Feb 24, 2021 3 min read

Pirates acquire Fowler

Two days after being designated for assignment by the Oakland Athletics, outfielder Dustin Fowler was traded Wednesday to the Pittsburgh Pirates for cash.

He had been part of the club’s 60-player pool last season but stayed at the alternate site and didn’t play.

Fowler had been considered a possible center fielder of the future for the A’s when Oakland acquired him from the Yankees at the 2017 trade.

Fowler had a freak injury in his major league debut in 2017. He was injured in the first inning and never even got a big league at-bat – he had been on deck when the top of the first inning ended.

Then, running at full speed, the right fielder crashed into the low corner wall at Chicago’s Guaranteed Rate Field while chasing Jose Abreu’s two-out foul. Fowler ruptured the patellar tendon in his knee when it hit a metal box used for Wi-Fi.

Pitt’s Johnson to transfer

Pitt junior point guard Xavier Johnson is transferring.

The school made the surprise announcement Wednesday. Head coach Jeff Capel said in a statement “it was in everyone’s best interests that we part ways.” Johnson will enter the transfer portal immediately.

The move ends an eventful three-year run with the Panthers for Johnson, who averaged 14.2 points in 81 career games, 78 starts. Johnson, from Woodbridge, Virginia, arrived shortly after Capel was hired in the spring of 2018 and made the All-ACC freshman team in 2018-19. He leaves ranked 30th on the school’s all-time points list (1,152).

It’s unclear what led to the decision. Johnson came off the bench rather than start twice this month, including a 32-point performance in an upset of Virginia Tech on Feb. 3.

West Virginia Power joins Atlantic League

Minor league baseball will continue in Charleston, West Virginia, as part of the independent Atlantic League.

The West Virginia Power, the eight-team league and the city announced the affiliation Wednesday.

The Power will compete in the South Division along with teams from Lexington, Kentucky, and High Point and Gastonia, North Carolina. The North Division has teams from Waldorf, Maryland; Lancaster and York, Pennsylvania; and Central Islip on New York’s Long Island.

In the NHL

The struggling Montreal Canadiens fired head coach Claude Julien and associate coach Kirk Muller on Wednesday following a three-game skid.

Assistant coach Dominique Ducharme was appointed interim coach, and Alex Burrows was added to the Canadiens’ coaching staff.

After a one-week break in their schedule, the Canadiens have lost three in a row. They’ve lost five of six and six of eight since a strong start.

• Ross Colton scored in his NHL debut and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 25 saves in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s 3-0 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes in the third of four straight games between the teams.

In baseball

Minnesota Twins shortstop Royce Lewis, considered the organization’s top prospect, has a torn ACL in his right knee that will sideline him for the 2021 season.

Lewis was diagnosed with the injury during physical exams upon reporting to spring training. The 21-year-old Lewis, the first overall pick in the 2017 amateur draft, will have reconstructive surgery Friday.

In the NBA

Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker was selected Wednesday to replace injured Los Angeles Lakers forward Anthony Davis in the NBA All-Star Game.