We went 5-4 week last week, eight over .500 midway through October. A 58% clip. We’re chugging along waiting for another big week. Too many on the card again, had a couple of near cross-offs. Will let you know which ones so you can proceed accordingly.
Houston (-3, 51.5) at Navy Noon ET on ESPNU, Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, Annapolis, Maryland
Van Pelt’s pick: Navy +3
Let’s get into in the noon window again and take Navy once more in Annapolis. Every Houston game is just chaos in all directions. It will likely be a ridiculous sweat, but so what, anchors away.
SVP: 6-3 all time when picking Navy
No. 21 Cincinnati (-3.5, 58.5) at SMU Noon ET on ESPN, Gerald J. Ford Stadium, Dallas
Van Pelt’s pick: SMU +3.5
Navy just backdoored SMU, which was in Bad Beats. We are taking the Ponies at home against Cincinnati. The Cats have won five in a row, but they’ve let some teams hang around who weren’t as capable as SMU. We are taking them plus a little in Dallas. Shout to the Big Rig, Harry Higgs.
SVP: 29-11 all time when picking American Athletic Conference games
No. 7 Ole Miss at LSU (-2.5, 66.5) 3:30 p.m. ET, Tiger Stadium, Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Van Pelt’s pick: LSU -2.5
This one was a near cross-off — we’ve struggled to get a read on LSU all year. Had the Tigers at home against Tennessee and they got absolutely trucked. But they are unranked and favored over an unbeaten top-10 team, that leaves us no choice than to back the Tigers. Let the band play “Neck,” we’ll pay the fine.
SVP:8-5 all time when picking favorites in SEC games
Northwestern (+14) at Maryland 3:30 p.m. ET, SECU Stadium, College Park, Maryland
Van Pelt’s pick: Northwestern (+14)
Am I really about to take the team playing the Terps on homecoming weekend when I plan to be in the Snake Pit on Saturday? I am. QB situation uncertain for the Terps and Northwestern has shown an ability to hang around. That’s a lot of candy to be handing out. Happiness hedge here. Terps to win, but not by quite this many.
SVP: 1-3 all time when picking against Maryland
BYU at Liberty (+7) 3:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU, Williams Stadium (VA), Lynchburg, Virginia
Van Pelt’s pick: Liberty +7
Was it a gambling man who once said, give me liberty — or give me debt? I think it was. We don’t want you in debt to your man — let’s light the fire and go with the Flames at home plus the TD vs. BYU.
I don’t know if I am the nation’s finest Sun Belt tout — but I think I must be close. We are taking another nibble and taking Georgia Southern again plus the small helper in Norfolk against Old Dominion.
SVP: 7-0 when picking Sun Belt teams this year
UCF at East Carolina (+5) 7:30 p.m. ET on ESPNU, Dowdy-Ficklen Stadium, Greenville, North Carolina
Van Pelt’s pick: East Carolina +5
Few things bring me as much joy as this picture. It represents so many things. Those who know — know. No Quarter. Sup Dogs? More like home dogs? The Pirates battle UCF in Dowdy-Ficklen, where they’re always dangerous.
SVP: 5-2 all time when picking East Carolina
Minnesota (+4) at 16 Penn State 7:30 p.m. ET on ABC, Beaver Stadium, University Park, Pennsylvania
Van Pelt’s pick: Minnesota +4
The White Out game is one of the great events in the sport, the scene is special. This line kinda stinks a little bit and Ohio State is up next for the Nittany Lions. Feels like a tricky spot and we are rowing the boat with Sky-U-Mah in this tilt.
SVP: 5-2 all time when picking P.J. Fleck teams
No. 17 Kansas State (+3.5) at No. 8 TCU 8 p.m. ET, Amon G. Carter Stadium, Fort Worth, Texas
Van Pelt’s pick: Kansas State +3.5
Finally — another game I have gone back and forth on all week. If it seems like TCU has been in big games for a month straight, it’s because it has. At some point, does the energy wane just a little? Kansas State had a bye last week. We went with EMAW earlier this season on the road in Norman where they were outright winners. Now we are with them in Fort Worth in a huge Big 12 showdown.
SVP: 6-3 all time when picking matchup of ranked Big 12 teams
WASHINGTON — The Milwaukee Brewers placed outfielder Jackson Chourio on the 10-day injured list Friday after evaluations of his strained right hamstring revealed more significant issues than expected.
Chourio was injured Tuesday while running the bases on a triple in the fifth inning. The move to the IL was made retroactive to Wednesday.
Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said the 21-year-old Chourio likely will require more than a minimum stay on the injured list.
“It won’t be anytime soon,” Murphy said before the Brewers’ series opener against Washington. “He was diagnosed a little more severely than we initially thought. To what extent, I’m not exactly sure. Nor are they. We’re just going to have to rehab it.”
Murphy said Chourio will receive a platelet-rich plasma injection.
Chourio is hitting .276 with 17 homers, 67 RBI and 18 steals for Milwaukee, which entered Friday with the best record in the majors at 64-44. He was replaced on the active roster by outfielder Brandon Lockridge, who the Brewers acquired Thursday from San Diego for pitcher Nestor Cortes, infielder Jorge Quintana and cash.
