Cavs’ struggles continue with shock loss to Knicks

LOS ANGELES - Tim Hardaway Jr. and Kristaps Porzingis combined for 66 points Sunday as the New York Knicks stunned the struggling Cavaliers 114-95 in Cleveland.

The Knicks notched their first win over the Cavs since October 30, 2014, ending a 10-game losing streak against the NBA Eastern Conference powerhouse.

Hardaway scored 34 points and Porzingis added 32 with 12 rebounds for the Knicks, who handed LeBron James and the Cavaliers a fourth defeat in eight days.

A day after falling to the New Orleans Pelicans, the Cavaliers looked lethargic as they fell behind by 18 points in the third quarter.

They trimmed the deficit to 94-88 on a James layup with 8:20 to play before the Knicks regained control.

Kevin Love again led Cleveland with 22 points and 11 rebounds. James added 16 points, 10 rebounds and seven assists.

Derrick Rose returned after four games sidelined by a sprained left ankle and scored 15 points against his former team.

In Indianapolis, Victor Oladipo drained the game-winning three-pointer with 10.3 seconds remaining as the Indiana Pacers downed the San Antonio Spurs 97-94.

LaMarcus Aldridge scored 26 points to lead perennial Western Conference contenders San Antonio, who have lost two in a row.

The Pacers led much of the game before the Spurs rallied to take a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter.

"We just stayed poised," said Oladipo, who finished with 23 points. "It's a long game, there's a lot of ups and downs. It's a game of runs. You've just got to lift each other up. We did a good job of that."

Oladipo admitted that his shot from 30 feet away, which put the Pacers up 95-94, was "maybe too deep".

"Honestly, I didn't really want to shoot it that far, but the move felt good and I just held my follow-through and it went in," he said.

"He was deep and he was off-balance, but give him credit, he knocked it down," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said.

San Antonio's LaMarcus Aldridge missed a jump shot with 5.1 seconds left. Cory Joseph was fouled with 3.4 seconds remaining and hit both free throws to push the lead to 97-94 before San Antonio's Patty Mills missed a potential game-tying three-pointer just before the buzzer.

Milwaukee forward Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 33 points -- his fifth 30-point game of the young season -- to lead the Bucks to a 117-106 win over the Hawks in Atlanta.

With 12 rebounds and five assists, Greece's Antetokounmpo notched his fourth double-double of the season and the Bucks won their second straight.

The Bucks also got a season-high 27 points from Khris Middleton, who also  pulled down seven rebounds and handed out eight assists. —Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Giles falters again, Astros lose to Dodgers in Game 4

HOUSTON — This time, the Astros couldn’t save Ken Giles.

Houston’s hard-throwing closer faltered again in Game 4 of the World Series, taking the loss in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-2 victory on Saturday night.

Giles was charged with three runs without getting an out, inflating his postseason ERA to 11.75. He’s allowed at least a run in six of seven appearances — a staggering flop after posting a 1.14 ERA over his final 38 regular-season games.

Last time out, Giles gave up a solo homer to Yasiel Puig and a tying hit to Enrique Hernandez to blow a lead in the 10th inning of Game 2. Houston bailed him out, rallying for a 7-6, 11-inning win.

There was no such comeback after Giles’ Game 4 collapse.

With the game tied at 1 in the ninth inning, Giles allowed a leadoff single to Corey Seager and walked Justin Turner. Cody Bellinger then lined a double into left-center, bringing Seager home.

Manager A.J. Hinch pulled Giles at that point, but the closer was charged with two more runs when Turner and Bellinger later scored.

Boos rained down from the home crowd as Giles walked off.

The player nicknamed 100-miles-Giles has quickly become a liability. He has a pair of saves this postseason — in Game 4 of the AL Division Series against Boston and Game 1 of the AL Championship Series versus the Yankees after allowing a run in each game — but he had blown leads in two of his last three outings before Saturday.

Giles had a 2.30 ERA in 63 appearances in the regular season. His ERA in two World Series games is 27.00.

Hinch was keeping the faith, though, saying after Game 2 that he thinks “Ken Giles is going to get another save in this series. I think he’s going to get some really big outs.”

He added: “Just because somebody has a bad day at work, does not mean that they need to be condemned and sent away. … I’m going to keep putting him in and trusting him.”

After this latest performance, Hinch may need to find a new go-to at the back of the bullpen.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Coach Luke Walton: It ‘would be silly’ to tinker with Lonzo Ball’s shooting style

Aside from his phenomenal court vision, the thing that stands out the most with Los Angeles Lakers rookie Lonzo Ball is his awkward-looking shooting form.

Although he was a consistent three-point threat in his lone year at UCLA—knocking down a respectable  41.2 percent clip from beyond the arc—most pundits doubt if he can translate the success in the big leagues if he won’t tinker his shot.

So far in his first four games as a pro , Ball has certainly  had his share of ups and downs shooting the rock. The 19-year-old playmaker is currently averaging 29.4 percent from three-point range and 34.8 percent overall.

But as far as Lakers head coach Luke Walton is concerned, he won’t require his new starting point guard to alter his shooting style anytime soon.

“For us to try to mess with it would be silly, because the ball goes in the net,” he told Laker analyst for Spectrum SportsNet, Mike Bresnahan.

The Lakers currently hold a 2-2 win/loss record, with the second overall pick averaging 11.5 points, 9 boards and 9 assists per contest.  Khristian Ibarrola /ra

source: sports.inquirer.net

Recovering Parker assigned to Spurs’ minor-league team

Four-time NBA champion guard Tony Parker has been assigned to the San Antonio Spurs' developmental-league squad as he recovers from left quadriceps tendon surgery, the team announced Wednesday.

The 35-year-old Frenchman practiced with the Austin Spurs at their training camp in San Antonio and was expected to do so again on Friday. The camp runs through Saturday ahead of Austin's November 3 opener.

