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ORLANDO, Fla. — LSU coach Brian Kelly said his team’s 45-24 loss to Florida State on Sunday night was “a total failure,” after a second-half collapse allowed the Seminoles to run away with the game.

The No. 5 Tigers had a 17-14 halftime lead but allowed No. 8 FSU to score 31 unanswered points in the second half. They had no answers for Noles quarterback Jordan Travis (342 yards passing, five total touchdowns) or wide receiver Keon Coleman (122 yards, three scores).

The loss marked LSU’s largest defeat as a ranked team in a season opener in the AP poll era (since 1936).

“This is a total failure from a coaching standpoint and a player standpoint that we have to obviously address and we have to own,” Kelly said. “I know adversity is always going to strike at some time in this game, and this is our first real piece of adversity that we have to address. I’m confident our guys and our coaches will rally in the manner that they need to.”

LSU had plenty of opportunities in the first half to build a much bigger lead but squandered them. On the opening drive of the game, the Tigers had four tries from the 1-yard line but failed to score on fourth down after quarterback Jayden Daniels was sacked. LSU had another chance in the second quarter on fourth-and-goal from the 1, but Daniels was stopped again.

Kelly said both were “standard fourth-down calls and decisions.” Despite the inability to score from the 1, LSU racked up yards in the first half and led 17-14 at halftime. But after the break, Florida State imposed its will and began to overpower LSU up front.

“The buck stops with me, and I’ve got to get our football team to understand and recognize that you’ve got to play this game for four quarters with a mentality,” Kelly said. “We just did not, for some reason. We thought we were somebody else. We thought we were the two-time national champion Georgia Bulldogs or something. I don’t know what we thought, but we were mistaken.”

On Thursday, Kelly made headlines when he said on his opening radio show of the season, “We’re gonna go beat the heck out of Florida State.” Whether those comments resonated in the Florida State locker room is unknown; both Coleman and Travis said they were unaware of them when asked in their postgame news conference.

What is clear is that Kelly needs to find a way to get his team to play a complete game.

“How do we handle this? Is this who we want to be, or do we look at this and say this isn’t the kind of football team we want to be,” Kelly said. “When you have those kinds of losses, they are disappointing, and in some instances, they are devastating losses, but it’s how you respond to them. They have a chance to respond to this very disappointing performance in the second half.

“So the choices they will have to make will be ones that start tomorrow.”

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Walker back in Phils’ rotation after Abel demoted

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Walker back in Phils' rotation after Abel demoted

PHILADELPHIA — Mick Abel couldn’t sustain his sublime major league debut and is headed to the minors.

Taijuan Walker is back in Philadelphia’s rotation. And anticipation that prized prospect Andrew Painter could be headed to the Phillies will stretch past the All-Star break.

Zack Wheeler, Ranger Suárez and Cristopher Sánchez are about the only sure things this year in Philadelphia’s rotation.

The Phillies demoted Abel, the rookie right-hander who has struggled since he struck out nine in his major league debut, to Triple-A Lehigh Valley. The Phillies also recalled reliever Seth Johnson from Lehigh Valley ahead of Friday’s loss to Cincinnati.

The 23-year-old Abel made six starts for the Phillies and went 2-2 with 5.04 ERA with 21 strikeouts and nine walks.

“Mick needed to go down and breathe a little bit,” manager Rob Thomson said. “Just get a little reset. It’s not uncommon.”

A 6-foot-5 right-hander selected 15th overall by the Phillies in the 2020 amateur draft, Abel dazzled against Pittsburgh in May when his nine strikeouts tied a Phillies high for a debut, set by Curt Simmons against the New York Giants on Sept. 28, 1947.

Abel hasn’t pitched beyond the fifth inning in any of his last four starts and was rocked for five runs in 1⅔ innings Wednesday against San Diego.

Abel was 3-12 with a 6.46 ERA last year for Lehigh Valley, walking 78 in 108⅔ innings. He improved to 5-2 with a 2.53 ERA in eight minor league starts this year, walking 19 in 46⅓ innings.

“This guy’s had a really good year,” Thomson said. “His poise, his composure is outstanding. He’s really grown. We just need to get back to that. Just attack the zone and get through adversity.”

The Phillies will give Walker another start in Abel’s place against San Francisco. Walker has bounced between the rotation and the bullpen over the past two seasons. He has made eight starts with 11 relief appearances this season and is 3-5 with one save and a 3.64 ERA.

