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Dominant DeSclafani blanks Astros, SF Giants snap losing streak at four

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

HOUSTON — Anthony DeSclafani was about as dominant as he’s been in a Giants uniform Tuesday as San Francisco blanked the World Series champion Houston Astros and snapped their losing streak at four games.DeSclafani retired 19 of the first 20 batters he faced, and the Giants got all the offense they needed behind his masterful pitching performance with a pair of RBI knocks from Joc Pederson and Blake Sabol, defeating the Astros, 2-0, to even the three-game series and earn their first win of this taxing road trip.San Francisco (12-17) has its ace, Logan Webb, on the mound Wednesday looking to deliver only its third series win of the season.DeSclafani blanked the Astros for eight innings, striking out only three and relying mostly on soft contact, before handing off to Camilo Doval to close out the ninth inning. In his longest start since July 4, 2021, DeSclafani combined with Doval hold the powerful Astros lineup scoreless for the first time this season. It was the Giants’...

Oakland’s teachers are preparing to strike on Thursday — how has it gotten this far?

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

Oakland teachers are poised to strike on Thursday, a walkout that could shutter schools and affect 34,000 students unless a deal is reached between the district and the teachers’ union.The Oakland Education Association, which represents 3,000 of the city’s educators and school staff, announced the strike late Monday afternoon. The move came after months of negotiations. Since October, teachers have been pushing for increased pay, reduced class sizes, and higher safety standards, along with additional support services for students.“We promise you, we’ve done everything we can to avert this strike,” said Ismael Armendariz, interim president of the union, in a Monday press release. “The district has truly failed our students and the time for us to act is now.”On Tuesday evening, teachers began to pick up their posters, flyers and materials from the union office — and as of 7 p.m., the two sides were still at the bargaining table. Earlier Tuesday the district released a statement ...

NBA playoffs live updates: Lakers-Warriors Game 1 going back-and-forth in second quarter

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

To view the live updates on your mobile device click here.GAME 1: Lakers at Warriors at Chase Center, at 7 p.m. TV: TNT. Announcers: Brian Anderson (play-by-play), Stan Van Gundy (color commentary), Chris Haynes (sideline reporting).ODDS: Warriors -4. OVER/UNDER: 226.5. (Both from Caesars Sportsbook.)SEASON SERIES: Lakers went 3-1 against the Warriors in the regular season. PRIOR PLAYOFF HISTORY: Lakers have won 6-of-7 postseason series, including the last one in 1991.Ever since Steve Kerr joined the Warriors’ core of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green as head coach, they’ve faced 11 of the other 14 Western Conference foes and vanquished them all. Some multiple times.But for many Warriors fans, there is one opponent they’ve been waiting for this group to face. And now, finally, we’re getting that matchup.It’s the Warriors and the Lakers.Oh, and for good measure, that means we get a fifth head-to-head showdown between Curry and LeBron James, t...

Activists Face Felonies for Distributing Flyers on "Cop City" Protester Killing

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

Three activists involved in the Defend Atlanta Forest movement are facing charges of felony intimidation of an officer of the state and misdemeanor stalking for placing flyers on mailboxes in a neighborhood in Bartow County, Georgia, about 40 miles from Atlanta. The detainees were held for days in solitary confinement, a lawyer working on the case and a relative of one of the activists told The Intercept.The flyer, according to the lawyer, named a police officer who lives in the area where the activists were arrested and alleged he was connected to the killing in January of forest defender Manuel “Tortuguita” Terán during a multi-agency raid on the Atlanta Forest protest encampment.A forensics report from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation about guns fired during Tortuguita’s killing named six state patrol officers: Bryland Myers, Jerry Parrish, Jonathan Salcedo, Mark Jonathan Lamb, Ronaldo Kegel, and Royce Zah. According to public records, one of the officers named lives in the ar...

Knicks top Heat 111-105, even Eastern Conference semi series

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

Jalen Brunson scored 30 points and keyed the run the New York Knicks needed just in time to get by a Miami Heat team playing without Jimmy Butler, evening the Eastern Conference semifinals at a game apiece with a 111-105 victory Tuesday night.Julius Randle returned from a sprained left ankle that sidelined him in Game 1 with 25 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists, and RJ Barrett scored 24 points for the No. 5-seeded Knicks. Josh Hart finished with 14 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists.But it was Brunson, who pointed the blame at himself and said he had to be better after going 0 for 7 from 3-point range in the opener, who made the biggest plays in a game the Knicks trailed much of the way.Caleb Martin scored 22 points in place of Butler for the Heat, who host Game 3 on Saturday afternoon. They will hope to have Butler, the leading scorer in the playoffs who sat out after spraining his right ankle late in their 108-101 victory in the opener.___AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba a...

