List of All Articles with Tag 'al'

The Yankees have been a completely different baseball team without Aaron Judge. Yankees' skipper Aaron Boone provided an encouraging update on Judge.The New York Yankees have not been the same team since their star outfielder, Aaron Judge ended up on the injured list. Judge barreled through...

The Atlanta Braves received a positive update on catcher Sean Murphy, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury suffered this past Saturday.The Atlanta Braves have dealt with their fair share of injuries so far this season, but they still sit in first place in the NL East. But this past Satur...

The Reds have overtaken the Brewers and Pirates and now lead the NL Central. What deals should they make, or not make, at the trade deadline?The Cincinnati Reds have taken the baseball world by storm, currently riding the longest win streak in the MLB, closing in on double-digit wins in a row. T...

If the St. Louis Cardinals decide to sell at the MLB trade deadline, could they opt to deal a pitcher only to re-sign him next year?The St. Louis Cardinals were supposed to be one of the World Series contenders in the National League this season. Thus far, however, the team is sitting at the bot...

Travelers Championship picks and best bets at TPC River Highlands this week as we have an outright, Top 10 and more PGA Tour expert picks for golf.Once again, the PGA Tour is following up a major championship with a designated event, the 2023 Travelers Championship. We're heading to TPC Riv...

5-star cornerback and Georgia commit Ellis Robinson IV is set to visit Alabama this weekend, but given everything we know, a switch of commitment seems unlikely.Nick Saban and the Alabama Crimson Tide haven't given up hopes of swaying 5-star cornerback Ellis Robinson IV away from the Georgi...

Victor Wembanyama, the top prospect in the 2023 NBA Draft, showed how minuscule a baseball looks in his hand when throwing out the first pitch for the New York Yankees.Last week, the 2022-23 NBA season officially reached its end with the Denver Nuggets winning the Larry O'Brien Trophy. This...

The best restaurant in the world is Central, in Lima. The dynamic tasting menu restaurant from chef Virgilio

Victor Wembanyama will become the first pitch in the 2023 NBA Draft later this week, but on Tuesday he was on the mound at Yankee Stadium. The 19-year-old pheno

FanSided MLB insider Robert Murray linked an NL Central team to St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Tyler O'Neill on the "The Baseball Insiders" podcast.The St. Louis Cardinals were many a fan or media member's pick to win the NL Central entering the 2023 season. They did make an ...

Scotland took another step towards next summer’s European Championship with a 2-0 win over Georgia in their rain-interrupted qualifier at Hampden Park. A heavy rainstorm in the lead-up to the Group A fixture had rendered the match farcical in the opening stages, before midfielder Callum McGregor scored in the sixth minute with a drive through the puddles. Hungarian referee Istvan Vad immediately halted the game, with an announcement confirming an initial 20-minute delay for the pitch to be cleared of water before an inspection. Supporters kicked their heels in the stands until the pitch was declared playable, with the players warming up again before restarting at the 10th minute mark – over 90 minutes after it had been halted. On resumption, midfielder Scott McTominay added a second goal two minutes after the restart – his fifth in four qualifiers – before Georgia star Khvicha Kvaratskhelia missed a VAR-awarded penalty in added time. Scotland cemented top spot in the group having now taken 12 points from their opening four fixtures ahead of September’s trip to Cyprus. Steve Clarke’s side are eight points clear of Georgia, unbeaten in eight competitive games and are on course for an appearance in the finals in Germany, although on this occasion the weather almost beat them on their own patch. A long and rather bizarre night had begun amid a mood of Scottish optimism. After a late 2-1 comeback win against Norway in Oslo on Saturday night – which followed victories over Cyprus and top seeds Spain – the Tartan Army’s spirits could hardly have been higher. However, Hampden Park was sodden by the time Scotland kicked off and the state of the pitch drew gasps from supporters as passes stopped in puddles, with players leaving the ball behind as they tried to drive forward. Scotland’s opening goal came when John McGinn’s corner from the right was partially cleared to McGregor and the Celtic captain’s drive from 12 yards was parried into the net by Georgia goalkeeper Giorgi Mamardashvili. Referee Vad did not restart the game, instead stepping off the pitch to speak to an official before returning to inform the players that the game was to be stopped while groundsmen – and then some of the ball boys – brushed water from the pitch. Fans had booed the initial announcement of a 20-minute delay and that of a pitch inspection 10 minutes later and there was relief when the game eventually got under way again just after 9.30pm following a few more delays. The pitch was still far from perfect but the Scots adapted slightly better, albeit the delay appeared to have dampened the enthusiasm of the home support. Five minutes from the break McGinn came close with a header from a Kieran Tierney cross before completely missing the ball eight yards from goal. Then McTominay’s angled-drive was tipped around a post by Mamardashvili but the visitors held out. The second half had barely begun when McTominay pounced on a loose ball on the edge of the box and fired a low drive past Mamardashvili to re-energise the flailing Tartan Army. Georgia’s Otar Kiteishvili thundered a shot from distance just over the crossbar on the hour but there was no real sign of a comeback. Scotland defender Ryan Porteous headed a Gilmour cross over from close range in the 72nd minute, before Georges Mikautadze hit the side-netting with an effort at the other end. In the second minute of four added on, referee Vad consulted the pitchside monitor before declaring the ball had hit the arm of Aaron Hickey, but Napoli’s Kvaratskhelia hammered the spot-kick over the bar. Ultimately, Scotland will be glad that a match that looked more than in doubt at one point was completed as qualification for a second successive Euros draws ever closer.

