Weather Forecast for Thursday, 8/15/19

Today- Scattered Thunderstorms especially in the afternoon. High 83

Tonight- Partly to mostly cloudy skies with scattered thunderstorms during the evening. Low 65

Tomorrow- Partly cloudy and a high of 83.

Pujols sets career hit mark for foreign-born players in win
By DAN GREENSPAN Associated Press
ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Los Angeles Angels slugger Albert Pujols doesn’t want to talk about his growing list of accomplishments until his career comes to an end.
That leaves the task to the rest of baseball, and they are running out of ways to describe Pujols’ illustrious time in the game.
Pujols had two hits and three RBIs Wednesday and set the major league record for career hits by a foreign-born player, leading the Angels to a 7-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates.
“I mean, what more can we say? He’s one of the greatest players to ever play the game, one of the greatest hitters to ever play the game,” Angels manager Brad Ausmus said. “And he’s going to pass some other names I’m sure that are very well known and have plaques hanging in Cooperstown.
Pujols had an RBI single in the 4th inning. His 3,167th hit moved him past fellow Dominican Republic native Adrian Beltre (3,166) and into sole possession of 15th place for career hits.
“He just keeps doing what he does,” said Dillon Peters (3-1), who allowed two runs in six innings while striking out six after an erratic start. “Everybody here looks up to him, and it’s just awesome to watch him chase his dream and chase all the milestones he’s already overcome. And there’s going to be more to come.”
Luis Rengifo also drove in two runs for the Angels, who snapped a three-game home losing streak.
Melky Cabrera and Elias Diaz each had an RBI for the Pirates, who failed to complete a three-game sweep of the Angels. Pittsburgh has not won three in a row since July 1-3, against the Chicago Cubs.
Chris Archer (3-9) allowed four runs, three earned, in five innings, and his streak of starts without a win reached 12 games. It is the longest such span in Archer’s eight-year career.
The Angels scored four runs in the fourth inning to erase a two-run deficit. Los Angeles moved in front on Rengifo’s double to left field. The Pirates’ Bryan Reynolds overran the ball when it dropped in, and it bounced all the way to warning track. Rengifo kept running, rounding third and sliding headfirst into home to give the Angels a two-run lead.
The 39-year-old Pujols drove in Los Angeles’ first run with his record-setting single, helping spark the struggling Angels to their fifth win in the past 18 games. David Fletcher followed with an RBI double that tied the game at 2-all.
“Forget about the record. It’s my job to come here every night and try to help this ball club to win when I can,” Pujols said. “With my defense or with my offense when I get that opportunity, and that’s what I did tonight. It was an effort where everybody contributed.”
After Pittsburgh pulled within 4-3 in the seventh inning, with Diaz scoring from third when Erik Gonzalez hit into a double play, Pujols put the Angels ahead 6-3 with a two-run single in the eighth inning. It was another example of Pujols’ knack for delivering in “prime time,” as Pirates manager Clint Hurdle described it.
“Later on in the game, clutch situations, I’ve seen him be really, really good,” Hurdle said. “And he’s still driving in runs.”
Rengifo drove in Pujols to make it 7-3, before Diaz had an RBI single in the ninth inning for the final margin of victory.
MORE HISTORY
Mike Trout went 0-for-3 with a walk, collecting a stolen base in the fourth inning to become the first American League player with eight straight seasons of at least 25 homers and 10 stolen bases. Barry Bonds, Darryl Strawberry and Willie Mays also accomplished the feat, with Bonds doing so 12 consecutive seasons from 1990-2001 with Pittsburgh and San Francisco.
BOUNCING BACK
Peters looked like he would not last long after the Pirates jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Peters loaded the bases with no outs with a walk and hitting two batters. Josh Bell hit into a double play that scored Kevin Newman, and Cabrera had an RBI single to right that made it 2-0. But Peters was effective after that rough opening. “Just one of those weird starts to a game where I just had no feel after the first batter,” Peters said. “Got out of it and just tried to turn the outing into a positive.”
STILL WAITING
