Villegas, Morales hit early home runs, Miami defeats Maine 9-1 in regional

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

Villegas, Morales hit early home runs, Miami defeats Maine 9-1 in regional CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — Edgardo Villegas and Yohandy Morales each hit early home runs, Gage Ziehl set the tone on the mound, and Miami defeated Maine 9-1 on Friday night in the Coral Gables Regional hosted by the Hurricanes.Miami scored two in the first on the home run by Villegas and added five in the second, the big hit being a three-run blast by Morales. Both players finished with three RBIs. Zach Levenson drove in two with a seventh-inning home run.Ziehl (8-4) shut down the Black Bears, allowing an unearned run on four hits through six innings. He struck out seven without a walk. Three relievers finished, allowing one hit.The top-seeded Hurricanes (41-19) will play No. 2 Texas in the winner’s bracket on Saturday. No. 4 Maine (32-20) faces No. 3 Louisiana in an elimination game. Texas defeated Louisiana 4-2 on Friday.Black Bears starter Colin Fitzgerald (6-2) allowed seven hits and seven runs in an inning and a third. Maine’s run scored on an error by the catcher in...

Gray wins 5th start in row, Semien 21-game hit streak as Rangers beat M’s 2-0

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

Gray wins 5th start in row, Semien 21-game hit streak as Rangers beat M’s 2-0 ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jon Gray pitched two-hit ball over seven innings to win his fifth consecutive start, Marcus Semien scored the game’s first run after extending his major league-best hitting streak to 21 games and the AL West-leading Texas Rangers beat the Seattle Mariners 2-0 on Friday night. Gray (6-1) struck out five and walked one to win a duel against Luis Castillo (4-3) that took only 2 hours, 5 minutes.Castillo limited the Rangers to one run over seven innings with six strikeouts and one walk. Texas entered averaging an MLB-best 6.29 runs per game and had scored 11 runs in each of its previous two home games — though those were before a 6-3 trip with series wins in Pittsburgh, Baltimore and Detroit. Grant Anderson, who made his big league debut Tuesday for Texas with seven strikeouts over 2 2/3 innings at Detroit, worked a scoreless eighth with one strikeout. Will Smith worked a perfect ninth for his 10th save in 11 chances, wrapping up the Rangers’ sixth sh...

Principal Charity Classic Par Scores

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

Principal Charity Classic Par Scores FridayAt Wakonda ClubDes Moines, IowaPurse: $2 millionYardage: 6,851; Par: 72First RoundSteve Stricker33-31—64-8Stephen Ames33-33—66-6Jerry Kelly32-34—66-6Rod Pampling33-33—66-6Steve Flesch34-33—67-5Mark Hensby35-32—67-5Tim Herron33-34—67-5Miguel Angel Jimenez33-34—67-5Vijay Singh36-31—67-5David Branshaw35-33—68-4Paul Goydos33-35—68-4Bernhard Langer35-33—68-4Jeff Maggert37-31—68-4Tom Pernice35-33—68-4Brett Quigley35-33—68-4Esteban Toledo34-34—68-4Woody Austin33-36—69-3Mark Calcavecchia32-37—69-3Joe Durant36-33—69-3Carlos Franco34-35—69-3Thongchai Jaidee34-35—69-3Lee Janzen34-35—69-3Tim Petrovic36-33—69-3Ken Tanigawa36-33—69-3Alex Cejka34-36—70-2Glen Day37-33—70-2Chris DiMarco35-35—70-2Ken Duke35-35—70-2Harrison Frazar34-36—70-2Jim Furyk33-37—70-2Robert Gamez34-36—70-2Judd Gibb37-33—70-2Tom Lehman36-34—70-2David McKenzie35-35—70-2Colin Montgomerie34-36—70-2Kevin Sutherland35-35—70-2David Toms35-35—70-2Y.E. Yang37-33—70-2Brad Adamonis35-36—71-1Billy Andrade35-36—71-1Cameron Beckman34-...

Parker moves into 8th on WNBA scoring list, Aces beat Dream

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

Parker moves into 8th on WNBA scoring list, Aces beat Dream COLLEGE PARK, Ga. (AP) — A’ja Wilson scored 21 points, Candace Parker moved into eighth on the WNBA’s career scoring list, and the Las Vegas Aces beat the Atlanta Dream 92-87 on Friday night.Parker passed Katie Smith (6,452) on the points list and now trails Sue Bird (6,803) for seventh.Kelsey Plum made a key steal of Aari McDonald and Chelsea Gray raced the other way for a fast-break layup to extend Las Vegas’ lead to 89-84. But Rhyne Howard completed a three-point play at the other end with 36 seconds left.Gray answered with a jumper from the free-throw line with 22.5 seconds left for a four-point lead and Kiah Stokes blocked Howard’s 3-point attempt at the other end.Jackie Young scored 20 points, Plum added 15 and Parker finished with 13 for Las Vegas (5-0). Las Vegas led 45-30 at the break behind 12 points apiece from Wilson and Young.Cheyenne Parker had 25 points and 11 rebounds for Atlanta (2-3). Allisha Gray added 16 points and Howard scored 15.___AP sports:...

Youth violence peaks when school's out, data shows

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

Youth violence peaks when school's out, data shows AURORA, Colo. (KDVR) — A 13-year-old was shot early Thursday morning in a drive-by shooting in Aurora, prompting a conversation about youth violence in the Denver metro area this summerPolice say there was another drive-by shooting at the same home within the last two weeks and it's gang-related. But will more gunfire like this be on the horizon with young people this summer? Neighbors seek answers after police kill 14-year-old armed robbery suspect Local advocates like Jason McBride, a secondary youth violence prevention specialist with Struggle of Love Foundation, is fearful this could be the worst summer yet."We’re failing kids in every aspect of their lives," McBride said. Interim Aurora Police Chief Art Acevedo shared those concerns at a news conference about the shooting that injured the 13-year-old."I do share that concern. Will it be the worst? I hope not, but we are going to be hoping for the best, preparing for the worst, as a police department. I think our partners acro...

