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EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — It was the question hovering over the New York Giants ever since the 2025 NFL draft in late April.
When were they going to turn to rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart?
There were plans and hopes and dreams of Russell Wilson magically finding the fountain of youth while serving as the bridge quarterback to the No. 25 pick out of Ole Miss. It didn’t matter. The answer ultimately was Week 4 against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Dart will be the Giants’ starter against the Chargers at MetLife Stadium on Sunday (1 p.m. ET, CBS). The decision came down Tuesday after coach Brian Daboll left the door open to a change on Monday.
At that point, it was over. There was no turning back. Dart starts and Wilson will be the backup.
This was always going to be the way it played out. Wilson would start until the Giants couldn’t justify him being the starter anymore. At that point, Daboll and general manager Joe Schoen, in need of results, would have no choice but to turn to Dart.
The Giants (0-3) are one of six winless teams. Their head coach and GM are under pressure, having amassed a 9-28 record since the start of the 2023 season, and in 2025 their offense has produced fewer than 300 yards of offense in two of the three games.
“I’m aware of how many games we’ve won and obviously the results are not even close to what we want them to be,” Giants owner John Mara said this past January. “They’re going to have to get better if we’re going to move on to year [five].”
It’s impossible to ignore those words with another lost season potentially on the horizon. And so far, the results haven’t been better, prompting the move to Dart. It’s perhaps the final card for Daboll and Schoen to play.
In an ideal world, the Giants would have liked to win enough games so that Dart could essentially have a redshirt season. Schoen shook his head seemingly in agreement at this idea after the draft.
At the very least, the Giants were hoping Wilson and his leadership could produce a better product than previous years and win enough games to hold off the decision until the second half of the season. That didn’t happen either, even if Wilson had a 450-yard performance in Week 2 against the Dallas Cowboys.
The Giants couldn’t justify it anymore at 0-3 with four of their next six games against undefeated opponents. Schoen and Daboll couldn’t justify it anymore with the pressure on them.
And so they decided Dart was ready to be the Giants’ backup after three weeks into the season. The development plan with numerous checkpoints they had talked about for months was no longer a factor.
In fact, this was inevitable early in the season the moment the Giants made Dart the backup ahead of Jameis Winston for Week 1. Dart was a rolled ankle from Wilson away from entering his first regular-season game in that role. It signified that the Giants already thought he was ready to play after a strong summer and preseason.
Dart ultimately played six snaps over the past two weeks in special short-yardage and red zone packages. He has yet to throw an NFL pass. That will change on Sunday.
“Well we put him in the game the last two weeks,” Daboll said earlier this week. “So we wouldn’t put anyone in the game we don’t feel confident with.”
This move is all about Dart, and Schoen and Daboll, and little to do with Wilson. The Giants traded back into the first round to select Dart after sources told ESPN that he was Daboll’s quarterback of choice. Dart quickly established himself as the No. 2 quarterback ahead of Winston early on in training camp and only got better as the summer progressed.
A strong preseason increased the public’s insatiable desire to see Dart as the team’s starter. It reached the point in the home opener on Sunday that fans booed Wilson after an interception late in the first half of a tie game. There were chants of “We want Dart!” at other points of the game.
It’s important to note that Wilson was never the Giants’ first choice this offseason. It makes it easier to move off him. They first tried to land Matthew Stafford, did a dalliance with the Tennessee Titans with Cam Ward in mind and were held hostage for a few weeks in hopes that a 42-year-old Aaron Rodgers would choose them. Rodgers eventually picked the Pittsburgh Steelers.
The Giants went with Wilson and Winston as their veteran bridges to Dart. Wilson was handed the starting job the day he signed, but it was only temporary, or at least until they needed Dart.
Wilson hasn’t been great to start the season (aside from in Dallas). He still would have likely been the Giants’ starting quarterback had it not been for the situation around him.
The reality is that Wilson is sixth in the NFL in passing yards with 778 despite having been pressured on 46 dropbacks this season, tied for second with Cleveland’s Joe Flacco. Only Ward has been pressured more.
But that’s also where Dart can help. Wilson is 36 years old and not the athlete and running threat he once was after years of service with the Seahawks, Broncos and Steelers. Dart is the more athletic option and the Giants’ offense looked different with him this summer. The zone-read and run-pass option comes into play more with the athletic rookie behind center.
Schoen and Daboll hope that makes a difference, not only with how the offense looks but also in the win-loss column. And in how the organization’s future is portrayed as well.
Sure, that puts some pressure on Dart to produce immediately. That is what makes this different than Eli Manning taking over for Kurt Warner in Week 11 of the 2004 season or Daniel Jones replacing Manning in Week 3 of 2019.
The futures of the coach and general manager likely hinge on Dart’s instant success.
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Jordan Raanan
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The European club season has been in full swing for over a month now, giving those U.S. men’s national team players plying their trade overseas the chance to establish themselves. Some have gotten off to uneven starts, with the opening round of UEFA Champions League fixtures proving to be especially difficult. Others have hit the ground running. Those in MLS have been in rhythm for a while now.
Then there’s Christian Pulisic, who has been leading the U.S. charge in Europe for nine years now and already has five goals in all competitions this season. Fortunately for the USMNT, Pulisic is one of several players who have been hitting their stride in recent weeks.
Throughout the season, ESPN will be monitoring the progress of the U.S. player pool, delivering insights into those whose form or fitness has made them particularly intriguing. We call it the USMNT’s countdown to the World Cup.
ESPN will count down to June 11 every week so that way, when the U.S. team is announced for this highly anticipated World Cup on home soil, no names on that 26-man roster will come as a surprise.
Only 260 days to go.
– Rae: Will Gladbach instability be a blessing or a curse for Reyna?
– USMNT 2026 World Cup Big Board 2.0: Balogun, Zendejas rise
– Carlisle: Zendejas’ starring role has come at the right time for USMNT
2025-26 minutes: 450
2025-26 FotMob rating: 7.5
Tessmann had already enjoyed a solid start to the season, but last weekend he kicked his campaign into overdrive, scoring the lone goal in Lyon’s 1-0 victory over Angers, a result that put the club in a tie atop the Ligue 1 table, behind AS Monaco and Paris Saint-Germain on goal differential. Not bad for a team that was threatened with relegation due to financial irregularities before the start of the season.
As for Tessmann, the question remains: Will these performances be enough to get him back in the U.S. squad? He hasn’t been called up since the Concacaf Nations League in March. To be clear, they should be, but the mind of U.S. manager Mauricio Pochettino works in mysterious ways. At minimum, Tessmann should be in contention to provide cover for Tyler Adams, or even crack the starting lineup.
2025-26 minutes: 264
2025-26 FotMob rating: 7.1
Credit Tillman for showing a strong mentality, bouncing back from a dreadful match in midweek against F.C. København in the Champions League to deliver a man of the match performance against Borussia Mönchengladbach in which he scored his second league goal of the season. A tactical tweak from manager Kasper Hjulmand might have helped.
