Twenty years ago, Brian Boucher was in goal for the Philadelphia Flyers when they beat the Pittsburgh Penguins in the longest playoff game in modern NHL history, a five-overtime thriller. He was between the benches on Tuesday for NBC Sports’ broadcast of the second-longest modern game and fourth all-time when the Tampa Bay Lightning beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 10 minutes, 27 seconds into the fifth overtime. Halfway through the fourth overtime, Boucher took the kind of breath he was unable to back in 2000 and summed up what the players on the ice were feeling. “The thing you’ve got to keep in mind, too, the physical exertion, the cramps that start to come in,” Boucher said. “It was around this time that the body started to break down.” Brayden Point’s goal ended the Lightning-Blue Jackets game 95 seconds short of the time of Boucher’s game that finished with Keith Primeau’s wrist shot past Ron Tugnutt. With Boucher at center ice and 2000 Flyers forward Keith Jones in the studio, the broadcast had a direct connection to the NHL’s longest game since the 1930s. Boucher made 57 saves compared with Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo’s Stanley Cup playoff-record 85, but from inside Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, he could describe how Korpisalo and Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy were heating up, literally. “You can’t imagine with that gear how hot it gets inside your mask, inside your pads and the amount of much sweat that these guys have,” Boucher said. “It’s almost impossible not to start to feel those cramps, but they’ve both been sharp.” On a night that Blue Jackets defenseman Seth Jones played a game-high 65 minutes, Keith Jones recalled the numbers from his 37:50 of action 20 years prior: “I had zero shots on goal. I had two missed shots. It was the only thing. I had no
Jayson Tatum scored 29 points as the Boston Celtics ran past Memphis 122-107 on Tuesday, putting the Grizzlies in further danger of missing the playoffs. The Grizzlies missed another chance to guarantee themselves a spot in the Western Conference play-in series and fell out of eighth place after the Portland Trail Blazers beat the Dallas Mavericks later on Tuesday. Boston (48-23), who have already locked up the Eastern Conference’s third seed, won their fourth straight. Gordon Hayward and Kemba Walker each added 19 points. The Celtics assisted on 29 of their 44 made baskets. Walker said they are in a good place with the playoffs about a week away. “I think we’re pretty close to being ready, especially after tonight,” he said. “We’ve definitely come a long way. We’re jelling really well. We’re having fun. Competing at a very high level. I think we’re feeling pretty good right now.” Coach Brad Stevens agreed that the trajectory is good. “Hopefully we can just keep getting better,” Stevens said. “The way the ball has been moving has been good. The way guys are covering for one another, but we know that we’ve got less than a week before we open a playoff series. So all of it better be getting good.” Memphis (33-39) lost for the sixth time in seven games since the restart. Ja Morant finished with 26 points and 13 assists. He also attempted a career-high 15 free throws. His previous high was 11. Jonas Valanciunas finished with 14 point and 10 rebounds. The Grizzlies arrived in Florida with a 3.5-game cushion over their nearest competitor for the eighth seed in the West, but their struggles have guaranteed the need for a play-in game for that final spot with Portland, the San Antonio Spurs and the Phoenix Suns all still in contention. Memphis head into their final seeding game against
Manny Machado slugged a grand slam after two consecutive errors by the Dodgers in the third inning and Garrett Richards won for the first time in two years as the San Diego Padres defeated Los Angeles 6-2 on Tuesday. The Padres have taken the first two games of the series after dropping two of three to the Dodgers last week in San Diego and have won a season-best three in a row overall. “We’re just trying to be the best team when we step out on the field every single day,” Machado said. “Whether it was the Dodgers, Colorado, San Fran, Arizona. Just go out there and play our best game. Try to be the best Padre team out there on the field. If we can do that, we can play some very good baseball.” Richards (1-1) won his first game since July 4, 2018, shortly before having Tommy John surgery that delayed his readiness for last season. The right-hander allowed one run and six hits in six innings. He struck out three and walked two. Drew Pomeranz got the final out to earn his fourth save. Machado’s 10th career slam came off Ross Stripling (3-1) not long after the Padres acquired his brother-in-law, first baseman Yonder Alonso from Atlanta. Alonso returns to San Diego, where he played from 2012 to 2015 and Machado and Alonso’s sister make their off-season home. “I’m definitely excited to have my brother-in-law finally on the same team,” Machado said. Jurickson Profar hit a solo shot on Stripling’s second pitch leading off the fifth, extending San Diego’s lead to 6-1. The Padres’ 32 homers lead the majors. Jake Cronenworth doubled leading off the third. Austin Hedges laid down a sacrifice bunt and Stripling’s throw was too high for Cody Bellinger at first, allowing Cronenworth to score on the pitcher’s error. Profar followed with a
