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PASADENA, Calif. — Shedeur Sanders‘ tired demeanor and the box score from Colorado‘s 28-16 loss to UCLA on Saturday told a similar story.

Over the course of 60 minutes at the Rose Bowl, Sanders was sacked seven times, hit 17 other times and knocked down 13 times, and he was pressured in the backfield on countless more occasions.

While the Buffaloes’ offense failed to score a touchdown until late in the fourth quarter, Sanders spent his night scrambling, sliding or crumpling under the weight of the Bruins’ defenders. Colorado managed only 25 rushing yards and 242 total yards, a crippling combination that prevented its quarterback from doing what he does best: throw the ball down the field.

“I’m a little biased because I’m his father, but I think we have the best quarterback in the country,” Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders said of Shedeur, who was 27-of-43 for 217 yards. “I don’t think any other quarterback could put up with having to stand and deliver like he has to every week in, week out, taking a beating.”

What wasn’t clear at first was later revealed by Deion: The hits Shedeur has absorbed in recent weeks and on Saturday led to him receiving an injection at halftime to “block some of the pain.” Deion said he would give Shedeur the next few days off.

While Deion Sanders did not specify what kind of pain Shedeur was dealing with during Saturday’s game, he did express regret in how poorly the quarterback has been protected.

“Overall, we just don’t have the fight and the passion to do what we want to do,” Deion Sanders said of the offensive line, which has been depleted by injuries. “The line has to improve. We have to have enough depth to be able to accomplish the goals that we set out to accomplish.”

Colorado — and by extension Shedeur — has been one of the most pressured teams in the nation. Going into Saturday’s game, the Buffaloes were allowing five sacks per game, ranking 132nd out of 133 teams in the country. The trickle-down effect of poor line play has led to a rapidly declining running game, putting far more pressure on Shedeur to make magic happen in the backfield.

“It’s really frustrating because I just need to get feedback just knowing what’s open and what’s not,” Shedeur Sanders said, while taking responsibility for the offense not being on the same page. “I just got to make my mind up faster and get the ball out of my hands quicker.”

Against the Bruins, Colorado’s offensive game plan appeared to prioritize quick throws from Sanders to cutting receivers or on screens. But the UCLA defense, one of the best in the country, quickly snuffed out the strategy. By the time Colorado found itself down in the game, its play on the line did not suit the need to throw downfield.

“It’s a struggle to run the ball, and we got to figure that out because now you’re one-dimensional,” Deion Sanders said. “And it’s easy to stop a team when they’re one-dimensional. That’s who we are at this point in time.”

Despite a strong start for the Colorado defense — which featured two acrobatic interceptions by two-way star Travis Hunter — the unit eventually broke down without safety Shilo Sanders, who was ejected due to targeting, and without much help from the offensive side of the ball. The Bruins finished with 487 yards of offense and 14 points in the fourth quarter to seal the result.

Deion, as he is wont to do, did not mince words on what Colorado needs to improve and compete at a higher level. He said the Buffaloes have to get a better offensive line. But when asked about whether he is mindful of the Buffaloes’ quest to six wins and a bowl berth, he bristled at the notion that he or the team — currently 4-4 after a 3-0 start — was focused on that.

“I don’t give a damn about no bowl,” Deion Sanders said. “We’re trying to win, period. The consistency there just isn’t there at this point because of the lack of talent in certain positions.”

Despite the loss and the climb to Colorado’s first bowl appearance since 2020 looking tougher, Coach Prime, the showman, was still present after the game. The smiles and the quips were still plenty and so were the harsh truths. But as always, the message of long-term optimism persisted.

“I would love to win. I’m accustomed to winning, and we will win,” Deion Sanders said. “Just put your seat belt on and hold on. We’ll win.”

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MLB-best Brewers put SS Ortiz (hamstring) on IL

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MLB-best Brewers put SS Ortiz (hamstring) on IL

MILWAUKEE — Milwaukee’s Joey Ortiz went on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring Friday, leaving the NL Central-leading Brewers without their starting shortstop.

The Brewers also reinstated first baseman/outfielder Jake Bauers from the injured list and sent outfielder Jackson Chourio to a rehabilitation assignment with Triple-A Nashville.

Ortiz left a 4-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday after hurting himself while grounding out in the fifth inning. Manager Pat Murphy said he has been told it’s a low-grade strain, an indication that Ortiz’s stay on the IL might not be too long.

Ortiz, 27, is hitting .233 with seven homers, 43 RBIs and 11 steals in 125 games. He has batted .343 with an .830 OPS in August.

“I felt like I was finally kind of getting a groove going, especially offensively, that I was starting to swing the bat as I feel I can,” Ortiz said. “Things happen. It’s baseball. It’s going to happen. I’ve just got to do what I can to get back.”

Murphy said Andruw Monasterio will be the Brewers’ primary shortstop while Ortiz is out. Monasterio, 28, has hit .254 with two homers and 11 RBIs in 43 games.

Bauers, 29, was dealing with a left shoulder impingement and last played in the majors on July 18. Bauers is hitting .197 with five homers and 18 RBIs in 59 games. He had gone just 2-for-23 in July while dealing with the shoulder issue before finally going on the injured list.

“Since April, May, I’ve been dealing with it,” Bauers said.

Chourio, 21, hasn’t played since straining his right hamstring while running out a triple in a 9-3 victory over the Cubs on July 29.

“He’s got to be able to get comfortable standing on the diamond back-to-back days,” Murphy said. “He’s got to be comfortable playing all nine (innings) in the outfield back-to-back days, because you can’t bring him back here and then just [go] zero to 100.”

Chourio is hitting .276 with 17 homers, 67 RBIs and 18 steals in 106 games.

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Red Sox move Buehler to pen as RHP eyes ‘reset’

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Red Sox move Buehler to pen as RHP eyes 'reset'

NEW YORK — The Boston Red Sox are pulling Walker Buehler from their rotation and sending the struggling right-hander to the bullpen.

“It’s going to be his new role,” manager Alex Cora said Friday before the Red Sox continued a four-game series with the Yankees. “We’ll figure out how it goes, maybe one inning, multiple innings. Whatever it is, we don’t know yet.”

Buehler’s next scheduled start would have been the opener of a four-game series in Baltimore on Monday. The Red Sox did not immediately announce who would take his turn. Right-hander Richard Fitts, currently with the Red Sox, and left-hander Kyle Harrison, who is at Triple A after being acquired in the Rafael Devers trade, are options.

“It’s obviously disappointing,” Buehler said. “It’s the first time in my career that I’ve been in a situation like that, but at the end of the day, the organization and, to a lesser extent, myself, kind of think it’s probably the right thing for our group and it gives me an opportunity to kind of reset in some ways.”

In his first season with the Red Sox after seven seasons with the Dodgers, Buehler is 7-7 with a 5.40 ERA in 22 starts and has allowed a career-worst 21 homers. He was 4-1 with a 4.28 ERA in his first six starts but is 3-6 with a 6.37 ERA over his past 16 outings. He also missed two weeks in May because of bursitis in his pitching shoulder.

“He’s been very frustrated with the way he has pitched,” Cora said. “I still believe in him. He’s a big part of what we’re trying to accomplish.”

Buehler last started in Wednesday’s 11-inning loss to the Orioles and allowed two runs in four innings while throwing 75 pitches. It was the ninth time this season he did not complete five innings.

After the game, he didn’t fault Cora for the quick hook.

“At some point, the leash I’m given has been earned,” he told reporters. “I think they did the right thing in coming to get me before the [Gunnar] Henderson at-bat. Our bullpen has been great. For me, personally, I think everything went according to plan until the fifth. You go double, four-pitch walk. The way I’ve been throwing it, it all kind of makes sense.”

Buehler also issued 54 walks in 110 innings this season for a career-high 4.4 walks per nine innings.

The Red Sox signed Buehler to a one-year, $21.05 million contract in December. The deal contains an additional $2.5 million in performance bonuses. The Red Sox also gave Buehler a $3.05 million signing bonus and includes a $25 million mutual option for 2026 with a $3 million buyout.

Buehler was 1-6 with a 5.38 ERA and pitched 75⅓ innings in the 2024 regular season for the Dodgers after missing all of 2023 recovering from Tommy John surgery. He helped the Dodgers win their second championship since 1988 by going 1-1 with a 3.60 ERA and pitched a perfect ninth for the save in Game 5 of the World Series against the Yankees.

Buehler’s only previous relief experience was eight appearances as a rookie in 2017. His last relief appearance was June 28, 2018, when he allowed a run in five innings after missing time because of a rib injury.

A two-time All Star in 2019 and 2021, Buehler is 54-29 in 153 appearances. He finished fourth in voting for the National League Cy Young Award in 2021 after going 16-4 with a 2.47 ERA in 33 starts when he threw 207⅔ innings.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

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Bronzed Beltré: Rangers honor HOFer with statue

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Bronzed Beltré: Rangers honor HOFer with statue

ARLINGTON, Texas — Hall of Fame third baseman Adrian Beltré now has a statue in Arlington to go with his bust in Cooperstown.

The Texas Rangers unveiled a life-sized bronze statue of the first-ballot Hall of Famer on Friday, one with him posed hitting a home run with his knee on the ground like he did so often in his career. Beltré is the third player to have a statue outside the team’s stadium, joining two other Hall of Famers, strikeout king Nolan Ryan and 14-time All-Star catcher Iván “Pudge” Rodríguez.

Beltré spent the last eight of his 21 big league seasons with Texas, the team he played with the longest. He retired after the 2018 season, had his No. 29 jersey retired by the Rangers the following year and was enshrined in baseball’s Hall of Fame last summer.

The statue is situated where it appears that Beltré is glancing toward the old ballpark that still stands across the street. It was there that he became the first player from the Dominican Republic to reach 3,000 career hits on July 30, 2017, two years after hitting his 400th homer. That is also where he had all three of his MLB record-tying three career cycles, one as a visitor with Seattle in 2008, and two more with the Rangers, on Aug. 24, 2012, and Aug. 3, 2015.

The dedication came before the opener of a three-game series against the Cleveland Guardians. The Rangers on Saturday will present Beltré with a smaller version of his bronze statue and he will catch a ceremonial first pitch thrown by Mike Tabor, the Texas artist who sculpted it, and the first 20,000 fans entering the ballpark before that game will get replica versions.

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