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TORONTO — The Tampa Bay Rays lost their first game following a record-tying 13-0 start as Colin Poche forced in two runs with bases-loaded walks and second baseman Brandon Lowe made a key error in a four-run fifth inning that lifted the Toronto Blue Jays to a 6-3 win on Friday night.

George Springer hit a leadoff home run and Bo Bichette had five hits and an RBI as the Blue Jays denied Tampa Bay’s bid to establish Major League Baseball’s post-1900 record for consecutive wins at a season’s start.

Toronto’s 13-0 record matched the 1982 Atlanta Braves and 1987 Milwaukee Brewers, trailing only the 20-0 start by the 1884 St. Louis Maroons of the Union Association.

Tampa Bay trailed at the end of an inning just six times entering Friday. Against the Blue Jays they trailed after all nine.

Springer homered on the night’s second pitch from Drew Rasmussen (2-1), who pitched 13 innings in his first two starts. Springer’s 53rd leadoff homer tied Craig Biggio for third, behind Rickey Henderson’s 81 and Alfonso Soriano hit 54.

Bichette had an RBI double in the second for a 2-0 lead and his 500th hit. He reached the mark in his 407th game, faster than the previous Blue Jays mark shared by Vernon Wells and Shannon Stewart.

Luke Raley cut the lead in half with an RBI single in the fourth, but Poche relieved with the bases loaded in the fifth and walked pinch-hitter Alejandro Kirk on four pitches and Santiago Espinal on five. Danny Jansen hit grounded to Wander Franco for a potential inning-ending double play, but Lowe allowed the ball to bounce off his glove and into the outfield as two runs scored.

Rasmussen allowed five runs and eight hits in 4 1/3 innings. Jose Berríos (1-2) gave up one run and four hits in five innings, leaving because of a bruised left knee that got struck twice in his final inning. Manuel Margot‘s leadoff liner caromed off Berríos’ left foot and into foul territory. Three batters later, a Yandy Díaz comebacker struck Berríos’ knee.

Trevor Richards got two outs in the sixth and Zach Pop came on to strike out Isaac Paredes, stranding runners at first and second.

After Yimi García gave up back-to-back homers to Josh Lowe and Christian Bethancourt in the seventh, Erik Swanson worked a scoreless eighth and Jordan Romano finished for his fifth save in six chances.

Blue Jays center fielder Kevin Kiermaier faced his former team for the first time and went 2 for 4. The three-time Gold Glove award winner spent the first nine seasons of his career with the Rays.

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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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