CRICKET Broad reacts to sanction England quick Stuart Broad says that his father, match referee Chris Broad, is off his Christmas card list after he fined him for giving Pakistan’s Yasir Shah a send-off in the first Test. The bowler was fined 15 percent of his match fee and given a demerit point for his behavior on Saturday last week as England went on to clinch the series opener in Manchester by three wickets. After England’s Barmy Army supporters group tweeted the news of his sanction on Tuesday, Broad said of his father: “He’s off the Christmas card & present list.” Chris Broad would not normally officiate in a match involving his son, but he is overseeing all six of England’s home Tests this summer because of travel restrictions imposed to combat the spread of COVID-19. It was the bowlers’ third demerit point in the past 24 months. Another demerit point picked up in the second Test, which begins in Southampton today, would trigger a one-Test suspension. CRICKET Dhoni expected to continue Indian Premier League favorites the Chennai Super Kings expect former India captain M.S. Dhoni to keep playing past his 40th birthday until at least 2022, the team’s chief executive said on Tuesday. Dhoni has not played a competitive game since India’s World Cup semi-final defeat against New Zealand last year, but is due to return to action when the delayed IPL begins in the United Arab Emirates next month. While Dhoni is unlikely to play again for India, Chennai Super Kings chief executive Kasi Viswanathan said he was confident that the legendary wicketkeeper-batsman would not retiring soon. “We don’t worry about him at all. Yes, we can expect M.S. Dhoni to be part of both [IPL seasons this year and next year] and probably for even the next year, 2022,” Viswanathan told India
TOP OF EAST: Chris Boucher scored 25 points off the bench as the Toronto Raptors defeated the Milwaukee Bucks in a potential preview of their conference’s final
Kyle Kuzma hit a three-pointer with 0.4 seconds remaining as the Los Angeles Lakers beat the Denver Nuggets 124-121 on Monday to snap a three-game losing streak. LeBron James threw an inbounds pass to Anthony Davis, who flipped it to Kuzma on the right wing for the game-winner as the clock ran down. The Lakers, outplayed down the stretch by Denver’s bench, got 29 points and 12 assists from James, who hit two three-pointers in the fourth quarter. Anthony Davis had 27 points and Kuzma 25. P.J. Dozier had a chance to put the Nuggets up by one with 4.4 seconds left, but missed the second of two free throws. Kuzma rebounded and the Lakers called timeout to set up the winning play. “I got an open look. It’s a play we ran in practice a few times prior to the restart,” Kuzma said. “Coach had faith in me, called my number and it paid off. It just shows that my teammates and my coaches, they trust in me, the trust they have in me, every time we ran that play in practice I’ve kind of hit that shot. Obviously the play nine out of 10 times is going to LeBron, but they called my number. It’s all about trust.” Dozier had been fouled by Kuzma while driving the lane after a miss by James. James had given the Lakers a 121-119 lead by converting a three-point play with 45.7 seconds to go. Monte Morris made one of two free throws for the Nuggets. The Lakers had clinched the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference before their losing streak started. They are 3-4 in the bubble with one game to go. “I think the biggest thing is for us to build habits, winning championship habits, especially since we locked up first place,” Kuzma said. “There’s a little
Mike Trout is beginning to believe that there might be something to the notion of having added power after the birth of a child. The reigning American League MVP has certainly been on a tear since son, Beckham, was born. Trout homered twice on Monday, including a tiebreaking shot in the eighth inning, as the Los Angeles Angels rallied from an early five-run deficit for a 10-9 victory that snapped the Oakland Athletics’ nine-game winning streak. “People ask me about this Dad power. I guess it is a thing,” Trout said. “There’s nothing like being a Dad.” With three hits in the series opener, Trout is 11 for 30 with six home runs and 11 RBIs in the past seven games. He rejoined the team in Seattle on Aug. 4 after his wife, Jessica, gave birth on July 30. “I am a little more relaxed. Leading up to it I was extremely worried about the coronavirus,” Trout said. “I didn’t want to have it and come home, but we have been keeping it safe in the Trouthold and everyone in the organization has been doing a good job.” Anthony Rendon and Shohei Ohtani also homered for the Angels. Trout’s solo drive off Yusmeiro Petit (1-1) in the eighth helped Los Angeles stop a three-game skid. It was the 20th multi-homer game of Trout’s career, which tied Tim Salmon and Vladimir Guerrero for the franchise record. “We had a rough weekend. We weren’t doing our jobs when we had our chances, but this is a new homestand and we got a huge win against an Oakland team that was coming in hot,” Trout said. Los Angeles trailed 9-4 in the fourth before Trout began the rally with a two-run drive into the Angels’ bullpen in left field. Ohtani had an RBI double in the inning to bring them to 9-7
