Thousands of Instagram users are smashing the "unfollow" **** on on Sydney Sweeney's profile after the actress was featured in and promoted a controversial sports-betting app in which she appears nude with sports equipment obscuring parts of her anatomy.
Last Wednesday, Sweeney shared the ad promoting sports-prediction market app Novig on Instagram — where it has racked up 1.1 million likes so far. In the 60-second ad, the "Euphoria" star appears fully or partially nude, posing with a variety of sports equipment like footballs, basketballs, a soccer ball and a hockey net.
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Sydney Sweeney's Naked Sports Betting Ad Ignites Backlash From Olympic Athletes: 'Stop **** ualizing Women in Sport'
Sydney Sweeney Goes Nude in Provocative Ad for Novig Sports Trading App

#appears

Sydney Sweeney has come under fire for another advertising campaign.
The Euphoria actor has teamed up with Novig, a new platform that combines sports trading with prediction-market features and is restricted to users aged 21 and above.
But the conversation isn't about the platform, which she is the new strategic partner and equity holder for. Instead, the marketing campaign has sparked a debate about how women are represented in sports.
The minute-long ad, ****** led "Just Sports," features the Christy actress posing in nothing but strategically placed footballs, basketball hoops, hockey pads, and a pool cue. The concept is that the platform focuses on sports and nothing else.
Marissa Womack, manager of game day promotions for the Harrisburg Senators, addressed the video and its backlash in a TikTok video: "This isn't about me being jealous or insecure. It's about the fact that this is already a male-dominated field where we constantly have to prove we belong. When the only representation is ****** ualization, you see fewer and fewer young women wanting to pursue this industry."

#sports #platform #nothing

Sydney Sweeney's latest ad campaign has landed very differently with some of the women who have spent their lives competing in sports.
Four-time Olympic gold medalist Ariarne ***** mus is among a growing group of athletes criticizing Sweeney's new "Just Sports" campaign for Novig, a sports prediction market. The campaign shows Sweeney nude or minimally dressed while footballs, basketballs, hockey equipment and other sports gear strategically cover her body.
Athletes including former UCLA gymnast Gracie Kramer, Olympic swimmer Lani Pallister, British sprinter Amy Hunt and water polo Olympian Tilly Kearns have responded by putting competition, training and athletic achievement back at the center of their own posts.
Sweeney is more closely tied to the campaign than a typical celebrity spokesperson. Novig announced that she joined the company as a strategic partner and equity holder, while Sweeney said she had participated in the creative process from the beginning.
The four-time Olympic champion, who retired from competitive swimming in 2025, wrote on Instagram that she had believed this kind of marketing belonged in the past.

#four

Well that was atrocious and my eyeballs hurt just from having to witness that half of a football game.
Alabama's offense opened the game with Keelon Russell taking a bad intentional grounding penalty, Daniel Hill getting dropped for a loss, then Russell getting picked off by a defensive lineman for a quick pick 6. The Tide defense did turn around and get their own pick six with Luke Metz jumping a slant route, but that was about the last good thing to happen for Alabama.
The Tide defense generally stood their ground, but one drive got extended twice one "Defensive holding" penalties, then extended again when the Tide got a stop on 4th down, but the referees decided that, somehow, replay concluded that an incomplete pass was actually a fumble, and that fumble somehow occurred over the first down line despite the player not being at the line and ball being in his back arm.
Alabama's offense did put together two decent drives, but both stalled in the redzone on the backs of multiple penalties taking away touchdowns. Just eye-gouging football to have to watch.
Then, with a chance to go down the field and take a lead before halftime, Russell overthrew Rico Scott by about 15 yards and got picked off, giving Kentucky a short field. The Tide defense stood on their heads again, but Bray Hubbard got called for clapping when he celebrated his team not jumping offsides on a 4th down hard count. Technically the right penalty…. But man. The crucial-situation yellow flags coming out this entire half was awful. Anyway, it pushed Kentucky far enough up they could close the half with a field goal.