Argentina’s Fernandez seeks dollar relief from Brazil’s Lula

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

BRASILIA, Brazil (AP) — Argentine President Alberto Fernández and his Brazilian counterpart, Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, vowed Tuesday to keep working to come up with a mechanism that would allow them to eschew the dollar in trade between the neighboring nations. Argentina’s economy is looking particularly fragile after a run on the peso in the financial markets caused a sharp devaluation of the local currency late last month as well as a drain of U.S. dollars from central bank reserves in part due to a devastating drought that has slashed exports. There was lots of anticipation Tuesday that the two countries would unveil a mechanism allowing Argentine firms to continue trading with Brazil without draining precious dollars from the country’s reserves. Yet after a nearly four-hour meeting the two presidents made clear they were still fine tuning the details.“The meeting was long, difficult and we will carry out many more meetings,” Lula said alongside Fernández as the two left-l...

Harper returns for Phils, 160 days after Tommy John surgery

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Bryce Harper has always enjoyed playing at Dodger Stadium. His return Tuesday night for the Philadelphia Phillies might top them all.Harper was activated off the injured list and was in the lineup, batting third at designated hitter when the Phillies took on the Los Angeles Dodgers in the middle game of a three-game series.Harper struck out in his first at-bat. He fouled off the first pitch from Julio Urías before the Dodgers left-hander retired him swinging on a 2-2 slurve.The return for the two-time NL MVP came 160 days after Harper had Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. It occurred at the ballpark where he made his major league debut in 2012.“Medically it is surprising, but by Harper genetic standards probably not,” Harper’s agent, Scott Boras, said while the Phillies were taking batting practice. “I remember last Thanksgiving we were talking about when he could come back and he mentioned May and I told him not to tell anyone that.”When Harper had sur...

Stars’ Pavelski 2 quick goals in return after 5 missed games

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

DALLAS (AP) — Joe Pavelski made a quick impact in his return for the Dallas Stars, scoring two goals in the first period of their second-round playoff series against Seattle on Tuesday night after missing the final five games of the opening round while in concussion protocol. Pavelski scored on a 25-foot wrister only 2 1/2 minutes into the game to put the Stars ahead 1-0 in Game 1. He scored on his first shot, on a pass from Mason Marchment. Max Domi got the secondary assistAfter Seattle got even, Pavelski scored again, about 10 minutes after his first goal. The second one was from about the same distance with a redirect of Thomas Harley’s shot. The two goals extended Pavelski’s record for U.S.-born players to 66 career playoff goals. Pavelski was on the ice for the game’s opening shift, though he wasn’t immediately inserted back on the top line. He was with Marchment and Domi, like he was when he went through a full practice Monday. Tyler Seguin, who scored four p...

Ramirez, Rays beat Pirates 4-1 in matchup of top two teams

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Harold Ramírez homered and drove in two runs to lead the Tampa Bay Rays over the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-1 on Tuesday night in a matchup of teams with the top two records in the major leagues.Ramírez drove in the game’s first run with an RBI single in the fourth and boosted the lead to 4-1 with a solo homer in the sixth against Roansy Contreras (3-2). The Rays, who drew just 10,325 to Tropicana Field, lead the big leagues with 62 home runs and have outscored opponents 199-93.“Don’t matter who we play, we just have to play good baseball,” Ramírez said. “We’re just here to win.”Tampa Bay is the 15th team since 1901 to win at least 24 of its first 30 games and the first since the 2016 World Series champion Chicago Cubs started 24-6.Pittsburgh (20-10), in first place at the end of April for the first time since 1992, lost back-to-back games for the first time since the last two games of opening series at Cincinnati. The Pirates lost for the thi...

Sheriff: Suspect in Texas shooting that killed 5 neighbors caught hiding in house under laundry (CORRECTS: A previous APNewsAlert erroneously reported that the statement came from the FBI)

Published Fri, 27 Dec 2024 08:18:58 GMT

CLEVELAND, Texas (AP) — Sheriff: Suspect in Texas shooting that killed 5 neighbors caught hiding in house under laundry (CORRECTS: A previous APNewsAlert erroneously reported that the statement came from the FBI).Source