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Cubs visit the Padres to begin 4-game series

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

Chicago Cubs (24-31, fifth in the NL Central) vs. San Diego Padres (26-30, fourth in the NL West)San Diego; Friday, 9:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Cubs: Jameson Taillon (0-3, 7.76 ERA, 1.69 WHIP, 32 strikeouts); Padres: Michael Wacha (5-1, 3.45 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 49 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Padres -168, Cubs +143; over/under is 8 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The San Diego Padres host the Chicago Cubs to start a four-game series.San Diego is 26-30 overall and 12-15 in home games. The Padres are 19-5 in games when they out-hit their opponents.Chicago is 24-31 overall and 9-15 on the road. The Cubs have the fifth-ranked team ERA in the NL at 4.16.The teams meet Friday for the fourth time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Juan Soto has 14 doubles, 10 home runs and 26 RBI for the Padres. Rougned Odor is 9-for-33 with three doubles, three home runs and 14 RBI over the past 10 games.Ian Happ has 15 doubles, four home runs and 22 RBI for the Cubs. Christopher Morel is 6-for-32 with a double...

Nationals start 3-game series against the Phillies

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

Philadelphia Phillies (25-31, fourth in the NL East) vs. Washington Nationals (24-32, fifth in the NL East)Washington; Friday, 7:05 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Phillies: Zack Wheeler (4-4, 3.60 ERA, 1.14 WHIP, 76 strikeouts); Nationals: Josiah Gray (4-5, 2.77 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 51 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Phillies -180, Nationals +154; over/under is 8 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Washington Nationals open a three-game series at home against the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.Washington has an 11-17 record in home games and a 24-32 record overall. Nationals hitters are batting a collective .264, the best team batting average in the NL.Philadelphia has an 11-21 record in road games and a 25-31 record overall. The Phillies are 21-8 in games when they out-hit their opponents.The matchup Friday is the first meeting this season between the two clubs.TOP PERFORMERS: Luis Garcia has eight doubles, a triple, four home runs and 24 RBI for the Nationals. Keibert Ruiz is 10-for-34 with...

Pirates open 3-game series at home against the Cardinals

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

St. Louis Cardinals (25-32, fourth in the NL Central) vs. Pittsburgh Pirates (28-27, second in the NL Central)Pittsburgh; Friday, 7:05 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Cardinals: Jack Flaherty (3-4, 4.81 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, 58 strikeouts); Pirates: Roansy Contreras (3-4, 4.33 ERA, 1.39 WHIP, 36 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Cardinals -130, Pirates +110; over/under is 9 1/2 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Pittsburgh Pirates open a three-game series at home against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday.Pittsburgh has gone 12-13 at home and 28-27 overall. The Pirates are 18-2 in games when they scored at least five runs.St. Louis has a 13-16 record in road games and a 25-32 record overall. Cardinals hitters have a collective .326 on-base percentage, the sixth-ranked percentage in the NL.Friday’s game is the fifth time these teams square off this season. The season series is tied 2-2.TOP PERFORMERS: Carlos Santana has 14 doubles, three home runs and 24 RBI for the Pirates. Jack Suwinski is 9-fo...

Diamondbacks host the Braves, look to extend home win streak

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

Atlanta Braves (33-23, first in the NL East) vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (34-23, first in the NL West)Phoenix; Friday, 9:40 p.m. EDTPITCHING PROBABLES: Braves: Charlie Morton (5-5, 3.59 ERA, 1.47 WHIP, 63 strikeouts); Diamondbacks: Merrill Kelly (6-3, 3.11 ERA, 1.07 WHIP, 69 strikeouts)FANDUEL SPORTSBOOK MLB LINE: Braves -127, Diamondbacks +108; over/under is 9 runsBOTTOM LINE: The Arizona Diamondbacks will try to keep a five-game home win streak going when they face the Atlanta Braves.Arizona is 34-23 overall and 19-12 at home. Diamondbacks hitters have a collective .325 on-base percentage, the seventh-ranked percentage in the NL.Atlanta has gone 18-9 in road games and 33-23 overall. Braves pitchers have a collective 3.69 ERA, which ranks sixth in the majors.The teams meet Friday for the first time this season.TOP PERFORMERS: Corbin Carroll has 14 doubles, a triple and nine home runs for the Diamondbacks. Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is 13-for-41 with three doubles, a triple, two home runs and...