Against Copenhagen, Tillman was operating as one of the dual No. 10s and struggled mightily to get on the ball. Against Gladbach, he was deployed deeper in midfield and had a much stronger impact on the game, even beyond his 70th-minute goal. Hjulmand afterward continued to preach patience, as Tillman is one of many new arrivals to the squad, but the player’s ability to shake off a poor performance will serve him well for both club and country.
2025-26 minutes: 286
2025-26 FotMob rating: 7.9
This was an impressive week for Pulisic, even by his lofty standards. After scoring two goals and helping set the table for a third in last weekend’s 3-0 win over Udinese, Pulisic maintained his fine form by scoring the final goal — on the half-volley, no less — in a 3-0 Coppa Italia win over Lecce.
There’s not much more to be said about Pulisic that hasn’t been already. He remains the USMNT’s most important attacking player, and he now holds the mark for most goals by an American in Europe’s top five leagues with 59. As long as he can stay healthy, he’s a lock to be in the U.S. lineup.
He’ll try to keep the momentum going in this weekend’s momentous clash with top-of-the table Napoli.
When Pochettino switched to a three-man back line during the September international window, it was a move that didn’t appear to benefit Gladbach’s Joe Scally. The wing back position favors the mobility and attacking instincts demonstrated by the likes of Sergiño Dest and Alex Freeman over the defending of Scally, but then Gladbach interim manager Eugen Polanski trotted out a 3-4-3 with Scally as the right wing back, and the American delivered an impressive performance.
Scally showed an ability to get forward that was unexpected given that he recorded no goals and no assists this past season — his xG of 0.26 is already on its way to eclipsing last year’s 0.38. Granted, who knows what formation the permanent Gladbach coach will prefer once he’s hired, but the performance should help keep Scally in the lineup.
Given his performance last weekend, why isn’t he in this week’s in-form XI? It’s a fair question, especially when you consider Dest conceded a penalty that was converted in PSV Eindhoven‘s 2-2 draw with Ajax. Combined with some defensively shaky moments during the September international window, it’s worth weighing whether Dest is enough of a defensive liability that he loses his spot in the starting lineup. That said, Dest’s value in attack is still high enough given his ability to deliver the unexpected, though Scally has given Pochettino something to think about in terms of who his starting wing backs should be.
Meanwhile, the relative stock of the U.S. corps of forwards continues to go through some wild swings in form. Folarin Balogun looked to have gained some separation from the chasing pack after a great performance against Japan, but that was before his tepid effort in a 4-1 Champions League defeat to Club Brugge landed him on the bench for last week’s league encounter against Metz. Even worse for Balogun, his replacement, Mika Biereth, scored the opener in a 5-2 win, while Ansu Fati scored two off the bench and George Ilenikhena also got on the score sheet.
The silver lining for Balogun is that no other U.S. center forwards scored last weekend, although Ricardo Pepi‘s selfless run to the near post allowed Ismael Saibari to score PSV’s first, so he’ll remain the starter in this week’s lineup. Also, Balogun’s skill set is unique within the USMNT player pool, given his ability to make runs in behind the opposition defense, and this should mean his spot in the U.S. squad is still secure. He’ll need to work his way back into the Monaco lineup, though, and this week’s match at Lorient will reveal the extent to which his spot in the club hierarchy has fallen.
ESPN’s USMNT Big Board 2.0 went live earlier this month, and each Big Board will provide the foundation for weekly player updates. Below are the minutes and player ratings for each of those 37 players.
Matt Turner, goalkeeper, New England Revolution: 630 minutes in 2025; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025.
Matt Freese goalkeeper, New York City FC: 2,790 minutes in 2025; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025.
Zack Steffen, goalkeeper, Colorado Rapids: 2,160 minutes in 2025; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025.
Patrick Schulte, goalkeeper, Columbus Crew: 2,430 minutes in 2025; 6.8 FotMob rating in 2025.
Chris Richards, center back, Crystal Palace: 659 minutes in 2025-26; 7.4 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Richards continues to deliver for Palace, completing 86.7% of his passes and winning 87.5% of his duels in a 2-1 win over West Ham United.
Tim Ream, center back, Charlotte FC: 2,147 minutes in 2025; 6.7 FotMob rating in 2025.
Mark McKenzie, center back, Toulouse: 450 minutes in 2025-26; 6.6 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Cameron Carter-Vickers, center back, Celtic: 750 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Miles Robinson, center back, FC Cincinnati: 2,438 minutes in 2025; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025.
Auston Trusty, center back, Celtic: 152 minutes in 2025-26; 6.4 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Tristan Blackmon, center back, Vancouver Whitecaps: 2,962 minutes in 2025; 7.2 FotMob rating in 2025.
Sergiño Dest, fullback, PSV Eindhoven: 691 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Antonee Robinson, fullback, Fulham: 141 minutes in 2025-26; 6.8 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Robinson’s recovery from offseason knee surgery took way longer than expected, but he finally played a full 90 minutes for the Cottagers in Tuesday’s Carabao Cup victory over fourth-tier side Cambridge United. Now let’s see if he can reclaim his spot in league play.
Joe Scally, fullback, Borussia Mönchengladbach: 355 minutes in 2025-26; 7.2 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Caleb Wiley, fullback, Watford: 18 minutes in 2025-26; 6.2 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Max Arfsten, fullback, Columbus Crew: 2,682 minutes in 2025; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025.
Alex Freeman, fullback, Orlando City SC: 2,802 minutes in 2025; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025.
Tyler Adams, midfielder, AFC Bournemouth: 464 minutes in 2025-26; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Weston McKennie, midfielder, Juventus: 141 minutes in 2025-26; 6.7 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Johnny Cardoso, midfielder, Atlético Madrid: 185 minutes in 2025-26; 6.8 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Cardoso has been dealing with an ankle injury, hence his omission from the game-day roster in last weekend’s 1-1 draw with Mallorca.
Luca de la Torre, midfielder, San Diego FC: 2,299 minutes in 2025; 6.8 FotMob rating in 2025.
Tanner Tessmann, midfielder, Lyon: 450 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Yunus Musah, midfielder, Atalanta: 206 minutes in 2025-26; 6.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Sebastian Berhalter, midfielder, Vancouver Whitecaps: 2,906 minutes in 2025; 7.6 FotMob rating in 2025.
Cristian Roldan, midfielder, Seattle Sounders FC: 3,425 minutes in 2025; 7.4 FotMob rating in 2025.
Christian Pulisic, attacker, AC Milan: 286 minutes in 2025-26; 7.9 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Tim Weah, attacker, Marseille: 397 minutes in 2025-26; 7.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Weah has been Marseille’s Mr. Fixit, lining up as a right wing back in OM’s 1-0 win over previously unbeaten PSG. Will that help him or hurt him when the next USMNT camp opens? Either way, his versatility remains impressive.
Malik Tillman, attacker, Bayer Leverkusen: 264 minutes in 2025-26; 7.1 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Diego Luna, attacker, Real Salt Lake: 2,255 minutes in 2025; 7.2 FotMob rating in 2025.
