The Washington Nationals announced they were calling up Bruce the bat dog for his MLB debut against the Miami Marlins on Saturday afternoon at Nationals Park.
Bruce, a 21-month-old golden retriever, gets his first career assignment in the big leagues after making an unforgettable impression with the Rochester Red Wings, the Nationals' Triple-A affiliate. Bruce made his professional debut for the Red Wings last September, recording countless stolen hearts and leading the league in total bats retrieved (a lot of them). He's also been a huge factor in improving dugout morale due to his natural good looks and irresistible charm.
Check out Bruce's priceless reaction to finding out he was getting promoted:
While some fans may refer to Bruce as an ace or a phenom, the tail-wagging rookie prefers the term, "good boy."
Nationals Park will host an honorary bat retrieval ceremony as well as a press conference for Bruce's major league debut this Saturday.
"Our fans and front office are always excited to see our players get promoted to the Nationals, but Bruce's promotion is a historic call-up to the big leagues that he richly deserves," said Red Wings GM Dan Mason. "He'll put on a doggone great show for Nats fans on June 14."
Kyle Schwarber had a monster night at the plate on Monday as he crushed his 39th and 40th home runs of the season, with the latter being a grand slam hit at Citizens Bank Park.
Schwarber's first homer of the night made him the HR leader in the National League, so Phillies fans were prepared when he came up to the plate in the bottom of the sixth inning when the bases were loaded. The baseball park erupted in "MVP" chants for Schwarber, and he answered their cheers by providing an electric grand slam.
A video was posted by MLB on Monday night highlighting the sounds at Citizens Bank as Schwarber was up at the plate, and then it showed how loud the stadium became once the 390-foot homer soared in the air.
Chills.
Schwarber currently has the third-best odds in the NL for winning the MVP award this season. Shohei Ohtani is leading the race to win his third-straight MVP title (-700) with Cubs star Pete Crow-Armstrong in second with +900 odds, via ESPN. Schwarber follows them with 10-1 odds.
Monday night's game definitely helped Schwarber's MVP case, that's for sure.
The New York Mets bolstered their bullpen on Wednesday, just one day before the MLB trade deadline, by acquiring relief pitcher Tyler Rogers in a deal with the Giants.
It cost the Mets a pretty penny to bring the submarine-throwing right-hander to Queens, as New York parted ways with a pair of prospects, pitcher Blade Tidwell and outfielder Drew Gilbert, as well as veteran reliever Jose Butto. Tidwell was rated as the No. 10 prospect in the Mets' farm system, while Gilbert was just behind at No. 12.
Rogers is a great addition, but the package the Mets sent to San Francisco certainly seemed like an overpay. That type of haul would typically be sufficient to net a team a low-end starting pitcher, an area the organization is also hoping to address at the deadline. New York may have just inadvertently driven up the price of a starter on the market by surrendering such a significant haul in exchange for a reliever who is set to hit free agency after the season.
MLB fans were all stunned by the trade package the Mets sent to the Giants in exchange for Rogers, and they took to social media to share their bewilderment.
Manchester City midfielder Rodri has revealed he needs some time to rest after an uncharacteristically shoddy display against Real Madrid.
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Rodri says he needs a restMidfielder looked rusty vs Real MadridHas missed only four games this seasonWHAT HAPPENED?
Rodri was one of City's weakest performers in the heart-stopping 3-3 draw at the Santiago Bernabeu in the Champions League quarter-final first leg. The Spaniard was unable to bring his usual sense of control in midfield amid a chaotic and enthralling match and was showing signs of tiredness amid a relentless schedule of matches. And he admitted that he might benefit from sitting the odd game out.
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"I do need a rest, let's see how we deal with the situation," Rodri told reporters after the epic quarter-final first leg. "Sometimes I need to adjust but it is what it is."
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Rodri has missed just four matches for City this season and they have lost all of them. His red card against Nottingham Forest in September saw him banned for the Carabao Cup tie at Newcastle and the league games at Wolves and Arsenal. He earned another suspension in December for the visit to Aston Villa, which was City's last defeat. Rodri won City the Champions League final last season against Inter Milan and has been just as impressive this season, dominating games while scoring eight goals and providing 10 assists in all competitions.
