- Israeli forces’ military operation in West Bank’s Jenin continues for second consecutive night CNN
- Israel-Palestine Tensions LIVE: Israeli operation in Jenin continues while Palestinian deaths rise WION
- ‘We are putting an end to this’: Israel’s raid on Palestinian Jenin camp stretches into 2nd day USA TODAY
- Netanyahu’s Two-Front Battle: in Jenin and Over Israel’s Judiciary Bloomberg
- LIVE: Scene from Jenin where Israel launched drone attacks on the city, killing at least seven pe… Reuters
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Tag Archives: consecutive
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The Last Of Us Audience Grows For Third Consecutive Week – Deadline
The Last of Us doesn’t look like it’ll be losing steam any time soon. On Sunday, 6.4M people tuned in to watch the third episode of the post-apocalyptic series across HBO and HBO Max, according to Nielsen and first party data.
That’s a 12% increase from last week’s viewership, which already had set a record for the largest week 2 audience growth for an HBO Original drama series in the history of the network. Sunday’s audience is also up 37% from the series premiere, which was watched same-day by 4.7M people.
It only took two episodes for HBO to renew the series for a second season. It was an expected movie, considering the first episode scored the second-largest premiere after House of the Dragon since Boardwalk Empire’s launch in 2010.
RELATED: ‘The Last Of Us’ Causes Linda Ronstadt’s ‘Long, Long Time’ To Surge In Streams On Spotify
The first two episodes of The Last of Us are averaging 21.3M viewers. With that, HBO now has four current series that have cross-platform audiences averaging more than 15M viewers per episode. This marks the first time HBO has had multiple current series drawing more than 15M viewers at a time across all genres.
House of the Dragon Season 1 is the top performer, averaging 29M viewers per episode. The Last of Us comes in at a close second with 21.3M. Euphoria Season 2 is averaging 19.5M per episode, and The White Lotus is up to 15.5M.
The Last of Us, which is based on the PlayStation game, takes place 20 years after modern civilization has been destroyed. Joel, a hardened survivor, is hired to smuggle Ellie, a 14-year-old girl, out of an oppressive quarantine zone. What starts as a small job soon becomes a brutal journey as they both must traverse the US and depend on each other for survival.
It stars Pascal, Bella Ramsey, Gabriel Luna, Anna Torv, Nico Parker, Murray Bartlett and Nick Offerman as well as Melanie Lynskey, Storm Reid, Merle Dandridge, Jeffrey Pierce, Lamar Johnson, Keivonn Woodard, Graham Greene, Elaine Miles, Ashley Johnson and Troy Baker.
Georgia Bulldogs crush the Texas Christian University Horned Frogs 65-7 to win second consecutive College Football Playoff National Championship
CNN
—
The No. 1 Georgia Bulldogs scored on their first six drives and dominated No. 3 Texas Christian University 65-7 to win their second consecutive College Football Playoff championship game on Monday night in Inglewood, California.
In the convincing win, Heisman Trophy-finalist quarterback Stetson Bennett passed for four touchdowns and ran for two more to lead the Bulldogs (15-0), who became the first team to win back-to-back national titles since Alabama in 2011 and 2012.
Bennett finished 18-of-25 with 304 yards passing in his final collegiate contest. He left the game with 13:25 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Bennett told ESPN, which broadcast the title game, that he was just trying not to cry.
“Champions of the whole damn world,” he said as a struggled to find words to echo his emotions. “I don’t know. I’m just trying to see everybody for the last time, you know, hug everybody.”
Bennett picked up his second championship game offensive most valuable player award, and his six total touchdowns tied the championship game era record set by Joe Burrow with Louisiana State University in 2020.
Georgia built a 38-7 halftime lead, scoring the final 28 points before intermission after TCU’s Max Duggan, the Heisman Trophy runner-up, rushed for a touchdown that made it 10-7 with 5:45 left in the first quarter.
The Bulldogs controlled play and the clock in the half, having the ball for almost 19 of the first 30 minutes and outgaining the Horned Frogs (13-2) 354 yards to just 121.
