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AUSTIN, Texas — Texas ascended to No. 1 this week and Arch Manning captured the nation’s attention with a four-touchdown performance following an injury to Quinn Ewers. But Steve Sarkisian said Monday that none of the hype or attention changes anything for the Longhorns.

Manning threw for 223 yards and four touchdowns and added a 67-yard rushing score in a 56-7 win over UTSA after Ewers exited in the second quarter because of an oblique strain. Sarkisian said Ewers is listed as questionable this week and will be monitored day-to-day, but that Manning and freshman Trey Owens would get more practice reps to prepare. He did not name a starter this week, and said he doesn’t change anything in how he approaches his quarterbacks.

“I don’t do anything,” Sarkisian said. “Arch is just another guy on our team, and the reason I’m able to do that is because that’s who Arch is every day. He’s the selfless teammate. He cares about the guys on the team. He cares about Quinn. They’ve got a great relationship. He works his tail off. He wants to play good football for them, because he knows how hard everybody’s working. So I literally don’t address it with him. I don’t address it with the team. He’s just part of the team.”

Sarkisian said Ewers threw a corner route to tight end Gunnar Helm and felt pain but thought it would go away. A play later, Ewers said he knew something was wrong and needed to get it checked out. Manning went in, looked poised and composed, according to Sarkisian, who said he was impressed with how Manning played from the first snap.

“I thought Arch really made good decisions Saturday. Obviously, it was a very efficient day,” Sarkisian said, noting that Manning’s first play, a 19-yard touchdown pass to DeAndre Moore Jr. was his third read. “That was encouraging his first play in. I thought the ball was really going to the right people.”

He said Ewers has been encouraging to Manning as well.

“Quinn, he just wants to keep playing, you know?” Sarkisian said. “Nobody wants to have to come out of the game because you get injured, but I think if you asked Quinn today, he’s fired up for him, because he knows how hard Arch has been working.”

Sarkisian said he goes back to the 2023 spring game, Manning’s first at Texas, when he struggled, going 5-of-13 for 30 yards, and how far he’s come.

“He didn’t play very good,” Sarkisian said. “The growth that he’s shown and the ability to work at his craft, there’s a real level of appreciation, I think, from Quinn to Arch. But also Arch to Quinn because I know Arch has been there supporting Quinn through his journey as well. So that’s a sign of a great room and a sign of a good team.”

The Longhorns are a good enough team that they moved to No. 1 in the AP poll this week, Texas’ first spot at the top since 2008. Sarkisian said “the mission is far, far from over” and doesn’t change anything for the Longhorns. He said in a 12-team playoff era, the polls are validating but don’t essentially matter, saying, “nowadays you’ve got to go earn it.”

“My thing is I’m not going to change,” Sarkisian said. “This is what I was anticipating where we would be, and it was probably hard for a lot of other people to see when you’re 5-7 [as he was in Year 1 in 2021], but we had a vision and a goal of where our program could be and the way we were going to get there, and so the messaging has been very consistent. I just don’t think now is the time for me to start to change.”

Sarkisian had a nice moment late in the game when his son, Brady, a 6-2, 230-pound linebacker, got into the game late and registered half a tackle.

“I just looked up and I saw 32 in and I literally, I took my headset off,” Sarkisian said. “I didn’t want to hear the chatter, I didn’t want to hear the call. I just wanted to watch him play football like a dad. And after two plays, then I yelled down at the defensive staff, can we blitz 32? I was like a dad would be in the stands. ‘Why aren’t we blitzing? Don’t throw it to that guy. Run that.’ So that was fun for me. I had a lot of fun and I was proud of him.”

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

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Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

The San Francisco Giants are acquiring All-Star slugger Rafael Devers from the Boston Red Sox, sources confirmed to ESPN’s Jeff Passan on Sunday evening.

The Giants are sending starter Jordan Hicks and 23-year-old lefty Kyle Harrison, among others, to Boston in exchange, sources said.

Devers, 28, is in just the second season of a 10-year, $313.5 million contract he signed to stay in Boston in January 2023, however his relationship with the team suffered a significant blow after the star third baseman was reportedly blindsided by a move to designated hitter in the spring.

Tensions flared again last month after Devers refused an offer from the team to move him to first base after starting first baseman Triston Casas was ruled out for the season with a knee injury.

It reached a point where Red Sox owner John Henry met with the disgruntled star, making a rare trip to meet the team on the road and smooth things over after Devers’ pointed comments about the request to switch positions again.

Hicks and Harrison give a pitching-starved Red Sox team more depth on their staff while Devers provides a huge boost to a middling Giants offense.