#russell #defense #field

This one started bowling shoe ugly and ended up Sam the Chinese Crested Dog ugly, with Bradley Hanner proving why he is the definition of the 26th man on a Major League roster. Gerrit Cole gave up more home runs, three of em while not making it out of the fifth inning, but Hanner wasn't any better, allowing two dingers while five men crossed the plate against him. All this is to say the Yankees were kicked around Saturday afternoon, losing 12-2 to the Mets
I don't know what it is about Gerrit Cole. He's always been a little bit homer ***** e, especially since coming to Yankee Stadium. Fastballs in the zone lead to some kinds of nasty contact, but the thing that's really been different about him since returning from Tommy John is how many pitches he's keeping in the zone. He's got the lowest walk rate of his career, and indeed he didn't walk a single batter today. He also has the highest Zone%, or, throws more pitches in the strike zone than any other season of his career.
In his last two starts he's allowed seven home runs. Only three today, though they still counted for four runs like last weekend against the Padres.
Part of this is just random variance, enough monkeys at enough typewriters for long enough. Any time you talk about two games' worth of data, you have to throw up your hands at the universe. He's also been stung by Fernando Tatis Jr., Manny Machado, Jake Cronenworth, Francisco Lindor…guys that have been around the block. Lindor especially looked keyed up to swing in the game's first AB, the first dinger Cole allowed today. Former Baby Bomber Luis Torrens and rookie Carson Benge also homered off Cole to build a 4-0 lead.
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#today #enough #lindor

The U.S. was looking to get some early momentum in the fourballs session as Megan Khang and Lauren Coughlin took on Maja Stark and Linn Grant in the first match.
On the first hole of the session, with the crowd's singing heard in the background, their best player Lauren Coughlin stuffed a perfect wedge into gimme range.
Maja Stark responded by hitting an even more perfect wedge that took two bounces short of the hole and went in on the fly.
Stark and Coughlin look to maintain their lead as the day goes on.

#lauren #hole

On September 13, 2001, Lillian Garcia stood in the center of a WWE ring — alone — with tens of thousands of eyeballs on her at the Compaq Center in Houston, Texas. Normally the WWE's ring announcer, Garcia had been tasked with a nominal-turned-monumental duty — singing "The Star-Spangled Banner" — two days after the most significant terrorist attack on U.S. soil.
More than 1,600 miles away, in the shadows of the ever-altered New York City skyline, 10-year-old Thea Trinidad watched — as she always did — after experiencing an upheaval most do at some point in their life, but few as suddenly as her.
"That one's specifically always stuck out to me," Trinidad, a former WWE champion who performed under the alias Zelina Vega, tells Uncrowned. "I remember that one specifically, I saw all of the wrestlers get really emotional and seeing Lillian, still I always tell her: 'Yours is still my favorite to hear.'
"It just felt like, in that moment, the thing that I loved most was kind of shining a light on my dad. In a way, it kind of felt like it was just for 9/11, and it felt like it was just for those people. And I think in a weird way, it was important for us to feel that, because everyone else just felt like you were a thing, like a spectacle. You were someone to look at. You almost felt like you were the circus animal, and you were like, 'Oh, look, they dealt with that,' or, 'Oh, look, her dad died.' It just felt like wrestling was the thing that I've always felt seen in."
Thea and her brother Timothy are seen in a photo with their father, Michael. (Photos courtesy of Thea Trinidad)

#thea #lillian

So often pitchers' duels don't really stand up to the hype, but today's matchup between two former Stetson Hatters – the Mariners' Logan Gilbert and the Rangers' Jacob deGrom – delivered on all that promise and then some. The two pitchers combined for 23 strikeouts, and deGrom carried a perfect game through five innings. In true pitching duel style, it looked like the pitcher who blinked first would come out on the short end, but despite Logan Gilbert making a couple of mistakes, his offense was able to pick him up and deliver him the win. Bragging rights are fun; wins are better. (Gilbert also gets the honor of leading MLB in whiffs today: 24 to deGrom's 20, despite having one fewer strikeout than deGrom.)
This all being said, it was a slog for the Mariners early on. The best at-bat the first time through the order for the Mariners went to – surprise, surprise – Cal Raleigh, who battled deGrom for nine pitches before striking out on deGrom's fastest fastball of the day, a 99.6 mph heater (my campaign for decimal points on the ribbon board in the stadium, which read 100, continues unabated). But the Mariners did fight deGrom, getting themselves into good counts and forcing him into the zone; he finished the second inning at 37 pitches, compared to Gilbert's 24.
But it only took two pitches to offset that work in the third. Nicky Lopez was able to take 96 up and in from Gilbert and find a hole on the infield, and one batter later, with two outs, Joc Pederson jumped a first-pitch slider for a two-run homer. It wasn't a terrible pitch from Gilbert, away from Pederson but probably still too much on the plate; Gilbert had struck Pederson out on the slider in his first at-bat. The slider was particularly nasty today, with an eye-popping 75% whiff rate. He led with the pitch, throwing it 40 times, 12 times to start off an at-bat, which feels like a different sequence than he's used. Gilbert credits Cal for coming up with a good game plan, especially after he felt like he fell into some predictable patterns in his last time out against the A's.
"Like with Joc, we got him with the slider early, so he probably thought we were going to it next time," explained Gilbert. "But then also other guys, we went heavy spin, like with Duran, and then next time went three or four straight fastballs. So I think we did a good job there. They're trying to look at how we're probably scouting them, and then next time through, maybe pitch them different. I think Cal did a good job there."
But deGrom was just as tough on the other side. After striking out eight times in the first three innings, the Mariners hitters decided to try a different strategy the second time through the order. That also didn't work, as they let deGrom cruise through the fourth on nine pitches, keeping his perfect game intact.

