Latest news with #post-All-Star
Newsweek
2 days ago
- Sport
- Newsweek
This Cubs Rookie Could Be Crucial Down Stretch
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. The Chicago Cubs are beginning to get excellent contributions from rookies. Between the post-All-Star break hot streak from rookie third baseman Matt Shaw to Saturday's excellent start from rookie right-hander Cade Horton, the rookies are producing. Horton especially, could be a pivotal part of what Cubs fans and front office members hope will be a deep postseason run. CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 26: Pitcher Cade Horton #22 and catcher Carson Kelly #15 of the Chicago Cubs fist bump at the conclusion of the third inning of the game against the Chicago White Sox... CHICAGO, ILLINOIS - JULY 26: Pitcher Cade Horton #22 and catcher Carson Kelly #15 of the Chicago Cubs fist bump at the conclusion of the third inning of the game against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field on July 26, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois. MoreHorton was Chicago's top pitching prospect entering the season after an offseason of recovering from injuries. He was promoted to make his MLB debut May 10 against the New York Mets and has been a mainstay in the rotation since then. After 6 1/3 shutout innings and a win against the Chicago White Sox on Saturday, Horton is now 4-3 with a 3.67 ERA in his rookie campaign. Horton has been especially good over his last seven outings, as four of those have been scoreless outings with 5 2/3 innings pitched in each one of them. Four pitchers have had 4 scoreless starts of 5+ innings since June 1. Cade Horton Matthew Boyd Tarik Skubal Paul Skenes — Christopher Kamka (@ckamka) July 27, 2025 Horton had been struggling in road starts to the tune of a 6.35 ERA prior to Saturday's stellar outing. Saturday surely could've been a huge confidence boost and exactly what Horton needed to re-gain a little confidence. The Cubs will need him to maintain that confidence, as contributions from rookies in the postseason can be one of the keys to a deep run. Take the standout performance from Evan Carter two seasons ago. Carter burst onto the scene and had a .300 average with 10 extra-base hits and a .917 OPS during the Ranger's run to the World Series. Nobody will be expecting Horton to turn into prime Jake Arrieta during the postseason, bit if he can give Chicago multiple starts of five or six innings, the Cubs will have to like their chances of winnings those games. A postseason trio of Horton, Matthew Boyd and Shota Imanaga would be one of the best in all of baseball and could be the reason Chicago wins its first World Series since 2016. More MLB: Dodgers to Consider Reunion With Playoff Hero: Report
Indianapolis Star
5 days ago
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Indiana Fever vs Las Vegas Aces updates, score, TV channel; is Caitlin Clark playing tonight?
The Indiana Fever (12-12) host the Las Vegas Aces (12-11) in WNBA action on Thursday, July 24. Indiana's Kelsey Mitchell has scored at least 20 points in four of the last five games. The Aces (12-11) have won three straight, with A'ja Wilson averaging 32.3 points and 12.7 rebounds in that stretch. These teams have split two games this season, each team winning at home. Chloe Peterson is your best Fever follow, and sign up for our Caitlin Clark Fever newsletter. We will have score updates and highlights, so remember to refresh. End 1Q, Fever 18, Aces 18: Indiana leads by 8 but Las Vegas rallies, largely on 8-of-11 free throw shooting. Indiana has 7 fouls. Sophie Cunningham picks up her 2nd foul with 1.5 seconds to go. Aliyah Boston picks up her 2nd foul with 1:04 to go while setting a screen on Jewell Loyd, who heads to the locker room favoring her right leg. The Las Vegas starters return after sitting for 3+ minutes. Kelsey Mitchell grabs the offensive rebound and races to the hoop to beat the shot clock 👏 5:25 left 1Q, Fever 12, Aces 8: Sophie Cunningham, who hit 5 3-pointers in the previous game, hits her first attempt of the game. She has 5 points. Las Vegas subs out its starters less than 4 minutes in. Sophie Cunningham catch & shoot from three 🎯 Fever: Kelsey Mitchell, Aari McDonald, Nathasha Howard, Aliyah Boston, Sophie Cunningham Aces: A'ja Wilson, Jackie Young, Chelsea Gray, Jewell Loyd, NaLyssa Smith Fever haven't had much time to practice post-All-Star, but Stephanie White says Caitlin Clark has been doing 'mostly rehab, some shooting.''She's been with our athletic training team, and we've been preparing everybody else,' she adds. 7 p.m. ET Thursday, July 24, 2025, at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. TV: Prime Watch the Fever vs Aces on Prime Radio: 93.5 and 107.5 FM in Indianapolis, with John Nolan (play-by-play), Bria Goss (analysis) A matter of consistency: Can Fever still be a contender? 'You see it in spurts,' but that's not enough via BetMGM Favorite: Aces by 2.5 points Over/under: 164.5 total points Moneyline: Fever +120, Aces -145 ESPN's matchup predictor gives the Fever a 56.6% chance of winning. Tickets start at $26 on StubHub In 13 games this season, Caitlin Clark averages 16.5 points, 8.8 assists, 5.0 rebounds and 1.6 steals, making 27.9% of her 3-pointers. Re-live Caitlin Clark's spectacular rookie year with this book (with season averages) Fever: Caitlin Clark (groin) is out.
