Celtic still have plenty of work to do to reach the Champions League after drawing a blank in the first leg of their playoff against Kairat at Parkhead.
In Brendan Rodgers’ 800th match as a manager, there was no traditional early onslaught by the hosts as the accomplished Kazakhstani side more than matched their hosts. However, with Yang Hyun-jun on for Adam Idah and Daizen Maeda moving to centre-forward at the start of the second half, Celtic stepped up the pace and piled on the pressure in the later stages but could not find a way through despite 10 added minutes.
SAN DIEGO — After a day off to deal with oblique tightness, Willy Adames was back at shortstop on Wednesday night. The Giants also expect to get Matt Chapman back from the IL this weekend.
For the most part, this second-half skid has not been about poor health, but they potentially took a big hit in that department in Wednesday’s 8-1 loss to the San Diego Padres.
Young right-hander Landen Roupp was carted off in the third inning after injuring his left knee while fielding a liner that hit his right leg. The Giants did not have an update during the game, but the injury appeared to be serious.
Landen Roupp was carted off the field after sustaining an apparent left knee injury on this play pic.twitter.com/AloB7aGKhx
Roupp has been a huge success story in a season that is short on positives. He has a 3.80 ERA and had established himself as a strong No. 3 starter before elbow discomfort put him on the IL in late July.
The Giants trailed when Roupp was helped onto a cart and it never got any better. They have scored just two runs in 26 innings since homering three times in the first inning Monday night.
Brutal Break
Ramon Laureano’s liner back to the mound left the bat at 95 mph, but if you’re going to take a comebacker, the back of your leg is just about the best spot. Roupp probably would have been okay if that’s all that happened, but as he tried to get to the ball and make a play, his left knee appeared to give out. He went down awkwardly and a few minutes later was carted off his field.
It was the latest bit of bad luck for a young right-hander who dealt with injuries in the minors but has established himself in the big leagues over the last two seasons. Roupp was throwing better than anyone in the rotation when his elbow started barking last month, but an MRI came back clean.
The Giants were cautious with the rehab but felt good about Roupp’s health when he returned to the rotation last Friday. They hoped to get his innings count up a bit more and then let up on the gas so he could be ready to take on 33 starts in 2026.
Ugly in General
At the time of the injury, the Giants already trailed 3-0. Gavin Sheets and Manny Machado hit early homers, and once Roupp departed, Sheets hit another bomb to make it a six-run game. Right after Roupp was carted off, there was an error on second baseman Christian Koss and a balk by reliever Joey Lucchesi.
The most disappointing play, though, might have come in the second inning. After back-to-back two-out singles by Jung Hoo Lee and Koss, lefty JP Sears walked Tyler Fitzgerald. The Padres held a mound meeting and then Patrick Bailey popped up a first-pitch slider, ending the threat.
Hometown Homer
San Diego native Casey Schmitt finally got the Giants on the board in the fourth with a solo shot to left. Schmitt jumped on an outside fastball from Sears and yanked it into the seats.
The homer was Schmitt’s eighth of the year and gave him 15 RBI since July 4, the second-most on the team to Willy Adames (24). It was his first career homer at Petco Park, which is 20 minutes from his high school and 15 minutes from San Diego State, where he played college ball.
While the Mets parted ways with a handful of valuable prospects before last month's trade deadline, their farm system is still packed with high-end talent that could soon produce at the major league level.
ESPN released its in-season Top 100 prospects list on Wednesday, and six Mets youngsters made the cut. The group of farmhands is headlined by shortstop Jett Williams (No. 18), with right-handers Nolan McLean (No. 19) and Jonah Tong (No. 21), outfielders Carson Benge (No. 27) and A.J. Ewing (No. 74), and right-hander Brandon Sproat (No. 83) ranked behind.
Williams, the top prospect on SNY's post-deadline rankings list, was among four players who were promoted to Triple-A Syracuse last week. In seven games at the highest minor league level, the 21-year-old is hitting .286 with three extra-base hits. He also logged 25-plus doubles, 25-plus stolen bases, and an .867 OPS in 96 games with Double-A Binghamton.
McLean impressed in his big league debut at Citi Field last weekend, striking out eight across 5.1 scoreless innings against the Mariners. The call-up was also warranted, as the 24-year-old showed off his effective five-pitch mix by registering a laudable 2.78 ERA with 97 strikeouts over 87.1 innings (16 games) with Triple-A. He shouldn't see the minors again in 2025.
Tong, ranked second on SNY's updated list, has emerged as one of baseball's most coveted pitching prospects. The 22-year-old shoved in Double-A, posting a lights-out 1.59 ERA with 162 punchouts in 20 starts. He was also nothing short of dominant in his first Triple-A outing last weekend, as he struck out nine over 5.2 scoreless frames.
There's a sizable gap between Benge and Ewing on ESPN's list, but both outfielders rank inside SNY's new Top 10. Benge, the club's first-round pick in 2024, began the season with High-A Brooklyn (60 games) and recently reached Triple-A (four games) after playing 32 games at Double-A. Across all three levels, Benge has slashed .306/.413/.504 with 42 extra-base hits.
Sproat ranks last among ESPN's group of six, but the 24-year-old right-hander is nearing a big-league opportunity. The Mets considered calling him up last week -- McLean won that battle instead -- and he's overcome first-half inconsistencies in Triple-A with a sharp 2.05 ERA across his last five starts. In his most recent outing, he fanned eight over six innings of one-run ball.
ESPN also mentioned third baseman Jacob Reimer as one of 10 prospects ranked just outside the Top 100 who also weren't featured in the preseason Top 200 list.
Thompson hit the market as a Group 6 unrestricted free agent (UFA) this summer after not being re-signed by the New York Islanders. This is after the 6-foot-1 winger posted eight goals, 13 assists, and 21 points in 65 AHL games with the Bridgeport Islanders in 2024-25. He did not make an appearance in an NHL game this past season with New York.
Thompson was selected by the Devils with the 96th overall pick of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft. In 11 games over three seasons with the Devils from 2020-21 to 2022-23, he recorded one assist, seven hits, and a minus-4 rating. His time with the Devils organization ended during the 2023-24 season when he was traded to the Islanders in exchange for Arnaud Durandeau.
2 Devils Who Could Be Nice Surprises The New Jersey Devils will be looking to take another step in the right direction in 2025-26 after getting back into the playoffs this past spring. They certainly have a good-looking roster on paper, as they have big-time stars in Jack Hughes, Nico Hischier, and Jesper Bratt leading the charge.
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.
With more talent in the system than Pittsburgh has had in years - and 13 picks in the 2025 NHL Draft - top prospects lists are becoming more competitive and more difficult to discern. Since the prospect pool is deepening, The Hockey News - Pittsburgh Penguins takes a look at the top-20 prospects in the organization.
Next on our list is No. 14, and this is where we cover one of the Penguins' three first-round picks this year in forward Bill Zonnon.
#14: F Bill Zonnon
Zonnon was selected 22nd overall by the Penguins in this year's draft, and he had a great year for the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies of the QMJHL. He registered 28 goals and 83 points in 64 regular season games as well as eight goals and 16 points in 13 playoff games.
There's no doubt that Zonnon, 18, can produce, but where his value really shines is in his all-around game. The 6-foot-2, 187-pound center has a power forward-like toolset and a ton of versatility to boot, playing in all situations and capable of filling many different roles in a lineup.
He can skate and has great edgework, he is a high-IQ playmaker, he's an elite forechecker, he's deceptive, and he works relentlessly to stay on the puck and keep plays alive. He has a physical edge to his game as well, and he has a shot with some pop.
🍎 Dyllan Gill (#10 in white) picks up the primary assist on this goal. He gets the puck from Daniil Bourosh (‘04), takes the shot and the rebound is put home by Bill Zonnon (‘06). -@HuskiesRnpic.twitter.com/4hSDtcKYdp
One of the most intriguing things about Zonnon is that he's a high-floor player. If he can maximize his offensive skillset and continue to grow and round out his overall game, he has the potential to be an effective top-six player who can rotate between center and the wing. Even if he doesn't, he's more than likely going to be a higher-profile bottom-six player who can play some tough minutes and produce enough to be an important piece on a third line.
There isn't much Zonnon can't do, and Penguins fans - as well as the organization - should be excited by his upside. And, honestly, he probably should be higher in this ranking, but as is the case with some others in this range, the Penguins simply have a lot more talent in their system than they have in recent years, making some of these decisions tough.
It's very possible that at this time next year, he will be sniffing the top-five. For now, we Zonnon him at 14, and there is a ton of room for him to continue to develop into a future impact NHL forward.
Edgardo Henriquez, delivering a pitch during Game 4 of the NLCS against the New York Mets at Citi Field, has held opponents to a .120 batting average in seven appearances this season. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Edgardo Henriquez has a gift. He can throw a baseball faster than all but a few humans in history.
Yet he prefers to think of it as something he and God created together, not something that was just given to him.
“We’ve worked for that,” said Henriquez, who frequently uses the plural pronoun when talking about himself. “All the work, the effort, the physics. And God's reward, most of all.”
Wherever the lightning in his right arm came from, he’s making good use of it. Of the 83 pitches he’s thrown this season entering Wednesday's game, 28 have topped 101 miles per hour. The fastest hit 103.3 mph on the radar gun last Saturday, making it the hardest-thrown pitch by a Dodger since Statcast began tracking speed in 2015 and likely the fastest pitch in franchise history.
“Now we have to stay consistent,” he said in Spanish. “Even growing up in Venezuela, I always threw hard.”
What he didn’t do in Venezuela was pitch because when he signed as a 16-year-old in 2018, Henriquez was a catcher. The Dodgers moved him to the other side of the plate a year later, when they got him to their Dominican academy.
The process was not a smooth one. The right-hander allowed 22 runs in 30 innings in his first season. Then, after sitting out the summer of 2020 because of the COVID-19 pandemic, he came to the U.S. a year later and went 2-3 with a 4.93 ERA in 13 games split between the Arizona Complex League and Single A Rancho Cucamonga.
The Dodgers projected him as a starter but after Henriquez missed the 2023 season to Tommy John surgery, he came back throwing gas and the team moved him to the bullpen. The results were spectacular, with Henriquez climbing four levels, from Low A Rancho Cucamonga to the majors, in six months to make his big-league debut in the final week of the regular season.
And he announced his presence with authority, topping 101 mph twice to earn the save in his third game.
Henriquez grew up in Cumaná, a historic beach city of about half a million people wedged between the Manzanares River and Venezuela’s Caribbean coast, 250 miles east of Caracas. The oldest continuously inhabited Spanish settlement in South America, it has been the birthplace of poets and presidents. But baseball players? Not so much.
Pitcher Armando Galarraga, who was robbed of a perfect game by an umpire’s call in 2010, is probably the best known of Cumaná’s big leagues while Maracay, on the other end of the country, has produced more than two dozen players, among them All-Stars Bobby Abreu, Miguel Cabrera and Elvis Andrus.
“Maracay, yes. They say that is the birthplace of baseball in Venezuela,” Henriquez said. “But the truth is it’s Cumaná.”
Henriquez took to the game at an early age, playing on local fields and sandlots. And because he was among the biggest of the neighborhood kids, he was put behind the plate. The Dodgers liked his size — he looks much bigger than the 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds he’s credited with on the roster — and arm so they offered him $80,000 to sign as an international free agent with the intention of making him a pitcher.
Before the elbow-reconstruction surgery, Henriquez touched 101 mph with his fastball. But he came back throwing even harder, averaging 99 mph and reaching 104 in the minors last summer. That earned him a September promotion and a spot on the roster for the Dodgers’ first two postseason series.
He was also in line for a spot on the opening day roster this season before a metatarsal injury in his left foot landed him in a walking boot, sidelining him for most of spring training.
Neither the Dodgers nor Henriquez will talk about how the injury happened.
“I'd rather keep that to myself,” the pitcher said this week.
Yet that setback proved just another obstacle for Henriquez to overcome, and after striking out 36 batters in 23 2/3 innings for Triple A Oklahoma City, he was summoned back to the Dodgers a month ago.
In some ways, he was a different pitcher.
“He looks much more confident,” manager Dave Roberts said. “I think he was confident last year, but there was like a fake confidence, understandably. He knows his stuff plays here, so it's good to see.”
His record-setting pitch came in his sixth of seven scoreless appearances when he struck out pinch-hitter Ryan O’Hearn on a four-seam fastball in the seventh inning of a win over the San Diego Padres.
His parents, Edgar and Erika, were visiting from Venezuela and in the stands at Dodger Stadium for the pitch to O’Hearn, one that has generated a lot of attention on social media. As a result, Roberts said pitching coach Mark Prior and bullpen coach Josh Bard are making sure Henriquez understands there’s more to pitching that just lighting up the radar gun.
As good as the four-seamer is, however, it may not be Henriquez’s best pitch. His cutter, which sits in the mid-90s, can be all but unhittable and he also has a devastating slider. He’ll need every bit of that repertoire to succeed in the majors, said Chris Forbes, the senior director of player development for the Colorado Rockies, because the number of hard-throwers is growing.
“If there isn’t deception, there isn’t ride, [hitters] can catch up if you don't have something else that they can think about,” he said.
So far the hitters aren’t catching up: In seven innings this summer entering Wednesday, Henriquez has allowed just three hits and walked one while striking out four. Opponents are hitting .120 against him.
It’s been a rapid rise for Henriquez, who has gone from teenage catcher to big league reliever, surviving a global pandemic, Tommy John surgery and a fractured bone in his foot to pitch for a World Series champion.
But there’s still one goal left, albeit one he talks about only grudgingly.
On a team without set bullpen roles, Henriquez wants to be a closer, using his blazing fastball not just to demoralize hitters but to shut down games as well.
“Whatever God has in store for me. We'll work wherever and keep going,” he said. “But yes, I'd like to be a closer.”
Shortly before Missouri State and Delaware announced their jumps to Conference USA, the NCAA Division I Council in October 2023 increased what had been a nominal $5,000 fee to join the FBS to an eyebrow-raising $5 million. The schools decided it was worth it anyway.
Outfielder Jose Siri hasn’t suited up in a game for the Mets since April 12, when he fouled a ball off his leg and fractured his left tibia against the Athletics.
But it sounds like there’s a chance he could be back for the Mets before the season is over.
Speaking to reporters ahead of Wednesday’s matchup with the Washington Nationals, Carlos Mendoza said that 30-year-old could begin a rehab assignment next week.
“Siri is doing a lot of baseball activity, so hopefully he starts playing minor league games next week,” said Mendoza.
The speedy Siri was acquired by the Mets in a November trade with the Tampa Bay Rays, sending right-hander Eric Orze to Tampa. The Mets clearly planned on playing Siri often in center field, as he started eight of the Mets’ first 14 games in center.
Known primarily for his defense and speed, Siri was just 1-for-20 at the plate with one RBI before going down with his injury, though he did steal a pair of bases and walked four times.
Jesse Winker Update
Meanwhile, it doesn’t seem like Jesse Winker is getting any closer to a return.
The veteran outfielder and DH missed time due to an oblique injury, and then came back and played just two games before a back ailment landed him on the IL once again.
“With Wink, he’s still not doing much,” Mendoza said. “…Some good days, then he’s having a hard time recovering at times, so it’s kind of like we’re still playing it slow with him.”
The 31-year-old Winker has played in just 26 games for the Mets this season, and despite the less-than-positive update from Mendoza on Wednesday, the skipper is still hopeful that Winker can return before the end of the season.
“That’s the plan as of right now,” Mendoza said. “The goal is that he can be a player for us at some point, but we’ve just got to wait.”
Boise State has a second-year starter in quarterback Maddux Madsen, who threw for more than 3,000 yards with 23 touchdowns, and a deep offensive line returning 10 players who started a game.
The New York Rangers essentially swapped K’Andre Miller for Vladislav Gavrikov this offseason.
Shortly after signing Gavrikov to a seven-year, $49 million contract, the Rangers traded K’Andre Miller to the Carolina Hurricanes, who ultimately signed an eight-year, $60 million contract.
The change from Miller to Gavrikov marks a drastic shift to the Rangers’ blueline and shaping of their top-four defensemen.
While Miller is younger than Gavrikov, the Rangers should gain more stability with Gavrikov and will likely be better off this upcoming season.
Gavrikov is known for his shutdown presence and defensively minded game, traits that the Rangers desperately needed.
Despite having an extraordinary amount of potential, Miller struggled to defend in his own zone and was prone to committing costly turnovers.
From a defensive standpoint, the Rangers certainly improve having Gavrikov as opposed to Miller.
“We’ve liked Gavvy for a long time, watching him play for Columbus and LA and the attributes he’s going to bring to our D-corps for many years to come have us very excited,” Rangers president and general manager Chris Drury said.
Rutta was one of the top unrestricted free agent (UFA) defensemen still available for the taking. Due to this, it certainly seemed possible that he could have landed a contract or at least a professional tryout (PTO) from an NHL club. However, based on this report, Rutta will instead be continuing his career overseas.
Rutta spent the 2022-23 season with the Penguins, where he posted three goals, six assists, nine points, 70 blocks, 71 hits, and a plus-3 rating. His time with the Penguins ended when he was traded to the San Jose Sharks in the deal that brought star blueliner Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh.
In 417 career NHL games split between the Chicago Blackhawks, Tampa Bay Lightning, Penguins, and Sharks, Rutta recorded 23 goals, 75 assists, 98 points, and a plus-25 rating.
After paying his dues in Czechia for a long time, Jan Rutta finally earned an NHL opportunity. In 2017-18, Rutta made his NHL debut in his age-27 season with the Chicago Blackhawks.
During his "rookie season", he played in 57 games for Chicago where he tallied six goals and 14 assists for 20 points. After that, he put together a respectable NHL career.
Midway through the next season, 2018-19, Rutta was traded to the Tampa Bay Lightning. There, he won the Stanley Cup twice. He was a solid depth piece on a team loaded with talent on the back end.
Rutta had one year with the Pittsburgh Penguins after leaving Tampa, followed by two years with the San Jose Sharks, coming into this off-season.
Now, it sounds like Rutta, 35, will end his NHL career and take his talents to Europe. According to a report from Blick, a Swiss media outlet, Rutta will sign with Genève-Servette of Switzerland’s National League.
This Swiss pro team is loaded with former NHL players, so they will have a chance to win a league title in 2025-26 with Rutta joining the squad.
If this comes to fruition, it will end a nice NHL career for the Czech defender with 23 goals, 75 assists, and 98 points in 417 games.
For some time, Rutta was impactful enough to be a part of championship-caliber teams in Tampa Bay, which he should be proud of. He will now play overseas to end his hockey-playing career on his terms.
LeBron James of the Miami Heat boxes out Danny Green of the San Antonio Spurs during Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals. A former Heat employee is said to have admitted in federal court to stealing a jersey worn by James in that game and many other valuable items from the team. (Mike Ehrmann / Getty Images)
Retired Miami police officer Marcos Tomas Perez appeared Tuesday at U.S. Superior Court for the Southern District of Florida and issued a guilty plea to transporting and transferring stolen goods in interstate commerce, after pleading not guilty to the felony count at an initial hearing earlier this month.
Perez's attorney, Robert Buschel, told NBC6 in Florida after Tuesday's hearing that Perez is "depressed, naturally, but he accepts responsibility for his behavior and we're gonna work through this issue in his life."
Perez, 62, faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. He is scheduled to be sentenced on Oct. 31.
"I hope that the judge will consider all factors in his life and his history as a good person," Buschel said. "He was an exemplary police officer in the city of Miami, he's been retired for close to 10 years. This was an unfortunate set of decisions that he made and he's going to accept responsibility for that."
Buschel declined to comment any further when reached by The Times via email Wednesday.
According to a news release by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida and the Miami field office of the FBI, Perez has admitted to stealing hundreds of game-worn jerseys and other memorabilia worth millions of dollars belonging to the Heat and selling them to online brokers.
One such item was a jersey that LeBron James wore in Game 7 of the 2013 NBA Finals, during which James and the Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs 95-88 to win their second consecutive championship. After Perez allegedly sold the jersey for around $100,000, it was sold in an online auction for $3.7 million in 2023.
