Game 1 of the World Series is here, and we have the Tampa Bay Rays taking on the Milwaukee Brewers. Hard Rock Bet is bringing new users $500 in No Sweat Bets to wager on tonight’s game.
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Rays vs Brewers, Friday, Oct 23, 2026 at 8:00 pm ET | Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI | FOX
We’ve seen these teams both put together excellent regular seasons, and now great postseason runs. The Rays won 98 games in the regular season, then beat the Yankees in three games and the Guardians in six. The Brewers were able to win 103 games, the most in baseball, and then beat the Padres in four games before sweeping the Dodgers.
Let’s take a look at the likely starting lineups for each team.
Tampa Bay Rays:
Yandy Diaz, DH
Jonathan Aranda, 1B
Liam Hicks, C
Junior Caminero, 3B
Chandler Simpson, LF
Victor Mesa Jr., RF
Jonny DeLuca, CF
Richie Palacios, 2B
Taylor Walls, SS
Milwaukee Brewers:
Jackson Chourio, LF
Bryce Turang, 2B
William Contreras, C
Jake Bauers, 1B
Christian Yelich, DH
Garrett Mitchell, CF
Cooper Pratt, SS
Sam Frelick, RF
David Hamilton, 3B
The pitching matchup tonight features two of the best pitchers in the league. The Rays have Nick Martinez, more of a finesse pitcher, while the Brewers have Jacob Misiorowski, a power pitcher who will try to overpower hitters.
Which team will come out on top? New users are being offered $500 in No Sweat Bets on Hard Rock Bet after a $5 wager. You bet $5 on a -500 or longer wager and receive ten No Sweat Bet tokens, one each day for ten days. If those bonus bets lose, you’ll receive $50 bonus bet tokens.
Tonight is the first game of the World Series, with the Rays heading into Milwaukee to take on the Brewers. BetMGM is offering new users a chance to have their first World Series bet, up to $1,500, covered if it loses when using promo code FOXNEWS.
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Rays vs Brewers, Friday, Oct 23, 2026 at 8:00 pm ET | Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI | FOX
The Tampa Bay Rays and Milwaukee Brewers only played three games during the regular season, so these teams aren’t overly familiar with each other. The two teams haven’t played since the last week of March, so things have changed. Let’s take a quick look at the three games from the season and how they went.
In game 1 of the regular season series, the Rays won 3-2. That game started with Yandy Diaz hitting a home run to give the Brewers a lead. William Contreras hit a two-run homer in the sixth to give the Brewers a lead. Then, in the top of the seventh, the Rays tied the game before getting to closer Trevor Megill in the ninth.
Game 2 saw the Brewers win with a 6-2 victory. This wasn’t as much of a back-and-forth game. The game started with another homer for the Rays and another run in the fifth, but that was all they could muster. In the bottom of the 5th, the Brewers got three runs. In the bottom of the sixth, they added another two and an insurance run in the eighth.
The final game of the series went to the Brewers with an 8-2 win. For the third straight game, the Rays scored first, and they did it via a home run. A two-run homer from Yandy Diaz was all they could muster on offense. In the bottom of the 3rd, the Brewers tied it with a two-run bomb of their own off Bryce Turang’s bat. The Rays bullpen fell apart in the eighth inning as the Brewers scored six runs.
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The World Series starts on Friday with Game 1 between the Tampa Bay Rays and the Milwaukee Brewers. FanDuel is offering new users a chance to wager $5 and earn $350 in bonus bets. Wager $5 on tonight’s game and receive a $50 bonus bet token. Repeat that process for seven days to earn the full $350.
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Rays vs Brewers, Friday, Oct 23, 2026 at 8:00 pm ET | Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI | FOX
Any time a team wins the championship, it is a historical moment. The team goes down in history as the best team from that series. They get to hoist a banner into the rafters, and they also get a ring to commemorate the achievement. Forever, they will be noted in the history books, and they will be the answer to trivia questions.
This season, two teams will make franchise history, as neither has won a World Series before this season. One of them will eliminate that note from their history books. The Rays have existed since 1998, and this is the third time they have made it to the World Series. Tampa has lost each of their first two appearances.
The Milwaukee Brewers are in their 58th season, with 57 being in Milwaukee. They have never won the World Series, and this is just the second time they have gone to the World Series. The last time they appeared in the World Series was in 1982, when they lost 4-3 to the St. Louis Cardinals.
One of these teams needs just four wins to get their franchise’s first World Series title. Both have been excellent this season with strong pitching and consistent hitting. Game 1 starts tonight and will give one team a big advantage in the series.
