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Orioles stumble against Mitch Keller, Pirates in 4-0 loss to end four-game winning streak: ‘Tip your hat’

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

The seven-inning gem that Orioles starter Tyler Wells delivered Saturday would normally be the best start of a series.Not this weekend.Pittsburgh Pirates ace Mitch Keller one-upped Wells on Sunday, striking out 13 across seven dominant innings to hand the Orioles a 4-0 loss.Keller entered the game as one of the best starters in the National League, and he solidified his standing by shutting down an Orioles team that had won four straight games. The right-hander scattered four singles and didn’t walk a batter in front of a Mother’s Day crowd of 36,403.“We saw the video coming in and watched a lot of him, but that in person might be the best pitching performance of the season. That was a pitching clinic,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “We just had a tough time with him offensively. Tip your hat, that was an outstanding pitching performance.”Only Anthony Santander and Austin Hays avoided striking out against Keller, and Gunnar Henderson, Ryan Mountcastl...

Zelenskyy makes surprise visit to Paris for talks with French President

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

PARIS — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy made a surprise visit to Paris for talks Sunday night with French President Emmanuel Macron, extending a multi-stop European tour that has elicited fresh pledges of military support as his country gears up for a counteroffensive against Russian occupation forces.In a tweet on his arrival, Zelenskyy said: “With each visit, Ukraine’s defense and offensive capabilities are expanding. The ties with Europe are getting stronger, and the pressure on Russia is growing.”He said he and Macron “will talk through the most important points of bilateral relations.” The French leader’s office said they’ll discuss Ukraine’s military and humanitarian needs and “the more long-term perspectives for a return to peace in Europe,” and that Macron will “reaffirm France and Europe’s unwavering support” for Ukraine in its fight against the Russian invasion.France has supplied Ukraine...

A generational talent: Torrey Pines stand out swimmer executes two-year plan

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

SAN DIEGO -- “In my head, he’s a generational talent and then I thought that might be too mild of a statement, so I said once in a decade. Now that I said that, he may be the best swimmer to come out of Torrey Pines,” said Torrey Pines Varsity Swim Coach Richard Contreras of a standout athlete. What a compliment for Logan Noguchi.“That was very humbling to know people, Richard, thinks highly of me,” said Noguchi, a junior at Torrey Pines High School. Wave FC’s Kailen Sheridan was 2022 NWSL goalkeeper of the year Noguchi knows greatness doesn’t happen by accident. He says he started swimming at age 11 and now, he has a two-year plan for the next phase of his swimming career.“Now CIF’s, nationals next year and going off to college, so I’m really setting myself up to take that next step,” said Noguchi.The school record holder in the 200 individual medley and 100 backstroke maintains a 3.5 GPA, which helped him complete the next step of his plan -- getting acc...

San Marcos Little League returns after shooting ceased all games

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

SAN MARCOS, Calif. -- The San Marcos Youth Baseball League has picked back up on Saturday after a nearby shooting interrupted games at Mission Sports Park."I was excited to play baseball again and ready to go and play the game," said Wyatt Di Zinno, a player who's been with the league for eight years since he was 4 years old.The baseball diamond was packed with players Saturday morning. Parents lined the fence to cheer them on while they made their return."It's fun to hit the ball, and make plays," Di Zinno said. "I don't know I just really like it."On Monday, a video obtained by the San Diego County Sheriff's Department captured at least seven gunshots going off at the Mission Sports Park. One bullet could be seen striking the ground in the video, dangerously close to the children. Luckily, no one at the park was harmed, but the incident still ceased all games for several days. Parent Rena Frey was there to watch her three sons, who are players in the Little League. She recalled th...

Campgrounds at California’s Yosemite National Park to close over flood threat as snowpack melts

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

YOSEMITE NATIONAL PARK, Calif. (AP) — Three popular campgrounds at California’s Yosemite National Park will be temporarily closed starting Monday because of a forecast of flooding as warming temperatures melt the Sierra Nevada’s massive snowpack.Park officials said Sunday that the Lower and North Pines Campgrounds and the Housekeeping Camp will be shut over fears that waterways could overspill their banks. “The combination of extended hot weather and abundant snow means the Merced River may remain above flood stage for some time,” the park said in a statement. An update on the closures will be provided Monday evening. Late last month, eastern sections of the famed Yosemite Valley were closed for a few days over fears of floods that never materialized. Spring weather is quickly melting huge amounts of snow that accumulated in mountains from a series of epic winter storms.Storm runoff has caused flooding of San Joaquin Valley agricultural fields below the southern Sierra. But the majo...

