Sports
Blue Jays activate two-time All-Star C Alejandro Kirk (thumb)
Apr 3, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk (30) hits an RBI-double against the Chicago White Sox during the second inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Toronto Blue Jays catcher Alejandro Kirk was activated from the 60-day injured list prior to Friday’s series opener against the visiting New York Yankees.
Kirk has been sidelined since fracturing his left thumb against the Chicago White Sox on April 3.
Kirk will be behind the plate and bat fourth against the Yankees.
Kirk, 27, was 3-for-20 (.150) in five games prior to going on the IL. He had one homer and two RBIs.
The two-time All-Star is a .267 career hitter with 52 homers and 265 RBIs in 569 games since reaching the majors with Toronto in 2020.
Toronto also placed outfielder Daulton Varsho (left wrist inflammation) on the 10-day list, retroactive to Wednesday; designated catcher Tyler Heineman for assignment; and recalled outfielder Davis Schneider from Triple-A Buffalo.
Varsho was batting .256 with five homers and 17 RBIs in 64 games this season. He is in his fourth season with the Blue Jays after spending his first three campaigns with the Arizona Diamondbacks.
Heineman batted .154 with one homer and six RBIs in 31 games this season. Schneider hit .127 with one homer and eight RBIs in 38 games with Toronto earlier this season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Points race tightening as drivers tackle Pocono's 'Tricky Triangle'
Jun 22, 2025; Long Pond, Pennsylvania, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Chase Briscoe is congratulated in victory lane by driver Denny Hamlin after winning The Great American Getaway 400 at Pocono Raceway. Mandatory Credit: Matthew O’Haren-Imagn Images As the drivers move north to Pocono Raceway, the NASCAR Cup Series continues an exciting stretch with the points race having tightened significantly.
Sunday’s Great American Getaway 400 in Long Pond, Pa., will be the usual distance of 160 times around the odd, tri-cornered track design.
It also marks the fifth consecutive one-race season for the 2.5-mile speedway affectionately called the Tricky Triangle.
The 400-mile event will be the fourth one broadcast by Prime Video thus far, following the Coca-Cola 600 in Charlotte then Nashville and Michigan.
Prime has two more races on its schedule, Pocono and the inaugural road racing event at Naval Base Coronado in San Diego on June 21.
The second-year broadcast team featuring Adam Alexander, Hall of Famer Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Steve Letarte has displayed its strength in its racing knowledge and in-depth racing analysis — informative in the pre-race, race and post-race settings.
Last weekend’s numbers in Michigan’s Irish Hills were not as stunning as Denny Hamlin’s 11.11-second victory over Michigan’s Erik Jones. The No. 11 driver took control in the final 39 laps and zoomed away to the largest margin of victory since Davey Allison smoked the field by 11.72 seconds in 1991.
Prime’s coverage did draw 2.07 million viewers, a 17% increase from last year’s comparable figures and reinforcing the crew as the new gold standard in NASCAR broadcasting.
Hamlin, a 63-time winner, has seven victories at Pocono, one more than four-time series champ Jeff Gordon and the most all-time at the track. The Toyota driver’s last win there was in 2023.
Chase Briscoe is the defending race winner, while Ryan Blaney won two years ago. Toyota has left the honeymoon and vacation haven with nine of the past 13 checkered flags.
In the standings, second-place Hamlin closed his deficit to leader Tyler Reddick and is minus-51 after the No. 45 driver — Hamlin’s 23XI Racing driver — finished a season-worst 35th at Michigan and admitted the margin may soon shrink more.
“All year long we’ve done a really good job of staying out of messes like this,” Reddick said after wrecking out on Lap 83. “We were trying to open (the lead) up on the 11 after losing a little bit of ground. … Pocono’s not going to be great.”
The biggest mover going up the grid was Reddick’s teammate Bubba Wallace, whose third-place finish advanced him four spots to 11th.
Christopher Bell dropped three spots to 10th and also fractured his wrist in a violent wreck with Chase Elliott while fighting for the runner-up spot.
The accident was the hardest in the four-year history of the NextGen car and most vicious since the 2015 season, but the No. 20 is cleared for Sunday.
Josh Berry, driver of the No. 21 Ford, revealed Wednesday that he and iconic Wood Brothers Racing will part ways after two seasons. NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series champ Jesse Love, 21, may get that seat.