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We are just moments away from the first pitch of the 2026 World Series between the Rays and Brewers. Underdog is getting new users in on the game with an offer to bet $10 and receive $50 in bonuses.
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Rays vs Brewers, Friday, Oct 23, 2026 at 8:00 pm ET | Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI | FOX
Every pitch matters more when the postseason starts, and both teams have dynamic pitching staffs that have provided great innings this season. We’ve seen strong starting pitching, and we’ve seen both bullpens dominate their opponents. Let’s take a look at how the two teams stacked up in pitching in the regular season:
Tampa Bay Rays
3.70 ERA, seventh in baseball
201 homers allowed, eighth most in the sport
409 walks allowed, fewest in baseball
1,322 strikeouts, 19th in the Majors
Best WHIP in baseball at 1.14
Opponents are hitting just .224 against the Rays, fourth in baseball
Milwaukee Brewers
3.51 ERA, best in the National League, second in baseball
10th fewest home runs allowed at 171
518 walks issued, 11th in the Majors
Second most strikeouts thrown at 1,544
Fourth-best WHIP at 1.18
Second in the Majors with a .221 opponent batting average
Both teams clearly have a strong pitching staff that goes deeper than just the rotation. The Brewers have a Cy Young winner starting, and the Rays have a deep rotation. Which one will prevail in this series?
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The lights will never be brighter than they are tonight for both teams, as each looks to get off on the right foot in the World Series. Betr is providing promo code FOXNEWS to new users for $200 in bonuses and four free picks on the World Series.
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Rays vs Brewers, Friday, Oct 23, 2026 at 8:00 pm ET | Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI | FOX
The Tampa Bay Rays head to Milwaukee to take on the Brewers in Game 1 of the World Series. Let’s take a look at how these two teams stacked up during the regular season.
Tampa Bay Rays
98 Wins - first in the American League
736 runs scored, 13th in baseball
1405 hits - first in the American League, second in baseball
169 home runs, 22nd overall
164 stolen bases, second in baseball, first in the American League
.258 batting average, tied for best in baseball
5th in baseball with a .326 OBP
.402 slugging percentage 15th in the majors
Milwaukee Brewers
103 wins, best in baseball
832 runs scored, second in baseball
1422 hits, tops in all of baseball
154 home runs, 22nd in baseball, second to last in the Majors
5th in baseball with 162 stolen bases
Tied with Rays for best team batting average in baseball at .258
Top OBP in the Majors at .341
11th best slugging percentage in baseball
Both of these teams are having great seasons and are near the top in every major statistical category outside of home runs. You have to wonder which team will get the hit when it matters most.
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Baseball’s biggest stage is finally here, and we have the Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays set to battle in the World Series. Fanatics Sportsbook is giving you a chance to get in on the game with promo code FOXNEWS350, giving you $350 in FanCash from a $20 wager.
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Rays vs Brewers, Friday, Oct 23, 2026 at 8:00 pm ET | Miller Park, Milwaukee, WI | FOX
The two best teams in baseball — at least in terms of record for both leagues — square off in the World Series. Tampa Bay locked up the top spot in the American League, while the Brewers had the best record overall in baseball.
Getting here was a bit more of a challenge for the Rays than it was for the Brewers. They started their postseason against the New York Yankees, but made quick work of them, winning in three games. In the American League Championship Series, they had to take on the Guardians. They were able to win the series 4-2, even after going down 1-0 and 2-1 in the series.
The Brewers are one of those teams that feel like it could be destiny. The team won 103 games this season and has home-field advantage in this series. They faced the Padres in the first series of the postseason and won 3-1. In the National League Championship Series, they destroyed the Dodgers. Last year, they were swept by Los Angeles out of the postseason, and this year, they returned the favor.
Which of these two teams will achieve their ultimate goal of winning a World Series? The Rays have to find a way to deal with the tough pitching. The Brewers need to figure out how to navigate a potent lineup.
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Well, this might be the most insane piece of "advice" you'll ever hear directed at a Major League Baseball team.
The Los Angeles Dodgers failed to reach the World Series for the third consecutive season, getting swept by the unrelenting Milwaukee Brewers superteam. For most Dodgers fans, it was disappointing, sure, but the success of the previous two years, the big postseason moments from superstar players, and the parades through Los Angeles dampened the blow relative to other seasons.