James McClean is banking on the Republic of Ireland’s big-game mentality to force them back into Euro 2024 contention. Ireland belatedly registered their first win of the qualifying campaign at the third time of asking when they beat Gibraltar 3-0 in Dublin on Monday evening. Coming after a hard-fought 1-0 home defeat by France and a less-impressive display in a 2-1 reverse at the hands of Greece in Athens on Friday night, victory was the very least they needed ahead of September’s trip to Paris and the Netherlands’ visit to the Aviva Stadium three days later. Asked about the Dutch in particular, McClean, who won his 100th senior cap against Gibraltar, said: “I don’t want to create headlines and be disrespectful, but they seem to have a lot of very good individual players, but maybe as a team they are not where they want to be and hopefully we can exploit that. “I actually think we perform better in the big games, as you have seen here against France.” Realistically, Ireland will need to get the better of the Netherlands over the two fixtures if they are to stand any chance of escaping from Group B, and the odds remain heavily stacked against them despite Monday’s win. Nobody likes being criticised, that's the way it is. No one likes it, but we're not stupid. This is the game we are in James McClean They went into that game having been roundly criticised for their performance in Athens and with manager Stephen Kenny feeling the full force of a concerted backlash. McClean, who provided assists for both Evan Ferguson and Adam Idah, said: “Nobody likes being criticised, that’s the way it is. No one likes it, but we’re not stupid. This is the game we are in. “If you don’t perform and do well, criticism comes along with that, as does praise when you are doing well, so you have to take the bad with the good. “We bounced back. It’s a massive win to take us into September and hopefully we can pull off one of those famous wins.” Ireland boast famous wins over then world champions Germany and at Euro 2016, fellow aristocrats Italy in the recent past, but under Kenny have fallen heart-breakingly short, if only just, against Portugal and France. However, McClean, 34, is confident the belief and spirit which contributed so much to those landmark victories has been retained by a new-look squad. He said: “I don’t think that’s something that can ever be questioned, the togetherness in the Irish team. “There is a lot of ability in those young lads. If you can get them playing with confidence, you are on to a winner. Hopefully they can create special memories for themselves.” McClean added his own special memory on Monday when he completed his century and was presented with his 100th cap by President Michael D Higgins before kick-off. He said: “Having my family on the pitch, the president of the association and of the country handing me an honour, the reception of the crowd, having the whole family there, the way the lads treated me this week leading up to it and how they treated me after the game… Look, it couldn’t have gone any better.”