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Cousins’ OT goal gives Panthers 3-2 win over Maple Leafs to advance to East final

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

TORONTO (AP) — Nick Cousins scored at 15:32 of overtime and Sergei Bobrovsky made 50 saves as the Florida Panthers beat the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-2 in Game 5 of their second-round playoff series on Friday night to advance to the Eastern Conference final.Aaron Ekblad and Carter Verhaeghe each had a goal and an assist for the Panthers.Morgan Rielly and William Nylander scored for the Maple Leafs, who had advanced in the playoffs for the first time in 19 years when they beat Tampa Bay in the first round. Rookie goalie Joseph Woll had 41 saves in his first home playoff start.In the extra period, Cousins buried his second goal of the playoffs off the rush short-side on Woll to send the Panthers to the conference finals for the first time since 1996.Florida — the team with the fewest points to qualify for the postseason — won all three games in Toronto and improved to 6-1 on the road in the playoffs after also upsetting the record-setting Boston Bruins. The Panthers will next face the Car...

A’s rally for 4 in 10th, beat Rangers 9-7 on Rooker’s 3-run homer

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Brent Rooker hit a three-run homer off Brock Burke in the bottom of the 10th inning, rallying the Oakland Athletics to a 9-7 win over the Texas Rangers that snapped a five-game losing streak Friday night.Esteury Ruiz homered and drove in four runs for Oakland. Kevin Smith and Carlos Pérez also connected for the major league-worst A’s (9-31), who won on a walk-off hit for the third time this season.This one came after Texas pinch-hitter Adolis García delivered a go-ahead single off Zach Jackson in the top of the 10th. Former A’s shortstop Marcus Semien followed with an RBI single to give Texas a two-run lead before Oakland came back.Robbie Grossman, the veteran Texas outfielder who spent two seasons with the A’s, homered and had an RBI double in front of another small crowd of 6,575 at the Coliseum. Jonah Heim added two hits to extend his hitting streak to 11 games. Ezequiel Duran doubled twice.Ruiz’s RBI single off Burke (2-1) drove in Nick Allen, who began th...

Indoor roller skating rink and pickleball venue opens in Northeast DC

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

(new Image()).src = "https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384&cid=c2ffed0c-3624-46c0-b10f-97c976d290a3";cnx.cmd.push(function() { cnx({ playerId: "9be9c680-c459-4acb-af21-654a2ccca384",mediaId: "d7a12bb1-cdcd-4a98-a406-d713ae378191"}).render("ae1cba7b96914c5ea530f6f65e03b085"); });The District’s Edgewood neighborhood is now home to a massive complex featuring 14 pickleball courts and D.C.’s only indoor roller-skating rink.Located inside the Bryant Street NE complex, Kraken Kourts & Skates is a “multi-generational gathering space with family programming.” Inside the 70,000 square-foot space, you’ll find something for every member of the family.The indoor games include cornhole, darts, Jenga, table tennis, shuffleboard and, of course, pickleball.“What is amazing about pickleball and roller skating is that both sports have this mass appeal,” Anna Valero, president and founder of Kraken experiences said. “It doesn’t matter how old or athlet...

Betts, Freeman homer back-to-back, lift Dodgers to 4-2 win over Padres

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — A couple of former MVPs powered the Los Angeles Dodgers to a division win.Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman homered back-to-back to regain the lead in the seventh inning, and the NL West leaders defeated the San Diego Padres 4-2 on Friday night for their third straight victory.“That’s why they’re superstars,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “Every time they get up to bat they can change the game.”The Padres rallied to tie the game 2-all with two outs in the top of the seventh. Ha-Seong Kim doubled to left field off starter Dustin May, scoring Xander Bogaerts and pinch-runner Rougned Odor.With one out, Betts hit a 426-foot shot to left and Freeman followed with a 370-foot drive to right off Tim Hill (1-1) for a 4-2 lead.“Mookie hitting a home run just kind of energizes everyone,” Freeman said. “That’s just showing who we are the last two weeks. It was overall a great performance. We’ve been playing good baseball the last couple...

France dominates, Abreu gets warm welcome as Astros beat ChiSox

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

CHICAGO (AP) — J.P. France pitched three-hit ball into the seventh inning in his second major league outing, José Abreu got a warm reception in his return to Chicago and the Houston Astros beat the White Sox 5-1 on Friday night.The teams waited out more than a two-hour rain delay at the start. The White Sox honored Abreu with a pregame video tribute, and he responded by popping out of the dugout and pumping his fist as the crowd cheered before jogging toward the clubhouse.Kyle Tucker walked and scored in the fourth. He also got Houston’s first hit when he chased Chicago starter Michael Kopech (1-4) with an RBI double in the fifth, making it 2-1.The Astros scored two more in the sixth on back-to-back RBI doubles by Martín Maldonado and Mauricio Dubón against Gregory Santos. Yordan Alvarez homered in his second straight game when he led off the ninth with a long drive to right.France (1-0) was terrific again after throwing five scoreless innings against Seattle last week in his major ...