Oakland outfielder Ramon Laureano on Monday said that Houston Astros hitting coach Alex Cintron made a crude remark about his mother that prompted a benches-clearing incident on Sunday and Athletics manager Bob Melvin said he wants Cintron punished by Major League Baseball. Laureano said that he regrets charging toward Houston’s dugout to fight Cintron after the two exchanged words during the seventh inning of their game in Oakland, California. Speaking before a game against the Los Angeles Angels, Laureano said that Cintron began jawing at him when Laureano reacted angrily after being hit by a pitch from Houston rookie Humberto Castellanos. “I should have kept my cool because I wasted my time with that guy,” Laureano said. “Right now, I don’t look like a smart guy, but when you are emotional and someone says something about your mother, I don’t think anyone would take that lightly.” “Whatever decision comes about a suspension, hopefully it is not as many games as people think,” he said. Laureano and Cintron are expected to be suspended by MLB, but no announcement was made on Monday regarding punishment. Houston manager Dusty Baker said he had a short meeting with his coaches to discuss the incident, but he declined to go into details about what he said to Cintron. “He was remorseful, I’ll say that, that the whole thing happened,” said Baker, who was ejected earlier in the game and was not on the bench for the fracas. “And we hope it won’t happen again.” Laureano was hit three times by Houston pitchers during the weekend series, including twice by Castellanos on breaking pitches. Laureano sarcastically motioned to Castellanos on how to properly throw his slider after Sunday’s plunking. Laureano said he was not going to charge the mound and was trying to move on until he heard Cintron as he approached first base. They exchanged
Australian rugby union officials on Monday set a three-week deadline for New Zealand to accept their demands for a trans-Tasman Super Rugby competition, or they will walk away and set up a domestic tournament. Rugby Australia interim chief executive Ron Clarke said that the issue had gained added urgency because talks with broadcasters over rights to next year’s season were due to open early next month. “We’ve put a deadline on broadcast submissions of September 4, that’s three weeks away ... so D-Day’s coming,” Clarke told reporters. Clarke had a blunt message for New Zealand administrators: “The clock is ticking on the whole Super Rugby model for 2021.” Tensions between Rugby Australia and New Zealand Rugby have been high since the Kiwis released a blueprint last month for a shake-up of the southern hemisphere competition in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. Aside from jettisoning South African teams and Argentina’s Jaguares, it also had room for only two to four of Australia’s Super Rugby teams, which Rugby Australia deemed unacceptable. Australia want the inclusion of all five sides contesting Super Rugby AU, a domestic competition it established after the full Super Rugby season was suspended. After a slow start compared to the Super Rugby Aotearoa counterpart competition, Clarke said that Super Rugby AU had hit its stride in the past few weeks, underlining the case for five teams. “We’re increasingly buoyed by the quality of the games we’re starting to see in our competition,” he said. “We’re seeing how much rising talent is coming through in our young players and how this competition is starting to engage fans.” Clarke said that Rugby Australia preferred a trans-Tasman model, but if it could not get five teams, it was confident in proceeding with a domestic competition. An Australian competition could look at inviting teams from Japan or the Pacific islands to join it. Meanwhile,
