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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The mutual dislike between New York Yankees third baseman Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Kansas City Royals third baseman Maikel Garcia continued Tuesday night, with Chisholm leaving the first game of the series between the teams with a sore neck after an attempted tag from Garcia.

On an attempted steal of third base during New York’s 10-2 victory, Garcia tried to apply a tag to Chisholm and knocked his helmet askew in the process. The throw from catcher Freddy Fermin caromed off Garcia’s glove. Chisholm popped up to one knee and was shown on the television broadcast saying to Yankees third base coach Luis Rojas: “I’m going to tell you one more time — if he tags me like that one more time, I’m going to smack the f— out of him.”

When asked after the game for his response to Chisholm’s comments, Garcia said, “I’m waiting for it,” and added, “It’s just talk.”

The beef between Chisholm and Garcia started last October, when Chisholm drew the ire of Kansas City fans by saying the Royals “got lucky” in their Game 2 American League Division Series win. Following the Yankees’ series-clinching Game 4 victory, Chisholm accused Garcia of trying to injure New York shortstop Anthony Volpe on a hard slide into second base, calling Garcia a “sore loser.”

The crowd of 30,017 at Kauffman Stadium on Tuesday showered Chisholm with boos in each of his at-bats, though he later admitted to appreciating the welcome.

“I went up to home plate today and told Fermin, ‘I kind of like it,'” Chisholm said. “I’m not at home, so I would rather walk up to something instead of walking up to no noise at all. I feel like on the road when road hitters come up and there’s nothing going on, I feel like it’s just, like, bland. Go ahead and boo me. You’ve giving me some music to at least walk up to.”

The music turned louder in the sixth inning, when Chisholm doubled and went for third. In addition to the neck injury, Chisholm suffered a cut on his right thumb. Despite the two injuries, Chisholm said, he expects to play tomorrow. For two more games, he’ll face a Royals team that in the clubhouse after the game was watching video of his comments following the tag.

“I was just trying to do my job, tag him,” Garcia said. “I missed the ball.”

Chisholm said he believed there was malice behind the tag and suggested it went back to last October.

“I just feel like every time we have a problem, it’s always been him,” Chisholm said. “I mean, that’s the only reason I was so frustrated. And then to even see that he didn’t even have the ball for the way that he tagged me. I didn’t like it.”

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Petrino overhauls staff, fires defensive assistants

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Petrino overhauls staff, fires defensive assistants

Bobby Petrino has fired three defensive assistants just one day after being named interim head coach at Arkansas as part of an overhaul of the Razorbacks’ coaching staff.

Petrino dismissed defensive coordinator Travis Williams, defensive line coach Deke Adams and defensive assistant Marcus Woodson in the latest moves after being appointed interim coach for the rest of the season to replace Sam Pittman, who was fired Sunday following five-plus seasons as Arkansas’ head coach.

“I just felt like how we performed on Saturday gave me an indication that maybe Sam had lost the team a little bit because they generally had played really hard for him throughout his tenure,” Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek said of the move, which came on the heels of a 56-13 home loss to Notre Dame.

Petrino, 64, returned to Arkansas in 2023 as offensive coordinator after serving in a number of jobs. In four years as the Razorbacks’ head coach, he went 34-17, including consecutive seasons with double-digit victories in 2010 and 2011.

“Coach Petrino, as we met yesterday, he accepted this opportunity with the understanding that he also wanted an opportunity to formally be a candidate for our head coaching position, and he will have that opportunity, but we’ll also subsequently run a search for our next head coach at the same time,” Yurachek said.

Pittman’s dismissal, Petrino’s temporary promotion and the defensive assistant dismissals weren’t the only changes. Chris Wilson was named the team’s interim defensive coordinator.

Petrino had high praise for Wilson, who was in his first year with the Razorbacks as an assistant defensive line coach.

“My experience [with Wilson] goes way back to having to battle against him when he had all the great defensive linemen at Mississippi State,” Petrino said. “Very, very impressed with what he’s done throughout his career. Guy’s got a Super Bowl ring. He brings a lot of credibility into the room.”

