Connect with us

Published

on

KANSAS CITY, Kan. — John Hunter Nemechek chased down Carson Hocevar over the final laps at Kansas Speedway on Friday night, passing him as the white flag flew and Hocevar ran out of fuel in his last-gasp chance at advancing in the NASCAR Truck Series playoffs.

Hocevar coasted across in second place but needed the win to advance. Nemechek’s late pass allowed Christian Eckes to sneak into the final playoff spot, while three-time series champion Matt Crafton also was eliminated.

Ryan Preece finished third while playoff contenders Zane Smith and Grant Enfinger rounded out the top five.

Hocevar’s team gambled with strategy by going to the pits early in the final stage, putting him in front with about 30 laps left but on tires that were much older than just about everyone else. And when Nemechek got fresh tires, the No. 4 quickly began tracking Hocevar down, biting away about a second per lap during a long green-flag run to the finish.

Chandler Smith and Enfinger had already clinched their places in the next round of the playoffs with wins earlier in the round, leaving six spots up in the air as the series made its second trip of the year to Kansas.

Nemechek, who was sixth in the spring race, was nearly unbeatable from the moment he unloaded, setting the pace during practice and earning the pole. He then cruised through the opening 30-lap stage to earn enough points to clinch his spot in the next round, then held off Ty Majeski again to win Stage 2 under caution.

Zane Smith also clinched his playoff spot after the first stage while Majeski wrapped up his after the second.

Everybody on pit road was left doing some tricky math when the race resumed with 65 laps to go: Ben Rhodes could clinch a spot by finishing 10th or better, Stewart Friesen could do the same with a top-20, and Eckes, Hocevar and Crafton found themselves in what amounted to a three-way fight for the final berth in the round of eight.

Eckes wound up getting the final playoff spot by three points over Hocevar and 10 ahead of Crafton.

Continue Reading

Sports

Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

Published

on

By

Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.

Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.

“That’s a very big accomplishment,” Rodríguez told reporters, according to MLB.com. “I know my family’s very happy, and I’m sure they’re thinking of all the things I had to do to be able to get here. To be able to do it with this team and this organization is awesome. I’m just excited to see where things are going to go from here.”

Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.

The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Marlins def. Yankees, earn 1st-ever sweep of N.Y.

Published

on

By

Marlins def. Yankees, earn 1st-ever sweep of N.Y.

MIAMI — Kyle Stowers hit a three-run homer and the Miami Marlins defeated the New York Yankees 7-3 on Sunday, completing their first-ever sweep of the Yankees in a series of three or more games.

The Marlins (55-55) reached .500 for the first time since April 15, when the team was 8-8. Since June 13, the Marlins are 30-14; that’s tied with the 2003 team for the most wins in a 44-game span in franchise history, according to ESPN Research.

The 2003 Marlins went on to beat the Yankees in the World Series in six games.

Marlins starter Edward Cabrera (5-5) pitched six innings of two-hit ball with seven strikeouts and one walk. His only blemish came against the first batter he faced. Trent Grisham drove Cabrera’s 98.1 mph four-seam fastball to right-center.

Miami rookie Jakob Marsee, who made his major league debut on Friday, was 2-for-4 and finished a single short of the cycle.

Stowers made it 6-1 when he connected on an 0-2 fastball from Brent Headrick, who entered in the fourth with two on after starter Luis Gil (0-1) was lifted 3⅓ innings into his season debut.

Gil, the reigning AL Rookie of the Year, struck out three and surrendered five runs and five hits while issuing four walks in his return from a high-grade lat strain. He threw 77 pitches.

Gil’s shaky debut comes at a rough point in the season for the Yankees, whose inconsistency has prompted a rash of criticism, the latest coming from former Yankees stars Derek Jeter and Alex Rodriguez on Fox’s pregame show Saturday night.

“They make way too many mistakes,” Jeter said. “Way too many mistakes, and you can’t get away with making that number of mistakes against great teams.”

Added Rodriguez: “Where’s the accountability?”

Boone addressed those criticisms before Sunday’s game, saying it comes with the territory of being the Yankees, but he added after the loss that it’s “gut-check” time for his club.

New York’s weekend series at Miami included the Yankees blowing a six-run lead in a wild 13-12 loss on Friday, before a 2-0 loss on Saturday.

The Yankees had a seven-game lead in the AL East in late May. By July 2, the lead was gone and the Yankees have been looking up at Toronto in the division ever since. The red-hot Boston Red Sox, who were more than 10 games behind the Yankees about two months ago, have overtaken their rival for the second spot in the AL East and AL wild-card lead.

“It’s getting late,” Boone said. “And it’s certainly not too late for us. I am confident that we’re going to get it together. But that’s all it is right now is, you know, it’s empty until we start doing it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Rodriguez makes history with 4th 20-20 season

Published

on

By

Rodriguez makes history with another 20-20 year

SEATTLE — Julio Rodriguez homered to become the first player in major league history with 20 or more home runs and 20 or more stolen bases in each of his first four seasons, and the Seattle Mariners beat the Texas Rangers 5-4 on Sunday.

Rodriguez hit a two-run shot in the third inning — his 100th career homer — and the slugging and speedy center fielder also added his 21st stolen base of the season after singling in the fifth inning.

Jorge Polanco added a solo shot in the second, and shortstop J.P. Crawford smacked a two-run blast in the fourth against Rangers starter Jacob deGrom (10-4), who became the fastest pitcher in major league history to reach 1,800 career strikeouts by games and innings Sunday.

The Rangers kept things close by pushing across three runs against Mariners starter Logan Evans (5-4), but tallied only one run against the Mariners bullpen before closer Andrés Muñoz locked down his 25th save of the season.

Continue Reading

Trending