CRICKET New IPL sponsor sought The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) is seeking a new title sponsor for this Indian Premier League season after the suspension of its five-year agreement with Chinese telecommunications company Vivo. The Twenty20 league is to be played in the United Arab Emirates from next month and the title sponsorship became vacant last week. The suspension was announced in a statement by the BCCI and came when Indian troops were in a tense standoff with Chinese soldiers in eastern Ladakh in the Himalayas. The BCCI has announced it would accept bids for the title sponsorship until Tuesday next week, setting a benchmark of a minimum US$40 million turnover for companies wanting to apply. BCCI president Sourav Ganguly last week said that his board was well prepared to deal with the sponsorship issue and was keeping its options open. ICE HOCKEY Rangers win draft lottery The New York Rangers won the second phase of the NHL draft lottery, giving them a shot at selecting winger Alexis Lafreniere. The Rangers were among eight teams who lost in the qualifying round of the playoffs with a chance to claim quite a consolation prize. The Rangers have the No. 1 overall pick for the first time since 1965, when they selected Andre Veilleux. The league was forced to make a lot of changes after the COVID-19 pandemic paused the season and the lottery was turned into a two-phase process. The league’s bottom seven teams had their seasons concluded on March 12. Those teams also ended up not winning the lottery in June. The Los Angeles Kings landed the No. 2 pick overall. The winning placeholder team, which became the Rangers, got the top pick despite a 12.5 percent chance. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said that the process was fair because the
WEEKEND MATCHES: While Tatung FC made good on their chances early on, Taiwan Steel rallied to win the game 2-3 and move to the top with Taichung Futuro
Sunday’s action saw Taichung Futuro, Taipower FC and Taiwan Steel tied for first place on 30 points in the Taiwan Football Premier League, while Hang Yuan FC picked up a point to take the No. 4 spot on 25 points after holding Taipower to a scoreless draw. In Taoyuan, Tatung FC hosted Taiwan Steel. It was an exciting matchup, as the visitors rallied from 2-0 down to take the game with three goals. Tatung made good on their chances early on. Honduran midfielder Elias Argueta opened the account 15 minutes into the game with a low shot from the right. Three minutes later, Turkey-born winger Onur Dogan received a pass on the left and raced between two defenders, firing off a diagonal shot that eluded Taiwan Steel goalkeeper Tuan Hsuan. Taiwan Steel’s Marc Fenelus then took the ball from the center line and raced into the goal area, but was clipped on a tackle and awarded a penalty. The striker from the Turks and Caicos Islands scored from the spot by fooling goalkeeper Derek Shih with a “Panenka,” taking his sixth goal of the season. Ten minutes after halftime, centerback Chen Wei-chuan took a shot that was blocked by Tatung goalkeeper Derek Shih, but Russian defender Alim Zumakulov slotted in the rebound to equalize. Three minutes before the final whistle, Haitian winger Benchy Astama took on Tatung defenders at the right edge of the goal area, then passed to forward Chen Wei-jen, who scored the winning shot with a diving header. A few minutes into the second half of Taichung Futuro’s game against Ming Chuan University, Futuro’s Chao Ming-hsiu sent the ball across the field to Chiang Hao-ren on the left, who raced into the goal area and scored the only goal of the match. Taipower traveled to New Taipei City to play Hang Yuan, and
Max Verstappen informed his Red Bull team that he would not be driving “like a grandma” in Formula One’s 70th Anniversary Grand Prix on Sunday — and he was as good as his word. The Dutch 22-year-old seized his opportunity at Silverstone, ending dominant Mercedes’ run of four successive wins this season and moving up to second place overall, 30 points behind leader Lewis Hamilton. Verstappen’s confidence shone through early on, after slotting into third place behind the two Mercedes, when he was told by race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase to take care of his tires. “Mate, this is the only chance of being close to the Mercedes,” Verstappen replied over the radio. “I’m not just sitting behind like a grandma.” His own grandma, he later said, is actually “pretty quick in a road car.” “I didn’t just want to sit behind, like I’ve been doing at the previous races all the time. So once I had the opportunity to put a bit of pressure on, I want to do that. So, I tried,” Verstappen said. “I had a big moment once, when I was close to Lewis in turn 13, because it’s really hard to follow, even when I have the grip advantage with these cars, but of course then it was just impossible for them to continue, so they boxed [pitted], and that’s where my race started. But I hate sitting back, especially when you see that the car is actually pretty decent,” Verstappen said. “Sometimes it can be a bit of suicide, killing your tires, trying to hang on desperately, but I don’t think that was the case today,” he said. Verstappen had been second in the previous two races and third in the one before that, the Styrian Grand Prix in Austria. If he had not retired in the Austrian opener with a technical problem while