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Sport
- Boston Globe
Red Sox salvage series finale against Phillies in 11-inning, seven-homer contest
That represented a repeat of what they did over the weekend against the Cubs, dropping two and coming from behind to win the finale. So in a post-All-Star break test against a pair of NL division-leading clubs, they managed a 2-4 mark, bad but not quite miserable. The Dodgers await at Fenway Park beginning Friday. The Sox have six games and a week to go until the July 31 trade deadline. 'We have a good baseball team that obviously needs to get improved,' manager Alex Cora said before the game. 'But it starts here, with the guys that we have.' Get Starting Point A guide through the most important stories of the morning, delivered Monday through Friday. Enter Email Sign Up Jorge Alcala gave up a run in the bottom of the 11th. But Brennan Bernardino, highly likely the last reliever available in the Red Sox bullpen, picked up the final out for the first save of his career. Advertisement This was the first time in eight chances this season that the Red Sox won an extra-innings game on the road. The first in a series of late dramatics actually came from Cora, who called on closer Aroldis Chapman in the seventh inning — the earliest Chapman has appeared in a game this season — for a four-out hold attempt. He retired Kyle Schwarber to end the seventh, stranding the would-be tying run at second base, and got two quick outs in the eighth Advertisement But J.T. Realmuto took Chapman's slowest fastball of the day — a 96.7-mile-per-hour sinker, over the heart of the plate — and planted it over the center-field wall for a tying home run. It was just the third long ball allowed by Chapman this season, the first since May 7. For Chapman, it was the first time in more than a year that he recorded more than three outs. The teams traded runs in the 10th, with Trevor Story contributing an RBI single and Schwarber following suit. The Red Sox' hitters came out quiet against Jesús Luzardo, who early on was about as good as Cristopher Sánchez on Tuesday and better than Zack Wheeler on Monday. He didn't allow a base runner until the fourth, when Rob Refsnyder walked. Then the implosion came. At the start of the fifth inning, the Red Sox had zero hits and were getting blown out. By the end, they held a lead. It started with Masataka Yoshida's leadoff double. The Sox were on the brink of wasting a two-on, no-out situation when Luzardo completely and suddenly lost the strike zone. A key assist for the Red Sox: Catcher J.T. Realmuto lost Refsnyder's two-out, bases-loaded pop-up, running to the backstop netting as the ball landed behind him, closer to the plate. Luzardo responded by walking Refsnyder to force in a run, walking Jarren Duran to force in another run, and leaving a changeup over the plate to Romy Gonzalez. Gonzalez hammered it to left-center field for his first career grand slam. Gonzalez had been mired in an 0-for-20 skid (with eight strikeouts) prior to the big swing. Advertisement That bailed out Lucas Giolito, who suffered through four innings and allowed five runs, all on home runs. The Phillies' four long balls against him were the most allowed by a Sox pitcher this year and matched the most given up by Giolito in a single game in his career. He put the Sox in an immediate hole, allowing 848 feet of homers on consecutive pitches to Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper. Harper's, which landed in the second deck