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Pirates bring road win streak into matchup with the Nationals

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

Pittsburgh Pirates (20-8, first in the NL Central) vs. Washington Nationals (9-17, fifth in the NL East)Washington; Sunday, 1:35 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Johan Oviedo (2-1, 3.03 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 29 strikeouts); Nationals: Josiah Gray (1-4, 2.93 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, 25 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Pirates -142, Nationals +121; over/under is 8 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates hit the road against the Washington Nationals looking to extend a five-game road winning streak.Washington is 9-17 overall and 2-11 in home games. The Nationals have a 5-12 record in games when they have allowed at least one home run.Pittsburgh has a 20-8 record overall and an 11-4 record in road games. The Pirates have the second-ranked team on-base percentage in the NL at .346.The teams play Sunday for the third time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Jeimer Candelario has five doubles and four home runs for the Nationals. C.J. Abrams is 8-for-34 with a double and two home runs over the last 10...

Estrada leads Giants against the Padres after 4-hit game

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

San Francisco Giants (11-15, fourth in the NL West) vs. San Diego Padres (14-14, third in the NL West)Mexico City; Sunday, 4:05 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Giants: Alex Cobb (1-1, 1.91 ERA, 1.27 WHIP, 26 strikeouts); Padres: Yu Darvish (1-2, 3.00 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, 25 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Padres -147, Giants +126; over/under is 20 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The San Francisco Giants play the San Diego Padres after Thairo Estrada’s four-hit game on Saturday.San Diego has a 14-14 record overall and a 6-8 record at home. The Padres have gone 10-2 in games when they scored five or more runs.San Francisco is 11-15 overall and 4-8 in road games. The Giants have a 5-1 record in games when they did not give up a home run.The teams meet Sunday for the second time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Xander Bogaerts is third on the Padres with 10 extra base hits (four doubles and six home runs). Manny Machado is 9-for-39 with two doubles, three home runs and four RBI over the last 10 ga...

FDIC, Wall Street scramble to pull together sale of First Republic Bank

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

Federal regulators are rushing to seal a deal to sell troubled lender First Republic to a larger bank, with JPMorgan Chase as a top contender, two people involved in the talks said on Saturday.The FDIC wants to complete an agreement by Sunday evening that would likely include the government taking on some of First Republic’s troubled assets or offering other guarantees that would make buying the bank less risky for would-be suitors.Formal bids for First Republic — which has seen heavy deposit outflows and suffered massive share price declines in recent weeks — are due to the FDIC by the middle of the day on Sunday, according to the people, who requested anonymity to provide details of the discussions.Federal regulators are hoping to put an end to turmoil in the banking industry following the stunning collapse of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank last month. First Republic’s problems largely stemmed from the panic that engulfed those two banks amid a run on deposits.First Republ...

How a late-night text brought Lamar Jackson and the Ravens to the end of 2-plus years of tense negotiations

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

The back-and-forth wore on both parties.Five proposals into his quest to sign star quarterback Lamar Jackson to the largest contract in Baltimore sports history, Ravens General Manager Eric DeCosta tried to maintain optimism but wondered if a resolution would ever come. He asked himself, could he have done something different to accelerate the process or make it happier for everyone?On the other side, Jackson, an ebullient presence over his first three seasons in Baltimore, seemed to fall out of love with the franchise he had promised to lead to a Super Bowl. He snapped at a Twitter critic after a loss in November and felt the need to go outside team channels to explain the severity of his season-ending knee injury. In late March, he told his 1.1 million Twitter followers that he had asked the Ravens to trade him because they had “not been interested in meeting my value.”DeCosta was watching his beloved Boston Celtics squander a lead to the Atlanta Hawks on Tuesday night...

Five things we learned from the Ravens’ 2023 draft

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

Before the Ravens ever made a pick, they executed a move that would eclipse their draft, signing quarterback Lamar Jackson to a five-year extension that will keep him at the center of everything the franchise does. The Ravens also drafted six players, led by another target for their franchise quarterback, shifty wide receiver Zay Flowers from Boston College. Their 2023 team is taking shape.Here are five things we learned from the draft.The Ravens made good on their promise to ‘attack’ their wide receiver shortage, but there’s risk in using another first-round pick on the position.General manager Eric DeCosta and coach John Harbaugh were not kidding when they said wide receivers would be their No. 1 project of the offseason, aside from extending Jackson. They began with a modest free-agent addition, Nelson Agholor, turned up the heat by signing injury-prone superstar Odell Beckham Jr. and garnished their meal with Flowers, a 5-foot-9, 182-pound bundle of gliding spe...