Alejandro Zendejas, attacker, América: 777 minutes in 2025-26; 7.4 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Gio Reyna, attacker, Borussia Mönchengladbach: 84 minutes in 2025-26; 6.7 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Folarin Balogun, forward, AS Monaco: 306 minutes in 2025-26; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Ricardo Pepi, forward, PSV Eindhoven: 306 minutes in 2025-26; 7.0 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Josh Sargent, forward, Norwich City: 581 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Patrick Agyemang, forward, Derby County: 66 minutes in 2025-26; 6.9 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Haji Wright, forward, Coventry City: 542 minutes in 2025-26; 7.5 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
Damion Downs, forward, Southampton: 271 minutes in 2025-26; 6.3 FotMob rating in 2025-26.
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Jeff Carlisle
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NEW YORK — A Fried Rice combo left Ben Rice hungering to yuk it up with Max Fried.
About to catch his Yankees teammate for the first time, the New York catcher couldn’t wait to mention the battery word play when he walked into Wednesday’s pregame meeting,
“It’s such a layup of a joke I had to say it right right when we got in there,” Rice said after Fried pitched the Yankees over the Chicago White Sox 8-1 and pulled New York into a first-place tie with Toronto.
Fried became the major leagues’ first 19-game winner, allowing one run and four hits in seven innings with seven strikeouts and two walks. He is 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA in his last seven starts.
Fried ate up the humor.
“Ben made a joke that it was the first Fried-Rice combo,” Fried said, flashing a small smile as he recalled the exchange.
In his first season with the Yankees after signing a $218 million, eight-year contract, Fried took over as New York’s ace when Gerrit Cole had Tommy John surgery. The 31-year-old left-hander will start the Yankees postseason opener next week.
Rice had been thinking of the name combo since last June 23, when he struck out and singled against Fried in a 3-1 loss to Atlanta at Yankee Stadium.
“On the score bug it was like `Fried Rice’ and everyone was loving it so it was just it was too easy to not acknowledge,” Rice said.
Fried is ninth in the major leagues in ERA at 2.86, allowing one earned run or none in 15 on 32 starts. He was 10-2 with a 1.92 ERA in his first 17 outings, was bothered by a blister on his left index finger and went 3-3 with a 6.80 ERA over his next eight outings, then rebounded to go 6-0 with a 1.55 ERA in his last seven.
Wells had caught 27 of Fried’s starts and J.C. Escarra four, the last on July 23.
“If we do make a deep run in the postseason, who knows what comes up,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said before the game. “Getting them together at least once, I think there’s some benefit in that.”
After the win, Boone’s assessment was: “The battery seemed to be pretty strong tonight.”
In his second big league season, the 26-year-old Rice is hitting .256 with 24 homers and 62 RBIs, providing left-handed power that takes advantage of Yankee Stadium’s short porch. He’s made 48 starts at designated hitter, 44 at first and 25 at catcher.
“It was fun. wish we got to do it sooner,” he said of catching Fried. “I enjoyed it, enjoyed getting to work with him, kind of getting used to the way his pitches move and his tendencies.”
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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Chantelle Cameron has been upgraded to WBC super-lightweight world titlist as Katie Taylor becomes ‘champion in recess’.
Cameron was the WBC Interim titlist at 140lbs and the mandatory challenger for the full title that Taylor held.
The 39-year-old Taylor completed a trilogy of victories over Amanda Serrano in July and isn’t expected to box again this year. Her new status as ‘champion in recess’ means that while the world title can remain active at 140lbs, the WBC would grant the Irish star a world title shot if she chooses to return to the division.
Cameron has been instructed to make her first defence of the title against British rival Sandy Ryan.
It means the prospect of a third fight between Cameron and Taylor, at least in the near-term, has receded.
In 2023 Cameron handed Taylor a first professional defeat, only for the Irish star to win their rematch.
Cameron has been on a run of three good wins since then, picking up the WBC Interim belt as she pushed for a shot at the titles she used to hold.
WBC president Mauricio Sulaiman explained: “She [Taylor] let us know that she plans to take some time away from the ring to attend to personal matters. The fight she was obligated to take was against Chantelle Cameron, by naming her Champion in Recess, we will order Sandy Ryan to fight Cameron.”
Ryan is a former world champion up at welterweight, who lost two exciting fights to Mikaela Mayer in New York and Las Vegas, before bouncing back with a win over Jade Grierson earlier this month.
A ‘champion in recess’ is a recognition the WBC grants to boxers who have had an outstanding career and achieved elite status in the sport.
It is not a regular championship title defended in the ring, but rather a lifetime honour given in specific situations, such as injuries, personal issues that will keep them away from the sport for some time, moving weight class etc.
The ‘champion in recess’ designation allows the title to be vacated so other fighters can compete for it and keep the division active, while granting the boxer a special status and the possibility of returning to fight for the belt in the future.
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We have eight races to look forward to from Newcastle on Thursday evening, live on Sky Sports Racing…
An intriguing Border Minstrel EBF Restricted Novice Stakes at Newcastle see’s last-time-out winners lock horns.
Andrew Balding’s Tiger Power made the perfect start to his career when dominating a Haydock maiden earlier this month and he looks capable of building on that display under P J McDonald.
Malachy’s Wish stepped forward from his debut to land a Ffos Las maiden with plenty in hand and rates the obvious danger with further progress likely.
Debutant Menwirr is a half-brother to Elnajmm and represents Archie Watson and Hollie Doyle.
Ring Of Gold and Oselton headline 11 runners for the QuinnBet Best Odds Guaranteed Handicap.
Ring Of Gold bounced back to form when seeing off Overlooked over this track and trip, his first win for three years, and it will be interesting to see if he can go in again off this two-pound higher mark.
Oselton got off the mark at the twelfth attempt when comfortably scoring at Southwell and he must be feared if in similar mood again.
Of the others, David Thompson’s Coramento has each-way claims.
Richard Fahey’s Rubellite bids to follow up in the Download The Quinnbet App Handicap.
The five-year-old recorded her sixth success on the all-weather when keeping on well at Wolverhampton and given this is only her second start for connections she could improve again.
Bunker Bay has over a length to find with the selection but may strip fitter for that run and remains on a workable mark.
Fleur De Mer and Flying Scotsman complete the shortlist.
1.30 Chantilly – A nice race with Frankel debutant Andeol catching the eye for the Wertheimers and Christophe Ferland.
3.15 Chantilly – An interesting Maiden where Dubawi-filly Sheeran and Acclamation-filly Lethal Beauty will be popular.
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The list of MLB players who never hit 60 home runs in a single season includes many of the game’s all-time greatest sluggers: Willie Mays, Albert Pujols, Ken Griffey Jr., Alex Rodriguez, Jim Thome and Jimmie Foxx. Heck, Henry Aaron never hit 50. Neither did Frank Robinson or Reggie Jackson or Lou Gehrig or countless other inner-circle Hall of Famers.
