Sports
Kirby Smart, Georgia in self-improve mode; Alabama on horizon
Georgia coach Kirby Smart looks on during the second half of a NCAA Aflac Kickoff game against Tennessee Tech in Athens, Ga., on Saturday, Sept. 7, 2024. No. 2 Georgia started the off week zeroing in on personal improvement plans and preparation for a showdown with Alabama.
With more than one week to prepare for an opponent, the Bulldogs have won 21 games in a row under Smart.
“I certainly attribute a lot of it to having really good players,” Smart said.
Georgia has two bye weeks under the new SEC schedule and planned for time dedicated to recruiting and with position coaches drilling into fine detail as part of a self scout before rolling into prep for the Crimson Tide.
“We haven’t started on Alabama yet,” Smart said. “We’re working on us right now. As the week goes, we’re honing in on that. We worked on other opponents yesterday, we’ll work on other opponents today.”
The Bulldogs survived a trip to Kentucky last week, leaving Lexington with a 13-12 victory and stands at 3-0. No. 4 Alabama is 3-0 and also on a bye this week.
Smart said the SEC explanation for roughing-the-passer penalty last week on Jalon Walker was that he could have avoided driving Kentucky quarterback Brock Vandagriff, a transfer from Georgia, into the ground.
“It’s tough. I’ve got a feeling it’s going to be that way. It’s going to be that way for a lot of people,” Smart said, noting the league felt Walker could have landed a different way. “They’re trying to protect that position.”
Walker disagreed, but will not dwell on the infraction. He said he can’t wait to dive into Alabama preparation, a game he’s been focused on since losing the 2023 SEC Championship Game.
Saturday’s college football slate intrigues Smart, but he said he won’t be intentional tracking future opponents live — such as new No. 1 Texas — during the bye week.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mariners' pitching blanks Blue Jays for second straight game
Jul 5, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners designated hitter Cal Raleigh (29) hits an RBI-sacrifice fly against the Toronto Blue Jays during the third inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images Emerson Hancock pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Mitch Garver homered as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 Sunday afternoon to take two-of-three in their weekend series.
Mariners’ pitching held the Blue Jays without a run for the final 24 innings of the set. Toronto scored twice in the third inning of a 2-0 victory Friday before being routed 11-0 Saturday.
Hancock (6-4) was originally set to follow Logan Gilbert in a piggyback start Saturday, but the Mariners scrapped that plan. The move worked out as Gilbert retired 22 of the 23 batters he faced before Hancock nearly matched him.
The only hits Hancock allowed were to a pair of All-Stars — a one-out double to left by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first inning and a one-out single by Ernie Clement in the second.
After Clement’s hit, Hancock retired the next 11 batters before walking Yohendrick Pinango leading off the sixth. Hancock induced the next batter, Nathan Lukes, to ground into a double play. Guerrero drew a walk before Hancock got Kazuma Okamoto to pop out to short to end the inning.
Hancock retired the side in the seventh. The right-hander finished with five strikeouts in a 92-pitch effort.
Mariners reliever Gabe Speier pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and closer Andres Munoz worked the ninth, allowing a leadoff single to Lukes, to wrap up the three-hitter.
The Mariners took the lead in the third inning as No. 9 hitter Victor Robles led off with a line-drive single to center off Toronto starter Trey Yesavage (4-4). J.P. Crawford walked and both runners advanced as Randy Arozarena grounded out to third. Cal Raleigh followed with a sacrifice fly to right to start the scoring.
Seattle added to its lead in the fourth as, with one out, Cole Young reached on a throwing error by shortstop Clement. Garver lined a 2-2 fastball over the left-field fence to make it 3-0.
The Mariners tacked on an insurance run in the eighth off reliever Mason Fluharty. With one out, Arozarena reached on an infield single and advanced to third on Raleigh’s single to right. Josh Naylor hit a grounder off the third-base bag to score Arozarena.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Eury Perez tosses 7 perfect innings, Marlins hold off Athletics
Jul 5, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Perez (39) throws a pitch against the Athletics during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images Eury Perez dominated with seven perfect innings and the Miami Marlins smacked four homers before holding on for a wild 9-8 victory over the Athletics on Sunday at West Sacramento, Calif., to complete a three-game sweep.
The Marlins immediately lost the perfect game and no-hitter in the eighth inning once Perez was pulled as Lake Bachar walked Lawrence Butler and gave up a single to Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. Still, Miami won for the 13th time in its past 17 games to move to a season-best seven games above .500.
Perez (5-6) struck out eight while throwing 92 pitches. It’s the third time the 23-year-old has pitched seven innings in his career.
