Category: Saturday Sports Slam

Bucs’ Josh Harrison out six weeks!!!

Josh Harrison will be out approximately six weeks, the Pirates announced on Monday, after he was diagnosed with a fracture to the fifth metacarpal of his left hand.

Harrison was hit by a pitch on Sunday while leading off the third inning for the Pirates and left the game. Adam Frazier was inserted to pinch-run for Harrison. The Pirates won Sunday’s series finale, 7-3.

The Bucs’ second baseman was stung by a Jose Urena fastball clocked at 96 mph by Statcast.

“I’m pretty frustrated,” Harrison said after the game. “It definitely [stinks] being hit. Guys throw hard. I just wanted to take precautionary measures, ice it and get back to Pitt and see our doctors.

Pirates’ Harrison to undergo further evaluation on hand after being hit by pitch yesterday!!!

Pirates’ Harrison to undergo further evaluation on hand
MIAMI (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison will undergo further evaluation Monday after leaving their game at Miami when he was hit on the left hand by a 96-mph fastball from Jose Urena.
Tests are planned when the team returns home.
“I’ve got to get back to Pittsburgh to see the doctors,” Harrison said. “There’s a little bit of pain.”
The Pirates’ leadoff hitter, Harrison is batting .263 with one homer and five RBIs. He came into the game Sunday leading the team with 12 runs.
Harrison missed the final month of the 2017 season after being hit by a pitch on the same hand. He was hit 23 times last year to rank second in the majors.
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Former Pittsburgh Steeler James Harrison Announces his retirement!!!

BREAKING NEWS:     Longtime Steelers linebacker James Harrison retires
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Longtime Pittsburgh Steelers linebacker James Harrison is taking a second crack at retirement.
The five-time Pro Bowler and 2008 NFL Defensive Player of the Year announced on Instagram early Monday that he is stepping away from the game following a 15-year career.
Harrison, who turns 40 next month, posted a collage of pictures of his two sons and noted he’s “missed way too much for way too long … and I’m done.”
Harrison played nearly his entire career with the Steelers and the 84.5 sacks he collected while wearing black-and-gold are a franchise record. He spent the 2013 season in Cincinnati and signed with New England late last season, appearing in all three playoff games for the Patriots, including their Super Bowl loss to Philadelphia.
This is the second time Harrison has called it quits. He retired briefly in September 2014 only to be lured back to the Steelers. He remained productive into his late 30s, registering at least five sacks from 2014-16.
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Crosby scores goal, leads Penguins to 5-1 Game 3 over Flyers!!! Pens take 2-1 Series lead!!!

Crosby scores goal, leads Penguins to 5-1 Game 3 over Flyers
By DAN GELSTON, AP Sports Writer
PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Sidney Crosby had a goal and three assists and Matt Murray stopped 26 shots to help the Pittsburgh Penguins silence a raucous Philadelphia crowd and beat the Flyers 5-1 on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in the first-round playoff series.
Two of the so-called fiercest rivals in the NHL have provided three lopsided games: Pittsburgh’s 7-0 win in Game 1 and Philadelphia’s 5-1 victory in Game 2 could about qualify as nail-bitters in this series.
Game 3 is Wednesday night in Philadelphia.
Crosby scored his fourth goal of the series in the first period, and Derick Brassard, Evgeni Malkin and Brian Dumoulin scored in the second to make it 4-0. Malkin and Dumoulin scored 5 seconds apart.
Justin Schultz made it 5-1 in the third on Pittsburgh’s third power-play goal of the game.
Brian Elliott, yanked in Game 1, had another rough outing and might need to borrow fellow Wells Fargo Center tenant Joel Embiid’s black mask to have a better look at the puck.
The Flyers haven’t won a playoff series since 2012 and pulled out all the theatrical stops in their return to the postseason after a one-year absence. Light-up bracelets flickered in the darkened arena and another packed house roared “Crosby sucks! Crosby sucks!”
Here’s the thing Philly fans haven’t realized, he really doesn’t — and especially not against the Flyers.
Crosby, who has 93 points in 63 career regular-season games against Philly, shut up the orange-and-black die-hards with a wraparound goal off a turnover midway through the first.
Crosby had a hat trick in Game 1 and the three-time Stanley Cup champion showed no sign of easing up.
Flyers fans even stuck photos of the hated Crosby inside the urinals throughout the arena that had to guarantee they were more on target with their shots than anyone on the home team’s roster.
The Flyers ran a video package full of bloody fights, big goals and memorable moments between the teams through the years with a “Bitter Rivals” caption. The Penguins could have just looked in their reflection from the 2016 and 2017 Cups and shrugged off the idea the Flyers are in their league.
Brassard scored on the power play just 2:48 into the second. Then came back-to-back stunning goals that put the icing on the urinal cake: Malkin scored on a one-timer and Dumoulin off the faceoff beat Elliott through the five-hole for a 4-0 lead. Crosby had both assists, naturally.
At that point, each team had 12 shots.
The Flyers, who played more like the team that lost 10 straight games over November-December, had no shot at pulling off the comeback. Travis Sanheim scored late in the third for the Flyers’ lone goal.
Notes: Flyers great Bobby Clarke was at the game. So was former Flyers captain Peter Forsberg. … Philadelphia 76ers star Ben Simmons was in the house. The Sixers have won 17 straight games. Fans started chanting “Trust the Process!” as the game turned into a rout. … Philadelphia’s 22 wins at home during the regular season were the fewest of any team in the NHL playoffs.
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Larson leads at Bristol; race postponed to Monday

