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Archives for May 2, 2024

S.F. Giants’ Mike Yaz Does In Red Sox

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – San Francisco’s Mike Yastrzemski hit a solo home run and the visiting San Francisco Giants avoided a series sweep by beating the Boston Red Sox 3-1 on Thursday in the final game of a three-game set. Yastrzemski’s home run was his third of the season and came hours after he was visited in the clubhouse by his grandfather and Red Sox legend, Carl Yastrzemski.

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It was Mike Yastrzemski’s second career home run in six games at Fenway Park after his grandfather hit 237 of his 452 home runs at Fenway.

The Giants broke a 1-1 tie by scoring twice in the seventh. Patrick Bailey singled, took third on Matt Chapman’s single and scored on a single by Thairo Estrada. Nick Ahmed added a sacrifice fly that drove in Chapman to make it 3-1. Both runs were charged to Zack Kelly (0-1).

The victory ended Boston’s four-game winning streak. The Red Sox won the first two games of the series 4-0 and 6-2.

Ryan Walker (3-2) earned the win for the Giants with a scoreless sixth inning. He allowed one hit and struck out one. Camilo Doval worked the ninth to earn his sixth save.

 

Celtics Take HEAT Series in Five

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Boston’s Derrick White and Jaylen Brown each tossed in 25 points to help the Celtics wrap up their Eastern Conference first-round playoff series against the visiting Miami Heat with a 118-84 victory in Game 5 on Wednesday.

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Celtics’ forward Jayson Tatum added 16 points and 12 rebounds for the top-seeded Celtics, who won the final three games in the best-of-seven series.

Boston will play either fourth-seeded Cleveland or fifth-seeded Orlando in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Cavaliers have a 3-2 lead over the Magic in that series, which resumes Friday.

White and Sam Hauser each made five 3-pointers in the Celtics’ win. Hauser finished with 17 points off the bench.

Bam Adebayo led the Heat with 23 points and six assists, and Tyler Herro added 15 points. Caleb Martin and Thomas Bryant each finished with 10 points, the only other Miami players who scored in double figures.

Eighth-seeded Miami shot 3 of 29 (10.3 percent) from 3-point range and was outrebounded 56-29.

The Heat, who didn’t have Jimmy Butler (knee) or Terry Rozier (neck) for the series, was also without rookie Jaime Jaquez Jr. on Wednesday. Jaquez was diagnosed with a right hip flexor strain that also caused him to miss the fourth quarter of Game 4.

Boston played Wednesday without Kristaps Porzingis, who will be sidelined for an unspecified amount of time with a soleus (calf) strain. Celtics coach Joe Mazzulla said Porzingis would be re-evaluated next week.

Oosterhuis, Legendary Golfer Dead, 76

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CHARLOTTE – (Wire Service Report) – Britain’s Peter Oosterhuis, whose voice became synonymous with the finishing holes at The Masters, died on Thursday, one day shy of his 76th birthday.

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A force in Ryder Cup play and two-time runner-up at The Open Championship, Oosterhuis was more recently a broadcasting mainstay in CBS’ coverage of The Masters’ 17th hole. He was part of televised Masters coverage from 1997-2014 following roles as golf director at Riviera Country Club near Los Angeles and Forsgate Country Club in New Jersey.

Oosterhuis ranked No. 1 in Europe for four years during a prolific rise to prominence that eventually brought him to the PGA Tour.

The London-born Oosterhuis was DP World Tour Rookie of the Year in 1969 and on the top player award on tour for four consecutive seasons (1971-74). In addition to three Southern Africa Tour titles he won seven DP World Tour titles and became a full-time PGA Tour participant in 1975 as one of the first international players to assume a spot on the US-based tour.

Oosterhuis won 20 tournaments around the globe and never declined an invitation to represent Great Britain.

He remains tied for the all-time lead in singles victories in Ryder Cup play with six. He participated in the Ryder Cup six times.

Among his near-misses at majors were a one-shot defeat to Tom Watson at the Open Championship in Royal Troon in 1982 and a tied for third at the Masters in 1973 after leading for the first three rounds. The final round was played Monday due to weather issues and Tommy Arnold claimed his only major title, beating J.C. Snead by one shot.

His breakthrough PGA Tour win was the 1981 Canadian Open, a one-shot victory in Toronto over runners up Bruce Lietzke, Andy North and Jack Nicklaus. His Masters tie in ’73 included Nicklaus.

Oosterhuis announced his retirement from broadcasting in the summer of 2014 due to the diagnosis of early-onset Alzheimer’s.

–Field Level Media

Slye and the Patriots Family

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FOXBOROUGH – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – Kicker Joey Slye agreed to terms on a contract with the New England Patriots, said multiple reports Thursday. Slye, who was released by the Jacksonville Jaguars on Tuesday, is expected to provide competition for Chad Ryland in New England.

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Ryland, 24, made just 64 percent of his field-goal attempts (16 of 25) during his rookie season for the Patriots. He was selected by the Patriots in the fourth round of the 2023 NFL Draft. Slye didn’t spend long in Jacksonville, as he signed with the club on March 18.