Australian sportsmen from several codes have spoken out against gamblers who abuse players on social media when they lose bets, after an Australian Rules player said that he had received death threats. Greater Western Sydney Giants’ Callan Ward said that threats were made on an Instagram post featuring his young son after he was awarded a decisive late free kick in an Australian Football League (AFL) win over the Essendon Bombers at the weekend. While Callan said the threats were the result of misplaced passion, Brisbane Lions player Mitch Robinson posted a strongly worded message on Twitter yesterday linking abuse to gambling. “Public announcement!” he wrote. “Not one AFL player [cares] how we cost you a $100 multi, it’s $5 bet you idiot.” “If you’re struggling with that amount please don’t punt in the first place,” Robinson wrote. Australian former NBA player Andrew Bogut chimed in, saying that if the abuse from disgruntled punters did not cease the government could start talking about banning gambling. “Place a bet. Lose. Be an adult about it,” he wrote on on Twitter. Ryan Papenhuyzen, a rising talent in the National Rugby League with the Melbourne Storm, said most sportsmen in Australia would have received similar abuse. “Lots of the boys after a game do get a fair bit of stick from fans and punters,” he said. “We don’t go out there to lose people’s bets ... hopefully more is done around that because the toll it has on players is pretty massive.” Australia has one of the highest rates of gambling in the world with the nation betting more than A$200 billion (US$142.9 billion) a year, government statistics showed.
Ronnie O’Sullivan delivered a scathing attack on the next generation of snooker players after he made the quarter-finals of the World Snooker Championship on Sunday, ending Chinese star Ding Junhui’s world championship dream. The mercurial 44-year-old Englishman won an enthralling high-quality second-round encounter 13-10 to set up a quarter-final clash with three-time champion Mark Williams. When asked by the BBC whether he thought he would remain at the top of the game for this long, the Briton, who turned professional in 1992, said the poor quality of younger players had secured his position and that something drastic would have to happen for it to change. “You look at them and think: ‘I would have to lose an arm and a leg to fall out of the top 50.’ That is why we are still hovering around, because of how poor it is down that end,” the outspoken, five-time world champion said. “If you look at the younger players coming through, they are not that good really... They are so bad.” O’Sullivan — who is bidding for a first semi-final appearance since losing to Mark Selby in the 2014 final — said playing in front of an empty auditorium was an unrewarding experience. There were meant to be 300 fans allowed in for each session, but the pilot scheme was canceled by the government on the first day of the championships because of new concerns about COVID-19. “It is better with the fans, of course it is,” O’Sullivan told the BBC. “It is like playing in a morgue out there. It feels like a village at the moment, the players are much more relaxed, for the top players it can be a nightmare.” O’Sullivan admitted he needed to pull himself together as he battled to focus properly. “I am just glad I found a way
If all you saw were the highlights of how Collin Morikawa beat back the biggest names in golf and walked off with the PGA Championship, you would conclude he did it the old-fashioned way. The 23-year-old Californian delivered a six-under 64 in the final round, including a signature shot that fans are likely to be talking about for decades. He hit more fairways and greens, and picked up more strokes with the putter over four days than anyone else in the field. He even arrived at TPC Harding Park with some built-in advantages, in top form after winning twice on tour during this re-jiggered season, and he knew the course well from his days playing college golf at nearby Cal-Berkeley. He parlayed all that into a two-shot victory on Sunday over third-round leader Dustin Johnson and Paul Casey. Two-time defending champion Brooks Koepka talked a good game, but crashed in his effort to three-peat with an uncharacteristic closing 74. What Morikawa said afterward sounded familiar, too. Asked whether he expected to win his first major this soon, he looked puzzled for the first time all day. “Of course,” he began. “Why not? If you believe in yourself — and I believe I can do it — why not have it as one of my goals?” “It’s crazy,” Morikawa added a moment later, “because it feels like this is where I’m supposed to be.” Chalk that up to youth if you like, but something about his demeanor suggests that he is built for the long haul. Like most of the players at the top of the game, and many of the highly touted amateurs who have debuted on tour, Morikawa packs plenty of power, but despite his limited experience, he also possesses one of the most complete all-around games on display at the moment.
