
I Dig Sports

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals placed reliever Hunter Harvey on the 15-day disabled list on Friday because of a right shoulder injury.
The team said Harvey is dealing with a strain of the teres muscle in the shoulder.
Harvey has allowed just one hit with no walks and seven strikeouts in 5 1/3 innings across six appearances so far for the Royals.
The 30-year-old Harvey, acquired from Washington last July, has spent the last few years dealing with various health issues. He missed time during the late stages of the 2024 season due to a back injury and also had problems with his right elbow and his right arm.
Kansas City recalled right-handed reliever Steven Cruz from Triple-A Omaha to take Harvey's roster spot. The Royals are scheduled to play in Cleveland on Friday night.
Padres' Cronenworth latest to IL with rib fracture

SAN DIEGO -- The depleted San Diego Padres placed infielder Jake Cronenworth on the 10-day injured list on Friday with a right rib fracture.
The move with Cronenworth came after center fielder Jackson Merrill went on the 10-day IL on Tuesday because of a right hamstring strain. The IL stint for Cronenworth was made retroactive to Wednesday.
The Padres also are playing without right-hander Yu Darvish, who began the season on the IL because of elbow inflammation.
They did get some good news Friday when star Fernando Tatis Jr. returned to the lineup and batted leadoff and played right field in the opener of a weekend series against Colorado. Tatis left Tuesday night's game against the Athletics after experiencing left shoulder discomfort stemming from a slide.
Cronenworth also left Tuesday night's game after taking a swing. He was hit by a pitch Sunday in a game at the Chicago Cubs. He said he had an MRI on Thursday, a day off.
He thought it was a bruise and could play through it. He homered on Monday in a 5-4 win against the Athletics.
"It's frustrating, but it happens," Cronenworth said. "It didn't feel great Sunday when it happened, even Monday, then water over the boat on Tuesday and kind of just the tip of the iceberg."
The 31-year-old Cronenworth is batting .257 with two homers and five RBIs in 12 games this season. The two-time All-Star hit .241 with 17 homers and 83 RBIs in 155 games in 2024.
Even with all the injuries, San Diego became the first major league team with 10 wins after it beat the Athletics 2-1 on Wednesday.
Third baseman Tyler Wade was promoted from Triple-A El Paso before Friday night's game. Right-hander Matt Waldron, who has a left oblique muscle strain, was transferred to the 60-day IL.

TAMPA, Fla. -- Atlanta Braves ace Spencer Strider is going to join the team during its weekend series at Tampa Bay, marking another step in his comeback from elbow surgery.
Braves manager Brian Snitker said Strider felt good after he struck out 13 during a dominant rehab appearance with Triple-A Gwinnett on Thursday.
Strider, 26, is going to have a bullpen session on Sunday in Tampa and then travel with the team to Toronto for the second half of its six-game trip. While the club has not made an official announcement, Strider could return during the series against the Blue Jays.
Strider last appeared in the majors on April 5, 2024, against the Diamondbacks in Atlanta. He had the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow repaired with an internal brace a week later.
The Braves are off to a slow start, and the return of Strider could provide a big lift. He went 20-5 with a 3.86 ERA in 2023, finishing with a major league-best 281 strikeouts in 186 innings.
He pitched 5 innings in his rehab start on Thursday, allowing one run and three hits. He threw 90 pitches, 62 for strikes.
"He felt really good," Snitker said before Atlanta's series opener at Tampa Bay. "He said he felt good, so he'll come here and throw his bullpen Sunday."

The biggest impediment to a more enduring partnership appeared to be Petchey's commentary role with the Tennis Channel. That is one of the details which will need to be resolved as the two try to reach agreement on the number of weeks they will work together.
Raducanu has not had a full-time coach since January, when Nick Cavaday stood down for health reasons, and ended a two-week trial with Vladimir Platenik on the eve of the Miami Open.
She had previously worked with a wide range of coaches including Nigel Sears, Andrew Richardson - who was in charge during her run to the US Open title - Torben Beltz, Dmitry Tursunov and Sebastian Sachs.
She pulled out of the Great Britain team for this week's Billie Jean King Cup qualifying round in The Hague to train and "look after her body".
Raducanu has not yet decided whether to play at this month's Madrid Open but is expected to compete at next month's Italian Open in Rome before the French Open begins in late May.