Webb telescope spies massive plume erupting from Saturn’s moon Enceladus

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

(CNN) — A record-breaking water plume erupted from Saturn’s moon Enceladus, and the James Webb Space Telescope was watching when it occurred.Beneath the thick, icy crust of Enceladus is a global saltwater ocean. Previous missions like Cassini have spied plumes jetting for hundreds of miles between cracks — dubbed “tiger stripes” by scientists — in the ocean world’s surface. The geyser-like plumes release water vapor, organic chemicals and ice particles into space.But the plume witnessed by the Webb telescope spanned more than 6,000 miles (9,656 kilometers), which is nearly the distance between Los Angeles and Buenos Aires, Argentina, according to a NASA release. A study detailing the finding has been accepted for publication in the journal Nature Astronomy.“When I was looking at the data, at first, I was thinking I had to be wrong. It was just so shocking to detect a water plume more than 20 times the size of the moon,” said lead study author Geronimo Villanueva, a planetary scienti...

Azerbaijan accuses Macron of ‘distorting’ Armenia peace talks after EU summit

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

An EU-backed effort to avert a new conflict in the South Caucasus has been overshadowed by a growing diplomatic row, with Azerbaijan accusing French President Emmanuel Macron of misrepresenting what was discussed during high-stakes peace talks with Armenia.Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev and Armenian Prime Minister Nikol Pashinyan met on Thursday evening on the sidelines of the European Political Community summit in Moldova for the latest in a series of negotiations on a potential peace treaty. Macron, along with European Council President Charles Michel and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, joined the sit-down as mediators.In a statement following the summit, the Elysée Palace said the “European leaders called on Armenia and Azerbaijan to respect all their commitments,” urging the two neighboring nations to release prisoners of war and avoid “hostile rhetoric.” In addition, Macron’s press service added, the three Western leaders “stressed the imp...

West should avoid ‘third world war’ with Russia, top adviser to Brazil’s Lula says

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

Ukraine’s Western allies, who have been helping Kyiv defend itself from Russia’s full-scale invasion, risk escalating the war, the top foreign policy adviser to Brazil’s President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva said.“We don’t want a third world war. And even if we don’t have that, we don’t want a new cold war,” said Celso Amorim, a former foreign and defense minister who is now the Brazilian president’s chief adviser on international affairs, in an interview with the Financial Times released Friday.Amorim’s remarks come as Brazil has sought to position itself as an intermediary in talks to end Russia’s war on Ukraine, with Lula’s adviser visiting both Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv in the past few weeks.But while Lula has condemned Russia’s war, he has refused to provide military aid to Kyiv or to sanction Moscow. The Brazilian president has also made a series of contro...

3 juveniles in custody after teens wave weapons during fight in Worcester

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

Three juveniles were taken into custody this week after a fight in Worcester where teenagers were seen waving weapons outside a local store, police said.The incident near the Gala Foods supermarket was captured on a surveillance camera. Witnesses said a large group of teenagers were yelling at each other. Video then showed one person who appeared to pull a knife. Another person was seen pointing a gun. “This is a tough neighborhood,” one area community member told 7NEWS. “But that scared me.” “Roughly 30 seconds later, we heard the sirens in the background,” the same person said.Investigators said officers responded to the area on Main Street for what was reported as a fight between the teens, possibly involving a firearm and a knife just after 6:30 p.m.The group ran away. Later Wednesday night, though, Worcester police said three of the individuals had been arrested. Worcester police said their investigation into this incident is ongoing, asking anyone with informati...

White House wants to engage Russia on nuclear arms control in post-treaty world

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

WASHINGTON (AP) — The White House is ready to have talks with Russia without preconditions about a future nuclear arms control framework even as it is enacting countermeasures in response to Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to suspend the last nuclear arms control treaty between the two countries.White House national security adviser Jake Sullivan will make clear the Biden administration’s desire for talks on building a new framework during an address to the Arms Control Association on Friday, according to two senior administration officials who previewed the address on the condition of anonymity. Putin announced in February he was suspending Russia’s cooperation with the New START Treaty’s provisions for nuclear warhead and missile inspections amid deep tensions between Washington and Moscow over Russia’s ongoing invasion of Ukraine. Russia, however, said it would respect the treaty’s caps on nuclear weapons.The officials said that Sullivan would unders...

China Ukraine envoy urges governments to ‘stop sending weapons to the battlefield,’ negotiate peace

Published Thu, 20 Feb 2025 20:53:04 GMT

BEIJING (AP) — China’s Ukraine envoy appealed Friday to other governments to “stop sending weapons to the battlefield” and hold peace talks but gave no indication that his trip to the region made any progress toward a settlement.Li Hui’s appeal came as Washington and its European allies are ramping up supplies of missiles, tanks and other weapons to Ukrainian forces that are trying to take back Russian-occupied territory.Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s government says it is neutral and wants to serve as a mediator but has supported Moscow politically. “China believes that if we really want to put an end to war, to save lives and realize peace, it is important for us to stop sending weapons to the battlefield, or else the tensions will only spiral up,” Li told reporters. Li visited Ukraine, Russia, Poland, France, Germany and the European Union headquarters during a May 15-28 trip.Political analysts saw little chance that the Chinese initiative would make progress, but it gives Beijing a...