in right field, was the 350th of his career. The second inning was smoother for Giolito, but when Refsnyder, in left field, caught a fly ball for the third out, he didn't know the inning was over. He chucked the ball toward the plate, to nobody, as the other players headed for the dugout. Nick Castellanos added a solo shot in the third, and Bryson Stott — on the day his wife Dru gave birth to their son — did so in the fourth. It was the second start in a row in which Giolito regressed from his June-into-July dominance. Leading into the All-Star break, he allowed three earned runs in five games. In his past two outings, he has given up nine. Managing with a sudden lead, Cora pulled Giolito in favor of five innings from the bullpen. Justin Wilson handled the first six outs, his longest outing since 2015. Marcelo Mayer exited prior to the bottom of the fifth because of right wrist discomfort, the Red Sox announced. Abraham Toro replaced him at third base. Tim Healey can be reached at
New York Post
19-07-2025
- Sport
- New York Post
Sean Manaea continues to pick up where he left off last year for the Mets
Access the Mets beat like never before Join Post Sports+ for exciting subscriber-only features, including real-time texting with Mike Puma about the inside buzz on the Mets. Try it free There was good news tucked inside of the Mets' ugly post-All-Star break opener. The final score at Citi Field — Reds 8, Mets 4 — wasn't part of it, thanks to questionable bullpen usage by manager Carlos Mendoza and even worse performance from the low-leverage arms, Alex Carrillo and Brandon Waddell, he called upon. Advertisement But early on, there was a lot to like for the Mets from Sean Manaea. Similar to his return Sunday against the Royals, he looked like the Manaea of last year. New York Mets starting pitcher Sean Manaea pitching in the first inning. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post Over four innings, he was mostly dominant, allowing just an Austin Hays opposite-field homer in the fourth. Advertisement He struck out six, walked two and threw 69 pitches in his first start of the season. Most importantly, Manaea feels healthy. New York Mets pitcher Sean Manaea (59) throws in the first inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Citi Field on Friday, July 18, 2025, in Queens, NY. Corey Sipkin for the NY POST Advertisement 'Arm feels good. Body feels good,' said the southpaw, who had missed the season's first 96 games due to oblique and elbow injuries. 'That's all you can ask for.' The plan entering the contest was to limit him to around 70 pitches after he threw 65 in relief Sunday. As a result, the lone issue in his outing was that Manaea wasn't as pitch-efficient as he would've liked. Advertisement 'Yes, and I definitely didn't do that today, which is the most frustrating part about today,' Manaea said. 'I threw some good sliders, but there were some not really competitive ones as well.' Otherwise, it's hard to complain about his performance. Manaea said he could've gone deeper into the game, but the Mets have a plan and they're sticking to it. CHECK OUT THE LATEST MLB STANDINGS AND METS STATS Manaea is too important to lose again. So they're playing it safe for now, bringing him along slowly. Advertisement Mendoza compared it to a pitcher in spring training. 'I want to be out there as long as possible, but I kind of understand the situation that we're in,' Manaea said. 'So I [don't want to go] too crazy. Just do what I can with the pitches allotted.'
