Rookie Luis Gil pitched 6 1/3 outstanding innings and combined with three relievers on a three-hitter, leading the New York Yankees to a 5-0 victory over the visiting Seattle Mariners on Thursday afternoon for a split of a four-game series.
Gil (6-1) only allowed an infield single to Seattle shortstop J.P. Crawford to open the fourth after retiring the first nine hitters. He withstood allowing walks to Ty France and Dylan Moore in the sixth with a strikeout of Luke Raley.
The right-hander struck out eight and walked two in a 96-pitch outing that earned him an ovation from the crowd after his final out in the top of the seventh.
Gil won his fifth straight start and became New York's first six-game winner.
Giancarlo Stanton and Aaron Judge hit solo homers off Seattle's Luis Castillo (5-4) as the Yankees got the lead in the second inning and won for the 16th time in 21 games. New York won the final two games of the series after blowing a four-run lead Monday in a 5-4 defeat and taking a 6-3 loss Tuesday.
Stanton opened the second inning by hitting a 1-0 pitch to center field above the netting in Monument Park for his 12th homer. With one out in the third, Judge hit a 2-0 offering over the right-center field fence, giving the slugger 15 homers this season.
After leaving the bases loaded in the fifth, the Yankees tacked on three runs in the seventh. Juan Soto hit an RBI single before Alex Verdugo and Anthony Rizzo lifted sacrifice flies.
Castillo, who was rumored to be going to the Yankees at the 2022 trade deadline before being obtained by Seattle, allowed two runs on seven hits in five innings. He walked three and struck out three.
Victor Gonzalez got the final two outs of the seventh and an out in the eighth before hitting a batter and then reliever Nick Burdi walked two to load the bases. Clay Holmes allowed singles to Mitch Garver and pinch hitter Jorge Polanco in the ninth before finishing up his 14th save.
The Mariners dropped to 3-4 on a 10-game road trip and were blanked for the second time this season.
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Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell was ejected early in his team's game against the San Francisco Giants on Thursday, and home plate umpire David Rackley didn't put up with much before giving him the hook. Chicago had outfielder Ian Happ at the plate with a runner on first and one out in the top of the third inning at Oracle Park in San Francisco. Right fielder Kyle Tucker attempted to steal second on a 3-2 pitch in a tie game, but he was thrown out at second. The pitch was also called a strike, which ended the inning. Counsell felt that the ball had missed outside and came out of the dugout to state his case to Rackley, who was in no mood to hear it. Counsell was quickly dismissed from the game. The Cubs lost their first two games of the series against San Francisco and scored a combined five runs in those contests, so Counsell may have been trying to light a fire under his team. Though he seemed a bit surprised when Rackley ejected him. Chicago entered Thursday with a record of 76-57. Counsell's team was 6.5 games behind the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central but atop the NL wild-card standings.
The New York Knicks have a strong backcourt as is, but could use one more playmaker should injuries plague their roster next season. Knicks: Monte Morris is a logical option in free agency Among the options remaining in unrestricted free agency is Monte Morris. A reliable backup veteran floor general of his ilk could service New York well. Morris averages 9.5 points with an uber-efficient shooting line of 47.4 percent from the field, 38.9 percent from three-point range, topped off with 82.7 percent from the free throw line for his career. The Iowa State product averaged 5.3 assists per game in 2022-23. He hovers just below four APG for his career. A playoff-tested Morris is what the Knicks need With 57 games of postseason experience under his belt, Morris can bring veteran leadership to New York’s locker room. He also dictates the pace well on the court. Though the Knicks were a noticeably good passing team last season, the ball club does not have another volume passer behind All-NBA point guard Jalen Brunson, though Jordan Clarkson is an elite scorer off the bench. Miles McBride is a promising two-way guard alongside him. Thus, Morris would be a quintessential depth option for New York to house. Should his number be called at any point in the season, he’d be a piece that could start or play substantive minutes off the bench.
