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PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Pirates will have to see if they can keep their hot start going without Oneil Cruz. The 6-foot-7 shortstop had surgery late Sunday to repair a fractured left ankle and is out at least four months.

Cruz’s left leg bent awkwardly underneath him as he tried to score from third on a chopper in the sixth inning of Sunday’s 1-0 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Cruz opted to slide late and collided with the legs of White Sox catcher Seby Zavala, causing Cruz’s leg to fold up underneath him as his momentum carried the rest of his body across the plate.

While the Pirates believe Cruz will be able to return by mid-August, manager Derek Shelton stressed he’s more concerned about Cruz’s health and state of mind. Shelton added that there was a “sense of relief” that the injury wasn’t worse.

“My solace is in the fact that he’s OK,” Shelton said.

Pittsburgh placed the 24-year-old Cruz on the 10-day injured list and called up utility player Mark Mathias from Triple-A Indianapolis. Rodolfo Castro, who switched from second base to shortstop after Cruz was injured, started for the Pirates Monday when they began a three-game series against the World Series champion Houston Astros.

“I think in the early going (Castro) will get the majority (of the starts),” Shelton said. “We’ll probably see (Ji-Hwan) Bae over there at some point, too, just depending on the matchup and moving guys around or just actual off-days.”

Cruz, together with third baseman Ke’Bryan Hayes, 26, represents a left side of the infield that is a major piece of the Pirates’ future, a group that excels in the field, though Hayes is still finding his way at the plate.

Pittsburgh has won five of six to get to 6-3, the club’s best start since 2018, the last time the Pirates finished with a winning record. Cruz is part of the foundation the franchise is attempting to put in place under general manager Ben Cherington.

Cruz dazzled with his bat, his arm and his legs as a rookie in 2022 and started this season hitting .250 with a home run, four RBIs and three stolen bases. He also drew seven walks in nine games after earning just 28 walks in 87 games a year ago.

“(His absence) affects a lot, just the range that he has and the presence he has on the field, the guy he is, the leadoff hitter and how he runs the bases, all of that,” Hayes said. “He impacts the game in a lot of different ways just by being on the field so it’s definitely a big blow.”

Pittsburgh believes it will be better able to cope with that blow thanks to an offseason influx of experienced players, including outfielder Andrew McCutchen and first baseman/designated hitter Carlos Santana.

“Nobody is ever going to have a team that doesn’t suffer any type of setback,” outfielder Bryan Reynolds said. “It’s all going to come down to how we respond to it. We have a good veteran group. We’ve got young guys that are focused, too. … I think we’ll be able to handle it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Wisconsin fires offensive coordinator after 2 years

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Wisconsin fires offensive coordinator after 2 years

Wisconsin fired offensive coordinator Phil Longo on Sunday, a day after the Badgers’ 16-13 home loss to No. 1 Oregon.

In a statement, Badgers coach Luke Fickell thanked Longo for his two seasons with the program, while adding, “We are not where we need to be and believe this decision is in the best interest of the team.”

Wisconsin ranks 97th nationally in scoring and 102nd in passing while operating an Air Raid-style offense that Longo brought with him from North Carolina and other stops.

The Badgers, who lost starting quarterback Tyler Van Dyke to a season-ending injury Sept. 14, had only three points and 88 yards in the second half against Oregon, which rallied from a 13-6 deficit entering the fourth quarter.

Wisconsin ranked 101st nationally in scoring in Longo’s 23 games as coordinator and failed to eclipse 13 points on its current three-game losing streak. Quarterback Braedyn Locke had only 96 passing yards against the Ducks.

Fickell did not immediately announce an interim coordinator for Wisconsin’s final regular-season games against Nebraska and Minnesota.

Fickell had long targeted Longo for a coordinator role, going back to his time as Cincinnati’s coach. Longo, 56, oversaw productive offenses at Ole Miss, North Carolina, Sam Houston State and other spots but never consistently got traction at a Wisconsin program that had operated dramatically differently on offense before his arrival.

