Archives for May 2021

Adames, Brosseau hit HRs as Rays beat A’s 4-3, avoid sweep

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — The Rays and A’s played a pair of tough series in a span of two weeks, splitting four games in Florida before three more nail-biters in the Bay Area.

Willy Adames hit a three-run homer in the fifth, Mike Brosseau added a tiebreaking drive the following inning and Tampa Bay held off Oakland 4-3 on Sunday to avoid a sweep.

“Home runs can make a lot of questions go away,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said.

These two AL pennant contenders know this might not be the last time they see each other this season, either — all their games were close until the end and decided by two or fewer runs aside from Oakland’s three-run victory Saturday.

“It was just a really good seven games that we played against them in the past two weeks,” Oakland starter Cole Irvin said. “Hats off to them — they’re the reigning AL champions. They’ve got a good ballclub to begin with. If we have similarities with them, that’s a good sign for us.”

Oakland squandered a chance in the eighth when Matt Olson hesitated on Andrew Kittredge’s passed ball and was thrown out at third by catcher Mike Zunino.

Jeffrey Springs (3-1) struck out two in the fifth for the win. Kittredge got five outs for his second save.

Irvin (3-4) was looking to build on a career-high nine strikeouts his last time out that gave him 29 Ks over his past four starts while going 3-1.

But he couldn’t hold a 3-0 lead and wasn’t as dominant as in recent outings. Irvin allowed four runs — three earned — and four hits over six innings, with three strikeouts and a walk.

The Rays wrapped up a 5-2 visit to California.

“It was tough. Irvin had us off balance, we hit some balls hard … but he pitched really well, made it tough,” Cash said. “That was a big hit by Willy, big hit by Bross. Good to see the guys bounce back after getting down 3-0, really salvage a road trip.”

Rays lefty Shane McClanahan gave up three runs on four hits in four innings, struck out five and walked two. He has pitched four innings in each of his four starts.

The A’s faced a left-handed starter for the seventh time in eight games and ninth in 11.

Sergio Romo struck out the side in order in the seventh, then fellow Oakland reliever Burch Smith pitched two perfect innings with two strikeouts in his first appearance since coming off the injured list following a groin strain.

PERFECT MEMORY

Sunday marked 11 years since Dallas Braden’s Mother’s Day masterpiece, when he pitched a perfect game against the Rays here on May 9, 2010. Highlights of the lefty’s gem were shown on the main scoreboard.

San Francisco Giants manager Gabe Kapler grounded out to shortstop for Tampa Bay’s final out.

“Dallas had just really good command that day,” Kapler said. “His ball was sinking, sinking away from us right-handed hitters and he had a nice backdoor breaking ball working, and he was working fast. One of the things that we ask of our pitchers, like, really pushing the pace of the game.

“That game went really fast. Being on the other side — we have also been on the side of Mark Buehrle’s gem — you never want to be in that position and you’re going to scratch and claw to try to ensure that doesn’t happen. He just beat us that day.”

Braden pitched the A’s first perfecto since Hall of Famer Jim “Catfish” Hunter on May 8, 1968, against the Minnesota Twins.

GRAND REOPENING

A’s President Dave Kaval is aiming for a “grand reopening” July 2 against the Red Sox with fireworks ahead of July 4 and more fans in the lower bowl of the Coliseum if COVID-19 restrictions soften in Alameda County and social distancing isn’t as necessary outdoors.

“We’re thrilled that fans are back in the building. It’s really exciting to see everyone out here on Mother’s Day, a lot of really good energy,” Kaval told The AP. “We’re excited to have more fans, hopefully a grand reopening in early July without the social distancing. It could be a great thing, the fireworks, could be amazing.”

Sunday drew a crowd of 6,911.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Rays: CF Kevin Kiermaier went on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left wrist that he hurt trying to steal second base in the second inning Saturday. X-rays were negative but he was still in pain Sunday. Cash called it a “no-brainer” it would take some time to heal, and Kiermaier may be examined further once the team returns home.

Athletics: CF Ramón Laureano, who was back playing the field for Saturday’s game after a break Friday as the designated hitter, was held out as a precaution with a right thumb injury that manager Bob Melvin considers minor. Laureano could have played through it, Melvin said. … OF Chad Pinder (sprained left knee) was set to travel and join Triple-A Las Vegas before beginning a rehab assignment Monday that Melvin figures will be at least three games.

UP NEXT

Rays: Cash said after the game he is penciling in RHP Luis Patino (1-0, 1.17 ERA) to start Tuesday’s series opener at home against the rival Yankees.