CONCORD, N.C. The American Sprint Car Series National Tour continues its 34th consecutive season at Salina Highbanks Speedway on Saturday, featuring 17 drivers committed to chase the coveted Emmett Hahn Trophy.
Four past National Tour champions, seven returning drivers from the 2024 roster, four Rookie of the Year contenders, one regional ASCS champion and one past National Tour regular make up the Series refreshed look for 2025 all of whom will compete in the remaining 33 races on the schedule in pursuit of the points championship.
Heres a look at the ASCS National Tour full-time roster:
Seth Bergman | Snohomish, Wash. | Bergman Racing No. 23
The 2024 ASCS National Tour champion is back to defend his crown in 2025. Bergman, 37, comes into his 10th season as a member of the Tours full-time roster, piloting his own Victory Fuel, Oklahoma Chiller, Triple X Race Cars No. 23. Last year, the present-day Oklahoma resident won a personal-best seven features en route to his first ASCS championship.
Sam Hafertepe Jr. | Sunnyvale, Texas | Hills Racing Team No. 15h
Hafertepe and the Ontario-originated Hills Racing Team returned to the national 360 sprint car ranks last year after spending the 20212023 seasons focusing on their 410 sprint car program. In 33 main event starts on the 2024 Tour, the 39-year-old five-time Tour champion won 12 of them three shy of the single-season wins record he tied at 15 in 2017 and finished runner-up in the season points championship.
Blake Hahn | Sapulpa, Okla. | Blake Hahn Racing No. 52
Hahn and his signature yellow/pink No. 52 car won back-to-back National Tour championships in 2021 and 2022 before leaving the 360 world to concentrate on a 410 sprint car program. The 30-year-old grandson of ASCS founder Emmett Hahn returns to the National Tour in 2025 after making 15 starts last year, winning once at his home track of Creek County Speedway in November.
Jason Martin | Liberal, Kan. | BM Motorsports No. 36
Now in his fourth full-time season on the Tour, the 42-year-old champion of the 2023 ASCS National Tour aims to get back to the top after a fifth-place finish in points last season, which featured only one main event victory.
Martin pilots his own Bybee Electric, Don Ott-powered Schnee/Eagle Chassis No. 36 as one of the most seasoned veterans on the road with ASCS, and even boasts some national 410 sprint car experience as a former World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series regular in 2006.
Matt Covington | Glenpool, Okla. | Covington Racing No. 95
Covington is the longest-running ASCS driver on the full-time roster, having competed every season consecutively since 2014. In that time, hes amassed 17 feature wins (19 career total) and a legion of fans around his native Oklahoma but still has yet to top the championship standings. His familiar red/white Reece Construction Co. No. 95 will try again in a 13th full season.
Zach Blurton | Quinter, Kan. | Zach Blurton Racing No. 2J
A graduate of the regional 305 and 360 sprint car ranks, Blurton is back for his sophomore campaign on the National Tour. The 30-year-old made the decision to start traveling last year and finished 2024 ranked eighth in the points standings, now in search of his second career feature win with the Tour after getting his first in 2022.
Landon Britt | Memphis, Tenn. | LB Motorsports No. 10
Britt rekindled his racing roots in the late 2010s, racing sprint cars regionally before embarking on his first campaign with the Tour in 2022. The 27-year-old former rugby player broke through for his first career Tour victory in 2023 and garnered a seventh-place finish in the championship standings last year, and this Saturday begins his fourth-straight campaign with the National Tour.
Terry Easum | Broken Arrow, Okla. | Easum Racing No. 88
Easum begins his second full season on the National Tour after a rookie campaign full of ups-and-downs. In only the second race on the schedule last year, Easum drove from seventh on the starting grid to his first career Tour victory at Red Dirt Raceway. Though he finished 10th in the standings, hes since hired veteran crew chief Jimmy Jones to the team for this season, giving him a trusted source of expertise in the pits.