But Cal Raleigh, the quiet, humble catcher for the Seattle Mariners, is now part of one of baseball’s most exclusive clubs: 60 home runs in one season. It is an unfathomable, improbable, astonishing performance. It is baseball at its most fun: the unexpected. He has given Mariners fans — all fans, really — something to root for on a nightly basis.
He joins a club that includes Barry Bonds, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Aaron Judge, Roger Maris and Babe Ruth — three New York Yankees and three players with tainted legacies. Raleigh most obviously resembles Maris, the quiet, shy slugger from North Dakota who recoiled at all the attention he received from the press when he chased down Ruth’s record in 1961 and finished with 61 home runs.
Maris, however, was at least the reigning AL MVP entering the 1961 season. Raleigh, on the other hand, had never been an All-Star before 2025. When he recently hit his 55th and 56th home runs in the same game to break Mickey Mantle’s single-season record for home runs by a switch-hitter and tie Griffey’s franchise record, he seemed almost embarrassed to discuss the achievement.
“I feel like my name shouldn’t be in the same sentence as those guys, Mickey Mantle and Ken Griffey Jr.,” Raleigh said. “I don’t really have words for it. I don’t really know what to say. I’m sure one day it will set in, but for now it’s just ‘keep it going.’”
He has kept it going — all the way to the 60-home-run mark (in another double-homer performance, naturally). With his 60th blast of the season now in the books, let’s look back at each month of his remarkable 2025 campaign.
Number of home runs: 10
Longest home run: 422 feet in Cincinnati off Emilio Pagan (April 17)
Most clutch home run: Two-run blast off the Texas Rangers‘ Chris Martin in the bottom of the eighth to give the Mariners a 5-3 victory (April 11)
Raleigh didn’t begin the season giving any indication he was about to embark upon a record-setting campaign. In his first 13 games, he hit .184 with two home runs and just three RBIs. Indeed, the biggest news surrounding Raleigh at this point was the Mariners’ announcement the day before the regular season began that they had signed him to a six-year, $105 million extension that began with the 2025 season and runs through 2030, with a player vesting option for 2031. Interestingly, Raleigh had switched agents in the offseason, changing from Scott Boras to Excel Sports Management. Boras, of course, has a reputation for pushing his clients to free agency — and, certainly now, Raleigh’s deal looks like a relative bargain for the Mariners.
But the home run off Martin on April 11 got Raleigh going on a hot streak. He homered six times in six games and eight times the rest of the month. The home run off Pagan was another big one: That led off the top of the ninth and Randy Arozarena followed with another home run to tie the game, which the Mariners won in 10 innings.
We didn’t know it at the time, but the chase for 60 was on.
Number of home runs: 12
Longest home run: 432 feet in Texas off Jack Leiter (May 2)
Most clutch home run: Two-out, two-run HR off the Houston Astros‘ Bryan Abreu in the seventh inning to turn a 3-3 tie into a 5-3 victory (May 23)
In the Mariners’ first game of May, Raleigh homered twice off Leiter: The first one was his longest blast of the month, off a first-pitch slider. The second was a grand slam, off a 2-2 curveball — the first of his three grand slams in 2025. Raleigh then hit a little lull, going homerless for eight games, but then really got hot, hitting .313 with 10 home runs over his final 18 games in May, including two more two-homer games, against the Washington Nationals on May 27 and the Minnesota Twins on May 30. The game against the Twins pushed his OPS over 1.000, and while it was still just a third of the way through the season, MVP talk began percolating.
Number of home runs: 11
Longest home run: 440 feet at Wrigley Field off Colin Rea (June 22)
Most clutch home run: Two-run shot off the Chicago Cubs‘ Caleb Thielbar with two outs in the seventh inning to give the Mariners a 6-4 lead (June 20)
Raleigh began June with a home run, homered again on June 5, homered twice on June 7, went seven games without a home run and then blasted six over another six-game stretch, including a two-homer game against the Cubs on June 20. From May 16 to June 23, Raleigh had his hottest stretch of the season, hitting .313/.401/.794 with 19 home runs and 40 RBIs in 34 games.
The key to his success:
He improved dramatically against left-handers this season: He has 22 home runs and a 1.030 OPS from the right side of the plate compared to 13 and a .696 OPS in 2024.
He’s really good at pulling fly balls.
The latter skill has allowed Raleigh to punch his ticket to 60, even if he doesn’t hit his home runs quite as far as the season’s other big sluggers — Shohei Ohtani, Kyle Schwarber and Judge. Here’s a breakdown of each player’s home runs in 2025, with Raleigh lagging behind the others in home runs of both 400-plus feet and 425-plus feet:
As you can see, however, Raleigh’s ability to pull the ball more often means his rate of home runs to fly balls remains extraordinarily high, just like the other three.
Number of home runs: 9
Longest home run: 440 feet in Seattle off the Pittsburgh Pirates‘ Bailey Falter (July 4)
Most clutch home run: A solo homer off the Milwaukee Brewers‘ Nick Mears in the sixth inning — the only run in a 1-0 victory (July 22)
The season of Cal continued in July. He hit a second homer off Falter on July 4 and added another two-homer game against the Tigers just before the All-Star break, which he entered hitting .259/.377/.634 with 38 home runs in 94 games. The Mariners had played 96 games at the break, so that put Raleigh on a 64-homer pace and made him the talk of baseball at the Home Run Derby.
Which, of course, he won, becoming the first catcher to win the Derby and doing it with his dad Todd Sr. pitching and his 15-year-old brother Todd Jr. doing the catching. In one of the season’s most charming moments, a video of an 8-year-old Cal singing, “I’m the Home Run Derby champ! I’m the man, I’m the man, oh yeah, oh yeah” went viral leading up to the contest.
“That video is crazy,” the always understated Raleigh said from Truist Park in Atlanta. “I mean, I don’t know where they found that thing in the archives. Yeah, just kind of surreal. You don’t think you’re going to win it. You don’t think you’ll ever get invited. Then you get invited. The fact that you win it with your family, super special. Just what a night.”
Number of home runs: 8
Longest home run: 448 feet in Seattle off the Athletics’ Jacob Lopez (Aug. 24)
Most clutch home run: Three-run HR off the Tampa Bay Rays‘ Griffin Jax with two outs in the bottom of the eighth, turning a 2-0 deficit into a 3-2 win (Aug. 8)
Raleigh continued a slump at the plate this month. After hitting .304 in May and .300 in June, he hit .194 in July and .173 in August, although the home runs kept coming at a steady pace. His most clutch home run of the season came at home against the Rays. Facing tough right-handed reliever Jax with runners at first and second, Raleigh got ahead in the count with two balls. Jax could have just pitched around him with two outs but threw a sweeper at the bottom of the strike zone — not a terrible pitch but not quite on the outside corner where Jax wanted it — and Raleigh crushed it 417 feet over the center-field wall.
Along the way, he hit his 49th home run to break Salvador Perez‘s record set in 2021 for most home runs by a primary catcher. That was part of a two-homer game in which he hit Nos. 48 and 49, and the next day he hit No. 50. He finished the month with a five-game homerless stretch, however, so entered September with 50 home runs in the 137 games the Mariners had played up to that point, which left him on a 59-homer pace.
