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Lou Holtz said he understood why his comments about Ohio State before last week’s game at Notre Dame bothered Buckeyes coach Ryan Day, but he reiterated his belief that the Fighting Irish are a superior team despite their 17-14 loss.

Speaking Tuesday to Dan Dakich on the Outkick show “Don’t @ Me!” Holtz said he called Notre Dame coach Marcus Freeman to apologize for possibly putting the Irish in a difficult position. Holtz told “The Pat McAfee Show” before Saturday’s game that Ohio State had not been physical enough to beat premier opponents, citing the team’s consecutive losses to Michigan and its CFP defeats against Georgia, Alabama and Clemson.

“I don’t feel bad about saying it because I believed it,” Holtz told Dakich. “Notre Dame was a better football team. Three times, Ohio State had fourth-and-1, ran the ball and couldn’t make it. … If I was coaching, I would have said it. I would [have] went to our team and said, ‘I think you’re better. I think you’re more physical. I think you’re more talented.’

“But when I say something and yet I can’t control the outcome of the game, that’s unfair to Coach Freeman.”

An emotional Day cited Holtz’s comments in his on-field interview with NBC after the Buckeyes’ win and then again in his postgame news conference, saying that Holtz and others who questioned Ohio State’s toughness and physicality need to “put the film on.”

“We always say, ‘Ignore the noise,’ but every once in a while, after a while someone’s poking at you, you’ve got to stand up for what you believe in,” Day said. “To see some of the things that were said, I get Ohio against the world, but we needed to go play like that today. We needed to win like that, to stop that narrative that’s going on, because it’s not true.”

Holtz, 86, said he understands why Day was unhappy with him.

“He doesn’t want to talk about [losing to] Michigan, 0-2, he doesn’t want to talk about the big games coming up against Penn State and against Michigan again,” Holtz said. “He’s a great coach. He’s done a tremendous job. He’s a great offensive mind. … Ohio State’s a good football team. I don’t think they’re a great football team. He can go after me all he wants.”

Holtz added that he hopes Day “goes on and has a wonderful year,” while adding that Notre Dame’s mistakes in the final two minutes, including not forcing Ohio State to use all its timeouts before the Buckeyes’ final possession, likely cost the Irish a win he thought they deserved. He also said he didn’t realize how much his comments would be amplified.

“Coach Freeman is always a class guy,” Holtz said. “He’s very, very polite. He didn’t even make a comment about it, but I wanted him to know that I felt bad.”

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Soto slams 426-foot HR in 1st at-bat with Mets

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Soto slams 426-foot HR in 1st at-bat with Mets

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — Juan Soto homered in his first spring training at-bat for his new team, hitting a solo shot to left-center field in the first inning for the New York Mets against the Houston Astros on Saturday.

Soto signed a record 15-year, $765 million contract this offseason, moving across New York from the Yankees to the Mets.

He hit second in the order Saturday, between Francisco Lindor and Pete Alonso, and drilled a 426-foot homer on a 2-1 pitch from left-hander Colton Gordon. The following inning, Soto drove in another run with a ground ball.

Soto entered Saturday’s game with a career .302 average and 13 home runs in 86 spring training games.

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Tigers’ Baddoo to miss start of regular season

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Tigers' Baddoo to miss start of regular season

LAKELAND, Fla. — Detroit Tigers outfielder Akil Baddoo had surgery to repair a broken bone in his right hand and will miss the start of the regular season.

Manager A.J. Hinch said Friday that Baddoo had more tests done after some continued wrist soreness since the start of spring training. Those tests revealed the hamate hook fracture in his right hand that was surgically repaired Thursday.

Baddoo, 26, who has been with the Tigers since 2021, is at spring training as a non-roster player. He was designated for assignment in December after Detroit signed veteran right-hander Alex Cobb to a $15 million, one-year contract. Baddoo cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Toledo.

Cobb is expected to miss the start of the season after an injection to treat hip inflammation that developed as the right-hander was throwing at the start of camp. He has had hip surgery twice.

Baddoo hit .137 with two homers and five RBIs in 31 games last season. The left-hander has a .226 career average with 28 homers and 103 RBI in 340 games.

After the Tigers acquired him from Minnesota in the Rule 5 draft at the winter meetings in December 2020, Baddoo hit .259 with 13 homers, 55 RBIs, 18 stolen bases and a .330 on-base percentage in 124 games as a rookie in 2021. Those are all career bests.

Baddoo went into camp in a crowded outfield. The six outfielders on Detroit’s 40-man roster include three other left-handed hitters (Riley Greene, Kerry Carpenter and Parker Meadows) and switch-hitter Wenceel Pérez. The other outfielders are right-handers Matt Vierling and Justyn-Henry Malloy.

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Dodgers’ Miller has no fracture after liner scare

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Dodgers' Miller has no fracture after liner scare

GLENDALE, Ariz. — Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Bobby Miller still had a bit of a headache but slept fine and felt much better a day after getting hit on the head by a line drive, manager Dave Roberts said Friday.

Roberts said he had spoken with Miller, who was still in concussion protocol after getting struck by a 105.5 mph liner hit by Chicago Cubs first baseman Michael Busch in the first game of spring training Thursday.

The manager said Miller indicated that there was no fracture or any significant bruising.

“He said in his words, ‘I have a hard head.’ He was certainly in good spirits,” Roberts said.

Miller immediately fell to the ground while holding his head, but quickly got up on his knees as medical staff rushed onto the field. The 25-year-old right-hander was able to walk off the field on his own.

“He feels very confident that he can kind of pick up his throwing program soon,” said Roberts, who was unsure of that timing. “But he’s just got to keep going through the concussion protocol just to make sure that we stay on the right track.”

Miller entered spring training in the mix for a spot in the starting rotation. He had a 2-4 record with an 8.52 ERA over 13 starts last season, after going 11-4 with a 3.76 in 22 starts as a rookie in 2023.

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