Sports category, Page 2326
MLB attendance down another 1.4%, 4th straight drop
NEW YORK — The Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins drew 12,653 on Wednesday night — combined. Baltimore, Cincinnati, Minnesota and Tampa Bay set stadium lows this year. Kansas City had its smallest home crowd since 2011 and Toronto and San Francisco since 2010. The Marlins’ average attendance is less...
Clint Hurdle: ‘Room’ for Steven Brault in Pirates’ rotation
Steven Brault wants to make something clear about his efforts Wednesday in Cincinnati. “It wasn’t just a fluke out of nowhere,” he said of 51⁄3 shutout innings that led to a 7-2 victory for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Brault, who had allowed eight runs in 72⁄3 innings in his previous two...
Wiltrout heads to NCAA nationals
North Carolina redshirt freshman Madison Wiltrout has qualified for the NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships on June 5-8 at the University of Texas. The Connellsville native and four-time WPIAL and PIAA Class AAA javelin champion qualified by finishing fifth at the Eastern Preliminary Round at North Florida in Jacksonville...
Bounce-back Jordan Binnington out to beat Bruins who took him inVideo
BOSTON — The resolve Jordan Binnington is showing in the playoffs was forged in Boston Bruins black and gold. Now it’s being used to try to beat the organization that took him in. Binnington bounced back from a rough start to the Stanley Cup Final to make 21 saves in...
Pirates’ Clay Holmes: Pitch that hit Reds’ Eugenio Suarez was an accidentVideo
Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Clay Holmes said he doesn’t blame Eugenio Suarez for getting mad. Suarez is having another fine season for the Cincinnati Reds, already up to 14 home runs and 39 RBIs after totaling 34 and 104 last year. The last thing he needs is an injury when...
Ryan Moore leads strong Memorial field; shaky start for Tiger Woods
DUBLIN, Ohio — Tiger Woods got off to a slower start than he would have liked Thursday at the Memorial. That had more do with a stopwatch than a scorecard. Ryan Moore opened with five birdies in seven holes and never missed a fairway after the first one, posting a...
Kevin Gorman: ‘Football is life’ for Steelers nose tackle Javon HargraveVideo
Javon Hargrave knows this is a big year for him as the Pittsburgh Steelers nose tackle enters the final year of his rookie contract with his sights set on earning a lucrative deal. Not that you could tell by the easy smile on his face. “In the NFL, I feel...
What to know about these most-international NBA Finals
TORONTO — Sometime in the next couple of weeks, either the Toronto Raptors or Golden State Warriors will proclaim themselves to be world champions. They won’t be true “world” champions, of course. But these NBA Finals have a distinct international feel. Game 1 of the series Thursday night is in...
Champions League finalists on opposite ends of financial, success spectrums
MADRID — Familiar territory for Liverpool. So very unfamiliar for Tottenham. The second all-English Champions League final in history pits one of Europe’s most successful clubs against a side unexpectedly gatecrashing the continent’s elite. After losing last year’s final to Real Madrid, Juergen Klopp’s Liverpool has another shot at lifting...
Winners, losers of NBA’s Draft withdrawal deadline
Zion Williamson, Ja Morant and RJ Barrett all remained in the NBA Draft through the withdrawal deadline. No surprise there, nor for several other players expected to go in the first round. Numerous other players faced difficult decisions on Wednesday, though, and the outcome of those could have a huge...
Steelers sign final draft pick, 3rd-round cornerback Justin Layne
Cornerback Justin Layne became the final member of the Pittsburgh Steelers’ draft class to sign his rookie contract, when he agreed to a four-year deal Thursday that has a total slot value of about $3.45 million. The third-round draft pick out of Michigan State and the No. 83 overall player...
Penguins re-sign defenseman Juuso Riikola, keep blue line stocked
The Pittsburgh Penguins continued to shore up their depth on defense Thursday, re-signing restricted free agent Juuso Riikola to a one-year contract worth $850,000. Last year, the 25-year-old Riikola played on a two-way contract that paid him $925,000 when in the NHL and $70,000 when in the AHL. A training...
MLB to keep monitoring netting issue after child is hitVideo
HOUSTON — Major League Baseball said Thursday it will keep examining its policy on protective netting at stadiums a day after a young fan was struck by a foul ball and hospitalized. The girl was hit during Wednesday night’s game between the Chicago Cubs and Houston Astros, an incident MLB...
