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Fresno State has named veteran transfer E.J. Warner the team’s starting quarterback, sources told ESPN.

Warner, the son of Pro Football Hall of Famer Kurt Warner, emerged from a three-man battle and will be Fresno State’s Week 0 starter at Kansas on Aug. 23.

Warner started 31 games at both Temple and Rice over the last three seasons, according to ESPN Research. He brings extensive experience, as he’s thrown for 8,814 yards, 58 touchdowns and 37 interceptions.

He emerged from a quarterback battle with Sacramento State transfer Carson Conklin and sophomore Jayden Mandal. Warner’s experience, consistency and leadership helped him capture the starting job. Sources also indicated a strong conviction in the quarterback room has emerged at Fresno, with a belief they can win games this season with all three quarterbacks.

Warner spent the 2022 and 2023 seasons at Temple before transferring to Rice for last season. Over those three seasons, he’s 796 of 1,327 passing at a 60% clip. He led the AAC in passing yards per game in 2023, averaging 307.6. He set the Temple record with 23 passing touchdowns that season.

Included in his Temple resume is three 400-yard passing games and a pair of games with five touchdown passes.

At Rice last season, he threw for 17 touchdowns and his 64.3% completion percentage ranks second-best in school history. He also led a game-winning drive in the final two minutes to beat UTSA, completing the game-winning touchdown with four seconds left.

Warner will debut for Fresno in the first game for new Bulldogs coach Matt Entz, a former USC assistant who won two national titles as the head coach at North Dakota State.

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Cards’ Contreras out with foot contusion after HBP

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Cards' Contreras out with foot contusion after HBP

ST. LOUIS — Cardinals first baseman Willson Contreras was not in the lineup Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies a day after he was hit in the foot by a pitch and broke his bat in frustration.

Contreras, listed as day-to-day with a right foot contusion, was hit by Rockies starter Kyle Freeland‘s sweeper in the fourth inning. He then slammed his bat into the dirt and snapped it over his knee.

As he walked toward first base, the 33-year-old threw the two pieces of the broken bat toward the Cardinals’ dugout.

He remained in the game until the sixth inning, when he was replaced by Nolan Gorman.

The Cardinals said X-rays did not reveal any structural damage in Contreras’ foot.

Contreras has been hit by a National League-leading 18 pitches this season, trailing only Randy Arozarena and Ty France.

Contreras leads the Cardinals with 16 home runs and 65 RBIs.

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Rangers’ struggling García to IL with ankle injury

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Rangers' struggling García to IL with ankle injury

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Texas Rangers put struggling slugger Adolis García on the 10-day injured list with a sprained left ankle and activated outfielder Evan Carter.

Texas, which is chasing an American League wild-card berth, made the moves their series finale against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Another outfielder, Wyatt Langford, was held out of the lineup because of forearm stiffness, but manager Bruce Bochy said he could be available to pinch-hit.

García is hitting .224 with 16 homers and 64 RBIs in 116 games. He hit .176 (6 for 34) during the nine-game homestand that ended with Wednesday’s game.

Carter, who turns 23 later this month, missed 10 games because of back spasms. He was in a 4-for-34 slump when he was placed on the IL on Aug. 2. He hit .238 with four homers and 21 RBIs in 55 games before then.

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D-backs’ DeSclafani to IL after turn as starter

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D-backs' DeSclafani to IL after turn as starter

ARLINGTON, Texas — The Arizona Diamondbacks placed right-hander Anthony DeSclafani on the 15-day injured list Wednesday because of right thumb inflammation after he made three starts.

DeSclafani (1-2, 4.36 ERA) has been primarily a reliever for the Diamondbacks but made the starts this month after Merrill Kelly was traded to the Texas Rangers at the deadline on July 31.

Arizona made the move with DeSclafani before the series finale at Texas, when Kelly was starting for the Rangers. The Diamondbacks recalled right-hander Casey Kelly from Triple-A Reno.

“We’re hoping for the minimal time. He’s going to get some imaging just to make sure that everything’s OK,” manager Torey Lovullo said. “This is something that popped up a couple days ago. We all felt that he was going to be able to take the baseball and go out there and compete, which he did. We saw the stuff in the first couple of innings, and we decided it was time to take him off the field.”

In the three starts this month, DeSclafani is 0-1 with a 5.59 ERA, allowing six runs in 9⅔ innings. He threw three innings Tuesday night, allowing two runs in a game Arizona won 3-2 on a homer by Ketel Marte in the ninth.

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