Max Kepler homered among his three hits and Jesus Luzardo tossed six strong innings, fueling the visiting Philadelphia Phillies to a 10-4 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday.
Kepler joined Bryce Harper and Kyle Schwarber in driving in a pair of runs for the Phillies, who rebounded after being shut out in the series opener to snap a five-game losing streak.
Harper's two-run double to the base of the wall in center field highlighted Philadelphia's six-run fourth inning, while Schwarber's ground-rule double capped a three-run sixth.
Bryson Stott, who collected two hits and two runs, joined Kepler, Alec Bohm and Trea Turner with an RBI single for the Phillies.
The offense was more than enough for Luzardo (3-0), who has paid immediate dividends in his first season with Philadelphia. He allowed two unearned runs on three hits with five strikeouts.
Chicago's Seiya Suzuki drove in three runs and Jon Berti had three of his team's eight hits. Ian Happ walked three times and scored on Justin Turner's sacrifice fly for the Cubs, who saw their three-game winning streak come to a halt.
The Phillies' first five batters reached base in the fourth inning, with Kepler's blooper and Bohm's RBI single off Ben Brown (2-2) driving in the first two runs of the game. Johan Rojas' sacrifice fly plated J.T. Realmuto and Stott's single scored Kepler before Harper's blast to the base of the center-field wall brought home the final two runs of the inning.
Brown yielded six runs on nine hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Trea Turner's error with two outs in the fifth extended the inning for Chicago. Berti's single accounted for his team's first hit and the Cubs loaded the bases before Suzuki slapped a single to left field to plate a pair of runs.
Philadelphia had a swift response, however.
Rojas walked, advanced to second on a walk and trotted home on Trea Turner's RBI single to center field. Schwarber's ground-rule double brought home both Stott and Trea Turner to stake the Phillies to a 9-2 lead.
Kepler deposited a first-pitch cutter from Ethan Roberts over the wall in right field in the seventh inning for his second homer of the season.
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The New York Mets are a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies for first place in the NL East, but their pitching staff is still injury-ravaged despite the recent returns of Sean Manaea and Frankie Montas. Brandon Waddell (hip), Dedniel Nuñez (elbow), Max Kranick (flexor), Paul Blackburn (shoulder), Tylor Megill (elbow), Griffin Canning (Achilles), Drew Smith (elbow), A.J. Minter (lat), Danny Young (elbow), and Christian Scott (elbow) are alll on the Mets' IL. The MLB Trade Deadline is July 31 at 6 p.m. EST, so the front office has one week to add healthy arms from around the league this season. ESPN's David Schoenfield predicted on Thursday that New York would trade for a Minnesota Twins reliever. "One guarantee of the trade deadline: The Mets will add to the bullpen, probably with more than one trade. Though the rotation still ranks fifth in ERA, that was built off a hot start," he wrote. "More importantly, the only Mets starter to complete six innings since June 7 has been David Peterson. As a result, manager Carlos Mendoza has run relievers Reed Garrett, Huascar Brazoban, Jose Butto and Ryne Stanek into the ground. The bullpen had a 2.78 ERA through May, but that figure is over 5.00 since the beginning of June (ranking near the bottom of the majors)." "The Twins have two high-profile relievers in [Jhoan] Duran and [Griffin] Jax, both of whom are under team control through 2027, so they'll be much more expensive than your usual short-term relievers if the Twins decide to trade one or both," he continued. "Duran would be harder to deal -- but bring more in return -- so we'll say Jax will go. Don't be fooled by his 4.09 ERA: He has 68 strikeouts and 12 walks in 44 innings with a 97-mph heater. He's an elite strikeout reliever, the type you want on the mound in October." The Mets are hot despite their injuries, as they're on a four-game winning streak and just swept the Los Angeles Angels. Next up is a road trip against the San Francisco Giants and San Diego Padres. New York right-handed pitcher Clay Holmes (8-5, 3.48 ERA) will face Giants right-hander Logan Webb (9-7, 3.08 ERA) on Friday.
