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Browns’ Grant has a season-ending injury and Ward has a concussion. Goodwin is back from blood clots

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

CLEVELAND (AP) — Jakeem Grant Sr.’s inspiring comeback with the Browns came to an abrupt, painful stop.Grant, who was signed last year to fix Cleveland’s return game, will miss his second straight season with an injury after hurting his right knee on the opening kickoff in Saturday’s exhibition game in Kansas City.Grant had worked his way back from an Achilles tendon tear only to suffer another major injury the first time he touched the ball for Cleveland in a game. He signed a three-year, $10 million contract as a free agent in 2022.“Very disappointed for Jakeem,” coach Kevin Stefanski said Sunday on a Zoom call. “To see a guy that worked so hard to come back from the previous injuries. I just marvel at his strength and I know his teammates do as well, so that’s a tough one. We had high hopes for Jakeem.”The team placed Grant on injured reserve.The 31-year-old had been making progress in training camp and was poised to handle return duties this season before getti...

Dolphins extend DT Zach Sieler through 2026 season

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — The Miami Dolphins signed defensive tackle Zach Sieler to a contract extension through the 2026 season, they announced Sunday.Since joining the team off waivers in 2019, Sieler has appeared in 53 games with 33 starts. The 27-year-old has totaled 10 sacks and three forced fumbles for the Dolphins.Last season, Sieler finished tied for fifth among all NFL defensive tackles with a career-high 70 tackles.He is dealing with a minor injury that Miami coach Mike McDaniel called “not anything serious.” He missed Saturday’s preseason finale against Jacksonville.Sieler had been set to become a free agent after this season.The Dolphins also had been hoping to sign defensive tackle Christian Wilkins to a contract extension. Wilkins is entering the fifth year of his rookie deal and has not participated in team drills or preseason games amid contract negotiations. He will get $10.7 million this season, according to Spotrac.com.“When Christian tells me he is ready to go, ...

Thomas, Bonner power Sun to 83-68 victory over Sparks

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

UNCASVILLE, Conn. (AP) — Alyssa Thomas scored 17 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, DeWanna Bonner moved into seventh place on the all-time scoring list and the Connecticut Sun pulled away in the second half for an 83-68 victory over Los Angeles on Sunday, snapping the Sparks’ six-game win streak.Thomas sank 6 of 11 shots from the floor and 5 of 6 free throws for Connecticut (24-11), which has already clinched a playoff berth. Thomas has 25 double-doubles this season. She added eight assists. Bonner scored 12 points to break a tie with Sue Bird. Bonner has 6,815 career points. She also had eight rebounds.Azurá Stevens finished with 17 points to lead Los Angeles (15-19). The Sparks currently hold the final playoff spot, leading Chicago by two games with the Sky playing at the Seattle Storm later Sunday.Stevens scored eight points to help the Sparks take a 20-19 lead into the second quarter.Thomas had 12 points by halftime for the Sun, who shot nearly 61% from the floor (17 of 28) ...

Vlahović to the rescue as Juventus snatches 1-1 draw against Bologna amid jeers

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

MILAN (AP) — Juventus needed Dušan Vlahović’s late goal to rescue a 1-1 draw at home to Bologna in Serie A on Sunday.Lewis Ferguson had given Bologna the lead in the 24th minute and the Bianconeri were booed off the field at halftime. But Vlahović, who earlier had a goal ruled out for offside, headed in the equalizer with 10 minutes remaining.Defending champion Napoli was playing at home to Sassuolo later Sunday, while last season’s runner-up Lazio welcomed newly promoted Genoa.After a difficult time last season, Juventus had kicked off the new campaign with a 3-0 win at Udinese. It was a second tricky test for Bologna, which lost to AC Milan in its opener.The visitors took the lead after Joshua Zirkzee drew two defenders towards him and managed to knock the ball forward to Ferguson, who had time to control and fire into the far bottom corner.After the jeers at halftime, Juventus appeared to have more impetus in the second period and thought it had taken the lead seven minutes...

Alonso, Ortega rally Mets to 3-2 win over Angels and stop 4-game losing streak

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

NEW YORK (AP) — Pete Alonso hit a tying double in the eighth inning and Rafael Ortega a winning single in the ninth to boost the New York Mets over the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Sunday and stop a four-game losing streak.The Angels’ Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 4 with two strikeouts and was 3 for 9 with three runs, two steals and an RBI in his first series since the Angels said he tore a ligament in his right elbow while pitching on Wednesday.Los Angeles, which won the first two games of the series, took a 2-1 lead in the eighth on Luis Rengifo’s solo homer off reliever Drew Smith.Francisco Lindor singled against Matt Moore in the bottom half and scored on a double by Alonso, who has 96 RBIs.Francisco Álvarez was hit by a pitch from Reynaldo López (2-7) leading off the ninth, DJ Stewart singled and Mark Vientos walked. With no outs, Ortega lined a slider into short right field for the second walkoff hit of his big league career and first with the Mets. Hunter Renfroe sprinted...

