Pawol becomes first woman to umpire in MLB
"I'm aware of the gravity. I'm aware of the magnitude," Pawol said.
Pawol was set to work at third base later in the second game of the twin bill on Saturday before calling balls and strikes behind home plate in Sunday's contest.
"Once I started umpiring, I was like, 'This is for me,'" Pawol recalled before the game. "I can't explain it. It's just in my DNA.
"This is a viable career, to become a professional umpire, for men and women, girls and boys. I'm able to make a living doing it and I'm passionate about it. I just work harder every day and get better before tomorrow."
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
France 24
2 hours ago
- France 24
Sabalenka survives massive Cincinnati struggle with Raducanu
The top seed, who won the Cincinnati final a year ago over Jessica Pegula, increased her lead at the top of the WTA Tour match-win statistics as she secured her 49th of the season. But the struggle was real for Sabalenka, who finished with two aces in the closing stages. "I'm happy to get through this difficult match," Sabalenka said. "I just hope tomorrow is a day off. I need time to recover from such a great battle." Raducanu put up a huge fight, matching Sabalenka throughout. The British number one survived a 25-minute eighth game of the final set, which went to 13 deuces, with Raducanu saving four break points before finally holding for 4-all and eventually into a tiebreaker. But Sabalenka squeezed out victory with a sixth ace for 5-4 in the breaker and delivered her seventh on second match point to bring the battle to a close after three hours and nine minutes. "It was all about momentum," Sabalenka said. "I took some risks at the end, went for crazy shots, went to the net. "A risky game from me helped to put a lot of pressure on her," she said of an opponent whom she hugged warmly at the net. Sabalenka is bidding for her 10th trophy at the 1000 level and second this season after winning at Madrid. In other third-round results at the last major tuneup prior to the US Open, Ekaterina Alexandrova defeated Australian Maya Joint 6-4, 6-3. Sorana Cirstea defeated Yuan Yue 6-7 (2/7), 6-4, 6-4 and will next play third seed Iga Swiatek, who got a walkover into the round of 16. Spain's Jessica Bouzas Maneiro, a quarter-finalist this month in Montreal, made further hard court progress with a 6-4, 6-1 thrashing of American wild card Taylor Townsend. Her next opponent will be Sabalenka on Wednesday. In the men's draw, seventh seed Holger Rune, a semi-finalist here a year ago, won his 99th career match on cement, ending the hopes of Alex Michelsen 7-6 (7/4), 6-3. Felix Auger-Aliassime got a win for Canada, advancing 7-6 (7/4), 4-2 when French opponent Arthur Rinderknech retired with apparent heat illness after two gruelling hours on court.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Rose tops Spaun in playoff to win PGA St. Jude as Fleetwood falters again
England's Rose, the 2013 US Open champion, had six birdies over his last eight holes including the playoff -- climbing up the congested leaderboard with birdies at 14, 15, 16 and 17 in regulation. His final-round 67 pulled him level with reigning US Open champion Spaun on 16-under par 264 at TPC Southwind -- where overnight leader Fleetwood had a two-shot lead with three holes remaining but faltered with a bogey at 17 in a one-under 69 that left him tied for third with Scottie Scheffler on 15-under 265. Spaun carded a five-under 65 in the final round, posting back-to-back birdies at 16 and 17 -- where he rolled in a 20-foot putt -- to put himself in the playoff. "That was an amazing last 90 minutes, really," said Rose, the 45-year-old who finished runner-up to Rory McIlroy in a playoff at the Masters in April. "Played unbelievable golf coming down the stretch." Rose claimed his 12th US tour title, and his first since Pebble Beach in 2023. Rose started the day one shot off the lead and was two-over for the day through nine holes. His challenge seemed stalled after he followed a birdie at the 10th with a bogey at 12, but a 15-foot birdie at the 14th launched his comeback. He drained a 10-foot birdie at 15, got up and down from a greenside bunker for birdie at 16 and curled in a 22-foot birdie putt at 17. His 13-footer for the outright win at the 72nd hole just missed and he and Spaun returned to 18 for the playoff. Both two-putted for par -- Rose after a tee shot that nearly found the water. They posted matching birdies the next time around -- Spaun drilling a 30-foot putt and Rose making his seven-footer. They returned to 18 again, this time with a new hole location, and after Rose rattled in his 11-footer, Spaun sent his seven-foot birdie attempt past the cup. "Never stopped believing," said Rose. "I've been saying for