But local sports media have spent the past week searching for the explanation for LA's "failure." The actual reason the Dodgers lost, that the postseason in baseball is little more than a coin flip and small sample sizes flatten out any talent advantage, is boring and uninteresting. For example, in game four, the Brewers' expected batting average was .237, while LA's was .296. Milwaukee scored six runs, though the Dodgers scored just four – which is how we get to this week's article from Bill Plaschke at the Los Angeles Times.
His postmortem of the Dodgers' season places much of the blame on, uh, Shohei Ohtani.
There's a kernel of truth to it; Ohtani was clearly limited by several injuries down the stretch, with a lengthy slump accompanying an increase in chase rate and swing and miss. There's no way to tell how those injuries happened. Yes, Ohtani had returned to pitching full time in 2026, but LA's famously careful with Ohtani on the mound, and there's no indication that it was directly responsible for him getting hurt.
But the whole team struggled offensively in October, with a .195/.267/.323 batting line and a remarkable .116 batting average with runners in scoring position. Going 5-43 with runners in scoring position isn't going to cut it, and it's a far bigger problem than just one player.
The big debate though, that Plaschke references, is whether Ohtani should continue pitching, being a two-way player, in 2027 and beyond. Ohtani and the team have already said he intends to do both next year, but Plashcke believes he knows better.
"...He's changing. His body is changing. His skills are changing. He's 32, with 13 seasons of professional baseball burdening his lumbering 6-foot-4 frame, and part of his game is slowly disintegrating under the weight."
"Lumbering" is an odd way to describe a player who stole 50 bases two seasons ago, but don't worry, it gets worse.
"The problem is his pitching," Plaschke continues, saying that it's "distracting him" and "exhausting him" and that "enough is enough."
That's debatable, sure, but again, there's logic to it. Ohtani is such a valuable hitter that there's a case to be made for him to focus exclusively on being a DH. But what he says next has well, no logic or reason behind it whatsoever.
"They need to pull him off the pitching mound permanently. And if he insists on continuing this detrimental charade, they need to seriously consider trading him."
Alright, well now we've officially left the world of rationality and gone into some sort of bizarre performance art trolling act. Or something. Hopefully.
Trading Shohei Ohtani is somewhere beyond insane. Even if he hurt his arm and required surgery to miss nine months and permanently put pitching behind him, trading him would be insane. Even if he only pitches 50-70 innings a year, that's immensely valuable combined with his hitting prowess. For context, top end relievers are making $20+ million a season to throw 60-70 innings. Ohtani's offense is worth $50-60 million a year, and even in limited usage, his pitching is worth at least the additional $20 million if not much more. With the upside of even greater value.
Then there's the fact that with Ohtani pitching in 2025, the Dodgers won the World Series. Including game three, when Ohtani hit two homers to help get the game to extra innings. Then there was game four of the 2025 NLCS, when he had arguably the single greatest performance in baseball history. Going six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts and hitting three home runs, including one that literally left Dodger Stadium.
Ohtani is such a transcendent star that he's worth hundreds of millions of dollars a year to Los Angeles in advertising, marketing, and promotions. His contract, even at a heavily deferred $70 million per season, is one of the biggest bargains in the sport. The extra revenue he brings in has allowed the Dodgers to go from being a top three or four spending team to being number one. The rush from the other 29 teams to acquire him would be quite literally hilarious, because trading Ohtani would be an act of financial suicide for LA and a massive windfall for a new team.
Plashcke is frequently not a serious person, but this is enough to warrant serious questioning of his ability to continue writing about baseball for a "legitimate" newspaper. The LA Times should ask him to focus on his one true love; left-wing politics. Clearly, his attempt to try to do both is hurting both himself, and the paper, and should lead to some very serious conversations between the two sides.
The Pittsburgh Steelers are canceling events left in right in France even as plans for Sunday's regular-season game against the New Orleans Saints remains on track.
The Steelers arrived in the country on Friday morning after a Thursday evening flight from Western Pennsylvania.
The plan was for the team to go from the airport to a practice, but that never happened. Practice was instead canceled.
And, no, it wasn't because of the civil unrest that has been in the news for a couple of weeks. It was that darn French wind.
"We had two plans coming in," Steelers coach Mike McCarthy told reporters on Friday. "Just really wanted to activate the players after the long flight, just based off the communication with the weather, and just in reality of the timing too.
"We had to make the decision before we landed just to put it together. So, but frankly, driving by it, I wish we would have stopped. But this is part of our plan, so we thought it'd be definitely activating."
Winds in the area were reported at a steady 20 mph so one might understand the team's decision not to trek over to practice. And no civil unrest has been reported in the area regardless of that being a problem in past days. It's a problem McCarthy says is on his mind.
