Bucs sign Michael Saunders to Minor League deal with Spring Training invite!!!

The Pirates have signed outfielder Michael Saunders to a Minor League contract with an invite to Major League Spring Training, the team announced Wednesday.

Saunders will wear No. 12 with Pittsburgh.

The 31-year-old was an All-Star in 2016 with the Blue Jays after hitting .298/.372/.551 with 16 home runs and a .923 OPS in the first half. But he slumped heavily in the second half, hitting .178/.282/.357 with eight homers and a .639 OPS.

Saunders signed as a free agent with the Phillies last winter on a one-year, $9 million deal, but was unable to bounce back in 2017. He hit just .205/.257/.360 with six homers and a .617 OPS in 61 games before Philadelphia released him in June.

The Blue Jays brought Saunders back on a Minor League deal about a week later, and he played 12 games for Toronto in September before again becoming a free agent.

WPIAL First Round Playoff Basketball: February 21, 2018

The final set of first-round playoff games in the WPIAL Boys’ and Girls’ basketball playoffs will be played tonight, and that includes a doubleheader on Beaver County Radio. Central Valley plays Uniontown at Peters Township High on 1230 WBVP, while Ambridge plays Deer Lakes at Fox Chapel on 1460 WMBA. Both of these 4A Boys’ playoff games are set for 8:00, with pregame beginning at 7:30.

Here’s tonight’s full schedule, along with last night’s results:

BOYS

Tuesday’s Scores
[5A] Moon 59, Albert Gallatin 44 [WBVP/WMBA]
[5A] West Allegheny 63, Laurel Highlands 54
[5A] Trinity 61, Greensburg-Salem 52
[5A] Hampton 52, Gateway 50
[5A] McKeesport 61, Armstrong 42
[2A] Shenango 64, Frazier 48
[2A] Springdale 34, California 33
[2A] Chartiers-Houston 50, Neshannock 47
[2A] Leechburg 62, Fort Cherry 50

8:00pm
[4A] Central Valley vs. Uniontown (at Peters Twp.) [WBVP]
[4A] Ambridge vs. Deer Lakes (at Fox Chapel) [WMBA]
[4A] South Park vs. Valley (at North Hills)
[4A] Freeport vs. South Fayette (at North Catholic)

GIRLS

Tuesday’s Scores
[6A] Hempfield 64, Seneca Valley 40
[6A] Latrobe 44, Shaler 31
[6A] Mt. Lebanon 31, Penn Hills 30
[6A] Upper St. Clair 38, Butler 32
[6A] Norwin 48, Pine-Richland 29

6:30pm
[3A] Riverside vs. Seton-LaSalle (at North Hills)
[3A] South Side Beaver vs. Laurel (at North Catholic)
[3A] South Allegheny vs. Avonworth (at Fox Chapel)
[3A] Apollo-Ridge vs. Charleroi (at Peters Twp.)

Piratesget Bryce Brentz from Red Sox for cash!!!

BRADENTON, Fla. — The Pirates added another player to their outfield competition on Tuesday afternoon by acquiring Bryce Brentz from the Red Sox.

Pittsburgh traded cash to Boston for Brentz, a 29-year-old who hit 31 home runs for Triple-A Pawtucket last season. Brentz made his Major League debut for the Red Sox against the Pirates in 2014, his first hit was a double off Francisco Liriano — and played 25 games in ’16, posting an overall .287/.311/.379 line with one homer in 90 career MLB plate appearances.

rentz spent all of last season in Triple-A, where he slashed .271/.334/.529 while setting a career high in homers and driving in 85 runs. He recently became expendable for the Red Sox, who needed to clear a 40-man roster spot to fit free-agent signing J.D. Martinez.

 

WPIAL First Round Playoff Basketball: January 19, 2018

After taking silver in both the WPIAL and PIAA playoffs last year, #1 seed Lincoln Park is looking for the gold this time around in the 2018 playoffs. Their run begins with a first round match with Carlynton at CW North Catholic on Monday night. Pre-game on Beaver County Radio is at 7:30, tip-off is at 8:00.

Below is the entire schedule for Day 3 of the First Round of the WPIAL Basketball Playoffs.

BOYS

6:30pm
[3A] Avonworth vs. Shady Side Academy (at North Catholic)
[3A] Burgettstown vs. East Allegheny (at Peters Twp.)

8:00pm
[3A] Lincoln Park vs. Carlynton (at North Catholic)
[3A] South Allegheny vs. Seton-LaSalle (at Peters Twp.)

Pitt loses 19th straight conference game!!!!!

