Bryce Harper on his return to lineup, Turner's two HR game
Over his last nine games, Bryce Harper is hitting .500 (15-for-30). Ricky Bottalico breaks down what he's seen in Harper as the former MVP is heating up at the dish.Ricky Bo Breakdown: Why Bryce Harper is heating up at the plate originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
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Newsweek
an hour ago
- Newsweek
NFL World Buzzing About What Bears QB Caleb Williams Just Did
Based on facts, either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter, or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources. Newsweek AI is in beta. Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content. Throughout the majority of the NFL offseason, there have been a lot of questions surrounding Chicago Bears' second-year quarterback Caleb Williams. Not only were their questions, there was a lot of doubt. Fans have been ready to give up on Williams already, even after he flashed major potential during his rookie season with the team. Being a No. 1 overall pick comes with a lot of scrutiny. Williams has struggled at times during his work in training camp. Despite that fact, fans got their first look at him in Sunday night's preseason matchup against the Buffalo Bills. Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears throws a pass against the Buffalo Bills during the NFL Preseason 2025 game between Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on August 17, 2025 in Chicago,... Caleb Williams #18 of the Chicago Bears throws a pass against the Buffalo Bills during the NFL Preseason 2025 game between Buffalo Bills and Chicago Bears at Soldier Field on August 17, 2025 in Chicago, Illinois More Photo byWilliams ended up playing two series against the Bills. What he did in that period of time was nothing short of impressive. Read more: Packers Receive Brutal Injury Update Regarding Offensive Weapon ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter took to X to share his final numbers. Williams completed six of his 10 passes for 130 yards, one touchdown, and a 130.0 passer rating. It didn't take long for NFL fans to jump into Schefter's comments on his post about Williams. To say that there is a lot of hype now surrounding Williams again would be an understatement. "MVP loading," one fan wrote. A second fan commented, "Not bad for just two series. Imagine what he'd do with a full game. The kid's got talent." "He looked crazy good," a third fan chimed in. Another fan said, "Future Super Bowl champion." "I've been saying he better than burrow," a fifth comment read. There were plenty of comments that also pointed out the fact that Williams played a preseason game. No one should be taking too much positive or negative away from a preseason game. Even with that being said, it was a dominant showing from the young signal caller. The Bears feel very confident in him and have chosen to build around him. New head coach Ben Johnson should also help Williams level up during the 2025 season. Read more: Rams Again Connected to Major QB Trade Amid Matthew Stafford Uncertainty Only time will tell, but the start he had is good. It will undoubtedly help his confidence. Last season as a rookie, Williams completed 62.5 percent of his pass attempts for 3,541 yards, 20 touchdowns, and six interceptions, while also rushing for 489 yards on 81 attempts. Those numbers warranted much more patience than fans gave him after a few videos of him struggling in camp. It will be interesting to see what the 2025 season has in store for Williams. At least for tonight, he has silenced his critics with a very dominant showing in his second-year preseason debut. For more on the Chicago Bears and general NFL news, head over to Newsweek Sports.
Yahoo
2 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mookie Betts leads Dodgers to sweep over Padres to reclaim NL West lead
The Los Angeles Dodgers came up with a massive sweep over their NL West rivals this weekend, thanks in large part to a go-ahead home run from Mookie Betts on Sunday afternoon. Betts, after the San Diego Padres had rallied back from a four-run hole and tied the game up, drilled a deep solo home run over the left field wall at Dodger Stadium. That put the Dodgers up 5-4 and eventually led them to the one-run win. The shot came after he was walked and flew out twice. The former MVP has had a rough season, too, and currently holds a career-worst .241 batting average. The Dodgers had jumped out in front early on Sunday, thanks to a three-run homer from Freddie Freeman and a solo shot from Andy Pages in the first inning off of Yu Darvish. The Padres then slowly clawed back in it, and Jose Iglesias hit Xander Bogaerts in in the eighth inning to finally tie things back up. That win followed a 6-0 win over the Padres on Saturday and a narrow 3-2 win on Friday. That three-game sweep was the Dodgers' first since they swept the Chicago White Sox in early July. The Padres haven't been swept since mid-May. The wins also came at a critical time for the Dodgers, and not just because it snapped a four-game losing skid. They were losing their grip on the NL West race amid a recent surge from the Padres, who entered the series on a five-game win streak. The Padres even took a one-game lead in the division race after they rolled over the San Francisco Giants on Wednesday. But thanks to the sweep, which pushed them to 71-53 on the season, the Dodgers now have a two-game lead once again and are all alone at the top. Though they are currently out in front, there is still a big stretch of the season left. The Padres will have plenty of opportunities to rally and win the division — something they haven't done since 2006. The two teams will run it back with a three-game series at Petco Park starting on Friday, too, so things could easily flip right back over the next week. But at least for now, the Dodgers' lead in the NL West is still safe.