"Oh, definitely," he said. "It's my responsibility to always be aware of anything that surrounds our football team, so definitely in tune. I think the NFL, the local government and everybody involved have done an excellent job communicating.
"We're very confident in our experience here is going to be very positive."
The Steelers on Thursday canceled their Fan House event for fans in Paris because of the events of past days.
The team released a statement to OutKick about that cancellation.
"We are honored to play in the first-ever regular season NFL game in France.
"The NFL, as they do for every game, including international games, is working closely with local authorities and partners on all operational and security matters. As stated by the NFL, there have been no disruptions or impacts at League sites.
"As a precautionary measure, the Steelers designated bar that had been planned in Bastille – an area that has experienced recent disruptions – will not proceed.
"We continue to look forward to the game versus the Saints this Sunday at the Stade de France."
The Saints have so far experienced no operational setbacks that have been reported. And the Steelers hope they can also get on track and on schedule after Friday.
"We just arrived, so we're right on schedule so far," McCarthy said with a laugh.
What an amazing night of football we got Thursday night, huh?
The Bears beat the Patriots in a thriller in Chicago, and we had two overtime games down in the college ranks. Appalachian State upset JMU, 34-31, in Boone, while East Carolina blew a double-digit lead in Memphis en route to a 41-34 loss.
Those are the nights we dream about during the dog days of summer, folks. When you're sitting through another insufferable WNBA game in July, just a reminder that you're GRINDING away for fall nights like we got on Thursday.
They're the best, and they don't stick around for long. We get maybe a dozen of them a year if we're a lucky. Last night was one of them. I hope you all took advantage.
Now, you know one fanbase who did not take advantage of last night's glorious fall night of football? The so-called "fans" of the Memphis Tigers, who apparently forgot the fellas were scheduled to play on Thursday this week.
Take a look:
Gonna need better effort next time around
Goodness gracious. The "official" box score lists last night's attendance at over 27,000. Surely it filled in a bit after kickoff, but I don't see how they got to 27K. Seems ambitious to me.
It's a bad look. There's no way around it, and no reason to sugarcoat it. It's just a bad look for Memphis and its fans.
"But Zach, it was a Thursday night!"
So? What does that mean? Are the kids not allowed to go to Thursday night games? Is there a rule in Memphis that says fans and students can only attend Saturday games?
"But Zach, it was East Carolina!"
OK. And? The Tigers are a 5-2 team and still very much alive for a playoff spot. I know they lost last week to Tulane, which certainly dealt them a blow, but it's the G6. Anything can happen down there.
Bunting, situational hitting, and productive outs had seemed to become a lost art in today's baseball. But the two teams in this year's World Series brought it all back.
The Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays were each the top seed in the National and American Leagues, respectively, and throughout this postseason, they've shown why.
Now, one of those franchises will be crowned World Series champions for the first time, and all the action will be on FOX.
The Brewers had the second-lowest payroll in all of baseball, while the Rays had the eighth-smallest. Those payrolls have led to a heavy emphasis on analytics. But their analytics have zigged when the rest of the league's have zagged.
It is no secret, despite how much people want to deny it, that home runs win (more on that later). That has been the case in the regular season as well as the postseason since stickball. Yet the Brewers and Rays ranked 29th and 22nd in total home runs this season.
Their success, instead, has come at the hands of good old batting average - they both hit .258, good for the top two spots in the league. Both teams also had the highest batting averages with runners in scoring position (Rays were .284, Brewers were .276).
Tampa Bay also ranked first in sacrifice bunts with 45, and Milwaukee's 37 were the fifth-most. That's not to say that bunting means you will win - the Los Angeles Dodgers had 23 combined sac bunts in 2024 and 2025, both seasons that ended in titles.
The Rays (49) and Brewers (32) also ranked first and second in bunt hits. They also were tied for second in infield hits, behind only the Pittsburgh Pirates.
In the days where exit velo has taken over (hitting the ball hard has always mattered, by the way), the Rays had the highest soft-hit percentage and second-worst hard-hit percentage. The Brewers ranked 12th and 18th in those categories and ranked sixth in medium-hit percentage.
Nobody pulls the ball less often than the Brewers, and nobody goes up the middle and oppo more than they do, as well. The Brewers even hit ground balls at a higher rate than anybody and fly balls at the lowest (the Rays are fifth in grounders and 25th in fly balls). All of that is a tremendous shy-away from modern-day data taking over.
Strikeouts have become more acceptable in baseball, but not in Florida. The Rays had the lowest strikeout percentage this season. Milwaukee, though, actually struck out at a higher percentage than most teams - they ranked 14th throughout the season, and they're actually striking out a ton this October.
