New Zealand qualified for the T20 World Cup semi-finals after Sri Lanka avoided a big defeat against Pakistan on Saturday in Kandy.
Spring Training Game Thread IX – Royals at Rockies
Spring Training is now more than a week old. Are we sick of it yet? Probably not, but we’re getting there. Fortunately, we’ve got the WBC starting up next week, so that should be fun. In the meantime, we do have a little bit of bonus excitement for Royals fans in Scottsdale, Arizona. Presumptive number two starter Seth Lugo will get the start today and he will be followed by ace Cole Ragans, who is making his spring debut. And for even more excitement, it is the first game that will be aired on Royals TV, for free! Out-of-market viewers can also watch on MLB Network or MLB.TV.
Here is the lineup:
Bobby Witt Jr. leads off again. During yesterday’s broadcast they mentioned this was primarily because he is expected to do it during the WBC. So don’t get your hopes up too high that he’ll do it during the regular season, but hey, if he does it in the WBC and it goes well…
We also get more Jac Caglianone, after he mashed a 120.2 MPH exit velocity double yesterday. Kevin Newman continues to get a ton of playing time as he starts at third. And Brandon Drury will look to overcome a slow start to his spring and show off some positional diversity by playing at first today.
Here are the pitchers being rostered for today after Lugo and Ragans:
- Eli Morgan
- Mason Black
- Christian Chamberlain
- Andrew Pérez
- Frank Mozzicato
- Caden Monke
- Helcris Olivárez
Monke, Pérez, and Chamberlain will probably only pitch in an “emergency’. I’m excited to see if Olivárez and Black can continue their strong springs; Mozzicato has a chance to make an impression on the coaching staff after doing anything but that in the minors so far.
Regardless, let’s watch our first Royals baseball of the spring!
*Why on earth do we have a photo from photo day where we can’t see the player’s face, but we can see the sponsor patch on his arm? WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
McCray V scores 20, Florida State rolls past Georgia Tech 80-71
ATLANTA (AP) — Robert McCray V scored 20 points, his ninth 20-plus point game of the season, and Florida State pulled away in the second half to defeat Georgia Tech 80-71 on Saturday.
The Seminoles (15-14, 8-8 ACC) led 41-36 at halftime and maintained control after the break, winning in Atlanta for the first time in their last four visits. Florida State, which opened conference play 0-5, has now won eight of its last 11 games.
Georgia Tech (11-18, 2-14) closed the first half on a 12-1 run to trim a double-digit deficit to five, but the Yellow Jackets went cold in the second half. Tech endured an eight-minute stretch without a field goal as Florida State built a double-digit lead and never allowed the margin to drop below eight over the final stretch.
Thomas Bassong added 14 points and 12 rebounds for the Seminoles, and Chauncey Wiggins finished with 12 points. Florida State controlled the glass 44-34 and held Georgia Tech without a second-chance point.
Kowacie Reeves Jr. led the Yellow Jackets with 17 points. Jaeden Mustaf added 16 points and eight assists, and Akai Fleming scored 15. Georgia Tech shot 35% from the field and dropped its 10th straight game.
The Yellow Jackets must win their final two games to have a chance at qualifying for the ACC tournament. They currently sit in last place in the conference standings.
Up Next
Florida State: travels to Pittsburgh this Wednesday.
Georgia Tech: hosts California on Wednesday.
___ Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here and here (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-basketball
Leeds United 0-1 Manchester City: Premier League – as it happened
Antoine Semenyo’s goal in first-half stoppage time was enough for City to close the gap on Arsenal at the top
Here come the teams! Leeds wear white, just as The Don decreed all those years ago. Manchester City in second-choice black, as per their Puma contract. A rare old atmosphere at Elland Road, as there always is, the home fans Marching On Together. We’ll be off in a couple of minutes!