Parker suffered a torn quadriceps tendon in last season's Western Conference playoff semi-finals. He was cleared by doctors to participate in the Spurs' training camp last month and is slowly being prepared to return to the NBA club he helped to league crowns in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2014.

Parker averaged 10.1 points in 63 regular-season games last season, his lowest total since his 2001-02 NBA rookie campaign.

Parker has career averages of 16.2 points on 49.3 percent shooting and 5.8 assists in 1,143 career regular-season games and 18.2 points and 5.1 assists in 221 career playoff games.

Dejounte Murray, a 21-year-old American, has replaced Parker in San Antonio's starting lineup. He's averaging 13.3 points and team highs of 9.7 rebounds and 4.7 assists so far this season. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Wall Street retreats from record as industrials, tech lag

NEW YORK - U.S. stocks declined on Monday as each of the major Wall Street indexes retreated from a record, weighed down by a drop in technology and industrial shares.

General Electric, down 6.3 percent, suffered its biggest one-day percentage decline in more than six years after a host of brokerages cut their price targets on the stock, citing higher chances of a dividend cut at the industrial conglomerate.

After holding near the unchanged mark for most of the session, losses accelerated late in the session on downturn in technology, off 0.40 percent.

Last week, the Dow and S&P managed to close at a record high all five days, after a strong start to third-quarter earnings and on hopes President Donald Trump's tax plans move forward after the Senate's approval of a budget resolution on Friday.

"On the one hand, the market is very extended, overbought, on the other hand so far earnings have come through," said Andrew Slimmon, portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley Investment Management in Chicago.

"The question becomes what happens if tax reform doesn’t happen in 2017, does the market sell off into the year-end?"

Investors are also waiting for news on the next Federal Reserve chief. Trump told reporters on Monday he is "very, very close" to making his decision on who should chair the Fed.

Of the 97 S&P 500 companies that have reported earnings so far, 73.2 percent have topped expectations, according to Thomson Reuters data, versus the 72-percent average for the past four quarters.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 54.25 points, or 0.23 percent, to 23,274.38, the S&P 500 lost 10.19 points, or 0.40 percent, to 2,565.02 and the Nasdaq Composite dropped 42.23 points, or 0.64 percent, to 6,586.83.

Industrials, were off 0.8 percent as one of the biggest drags to the S&P of the 11 major sectors. Aside from GE, the group was also pulled lower by a 10.4-percent tumble in Arconic after the specialty metals maker missed profit estimates and announced a new chief executive.

The energy index stumbled 0.59 percent, driven by losses in Schlumberger, Baker Hughes and Halliburton, which reported results on Monday.

Hasbro plunged 8.6 percent after the toymaker's forecast for the holiday season fell below estimates as Toys'R'Us bankruptcy began to hurt its operations. Shares of peer Mattel fell 3.2 percent.

The S&P 500 posted 91 new 52-week highs and 6 new lows; the Nasdaq Composite recorded 104 new highs and 41 new lows.

About 5.84 billion shares changed hands in U.S. exchanges, compared with the 5.83 billion daily average over the last 20 sessions. — Reuters

Facebook tests splitting its News Feed into two

SAN FRANCISCO - Facebook Inc said on Monday it was testing the idea of dividing its News Feed in two, separating commercial posts from personal news in a move that could lead some businesses to increase advertising.

The Facebook News Feed, the centerpiece of the world's largest social network service, is a streaming series of posts such as photos from friends, updates from family members, advertisements and material from celebrities or other pages that a user has liked.

The test, which is occurring in six smaller countries, now offers two user feeds, according to a statement from the company: one feed focused on friends and family and a second dedicated to the pages that the customer has liked.

The change could force those who run pages, everyone from news outlets to musicians to sports teams, to pay to run advertisements if they want to be seen in the feed that is for friends and family.

The test is taking place in Bolivia, Cambodia, Guatemala, Serbia, Slovakia and Sri Lanka, and it will likely go on for months, Adam Mosseri, the Facebook executive in charge of the News Feed, said in a blog post.

Mosseri said the company has no plans for a global test of the two separate feeds for its 2 billion users.

Facebook also does not currently plan to force commercial pages "to pay for all their distribution," he said.

Facebook, based in Menlo Park, California, frequently tests changes big and small as it tries to maximize the time people spend scrolling and browsing the network. Sometimes it makes changes permanent, and other times not.

Depending on how people respond, two news feeds could mean that they see fewer links to news stories. News has proved to be a tricky area for Facebook, as hoaxes and false news stories have sometimes spread easily on the network.

The test has already affected website traffic for smaller media outlets in recent days, Slovakian journalist Filip Struhárik wrote over the weekend in a post on Medium.

Publishers might need to buy more Facebook ads to be seen, he wrote: "If you want your Facebook page posts to be seen in old newsfeed, you have to pay." —Reuters

Hot World Series on deck: Altuve, Astros vs Kershaw, Dodgers

Big-time aces Clayton Kershaw and Justin Verlander. Playoff boppers Jose Altuve and Justin Turner.

A pair of 100-win teams for the first time in nearly a half-century. Hollywood Walk of Fame vs. Texans who wear the star. A little extra Magic, plus Nolan back in the fast lane.

This is one hot World Series — the Houston Astros, fresh off a Game 7 victory over the Yankees, taking on the Los Angeles Dodgers, well rested after a postseason romp.

Could be real steamy, too. It’s supposed to be almost 100 degrees at Dodger Stadium for the opener Tuesday night, maybe the hottest temperature ever at a World Series game.

At least the familiar October chill that makes players and fans shiver shouldn’t be an issue outdoors in sun-baked California or under the retractable roof at Minute Maid Park.

