Rest a thing of past, now comes the NHL playoff grind

April 18, 2015

ST. LOUIS (AP) - Rest is supposed to be a good thing heading into the playoffs. But not too much, apparently.Lose after a four-day break, like the St. Louis Blues did in their opener to the Minnesota Wild, and the familiar theme of rust affecting the outcome inevitably creeps into the conversation.The Central Division champions are trying not to blame their early hole on inactivity heading into Game 2 on Saturday. After all, the Wild also were off four days and they came out on firing, getting an early goal each of the first two periods and limiting chances for goalie Devan Dubnyk in a ...

Merritt’s 61 trumps Masters champion Spieth’s 62

April 18, 2015

HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) - Little-known Troy Merritt one-upped the Masters champion Jordan Spieth at the RBC Heritage.Merritt shot a 10-under 61 on Friday to tie the course record at Harbour Town Golf Links only a few hours after Spieth wowed the gallery with a bounce-back 62 to match his lowest PGA Tour round.Merritt tied David Frost's tournament mark set in 1994 and topped the leaderboard at 12-under 130, a stroke off the 36-hole event record shared by Jack Nicklaus and Phil Mickelson.Merritt, who opened with a 69 on Thursday, saw Spieth's score in the morning and knew the ...

MARTE PART-AY

April 19, 2015

PITTSBURGH - Pirates manager Clint Hurdle decided to give Starling Marte a day off earlier this week, trying to stop the left fielder's struggles at the plate. The move has paid off.Marte homered for the second game in a row and drove in a career-high five runs to lead Pittsburgh over the slumping Milwaukee Brewers 6-2 Saturday night.Marte hit a two-run single to cap a three-run first inning that included an RBI double by Gregory Polanco. Marte's three-run homer to left field in the fifth made it 6-1.In the first two games of the series, Marte has gone 4 for 8 with seven RBIs. He was 0 ...

Pittsburgh still holds special place in heart of fiery former manager

April 19, 2015

The landscape of Pittsburgh baseball, and maybe even the Major Leagues, could have been altered if former Pirates president Malcolm Prine made another decision.In late 1985, when manager Chuck Tanner left the Pirates to take the same job with the Atlanta Braves, Prine was tasked with finding the right man to lead a team that had lost 104 games the previous year.He could've hired an MLB veteran and World Series champion Billy Martin, or a young Joe Torre who had previously had senior circuit experience. Instead, Prine opted for a successful minor league manager who had recently broke into ...

Pirates broadcaster, World Series champ honored with Myron Cope Award

April 19, 2015

Former Major League pitcher Steve Blass doesn't hang his hat on the fact that he was a National League All-Star or a World Series champion.No, he looks most fondly at his life - and his wife."I've been with the Pirates 56 years and with my wife 52 years," Blass said. "One wife and one team - that's pretty good stuff."In a 10-year big league career - all playing with the Pirates - Blass compiled a 78-44 record with 50 complete games and a 3.05 earned run average. He recorded the final out of the 1971 World Series in which Pittsburgh defeated the Baltimore Orioles."I'm so proud of that, ...

Bucco luck has struck Walk, Wehner

April 19, 2015

Not many inner city kids dream of becoming a professional baseball player."Even less dream of becoming a major league broadcaster," said John Wehner. "I was fortunate to have done both."The Pittsburgh-native and graduate of Carrick High School on the city's south side spent 11 seasons in the MLB. He was drafted by his hometown Pirates in the seventh round of the 1988 First-Year Player Draft and made his big league debut in 1991."If you were to pull up tapes of my interviews as a rookie in 1991, you'd still say that I had no chance of ever being a broadcaster," Wehner said. "My ...