Connect with us

Published

on

COLLEGE STATION, Texas — No. 25 Texas A&M recorded its biggest win over a top-10 team in program history Saturday with a 41-10 blowout of No. 9 Missouri and appreciated the assist by Tigers quarterback Brady Cook.

Before heading to Texas, Cook was asked about how Missouri prepared to play in front of the crowd at Kyle Field. “The noise at practice is actually louder,” he said, attributing it to the speakers used to simulate the playing environment.

Aggies coach Mike Elko didn’t seem to mind the comments making their way to the 97,049 Texas A&M fans in attendance.

“The 12th Man certainly heard some of the statements made about how easy it was to play in Kyle Field, and that was good,” Elko said with a smile after the Aggies improved to 5-1 and 3-0 in the SEC.

Cook finished 13-of-31 for 186 yards with a touchdown and was pressured on 13 of 37 dropbacks despite the Aggies only blitzing him seven times, according to ESPN Research.

Texas A&M defensive end Nic Scourton, who had 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss, said the comments provided motivation to the team.

“They kind of lit a fire under us,” he said. “Coming into our place, like pre-interviews, talking down on Kyle Field, coming in here and stepping on our field and stuff like that. I think guys were really motivated to go out there and be dominant.”

And the Aggies were dominant. They led 24-0 at halftime before Le’Veon Moss ran 75 yards for a touchdown on the first play of the second half. He said he, too, took the stadium comments personally.

“Most definitely. They thought they were coming to get a piece of cake,” Moss said.

Moss ran for a career-high 138 yards with three touchdowns. Missouri had just 79 yards in the first half and finished with 254 total yards while allowing 512 to the Aggies.

After Moss’ third score gave the Aggies a 41-7 lead, fans began chanting “overrated.”

On Friday, Missouri wide receiver Theo Wease Jr. posted an Instagram story saying he’d received a “warm welcome to College Station,” with a picture of a Texas A&M blanket with a note that appeared to be from Aggies corner Will Lee IV that said, “Get used to this blanket… It will be real tomorrow.”

A Texas A&M spokesperson called it “false news” and Elko suggested it was a little gamesmanship by Tigers coach Eli Drinkwitz. Lee also responded on social media Friday, denying that it was him who sent the blanket.

“My suggestion would be you guys should go ask Eli where that came from,” Elko said. “Because I have a strong feeling that that came from the other side and had nothing to do with Texas A&M, Will Lee, or anybody over here.”

The game also marked the return of Aggies quarterback Conner Weigman, who injured the AC joint in his throwing shoulder in the season-opening loss to Notre Dame, then aggravated it in Week 2 against McNeese. Marcel Reed started the past three games for the Aggies.

Weigman, who was a game-time decision, was in command all day, going 18-of-22 for 276 yards, and Elko had an impassioned defense of his starting quarterback after message board and social media speculation about the quarterback’s character. Weigman had a miserable start to the season, going 12-of-30 for 100 yards and two interceptions in the loss to Notre Dame.

“I’m going to say this because it needs to be said,” Elko said. “You can challenge Conner for how he plays and you can be upset about Conner for how he throws the football. Some of the stuff that has been said about this kid and written about this kid — not by you guys, you guys have been great — is embarrassing. This kid is a winner. He’s a competitor. He does everything that he needs to do for Texas A&M football.”

Scourton praised the quarterback, saying he’s “a dog.”

“To see what he’s been going through, the media talking bad about him and things like that and him to just fight, [Weigman’s] a warrior,” Scourton said. “Great player, great competitor, and he’s not backing down from anything.”

Elko said the Aggies have put the loss to the Irish in the rearview mirror after a 3-0 start in the SEC.

“Everybody in our program owned it,” Elko said. “So I don’t know that it’s anything other than we had a bad night, and we went back to work to get better. And we’re seeing progress moving forward since then. Today, we played better. And so now we’ve got to keep doing that. This doesn’t become a statement, we’ve got to keep doing it.”

Continue Reading

Sports

Sources: Red Sox deal Devers to Giants in stunner

Published

on

By

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.

Continue Reading

Sports

Ohtani’s pitching return might be coming soon

Published

on

By

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 4ā…“ innings per start. He walked 22 and struck out 24 in 34ā…“ 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.

Continue Reading

Sports

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

Published

on

By

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.”

Continue Reading

Trending