Bruno Lage’s first season in charge of Wolves looked rosy for such a long time but once the campaign was said and done in May, supporters will have been disappointed.
What’s the word?
That’s because they ultimately finished tenth in the Premier League table, missing the chance to qualify for European football.
A lack of goals can be attributed to that so it’s crucial the Old Gold act in the summer transfer window.
TEAMtalk have reported that Blackburn Rovers forward Ben Brereton Diaz is a target for Lage and co but they face plenty of competition.
It’s thought the likes of Leeds and newly-promoted Nottingham Forest are keen on the player who was valued at around £30m in January.
Best signing since Neto
Last summer Lage made some valuable acquisitions to the squad with players like Jose Sa impressively greatly as Wolves conceded the fifth-fewest goals in the Premier League.
Sadly, the goals didn’t particularly flow in at either end if you attended Molineux this season.
That’s due to the fact that Raul Jimenez finished the campaign as the club’s top scorer with just six goals.
Granted he had just returned from a horrendous skull injury but it’s clear to see the Mexican isn’t the same potent threat he once was.
Neither was young forward Pedro Neto who struggled with his own injuries in 2021/22, registering just the two goal involvements in 13 matches and 463 minutes of top-flight action.
However, this is a player who in the previous campaign ended the term as Wolves’ player of the season after bagging five and claiming six assists.
A new player of his dynamic qualities being added to the squad would only benefit their struggles in goal and thus, Diaz could be their best signing since the aforementioned Neto.
Described as “extraordinary” by former Blackburn boss, Tony Mowbray, the Chile international was in devastating form for the Championship outfit in 2021/22.
He scored a whopping 22 times, proving that he’s got the talent and hustle to become a Premier League regular.
With a goal tally like that it’s hardly a surprise that he’s caught the imagination of the top-flight.
It also explains why he’d be the club’s best acquisition since Neto as Diaz would be arriving at a crucial time with goals dry and options limited.
Adama Traore will return to Wolves this season while Hwang’s temporary stay has been made permanent too but the pair only contributed to seven goals themselves.
As a result, both of them fail to offer the consistency that Lage needs right now so a more deadly threat simply has to be added to the squad. It’s time for Jeff Shi and co to act on their interest in Diaz.
AND in other news, Wolves can seal dream summer swoop in “special” £36m-rated gem, he’s better than Neto…
Tottenham Hotspur, and by extension transfer chief Fabio Paratici, allegedly have a Weston McKennie plan as news emerges out of Italy.
The Lowdown: Conte set for summer reshuffle…
The Times, sharing a big update on manager Antonio Conte’s plans past the 2021/2022 Premier League season, recently claimed that a plethora of activity could take place at Hotspur Way.
Spurs’ head coach could offload as many as eight players, a list which includes the likes of Sergio Reguilón, Emerson Royal, Steven Bergwijn, Giovani Lo Celso and Tanguy Ndombele.
Coming in the other way, it is believed that Conte wants to make six major signings in three defenders, a forward and a midfielder.
According to Calciomercato, some news has come to light on the Lilywhites’ attempts to bolster the latter position.
The Latest: Paratici readying McKennie talks…
The Italian source says Tottenham, and by extension Paratici, are ‘ready to negotiate’ with Juventus over signing their midfield man McKennie this summer.
It is believed that Spurs are eyeing a loan-to-buy deal for the USA international in a similar move which would ‘repeat’ the trick to bring Dejan Kulusevski to N17.
The Verdict: Advance?
Football Insider, making a claim before the New Year, stated that McKennie is ‘very keen’ to play in London – something which could gift Spurs and Paratici a possible advantage over Serie A competitors Roma.
They also stated Juve’s valuation of the 23-year-old is set at around £35 million, and while it is unclear whether that would be the price to pay for Tottenham at the end of a possible loan-to-buy, we believe the ex-Schalke star could be a brilliant addition either way.
Unable to display his ability during the latter stages of this season due to a foot injury, McKennie has in fact been revered for his performances at international level.
USA football reporter Chris Smith of 90min lavished the ‘pressing machine’ and ‘supremely underrated’ ace, drawing attention to an impressive scout report last year.
At just 23, the sky is seemingly the limit for McKennie and it is little wonder Spurs are keen on opening talks.
In other news: Paratici also eyeing ‘world class’ player move tipped to ‘excite’ Spurs supporters! Find out more here.
Wolves manager Bruno Lage will miss his side’s Premier League clash with Chelsea after testing positing for Covid-19, journalist Tim Spiers has confirmed.
The Lowdown: Wolves host Chelsea
Wanderers are back in league action on Saturday afternoon, as they welcome Thomas Tuchel’s reigning European Champions to Molineux.
