Sports

Astros come up 2 outs short of combined no-no

Published

2 years ago

September 14, 2023

admin

Associated Press

Sep 13, 2023, 10:32 PM ET

HOUSTON — The Houston Astros were certainly disappointed to see their combined no-hit bid against the Oakland Athletics broken up with one out in the ninth on Wednesday night.

They took solace in getting a win that allowed them to avoid a sweep and maintain their lead in the AL West standings.

“That was huge,” slugger Yordan Alvarez said. “For us, we couldn’t allow a sweep here at home after losing those first two games. So all the focus was on today’s game.”

Hunter Brown and the Astros held Oakland hitless until Ryan Noda‘s one-out single in the ninth inning of the 6-2 victory, which sent the Athletics to their first consecutive 100-loss seasons since the 1960s.

Brown pitched five innings, and Rafael Montero, Hector Neris and Bryan Abreu followed with perfect innings each as Houston retired 11 straight batters.

Ryan Pressly retired Tony Kemp on a grounder leading off the ninth, then walked Zach Gelof. Nola grounded a changeup past Pressly and into center field for a single.

Seth Brown‘s single and Shea Langeliers‘ sacrifice fly drove in runs before Pressly finished the two-hitter by throwing a called third strike past Brent Rooker.

“We talk a lot about the grit, and they showed that in the ninth by taking some good at-bats and breaking through,” Oakland manager Mark Kotsay said. “Up to that point, it was a tough night. They pitched really well tonight. … To get to Pressly and get a couple runs, that shows that this group didn’t give up and shut it down and continued to fight.”

Abreu, Montero and Pressly were part of Houston’s last combined no-hitter, which Cristian Javier started in Game 4 of the World Series last season. Pressly and Neris finished another combined no-hitter by Javier against the Yankees on June 25, 2022.

Manager Dusty Baker said they didn’t talk about the no-hitter in the dugout Wednesday night, but that everyone was certainly thinking about it.

“I’m sure all the relievers were aware of it, conscious of it because they had been part of two other combined no-hitters,” he said. “So they knew, and Pressly was upset because he wanted to be part of it again. But it was spoiled.”

Oakland was held to two hits or fewer for the eighth time.

Alvarez hit a three-run homer and Alex Bregman and Kyle Tucker had solo shots for the Astros, who maintained a one-game lead over second-place Texas, with Seattle another half-game back. Tucker’s home run was the 100th of his big league career.

After managing just two runs combined in the first two games of this series, the Astros were thrilled when Alvarez put three on the board with one mighty swing in the third inning Wednesday night.

“It felt good,” he said. “I needed that swing and so did the team. I felt that it was a lift that we needed.”

He added that he thought the shot to the second deck in right field that traveled 422 feet was the hardest ball he’s ever hit.

Brown (11-11) struck out seven in five innings, walked two and hit a batter, throwing 78 pitches. He had allowed 11 runs over his prior two starts spanning 8⅓ innings.

The A’s had not lost 100 games in back-to-back seasons since 1964-65 in Kansas City. The A’s joined their Kansas City replacement, the Royals, as 100-game losers this season.

Noda said it was a relief when he broke up the no-hitter. He said the team can take a lot of positives from this series despite the tough way it ended.

“It says we are progressing,” he said. “It says we keep battling for each other. We keep coming every day wanting to win and expecting to win. I think that’s something that we keep talking about more as we keep going on, and as we keep talking about it, things like this series are going to happen.”

Paul Blackburn (4-5) allowed 4 runs, 4 hits and 3 walks in three innings, dropping to 0-5 with a 9.74 ERA in eight appearances against the Astros.

Alvarez and Bregman homered in a four-run third and Tucker went deep in the seventh against Easton Lucas. Yainer Diaz had an RBI double in the fifth.

Sports

Stanley Cup Playoffs Central: Bracket, schedule, scores, news

Published

49 mins ago

April 17, 2025

admin

Stanley Cup Playoffs Central: Bracket, schedule, scores, news

The 2025 Stanley Cup playoffs begin on April 19. The Winnipeg Jets are the NHL’s top overall seed, having finished the regular season with the most points in the standings, and the Washington Capitals earned the No. 1 seed in the East.

This page will be your home throughout the postseason, including schedules, scores, highlights and other preview content.