Sky have also just flashed up an intriguing stat that we may as well nick bears repeating. As mentioned in the preamble, during half time of the corresponding fixture in Manchester last November, Daniel Farke switched things around, changing to a back three, and nearly pulled off a great comeback …
No. 3 Texas thumps No. 9 Coastal Carolina, 8-1
Behind a dominant start from senior right-hander Ruger Riojas, the No. 3 Texas Longhorns remained undefeated and notched their first ranked victory of the 2026 season with an 8-1 victory over the No. 9 Coastal Carolina Chanticleers on Friday night at Daikin Park in the BRUCE BOLT College Classic.
Riojas struck out a career-high 11 batters with the help of his overpowering fastball that reached 98 miles per hour, holding the Chanitcleers scoreless on one hit and one walk over five innings. In keeping with the early-season preferences of head coach Jim Schlossnagle and pitching coach Max Weiner, Riojas departed after throwing 71 pitches.
Through three starts, Riojas is now 3-0 on the season with a 1.13 ERA having allowed just two earned runs over 16 innings pitched with 30 strikeouts. Against Coastal Carolina, he threw six different pitches with his four-seam fastball and his sinker grading out at his best pitches even though he got an 84.6 percent whiff rate on his changeup, the pitch he threw most frequently.
In relief, senior right-hander Max Grubbs allowed one runs on two hits in 1.2 innings, giving up the only extra-base hit of the night for Coastal Carolina. Redshirt junior left-hander Ethan Walker struck out the batter he faced to end the seventh inning before freshman right-hander Brett Crossland and junior right-hander Hudson Hamilton each pitched around a walk in their inning of action.
Four home runs among the 12 hits by the Longhorns paced Texas at the plate, led by a 3-for-4 performance by junior center fielder Aiden Robbins, who led off the scoring in the third inning with a mammoth 466-foot, two-run home run that hit the train tracks in left field.
Redshirt senior third baseman Temo Becerra, who arrived at Texas with three home runs in 430 at bats at Stanford, left the field twice, driving in three runs.
Junior designated hitter Ashton Larson also hit his first home run in burnt orange and white, an opposite-field shot into the Crawford Boxes.
Texas also added runs on an RBI double by sophomore shortstop Adrian Rodriguez and a sacrifice fly by Robbins.
On Saturday, Schlossnagle’s team tries to remain undefeated with a matchup against former Big 12 rival Baylor. First pitch is scheduled for 7 p.m. Central on Astros.com and the Houston Astros YouTube channel. The Bears also notched a ranked win on Friday, upsetting the No. 11 Rebels, 6-5, in 10 innings.
Spring Training Game #7: A’s versus Giants Game Thread
We have another spring exhibition game this afternoon as the A’s play host to the San Francisco Giants. The A’s are just 1-5 so far this spring but what better time to get back into the win column than against these guys?
Right-hander Luis Morales will be getting the ball for today’s start. Though it should be short, this is his second appearance as the team ramps him up for a long season. All signs indicate he’ll break camp in the rotation but how they manage his workload for six months is the real story. He’s already made it into a spring game reaching 17 pitches so the club will be looking to ramp that number up today.
The A’s lineup this afternoon shakes out like this:
Jacob Wilson back atop the lineup, with Nick Kurtz behind him. A small change and one that might not stick but at least Kotsay is hearing all the criticism of having his power hitter bat leadoff. Lots of regulars in today’s lineup but we’ll also see Leo De Vries get the start at shortstop, his long-term home with the big league team. Sneak peak of the future?
The Giants have veteran Tyler Mahle on the mound today for his first appearance this spring. It’s his first outing of 2026 so we can’t expect to see him for too long. Here’s how their lineup looks this afternoon:
Though it’s meaningless, we want a win! Let’s go A’s!
Senators At Leafs: Projected Line Combinations For Saturday Night's Game In Toronto
The Ottawa Senators (28-22-8) will try to get back on a winning track on Saturday night when they face the Toronto Maple Leafs (27-23-9) at Scotiabank Arena (7 pm Sportsnet, CBC, TVAS).
The Sens gathered a point in their first game back from the Olympic break, a 2-1 overtime loss at home to Detroit on Thursday. The Leafs have also stumbled out of the break with losses to Tampa and Florida, losing by a combined scored of 9-3.