The Brewers have actually strayed away from their brand of baseball this October. In the National League Championship Series, they had the largest three-true-outcome percentage (home run, walk, strikeout) out of any LCS team since 1969. They were outhit in two games and struck out more than the Dodgers in each game. The walks shouldn't surprise anybody, as they had the highest walk rate in the regular season.
But they out-homered the Dodgers in each game (the Dodgers went homerless in three of the games), and all season long, Milwaukee hit home runs that hurt badly.
Despite hitting the second-fewest in the league, they actually had the ninth-most home runs with a runner on base and the highest percentage of multi-run homers in the league.
The Rays also used the long ball throughout their American League Division Series against the New York Yankees and to clinch the pennant against the Cleveland Guardians.
In all of this, the pitching cannot be dismissed. The Brewers have maybe the best pitcher in the sport in Jacob Misiorowski, and it feels like the Rays can pick up anyone reading this and turn them into a weapon on the bump.
Brewers pitchers own a 2.03 ERA this postseason, while the Rays' staff sits at 2.59. Opponents are hitting just .183 and .201 off them, respectively, and they are allowing fewer than one homer per game.
Small ball and elite pitching undeniably got these small-market juggernauts to the big dance, but what they've proven this October is they can beat you in multiple ways - even by going the apparently dreaded "boom or bust." Now, all that is to be seen is which style while bring it home.
All the action begins Friday in Milwaukee at 8 p.m. ET on FOX.
Ben Johnson and Caleb Williams showed NFL fans once again that they're a match made in heaven.
Chicago didn't give the New England Patriots much of a shot in Week 7's Thursday night matchup. The Bears comfortably beat the Pats, 30-24, improving to 5-2.
In a game decided by just six points, Drake Maye leaving guaranteed points on the turf with a killer second-quarter end-zone pick loomed large. It forced New England into chase mode all night. It was Maye's third INT in the end zone this season.
New England almost went into the halftime break facing a scary deficit, if not for a 48-yard TD run by Pats RB Rhamondre Stevenson. Chicago's defense fell asleep at the wheel; an effort on D unbecoming of this franchise.
In his second game back from a hamstring injury, Caleb continued to ride an offensive groove, throwing for 308 yards (22-of-32) and two touchdowns.
On the Al Michaels front — the play-by-play icon had another sleepy outing, stumbling through a few sequences, including calling a Pats "fumble" that never occurred. The 81-year-old broadcaster also mistook Williams and Maye for QBs from the "class of 2014." They were drafted in 2024.
Chicago extinguished New England's last-minute comeback bid courtesy of exceptional clock management by coach Johnson and a nail-in-the-coffin, career-best 58-yard field goal from Cairo Santos. The kick let the former Vrabel disciple stick it to his old boss, leaving the Patriots coach grimacing on the sideline knowing he'd been out-dueled.
Maye finished with 321 passing yards (24-of-31) with two touchdowns and that costly turnover.
The final play of the first half between the New England Patriots and Chicago Bears on "Thursday Night Football" was the definition of: "What in the world did we just watch?"
After Luther Burden III scored for the Bears on third-and-17 near the red zone, Chicago went up 20-7 in the waning seconds of the second quarter. With the Bears getting the ball to start the third quarter, it would’ve been the perfect ending to the first half at home.
The Patriots took over with just 14 seconds left to play, but quarterback Drake Maye didn’t just kneel the clock out and head to the locker room. Instead, the Patriots were going to at least take a shot to get some points back before going to halftime.
After A.J. Brown hauled in his first catch of the night for 18 yards, the Patriots were near midfield for what should’ve been a Hail Mary attempt. But when Maye dumped the ball off to running back Rhamondre Stevenson, it seemed no points were coming the Patriots way in the end.
But Stevenson found some space and waited for his teammates to make a couple of blocks. Then, the Bears defenders, who didn’t seem to have urgency to bring Stevenson down, over-pursued the veteran back, and he found a crease toward the end zone.
Stevenson sprinted into the end zone for a 48-yard score as the clock expired, shocking the entire Soldier Field crowd as the Bears were only up 20-14.
NextGenStats found that Stevenson only had a 4.3% chance of scoring once the ball hit his hands.
We’ll see if this miraculous touchdown will come back to haunt the Bears, who are playing their first home game since the passing of legendary coach Mike Ditka. The night began with a moment of silence for the Super Bowl-winning coach, while fans were given fake mustaches to replicate his iconic look.