Read on for the full playoff coverage from every first-round series all the way through the Stanley Cup Final.

First round

Atlantic Division

Regular-season records:

Maple Leafs: 51-26-4, 106 points
Senators: 44-30-7, 95 points

Leading scorers:

Maple Leafs: Mitch Marner (27 goals, 73 assists)
Senators: Tim Stutzle (23 goals, 53 assists)

Schedule:

Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD

Regular-season records:

Lightning: 47-26-8, 102 points
Panthers: 47-31-4, 98 points

Leading scorers:

Lightning: Nikita Kucherov (37 goals, 84 assists)
Panthers: Sam Reinhart (39 goals, 42 assists)

Schedule:

Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD

Metropolitan Division

Regular-season records:

Capitals: 51-21-9, 111 points
Canadiens: 40-31-11, 91 points

Leading scorers:

Capitals: Dylan Strome (29 goals, 52 assists)
Canadiens: Nick Suzuki (29 goals, 58 assists)

Schedule:

Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD

Regular-season records:

Hurricanes: 47-29-5, 99 points
Devils: 42-32-7, 91 points

Leading scorers:

Hurricanes: Sebastian Aho (29 goals, 45 assists)
Devils: Jesper Bratt (21 goals, 67 assists)

Schedule:

Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD

Central Division

Regular-season records:

Jets: 56-22-4, 116 points
Blues: 44-30-8, 96 points

Leading scorers:

Jets: Kyle Connor (41 goals, 55 assists)
Blues: Robert Thomas (21 goals, 60 assists)

Schedule:

Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD

Regular-season records:

Stars: 50-25-6, 106 points
Avalanche: 49-29-4, 102 points

Leading scorers:

Stars: Matt Duchene (30 goals, 51 assists)
Avalanche: Nathan MacKinnon (32 goals, 84 assists)

Schedule:

Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD

Pacific Division

Regular-season records:

Golden Knights: 49-22-10, 108 points
Wild: 45-30-7, 97 points

Leading scorers:

Golden Knights: Jack Eichel (27 goals, 66 assists)
Wild: Matt Boldy (27 goals, 46 assists)

Schedule:

Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD

Regular-season records:

Kings: 48-24-9, 105 points
Oilers: 47-29-5, 99 points

Leading scorers:

Kings: Adrian Kempe (35 goals, 38 assists)
Oilers: Leon Draisaitl (52 goals, 54 assists)

Schedule:

Game 1: TBD
Game 2: TBD
Game 3: TBD
Game 4: TBD
Game 5: TBD
Game 6: TBD
Game 7: TBD

Sports

Robertson injured in Stars’ regular-season finale

Published

49 mins ago

April 17, 2025

admin

Robertson injured in Stars' regular-season finale

ESPN News Services

Apr 16, 2025, 10:36 PM ET

Dallas forward Jason Robertson sustained a lower-body injury during the Stars’ regular-season finale at Nashville on Wednesday and left the game.

Robertson, the Stars’ second-leading points producer with 80 (35 goals, 45 assists) this season, left the game early in the second period after being hit into the boards by Nashville’s Michael McCarron. The team announced that Robertson would not return.

Dallas, which went on to lose 5-1, is locked into second place in the Central Division and will host the Colorado Avalanche in the first round of the playoffs. However, the Stars are mired in a season-worst 0-5-2 slide.

Robertson, the Stars’ second-round draft pick in 2017, is in his sixth season with Dallas, having recorded 79 or more points in each of the past four campaigns.

Field Level Media and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Sports

Iafallo signs 3-year, $11M extension with Jets

Published

49 mins ago

April 17, 2025

admin

Iafallo signs 3-year, M extension with Jets

Field Level Media

Apr 16, 2025, 12:47 PM ET

Winnipeg Jets forward Alex Iafallo signed a three-year contract extension worth $11 million Wednesday.

The extension will begin next season for Iafallo, who has recorded 31 points (15 goals, 16 assists), 15 penalty minutes and a plus-21 rating in 81 games this season.

Iafallo, 31, has totaled 262 points (111 goals, 151 assists) in 583 career games with the Los Angeles Kings and Jets. He was an undrafted free agent who was signed by the Kings out of the University of Minnesota-Duluth in 2017.