Toronto won the season's first meeting between these two teams, 7-5, back on Dec. 27. That was the night when Linus Ullmark was pulled after experiencing anxiety during the game while allowing four goals on 14 shots.
Ullmark stepped away from the team for the next month to deal with mental health issues. Between that and the Olympic break, Ullmark has only played three games since the December loss to Toronto. He'll get the start on Saturday night.
Leevi Merilainen, Ullmark's replacement that night, was sent to the AHL on Jan. 20 and has since been replaced on the roster by veteran free agent signing James Reimer, who was probably the sentimental choice in Toronto to start against his old team. But Reimer will wear the ball cap on the bench on Saturday.
These two teams enter play on Saturday well out of playoff contention at the moment.
With the Boston Bruins holding the final Wild Card spot in the East, the Senators are seven points behind them, while the Leafs, who led the Atlantic Division this time last year, are eight points behind the Bruins.
By game time, the playoff deficit may grow even larger for both teams with Boston playing at Philadelphia on Saturday afternoon at 3 pm.
Here's how the line combinations are expected to look, based on the game day skates. As was the case at Thursday's skate, Tim Stutzle was absent (illness) but will play in the game.
Senators Line Combinations
Drake Batherson – Tim Stützle – Claude Giroux
Brady Tkachuk – Dylan Cozens – Ridly Greig
Nick Cousins – Shane Pinto – Michael Amadio
Stephen Halliday – Lars Eller – Fabian Zetterlund
Jake Sanderson – Artem Zub
Thomas Chabot – Nick Jensen
Tyler Kleven – Jordan Spence
Linus Ullmark
James Reimer
For Toronto, the biggest change is the insertion of rookie forward Easton Cowan into the lineup. He's been a healthy scratch for the Leafs for the past five games. Cowan has 17 points in 43 games.
Leafs Line Combinations
(as per The Hockey News Toronto's David Alter)
Knies-Matthews-Domi
Maccelli-Tavares-Nylander
Cowan-Roy-McMann
Joshua-Laughton-Robertson
Rielly-Carlo
McCabe-Stecher
Benoit-OEL
Woll
Stolarz
Faceoff is 7 pm.
TV: Sportsnet, CBC, TVAS
Steve Warne
The Hockey News
This article was first published by The Hockey News. More headlines here:
Senators At Leafs: NHL's Battle Of Ontario Takes An Unexpected Step Back
After Clearing Waivers, Former Ottawa Senator Mathieu Joseph Sent To AHL
Team USA Players Shine As Sens Fall Farther Out Of Playoff Race
Tkachuk Fields Questions on USA Celebrations and Desire To Remain In Ottawa
20 Years Later: The Rise And Fall Of One Of The Greatest Teams In Senators History
Senators Goalie Prospect Thriving After Trade To QMJHL's Top-Ranked Club
Mavs waive Tyus Jones, who was a player involved in the Anthony Davis trade
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks have waived point guard Tyus Jones, one of the players involved in the three-team trade that sent Anthony Davis to the Washington Wizards.
The move announced Saturday gives Jones a chance to pursue a deal with a contender needing backcourt help. The 29-year-old made the playoffs three consecutive seasons with Memphis from 2021-23.
The Mavericks now have the flexibility to convert rookie point guard Ryan Nembhard to a standard contract. Nembhard is closing in on the maximum number of NBA games allowed for players on two-way deals.
Jones made two starts among eight appearances for the Mavericks, averaging 3.9 points and 3.8 assists in 16.6 minutes per game. He was traded by Orlando to Charlotte a day before going to Dallas in a three-team deal involving nine players before the trade deadline.
The best season for Jones was 2023-24 with Washington, when he averaged 12.0 points and 7.3 assists. He received votes for Sixth Man of the Year the previous two seasons with the Grizzlies.
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AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Colorado Rockies spring training game no. 9 thread: Seth Lugo vs. Michael Lorenzen
The 6-2 Colorado Rockies will look to keep their hot spring going against the Kansas City Royals this afternoon. Zac Veen hit a 447-foot walk-off homer to right center field to seal the 3-2 victory over the San Diego Padres yesterday and extend their win streak to five games, but today’s outfield will feature Jake McCarthy in right field, Jordan Beck in left and Cole Carrigg in center.
