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USA close to World Cup berth
ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) -- Christian Pulisic scored his first international hat trick, leading the United States to the brink of returning to the World Cup with a 5-1 rout of Panama on Sunday night.
Pulisic converted two penalty kicks during a four-goal burst in the first half that also saw Paul Arriola and Jesus Ferreira score, then boosted the lead to 5-0 on memorable goal with two brilliant touches that evaded a pair of defenders.
With fans still fretting after the Americans' failure to reach the 2018 World Cup, the U.S. assumed a commanding position to qualify for the November tournament in Qatar.
Only a loss of six or more goals Wednesday night in the qualifying finale at Costa Rica would cause the Americans not to finish among the top three nations in North and Central America and the Caribbean and claim an automatic berth.
Pulisic, a 23-year-old who last year with Chelsea became the first American to play and win a Champions League final, increased his total to 21 international goals, including 12 in World Cup qualifying. He scored in the 17th minute and fourth minute of first-half stoppage time, both after fouls by Anibal Godoy, improving to 6-for-6 on penalty kicks in his U.S. career.
Guardians' Naylor back from ankle injury
GOODYEAR, Ariz. (AP) -- It didn't take a severe ankle injury to ignite Josh Naylor's love of baseball. But time away from the game definitely deepened his appreciation.
Nine months after a frightening collision ended his season, the Cleveland Guardians outfielder-first baseman is resuming his career. The 24-year-old has played twice on the minor league fields so far, and all signs point to him getting into a regular spring training game on Tuesday.
"It felt great to do it again," Naylor said after batting four times and having some chances in right field Saturday. "I'm trying to keep myself under control."
Naylor, the 12th overall pick by the Miami Marlins in 2015, was traded to San Diego the following year. Cleveland acquired him in a nine-player deal at the 2020 trading deadline.
He had played in 69 of the team's 74 games last year, with seven home runs and a .253 batting average, when trouble struck.
Last June 27 in Minnesota, Naylor was in right field and chasing a shallow flyball when he collided with second baseman Ernie Clement. Jorge Polanco wound up with a single -- Naylor wasn't so fortunate.
Naylor was taken to a hospital and was diagnosed with a "closed fracture and dislocation of the right ankle." He underwent surgery later that week to repair those injuries, in addition to torn ligaments in the ankle.
Penguins score 11 in rout
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Mike Sullivan has spent the last five months praising his team's resilience, so the longtime Pittsburgh Penguins head coach expected a "spirited" response after watching his club get pushed around by the New York Rangers on Friday night.
What Sullivan got Sunday against Detroit wasn't resilience so much as dominance. The kind that provided a reminder that when healthy and in full flight, the Penguins remain as dangerous as ever.
Evgeni Malkin scored three goals to boost his career hat-trick total to 13 -- second-most among active players -- as Pittsburgh overwhelmed the reeling Red Wings in an 11-2 blowout.
Sidney Crosby, Kasperi Kapanen, Jeff Carter, Teddy Blueger, Danton Heinen, Brian Boyle, Bryan Rust and recently acquired Rickard Rakell also scored for the Penguins, who needed less than 30 minutes to take a 6-0 lead on their way to their first 11-goal game in nearly 30 years.
"Tonight was substantially more fun than the other night," said Rust.