The onslaught continued in the second half until Georgia head coach Kirby Smart effectively called off the dogs and began using more second-team players in the fourth quarter. By then it was 52-7.
“We wanted our kids to play without fear,” Smart told ESPN. Smart said he told his players that as the top-ranked team in the nation for much of the year they were the hunted, but in this game they would be the hunters. They had only one last chance to do so.
“And we hunted tonight,” he said.
The Bulldogs are the first team to win consecutive titles since the advent of the reformatted College Football Playoff in 2014.
“They had a will to work. They didn’t listen to what everyone said about them,” Smart said referring to a national preseason poll that had Georgia No. 3 and the poll of sports writers for teams in the Southeastern Conference. “And everyone doubted them to start the year and that chip on the shoulder was just big enough to create an edge for our team.”
Georgia’s Ladd McConkey, a sophomore wide receiver, had two touchdown grabs, including a wide-open, 37-yard reception that brought the first six of the Bulldogs’ 55 consecutive points.
Sophomore tight end Brock Bowers, the national player of the year at his position, had one touchdown catch in his seven receptions and 152 yards receiving.
“We certainly didn’t play our best. You gotta give Georgia a ton of credit,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes said at a postgame news conference. “Those guys came out and played exceptionally well.”
Dykes said he was still extremely proud of his team and said they would learn from this loss.
“Next time we’re on atsga elike this we’ll handle it better,” he said.
The 58-point margin of victory was the largest since college football instituted an official championship game in the 1998 season, and Georgia’s 65 points are the most scored in a championship game.
President Joe Biden tweeted his congratulations to the Bulldogs following their win: “Glory glory, @UniversityofGA. Congrats to the Dawgs on a hard-fought National Championship – and to @TCUFootball for beating the odds all season.
“Georgia, no doubt you made your community proud tonight.”
Ironman athletes who endured the most consecutive games
On Tuesday, Vegas Golden Knights winger Phil Kessel will set the NHL record for consecutive games played at 990. He joins a who’s who of athletes who are known for their longevity.
The 35-year-old Kessel, who will surpass Keith Yandle, has played for five teams in his 16-year NHL career. He won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Here are the players who own the ironperson moniker across sports.
MLB
Ironman: Cal Ripken Jr.
Streak: 2,632 games played
Who he surpassed: Lou Gehrig (2,130 games)
Ripken’s pursuit of Gehrig’s mark is considered the gold standard for these records because it required Ripken to never take a day off for long travel, or for a day game after a night game or, you know, just to take a break. Ripken, who played his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles, played over 8,200 innings.
A person born the day the streak began in 1982 could have been a licensed driver in most states when it ended in 1998.
Anyone close? Atlanta Braves first baseman Matt Olson has played in 296 consecutive games. Last season, he was one of only two players who played in all 162 games of the regular season.
NBA
Ironman: A.C. Green
Streak: 1,192 games played
Who he surpassed: Randy Smith (906 games)
With the 1980s Los Angeles Lakers, Green was the team’s top rebounder — leading the Lakers in boards for six of his eight seasons in L.A. He won three NBA championships with the Lakers and also played for the Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks and Miami Heat.
Green’s streak, which began in 1986 and lasted until 2001, spanned parts of four different presidential administrations.
Anyone close? Mikal Bridges, the 26-year-old small forward, is about 800 games behind Green. In an era when NBA players have planned time off, Green’s streak might stand awhile.
WNBA
Ironwoman: A’ja Wilson
Streak: 98 games and counting
Wilson has played pretty much nonstop since entering the league with the Las Vegas Aces in 2018. In that time she has won two MVPs, played in four WNBA All-Star Games and won the 2022 WNBA title.
That number counts only WNBA games. Wilson played one season with the Shaanxi (China) Red Wolves. She also played in two FIBA World Cups and the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, winning gold medals in all three events.
NFL
Ironman: Brett Favre
Streak: 299 games and 297 consecutive starts.
Punter Jeff Feagles has played in more games (352), but Favre is recognized as the NFL’s ironman. Favre, who made starts with the Green Bay Packers, New York Jets and Minnesota Vikings, is one of four QBs to have started 200 or more consecutive games.