“The reason for that today, if I’m being candid, is because Beck has not played left field yet,” Warren Schaeffer said before the game, “so he needs to be proficient in both this season. If that duo (Beck and McCarthy) is in there, it’s probably most likely going to to be McCarthy in left and Beck in right, but it’s about reps here in spring training and getting that in.”
Right-hander Michael Lorenzen is taking the ball for the Rockies today in his second Cactus League start and first against his old team. In his last outing, Lorenzen pitched one inning and allowed just one hit on nine pitches with a strikeout.
Lorenzen will face his former teammate, Royals’ veteran right-hander Seth Lugo, also making his second Cactus League start. In his outing against the Chicago Cubs, Lugo pitched two innings and allowed two hits on 27 pitches with one strikeout.
Now, if there’s another walk-off today, you will be able to watch it (for free) on television! Here’s how:
First Pitch: 1:10 p.m. MDT
TV: Rockies.tv; MLB Network
Radio: KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM; KNRV 1150 (Spanish)
Lineups:
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ST Game 9: Seattle Mariners at San Diego Padres
Seattle Mariners at San Diego Padres, February 28, 2026, 12:10 p.m. PST
Watch: Padres.TV
Location: Peoria Sports Complex – Peoria, AZ
Listen: 97.3 The Fan
Please remember our Game Day thread guidelines.
- Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
- Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
- Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads
GB community, this is your thread for today’s game. Enjoy!
Mariners Spring Training 2026, Game #9: Thread
Today’s Cactus League game features the Mariners facing off against their Peoria sister squad Padres for the second time this Spring. The headline is that Kade Anderson, the third overall pick of the 2025 Draft, starts for Seattle. These will be his first pitches in game action since joining the organization. Anderson throws from the left side and features a delightfuly traditional fastball-slider-curveball-changeup arsenal. He was sitting 94-95 for LSU last year during their championship run, and the Mariners have reportedly focused on bulking him up, so I’ll be watching the velo especially closely today. Anderson will be followed by Emerson Hancock, Randy Dobnak, Jhonathan Díaz, and Blas Castaño.
In the lineup, while some guys have taken off for the WBC already, we’ll see Cal Raleigh and birthday boy Randy Arozarena in what’ll probably be their last games with the Mariners for a few weeks. Colt Emerson also gets another start.
San Diego’s lineup features another entry on the Nick Castellanos Redemption Tour and will start JP Sears, who I’ll always think of as what the Mariners gave up for Nick Rumbelow in one of the most baffling trades of the Dipoto Era. He’ll be followed by Jeremiah Estrada, Alek Jacob, Bradgley Rodriguez, old friend Ty Adcock, Kyle Hart, and—don’t tune out as the minor league subs come in—Mason Miller.
Injury Update
Game Info
Game time: 12:10 PT
Watch: Mariners.TV, Mariners.com
Listen: Seattle Sports 710 AM
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Why Guardians think Bo Naylor will have 'breakout' 2026 mlb season
Bo Naylor's 2025 season resembled that of many hit TV shows — it ended with some positive momentum, a cliff-hanger and several months of a break before anyone will see if it actually all paid off.
For the Guardians catcher, most of last year was a struggle at the plate, like a "Game of Thrones" season that spends several episodes slowly setting up a few battles. The season finale, though — in Naylor's case, the final 20-ish games in September — were worth the wait for the Guardians, who needed his bat to help capture a division crown and a playoff spot down the stretch.
Naylor posted a 75 wRC+ in the first half of last season, meaning he was 25 percent below average as a hitter. And considering his rough start to the year, it looked like he'd be lucky to even get to that figure.
In the second half, though, he posted a 98 wRC+. It still wasn't where he wants to be, but he was certainly a more productive member of the lineup. In September, Naylor finally caught fire with a 136 wRC+ and an .872 OPS over his last 19 games as the Guardians caught and passed the Detroit Tigers in the standings.
