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KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — They all could have left. No one would have blamed them. Instead, they Volunteered.

On a gorgeous autumn day in Knoxville stands the Tennessee Trio who make up the heart of the suddenly vaunted Big Orange defense. They are leaning against a railing that overlooks the Vol Navy, fielding shouts of encouragement from the orange-clad, well-imbibed folks docked along the banks of the Tennessee River.

“Thank you, guys!” a woman bellows from a houseboat adorned with a giant inflatable Smokey hound that, wait, is it also holding a drink? “Thank you for finishing the job!”

“You’re welcome!” responds senior defensive lineman Tyler Baron, Nashville-raised, but a graduate of nearby Knoxville Catholic.

He will make his 38th appearance in a Tennessee uniform this weekend at Alabama. Standing to his right is the man who also lines up with him on that “Trench Mob” line, fellow senior Omari Thomas, a Memphis native poised to play in his 37th game for UT.

Off Baron’s left shoulder is linebacker Aaron Beasley, a fifth-year senior, preparing for his 38th contest. His first appearance came in this very game, at Alabama on Oct. 19. 2019, a whopping 1,463 days before this weekend’s 105th edition of the series known as the Third Saturday in October. He recorded his first career tackle in that first appearance. He has added 206 more since, with a total of 11 over his first four Bama games, including a crucial pair of strikes during last year’s SEC sea-changing 52-49 victory over the third-ranked Tide, a win that ended a 15-year losing streak to Alabama and was the pillar of 2022’s long-sought comeback season for a long-suffering historic program. That 11-2 group from last year is now referred to as the “Revi-Vols” and is looking for more at 5-1 and ranked No. 17 heading into a showdown with the Crimson Tide.

“It’s real humbling for me,” Beasley says of the gratitude he and his veteran teammates now receive on a daily basis, riverside and elsewhere. “We’ve been through a lot and to come out the way we have, it’s bittersweet almost. Because this is my last year, my last couple months here. So, to finish how we are about to finish, it feels good for sure. We’ve come a long way.”

A long way, as in an orange-clad Sisyphus pushing a boulder up Rocky Top.

This is the Class of COVID. All three arrived in Knoxville just before the coronavirus crashed into our lives. They spent an entire season playing games in front of either no one or reduced crowds, with the rest of their time spent quarantined in their apartments and meeting rooms. Then Jeremy Pruitt, the head coach who recruited them, was fired under the shadow of an investigation concerning how they were recruited in the first place. The same coach who led them to only three since-vacated victories, and that was only three seasons ago.

The transfer portal had also just been kicked into overdrive, opening an exit door that was taken by a seemingly endless number of teammates. They could have followed them and no one would have thought less of them for doing it. In fact, such a move would have seemed pretty smart considering their new coach, Air Raid maestro Josh Heupel, had long been criticized for placing too much stress on his defenses at UCF.

They could have found better NIL deals elsewhere among more stable college football grounds. They could have tried to get a jump on the NFL, which looms just over the horizon for all three.

They did none of the above. Because, despite what we all read during the infancy stages of this new college football universe, a place of transiency where loyalty gets obliterated by delusions of playing time and paycheck grandeur, there are still those who believe in building something.

Especially this trio.

“I just go back to when me and O were being recruited,” Baron said of the fall of 2019. “That was the biggest thing we were preaching, was just wanting to get Tennessee back to what everybody knew it to be. Back to what it should be and is.”

“When we came in, we wanted to be a change, we wanted to be something, we wanted to be a part of change, all of us,” Thomas said, nodding as he talks about himself, Baron, and the other 10 members of that class — seven on defense — who chose to stay in Knoxville. “We had so many opportunities where we could go join programs that were already solidified. But we wanted to be something. We wanted to be the face of the program. We wanted to be the face of the change. All three of us, I know we are happy and blessed to be a part of the change here.”

Change, as in winning only three games three years ago and then backing that up with records of 7-6, 11-2 and now 5-1. Change, as in winning that game against Alabama one year ago, a game in which these three were a combined 0-7, to create recruiting momentum that has yet to slow down. And, oh yeah, change where those critics of Heupel never expected to see it.

In 2022, Tennessee’s defense allowed nearly 24 points and 400 yards per game. This year it has slashed those numbers to 17 and 303, respectively. During the entirety of last season, Tennessee registered 27 sacks. Barely past the halfway point of 2023, the Vols have 24.

Those improvements have been crucial for a team whose quarterback, Joe Milton III, has struggled mightily to reconnect with the downfield passing game that was the Vols’ bread and butter in 2022. See: Only 20 points against Texas A&M, the first time in six years as a head coach at UCF and Tennessee that Heupel won a game when scoring fewer than 30 points. Prior to that he was 0-9.