Athletics: Following a day off Monday, RHP Chris Bassitt (2-2, 3.70 ERA) takes the mound in Boston. He is 2-0 with a 3.13 ERA over his last five outings.

___

More AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Is Epic Games’ showdown with Apple turning into a mismatch?

SAN RAMON, Calif. (AP) — If Epic Games hopes to dismantle the fortress surrounding Apple’s iPhone and its app store, the video game maker probably will need to roll out some heavier artillery heading into the second week of a trial threatening Apple’s $2 trillion empire.

So far, at least, Epic has been having trouble proving its allegations that the iPhone maker’s 13-year-old app store has turned into an illegal monopoly.

Epic, the maker of the popular Fortnite game, contends Apple has been gouging app makers by charging commissions ranging from 15% to 30% for in-app transactions because it forbids other options on its iPhone, iPad and iPod. When Epic tried to evade the commissions with an alternative payment system in Fortnite last August, Apple ousted it from the app store to set up a legal showdown that could force it to lower its fees.

Apple contends the commissions are a reasonable toll paid by a minority of the 1.8 million apps in its store to help cover the more than $100 billion it has invested in mobile software, The Cupertino, California, company also maintains its ironclad control over apps allowed on its mobile devices helps protect its customers’ security and privacy.

At times, it seemed like Cary, North Carolina-based Epic was helping make Apple’s case as much as its own during the the first week of the trial being held in an Oakland, California, courtroom.

For instance, at one point during his two days on the witness stand, Epic CEO Tim Sweeney acknowledged he personally used an iPhone instead of smartphones running on Google’s Android software because he thought Apple offered better security and privacy controls.

Sweeney also acknowledged Apple made changes to iPhone’s software to help make it possible for Fortnite players to compete against each other while one was on a phone and the other was on a video game console. The expansion of so-called “cross-platform” play helped propel Fortnite’s growth to more than 400 million users.

Other internal documents showed Epic’s executives profusely thanking Apple for the support Fortnite was getting in the app store.

Other evidence raised questions about whether Epic’s efforts to create a competing app store that imposes a commission of only 12% will pay off. The store is expected to post a profit ranging from $15 million to $36 million by 2024, but it will still have run up cumulative losses $654 million to $854 million, according to Epic’s internal projections presented at the trial.

Apple’s store, by contrast, quickly became highly profitable shortly after it opened with just 500 apps in 2008 — a year after the debut of the first iPhone. Epic has repeatedly pointed to evidence that Apple’s late co-founder Steve Jobs initially didn’t expect the app store to be a profit center, but then apparently changed his mind after it accumulated $2.1 billion in billings during 2010, according to an Apple slide presentation.

The trial hasn’t yet revealed just how profitable Apple’s app store has become. Apple doesn’t disclose the store’s financial results, but it is an important part of the company’s steadily growing services division, which generated $57 billion in revenue last year alone. The success of those services coupled with the iPhone’s ongoing popularity is a key reason why Apple currently boasts a market value of $2.2 trillion — more than any other U.S. company. In contrast, privately held Epic is valued at nearly $30 billion.

More financial details about Apple’s app store are expected to be presented during the trial’s second week. Perhaps the most revealing moments may come when one of Epic’s experts, Ned Barnes of the Berkeley Research Group, takes the stand to discuss his analysis of the app store’s profits.

Apple unsuccessfully tried to convince U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers to close the courtroom during Barnes’ testimony because his financial analysis “unduly confuse” investors and cause wild swings in its stock.

But even if the app store’s profits are higher than anyone fathomed, that won’t necessarily help Epic prove its allegations that Apple is running a monopoly that hurts competition.

“Being successful is not an antitrust violation in and of itself,” said Daniel Lyons, a Boston College law professor. “The argument that your prices are much higher than your costs may play well to a lay audience, but it doesn’t hold up legally.”

For all the drama, Lyons and other experts say the decision that will ultimately be made by the judge during this non-jury trial will boil down to market definitions. Epic contends the iPhone has become a market by itself, while Apple argues it should also include other devices, including video game consoles such as Microsoft’s Xbox and Sony’s PlayStation that also charge 30% commissions on gaming transactions.

“If I were a betting man, I would certainly say Apple has the stronger case under existing case law,” said Larry Downes, project director of Georgetown University’s Center for Business and Public Policy. “You have to put yourself in the standpoint of the consumer, and that’s what the judge really has to do. If it’s not harming consumers, then this is just a contract dispute between two companies, with one of them trying to use litigation to renegotiate the terms.”