Cabrera fans 10 in 6 innings, Sánchez homers in Marlins’ 4-0 win over A’s

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

Cabrera fans 10 in 6 innings, Sánchez homers in Marlins’ 4-0 win over A’s MIAMI (AP) — Edward Cabrera struck out 10 in six innings and the Miami Marlins beat the Oakland Athletics 4-0 on Friday night.The 25-year-old Cabrera (4-4) gave up four hits and walked one. He had his second double-digit strikeout game of the season after fanning 12 against the Chicago Cubs on April 29.“The strikeouts are part of the game but what I felt very good about is I only gave up one walk,” Cabrera said. “When you attack the zone, not all the time they are not always going to turn out well, but a majority of the time they will.”JT Chargois, Andrew Nardi and Tanner Scott followed Cabrera, each throwing an inning to complete the five-hitter. Jesús Sánchez homered and singled twice, and Bryan De La Cruz had two hits.The major league-worst Athletics lost their 12th straight on the road to drop to 12-47 overall.Miami struck early on Sánchez’s two-run shot in the first. Sánchez drove the first pitch from Shintaro Fujinami into the Marlins’ bullpen in left field for his fourth home...

For Heat, the familiar challenge of navigating a rocky road awaits

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

For Heat, the familiar challenge of navigating a rocky road awaits DENVER (AP) — Udonis Haslem has been through almost everything in his 20 seasons with the Miami Heat. On that list: Game 1 losses in the NBA Finals.He’s seen lots of those — six of them, actually, in seven tries during his Heat career. Being down 1-0 in the finals against the Denver Nuggets is not optimal, but Haslem knows it doesn’t doom Miami’s chances, either. All three of his championship rings came in series where the Heat lost a finals opener.And that will be the message for three days, all the way until tip-off of Game 2 on Sunday night.“It can be done,” Haslem said.He’s right. And by now, the Heat have just come to expect that nothing they want will come easily.Virtually the entire season has been topsy-turvy for the Heat, and evidently, the jagged path is the one they’re going to take all the way to the end. A 104-93 loss in Game 1 on Thursday night came when Miami shot poorly, struggled big-time from 3-point range until a late flurry and shot only two free thro...

Justin Steele diagnosed with forearm strain, but the Chicago Cubs don’t anticipate an extended absence for the left-hander

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

Justin Steele diagnosed with forearm strain, but the Chicago Cubs don’t anticipate an extended absence for the left-hander Justin Steele appears to have avoided a worst-case scenario.The Chicago Cubs received good news from Steele’s MRI with the lefty’s diagnosis of a forearm strain. It’s still unclear whether he will miss any starts, but the team does not anticipate an extended absence.Steele is scheduled to play catch Saturday to test his forearm.”I’m expecting it to go just as normal as any other day of catch,” Steele said. “Everything’s headed in the right direction.”The Cubs will see how Steele’s forearm responds before determining if he needs to go on the 15-day injured list. He would likely miss two starts, though the Cubs potentially could limit Steele to one missed start by rearranging the rotation with an off day June 12 at the conclusion of their 10-game West Coast trip. It’s an encouraging outcome for the 27-year-old who exited his start Wednesday against the Tampa Bay Rays after three perfect innings because of forearm tightn...

More than 230 killed and 900 hurt after 2 trains derail in India. Hundreds are still trapped.

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

More than 230 killed and 900 hurt after 2 trains derail in India. Hundreds are still trapped. By ASHOK SHARMA and KRUTIKA PATHI (Associated Press)NEW DELHI (AP) — Rescuers waded through piles of debris and wreckage to pull out bodies and free people after two passenger trains derailed Friday night in India, killing more than 230 people and leaving hundreds of others trapped inside more than a dozen mangled rail cars, in one of the country’s deadliest train crashes in decades.The accident, which happened about 220 kilometers (137 miles) southwest of Kolkata, led to a chaotic scene as rescuers climbed atop the wrecked trains to break open doors and windows using cutting torches to free survivors.About 900 people were injured in the accident in Balasore district in the eastern state of Odisha, said P.K. Jena, the state’s top administrative official. The cause was under investigation.Ten to 12 coaches of one train derailed, and debris from some of the mangled coaches fell onto a nearby track, said Amitabh Sharma, a railroad ministry spokesperson.The debris was ...

Minister ‘shocked’ at reports of Paul Bernardo being moved to medium-security prison

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 14:49:50 GMT

Minister ‘shocked’ at reports of Paul Bernardo being moved to medium-security prison The federal public safety minister says reports of teen killer and serial rapist Paul Bernardo being transferred to a medium-security prison are “shocking and incomprehensible.”Citing prison union officials and the lawyer for the victims’ families, multiple media outlets say Bernardo was quietly transferred earlier this week to the medium-security La Macaza Institution, about 190 kilometres northwest of Montreal.He was initially incarcerated at the Kingston Penitentiary in Ontario and later spent about a decade at the Millhaven Institution, a maximum security prison just outside Kingston.Bernardo has been serving a life sentence for kidnapping, torturing and killing 15-year-old Kristen French and 14-year-old Leslie Mahaffy in the early 1990s near St. Catharines, Ont.Public Safety Minister Marco Mendicino says he expects the Correctional Service of Canada to take a victim-centred and trauma-informed approach in such cases, and that he plans to address the decision process for t...