Jul 4, 2023 3 min read

Penguins ink Butcher to one-year deal

Pittsburgh Penguins President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas announced Monday the team has signed defenseman Will Butcher to a one-year contract.

The two-way contract runs through the 2023-24 season and carries an average annual value of $775,000 at the NHL level.

Butcher, 28, spent the 2022-23 season with the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League, recording six goals, 37 assists and 43 points in 65 games. Butcher led all Stars players in assists and set a franchise record for most assists by a defenseman in a single season. The 5-foot-10, 195-pounder was drafted in the fifth round (123rd overall) of the 2013 NHL Draft by the Colorado Avalanche.

He reached the NHL in 2017 after playing for the University of Denver. Butcher split his first five seasons between the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres, and scored 16 goals and added 98 assists for 114 points in 275 games.

Bucs’ Bednar named to All-Star teamPittsburgh closer David Bednar has been named an All-Star for the second time in his career after Los Angeles Dodgers starter Clayton Kershaw was placed on the injured list Monday.

Bednar joins teammate Mitch Keller as the two Pirates selected to the Mid-Summer Classic, which takes placed on July 11 in Seattle.

Bednar and Keller being selected marks the first time Pittsburgh has sent at least two pitchers to the All-Star Game since 2015 when Mark Melancon, Gerrit Cole and A.J. Burnett represented the black and gold.

After earning his first All-Star selection last season, Bednar has been even better for Pittsburgh in 2023.

Across 31 1/3 innings, Bednar owns a 1.44 ERA and 1.73 FIP, having converted 16 of 17 save attempts. Entering Tuesday, Bednar had a 2.89 ERA and 2.65 FIP across 43 2/3 innings with 16 saves on 20 attempts before the break, his numbers taking a bit of a hit in June and July due to a heavy workload.

Red top Nationals

Brett Kennedy won his first major league appearance in five years, Elly De La Cruz went 4 for 5 with hits from both sides of the plate and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Washington Nationals 8-4 on Tuesday.

Kennedy struck out three and allowed four runs and five hits in five-plus innings, only getting into trouble late in his 86-pitch outing.

De La Cruz had three singles batting right-handed and one left-handed. The switch-hitting rookie sensation was robbed of his first career five-hit game by Nationals center fielder Derek Hill’s diving catch on a line drive in the eighth.

Jonathan India hit two home runs, Nick Senzel had a three-run shot and the Reds stole six bases. They’ve won three in a row and six of their past seven.

n Left fielder Ian Happ threw out two runners at the plate in extra innings, and the Chicago Cubs pulled out a wild 7-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in 11 innings Tuesday after squandering a late lead for the second consecutive game.

Dansby Swanson homered and Miguel Amaya hit a two-run double to help the Cubs build a 6-2 cushion. But the Brewers scored twice in the eighth and twice more in the ninth to tie it.

In the bottom of the 10th, pinch-runner Andruw Monasterio was placed at second base as the automatic runner. He tried to score the winning run on Owen Miller’s one-out single to left but was cut down at home by Happ on a call that stood following a replay review.

Miller was thrown out trying to advance to second, ending the inning