Charles Barkley is ready to pull the plug on television soon, and he wants zero part of the Aaron Rodgers farewell playbook.
During an appearance on SiriusXM, the 11-time NBA All-Star and 2006 Hall of Fame inductee laughed off any comparison between his own planned exit and the veteran quarterback's messy final tour.
"But I tell you what though, I'm not gonna bury everybody going out the door like Aaron," Barkley said, roasting the 42-year-old future Hall of Famer. "I'm not gonna burn every bridge and talk bad about all my exes on my way out the door like he's doing."
Barkley took aim at Rodgers' appearance on the Not Just Football podcast, where the quarterback focused heavily on his bitter family rift. Between jabs at exes and former teammates, Rodgers rehashed a decade of bad blood with his parents and brothers, Luke and Jordan. That feud went public during Jordan's 2016 stint on The Bachelorette, kicking off years of familial cold-shouldering and skipped family weddings.
Now in his 25th year on television, Chuck has built a beloved media career through brutal honesty.
Rodgers is currently grinding through his 22nd NFL season and is widely expected to finally hang 'em up once the season wraps.
Barkley's own retirement talk always comes with a massive grain of salt, as media peers routinely doubt whether he will actually follow through after teasing it for the better part of a decade.
Nearly 500 days had passed since Pacers guard Tyrese Haliburton last played in a regular-season NBA game. On Wednesday, the two-time All-Star made his long-awaited return, scoring 23 points to help Indiana secure a 123-120 season-opening victory over the New Orleans Pelicans.
Haliburton was sidelined for the entire 2025-26 season while recovering from a torn Achilles tendon suffered during Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals. The Oklahoma City Thunder went on to win the championship that year.
During Wednesday’s on-court postgame interview, the conversation took an emotional turn as Haliburton reflected on his long road back to the hardwood.
Asked about his performance in the season opener and how much fun he had playing with his teammates, Haliburton became visibly emotional.
"It means a lot to be back out here," Haliburton said as he fought back tears.
"We've got a lot to pick up, the second quarter wasn't good. But, we're battle-tested so we finished this game the right way. Just really proud of this group."
Haliburton added: "... I’m just really thankful to be back out here."
The Pacers experienced a significant drop-off without their star guard last season, finishing with just 19 wins. That was a far cry from the team that had come within one victory of winning an NBA championship the year before.
With Haliburton back, Indiana expects to contend in a competitive Eastern Conference. The Pacers host the Dallas Mavericks on Friday for their home opener.
World Series champion Mitch Garver has announced his retirement from baseball at age 35.
Garver played for the Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and Seattle Mariners during his 10-season major league career. He confirmed his retirement to MLB.com in a text message.
The Albuquerque native spent the first five seasons of his career with the Twins. The catcher and designated hitter won a Silver Slugger Award in 2019 when he hit 31 home runs, drove in 67 runs and posted an impressive .995 OPS.
In 2022, Garver was traded to the Rangers and became a key contributor to their 2023 World Series championship team. During the 2023 postseason , Garver played in 14 games, hitting .226 with three home runs and 14 RBI.
Following his postseason success, Garver signed a two-year, $24 million contract with the Mariners. At the time, it was the richest contract Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto had ever handed out. First baseman Josh Naylor set a new high mark with his five-year, $92.5 million contract last offseason.
Garver struggled offensively in Seattle compared with his time in Texas and was relegated to a backup role behind catcher Cal Raleigh. Despite no longer being a starter, Garver remained an important clubhouse presence and helped Raleigh during his record-setting 2025 season.
The Mariners released Garver in August, and he signed a minor league contract with the New York Yankees but never appeared in a major league game for the team.
Getting angry with officials can cost coaches on the field — and off it, too.
The NFL fined New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, New York Jets coach Aaron Glenn and Philadelphia Eagles coach Nick Sirianni $250,000 each for their conduct toward officials, according to Sports Illustrated. The fines are being held in abeyance, meaning they could be waived if the coaches demonstrate good behavior, according to the report.
It is unclear whether the fines stemmed from specific incidents or a pattern of conduct by the coaches.
In Week 4, Vrabel was flagged after expressing his displeasure with an official's call.
"I told him it was a terrible — I’m not going to say effing — call," Vrabel said after the game. "I’ve said that 87 times since I’ve been a head coach. It was nothing derogatory. You’d have to ask him. I think he was a little sensitive."
Officials have also made headlines this season, as the NFL disciplined two officials for their conduct in Week 5. Line judge Jeff Seeman was fined for apparently cursing at Arizona Cardinals tight end Trey McBride.