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The draw with Madrid saw Rodri maintain his astonishing unbeaten record for club and country, which has stretched to more than a year. He has not been beaten with either City or Spain for 65 matches, with his last defeat coming against Tottenham on February 5, 2023.
Misner, a 27-year-old outfielder with one career hit to his name entering the Tampa Bay Rays' first game of the season against the Colorado Rockies at a new home in George M. Steinbrenner Field on Friday, ended up delivering in the game's biggest moment.
With the game tied at 2 in the bottom of the ninth inning, Misner stepped up to the plate as the leadoff batter, and wasted no time in leaving his mark on the game. The Poplar Bluff, Mo., native swung at the first pitch he saw and sent it over the right field wall for his second career hit, first career home run, and a walk-off for Tampa Bay.
Making the moment even more impressive is the fact that Misner didn't start the game; he entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning. Misner is a former first-round pick in the 2019 MLB draft who first made his big-league debut in an eight-game stint with the Rays in '24. Friday's game represented his first taste of Opening Day, as he made the Rays' roster after he was optioned to Triple-A during the spring.
"I mean, it's everything," Misner said of making the Rays' roster in a postgame interview with MLB Network. "It's everything you work for since you were a kid. It's what you look forward to. I mean, today is a dream come true so I'm fortunate enough to help the team win."
After a strong spring, Misner is likely to get more opportunities to help the Rays win moving forward.
It’s Thanksgiving 2019 in America, but eight Division I women’s basketball teams are north of the border in Victoria, British Columbia, for the Greater Victoria Invitational. The nighttime matchup pits No. 3 Stanford against California Baptist University, seemingly a battle of sharks and minnows in the grand scheme of the sport.
Stanford head coach Tara VanDerveer has over 1,000 career Division I wins to her name. California Baptist, a Division I newbie, has 25. To make things more intimidating for the Lancers, one of Stanford’s players is dunking in warmups.
“Going in it was like, ‘This is going to be a mess, we don’t have a post [player], they’re gigantic, we’re little,’ ” CBU point guard Ane Olaeta recalls.
The opposite happened. California Baptist, in its second year in Division I, played the Cardinal tight from wire to wire. The Lancers rallied from 13 down at the half to get within a point late in the fourth quarter before losing by five.
“The look on Stanford people’s faces, they were just like, ‘What is happening? Who are they?’ ” guard Sydney Palma says. “That’s the best basketball memory I have.”
More people know who the Lancers are now. CBU is 20–0 this season, one of only two women’s teams in the nation still undefeated. The other, Bucknell, has dealt with several pandemic-related disruptions and has played just eight games. California Baptist is the only team outside of a major conference in the last five years to start 20–0, joining UConn, Louisville, Mississippi State and NC State in that exclusive club. It’s won conference games by an average margin of 20.1 points, and has clinched the WAC regular-season title. The Lancers are No. 87 in the NCAA’s NET rankings and No. 8 in the most recent CollegeInsider.com Mid Major Top 25.
Courtesy of California Baptist University
Yet no matter what happens in the CBU’s final two regular-season games and the WAC tournament in Las Vegas, you won’t see the Lancers in this month’s NCAA tournament field. But it’s through no fault of their own. They didn’t break any rules to earn themselves a postseason ban. They’re simply too new to the Division I party to get invited to the Big Dance. CBU is in the third year of a four-year transition period from Division II to Division I, and teams are not eligible to compete in the NCAA tournament during that time.
“I think it's something the NCAA needs to look at,” CBU head coach Jarrod Olson says. “I think four years a long time; it really penalizes the kids more than anything.”
Olson proposes that teams be allowed to make the NCAA tournament during the transition period but wouldn’t receive the payout from the NCAA. Instead, that money could be distributed to the rest of the conference. But those changes take time, and for now CBU is staring down a unique place in the NCAA record books.
If it completes an undefeated season, it will be the first team in men’s or women’s college basketball to go undefeated and not reach the NCAA tournament since 1983, when the Oral Roberts women’s team didn’t qualify. Back then, the women’s tournament featured only 36 teams, the Golden Eagles weren’t in a conference and played almost half of their games against non-D-I teams.
Even though they won’t be able to complete their dream season in style, CBU’s meteoric rise from NAIA power to a pair of D-II Final Fours in five years to now being on the brink of an undefeated D-I season is nothing short of remarkable. And all postseason hope isn’t lost: The WNIT has been in contact with California Baptist about playing in that tournament, a solid consolation prize.