#degrom #like #pitch

The top of the National League East played itself to a stalemate this holiday weekend in Philadelphia, as the visiting Atlanta Braves and the hosting Phillies split a four-game set, two wins apiece. It was a captivating showdown between familiar rivals, one packed with impressive performances and knife's edge moments. But in the end, Walt Weiss' Braves left the Citizens Bank Park thunderdome with the same four-game division lead with which they arrived. Much happened — and little, too. At this point, the division is Atlanta's to lose.
That said, despite the dwindling of the baseball calendar, these clubs are not finished with each other yet. Three more regular-season games remain next weekend in Georgia. And, of course, there's always the opportunity for a big-time rendezvous come October.
Here's what we learned this weekend.
Join or create a Yahoo Fantasy Football league for the 2026 NFL season
The most consequential swing of the series — and perhaps Atlanta's entire season — came Sunday afternoon via the suddenly en fuego Ronald Acuña Jr. With the Braves down three and a pair on, the electrifying outfielder tied things up with a three-run crowd-silencer. After warding off six consecutive fastballs from Philly reliever Alex McFarlane, Acuña put the seventh, a 100.5-mph four-seamer, into the seats. As he rounded the sacks, the ever-emotive slugger unleashed his elaborate cornucopia of long-ball celebrations, much to the displeasure of the booing Philadelphia crowd.

#Braves #philadelphia #much #division

Ishan Kishan led from the front with a superb unbeaten century as East Zone finished Day 1 of the Duleep Trophy 2026 final on 385/4 against South Zone at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Sunday.

After winning the toss and opting to bat, Kishan anchored a strong batting display from East Zone, scoring 111 not out off 135 ****** . His innings featured 14 fours and two sixes as he took control of the contest in the final session.

Kishan found an excellent partner in ****** ar Kushagra, who remained unbeaten on 63 off 75 ****** . The pair added an unbeaten 144-run partnership for the fifth wicket off 160 ****** , completely taking the game away from South Zone towards the end of the day.
East Zone made a solid start through Abhimanyu Easwaran (72) and teenage batter Vaibhav Sooryavanshi (44). Easwaran and Sooryavanshi gave the side a strong platform before both departed. Sudip ****** ar Gharami was then dismissed for 6, bringing Shikhar Mohan to the crease. Mohan played a composed knock of 85 off 120 ****** , helping East Zone build another important partnership before Chama Milind ended his innings at 241/4.

That dismissal brought Kishan and Kushagra together, and the pair ensured there were no further setbacks.

Kishan accelerated as the innings progressed and brought up his century in style, remaining unbeaten at the close. His knock was particularly important given his role as captain, with East Zone now firmly in control after the opening day.
South Zone's bowling attack found little ****** istance from a placid batting surface, while the bowlers also struggled with consistency. Chama Milind was the most successful bowler, finishing the day with figures of 2/56 from 13 overs. Tripurana Vijay picked up one wicket but conceded 114 runs from his 22 overs.

Mohammed Siraj, meanwhile, went wicketless despite bowling 14 overs and conceded 96 runs. East Zone also benefited from a late surge, scoring 74 runs without losing a wicket in the final 10 overs. Kishan and Kushagra's partnership allowed them to finish the day strongly at 385/4.

With Kishan unbeaten on 111 and Kushagra on 63, East Zone will resume on Day 2 with an opportunity to push towards a total of 400 and beyond. South Zone, meanwhile, will desperately need early wickets with the second new ball to prevent East Zone from building an even bigger first-innings total.