Not that young stars Cody Bellinger and Carlos Correa would mind, nor would old pros Carlos Beltran and Chase Utley, nor top starters Dallas Keuchel and Yu Darvish.
Because a chance to win a ring doesn’t come very often — these teams that have already played more than 700 games against each other over the years already know that.

The Astros have never won the crown. They’re playing for a whole region, with the Houston Strong patches on their uniforms representing an area hit hard by Hurricane Harvey.

The Dodgers haven’t been in the World Series since 1988, when Kirk Gibson’s bat, Orel Hershiser’s arm and Tommy Lasorda’s moves outdid Oakland for the crown.

Now with Lakers great Magic Johnson as a part-owner, this LA team that led the majors with 104 wins is hoping to bring back the glory days that began in Brooklyn.

“I just want to win a World Series,” Kershaw said after the Dodgers dethroned the Chicago Cubs in Game 5 of the NL Championship Series. “I know more than anybody how hard it is to get there. So, I’m definitely not taking this one for granted.”
Said mercurial outfielder Yasiel Puig: “The trophy’s coming soon.”

The Astros, the major leagues’ highest-scoring team this year, have never even won a World Series game. They only time they made it this far was 2005, when a club that included Jeff Bagwell, Craig Biggio, Roger Clemens and Andy Pettitte got swept by the White Sox.

In fact, a World Series prize is the one piece of hardware missing from the trophy case from the Lone Star State. Texas teams have won the Super Bowl and championships in the NBA, NHL, college football and men’s and women’s basketball, but never in baseball.

Under the leadership of executive Nolan Ryan, the Texas Rangers came within one strike in 2011 before losing to St. Louis. The Ryan Express, who once pitched a no-hitter for Houston against the Dodgers, is currently an Astros exec.

The Astros posted 101 wins this year — not since Baltimore (108) and Cincinnati (102) in 1970 has the World Series matched teams who reached triple-digits.

These teams last met in 2015, when the Astros swept a three-game series at home. But they’d seen a lot of each other in the past.

Overall, the Dodgers are 388-323 vs. the Astros. Houston debuted as the Colt .45s as a National League expansion team in 1962 and eventually moved to the AL in 2013.

That first year in the AL, the young Astros got pounded and lost 111 times. But with smart drafts and player development, Houston emerged as a power. Manager A.J. Hinch’s club capped its rise by beating Boston in the AL Division Series, then stopping the Yankees 4-0 Saturday night in Game 7 of the ALCS.

The Dodgers, with a major league-high $226 million payroll, won their fifth straight NL West title this year, then 7-1 in the playoffs against the Diamondbacks and Cubs under manager Dave Roberts.

The result? Their first pennant since 1988 — the year Kershaw was born.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Ball flirts with triple-double, Lakers hold on to beat Suns

PHOENIX — Lonzo Ball barely missed a triple-double with 29 points, 11 rebounds and nine assists in his second NBA game and the Los Angeles Lakers held on to beat the Phoenix Suns 132-130 on Friday night.

The Suns had a chance to tie it with 1.2 seconds to play, but T.J. Warren missed the first of two free throws. That meant he had to miss the second intentionally and hope for a rebound, but the Suns couldn’t get a decent shot off before the buzzer.

Ball, the No. 2 overall pick this year who is a week shy of his 20th birthday, took over down the stretch, scoring eight points in a 2 1/2-minute span. His final basket during that run, a floating layup, put Los Angeles ahead 130-122 with 1:35 to play.

But the Suns came roaring back behind Eric Bledsoe and Devin Booker, whose 3-pointer with 6.4 seconds left cut it to 131-130. Brandon Ingram made one of two free throws to give Phoenix one last chance and Warren was fouled by Ingram on an inbounds play.

The free throw was off the back of the rim, though, and the Lakers survived.

Bledsoe scored 29 points, 17 in the fourth quarter. Booker also flirted with what would have been his first career triple-double, finishing with 25 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists. Warren added 24 points, 17 in the second quarter. Ingram scored 25 points for Los Angeles.

Both teams were coming off of season-opening blowout losses.

The Lakers lost to the Los Angeles Clippers 108-92, and Phoenix was routed by Portland 124-79, the most one-sided loss in Suns history and most one-sided season opener ever in the NBA.

From the opening tip Friday, it was a fast-paced, often sloppy, game with not much attention to defense.

Phoenix used a 13-2 run to go up 55-49 with 7:09 left in the half and the Suns stretched it to 67-58 on another 3 by Booker with 3:34 left in the half. But the Lakers scored the next seven, five at the free throw line.

Warren responded with consecutive baskets, but Ingram had the last laugh, a 3-pointer with eight seconds to play to cut Phoenix’s lead to 73-70 at the half.

Booker was called for a flagrant one when he fouled Brewer hard on a layup with 6:02 left in the third quarter. Larry Nance Jr. jumped into the fray and put a shoulder into Booker, who responded with a shove. Booker and Nance both were assessed technical fouls.

The play came during an 13-2 Lakers outburst that put Los Angeles on top 95-85 after Nance stole the ball from Booker with both players on the floor and flipped the ball to Lopez for a layup with 3:03 to play in the third quarter.

The Lakers boosted the lead to 111-99 on Clarkson’s basket with 10:28 to go.

TIP INS

Lakers: Luol Deng, who started Thursday’s opener, was inactive. … Ball had three points, nine assists and four steals in his debut Thursday night. … The Lakers locked arms as they stood for the national anthem.

Suns: In the second quarter, Warren was 6 for 7 from the field and 5 for 6 from the foul line. … Booker was flattened under the Phoenix basket by Brook Lopez in the second quarter. He was slow to get up but stayed in the game. ..The Suns play their next five on the road. Their next home game is Nov. 6 against Brooklyn.

UP NEXT

Lakers: Host New Orleans on Sunday night.