“That's a really good goal for us because I think that's a tournament we think we can get into and actually win a couple games,” Olson says. “The NCAA obviously would be amazing, right? But the reality is, it's kind of fun for about the first five minutes against UConn, right? Maybe magic would happen at some point, but in that situation, you're just trying to get there.”
Still, not getting a chance to create that magic like the Lancers nearly did against Stanford last season stings. And CBU is an easy team to fall in love with: It plays fast, takes tons of threes and really shares the ball. Senior guard Olaeta leads the nation in assists per game, and the Lancers are second in the country in percentage of made shots that are assisted on, per Her Hoop Stats. Olson empowers his team to fire away with confidence and be aggressive, a style of play his players have embraced.
“Jarrod [Olson]’s like, ‘if you’re slightly open, you’re launching that thing,’” Palma says. “You can’t be scared you’re going to miss it because you have to shoot it or you’re going to get in trouble because you shoot it, not because you shoot too much.”
Florida scored a tough win over UConn in the second round of the 2025 NCAA tournament on Sunday, and the Gators' head coach was fired up after the victory.
As he left the floor following the 77-75 win, Florida's Todd Golden was visibly and audibly animated. At one point he screamed, "Let's go man!" before entering the locker room.
He was also fired up in the locker room too.
Golden has every right to be pumped. The Gators beat a tough UConn team in a really good game. Flordia is the top seed in the West region after an outstanding regular season. The Gators finished second in the loaded SEC, but wound up winning the conference tournament. They're currently 32-4 on the year.
The 39-year-old Golden is a rising star in the basketball coaching world. Florida hired him in 2022 after three seasons at San Francisco in which he went 57-36 (.613) and took the Dons to the NCAA tournament. After a rough first season at Florida in which he went 16-17, Golden has turned the Gators around. They went 24-12 and earned a tournament berth last season and now they're in the Sweet 16 in his third year.
Florida will face the winner of Colorado State and Maryland in the Sweet 16.
Iowa may have gained one of the transfer portal's best players—but it has lost one as well.
Hawkeyes guard Josh Dix will transfer to Creighton, his agent told Jonathan Givony of ESPN Friday morning. As noted by Givony, Dix averaged 14.3 points per game in 2025. He further served as one of the lone bright spots on the worst Iowa team by winning percentage since 2018.
Dix is a native of Council Bluffs, Iowa, which is substantially closer to Omaha than Iowa City.
In the wake of their poor showing this season, the Hawkeyes dismissed coach Fran McCaffery and replaced him with Drake coach Ben McCollum. McCollum quickly lured guard Bennett Stirtz, the reigning Missouri Valley Player of the Year to join him.
The Bluejays enjoyed another strong season in 2025, peaking at No. 14 in the AP poll and knocking off Louisville in the first round of the NCAA men's tournament.
Durham Jets took a step towards the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast by notching their fifth win in a row in the competition
ECB Reporters Network02-Aug-2018
Paul Collingwood lines up a reverse sweep•Getty Images
Durham 170 for 4 (Collingwood 50*) beat Northants 95 (Tahir 4-16) by 75 runs ScorecardDurham Jets took a step towards the quarter-finals of the Vitality Blast by notching their fifth win in a row in the competition, defeating Northamptonshire Steelbacks by 75 runs at Emirates Riverside.The home side were inserted by the winless Steelbacks ,and although they were unable to get off to a flying start, Paul Collingwood’s fifty along with quickfire scores in the twenties from Liam Trevaskis and James Weighell guided Durham to a competitive total of 170.Northamptonshire were behind the rate from the off as Durham’s bowlers dominated the second half of the contest. Imran Tahir led the way with four wickets for 16 runs, while Weighell and Nathan Rimmington notched two wickets apiece, to guide the Jets to a comfortable win and within touching distance of the last eight.Durham made a ponderous start to their innings, failing to find their feet until the sixth over when three boundaries came off Seekkuge Prasanna’s first over. Tom Latham was the first man to fall when he top edged Luke Procter’s first delivery to fine leg where Richard Gleeson took a good low catch.The Steelbacks limited the home side’s progress, and Graham Clark’s attempt to cut loose resulted in the opener being bowled by Prasanna for 29. The arrival of Liam Trevaskis at the crease brought Durham to life as the left-hander blasted two straight sixes to provide impetus. His brisk innings