#balls

The Tosh Lupoi Era for the Cal football team began in Berkeley on Saturday night with a full house at Memorial Stadium and plenty of thrills. What it ultimately lacked, however, was a victory for the Bears, who saw UCLA score three fourth-quarter touchdowns to claim a 45-24 victory with a majority of Cal fans clearing out of their seats before the final whistle.
It seemed nothing could stop Cal after sophomore Jaron-Keawe Sagapolutele delivered three consecutive completions to take the Bears 87 yards into the end zone in just 38 seconds to cut the Bears' deficit to 21-17 toward the end of the first half.
With the Memorial Stadium home crowd roaring and the powers of their star quarterback on full display in the moon-balls he summoned, it felt like nothing could stop the Bears from satisfying the hype that the team spent the last eight months cultivating. A start to what the program hoped could be a Cinderella season.
And then the clock struck midnight.
The UCLA offensive line began to mash Cal in the trenches. Bruins running backs Wayne Knight and Jaivian Thomas started to steamroll through tackles and break containment. And the Sagapolutele magic turned into dust as a mishandled snap on a fourth-down and two fourth-quarter interceptions - one off the hands of his receiver and the other right to defense (both to the Bruins' Ta'Shawn James) - gave UCLA the momentum to take the game and run.

#team

The San Francisco Giants notched a feel-good 5-4 win in extra-innings against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday night at PNC Park.
The win ought to put a better taste in the team's mouth after Tuesday's loss in which they erased a five-run deficit in the eighth, but were walked off in the bottom of the ninth when Rafael Devers couldn't snag a tricky throw across the diamond from Osleivis Basabe.
Here are takeaways from the Giants' win:
Bryce Eldridge fastballs:
With his grandmother watching him play at the big league level for the first time - several days after his grandfather passed away - Eldridge delivered the go-ahead run with an RBI double smacked the other way in the 10th inning.

#eldridge #pirates #osleivis

Ravindra Jadeja has been a mainstay of India's Test team for more than a decade, but former India wicketkeeper-batter Deep Dasgupta believes the time has come for the team to start looking beyond the veteran all-rounder in the longest format.

Jadeja aged 37, finished India's recent two-Test tour of Sri Lanka with eight wickets across four innings. However, Dasgupta felt the Indian spin attack failed to consistently exert pressure on the hosts, particularly on surfaces where the visitors would have expected their spinners to play a major role.

The former India player singled out the second Test in Colombo, where Sri Lanka were forced to follow on but managed to fight back strongly. Sonal Dinusha's century helped the hosts frustrate India and build a substantial lead before the match eventually ended in a draw.
While Jadeja picked up three wickets in Sri Lanka's second innings, Dasgupta felt India needed more penetration from their experienced spinners.

"Apart from Manav, our spinners didn't look as lethal as we expected. I'm not saying there is no ability. On such pitches, Jadeja has always been very destructive and lethal. I thought he would be crucial on the fifth day. He has been a great servant, but it's done now. He was not as accurate as he is. His action is very shoulder-dominant," Dasgupta said on his YouTube channel.
The Sri Lanka series also highlighted an issue with India's bowling discipline, with the spinners repeatedly overstepping. Saransh Jain, making his Test debut in Colombo, bowled four no-balls, while Jadeja overstepped once. Dasgupta believes such problems need to be addressed during training rather than waiting for them to surface in matches.

"If you are not careful in the nets, it will happen. Even when I was playing, a lot of them would bowl from ahead and say it would not happen in the match, but they would repeat the same thing in the match. You need to avoid this in the nets. This issue is not new with Jadeja; it has only gotten worse," he added.
133717849
India won the two-match series 1-0, with victory by 165 runs in the opening Test in Galle before the second Test in Colombo ended in a draw. India's next Test ******* ignments will come with a tour of New Zealand scheduled for November before Australia travel to India for a five match Test series beginning in January 2027.

