Tide’s Oats: Not offended by Saban’s comments
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Alabama men’s basketball coach Nate Oats said Thursday that he was not offended by comments Nick Saban made regarding Saban’s handling of a football player’s arrest, in contrast to how the top-ranked Crimson Tide have dealt with the controversy surrounding All-American freshman Brandon Miller.
Saban on Monday suspended freshman defensive back Tony Mitchell after his arrest on a drug charge.
In handing down the punishment, Saban said, “Everybody’s got an opportunity to make choices and decisions.” He added, “There’s no such thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
The “no such thing as being in the wrong place at the wrong time” comment was perceived by many to be directed at Oats, who hasn’t disciplined Miller for being at the scene of a Jan. 15 fatal shooting involving a former teammate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama.
Oats initially said Miller was “in the wrong spot at the wrong time” during the fatal shooting of 23-year-old Jamea Harris. Darius Miles and another man have been charged with capital murder in Harris’ death, and police reports state that Miles texted Miller to bring him his gun ahead of the shooting.
Miller has not been charged with any crime. Miller’s attorney said the forward never handled the gun and didn’t know it was going to be used for a crime. Miller, who has a security guard with him at the NCAA tournament because of threats he’s received, is cooperating in the investigation.
Oats said he spoke with Saban on Monday night, adding that he did not take Saban’s remark as direct criticism.
“I’ve got a ton of respect for him,” Oats said during a Thursday news conference. “He has been tremendously supportive of our program since he got here. He says it all the time. He wants the entire athletic department to do well. He has been at multiple games this year.”
Saban, asked Thursday at Alabama’s pro day if he wanted to clarify his comments, said: “There’s nothing to clarify. I don’t watch basketball coaches’ press conferences. How many years have I been coaching? Never watched one. Never listened to what other people say. That was strictly about our program and what we do and had nothing to do with anybody else. I don’t make any comments about anybody else. And we hope the basketball team does really, really well.”
Saban attended Alabama’s practice Wednesday. The Crimson Tide face No. 5 seed San Diego State in a South Region semifinal in Louisville, Kentucky, on Friday night, and Miller, who has been dealing with a groin injury, is expected to be in the lineup.
Miller did not address Saban’s remarks.
“It was a great experience in practice for me,” Miller said of Saban’s presence. “I always grew up being an Alabama football fan, so Coach Saban has always been a great role model for me. It was just great just seeing him an arm’s length away from me.”
Oats has apologized for both his comments and for allowing a pregame introduction in which Miller was patted down by another teammate. The fourth-year coach and the top team in the country have been scrutinized for allowing Miller to continue to play. Miller is the Southeastern Conference Player of the Year.
The Associated Press and ESPN’s Alex Scarborough contributed to this report.
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.
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.
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