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Chicago Cubs get swept by the Cincinnati Reds on an ‘ugly weekend’ — and the schedule is about to get tougher

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

Quick, somebody — anybody. If you’re anywhere near the Chicago Cubs, push the button.Because just two months into the season, the Cubs have fallen and they can’t get up.Another 8-5 loss Sunday to the Cincinnati Reds — a team that was in last place as recently as Friday — ensured another day of the Cubs lugging around the worst record in the National League.And if getting swept at home for the first time this season by a low-budget team that lost 100 games a year ago didn’t deliver enough sting to the 40,000-plus who were asked to pay for the privilege of watching it, buckle up for a schedule between now and the All-Star break that starts with the best-in-baseball Tampa Bay Rays and finishes at Yankee Stadium.“It’s pretty frustrating,” said Drew Smyly, one of the Cubs’ best starters this year but who got his ears boxed by the Reds for the second time this season. “It was an ugly weekend for us. The Reds came in and bea...

Div. 2 state track: Wellesley back on top

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

NORTH ANDOVER – After the Wellesley outdoor girls track and field team secured its fourth title in five years Sunday night at the Div. 2 state championships, head coach John Griffith was about to answer a question asking how the program is able to get so much out of its depth every year.Raiders athletic director John Brown intervened.“I can answer that,” he said. “He’s the best coach in Massachusetts.”By sweeping the three relays and receiving chunks of points across 11 of the meet’s 19 events, Wellesley held off a late surge from star-studded Peabody for a first-place 84 points.The Tanners were threatening late by winning five events in the meet and finishing fourth in the 4×100 relay, pulling dangerously close. But a couple hours after Annie Comella broke a meet record in the long jump (19-02.00), the relay teams produced wins in the 4×800 (9:42.65), 4×100 (48.49 seconds) and 4×400 (4:01.96) to produce just enough to repeat.Add in second-place finishes in the 1...

Two shootings reported at Revere Beach, Massachusetts State Police investigating

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

A second shooting was reported at Revere Beach Sunday evening when a large fight broke out, less than an hour after a shooting near the popular beach sent a victim to the hospital.Massachusetts State Police were investigating both shootings. The second shooting happened on Revere Beach Boulevard near one of the bathhouses, and the second victim was being transported to a Boston hospital.Massive crowds packed the beach on Memorial Day Weekend.“The second shooting occurred approximately around 8 PM, around the time that a large fight broke out among youths on the Boulevard near the Bandstand,” a State Police spokesperson said in a statement.The first shooting happened at about 7:11 p.m., in the area of Shirley and Centennial avenues next to Revere Beach.A juvenile female victim was transported to a Boston hospital with a non-life-threatening gunshot injury.“The investigation is underway,” the State Police spokesperson said. “Numerous State Police units ha...

Mets Notebook: Francisco Alvarez moves up in order

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

DENVER — Francisco Alvarez earned a promotion.Alvarez was moved up to the No. 2 spot in the batting order for the Mets’ series finale against the Colorado Rockies on Sunday afternoon at Coors Field and the 21-year-old rookie handled it somewhat well, going 1-for-5 with a three-run homer, his second in as many games.The Mets had previously been hesitant to move him from the ninth spot because the team liked the pitches he was getting in that spot, plus with the lack of production from the bottom of the order it was helpful to have a big bat down there.But he’s been the Mets’ best hitter over the last few weeks. He came into Sunday’s game riding a seven-game hitting streak, going 11-for-25 (.440) with six runs, two doubles, four home runs 10 RBI and a walk in those seven games. The catcher has hit five home runs over his last eight games and seven in his last 15, and he’s slashed .315/.383/.778 over that span.“He’s done well in the nine-...

Police: 3 killed at New Mexico motorcycle rally

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

RED RIVER, N.M. — Three men killed in a weekend shootout at a New Mexico motorcycle rally were members of rival outlaw biker gangs, and the violence stemmed from a previous altercation between them in Albuquerque, authorities said Sunday.New Mexico State Police said three other bikers are facing charges and two of them were among the five wounded in Saturday’s shooting involving the Bandidos and the Waterdogs in the mountain resort town of Red River.Those killed were identified as 26-year-old Anthony Silva of Los Lunas, 46-year-old Damian Breaux of Socorro and 46-year-old Randy Sanchez of Albuquerque. Two were declared dead at the scene and the third at a hospital, New Mexico State Police Chief Tim Johnson said in identifying them.Johnson said 30-year-old Jacob Castillo of Rio Rancho will be charged with an open count of murder when he’s released from a hospital while 39-year-old Matthew Charles Jackson of Austin, Texas, is facing a charge of unlawful carrying of a firea...