  1. Florida State rallies in second half to defeat Pittsburgh
    By JOE REEDY, Associated Press
    TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton took his two of his leading scorers out of the starting lineup for Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh. Their replacements ended up being more than adequate.
    PJ Savoy led the Seminoles with 18 points and M.J. Walker added 16 as they were able to rally and pull away in the second half for an 88-75 victory over the Panthers.
    Hamilton said after the game that Terance Mann, who is averaging a team-high 14.4 points, and Brian Angola, who is third on the team at 13.2, did not start and play the first half due to “a minor indiscretion.”
    Savoy and Walker both said that they didn’t know they were starting until five minutes before the game.
    “I was pleased with the way everyone responded,” Hamilton said. “PJ and M.J. showed a lot of poise. They didn’t have any problems adjusting at all.”
    All five of Savoy’s field goals were 3-pointers as he led the Seminoles (19-8, 8-7 Atlantic Coast Conference) in scoring for the second time this season. The 6-foot-4 junior missed seven games but is averaging 12.3 points and is 10 of 21 on 3-pointers in three games since returning from a knee injury.
    “My teammates were able to find me in open spots. Hitting my first two shots was able to give me a lot of energy,” he said.
    Walker, a 6-5 freshman, didn’t seem fazed about getting his first collegiate start. He was 7 of 8 at the foul line as Florida State went 29 of 40, including 13 of 17 in the second half.
    “It was my first start since high school but I was able to adjust and play my game,” he said.
    The Panthers (8-20, 0-15) led 39-38 at halftime after hitting 10 of 17 from 3-point range in the first half but Florida State took the lead with a 9-2 run to start the second half. Pitt, which was 2 of 6 on 3-pointers in the second half, was still within three (74-71) with 3:29 remaining but FSU took control with a 7-1 run.
    The Seminoles, who were 26 of 47 from the field, took 18 more trips to foul line and had a 36-24 advantage in points in the paint. They also had a 17-3 edge in second-chance points.
    “We couldn’t guard effectively without fouling. That’s another sign of our inexperience,” Panthers coach Kevin Stallings said after three of his players fouled out, including two starters. “We did a very good job of taking care of the ball and for the most part getting good shots.”
    Jared Wilson-Frame and Shamiel Stevenson led Pittsburgh with 17 points each and Parker Stewart added 16.
    BIG PICTURE
    Pittsburgh: It was only the third time in ACC play that the Panthers had led at halftime and first time in any road game this season. However, Pitt’s losing streak in regular-season ACC games is now at 19. Its last win ironically was a year ago against Florida State.
    Florida State: A loss to the Panthers would have been detrimental to the Seminoles’ NCAA Tournament hopes, but barring a collapse in the final two weeks of the regular season, they have set themselves up well for consecutive NCAA appearances for the first time since 2012.
    STAR WATCH
    Mann and Angola both got in during the second half. Mann scored four points in 14 minutes while Angola was scoreless, going 0 for 2 from the field, in five minutes.
    TIP-INS
    Phil Cofer was held scoreless in the first half for the second straight game but ended up scoring 14 points. The senior had 17 in the second half and overtime of last Wednesday’s win over No. 11 Clemson. … FSU redshirt freshman Mfiondu Kabengele had 13 points, which is his most in ACC play. He was 9 of 11 from the foul line.
    UP NEXT
    Pittsburgh has its next two games at home, starting Wednesday against Wake Forest.
    Florida State has a week off before going to North Carolina State on Feb. 25.
    ___
    More AP college basketball: https://collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP_Top25
    ___
    Follow Joe Reedy on Twitter at https://twitter.com/joereed

Austin Dillon takes No. 3 back to victory lane at Daytona 17 years after Earnhardt’s death

