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Ex-SF Giants first round pick throws gem as Phillies flatten Diamondbacks

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

PHOENIX — Kyle Schwarber got a hanging breaking ball at the top of the strike zone in the sixth inning and did what he does so well in the postseason, obliterate a baseball deep into the seats for another home run.The formidable Philadelphia Phillies looked mortal for a couple of days during a pair of frustrating one-run losses. Their response on Saturday night proved that they’re far from finished.Zack Wheeler delivered another postseason gem with seven shutdown innings, Schwarber, Bryce Harper, and J.T. Realmuto all homered and the Phillies beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-1 to take a 3-2 NL Championship Series lead.“Everything was fantastic,” Schwarber said. “It was a great response. Obviously, didn’t work out the way we wanted last night, but it was great that we were able to turn the page and really put our focus and effort into this one.”Philadelphia moved one win from its second straight World Series appearance, regaining control after wasting late leads in consecutive losses ...

Hertl blasts Sharks’ lack of response after Predators player runs over Blackwood

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

The San Jose Sharks remained winless on the season as they once again gave up goals in rapid succession, digging themselves a hole they couldn’t escape in what became a 5-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Saturday.Tommy Novak scored twice and goalie Juuse Saros made 31 saves to lead the Predators at Bridgestone Arena, as the Sharks fell to 0-4-1 on the season having only scored seven goals in their first five games.Kiefer Sherwood and Luke Evangelista each had a goal and an assist and Samuel Fagemo also scored for the Predators, winners of two in a row. Gustav Nyquist had two assists.Tomas Hertl scored and Mackenzie Blackwood made 28 saves for the winless Sharks.Fagemo scored the game’s first goal at 17:15 of the opening period with a wrist shot from the top of the left circle with Nashville on a power play.Novak and Sherwood scored goals 12 seconds apart early in the second to break the game open.Novak struck again at 2:47 of the third on a power play. His four goals this ...

Roslovic scores in overtime as Blue Jackets beat Minnesota Wild 5-4

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Jack Roslovic scored 3:07 into overtime and the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Minnesota Wild 5-4 on Saturday night.Justin Danforth, Kent Johnson, Boone Jenner and Adam Fantilli also scored for the Blue Jackets. Elvis Merzlikins made 24 saves.Entering the Minnesota zone, Roslovic split three Minnesota defenders and whistled a low shot past Filip Gustavsson for his first goal of the season.“The way we played we deserved that win. We played really well, really connected, really intense,” said Columbus coach Pascal Vincent. “No game is perfect, we’re going to make mistakes, but the mindset was perfect. I’m looking for excellence and what I mean by excellence is working hard. We did that tonight.”Four of the last five games between the teams took extra time with the Wild previously winning twice in overtime and once in a shootout.Dakota Mermis, Mats Zuccarello, Jonas Brodin and Marcus Johansson scored for Minnesota, which got a career-high 49 saves from Gustavsson...

Jaxson Dart has 246 yards of offense and 3 TDs, No. 13 Mississippi beats Auburn 28-21

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

AUBURN, Ala. (AP) — Jaxson Dart had 246 yards of offense and three touchdowns to help No. 13 Mississippi beat Auburn 28-21 on Saturday night.Dart led the Rebels (6-1, 3-1 Southeastern Conference) to touchdowns on their first two drives before plunging into the end zone from a yard out on the final play of the third quarter for a lead Ole Miss held onto.“The energy changed on the last play of the third quarter,” Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin said. “The fact that we scored and took the air out of the stadium really changed the energy as we headed into the fourth quarter.”Quinshon Judkins added 124 yards rushing and a fourth-quarter touchdown run for the Rebels. Tre Harris had 102 yards receiving.Auburn (3-4, 0-4) answered Ole Miss’ first score with a 53-yard touchdown run from Jarquez Hunter, who finished with 91 yards.Hugh Freeze’s Tigers tied it at 14 with a 1-yard score from Hunter, taking advantage of a short field that was set up by Donovan Kaufman’s interception.The teams then comb...

McCarthy throws 3 TD passes in 1st half, No. 2 Michigan routs Michigan State 49-0

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — No. 2 Michigan put together perhaps its most complete performance of its unbeaten season, and still wasn’t satisfied.J.J. McCarthy threw three of his career-high four touchdown passes in the first half and the second-ranked Wolverines routed Michigan State 49-0 on Saturday night.“We’re not even close to our peak yet,” McCarthy said.The Wolverines (8-0, 5-0 Big Ten) have won a school-record 20 consecutive conference games since losing at Michigan State nearly two years ago.The latest lopsided win happened just days after it was disclosed Michigan is under NCAA investigation for allegedly stealing the play-calling signals used by opponents. Coach Jim Harbaugh served a three-game suspension to start the season as part of self-imposed penalties for NCAA recruiting infractions.“People don’t like to see people be successful,” Harbaugh said. “There’s a target, yeah. Everybody has pointed that out from the beginning of the season, but our guys are very focus...