Blackhawks beat Stars 4-2 in fans’ return to United Center

CHICAGO (AP) — Alex DeBrincat scored two more goals, Kevin Lankinen made 37 saves and the Chicago Blackhawks welcomed fans back to the United Center with a 4-2 victory over the Dallas Stars on Sunday night.

Chicago hosted a crowd of 3,820 for its first home game with fans in almost 14 months. It was the last U.S.-based NHL team to open its doors to the public during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two of the biggest cheers of the night were for DeBrincat, who extended his goal-scoring streak to six in a row. He scored on a power play in the first period and then helped close it out when he made it 4-2 with his 31st of the season with 3:12 left.

The Blackhawks had 10 rookies in the lineup for their penultimate game of the season, and they did enough to hold off Dallas in the Stars’ first game since they were eliminated from playoff contention.

Brandon Hagel had a goal and an assist in Chicago’s second straight win. MacKenzie Entwistle became the ninth player to score his first career goal with the Blackhawks this year.

Dallas lost for the sixth time in seven games. Denis Gurianov and Mark Pysyk scored for the Stars, and Anton Khudobin made 21 stops.

Dallas was eliminated from playoff contention when Nashville clinched the final spot in the Central Division with a 3-1 victory over Carolina on Saturday night. With the Stars out of the race, coach Rick Bowness decided to rest banged-up forwards Tyler Seguin and Roope Hintz for the final two games.

The Stars lost to Tampa Bay in the Stanley Cup Final in September, but they were hit hard by injuries this year. They also had to deal with a COVID-19 outbreak in January and a winter storm in mid-February that shuffled their schedule.

“We know on paper, a healthy team, we’re fighting with those other teams for first place in the division. There’s no question in my mind,” Bowness said. “So that’s a huge disappointment, but those are things you can’t control. You can’t. So you can’t beat yourself up for it.”

Chicago was bounced from the playoff race when it lost 5-2 at Carolina last Monday, part of a late-season fade for the Blackhawks after contending for much of the year. Defenseman Duncan Keith and forward Brett Connolly sat out against the Stars after they each suffered a concussion during Thursday night’s 2-1 victory against the Hurricanes.

The crowd cheered loudly when the Blackhawks showed a pregame video welcoming fans back to the United Center. The fans’ return also meant more cheers throughout the national anthem — a longtime tradition in Chicago.

After Dallas controlled the play early on, the Blackhawks jumped in front when Entwistle finished a pretty passing sequence 6:23 into the first. Gurianov then tied it at 1 with his 12th of the season, but Hagel put Chicago ahead to stay when he finished a breakaway at 10:31.

UP NEXT

The teams play again Monday night at the United Center.

___

Jay Cohen can be reached at https://twitter.com/jcohenap

___

More AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/NHL and https://twitter.com/AP_Sports

Cyberattack on US pipeline is linked to criminal gang

NEW YORK (AP) — The cyberextortion attempt that has forced the shutdown of a vital U.S. pipeline was carried out by a criminal gang known as DarkSide that cultivates a Robin Hood image of stealing from corporations and giving a cut to charity, two people close to the investigation said Sunday.

The shutdown, meanwhile, stretched into its third day, with the Biden administration loosening regulations for the transport of petroleum products on highways as part of an “all-hands-on-deck” effort to avoid disruptions in the fuel supply.

Experts said that gasoline prices are unlikely to be affected if the pipeline is back to normal in the next few days but that the incident — the worst cyberattack to date on critical U.S. infrastructure — should serve as a wake-up call to companies about the vulnerabilities they face.

The pipeline, operated by Georgia-based Colonial Pipeline, carries gasoline and other fuel from Texas to the Northeast. It delivers roughly 45% of fuel consumed on the East Coast, according to the company.

It was hit by what Colonial called a ransomware attack, in which hackers typically lock up computer systems by encrypting data, paralyzing networks, and then demand a large ransom to unscramble it.

On Sunday, Colonial Pipeline said it was actively in the process of restoring some of its IT systems. It says it remains in contact with law enforcement and other federal agencies, including the Department of Energy, which is leading the federal government response. The company has not said what was demanded or who made the demand.

However, two people close to the investigation, speaking on condition of anonymity, identified the culprit as DarkSide. It is among ransomware gangs that have “professionalized” a criminal industry that has cost Western nations tens of billions of dollars in losses in the past three years.

DarkSide claims that it does not attack hospitals and nursing homes, educational or government targets and that it donates a portion of its take to charity. It has been active since August and, typical of the most potent ransomware gangs, is known to avoid targeting organizations in former Soviet bloc nations.

Colonial did not say whether it has paid or was negotiating a ransom, and DarkSide neither announced the attack on its dark web site nor responded to an Associated Press reporter’s queries. The lack of acknowledgment usually indicates a victim is either negotiating or has paid.