The absence of fans did not cause players to doubt themselves, but did make referees think twice, a study of behind-closed-doors soccer has found. Playing matches without supporters had a minimal effect on the phenomenon of home advantage, but it did correspond with officials showing fewer yellow cards to away teams, researchers from Reading University found. In a paper on the effects of behind-closed-doors matches, researchers studied 6,481 games from before and after COVID-19 lockdowns. In the Premier League and EFL Championship, games played in empty stadiums saw the proportion of home victories drop from 43.4 percent before the pandemic to 42 percent. This small fall was similar to results in many other leagues that restarted behind closed doors. After seeing a substantial drop in home advantage during early matches, the Bundesliga ended the season with the prospect of a home win having fallen from 40.8 percent to 39.2 percent. A similar pattern was observed in Spain, while home advantage increased in Italy from 42.9 percent to 43.1 percent. “While we saw some loss of home advantage in the early matches, things reverted in last few weeks,” said James Reade, an associate professor at the university who conducted the research. “Maybe it’s all about familiarity.” The effect of a crowd on sporting performance is a longstanding area of research. The obvious explanation for home advantage has always been that a crowd gees on its team and intimidates opponents. Other arguments include familiarity with surroundings and the possibility of fatigue in a traveling team. “It’s hard to imagine that fatigue is too much of a factor any more, especially not in elite sport,” Reade said. “With the absence of fans not affecting results much either, that leaves familiarity.” “Results changed to begin with when players stepped out into their empty stadium, but that stopped as people got
Brad Binder created a series of firsts as he won the Czech MotoGP on Sunday to make come true “a day I dreamed about since I was a little boy.” It was 24-year-old Binder’s first MotoGP win in only his third race in the elite division; it was also a first victory at this level by a South African and for the KTM team. Binder opened his MotoGP account at the main expense of Italian Franco Morbidelli, who came in second on Yamaha’s satellite SRT bike, and Frenchman Johan Zarco on a Ducati-Avintia, who came third. “My team put an absolutely insane motorbike underneath me this weekend,” Binder said. “I had no idea we were capable of winning, but I had a feeling it could be good.”