Suns: At the Los Angeles Clippers on Saturday night.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Hayward vows to be ‘all right’ after broken left leg

 

Boston Celtics forward Gordon Hayward vowed he "will be all right" in a video message Wednesday after a gruesome left leg injury from which he is expected to make a full recovery.

Hayward appeared in a video message from his hospital bed before the Celtics' home opener against Milwaukee just a night after suffering the injury in a 102-99 loss at Cleveland.

"I'm going to be all right," Hayward said in a video shown on the arena scoreboard. "It's hurting me that I can't be there for the home opener.

"I want nothing more than to be with my teammates and walk out on that floor tonight. But I'll be supporting you guys from here and wishing you the best of luck."

Hayward was flown back to Boston and taken to New England Baptist Hospital, where doctors diagnosed Hayward with a dislocated left ankle and fractured left tibia.

Celtics coach Brad Stevens said Hayward is expected to fully recover but would not estimate a timetable for when he might return until after surgery, which ESPN reported would be conducted Wednesday night.

Stevens visited Hayward on Wednesday morning and spoke with him about the difficult recovery and rehabilitation period to come.

"He's feeling down," Stevens said. "Obviously there's a physical pain to it, but I think it's doubled by the emotional pain in that he put a lot of effort into trying to start his career out well in Boston."

Former Utah Jazz star Hayward, 27, signed a four-year deal worth $128 million with the Celtics in the off-season, expected to team with guard Kyrie Irving and big man Al Horford as an All-Star trio to make the Celtics title contenders.

But he lasted barely five minutes into the opener before making an awkward landing while attempting an alley-oop basket off a pass from Irving and his foot twisted at a horrific angle. Players from both teams were stunned as medical staff rushed onto the court to treat him.

"This is a setback," Stevens said. "But we're expecting a full recovery. We know there will be a lot of tough days ahead on that recovery, but at the same time, I think hopefully he'll improve day-to-day."

Stevens hopes playing well for Hayward can become a motivating factor for a young squad.

"They do want to play well for Gordon. I think the biggest thing is they really care about Gordon," Stevens said. "He has made a big impact on them.

"Certainly you miss that and that camaraderie, but one of the tasks that we have now is to pick up steam for him." — Agence France-Presse

Virtual reality helps drug addicts to recover in Shanghai rehab centers

Around 700 drug addicts in two of Shanghai’s five rehabilitation centers have been using a newly developed system since late September to help staff members understand the sufferers’ level of addiction and assist them to turn their lives around more quickly, the Shanghai Drug Rehabilitation Administration said.

The AI system was developed by the Shanghai Mental Health Center in cooperation with the administration, East China Normal University’s School of Psychology and Cognitive Science, and Shanghai Qingtech, a company specializing in technological tracking of eye control.

Zhao Min, deputy director of the center, said one key problem in abandoning drug habits is the difficulty for the staff and even the addicts to know how badly they are addicted.

“In the past, when they were asked whether they wanted narcotics, they said ‘no’ without exception, which was not an honest answer, obviously,” she said. “Now we can resort to the new system.”

Users wear a VR helmet with an eye-movement tracking system and then “walk into” scenes with drugs and other paraphernalia. Their eye movement, together with other biological indicators such as heart rate and skin conductivity, is recorded as an objective way to show their level of addiction.

Another way the AI system can help is that it provides addicts with a more effective desensitization treatment in order to better prevent them from using drugs again.

“Usually in the centers they are given desensitization treatment with pictures of narcotics,” Zhao said. “It’s hard for such stimulation to truly arouse their appetite for drugs. So after they leave the centers and are exposed to temptations, they might be submerged in a whirlpool of drug abuse again.”

Statistics from the National Narcotics Control Commission show that more than 85 per cent of those who abandon a drug habit after two years of compulsory rehab relapse within a year.

With such a VR system, the addicts can “walk into” hotel rooms, karaoke bars and friends’ homes and watch men and women take drugs to fully stimulate their desire for narcotics, said Kuai Shuguang, a professor at East China Normal University.

Apart from desensitisation, the system was also designed to help addicts associate drugs more with negative consequences than “a pleasant experience”, he said.

Following the VR experience in the scenes where drugs are often taken, they will view videos showing how devastatingly drugs will harm human health so as to suppress their desire for them, he said.

source: technology.inquirer.net

Tom Petty laid to rest at California yoga shrine

LOS ANGELES, United States - Tom Petty's family and friends bid farewell to the rocker at a service in a California spiritual retreat, where his friend George Harrison's funeral took place 16 years ago.

One of Petty's daughter posted pictures of Monday's private memorial event and of the lotus-shaped archway to the Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine, near the Pacific coast in Los Angeles County.

Petty, who died a week earlier at age 66 after suffering a cardiac arrest, in his later years practiced transcendental meditation, seeing a way to control anger after earlier abusing heroin and other drugs.

Daughter AnnaKim Violette Petty shared a series of images on Instagram including one of a small bouquet of flowers with the words, "You belong somewhere you feel free," a line from Petty's song "Wildflowers."

She also shared quirkier thoughts including an image from Petty's memorable "Alice in Wonderland"-themed video for "Don't Come Around Here No More," with the rocker surrounded by three platinum-blonde women in skin-tight black-and-white dresses.

"May you be protected by the hottest vixens in heaven," his daughter wrote, adding in a likely allusion to his song "The Waiting": "Heaven is something u feel."

Petty's representatives did not immediately comment on whether there would be an additional public event or a permanent marker for his remains.

The Florida-born rocker -- whose string of hits included "I Won't Back Down, "Free Fallin'" and "American Girl" -- died days after completing a tour to mark 40 years with his band The Heartbreakers.

Harrison, the former Beatle who joined Petty in the Traveling Wilburys supergroup, was cremated at the Los Angeles shrine in 2001. The remains of Harrison, who was passionate about Hindu spiritualty, were then scattered in the holy waters outside of Varanasi, India.