According to some, throw out the idea that the Edmonton Oilers should pursue Max Pacioretty. A veteran forward who has earned over $63 million over the course of his NHL career has yet to sign an NHL contract and was recently mentioned in a post by David Staples as a possible fit. In a recent post, the Journal noted, “All of the top NHL unrestricted free agents have already signed contracts, but there’s one big name player still available that makes good sense for the Edmonton Oilers to pursue.” Responses have been varied, with a few quite vocal about the Oilers not following Staples’ advice. “In what world does this make sense?????” writes a commenter on a recent post for The Hockey Writers. Another commenter wrote, “Pacioretty is a good journeyman player but he is injury prone now, late in his career. Oilers might be lucky to get 40 games out of him. They should look elsewhere instead of taking a chance on Patches.” Tyler Yaremchuk of Oilers Nation chimed in and said, “He scored five goals in 37 games last year with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Can’t stay healthy, very old, very slow.” Yaremchuk then went on a rant, listing several Oilers forwards who would be better than Pacioretty. What About Pacioretty on a PTO? Is there any reason that a team that is looking to get younger and faster, and move out depth pieces that were older and less productive than expected, would revert back to last summer’s strategy? It seems like an odd choice on the surface. Something would have to happen that would make giving Pacioretty a look risk-free. That means only a PTO. Even at that point, should he agree, it would require him to be willing to sign a two-way contract for the league minimum.
Shortly after former Alabama Crimson Tide quarterback and current college football analyst Greg McElroy shared that someone "in the know" believes there's a possibility Nick Saban — who retired in January 2024 — might return to coaching, NFL insider Albert Breer suggested that the Dallas Cowboys could be a potential destination for the seven-time national champion. According to Mike Rodak of 247Sports, Saban was asked during a Friday appearance on Fox News if he intends to come out of retirement. "No, I'm really happy with what I'm doing right now," Saban responded. "It's exciting to still be involved in the game. It's exciting for me to work with athletic directors, conference commissioners, people in Congress to preserve the integrity of our game and continue to be able to create opportunities to help young people create value for their future that will help them be successful in their life, which is what we always try to do as a coach." Saban, now working as an ESPN analyst, will be 74 in October. Per Christian Datoc of the Washington Examiner, President Donald Trump could consider having Saban "lead a new commission examining problems arising with the growth of name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights and coinciding changes to the NCAA transfer process." Meanwhile, it's thought that Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones could look to hire a big-name candidate if first-year head coach Brian Schottenheimer fails to impress during the 2025 campaign. Additionally, Fox Sports personality Colin Cowherd recently hinted that Saban could be interested in becoming the head coach of the Cleveland Browns if the team selects Texas quarterback Arch Manning as the first pick in the 2026 draft. "There is no opportunity that I know of right now that would enhance me to go back to coaching," Saban added during Friday's segment. "I enjoy what I'm doing. I did it for 50 years. I loved it. I loved the relationships with the players. I loved the competition. But it's another station of life now. I enjoy what I'm doing right now and want to continue to do it — spend more time with my family, my grandchildren, my children. It's been really, really good." The "right now" portion of Saban's comments attracted the attention of Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio, who was quick to point out he did not say "no for good" regarding a return to coaching. In short, it seems that rumors about Saban's future could hover over the college and pro football communities through at least the rest of the year.
Connor Zilisch is the hottest prospect in NASCAR at the moment, and it's widely speculated that he could move up to the NASCAR Cup Series in 2026. The 19-year-old driver seemed to confirm his NASCAR future during a news conference at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Friday. "Next year, I think my best chance to win a race would be on a road course," Zilisch said. "The practice starts now, and that's going to be good for me." Zilisch is in the midst of his rookie season in the NASCAR Xfinity Series season, where he's won a series-leading four races and is second in the standings despite missing the May 3 race at Texas Motor Speedway. When it was announced that Daniel Suarez would leave Trackhouse Racing at the conclusion of the 2025 season, Zilisch — who is a Trackhouse development driver — immediately became the heavy favorite to take over Suarez's Cup Series ride. Zilisch has already made three Cup Series starts with Trackhouse this season, with a best finish of 11th coming at EchoPark Speedway on June 28. His next Cup Series start is slated for Aug. 10 at Watkins Glen — the same track where he won in his Xfinity Series debut in 2024. Zilisch has already proved himself to be a road course ace, and while winning as a Cup Series rookie is difficult, it wouldn't be surprising if his first Cup win came at a road course in 2026.
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