Lockridge, who hit .216 with five RBI in 47 games with the Padres this season, was inserted into the leadoff slot Friday against the Nationals.
ESPN baseball reporter. Covered the Washington Wizards from 2014 to 2016 and the Washington Nationals from 2016 to 2018 for The Washington Post before covering the Los Angeles Dodgers and MLB for the Los Angeles Times from 2018 to 2024.
The New York Yankees released right-hander Marcus Stroman on Friday, abruptly terminating the veteran’s underwhelming tenure with the club.
The Yankees signed Stroman to a two-year contract worth $37 million guaranteed before the start of last season and will eat the remainder of his $18 million salary.
Stroman, 34, has an $18 million vesting option for 2026 that would have triggered if he pitched 140 innings pitched this season, but Stroman, with 39 innings under his belt on Aug. 1, won’t reach that goalpost and will become a free agent this winter.
“Obviously, that was tough today,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “The perception around Stro for us, if you got to be around him the last couple of years, he’s an awesome competitor.”
Boone said Stroman took the news of his release like “a pro.”
“Had a good interaction with him,” Boone said. “I feel he’ll be a guy I’ll stay in touch with for the rest of our lives. Appreciative of him.”
In the end, Stroman, who is 3-2 with a 6.23 ERA in nine starts this season, was the odd man out of the Yankees’ rotation with Luis Gil scheduled to come off the injured list to make his season debut Sunday against the Miami Marlins.
As it stands, New York’s starting rotation will consist of Max Fried, Carlos Rodon, Gil, Will Warren and rookie Cam Schlittler, who impressed team decision-makers enough in three starts since making his major-league debut on July 9 to convince the Yankees to pay Stroman to not pitch for them.
Stroman’s release also relieves a roster crunch with the Yankees adding four more players acquired before Thursday’s trade deadline to the roster: relievers David Bednar, Camilo Doval and Jake Bird and utilityman José Caballero. The Yankees traded Oswald Peraza to make room for Caballero while right-handers Ian Hamilton and Yerry de los Santos were optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Thursday. Cutting Stroman opened the final needed roster spot.
Stroman’s brief time in the Bronx was turbulent. An All-Star with the Chicago Cubs in 2023, Stroman recorded a 4.31 ERA in 30 appearances (29 starts) for the Yankees in 2024 and didn’t pitch in a postseason game as New York advanced to the World Series. The Yankees, anticipating a starting pitching surplus, then attempted to trade him over the offseason but couldn’t swing a deal.
As a result, Stroman reported to spring training not projected to make the Opening Day starting rotation. Unhappy with the possibility, he scoffed at the notion of being a reliever upon reporting to camp for workouts two days later than the team expected. Manager Aaron Boone called the situation “awkward.” Injuries to Gerrit Cole and Gil over the following month, however, opened the door for Stroman to begin the season in the rotation.
The 11-year veteran was placed on the injured list with a knee injury in April, missing more than two months before returning June 29 to make six starts. His final outing with the Yankees came Thursday when he surrendered four runs on six hits across five innings against the Tampa Bay Rays.
Stroman finished his Yankees career with a 4.69 ERA — the 11th-highest mark in the majors among pitchers who have logged at least 190 innings over the last two seasons. He can now sign with another club on a prorated minimum — approximately $230,000 for the remainder of the 2025 campaign.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
MIAMI — Xavier Edwards hit a tying two-run single in the ninth, then raced home with the winning run on Agustin Ramirez‘s chopper in front of the plate as the Marlins rallied to beat the New York Yankees13-12 on Friday night.
Edwards’ hit came off new Yankees reliever Camilo Doval (4-3), and Edwards beat the attempted tag at home on Ramirez’s fielder’s choice grounder. After Edwards’ single off Doval, Jose Caballero, also a newcomer, committed an error in right field, allowing the Marlins to tie the score.
The Yankees had won 79 straight games when scoring 10-plus runs, which was the longest streak in major league baseball since 2019, according to ESPN Research.
Giancarlo Stanton and Trent Grisham each hit three-run homers that helped the Yankees build a 9-4 lead before the Marlins stunned New York with a six-run seventh.
Kyle Stowers hit a grand slam off newly acquired Yankees reliever Jake Bird, and Javier Sanoja hit a solo shot off David Bednar, another new acquisition. Ramirez singled twice, including a leadoff base hit and a go-ahead single that put the Marlins up 10-9.
Anthony Volpe then tied it at 10 with a leadoff home run in the eighth, and Bednar pitched a scoreless inning before Ryan McMahon‘s RBI single against Anthony Bender (3-5) in the ninth. Volpe, who had four hits, gave the Yankees a two-run cushion with a run-scoring double.
Yankees starter Carlos Rodon was lifted in the fifth after issuing his fifth walk. The left-hander shook his head as he left the mound, with his outing ending after he struck out nine and allowed two walks and four runs.
Rodon held the Marlins without a hit before Eric Wagaman‘s leadoff single in the fifth. Sanoja launched an opposite-field two-run shot off Rodon, and pinch hitter Liam Hicks drove in two with a single off Jonathan Loaisiga that made it 6-4.