Fletcher’s 1st big league homer, 4 RBIs lift D-Backs over Giants 7-5

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

PHOENIX (AP) — Dominic Fletcher hit his first major league home run, doubled in the go-ahead run in the sixth inning and had four RBIs to help the Arizona Diamondbacks rally past the San Francisco Giants 7-5 Friday night, ending their three-game losing streak.Fletcher, a 25-year-old who made his big league debut on April 30, raised his average to .457. Hitting ninth in the order, he tied the score 3-3 with a three-run homer in the second off Ross Stripling, a 428-foot drive off the sign above the swimming pool area in right-center field.Fletcher singled in the fourth and then doubled off Jakob Junis (2-2) for a 5-4 lead. With a chance to hit for the cycle, Fletcher stranded the bases loaded in the seventh with an inning-ending groundout.Blake Sobol’s run-scoring passed ball gave Arizona a two-run advantage, and Lourdes Gurriel Jr.’s RBI double in the seventh made it 7-4.Casey Schmitt had a one-out RBI double in the eighth against Andrew Chafin, who with runners on second...

Vatican experts uncovering gilded glory of Hercules statue struck by lightning

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

VATICAN CITY (AP) — Scaffolding in a niche of the Vatican Museums’ Round Hall conceal from view the work of restorers who are removing centuries of grime from the largest known bronze statue of the ancient world: the gilded Hercules Mastai Righetti.For more than 150 years, the four-meter-tall (13-foot-tall) figure of the half-human Roman god of strength has stood in that niche, barely garnering notice among other antiquities because of the dark coating it had acquired. But it was only after removing a layer of wax and other material from a 19th-century restoration that Vatican experts understood the statue’s true splendor as one of the most significant gilded statues of its time. Museum-goers will be able to see its grandeur for themselves once the restoration is finished, which is expected in December.“The original gilding is exceptionally well-preserved, especially for the consistency and homogeneity,” Vatican Museum restorer Alice Baltera said. The discovery of the colossal...

Store owner brutally beaten by thieves in downtown Los Angeles

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

A store owner remains in the ICU after being brutally beaten by robbers in downtown Los Angeles.Surveillance cameras captured two hooded thieves armed with a semi-automatic handgun pistol-whipping the victim before escaping with cash and jewelry.On Wednesday, police said the suspects walked into the clothing store on the 1100 block of Main Street around 4:49 p.m., according to LAPD.Video shows the two suspects strolling into Franky Salerno’s store before violently assaulting him.The thieves wanted Salerno’s gold necklace, Rolex watch and other jewelry. Although Salerno tried to fight back, he was no match for the men who kicked and punched him while he was on the ground. Salerno’s friend inside the store was also attacked.The victim’s girlfriend, Ivana Octaviani, said she was fed up with the high amount of crime in L.A. and had moved to Arizona earlier in the week.Two days later, thieves broke into her boyfriend’s shop and cleared out the merchandise. The very next day is when the a...

Southern California sea lions show off cognitive skills while playing video games

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

"Spike" the sea lion is making waves in the science community, learning how to play video games on the deck of a sea pen in the San Diego Bay off the coast of Point Loma. The U.S. Navy Marine Mammal Program cares for the branch's sea lions and dolphins, aiming to keep marine mammals happy and healthy longer."His [Spike's] ability to understand the concept of controlling a cursor on a screen, then progress through a series of more challenging games, marks the first recorded success in testing cognition of California sea lions with an animal-controlled interface," said Maison Piedfort, with the Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific.Spike, who is a fan of fish, ice, and naps, participates in the Enclosure Video Enrichment (EVE) system, using his snout to press a button and maneuver a cursor through a maze while his trainers cheer him on. He is then rewarded with herring after finishing a training session.More than 750 sessions have been attempted between Spike and other sea lions in...

Championship year: San Ramon Valley’s baseball team, ignited by football hero, wins EBAL title

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 19:15:34 GMT

DANVILLE — The football championship vibes from last fall have rubbed off on San Ramon Valley’s baseball team.Of course, it helps that the quarterback who led the Danville school to North Coast Section and regional titles, Bay Area News Group player of the year Luke Baker, bats in the heart of the Wolves order.Friday, with Granada four outs from victory in the East Bay Athletic League title game, the left-handed hitting Baker hooked a two-run homer around the right-field foul pole to give SRV the lead in the bottom of the sixth.Granada evened the score in the visitor’s half of the seventh.But SRV got another opportunity in the ninth and UC Santa Barbara-bound Blake Jacobs did what he was determined to do, singling to center with none out to drive in the championship run from third.Final: SRV 3, Granada 2.San Ramon Valley’s Blake Jacobs (10) connects a walk-off hit against Granada in the EBAL title game Friday. (Photos by Ray Chavez/Bay Area News Group) B...