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MINNEAPOLIS — Carlos Correa hit a two-run double in the seventh inning and the Minnesota Twins beat the San Diego Padres 5-3 on Thursday.

Kyle Farmer homered as Minnesota earned its second straight victory after a stretch of five losses in seven games. Emilio Pagán (3-0) got three outs for the win, and Jorge López pitched a perfect ninth for his third save.

Correa, who returned to Minnesota when he finalized a $200 million, six-year contract in January, was booed again by the home crowd after two strikeouts earlier in the game. But he capped the Twins’ three-run seventh when he pulled a ground ball down the left-field line against Brent Honeywell (2-2).

“They all feel good but these ones feel extra special,” Correa said. “Build on that, keep with the same routine in the cage, I’ve been feeling really good at the plate, so yeah, just keep going.”

Amid the team’s offensive struggles, Correa admitted to hearing boos and said he understood the reaction from fans following Tuesday’s loss to the Padres.

With Correa and his .189 average starting the day taking the brunt of the blame as the highest-paid player in team history, AL Central-leading Minnesota entered with a major league-low .220 batting average.

“You don’t know what’s to come, but I wouldn’t be surprised if this guy gets rolling and never looks back,” Twins manager Rocco Baldellli said. “He’s done that many times in his career, and I think he looks good right now, I really do.”

San Diego star Fernando Tatis Jr. homered on the first pitch of the game and Rougned Odor connected for his first homer of the season. But the Padres were 1-for-7 with runners in scoring position and left six runners on base, including the bases loaded in the eighth against Brock Stewart.

San Diego started the day last in baseball with a .205 average with runners in scoring position. Over the past eight games, the Padres are 9-for-67 (.134) with runners on second and third.

“We’ve got to perform better, is what we have to do,” San Diego manager Bob Melvin said. “So yeah, we hit some balls hard today, but we put way too much pressure on our pitching late in the game and we have guys who can perform better. And we’re going to, but it’s time to quit just talking about it. It’s time to go out there and do it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

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Sources: Sooners DT Stone hits transfer portal

Oklahoma defensive tackle David Stone entered the NCAA transfer portal Friday, sources told ESPN.

Stone, a former five-star recruit and the No. 6 overall player in the ESPN 300 for the 2024 class, made the surprising decision to enter the portal after playing in all 13 games as a true freshman with the Sooners. The 6-foot-3 313-pounder saw limited playing time, playing 88 snaps and recording 6 tackles, 2 tackles for loss and 1 sack.

Stone was expected to compete for a more significant role as a sophomore, and Oklahoma coach Brent Venables recently praised him as the Sooners’ most improved defensive tackle this offseason.

The Oklahoma native finished his high school career at IMG Academy in Florida and was a significant recruiting victory for Venables and his coaching staff in August 2023. Stone chose the Sooners over Texas A&M, Oregon, Florida, Miami and Michigan State.

The SEC does not grant immediate eligibility to players who transfer within the conference during the spring transfer window, so Stone would need to sit out the 2025 season if he moves on to another SEC program.

Oklahoma returns its top three defensive tackles from 2024 in Damonic Williams, Gracen Halton and Jayden Jackson. It also added Trent Wilson, the No. 164 recruit in the ESPN 300 for 2025, as an early enrollee this spring.

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QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

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QB Browne returns to Purdue after brief UNC stint

Quarterback Ryan Browne has decided to transfer back to Purdue after joining North Carolina earlier this offseason.

Browne committed to rejoining the Boilermakers on Friday after entering his name in the NCAA transfer portal Wednesday.

The 6-foot-4, 210-pound redshirt sophomore started two games for Purdue in 2024 but moved on amid the program’s head coaching change and went through spring practice under new Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick.

North Carolina landed a commitment from South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez on Thursday.

Browne and freshman Bryce Baker were North Carolina’s lone scholarship quarterbacks available for spring practice and were competing with three walk-ons while sixth-year senior Max Johnson recovers from a broken leg.

Browne threw for 636 yards, rushed for 240 yards and scored four touchdowns while appearing in nine games as Hudson Card’s backup over the past two seasons at Purdue, earning starts in losses to Illinois and Oregon.

By returning to West Lafayette, Browne will get an opportunity to compete for a starting job with Arkansas transfer Malachi Singleton, Washington State transfer Evans Chuba and Bennett Meredith, a former Arizona State transfer.

The Boilermakers lost one quarterback, EJ Colson, to the transfer portal earlier this week.

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U-M’s Underwood has up-and-down spring game

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U-M's Underwood has up-and-down spring game

Michigan quarterback Bryce Underwood showed glimpses of the growing pains he will experience as a freshman and flashes of the promise that made him the nation’s top-rated high school football recruit in the Wolverines’ spring game Saturday.

Underwood was 12 of 26 for 187 yards with a scrimmage-ending, 88-yard pass to tight end Jalen Hoffman on a reverse flea-flicker in a 17-0 win for the Blue over the Maize.

He also recovered his fumble, had a pair of delay-of-game penalties, several errant throws – high and wide – and some dropped. Underwood lost 12 yards on two sacks and gained 17 yards on three runs.

“He did well,” coach Sherrone Moore said. “Made some really, good throws and had some things we need to clean up and get better at.”

As the Wolverines wrapped up spring football in front of about 40,000 fans at the Big House, all eyes were on Underwood and he has become comfortable with that.

“It’s just the pressure that came with my arm,” Underwood told The Detroit News earlier this spring. “I can’t stop that.”

Underwood was sacked on his first snap and his first completion went for a loss. He did throw some darts, usually in the flat, and was quick enough to escape collapsed pockets to pick up yardage with his feet.

Underwood is expected to compete with sophomore Jadyn Davis and Fresno State transfer Mikey Keene for playing time ahead of the season-opening game on Aug. 30 at home against Fresno State.

“It’s a battle,” Moore said. “It’s going to go all the way to fall camp.”

Underwood is motivated to start and kick off a legacy-building career with lofty goals.

“A couple of Heismans and at least one natty,” Underwood said last month in an interview on the Rich Eisen Show.

Underwood knows there will be people doubting he can live up to the hype.

‘He’s just a freshman. He won’t be good enough,'” Underwood said. “I might keep that chip my whole three years.”

He attended at Belleville High School, which is about 15 miles east of Ann Arbor, and flipped his commitment to Michigan after telling LSU coaches last year he intended to play there.

Tom Brady, a former Wolverine and seven-time Super Bowl winner, talked with Underwood during the school’s recruitment via FaceTime and Oracle founder Larry Ellison, one of the world’s richest people, also connected with him.

Jay Underwood told the Wall Street Journal that his son is expected to make more than $15 million at Michigan, but that doesn’t guarantee he will take the first snap next fall.

“He wants to earn everything,” Moore has said. “He doesn’t want to be given anything.”

Hoffman said Underwood has simply blended in with his teammates.

“He’s really humble, like not a big head, ego, nothing like that,” he said. “Comes into work and every day, he wants to get better every day. He’s not riding off his success in high school. He’s really trying to be one of those top players in college football.”

Underwood participated in practices with the team before it beat Alabama in a bowl game, enrolled in classes in January and gained a lot experience in 14 private practices before a public scrimmage.

“Football is football,” he told MLive.com. “School is a little bit more overwhelming now.”

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