Sports category, Page 1836
Rotating designated hitter has led to disastrous results for Pirates
From the start, Derek Shelton had no designs on designating a designated hitter. The Pittsburgh Pirates manager preferred a rotation, using that spot to keep players in the lineup but off the field. The results have been disastrous. The Pirates have used six players as designated hitters, a position new...
Pitt notebook: ‘Old man’ Rashad Weaver hasn’t forgotten how to sack quarterback
Pitt defensive end Rashad Weaver’s 14-game absence didn’t hurt his ability to sack the quarterback. Perhaps just as important, he retained a most refreshing character trait: honesty. In a 21-10 victory Saturday against Syracuse, Weaver experienced his first game competition since the Sun Bowl on New Year’s Eve 2018. After...
This date in sports history: Sept. 20Video
1913 — Twenty-year-old amateur Francis Ouimet beats Britain’s Harry Vardon and Ted Ray in an 18-hole playoff to win the U.S. Open. 1924 — Grover Cleveland Alexander wins his 300th game as the Chicago Cubs defeat the New York Giants, 7-3, in 12 innings. 1939 — Joe Louis knocks out...
Pirates second baseman Kevin Newman goes on 10-day IL after being hit by a pitch
The Pittsburgh Pirates lost Kevin Newman for the remainder of the season when he suffered a contusion to the peroneal nerve on his left knee after being hit by a pitch Saturday night. Newman was hit by reliever Genesis Cabrera’s 97 mph fastball with one out in the ninth of...
Kevin Harvick nabs 9th win of season to roll into second round
BRISTOL, Tenn. — Kevin Harvick steamrolled his way into the second round of the playoffs by holding off Kyle Busch on Saturday night at Bristol Motor Speedway for his series-best ninth victory of the season. Harvick denied the reigning Cup Series champion his first win of the season when he...
Stars hammer Tampa to open Stanley Cup Final
EDMONTON, Alberta — The well-rested Stars took it to the banged-up Tampa Bay Lightning hard and early, and goaltender Anton Khudobin closed it out with 22 third-period saves as Dallas won Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, 4-1, on Saturday night. Joel Hanley and Jamie Oleksiak continued the Stars’...
Pirates bullpen blows Mitch Keller’s 6-inning no-hit gem vs. Cardinals
Of all their pitcher-catcher conversations, Jacob Stallings never mentioned to Mitch Keller through six scoreless innings that the St. Louis Cardinals had failed to get a hit off the Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander. “I did not say a word about the no-hitter,” Stallings said. “Maybe I should have. Maybe it would...
5 things we learned in Week 2 of high school football
With Friday night’s win over Mt. Lebanon, a team Canon-McMillan hadn’t defeated in 12 years, the Big Macs bolstered their playoff chances. Well, maybe. At this point, just assuming there is a postseason is risky, but nobody can describe with certainty what the WPIAL playoff picture for Class 6A might...
Eagles RB, Penn State product Miles Sanders wants to ‘get respect’Video
PHILADELPHIA — Miles Sanders enjoyed one of the most productive rookie seasons in the NFL last season. The Eagles running back leapfrogged names such as LeSean McCoy and DeSean Jackson in the franchise’s record books, and he topped the class in categories such as scrimmage yards and all-purpose yards. But...
Empty seats make for some strange sights, sounds in NFL
DENVER — Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock felt like he was at the library, whispering in the huddle at empty Empower Field so the Tennessee Titans couldn’t eavesdrop. All the vacant seats at Gillette Stadium had Patriots star Julian Edelman reminiscing about his time in junior college. Aaron Rodgers capitalized...
California cool, Matthew Wolff takes detour to U.S. Open leadVideo
MAMARONECK, N.Y. — Matthew Wolff might be too young to realize he’s supposed to hit fairways to have a chance to win the U.S. Open. Or maybe he’s so good it doesn’t matter. Wolff hit only two fairways Saturday and still matched the lowest score ever at Winged Foot in...
Gary Bettman: Next NHL season could start in December or January
EDMONTON, Alberta — NHL commissioner Gary Bettman raised the possibility of next season beginning after the tentatively planned Dec. 1 start date, even while the plan remains for each team to play 82 games and the league hold a full playoffs. Much like its plan to resume this season, the...