Referee Adrian Hill was suspended for one game for unprofessional conduct toward Minnesota Vikings linebacker Eric Wilson.
Wilson was pushed into Hill by a Miami Dolphins player after the play was blown dead, knocking the referee to the ground. Wilson offered to help Hill up, but the referee jumped to his feet, pointed at Wilson and yelled at him to get away.
"That was funny, honestly," Wilson told reporters in the Vikings' locker room, according to ESPN. "I ended up apologizing to him and explained the situation. He was cool about it. He understood what was going on. He just said he didn't want us fighting, me and (Dolphins running back Ollie Gordon II). He said he was just trying to break us up."
The NFL hopes to prevent further incidents involving coaches and officials from becoming distractions for the remainder of the season.
The NBA season may be only two days old, but Charles Barkley already appears to be in midseason form. During the first hour of Wednesday night’s "NBA Tip-Off" pregame show, Barkley appeared to surprise host Ernie Johnson with an unexpected revelation about Shaquille O’Neal.
Barkley suggested that O’Neal knows FBI Director Kash Patel, delivering the comment so casually that the entire "Inside the NBA" crew broke into laughter.
"Hey, Kenny. Should we be standing this close to Shaq?" Barkley asked.
Fellow NBA analyst Kenny Smith responded: "Why is that?"
"He’s been hanging out with Kash Patel," Barkley explained. "That’s dangerous."
"Oh!! Oh! Oh, I didn’t know you were gonna be going there," Johnson said. "But I should have known you would."
"Alright, Chuck," O’Neal replied as he continued to laugh. "Alright, Chuck."
For more than three decades, Ernie Johnson has hosted "Inside the NBA," which originates from a television studio in Atlanta. Two-time NBA champion Kenny Smith joined the show in 1998, Barkley came aboard in 2000 and O’Neal became a permanent fixture in 2011.
"I got your back, big fella," Barkley said. "We can hang out with who the hell we want to."
Barkley was hinting to Patel’s decision in September to name O’Neal an honorary FBI special agent.
"This session is historic – FBI was honored to be joined by one of the best supporters of law enforcement in the country -Shaq- who graduated with this session and became an honorary FBI Special Agent," Patel wrote on Sept. 17, in a post to X.
During his graduation ceremony, O’Neal joked that Barkley could be his first arrest. "Some of you will go back to your regular jobs, some of you will go to specialized training," O’Neal said in a speech to the graduating class.
"Some of you will go do what I do, be undercover. Well, I was undercover… But I just wanna say I appreciate you guys so much. Congratulations. I am not here for this; I am here for you… And if you see Charles Barkley, arrest him."
As is so often the case with modern college football, it seems like the decision to move to a 24-team College Football Playoff was made without thinking through potential long-term side effects.
While the endless search for more money throughout the sport is justifiable, given the increasing costs of fielding a competitive coaching staff and roster, the conferences that pushed the 24-team format through may not have fully considered the obvious implications. One of which is the necessary end of conference championship games.
In decades past, winning the Big Ten, ACC or SEC meant something. Both for the teams and their fanbases, and for poll voters who helped determine bowl selections. But in this new era, with a massive tournament field, if conference championships are meaningless, it raises a number of other questions. Namely, why should conferences even exist?
Theoretically, conferences are designed to create regional groupings, making travel and scheduling easier. In reality, as the modern ACC and Big Ten have demonstrated, they now exist mostly to make negotiating group media rights easier. There's no reason for UCLA and Rutgers to be in the same conference, other than a collective desire to increase their media value. Or Stanford and the Miami Hurricanes.
But with the 24-team playoff in place, a whole new world of possibilities could now be available. Chief among them, independence and the advantages that it offers. Why share television revenue with other schools? Why essentially give away your flexibility with scheduling? Notre Dame has more flexibility than anyone, and their schedule in 2026 gives them a tremendous leg up in the race for a 12-team playoff over, say, SEC teams playing much tougher opponents week in and week out.
In a new interview with Yahoo Sports!and Ross Dellenger, University of Miami president Joe Echevarria was very forthcoming about his interest in leaving the ACC and the potential opportunity to go independent.
"We are proud members of the ACC," he told Dellenger. "If the economics were even, we wouldn't be having any of these conversations. Thing is, we sit in the second tier. It's a reason we don't get a vote on the 24-team playoff and the Big Ten and SEC do."
One provision in the endlessly shifting Protect College Sports Act would prevent teams from switching conferences without going independent for several years. Echevarria strongly prefers that provision removed, to put it mildly, "You cannot lock us into a conference," he explained.