While the triangular track is known for gapped and lengthy green-flag runs, longstanding images of crazy clashes (see Dale Earnhardt vs. Jeremy Mayfield in 2000) and violent wrecks (Allison, Richard Petty, Steve Park and Jeff Gordon) are part of its history.
Memories are made in the Poconos.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mike Brown Is One Win Away From the Ultimate NBA Redemption Story
After firing Tom Thibodeau following New York’s Eastern Conference Finals loss last year, many people turned their nose up when the Knicks replaced him with Mike Brown.
The Knicks had a lengthy search that was stonewalled when New York was rejected permission to interview Houston Rockets head coach Ime Udoka and Minnesota Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch.
The result landed on Brown, who was fired mid-season by the Sacramento Kings in 2024.
Brown’s firing in Sacramento came one day after he blasted De’Aaron Fox for a boneheaded play. Fox’s error in Game 4 cost the San Antonio Spurs an opportunity to even the series at two games a piece – and proved Brown’s point from many seasons ago.
But his win against Fox isn’t the only thing that would be vindicated if the Knicks can win the championship this season. Brown has won four championships as an assistant coach, but doesn’t have a ring of his own as a head coach.
His journey began with a young LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2005. Brown lost the 2007 NBA Finals, where the Cavs were overmatched by a better Spurs team. Now, more than two decades later, Brown is one win away from beating that same franchise to win his first championship as a head coach.
After being fired by the Cavs in 2010 as owner Dan Gilbert tried to lure LeBron James back to Cleveland, Brown spent two seasons as the head coach of the Los Angeles Lakers as Phil Jackson’s successor. He dealt with a shortened season due to the lockout and then had to deal with the headache of trying to make washed up Steve Nash and Dwight Howard work alongside Kobe Bryant.
Naturally, that gig didn’t last long.
Gilbert admitted firing Brown the first time was a “mistake” and the Cavs hired him again in 2013. But that season was the first time in Brown’s career that he posted a losing record, and reported infighting in the locker room caused Gilbert to fire him again. Brown already conquered revenge on Cleveland by sweeping the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Brown spent two seasons away from the NBA before joining Steve Kerr’s staff with the Golden State Warriors as an assistant coach from 2016-2022. That was one of the most dominant stretches in NBA history and led Brown to getting hired by the Kings, which resulted in Sacramento’s first postseason appearance since 2006.
Brown has won everywhere he’s gone. But over the course of two decades, it’s never come all the way together for the 56-year-old head coach. Now, he needs to coach his way to one more win in New York’s next three attempts to deliver the Knicks their first championship in 53 years.
Sports
Ghana player, facing rape charges, denied entry to Canada
Oct 14, 2023; Charlotte, NC, USA; Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey (5) dribbles against Mexico during the first half at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images Ghana midfielder Thomas Partey will miss next week’s World Cup opener against Panama after being denied entry into Canada.
The Canadian government denied a visa application for Partey, 32, who is awaiting trial in England on multiple charges of rape and sexual assault. The former Arsenal star has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Ghana’s opening match in Group L is Wednesday against Panama in Toronto.
A statement from FIFA confirmed Friday that Partey will not be allowed to cross the Canadian border with his team, whose World Cup base camp is in Providence, R.I.
“FIFA can confirm that player Thomas Partey will be unable to travel from Ghana’s team base camp in Boston, USA, to Canada for their first match against Panama on Wednesday, 17 June, as his visa application has been refused by the Canadian government,” read the statement obtained by The Athletic.
“FIFA is not involved in the immigration processes of host countries, including the adjudication of visas. As with previous FIFA events, the host government ultimately determines who receives a visa and is admitted into the country.”
Partey, who currently plays for Spain’s Villarreal, has scored 16 goals in 58 career caps for Ghana, including three goals during the 2026 World Cup qualifying process.
Partey presumably will rejoin Ghana for group-stage matches in the U.S. against England on June 23 in Foxborough, Mass., and against Croatia on June 27 in Philadelphia.
–Field Level Media
Points race tightening as drivers tackle Pocono's 'Tricky Triangle'
Mike Brown Is One Win Away From the Ultimate NBA Redemption Story
