Corey Seager and Adolis Garcia both had two RBI singles in Texas' third-inning offensive uprising and Jacob deGrom earned his second straight win as the Rangers waylaid the Seattle Mariners 8-1 on Sunday afternoon in the finale of a three-game American League West series in Arlington, Texas.
The Rangers ended a four-game losing streak and salvaged one game in the series by finally bunching timely hits and scoring more than one run. Texas won just two of the seven games in the homestand that wrapped up Sunday.
deGrom (2-1) went five innings, allowing one run on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks to garner his second victory since April 2023. He was followed to the mound by Jacob Webb, Hoby Milner and Luke Jackson.
Seattle's Logan Evans (1-1) struggled in his second major league start, surrendering six runs (all of them in the fourth inning) on 11 hits in five innings of work. Evans struck out five and walked two as the Mariners had a six-game winning streak snapped.
Texas outhit the Mariners 12-4, with Josh Smith leading the way for the Rangers with four hits that included a triple, the game's only extra-base hit.
Casey Legumina relived in the sixth and Eduard Bazardo hurled the seventh and eighth for Seattle, who managed just four singles by four different players.
The Mariners opened the scoring in the third inning as Jorge Polanco's groundout to second drove home Leo Rivas, who had started the frame with a single, stole second and took third on J.P. Crawford's single.
Texas finally found its stride in the bottom of the inning. Blaine Crim walked with one out and Smith and Wyatt Langford followed with singles to load the bases. Seager drove home Crim and Smith to give the Rangers their first lead in the series.
Marcus Semien followed with a two-out single to plate Langford. Jonah Heim then walked to reload the bases, and Garcia punched a single to center field to allow Seager and Semien to race home. Josh Jung ‘s ensuing single drove in Heim to push the lead to 6-1, tripling the amount of runs Texas had scored in the first two games of the series combined.
That score held until the eighth, when the Rangers played add on via Smith's triple to bring in Jung and Langford's sacrifice fly that chased home Smith.
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Ichiro Suzuki delivered an amazing speech as he was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame on Sunday, and it even included a surprising swipe at one of his own former teams. During the iconic speech, Ichiro took the time to thank each of of the three MLB teams that he played for across his 19 MLB seasons. When he arrived at the Miami Marlins, he made a hilarious wisecrack about how he had never heard of the team before they offered him a contract in 2015. “And to the Miami Marlins: I appreciate David Samson and Mike Hill for coming today. Honestly, when you guys called to offer me a contract for 2015, I had never heard of your team,” Ichiro joked. Many were surprised to hear Ichiro deliver his speech in English, as he almost always used an interpreter in interviews during and after his playing career. The fact that the 51-year-old was able to entertain the crowd while not speaking in his native language made the speech even more iconic. While thanking the New York Yankees, Ichiro had a funny comment about how his former teammates were only there to support CC Sabathia, who was also being inducted into Cooperstown. Ichiro is one of the greatest hitters in MLB history, and fans have enjoyed seeing the less serious side of him in recent months. Earlier this year, he also took a hilarious shot at the lone Hall of Fame voter who snubbed him. Ichiro called out the voter again during his speech on Sunday.
Kirk Cousins might be relegated to the job of backup quarterback, but he is showing veteran leadership to his Atlanta Falcons teammates. Following Sunday's practice, Cousins pulled aside rookie defensive end James Pearce to encourage the first-round pick after his fourth practice in the league at Flowery Branch, Georgia. "QB Kirk Cousins pulled aside Pearce after practice to compliment him on a pass batted down," wrote Marc Raimondi of ESPN. Cousins reportedly had a solid day of practice on Sunday, going 7-of-12 passing against the first-team unit. If Cousins wants out of Atlanta, he's not showing it at practice. The four-time Pro Bowl quarterback is competing on the field and being a good teammate around the facility. Cousins' actions on the field backed up what Falcons general manager Terry Fontenot praised Cousins for before the team's practice on Sunday. “Outside, it's a lot more of a deal than it is in the building,” Fontenot said to the media about the idea of friction between the Falcons and Cousins, per video from D. Orlando Ledbetter of the Atlanta Journal Constitution. “He shows up, he does his job, just like anybody ... We've gotta build the best 70-man roster so we can go win games. "That's what we're focused on, and Kirk, just like all the other players, is focused on coming in here and doing their job. That's what he's been doing." Fontenot didn't dismiss the idea that Atlanta would trade Cousins before the season. He said the Falcons will do whatever it takes to make the team better, but stressed that Cousins has been a professional throughout the process of being replaced by Michael Penix Jr., a first-round pick from the 2024 draft. “In terms of making moves, whether it's trades or acquiring players, we're always looking at those factors," Fontenot said. "We're gonna do whatever we can do to make this team the best it can possibly be. But he's been a great professional, and he's handled himself well.” Cousins is coming to work in a manner that will make another owner want to take a chance on the veteran quarterback. That could be one of his best-selling points before he plays in his 13th season in the league.
