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NEW YORK — The New York Yankees, with two-plus weeks left in the regular season, have a problem most teams would love: six healthy capable starting pitchers for five spots.

Last week, they solved it by bumping Nestor Cortes to the bullpen before rolling with a six-man rotation for the next turn. The plan was always to return to a five-man group after this week. This time, however, Cortes won’t be the odd man out. It will be Marcus Stroman, manager Aaron Boone announced Friday.

Boone said Stroman, who has logged all his 148⅓ innings this season as a starter, will be available out of the bullpen Sunday against Boston on regular rest five days after his start Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals.

Boone said “nothing is permanent” but hinted the Yankees would keep a five-man rotation for the next two turns. He said whether Stroman would stay in the bullpen for both turns — if the Yankees stick with a five-man rotation — hadn’t been decided.

“I would say it’s kind of fluid,” Boone said. “But it’s how I view it now.”

The Yankees signed the veteran Stroman to a two-year, $37 million contract with a vesting option for 2026. He has logged a 4.07 ERA in 28 starts without a trip to the injured list, though the Yankees pushed a start back last month to allow for him to work on his mechanics after two dreadful outings. He had a 3.29 ERA in 17 starts through June 28, but in keeping with his second-half struggles in recent years, he has posted a 5.47 ERA over his past 11 outings.

The right-hander held the Royals to three runs over 5⅓ innings Tuesday after the Texas Rangers roughed him up for five runs across 3⅔ innings Sept. 4.

“He’s one of the reasons we’re here,” Boone said. “He’s gone to the post for us. Taken all his starts. Won a lot of ballgames for us. I think one of the reasons we have the chance to get to the postseason is some of the consistency of our starting pitching. And on balance, he’s done a really good job for us.

“And as I told him, one of the reasons that we’re in this position now. I feel like all of our starters have done a good job of giving us a chance to win a lot of ballgames. It starts with them and he’s been right in the middle of all that.”

Stroman has made eight relief appearances totaling 13⅓ innings over his 10-year major league career. He last pitched as a reliever a year ago, making two relief appearances for the Chicago Cubs last September. He threw two scoreless innings in his first outing before giving up an unearned run in extra innings the next day.

Boone said he informed Stroman on Thursday he was returning to the bullpen.

“Stro’s been so good for us and so good in the room,” Boone said. “He’s all about that team in there and all about the guys in there. So [his] message to me is, ‘Whatever you need and I’ll be ready to go.’ I think he just wants to be part of a winner. And as much as we’ve enjoyed him being here with us and becoming a really important part of our room, that room has really loved him back. He’s been a real joy for me to get to manage, frankly.”

Cortes was the other obvious candidate for the demotion. The left-hander said he didn’t know if he would return to the bullpen after limiting the Red Sox to one run over five innings Thursday.

The start came after he tossed 4⅓ scoreless innings out of the bullpen against the Cubs on Sept. 7. After the relief appearance, Cortes admitted he was “upset” with the team’s decision to move him to the bullpen, calling himself the team’s “workhouse” this season.

“I’m just trying to go out there and throw up as many zeroes as I can,” Cortes said Thursday night. “I know last week I might have come off like I was asking for too much, but I got my point across, and at the end of the day, I’m going to do whatever this team needs for me to do to win.”

That could eventually mean pitching out of the bullpen again — either in September or in October when playoff rotations shrink to three or four starters.

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Cristobal: QB Beck cleared for summer workouts

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Cristobal: QB Beck cleared for summer workouts

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — Miami coach Mario Cristobal said Monday that quarterback Carson Beck has been cleared to participate in all team summer activities and is approaching 100 percent following elbow surgery last year.

Cristobal said Beck has been throwing for the past three weeks as part of his rehab regimen. Beck missed all of spring practice and has yet to throw to Miami’s receivers as part of organized team activities. But that is all about to change when Miami begins summer workouts next week.

“He’s good to go,” Cristobal told ESPN at the ACC spring meetings. “He’s exceeding every benchmark.”

