Category: News

McCarthy hits leadoff inside-the-park homer off Skenes in Rockies’ 2-1 win over Pirates

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Colorado Rockies’ Jake McCarthy slides safely across home plate to notch an inside-the-park home run off Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes in the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, June 20, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — Jake McCarthy hit a leadoff inside-the-park home run off Paul Skenes and the Colorado Rockies survived another tense ninth inning to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 on Saturday night.

Skenes (6-7) took a no-hitter into the seventh inning against Colorado on May 12, and hasn’t won since that outing.

Tomoyuki Sugano (8-4) went six innings, and Jaden Hill picked up his second save.

Pittsburgh, as it did Friday night, had the tying run on third with less that two outs in the ninth. Hill came on and hit Nick Gonzalez to load the bases before striking out Tyler Callihan. Jake Mangum then hit a grounder to third baseman Kyle Karros, and the game ended when umpires determined Karros was interfered with by Billy Cook.

The game started with matching leadoff home runs. Spencer Horowitz blasted a 434-footer into the second deck in right field to start the night, his fifth career leadoff homer, and McCarthy answered with more flare.

McCarthy drove a liner to center field that got by the diving Mangum and rolled to the wall. Callihan had trouble picking it up, allowing McCarthy to race around the bases and beat the relay throw home.

It was the franchise’s second inside-the-park homer to lead off the first inning – the last by Eric Young Jr. on Aug. 8, 2012 — and the 20th inside-the-park home run in team history and first since Ian Desmond’s on June 14, 2019.

McCarthy’s hustle double in the third led to Colorado’s second run.

Up next

Pirates RHP Jared Jones (1-1, 6.23) was set to face RHP Michael Lorenzen (2-8, 7.13) on Sunday in the series finale.

Fulford’s pinch 2-run double in 8th lifts Rockies past Pirates 4-3, Freeland reaches 1,000 Ks

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Colorado Rockies pinch-hitter Braxton Fulford follows the flight of his two-run double off Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Mason Montgomery in the eighth inning of a baseball game Friday, June 19, 2026, in Denver. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski)

DENVER (AP) — Pinch-hitter Braxton Fulford had a go-ahead two-run double with two outs in the eighth inning, Antonio Senzatela got out of a bases-loaded jam with no outs in the ninth and the Colorado Rockies held on for a 4-3 win over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Rockies starter Kyle Freeland got his 1,000th career strikeout, the second player in franchise history to reach the milestone.

The Pirates took a 3-2 lead in the eighth on an RBI double by Jared Triolo off Freeland and a run-scoring single by pinch-hitter Bryan Reynolds and an RBI triple by Nick Gonzales against Jaden Hill.

But the Rockies came right back in their half of the eighth when Tyler Freeman and Cole Carrigg had consecutive two-out singles against Mason Montgomery (2-2). Fulford came in to pinch hit for Sterlin Thompson and doubled into the gap between left and center field to put Colorado up 4-3.

Senzatela (7-0) gave up a leadoff single in the ninth to Marcel Ozuna and Brandon Lowe singled on a ball that bounced off the leg of shortstop Ezequiel Tovar and into the outfield, putting the tying run at third base. Senzatela then walked Endy Rodríguez to load the bases. But he struck out Tyler Callihan and got Triolo to ground into a double play to end the game.

Freeland, who struck out Ozuna in the seventh to reach 1,000 strikeouts and then fanned Lowe, trails only Germán Márquez (1,069) on the Rockies’ career list. Freeland finished with eight strikeouts and allowed two runs and four hits in 7 1/3 innings.

The Rockies took a 1-0 lead in the third on an RBI double by Willi Castro. TJ Rumfield hit a solo homer in the fourth to make it 2-0.

Up next

RHP Paul Skenes (6-6, 2.85 ERA) will start for the Pirates on Saturday in the middle game of the series. RHP Tomoyuki Sungano (7-4, 4.54) will start for the Rockies.

Southbound Route 65 Ramp to Northbound I-279 Inspection Monday and Tuesday in Pittsburgh

(File Photo of Road Work Ahead Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Allegheny County, PA) PennDOT announced that inspection work on the southbound Route 65 ramp to northbound I-279 in the City of Pittsburgh will occur today and tomorrow, weather permitting.   

Inspection work requiring lane narrowing and traffic shifts conducted by crews from The Markosky Engineering Group, Inc. and the Sofis Company, Inc. will occur from 9 A.M. to 3 P.M. each day on the following ramps: 

  • Southbound Route 65 to northbound I-279 (Parkway North) 
  • Southbound I-279 to the Fort Duquesne Bridge 

1,200-year-old Major Oak tree in the United Kingdom’s Sherwood Forest linked to the legend of Robin Hood has died

(File Photo: Source for Photo: A 1,200-year-old Major Oak tree, where Robin Hood allegedly used as a hide out, stands in Sherwood Forest near Nottinghamshire, England, on Oct. 19, 2007. (AP Photo/Simon Daswon, File)

LONDON (AP) — A massive ancient oak tree linked to the legend of Robin Hood may have been loved to death.

The 1,200-year-old Major Oak in Sherwood Forest is believed to have died after it didn’t sprout leaves this spring, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said Thursday.

Visitors over the past two centuries who viewed the tree’s gnarled limbs and sprawling canopy in Nottingham compressed the soil, making it difficult for rain to reach its roots, the conservation group said.

The forest has been under threat for years and the tree had been rumored to have died in the past — only to have the group confirm it was still alive.

That is no longer the case.

“The tree’s failure to produce leaves this year is heartbreaking for everyone,” Hollie Drake of the RSPB said in a statement announcing the death.