Austin Dillon takes No. 3 back to victory lane at Daytona
By JENNA FRYER, AP Auto Racing Writer
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — The No. 3 is No. 1 again at Daytona, on a day, in a race and at a place forever linked with the great Dale Earnhardt.
Austin Dillon won the Daytona 500 on Sunday night driving the iconic No. 3 Chevrolet that Earnhardt piloted for most of his career. Earnhardt was behind the wheel of No. 3 when he won his only Daytona 500 in 1998, and when he was killed in an accident on the final lap of the race three years later.
Dillon’s victory, in the 60th running of “The Great American Race ,” came 17 years to the day of Earnhardt’s fatal crash .
“I don’t know what it is about storylines and Daytona, this place just creates history and I’m proud to be part of it tonight,” Dillon said. “I put the 3 back in victory lane at Daytona.”
Dillon wasn’t a factor in his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet until the final lap in overtime when he got a push from Darrell “Bubba” Wallace Jr . that helped him get to leader Aric Almirola. Dillon spun Almirola then whizzed on by to give Childress, his grandfather, another iconic victory in the beloved No. 3.
“My grandfather has done everything for me and everybody knows it,” Dillon said. “There’s a lot of pressure on me to perform because I’ve had a little bit of everything. But I like that pressure, the same with the No. 3, there’s a lot of pressure behind it, but I’m willing to take it and go with it.”
As for the aggressive move that wrecked Almirola? Dillon was doing what has to be done to win at Daytona, where he led just once for one lap — the final one.
“I kind of blacked out and everything just kept going,” he said of the final lap. “We just had a run and I stayed on the gas. It’s what it is when you’re at Daytona. I just had more momentum when he was trying to block me and it turned him. Hate that for him, but it’s the Daytona 500. He should do the same thing to me in that position.”
Almirola, in his debut race for Stewart-Haas Racing, was devastated.
“My heart is broken. I thought I was going to win the Daytona 500,” Almirola said.
Childress was overjoyed.
“To come back 20 years later after Dale’s great victory, and to be able to celebrate 20 years later, with my grandson, it is just a storybook tale,” Childress said. “It’s tough on him running that 3, but we had, I’d say, 97 percent support from Earnhardt fans who wanted him to run that number.”
The No. 3 was dormant in the Cup Series from Earnhardt’s death until Childress brought it back in 2014 for his grandson.
The final scoring tower showed the No. 3 on top, then the No. 43 — two of the most seminal numbers in NASCAR.
Wallace, the first black driver in the Daytona 500 field since 1969, finished second in a 1-2 finish for Chevrolet and Childress’ engine program. Wallace drives the No. 43 car for Richard Petty and sobbed in his post-race news conference after his mother came to the front of the room to give him a hug. The two had a long embrace in which she told Wallace repeatedly “you finally did it.”
After another moment with his sister , Wallace sat at the dais sobbing into a towel. His finish is the highest for a black driver; Wendell Scott finished 13th in 1966.
“Pull it together, bud, pull it together. You just finished second,” he told himself.
Wallace, from Mobile, Alabama, received a telephone call from Hank Aaron before the race and Lewis Hamilton, the four-time Formula One world champion and only black driver in that series, tweeted his support to Wallace.
Denny Hamlin, the 2016 winner, finished third in a Toyota.
Ryan Blaney, who led a race-high 118 laps, faded to seventh after giving the win away in regulation. He wrecked Kurt Busch, the defending race winner, trying to reclaim his lead and the contact damaged Blaney’s Ford. It spoiled what should have been a Team Penske party — car owner Roger Penske had three contenders, all considered favorites Sunday — but all came up empty. Brad Keselowski wrecked early in the race racing for the lead and although Joey Logano finished fourth, it wasn’t the victory Penske expected from one of his drivers.
“It’s a shame you don’t close it out, but you try to just learn from your mistakes and try to do better next time,” Blaney said. “This one definitely stings, but hopefully we can get another shot at it one day.”
The day was also a bust for Danica Patrick, who made the Daytona 500 her final NASCAR race. With new boyfriend NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers cheering her on, Patrick was collected in an accident and finished 35th. The only woman to lead laps in the Daytona 500 and win the pole for this race then told a story about an exchange she had earlier this week with four-time NASCAR champion Jeff Gordon.
“He said his last Daytona didn’t go well, either, and I was like ‘Oh wow, I don’t remember that. I remember your career.’ So I hope that is how it is with me with everybody,” she said.
Meanwhile, on this celebratory day for Dillon and Childress, the late Earnhardt had a very large presence.
Dillon was 7 when Earnhardt won his Daytona 500 and was photographed alongside his brother with The Intimidator on that victorious day in 1998. Earnhardt credited 6-year-old Wessa Miller, a fan he met through the Make-A-Wish Foundation following the final practice for the race, for helping him get that elusive win. Wessa gave Earnhardt the penny and told him she had rubbed it and that it would bring him good luck. The lucky penny the little girl gave him is still on the dash of the car at the RCR museum.
Inspired by the good-luck coin, Dillon also had a penny in the No. 3 on Sunday, this one given to him by a young boy he met at an autograph session earlier in Speedweeks.
“I had a fan, actually he had no favorite driver, I told him, I said, ‘I’ll give you my hat if I’m your favorite driver.’ I gave him the hat,” Dillon said. “The next day he saw me in the infield, he said, ‘Here’s a lucky penny I found heads up.’ I said, ‘Man, we’ve gotta put that in the car.’ Put it in the car and here we are in victory lane.”
___
More AP auto racing: https://racing.ap.org/

Doug Biega Talks WPIAL Playoffs On Saturday Sports Slam

He won’t be on the sidelines for the first time in over a decade, but that isn’t stopping former head coach Doug Biega from knowing what to look out for in the WPIAL basketball playoffs.

The two-time state champion head coach of the Beaver Falls Tigers from 1999-2017 joined Matt Drzik and Greg Benedetti for an analysis on the WPIAL Boys’ playoffs, as well as the nature of today’s high school basketball and the fan aspect of the events.

