Sports
Ineligible Pitt RB Rodney Hammond gets green light to play
Pitt’s Rodney Hammond Jr. (6) was cleared to play this week at North Carolina. Pitt senior running back Rodney Hammond was ruled eligible after missing the first month of the season and will play Saturday when the Panthers square off with North Carolina.
Hammond practiced with the team for the entire month of August during fall camp before the school declared him ineligible the day before the season began on Aug. 31 against Kent State.
“He’s ready to play,” Pitt coach Pat Narduzzi said Thursday. “That’s all I care about. That’s all I focus on.”
Hammond, who has 15 career touchdowns at Pitt, was allowed to continue practicing in September. He entered August with expectations to start and carry a significant load on offense after leading the team last season with 564 yards and four touchdowns.
Now back in the mix, Pitt is 4-0 to start the season and filled the RB vacancy with Western Carolina transfer Desmond Reid. Reid transferred to Pitt along with former WCU teammate Censere Lee after last season and both have produced in key roles for new Panthers offensive coordinator Kade Bell, who previously coached both players at WCU.
In addition to a 78-yard punt return for a touchdown in the opener, Reid has been a powerful engine for the Panthers’ offense, averaging 7.3 yards per carry and 12.8 yards per catch to lead the conference in all-purpose yards at 188 per game.
Narduzzi said he was informed Wednesday that Hammond would be cleared for Saturday’s visit to Chapel Hill, N.C. He credited Hammond for accepting the coaching staff’s assessment that Reid would remain “the guy” for the Panthers.
“He’s been great, he’s been mature,” Narduzzi said.
“It’s weird because you don’t know when it’s going to happen. But I grabbed him over the weekend and just said, ‘You need to take every rep, we’re playing the best.’ He was on the scout team on Tuesday and I said, ‘You need to go out there and play and be that guy and give us the best possible look. You’re the guy and I want you taking every rep.’ He went out there Tuesday and got after it. Obviously, things happen for a reason and he’s got some good work in.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. exits vs. White Sox with hamstring tightness
May 31, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) hits a solo home run against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images Atlanta Braves star outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. exited Tuesday’s game at the Chicago White Sox in the fourth inning after sustaining an apparent left leg injury.
The team later described Acuna’s ailment as hamstring tightness.
While attempting to leg out an infield single, Acuna pulled up and hobbled past first base and then off the field into the locker room after appearing to sustain the injury on his final step before reaching the bag.
He was replaced in right field and atop the lineup by Eli White.
Acuna, the 2018 National League Rookie of the Year and 2023 NL MVP, missed 14 games earlier this season due to a hamstring strain while similarly trying to leg out an infield hit. He saw his 2021 and 2024 seasons end prematurely due to torn ACLs.
The five-time All-Star entered the day hitting .254 with seven homers and 22 RBIs in 52 games. He’s a career .287 hitter with 193 homers and 481 RBIs over 869 games across nine seasons with Atlanta.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Freddie Freeman posts 2,500th hit in 10-run 7th as Dodgers drub Pirates
Jun 9, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hits an RBI single to record his twenty-five hundred MLB career hit against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Freddie Freeman recorded his 2,500th career hit, Andy Pages drove in three runs and Shohei Ohtani drove in two more during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 10-run seventh inning, which propelled them to a 12-3 win over the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
In the seventh, Pages hit a two-run home run off Pirates reliever Wilber Dotel (1-1) and a sacrifice fly off Brandan Bidois. Ohtani hit an RBI double against Dotel, then Bidois walked him with the bases loaded to force in another run.
Freeman’s milestone came on an RBI single up the middle off Bidois to score Alex Freeland and cap the scoring in the inning.
Every Dodger in the starting lineup scored in the inning as the visitors sent 15 batters to the plate.
Paul Skenes started for the Pirates, who lost their fourth in a row, and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks and struck out seven over six innings.
Skenes retired Ohtani all three times he faced him, including a strikeout in the third.
Dotel allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits and one walk without recording an out. The Pirates needed 68 pitches and used three relievers until Mookie Betts lined out to left against Dennis Santana to end the seventh.
Dotel had allowed two runs in his first 16 2/3 career innings before Tuesday.
The first nine Dodgers reached safely until Dalton Rushing struck out in his second at-bat of the seventh. Rushing started behind the plate for the third consecutive game with Will Smith still dealing with neck stiffness.
Max Muncy finished with three hits and an RBI while Freeman, Betts, Freeland and Santiago Espinal each had two of Los Angeles’ 15 hits.
In the sixth, Will Klein (2-2) relieved starter Eric Lauer, who gave up two runs on back-to-back home runs by Bryan Reynolds and Ryan O’Hearn with two outs in the first. Lauer struck out five and allowed three hits and no walks before Klein struck out three over 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Pittsburgh infielder Tyler Callihan made his first career pitching appearance and threw a scoreless ninth.
Oneil Cruz was a late scratch for the Pirates as he continues to deal with left hand discomfort.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Freddie Freeman posts 2,500th hit in 10-run 7th; Dodgers drub Pirates
Jun 9, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (5) hits an RBI single to record his twenty-five hundred MLB career hit against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Freddie Freeman recorded his 2,500th career hit, Andy Pages drove in three runs and Shohei Ohtani drove in two more during the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 10-run seventh inning, which propelled them to a 12-3 win over the host Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.
In the seventh, Pages hit a two-run home run off Pirates reliever Wilber Dotel (1-1) and a sacrifice fly off Brandan Bidois. Ohtani hit an RBI double against Dotel, then Bidois walked him with the bases loaded to force in another run.
Freeman’s milestone came on an RBI single up the middle off Bidois to score Alex Freeland and cap the scoring in the inning.
Every Dodger in the starting lineup scored in the inning as the visitors sent 15 batters to the plate.
Paul Skenes started for the Pirates, who lost their fourth in a row, and gave up two runs on six hits and two walks and struck out seven over six innings.
Skenes retired Ohtani all three times he faced him, including a strikeout in the third.
Dotel allowed six runs (five earned) on five hits and one walk without recording an out. The Pirates needed 68 pitches and used three relievers until Mookie Betts lined out to left against Dennis Santana to end the seventh.
Dotel had allowed two runs in his first 16 2/3 career innings before Tuesday.
The first nine Dodgers reached safely until Dalton Rushing struck out in his second at-bat of the seventh. Rushing started behind the plate for the third consecutive game with Will Smith still dealing with neck stiffness.
Max Muncy finished with three hits and an RBI while Freeman, Betts, Freeland and Santiago Espinal each had two of Los Angeles’ 15 hits.
In the sixth, Will Klein (2-2) relieved starter Eric Lauer, who gave up two runs on back-to-back home runs by Bryan Reynolds and Ryan O’Hearn with two outs in the first. Lauer struck out five and allowed three hits and no walks before Klein struck out three over 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Pittsburgh infielder Tyler Callihan made his first career pitching appearance and threw a scoreless ninth.
Oneil Cruz was a late scratch for the Pirates as he continues to deal with left hand discomfort.
–Field Level Media
Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. exits vs. White Sox with hamstring tightness
Freddie Freeman posts 2,500th hit in 10-run 7th as Dodgers drub Pirates
