August 2019

Cliff Branch, one of the Raiders’ career-leading receivers who won three Super Bowls, has died. He was 71. Police in Bullhead City, Arizona, say Branch was found dead in a hotel room Saturday. They say an initial investigation revealed no foul play and that Branch died of natural causes. One of the game’s top deep

Ronald Acuña Jr. is usually the player pouring water on a teammate who’s getting mobbed after the Atlanta Braves win in their last at-bat. This time it was Acuña’s turn after his first career game-ending hit. “It feels great to be able to do that and have the victory,” he said through a translator. “See

Yannick Ngakoue’s holdout failed to land him a new contract. The standout pass rusher reported to the Jacksonville Jaguars’ training camp Sunday following an 11-day absence and appears ready to play out his rookie deal. Ngakoue is entering the final year of a $3.84 million contract. He’s due to make $2.025 million this fall —

Aaron Nola and Nick Pivetta shut down the Chicago White Sox and gave the Philadelphia Phillies bullpen some rest. Nola pitched seven strong innings, Pivetta recorded the final six outs for his first career save and the Phillies beat the White Sox 3-2 on Saturday night. Bryce Harper and Rhys Hoskins homered for Philadelphia, which

Nelson Cruz is hardly slowing down. If anything, he’s heating up. The 39-year-old Minnesota slugger extended his recent tear Saturday night, hitting three home runs in a game for the second time in 10 days and powering the AL Central-leading Twins to an 11-3 victory over the Kansas City Royals. A day after he homered,

Arizona seems to have Stephen Strasburg’s number this season. The Diamondbacks hit three of their five home runs off Strasburg in an 18-7 victory over the Washington Nationals on Saturday night while knocking him around for the second time this season. They have seven homers and 15 runs against him in two starts. “Sometimes things