Yahoo
17-07-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Week 8 WNBA power rankings
The post Week 8 WNBA power rankings appeared first on ClutchPoints. 1. Minnesota Lynx (20‑4) Still the class of the league b. They've been dominant at home (11‑0) and boast the top defensive rating in the WNBA. Despite a rare two-game skid last week, they rebounded quickly. Napheesa Collier is playing MVP-caliber ball, and even with growing injury caution around her, their depth (e.g. Natisha Hiedeman) mitigates unfolding concerns. The Lynx are expertly balanced, stingy defensively, and explosive enough offensively to stay atop the standings. 2. Phoenix Mercury (15‑7) Emerging as a top threat. Phoenix has consistently improved, riding a strong defense (top‑3 defensive rating and highest opponent turnover rate). While they stumbled with rare back-to-back losses, they rattled off wins over Dallas and Minnesota to reaffirm their status. With key pieces back—Kahleah Copper, Alyssa Thomas—and a healthy bench, they're peaking at the right time. Expect them to challenge for #1 soon. 3. New York Liberty (14‑6) The defending champs have regained form. After overcoming significant injuries to Jonquel Jones and Sabrina Ionescu, they strung together impressive wins recently, including victories over Las Vegas and Atlanta. Natasha Cloud has been a stabilizing force, and the offense remains elite (107.7 ORTG). Their recent winning ways and deep rotation make them clear contenders, though consistency will be key through the post-All-Star stretch. 4. Seattle Storm (13‑9) Seattle is playing efficient, disciplined basketball on both ends. A recent midseason surge brought their record to 7‑3 over their last 10. They rank high in advanced stats—third‑best defensive rating, strong on offense. Their veteran core—Ogwumike, Diggins, Magbegor—plus savvy depth, have steadied the ship. If injuries stay at bay, Seattle should remain in the top tier. 5. Washington Mystics (11‑11) Hot on the heels of the top teams. The Mystics put together a surprising three‑game sweep last week, including gritty wins over Chicago, Las Vegas, and Seattle by tight margins. Now 8‑6 in clutch games, their resolve is showing. With key rookies like Sonia Citron contributing amidst season‑opening injuries, they're trending upward heading into the final stretch before the break. 6. Indiana Fever (12‑10) After a 1‑2 start post‑All-Star, Indiana has bounced back, lifting their record above .500. Returning Caitlin Clark fueled two 99–102-point nights—their high-water mark offensively. Their offense looks fluid again with Clark on the court. While defense remains a question mark, their recent blooms and promising playoff positioning earn them a top‑half rank. 7. Atlanta Dream (13‑9) Poised but uneven. Atlanta opened strongly but slumped, dropping five of seven. However, they remain buzzy—with Allisha Gray and Rhyne Howard All-Stars—and Brittney Griner still a steadying presence. Injuries have been a drag, but when healthy, their combination of interior threat and shooting punch could propel them back toward the playoff bubble. 8. Las Vegas Aces (10‑11) Temporarily misfiring. The reigning champions are under .500 with a shaky road record (5‑8). Yet they continue to lean on MVP candidate A'ja Wilson, who posted 34 points and 16 rebounds in a recent win . Jewell Loyd's scoring flare is still being integrated post-offseason shift . If they can recover chemistry and consistency, Vegas remains a threat. For now, though, they hover mid-pack. 9. Golden State Valkyries (10‑11) A strong showing from a first-year franchise. Golden State achieved 10 wins, unprecedented for an expansion squad. However, they've lost three of four, all to top‑8 opponents. Their record belies growth: solid defense, accidental wins, but occasional fatigue. How they respond to adversity will define their season trajectory, but they're certainly more than cellar fodder. 10. Chicago Sky (7‑15) On the rise. Chicago clawed out of a 3‑10 hole, going 4‑3 lately, highlighted by Kamilla Cardoso's return and Angel Reese's All-Star season. Reese has been a powerhouse: 17.8 PPG, 17 RPG, 4.8 APG over her last six games. But Courtney Vandersloot's ACL injury hurt depth. Still, incremental improvement puts them back on the radar as a potential late-season surprise. 11. Los Angeles Sparks (8‑14) Rebounding tad. The Sparks have emerged from the bottom three, roaring 2-of-3 last week. Wins at Indiana and over Connecticut were powered by Kelsey Plum, Azurá Stevens, and Cameron Brink. They're within striking distance of Dallas and Chicago. If they keep feeding their chemistry and supporting roles upgrade, LA might contend for a play-in spot. 12. Dallas Wings (6‑16) In a deep skid. After a meteoric bounce from 1‑11 to 6‑12, they've dropped three straight (all double-digit losses). Injuries sideline Tyasha Harris and Maddy Siegrist. Despite Paige Bueckers earning Rookie of the Month and being named an All-Star, it's been a rollercoaster. They're young and promising, but gaps in roster and experience leave them in a rebuilding phase. 13. Connecticut Sun (3‑19) Bottom dwellers in crisis. Connecticut lost 12 of its past 13 games. They've already suffered a franchise-worst slump, and with just 3 wins, they sit dead last in the East. Offseason upheaval—and potential franchise sale—has destabilized them. They're in desperate need of a turnaround, but unless something dramatic happens, the rest of the season may serve as damage control.