The Self-Realization Fellowship Lake Shrine features a public garden with swans, wildlife and symbols of the world's major religions, with space for silent meditation and reflection.

The site was founded in 1950 by Paramahansa Yogananda, the Indian spiritual teacher and author of "Autobiography of a Yogi" who was instrumental in bringing Eastern meditation to the United States.

The shrine, which was also a favorite retreat for Elvis Presley, features a sarcophagus that holds some of the ashes of Mahatma Gandhi, India's slain independence hero and apostle of non-violence. — Agence France-Presse

Swing and a miss: Yankees in another 0-2 playoff hole

HOUSTON — Swing and a miss.

After striking out 27 times in Houston, the New York Yankees are down 0-2 in the playoffs again.

Maybe they just need to get to the potential elimination games — the Yankees don’t seem to lose those.

“We’ve been facing some tough pitchers and some tough games,” rookie slugger Aaron Judge said. “We’re just going to keep going out there and keep fighting.”

New York catcher Gary Sanchez was unable to come up with a short-hop relay throw from shortstop Didi Gregorius with Jose Altuve charging toward the plate in the bottom of the ninth inning, and the Astros won 2-1 Saturday for a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven AL Championship Series.

Sanchez said he simply dropped the ball on a play he’s used to making.

“The bottom line is if I catch that ball he’s going to be out,” Sanchez said through a translator.

New York has lost the first two games by the same tight score to Houston aces Dallas Keuchel and Justin Verlander, both former Cy Young Award winners. So just like in the Division Series, the Yankees are down 0-2 and headed back home.

“It’s not like we haven’t been here before,” said manager Joe Girardi, who turned 53 on Saturday. “But these are two tough losses.”

In their best-of-five set against the 102-win Cleveland Indians, the Yankees won three straight games when facing elimination to get to their first ALCS since 2012. And that was after winning a win-or-go-home wild-card game against Minnesota.

But after striking out 14 times in the ALCS opener, including 10 against Keuchel in his seven innings, the Yankees whiffed another 13 times Saturday against Verlander, who threw 124 pitches in a complete game.

Game 3 is Monday night at Yankee Stadium, with CC Sabathia scheduled to pitch for New York against Charlie Morton.

The Yankees have lost seven straight ALCS games dating to 2010.

Verlander was done by the time hard-throwing Yankees closer Aroldis Chapman entered in the ninth with a scoreless streak of 18 2/3 innings dating to the last time he gave up a run, on Aug. 25 against Seattle. But then Altuve hit a one-out single and scored when Carlos Correa lined a double into the right-center gap.

Judge cut off the ball at the edge of the warning track, but his throw went over the head of second baseman Starlin Castro to Gregorius on one hop at second base. Gregorius wheeled and, perhaps impeded a bit by Correa’s popup slide at second, short-hopped his throw to Sanchez.

The ball arrived in plenty of time to get Altuve, who raced all the way around from first, but Sanchez couldn’t make a clean pick and the ball squirted away as Altuve slid in safely with the winning run.

“If he comes up with it, it’s an out,” said Girardi, who quickly inquired with umpires as the Astros and their fans were starting a frenzied celebration. “I just wanted to make sure there was no interference. I didn’t see any interference at second. … It was a popup slide, that’s legal. You’re kind of hoping.”

Correa homered in the fourth for the Astros — a play that evoked memories of Jeffery Maier in the 1996 ALCS at Yankee Stadium — when a 12-year-old Houston fan reached for the liner just over the right-field wall. The ball appeared to already be beyond the reach of Judge, who was still moving toward the fence when the ball ricocheted off the boy’s glove on top of the wall and into the seats.

“I got back there a little late. He took a good swing on a ball off the plate,” Judge said. “I just wasn’t able to get back and get a good read to the wall and get up there and make a play.”

The 6-foot-7 Judge had a homer-robbing grab in Game 3 of the ALDS, when the Yankees won 1-0 to stay alive in that series.

A few pitches after Correa’s homer, Girardi and a trainer went out to check on starter Luis Severino when he uncharacteristically wound his pitching arm a few times. The 23-year-old right-hander stayed in the game then, and got the inning-ending out on a comebacker that appeared to strike the wrist of his non-pitching hand.

But Severino didn’t come out for the fifth, after the Yankees tied the game on back-to-back doubles by Aaron Hicks and Todd Frazier in the top of the inning. Severino threw only 62 pitches.

“I think it is my responsibility to protect this kid,” Girardi said. “I couldn’t take a chance.”

Girardi said Severino checked out fine with team doctors. The pitcher certainly didn’t agree with getting pulled so early.

“I told him I was good. They told me they saw something,” Severino said. “I told them that I was good and I wanted to go pitch. … I feel great. My arm feels great. I can go 20 or 30 innings more.”

source: sports.inquirer.net

Oculus unveils standalone virtual reality headset

SAN JOSE, United States - Facebook chief Mark Zuckerberg on Wednesday unveiled a new Oculus virtual reality headset untethered from computers as part of a vision to bring the new technology to the masses.

Oculus Go headsets will be priced at $199 when they begin shipping early next year, Zuckerberg said during a keynote presentation at an annual developers conference in the Silicon Valley city of San Jose.

Zuckerberg touted Oculus Go as the first product in a "sweet spot" between smartphones and powerful desktop computers.

"It's an all-new, standalone headset that doesn't require you to snap in a phone or plug in a cable," Zuckerberg said.

Oculus Go uses internal cameras, sensors and software to track movements that are translated into corresponding motion in virtual worlds rendered in headsets.

Facebook stressed its commitment to virtual reality, despite less than stellar adoption of headsets such as Oculus Rift which need to be plugged into computers.

"We want to get a billion people in virtual reality," Zuckerberg said.

"The road ahead won't be easy, but virtual reality will change the way we see the world and will make all of our lives a whole lot better."