Number of home runs: 10
Longest home run: 426 feet in Atlanta off Rolddy Munoz (Sept. 7)
Most clutch home run: First-inning two-run shot off the Los Angeles Angels‘ Kyle Hendricks (Sept. 14)
Raleigh hit just one home in the first four games of September, which meant he’d hit just one home run in a nine-game stretch — a period in which the Mariners had gone 2-7 and were barely hanging on to the third wild-card spot by a half-game over the Texas Rangers with three other teams within 2½ games. Raleigh would hit two garbage-time home runs against the Atlanta Braves on the road: a ninth-inning shot in a 10-2 win and then the ninth-inning three-run blast off Munoz in an 18-2 victory.
Suddenly, Raleigh’s chase for 60 and the Mariners’ pursuit of a division title were back on. Starting Sept. 7, the Mariners won 14 of 15 games heading into Tuesday’s series against the Colorado Rockies, as Raleigh hit .286/.437/.714 with seven home runs. He had his 10th two-homer game of the season against the Kansas City Royals to pass Mantle’s switch-hitting record and tie Griffey’s club record (he broke Griffey’s record with a blast against the Astros on Saturday). With his 11th — which came Wednesday night, sending Raleigh to the 60-mark, he tied Hank Greenberg (1938), Sosa (1998) and Judge (2022) for the record for two-homer games in one season.
I don’t know if 8-year-old Cal Raleigh ever envisioned something like this happening, but here’s the thing that has endeared Raleigh to Mariners fans and made him one of the most popular players in franchise history: He’ll be much happier about the Mariners winning their first division title since 2001 on Wednesday than hitting his 60th home run.
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David Schoenfield
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SEATTLE — Cal Raleigh hit his MLB-leading 59th homer on Wednesday night, a solo shot for the Seattle Mariners in the first inning against the Colorado Rockies.
Raleigh, batting left-handed, connected off Tanner Gordon for his home run to right field that reached the top deck at T-Mobile Park.
With four games remaining in the Mariners’ regular season, Raleigh has a chance to pass New York Yankees star Aaron Judge for the American League single-season home run record. Judge hit 62 home runs in 2022 to break the previous record set by Roger Maris, which stood since 1961.
Raleigh’s shot came just four days after he passed Ken Griffey Jr. for the franchise’s single-season home run record with his 57th homer. Griffey hit 56 in both 1997 and 1998.
Raleigh has also surpassed Mickey Mantle’s previous MLB record of 54 home runs by a switch-hitter that had stood since 1961. He also set the MLB record for homers by a catcher this season, eclipsing the 48 hit by Salvador Perez in 2021.
Raleigh is three home runs ahead of Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber and six home runs ahead of Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.
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GENEVA — Skiing’s governing body approved a gene testing policy for gender eligibility in women’s events Wednesday, but delayed a decision on letting some Russian athletes try to qualify with neutral status for next year’s Winter Olympics.
The International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS) said it will work with national team officials on implementing the policy, which follows the lead taken by track and field’s World Athletics.
“The eligibility conditions laid out in the policy are grounded on the presence or absence of the so-called SRY gene, the sex-determining gene present on humans’ Y chromosome,” FIS said in a statement.
It was not clear to what extent athletes with the SRY gene have previously competed in women’s events in FIS disciplines, which include Alpine and cross-country skiing, ski jumping, snowboarding and freestyle skiing.
Both FIS president Johan Eliasch and World Athletics leader Sebastian Coe campaigned as candidates in the International Olympic Committee election this year promising to protect the female category.
“This policy is the cornerstone of our commitment to protect women’s sport,” Eliasch said Wednesday in a FIS statement, “and we are convinced that there is only one fair and transparent way to do that: by relying on science and biological facts.”
The IOC now has its first female president, two-time Olympic champion swimmer Kirsty Coventry of Zimbabwe, who has overseen creating a working group of experts to look at gender issues in sports.
An issue for athletes in France and Norway, which are both strong in winter sports, is that both countries have national laws prohibiting gene testing for nonmedical reasons.
Ahead of the track and field world championships in Tokyo this month, French and Norwegian athletes were tested after arriving in Japan.
FIS did not publish a timetable for a testing program. The Milan-Cortina d’Ampezzo Winter Games open Feb. 6.
FIS barred Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions within days of the full military invasion of Ukraine starting in February 2022. The war began four days after the closing ceremony at the Beijing Winter Games, where Russian athletes won 32 medals, including five gold, and the Belarus team won two silvers.
The FIS ruling council on Wednesday discussed but did not reach a decision on extending the ban or approving a neutral status policy for individual athletes ahead of the next Olympics. The council next meets Oct. 21.
The IOC has barred Russia and Belarus from team sports at Summer Games and Winter Games. Governing bodies of Olympic sports were advised to look at giving some of the countries’ athletes neutral status — if they had not publicly supported the war, and were not linked to military and state security services.
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AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics
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OWINGS MILLS, Md. — The Baltimore Ravens have ruled out defensive tackle Nnamdi Madubuike for Sunday’s game at the Kansas City Chiefs, with coach John Harbaugh acknowledging he’s worried about the Pro Bowler’s neck injury.
“I would say I am concerned about it,” Harbaugh said Wednesday when asked if he’s worried that Madubuike’s injury could be long term.
He then added: “But I’m not really in a position to comment on it right now. I haven’t been given the OK to comment on it at this point.”
It has been a huge loss for a struggling Ravens defense that ranks last in the NFL for the first time since Week 16 of 2021. The 27-year-old Madubuike, the Ravens’ best defensive lineman who has made the Pro Bowl the past two seasons, has 21.5 sacks since the start of the 2023 season — the most by any defensive tackle in the league.
Without Madubuike, the Ravens allowed 207 yards rushing between the tackles — the most they’ve allowed in a game since ESPN began tracking the stat in 2006 — in Monday’s 38-30 loss to the Detroit Lions. Baltimore also didn’t record a sack in a game for the first time in four years.
The Ravens are trying to avoid their first 1-3 start in 10 years.
Madubuike developed symptoms after Baltimore’s Week 2 win over the Cleveland Browns and underwent further testing. The Ravens are unsure when the injury occurred in that game and have no timetable on his return.
“So, he’s not going to play this week, I can tell you that,” Harbaugh said. “And we’re going to have to see going forward when they know what they need to know.”
Madubuike is in the second year of a four-year, $98 million contract that includes $75.5 million guaranteed.
“Obviously, he’s a guy that we need and is dominant,” outside linebacker Odafe Oweh said. “I feel bad, but it’s the next man up mentality. We’d be doing him a disservice if we were out here not playing hard.”
Oweh said he spoke to Madubuike a few days ago.
“I was just trying to get in his head to see how he feels,” Oweh said. “He feels good. He’s just trying to get back on the field.”
Madubuike isn’t the only Ravens defensive lineman dealing with an injury. Starting nose tackle Travis Jones (knee) and defensive tackle Broderick Washington Jr. (ankle), who filled in for Madubuike, both did not practice Wednesday.