Kyler Johnson | Quinter, Kan. | Kyler Johnson Racing No. 45x
At only 19 years old, Johnson set out on his first full-time campaign with the National Tour and has steadily seen his skills in the seat grow. Now 21, Johnson is set for his fourth full ASCS campaign this season and knocking on the door of his first Tour victory, having accumulated multiple top-five and podium finishes in his last two seasons.
Austyn Gossel | Windsor, Colo. | Austyn Gossel Racing No. 16G
A former racer of both pavement and non-winged sprint cars on the dirt, Gossel has found his place in winged 360 sprint car racing with ASCS after a rookie season last year full of learning opportunities. This year, the 24-year-old second-generation driver aims for more consistent results as he continues to carve his skills behind the wheel of his signature white/orange No. 16G.
Bradley Fezard | Bonnerdale, Ark. | V&H Fresh Racing No. 938
Fezard is a former NOW600 and POWRi Micro Sprint champion who took the biggest step in his open-wheel racing career last year, setting out for his rookie National Tour campaign. While a 12th-place finish in the final points wasnt the result he was looking for from his first year on the road, he and team owner Vince Rosa are making some changes for 2025, switching to Triple X Race Cars and hiring crew chief and shop manager Jesse Barstad.
Harli White | Lindsay, Okla. | Big Sky Speedway No. 17w
White spent four consecutive seasons racing as part of the full-time roster from 20172020 and is transitioning back to full-time ASCS competition this year after scaling back to focus on her personal life. The 29-year-old made history in her last full season on the Tour, becoming the first female to win an ASCS National Tour event by taking the checkered flag at Riverside Intl Speedway in Arkansas. This year, shes reinforced her partnership with Big Sky Speedway owner Jerry Brey and crew chief Chris Stivers, who will support her comeback tour.
Casey Wills | Sperry, Okla. | Wills Racing No. 31
Wills was crowned champion of the ASCS Sooner Region in 2024 and had his most consistent season as a localregional racer, posting three-straight top-10s at Creek County Speedway, 81 Speedway and Enid Speedway in August and September. For 2025, hes stepping out of his comfort zone and into the national 360 sprint car ranks with ASCS, checking off a bucket-list item to race the entire schedule behind the wheel of his self-owned Ameriflex No. 31.
Ryder Laplante | Calera, Okla. | Ryder Laplante Racing No. 88r
Laplante comes into 2025 as the eldest Rookie of the Year contender on the National Tour roster at 18 years old. While hes made only seven career appearances with the Tour, the recent micro sprint graduate had a standout performance against the field last May at Rush County Speedway, driving from seventh to third behind Matt Covington and race winner Seth Bergman.
Brady Baker | Alexander, Ark. | Brady Baker Racing No. 71
Baker shined on multiple occasions last season in Tour competition, posting four podium finishes in 10 Feature starts with a best finish of second to Jason Martin at Arrowhead Speedway in September. The 17-year-old rookie-of-the-year contender takes on his first full-time 360 sprint car campaign this year after several seasons developing in the karting and micro sprint ranks.
Garrett Benson | Concordia, Mo. | Nathan Benson Motorsports No. 2b
Fourteen-year-old Benson is a graduate of the micro sprint ranks, having worked his way through the Junior, Restricted and 600cc divisions in the late 2010s through the 2023 season. 2023 also marked his debut in a 305 sprint car, which paved the way for his 360 sprint car debut with ASCS last season highlighted by earning himself a starting spot on the outside pole for the main event at Arrowhead Speedway in September.
Brogan Carder | Sioux Falls, S.D. | Brogan Carder Racing No. 88c
The second of two 14-year-old rookie contenders brings four years of Outlaw Kart experience in with him to begin his first full-time sprint car season. Carder finished his 2024 campaign with ASCS during Fuzzys Fall Fling at Creek County last November in his first taste of national 360 sprint car competition.

