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NEW YORK — Aaron Judge ended the longest home run drought of his major league career in the loudest way possible Friday night.

With the New York Yankees facing a three-run deficit against the Boston Red Sox in the seventh inning, Judge clubbed a go-ahead grand slam for his major-league-leading 52nd home run of the season. The swat unleashed thunderous delirium at Yankee Stadium. MVP chants prompted Judge to emerge for a curtain call.

The blast was Judge’s eighth career grand slam. He had gone 16 games, 60 at-bats and 75 plate appearances since last homering on Aug. 25 against the Colorado Rockies.

The anticipation for the possibility began building earlier in the inning.

Red Sox right-hander Justin Slaten began the bottom of the seventh with full counts to Anthony Volpe and Alex Verdugo. Both times he walked the batter. Gleyber Torres followed with a single to score Volpe from second base for the Yankees’ first run of the night.

Red Sox manager Alex Cora then replaced Slaten with left-hander Cam Booser, who had to figure out how to deal with Juan Soto and Judge, the most productive offensive duo in baseball.

Booser chose to pitch around Soto, walking him on four pitches way out of the strike zone down and away to load the bases. With each ball, the decibel level reached a new height. By the fourth one, Yankee Stadium was in a frenzy. Soto flipped his bat. Judge strolled to the plate. Booser was in trouble.

Booser fell behind Judge with a cutter in the dirt and a fastball that appeared to be in the strike zone. Forced to attack Judge, Booser grooved a 96 mph fastball down the middle to Judge, who pounced and didn’t miss it.

The score held as the Yankees beat the Red Sox 5-4.

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Sources: Sumrall the favorite to land Florida job

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Sources: Sumrall the favorite to land Florida job

Tulane coach Jon Sumrall has emerged as the clear favorite to be the next head coach of the Florida Gators, sources told ESPN’s Pete Thamel.

Florida turned its attention away from Ole Miss coach Lane Kiffin earlier this week after getting the sense through irregular communication that he is interested in other options, likely a move to LSU or remaining with the Rebels, sources told ESPN on Friday.

Sumrall is expected to make a decision on his future by Sunday morning as he considers staying at Tulane or a move to Gainesville. He also received significant interest from Auburn, but the Tigers have since shifted their focus to other candidates, another indicator that Florida looms as the clear leader for Sumrall’s services, sources said.

Sumrall, a former SEC player at Kentucky, where he later served as an assistant coach and co-defensive coordinator, is 18-7 in two seasons at Tulane. He also won back-to-back Sun Belt titles as head coach at Troy in 2022 and 2023.

Sumrall, 43, garnered outside interest after his first season with Tulane, earning a contract extension after just one season at the helm.

Tulane (9-2) hosts Charlotte on Saturday night in its regular-season finale. The Green Wave can clinch a spot in the American Conference championship game against North Texas with a win over the 49ers.

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Ohio St. dominates Michigan to snap losing streak

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Ohio St. dominates Michigan to snap losing streak

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Julian Sayin threw three touchdown passes, including a 35-yarder to Jeremiah Smith on a fourth down in the second quarter, and No. 1 Ohio State beat No. 15 Michigan 27-9 in a dominant performance on Saturday.

The defending national champion Buckeyes (12-0, 9-0 Big Ten, No. 1 CFP) likely earned a first-round bye in the College Football Playoff. They can keep their top seed with a win against No. 2 Indiana (12-0, 9-0, No. 2 CFP) in the conference championship game Saturday night in Indianapolis.

Ryan Day should sleep well, a year after losing The Game when his team was favored by about three touchdowns. The upset extended his losing streak in the series to four games and sparked speculation he might also lose his job.

The Wolverines (9-3, 7-2) started strong with two field goals and an interception on the first three possessions of the game, but couldn’t generate pressure when Ohio State wanted to pass.

After throwing an interception on his second snap, redshirt freshman Sayin took advantage of the time and space he had to throw.

Sayin was 6 of 6 for 68 yards with two touchdowns on third and fourth down in the first half, including a 4-yard throw to Brandon Inniss with 16 seconds left that made it 17-9 at the break. He finished 19 of 26 for 233 yards and threw for at least three touchdowns for the sixth time this season.

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Ohio State-Michigan live updates: Wolverines trying for five straight

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Ohio State-Michigan live updates: Wolverines trying for five straight

Rivalry Week has already seen one upset that will affect a conference championship and College Football Playoff seeding. Could we see another one?

On Friday, Texas upset the Texas A&M Aggies to give A&M its first loss of the season and knock the Aggies out of the SEC championship game. Michigan is in a strikingly similar position. Ohio State is undefeated and No. 1 in the CFP rankings. It needs a win to set up a meeting with Indiana in next week’s Big Ten title game.

OSU has been largely unchallenged since defeating Texas in Week 1, and now it faces its biggest rival, which is hasn’t beaten in four years. Can the Wolverines pull another upset? It’s “The Game,” and we’re tracking the top moments and biggest plays:

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