Within the 297 starts, Favre played with a variety of injuries, such as shoulder separations, sprained ankles, tendonitis and broken bones. He kept the streak alive by playing one day after his father died. In that game, he threw four touchdown passes in the first half.
Anyone close? This record is one of the few for QBs not owned by Tom Brady. However, Brady is the active leader for consecutive QB starts at 93. For non-quarterbacks, long snapper JJ Jansen, who is 36-years-old, has played in 216 consecutive games.
Arizona Diamondbacks’ Zac Gallen ties major league record with sixth consecutive scoreless start
PHOENIX — Zac Gallen tied the major league record with his sixth consecutive scoreless start on Sunday, leading the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 5-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers.
Gallen (11-2) extended his scoreless streak to 41 1/3 innings. He allowed only two singles and a walk in seven innings. He struck out seven and retired the last 11 batters he faced.
Gallen tied Don Drysdale (1968), Orel Hershiser (1988) and Zack Greinke (2015), all with the Los Angeles Dodgers, by not allowing a run in his sixth straight start. Hershiser set the MLB record with 59 consecutive scoreless innings.
In those six games, Gallen is 5-0 with a 0.58 WHIP. He has allowed 16 hits, walked eight and struck out 46 in his scoreless streak. He is two outs away from matching the Diamondbacks’ franchise record of 42 innings, set by Brandon Webb in 2007.
Daulton Varsho hit his 20th homer and helped preserve Gallen’s scoreless streak with a running catch on Tyrone Taylor’s drive to right center in the second. The catch came with two outs and a runner at first.
Gallen didn’t allow more than one baserunner in any inning and struck out the side in the fifth.
The Diamondbacks scored in the second inning against Jason Alexander (2-2) when Corbin Carroll walked and advanced to third on Carson Kelly’s single off shortstop Willy Adames’ glove. Carroll scored on Alek Thomas’ sacrifice fly. Varsho’s home run, to right field, came in the third.
In the fifth, Jake McCarthy greeted reliever Hoby Milner with a broken-bat single to right, scoring Josh Rojas with Arizona’s third run. McCarthy hit a two-run homer in the eighth off Brent Suter, his seventh home run of the season.
Alexander, a 29-year-old who debuted earlier this season, pitched 4 2/3 innings for Milwaukee. He gave up five hits, three runs, walked four and struck out three.
Hunter Renfroe spoiled the combined shutout bid when he hit his 24th homer off Mark Melancon in the ninth. Kyle Nelson pitched a scoreless eighth.
The Brewers, who managed just three hits in the game, began the day 2 1/2 games behind Philadelphia for the final National League wild card. They trail St. Louis by 8 1/2 in the Central Division race. Milwaukee is trying for its fifth consecutive postseason appearance.
Brewers manager Craig Counsell was denied his 600th career victory. The winningest manager in franchise history, Counsell is 599-542 (.524).
No. 3 Sun pull away from Wings, book fourth consecutive semifinal berth
Connecticut rediscovered its identity and is back in the WNBA semifinals for a fourth consecutive season. The No. 3-seeded Sun ousted the No. 6 Dallas Wings, 73-58, in the deciding Game 3 held at College Park Center in Arlington, Texas, on Wednesday night.
The game was tied at halftime after Connecticut’s DeWanna Bonner nailed a late 3-pointer and Dallas had a bucket waved off after a video review. The Sun kept the defensive pressure on the Wings in the second half, keeping them to 12 points in each frame, and made enough shots to get through. It was a season low for Dallas.
Bonner led all scorers with 21 points and added five rebounds and five assists. Also for the Sun, Jonquel Jones had an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double after early foul trouble. Jones, Alyssa Thomas, Brionna Jones and Odyssey Sims had two steals each. DiJonai Carrington came off the bench for four steals, equalling the entire Dallas roster. The Sun finished with 14 steals and had 20 points off of turnovers.
Connecticut will play the No. 2 Chicago Sky in the semifinals that tip off on Sunday. The reigning champions defeated New York, 92-70, in Game 3 at Barclays Center on Tuesday night. The other semifinal is between the No. 1 Las Vegas Aces and No. 4 Seattle Storm, who both swept.