#India #dasgupta #colombo #second

Outhomering the Dodgers five to zip, the Cardinals had no trouble controlling this game right from the jump in a 13-8 blowout win. For the first time since joining the Dodgers, Eric Lauer delivered a bad enough start at home that helps illustrate why he was available in the first place, ready to be scooped up by one of baseball's strongest teams. Lauer ran into all kinds of issues, first crushed by the long ball and then dealing with a massive rally courtesy of nothing but singles, walks, and an HBP.
The bottom of the Cardinals' order first gave Lauer problems, with Ramón Urías and Thomas Saggese demolishing fastballs in the middle to upper part of the zone to leave the yard in back-to-back at-bats in the second. Saggese, in particular, was on an inspired night, later also crushing his second homer in the game to triple his total (1) before the start of play. Equally not known for his pop, Urías hit what was only his fourth long ball this season.
Still, both of those were solo shots, and only trailing 2-0, Lauer had a path to find himself once again, but in the third inning, it all quickly unraveled for the veteran southpaw. Six of the inning's first seven hitters reached safely; a little later, Nathan Church drove in the Cards' seventh run on an infield single—the runner from first was thrown out trying to go to third on the play, ending the inning with the score 7-0.
A seven-run deficit is a daunting challenge to overcome, but with six innings still to go, the Dodgers had nothing but time, and for a brief moment it looked like they'd get back into it. Back-to-back walks by Shohei Ohtani and Freddie Freeman loaded the bases with two outs in front of Mookie Betts. And probably with more luck than skill, Betts cleared the bags on a fly ball to right that likely should've been caught but was aberrantly misplayed by the Cardinals' defense. The scoring in that inning stopped there, and as much as the end product was promising, you couldn't help but feel a bit frustrated at the lack of thump—by the end of three frames, the Dodgers had three runs and just two hits.
Understanding full well who they were going up against, the Cardinals made it so that the Dodgers weren't able to gain much momentum by scoring two of their own in the following frame to make it 10-3. Looking to get in on the fun alongside the bottom of the order, Jordan Walker took Alex Vesia deep in the fourth for a two-run shot, as Lauer got the hook after three dreadful innings of work.

#Dodgers #saggese

Riley Greene returns to the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday, September 1, as one of the club's call-ups after the rosters expand. The three-time All-Star has been on the IL for almost three weeks with a hamstring injury, and the Tigers have been struggling mightily in his absence. The team went 4-14 in the 18 games since the injury, and have gone from fringe contenders in the playoff hunt to non-factors in the Wild Card race. Although the bullpen has continued its season-long struggle during this time, the team's offense has really struggled. Here is how he can help his team as Riley Greene returns from the IL.
The Tigers are currently in fourth place in the AL Central and are just one win up from the Kansas City Royals, who have dwelt in the basement all season long. They sit six whole games back from the last Wild Card spot as Riley Greene returns, and are really struggling at the plate. Although Dillon Dingler has been one of the best catchers in baseball, he hit a severe slump right around the time that Greene hit the IL. Others like Spencer Torkelson have found it tough to get their game going all season long. Meanwhile, injuries have also been a factor as Kerry Carpenter and as mentioned Greene have found themselves hitting the IL in recent weeks.
Although he hasn't hit the same heights as the last two seasons, Riley Greene remains one of the Tigers' most productive bats. Through 177 games in 2026, he's slugged 16 home runs and driven in 54 runners, with an OPS of .816, making him the team's most dangerous hitter this season. Rookies Kevin McGonigle and Max Clark have made waves in recent weeks, but the team can't rely on their young players to deliver when it really matters, that's when veterans need to step up to the plate, literally.
Jun 3, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Detroit Tigers left fielder Riley Greene (31) celebrates with his teammates after defeating the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Dyer-Imagn Images
McGonigle continues to make a great case for AL Rookie of the Year honors, and Clark who has collected 23 hits in his first 28 games in the big leagues. They will get a boost as Riley Greene returns to lengthen this lineup and give protection to the two of them, as well as the struggling Dingler and Torkelson. Knowing that Greene is in the lineup is going to make pitchers want to challenge these other batters a bit more than they have, so the other starters should see more fastballs in the zone. Fans will worry whether or not it is too late for 2026.

#tigers

Fantasy Football draft season is in full swing. Those with teams are perusing rosters and stats to see what players are worth selecting. The quarterback position creates a great divide. Many believe it pays to wait because there won't be that big of a difference over the course of a season. Those who have selected Josh Allen in recent years would beg to disagree. What quarterbacks are worth a pick and when? And for leagues that go with a team quarterback, will look at the overall picture.
Jacoby Brissett and his QB room is worthy of a mid-to-late round pick. The Cardinals have a wealth of receivers, starting with Michael Wilson and TE Trey McBride. Those two alone will catch a ton of footballs and should find the end zone.
Lord, no. Hard pass.
So, Lamar Jackson is going to be more of a pocket passer? Does that mean the days of his 1,000-yard rushing seasons are finito? If so, he goes from a high pick to a mid-rounder. The question is whether Jackson can keep his mind on throwing the football and not take off.
Josh Allen is a must pick even at age 30. He can deliver points with his arm and legs.