“I think it is easy to look at our team and really the history of Tennessee football and become distracted by offense,” Heupel said. “Whether it be Peyton Manning or Hendon [Hooker] or even back in the day, all of the great wide receivers and running backs. But this is also the school of Eric Berry, Reggie White and Al Wilson. When we make the Vol Walk to Neyland Stadium we march right by the banners of those guys, and Doug Atkins. So, there is a lot of pride on that side of the ball. And leadership. There always has been, and that’s what our seniors provide now.”

It’s no coincidence that those legends of the past have started hanging around Knoxville a lot more over the past three seasons. They have been invited by Heupel and many have come back to be honored in front of 102,000 at Neyland, as Berry was last weekend. But they have also been returning of their own volition, eager to experience the rediscovered Big Orange confidence. The legends of the 1990s packed the stadium luxury boxes one year ago, eager to help cheer their alma mater to do what so many of them had done years ago, beat Alabama.

They also pay frequent visits to the Tennessee practice fields to visit today’s leaders, to thank them for what they have done, and to remind them that their responsibilities won’t end when they take their final snaps at Vols this winter.

“The guys we have now, the young guys that we have come in, they make it easy for us,” Beasley said of the influx of five-stars and Power 5 transfers who have flooded the locker room over the past two springs and falls, the newcomers he and fellow seniors are charged with coaching up on this new old-school Tennessee culture. “They’re very mature for their age, very detailed oriented, very talented …”

“They expect to win,” Thomas said.

“Yeah, they do,” Baron added. “And they expect to do it the right way.”

“Leave this place better than you found it,” Beasley continues as all three nod in unison. “That’s what Tennessee challenged us to do. That’s our challenge for those who come here next.”

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

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Reds: 1st since 1960 to lose 3 straight by 1-0

MILWAUKEE — The Cincinnati Reds lost 1-0 to the Milwaukee Brewers on Thursday night to become only the second team in the live-ball era (since 1920) to lose three consecutive 1-0 games.

The Reds joined the Philadelphia Phillies, who lost three straight in the same fashion in 1960, according to ESPN Research.

“Nobody’s happy with what’s happened the last three games,” Reds manager Terry Francona said after the string of 1-0 losses continued in the opener of a four-game series at Milwaukee. “We’ll figure it out together. I feel strongly about that.”

Cincinnati’s lineup showcased its potential Monday in a 14-3 victory over the Texas Rangers, but the Reds haven’t scored since.

Texas’ Nathan Eovaldi outdueled Carson Spiers on Tuesday. Jack Leiter and four Texas relievers combined for 10 strikeouts Wednesday as the Reds wasted a brilliant performance from Hunter Greene.

Milwaukee’s Nestor Cortes shut down Cincinnati on Thursday, allowing one hit, striking out six and walking two over six innings.

Cincinnati’s Nick Lodolo gave up four hits and one unearned run in 6⅔ innings Thursday, but he took the loss because the Reds mustered just two hits.

“It’s part of the game, you know?” Lodolo said. “I’ll be honest with you. Obviously I want us to score, but I’m not really thinking about it. I’ve got to do my job at the end of the day, regardless. We’ll turn it around. I guarantee that.”

That’s the attitude Francona wants to see from his pitchers as Cincinnati’s hitters try to break out of their slump.

“We’re not going to have a situation where it’s ‘us’ when we win and it’s ‘they’ when we lose,” Francona said. “We’ll do this together.”

Francona said there’s no common thread between the games that explains his lineup’s struggles. The Reds have faced different styles of pitchers each time.

Eovaldi is a veteran right-hander who went the distance while allowing four hits and no walks. Leiter’s a hard-throwing rookie right-hander. Cortes, a veteran left-hander, doesn’t have the velocity of Eovaldi or Leiter but effectively mixed his cutter and changeup with his fastball.

Cincinnati’s struggles Thursday may have been particularly frustrating because Cortes looked so awful in his last start, a 20-9 loss to the New York Yankees. Cortes allowed homers on each of his first three pitches that day and ended up yielding eight hits and five walks in two innings of a game that drew attention to the Yankees’ use of “torpedo bats.”

The Reds made Cortes look like an entirely different pitcher.

“It was embarrassing, what happened to me last time,” Cortes said. “I think, as a starter, you’ve got 30 or 32 of these. There’s going to be a lot of bad ones throughout the way. You’ve just got to learn how to brush them off and go to the next one. That’s what I did.”

The Reds’ lone hit off Cortes came from Jose Trevino, who delivered a one-out double in the third off his former Yankees teammate. Cincinnati’s only other hit Thursday was a single by Jeimer Candelario off Elvis Peguero in the seventh.

Cincinnati has a combined nine hits, three walks and 27 strikeouts during the skid.

