford will start his first game when the No. 15 Penn State hosts Idaho on Saturday.
August 29, 2019 3:53 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Serena Williams and Roger Federer each experienced a frustrating first set before advancing to the third round of the U.S. Open. Williams made key adjustments to her serve and straightened out her other strokes before completing a 5-7, 6-3, 6-1 win against 17-year-old American Caty McNally. The eighth-seeded Williams avoided what would have been her earliest loss in 19 appearances at the U.S. Open The 121st-ranked McNally had never won a match at any major tournament until Monday. Federer fell behind for the second time in three days before rallying for a 3-6, 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Damir Dzumhur. Federer also lost his opening set against a qualifier on Monday before advancing. Top seed Novak Djokovic battled through shoulder pain while disposing of Juan Ignacio Londero, 6-4, 7-6, 6-1. Djokovic received treatment throughout the match before joining Federer in the third round. Men’s No. 7 Kei Nishikori needed four sets to get past American Bradley Klahn. No. 12 Borna Coric pulled out with a lower back strain, giving a second-round walkover to Grigor Dimitrov. That leaves just six of the top-12 men’s seeds still alive at Flushing Meadows. Venus Williams was dispatched in the second round as fifth seed Elina Svitolina earned a 6-4, 6-4 victory. The 39-year-old Williams fought off five match points in a 22-point game to hold serve before Svitolina improved to 13-3 in Grand Slam matches this year. Women’s second seed Ash Barty and No. 3 Karolina Pliskova each cruised to a straight-sets victory to reach Round 3. American and tenth seed Madison Keys was a 6-4, 6-1 winner against Lin Zhu. Rain altered Wednesday’s schedule, forcing the postponement of all matches except those in the two main show courts with retractable roofs.
August 29, 2019 3:50 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – J.T. Realmuto had three hits, including a homer and a triple, Corey Dickerson also went deep and the Philadelphia Phillies got 17 hits in a 12-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night. Cesar Hernandez contributed three hits and three RBIs. Rhys Hoskins doubled, tripled and drove in a run to help the Phillies stay close in the NL wild-card race. Philadelphia began play two games behind the Chicago Cubs for the second NL wild card. Every Phillies starter had at least one hit and RBI. Starling Marte homered and had three hits for Pittsburgh, and Josh Bell hit a two-run shot. Pirates rookie Bryan Reynolds, who began the day leading the NL in batting, went 0 for 3 to snap his seven-game hitting streak and drop his average to .330. Vince Velasquez (6-7) bounced back from a forgettable outing last time out, going five innings and allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts and no walks. Velasquez coughed up a 7-0 lead in the third inning of Philadelphia’s 19-11 loss at Miami last Friday. Phillies manager Gabe Kapler didn’t give Velasquez the opportunity to blow a lead this time, lifting the right-hander for a pinch-hitter in the fifth even though he had only thrown 75 pitches. Mitch Keller (1-3), a 23-year-old rookie making his seventh career start, pitched into the fifth for Pittsburgh and gave up eight runs on 11 hits with eight strikeouts and a walk.
August 27, 2019 3:49 am
PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Sean Rodriguez lined a home run leading off the bottom of the 11th inning to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 6-5 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday night. Josh Bell hit a solo homer off Philadelphia closer Hector Neris to tie it at 5 in the ninth after Corey Dickerson hit a two-run shot against his former team in the eighth to give the Phillies a one-run lead.
But after stranding five runners in the ninth and 10th, the Phillies won it when Rodriguez went deep against Michael Feliz (2-4) for his fourth career walk-off homer. Rodriguez was in a 1-for-21 slump before he connected. Bryce Harper launched a solo homer to right field with two outs in the eighth in his first game back from paternity leave to cut it to 4-3. After J.T. Realmuto’s infield single, Dickerson ripped one out to right to give the Phillies a 5-4 lead. Dickerson, acquired from the Pirates before the July 31 trade deadline, has 21 RBIs in 19 games for the Phillies. Bell has been slumping and wasn’t in the starting lineup but he crushed a 432-foot homer off Neris for his 33rd this season. Neris has five blown saves in 28 chances this season. Rhys Hoskins fouled out with the bases loaded and one out in the ninth and heard a chorus of boos as he walked to the dugout. Harper struck out swinging at a 3-2 pitch to send it to extra innings. Mike Morin (1-0) tossed two scoreless innings for the win. Phillies starter Jason Vargas allowed four runs and seven hits in six-plus innings. Pirates starter Joe Musgrove gave up two runs and five hits, striking out six in six innings. Kevin Newman’s two-run single off reliever Jared Hughes in the seventh gave the Pirates a 4-2 lead. Brad Miller slammed an opposite-field, two-run shot in the fourth to give the Phillies a 2-0 lead. Miller was only 4 for 27 with two RBIs since his last homer on July 16. The Pirates cut it to 2-1 in the fifth when Adam Frazier ripped a double with two outs and Musgrove smacked an RBI single off the left field wall.