To hear the FULL interview, click on the player below.

First Round WPIAL Playoff Basketball: February 16, 2018

Round 1 of the WPIAL playoffs in high school basketball tips off tonight with action in 3A and 1A Boys, as well as 5A and 2A Girls. Local teams are denoted in bold, and each game is listed with its class, teams, and location (in that order).

BOYS

6:30pm
[3A] Ellwood City vs. CW North Catholic (at Ambridge) [WBVP/WMBA]
[1A] Holy Family Academy vs. Propel Andrew Street (at North Catholic)
[1A] West Greene vs. Imani Christian (at Charleroi)

7:00pm
[3A] Brentwood vs. Washington (at Peters Twp.)

8:00pm
[3A] South Side Beaver vs. Aliquippa (at Ambridge) [WBVP/WMBA]
[3A] Riverside vs. Burrell (at North Catholic)
[1A] Cornell vs. Winchester Thurston (at Northgate)
[3A*] Carlynton vs. Brownsville (at Charleroi)
[1A] Geibel Catholic vs. Eden Christian (at Baldwin)

*-preliminary round game, winner plays Lincoln Park Monday

GIRLS

5:30pm
[2A] Fort Cherry vs. Brentwood (at Peters Twp.)

6:30pm
[5A] West Allegheny vs. Woodland Hills (at Fox Chapel)
[2A] Frazier vs. Leechburg (at West Allegheny)
[2A] Riverview vs. Serra Catholic (at Northgate)
[5A] Ringgold vs. Gateway (at Baldwin)
[5A] South Fayette vs. Oakland Catholic (at Upper St. Clair)
[5A] Uniontown vs. Mars (at Gateway)

8:00pm
[5A] Armstrong vs. Chartiers Valley (at Fox Chapel)
[5A] Plum vs. Trinity (at West Allegheny)
[5A] Montour vs. Thomas Jefferson (at Upper St. Clair)
[5A] Connellsville vs. Hampton (at Gateway)

8:30pm
[2A] Washington vs. California (at Peters Twp.)

Pens beat Kings 3-1!!! 10 the straight home win for Pens

Aston-Reese lifts Pens past Kings for 10th home win a row
By DAN SCIFO, Associated Press
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Zach Aston-Reese broke a third-period tie with a power-play goal and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Los Angeles Kings 3-1 on Thursday night for their 10th straight home victory.
Two nights after scoring his first two NHL goals, Aston-Reese gave the Penguins the lead at 5:24 of the period. Kris Letang’s point shot through traffic clipped Aston-Reese’s skate and went between goalie Jonathan Quick’s pads.
The Penguins’ home streak is the longest since a franchise-record 13-game run during the 2013-14 season. The Penguins haven’t lost in Pittsburgh since Jan. 4, a 4-0 setback to Carolina. Pittsburgh has won eight of 10 overall and 13 of 17.
Ryan Reaves scored in the second period, and Evgeni Malkin added an empty-netter. Matt Murray, playing his 100th NHL game, stopped 34 shots. Murray is in sole possession of first place for the most wins in his first 100 games among goalies to debut since 2005-06. He is unbeaten in regulation in his last eight decisions and won his last six at home.
Dion Phaneuf scored a power-play goal in his Kings debut. Phaneuf and forward Nate Thompson were traded from Ottawa to the Kings for Marian Gaborik and Nick Shore during the Senators’ 6-3 loss to Pittsburgh on Tuesday night.
Immigration issues nearly kept Phaneuf from making his Kings’ debut. If his immigration paperwork didn’t go through in time, Phaneuf wouldn’t have been eligible to play. He skated on a fourth defense pair during the morning skate.
Quick made 36 saves. The Kings have lost three straight games.
Reaves opened the scoring at 6:06 of the second period with a blocker-side wrist shot from the top of the circle.
Phaneuf tied it with his power-play goal 1:16 later. His centering pass snuck through Murray’s pads and across the line.
NOTES: Sidney Crosby has a 10-game home point streak, while Malkin has points in six straight at home. … Penguins F Patric Hornqvist, who missed his sixth game with a lower-body injury, was on the ice before Thursday’s morning skate. … Thompson missed the previous four games with the Senators because of a lower-body injury. … Willie O’Ree, the first African American player in the National Hockey League, was in attendance and visited the Penguins after the team’s morning skate. … Pittsburgh scratched D Chad Ruhwedel, D Matt Hunwick and F Teddy Blueger. Los Angeles sat D Paul LaDue, D Kevin Gravel and F Michael Mersch.
UP NEXT
Kings: At Buffalo on Saturday night.
Penguins: Host Toronto on Saturday night.