#Football

LIBERTY HILL - When Tyler McCrary, a Legacy Ranch junior who doubles as the high school's athletic mascot, got the night going with an electric guitar rendition of the national anthem, maybe that was the first sign the Wranglers' first varsity game of their football program's history would be picture perfect.
With thousands of parents, students and Legacy Ranch staff on hand to witness the team's first game inside the school's brand new $18 million Wrangler Stadium, it sort of felt like a communal experience that extended into all of the Texas Hill Country. And the senior-less Wranglers never looked an ounce out of place, thumping Manor New Tech 59-0 in a game that was well over before the second half even began.
The 100 Central Texas football players worth watching this season
Afterward, players celebrated in their own end zone as the band played.
"This is amazing. The culture, the atmosphere, the support, the community," Ashley Arrasmith, whose son Blake is an offensive lineman on the team, said before the game. The pre-game tailgate saw hundreds line the parking lot in blue and navy T-shirts. Girls wore cowboy boots and hats while boys threw mini-footballs across the lawn.

#players

Last season, Jacksonville Jaguars kicker Cam Little drilled a 68-yard field goal that became the longest field goal ever made in an NFL game. That kick was actually shorter than the 70-yarder he hit during the preseason. Then, just last week, Kansas City Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker hit a 69-yarder of his own.
Absurdly long field goals are becoming a pattern in the NFL, and it's almost surely going to continue this year.
Over the past few seasons, the NFL has quietly made some changes to its kicking **** that seem to have made things noticeably easier on kickers. That, coupled with the recent kickoff changes that have made a drastic impact on starting field position, has led to an increase in incredibly long field goals.
Ahead of the 2025 season, the NFL quietly passed a resolution that allowed teams to prepare their kicking **** – known in the league as "K-balls" – before game day, rather than during game day. The change got very little publicity, likely because **** ody really expected the change to make a drastic difference. But it seems to have, and Philadelphia Eagles defensive coordinator Vic Fangio took notice.
Following a game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in which kicker Chase McLaughlin hit a 65-yard field goal and a 58-yard field goal, Fangio brought up the quiet rule change, saying that it made a "drastic" impact on the kicking game. Fangio said the impact has been so drastic that he compared it to the steroid era of Major League Baseball.

#game #drastic #yard #kicking

Chris Sale is a consummate ace. It seems unlikely that anyone would contest this at this point, but if they ever do… just point 'em at this game. In a marquee pitching matchup that featured Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the other side, it was Sale and the Braves that prevailed, as the grizzled southpaw gave Atlanta its first complete game shutout since Max Fried's performance in a 5-0 win over the Marlins in April 2024.
This one, though, was a lot tighter. In fact, there was only one run scored in this game… and it came on the first pitch Yamamoto delivered to a Braves batter. That pitch was a hanging splitter, and Drake Baldwin was either expecting a get-me-over or just did an excellent job if he wasn't, launching an absolute no-doubter Chop House-ward for a solo shot. No one else crossed the plate in this game, or even got close to crossing the plate.
That said, this game was about Chris Sale. It was kind of the Chris Sale Game, except that really, he gives you a superlative performance so often that many games are the Chris Sale Game. Against an offense that ranks first or second in pretty much everything, he showed up, showed out, and dominated. He was actually pretty close to a Maddux (shutout on fewer than 100 pitches) until some drama late.
He breezed through the first on nine pitches, with a strikeout, two first-pitch groundouts, and a soft single by Mookie Betts. He struck out two more in the second, working around an overcooked slider that grazed Alex Call on the toe with two outs. He struck out the side on 12 pitches in the third: two three-pitch strikeouts sandwiching a longer plate appearance by Shohei Ohtani. In the fourth, Betts led off with a no-man's land bloop that went for a double (and nearly got Betts thrown out as he took a big turn around second and had to scramble back to the bag). Not to worry, Sale threw just seven more pitches to end the inning, with a couple of easy flyouts chased down by his defense around a strikeout.
Two more quick outs started the fifth, before catcher Ben Rortvedt knocked a liner to left for a single. That brought up Shohei Ohtani, and Sale delivered his outing in microcosm against one of the game's best: he got ahead with a get-me-over fastball, then painted two perfect fastballs on the outer edge. Neither was called a strike, neither was challenged by Baldwin behind the dish. So, Sale got Ohtani to graze a slider, and then obliterated him with 100 mph about chin-high. Then he went back to business as usual in the sixth: another three-pitch strikeout, two other quick field outs.