How Sun won the series
Poor shot selection and shooting hurt the Sun early and reigning MVP Jonquel Jones committed two fouls by the time the first quarter was out. She hit a three at the 6:47 mark of the second quarter and played a total of eight minutes with five points on three attempts.
The Sun began to pull away in the third quarter with a 15-4 run for what was then their biggest lead of the game, 49-40. Dallas’ Satou Sabally ended it with two free throws and Arike Ogunbowale entered the game to a standing ovation. It was her first minutes since she underwent core surgery on Aug. 9. She was not expected to be available until the semifinals, but was listed as probable the day before the contest.
Ogunbowale missed all three of her attempts, including two from behind the arc, in 6:18 of playing time.
Dallas closed to within five and Brionna Jones took over for the Sun with six straight points to help put Connecticut up, 57-46, into the fourth. Connecticut rode experience and defense from there to reach another semifinal. The Sun rank second in defensive efficiency (96.3) and first in steals per game (8.8).
The Wings played most of the game without Isabelle Harrison, who injured her ankle at the 9:25 mark of the second quarter. She didn’t return. They dealt with various injures this season to Sabally, Ogunbowale, Harrison, Allisha Gray and Awak Kuier. Marina Mabrey also missed games in health and safety protocols.
Mabrey scored 20 (7-of-14), but had eight of the team’s 19 turnovers. Veronica Burton was the only other Wings player in double digits at 10. Teaira McCowan had 12 rebounds and two massive blocks.
It was the first playoff game in Dallas. The Wings hadn’t won a playoff game since the franchise was the Detroit Shock in 2009.
Sun fall into WNBA travel conundrum
There were reportedly more issues than previously realized with the teams’ travels from Connecticut, where Game 2 was held on Sunday. Sun head coach Curt Miller told media ahead of the game the plane could hold only 14, which consisted of players and three coaches. They had to leave equipment and the full training staff behind and did not take the court together until the morning of the game. ESPN also shared the same details on the broadcast.
“We were weight restricted, so nothing could travel. Very little could travel with us,” Miller told reporters, per the Harford Courant’s Lila Bromberg. “We arrived Monday night after midnight. The rest of our travel party was either delayed, canceled, all of the above on Tuesday and arrived at dinner time Tuesday with all of our stuff. So until shootaround [Wednesday] morning, we hadn’t been on a basketball court since Sunday.”
The league confirmed on Tuesday it booked charters for each team, a move that came after Harrison tagged commissioner Cathy Engelbert on Twitter to remark on travel woes encountered on Sunday night. Teams travel commercially until the WNBA Finals, which will feature charter flights this season, and the league has stepped in in the past to help in certain situations.
Sun vs. Wings results
Game 1: Sun 93, Wings 68
Game 2: Wings 89, Sun 79
Game 3: Sun 73, Wings 58
WNBA semifinals series schedule
Game 1: Sunday
Connecticut at Chicago, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Game 2: Wednesday, Aug. 31
Connecticut at Chicago, 8 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Game 3: Sunday, Sept. 4
Chicago at Connecticut, 1 p.m. ET on ESPN2
Game 4: Tuesday, Sept. 6 (if necessary)
Chicago at Connecticut, TBD on ESPN2
Game 5: Thursday, Sept. 8 (if necessary)
Connecticut at Chicago, TBD on ESPN2
2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic leaderboard, grades: Tony Finau dominates in second consecutive win
From the very beginning of the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic, any thought of a hangover performance from Tony Finau was put to bed. Winning last week’s 3M Open in convincing fashion, the American was at it again at Detroit Golf Club as he signed for rounds of 64-66-65-67 en route to his fourth victory on the PGA Tour and his third in less than a year.
Despite becoming the first player since Brendon Todd in 2019 to win in back-to-back weeks during the regular season, the two victories could not have been more different. The beneficiary of a Scott Piercy collapse at TPC Twin Cities, Finau’s back-nine charge coupled with some good fortune was enough to push him into the winner’s circle in Minnesota at 26 under par.