“This team still has a lot in front of us and I am committed to doing everything we can to close out this season with success,” Fickell said in his statement.

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4-star QB Jones, former FSU commit, picks Florida

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4-star QB Jones, former FSU commit, picks Florida

Four-star quarterback Tramell Jones Jr. has committed to Florida, he told ESPN on Sunday, joining the Gators’ 2025 class four days after pulling his pledge from Florida State.

Jones, a four-year starter at Florida’s Mandarin High School, is ESPN’s No. 9 dual-threat passer in the Class of 2025. After multiple trips to Florida throughout his recruitment, Jones returned to campus Saturday, taking an official visit with the Gators during the program’s 27-16 win over LSU. A day later, Jones stands as the lone quarterback pledge in a 2025 Florida class that includes five pledges from the ESPN 300.

“I pretty much saw everything I needed to see when I visited last spring — I just love everything around the campus,” Jones told ESPN. “And then hanging out with the guys yesterday, seeing the camaraderie with each other, that really just sealed it for me.”

Jones was the longest-tenured member of Mike Norvell’s 2025 class at Florida State before his decommitment from the Seminoles on Thursday morning.

Jones’ exit came days after Norvell announced the firings of three assistant coaches on Nov. 10, including offensive coordinator and offensive line coach Alex Atkins. Jones was the first Florida State commit to pull his pledge in the wake of the staff shakeup but marked the Seminoles sixth decommitment since the start of the regular season, joining five ESPN 300 recruits who have left Norvell’s recruiting class across the program’s 1-9 start.

Jones’ commitment follows a key late-season victory for Billy Napier on Saturday and marks the Gators’ first recruiting win since athletic director Scott Strickland announced on Nov. 7 that Florida would stick with the third-year coach beyond the 2024 season.

Uncertainty over Napier’s future had weighed down Florida’s recruiting efforts in the 2025 class as the Gators began November with the No. 39 class in ESPN’s latest team rankings for the cycle. But Jones’ pledge comes as a boost for Florida one day after the Gators hosted a handful of high-profile flip targets, including five-star offensive tackle Solomon Thomas (Florida State pledge) and four-star wide receiver Jaime Ffrench (Texas pledge).

When Jones signs with Florida, he’ll arrive on campus flanked by fellow in-state offensive talents in four-star wide receivers Vernell Brown III (No. 44 in the ESPN 300) and Naeshaun Montgomery (No. 115), as well as four-star running back Waltez Clark (No. 223). Florida is also set to sign a pair of in-state defenders from the 2025 ESPN 300 between four-star defensive end Jalen Wiggins (No. 68) and four-star cornerback Ben Hanks Jr. (No. 121).

With Jones’ commitment, Florida has another jolt to its momentum on the recruiting trail as the Gators seek to chart a strong finish in the 2025 cycle next month. More imminently, Florida will host No. 11 Ole Miss on Saturday.

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Ted Williams’ 1946 MVP award sells for over $500K

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Ted Williams' 1946 MVP award sells for over 0K

A rare souvenir postcard picturing Hank Aaron as a rookie with the Indianapolis Clowns of the Negro Leagues sold for nearly $200,000 at a baseball memorabilia auction that also included Ted Williams’ 1946 AL MVP award, which went for $528,750.

The Aaron postcard from the scrapbook of scout Ed Scott, who discovered Aaron, went for $199,750 following a bidding war that soared past the pre-sale estimate of $5,000-$10,000, Hunt Auctions said.

The auction included 280 items from Williams’ personal collection that had been held by his daughter, Claudia, who died last year. Among the other items were a silver bat awarded for his 1958 batting title, which sold for more than $270,000, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom presented to him by fellow naval aviator George H.W. Bush, which went for $141,000.

The sale also included items from the collection of Rutherford Hayes Jones, the business manager of the Washington Giants, one of the earliest Black baseball teams. The trove was discovered in 2001 in a suitcase, where it had been unseen for 40 years.

A first batch of items from Claudia Williams’ collection went up for auction in 2012 at Fenway Park and garnered more than $5 million.

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