Larson leads at Bristol; race postponed to Monday
By STEVE REED, AP Sports Writer
BRISTOL, Tenn. (AP) — Kyle Larson will have to wait another day to try to capture his first NASCAR Cup Series victory of the season.
The race at Bristol Motor Speedway was postponed until Monday because of heavy rain with Larson out in front. Racing was halted three times Sunday due to wet weather.
Action is scheduled to resume Monday at 1 p.m.
Larson led 74 laps when the race was halted on lap 204, just 46 laps from it becoming official. NASCAR hopes to complete all remaining 296 laps, although the forecast calls for more rain and possibly snow.
Larson seemed to have found his groove on the track before the third and final red flag came out. NASCAR waited about an hour before officially postponing the race with a forecast of steady rain for the remainder of Sunday night.
“It’s hard to get a rhythm with all the rain and stuff and then getting out of your car and getting back in,” Larson said.
Larson liked the speed of his car, but said the track was slick.
“There is only a little line there on the bottom that has got some grip,” said Larson, who normally likes to run on the high side of the Bristol track. “If you get out of it, it’s slick. If you get below it, it’s slick. So, it’s been fun, but it’s kind of hard to guess where you need to position your car there for a little while.”
Some drivers won’t have to worry about coming back Monday.
Ryan Blaney was dominant early in the No. 12 Ford, leading 99 laps of the first 119 laps before getting caught up in wreck that left his car in shambles.
It happened on turn three when Chris Buescher and Trevor Bayne, who were fighting to stay on the lead lap, got tangled up in front of Blaney, leaving him nowhere to maneuver.
His car was taken behind the wall, ending his day.
“By the time I got away from the car right in front of me they were already turned right up the race track and I was already going to the top,” of the track,” Blaney said. “I kind of saw them spinning low and I thought that top was going to be OK and then they slid back up and got us. That stinks. I thought we had a good car and nothing to show for it.”
Michael McDowell, Chris Buescher, Harrison Rhodes and Ross Chastain also are out of the race.
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Marte’s 5 hits help Pirates beat Marlins 7-3!!!

Marte’s 5 hits help Pirates, Nova beat Marlins 7-3
By STEVEN WINE, AP Sports Writer
MIAMI (AP) — Starling Marte hiked his average 64 points Sunday, punctuating a 5-for-5 afternoon with a ninth-inning homer to help the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 7-3.
Marte’s five hits were a career high, and his average rose from .241 to .305. He scored four times and hit his third homer off Junichi Tazawa.
The surprising Pirates (11-4) improved to 7-0 in day games, completed a 4-2 trip and head home atop the NL Central.
Both teams kept their tempers in check even as two Pirates and one Marlins batter were hit by pitches. Pittsburgh second baseman Josh Harrison left in the third inning complaining of pain in his left hand after being hit by a 96 mph fastball from Jose Urena.
Ivan Nova (2-1) recovered from a wobbly start to pitch 6 2/3 innings. He allowed three runs and struck out nine, his highest total since 2016.
Nova improved to 3-0 in three career starts against the Marlins with an ERA of 1.66. Justin Bour ended his afternoon with a pinch-hit, two-run homer.
Miami started the game with three consecutive singles to load the bases, but scored only once in the first — on Brian Anderson’s groundout.
After Harrison’s injury, Nova hit JB Shuck in the hip later that same inning, and Marlins reliever Odrisamer Despaigne plunked Francisco Cervelli on the left hand in the seventh. Despaigne appeared to apologize as Cervelli trotted to first base, and the Pittsburgh catcher responded with a conciliatory wave.
Josh Bell had three hits and three RBIs for the Pirates. Corey Dickerson drove in a pair of runs, had two hits and extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
Urena (0-3) allowed eight hits and four runs in five innings. After four starts, the Marlins’ ace has an ERA of 5.57.
The Pirates bunched four hits to score three times against Urena in the third inning. Bell put Pittsburgh ahead with a double that deflected off the glove of a diving Derek Dietrich at first base, and Dickerson followed with an RBI single.
The Marlins (4-11) went 1-5 on their homestand.
TRAINER’S ROOM
Marlins: C J.T. Realmuto (back) is expected to come off the disabled list and make his season debut sometime during the upcoming 10-day trip. Manager Don Mattingly didn’t rule out Realmuto returning for the series against the Yankees on Monday and Tuesday. … 3B Martin Prado (hamstring) is close to beginning a rehab assignment, Mattingly said.
Pirates: RHP Joe Musgrove (right shoulder strain) might advance to a bullpen session as early as Tuesday, manager Clint Hurdle said.
UP NEXT
Pirates: LHP Steven Brault (2-0, 3.46 ERA) is scheduled to start when the Pirates begin a three-game homestand Monday against Colorado and RHP German Marquez (0-1, 4.97).
Marlins: LHP Caleb Smith (0-1, 4.73) is on the mound when the Marlins begin a three-city trip Monday at Yankee Stadium. New Miami CEO and former Yankees captain Derek Jeter has said he will not attend the games in New York.
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Pirates’ Josh Harrison leaves game after being hit by pitch!!!

Pirates’ Josh Harrison leaves game after being hit by pitch
MIAMI (AP) — Pittsburgh Pirates second baseman Josh Harrison has left his team’s game at Miami after being hit on the left arm by a 96-mph fastball from Jose Urena.
Harrison appeared to be hit on the protective guard covering his elbow. He walked slowly to first base, but after consulting with a trainer he left the game.
The Pirates’ leadoff hitter, Harrison is batting .263 with one homer and five RBIs. He came into the game Sunday leading the team with 12 runs.
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