“To be totally honest, you see this all the time throughout a baseball season,” Trevino said. “Pitchers will pick up the hitters and the hitters will pick up the pitchers. It will all switch at some point. We’re going to need them. They’re going to need us. And at some point, we’re all going to be together. That’s just how the baseball season goes.

“Right now, our pitchers are doing really well and our hitters, we’re grinding. It’s not like we’re out there trying to give outs away. We’re out there putting some good at-bats together. We’re going to turn this thing around. I have full confidence in this team.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Dodgers’ Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

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Dodgers' Freeman placed on IL after shower slip

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman, who slipped and fell in the shower Sunday morning, was put on the injured list for his ankle injury, the team announced Thursday.

The move is retroactive to Monday. He hasn’t played since Saturday and is 3-for-12 this season with two home runs and four RBIs.

The incident happened at home during the Dodgers’ off day. Freeman’s wife had to drive him to Dodger Stadium on Sunday for a three-hour treatment session. By the time it was over, he was able to drive himself home. An X-ray showed no serious damage.

Freeman sprained his right ankle on a play at first base in late September and struggled in the first two rounds of the postseason, but it was hardly evident during the World Series. He homered in the first four games and had 12 RBIs, earning the World Series MVP award as the Dodgers beat the New York Yankees in five games.

He had debridement surgery in December to remove loose bodies in the ankle.

The Dodgers (8-0) begin a three-game series at the Philadelphia Phillies on Friday.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

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Judge gets 500th extra-base hit; 3rd-fastest Yank

NEW YORK — Aaron Judge smiled and perhaps blushed when informed of Jazz Chisholm Jr.’s praise.

“We all tell him every day: ‘Hey, we want to be you when we grow up,'” Chisholm said after Judge became the third-fastest New York Yankees player to reach 500 extra-base hits with a three-run homer in the first inning of Thursday night’s 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

And the two players who reached the mark in fewer games than Judge? Joe DiMaggio and Lou Gehrig.

“When I’m an old man coming to Old-Timers Day, I can look back and we can joke about it and laugh about it,” Judge said.

Coming off his second American League MVP award, Judge fell a triple short of the cycle and is hitting .417 with five homers and 15 RBIs in the first six games this season. He has 320 homers, 175 doubles and five triples in 999 games, and only DiMaggio (853) and Gehrig (869) reached 500 extra-base hits in fewer games among Yankees.

“I feel like he’s still getting there, which is remarkable,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “It’s that part of me that takes him for granted a little bit. I just feel like he should get an extra-base hit every time. I kind of say it out loud just to try and remind myself what we’re watching every day.”

Judge lined a 1-1 fastball from Merrill Kelly at 112.1 mph to the opposite field and into the Yankees’ bullpen for a 3-0 lead. He added a run-scoring single in the fourth inning as the Yankees moved ahead 7-3 and hit a 111.3 mph double in the sixth. He also flied out and hit a 109.5 mph groundout.

“I’m like, did you miss that one?” Boone recalled, laughing. “I catch myself having these ridiculous conversations with him sometimes, just because he keeps setting the bar so darn high.”

Judge knows he’s in for ribbing when he singles or doubles.

“He gives me a little smirk when I get on base like that,” he said.

Judge also stole his first base of the season, as did Chisholm. Judge swiped 10 last year to Chisholm’s 40.

“I told him I was going to catch him in stolen bases this year,” Judge said playfully.

“He’s starting to steal bags now. It’s just getting ridiculous out of him, man,” Chisholm said.

Chisholm and Trent Grisham hit two-run homers off Kelly (1-1), who allowed a career-high nine runs, nine hits and three walks in 3 2/3 innings. Chisholm is hitting .292 with four homers and eight RBIs.

“I’m OK compared to him. I’m trying to get to his level right now,” Chisholm said of Judge. “I told him I’m not going to try to fall behind him too far. I got to keep up with him.”

New York had 22 homers on a 4-2 opening homestand, five more than any other team ever hit in its first six games. Even though it was game No. 6, the Yankees felt an urgency after losing the Tuesday and Wednesday.

“Big G said a couple words before the game, just about this was our home turf. We got to go out there and we don’t get swept at home,” he said of Giancarlo Stanton. “Guys took that to heart.”

Carlos Carrasco (1-0) got his first Yankees win, giving up three runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings. After New York opened a 9-3 lead, Geraldo Perdomo hit a seventh-inning grand slam off Ryan Yarbrough. Luke Weaver got four outs for his first save this season, ending Arizona’s three-game winning streak.

Judge repeatedly refers to last year’s World Series loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers. It weighs on him far more than historical accomplishments.

“Especially after last season where we weren’t able to finish the job, guys are motivated to go out and do something special,” he said. “It starts every game you play.”

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