The Pirates’ last series sweep came June 21-23 against San Diego, and they have not won every game in a road series since May 17-19 at the Padres. They have swept two road series this season, the other coming when they took two games at Detroit on April 15-16. But Hurdle still treated the series win as a positive. “We haven’t had one since we came out of the break, so it’s a step in the right direction,” Hurdle said.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Pirates: C Jacob Stallings was scratched from the starting lineup because of a migraine. … RHP Jameson Taillon will miss the 2020 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery for the second time.
Angels: RHP Noé Ramirez (viral infection) was recalled from the injured list Wednesday and served the first game of a three-game suspension for hitting Astros OF Jake Marsinick with a pitch on July 16.
UP NEXT
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (8-11, 4.71 ERA) will start in the opener of a three-game series against the Cubs at home on Friday. Musgrove is 0-1 in two starts against the Cubs this season, but has not allowed an earned run in 9 1/3 innings.
Angels: LHP Andrew Heaney (1-3, 4.89) gets the nod in the first game of a four-game series against the Chicago White Sox on Thursday. Heaney is 1-2 with a 5.13 ERA in five home starts this season.
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More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/tag/MLB and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Philadelphia gunman in custody after hourslong standoff
By CHRISTINA PACIOLLA and CLAUDIA LAUER Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — A gunman who opened fire on police Wednesday as they were serving a drug warrant in Philadelphia, wounding six officers and triggering a standoff that extended into the night, is in police custody, authorities said.
Philadelphia police Sgt. Eric Gripp said early Thursday morning that the man was taken into custody after an hourslong standoff with police.
The shooting began around 4:30 p.m. as officers went to a home in a north Philadelphia neighborhood of brick and stone rowhomes to serve a narcotics warrant in an operation “that went awry almost immediately,” Philadelphia Police Commissioner Richard Ross said.
Many officers “had to escape through windows and doors to get (away) from a barrage of bullets,” Ross said.
The six officers who were struck by gunfire have been released from hospitals, Gripp said.
Two other officers were trapped inside the house for about five hours after the shooting broke out but were freed by a SWAT team well after darkness fell on the residential neighborhood. Three people who officers had taken into custody in the house before the shooting started were also safely evacuated, police said.
“It’s nothing short of a miracle that we don’t have multiple officers killed today,” Ross said.
Police implored the gunman to surrender, at one point patching in his lawyer on the phone with him to try to persuade him to give up, Ross said.
“We’re doing everything within our power to get him to come out,” Ross said during the standoff. “He has the highest assurance he’s not going to be harmed when he comes out.”
Temple University locked down part of its campus, and several children and staff were trapped for some time in a nearby day care.
Police tried to push crowds of onlookers and residents back from the scene. In police radio broadcasts, officers could be heard calling for backup as reports of officers getting shot poured in.
“I was just coming off the train and I was walking upstairs and there were people running back downstairs who said that there was someone up there shooting cops,” said Abdul Rahman Muhammad, 21, an off-duty medic. “There was just a lot of screaming and chaos.”
Dozens of officers on foot lined the streets. Others were in cars and some on horses.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said its agents responded to the scene to assist Philadelphia police.
President Donald Trump and Attorney General William Barr were briefed on the shooting, officials said.
Philadelphia Mayor Jim Kenney said he was thankful that officers’ injuries weren’t life-threatening.
“I’m a little angry about someone having all that weaponry and all that firepower, but we’ll get to that another day,” Kenney said.
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Associated Press writers Ron Todt in Philadelphia, Michael Balsamo in Washington, Caleb Jones in Honolulu and Michael Rubinkam in Allentown, Pennsylvania, contributed to this report.