Sony, HTC and Facebook-owned Oculus are the top players in virtual reality head gear, each striving to stake out territory in the budding market.

While Sony's VR headsets work with PS 4 consoles, competing gear requires computers that can handle the demand of processing rich, immersive graphics in real time. — Agence France-Presse

source: gmanetwork.com

Confusion looms as Owens survives Hell in a Cell

Friends forever?

Sami Zayn made the shocking save on longtime friend and bitter rival Kevin Owens, pulling him out of danger and helping him top Shane McMahon in the brutal falls count anywhere Hell in a Cell match Sunday (Monday Manila time) in Detroit.

With the Prizefighter and the SmackDown commissioner beating each other to a pulp inside, outside, and on top of the cell for close to 30 minutes, it was Zayn who turned heads the most and baffled everyone on why he rescued Owens in the match’s conclusion.

McMahon seemed poised to win the war after sending Owens crashing to the Spanish announce table halfway down the cell, but he wanted to go for the home run and head-butted the brash Canadian to another announce table, putting him in position for the jaw-dropping elbow drop.

But just like the case in WrestleMania 32, McMahon crashed and burned as he fell on top of the cage and missed on his target, largely thanks to Zayn pulling Owens at the last moment.

Zayn then pulled Owens on top of McMahon and motioned the referee to do the three-count as he left everyone in the arena confused on what just transpired.

In the night’s other matches, Jinder Mahal once again retained his WWE Championship against Shinsuke Nakamura, but not without shenanigans from his cohorts The Singh Brothers.

The King of Strong Style was moments away from winning the title after connecting with the Kinshasa, but the Singhs distracted the referee, delaying the count for the pinfall.

Mahal tried to escape the match, but the challenger was in hot pursuit and brought him back to the ring. However, Nakamura would miss on his second Kinshasa attempt, opening the chance for the Modern Day Maharaja to nail the Khallas.

The Usos also became five-time tag team title holders after defeating The New Day in their brutal Hell in a Cell encounter to reclaim the SmackDown Tag Team Championships.

Jimmy and Jey Uso subjected the duo of Big E and Xavier Woods to a hellacious beatdown, finishing the match with a double splash with a steel chair on top of Woods for the three-count.

Baron Corbin stole the United States Championship in their triple threat match to grab his first title in the company.

The Lone Wolf squirmed to the ring and kicked AJ Styles out of the squared circle after the defending champion nailed Tye Dillinger with the Phenomenal Forearm.

Natalya also used a steel chair on Charlotte to force a disqualification finish and keep her SmackDown Women’s Championship after the Queen connected with a ringside moonsault to the Queen of Harts.

Randy Orton topped Rusev once again as he hit an RKO after wiggling out of the Accolade.

Bobby Roode was successful in his main roster pay-per-view debut, beating Dolph Ziggler after the Glorious One one-upped the Showoff with a rollup while holding the latter’s tights.

After the match, Ziggler nailed Roode with a Zig-Zag as he left the ring frustrated with the result.

In the kickoff show, Shelton Benjamin and Chad Gable defeated the Hype Bros after Gable pinned Zack Ryder with Mojo Rawley looking on from ringside.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Purchasing A Home With Solar Panels? 3 Things To Know Before You Buy

There are many benefits when it comes to purchasing a home with solar panels. Solar panels are a sustainable energy source that reduce negative impacts on the environment, save you lots of money on utility bills, raise the value of your home, and aid during emergencies where power may be cut off. It’s no wonder that more and more people are looking to purchase properties with solar panels.

While the benefits are numerous, there are also some considerations to take into account when it comes to purchasing a home with solar panels as well as when applying for a fixed or variable rate mortgage on a solar-powered property. Here are some things to know before you buy:

1. Appraisal Since solar technology is still developing, and is relatively new, it may be more difficult to get an appraisal on the home. In areas where solar panels are more common, appraisers will be able to be more accurate about the home’s value. However, if you are buying a home in an area with less solar energy, there’s a risk that the home could be over, or under, valued. This can work out in your favour, but it’s worth trying to find an appraiser who is knowledgeable about solar energy to avoid the risk of the home being overvalued.
   
   
2. Owned or Leased? The most important thing to know when buying a property with solar panels is whether the system is homeowner owned, or leased from a solar company.
   
   If the panels are homeowner owned, it’s a big plus. Homeowner-owned solar panels increase the value of the home by a substantial amount. Leased solar panels, however, require little to no money upfront so don’t do as much for the value of the home.
   
   Many home buyers are put off by leased solar panels as they don’t increase the value of the home and may seem like an additional complication. However, whether or not the home’s value is increased, leased solar panels will still provide positive impacts on the environment and save you money on electricity.
   
   
3. Energy Consumption If you are unsure whether solar energy is right for you and your lifestyle, it’s helpful to speak to the sellers of the home. By comparing their lifestyle and energy consumption to yours, you can get a better idea about whether or not solar energy would be right for you and your family. You may even ask to see their utility bills to get an idea of how much you would be saving.
   
   

For any questions about getting a fixed or variable rate mortgage on a solar-powered property, make an appointment to speak to one of our mortgage experts today!

source:  northwoodmortgage.com

Halep wins Kasatkina grudge match to reach China Open semis

World number two Simona Halep reached the China Open semi-finals for the first time in her career after beating Russian Daria Kasatkina 6-2 6-1 on Friday.

Halep, who lost to Kasatkina in the second round of last month's Wuhan Open, was never at risk of suffering a second consecutive defeat by the 20-year-old, sending down 19 winners to wrap up the win in just over an hour.

"I think I played much better than Wuhan," the Romanian said after the match. "I changed tactics and worked pretty well. I just played my game and my style, and I was very consistent and solid as well."