Bo Naylor stats
He had a hard-hit percentage of 25.7 in the first half of the year. That rose to 36.4 percent in the second half, and it rose further to 38.5 percent specifically in September.
"I think the best way to know yourself is to go through a major league season and face major league pitching for a full six months, and that'll tell you more about yourself than anything else," Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. "In Bo's case, him getting more simple [with his swing] was absolutely something that needed to happen.
"I mean, we don't get to the playoffs without Bo Naylor at the plate last year."
The attribution for his character arc at the plate throughout 2025 was the adjustment from a leg kick to a toe tap, which acts as a timing mechanism with his swing. The larger leg kick was also adding unwanted movement. Once the toe tap really took hold, everything else fell into place.
"[It got rid of] any wasted movements, anything that isn't going to serve my swing," Naylor said. "[It was] making sure everything is quiet and only going to help serve the purpose. .. Mentality-wise, everything was solid, it was just a matter of having what my body was trying to do be on the same page."
Bo Naylor 2026 outlook
With the Guardians hoping that positive momentum can survive the winter and make it to Opening Day, Naylor represents a potentially major piece as the 2026 lineups searches for more production. Cleveland's 2025 lineup finished 28th in runs. Teams don't often finish last in their own league in scoring and win their division.
Naylor is one of three Guardians catchers on the roster, along with David Fry and Austin Hedges. Fry will often be in the lineup against left-handed pitchers, either at catcher or at first base, though the recent signing of Rhys Hoskins could drastically cut into all of that. Barring another slow stretch from Naylor and/or Fry, Hedges could also see his at-bats sliced significantly, potentially pushing him even more into a late-inning defensive option.
It had been years since Cleveland catchers have held their own at the plate, though that all changed once the calendar turned to September. It leaves Naylor as one of the most notable Guardians players to watch in 2026 after the team's quiet offseason left much of the needed improvement to internal options.
Naylor spent the winter further cleaning up his swing, simplifying his bat path through the strike zone. Once Opening Day rolls around, the Guardians will see if the September gains bloom in the spring.
"I think Bo's just scratching the surface of the hitter he can be," Vogt said. "Everybody develops at a different clip. … Now that he's simplified both his lower and upper half, I think he's putting himself in a position to have a breakout year."
This article originally appeared on Akron Beacon Journal: Guardians' Bo Naylor could have 'breakout' 2026 MLB season for cleveland
Jake Burger's injury-filled season led to a revamped approach heading into 2026
The 2025 season was meant to be a significant one for Jake Burger. He was coming off back-to-back seasons with a .250 batting average and at least 29 home runs. He had just been traded from a Marlins team that lost 100 games to a Rangers team that had won the World Series in 2023 and had designs to get back to that level again.
Yet, once the season began, seemingly nothing went right.
Burger hit .186/.229/.330 with a 30.5% strikeout rate and three home runs in 29 games to begin the season and was surprisingly demoted to Triple-A. He spent just two weeks in the minors before being recalled, but was only with the Rangers for another month before an oblique strain landed him on the injured list. Two weeks later, he was back in the Rangers' lineup, but this time only for 10 days before a quad injury sidelined him again. Almost a month later, he was back with the Rangers, but, again, 10 days later, he found himself on the injured list with a wrist sprain.
By the time the season ended, Burger had somehow managed to play 103 MLB games despite all the stops and starts, but hit .236/.269/.419 with 16 home runs in 376 plate appearances. While the struggle to stay healthy was certainly frustrating, overcoming that was nothing new for Burger.
After the White Sox drafted him 11th overall in 2017, Burger was immediately the 8th-ranked prospect in a farm system that also included Eloy Jimenez, Luis Robert Jr., Dylan Cease, Dane Dunning, and Michael Kopech. From there, things went south. Burger ruptured his left Achilles tendon in February of 2018 and then re-tore the same tendon in May of the same year. While he was rehabbing in 2019, he injured his heel, and then COVID took away the entire 2020 minor league season. He was finally healthy again in 2021 and able to hit his way into big league opportunities in both 2021 and 2022.
