ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Brandon McManus is back with the Denver Broncos as their kickoff specialist two weeks after losing his kicking job to veteran Connor Barth.
Denver waived rookie punt returner Isaiah Burse.
McManus’ 69 percent field-goal conversion rate prompted the switch to Barth, who was 5 for 5 on field goals in a 29-16 win at Kansas City.
However, none of his eight kickoffs went for touchbacks on a frigid, windy night at Arrowhead Stadium and the Chiefs’ average starting position on those kickoffs was their 33.
McManus had 48 touchbacks in 64 kickoffs (75 percent) this season. Barth is just 11 for 164 in his career.
Burse averaged 7.2 yards on 29 punt returns. He’ll be replaced Sunday by Emmanuel Sanders or Wes Welker against Buffalo.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Royals right-hander Luke Hochevar hopes to begin throwing off a mound later this month as he continues to rehab from Tommy John surgery that caused him to miss all of last season.
Hochevar, who signed a $10 million, two-year deal to remain in Kansas City this week, had the surgery after feeling a twinge in his pitching elbow in spring training. He wound up watching from the dugout as the Royals surged to the World Series.
Hochevar said on a conference call with reporters Friday that he had other offers in free agency but he wanted to stay with the Royals after watching their success this past season.
The former No. 1 overall draft pick said he feels better now than he did before the surgery.
North Platte Community College will be honoring head volleyball coach, Sally Thalken at halftime of the men’s basketball game against Northeastern Junior College on December 9. Game time is at 7:30 PM.
Coach Thalken has announced her retirement from coaching after 34 years at North Platte Community College.
NEW YORK (AP) — Clayton Kershaw has become the first pitcher to win the National League MVP award in nearly a half-century.
The Los Angeles Dodgers ace beat out Miami slugger Giancarlo Stanton and Pittsburgh outfielder Andrew McCutchen for the honor announced Thursday.
Bob Gibson in 1968 was the previous pitcher to be the NL MVP. Detroit pitcher Justin Verlander won the AL MVP in 2011.
Kershaw unanimously won the NL Cy Young Award on Wednesday. He led the majors in wins and ERA while going 21-3 with a 1.77 ERA and throwing a no-hitter.
Kershaw got 18 of 30 first-place votes and 355 points in balloting by members of the Baseball Writers’ Association of America.
Stanton got eight first-place ballots and 298 points. McCutchen got four first and 271 points.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout unanimously won the AL MVP earlier in the day.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Madison Bumgarner’s World Series performance earned him a spot in the Hall of Fame — well, at least for his caps.
The San Francisco Giants ace donated to the Hall caps he wore during his Game 1 and 5 wins against Kansas City plus his hat from his Game 7 save Wednesday night.
The Hall said it also collected the spikes of Game 7 winner Jeremy Affeldt plus Buster Posey’s bat from the World Series finale and Pablo Sandoval’s jersey.
Hunter Pence’s bat from Game 4, when he had three hits and three RBIs, also is headed to the Hall, located in Cooperstown, New York.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Jamaal Charles ran for two touchdowns, Knile Davis returned a kick 99 yards for another score and the Kansas City Chiefs trounced the St. Louis Rams 34-7 on Sunday.
Cairo Santos added a pair of field goals for Kansas City (4-3), including a career-best 53-yarder. Alex Smith was 24 of 28 for 226 yards, while Davis capped a run of 34 unanswered points with a short touchdown run late in the fourth quarter.
Justin Houston had three of the Chiefs’ seven sacks.
The banged-up Rams (2-5) lost their sixth straight to Kansas City dating to Sept. 25, 1994, when they were still in Los Angeles. Austin Davis threw for 160 yards with a touchdown and a pick.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — When it comes to the Royals’ running game, Kansas City manager Ned Yost thinks the San Francisco Giants are being sticks in the mud.
The area around first base appeared to be a bit mucky for Game 3 of the World Series on Friday night. The Royals appeared to conclude the dirt was hosed down with extra vigor.
Yost says “Maybe the groundskeeper just was looking at all the Royals’ fans up in the corner there and just forgot. I thought it was a little extra wet around first.”
Giants manager Bruce Bochy claimed not to notice unusual dampening.
Kansas City led the major leagues with 153 stolen bases during the regular season. After swiping 13 bases in their first six postseason games this year, the Royals hadn’t stolen any in five straight games entering Saturday.
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Brandon Finnegan passed his biggest test yet.
Only four months after he pitched in the College World Series, the 21-year-old reliever trotted into a troubling seventh inning, got two key outs and helped the Kansas City Royals hold off San Francisco 3-2 Friday night in Game 3 of the World Series.
Along with making history with his rapid ascent, he did more for the Royals — he gave them a 2-1 lead over the Giants.
Back in June, Finnegan said he “lived the college dream” when he threw for TCU. But no one could have envisioned what would follow.
Yet there he was at a rollicking AT&T Park, warming up when he was summoned into a tense spot to take over for proven reliever Kelvin Herrera: Runner on first, one out, Royals clinging to a one-run lead over the rallying Giants.
All of Kansas City infielders huddled behind the mound as Finnegan got loose, realizing the most important point of their season was being entrusted to the rookie left-hander.
Right before pinch-hitter Juan Perez stepped up, Finnegan walked to the back of the mound, took off his hat, looked toward the stands and tried to steady himself.
Then it was time for business, and Finnegan delivered. He retired Perez on an easy fly and struck out Brandon Crawford to end the inning.
Finnegan started to jog off the mound, stopped short of the dugout and walked the rest of the way to the bench, where he was congratulated by Herrera and several other Royals.
Picked 17th overall in the June draft, Finnegan became the first person to be in the College World Series and major league World Series in the same season.
SAN DIEGO (AP) — Cairo Santos kicked a 48-yard field goal field goal with 21 seconds left and the Kansas City Chiefs beat San Diego 23-20 Sunday, snapping the Chargers’ five-game winning streak.
The Chiefs moved into field goal range thanks to Alex Smith, who completed three straight passes on the drive for 43 yards, including a 29-yarder to Dwayne Bowe.
Smith was playing on the same field where he led Helix High to consecutive San Diego Section championships.
Coming off their bye, the Chiefs (3-3) made the AFC West a three-team race, pulling within 1 ½ games of San Diego (5-2). The Denver Broncos (4-1) hosted San Francisco on Sunday night.
The Chargers flunked their sternest test in a month and lost for the first time since a defeat at Arizona in the season opener.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — The Denver Broncos have promoted linebacker Shaquil Barrett from their practice squad to take the roster spot of injured linebacker Danny Trevathan.
The Broncos also signed defensive end Gerald Rivers to their practice squad Wednesday.
Barrett is an undrafted rookie from Colorado State who spent the last six weeks on Denver’s practice squad.
Barrett started 35 of 38 games at CSU, collecting 246 tackles, 18 sacks, 32 1-2 tackles for loss, three interceptions, six pass breakups, seven forced fumbles, four fumble recoveries and three blocked kicks.
Trevathan is on recallable IR with a broken bone near his left kneecap. He’s not eligible to return until mid-December.
Rivers, undrafted out of Ole Miss, played in two games for the Rams and Jaguars last season.
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (AP) — Brandon McManus is back with the Denver Broncos as their kickoff specialist two weeks after losing his kicking job to veteran Connor Barth.
