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Padres host the Reds, try to continue home win streak

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

Cincinnati Reds (12-17, fourth in the NL Central) vs. San Diego Padres (16-14, third in the NL West)San Diego; Tuesday, 9:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Reds: Graham Ashcraft (2-0, 2.10 ERA, 1.17 WHIP, 24 strikeouts); Padres: Michael Wacha (2-1, 6.75 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, 23 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Padres -194, Reds +163; over/under is 8 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The San Diego Padres host the Cincinnati Reds aiming to extend a four-game home winning streak.San Diego has an 8-8 record at home and a 16-14 record overall. The Padres have gone 12-2 in games when they scored five or more runs.Cincinnati is 12-17 overall and 3-11 in road games. The Reds are 10-2 in games when they scored at least five runs.The teams square off Tuesday for the second time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Xander Bogaerts leads the Padres with a .304 batting average, and has four doubles, six home runs, 15 walks and 13 RBI. Fernando Tatis Jr. is 14-for-46 with two home runs and six RBI over the last 10 games...

Brewers take road win streak into game against the Rockies

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

Milwaukee Brewers (18-10, second in the NL Central) vs. Colorado Rockies (9-20, fifth in the NL West)Denver; Tuesday, 8:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Brewers: Freddy Peralta (3-2, 3.14 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 31 strikeouts); Rockies: Ryan Feltner (2-2, 4.68 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 27 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Brewers -166, Rockies +141; over/under is 11 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Milwaukee Brewers will try to keep a four-game road win streak alive when they visit the Colorado Rockies.Colorado has gone 4-9 in home games and 9-20 overall. The Rockies have a 2-1 record in games when they hit at least two home runs.Milwaukee has gone 9-4 on the road and 18-10 overall. Brewers hitters have a collective .321 on-base percentage, the eighth-ranked percentage in the NL.Tuesday’s game is the first meeting between these teams this season.TOP PERFORMERS: C.J. Cron is second on the Rockies with 11 extra base hits (five doubles and six home runs). Ryan McMahon is 10-for-40 with three doubles, ...

Marlins try to keep home win streak going, host the Braves

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

Atlanta Braves (19-10, first in the NL East) vs. Miami Marlins (16-13, second in the NL East)Miami; Tuesday, 6:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Bryce Elder (2-0, 2.17 ERA, 1.21 WHIP, 26 strikeouts); Marlins: Sandy Alcantara (1-2, 5.34 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 26 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Marlins -130, Braves +110; over/under is 7 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Miami Marlins will try to keep a three-game home win streak going when they take on the Atlanta Braves.Miami has gone 10-6 at home and 16-13 overall. The Marlins have a 10-0 record in games decided by one run.Atlanta is 19-10 overall and 12-3 on the road. The Braves have the sixth-ranked team batting average in the NL at .253.The teams square off Tuesday for the fifth time this season. The Braves are up 3-1 in the season series.TOP PERFORMERS: Jorge Soler leads the Marlins with five home runs while slugging .463. Luis Arraez is 15-for-38 with a double and five RBI over the last 10 games.Ronald Acuna Jr. has five home runs...

Cubs face the Nationals leading series 1-0

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

Chicago Cubs (15-13, third in the NL Central) vs. Washington Nationals (10-18, fifth in the NL East)Washington; Tuesday, 7:05 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Hayden Wesneski (2-1, 4.03 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 15 strikeouts); Nationals: Trevor Williams (1-1, 4.10 ERA, 1.29 WHIP, 17 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Cubs -144, Nationals +123; over/under is 9 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Chicago Cubs lead 1-0 in a four-game series with the Washington Nationals.Washington is 10-18 overall and 3-12 in home games. The Nationals have an 8-3 record in games when they out-hit their opponents.Chicago is 15-13 overall and 7-5 in road games. The Cubs have hit 39 total home runs to rank sixth in MLB play.The teams square off Tuesday for the second time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Keibert Ruiz has four doubles, two home runs and nine RBI while hitting .280 for the Nationals. Joey Meneses is 16-for-45 with a double and a home run over the past 10 games.Nico Hoerner has five doubles, a triple and two home ...

Russia throws more soldiers into Bakhmut meat grinder ahead of Putin’s Victory Day parade

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

KYIV — After missing multiple self-imposed deadlines for capturing Bakhmut, Russia continues to throw more of its soldiers into the grinding battle in the Donetsk region in a desperate bid for something to tout during next week’s Victory Day parade in Moscow.Russia celebrates the Soviet victory over Nazi Germany in World War II every year on May 9, and President Vladimir Putin has used the holiday to boost his image as a strongman over the course of his decades in power. But this year’s celebrations will be somewhat muted, with Putin canceling parades in Russia’s Kursk and Belgorod regions, which border Ukraine, and in Russian-occupied Crimea, citing security concerns. With Moscow now in the second year of its full-scale war on Ukraine and no sign of imminent victory, Putin is pushing to win a battle to sell to Russians on May 9.But with the U.S. estimating that 20,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine since December and a further 80,000 injured, Kyiv is...