The Pittsburgh Steelers have been a very different team ever since General Manager Omar Khan took over the front office in the middle of the 2022 offseason. Khan has approached each year since with a bit of aggression, while striving to improve the roster and give Pittsburgh their best chance at winning their seventh Lombardi Trophy. Pittsburgh has been more active on the trade market, more hungry to bring in big name players during free agency, and more willing to trade away their own talent if things haven't been going the way the organization envisioned. The 2025 offseason was a big one for Pittsburgh as the organization parted ways with George Pickens and brought in DK Metcalf. Several other additions were made as well, including Jalen Ramsey. During the 2024 offseason, Pittsburgh brought in inside linebacker Patrick Queen in free agency. This was a big add as he had previously been an All-Pro for the Baltimore Ravens, and Pittsburgh had to play him twice a year. After one of those games, Head Coach Mike Tomlin shared a message with Queen on the field in Pittsburgh. Queen told this story during the most recent episode of Not Just Football With Cam Heyward. "So we was playing in Pittsburgh, and Mike T comes to me after the game," Queen explained. "He's like, 'You're going to be a Steeler.' I'm like, 'Who said that?' I had no idea who said that. And he just walked off. So I'm looking around wondering who said that. Once I got here, he told me that it was him. It doesn't even register, like in the time, that you could speak things into existence." Queen became a free agent after the 2023 season, so the game he is referring to is likely the won that the Steelers won at home that year. Kenny Pickett found Pickens down the right sideline for a touchdown late in the game and Pittsburgh won the contest by a score of 17-10. Rather than celebrating, Tomlin walked up to Queen in order to plant a seed about him potentially joining Pittsburgh in the following year. Before bringing this story up, Queen checked in with Cam Heyward to make sure it was legal to discuss. It might be frowned upon for an opposing coach to go up to a player on another team after a game like this and say something, but it doesn't fall into the category of tampering. Heyward is Pittsburgh's rep and a vice president for the NFL Player's Association, so he knows how the tampering rules work -- and he knows his coach did nothing wrong. What Tomlin did might flirt with the idea of tampering, but it sounds like he made one simple comment to Queen after the game and then walked off the field. No contractual business was discussed, and Tomlin made no form of illegal contact since the conversation took place after a game. Steelers' Mike Tomlin Played A Major Role In Patrick Queen Coming To Pittsburgh It is no secret that Tomlin is one of the most well-respected coaches in the NFL, and players all around the league would love to have the opportunity to play for him. Queen was that same way, and he got an up close look at Tomlin twice a year while he was with Baltimore. The linebacker was coming up on free agency, and the Ravens did not seem to have any intention of signing him. Queen had interest from other teams around the league outside of the Steelers, but he wound up choosing Pittsburgh, despite having more lucrative offers elsewhere. This shows the effect that Tomlin can have, and why he is beneficial to the organization in Pittsburgh, despite facing a ton of criticism.
ESPN analyst Dan Orlovsky has made it clear that the Green Bay Packers' blockbuster trade for EDGE Micah Parsons cranks up the pressure on their Super Bowl push The stunning deal sent the Dallas Cowboys two first-round picks and defensive tackle Kenny Clark, which signals Green Bay has entered a win-now mode. The Packers also immediately signed Parsons to a four-year $188 million extension, making him the highest-paid non-quarterback in NFL history and tying him to Green Bay through the 2029 season. Dan Orlovsky's High Expectations for the Packers During a Friday appearance on ESPN's "First Take," Orlovsky outlined new expectations for the Packers after acquiring Parsons. “This team should be in the NFC Championship Game, and it will be a disappointment if, in this now let’s call it a three-year window, they don’t win the Super Bowl… You get a game wrecker, add it to that defense, here we go,” Orlovsky said. Last year, the Packers already had one of the NFL's top-performing defenses, ranking sixth in both total yards allowed per game (315.6) and points allowed per game (19.9). Adding Parsons, who in 2024 accumulated 43 tackles, 12 sacks, 23 quarterback hits, 12 tackles for loss, 12 quarterback knockdowns, 21 hurries and 46 pressures in just 13 games, elevated the unit as a whole. Dan Orlovsky Urges the Packers' Offense to Be More Aggressive Orlovsky went on to add that with the addition of Parsons, the Packers' offense, led by quarterback Jordan Love and head coach Matt LaFleur, should take a more aggressive approach. "If I was Matt LaFleur, we are going to be the most aggressive in the NFL because guess what, if you throw picks, we traded for that guy and paid him a ton of money to go get the ball back for us," Orlovsky added. "So this is the team that should be in the NFC Championship Game now after this move." Green Bay's offense already excelled in big plays last season, having the fourth-most completions of 20-plus yards (59) and tied for the most completions of 40-plus yards (14). Packers' Super Bowl Odds The Packers enter the season tied for the fifth-hardest schedule in the NFL with an opponent 2024 winning percentage of .557. However, ESPN BET still gives Green Bay the sixth-best odds to win the Super Bowl. Between Parsons and other additions such as CB Nate Hobbs, OG Aaron Banks and WR Matthew Golden, the Packers face some of their biggest expectations since the Aaron Rodgers Era.
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