“I have a good feeling about those guys,” Harbaugh said. “But we will have to wait and see.”
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Jamison Hensley
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PHOENIX — The Seattle Seahawks will get a pair of Pro Bowlers back for their NFC West showdown with the Arizona Cardinals on Thursday night, as cornerback Devon Witherspoon and safety Julian Love are off the injury report.
Seattle lists running back Zach Charbonnet (toe) as questionable along with outside linebacker Boye Mafe (toe) and right guard Anthony Bradford (back). Rookie safety Nick Emmanwori (ankle) is doubtful.
The Seahawks also placed rookie fullback Robbie Ouzts (ankle) on injured reserve Wednesday, meaning they could be without five players who are either starters or key rotational members.
Brady Russell will take over for Ouzts, who is expected to return off IR at some point this season.
Charbonnet outsnapped Kenneth Walker III over Seattle’s first two games before missing Week 3. He was listed as a full participant on the team’s estimated practice reports all three days this week, though the team didn’t actually practice Monday.
Witherspoon (MCL bruise) and Emmanwori (high ankle sprain) were both hurt in Seattle’s opener and missed the next two games. Love played through a groin injury in Week 2 only to injure a hamstring in that game, sidelining him last week.
Also, swing tackle Josh Jones (ankle) was ruled out.
The Seahawks signed D’Anthony Bell off their practice squad Wednesday. He’s expected to again fill Emmanwori’s role as the extra safety in their big nickel packages.
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Brady Henderson
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GREEN BAY, Wis. — No tribute, no problem.
That’s how Micah Parsons said he feels about his former team not doing anything to recognize his return to Dallas as a member of the Green Bay Packers to play his old team, the Cowboys, on Sunday night.
Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said this week that the team has no plans to honor Parsons, who played four seasons for the Cowboys before he was traded to the Packers shortly before the season following a contract dispute.
“No, there’s a lot of things I can consider disrespectful throughout this process, but I wouldn’t say the tribute is one of them,” Parsons said Wednesday. “I would say, I just think there’s hard feelings maybe there for them. But for me, I’m happy where I’m at and we got a really good football team, so I guess I can [receive] my tribute in a win, I hope.”
Parsons also said he’s not concerned about how he will be received by Cowboys fans on Sunday.
“You know, I think Dallas loves me,” Parsons said. “I think they’re going to give me a good round of applause. There’s no hard feelings there, at least from me, and I think it’s going to be, like I said, it’s going to be a great atmosphere.”
While Parsons still has plenty of friends and family in the Dallas area, he did not have any trouble getting tickets because he still has his suite at AT&T Stadium. He had already booked it for the 2025 season long before he ever thought he would be playing elsewhere.
“No refunds,” said Parsons, who said he tried to get Pro Bowl defensive tackle Kenny Clark, who went to Dallas in the trade, to rent the suite from him.
“The suite’s going to be packed out for sure,” Parsons said. “Trust me, I’ve got a big suite.”
Since his arrival, Parsons is tied for first in the NFL with 14 quarterback pressures, according to ESPN Research, and 1.5 sacks through three games. The Packers rank third in total defense.
The Packers (2-1) are coming off a loss to the Cleveland Browns in a game that they led by 10 points in the fourth quarter. That has helped the Packers stay focused on bouncing back rather than on Parsons’ return to Dallas.
“I don’t know what that feeling is like — going back to obviously the organization you played for, the team that drafted you — but I’m sure it’s probably a weird feeling for him,” Packers quarterback Jordan Love said. “But for the rest of us, just focus on another week for going 1-0.”
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Rob Demovsky
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MADRID — Julián Alvarez scored a late winner to complete a hat trick and lead Atletico Madrid to a 3-2 victory over Rayo Vallecano in the Spanish league on Wednesday.
It was only a second league win for Atletico, which entered the match enduring one of its worst starts to a season since coach Diego Simeone took over in late 2011.
Alvarez scored the winning goal in the 88th minute with a left-foot shot from outside the area that hit the top corner.
The Argentina international had put the hosts ahead in the 15th and added the second in the 80th.
“We needed to win to gain some confidence,” Alvarez said. “We had been playing well but the results weren’t coming because of details. We need to keep working to try to keep winning.”
Alvarez missed a penalty kick in Atletico’s 1-1 draw at Mallorca last weekend. He hadn’t scored since the team’s 2-1 loss at Espanyol in the Spanish league opener.
“It’s part of soccer,” he said. “Sometimes you make mistakes and sometimes you score the goals. Today I did things well. We are on the right track.”
Atletico is nine points behind league leader Real Madrid, which on Tuesday won 4-1 at Levante with a pair of goals by Kylian Mbappé to secure a perfect start to the season after six matches.
Atletico’s only win so far had been 2-0 against Villarreal. It had also drawn 1-1 against both Elche and Alaves after opening with the loss at Espanyol. It lost 3-2 at Liverpool in its Champions League opener.
Rayo, winless in three matches after starting the season with three victories in four games, had rallied with goals by Pep Chavarría in first-half stoppage time and Álvaro García in the 77th.
Atletico nearly retook the lead when Giuliano Simeone — the coach’s son — hit the crossbar from close range in the 82nd, with his father dropping to his knees in desolation after seeing the ball come off the woodwork at the Metropolitano stadium.
Real Sociedad welcomed Mallorca in a match between winless teams and ended a three-game losing streak with a 1-0 home victory after Mikel Oyarzabal scored in the 49th. The Basque Country club had drawn its first two matches.
It was the fourth loss for Mallorca, which also drew twice.
Earlier, Getafe was held by Alaves to a 1-1 home draw. The host, which won three of its first four games, opened the scoring through Mauro Arambarri in the 63rd. Alaves, which was seeking its third win, equalized in the 71st.
Defending champion Barcelona visits Oviedo on Thursday.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
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The last time LSU and Alabama went an entire season without playing each other, Tigers coach Brian Kelly was a toddler and Crimson Tide coach Kalen DeBoer wouldn’t be born for another 11 years.
During six-plus decades, that annual matchup has had some intense, dramatic moments, such as Kelly’s gamble on a do-or-die, 2-point conversion to end overtime in 2022. Jayden Daniels connected with Mason Taylor, and rapturous fans spilled onto the field in Tiger Stadium.
Under a new scheduling format released by the Southeastern Conference this week, LSU and Alabama won’t play in 2027 — the first time that’s happened since 1963. And next season will be the first time since 1970 that the Tigers won’t play the Florida Gators.
“I get it,” Kelly said Wednesday when asked about how unsettling it could be for some to see longstanding, annual rivalries end under the conference’s four-year schedule that was released Tuesday.
But the LSU coach added that he also appreciates the SEC’s goal of having all 16 teams play one another at least once every two years, and how that might mean sacrificing some popular annual fixtures.
“You’re going to pull some of those natural rivalries, but you’re not losing them for a long period,” Kelly said. “They managed this and put this in a spot that allows you to play everybody home and away [within a four-year span], and I think that’s pretty exciting.”
Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin was less enthusiastic about at least one aspect of the new schedule.
While he agreed with keeping LSU and Mississippi State on the Rebels’ schedule each year, he said the inclusion of Oklahoma as an annual opponent was “disappointing” and “doesn’t make any sense — at all.”
“We don’t have anything in common with them or our fans,” said Kiffin, whose program will lose Vanderbilt as an annual fixture on its schedule. “That’s unfortunate with so many great teams that we’ve played for a long time here.”
Each team got three “annual opponents” during the next four seasons, and those could potentially change after 2029.
“Our league has made a business decision,” said Florida coach Billy Napier, who wasn’t yet born the last time the Gators did not play LSU.
Going forward, tailgate parties serving alligator around Death Valley will occur once every four years instead of every other year. Then again, whether that’s good or bad is arguably a matter of taste.
“Obviously, there’s pros and cons,” Napier said. “Some of those things are part of the evolution of the game, part of the evolution of our conference as we add teams to the mix.”
The SEC had the same 12 teams from 1991 until 2012, when Texas A&M and Missouri were added. In 2024, east and west divisions were done away with, and the league increased to 16 teams with the additions of Oklahoma and Texas.
Next year, the conference schedule increases from eight games to nine.
“I love the LSU rivalry game and certainly that’s been one fun one to play in,” Napier said. “We’ve got great history there, but there’s going to be change that comes with nine games, and I think our league has done a good job formatting that in a way where we’ll get exposure to each team.”
Some yearly fixtures might never go away: Alabama vs. Auburn in the Iron Bowl; Mississippi and Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl; Georgia vs. Florida in the World’s Largest Outdoor Cocktail Party; and the Deep South’s Oldest Rivalry between Georgia and Auburn are some examples.
The Red River Rivalry also will remain an annual game, as will the renewed Lone Star Showdown between the Longhorns and Aggies.
“Rivalries matter. It’s a part of the tradition of this game — fan bases pointing to those football games,” Tennessee coach Josh Heupel said. “It’s been important for (the league) to try and protect some of those special games for universities and their fan bases.”
But Tennessee will be losing a popular annual matchup against neighboring Georgia that has gone uninterrupted since 1992.
“There’s probably some people that are upset” about that, Georgia coach Kirby Smart said. “It’s a border rivalry. It’s hard to keep all the traditional rivalries. You can only do so many.”
In information distributed among media this week, the SEC stated that while it factored in geography and sought to maintain traditional rivalry games, other aims included increasing the frequency with which teams play all other league schools and promoting competitive balance in a way that might maximize all SEC teams’ chances to qualify for the 12-team College Football Playoff.
“They looked at every possible scenario,” Kelly said, “to come up with equity and fairness.”
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The top stories and transfer rumours from Thursday’s newspapers…
THE MIRROR
Kobbie Mainoo is still prepared to leave Manchester United – despite holding fresh talks with Ruben Amorim.
Eintracht Frankfurt manager Dino Toppmoller has suggested he would like to take over at Manchester United in the future.
Wayne Rooney has lifted the lid on his alcohol addiction – and admitted he could have died if it hadn’t been for the help of his wife, Coleen.
THE SUN
Casemiro is set to lead the most high-profile Manchester United exodus in four years – but Harry Maguire’s Old Trafford career could be prolonged.
Manchester United have reportedly agreed a deal to sign a highly-rated Colombian youngster as Ruben Amorim looks to the future at Old Trafford.
THE ATHLETIC
Barcelona midfielder Gavi is set to be sidelined for up to five months after undergoing an operation on a knee injury.
TELEGRAPH
Chelsea are facing a major ticket-price revolt over Jose Mourinho’s return to Stamford Bridge as Benfica manager.
Jose Mourinho aims a dig at one of his former clubs during his unveiling as Benfica boss.
The Premier League’s proposed new spending rules include measures that attempt to fend off intervention by the Independent Football Regulator, top-flight clubs believe.
DAILY MAIL
Wayne Rooney believes that he would have been ‘sacked’ for dressing room chat if he were in the current Manchester United squad, due to the change in culture at the club over the last decade.
SCOTTISH SUN
Brendan Rodgers refused the opportunity to sign Radamel Falcao as a free agent during the summer transfer window.
Sunday Supplement is back on Sky Sports News, bringing you the latest and best analysis from the latest football stories.
Dharmesh Sheth is joined by the best journalists from the Sunday papers to offer their expert insight.
Join them from 9am to 11am every Sunday for the new-look Sunday Supplement.
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CLEVELAND, Ohio — Cleveland Guardians designated hitter David Fry sustained a broken nose and facial fractures after he was hit in the face by a pitch from Detroit’s Tarik Skubal in the sixth inning of Cleveland’s 5-2 win over the Tigers, a victory that deadlocked the AL Central division race.
“He is doing OK, he’s in good spirits,” manager Stephen Vogt said by phone Wednesday morning. “He’s upright, he’s alert.”
Vogt visited Fry in the hospital. The team planned a more detailed update later.
Fry squared around to try to bunt a 99 mph fastball from Skubal on Tuesday night and the pitch struck him in the nose and mouth area. As Fry collapsed in the batter’s box and immediately grabbed his bloodied face, a visibly shaken Skubal threw off his glove and cap as Vogt and trainers rushed onto the field.
Fry laid in the dirt for several minutes before being slowly helped to his feet. He gave a thumbs-up signal as he sat up and was driven off in a cart.
The Guardians said Fry was being transported from Lutheran Medical Center to the Cleveland Clinic Main Campus for further testing and observation.
“It was straight to the face,” Vogt said, describing the impact on Fry that shook everyone inside Progressive Field. “We’re all thinking about David and his family right now. Obviously, we’re glad he is OK, but obviously it’s a really scary moment.”
Skubal, the reigning AL Cy Young Award winner, paced around the infield as Fry was being assisted. Following the game, Skubal, who allowed just two hits through the first five innings, said seeing Fry in distress was difficult.
“Really tough,” the left-hander said. “I’ve already reached out to him. I’m sure his phone is blowing up. I just want to make sure he’s all right. Obviously, he seemed like he was OK coming off the field and hopefully it stays that way.
“I know sometimes with those things that can change. So hopefully he’s all right. I look forward to hopefully at some point tonight or (Wednesday) morning getting a text from him and making sure he’s all good because there’s things that are bigger than the game and the health of him is more important than a baseball game.”
That’s how Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan felt after watching Fry, an All-Star in 2024 who underwent offseason elbow surgery and didn’t join the team until late May, go down.
“Definitely really scary,” Kwan said. “For David to even try something like that (bunt), that’s just who he is. Selfless kind of guy, and especially in a position like that, he’s a tough guy. Thankfully he had some humor when he came up, but you don’t want to see a guy that’s been with you pretty much the whole year.
“Obviously energy-wise, just who he is as a teammate, he’s meant so much to us as a team. It’s really scary, but thankfully he had some humor coming off the field, so hopefully we get some good news.”