11 dead, 4 hospitalized in gas leak in northern India

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

NEW DELHI (AP) — Eleven people died and four more were hospitalized after a gas leak Sunday in northern India’s Punjab state, local media reported. The incident occurred at an industrial area in Ludhiana city, but the source of the gas leak is still unclear, police told the Press Trust of India news agency. India’s National Disaster Response Force sealed off the densely populated area and evacuated residents.Authorities were trying to ascertain the type of gas in the leak, PTI quoted disaster response officials as saying. The state’s chief minister, Bhagwant Mann, said the leak came from a factory but didn’t provide more details in a tweet. “All possible help is being provided,” he wrote. The Associated Press

Shooting kills 2 men, injures 3rd victim in Seattle park

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

SEATTLE (AP) — Two men were killed and a third person was wounded during a shooting in a Seattle park Saturday night, police said.Police responded to a report of a shooting at Cal Anderson Park around 10:30 p.m., the Seattle Police Department said in a statement.Officers found three men with gunshot wounds and provided first aid until Seattle Fire Department personnel arrived. One man succumbed to his injuries at the scene, police said.Two other victims were transported from the park in the Capitol Hill neighborhood to Harborview Medical Center, where the second man died, police said. The third shooting victim was listed in critical condition, police said.Investigators were searching for a man who reportedly left the scene before officers arrived, police said.The Associated Press

Pope in final Mass in Budapest urges Hungary to open doors

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Pope Francis urged Hungarians to open their doors to others on Sunday, as he wrapped up a weekend visit with a plea for an end to Russia’s war in Ukraine and for Europe to welcome migrants and the poor.Francis issued the appeal from the banks of the Danube as he celebrated Mass on Budapest’s Kossuth Lajos Square, with the Hungarian Parliament and Budapest’s famed Chain Bridge as a backdrop. The celebration provided the visual highlight of Francis’ three-day visit that has been dominated by the Vatican’s concern for the plight of neighboring Ukraine.Citing local organizers, the Vatican said some 50,000 people participated in the Mass, more than 30,000 of them in the square on a brilliantly sunny spring morning. Among them were President Katalin Novak and Hungary’s right-wing populist prime minister, Viktor Orban, whose lukewarm support for Ukraine has rankled fellow European Union members.Francis has expressed appreciation for Hungary’s recent welcome o...

Retiring Stillwater Area High School teacher, falcon expert Andy Weaver ‘brought science to life’

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

Andy Weaver, a biology teacher at Stillwater Area High School, holds Nato, a one-year-old male Finnish Goshawk, at the school in Oak Park Heights on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Biology Teacher Andy Weaver talks about his deer trap at Stillwater Area High School on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. His classes use the deer trap to trap and collar does in cooperation with the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Biology Teacher Andy Weaver goes into the Stillwater Area High School Raptor Propagation Lab at the school in Oak Park Heights on Wednesday, April 12, 2023, to check on a peregrine falcons he’s hoping will mate. (John Autey / Pioneer Press)Students of Stillwater Area High School science teacher Andy Weaver got to dissect a bear in 2011. Weaver shot the bear at the Kiwanis Scout Camp in northern Washington County. (Courtesy of Andy Weaver)Biology Teacher Andy Weaver talks about the deer they collar and track near Stillwater ...

Ask Amy: My fiancee’s family says I’m not invited, and she’s going without me

Published Sun, 29 Dec 2024 13:56:01 GMT

Dear Amy: My fiancée and I have been together for over five years.When her family had get-togethers, I noticed that they would say mean things to my fiancée, and she wouldn’t defend herself. In response to this, I would lightly defend her, by making jokes or whatever.The last couple of years when they’ve invited anyone to family events, they have specifically said that I’m not invited.My fiancée just says, “OK, no problem,” and she goes by herself.Am I wrong in wanting her to stand up for me – or should I just leave it be? StumblingDear Stumbling: Of course you want your fiancée to stand up for you! And not only is she not defending you, but now she is allowing her family members to bully her and you – by excluding you.When couples come together and decide to form a family, the idea is that they should walk through life hand-in-hand – as a team. They put their relationship at the center of their lives, with their families orbiting around them.Your fiancée is obviously do...