The New York Rangers are adding to their forward depth ahead of their upcoming training camp. The Rangers are entering a new chapter of their organization under new head coach Mike Sullivan. After missing the postseason last year, the organization is trying to rebound and respond accordingly in 2025 and 2026. Former Stanley Cup champion forward Conor Sheary is the latest player to join the new-look Rangers. The veteran forward agreed to a professional tryout agreement (PTO) with the club and will look to earn an NHL deal with his performance in training camp and the preseason. Sheary is a veteran of 593 NHL games. Originally an undrafted free agent, he signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins after completing his collegiate career. Following a year with the Penguins' AHL affiliate, he forced his way onto the NHL squad after posting 36 points in his first 30 games of the 2015-2016 season at the AHL level. His debut NHL season went better than ever expected, and he was a key part of the Penguins' lineup that won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. Sheary's coach at the time, both at the AHL and NHL levels, was Mike Sullivan. Now, he'll get the chance to reunite with the coach under whom he won two championships. In addition to playing for the Penguins, Sheary has played for three other NHL franchises. The Pens dealt him to the Buffalo Sabres before the 2018-2019 campaign, but he would return to Pittsburgh the following season at the trade deadline. After his second stint with the Penguins, he joined the Washington Capitals. He played three seasons in Washington, D.C. before landing with the Tampa Bay Lightning, where he spent the past two years. Over his 593 career games, he's compiled 124 goals and 143 assists for 267 points. His best NHL season came during the 2016-2017 campaign, his second in the league. He scored 23 goals and added 30 assists for 53 points in 61 regular-season games.
Fantasy football is not for the weak. It takes guts to draft an unproven running back or injured wide receiver. Here are five players that could make or break your roster in 2025. Scoring and statistics courtesy of Yahoo!Sports. RB De’Von Achane | Miami Dolphins In 2023, Achane rushed for 800 yards and eight scores while averaging 7.8 yards per carry despite missing six games. In 2024, his 1,499 total yards and 12 scores were good for a RB5 finish, the same spot teammate Raheem Mostert occupied the year before. At 5-foot-9 and 188 pounds, Achane is relatively small compared to the majority of NFL running backs, which could limit his value in standard leagues. Fantasy managers should also be aware that Achane ran for just 286 yards in six games without quarterback Tua Tagovailoa last season, and 621 yards with the oft-injured quarterback. Still, in PPR formats, Achane is a must-have player. Last year, he led all running backs in receptions (78) and receiving yards (592) and tied Tampa Bay’s Rachaad White for the league lead with six receiving touchdowns from a running back. WR A.J. Brown | Philadelphia Eagles On the one hand, Brown finished 2024 with 1,079 yards, his fifth 1,000-yard season in six years. On the other hand, a second straight seven-score season made him WR20 in fantasy football, a far cry from the WR5 position he held in 2023. For all his team’s success, the defending Super Bowl champions averaged 187.9 yards through the air last year, the fourth-lowest number in the league. More importantly, Kevin Patullo, Philadelphia’s passing game coordinator for the past four seasons, will take over for Kellen Moore as offensive coordinator in 2025. All things considered, with an ADP of 20.7 Brown has too much upside to ignore, but if the Eagles plan to stick with a run-heavy scheme this season, Brown’s numbers could drop even further. WR Stefon Diggs | New England Patriots The once-proud Patriots have been fantasy poison since the departure of quarterback Tom Brady and head coach Bill Belichick, but if healthy, Diggs could give New England a receiving threat they haven’t had since Julian Edelman retired in 2021. Diggs missed nine games with a torn ACL with the Texans last season, but posted six straight 1,000-yard seasons, including a league-best 1,535 yards in 2020, prior to the injury. He also finished 2023 as the ninth-leading receiver in fantasy football. Per Paul Perillo of the Patriots' official site, Diggs had no restrictions for Wednesday's opening training camp practice and led every position drill for his fellow wideouts. On a team with limited offensive weapons, Diggs could be a game-changer for fantasy rosters. RB Christian McCaffrey | San Francisco 49ers Like Diggs, McCaffrey is among the best at his position when healthy, something he wasn’t in 2024. Injuries limited the 29-year-old running back to four games last season, his fewest since making three appearances with Carolina in 2020. He missed just one game in 2023 and finished as fantasy football’s leading rusher with the third-most points of any player regardless of position. McCaffrey was a full participant in OTAs, but most expect the team to limit him during the preseason. With wide receiver Deebo Samuel now with the Commanders and Brandon Aiyuk on the PUP list, McCaffrey has tremendous upside in PPR formats, but carries a substantially more risk than other first-round options.
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