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After a comeback win heading into the All-Star break, the Chicago Cubs have a chance to make a 2nd-half move

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

A comeback win on the road to capture a series is the type of outcome the Chicago Cubs needed to take into the All-Star break.Cubs players and manager David Ross have said all the right things about keeping their focus on the present with the Aug. 1 trade deadline looming, knowing they need to make a move soon to erase a seven-game deficit behind the first-place Cincinnati Reds and a sub-.500 record (42-47).Sunday’s 7-4 win over the New York Yankees on the strength of six runs in the final three innings — highlighted by Yan Gomes’ pinch-hit, game-tying, two-run single in the seventh and Seiya Suzuki’s go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth — provided good vibes heading into the four-day break.“You only can control what you can control, and that’s how we play,” catcher Tucker Barnhart said. “You can scoreboard watch all you want, but at the end of the day, if we don’t win, it doesn’t matter. So the best thing we can do i...

Padres knock around Scherzer, take series from Mets ahead of break

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

SAN DIEGO — The Mets and the San Diego Padres started a three-game series as two big-money teams with identical losing records. Both entered the weekend desperate to win the series with the All-Star break looming.But it was the Padres who bested the Mets on Sunday to win two of three and take the series, heading into the All-Star break on a winning note. Manny Machado hit two home runs off of right-hander Max Scherzer and Joe Musgrove was dominant in a 6-2 loss.Scherzer was hit hard right from the start. Machado belted a three-run homer in the first inning with only one out to put San Diego up 3-0. His second home run, a two-run shot to the opposite field, came in the fifth to give the Padres a 5-0 lead and push the game out of reach for the Mets.Onetime former Met Gary Sanchez scored the sixth run in the sixth, doubling off of right-hander T.J. McFarland to lead off the inning. This came right after rookie catcher Francisco Alvarez dropped a popup that would have been an out....

Revitalized with defense, Dennis Smith Jr. found perfect fit with Nets: “It was hand-in-glove fit”

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

LAS VEGAS — Resurrected with a newfound reputation as a defensive stopper, Dennis Smith Jr. found the team that fit like a glove.“It was communicated to me that I was a priority and the direction they were trying to go in was also on the same trajectory that I am in my career,” the 25-year-old said Sunday while watching the Summer League Nets trample the Knicks. “And I just thought it was hand-in-glove fit.”Indeed, the Nets are in a phase similar to Smith’s style and career arc. They’re a reconstruction after the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving disaster, eager to establish an identity around youth and two-way adeptness.Smith Jr. said he contemplated the fit a few days prior to free agency, and the Nets became his first call. He now envisions a strong defensive squad in Brooklyn, though he was wary of bold declarations after a couple seasons with the Knicks.“I know how y’all do in NY,” Smith Jr. said with a smile. “But I...

Decades after shelving NBA dream to care for his family, Harvey’s James Lewis to be spotlighted at National Senior Games

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

James Lewis made a big decision after graduating from Thornwood High in 1974.He had a chance to play basketball and continue his education at Bradley University or stay close to home and attend a technical school and give up competitive basketball. He was living with his grandparents at the time and they needed him close by.Lewis chose to stay and attended Greer Technical Institute in Chicago.Lewis, now 67, never got to pursue his dream of playing college ball and eventually the NBA.Given that he is one of the top senior players in the country right now and a Masters Basketball Association Hall of Famer, he could be forgiven for regretting his decision back in the bell-bottoms era.But he doesn’t.“I don’t know if I would have been good enough to play in the NBA,” Lewis said. “Maybe overseas. Probably so. But I’m not really sure of the NBA. That’s hindsight.”What’s not hindsight are his achievements on and off the basketball court ...

Orioles’ Ryan Mountcastle feels like ‘a normal human’ after monthlong absence with vertigo, delivers RBI single in first game back

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

Whenever Ryan Mountcastle’s heart rate went up, he began to feel light-headed, dizzy and nauseated. The feelings increased whenever the first baseman stepped in the batter’s box for the Orioles. Hitting, already a difficult task, felt impossible.Having missed a month after experiencing vertigo, Mountcastle rejoined the Orioles on Sunday for the final game before the All-Star break, activated off the injured list with left-hander Bruce Zimmermann optioned to Triple-A Norfolk. Mountcastle, 26, last played for Baltimore on June 8, but he believes he was already dealing with symptoms then. In his final two games, both in Milwaukee, Mountcastle went hitless in eight at-bats with five strikeouts.“After the last game, I was like, ‘I think there’s something wrong,’” he said Sunday in the visitors’ clubhouse at Minnesota’s Target Field. “This feels like the longest I’ve ever gone without playing, and it wasn’t fun at all...

