Connect with us

Published

on

For the third time in this year’s playoffs, NASCAR regular-season champion Martin Truex Jr. is facing elimination and wondering how his title chances have exploded spectacularly.

Truex heads into Sunday’s race at Martinsville Speedway tied with Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Denny Hamlin at 17 points below the cutoff line. There are six drivers vying for two spots in next week’s championship-deciding finale, and Truex needs a rapid turnaround to have any shot at racing for a second title.

He got a boost Saturday with a pole-winning run in qualifying. Truex’s lap at 94.153 mph was good enough for his third pole of the season and second straight.

Wow, did he need it.

Truex has just one top-10 finish through the first seven races of the playoffs — forcing him to stave off elimination at the end of the rounds of 16 and 12 — and although he started from the pole last week at Homestead-Miami Speedway, an engine failure put him in the same spot Sunday at the Virginia short track.

“It’s been really tough, and nothing has really gone right,” Truex said Saturday. “I thought we were sitting in a really good position last week. Things were going pretty well, and then we pit and the bottom falls out. We will reset. We are ready to go again. This is a new week and a new opportunity, and we’ve been in this position before. Let’s just go see what we can do.”

Truex has won three of the past eight races at the 0.526-mile short track but none since the introduction of NASCAR’s Next Gen race car in 2022.

Christopher Bell, his teammate at Joe Gibbs Racing, and 2021 champion Kyle Larson of Hendrick Motorsports claimed the first two spots in the final four. William Byron of Hendrick has a solid shot at adding another Chevrolet to the championship field based on his sizeable points margin. So barring a Byron disaster, there is really only one spot up for grab.

Among Truex’s challengers are teammate Hamlin, who leads all active drivers at Martinsville with five career wins, and Ryan Blaney of Team Penske. Blaney is above the cutline and trying to ensure a Ford is represented in the finale.

Also below the cutline is Tyler Reddick, who drives for Hamlin and Michael Jordan at 23XI Racing, and Chris Buescher of RFK Racing. Buescher must win at Martinsville to make the championship race.

Hamlin, meanwhile, is trying to balance his own desire to make the championship race with his hopes that Reddick can earn a spot for the team that Hamlin co-owns.

“The way I see it is I’ve got two shots to get into the final four,” Hamlin said. “I certainly would rather do it on the driver’s side, because there are going to be far less opportunities to do that than what it would be on the owner’s side.”

Truex will lead non-playoff drivers Ty Gibbs (94.115 mph) and Chase Briscoe (94.106 mph) to the green. Hamlin (94.055 mph) qualified fourth and was followed by Larson, non-playoff driver Bubba Wallace and Bell.

The remainder of the playoff field was completed by Blaney in 11th, Byron in 16th, Buescher in 18th and Reddick in 19th.

“Not happy about qualifying, just the way we’ve been right on the edge of the bubble here the last few times,” Byron said. “But I think our race car in race trim is honestly pretty good, so we’ve just got to focus on that now. We can’t change qualifying … but we’ll fight from there.”

The Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report.

Continue Reading

Sports

Yankees RHP Cousins has setback with pec issue

Published

on

By

Yankees RHP Cousins has setback with pec issue

NEW YORK — Yankees reliever Jake Cousins felt pectoral discomfort after throwing a pair of batting practice sessions, another setback in his bid to return to the mound for the first time since last fall.

Cousins won’t throw again for four or five days, manager Aaron Boone said Saturday.

Boone said ahead of spring training’s opening workout that Cousins had a strained right forearm and was uncertain for the March 27 opener.

A 30-year-old right-hander, Cousins threw batting practice to injured slugger Giancarlo Stanton on May 6. Boone said Cousins pitched an additional session before the pec issue caused a shutdown.

“We don’t think it’s anything serious, but enough to hold him back a few days,” Boone said.

Boone said Cousins had tests and that they didn’t show any shoulder issues.

Cousins had a 2.37 ERA in 37 relief appearances last year, striking out 53 and walking 20 in 38 innings.

Boone said a date has not been set for Stanton to start a minor league injury rehabilitation assignment. The five-time All-Star has been sidelined since spring training with pain in the tendons of both elbows.

Continue Reading

Sports

‘So that’s why they’re called the 0’s’: Twins troll Orioles after shutout win

Published

on

By

'So that's why they're called the 0's': Twins troll Orioles after shutout win

The Minnesota Twins are on a roll. They extended their winning streak to 11 games Thursday with a 4-0 win over the Baltimore Orioles that completed a series sweep. Their confidence carried over to social media, too, as they trolled the Orioles.

Minnesota used a three-run third inning to propel itself to victory, with home runs from DaShawn Keirsey Jr. and Byron Buxton.

The Twins hold the longest win streak in MLB; its their their longest run of victories since winning 12 straight from April 22 to May 4 last season, according to ESPN Research. The franchise record is 15 set in 1991.

Minnesota poked fun at Baltimore’s namesake with a post after the game, referring to the Orioles also being known as the “O’s” — and swapping a zero in for the O.

The Twins have won each of their six matchups against the Orioles this season. All of them have come during Minnesota’s current win streak.

Minnesota (24-20) is fourth in the American League Central behind the Kansas City Royals, Cleveland Guardians and Detroit Tigers.

Continue Reading

Sports

Red Sox rookie Campbell working out at 1st base

Published

on

By

Red Sox rookie Campbell working out at 1st base

Star Boston Red Sox rookie Kristian Campbell has started working out at first base in the wake of Triston Casas‘ season-ending knee injury.

Campbell worked out at first before Friday night’s series opener against the Atlanta Braves at Fenway Park, and Red Sox manager Alex Cora addressed the situation when he spoke to reporters before the game.

“Looking for options,” Cora told reporters. “Obviously, we’re getting Romy [Gonzalez] probably at the end of the week, early next week, but just introduce him to first base and see how he looks. That’s where we’re at.”

Casas ruptured the tendon in his left knee while running to first base during a game against the Minnesota Twins earlier this month. His replacement at first, Gonzalez, was placed on the 10-day injured list because of a left quad contusion last week.

One potential replacement, star slugger Rafael Devers, said after Casas went down that he would not be open to moving to first after he went from third base to designated hitter during spring training to make room for Alex Bregman.

Campbell, one of baseball’s top prospects, broke camp with the big league team and has been its primary second baseman through the start of the season. He has also played in the outfield and at shortstop and third base in his career, but never first.

Asked what he would need to see for Campbell to be a realistic option at first for his team, Cora added: “The process started, right? It can take 10 days, 15 days, a month, two months. But we started the process and introduced him to first.”

Continue Reading

Trending