Rookie TE asked to switch number out of deference to Heath Miller
Zach Gentry still might hear fans chant a certain retired tight end’s first name when he catches passes at Heinz Field this season. It won’t be because he wears the same number as Heath Miller. Gentry wore No. 83 in college at Michigan and again at the Pittsburgh Steelers’ rookie...
Retiring Raven Haloti Ngata: Breaking Ben Roethlisberger’s nose was favorite play of career
Another of the principle protagonists of the heyday of the Pittsburgh Steelers-Baltimore Ravens rivalry is retiring. And this one cites one of the height of the rivalry’s most infamous plays as one that stood out most. Speaking at a news conference in Baltimore on Wednesday that both announced his retirement...
Steelers 7th-rounder Derwin Gray spends OTAs at 4 positions; left guard this week
All of Derwin Gray’s 25 starts at the University of Maryland over the past three years were at left tackle. It’s taken all of nine on-field Pittsburgh Steelers team workouts for the seventh-round pick to quadruple his positional résumé in the NFL. “I pretty much have played at all four...
Last scheduled Pitt-Penn State game to be nationally televised on ABC
The last scheduled game between old rivals Pitt and Penn State will be nationally televised by ABC and will begin at noon Sept. 14 at Beaver Stadium. The game is the last of a four-game series between the schools. Penn State won two of the first three, 33-14 in 2017...
Steelers 6th-rounder Sutton Smith, a college linebacker, taking reps at fullback
Much of the post-draft chatter surrounding Pittsburgh Steelers sixth-round pick Sutton Smith concerned whether the All-American pass rusher would play on the edge or at inside linebacker in the NFL. Turns out, there was another yet unexplored position for Smith. Smith confirmed Thursday that he has spent time at fullback...
Minus Fleury factor, fewer fans watching Stanley Cup Final in Pittsburgh market
The Pittsburgh market remains interested in the Stanley Cup Final, though not at the level it was a year ago when Marc-Andre Fleury was involved. Pittsburgh was the fifth highest-rated market in the country for Game 2 between the Boston Bruins and St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night, delivering a...
Plenty of opinions about where Penguins’ Phil Kessel could land in trade
The Phil Kessel trade watch is one of the biggest topics in hockey right now. And the opinions are flying. Dave Poulin said on TSN, “He’s an acquired taste that has run its course in Pittsburgh.” On the same panel, Craig Button made it sound like the team is scapegoating...
Report: Terrelle Pryor to join Jacksonville Jaguars
Don’t close the book on Terrelle Pryor’s NFL career just yet. The veteran wide receiver from Jeannette is reportedly set to join the Jacksonville Jaguars. Ian Rapoport of NFL Network first reported the news after Pryor worked out with Jacksonville Wednesday. The #Jaguars are expected to sign veteran WR Terrelle...
Cubs’ Albert Almora Jr. breaks down after foul ball strikes young girl
Albert Almora Jr. couldn’t help but break down at what he saw when he lined a foul ball into the stands Wednesday night. The Cubs outfielder hit a line drive into the third-base stands during the fourth inning against the Astros at Minute Maid Park, striking a girl who was...
First Call: Jon Gruden was ready to give up 2nd-round pick for Antonio Brown
In “First Call” Thursday, the Steelers may have been able to do better in the Antonio Brown trade. A WPIAL star is climbing toward the majors. Ryan Reaves dabbles in comedy. How it could`ve gone Here’s an item we’ve buried this week. It turns out the Steelers may have been...
Steelers QB Josh Dobbs flying high off the field
As a recipient of an aerospace engineering degree, Joshua Dobbs is all too familiar with Newton’s third law of motion. He just didn’t expect it to be such a jarring part of his flight training for a trip with the Air Force Thunderbirds. What goes up must come down —...
Tim Benz: Mike Munchak’s offseason departure among hardest for Steelers
Much of the discussion at Steelers organized team activities this week has been about the guys who are gone. Namely Antonio Brown and Le’Veon Bell. But a third Steeler of importance has departed and probably hasn’t been talked about enough. That’s offensive line coach Mike Munchak. He left Mike Tomlin’s...