Thomson had said he wanted to give Walker an extended look in the bullpen. Abel’s struggles instead forced Walker — in the third year of a four-year, $72-million contract — back to the rotation. For now.

“He always considers himself a starter and ultimately wants to start,” Thomson said. “He’ll do anything for the ballclub, because he’s that type of guy, but I think he’s generally happy he’s going to go back into a normal routine, normal for him, anyway.”

Wheeler, Suárez and Sánchez have been lights-out in the rotation this year and helped lead the Phillies into first place in the NL East. Jesús Luzardo was a pleasant early season surprise but has struggled over the past two months and gave up six runs in two-plus innings in Friday’s 9-6 loss to the Reds.

“I still have all the confidence in the world in Luzardo,” Thomson said. “Everybody’s going to have bad outings here and there. I think we’re still fine.”

Thomson said he had not made a final decision on who will be the fifth starter after the All-Star break. Painter has two more scheduled starts in Triple-A before the MLB All-Star break and could earn a spot in the rotation. The 22-year-old will not pitch in the All-Star Futures Game as part of the plan to keep him on a hopeful path to the rotation.

Painter hurt an elbow during spring training in 2023 and had Tommy John surgery later that year. He was the 13th overall pick in the 2021 amateur draft and signed for a $3.9 million bonus.

Because of the All-Star break and a quirk in the schedule that has them off on all five Thursdays in July, the Phillies won’t even need a fifth starter after next week until July 22.

Aaron Nola could be back by August as he works his way back from a rib injury. Nola will spend the All-Star break rehabbing in Florida and needs one or two minor league starts before he can rejoin the rotation.

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Cubs’ Taillon (calf) to miss more than month

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Cubs' Taillon (calf) to miss more than month

CHICAGO — Chicago Cubs righty Jameson Taillon was placed on the injured list on Friday with a right calf strain, the team announced before its game against the St. Louis Cardinals. He’s expected to miss “more than a month,” according to manager Craig Counsell.

Taillon, 33, injured his calf on his last wind sprint after a bullpen session on Thursday.

“He’s going to miss a pretty significant amount of time,” Counsell said.

Taillon was 7-6 with a 4.44 ERA in 17 starts for the Cubs this season who just got lefty Shota Imanaga back from a hamstring injury. Now they’ll have to navigate at least the rest of this month without one of their other key starters.

“There’s a little room for us to be flexible right now,” Counsell said citing the upcoming All-Star break. “We’ll use that to our advantage and we’ll go from there.”

The team recalled left-hander Jordan Wicks to take Taillon’s spot on the roster, though he won’t go directly into the rotation. Instead, the Cubs will throw a bullpen game on Saturday against the Cardinals and “go from there,” according to Counsell.

Wicks, 25, went 1-3 with one save, a 4.06 ERA and 46 strikeouts in 12 appearances (11 starts) with Triple-A Iowa this season. In his past five starts dating to May 18, he posted a 1.65 ERA with 20 strikeouts, compared to just three walks, a 0.86 WHIP and a .186 opponent batting average.

The team might also consider a bigger role for righty Chris Flexen who has been fantastic for them out of the bullpen. Flexen, 31, has a 0.62 ERA in 16 games, including a four inning stint late last month.

“He’s a candidate to be stretched out for sure,” Counsell said. “He’s prepared to do a little bit more.”

Cubs brass have already stated they are looking for starting pitching before the trade deadline later this month. Counsell was asked if Taillon’s injury increases that need. He didn’t take the bait.

“The trade deadline isn’t until July 31,” he said. “I’m focused on the next week or 10 games before the All-Star break.”

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Guardians OF Thomas reinjures foot, exits game

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Guardians OF Thomas reinjures foot, exits game

CLEVELAND — Guardians outfielder Lane Thomas left during the sixth inning of Friday night’s game against the Detroit Tigers due to mild plantar fascia symptoms with his right foot.

Thomas missed 11 games in late May and early June because of plantar fasciitis in his right foot. He is batting .160 this season and .197 (13-for-66) since coming off the injured list on June 9. He does have four homers in his past 10 games.

“We think he’s good. The plantar fasciitis flared up a little bit again and I just didn’t like the way he looked running around the outfield. So rather than take a chance, I got him out of there,” manager Stephen Vogt said after the 2-1 loss to the Tigers.

Thomas also missed five weeks due to a right wrist bone bruise after getting hit by a pitch during the April 8 home opener against the Chicago White Sox.

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