Here's dirt in your eye. Freak pitch strikes airborne clod, and Oregon softball catcher pays price

Here's dirt in your eye. Freak pitch strikes airborne clod, and Oregon softball catcher pays price

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — As Oregon's catcher, Emma Cox knows All-American Lyndsey Grein throws lots of filthy pitches. Grein outdid herself Friday night at the Women's College World Series when she kicked up a clod of dirt with her cleats during her pitching motion against Mississippi. The clod was in the air when it was struck by the ball, breaking it into pieces. The 67-mph pitch ended up in Cox's glove andone of those dirt chunks in her eyes.She immediately came out of her crouch and went to her knees, reaching for her eyes through her mask. She was able to stay in the game. "I thought it was dirt from my glove that must have hit me,"Cox said in an interview with an Oregon in-house reporterSaturday. "And I was like, 'OK, whatever.' And then the umpire was like, 'No, it was a bug that flew into it and then the ball hit you, or the bug hit you in the face.' " The dirt-in-the-eye pitch was one of those freak moments that probably couldn't be repeated, akin toRandy Johnson hitting a birdwith a pitch in 2001. "I didn't believe it until I saw the video," Cox said in the interview. The Duckswon 6-5 in 10 inningsand will play Oklahoma on Sunday in an elimination game. ___ AP college sports:https://apnews.com/hub/college-sports

bySlavek Pynzarek

in

May 31, 2025

Here's dirt in your eye. Freak pitch strikes airborne clod, and Oregon softball catcher pays price

Here's dirt in your eye. Freak pitch strikes airborne clod, and Oregon softball catcher pays price OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — As Oregon's ...

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Holliday and Mateo homer as Orioles defeat White Sox 4-2 to clinch series win

Holliday and Mateo homer as Orioles defeat White Sox 4-2 to clinch series win

BALTIMORE (AP) — Jackson Holliday hit his first career leadoff home run, Jorge Mateo slugged his first homer of the season and the Baltimore Orioles defeated the Chicago White Sox 4-2 on Saturday. Dean Kremer (5-5) allowed one run in six innings to win his second consecutive start for Baltimore, which has won five of seven for the first time this season. The Orioles clinched their third home series victory of the season and their first since taking two of three from the New York Yankees on April 28-30. Félix Bautista earned his 10th save in 11 tries with a scoreless ninth. The White Sox (18-40) fell to 6-25 on the road and are a season-high 22 games under .500. After yieldingHolliday's home run in the first, Chicago starter Davis Martin (2-6) didn't allow a hit until Ryan O'Hearn's one-double in the fourth. O'Hearn came around two batters later on Coby Mayo's single. In the fifth, Mateo followed Dylan Carlson's one-out double by lofting a fly over the fence in center forhis first homer since last June 21. Andrew Benintendi hit an RBI singlein the fifth off Kremer and Mike Tauchman drove in the White Sox's other run witha single off Yennier Cano in the seventh. Kremer allowed six hits and struck out seven. He improved to 2-0 with a 1.02 ERA in three career starts against the White Sox. Martin gave up four runs in six innings. He struck out six. Key moment Bautista struck out Luis Robert Jr. and Austin Slater to escape a two-on, one-out jam in the ninth. Key stat Bautista earned saves on consecutive days for the first time since July 22-23, 2023. The right-hander missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in October 2023. Up next Chicago RHP Adrian Houser (1-0, 0.00 ERA), who has thrown 12 scoreless innings since signing with the White Sox on May 20, starts the series finale against Baltimore RHP Charlie Morton (1-7, 7.09). ___ AP MLB:https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

bySlavek Pynzarek

in

May 31, 2025

Holliday and Mateo homer as Orioles defeat White Sox 4-2 to clinch series win

Holliday and Mateo homer as Orioles defeat White Sox 4-2 to clinch series win BALTIMORE (AP) — Jackson Holliday hit his first career leadoff...

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Hoskins has 2 HRs and 6 RBIs, Chourio adds 4 hits and 5 RBIs as Brewers beat Phillies 17-7

Hoskins has 2 HRs and 6 RBIs, Chourio adds 4 hits and 5 RBIs as Brewers beat Phillies 17-7

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rhys Hoskins hit two three-run homers against his former team, Jackson Chourio homered among his four hits and drove in five runs, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 17-7 on Saturday. Hoskins had his 13th career multi-homer game, and first since 2022 when was on the Phillies. Chourio had a three-run homer and a two-run single, and Christian Yelich also added four hits as Milwaukee finished with 23 hits. Chad Patrick (3-4) allowed two runs and five hits over six innings as the Brewers won their sixth consecutive game. Philadelphia starter Jesus Luzardo (5-1) lasted just 3 1/3 innings allowing 12 earned runs and 12 hits — including both homers by Hoskins. He is just the 12th pitcher in MLB history to allow 12 earned runs in 3 1/3 innings or fewer and the first since Jordan Yamamoto of the Miami Marlins in 2020. Alec Bohm hit a solo homer, Brandon Marsh had a two-run shot and Kyle Schwarber had three hits including an RBI double to provide much of the offense for Philadelphia, which has lost three straight. Phillies manager Rob Thomson was ejected from the game in the fourth inning for arguing a balk call by third base umpire Derek Thomas. Thomson was eventually ejected by second base umpire Dan Iassogna following a lengthy debate. Key moment Hoskins' first homer came on a 2-1 fastball by Luzardo and gave Milwaukee a 4-0 lead in the first inning after just 13 pitches. Key stat In his first 11 starts for Philadelphia, Luzardo had not allowed more than three runs in a game. He allowed four runs in the first four batters he faced against the Brewers. Up next Brewers LHP Jose Quintana (4-1, 2.65 ERA) will start against Phillies LHP Ranger Suarez (4-0, 2.97) in the series finale on Sunday. ___ AP MLB: https://www.apnews.com/hub/MLB