Several police officers shot in Philadelphia
By CHRISTINA PACIOLLA Associated Press
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — At least one gunman opened fire on Philadelphia police Wednesday afternoon, wounding at least six officers in a standoff that extended into the evening.
A shooter remained active as of 6 p.m. in the city’s Nicetown neighborhood, Philadelphia police Sgt. Eric Gripp tweeted.
All the officers’ injuries were considered non-life-threatening, he said.
Live video from news stations showed a massive police presence, with dozens of squad cars and officers, many of them with their guns drawn. Gunshots continued to be heard late Wednesday afternoon.
One officer appeared injured and was taken away in a police car. Video also showed two other officers carrying a man and putting him in the back of a police car.
Officers were taken to Temple University Hospital, Gripp said. But the hospital would not provide the officers’ conditions.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives said numerous agents responded to the scene to assist Philadelphia police.
Police asked news helicopters to stay away from the area.

Church cancels annual festival after letter raises concerns
SCOTT TOWNSHIP, Pa. (AP) — A Roman Catholic church in a Pittsburgh suburb has canceled its annual festival after an anonymous letter raised safety concerns.
The Diocese of Pittsburgh Pastoral Center received a handwritten letter in late July that said “Cancel August 14-17 Festival Security Problem is Huge.” Our Lady of Grace Parish in Scott Township was the only church in the diocese planning an event that week.
Church officials say while the letter did not specify a threat, there were concerns following the recent deadly shootings in El Paso, Texas, and Dayton, Ohio.
In a statement, the diocese said it mourns “the loss of carefree community.”
The church will consider other ways to raise money.
Authorities have not found the person who wrote and sent the letter.

Man in wheelchair attempted to rob Pittsburgh bank
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Police and the FBI are investigating after a man in a wheelchair attempted to rob a bank in Pittsburgh.
Police say a man described to be in his 60s entered the First National Bank in a wheelchair on Tuesday afternoon and handed a note demanding cash to a teller.
However, the man had second thoughts and left the bank.
The investigation is ongoing.

Police: Water tank wall collapses on worker, killing him
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. (AP) — Authorities are investigating the death of a Michigan man who was trapped under part of a water tank he was working to disassemble in western Pennsylvania.
State police in Mercer County say 31-year-old Zachary Jock of Bad Axe, Michigan, was part of a company hired to disassemble the 100-foot tank in New Wilmington Township.
Police said that during the disassembly process, a piece of the tank’s metal wall collapsed on Jock at about 5 p.m. Tuesday, trapping him. He was taken to UPMC Jameson, where he succumbed to his injuries.
Police are investigating but have classified the case an accidental death.

State to close 2 centers for disabled over next 3 years
HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — Pennsylvania officials have announced plans to close two centers for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities over the next three years.
The Department of Human Services said Tuesday that public meetings will be held next month to gather comment on the plans to close the Polk State Center in Venango County in western Pennsylvania and the White Haven State Center in northeastern Pennsylvania’s Luzerne County.
The Polk center currently serves 194 residents and the White Haven center serves 112 people.
Officials say the commonwealth has steadily closed most state centers since the 1960s “when best practices turned toward community-based settings and away from institutions.” Fifty years ago, the department served more than 13,000 people with intellectual disabilities in state-operated facilities, but today fewer than 720 receive care in such facilities.

Curt Schilling says he may run for Congress in Arizona
PHOENIX (AP) — Former major league pitcher Curt Schilling says he’s thinking about running for Congress in Arizona.
Schilling confirmed in an email to The Arizona Republic on Monday that he’s considering a run. He declined to say which district he’d run in and wrote that “the illegal immigration issue is not a joke.”
Schilling, 52, helped the Arizona Diamondbacks to its only World Series championship in 2001. He won another World Series with the Boston Red Sox in 2004.
He was later fired as an ESPN commentator for controversial online comments.
He’s an outspoken supporter of President Donald Trump, who tweeted, “Curt Schilling, a great pitcher and patriot, is considering a run for Congress in Arizona. Terrific!”
Schilling has in the past floated a Senate run in Massachusetts.