Heriberto Hernandez reached base five times on three hits and two walks, including two homers, and Otto Lopez had three hits, one homer and three RBIs to raise his major league-best average to .346.
Leo Jimenez also went deep for the Marlins, who set a franchise record with 12 homers for a three-game series.
Xavier Edwards, Liam Hicks and Brian Navarreto added two hits apiece for the Marlins.
Jonah Heim belted a grand slam and had a career-high six RBIs for the Athletics, who lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
Gage Jump (3-3) of the Athletics was roughed up for six runs and eight hits over three innings.
Amazingly, the A’s had the winning run up at the plate in the bottom of the ninth.
Trailing 9-5, Zack Gelof singled off Pete Fairbanks to start the ninth and Butler followed with a double. Gelof scored on a passed ball by Joe Mack before Fairbanks retired the next two batters.
Fairbanks then walked Max Muncy, who moved to second on defensive indifference, and Heim delivered a two-run single. Brian Serven then grounded out to end the contest.
After an afternoon of futile at-bats against Perez, the Athletics quickly rallied against Bachar.
Butler walked for the first A’s baserunner and Kuroda-Grauer followed with a high shallow pop that fell in right field for the first hit. Carlos Cortes followed with a RBI double that one-hopped the right-field wall.
After Muncy walked to load the bases, Heim unloaded them with his blast to right to make it five runs in five batters since Perez exited.
Serven followed with a bloop single to end Bachar’s outing. Michael Peterson entered and used a fielder’s choice, a caught stealing and a strikeout of Nick Kurtz to halt the uprising.
In the top of the ninth, Lopez reached on an infield hit and eventually scored on Hicks’ infield tap out.
Hernandez was the second batter of the game against Jump when he launched a 437-foot blast to center.
The Marlins tacked on two runs in the second on Lopez’s ground-rule double and Hicks’ sacrifice fly.
Jimenez’s two-run homer in the third made it 5-0. Lopez added a sacrifice fly later in the inning.
Lopez and Hernandez hit back-to-back homers off Mason Barnett in the sixth to make it 8-0.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Olivia Miles, Natasha Howard guide Lynx into 2-game set with Sun
Jun 28, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles (5) and forward Natasha Howard (1) celebrate during the second half against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Olivia Miles’ eyes lit up when she was asked to describe the components of a great pick-and-roll play.
Minnesota’s rookie point guard stood a couple feet from her teammate, Natasha Howard, who has thrived as the Lynx’s paint presence in pick-and-roll actions.
“Ooh, that’s a great question,” Miles said. “I think one is synergy: It’s knowing where she wants to be. And two: It’s on her and her getting me open first.
“So she gets me open first and then I get her open, if that makes sense. It’s like a one-two punch.”
The Lynx (15-5) will look to keep the punches coming when they tip off against the Connecticut Sun (4-16) on Monday evening in Minneapolis. It is the first game of a home-and-home series between the teams, who will travel to Connecticut for a follow-up game Wednesday evening.
Minnesota aims to bounce back from a 99-86 loss against the New York Liberty on Friday. Despite the setback, the Lynx have won five of their past seven games.
Napheesa Collier remained sidelined Friday as she recovers from offseason surgery on her ankle. She returned to practice last week, and her return is imminent.
Howard said she and her teammates cannot wait to welcome back Collier, who averaged 22.9 points and 7.3 rebounds last season. It is uncertain whether Collier will return Monday, but either way she is close to coming back to the court.
“We’re all excited that Phee is coming back pretty soon,” Howard said. “The things that she’s capable of doing, it’s going to be extremely fun out there with me and her on the floor, with (Miles) — how the rotation is going to be, it’s going to be really fun.”
Meanwhile, Connecticut would like to have more fun after a rough start to the season.
The Sun lost seven straight games before winning back-to-back contests against the Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics to end their June schedule. But they could not make it three wins in a row as they lost 86-83 to the Dallas Wings on Thursday.
“It’s a quick turnaround for us,” Sun forward Aaliyah Edwards said. “We’re playing Minnesota, so we’re going to have a ‘next game’ mentality and mindset. Going into that game — our biggest lead was 14 (against Dallas) — we can’t give that up.
“And that started from coming out of the half flat and letting them be the aggressor and then just closing out the game at the end.”
Leila Lacan leads Connecticut with 12.5 points per game to go along with a team-high 4.5 assists. Miles tops Minnesota with 18.5 points and 5.7 assists per contest while Howard scores 17.2 ppg, Courtney Williams is third with 15.9 ppg and Kayla McBride adds 14.8 ppg.
–Field Level Media