There was nothing lucky about his record-setting performance in Detroit. Every aspect of his game was firing on all cylinders and it wasn’t until the 11th hole on Sunday that the Presidents Cup hopeful carded his first bogey of the week. Going 64 holes without dropping a shot, Finau’s steady hand suffocated the field as any misstep from his competitors was magnified by ten.
With the chasing pack consisting of the likes of Patrick Cantlay and Cameron Young to begin the final round, it is conceivable to suggest an earlier version of Finau would have felt the heat. Yet as we saw with Xander Schauffele earlier this summer, it is amazing how just a couple weeks can change our perception of a player.
Many have been waiting for Finau to discover his full potential and this week may have been just that as he reached 26 under. When he has it going on the greens, he can make the game look as easy and stress free as anyone on Tour.
In this day and age, youth is the name of the game. Each season a fresh new face hops onto the scene and is without any hint of nerves on golf’s biggest stage. There’s Scottie Scheffler, Collin Morikawa, Will Zalatoris and Cameron Young to name just some and inherently this makes the window for those on the wrong side of 30 that much shorter.
While his victory at the Rocket Mortgage Classic marks the end of his 2021-22 regular season, with it comes the beginning of Finau’s next chapter of his career. A career as a winner. A playoff run similar to Cantlay from last year was written about last week but why stop there. His two victories came in two of the weaker fields of 2022 but given his ability to rise to the occasion in major championships, should anyone be surprised if Finau is able to roll this momentum into 2023 and seriously threaten for a certain green jacket come April. Grade: A+
Here is the breakdown of the rest of the leaderboard for the 2022 Rocket Mortgage Classic
T2. Taylor Pendrith (-21): Unfortunately for the 31-year-old rookie, the nerves were present early and often on Sunday. Never looking comfortable in the final round, Pendrith turned in even par as he was unable to convert birdie opportunities on either of the par 5s. Trailing Finau by two strokes, the driver continued to betray the Canadian as he fought a two-way miss. In what was only his third start back since returning from a rib injury, Pendrith impressed and notched his fourth consecutive top-15 finish dating back to the Players Championship. He has made mincemeat of these short venues in his rookie campaign and should always be considered at those venues measuring around 7,200 yards moving forward. Grade: A
T2. Patrick Cantlay (-21): One of the bigger surprises of this season is the fact that Cantlay remains without a solo victory. He began the final round just a little too far behind Pendrith and Finau as he was sluggish out of the gates Thursday with a 2-under 70. Still, his performance at the Rocket Mortgage Classic marked yet another close call as the reigning PGA Tour Player of the Year now has 10 top-10 finishes – two of which were playoff losses – in only 16 starts. He heads into the FedEx Cup Playoffs well positioned to defend his crown, but will need to recreate last year’s postseason magic in order to capture the largest payday of the year at the Tour Championship. Grade: A-
T2. Cameron Young (-21): The likely PGA Tour Rookie of the Year found himself in a familiar position on Sunday. Trailing the two co-leaders by four strokes, Young was unable to match his final round from The Open and instead stalled for the majority of his round and ultimately signed for a 4-under 68. While he was unable to threaten to lead, he once again played himself onto the first page of the leaderboard as he has done with impressive regularity throughout his rookie season. In total, he now has seven podium finishes and conventional wisdom suggests the breakthrough victory is right around the corner. Grade: A-
T20. Will Zalatoris (-13): Another week goes by in which Zalatoris goes without his first victory on the PGA Tour. After signing for rounds of 70-71 and making the cut on the number, the Wake Forest product found his game over the weekend and climbed his way inside the top 20 courtesy of rounds of 69-65. As it stands, Zalatoris is scheduled to play in the Wyndham Championship and perhaps a return to the state of North Carolina will push him into the winner’s circle. He will need to improve on and around the green as he ranked outside the top 50 in both short-game metrics and thus squandered a great ball-striking display. Grade: B
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US economy shrinks for second consecutive quarter
The US economy shrank for a second consecutive quarter, meeting one of the common criteria for a technical recession and complicating the Federal Reserve’s push to stamp out soaring inflation with a string of aggressive rate rises.
