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UConn football coach Jim Mora has agreed to a new contract that includes two additional years that will take him through the 2028 season, the school announced Saturday.

The deal includes a raise to an average of $2.5 million annually over the course of the deal. He made $1.81 million in base salary in 2024, and the new deal will increase that base to $2.1 million in 2025.

Mora’s deal comes after he revived UConn football in his first three years at the school. He took over a program that went 1-11 in the year before his arrival and has led it to two bowl games in three years.

That includes an 8-4 regular season in 2024, which earned UConn a spot in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl against North Carolina on Saturday.

“Three years ago, I tasked Jim Mora with the challenge of leading our football team back to success and through his experience, energy and leadership he has done just that,” UConn athletic director David Benedict said in a statement. “He has taken our program to post season bowl games twice and just guided our team to one of the best seasons in UConn football history, building a momentum to keep this program moving forward. I look forward to his leadership of our football team in the years ahead.”

If Mora leads UConn to a win over North Carolina, it will mark the Huskies’ first nine-win season since 2007 and just the third nine-win season in school history. UConn went to the Myrtle Beach Bowl in Mora’s first year in 2022, the school’s first bowl game since Bob Diaco led the Huskies to the St. Petersburg Bowl in 2015.

Mora is a veteran coach who had two stints in the NFL with the Atlanta Falcons and Seattle Seahawks. He is in his ninth season as a college head coach, as he took the UCLA job in 2012 and had a successful stint there that included a pair of 10-win seasons. UCLA hasn’t won 10 games in a season since Mora left.

He mentioned at the Fenway Bowl news conference Friday that UConn went undefeated against Group of 5 teams this season, with its losses against Maryland, Duke, Wake Forest and Syracuse.

The 8-0 record against teams outside the power leagues, Mora noted, made UConn one of three Group of 5 teams to go undefeated against Group of 5 competition. He said that was a sign of UConn’s growth as a program.

“For this program, we want to start not just competing with but beating Power 4 teams,” Mora said, “and making the statement that we are becoming very relevant again on the football field.”

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Cecconi loses no-hit bid in 8th as Guardians roll

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Cecconi loses no-hit bid in 8th as Guardians roll

CLEVELAND — Slade Cecconi took a bid to end Cleveland‘s long no-hitter drought into the eighth inning, and the Guardians rolled to a 10-2 win over Kansas City on Monday night and leapfrogged the Royals in the AL wild-card race.

Cecconi (6-6) was six outs from the first no-hitter in the majors this season — and Cleveland’s first since Len Barker’s perfect game in 1981 — when Kansas City’s Michael Massey singled leading off the eighth.

On Cecconi’s 95th pitch, Massey lined a 2-1 fastball into left-center. The right-hander received a nice ovation from the crowd in Progressive Field before Cecconi got Carter Jensen to hit into a double play.

Cleveland (73-70) won its fourth straight game and moved past the Royals (73-71) into second place in the AL Central. Cleveland entered the four-game series 2½ games behind Seattle for the third and final wild-card spot.

Kyle Manzardo, Daniel Schneemann and Nolan Jones had two RBIs apiece for Cleveland, which set season highs with 16 hits and seven doubles.

The Guardians tagged Ryan Bergert (2-2) for four doubles and six runs in the fourth inning while opening an 8-0 lead. C.J. Kayfus, Brayan Rocchio, Schneemann and Jones hit the doubles.

Royals All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. was not in the starting lineup for the third straight game due to back spasms. Manager Matt Quatraro said Witt ran and did some fielding before the game without any issues and was a possibility to see “game action.”

Witt didn’t get in but is expected to play Tuesday.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Phillies expect Turner (hamstring) back by playoffs

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Phillies expect Turner (hamstring) back by playoffs

PHILADELPHIA — Phillies star shortstop Trea Turner was placed on the 10-day injured list with a Grade 1 strained right hamstring but is expected back by the postseason.

Manager Rob Thomson said before Monday’s game against the New York Mets the MRI results were “better than expected” and that Turner’s injury wasn’t as severe as the strained left hamstring that sidelined him for six weeks last season.

Turner left Sunday’s 5-4 loss to the Miami Marlins in the seventh inning because of the injury.

Turner hit a solo homer in the sixth to narrow Philadelphia’s deficit to 4-2. When his turn came again in the seventh, Turner legged out a grounder and reached on a throwing error by Miami shortstop Otto Lopez.

“It was just kind of grabbing on me. It didn’t feel good,” Turner said Sunday. “I felt if I could have kept going, I would have.”

The 32-year-old leads the National League in both batting average (.305) and hits (179) this season.

Without Turner at the top of lineup against the Mets, two-time NL MVP Bryce Harper was batting leadoff for the first time since 2022.

The Phillies also placed 2024 All-Star third baseman Alec Bohm on the 10-day IL with a left shoulder injury.

“He’s been grinding with this left shoulder for a while now, fighting through it. It’s probably been 10 days,” Thomson said of Bohm. “He could feel it every once in a while in a swing. Yesterday he felt it on every swing, so we decided to shut this thing down.”

The Phillies recalled infielder/outfielder Otto Kemp and infielder Donovan Walton from Triple-A Lehigh Valley to fill Turner’s and Bohm’s spots on the roster.

Kemp was starting at third base against the Mets.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Brewers OF Yelich returns after 5-game absence

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Brewers OF Yelich returns after 5-game absence

ARLINGTON, Texas — Christian Yelich returned to the lineup for the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday night after their designated hitter missed five games because of lower back soreness.

Yelich batted fourth as the Brewers opened a three-game series at the playoff-chasing Texas Rangers.

The 33-year-old Yelich had played in 132 of Milwaukee’s 144 games this season before the opener in Texas, and was hitting .268 with team highs of 27 home runs and 92 RBIs. He played in only 73 games last year before season-ending back surgery that August.

“Feels good, wants to play. It’s an amazing thing that he’s played so many games,” Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. “Coming off back surgery, we just didn’t know what we were going to get, but the surgeon has assured him this is going to happen, but it’s amazing that it hadn’t happened yet, so we have to be thankful.”

Yelich was a late scratch last Wednesday before a 6-3 win over Philadelphia, and Murphy said then that Yelich had started experiencing some pain during a series against Arizona late last month. He still appeared in 22 consecutive games before coming out of the lineup last week.

“He came to me today and said, ‘I’m in there, right?’,” Murphy said. “He wants to play. That’s a good thing when your leader wants to get in there as soon as possible.”

Yelich made his 112th start at DH on Monday, and has also started 18 games in left field this season. Murphy said while “there’s a reason” to get Yelich a couple of games in the outfield before the end of the regular season, the manager said that’s not a priority.

In other injury news, right-hander Grant Anderson came off the injured list to boost the Brewers’ bullpen.

Right-hander Craig Yoho was optioned to Triple-A Nashville.

Anderson last pitched for Milwaukee on Aug. 23 before going on the injured list with tendinitis in his right ankle. The 28-year-old owns a 2-5 record and 2.87 earned run average in 57 appearances. He has struck out 66 over 62⅔ innings.

The Brewers still have All-Star closer Trevor Megill (right flexor), left-hander DL Hall (right oblique) and right-handers Nick Mears (back) and Shelby Miller (right elbow) on the injured list.

Murphy said Megill is scheduled to throw a simulated game Tuesday, and then would likely throw another one before being able to pitch again.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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