Sports category, Page 1669
IndyCar veterans still going strong as careers wind downVideo
INDIANAPOLIS — Tony Kanaan sat in Chip Ganassi Racing’s suite one day this May, savoring a rare second IndyCar farewell tour. At age 46, running a part-time schedule with no future guarantees and a talented crop of young drivers chasing them, Kanaan and his fellow veterans can see the sunset...
Pirates rookie first baseman Will Craig on his epic error in rundown: ‘I messed up’Video
A day after the biggest blunder of his baseball career went from a rundown choke into a running joke, Pittsburgh Pirates rookie first baseman Will Craig took full responsibility for his epic error against the Chicago Cubs. Craig’s chaotic chase of Javier Baez toward home plate in the third inning...
Plum native Bjorn Fratangelo qualifies for French OpenVideo
Plum native Bjorn Fratangelo will play in this year’s French Open after winning a qualifier Thursday in Paris. The nine-year pro secured his spot with a 6-2, 7-6 (3) win over Australia’s Alexsandar Vukic. Fratangelo, 27, will enter his 11th Grand Slam tournament. He is 2-10 in 12 Grand Slam...
Penguins players brace for changes after latest playoff flameout
Bryan Rust’s future came into focus this week. He became a father. With his wife, Kelsey, welcoming son Hunter to the world, the Pittsburgh Penguins winger was succinct on what Sunday was like. “It’s the best day of my life.” As for life at the rink? That’s another matter for...
Pirates-Rockies game postponed, rescheduled as a split 7-inning doubleheader Saturday
Friday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Colorado Rockies has been postponed due to inclement weather and rescheduled as a split seven-inning doubleheader Saturday at PNC Park. The first game of the doubleheader will begin at 12:05 p.m., with the second game expected to start at 4:05 p.m. or...
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin ‘was not 100%’ during playoffsVideo
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan shed some light on the injuries his team was dealing with during its first-round playoff series with the New York Islanders. Forward Evgeni Malkin missed the first two games of the series with a right knee injury. It was the first time the team publicly identified...
Pirates 1B Will Craig has company when it comes to losing — or using — your head in a baseball gameVideo
You think Will Craig feels bad? Will Craig, meet Fred Merkle, Al Martin, Milton Bradley and Jose Canseco. Baseball players have been having brain hiccups for more than 100 years. Here are a few: Merkle’s Boner At least Craig’s gaffe Thursday at PNC Park won’t cost the Pittsburgh Pirates a...
Penguins’ Tristan Jarry: confidence unshaken, vows ‘I will be better next year’
Neither Tristan Jarry nor Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan would say if Jarry has been assured he will be the team’s No. 1 goalie when next season begins. But Jarry did vow his much-criticized showing during the playoffs has been put behind him. “I think that will make me a...
Japan extends virus emergency with safe Olympics at stake
TOKYO — Japan extended a coronavirus state of emergency in Tokyo and other areas for 20 more days on Friday, with infections still not slowing as it prepares to host the Olympics in just over 50 days. Cases remain high and medical systems in Osaka, the hardest-hit area in western...
New York Knicks tickets to go only to fully vaccinated
The New York Knicks will sell tickets only to fully vaccinated fans if they reach the second round of the playoffs. The Knicks announced Friday that Game 5 of their first-round series against Atlanta has already sold out, with more than 16,000 fans expected on Wednesday. More than 90% of...
‘He’s a No. 1 goalie’: Penguins teammates stand behind Tristan Jarry
It remains to be seen if Tristan Jarry will still be the Pittsburgh Penguins’ No. 1 goalie when next season begins. Or if upper management has maintained confidence in him after a playoff showing that rated somewhere on the spectrum between slightly-below-average and downright poor. But judging by what some...
Family cries foul after White Sox change name of food area
CHICAGO — A food area at the home of the Chicago White Sox now is called La Russa’s Lounge after being named years ago in honor of a woman who sold beer and hot dogs for more than six decades. Loretta Micele’s family is crying foul after the title of...
Tour, players react to Naomi Osaka: Talking to media part of job
Naomi Osaka’s declaration that she won’t participate in news conferences during the French Open was a natural, if slightly awkward, topic for discussion on a tournament media day already awkward by nature because it was conducted via video conference. “I understand why she does it. I respect her opinion,” Daniil...