Several defensive players posted cryptic messages on social media following the firing of Williams, who had served as the team’s defensive coordinator since 2023. Yurachek and Petrino encouraged players to welcome change amid a 2-3 start to the season.

“The No. 1 thing is, you have to get used to change. You know, your whole life there’s going to be change. So how we handle that, our attitude on how we handle that, will determine how quickly we improve,” Petrino said.

Petrino was involved in a single-vehicle motorcycle crash in April 2012 that left him with four broken ribs. At first, he said he was riding alone, but a police report revealed a woman was riding with him. The woman turned out to be a former Arkansas athlete who was in a romantic relationship with the married Petrino. The coach had given her a job in the football program and a $20,000 gift.

Petrino was fired by then-athletic director Jeff Long for misleading his bosses about what happened with the accident and his relationship with the football staffer.

Pittman, 63, went 32-34 with the Razorbacks.

ESPN’s Pete Thamel and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Bama LB Russaw (foot) out ‘an extended period’

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Bama LB Russaw (foot) out 'an extended period'

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — No. 10 Alabama will be without starting outside linebacker Qua Russaw for “an extended period” with a broken foot, coach Kalen DeBoer said Monday.

The sophomore suffered the injury early in a 24-21 win at Georgia on Saturday and was scheduled for surgery this week. He played just eight snaps against the Bulldogs, according to Pro Football Focus.

“He won’t be out for the season, but it will be an extended period of time,” DeBoer said.

Compounding injury issues at the position, senior linebacker Jah-Marien Latham has been ruled out for the remainder of the season. Latham, who was in his sixth and final year of college eligibility, suffered a neck injury in practice last week. It’s unclear if he will pursue a medical redshirt, DeBoer said.

“Jah-Marien will recover fully,” DeBoer said. “That’s the main thing in the big picture of everything. But unfortunately won’t be back this season.”

The expectation now is that sophomore Yhonzae Pierre will start at home against 16th-ranked Vanderbilt on Saturday. He has been a productive rotational player through four games, ranking second on the team in tackles for loss and recording four tackles against Georgia.

True freshman Justin Hill also is expected to have a bigger role moving forward.

“Yhonzae just keeps getting better and better,” defensive coordinator Kane Wommack said. “His ability to affect the run game (and) pass rush for us has shown up so far this season. But we’re going to have to be creative in the way that we develop other people in certain packages to make sure that we have enough depth.

“Certainly when you lose two experienced guys, it’s a challenge.”

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Freeman praises QB Carr’s ‘rare’ early success

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Freeman praises QB Carr's 'rare' early success

CJ Carr barely won the offseason competition to become Notre Dame‘s starting quarterback, but the second-year player has fully capitalized on his opportunity, and coach Marcus Freeman is taking notice.

“It’s rare to be a second-year college football player playing in your fifth [career] game and performing at a level he’s performing at,” Freeman said Monday. “It’s rare. But I think CJ Carr is rare.”

Carr recorded his first career 300-yard passing performance in Saturday’s 56-13 rout of Arkansas, finishing with 354 yards and four touchdowns, while completing 22 of 30 passes. His 294 passing yards in the first half marked the third-highest total in team history, and his four touchdowns were the second-highest total in team history. The four touchdowns also were tied for second most by a true freshman or redshirt freshman in Notre Dame history.

Through four games, Carr has 1,091 passing yards with nine touchdowns and two interceptions. He ranks second nationally in total QBR.

Carr, the grandson of longtime Michigan coach Lloyd Carr, competed with third-year sophomore Kenny Minchey in the spring and preseason camp. Minchey’s strong practice performances suggested he might get the first opportunity to start, but Freeman went with Carr, who saw action in only one game last fall and had no pass attempts.

“He has this unique trait that very few people have,” Freeman said. “He is … a competitive, selfless individual. It’s not about CJ Carr. He’s not so competitive that, ‘I want to be able to throw for this amount.’ It’s like, ‘Whatever we got to do to win, if I got to motivate, if I got to work, if I got to put my head down and run if I got to throw the ball,’ whatever it takes to win, like, he has that trait. He hates to lose, and then he’s mature in the way he prepares.”

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