bySlavek Pynzarek

in

May 31, 2025

Hoskins has 2 HRs and 6 RBIs, Chourio adds 4 hits and 5 RBIs as Brewers beat Phillies 17-7

Hoskins has 2 HRs and 6 RBIs, Chourio adds 4 hits and 5 RBIs as Brewers beat Phillies 17-7 PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Rhys Hoskins hit two three-ru...

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Keselowski compares NASCAR rulebook to IRS tax code

Keselowski compares NASCAR rulebook to IRS tax code

LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — Brad Keselowski said RFK Racing has made some small changes and talked about the "complexities" and team burdens under theNASCARrulebook after an appeal reduceda penalty given to driver Chris Buescherand his team atKansas Speedway. Keselowski compared the NASCAR rulebook a bit to the IRS tax code during practice and qualifying Saturday at Nashville Superspeedway forSunday night's Cracker Barrel 400. "You read this paper and then you got to reference this paper to reference this paper to reference this paper, and when your head's down and digging and you're running 38 weeks a year, oversights are going to happen," Keselowski said. The co-owner of RFK Racing said that's not an excuse. Keselowski said the team changed some roles and responsibilities this week to help the team be "better prepared and more mindful of what it takes to to be in compliance." NASCAR penalized Buescherand his team May 15 for illegal modifications to the bumper of his No. 17 Ford at Kansas. The team was docked 60 driver points, 60 owner points, five driver playoff points and five owner playoff points for the level one violation. It also fined the team $75,000 and suspended crew chief Scott Graves from the next two races: the All-Star Race and the Coca-Cola 600. Those penalties came three days after Buescher finished eighth at Kansas and dropped him from 12th to 24th in the Cup Series point standings. RFK Racing appealed and had a partial win Wednesday with the appeals panel ruling the team violated the rule on the front bumper cover but not the exhaust cover panel. Buescher got back 30 points, moving him to 16th in the Cup Series points standing. That's a slot below the playoff cutline and six points behind RFK Racing teammate Ryan Preece. ___ AP auto racing:https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

bySlavek Pynzarek

in

May 31, 2025

Keselowski compares NASCAR rulebook to IRS tax code

Keselowski compares NASCAR rulebook to IRS tax code LEBANON, Tenn. (AP) — Brad Keselowski said RFK Racing has made some small changes and ta...

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French Open 2025: Novak Djokovic advances to fourth round, defeating Filip Misolic in straight sets

French Open 2025: Novak Djokovic advances to fourth round, defeating Filip Misolic in straight sets

Novak Djokovic faced little challenge in his third-round match at the French Open, defeating Filip Misolic in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4, 6-2. The victory, Djokovic's 99th at Roland-Garros, took two hours and eight minutes to complete. The No. 6 seed was lethal and precise, winning 80% of his first serve points with five aces as he advanced to the tournament's fourth round for the 16th consecutive time. Misolic didn't help his own cause by committing 22 unforced errors in the match. "I'm just hoping to carry on. Every time I step onto this court, I'm playing for history,"Djokovic said after the match. "It's incredible, this sport that has given me everything in my life. I want to give back the love I experience when I'm playing." The only obstacle which Djokovic seemed to encounter at Court Philippe-Chatrier was irritation with crowd noise toward the end of the match. At various points, he wanted to serve until the audience quieted down. Perhaps spectators were trying to help Misolic rally. Despite losing in straight sets, he did battle Djokovic and never gave in. The three-time French Open champion simply outplayed him. But it was more likely that fans were becoming restless aboutParis Saint-Germain's pending winover Inter Milan to win the Champions League title as fireworks could be heard outside Roland-Garros. Djokovic may also have been annoyed becausehe hoped to watchthe Champions League final, but being scheduled for the night session prevented that. The spectators were asked by the chair umpire to not cause any interruption in play. However, they may have wanted the match to end so they could see the end of the soccer final and join in the celebration. Following the match, Djokovic said that waiting all day to play the night session brought back memories of playing Lorenzo Musetti in last year's third-round match thatlasted until 3 a.m.local time. "I was hoping this one wouldn't finish at 3 a.m.,"he said. Djokovic will face Cameron Norrie in the next round ahead of a likely quarterfinals matchup with No. 3 seed Alexander Zverev.

bySlavek Pynzarek

in

May 31, 2025

French Open 2025: Novak Djokovic advances to fourth round, defeating Filip Misolic in straight sets

French Open 2025: Novak Djokovic advances to fourth round, defeating Filip Misolic in straight sets Novak Djokovic faced little challenge in...

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