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PITTSBURGH — Marc-Andre Fleury is ready for one last skate around the place he helped build.

The veteran goalie will make the final start of his career at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday night when the Minnesota Wild face the reeling Pittsburgh Penguins.

Fleury spent the first 13 seasons of his career with the Penguins, helping fellow franchise cornerstones Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang win the Stanley Cup in 2009, 2016 and 2017 before departing for Vegas in the expansion draft.

The 39-year-old Fleury — who remains a fan favorite in Pittsburgh — plans to retire following this season, meaning this visit will likely be his last as an active player. The former Vezina Trophy winner admitted he expects to be emotional before the puck drop.

“I think, just maybe [take a] deep breath, look around, take a good look around to keep good memories,” Fleury said. “Like I said, I was very fortunate to play here for so long. I’ve got souvenirs from this place, so it’ll be nice to do it one more time.”

Fleury, who helped the expansion Golden Knights reach the Stanley Cup Final in 2018, is now a backup behind Filip Gustavsson in Minnesota. Fleury has been relatively sharp in two starts, going 1-0-1 with a 2.89 goals against average and a .900 save percentage for the Wild.

Coming back to Pittsburgh has always been a little strange to Fleury, taken with the first overall pick in 2003 by the Penguins, who were in the midst of a tumultuous period in which the franchise nearly moved. More than two decades later, Pittsburgh is one of the NHL’s marquee teams and Fleury’s 375 wins are the most in team history.

“The most important thing for me would be to win,” Fleury said. “I want to play good and put on a good show one last time here.”

Fleury’s former team is struggling. The Penguins have dropped five straight and are coming off a road trip through western Canada in which they were largely outclassed.

Crosby acknowledged seeing Fleury’s familiar No. 29 in the other net will provide a little extra motivation, though stressed the team doesn’t really need it as it tries to emerge from an early-season funk. He remains close with Fleury, whom he called a “great friend.”

“[We were basically] growing up together in the league and trying to find our way,” Crosby said. “I think just he means a lot. I think he means a lot to me, means a lot to the organization and I’m sure the fans.”

The Penguins, currently 15th in the 16-team Eastern Conference, could use a little bit of the good vibes that have long been Fleury’s trademark.

“He’s really good at looking at the positives,” Crosby said. “And I think he’s got high expectations himself. But, you know, I think he still finds a way to have fun and keep things light and find that balance.”

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Twins call on RHP Matthews to keep streak going

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Twins call on RHP Matthews to keep streak going

The Minnesota Twins recalled right-hander Zebby Matthews from Triple-A St. Paul and inserted him into the rotation for their road game Sunday against the Milwaukee Brewers.

The 24-year-old Matthews closed out last season in the Twins’ rotation and fashioned a 1-4 record with a 6.69 ERA in nine starts. He has produced a 2-1 record with a 1.93 ERA in seven starts for St. Paul, which includes 38 strikeouts and nine walks over 32⅔ innings.

The Twins, who carry a 13-game winning streak into Sunday’s game, also selected the contract of outfielder Carson McCusker, a 26-year-old who has yet to make his big league debut. The 6-foot-8, 250-pound slugger is hitting .350 with 10 homers and 36 RBIs in 38 games this season for St. Paul.

The task ahead of Matthews is to try to continue a hot pitching streak that has seen the Twins record three straight shutouts, including in the first two games of the Brewers series. Minnesota enters Sunday with a collective 3.15 ERA that ranks No. 3 in the majors.

The active stretch of 33 straight shutout innings is the longest such streak in Twins history, which began in 1961. They had three longer shutout streaks when they were the Washington Senators, but the most recent of those took place in 1913.

To accommodate Matthews’ arrival, the Twins placed reliever Danny Coulombe (left forearm extensor strain) on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to Thursday. Coulombe has yet to allow a run this season in 16⅔ innings.

To make room for McCusker, the Twins shifted rookie Luke Keaschall to the 60-day IL to open a spot on the 40-man roster. Keaschall fractured his right forearm April 25 against the Los Angeles Angels.

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

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Cora to skip game to attend daughter’s graduation

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Cora to skip game to attend daughter's graduation

BOSTON — Red Sox manager Alex Cora will miss Monday’s series opener against the New York Mets at Fenway Park so he can attend his daughter’s college graduation.

Cora’s daughter, Camila, will be graduating from nearby Boston College.

“It’s going to be a very special day — one that I’m not going to miss,” Cora said before Sunday’s game vs. the Atlanta Braves. “I 100% will miss the game for that. I will do that any given day. It’s going to be a very special day for us.”

Cora reflected on how the time has seemed to go quickly and spoke about how fast his daughter seemed to grow up.

“It went fast, it went really fast,” Cora said of her time in college. “For a girl from divorced parents, her mom did an amazing job, staying the course while I was playing and coaching and doing my ESPN thing. … She’s actually a reflection of her. I appreciate everything she’s done for her and for us.”

Asked if he’ll be able to hold back his emotions at the ceremony, Cora smiled and said “We’ll see,” before bringing up memories of when his daughter was at the 2018 World Series victory celebration and a postseason series wrap-up win over Tampa Bay in ’21 at Fenway.

“It’s going to be an amazing day. It happened fast,” he said. “You put everything into perspective, you go back to the videos of ’18, she was a little girl.

“Then you go back to ’21 when she hopped onto the field when we beat Tampa, she was still a little girl. Now, she’s not a little girl,” he said. “She’s a woman. She had fun with it. She’s a great student and the future’s bright for her.”

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Brewers send struggling starter Myers to minors

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Brewers send struggling starter Myers to minors

MILWAUKEE — Brewers pitcher Tobias Myers is going back to the minors as he continues to struggle to match the success he enjoyed as a rookie last year.

The Brewers optioned Myers to Triple-A Nashville on Sunday while selecting right-handed pitcher Easton McGee from Triple-A and transferring left-handed pitcher Connor Thomas to the 60-day injured list.

Myers is 1-1 with a 4.95 ERA in six appearances, including five starts. He allowed four runs over 3 2/3 innings in a 7-0 loss to the Minnesota Twins on Saturday.

The right-hander had gone 9-6 with a 3.00 ERA last season and was selected the Brewers’ most valuable pitcher by the Milwaukee chapter of the Baseball Writers Association of America. He closed that season by pitching five scoreless innings in the decisive Game 3 of the NL Wild Card Series against the New York Mets, a game the Brewers lost 4-2 by allowing four runs in the ninth.

“I love the kid, man,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said after Saturday’s game. “You saw it in Game 3, that’s in there. So we’ve got to get back to that.”

The Brewers had optioned Myers to Nashville a week ago, but he didn’t actually pitch there before rejoining the big-league club after left-hander José Quintana went on the injured list with a left shoulder issue. Now he’s heading back to Nashville.

Myers entered Saturday having walked 10 batters over 16 1/3 innings. He didn’t walk anyone Saturday, but gave up a career-high 11 hits.

“My goal was to fill the zone up and kind of get away from the walks I’ve been dealing with,” Myers said after the game. “I think I just filled it up a little too much.”

McGee went 1-0 with a 3.44 ERA and 20 strikeouts over 18 1/3 innings in 13 relief appearances with Nashville.

McGee appeared in one game for Tampa Bay in 2022 and one game for Seattle in 2023.In the only two games he has pitched in the big leagues, McGee has allowed just one unearned run over 9 2/3 innings while striking out three and allowing five hits and one walk.

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