Sheriff provides the first details of how a white man fatally shot 3 Black people at a Jacksonville store

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — A 21-year-old white man fatally shot three Black people in Florida with guns he bought legally despite once being involuntarily committed for a mental health exam, the local sheriff said Sunday.Ryan Palmeter shot one of his victims as she sat in her car outside a Jacksonville store; shot another just after Palmeter entered the store; and shot the third minutes later, Jacksonville’s sheriff said.Palmeter used an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and a Glock handgun in the shooting, Sheriff T.K. Waters said during a press conference.Palmeter had legally purchased his guns in recent months even though he had been involuntarily committed for a mental health examination in 2017. Palmeter killed himself after killing the three victims.Waters identified those shot in Saturday’s attack at a Dollar General as Angela Michelle Carr, 52, who was shot in her car; store employee A.J. Laguerre, 19, who was shot as he tried to flee; and customer Jerrald Gallion, 29, who was...

French education minister announces ban on Islamic dress in schools

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

PARIS — French Education Minister Gabriel Attal announced on Sunday that France will ban the Islamic garment known as the abaya in schools.“The school of the Republic was built around strong values, secularism is one of them. … When you enter a classroom, you shouldn’t be able to identify the religion of pupils,” Attal said in an interview with French TV channel TF1.“I announce that [pupils] will no longer be able to wear abaya at school,” he said.The abaya is a long, flowing dress commonly worn by Muslim women as it complies with Islamic beliefs on modest dress — but it’s also worn by other communities in North Africa and the Middle East. In 2004, France banned religious symbols in schools, including large crosses, Jewish kippahs and Islamic headscarves. But the abaya occupies a gray zone and hasn’t specifically been banned.Attal, who was appointed in July, announced that he would lead talks in the coming weeks before issuing new “...

Zelenskyy hails Ukraine pilot ‘Juice,’ 2 others killed in mid-air collision

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Saturday paid tribute to three Ukrainian pilots killed in a mid-air collision, including one with the callsign “Juice” who gained prominence for giving anonymous media interviews during Russia’s war in the country.“Yesterday, a catastrophe in the sky over the Zhytomyr region killed three pilots, including Andriy Pilschikov, callsign ‘Juice,’” Zelenskyy wrote on X, the platform previously known as Twitter. “My heart goes out to the pilots’ friends and loved ones. The investigation is ongoing, and the truth will be revealed.”Pilschikov was killed during a combat mission when two L-39 planes collided, the Ukrainian Air Force said on X. He was not piloting the planes, but was there in an observing capacity, according to a U.S. official.Pilschikov was a high-profile proponent of increased American assistance to Ukraine to help modernize the country’s air forces, which he had depicted as a weakness against the Russians.“They have almost...

Rays get comeback victory as Yankees fail to secure elusive series win

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

TAMPA — The Yankees started their long road trip with a series loss, as the team fell to the Rays, 7-4, on Sunday at Tropicana Field.The Yankees, who have won just one series since July began, blew a 4-2 lead with two outs in the sixth inning when an erratic Ian Hamilton gave up a single and hit a batter before Randy Arozarena picked up an infield hit. Harold Ramírez then poked one just over the head of Gleyber Torres, who didn’t get the best read on the two-run, game-tying blooper.Brandon Lowe then gave the Rays the lead with his own two-run single off of Wandy Peralta. Hamilton was charged with all four runs that scored in the sixth.The Yankees had already overcome one rocky inning, as a first-inning stolen base attempt from Arozarena drew errant throws from Kyle Higashioka and Harrison Bader. The latter throw went by Oswald Peraza and Carlos Rodón near third base and allowed Arozarena to race home. Lowe followed up by immediately clobbering a solo home run t...

Orioles shut down by Ty Blach, one of the worst pitchers of their rebuild, in 4-3 loss to Rockies

Published Fri, 21 Feb 2025 10:48:47 GMT

Part of the reason the story of the 2023 Orioles is so great is the teams they have followed, the years of ineptitude and bad baseball, batters who struggled to get hits and pitchers for whom it sometimes seemed impossible to get outs.Ty Blach was among the latter. Five mostly disastrous starts in 2019 left him as, by one statistical measure, the worst pitcher in franchise history. Sunday at Camden Yards, he delivered one of the best opposing pitching performances this year’s Orioles have seen, allowing a run over seven innings in the Colorado Rockies’ 4-3 victory to avoid a sweep.With Blach out of the game, the Orioles tied the score on Ryan O’Hearn’s pinch-hit, two-run home run in the eighth, but Colorado managed a run off Yennier Cano in the ninth without a ball leaving the infield.Blach’s performance and the late run pushed the possibility of the Orioles (81-49) guaranteeing a winning season back at least a day. They were far from that status when t...