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Nationals and Dodgers play to decide series winner

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

Los Angeles Dodgers (86-55, first in the NL West) vs. Washington Nationals (64-78, fifth in the NL East)Washington; Sunday, 1:35 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Dodgers: TBD; Nationals: Trevor Williams (6-9, 5.21 ERA, 1.51 WHIP, 102 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Nationals -124, Dodgers -103; over/under is 7 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: Both the Washington Nationals and the Los Angeles Dodgers are looking for a series win with a victory on Sunday.Washington has a 31-42 record in home games and a 64-78 record overall. The Nationals are 23-13 in games when they hit at least two home runs.Los Angeles has an 86-55 record overall and a 39-31 record in road games. The Dodgers have the fourth-ranked team batting average in the NL at .257.The teams play Sunday for the sixth time this season. The Dodgers are ahead 3-2 in the season series.TOP PERFORMERS: Lane Thomas has 32 doubles, three triples and 24 home runs while hitting .285 for the Nationals. C.J. Abrams is 10-for-39 with a triple and tw...

Reds host the Cardinals on home losing streak

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

St. Louis Cardinals (63-79, fifth in the NL Central) vs. Cincinnati Reds (73-71, third in the NL Central)Cincinnati; Sunday, 1:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Miles Mikolas (7-10, 4.63 ERA, 1.32 WHIP, 114 strikeouts); Reds: Hunter Greene (0-0)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Reds -116, Cardinals -103; over/under is 10 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Cincinnati Reds take on the St. Louis Cardinals looking to stop their three-game home slide.Cincinnati is 35-39 at home and 73-71 overall. The Reds have a 47-14 record in games when they have more hits than their opponents.St. Louis has gone 32-39 on the road and 63-79 overall. The Cardinals have the seventh-best team on-base percentage in the majors at .329.Sunday’s game is the 10th meeting between these teams this season. The Cardinals have a 5-4 advantage in the season series.TOP PERFORMERS: Hunter Renfroe leads Cincinnati with 20 home runs while slugging .430. Christian Encarnacion-Strand is 14-for-38 with two home runs and six RBI ...

Phillies and Marlins meet to determine series winner

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

Miami Marlins (73-69, third in the NL East) vs. Philadelphia Phillies (78-63, second in the NL East)Philadelphia; Sunday, 1:05 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Marlins: Steven Okert (3-1, 3.44 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 65 strikeouts); Phillies: Ranger Suarez (2-6, 3.91 ERA, 1.44 WHIP, 94 strikeouts)BOTTOM LINE: The Philadelphia Phillies and Miami Marlins play on Sunday with the three-game series tied 1-1.Philadelphia has gone 42-27 in home games and 78-63 overall. The Phillies are 26-11 in games when they did not give up a home run.Miami has a 33-37 record on the road and a 73-69 record overall. The Marlins have gone 37-12 in games when they did not give up a home run.Sunday’s game is the 13th time these teams meet this season. The season series is tied 6-6.TOP PERFORMERS: Kyle Schwarber leads the Phillies with 59 extra base hits (16 doubles, a triple and 42 home runs). Trea Turner is 16-for-40 with a double, a triple, eight home runs and 18 RBI over the past 10 games.Luis Arraez leads the M...

Braves square off against the Pirates in series rubber match

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

Pittsburgh Pirates (66-76, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Atlanta Braves (92-49, first in the NL East)Atlanta; Sunday, 1:35 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Pirates: Luis L. Ortiz (4-4, 4.90 ERA, 1.74 WHIP, 48 strikeouts); Braves: Allan Winans (0-0)BOTTOM LINE: The Atlanta Braves and Pittsburgh Pirates play on Sunday with the three-game series tied 1-1.Atlanta is 46-25 at home and 92-49 overall. Braves hitters are batting a collective .276, the best team batting average in MLB play.Pittsburgh has a 32-39 record on the road and a 66-76 record overall. The Pirates are 27-8 in games when they hit two or more home runs.The matchup Sunday is the seventh meeting between these teams this season. The season series is tied 3-3.TOP PERFORMERS: Matt Olson leads Atlanta with 48 home runs while slugging .603. Ronald Acuna Jr. is 15-for-44 with six home runs and 12 RBI over the last 10 games.Bryan Reynolds leads the Pirates with a .268 batting average, and has 30 doubles, five triples, 20 home runs, 43...

DC area prepares for another round of afternoon storms

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

Ominous storm clouds were captured overhead on Saturday afternoon Sept. 9, 2023. (Courtesy, Carol Brown)(Courtesy Carol Brown) Ominous storm clouds were captured overhead on Saturday afternoon Sept. 9, 2023. (Courtesy, Carol Brown)(Courtesy Carol Brown) Forecasters expect another round of wet weather on Sunday after severe storms brought flash flood warnings and widespread power outages to the D.C. area. Here’s what you need to know.WTOP Meteorologist Briana Bermensolo said Sunday’s weather will likely include another chance for storms with “pockets of steady rainfall.” Those rains could bring about another wave of watches for the area.“Heavy downpours and storms will continue through...