Woman taken to hospital after heavy equipment falls at Harvard MBTA station

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

A woman was taken to a local hospital Monday after a heavy piece of electrical equipment fell at the Harvard MBTA station, said Cambridge Fire Chief Thomas Cahill. Cahill said the incident happened Monday afternoon when the approximately 200 pound piece of equipment fell on the station’s Red Line inbound platform.The equipment had been suspended from a pole within the station and hit a woman in her late 20s as it came down, Cahill said. Cahill said the woman suffered non-life-threatening injuries. The scene was clear as of around 5:15 p.m., though debris could still be seen on a Red Line platform roped off with caution tape. Debris had been removed as of 9 p.m.In a separate statement, MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said the equipment slid to the bottom of the column where it was attached.“A supporting brace made contact with a customer who was standing on the platform, next to the column,” Pesaturo said.Pesaturo said Red Line service was not imp...

Before Deonte Banks became Edgewood’s first NFL draft pick, he was ‘a man amongst boys’

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

Charles Johnson was coaching at Joppatowne when, at an offseason seven-on-seven camp at Edgewood, then-Rams coach John Siemsen told him to keep an eye out for Deonte Banks.“I wasn’t really concerned about some ninth grader at the time,” Johnson, who later took over Edgewood’s program before Banks’ junior season, remembers thinking. “But he told me [Banks] could be the program’s next high Division I guy or professional football player.”Edgewood hasn’t been known as a pipeline for top football players, but Banks became the program’s first graduate to be drafted to the NFL on Thursday when the cornerback out of the University of Maryland was taken by the New York Giants with the 24th pick in the first round.Siemsen saw the potential early on when Banks transferred in from St. Frances midway through his freshman year. He saw a quiet confidence and perpetual hunger that would transform into the uber-physical defensive back bound...

Unclear who would help Taiwan in a war: foreign minister

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Taiwan intends to fight for itself in any armed conflict with China and is unclear as to what countries might stand beside it, the self-governing island’s foreign minister said. China claims Taiwan as its own territory, to be brought under its control by force if necessary, and concerns are rising about a possible armed conflict. In an interview last Friday with Sky News Australia, Joseph Wu said Taiwan, with a population of 23 million compared to China’s 1.4 billion, has to defend itself and is not asking other countries to fight for it. However, asked who might fight alongside Taiwan in the event of a war with China, Wu answered, “This is a very good question.” “A lot of people are debating strategic ambiguity or strategic clarity, but to us, we know our own responsibility,” Wu told the news channel from Taipei.“Taiwan has to defend itself, the people have to defend Taiwan, this country, and we are determined to defend ourselves and we are no...

Loneliness poses risks as deadly as smoking: surgeon general

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — Widespread loneliness in the U.S. poses health risks as deadly as smoking a dozen cigarettes daily, costing the health industry billions of dollars annually, the U.S. surgeon general said Tuesday in declaring the latest public health epidemic.About half of U.S. adults say they’ve experienced loneliness, Dr. Vivek Murthy said in an 81-page report from his office.“We now know that loneliness is a common feeling that many people experience. It’s like hunger or thirst. It’s a feeling the body sends us when something we need for survival is missing,” Murthy told The Associated Press in an interview. “Millions of people in America are struggling in the shadows, and that’s not right. That’s why I issued this advisory to pull back the curtain on a struggle that too many people are experiencing.” The declaration is intended to raise awareness around loneliness but won’t unlock federal funding or programming devoted to combatting the issue. Rese...

Inflation inches up in Europe ahead of interes rate decision

Published Mon, 23 Dec 2024 16:54:52 GMT

FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Europe’s painful inflation inched higher last month, extending the squeeze on households and keeping pressure on the European Central Bank to unleash another large interest rate increase.Consumer prices in the 20 countries using the euro currency jumped 7% in April from a year earlier, just down from the annual rate of 6.9% in March, the European Union statistics agency Eurostat said Tuesday. Food prices eased a little, falling to an annual 13.6% from March’s 15.5%, while energy prices rose a more modest 2.5%.Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel, slowed slightly but was still high at 5.6%, underlining the expectation that the ECB will press ahead with its campaign to beat inflation into submission with rate hikes. The question is: How quickly will the bank go? Analysts say the ECB’s meeting Thursday in Frankfurt could end in an increase of a quarter- or a half-percentage point. A quarter-point hike would be a moderation in the b...