#sale #game #pitches #plate

Before long, we're going to be talking about multiple Texas A&M baseball products earning their first call‑ups, and two Aggies who are making that conversation unavoidable are Gavin Grahovac and Jace LaViolette. Both have been on a tear, but Grahovac's recent jump in production has been especially hard to ignore.
Grahovac is getting better with every at‑bat. His slugging percentage has climbed more than two hundred points since early August, a sign of how consistently he's driving the ball right now. He's seeing pitches cleanly, staying balanced through contact, and flirting with a .300 batting average after extending his hit streak to six games two of those being multi‑hit performances.
The power showed up in full force on Tuesday. Grahovac went yard twice, pushing his season home run total to five through just fourteen games. His overall line reflects a player trending sharply upward slashing .286/.392/.571 with 18 hits, 10 RBI, 10 stolen bases, and a .963 OPS. He's impacting the game in every phase hitting for average, hitting for power, getting on base, and creating pressure with his speed.
If he keeps this pace, it won't be long before we see the official announcement that he's been called up. Everything about his current trajectory points in that direction.
Texas A&M's all‑time home run leader Jace LaViolette continues to punish baseballs in the minor leagues, even as he adjusts to the jump in competition at the Double‑A level. The promotion came with a few expected speed **** ps, but the one thing that hasn't wavered is his elite power. Through 11 games with Akron, he's already launched three home runs, reminding everyone why he's considered one of the most dangerous young hitters in the system. His strikeout rate remains higher than ideal, yet with continued reps and refinement, LaViolette has the tools to develop into one of the most feared bats in the division.

#grahovac #power

The Mariners brought a dumper to a duel.
George Kirby outpitched Aaron Nola on Tuesday in the Mariners electric 4-1 win over the Phillies. Kirby struck out nine over 7 2/3 innings and turned in his best outing of the year. Cal Raleigh smacked another homer, giving him four on the series. And the rest of the lineup scratched and clawed a few more runs late to give the Mariners an impressive, all around, and fun win. That's back-to-back series victories over the top two Wild Card teams in the National League.
It's been a weird season for Kirby, something I feel I've written a dozen times in the last five months. He's walked a lot of batters (relative to himself) and struck out very few (relative to everyone). He survived the early part of the season by keeping the ball on the ground, but that's no longer the case and he's since been getting crushed. He's often seemed to nibble at the edges of the zone, unable to get chase out of it, and unable to get whiffs in it. He gave up 11 runs in his last two starts, making early exits in both.
But Kirby on Tuesday looked like the near-ace level pitcher of the past. He attacked the zone relentlessly with his four-seamer, ripping upper-90s fastballs with his best velocity of the season (97.9 mph). When he did expand the zone with the slow and bendy stuff, he got chase 49% of the time. Kirby generated 21 whiffs on Tuesday — the second most in a game for his career. He was aggressive, sharp, and borderline unhittable.
It was obvious right from the jump that something was special for Kirby. He led off the game throwing three pretty much middle-middle fastballs to Kyle Schwarber, each greater than 98 mph, and Schwarber swung through them all. "I knew I had it today," Kirby said of the four-seamer after the game. He then got ahead of Trea Turner with a few more fastballs registering 99 mph, before finishing him off with devastating sweeper away.

#four #season #zone #schwarber

There was a lot of conversation and controversy surrounding IndyCar's race on the streets of Washington, D.C., this past weekend.
There were a lot of people watching at home, too.
Fox Sports announced Tuesday that Sunday's Freedom 250 Grand Prix drew an average of 3.28 million viewers, which would make it the most-watched IndyCar race other than the Indy 500 since the series formed following 2008's unification.
That number is nearly four times larger than IndyCar's Sunday non-Indy 500 races from last year (867,000 viewers) and a 364% gain from a comparable event around the same time last year (708,000 viewers on Fox).
As The Athletic's Jeff Gluck noted, those numbers also gave IndyCar the extremely rare bragging rights of beating out NASCAR, with the Freedom 250 Grand Prix drawing more eyeballs than NASCAR's Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway (1.79 million viewers, per NASCAR).

