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Castroneves to continue chase for 5th Indy 500 win as minority owner with Meyer Shank Racing

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Helio Castroneves will continue chasing a record-breaking fifth Indianapolis 500 victory with a new perspective — winning one for his team.Meyer Shank Racing announced Friday that the popular 48-year-old Brazilian will become a minority co-owner with the Ohio-based organization. He also will be the team’s third driver in next year’s 500.Defending IMSA champion Tom Blomqvist will leave the sports car circuit and replace Castroneves as MSR’s second full-time driver as Castroneves begins his post-racing career as a driver coach.“I want to be very clear: I am not retiring, OK? I just want to make sure people understand that,” Castroneves said. “Actually, my line is open now to do other series. Obviously, the main focus is IndyCar, and also the Drive for Five. I still have a lot of fire inside me, a lot of energy that I want to burn, but now I’m going to focus that burn on the Indy 500.”It’s the second time Castroneves has scaled back his...

DC’s Northwest Little League falls just short on road to Little League World Series

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

The Little League team representing Washington, D.C., just missed out on a trip to Williamsport, Pennsylvania, to play in the Little League World Series, after losing to Pennsylvania in the mid-Atlantic regional championship.Media, Pennsylvania, beat Northwest Little League 2-0, on a walk-off, two-run home run in extra innings Friday. It was Media’s first hit of the game, but it was enough to come out on top in the tense, seven-inning pitcher’s duel.Starting pitcher Grayson Liddle put up a valiant effort for Northwest, pitching five no-hit innings with 13 strikeouts.Northwest knocked off Delaware twice during the regional tournament on its way to the loss in the championship game, its second loss against Pennsylvania during the regional. No D.C. league has ever made it to the Little League World Series, according to Capitol City Little League.The Little League World Series in Williamsport begins Aug. 16. Source

Reds demote veteran INF/OF Nick Senzel to Triple-A Louisville and recall Henry Ramos

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Cincinnati Reds optioned infielder/outfielder Nick Senzel, the second overall pick in the 2016 amateur draft, to Triple-A Louisville on Friday.Senzel had been in the major leagues continuously since 2019, except for rehab assignments. The 28-year-old was hitting .219 in 80 games with nine home runs and five stolen bases.“Nick’s been with us a long time, he’s been an important part of the team and helped us win a lot of games,” Reds manager David Bell said. “It got to the point where Nick wasn’t going to be playing much over the next 10 days or so primarily because he starts against left-handers and there aren’t a lot of left-handers coming up on the schedule.“So, we made the choice to send him to Triple-A to get regular at-bats and get back on track.”The Reds selected the contract of outfielder Henry Ramos from Louisville. The rookie played in 18 games for Cincinnati earlier this season and had a .242 batting average.Right-hander Eduardo Salazar was designated ...

Erling Haaland scores 2 as Man City opens Premier League title defense with 3-0 win at Burnley

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

BURNLEY, England (AP) — Erling Haaland has started his second season in English soccer just like his first — with two goals in a win to open Manchester City’s title defense in the Premier League.The Norway striker dispatched clinical finishes in the fourth and 36th minutes on Friday as City eased to a 3-0 victory at Burnley, a promoted team managed by City great Vincent Kompany, in the first match of England’s top division. Defensive midfielder Rodri scored the other goal.Haaland enjoyed a spectacular first year at City, scoring 52 goals in all competitions — including 36 in the league — as Pep Guardiola’s team won the Premier League-FA Cup-Champions League treble.He opened last season with a double at West Ham in a signal of what was to come and he made another statement at Turf Moor, even if it didn’t completely satisfy Guardiola. The City manager came onto the field at halftime and remonstrated with Haaland as they walked toward the tunnel, even flicking a...

No surprise: Florida names Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz its starting QB for opener at Utah

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Wisconsin transfer Graham Mertz will be Florida’s starting quarterback when the Gators open the season at Utah later this month.Coach Billy Napier made the announcement Friday, a day after the team’s first scrimmage of training camp.“We’ve seen enough,” Napier said before making his decision public. “The big thing I’ve been impressed with is just his ability to come in and learn the system, translate what he knows and apply that to our system.“And then just relentless in approach. He’s probably worked as hard as any player on our team, probably as hard as a lot of players that I’ve been around in terms of the unseen hours.”Napier’s decision was hardly a surprise considering Mertz transferred to Florida under the guise that he would be the starter after the Gators lost Anthony Richardson to the NFL draft, released incoming freshman Jaden Rashada from his scholarship following a failed name, image and likeness deal, and kicked Jalen Kitna off...