Div. 4 state track: Hot times on a hot day

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

HINGHAM — Rithikh Prakash knew he couldn’t sit behind Gloucester’s Finn O’Hara and wait until the final 100 meters of the mile in a last-ditch effort to outkick Friday’s 800 winner at the conclusion of the Div. 4 Track Championships at sweltering Notre Dame Sunday.Prakash, who took the 2-mile on Friday, made an aggressive move earlier and it led the way to the gold medal. He burst into the lead with 600 left and pulled away by a small margin for the win in an outdoor personal best of 4 minutes, 20.57 seconds. O’Hara, who raced to a big personal best of 1:56.56 in the 800, finished strong in 4:21.42. Prakash’s teammate Eric Sekyaya was a strong third with his 4:24.04.“My coach wanted me to gauge the first two laps,” said Burlington’s Prakash. “Finn is a great runner and I know he has good finishing speed so that’s why I took off from 600 out.”Prakash, who has a 2-mile best of 9:14, will move up to his specialty a...

Notebook: Derrick White’s growth, and other Celtics takeaways from epic Game 6 win

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

MIAMI — What a difference a year makes for Derrick White.The Celtics guard was admittedly tentative when he arrived in Boston at last season’s trade deadline. He didn’t want to step on any toes. But he got over those initial jitters. He was confident and comfortable this season, and it showed in his performance as he became a full-time starter, one of the Celtics’ most important players and an All-Defensive team selection.What better way to show that growth than on Saturday night, when his miracle tip-in at the buzzer saved the Celtics’ season in epic fashion?“If you don’t know who D-White is, you know who he is now,” Marcus Smart said. “I mean, that dude has been phenomenal for us this whole, whole year. You know, just playing the way that we knew he could play when we picked him up.“It’s been refreshing for us, and it’s been a joy to watch and a joy to be on the court with him.”White’s humility has always stood out. The sixth-year guard has never been an attention-seek...

North Korea tells neighboring Japan it plans to launch satellite in coming days

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

TOKYO (AP) — Japan’s coast guard said North Korea has notified it that it plans to launch a satellite in coming days, which may be an attempt to put a military reconnaissance satellite into orbit.Japan’s coast guard said the notice from North Korean waterway authorities said the launch window was from May 31 and June 11 and that the launch may affect waters in the Yellow Sea, East China Sea and east of the Philippines’ Luzon Island.Japan’s coast guard issued a safety warning for ships that would passing through the area during the launch window. The prime minister’s office said Prime Minister Fumio Kishida has instructed officials to do their utmost to gather and analyze information related to the launch and inform people about it.Pyongyang said early this month its first military spy satellite was ready for launch. Such a launch would use long-range missile technology banned by past U.N. Security Council resolutions.North Korea’s past launches have dem...

Police: Suspect arrested in 5 separate shootings in Arizona’s Phoenix metro area; 4 dead

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

MESA, Ariz. (AP) — A suspect has been arrested in connection with five separate shootings in the Phoenix metro area that left four people dead and a woman wounded, authorities said Sunday.Mesa police said 20-year-old Iren Byers was taken into custody Sunday on suspicion of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted first-degree murder.A motive for the shootings wasn’t immediately clear, but police said Byers took responsibility for the shootings and told officers where they could find the clothes and gun used in the crimes.Police said video surveillance footage showed the suspect wearing the clothing reported by witnesses at multiple shooting scenes.The names of the victims were being withheld Sunday until relatives could be notified. It was unclear Sunday if Byers has a lawyer yet who could speak on his behalf.Police said officers were dispatched around 10:30 p.m. Friday to a Mesa park and found a 41-year-old man dead at the scene.While still at the park, police ...

Man turns himself in after fatal stabbing in Oakwood Village

Published Sat, 22 Feb 2025 12:01:55 GMT

A 30-year-old Toronto man is in custody after another man was fatally stabbed inside a building in the city’s west end Friday night. Police were called to a building in area of Dufferin Street and Rowan Drive, south of Eglinton just before 10:30 p.m. for reports someone had been stabbed.Investigators say the suspect entered a unit in the building and stabbed the victim, who was pronounced dead at the scene. He has been identified as 37-year-old Leon Matthew. On Saturday, police say Shaquille Chalmers turned himself into police and has been charged with first degree murder.