took the pressure off Collingwood at the opposite end, allowing the veteran to find his rhythm.The wickets of Trevaskis and Ryan Davies threatened to stymie the home side’s late push for runs. However, Weighell found his touch immediately, scoring 20 off 14 deliveries. Collingwood was able to scamper through on tiring legs to reach his half-century off the final ball, getting over the line with the aid of a Ricardo Vasconcelos error.Northamptonshire struggled in their reply as the Durham attack found their line and length. Rimmington made the breakthrough to dismiss Richard Levi for two off just 10 deliveries. Weighell then handed the home side control with two strikes in the following over. First he removed Ben Duckett as Trevaskis took a fine catch on the run on the legside boundary before Josh Cobb drove straight to Latham at mid-off.Imran Tahir kept the pressure on the Steelbacks, pinning Vasconcelos lbw for six, leaving the visitors 31 for 4 in the eighth over. Steven Crook offered brief resistance with an innings of 21 before Tahir produced a full delivery to send him on his way.Northants began to unravel quickly in the tail. Procter and Graham White were dismissed by Ryan Pringle and Rimmington respectively before Tahir wrapped up the victory with two wickets in his final over by removing Prasanna and Nathan Buck.
Speaking to after being called up to the Test squad, the batsman also spoke about the influence of Rahul Dravid on his game
ESPNcricinfo staff25-Aug-2018Almost exactly a year ago, India A travelled to South Africa for two unofficial Tests and a one-day triangular. Hanuma Vihari was only part of the squad for the two four-day games against South Africa A, and he only got to play in the second of them, in Potchefstroom.He scored 7 in the first innings, and in the second dig he walked in when India were two runs away from their target of 224. He faced one ball, and hit the winning boundary.It’s hard to draw any conclusions from a match like that, but for Vihari it was an opportunity missed. He knew what it meant to be part of the India A set-up, and didn’t want to miss out when the next tour came along. Despite getting such a limited opportunity, Vihari says the tour taught him a lot, especially since he was in close proximity to Rahul Dravid, the India A coach.”Going to South Africa and playing in those conditions, especially [since] it was my first tour, I learned a lot from that tour,” Vihari told . “I knew what was coming after that. I knew I had to perform a lot in the domestic season again to get back into the India A squad because that tour didn’t go well for me, especially with the bat.”I had only one innings – I didn’t perform, but I knew I had to perform more in the domestic season to get back into the side, and grow in the India A level, because if you have to play for India, you have to score in the A team, there’s no other choice.”So I knew I had to do well again. It helped me a lot in South Africa, especially with Rahul sir. It was the first tour with him, for me, and he gave us advice in that tour, it helped me a lot.”Since then, Vihari has made good his desire to keep scoring heavily. He scored a century in his only match in the Duleep Trophy and another hundred in the Irani Cup, those two knocks sandwiching a Ranji Trophy season in which he made 752 runs at an average of 94.00 – including a career-best 302 not out. On the tour of England with India A in June-July, he made scores of 69 and 147 in the one-day triangular series, and a 68 in an unofficial Test against West Indies A. Back home, he made 202 runs at 67.33 in two four-day games against South Africa A.All those runs have catapulted Vihari into India’s Test squad for the last two Tests in England. He knows it won’t be easy for him to break into the first XI immediately – apart from the established middle-order batsmen, he also has Karun Nair to get past – but he is mindful that he has to be ready mentally to grab the opportunity when it does arrive.”To be honest, if you see the Indian side, it’s tough to get into the side, but once you get into the side you have to make sure that you grab that opportunity,” he said. “That’s the only thing I’m thinking about. I know that opportunity will come, but I have to be really ready for the opportunity. Once it comes I really want to grab it and make it my own.”And when he does get the opportunity, he wants to show the world that he can adapt his game to any situation.”It’s more the situation that matters to me rather than the strike rates I’m batting at,” Vihari said. “Sometimes on a good day you’ll bat at 60-70 in a four-day game, but sometimes you have to grind for the team, you have to bat at 45-50 as well.”If you have that mental ability to bat differently at different situations, you’re rated as one of the best batsmen, you can score consistently at a higher level as well.”