The Big Ten and SEC already shell out around $25 million more per team than the ACC does, which could increase significantly in just a few years when those conferences are able to negotiate new deals. If the ACC continues to fall behind, it could put Miami at a major competitive disadvantage relative to peer institutions. So would the Hurricanes go independent? Echevarria didn't shy away from the possibility, through brought up that it presents challenges for other, non-football sports.
"If we have to go independent, I like our chances because we are a national brand," he said. "I wouldn't like to do that because scheduling [other sports] is really tough. It's great for football but what about track, volleyball and the golf team?"
Still, as we've seen, conferences have been willing to figure out scheduling challenges in other sports. USC plays Penn State in other, non-football sports, even though it makes little sense and comes with immense travel difficulties. Miami now has a conference rivalry with the Cal Bears. If streaming services, television networks, or other sports broadcasters are willing to shell out more money for television rights for independent programs, and conference championships are now meaningless, what's to stop big brands from Miami from following Notre Dame's example?
And if they start the trend, how many others will follow?
Would programs like Alabama, Georgia and Texas bolt as opposed to sentencing themselves to the rigors of an SEC schedule for little reward? Or Ohio State and Michigan? Or USC?
As always, once conference realignment started, it seemed inevitable that the future would some sort of breakaway college football league. 64 teams, or whatever the number is, of the top programs competing against each other, ensuring that most games would pair a relatively big name against another. Which would mean a smaller playoff again, a far more popular configuration with fans anyway, and the potential for even more media revenue thanks to higher-profile matchups. With Group of Six teams left behind.
Once again, the desire to push relentlessly ahead toward more revenue might backfire for the major conferences, as teams like Miami question the need to remain in the ACC. Though it would be ironic if the 24-team playoff winds up being the straw that broke the camel's back when it comes to maintaining the conference structure.
Buffalo Bills safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson's one-game suspension for spitting at an opponent was upheld, the NFL announced Thursday.
The Bills have a bye in Week 7, so Gardner-Johnson will miss the team’s Week 8 game against the Baltimore Ravens. Appeals hearing officer Jordy Nelson heard the appeal.
Bills head coach Joe Brady called Gardner-Johnson's actions inexcusable.
"It’s hard enough to win enough in this league with 48 guys, much less 47. He knows that that can’t happen, it’s inexcusable, that’s not the standard that we’re going to have and play with. He’s addressed it, it’s been addressed," Brady told reporters on Monday.
"Those are the things that can’t happen on a football field. We want to toe the line in everything we do but we can’t cross the line."
Brady said Gardner-Johnson would remain in the starting lineup when he returns in Week 9. The 28-year-old was ejected from the game after spitting toward Las Vegas Raiders center Tyler Linderbaum and tight end Brock Bowers just before halftime.
Gardner-Johnson told reporters he would accept the consequences and needed to better control his emotions.
The Bills also had safety Sam Franklin Jr. suspended for spitting toward a player during the team’s win Sunday. Franklin denied the allegations in a social media post.
"Not a dirty play what so ever! Will always defend myself though. Still won't spit on anyone," Franklin posted on his Instagram Story Wednesday.
The NFL is gearing up for the next international game on its annual slate, with the Pittsburgh Steelers and New Orleans Saints battling it out at Stade de France.
Of course, there has been some criticism of this plan, as France is experiencing some pretty nasty civil unrest at the moment, but the game will go ahead, with the Saints having been in the country for a few days already.
The Steelers? Well, people are already questioning their travel plans a little bit.
According to reports, the Steelers plan to take a red-eye to France that will depart on Thursday night.
Now, there are plenty of reasons why they might want to do this. It allows for more game prep at home; plus, with all the uncertainty around the game, there's a case to be made that it's less disruptive to players' sleep habits, and it makes some sense to hang around to make sure it's all going to happen.
We did get an example of why it might work better to go abroad earlier rather than later.
The Los Angeles Rams were goofed on for their decision to fly to Melbourne, Australia very close to game time, with some blaming it for their big loss to a San Francisco 49ers team that had been down under so long, they were starting to develop a taste for Vegemite.
Of course, in hindsight, the Rams aren't quite the worldbeaters we all thought before the season, but that travel schedule couldn't have helped matters.
While a red-eye to France isn't as brutal as a red-eye to Australia, travel is exhausting, and many people on social media were quick to point that out.
So who is going to end up being right on this one? The early-to-the-party Saints, or the fashionably late (compared to the Saints) Steelers?
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