QBs Lamar Jackson, Deshaun Watson set to star as Ravens visit TexansVideo
HOUSTON — Baltimore’s Lamar Jackson was torn when asked if he enjoys matchups such as Sunday’s against the Houston Texans and fellow talented and mobile quarterback Deshaun Watson. “That’s a great quarterback we’re going against (so) I say no, because of how dynamic he is, and our defense has to...
Pine-Richland’s Phil Jurkovec helps Boston College beat DukeVideo
DURHAM, N.C. — Phil Jurkovec threw for 300 yards and two touchdowns, Zay Flowers had 162 receiving yards and Boston College beat Duke, 26-6, on Saturday to give Jeff Hafley a win in his first game as a head coach. Hafley, a former Pitt assistant who served as Ohio State’s...
Astros ace, reigning Cy Young winner Justin Verlander to have Tommy John surgeryVideo
HOUSTON — Houston Astros ace Justin Verlander will undergo Tommy John surgery and miss the rest of the season. The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner announced the news Saturday on his Instagram account in a 1½-minute video. “In my simulated game a couple days ago, I felt something in...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Don’t be surprised if Penguins trade newly re-signed Jared McCann
Jared McCann didn’t score in his last 25 games this season. His last goal was Jan. 14, and the meter still is running. McCann was scratched for the third game of the Penguins’ four-game loss to Montreal in the Stanley Cup playoffs’ prelim round. Six million bucks doesn’t buy what...
Pitt survives series of mistakes in 21-10 victory against Syracuse
While Pitt was preparing for its game against Syracuse, practice went so well one day Pat Narduzzi looked around and was convinced something was wrong. “I had to yell at them for something, just to yell at them, because it was so clean,” he said. Clean would be the last...
JuJu Smith-Schuster takes ‘professional’ approach to kick off important year in his Steelers career
JuJu Smith-Schuster had a clear path to the ball. Trouble was, so did some of the nine New York Giants players intent on keeping it from him. The race was on to recover Benny Snell’s fumble late in the third quarter of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ 26-16 victory against the New...
Finding Pirates leadoff hitter has Derek Shelton searching for signs of consistency
For all his lineup shuffling this season, Derek Shelton had tinkered the least with the first spot in the batting order. The Pittsburgh Pirates manager used only four hitters there, starting with Kevin Newman, then Adam Frazier and Cole Tucker before trying out Erik Gonzalez. That changed Friday, when Shelton...
Penn State will open football season Oct. 24 at Indiana
Penn State will begin its nine-game grind over nine weeks Oct. 24 at Indiana, according to the Big Ten’s reconfigured, conference-only schedule released Saturday. The home opener is Oct. 31 — Halloween night — against Ohio State at Beaver Stadium. The Buckeyes and Nittany Lions were ranked Nos. 2 and...
This day in sports history: Sept. 19Video
Sept. 19 1948 — Pancho Gonzales, 20, wins the U.S. Lawn Tennis Association title with a three-set victory over Eric Sturgess. 1951 — Ford C. Frick, president of the National League, is elected baseball commissioner by the team owners. 1981 — Southern Cal’s Marcus Allen rushes for 274 yards and...
Top-ranked Pine-Richland wastes no time in victory over No. 4 Upper St. ClairVideo
Pine-Richland quarterback Cole Spencer had the football in his hands so often Friday night that he felt like he’d left a half-dozen touchdowns on the field. The five they scored were plenty. Top-ranked Pine-Richland runs an up-tempo attack yet still dominated time of possession in a 34-13 win over No....
Stars, Lightning could turn Stanley Cup finals into defensive showdownVideo
This already was going to be an unusual Stanley Cup, and it now has a matchup for all of those who like their games to be a bit defensive. The Dallas Stars and Tampa Bay Lightning, two of the league’s southernmost teams playing for the title in a bubble in...
Belle Vernon shuts out West Mifflin for Big 8 victory
After a big win, Belle Vernoncoach Matt Humbert usually tells his team to enjoy it for a day or two before returning to practice the following week. Not this week. Minutes after his team blasted West Mifflin, 45-0, in a Class 4A Big 8 Conference matchup, Humbert told his team...
WPIAL high school football Week 2 scores for Sept. 18, 2020
TribLIVE’s sports reporters have you covered from Friday’s Week 2 high school football action. GAMES OF THE WEEK • PINE-RICHLAND 34, UPPER ST. CLAIR 13 Rams quarterback Cole Spencer threw three touchdowns — two to wide receiver Alex Gochis — and Caden Schweiger also scored twice in the win. •...