MATCHDAY: Arsenal plays in Premier League as Real Madrid starts its season in Spain

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

A look at what’s happening in European soccer on Saturday:ENGLANDThe first round of the Premier League continues with Arsenal hosting Nottingham Forest in one of six games. A late collapse saw Arsenal fall short of the title last season and the London club has signed Declan Rice, Kai Havertz and Jurrien Timber in a bid to further close the gap to champion Manchester City. Promoted teams Luton and Sheffield United play their first games against Brighton and Crystal Palace, respectively. Newcastle, which finished fourth last season, hosts Aston Villa. West Ham visits Bournemouth, and Fulham is at Everton.SPAINReal Madrid kicks off its season by visiting Athletic Bilbao with doubts regarding both its striker and goalkeeper positions. Little used Andriy Lunin will start in goal for Carlo Ancelotti’s team two days after Thibaut Courtois tore a knee ligament. Ancelotti will have to decide who will lead his attack after the club did not bring in a world-class replacement for Karim Benzema ...

Una “testigo potencial” de un secuestro en Missouri fue hallada muerta en un barril

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

Las autoridades creen que puede haber otro barril en el río Missouri con más evidencia vinculada al caso de un hombre blanco acusado de secuestrar, violar y mantener cautiva a una mujer negra en el sótano de su casa en los suburbios de Kansas City el año pasado, dijeron las autoridades el jueves. El anuncio se produce después de que los restos de una mujer negra descrita por las autoridades como un “testigo potencial” en el supuesto secuestro fueran encontrados en un barril azul en el río. “Hemos pedido al público que se mantenga atento a cualquier objeto sospechoso, como barriles azules, particularmente en el río Missouri o sus alrededores”, dijo Alexander Higginbotham, portavoz de la Oficina del Fiscal del Condado de Clay. “Tenemos razones para creer que puede haber evidencia adicional en otro barril azul que podría estar ubicado en el río Missouri”. Identifican al cadáver que apareció dentro de un barril en una popular playa Macabro: sigue...

Iowa coach Ferentz says the integrity of the game cannot be compromised as betting probe unfolds

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Kirk Ferentz has known for weeks that several of his Iowa football players were under investigation for illegal gambling. He said Friday at the team’s media day he didn’t know until recently that some were accused of wagering on their own games. “It can’t be compromised, the integrity of the game, that’s first and foremost,” Ferentz said. “That’s got to be protected, and that’s where everything should start.”Former players Arland Bruce IV and Reggie Bracy and current player Jack Johnson were charged Thursday on suspicion of tampering with records to disguise that they were college athletes and under the legal betting age of 21 at the time they placed wagers. Kicker Aaron Blom was charged last week.Bruce, Bracy and Blom are suspected of betting on Iowa football games in which they played, according to court documents.“To me it’s a deal-breaker if that is, in fact, proven to be true,” Ferentz said.Johnson is alleged to have wagered on football games ...

Burnley removes spectator from stadium after Man City player struck by lighter

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

BURNLEY, England (AP) — Burnley said the club removed a spectator who threw a lighter at Manchester City defender Rico Lewis during the first half of the teams’ Premier League game on Friday.The object thrown from the crowd appeared to hit Lewis on the side of his face when he was on the ground near one of the corner flags at Turf Moor.Burnley said the incident was “unacceptable.”“The person responsible has been identified and removed from the ground by the police,” the club said. “Any individual found guilty of throwing missiles within the stadium will receive a banning order.”Late in the game, which City won 3-0, there was a brief delay when a spectator attempted to get onto the field. He was stopped by security before reaching the playing surface.___AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccerSource

Slugger Bryce Harper out of lineup with back spasms; day to day for NL wild card-leading Phillies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 11:44:33 GMT

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Bryce Harper flexed his legs, his shoulders, doing all he could to stay in the game for the Philadelphia Phillies. But back spasms forced the slugger out of one game, and he will have to sit out for at least one more.Harper was not in the lineup for Friday night’s game against Minnesota, a day after the two-time NL MVP was sidelined by mid-back spasms. There was some good news for the NL champion Phillies as they try to keep the top spot in the NL wild-card race: Harper is day to day and shouldn’t miss much time.“I felt better today. We’ll see how I feel tomorrow,” Harper said.With Harper out of the lineup, the Phillies started Alec Bohm at first base and moved suddenly streaking shortstop Trea Turner to third in the batting order.Harper said the spasms were unrelated to back pain that kept him out of games in 2021. He said his issues started in the first inning in Thursday’s win over Washington but he wanted to continue to play.“I just didn’t feel like it was fa...