The tournament in Beijing has already seen Halep register a first career victory over Russian Maria Sharapova, and the second seed now has an opportunity to level her head-to-head with Jelena Ostapenko, who beat her in this year's French Open final.

The mercurial Latvian bested Sorana Cirstea 6-4 6-4 in an error-strewn quarter-final that saw both players struggling to hold serve.

Ostapenko made a typically high 33 unforced errors, but her powerful forehand kept her out of trouble against Romanian Cirstea, who is also her doubles partner.

Twice-Wimbledon champion Petra Kvitova fought off fatigue to dominate Czech compatriot Barbora Strycova 6-3 6-4 and reach her third Beijing semi-final.

Kvitova, who produced 33 winners offset by 43 unforced errors, said she was tired but very happy with the victory, and will meet Caroline Garcia in the last four.

"I couldn't just imagine this coming to Asia," Kvitova said. "I'm already happy. I love these big matches anyway, so I will do my best tomorrow.

"I felt a little bit tired today maybe. On the court I felt pretty slow. Maybe I wasn't, but that was my feeling. Sometimes it's pretty confusing."

Garcia came through a grueling contest that stretched for three hours and 21 minutes against world number three Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the day's final match.

Playing with her right thigh heavily strapped, the Frenchwoman lost the first set, but clung on as the clock at the National Tennis Stadium ticked past midnight to prevail 6-7(5) 7-5 7-6(6). — Reuters

A reduced sense of smell in seniors could indicate an increased risk of dementia

New research in the United States has found that seniors who fail to identify at least four out of five common odors are more likely to develop dementia.

Carried out by the University of Chicago, the long-term study looked at 2,906 adults aged 57 to 85 and asked them to identify various everyday smells.

The team tested the participants’ sense of smell using Sniffin’Sticks, a well-validated tool which looks like a felt-tip pen but is infused with distinct scents instead of ink.

The five scents included in the study, in order of increasing difficulty, were peppermint, fish, orange, rose and leather.

The results showed that 78 percent of participants had a normal sense of smell, with 29.4 percent able to correctly identify four out of five scents and 48.7 percent able to correctly identified all five.

Around 14 percent could identify just three out of five scents, and five percent could identify only two scents.

Two percent of the participants could name just one, and one percent were not able to identify any at all.

Five years after this initial test was carried out, the team found that almost all of the participants who had been unable to name a single scent had been diagnosed with dementia.

In addition, nearly 80 percent of those who had identified just one or two scents also had dementia, with the team finding that the greater the loss of the smell, the higher the incidence of dementia.

“These results show that the sense of smell is closely connected with brain function and health,” said the study’s lead author, Jayant M. Pinto, MD, “Loss of the sense of smell is a strong signal that something has gone wrong and significant damage has been done. This simple smell test could provide a quick and inexpensive way to identify those who are already at high risk.”

The study also follows research published back in 2014, which found that olfactory dysfunction was associated with increased risk of death within five years. In this study loss of smell was also found to be a better predictor of death than a diagnosis of heart failure, cancer or lung disease.

Trouble identifying odors has also been found to be an early sign of Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease.

Pinto also pointed out that a loss of smell can have a significant negative effect on daily lifestyle and well-being, explaining that, “Smells influence nutrition and mental health. People who can’t smell face everyday problems such as knowing whether food is spoiled, detecting smoke during a fire, or assessing the need for a shower after a workout. Being unable to smell is closely associated with depression as people don’t get as much pleasure in life.”

“Of all human senses,” Pinto added, “smell is the most undervalued and under-appreciated—until it’s gone.”

The findings can be found published online in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society. JB

source: lifestyle.inquirer.net

Jared Leto to play Hugh Hefner in Playboy movie

Jared Leto wants to appear on screen as the late Playboy founder Hugh Hefner in a biopic by Brett Ratner.


According to The Hollywood Reporter, Leto approached Ratner when he learned that the director got the rights to tell Hef’s story.

“Jared is an old friend,” said Ratner. “When he heard I got the rights to Hef’s story, he told me, ‘I want to play him. I want to understand him.’ And I really believe Jared can do it. He’s one of the great actors of today.”

Ratner revealed the movie is already in early development and he has been aiming to produce it since 2017.

Initially set up by Universal Pictures and Imagine Entertainment, the biopic went through a number of hands before Ratner finally won the rights. At one point, Robert Downey Jr. was considered to play Hefner.

Jared was supposed to meet Hefner back in April when he was invited to the Playboy Mansion by Ratner. Unfortunately, Hefner had not been greeting guests that day due to his failing health.

Hugh Hefner passed away at the age of 91 on Sept. 27, 2017.

Brett Ratner has been recognized for his work on the “Rush Hour” film series and “Red Dragon”, a prequel to “Silence of the Lambs”. JB

source: entertainment.inquirer.net

Nadal credits passion and overcoming injuries for success

BEIJING — Passion, and overcoming injuries, are the key to Rafael Nadal’s recent success.

The top-ranked Spaniard won the French Open and the U.S. Open this year, and reclaimed the No. 1 spot from Andy Murray. His next event is the China Open.

“I had some injuries, but good thing is I keep having the passion for the game and the love for what I am doing and the spirit of overcome tough situations in terms of physical issues,” the Spaniard said. “Of course, the spirit of improvement: every day when I wake up, going on court with the goal of doing something better than what I was doing.”

Nadal will open against Lucas Pouille on Tuesday at the China Open. The Frenchman beat Nadal in their previous meeting last year.

Nadal is 56-9 this season. He leads the tour with five ATP singles titles and will be trying to add this year’s China Open title to the one he took home as a teenager in 2005.

Nadal has made the tournament’s final in three of his six earlier appearances and has a 20-5 record in Beijing.

In the first round on Monday, top-ranked Garbine Muguruza retired from her opening match with a cold.
Muguruza dropped the first set 6-2 and was trailing 2-0 against Barbora Strycova when she decided to stop.