For a player to overcome all of that and establish himself as a productive MLB player with three years of service time, being sent down to the minors, even for a short stint, could have been crushing. For Burger, it was more illuminating than anything.
"That short stint down there, obviously, you don't want that to happen, but everything happens for a reason," he reflected. "I went down there and had a lot of fun and found joy playing the game again, you know, not like grinding every single at bat. I think that's probably the biggest takeaway from anything like that is that this is a child's game, have fun. Go out there and just compete."
Which is exactly what Burger tried to do last season, in between all the injuries, but the desire to produce for his new organization and teammates was equally as strong: "I was just trying to do too much. You know, trying to make up for lost time, where it's like, damn, I was just on the IL for an oblique, then it's a quad. I really wanted to at least try and contribute 20 home runs, so maybe it's trying to do too much where it kind of puts you in a worse position."
That worse position led to mechanical changes to his swing that Burger thinks impacted his power production a bit.
"I felt like I was really low to [the pull] side, and that's where kind of the bread and butter is," he explained. "Mechanically, it just felt like I was cutting myself off a little bit. Obviously, not being able to get in a groove with injuries and whatnot adds to that, but I feel like I was cutting myself off a little bit and not able to catch stuff out in front. I felt like I've made some good adjustments for that."
A quick look at Statcast's Swing Path Leaderboard confirms Burger's assumption. In 2025, Burger's intercept point, which measures how far out in front of the plate the bat and ball make contact, was much farther back than in the previous two seasons. Not getting the ball out in front of the plate as much also meant that his attack direction, the angle at which the sweet spot of his bat is traveling to the ball, was less than the last two seasons. All of which is to say that Burger was not getting the ball out in front and, therefore, not contacting the ball to the pull side at the right angles and not pulling the ball with as much authority.
As a result, Burger pulled the ball in the air just 13.5% of the time in 2025, which ranked 290th out of 348 hitters who had at least 200 plate appearances. In 2024, his Pull Air Rate was 19.8%, which ranked 91st out of 251 qualified hitters.
Getting back to his preferred contact point could be crucial for Burger since his batted ball quality was strong in 2025. "I had a conversation with [Rangers hitting coach] Justin Viele in the offseason, and it was about how most of my metrics are the exact same as they were in '23 and '24," Burger explained. He still registered a 114.7 mph max exit velocity. His average exit velocity of 90.4 mph was within striking distance of his career norms, his 13.9% barrel rate was well above league average, and his 48.5% hard-hit rate was the second-highest mark of his MLB career.
So, is the solution for a productive 2026 season simply improved health?
To a certain extent, it is. That's why, coming into spring training, the 29-year-old Burger was determined to make sure that he was on the field and available to his team far more often: "I did a lot of Pilates. I did that three times a week," he said before a spring training game in Arizona. "For me, it's protecting my obliques and protecting the soft tissue. It felt like Pilates would help protect those small muscles that are around the big muscles that keep them functioning every day."
However, the other change for Burger was altering how he prepared for this season from a mental standpoint.
"The last two years, I feel like I've gotten a little bit away from just going out there and competing," he admitted. "I think as hitters, we always want to look at our mechanics and try to take a magic pill, like, 'Hey, if I'm just holding my hands in this position, I'm going to be great.' But that's not really applicable when you get onto the field. So, for me, this spring training has been relentlessly process-oriented and making sure I'm getting those feels every single day in the cage...I'm looking for this feel with my hands, this feel with my lower half, this feel with my torso, and just kind of like nitpicking those each in their separate bucket, and then putting it together at the end of that session. Then once I'm done with that, mechanics are out of sight, out of mind."
The goal with this approach for Burger is to make a more conscious change in separating the mechanical preparation of hitting from the mental preparation. Once Burger is done with his work in the cage, he's no longer focused on the minutia of his swing. Instead, he's solely concerned with his mental approach at the plate and just going out there and playing.
