Baker Mayfield: Disappointing to lose Mike Evans, but we have a lot o…

NEW YORK – Aaron Judge's pursuit of another historic season, and the Yankees' hopes of dominating the American League, took a major hit late Thursday night when the superstar slugger was diagnosed with a stress fracture of the first rib on his right side – an injury expected to sideline him for two to three months. Few teams are built to withstand the loss of a three-time MVP for half a season. Fewer, still, can absorb the absence of a player who touches nearly every aspect of the game and clubhouse the way Judge does. The Yankee captain’s stress fracture, though not the worst-case scenario, comes at a pivotal point in the season for New York, which entered the weekend with the most wins (37) and the best offense (114 wRC+) in the AL. What’s next for the Yankees without their most feared hitter? What’s next for Judge’s recovery? How does his injury impact the rest of the league? Let’s dive in. What’s Next For Judge The 34-year-old right fielder will be re-imaged in approximately four to six weeks to determine the level of healing on his rib. Until then, he’ll rest and engage in limited activity. Learning the injury is a stress fracture – something Judge has actually dealt with earlier in his career – was a bit of good news for the Yankees after all the alarming testing and imaging he underwent this week. Judge isn’t sure when the injury occurred, according to Yankees skipper Aaron Boone, but he’d felt it for a couple of weeks and flagged it with the team sometime after the Yankees’ series finale against the Athletics last Sunday. Then, over the span of four days, multiple specialists across different states looked at his MRI, CT scan and X-rays. On Thursday, Dr. Gregory Pearl, a Dallas, Texas-based vascular surgeon who specializes in thoracic outlet syndrome (TOS), examined Judge’s images. In some cases, TOS can be career-ending; Judge’s diagnosis of a stress fracture is comparatively a positive. In Sept. 2019, Judge sustained a stress fracture of his first right rib and a partially collapsed lung while attempting a diving catch in a game. He played through the injury into the 2019 postseason, but he would have been on the injured list until June 2020 had the pandemic-shortened season started on time. Judge hasn’t spoken to reporters since last weekend, during New York’s trip to West Sacramento, so it’s unclear if his current stress fracture feels more or less manageable than the last time he dealt with it. Judge’s performance started to dip around the middle of May. He batted .267 with a 1.043 OPS and 16 home runs through his first 41 games of the season. Since May 11, Judge has batted .206 with a .613 OPS and one home run in his last 18 games before landing on the IL. The last time Judge played fewer than 150 games was in 2023, when he missed two months with a fractured toe after crashing into the Dodger Stadium wall on a running catch. In a best-case scenario, Judge and the Yankees will receive the green light sometime in July for the slugger to resume baseball activities. It seems likely that the team will have to navigate the season without Judge at least until August, if not longer. What’s Next For The Yankees For the past two years, the Yankees survived injuries, slumps and roster questions because Aaron Judge remained Aaron Judge. Now — in what will be the biggest test of their season — they'll have to find out who they are without him. We got a glimpse of what their life will look like this week, as the Yankees dropped two out of three games to the Guardians, their only win coming in a tight, 2-1 victory in the series finale on Thursday. Without Judge, the Yankees lineup combined to bat just .193 in three games against Cleveland. Top outfield prospect Spencer Jones is being called up by the Yankees on Friday, according to a person familiar with their plans. Jones was promoted to the big leagues in May after outfielder Jasson Dominguez went down with injury, but he struggled at the plate, hitting .167 (4-for-24) with 12 strikeouts in 10 games, before the Yankees sent him back down to Triple-A. It would help, of course, if Jones has improved in his return to the majors, but at least some reinforcements are on the way. Slugger Giancarlo Stanton, who has been out since April 24 with a right calf strain, is making strides in his recovery. New York’s designated hitter has started to take reps in live batting practice while continuing to ramp up his running program. The Yankees expect Stanton to bypass a rehab assignment, but there’s no date for his return just yet. Perhaps Judge’s injury and absence will change his timeline. Dominguez, who has been out since May 7 after crashing into the Yankee Stadium wall and sustaining a left AC joint sprain, is scheduled to play in minor-league rehab games this weekend. It’s possible he could join the team during its series in Toronto next weekend, if not during New York’s next homestand on June 16. Beyond the immediate loss of Judge's bat, his absence raises questions about the Yankees' ability to maintain their position atop the AL. While New York has received significant contributions from breakout player Ben Rice, who has crushed 17 home runs and boasts a 1.030 OPS that’s ranked second-best in the major leagues, no player on the roster can replicate Judge's combination of power, on-base ability and presence in the heart of the lineup. It helps the Yankees that the AL features a weak and largely mediocre field this year. But it will still take everyone, and then some, for the Yankees to stay afloat until he returns. What’s Next For The AL MVP Race Suddenly, the AL MVP race is wide open after Judge has all but closed the door on