HICKORY, N.C. FloSports and the zMAX CARS Tour are partnering for a unique collaboration that will elevate grassroots racing with a historic doubleheader event The Throwback Classic presented by FloRacing at the legendary Hickory Motor Speedway.
The Aug. 2 event will feature the biggest single night in pavement late model racing history with a record-breaking purse of more than $200,000.
The Throwback Classic presented by FloRacing boasts the richest purse ever for both CARS Tour divisions and the biggest late model stars on the national stage.
It will be the second event to feature a $50,000-to-win late model stock race and the first to pay $2,500 to start, while the Pro Late Model showdown will pay $30,000-to-win and $1,500 to start.
This payout is simply incredible for the series, driver, and teams, said Dale Earnhardt Jr., zMAX CARS Tour co-owner. Our goal is always to continue to grow the Series by putting as many eyes on it as possible. Our partnership with FloSports allows us to do just that. The Throwback Classic at Hickory has always been a special event for the CARS Tour. But with this announcement its now the biggest pavement short track event of the year, period.

HEBRON, Ohio The International Hot Rod Assn has finalized the purchase of another first-class drag racing facility with National Trail Raceway.
The track located in suburban Columbus, Ohio, has a rich history, first opened in 1964, and now a bright future with todays announcement.
National Trail Raceway features a quarter-mile drag strip, which had its concrete ground just last week, and upgraded bleachers to make it more comfortable for spectators. Other amenities include a great variety of foods at concessions along with official merchandise at the National Trail Raceway (Pro Shop).
The IHRA is great. I think (IHRA owner) Darryl Cuttell is taking it to the glory days and making it bigger and better than ever, said NTRs Jay Livingston who is staying on as team manager.
National Trail Raceway is capable of hosting national events as well as being home to a strong bracket racing program. Its part of the appeal of the IHRA and its commitment to grassroots, Sportsman racing.
The racers have talked about IHRAs recent announcements of all-time membership coverages and significant purse increases to the IHRA Summit Team Finals and IHRA Summit SuperSeries World Finals.
Weve already had a number of racers reach out to us, Livingston said. They have gone out and looked at the IHRA Team Finals held at Quaker (City Motorsports Park) and theyre excited. Theyre really excited about the IHRA World Finals in Alabama that pays $25,000 to win.

BRISTOL, Tenn. How unusual would it be for two different Joe Gibbs Racing drivers to fashion three-race winning streaks in the first nine events of the 2025 NASCAR Cup Series season?
It could happen.
Denny Hamlin, fresh from consecutive victories at Martinsville Speedway and Darlington Raceway, goes for a third straight win in Sundays Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.
With a victory, Hamlin would match the feat achieved by teammate Christopher Bell in the second, third and fourth races of the season, at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Circuit of The Americas and Phoenix Raceway.
Last season, the spring race at the 0.533-mile short track returned to the concrete surface after three years on dirt. Hamlin won for the third time in the last eight races at Bristol and fourth time overall, second only to Kyle Busch (eight wins) among full-time active drivers.
The rate of tire fall-off in last years event took all the competitors by surprise and played into the hands of Hamlin, an acknowledged master of tire management.
However, the driver of the No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota believes Sundays race is more likely to mirror last falls Bristol Night Race, won by Kyle Larson.
I think that was just kind of an anomaly, Hamlin said of last years Food City 500. We thought it was temperature, we thought it was all kinds of different things, but truthfully, theres something that was different.
Dont know really what it was, but I would expect that we would have the normal Bristol (this year), where your tires dont wear that much, if its the same tire. Temperatures look to be up, so I would say that we would have kind of the normal Bristol that weve had most of the time.
Hamlin will have a formidable challenger in Larson, who is going for a triple of his own. Larson is competing in Fridays NASCAR CRAFTSMAN Truck Series race, Saturdays NASCAR Xfinity Series event and Sundays Cup race, hoping to sweep the weekend, a feat achieved by Busch twice at Bristol, in 2010 and 2017.
No other driver has ever won all three national series races at the same track on the same weekend, though Larson came close three weeks ago at Homestead-Miami Speedway, winning the Truck and Cup races but losing the Xfinity race on a late restart.
No doubt Busch will be paying close attention to Larsons effort, as he was at Homestead.
He just tried it at Homestead an came awfully close, Busch said. Barring a restart late in the going, he had it. Thats what happens with the triples, man. There are so many variables that can come down to whether you get it or not.
If somebody can beat Larson off of pit road on the final run of the Cup race and he cant pass them, thats what happens in that one. But Im sure hell go and do well, and so be it.
The bottom lane of the track will be sprayed with PJ1 Trackbite for all three races this weekend, a departure from the resin used last spring.
I think thats been the most consistent thing that weve done, said Chris Buescher, who won the Night Race in 2022. The majority of time its been three or four feet of PJ1 on the bottom.
Interestingly, Buescher is the only Bristol winner in the last eight races to win from a starting position outside the top five. The Roush Fenway Keselowski driver won from 20th on the grid.
Weve been really good at Bristol, Buescher said. Weve had good pace. Our team, (crew chief) Scott Graves and our whole group have made great strategy calls to find some track position and be able to make some big gains in that sense.
Weve had race cars that have run the bottom really well when (other cars) have gotten strung out on the top, and weve been able to pass a lot of cars that way.
Buescher is the exception that proves the rule, but if qualifying position remains a decisive factor, that argues for Hamlin, too. He leads all active drivers with four pole positions at Thunder Valley.
Busch has two poles to his credit. No other full-time active driver has more than one.