“I couldn’t perform today,” said the Spaniard, who said she picked up a virus at the Wuhan Open last week but wanted to try to play despite her illness. “I don’t want to retire before the tournament starts for me.”

Also, U.S. Open champion Sloane Stephens was beaten by Christina McHale 6-3, 6-0.

“It was a tough day,” Stephens said. “There’s not really much to say about. Obviously not a great match, so just forget about it and try to move on.”

In other women’s matches, former No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki beat Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-2, 6-2, while Peng Shuai, Elena Vesnina, Elise Mertens, Coco Vandeweghe and Alize Cornet also won.

Men’s winners included fifth-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut, Mischa Zverev, Steve Darcis, Fabio Fognini and Aljaz Bedene.

source: sports.inquirer.net

Tom Petty Dead at 66

Tom Petty has died at the age of 66, CBS reports. Officials confirm they responded to an emergency call at his California residence on Sunday (Oct. 1). They rushed the rock legend to UCLA Santa Monica Hospital, where he reportedly passed away on Monday (Oct. 2).


Petty was born in Gainesville, FL, on Oct. 20, 1950. Despite his easy-going, affable persona, Petty endured a rough childhood, living in poverty with an alcoholic, abusive father and a mother who was in fear of her husband. But a childhood handshake with Elvis Presley in the '50s piqued his interest in rock n' roll, and at the age of 17, inspired by the Beatles and the Byrds, Petty dropped out of high school to play rock with his band Mudcrutch. Mudcrutch would break up before Petty found massive global success as the frontman for the Heartbreakers in the mid '70s (Mudcrutch reformed in 2007 and released two studio albums: 2008's self-titled and 2016's 2, his final studio effort).

Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers' self-titled album dropped in 1976, and although it would eventually go Gold and produce two classic rock radio staples with the singles "Breakdown" and "American Girl," the album (and those singles) weren't big hits upon initial release ("Breakdown" would later peak at No. 40 on the Billboard Hot 100 after being re-released). 1978's You're Gonna Get It! fared slightly better commercially, but it was the band's third album, 1979's Damn the Torpedoes!, that found Petty breakthrough to massive success. The No. 2-peaking, triple Platinum album produced two top 20 hits with "Refugee" and "Don't Do Me Like That." In 1981, he teamed with Stevie Nicks for the hit duet "Stop Draggin' My Heart Around."

While new wave and synth-pop took hold in the '80s, Petty stuck to his no-frills heartland rock style while still appealing to a young fan base. Platinum albums, massive tours and hit singles continued, and he began to branch out creatively from the Hearbreakers as the decade came to a closer.

After joining George Harrison, Bob Dylan, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynne in the supergroup-to-end-all-supergroups Traveling Wilburys – whose 1988 debut hit No. 3 on the Billboard 200 – Petty continued to work with Lynne on his solo debut, 1989's Full Moon Fever. It would prove to be his most blockbuster release since Damn the Torpedoes! a decade earlier, going five-times Platinum, hitting No. 3 on the Billboard 200 and producing arguable his best-known song, the inescapable "Free Fallin'," a No. 7 Hot 100 hit. Within the space of two years, Petty followed his runaway hit solo LP with another Traveling Wilburys album as well as a new Heartbreakers album. Barely slowing his pace throughout the next three decades, Petty continued releasing albums, whether with the Heartbreakers, solo or Mudcrutch.

"We ain't no punk band, we ain't folk rock, jazz rock, or any of that bullshit. Just rock, and we don't put no other name on it than that. We'd be stupid if we did," he told Rolling Stone in the '70s.

source: billboard.com

Shooting on Las Vegas Strip kills 20, wounds more than 100

LAS VEGAS – A gunman on the 32nd floor of a Las Vegas Strip casino opened fire on an outdoor music festival, killing at least 20 people — including two off-duty police officers — and wounding more than 100, officials said early Monday.

Country music star Jason Aldean was performing when the shots began ringing out Sunday night at the Route 91 Harvest Festival.

Officers confronted the suspect on the 32nd floor of the Mandalay Bay Hotel and Casino across the street from the concert, Clark County Sheriff Joseph Lombardo said. Authorities say the man died. Police did not release the suspect’s name but said he was a local resident.

Concert-goers reported hearing what they described as automatic gun fire during the shooting.

Lombardo said they believe this was a “lone wolf” attack but said they were looking for a roommate of the dead suspect as a person of interest.

The two slain off-duty officers were attending the concert, Lombardo said. An on-duty officer was in critical condition and another was wounded, Lombardo said.

Several officers from California were attending the music festival. A Bakersfield police officer was shot and taken to the hospital with non-life threatening injuries.

Hours after the shooting, Aldean posted on Instagram that he and his crew were safe and said the shooting was “beyond horrific.”

Kodiak Yazzie, 36, said he and his girlfriend were watching Aldean’s performance when he heard what sounded like fireworks. The music stopped temporarily and started up again before another round of pops sent the performers ducking for cover and fleeing the stage.

Thousands fled as bursts of gunfire could be heard for more than five minutes, Yazzie said.

Jose Baggett, 31, a Las Vegas resident, said he and a friend were in the lobby of the Luxor hotel-casino — directly north of the festival — when people began running. He said people were crying and as he and his friend walked away, they encountered police checkpoints where officers were carrying shotguns and assault rifles.

“There were armored personnel vehicles, SWAT vehicles, ambulances, and at least a half-mile of police cars,” Baggett said.

Witnesses said they saw multiple victims and dozens of ambulances near the concert venue. Some attendees later huddled in the basement of the nearby Tropicana hotel-casino.

Authorities shut down part of the Las Vegas Strip and Interstate 15. Flights were temporarily halted at McCarran International Airport because of the shooting, the airport said on its verified Twitter account.

source: newsinfo.inquirer.net