Yahoo
3 hours ago
- Yahoo
Mookie Betts' late home run lifts Dodgers to series sweep of the Padres
For so much of this year, the Dodgers have been picking Mookie Betts up amid a career-worst season at the plate. On Sunday afternoon, with a rivalry game and division lead hanging in the balance, he returned the favor with his biggest swing in ages. After once leading by four, then watching the Padres claw all the way back to tie the score, the Dodgers completed a weekend series sweep on Betts' go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth — his no-doubt, 394-foot, stadium-shaking blast sending the Dodgers to a 5-4 win and two-game lead in the National League West. As Betts came to the plate in the eighth inning, Dodger Stadium was silent and tense. In the first inning, the team had ambushed Padres starter Yu Darvish for four runs on long balls from Freddie Freeman and Andy Pages. From there, a crowd of 49,189 watched the Padres slowly storm back. Tyler Glasnow fizzled after two electric opening innings, leaving the game at the end of the fifth after giving up two runs. A patchwork Dodgers bullpen couldn't hold the Padres off, giving up runs in the top of the sixth and eighth that transformed the score into a 4-4 tie. At that point, San Diego had the advantage. Their league-leading bullpen was fresh. Their closer, Robert Suarez, was on the mound. And the Dodgers were almost completely out of pitching options, having burned five relievers to get the previous nine outs. But then, Betts delivered. In a 2-and-0 count against Suarez, he launched a center-cut fastball deep into the left-field stands. It was the kind of moment that has eluded the former MVP so often this year. The kind of heroic act the Dodgers had been waiting for despite his career-worst .241 batting average. Just like that, the Dodgers completed their sweep against the Padres. They went from second place at the start of Friday to all alone back in first three days later. Long before the dramatic ending, Sunday had started like the previous two nights. The Dodgers were getting good pitching, with Glasnow striking out four of his first five batters while pumping increased fastball velocity and generating foolish swings with his slider. The Padres were making mistakes; most notably, Freddy Fermín getting gunned down by Pages from center while trying to leg out a double in the top of the third, turning what could have been a crooked-number inning into only a one-run rally. Darvish, meanwhile, made a pair of two-strike mistakes, leaving a fastball up to Freeman for a three-run homer before failing to bury a splitter to Pages for a solo shot. Things began to shift, however, in the fifth. Ramón Laureano lifted a solo drive just over the wall in right. And though Glasnow got out of a jam later in the inning, his fading command and rising pitch count forced him from the game after 91 throws. That meant, with the Padres turning to their shutdown (and, after two defeats to start the series, well-rested) bullpen, the Dodgers' shaky relief corps was asked to protect a narrow lead. Once again, they couldn't. In the sixth, Anthony Banda gave up one run on a pair of doubles (the second one, a floating fly ball into the right field corner from Ryan O'Hearn that slow-footed Teoscar Hernández couldn't track down). Read more: Dodgers capitalize on Padres' sloppiness to retake sole possession of first place And though Blake Treinen stranded a runner at third in the seventh — thanks in no small part to a generous strike call against Manny Machado that negated a walk — more trouble arose in the eighth. Alexis Díaz started the inning by hitting a batter, then gave up a double to Laureano on a line drive to center. Alex Vesia took over from there and retired both batters he faced. But the first one was a ground ball from Jose Iglesias, just enough to get a runner home from third for the tying run. For a fleeting moment, all the momentum the Dodgers had built this past week seemed to be fading. Instead of retaking control of the division lead, they risked finishing this weekend tied atop the standings. With one swing, Betts changed all that. In a year of so much frustration, his moment of salvation finally arrived. Sign up for more Dodgers news with Dodgers Dugout. Delivered at the start of each series. This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