Slye, 28, converted 19 of 24 field goals and 32 of 35 extra points in 17 games for the Washington Commanders last season. He has made 82.3 percent of his field goals and just 88.5 percent of his PATs across five seasons with four teams.

–Field Level Media

Sox Face Giants Today for Series Sweep

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BOSTON – (Staff and Wire Service Report) – The Boston Red Sox seek their fifth straight win and an Interleague sweep when they host the San Francisco Giants in the finale of a three-game series this afternoon.

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Continued outstanding pitching and timely hitting helped the Red Sox post 4-0 and 6-2 wins to begin the series, allowing just a total of nine hits.

“We expect to be consistent,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “I know that every single night, we feel very comfortable where we’re going to be pitching-wise. Obviously, the numbers speak for themselves. But for me, this is not because of what we did in April. I felt very comfortable in spring training.”

On Wednesday, Kutter Crawford threw a career-high seven innings, while Connor Wong was 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored.

Dominic Smith also recorded an RBI single in his Red Sox debut on the same day he was activated after he opted out of his deal with Tampa Bay. Garrett Cooper, formerly of the Chicago Cubs, made his first Boston appearance on Tuesday.

“We expect these two guys to help us,” Cora said. “They can slow down the game, they’re gonna hit the ball the other way. It was great to add them to the roster.”

The Red Sox also acquired infielder Zack Short from the New York Mets on Wednesday afternoon. Cora expects him to be activated before the series finale and be in the starting lineup.

Boston turns to right-hander Josh Winckowski (1-1, 3.50 ERA), who is scheduled to make his third straight start after seven relief appearances to begin the season. He is 0-0 with a 3.38 ERA in two appearances (no starts) against San Francisco.

This series marks the first for the Giants at Fenway since 2019, which was Yastrzemski’s rookie year.

“To be able to come back again and have a little bit more clarity of where I’m at in life and be able to be a little more comfortable, it’s nice,” he said.

Tom Murphy hit his first home run of the season in the third inning Wednesday.

–Field Level Media

PGA Tour: Spieth Headlines CJ CUP

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McKINNEY, TEXAS – It’s back to Texas for the fourth PGA Tour event of the season. This time, it’s THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson to be held in the northern suburbs of Dallas, past Plano and not too far from Frisco.

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TPC Craig Ranch will host THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson for the fourth time, honoring the legacy of the tournament namesake, Byron Nelson, the first PGA TOUR event to be named in honor of a professional golfer. Nelson had 52 career PGA TOUR wins, and took a record – 18 titles with 11 straight – in 1945.

Last year, 2,021 birdies were recorded at TPC Craig Ranch course, the third most of any course on TOUR last season with the most: 2,094/El Cardonal at Diamante/World Wide Technology Championship).

This season, the field includes:

  • Seven of the top 30 in the FedExCup standings, led by No. 9 Byeong Hun An
  • 10 of the top 50 in the Official World Golf Ranking, led by No. 20 Jordan Spieth
  • Four past champions (Adam Scott/2008, Sung Kang/2019, K.H. Lee/2021-22, JasonDay/2010, 2023)
  • 61 PGA TOUR winners
  • Four PLAYERS Championship winners
  • Six major champions, led by Jordan Spieth (3)

Jason Day, the popular 13-time PGA TOUR winner, snapped a winless streak of 105 starts since the 2018 Wells Fargo Championship with his victory at the Byron Nelson back in 2023. Day, who won his maiden TOUR title at THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson in 2010, became the seventh player in tournament history with multiple titles and seeks to become the fifth back-to-back champion (Sam Snead, Jack Nicklaus, Tom Watson, K.H. Lee).

This week, the CJ Group ambassadors in the field include: Sungjae Im, Si Woo Kim, two-time CJ CUP Byron Nelson champion K.H. Lee and 16-year-old Kris Kim, who received a sponsor exemption and will make his PGA TOUR debut.

THE CJ CUP Byron Nelson | Tournament Facts

COURSE: TPC Craig Ranch, McKinney, Texas

YARDS/PAR: 7,414 yards/Par 72

ARCHITECT: Tom Weiskopf

PRIZE Money/First Place Winnings: $9,500,000/$1,71,000

DEFENDING CHAMPION: Jason Day

PAST RESULTS: (link)

FEDEx CUP Points to Winner: 500

SOCIAL MEDIA: #PGATour #FedExCup

BYRON NELSON ORGANIZATION: (link)

How to Watch | THE CJ CUP | Byron Nelson

Thursday, May 2, 2024 – All Times Eastern

  • 7:45am to 7:00pm – ESPN+ Streaming
  • 1:00pm to 7:00pm – PGA Tour Radio online and on Sirius XM Radio
  • 4:00pm to 7:00pm – Golf Channel and Peacock Network Streaming

PGA TOUR RADIO COVERAGE: SiriusXM Radio will have live radio coverage of the Byron Nelson with Thursday and Friday broadcasts from 1:00pm to 7:00pm (ET). PGA Tour Radio is available on Sirius 208/XM 92 or online via PGATourCom.

How to Watch: In case of changes, visit: (PGATourCom)