"What I have that day is what I have. I'm gonna go in there, work on my approach, whatever that may be against the pitcher that I'm facing that day, and then take that out to the field. I feel like us, as hitters, sometimes, when you're struggling and trying to do too much, you jumble up the mechanics with the approach. Those mechanics thoughts might come to you in the middle of an at- bat, and you've lost at that point. So I'm trying to separate those two."
So far, the 29-year-old thinks "it's going pretty well," and the results would seem to support that. In his five spring games, he's gone 3-for-11 with a home run, and his average exit velocity is right up there with the highest marks he's had in a full MLB season. He's pulling the ball more, making solid contact, and feels good about where he's attacking the ball.
His Rangers career may not have started as planned, but last year's struggles might have helped him find the joy he needed to succeed moving forward. It certainly seemed that way as he sat, beaming at his locker following two straight ping pong wins over Wyatt Langford.
"I think it's just understanding who I am and not trying to be somebody I'm not. That's always a good constant reminder of, hey, just go out there and have fun. Act like you're playing whiffle ball in the backyard with your buddies."
That new approach, plus a season of good health, could push both Burger and the Rangers back to their old heights.
Spring Training Game Thread #9: Milwaukee Brewers (4-4) vs. Cincinnati Reds (3-3)
The Brewers will get an early look at the formidable ace of a division foe this afternoon, when Hunter Greene takes the mound for the Cincinnati Reds. Pitching first for the Brewers is lefty reliever Rob Zastryzny.
Milwaukee started their Cactus League season in rough fashion, dropping their first four games. But since then, they’ve won four in a row, and a whole bunch of hitters look locked in, considering we haven’t even reached March yet. A win today would push the Brewers over .500 in the all-important Cactus League standings.
It’s another strong lineup for the Brewers today, featuring nine players who I’d say are all likely to be on Milwaukee’s opening-day roster. Sal Frelick, Jackson Chourio, and William Contreras (as the DH) lead things off, followed by Brice Turang, Andrew Vaughn, and Gary Sánchez. Joey Ortiz, Blake Perkins, and David Hamilton bring up the rear. Hamilton is apparently Pat Murphy’s “leap” pick for this season:
The notable pitchers slated to follow Zastryzny this afternoon are Angel Zerpa, Jared Koenig, Sammy Peralta, and Coleman Crow—so the Reds will get a whole bunch of left-handed pitching today, with four of those five (all but Crow) lefties.
Today’s game is being televised for free on the Brewers’ new streaming service, Brewers.TV. (You’ll need to log in, but you don’t need to pay anything.) It’s their first official broadcast of the spring, with Jeff Levering, Bill Schroeder, and Sophia Minnaert on the call. You can also hear it on the Brewers radio network. First pitch at 2:10 p.m.
Yamal scores first hat trick for Barcelona in win over Villarreal in La Liga
BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Barcelona superstar Lamine Yamal scored the first hat trick of his career in a 4-1 win over Villarreal that moved his team four points clear atop La Liga on Saturday.
At 18 years, 230 days, Yamal is the youngest player to score his first hat trick in La Liga, according to Opta.
His haul included a brilliant solo effort for his second goal, which saw him beat a player as he cut in from the right wing and curl a shot high into the far corner.
“He’s exceptional and he’s here to make people happy," Barcelona coach Hansi Flick said. "We need his goals to give him confidence. He’s very young and he still has to improve, but everyone knows the quality he has.
"Opponents put two or three players on him and that makes it difficult. Today I’m very happy for him. When he enjoys his football, it’s perfect for him and for us.”
Substitute Robert Lewandowski added Barcelona's fourth in stoppage time at Camp Nou.
Second-placed Real Madrid hosts Getafe on Monday with a chance to trim Barcelona's lead back to one point.
Also on Saturday, Inaki Williams equalized for Athletic Bilbao in a 1-1 draw at Rayo Vallecano.
Later, fourth-placed Atletico Madrid visited Real Oviedo and could move level on points with third-placed Villarreal with a win.
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This story has been corrected in second paragraph to show Yamal is aged 18 not 17.
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer