The Athletics activated All-Star first baseman Nick Kurtz from the 10-day injured list prior to Saturday’s road game against the Minnesota Twins.

Kurtz sustained a right thumb capsule sprain and was placed on the IL on July 10 and the injury forced him to miss the All-Star Game. He had been elevated to American League starter when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (back) of the Toronto Blue Jays backed out.

Kurtz is batting second and serving as the designated hitter on Saturday.

Kurtz exited a 6-1 loss at Detroit on July 8 after 1 1/2 innings after he appeared to hurt the hand while trying to field a throw in the bottom of the first. The following day, he was the designated hitter and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in a 4-1 loss to the Tigers.

Kurtz, 23, is batting .266 with 20 homers and 66 RBIs in 92 games. He was the unanimous 2025 AL Rookie of the Year with a .290 batting average, 36 home runs and 86 RBIs in just 117 games.

Third baseman Max Muncy was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding move. He was recalled by the A’s earlier this week and went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in two games.

Muncy, 23, is batting .223 with five homers and 20 RBIs over 48 games. He has a .218 average in 111 big league games over the past two campaigns.

–Field Level Media

With a healthy Davis Alexander at the controls, the Montreal Alouettes have a chance to run away with the East Division pretty quickly.

When Montreal hosts the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday night, it has a chance to take a three-game lead and earn the tiebreaker with a victory.

Most of that is because Alexander has – to this point – stayed off the injured list after playing just eight games last year due to a hamstring injury. Alexander has rolled up huge numbers for the Als (5-1), passing for 2,181 yards and 11 touchdowns while setting a new CFL record by throwing 336 straight passes without an interception.

Head coach Jason Maas said he and Alexander came to an understanding that he had to curb his scrambling style to be of maximum use to the club.

“He’s very smart about how he plays and what he decides to do,” Maas said. “There’s a reason he has played (six) straight games. These things, after you’ve had one, they can reoccur and it takes a lot of time to get over them.”

While Montreal is soaring with its quarterback at 100 percent, Hamilton (3-3) got back into the win column last week when its third starting quarterback in three weeks gave the offense a big lift in a 24-23 win over Toronto.

Tre Ford hit on 21 of 27 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 109 yards on 10 attempts. The Tiger-Cats struggled mightily on offense in back-to-back losses to Winnipeg and Saskatchewan, largely because star QB Bo Levi Mitchell broke his ankle in the third quarter against Winnipeg.

“Using my legs is going to be an asset for my team,” said Ford, a former starter in Edmonton before being benched last year for Cody Fajardo. “Having legs definitely helps … being able to extend plays, run around and get first downs.”

It was really helpful last week when tackles Trevor Reid and Quinton Barrow left with injuries, forcing rookie tight end Max Mang into emergency duty as a guard.

–Field Level Media

SPEEDWAY, Ind.-Standing on pit wall as Denny Hamlin completed his qualifying lap at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Carson Hocevar raised his arms in exultation and turned to hug Spire Motorsports teammate Daniel Suarez.

Hocevar knew at that moment that Saturday’s time trials at the historic 2.5-mile oval would not be a repeat of Michigan in June, when Hamlin, as the final qualifier, knocked Hocevar off the provisional pole at the 23-year-old’s home track.

In fact, after earning his second Busch Light Pole Award of the season and the third of his career, Hocevar will lead the field to green in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 (2 p.m. ET on TNT, IMS Radio Network and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).

“I got out of the car, and they were cheering,” Hocevar said of the crowd in the grandstands near the Yard of Bricks start/finish line. “I don’t know if they were cheering for me or because I beat Denny (who qualified fifth at 185.835 mph).

“Denny stole one from me at Michigan. That’s my home track, but this is my favorite track. I love Indy.”

With a pole-winning lap at 186.598 mph in the No. 77 Chevrolet, Hocevar edged Suarez (186.382 mph) for the top starting spot by 0.056 seconds. The session was a triumph for Spire Motorsports and owner Jeff Dickerson, an Indianapolis native.

With Michael McDowell qualifying sixth at 185.762 mph, Spire put all three of its cars within the first three rows of the grid.

“It felt really good,” Hocevar said of his blistering lap. “Michael McDowell went out early and gave me the confidence that the car was going to be able stick with him putting up a good lap.

“I felt really comfortable. I love this place. … You race differently if you’re comfortable and confident here. I’ve been confident since the first lap I’ve been here.”

Toyota driver Tyler Reddick posted the third fastest lap at 186.077 mph and will start next to Joe Gibbs Racing’s Ty Gibbs (185.966 mph). Naval Base Coronado winner Corey Heim claimed the seventh starting spot, followed by Alex Bowman, AJ Allmendinger and Kyle Larson.

The top 10 featured six Chevrolets and four Toyotas. Ryan Blaney, competing against Todd Gilliland for the $1-million In-Season Challenge prize, drove the fastest Ford (185.197 mph) to a 13th-place starting spot. Gilliland qualified 36th at 182.460 mph.

Blaney will make his 400th career Cup Series start on Sunday.

Defending race winner Bubba Wallace (183.861 mph) earned the 29th grid position.

Suarez was ahead of Hocevar’s pace early in his lap but lost time through the final two corners.

“I felt like I left a little bit out there,” Suarez said. “A little mistake in corner 3, but I’m very proud of my team.”

–Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service