Data published by the commerce department on Thursday showed gross domestic product fell 0.9 per cent on an annualised basis in the second quarter, or a 0.2 per cent fall from the previous quarter. This follows first-quarter GDP data showing the US economy shrank 1.6 per cent in the first three months of 2022.
Back-to-back quarterly contractions meet one definition of a recession, although the US relies on a determination by a group of researchers at the National Bureau of Economic Research who look at a broader range of factors.
The White House has maintained that the US economy is not at present in a recession, with Treasury secretary Janet Yellen saying earlier this week she that would “be amazed” if the NBER declared it was.
She underscored that message at a press conference on Thursday, emphasising that the economy “remains resilient”.
“Most economists and most Americans have a similar definition of recession: substantial job losses and mass lay-offs, businesses shutting down, private-sector activity slowing considerably, family budgets under immense strain. In sum, a broad-based weakening of our economy,” she said. “That is not what we’re seeing right now.”
But two consecutive quarters of negative growth will nonetheless heap further pressure on president Joe Biden, who is contending with low approval ratings and has repeatedly touted a strong economy as one of the big achievements of his administration.
Shortly after the data were published, Biden said: “It’s no surprise that the economy is slowing down as the Federal Reserve acts to bring down inflation.
“But even as we face historic global challenges, we are on the right path and we will come through this transition stronger and more secure. Our job market remains historically strong.”
In a press conference on Wednesday after the Fed raised interest rates by 0.75 percentage points for the second consecutive month, chair Jay Powell said he did not believe the US was in a recession. He pointed to strength in the economy, including in the labour market, but noted that growth would need to slow and the labour market must cool down in order to tame inflation.
The labour market has not yet shown significant signs of weakness, with the US adding jobs at a healthy pace, averaging about 380,000 a month over the past three months. The unemployment rate also remains historically low at 3.6 per cent, just shy of its pre-coronavirus pandemic level.
“Nobody would look at two quarters in the United States of 3.6 per cent unemployment and call that a recession,” said Claudia Sahm, founder of Sahm Consulting and a former Fed economist. “We’re not in a recession in the true sense of the word, which is a broad-based sustained contraction in economic activity.”
The fallout from the GDP data rippled through debt markets. The two-year Treasury yield, which moves with interest rate expectations, plunged, suggesting investors were betting the Fed might have to slow its pace of interest rate increases. The 10-year yield, which moves with growth and inflation expectations, fell to its lowest level since April.
Despite the drop in headline GDP, personal consumption, which offers insight into the health of the US consumer, grew 1 per cent in the second quarter, compared with growth of 1.8 per cent in the first three months of the year.
The biggest drag on second-quarter GDP was a drop in business inventories, which wiped 2 percentage points off the headline figure.
Some economists believe this was a lingering effect of last year’s pandemic economy when business inventories surged as shelves were restocked after Covid-19-related supply chain bottlenecks started to ease. But the slowdown also reflected the damping impact the Fed’s interest rate rises have had on business investment, economists said.
“The inventory data have been very volatile for the past two years. Inventory management has been very difficult, partly because of the supply chain problem and partly because demand for goods was red hot,” said Brian Smedley, an economist at Guggenheim Partners.
The hefty rate increases implemented by the central bank in recent months have begun to put the brakes on the economy, and market participants are watching closely to see if this rapid tightening will tip the US into an official recession.
That has been evident in the housing market. The GDP data show residential investment fell 14 per cent in the second quarter, just as higher interest rates began pulling up mortgage rates. Further increases will pose additional challenges for the housing sector.
Economists said the data were unlikely to change the Fed’s calculus about the path forward for policy.
“I don’t think the GDP print would or should influence the Fed,” said AllianceBernstein economist Eric Winograd.
Mitch Keller, 4 relief pitchers lead Pirates to 2nd consecutive victory against Dodgers
For the Pittsburgh Pirates to defeat the Los Angeles Dodgers in four of five games — such as they have done this season — everything must be just right.