the possibility of a three-peat this year. Judge wasn’t having the kind of overwhelming and commanding season he had in 2024-25 before he hit the IL, and if he returns without any setbacks, he’s lucky to land in the neighborhood of 90–110 games played for the season, depending on his recovery. That doesn’t automatically disqualify him from the race, but it would require an absurdly dominant final two months and an extraordinary comeback to overcome the missed time. Even though Judge is known to separate himself from mere mortals, it would be surprising if the Yankees pushed him in the stretch run. The team is more likely to be cautious with the face of its franchise and take its time with his recovery. Now, the biggest beneficiaries of Judge’s injury and the favorites to win the AL MVP award include Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., Astros slugger Yordan Alvarez, Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz, and even his own Yankees teammate, the slugging Ben Rice. The Yankees first baseman has struggled to get pitches to hit in Judge’s absence, as Rice is used to hitting in front of Judge in the lineup, but he remains a dark-horse candidate if he can sustain his production for four months. If Witt can keep up his strong start to the season, this might finally be his year to win the MVP. The shortstop challenged Judge for the award in 2024, when Witt finished second in AL MVP voting after hitting .332 and winning the batting title. This year, Witt leads the majors with a 3.8 fWAR through 63 games. He’s hitting .281 with a .818 OPS, and he’s likely to have a huge advantage in games played compared to other MVP favorites. The combination of Witt’s offense, defense at a premium position and durability makes him the newest frontrunner for the award. Deesha Thosar covers Major League Baseball as a reporter and columnist for FOX Sports. She previously covered the Mets as a beat reporter for the New York Daily News. The daughter of Indian immigrants, Deesha grew up on Long Island and now lives in Queens. Follow her on Twitter at @DeeshaThosar.

Kristoffer Reitan fikk en stor opptur med to slag under par på annen runde av Memorial-turneringen i golf.
Nordmannen slo dermed tilbake etter den svake åpningsrunden torsdag og er ett slag over par totalt. I skrivende stund har han klatret 31 plasser til en delt 23.-plass. Det kunne også vært bedre.
– En nydelig runde, sa Max-kommentator Henrik Bjørnstad.
Runden startet imidlertid ujevnt med to birdier og to bogeyer på de åtte første hullene. Deretter løftet Reitan spillet og avsluttet sterkere enn torsdag.
Reitan fikk en tung åpning på turneringen torsdag da han endte tre slag over par. Reitan lå godt an før de to siste hullene, der det ble dobbeltbogey og bogey.
Memorial er en såkalt signaturturnering på PGA-touren med høyere status. Det er legenden Jack Nicklaus som står bak turneringen.
Reitan tok i mai sin første tittel på PGA-touren i North Carolina. Den turneringen hadde også status som signaturevent og ga 34 millioner i premiepenger.
Viktor Hovland stiller ikke opp i Memorial-turneringen som han vant i 2023. Han har valgt å ta en pause før majorturneringen US Open senere i juni.
(NTB)

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves. Don't worry, we're here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn't have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: Diamondbacks’ second baseman Ketel Marte walked off the Dodgers on Thursday, earning Arizona a series’ split with the surging NL West leader. It’s an incredible home run, a dinger worth celebrating (unless you’re a Dodgers’ fan, naturally), so let’s go through the moment piece by piece to pick out the best parts. First, the dinger in question, off of Tanner Scott: Baseball rules. Oh, and check this out. Add that bat flip to the above list, because it’s expert-level even without the mimicry. Marte has three walk-off hits already on the season, the most of anyone in the league. And there’s a whole lot of 2026 left, too. Speaking of walk-offs and a whole lot of them, the Chicago Cubs picked up their seventh of the season on Thursday, the most in MLB. "Are the Cubs good?" is not an easy question to answer, between this, the two 10-game winning streaks and the 10-game losing streak. But it’s at least a team that feels like it could be good, and with all these wild-card spots, that might be enough even in the more crowded National League. The hero of the day was center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong, but before the walk-off, he went yard in the sixth to put the Cubs on the board and cut the Athletics’ lead to 4-1. The A’s would respond with another pair of runs, but then left fielder Ian Happ undid that progress with a two-run shot in the seventh. Still not nearly enough, but patience: the big inning was coming. In the bottom of the ninth, Joel Kuhnel came on in relief of Mark Leiter Jr. for the A’s. Everything began to unravel right then and there. First baseman Michael Busch led off the inning with a double, and then Happ hit a second one to cut the lead to 6-4. Second baseman Nico Hoerner singled Happ to third, but was then caught stealing — two outs. Moisés Ballesteros ripped a single to short that deflected off of Alika Williams, with third baseman Zack Gelof then unable to reel it in, either. Happ scored; 6-5, A’s. Seiya Suzuki entered as a pinch-hitter and singled, putting the tying run in scoring position. Luis Medina then entered the game in relief of Kuhnel, but he gave up a game-tying single to the first batter he faced, shortstop Dansby Swanson, whose knock also sent Suzuki 90 feet from home plate. That brought up PCA with a chance to be the hero, and he delivered. A