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PHILADELPHIA — Rob Thomson watched Bryce Harper and J.T. Realmuto hit solo homers and Edmundo Sosa hit a three-run shot to lead the Philadelphia Phillies past the Texas Rangers 11-4 on Wednesday night in a game that gave them the best 50-game start in baseball since Seattle in 2001 and came away with one question about the Mariners.

“What’d they do?” Thomson asked.

The third-year Phillies manager asked the rhetorical question because he knew exactly the fate of those Mariners who started 38-12 and went on to tie an MLB record with 116 wins.

The Mariners failed to win the World Series.

“That’s right,” Thomson said. “So you’ve got to keep going. You’ve got to keep grinding, keep pushing all the way through.”

Realmuto extended his hitting streak to 12 games and added three RBIs, and Alec Bohm hit a two-RBI double in the sixth inning that made it 10-3 and gave him an National League-best 46 RBIs.

Already boasting the best record in baseball, the Phillies are 36-14 — the best start over 50 games in franchise history, and they are just the 26th team in National League history to win at least 36 games over the first 50 played. The 1998 Braves were the last to get off to such a fast start.

The Phillies had never been better than 35-15 (1993, 1976) through their first 50 games over the course of franchise history that dates to 1883.

The Phillies won their fifth straight game and 17th of their past 20. They’re 21-8 at home and winners of 17 of 19 at Citizens Bank Park.

“We know that in any situation we’re put in, we can come through it,” Realmuto said. “We have a chance to win every game no matter where we’re at. If we’re down late, we have confidence in ourselves. I think that just speaks to the culture that we’ve built here.”

Matt Strahm (3-0) pitched 1⅓ scoreless innings to pick up the win in relief.

The good times are rolling in Philly — though it took a hot minute during a game in which temperatures hovered near 90 degrees at first pitch. Leody Taveras crushed a solo homer off Phillies starter Taijuan Walker in the second and the Rangers actually led 2-0.

The early hole was nothing but a pesky inconvenience for this year’s Phillies. They took advantage of two errors in the second inning by the World Series champions to tie the game 2-all.

Brandon Marsh‘s RBI single made it 2-1. Marsh then tried to steal second only for Rangers starter Dane Dunning (3-3) to wheel around and throw the ball into center field, bringing home the tying run. Marsh was just getting started on a big night; the left fielder threw out Corey Seager at third base in the fourth inning on Adolis Garcia‘s hit into the corner.

Realmuto’s sixth homer of the year in the third made it 3-2, and he knocked in two more in the sixth with a bases-loaded single for an 8-3 lead.

Dunning left with two runners in the fourth after he threw 74 pitches in his first start since he returned from the injured list. Dunning was sidelined by a right rotator cuff strain.

Manager Bruce Bochy brought in Jonathan Hernandez, and the move instantly backfired. Sosa crushed one off the end of the bat and hit a three-run homer to right on the reliever’s first pitch that made it 6-2.

Walker struck out five but allowed three runs in 4⅔ innings.

ESPN Stats & Information and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Zilisch breaks collarbone in scary Victory Lane fall

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Zilisch breaks collarbone in scary Victory Lane fall

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — NASCAR Xfinity Series points leader Connor Zilisch broke his collarbone after a hard fall in Victory Lane at Watkins Glen International.

After his series-leading sixth victory, Zilisch was climbing onto the roof of his No. 88 Chevrolet to celebrate. He slipped after apparently getting his left foot caught in the driver’s side window netting and tumbled awkwardly onto the asphalt.

Zilisch, 19, was taken on a backboard to the trackside medical center and then transported to a hospital for further evaluation. He posted on X about two hours later that he had a broken collarbone and that CT scans showed no head injury.

“Thank you everybody for reaching out today,” Zilisch posted. “I’m out of the hospital and getting better already. Thankful for all the medics for quick attention and grateful it wasn’t any worse.”

Zilisch will not be available for the Cup race Sunday at Watkins Glen. After racing in the Truck and Xfinity Series the past two days at the road course, he was scheduled to complete a tripleheader by making his fourth Cup start this season for Trackhouse Racing.

The scary incident capped an eventful day for Zilisch, who drives for Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports team.

After starting from the pole position, Zilisch wrecked teammate Shane van Gisbergen’s car while battling for the lead on Lap 65. After being bumped from the lead to fifth on a restart, Zilisch retook first and led the final four laps.

“He did such a great job of getting back through the field and getting the lead,” crew chief Mardy Lindley told SiriusXM NASCAR Radio after the race. “Praying for Connor right now that he’s OK. I think he’s going to be fine.”

Zilisch missed a race earlier this season at Texas Motor Speedway after suffering a back injury during a crash at Talladega Superspeedway. He has 11 consecutive top-five finishes and five wins since his return.

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White Sox nail tribute to former owner Veeck

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White Sox nail tribute to former owner Veeck

CHICAGO –The White Sox threw a party that would have made Bill Veeck proud.

The club celebrated its quirky former owner with Bill Veeck Night on Saturday by bringing back some of the stunts, tricks and exhibitions that added to the lore of the legendary showman and Hall of Famer.

There was a pregame petting zoo and a roving circus with — what else? — a clown to entertain fans entering Rate Field. There was ice sculpting on the concourse in the outfield and a chance to get a photo taken with a 50-foot hot dog, along with an offer of free haircuts. The first 15,000 fans received a Veeck bobblehead, and postgame fireworks were planned.

Another highlight was what the team described as a “married in a minute” event, with two White Sox fans tying the knot in a 60-second ceremony officiated by 1983 American League Rookie of the Year Ron Kittle.

Veeck’s son, Mike, threw out the ceremonial first pitch before the White Sox took on the Cleveland Guardians.

The fun wasn’t limited to fans in the stands. White Sox players turned back the clock by wearing pinstriped shorts during pregame warmups and batting practice. The team wore those unusual shorts — along with collared uniform tops — for some games during the 1976 season.

Veeck was a two-time owner of the White Sox, first from 1959-61 and again from 1975-81. His tenure was marked by memorable and forgettable stunts to enhance the fans’ game-day experience through entertainment.

His stunts included an exploding scoreboard in 1960 and a disastrous disco demolition night in 1979, when a crate of disco records was blown up between games of a doubleheader. The playing surface at Comiskey Field was so damaged by the blast and fans who rushed the field after the stunt that Chicago was forced to forfeit the second game to Detroit.

Another of his famous acts was signing 3-foot-7 Eddie Gaedel to be a pinch hitter in 1951, when Veeck owned the St. Louis Browns. Gaedel, who had a miniscule strike zone, walked on four pitches.

Veeck died in 1986 at 71 and was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1991.

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Athletics put P Severino on IL with oblique strain

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Athletics put P Severino on IL with oblique strain

Right-hander Luis Severino, who recently has pitched like the high-priced free agent the Athletics signed in the offseason, was placed on the 15-day injured list Saturday because of a left oblique strain.

The move is retroactive to Wednesday.

The A’s called up left-hander Hogan Harris from Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding transaction.

Severino signed a $67 million, three-year contract in December with the A’s, but he can opt out after next season. It was largest-ever contract for the typically low-spending A’s, though they since made other similar deals with Brent Rooker ( $60 million over five years ) and Lawrence Butler ( $65.5 million over seven years ) in anticipation of their scheduled move to Las Vegas in 2028.

Unless he agrees to an extension, the 31-year-old Severino likely won’t be part of those plans.

He started slow this season, but in his past five starts went 4-1 with a 2.93 ERA and 30 strikeouts over 27 2/3 innings. That improved his record to 6-11 with a 4.82 ERA.

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