Barcelona wins Spanish league for 1st time since 2019, 27th overall

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

MADRID (AP) — Barcelona won its first Spanish league title after the departure of Lionel Messi with a 4-2 victory against Espanyol on Sunday.Robert Lewandowski scored twice to lead the Catalan club to its first league title since 2019. The title was secured with four rounds remaining and two years after Messi left amid the club’s financial struggles.The title celebrations were short-lived, though, as players had to rush into the locker room after a large group of Espanyol fans invaded the field from behind one of the goals and started running toward the Barcelona players who were singing and celebrating in the center. Security guards quickly intervened but riot police had to stand in front of the tunnel’s entrance to prevent the fans from going in.Alejandro Balde and Jules Koundé also scored for Barcelona, which now has 27 league titles, eight fewer than Real Madrid.The victory over city rival Espanyol gave Barcelona an insurmountable 85 points from 34 matches, 14 points more ...

'Potentially significant' El Niño to begin by summer

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Notable warming of the waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific has further increased the likelihood that El Niño will begin by late spring or early summer. The odds of El Niño being in place for next winter are now up to 93%.El Niño is the warm phase of the climate pattern known as ENSO (El Niño Southern Oscillation). Remember, for the last three winters we've been in the cool phase of ENSO known as La Niña. As the waters in the eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean got closer to normal we entered an ENSO Neutral phase in March. Now the waters continue to warm to above normal in all Niño regions (see below) giving greater confidence that we're heading for a prolonged El Niño pattern.Sea surface temperature anomalies in the Niño regions (CPC/NOAA)Exactly when El Niño begins will be based on a combination of when the sea-surface temperature anomalies in a specific region of the eastern Pacific Ocean (known as the Niño 3.4 region) reach +0.5ºC and when the atmosphere start...

Longhorns score 42 runs in 2 games to clinch series win over San Jose State

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

AUSTIN (KXAN) — After a rough first game against San Jose State, the Texas Longhorns baseball bounced back to score 42 runs and win the nonconference series that concluded Saturday at UFCU Disch-Falk Field.The threat of heavy rain caused the schools to play a doubleheader Friday and finish the series Saturday, and while the opening game Friday didn't go Texas' way, they sure made up for it in the nightcap and the series finale. Texas lost 6-4 in Game 1, but then throttled the Spartans 24-3 Friday night and won the series with an 18-6 victory.MORE THAN THE SCORE: Stay up to date on sports stories like these, and sign up for our More than the Score sports newsletter at kxan.com/newslettersOutfielder Dylan Campbell improved his school-record hitting streak to 30 games, raising his batting average to .330 on the season. On Saturday, he added to his hitting streak in a big way with a 2-run home run in the first inning to get things on the right track.Tanner Witt pitched three innings in ...

Mudslide closes southern Minnesota highway after torrential rain

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

Torrential rain led to flooding in parts of southern Minnesota on Saturday evening, and may have triggered a mudslide that closed a state highway early Sunday.The Minnesota Department of Transportation reported about 5:30 a.m. Sunday that State Highway 68 is closed south of Courtland due to a “sizeable mudslide” across the driving lanes.Photos provided by MnDOT and the Brown County Sheriff’s Office showed one car caught in the mud, and another damaged vehicle nearby. It was not immediately clear if there were any injuries in the slide that happened near the Brown-Blue Earth county line.“Officials are onsite clearing the debris, and are monitoring the slide area to make sure that no more debris will slide onto the roadway,” MnDOT reported early Sunday. The highway reopened around 10 a.m.Previous mudslides have closed that stretch of highway twice in the past 5 years — in 2018, and again in 2020.The latest closure comes as Highway 68 was carrying more traffic than usual as the designa...

Andre Carter II, Ivan Pace Jr. provide Vikings with value as undrafted free agents

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 15:13:53 GMT

After wrapping up the 2023 NFL draft last month, the Vikings continued to work the phones. And it paid off as general manager Kwesi Adofo-Mensah was able to sign skilled linebackers Andre Carter II and Ivan Pace Jr. as undrafted free agents.The fact that both players were available at that point came as a surprise to most. Looking at the measurables, Carter and Pace probably should have been drafted by some team. There’s a reason Pro Football Focus ranked them atop its list of undrafted free agents to sign.Now it’s on the Vikings to develop both players. That process started over the weekend as the Vikings hosted rookie minicamp at TCO Performance Center. It will continue over the next month with many veterans joining the rookies at the practice facility in Eagan.It’ll be interesting to see where Carter and Pace fit in as more players arrive at TCO Performance Center in the coming weeks. In the meantime, though, both players seemed to make a good first impression o...