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Sports Headlines: 8/11/20

Sports

August 11th, 2020 by Ric Hanson

Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press

DETROIT (AP) — A doubleheader between the St. Louis Cardinals and Detroit Tigers this week is being postponed to allow more time for additional COVID-19 testing. MLB opted to postpone Thursday’s doubleheader to continue additional testing while players and staff are quarantined before the team returns to play. More details about the Cardinals’ resumption of play will be announced later this week. The Cardinals had a series against Pittsburgh set to start on Monday postponed after a weekend series against the Cubs was scrapped due to three positive coronavirus tests.

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Patrick Mahomes might be having the best year of anyone. The Chiefs quarterback began it by leading his team to its first Super Bowl title in 50 years. He signed a record-setting contract extension that could pay him a half-billion dollars. He even bought a stake in the Kansas City Royals. But with the Chiefs heading into the thick of training camp, Mahomes told The Associated Press in a wide-ranging interview that his focus remains squarely on football, even as he lends support to the Black Lives Matter movement and spearheads a voter registration drive in his own community.

UNDATED (AP) — The Mountain West has become the second FBS conference to postpone its football season due to the coronavirus pandemic, punting on all fall sports with an eye toward playing in the spring. The 12-team Mountain West joins the Mid-American Conference as leagues from the highest tier of NCAA Division I football to bail on the fall season and hope to make a go of it in the spring. The Mountain West features Boise State, Air Force and San Diego State, each of which were ranked at some point last year.

UNDATED (AP) — President Donald Trump joined a U.S. senator and a number of coaches hoping to save the college football season from a pandemic-forced shutdown. There was speculation the Big Ten and Pac-12 conferences might call off their fall seasons. The Mountain West did just that, postponing until spring. Old Dominion canceled fall sports, too, and became the first school in the Football Bowl Subdivison to break from its league in doing so. The rest of Conference USA is going forward with plans to play. The powerful Southeastern Conference made clear it was not yet ready to shutter its fall season.

UNDATED (AP) — College football players from across the country are uniting. They want to save a season threatened by the pandemic and make sure they won’t be left out of the big decisions anymore. After Clemson star Trevor Lawrence sparked a movement by tweeting “we want to play,” he was contacted by a player activist from Michigan. In a couple hours, two hashtags — WeWantToPlay and WeAreUnited — merged. Not only do the players want to play, but they want to create a players association for college football.

NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mets hurler Marcus Stroman has opted out of the rest of the season due to concerns over the pandemic. Stroman was recovering from a torn calf muscle and was in line to possibly make his season debut next week against the Marlins in Miami. He is scheduled to become a free agent after the season and is the second Met to opt out of the season, joining outfielder Yoenis Cespedes (yoh-EH’-nehs SEHS’-peh-dehs).

PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona Diamondbacks’ ace Madison Bumgarner has been placed on the 10-day injured list with a mid-back strain. The left-hander allowed six runs on five hits in two innings against the Padres on Sunday to remain winless since signing a five-year, $85 million deal. The four-time All-Star has a 9.35 ERA after Sunday’s start.