Devers has more than 200 career home runs to his name and has a .894 OPS for Boston this season.

The deal was first reported by Fansided.

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Ohtani’s pitching return might be coming soon

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Ohtani's pitching return might be coming soon

Shohei Ohtani‘s pitching debut for the Los Angeles Dodgers might be quickly approaching.

Manager Dave Roberts told reporters Sunday that Ohtani would throw another simulated game in the coming days that could “potentially” be his last one, and a source told ESPN’s Buster Olney that Ohtani should join the Dodgers’ rotation “sooner rather than later,” potentially within the week.

Ohtani took a big step forward during his most recent simulated game at Petco Park on Tuesday, throwing 44 pitches over the course of three innings against a couple of lower-level minor league players. Ohtani’s fastball reached the mid- to upper-90s, and he exhibited good command of his off-speed pitches in what amounted to his third time facing hitters. Afterward, Roberts said there was a “north of zero” chance Ohtani could join the rotation before the All-Star break.

Because of his two-way designation, the Dodgers can carry Ohtani as an extra pitcher, which means he can throw two to three innings and have someone pitch after him as a piggyback starter. At this point, it seems that is the Dodgers’ plan.

The Dodgers’ pitching staff has again been plagued by injury, with 14 pitchers on the injured list, including four starting pitchers the team was heavily counting on for 2025 — Blake Snell, Tony Gonsolin, Roki Sasaki and Tyler Glasnow.

If Ohtani returns in July — the likely outcome at this point — he will be 22 months removed from a second repair of his ulnar collateral ligament.

The update isn’t as optimistic for Sasaki. He paused his throwing program and is set for a lengthy layoff. Sasaki has not pitched in a game since May 9 and is not part of the team’s long-term pitching plans this season.

“I think that’s what the mindset should be,” Roberts said. “Being thrust into this environment certainly was a big undertaking for him, and now you layer in the health part and the fact he’s a starting pitcher, knowing what the build-up [required to return] entails … I think that’s the prudent way to go about it.”

Sasaki, 23, went 1-1 with a 4.72 ERA in eight starts after joining the Dodgers from the Pacific League’s Chuba Lotte Marines, averaging less than 4⅓ innings per start. He walked 22 and struck out 24 in 34⅓ innings, and his fastball averaged 95.7 mph, down 3-4 mph from his average in Japan.

Roberts said Sasaki was pain free when he resumed throwing in early June, but the pitcher was shut down after feeling discomfort this past week. Sasaki recently received a cortisone injection in the shoulder; Roberts said no further scans are planned.

“I don’t think it’s pain,” Roberts said. “I don’t know if it’s discomfort, if it’s tightness, if he’s just not feeling strong, whatever the adjective you want to use. That’s more of a question for Roki, as far as the sensation he’s feeling.

“He’s just not feeling like he can ramp it up, and we’re not going to push him to do something he doesn’t feel good about right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

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Judge 1-for-12 as NY swept: Got to swing at strikes

BOSTON — Aaron Judge blamed himself for swinging at pitches outside the strike zone as the New York Yankees were swept in a three-game series against the Boston Red Sox.

“You got to swing at strikes,” Judge said after going 1-for-12 in the series, which Boston completed with a 2-0 victory on Sunday.

Judge struck out three or more times in three straight games for only the third time in his major league career.

“That usually helps any hitter when you swing at strikes,” Judge added. “Definitely some pitches off the edge or off the edge in, you know, taking some hacks just trying to make something happen.”

Judge had a tying solo homer in the opener Friday night but struck out nine times as the Yankees were swept in a series for the first time this season.

New York scored only four runs in the three games, matching its fewest in a three-game series at Fenway Park, on June 20-22, 1916 and on Sept. 28-30, 1922.

“It’s very hard,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said of facing Judge. “He’s so good at what he does. We used our fastballs in the right spots, we got some swing and misses.”

“Throughout the years we’ve been aggressive with him,” Cora added. “Sometimes he gets us, sometimes we do a good job with that. It’s always fun to compete against the best, and, to me, he’s the best in the business right now.”

Judge’s major league-leading average dipped to .378.

“I don’t think much of it,” teammate Ben Rice said. “If I could have that guy hitting every single at-bat even if he’s not at his best, I would do it. I’m sure he’ll bounce back. He’ll be all right.”

Judge faced Garrett Whitlock with two on in the eighth Sunday and bounced into an inning-ending double play.

“He’s one of the greatest hitters in the world,” Whitlock said. “It’s special to watch him play and everything. We tried to execute and had some execution this weekend.”

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