The tree is said to have sheltered Robin Hood, the legendary 13th-centruy bandit who stole from the rich and gave to the poor and took refuge in the forest when being pursued by the sheriff of Nottingham.

It got its name after being mentioned in a book on oaks by Major Hayman Rooke in 1790 that led to the first wave of fans who flocked to the forest.

It’s impossible to say what killed the tree, but the footprints of millions contributed to its downfall, along with intervention to shore up its massive limbs using cables and poles. Climate change that has brought heat waves and drought was also blamed.

Tree experts found the root system strangled and starved.

“Ancient trees like the Major Oak are the ‘conservation white rhinos of the U.K.’ but their decline is far less visible,” said Ed Pyne, of the Woodland Trust. “Saving them is vital to the health of the world we live in and yet most disappear quietly, without the recognition or care given to the Major Oak.”

In addition to its place in folklore, the forest is known for Sherwood oaks that floated the ships of Vice Adm. Horatio Nelson’s Royal Navy in the late 18th and early 19th centuries and as timbers in the roof of St. Paul’s Cathedral in London.

The Major Oak was spared from the saw and has been protected by a fence since the 1970s.

“The Major Oak will continue to stand at the heart of Sherwood as a natural monument for visitors to come and see, living on in the legend of Robin Hood and continuing to provide as much support to the forest’s ecosystem in death as in life,” Drake said.

Hunting licenses going on sale soon for 2026 season

(File Photo of a Deer Approaching Sign)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Beaver County, PA) Hunting licenses are going on sale on June 22nd in Pennsylvania and residents should know that there will be a couple of changes.

The main one is that the Pennsylvania Game Commission decided to make it available to hunt on Sundays during hunting season. All hunting seasons include all of the Sundays within them except for migratory game bird seasons.

The state legislature dropped the ban on Sunday hunting in 2025 and 13 Sundays were included in the fall season.

Truck overturns in Moon Township

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of WPXI-TV Pittsburgh, Posted on Facebook on June 19th, 2026)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Moon Township, PA) A truck overturned in Moon Township today. 

According to 911 dispatchers, the crash was reported just before noon in the 5000 block of University Boulevard. 

A WPXI employee captured photos of the truck, which was lying on its side and appeared to have struck a pole. 

It is unclear if anyone was injured at this time. 

Israel and Hezbollah agree to halt fighting as talks between the US and Iran hang in the balance

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Smoke rises to the sky in an area near Beaufort Castle following an Israeli military strike in southern Lebanon as seen from northern Israel, Friday, June 19, 2026. (AP Photo/Leo Correa)

JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel and the Iran-backed Hezbollah militant group agreed Friday to halt the heavy fighting in southern Lebanon that had threatened to unravel an interim peace agreement between the United States and Iran, officials said. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah immediately confirmed the truce.

It came after a heavy exchange of fire killed 47 people in Lebanon and four Israeli soldiers.

Hezbollah and Israel went to war shortly after the outbreak of the wider conflict, with Hezbollah firing rockets and drones at civilian communities in northern Israel and Israel seizing large swaths of southern Lebanon.

The agreement to end the Iran war calls for a halt to military operations in Lebanon and for its sovereignty to be respected. Neither Israel nor Hezbollah is a party to the deal.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to keep Israeli forces in southern Lebanon until the threat is eliminated. Hezbollah has refused to halt its attacks unless Israel commits to withdrawing from Lebanon, which Iran says is also a condition of the wider agreement.

The deal aims to end the war between the U.S. and Iran, open the Strait of Hormuz to relieve the world economy, and relaunch talks on Iran’s nuclear program with a 60-day deadline for a final accord. But it already faces threats, chiefly from Lebanon, with the fighting there leading to a delay in the start of talks planned for Friday in Switzerland.

Former Penguins hockey player Ryan Craig becomes the next head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights

(Credit for Photo: Photo Courtesy of Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Las Vegas, NV) The Vegas Golden Knights formally introduced Ryan Craig as their new head coach yesterday in Las Vegas. Craig played for both the Pittsburgh Penguins and their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the 2010-2011 season and returned to Wilkes-Barre Scranton to play for them in the 2011-2012 season. Craig replaces John Tortorella, who led the Golden Knights to the 2026 Stanley Cup Final despite him being hired with eight games left in the team’s regular season. 

Luigi Mangione’s attorneys say they will not argue psychiatric defense in New York state murder trial regarding killing of UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson

(Credit for Photo: Luigi Mangione appears for a pre-trial hearing at Manhattan Criminal Court in New York, Wednesday, June 17, 2026. (AP Photo/Angelina Katsanis, Pool)

Noah Haswell, Beaver County Radio News

(Manhattan, NY) Luigi Mangione’s attorneys informed the judge in his New York state murder case yesterday that they would withdraw their plan to argue at trial that he killed UnitedHealthcare’s chief executive officer Brian Thompson while suffering an extreme emotional disturbance. The notice came in a court filing one day after a hearing in which the attorneys of Mangione had indicated they would argue psychiatric defense. His lawyers could not be reached for comment immediately and the Manhattan District Attorney’s office did not comment. Judge Gregory Carro said at a hearing on Wednesday that he planned to unseal records related to an affirmative defense available to New York state criminal defendants charged with murder, in which the accused admits to the charged conduct but argues they should not be held fully criminally liable because he or she acted while experiencing a mental health episode. However, in light of the defense’s withdrawal, Carro commented yesterday that he would keep those records sealed. If a jury finds that a defendant has proved by a preponderance of evidence they acted because of an extreme emotional disturbance, the crime is reduced from murder to manslaughter, which carries far less time in jail. Mangione’s next court date is August 11th, which is before his state trial begins in September.