Following the incident, Skubal threw a wild pitch to George Valera, who replaced Fry, allowing Cleveland to score. Skubal also had an error — he inexplicably tried to make a blind throw to first between his legs — and was also called for a balk in the sixth inning as the Guardians rallied for three runs to take a 3-2 lead without hitting a ball out of the infield.
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AP Baseball Writer Janie McCauley contributed to this report.
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
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New York Giants coach Brian Daboll confirmed Wednesday that Jaxson Dart will be the team’s starting quarterback beginning this week against the Los Angeles Chargers and for the remainder of the season.
Daboll said he talked with the Giants’ ownership but made it clear this was his decision.
He said Russell Wilson was a “pro” about losing his starting position to the rookie Dart, who was selected by the Giants in the first round of the 2025 draft.
Wilson will be the backup this week, Daboll said. He expects the veteran to remain in that role for the rest of the season. Jameis Winston is also under contract but is No. 3 on the team’s depth chart.
Wilson struggled in Sunday night’s 22-9 loss to the Kansas City Chiefs. He threw for 160 yards and tossed a pair of interceptions. There was also an ugly red zone possession late in the contest where he threw the ball out of bounds on fourth down, and he was booed late in the first half after the second interception.
The switch to Dart could reinvigorate a disappointed fan base. Fans cheered when the rookie came onto the field for a snap in the second quarter Sunday. That contrasted with their booing after Wilson threw a second-quarter interception with the score tied in his first home game for the Giants.
ESPN’s Jordan Raanan contributed to this report.
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EA Sports has revealed the stars getting special items in Madden NFL 26 Ultimate Team as part of Team of the Week 3. TOTW is a program that runs alongside the NFL season and delivers weekly content releases featuring athletes who’ve had standout performances in the previous week’s games.
This week’s limited editions with 89 OVR ratings are quarterback Caleb Williams of the Chicago Bears and cornerback Isaiah Rodgers of the Minnesota Vikings. Meanwhile, the Champions and Heroes categories feature players like Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver A.J. Brown, Cleveland Browns running back Quinshon Judkins, and Pittsburgh Steelers defensive end T.J. Watt.
Here’s the full Madden NFL 26 TOTW 3:
Caleb Williams, Chicago Bears: 89 OVR
Isaiah Rodgers, Minnesota Vikings: 89 OVR
A.J. Brown, Philadelphia Eagles: 88 OVR
Quinshon Judkins, Cleveland Browns: 88 OVR
T.J. Watt, Pittsburgh Steelers: 88 OVR
Tyquan Thornton, Kansas City Chiefs, 85 OVR
Chau Smith-Wade, Carolina Panthers, 85 OVR
Ricky Pearsall, San Francisco 49ers, 85 OVR
Hunter Henry, New England Patriots, 85 OVR
Derion Kendrick, Seattle Seahawks, 85 OVR
Sterling Shepard, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, 85 OVR
Antonio Johnson, Jacksonville Jaguars, 85 OVR
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Ryan Woodrow
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FARMINGDALE, N.Y. — New York sports fans have been so starved for something to celebrate that they poured out of Madison Square Garden onto the streets and snarled city traffic in May, all because the Knicks simply got out of the second round of the NBA playoffs.
They’re already resigned to the Giants and Jets being bad, aware the Yankees and Mets might not be good enough. They need a team to pin their hopes on.
The U.S. squad playing in the Ryder Cup at Bethpage Black, a place revered by locals in ways no arena ever could, could be it. The Americans might as well trade their red, white and blue for Yankee pinstripes, because their support comes New York style: loud, loyal and liquored up.
“There’s not going to be a lack of alcohol consumption,” U.S. player Ben Griffin said. “Fans are going to be loud. New York people love their sports.”
New York teams have iconic championship moments like Joe Namath guaranteeing victory in the Super Bowl in 1969 and Willis Reed limping to the court to play Game 7 of the NBA Finals a year later, but the Jets and Knicks haven’t won since those guys were on the team.
Fans wept in the stands at MSG when the Rangers won the Stanley Cup in 1994, ending a 54-year drought. Now they’re working on another one of 31 years and counting.
Even the Yankees don’t win like they used to, with only two World Series titles in the 2000s — and one came against the Mets, so a portion of New Yorkers hated the whole thing.
It can make even longtime New York fans wonder if they can keep hanging in there. John McEnroe questioned why he didn’t switch allegiances after watching the Showtime Lakers when he was living in California and befriended team executive Jeanie Buss, but the Hall of Fame tennis player could never quit the Knicks.
So he remains a regular at Madison Square Garden with Spike Lee, Ben Stiller and all the other fans who come to cheer on their Knicks. (Well, usually cheer.)
“Listen, I’ve been in all of these arenas. If things are going bad in Indiana, the Indiana fans are going to try to rally their team back. The Knicks fans are going to boo their team,” said Stan Van Gundy, an NBA coach and broadcaster whose brother, Jeff, coached the Knicks to their most recent NBA Finals appearance in 1999.
True, New Yorkers sometimes struggle to hide their disappointment. Giants fans couldn’t, booing throughout their home opener Sunday, and some Jets fans wore paper bags over their heads at MetLife Stadium last year.
But when things are good, players say no place compares.
“Everything is heightened, everything is better here,” the Knicks’ Josh Hart said. “With all due respect to other places I’ve played, New York, it’s the mecca, and when you have people that really wear their heart on their sleeves and they go out there and they’re really passionate about sporting events of their teams, they come to show love and that energy is what makes you feel that difference.”
Some fans already started, booing loudly Tuesday morning as their shuttle bus passed Team Europe’s blue and yellow coach.
Bethpage Black is the public course that New Yorkers arrive a day early to and sleep in their cars overnight for a chance to play. It’s not one of those hotel resort courses people play on vacation where there’s no trouble unless they drive it behind a palm tree. The Black is long and it’s hard. Arms get sore and legs feel weary. It hurts like playing against Lawrence Taylor’s Giants.
But hard is how New Yorkers want things.
“Everything we do, we grind. We grind every day. It’s so New York,” said David Caleca, the president of Bonnie Briar Country Club in nearby Westchester County.
Besides playing Bethpage, Caleca was there when New York fans heckled Sergio Garcia during the 2002 U.S. Open. He’s also been in Shea Stadium when fans would boo their own Mets players, so knows emotions can swing in a New York minute.
He thinks the U.S. team will receive a huge backing not only because it’s Bethpage but because of captain Keegan Bradley, who is a New Englander but played collegiately at St. John’s and displays the passion of someone who must be from Brooklyn or the Bronx.
“He’s the kind of guy that New Yorkers love because he wears his emotions for everyone to see,” Caleca said.
Some fans may be cheering as much for the course as Bradley’s team. He knows how New Yorkers feel about Bethpage, a place they learned the game from their fathers or spent summers caddying.
“It’s much more than a golf course to a lot of these people,” Bradley said. “When you add all these things up, you’re going to get fiery fans.”
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AP Golf Writer Doug Ferguson and Associated Press writer Michael R. Sisak contributed to this report.
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AP golf: https://apnews.com/hub/golf
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