Colorado Avalanche captain Gabriel Landeskog will play Friday for the franchise's AHL affiliate, for his first professional game in nearly three years.
The Avalanche's AHL team, the Colorado Eagles, announced after morning skate that Landeskog would play in their game against the Henderson Silver Knights, the AHL affiliate for the Vegas Golden Knights.
On Wednesday, the Avalanche sent Landeskog to the Eagles for a conditioning stint. Landeskog has spent the past few days with the Eagles, who play a little more than an hour away in Loveland, Colorado, in an attempt to be ready for the club's bid to win its fourth Stanley Cup.
Landeskog's last appearance came in Game 6 of the 2022 Stanley Cup Final. He led the Avalanche to the third championship in club history. He would then miss the entire 2022-23 season with a knee injury and then underwent knee cartilage replacement surgery in May 2023. Landeskog would then miss the entire 2023-24 season.
The 32-year-old had been traveling with the team in recent years and had been doing on-ice work away from the team. This season, however, has led to Landeskog gradually spending more practice time with the Avalanche which further added to the belief that he could be part of their playoff plans.
Avs coach Jared Bednar told reporters after practice Friday that they will monitor Landeskog's progress and that there are no plans beyond him playing against the Silver Knights. Should the Avs want an extended look at Landeskog, they would have that option considering the Eagles have four more games before their regular season ends next Saturday.
Getting Landeskog back in the playoffs would potentially provide the Avalanche not only with their captain but a two-way winger who gives them another top-six and/or top-nine option depending upon how they use him.
Entering Friday, the Avalanche (48-28-4) were third in the Central Division standings with two road games remaining against the Los Angeles Kings on Saturday before finishing the regular season on Sunday against the Anaheim Ducks.

Gotham FC and United States women's national team winger Midge Purce is in line to return from a year-long injury absence in Sunday's NWSL clash with the North Carolina Courage.
Purce, 29, missed the majority of the 2024 NWSL season and the USWNT's gold-medal winning Olympic campaign after suffering a torn anterior cruciate ligament against the Portland Thorns on March 24 of last year.
But Gotham coach Juan Carlos Amorós revealed Friday that she will be able to return in some capacity this weekend.
"Very happy that after 13 months Midge is going to be available for selection, if nothing happens between now and the game," he told a news conference. "It's first credit to herself, to everyone that she's been working with here -- the whole medical team and all the coaches -- and especially to herself and her teammates, they've been outstanding.
"It's been a very long road since that injury happened last year in Portland. She's worked extremely hard to get to this point. Obviously it's the first game in a very long time so she probably wont play an amazing amount of minutes. But the fact that she's back in -- for herself first and foremost, but for everyone -- it's exciting news.
.@100purcent is back, and she's not here for small talk.
Get ready for a Sunday showdown against @TheNCCourage at @SI_Stadium pic.twitter.com/QzzcvezcT0
Gotham FC (@GothamFC) April 11, 2025
"We really recognize how hard she's worked, and how she's kept that positive mentality around everyone. Very, very excited to have Midge back in the team, she's a very special person and a very special player."
Gotham later posted on social media that "Midge is back."
Purce was named MVP of the 2023 National Women's Soccer League Championship after she assisted on both goals in Gotham's 2-1 victory over Seattle Reign FC. She has made 30 appearances and scored four goals for the USWNT in a variety of roles as a winger and a fullback.
Purce signed a new one-year contract with Gotham in February after she had entered free agency following the expiration of her previous deal.