IndyCar courts Black fans, drivers in its push to diversify
INDIANAPOLIS — Rod Reid ran a program full of young, Black kart racers locked out of a venue because of the pandemic and needed a track to race. Indianapolis Motor Speedway had spent millions on upgrades on the historic property at the same time last year when the coronavirus had...
Pitt loses pitchers’ duel to N.C. State in ACC Tournament
Mike Bell didn’t like the outcome Thursday night when his Pitt baseball team bowed out of the ACC Tournament with a 3-2 loss to N.C. State at Truist Field in Charlotte, N.C. But he appreciates a good thing when he sees it on a baseball diamond. “It was a beautiful...
Pirates farm report for May 27, 2021: Cruz hits 3rd homer for Altoona
INDIANAPOLIS (Triple-A, 11-9) lost 6-5 to Omaha (Royals) on a walk-off RBI single by LF Kyle Isbel off LHP Braeden Ogle. RHP James Marvel started and fared no better, giving up five runs, four earned, on seven hits and two walks in 3⅔ innings. LHP Joe Jacques and RHP Shea...
Seton Hill baseball clobbers Bloomsburg in Atlantic Regional opener
Vincenzo Rauso and Jack Oberdorf hit three-run bombs in the first three innings as Seton Hill jumped all over Bloomsburg en route to a 15-3 victory at the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional in Charleston, W.Va. The Griffins will meet Millersville at 3 p.m. Friday. The winner moves on to...
Who’s the boss? At Indy 500, women play large role for IMS
INDIANAPOLIS — Simona de Silvestro was still in her helmet when her race team owner threw her arms around the driver who had just qualified for the Indianapolis 500 by the narrowest of margins. De Silvestro’s pony-tailed crew members stopped by to congratulate her, as did 2018 Indy 500 winner...
Boorish fans: 76ers, Knicks, Jazz issue bans after incidents
The New York Knicks, Philadelphia 76ers and Utah Jazz banned a total of five fans from their respective arenas and issued apologies Thursday for incidents during playoff games, and the NBA said rules surrounding fan behavior will be “vigorously enforced” going forward. All three incidents took place during playoff games...
Jordan Spieth, Sergio Garcia lead Colonial; Phil Mickelson 10 back
FORT WORTH, Texas — Phil Mickelson kept hearing congratulatory words as he made his way around Colonial, and there was a huge roar from the crowd when the PGA Championship winner made a long putt to finish his round. Jordan Spieth kept making birdies in the same group. Spieth shot...
Full bowl lineup for college football returns after pandemic-shortened 2020-21
After the pandemic cut the college football bowl season almost in half last year, a full lineup of 44 postseason games is scheduled for 2021-22. The Bowl Season schedule was announced Thursday. The bowls will begin on Dec. 17, with Bahamas Bowl kicking off at noon ET and the Cure...
Olympic sensation Simone Biles to perform in Pittsburgh
Three months after she is expected to add to her record medal haul at the Tokyo Olympics, gymnastics phenomenon Simone Biles will visit PPG Paints Arena. Biles, who with 30 medals at the Olympics and World Championships is the most decorated American gymnast in history, will headline the Gold Over...
David Murphy: Denial isn’t a solution for Philly sports fans after the Russell Westbrook popcorn incidentVideo
PHILADELPHIA — The pity party began shortly after the last drop of hydrogenated oil dripped onto the injured man’s head. No big deal! Woe are we! Here they come to get us! What you actually see in that video there is a national vendetta! It unfolded as it always does....
Zach Banner, Devin Bush make appearance on field during Steelers’ OTA sessionVideo
Zach Banner equated his pairing with Devin Bush in the Pittsburgh Steelers offseason conditioning program to Arnold Schwarzenegger and Danny DeVito from the movie “Twins.” The big man wasn’t off base. Banner stands 6-foot-8 and is listed at 335 pounds. Bush is 5-11 and is 101 pounds lighter. “I call...
Quick-thinking Cubs steal 2 runs in victory against Pirates
The last thing these run-down Pittsburgh Pirates needed was a rundown with Javier Baez. When Baez went backwards, it might as well have mirrored the direction of the Pirates’ season. A strange play you should not expect to see on a major league diamond led the Chicago Cubs to a...