Massachusetts Boy Scout, 11, dies after New Hampshire boating accident: ‘Our hearts are forever broken’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

The Boy Scout who recently died in a New Hampshire boating accident has been identified as a Massachusetts middle schooler, according to his family who said their “hearts are forever broken” by the “unimaginable loss” of their 11-year-old boy.The Lexington boy, Keoni Hubbard, was killed following a Friday afternoon boating accident on Manning Lake in Gilmanton, N.H.“Our hearts are forever broken by the loss of our Keoni,” the Hubbard family said in a statement. “Beloved by his family and friends, Keoni’s spirit and empathy for others resonated with all who love and admire him.“Keoni was simply the best — a selfless child who truly found joy in the happiness of others,” the family added. “Our family appreciates the support of the community and respectfully asks that you respect our privacy as we mourn the unimaginable loss of our beloved Keoni.”The 11-year-old member of Boy Scout Troop 119 in Lexington was ...

40-acre vegetation fire burns near US-Mexico border: Cal Fire

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- A 40-acre vegetation fire broke out in southeastern San Diego County Sunday afternoon, prompting evacuations in surrounding areas due to a continued structure threat.Around 2:40, the fire was reported near the Potrero County Park on Potrero Park Drive. The blaze had spread to about 20 acres after an hour, according to Cal Fire. By 4 p.m., the vegetation fire burned about 40 acres.Evacuation warnings and orders have been put in place for the area of Potrero Valley Road, Cal Fire said. A temporary evacuation point has been set up at Steele Canyon High School -- located at 12440 Campo Road -- for those impacted.Road closures are also in place between the area of Highway 94 and Potrero Park Drive, according to Cal Fire.This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

Gunman on scooter charged with murder, attempted murder, for series of New York City shootings

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — A Brooklyn man accused of killing an 86-year-old and injuring three other men in a series of shootings while riding a scooter in New York City is charged with murder and attempted murder, police said Sunday.In all, six apparently random shootings occurred in Brooklyn and Queens on Saturday, according to police.The motive of the alleged gunman, identified Sunday as 25-year-old Thomas Abreu, was unknown, police said.Police arrested Abreu without incident Saturday. The New York Police Department pulled an image of the gunman from video and sent it to officers, who spotted him a couple hours after the first shooting, police said.Police confiscated a scooter and a 9 mm handgun with an extended magazine. Abreu was charged with murder, two counts of attempted murder and six counts of criminal possession of a weapon.The shootings began around 11:10 a.m., when the gunman shot a 21-year-old man in the shoulder in Brooklyn. The man was brought to a hospital and was expected to ...

South Korea’s Yoon pushes for strong resolve against North’s nuclear ambitions at NATO summit

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — South Korea’s president says it’s time to clearly demonstrate strong international resolve to deter North Korea’s nuclear ambitions, and plans to discuss how to cope with the North’s expanding weapons arsenal with NATO leaders this week.Yoon Suk Yeol will attend the annual NATO summit being held this year in Vilnius, Lithuania, on Tuesday and Wednesday as part of a two-nation trip that includes a stop in Poland.“Now is the time to clearly demonstrate that the international community’s determination to deter North Korea’s nuclear weapons program is stronger than North Korea’s desire to develop nuclear weapons,” he said.It’s the second consecutive year that Yoon will take part in the summit, underscoring his push to deepen ties with the world’s biggest military alliance. South Korea faces a mix of security challenges, including North Korea’s nuclear program and the U.S.-China strategic rivalry. Last year, he became the first South Korean leader to attend a NA...

Mother of 2 killed in Leslieville remembered by friends, community as a ‘shining light’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:20:14 GMT

A woman who was running a simple errand before she was struck by a stray bullet and killed is being remembered as a “kind soul” and a “shining light” by friends and members of the Leslieville community.Karolina Huebner-Makurat – also known as Caroline to her friends – was walking in the area of Queen Street East and Carlaw Avenue to pick up lunch when gunshots rang out just before 12:30 p.m. Friday. A stray bullet struck the 44-year-old wife and mother of two, who was taken by ambulance to a nearby trauma centre where she was later pronounced dead. A GoFundMe page which has been set up by her friends says the family is “heartbroken by this senseless passing.”“She was a shining light in the lives of her two beautiful daughters, aged 7 and 4. The sudden loss of their beloved mother has left these innocent young souls grappling with unimaginable grief and uncertainty about their future,” reads the campaign post. “Carolin...