‘IN A GROOVE’: Since the restart of the delayed season, the Pacers have improved to 4-1, closing with a 13-5 run to beat the Western Conference top seed Los Angeles
T.J. Warren scored 39 points as the in-form Indiana Pacers inflicted a 116-111 defeat on LeBron James and his stuttering Los Angeles Lakers, who have lost three in a row as the NBA playoffs approach. Indiana’s win ensured the NBA’s top regular-season record would belong to the Milwaukee Bucks, despite them losing 136-132 to the Dallas Mavericks in overtime. “I just feel like I’m in a groove,” Warren said. “As a team, we’re in a groove, good rhythm, high energy; we come out with a lot of effort.” The Bucks (55-15) would not have the home court advantage that usually comes with the top mark, as all games are being played in a quarantine bubble at Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida, due to the COVID-19 pandemic that halted the season in March. The Pacers improved to 4-1 since the restart, closing with a 13-5 run to beat the Western Conference top seed Lakers, who fell to 2-4 in the bubble and 51-18 overall. That was despite 31 points, eight rebounds and seven assists from three-time NBA champion James — the only LA starter in double figures. Anthony Davis went 3-of-14 from the floor for only eight points. “This stretch right here... it’s going to strengthen us,” Lakers coach Frank Vogel said. “We’re playing against great defenses. That’s the best way to prepare you.” Dallas ended with a 7-0 run to force overtime at 119-119, then scored the first nine in the extra period on the way to victory. Slovenian guard Luka Doncic had an impressive triple double for Dallas with a game-high 36 points, a career-high 19 assists and 14 rebounds. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Brooks Lopez each scored 34 to lead Milwaukee. Indiana and the Miami Heat, likely first-round playoff foes fighting for the fourth seed, meet today and Friday. The Lakers open the playoffs against the winner of a six-team
Maybe the Detroit Tigers should get four unexpected days off more often — or maybe they should just face a pitching staff in tatters. Either way, Detroit’s struggling offense has found traction in Pittsburgh. Niko Goodrum, Miguel Cabrera, C.J. Cron and Jeimer Candelario all hit home runs in the first inning against Pirates starter Derek Holland as the Tigers on Saturday drilled the Pirates 11-5. Goodrum took the second pitch he saw from Holland (0-1) and sent it into the seats in left field. Cabrera did the same two batters later. Cron followed with a blast to center. Candelario finished it off with a shot that scraped over the wall to give Detroit their first four-homer inning in seven years. “When something like that happens in the game, you can feel it in the dugout,” Cron said. “People get excited and want to step up and do the same thing. It just snowballed. We all got some good pitches to hit and it was a fun first inning for sure.” The Tigers were idle for four days when a series against St Louis was postponed. Detroit arrived in Pittsburgh hitting just .205 on the season. That average has now jumped to .239 after scoring 28 runs in 20 innings against the Pirates. “As an offense, four days off never hurt anybody,” Cron said. Cabrera got three hits, including his 481st career home run. The 37-year-old also drove in three runs to move him past Hall of Famer Jim Thome and into 24th on the all-time list with 1,701. Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson is next with 1,702. A night after driving in five runs, Goodrum homered and doubled. Jonathan Schoop added three hits and JaCoby Jones turned aside a Pittsburgh rally when he led off the sixth with his fourth home run of the season after the Pirates had drawn
Dustin Johnson on Saturday drained eight birdies to fire a five-under par 65 and seize a one-shot lead after a blistering third-round performance at the PGA Championship. Johnson had four birdies on the front nine then birdied three of his final five holes to reach nine-under 201 at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco. It was the eighth straight round in the 60s at the PGA Championship for Johnson, who nearly chased down Brooks Koepka in the final round at Bethpage Black last year before losing by two shots. “I putted really well,” said Johnson, who shot 31 on the back nine. “That was key. But I hit a lot of good shots to give myself some good looks because the flags are tucked. The greens are firm and fast. So I did hit a lot of quality iron shots.” Americans Scottie Scheffler (65) and Cameron Champ (67) are tied for second at eight-under 202. Two-time defending champion Koepka shot a one-under 69 and is tied for fourth with American Collin Morikawa and England’s Paul Casey on 203. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the tournament is being played without spectators. Koepka, who is trying to become the first since the 1950s to win the same major three years in a row, looked unflappable until a bogey on the 13th hole began his back nine struggles. A stretch of three straight bogeys moved Koepka down the leaderboard, but he recovered quickly with birdies on 16 and 18. Johnson roared home, making birdie putts of 26 feet on the par-4 15th and 20 feet on the par-3 17th. He began his round with a par, but then drained a 17-foot birdie putt on the par-4 second. Johnson made back-to-back birdies on the fourth and fifth holes before meeting trouble on the sixth, but even that bogey and a double bogey on the par-4
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