In the Pirates’ second consecutive victory against the National League’s best team – a 5-3 victory Tuesday night in front of a noisy crowd of 52,686 at Dodger Stadium — it took:
• A couple splashes of power in the form of two-run homers by Michael Chavis and Tucupita Marcano that staked the Pirates to a 4-0 lead by the end of the second inning.
• Clutch, if erratic, pitching from starter Mitch Keller, who is trying to gain manager Derek Shelton’s trust in order to stay in the rotation. To that end, he may have found a new pitch that might help make it happen.
• Solid relief outings totaling four innings from four pitchers (none of them named David Bednar, by the way). Tyler Beede, Duane Underwood Jr., Chris Stratton and Wil Crowe gave up two hits – and no earned runs. They combined to strike out six. Stratton struck out the side in the eighth and Crowe picked up his second save with a 1-2-3 ninth. Added bonus: None of the four threw more than 20 pitches, which may leave them available Wednesday night.
• A strong throw from rookie right fielder Jack Suwinski, who nailed the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman trying to stretch a single into a double to lead off the seventh inning of a one-run game. “That was the play of the game,” manager Derek Shelton said. “It has to be perfect. It has to be on line.”
• Three singles from catcher Tyler Heineman, who was 1 for 17 entering the game. The third preceded Marcano’s sacrifice bunt and a two-out RBI double by Bryan Reynolds for a big insurance run in the ninth inning. It was a welcome clutch hit by Reynolds, who was 2 for his previous 32 at-bats with runners in scoring position.
All of it added up to a second series victory for the Pirates (21-27) against the Dodgers (33-16) in the past three weeks, with one more game to play.
“I can’t really give a reason exactly why,” Chavis said when asked to explain the Pirates’ success against Dodgers. “But I can say it shows what we’re capable of. It takes everybody and it’s been fun to be part of. Needless to say, it’s early in the season. We have a lot of ball to play.”
Keller, who had been working out of the bullpen recently, made his first start since May 13 and earned his first victory of the season as a starter. But he walked five batters and hit another in five innings. He surrendered only two hits – one a two-run homer by Trea Turner – and struck out five batters.
But he was good when it mattered most. He retired Mookie Betts, a former American League MVP and the current NL home run leader (15), with a groundball to third base with a runner on second in the fourth.
In the fifth, Keller struck out Will Smith and Edwin Rios looking with the last of his 98 pitches. Both times, Keller pulled out his new pitch – a sinker – to get strike three.
“It’s something we’ve been talking about and we’ve been working on,” Shelton said. “It was something we’ve toyed with, Mitch talked about, he and Oscar (pitching coach Marin) started to talk about, we’ve been playing with in the bullpen. He unveiled it and it looked to be a really efficient pitch.
“The thing that was important is his four-seamer (fastball) stayed 94 to 97 (mph). His sinker stayed 94 to 97.”
Keller said he tried it once in Chicago on May 18, but he hit the Cubs’ Willson Contreras with the pitch.
He didn’t use it extensively until Tuesday when he threw it more than any pitch (35% of the time). But he also threw a four-seamer, slider, curve and changeup in an attempt to keep the Dodgers guessing.
“Definitely not back on track,” said Keller, who lowered his ERA to 5.77. “Just keep rolling with this one and keep going for the next one. Try to keep the confidence going and let my stuff work in the zone.
“I still don’t feel my command on (the sinker) is really good. A few of those pitches I was trying to go middle in and they were backdoor called strike 3s. It still isn’t where I want it to be, but I do feel comfortable where I have more leeway with the pitch.
“If I do leave it in the middle of the zone or in the zone, it has enough movement where it’s going to keep the batters off balance.”
Pitching kept the game close, but there was much more to the victory, such as Marcano’s bunt, Reynolds’ RBI double and Suwinski’s throw that pleased Shelton.
The manage praised his young team for being “fundamentally sound,” and he also liked the way it responded in a highly charged atmosphere in front of a large crowd.
“You’re playing in probably as good an atmosphere as you’re going to play in all year,” he said. “For our young kids to be able to do that and perform, it’s important for our growth as we continue to develop.”
Jerry DiPaola is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jerry by email at jdipaola@triblive.com or via Twitter .