Brayden Schager throws 4 TD passes to help Hawaii beat Albany 31-20

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

HONOLULU (AP) — Brayden Schager completed 23 of 40 passes for 266 yards and four touchdowns to help Hawaii beat Albany 31-20 Saturday night. Schager threw a 34-yard scoring strike down the right sideline to Jalen Walthall, who made a one-hand finger-tips catch as he dragged a defender into the end zone to give the Rainbow Warriors a 24-17 lead with 6:10 left in the third quarter. Schager threw a 4-yard touchdown pass that capped a nine-play, 74-yard drive and gave Hawaii a 10-7 lead with 7 second left in the first quarter and, after Albany’s Larry Walker Jr. returned an interception — one of three thrown by Schager on the day — 35 yards for a touchdown in the second, connected with Steven McBride for a 30-yard touchdown strike before John Opalko kicked a 47-yard field goal to make it 17-all as time expired in the first half. Opalka added a 32-yard field goal with 3:32 left in the third quarter that trimmed the deficit to 24-20 but Schager found McBride for another TD, this tim...

Caleb Williams propels No. 6 USC to a 49-point first half in a 56-10 victory over Stanford

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — After well over a century of competition, nobody knows when Southern California and Stanford will meet again on a football field.The Trojans are headed into this rivalry’s hiatus with all of the bragging rights after a blowout victory that demonstrated both programs’ current place in the process of building a champion.Caleb Williams passed for 281 yards and three touchdowns and ran for another score while playing only the first half, Zachariah Branch returned a punt 75 yards for a TD, and No. 6 USC routed Stanford 56-10 on Saturday night.MarShawn Lloyd and Austin Jones also rushed for scores, and Dorian Singer, Brenden Rice and Lake McRee caught TD passes while their Heisman Trophy winner led USC (3-0, 1-0 Pac-12) to one of the most prolific first halves in school history.“That was one of our more complete halves, where guys were firing on all cylinders,” coach Lincoln Riley said. “All three sides of the ball just surged and got the momentum and kept i...

Oklahoma State stymies Arizona State defensively for 27-15 win

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) — Oklahoma State played to the sticks a stuck it to Arizona State.Garret Rangel found a wide-open Brennan Presley on a 16-yard touchdown pass late in the fourth quarter after Oklahoma State’s final fourth-down stop, clinching a 27-15 win over the Sun Devils on Saturday night.“We’ve got to play the sticks,” Oklahoma State coach Mike Gundy said of defending fourth downs. “We practiced it 20 times more than I’ve ever practiced in my 19 years as coach and so I feel like we’re better at it. I think it paid off for us tonight.”The Cowboys (2-0) were one of the FBS’ worst teams at stopping teams on fourth downs last season, in part because they didn’t practice it.Gundy and his staff ingrained the way to play on fourth down — don’t let the offensive player get to the first-down stick — throughout spring and fall practice.It paid off in one of the hottest games in Arizona State history — 104 degrees at kickoff.Oklahoma State had an interception...

Morocco mourns earthquake victims as death toll passes 2,000

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

Moroccan citizens on Sunday mourned the victims of a powerful earthquake that has killed more than 2,000 people and injured hundreds more.Rescue teams struggled to reach thousands in hard-hit areas who were injured by the quake Friday night, the biggest to hit Morocco in 120 years, AFP reported. Survivors are being forced to sleep rough this weekend as relief efforts continue.At least 2,012 people have died and more than 2,059 injured in the disaster, according to the interior ministry, with 1,404 in critical condition.The magnitude 6.8 earthquake’s epicenter was in the High Atlas Mountains southwest of Marrakesh, devastating the historic city and wiping out some rural villages, according to the BBC. The quake was also felt in Rabat and Casablanca. Morocco’s Al Haouz province has the highest death toll, according to the interior ministry, followed by Taroudant.“The next 24 to 48 hours will be critical in terms of saving lives,” Caroline Holt, Global Director ...

Australian and Indonesian forces deploy battle tanks in US-led combat drills amid Chinese concern

Published Tue, 24 Dec 2024 01:00:45 GMT

BANYUWANGI, Indonesia (AP) — Thousands of soldiers from the United States, Indonesia, Australia and other allied forces demonstrated their armor capabilities on Sunday in combat drills on the Indonesian island of Java at a time of increased Chinese aggression in the region. President Joe Biden’s administration has been strengthening an arc of military alliances in the Indo-Pacific to reassure allies alarmed by Beijing’s increasingly provocative actions in the disputed South China Sea, which has become a battleground for U.S-Chinese rivalries.During the drills, Australian forces deployed five M1A1 Abrams battle tanks and the Indonesian military, deployed two Leopard-2 tanks for the two-week combat exercises in Banyuwangi, a coastal district in East Java province which began Sept. 1. It will include live-fire drills.It was the first time Australia deployed battle tanks outside its territory since the Vietnam war.The Garuda Shield drills have been held annually between American a...