complete meltdown by the Athletics in the ninth, but take heart, A’s fans: this just lost the game, not the series, and with the Mariners off on Thursday the damage to the standings was just half-a-game. There was also this fun bit of game, before said meltdown. Designated hitter Shea Langeliers joined a strange club, as he hit a home run the traditional way in the fourth inning… …and then in the sixth hit an inside-the-park homer for his second of the day. Per MLB’s Sarah Langs, Langeliers is the 15th player in A’s history to have a multi-homer game with an inside-the-park shot, and just the fifth during the divisional era (1969-2026). And also per Langs, this is the eighth time that it’s happened at Wrigley Field, and the first time since 1991 when Cubs’ legend Ryne Sandberg pulled it off. It’s worth pointing out, too, that it was Pete Crow-Armstrong who lost Langeliers’ second homer in the sky and let it fall behind him. PCA managed to make up for that mistake and then some by the end of the game, huh? While the Cubs were able to gain a game on the Brewers — Milwaukee lost to the Giants in that series finale, 12-9 — they were not able to do the same to the NL Central’s second-place team, the Pirates. Pittsburgh took on the Houston Astros in the rubber game at Daikin Park, and it went from close to not all at once. The Pirates were up 1-0 entering the sixth inning, as Astros’ starter Kai-Wei Teng had done a successful job of keeping the Bucs’ bats quiet, limiting them to a run and three hits. The sixth was a disaster, however: Teng allowed four consecutive hits, two of them for extra bases, and the Pirates were up 4-0 with a runner still on as he was relieved. Second baseman Brandon Lowe led off with a double, then DH Bryan Reynolds singled him home to make it 2-0. Right fielder Ryan O’Hearn followed with his ninth homer of the year, and then third baseman Nick Gonzales knocked Teng out of the game with a single. An error by Jeremy Peña at shortstop allowed Gonzales to come around and score to make it 5-0 later in the inning, and while Houston would hold the Pirates scoreless the rest of the way, the damage was already done. Reliever Carmen Mlodzinski gave up one run to the Astros, but secured a four-inning save by otherwise being highly effective, and that was the series. Pittsburgh moved to just 4.5 games behind the Brewers in the Central, and sits half-a-game up for a wild-card spot, as well. There was one bright spot for the Astros in the loss, though. Third baseman Isaac Paredes became just the fourth Mexican player in MLB to hit at least 100 home runs in his career, with this sixth-inning dinger off of Mlodzinski. The other three players? Vinny Castillo is the all-time leader with 320, followed by Jorge Orta (130) and Aurelio Rodríguez (120). As Paredes is a) a pretty good hitter and b) just 27 years old, he’ll be climbing further up this list. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. has had a power drought lately, but he’s still hitting plenty of singles and walking. When the opportunity to stretch a single into a double came up against the Braves, the Blue Jays’ first baseman seized it, even coming up against the powerful arm of right fielder Ronald Acuña Jr. Guerrero got the best of Acuña there, but the real gold is in the post-play finger wag. Pretty great, too, considering Guerrero just looked happy to still be alive after getting to second safe. It’s not every day a baserunner wins against Acuña’s arm! It’s worth celebrating. The Blue Jays would end up winning the game, too, 7-2. Toronto has nearly crept back to .500, at 30-33; the Braves are doing quite well despite this loss, though, thank you, as Atlanta is leading the majors with 42 wins and the fewest losses of anyone. About that 12-9 Giants win: once again, right fielder Jung Hoo Lee was at the center of a high-scoring day for San Francisco. He finished up his May with a five-hit game against the Rockies that saw the Giants win 19-6, and on Thursday he went 4-for-5 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored. The 27-year-old Lee, now in his third season in the majors, seems to be taking another step forward offensively. In his rookie season, he hit just .262/.310/.331 for an OPS+ of 85, but then put in an above-average performance in 2025, batting .266/.327/.407 for a 110 OPS+. This year so far, he’s added quite a bit of batting average, bringing up his line as a whole to .322/.356/.447 and a 132 OPS+. Part of this is probably batted ball luck, but he’s also been a bit more aggressive at the plate and taking advantage of pitches he can hit earlier in the count. It’s cost him some walks, but it’s tough to argue with the results so far. Baseball really is a series of adjustments back and forth forever. Betrayal. That’s all you can label this as. A betrayal by the mound, against Twins’ reliever Justin Lawrence. Here he is, in a tie game, throwing off the mound as pitchers always do, and a comebacker up the middle strikes the mound and sends the ball careening off its path. What should have been a ball hit to the pitcher instead struck at the exact wrong place and angle, and shot behind Lawrence and into center field. The game had been tied, 6-6, but the Royals had loaded the bases, and third baseman Josh Rojas — who had entered the game as a pinch-hitter for Nick Loftin — managed to thread the needle and score two runners to go up 8-6. The Twins wouldn’t answer in the bottom of the inning, and the Royals would win the opening game of this four-game series. At 25-38, Kansas City already needs every win it can get to catch up in the AL Central and wild-card races. Taking a series from the Reds and this win is a good start, but that’s all it is so far.