Real Salt Lake reaches 50-point mark for just the second time since 2015

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. (AP) — Diego Luna scored in the 74th minute and Real Salt Lake beat the Colorado Rapids 1-0 on Saturday night.Real Salt Lake (14-12-8) reached the 50-point mark for just the second time since 2015 (53 in 2019). RSL has 19 regular-season wins over Colorado since the start of the 2014 season. Colorado (5-17-12) lost only two of its last 10 regular-season matches at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. The Rapids finished with just 17 points in 17 home games this season.Salt Lake goalkeeper Zac MacMath stopped six shots. Colorado goalkeeper Abraham Rodriguez made four saves. ___AP MLS: https://apnews.com/hub/major-league-soccerSource

LAFC’s Bouanga scores 20th goal in 1-1 draw with Whitecaps

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

VANCOUVER, British Columbia (AP) — Dénis Bouanga scored his league-leading 20th goal of the season for Los Angeles FC, but Ali Ahmed answered in the second half for Vancouver as the defending champions and the Whitecaps played to a 1-1 draw in a regular-season finale on Saturday night.Bouanga, who entered the final day of the regular season with a two-goal lead, wrapped up the Golden Boot Award when he took a pass from Ilie Sánchez in the 34th minute and scored to give LAFC (14-10-10) the lead.Defender Ali Ahmed pulled Vancouver (12-10-12) even in the 58th minute, using an assist from Richie Laryea to score his second goal of the season and the second of his career. Ahmed has made 12 starts and 24 appearances over the past two seasons for the Whitecaps.Maxime Crépeau totaled two saves in his seventh start of the season for LAFC. Yohei Takaoka saved six shots for Vancouver.LAFC had already clinched a top-four seed in the West entering the match. Vancouver had already earned a spot in...

Espinoza helps Earthquakes grab playoff berth in 1-1 draw with Austin

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Cristian Espinoza scored a first-half goal to help San Jose earn a 1-1 draw with Austin FC on Saturday night and that was enough to get the Earthquakes into the postseason after the Houston Dynamo defeated the Portland Timbers.San Jose (10-10-14) grabbed a 1-0 lead in the 17th minute when Espinoza took a pass from Jeremy Ebobisse and scored his 13th goal of the season. It was Espinoza’s 26th goal contribution this season, second most in Earthquakes history for a single season.Owen Wolff used passes from Nick Lima and Sebastián Driussi in the 32nd minute to score his second goal of the campaign for Austin (10-15-9), knotting the score at halftime.Brad Stuver saved seven shots for Austin. Daniel de Sousa Britto did not have a save for San Jose.Austin has won just three of its last 22 matches on the road in all competitions (3-14-5). Austin was the only team without a clean sheet on the road this season.The Earthquakes are 2-0-5 in seven all-time matchups ...

No. 14 Utah hits a field goal at the gun for a 34-32 victory over No. 18 Southern California

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Cole Becker made a 38-yard field goal as time expired, and No. 14 Utah blew an 11-point lead in the fourth quarter before rallying for a thrilling 34-32 victory over No. 18 Southern California on Saturday night.After Caleb Williams ran for an 11-yard touchdown with 1:46 left for the Trojans (6-2, 4-1 Pac-12), Bryson Barnes punctuated Utah’s winning drive with a spectacular 26-yard scramble to get the Utes (6-1, 3-1) well into range for Becker’s winner.Two-way sensation Sione Vaki caught two touchdown passes and accounted for 217 total yards while the Utes sent Williams and Lincoln Riley to their first-ever loss at the Coliseum.After Zachariah Branch’s 61-yard punt return set up Williams’ go-ahead TD run to put the Trojans in front 32-31, Utah mounted a drive that included Ja’Quinden Jackson’s fourth-and-1 conversion run to the USC 40 with 19 seconds left.Barnes passed for a career-high 235 yards and three touchdowns and rushed for another s...

Bruins stay unbeaten with 4-2 win over Kings

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 05:23:28 GMT

The Bruins may not be capable of dominating opponents like they did last year, but they’re still finding ways to win hockey games. And in Los Angeles on Saturday, the B’s deserved to feel good about themselves with their best win of the season over a quality opponent.Jeremy Swayman (32 saves) was locked in and captain Brad Marchand produced a three-point night (two goals, assist) to beat the Kings, 4-2, at crypto.com Arena to improve to 4-0 on the season.The day started with a wakeup call when it was learned that Jake DeBrusk earned a healthy scratch because he was late for a team meeting. And it appeared to focus his teammates.The B’s took a 1-0 lead into the first intermission, thanks in part to some superb penalty killing and goaltending from Swayman (14 first period saves).They found themselves on their heels immediately when Charlie Coyle was called for interference 2:01 into the game. Swayman came up with some huge saves on the first half of that PK, includin...