#nascar

NEW YORK - There was some encouraging Yankees pitching news before Tuesday night's three-game series opener against the Houston Astros.
On Monday, lefty Max Fried (elbow bone bruise) tossed four simulated innings (60-pitches) vs. live hitters, putting him in line for activation Saturday, when the Yanks host the Red Sox in a day-night doubleheader.
And earlier Tuesday afternoon, Clarke Schmidt tossed a 20-pitch live BP session at Yankee Stadium, putting him on track to begin a minor league rehab ****** ignment by this weekend.
Yankees pitching coach Matt Blake thought Schmidt (Tommy John surgery rehab, forearm cramp) looked sharp, with some good curveballs and a live fastball.
"The competition was a little weak,'' Blake said with a smile, noting that two Yankees coaches, including Brad Ausmus, were in the batter's box. "But overall the stuff looked sharp.''

#yankees

No-balls explained: Different types of no ****** in cricket originally appeared on Cricket News. Add Cricket News as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
A no ball is an illegal delivery penalised with an extra run and, in white-ball cricket, a free hit.
No ****** fall into three groups: bowler faults, dangerous deliveries and fielding breaches.
Overstepping the popping crease is the most common type of no ball in the game.
The no ball is one of cricket's most familiar yet most misunderstood rulings, capable of swinging a match with a single delivery. Governed by Law 21 of the MCC Laws of Cricket, it penalises the bowling side for an illegal delivery, adding a run to the total and denying the bowler a legitimate ball in the over.

#balls #illegal #different #source

"The dream is absolutely not dead for me."
Mason Jones made that statement shortly after making the bold decision not to re-sign with the UFC in 2022.
He had won just one of his four fights under the UFC banner - losing two with one no-contest - but decided to explore options elsewhere.
The 31-year-old returned to Cage Warriors, where he had previously been a two-weight champion, to resurrect his career - even if it took a toll financially.
"I chose to leave [UFC]. I went back and I rebuilt everything I needed. It cost me a stupid amount of money, put me in debt at my eyeballs," Jones told BBC Wales.

#dream

WICHITA, Kan. (KSNW) — Temperatures aren't backing down during the first week of high school football practice, so teams are trying to prioritize safety while also preparing for the season.
If the heat rises ahead of practice time, the Kansas State High School Activities ****** ociation recommends adding water breaks or shortening practices. In extreme temperatures, teams may also be forced to cancel practice.
With a heat advisory in place for parts of south Kansas on Tuesday, schools in Wichita are looking for ways to work around the temperatures.
"Our coaches are trained that whenever there's a water break that's scheduled on their practice schedule that it's a non-negotiable," said Chris Asmussen, USD 259 Director of Athletics. "So, kids need to go get that get out of the heat when they notice things, and we try to keep as many eyeballs on kids as possible."
Double Coverage: Kickoff Day Across Kansas

#wichita #high #school

Drone video captured huge fireballs and thick black smoke billowing into the sky after lightning struck a fuel tank at an Oklahoma pipeline facility, part of a deadly stretch of severe weather sweeping the country. NBC News' Maggie Vespa reports.

#oklahoma #vespa #fireballs #thick

The Premier League has been monitoring connected ball technology as it considers whether the system could eventually be used in England.
The technology, already being used across every La Liga match this season, could give officials another source of data when dealing with offsides, handballs, deflections and double touches.
The Premier League has already watched the system in competitive settings, including the FIFA Women's Champions Cup in London and the 2025 Wings Cup youth tournament in Leipzig.
Photo by Tony King/Getty Images
According to The Athletic, connected ball technology uses a sensor inside the match ball to identify the exact moment it is touched.

#technology #premier #league

Pittsburgh — Max Clark and some of the other Detroit Tigers rookies went to dinner in Pittsburgh Sunday night. The topic quickly turned to the one thing they all have in common right now — the vagaries, nuances and challenges of transitioning and adjusting to big-league pitching.
"We were talking about how it's just insane how quickly the league transitions," Clark said. "It's not week by week. It's literally series by series."
It didn't take the league long to see that Clark, when he first came up, was susceptible to high-velocity fastballs and he was seeing a healthy dose of them. Going into Monday, 72.4% of the pitches he'd seen were heaters, four-seamers or sinkers.
He was hitting .227 on the four-seamers and .267 on the sinkers.
So imagine Cleveland right-hander Tanner Bibee's surprise last Tuesday when Clark laced a 93.6 mph heater for a single with an exit velocity of 103.6 mph. Later in the game he smoked another fastball to the track.

#clark #league #week #velocity

The Hundred men's competition: Final, Lord's
Trent Rockets 158-8 (100 ****** ): Donald 38 (19); Noor 3-33
Manchester Super Giants 162-5 (98 ****** ): Seifert 72 (38); Amir 3-29
Manchester Super Giants won by five wickets
Scorecard

#balls #rockets