Georgia tightened its hold on No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll Sunday, with TCU climbing up to No. 4 and Alabama dropping all the way to No. 10.
The Bulldogs had their strongest support of the season after manhandling Tennessee on Saturday, receiving 62 of 63 first-place votes from the media panel. No. 2 Ohio State got the other first-place vote.
Michigan moved up a spot to No. 3, and TCU jumped three spots to No. 4 — its highest ranking since late in the 2017 season.
No. 5 Tennessee fell three spots after losing on the road to the defending national champions.
For the first time in the College Football Playoff era, Alabama and Clemson lost on the same day, and both tumbled in the rankings. The Crimson Tide fell to LSU by a point in overtime to end up at No. 10 for their worst ranking since 2015.
LSU jumped eight spots to No. 7, the Tigers’ best ranking since they started No. 6 in 2020. That was the year they stumbled out of the gate a season after winning the national title.
Clemson fell seven spots to a season-low No. 12 after losing to Notre Dame. Last year, the Tigers fell all the way out of the Top 25 for the first time since 2011.
Oregon reached a season-high No. 6, and Pac-12 rivals No. 8 USC and No. 9 UCLA finished out the top 10.
POLL POINTS
Alabama held on to its top-10 ranking and its streak of weeks ranked in the top 10. The Crimson Tide have a streak of 120 straight polls ranked no worse than No. 10. That is the second-longest such streak in the history of the AP poll, behind Miami (1985-93).
IN
• No. 18 Texas has yo-yoed back into the rankings this week and still has a chance to win the Big 12.
• No. 20 Notre Dame went from preseason No. 5 to unranked by Week 3. After taking a circuitous road, the Fighting Irish are back in the rankings.
• No. 24 Washington had a moment in September then stumbled on the road. The Huskies are real tough at home, and that’s been good enough.
• No. 25 Florida State was ranked for a week in October before a three-game losing streak. The Seminoles might stick around this time.
OUT
• ACC rivals Syracuse and Wake Forest departed the rankings after absorbing second straight losses. The Demon Deacons are unranked for the first time this season.
• Oklahoma State is also out of the Top 25 for the first time this season.
• Oregon State had a one-week stay after breaking a nine-season Top 25 drought.
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 Rangers5-4 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.
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.”
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 Rangers5-4 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.