some time when I bring my best, I know I'm good enough to play and compete and to now win against the best players in the world, so very gratifying day for me and a lot of hard work kind of coming to fruition." Fleetwood falters But it was the familiar feeling of disappointment for compatriot Fleetwood, a seven-time DP World Tour winner who has yet to win in 162 US tour starts. After an opening bogey and 10 straight pars, Fleetwood rolled in a 33-foot birdie putt at the 12th and a 15-footer at the 13th to regain a one-shot lead, and he was two-up after a birdie at 15. Scheffler's challenge was fading, but Spaun and Rose were pressing when he settled for a par at the par-five 16th and hit a poor second shot and poor putt at 17. "I'm obviously going to be disappointed," said Fleetwood, who lost in a playoff at the Travelers Championship earlier this year in his sixth PGA Tour runner-up finish. "There's a lot of positives to take, as much as I don't really feel like that right now. I'm just going to look at what I feel like I could have done and how close it was." World number one Scheffler, whose four wins this year include two majors, was tied for the lead through 13 holes in pursuit of a fifth 2025 triumph, but he couldn't keep pace as he closed with a three-under 67. He remained atop the playoff standings after the first of three playoff events. The top 50 advance to next week's BMW Championship and the top 30 after the BMW advance to the Tour Championship.
France 24
a day ago
- France 24
Spain's Alex Palou wins third consecutive IndyCar season title
Palou became only the fourth driver in IndyCar history to win three consecutive season crowns after American Ted Horn, France's Sebastien Bourdais and Scotland's Dario Franchitti. "It's unbelievable. It's crazy. I couldn't be happier right now," Palou said. "This has been an amazing season, an amazing five years with CGR (Chip Ganassi Racing). "I have no words to describe how grateful I am to everybody at CGR. This has been an amazing year and I cannot wait for more." With four career season titles, Palou ranks third on the all-time IndyCar list behind the record 10 won by A.J. Foyt and the six taken by New Zealand's Scott Dixon. Power collected his second victory in a row after 110 laps over the 12-turn, 1.964-mile (3.16km) Portland International Raceway road course with Dane Christian Lundgaard second and Palou third. "It was a shame we couldn't end it with another win but we fought," Palou said of the race. "I gave everything that I had. I tried everything to overtake Lundgaard but I couldn't make it today." With 626 points, Palou stands 151 ahead of Mexico's second-place Pato O'Ward in the season ladder, an insurmountable gap with two races remaining. Palou's eight triumphs this season include the Indianapolis 500, St. Petersburg, Thermal, Alabama, Indianapolis Grand Prix, Road America, Iowa and Laguna Seca. Palou, 28, can still match the one-season IndyCar win record of 10 with victories later this month at Milwaukee and Nashville. A.J. Foyt won 10 races in 1964 and Al Unser Sr. won 10 in 1970 while Mario Andretti captured nine in the 1969 campaign. Power captured his 45th career IndyCar win and first of a difficult season. "It's a big win for all of the team," Power said. "We've had a rough year. It's not really because we've been off the pace. It has just been unfortunate circumstances. It was a good hard-fought win." Pole-sitter O'Ward was the only racer who could have denied Palou the crown, but his car suffered an electrical failure on lap 21 and he went eight laps down, all-but ensuring Palou the crown since O'Ward needed to gain 14 points on Palou in the race to stay in the title chase. O'Ward's 25th-place finish was his worst result of the season. O'Ward was powerless O'Ward pitted for fuel after an early crash while Power and Palou stayed out to take first and second. But O'Ward's car lost power and rolled to a stop on the pit lane, crew members running out and pushing him into the service area where they could work on the electrical problem. O'Ward returned to the track eight laps down with Palou second overall, stealing any drama from the title fight. Former Indy 500 winner Tony Kanaan, team principal for Arrow McLaren, said faulty electrical wiring foiled O'Ward's bid. "The DI box, which is one of the electronic boxes that goes through to make everything work, had a connector with a little bit more of a vibration and, we don't know why, vibrated a little too hard and actually short-fused the whole box -- it was burning when we unplugged it," the Brazilian said. "It's one of those things. I don't have an explanation for it. It's really nobody's fault. Sometimes you need a little bit of luck to survive those situations... We couldn't really put up a fight today."
