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BALTIMORE — If the second half of 2024 was a reality check for the Baltimore Orioles — their first real stretch of mediocrity since they became contenders again — the start of this season is a near-crisis.

This young Baltimore team experienced very little failure while winning 101 games in 2023, but now the Orioles are well aware of what baseball’s more humbling side feels like.

“I think we’re getting a little more familiar [with adversity] than we wanted to be,” general manager Mike Elias said before Friday night’s 3-0 win over Kansas City.

Elias met with reporters to address his team’s 12-18 record in April. The Orioles aren’t just in last place in the AL East, they also had the worst run differential in the American League before Friday’s game.

The young core of hitters that was so fearsome early last year has struggled mightily in 2025. Elias has reason to view that as a temporary blip, but the other main culprit this year — the collapse of the starting rotation — might be harder to fix.

Zach Eflin, Grayson Rodriguez and Albert Suarez are on the injured list, and Dean Kremer took a 7.04 ERA into Friday’s start. Tomoyuki Sugano has been fine, but Charlie Morton is 0-6 with a 9.45 ERA and will work out of the bullpen for now. Kyle Gibson allowed homers to four of the first five batters Tuesday in his first big league start of the season.

“It is difficult to contend with that level of injuries, but even that aside, they’ve had a poor start, and that’s my responsibility. I’m in charge of baseball operations,” Elias said. “When we have a bad record to start the year, that’s my responsibility.”

Elias opened himself up to second-guessing in the offseason when the Orioles lost Corbin Burnes to free agency and the GM gave one-year contracts to Sugano, Morton and Gibson. One-year deals are usually considered pretty safe — even if they work out badly, they expire quickly. But Baltimore committed over $33 million to that trio, so if they keep performing this poorly as a group, it will constitute a real misuse of resources.

In fairness, a rotation of Rodriguez, Eflin, Sugano, Kremer and Cade Povich could have been serviceable — with Kyle Bradish and Tyler Wells expected back at some point from elbow surgery — but the injuries to Eflin and Rodriguez have forced Morton and Gibson to produce, and thus far, they haven’t.

Baltimore’s 5.47 ERA entering Friday ranked 29th among the 30 teams, lower than only Miami’s 5.89.

The Orioles took two of three from the first-place New York Yankees earlier this week, but even that required a pair of one-run wins sandwiched around a 15-3 loss. There have been too many games in which Baltimore is way behind because of poor pitching.

“Nobody’s happy with how we’ve performed so far. We have higher expectations for ourselves,” manager Brandon Hyde said. “I talk with Mike multiple times a day. We’re not satisfied in the least bit. We know our team can play better than we have.”

Elias said he remains confident in Hyde.

“When things are going great — and they have at times here, we’ve had that — and then when we’re experiencing failure, it’s really important in that job, and in my job too, to be consistent with your approach,” Elias said. “He’s doing that.”

Eflin (lat strain) and reliever Andrew Kittredge (knee) are expected to make minor league rehab appearances Sunday, and Elias said Rodriguez (elbow inflammation) might throw by the end of this month.

“We are all working very hard, and we have a lot of faith in this very talented group,” Elias said. “Piece by piece, step by step, we’re going to get guys healthier; we’re going to get guys performing more to their norms. If there’s something we can fix with a player, we’re working on that.”

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Sovereignty outduels Journalism to capture Derby

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Sovereignty outduels Journalism to capture Derby

LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Sovereignty outdueled 3-1 favorite Journalism down the stretch to win the 151st Kentucky Derby in the slop on Saturday.

Trainer Bill Mott won his first Derby in 2019, also run on a sloppy track, when Country House was elevated to first after Maximum Security crossed the finish line first and was disqualified after a 22-minute delay.

This time, he knew right away.

Sovereignty won by 1½ lengths and snapped an 0-for-13 Derby skid for owner Godolphin, the racing stable of Dubai ruler Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum.

It was quite a weekend for the sheikh. His filly, Good Cheer, won the Kentucky Oaks on Friday and earlier Saturday, Ruling Court won the 2,000 Guineas in Britain.

Sovereignty covered 1¼ miles in 2:02.31 and paid $17.96 to win at 7-1 odds.

Journalism found trouble in the first turn and jockey Umberto Rispoli moved him to the outside. He and Sovereignty hooked up at the eighth pole before Sovereignty and jockey Junior Alvarado pulled away.

Baeza was third, Final Gambit was fourth and Owen Almighty finished fifth.

Rain made for a soggy day, with the Churchill Downs dirt strip listed as sloppy and horse racing fans protecting their fancy hats and clothing with clear plastic ponchos.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Zilisch to miss Xfinity race in Texas after wreck

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Zilisch to miss Xfinity race in Texas after wreck

FORT WORTH, Texas — Connor Zilisch, the 18-year-old driver already with two NASCAR Xfinity Series race wins, will miss Saturday’s race at Texas because of lower back injuries sustained in a last-lap wreck at Talladega.

Trackhouse Racing said Wednesday that its development driver will return as soon as possible to the No. 88 JR Motorsports Chevrolet. The team didn’t provide any additional details about Zilisch’s injuries.

Cup Series regular Kyle Larson will drive the No. 88 in Texas. After that, the Xfinity Series has a two-week break before racing again May 24 at Charlotte.

Zilisch, sixth in points through the first 11 races, was driving for the win at Talladega Superspeedway when contact on the backstretch sent his car spinning, and head-on into inside wall.

Zilisch won in his Xfinity debut at Watkins Glen last Sept. 14. He added another win this year at Austin, the same weekend that he made his Cup Series debut. He has six top-10 finishes in his 15 Xfinity races.

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23XI, Front Row ask judge to toss NASCAR claim

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23XI, Front Row ask judge to toss NASCAR claim

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The two teams suing NASCAR asked a judge to dismiss the sanctioning body’s counterclaim in court Wednesday.

In a 20-page filing in district court in North Carolina, 23XI Racing and Front Row Motorsports opposed NASCAR’s motion to amend its original counterclaim. The teams argued that the need to amend the counterclaim further demonstrates the weakness of NASCAR’s arguments, calling them an attempt by NASCAR to distract and shift attention away from its own unlawful, monopolistic actions.

NASCAR’s counterclaim singled out Michael Jordan’s longtime business manager, Curtis Polk. Jordan is co-owner of 23XI Racing.

The legal battle began after more than two years of negotiations on new charter agreements — NASCAR’s equivalent of a franchise model — and the 30-page filing contends that Polk “willfully” violated antitrust laws by orchestrating anticompetitive collective conduct in connection with the most recent charter agreements.

23XI and Front Row were the only two organizations out of 15 that refused to sign the new agreements, which were presented to the teams last September in a take-it-or-leave-it offer a mere 48 hours before the start of NASCAR’s playoffs.

The charters were fought for by the teams ahead of the 2016 season and twice have been extended. The latest extension is for seven years to match the current media rights deal and guarantee 36 of the 40 spots in each week’s field to the teams that hold the charters, as well as other financial incentives. 23XI and Front Row refused to sign and sued, alleging NASCAR and the France family that owns the stock car series are a monopoly.

NASCAR already has lost one round in court in which the two teams have been recognized as chartered organizations for the 2025 season as the legal dispute winds through the courts. NASCAR has also appealed a judge’s rejection of its motion to dismiss the case.

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