Beck underwent surgery on his right elbow to repair his ulnar collateral ligament, which he injured on the final play of the first half in second-ranked Georgia‘s 22-19 overtime win against Texas in the SEC championship game Dec. 7.

Beck started at Georgia for two seasons, going 24-3, and ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr. had him rated as the No. 5 quarterback for the 2025 draft. But given his injury and inconsistent performance in 2024, Beck entered the portal in January. He quickly opted for Miami, where he will replace No. 1 NFL draft pick Cam Ward.

Beck threw for 7,426 yards over his two seasons as Georgia’s starter, fifth most among all FBS passers since 2023, with 57 total touchdowns and 23 turnovers.

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Canes LB Hayes out of hospital after tragic crash

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Canes LB Hayes out of hospital after tragic crash

Miami Hurricanes linebacker Adarius Hayes, who was one of the drivers in a two-vehicle crash that left three people dead and at least two others injured, has been released from the hospital, the university said Monday.

The three people who died as a result of the crash were all in a Kia Soul, which collided with a Dodge Durango being driven by Hayes on Saturday afternoon in Largo, Florida, police said.

A 78-year-old woman who was driving the Kia and two of her passengers — 10-year-old Jabari Elijah Solomon and 4-year-old Charlie Herbert Solomon Riveria — died in the crash, police said. Another passenger in the Kia was hospitalized with serious injuries, police said.

No tickets or criminal charges have been filed, though the investigation is continuing.

“We are deeply saddened to learn the crash resulted in three fatalities, as confirmed by Largo Police, and our thoughts and prayers are with the families and loved ones of those lost,” the Hurricanes said in a statement.

The school is still working to gather further information.

“There were no signs of impairment with either driver of the vehicles,” Largo Police public information officer Megan Santo said in a statement distributed Sunday.

Hayes, a four-star recruit coming out of Largo High, played in 12 games for the Hurricanes as a freshman in 2024, mostly on special teams. He finished the season with four tackles and one interception, which he returned 25 yards in Miami’s 56-9 victory over Florida A&M on Sept. 7.

ESPN’s Mark Schlabach and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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NCAA prez is open to Trump’s idea of commission

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NCAA prez is open to Trump's idea of commission

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — NCAA president Charlie Baker said Monday he was “up for anything” when asked about a President Donald Trump-proposed commission on collegiate athletics.

Reports surfaced last week that Trump was going to create the commission.

While his conversations at ACC meetings with league football coaches, men’s and women’s basketball coaches, athletic directors and other school officials focused on governance and the pending House settlement, Baker was asked during an informal media availability for his thoughts on the presidential commission.

“I think the fact that there’s an interest on the executive side on this, I think it speaks to the fact that everybody is paying a lot of attention right now to what’s going on in college sports,” Baker said.

“I’m up for anything that can help us get somewhere.”

Baker noted the NCAA has already spent time in Washington asking for congressional help that is focused on three big issues. Among the biggest: a patchwork of state laws that relate to how collegiate athletics work in individual states; and whether student-athletes should be considered employees.

“I think [Congress] can help us. I really do,” ACC commissioner Jim Phillips said during an interview with ACC Network. “We have been very bold in the desire for a national standard when it comes to name, image and likeness. We need to make sure that we have something that comes out of Washington that connects all 50 of the states because we’ve had a piecemeal project and it’s really undermined college sports. It’s been a race to the bottom. So that’s one. Two is we need some legal protection. We cannot sustain one legal case after another legal case after another legal case. A reaffirmation that these are student-athletes. Those three things to me will be very important to see if that can come out of the commission.”

Baker said, “People in our office have talked to folks who are working on this, but I don’t think they’ve decided the framework around who they want to put on.”

When asked whether he felt the creation of a commission would enhance the NCAA’s chances at legislative relief, Baker said, “I don’t have a crystal ball on that one. I don’t know. I do think, though, that it’s quite clear at this point that there are a lot of people interested in college sports, and we do need some help at some point to create some clarity around some of these issues in Washington. Creating clarity one lawsuit at a time is just a really bad way to try to move forward.”

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