On Sunday, Colonial Pipeline said it is developing a “system restart” plan. It said its main pipeline remains offline but some smaller lines are now operational.

“We are in the process of restoring service to other laterals and will bring our full system back online only when we believe it is safe to do so, and in full compliance with the approval of all federal regulations,” the company said in a statement.

Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo said Sunday that ransomware attacks are “what businesses now have to worry about,” and that she will work “very vigorously” with the Department of Homeland Security to address the problem, calling it a top priority for the administration.

“Unfortunately, these sorts of attacks are becoming more frequent,” she said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.” “We have to work in partnership with business to secure networks to defend ourselves against these attacks.”

She said President Joe Biden was briefed on the attack.

“It’s an all-hands-on-deck effort right now,” Raimondo said. “And we are working closely with the company, state and local officials to make sure that they get back up to normal operations as quickly as possible and there aren’t disruptions in supply.”

The Department of Transportation issued a regional emergency declaration Sunday, relaxing hours-of-service regulations for drivers carrying gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and other refined petroleum products in 17 states and the District of Columbia. It lets them work extra or more flexible hours to make up for any fuel shortage related to the pipeline outage.

One of the people close to the Colonial investigation said that the attackers also stole data from the company, presumably for extortion purposes. Sometimes stolen data is more valuable to ransomware criminals than the leverage they gain by crippling a network, because some victims are loath to see sensitive information of theirs dumped online.

Security experts said the attack should be a warning for operators of critical infrastructure — including electrical and water utilities and energy and transportation companies — that not investing in updating their security puts them at risk of catastrophe.

Ed Amoroso, CEO of TAG Cyber, said Colonial was lucky its attacker was at least ostensibly motivated only by profit, not geopolitics. State-backed hackers bent on more serious destruction use the same intrusion methods as ransomware gangs.

“For companies vulnerable to ransomware, it’s a bad sign because they are probably more vulnerable to more serious attacks,” he said. Russian cyberwarriors, for example, crippled the electrical grid in Ukraine during the winters of 2015 and 2016.

Cyberextortion attempts in the U.S. have become a death-by-a-thousand-cuts phenomenon in the past year, with attacks forcing delays in cancer treatment at hospitals, interrupting schooling and paralyzing police and city governments.

Tulsa, Oklahoma, this week became the 32nd state or local government in the U.S. to come under ransomware attack, said Brett Callow, a threat analyst with the cybersecurity firm Emsisoft.

Average ransoms paid in the U.S. jumped nearly threefold to more than $310,000 last year. The average downtime for victims of ransomware attacks is 21 days, according to the firm Coveware, which helps victims respond.

David Kennedy, founder and senior principal security consultant at TrustedSec, said that once a ransomware attack is discovered, companies have little recourse but to completely rebuild their infrastructure, or pay the ransom.

“Ransomware is absolutely out of control and one of the biggest threats we face as a nation,” Kennedy said. “The problem we face is most companies are grossly underprepared to face these threats.”

Colonial transports gasoline, diesel, jet fuel and home heating oil from refineries on the Gulf Coast through pipelines running from Texas to New Jersey. Its pipeline system spans more than 5,500 miles (8,850 kilometers), transporting more than 100 million gallons (380 million liters) a day.

Debnil Chowdhury at the research firm IHSMarkit said that if the outage stretches to one to three weeks, gas prices could begin to rise.

“I wouldn’t be surprised, if this ends up being an outage of that magnitude, if we see 15- to 20-cent rise in gas prices over next week or two,” he said.

The Justice Department has a new task force dedicated to countering ransomware attacks.

While the U.S. has not suffered any serious cyberattacks on its critical infrastructure, officials say Russian hackers in particular are known to have infiltrated some crucial sectors, positioning themselves to do damage if armed conflict were to break out. While there is no evidence the Kremlin benefits financially from ransomware, U.S. officials believe President Vladimir Putin savors the mayhem it wreaks in adversaries’ economies.

Iranian hackers have also been aggressive in trying to gain access to utilities, factories and oil and gas facilities. In one case in 2013, they broke into the control system of a U.S. dam.

___

Bajak reported from Boston. AP Writers Alan Suderman in Richmond, Virginia, and Martin Crutsinger and Michael Balsamo in Washington contributed to this report.

States scale back vaccine orders as interest in shots wanes

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — States asked the federal government this week to withhold staggering amounts of COVID-19 vaccine amid plummeting demand for the shots, contributing to a growing U.S. stockpile of doses.

From South Carolina to Washington, states are requesting the Biden administration send them only a fraction of what’s been allocated to them. The turned-down vaccines amount to hundreds of thousands of doses this week alone, providing a stark illustration of the problem of vaccine hesitancy in the U.S.

More than 150 million Americans — about 57% of the adult population — have received at least one dose of vaccine, but government leaders from the Biden administration down to the city and county level are doing everything they can to persuade the rest of the country to get inoculated.

U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy said Friday that the federal government has dedicated $250 million for community organizations to promote vaccinations, make appointments and provide transportation.

He cited examples such as holding conversations with small groups of people in minority communities in St. Louis and asking Rhode Island churches to contact community members and offer them rides to vaccination sites. He also noted that a global Hindu American organization has turned temples into vaccination centers, making it easier for elderly members to get shots in a familiar setting. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has added a vaccination site in which people can get their shots in a Formula 1 garage near the race tunnels.

The Biden administration announced this week that if states don’t order all the vaccine they’ve been allotted, the administration will shift the surplus to meet demand in other states.

In another sign of the burgeoning national surplus, Biden announced last week that his administration would share the nation’s entire stock of AstraZeneca doses with the world once it clears safety reviews.

The huge supply and dwindling demand has highlighted the vast inequalities during the pandemic, with countries like India buckling under a disastrous surge of the virus and other nations having no doses at all. At the same time, wealthy countries like the U.S. are awash in vaccine, and seeing cases and deaths plunge as a result.

The federal government allocates vaccines to each state based on their population size, and then it’s up to the states to decide how many doses they want to order every week. Early on, states routinely asked for the full allocation —- and were clamoring for more shots — but now they are scaling back requests.

Wisconsin officials have asked for just 8% of the 162,680 doses the federal government had set aside for the state next week. Julie Willems Van Dijk, the state health department’s deputy secretary, acknowledged earlier that demand is softening and vaccinators are drawing down existing inventories before ordering more doses.

In Iowa, officials have asked the federal government for 29% of that state’s allocated doses next week. Kansas officials asked for less than 9% of their 162,000-dose allotment this past week. Counties have been turning down doses as demand plummets, leaving the state with a stockpile of almost 647,000 doses.

Melaney Arnold, a spokeswoman for the Illinois Department of Public Health, said the state has five weeks’ worth of doses on hand. Last week, state officials for the first time requested fewer doses than allotted because of declining demand. The state plans to request just 9% of its allotted doses for everywhere but Chicago for next week.

Connecticut has requested 26% of its allotment for next week. South Carolina plans to order 21% of its doses.

North Carolina has scaled back its request for the past week by 40%. Washington state also cut its order by about 40% this week, the first time the state’s order has been smaller than its allocation.

Not everyone is dialing back. Maryland and Colorado are still ordering their full amount. So is New York City. The average number of daily shots in the nation’s largest city has dropped about 40% since peaking at more than 95,000 in mid-April, but city officials want a steady supply of doses to create more shots at doctor’s offices, neighborhood pharmacies and other small providers, hoping to appeal to people who have skipped mass vaccination sites.

“We’ve got the demand to keep using our supply effectively,” Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Health experts have generally said about 70% of the nation’s population would need to be vaccinated to reach herd immunity. The Biden administration wants to get 70% of adult Americans vaccinated by July 4, but has acknowledged the downward trend in vaccinations and the challenge to win over people who doubt the vaccine’s effectiveness or simply don’t want to get shots.

The president announced Tuesday that federal officials will expand smaller and mobile vaccination clinics for hard-to-reach communities and push education campaigns. He also has touted incentive programs, such as discounts for shoppers who get vaccinated at grocery stores.

North Carolina health officials are considering paying younger people to get shots. West Virginia has announced people between the ages of 16 and 35 will be eligible for a $100 savings bond if they get the vaccine or have gotten it. Detroit officials started a program Monday to pay people $50 for every city resident they sign up for a first dose and bring in for an appointment.

Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, vice dean for public health practice and community engagement at Johns Hopkins University, said he wasn’t “despairing” over the slowing of demand.

“Herd immunity is not necessarily a moment when the music plays and the sun shines,” he said. “It is about how easy it is for the virus to pass around in a community, and I think there is a lot more progress to be made. People who think, ‘Well, we are done with the large stadiums, so that is it, we are not going to vaccinate any more people’ are wrong. You can vaccinate a lot of people if you make it convenient for them, if you get it to their doctor’s offices, if you answer their questions. But it is going to take a different type of effort to do it.”

___

Hollingsworth reported from Mission, Kansas. Associated Press reporters from around the country contributed to this report.

Archives for May 2021

Footer