Last weekend was a hugely disappointing one for Wolves, who lost 3-0 at home to Brighton, and a response is needed in their quest to qualify for Europe.
Lage’s side are eighth in the table currently and sit three points behind West Ham with a game in hand, highlighting what a tight end to the season it could be.
[web_stories_embed url=”https://www.footballtransfertavern.com/web-stories/all-the-latest-from-wolves-5/” title=”All the latest from Wolves!” poster=”” width=”360″ height=”600″ align=”none”]
The Latest: Lage not involved
Taking to Twitter, Spiers has confirmed that Lage will play no part in proceedings, however, having tested positive for Covid:
“Bruno Lage sidelined with covid and missing the Chelsea game. Keepers coach Tony Roberts sitting in the chair.”
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The Verdict: Must-win game
It will be a good chance for Tony Roberts to test himself in the Wolves hot seat, for what is undoubtedly an important game for Wanderers.
It would be a huge shame if their season ended up tailing off in the final weeks of the season, having worked so hard to get into the European picture.
Chelsea are not firing on all cylinders and lost at Everton last weekend, so Wolves must believe that they can pick up a precious three points at Molineux.
In other news, one Wolves player could leave the club this summer. Find out who it is here.
Also includes the ball used, team and venue details, and more on the first WTC final to not feature India
Vishal Dikshit09-Jun-20256:55
Philander: ‘SA will put up massive fight against favourites Australia’
What exactly is this WTC final?
It’s the game deciding the winner of biggest title in Test cricket. The ICC started the World Test Championship (WTC) in 2019 that would run on a two-year cycle with nine teams competing in a league. At the end of the cycle, the top two teams on the points table face off in the final to get their hands on the ICC mace.
So which two teams are playing this time?
The defending champions Australia and South Africa, who will play their maiden WTC final. South Africa topped the table for the 2023-25 WTC cycle by winning their last seven Tests on the bounce that helped them overtake at least four other teams.Related
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Australia are the current title-holders, having thrashed two-time finalists India in the 2023 final at The Oval. Australia had won by a massive margin of 209 runs with centuries from Steven Smith and Travis Head in the first innings, before their bowling attack restricted India to sub-300 totals in each innings. Head was named the Player of the Match, just a few months before he repeated the feat against the same opponent in the ODI World Cup final in November 2023 in India.
When and where is the WTC final 2025?
After Southampton in 2021 and The Oval in 2023, the 2025 final is set to be played at the historic venue Lord’s, June 11 onwards. It’s for the third time in a row that the venue has turned out to be a neutral ground for the finalists, as the first WTC final was played between New Zealand and India. The 2025 WTC final will start at 10:30am local time, which is 09:30am GMT.Temba Bavuma and Pat Cummins with the Test mace ahead of the WTC final•ICC via Getty Images
Who are the captains of the finalists and what do the squads look like?
Pat Cummins will lead Australia whereas Temba Bavuma will captain South Africa.There is a lot of intrigue around who will open with Usman Khawaja for Australia. The 19-year-old Sam Konstas was named in the side, but he was left out in Sri Lanka earlier this year. The other option is to open with Marnus Labuschagne, which seems like the likeliest option right now, with Cameron Green set to slot in at No. 3 as a batter only. The bowling attack looks more straightforward with Cummins, Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon all set to start, with Scott Boland also in the side, and Matt Kuhnemann as Lyon’s cover.Australia squad: Usman Khawaja, Sam Konstas, Marnus Labuschagne, Steven Smith, Travis Head, Alex Carey, Josh Inglis, Cameron Green, Beau Webster, Pat Cummins (capt), Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood, Scott Boland, Nathan Lyon, Matt Kuhnemann. Travelling reserve: Brendan DoggettSouth Africa also named a familiar-looking side featuring senior players such as Bavuma, Kagiso Rabada, Aiden Markram and Keshav Maharaj. Rabada recently returned after completing a one-month suspension for failing a drug test, after which he played in the IPL in India and then the four-day tour game against Zimbabwe in Arundel. Rabada will lead a six-man pace pack at the WTC final which includes Lungi Ngidi, who has not featured in Tests since August last year. There was, however, no place for Gerald Coetzee, who was ruled out of the home summer with an injury, 19-year-old left-arm seamer Kwena Maphaka, Anrich Nortje and Nandre Burger. The two spinners in their squad are Maharaj and allrounder Senuran Muthusamy.South Africa squad: Tony de Zorzi, Ryan Rickelton, Aiden Markram, Temba Bavuma (capt), David Bedingham, Tristan Stubbs, Kyle Verreynne, Wiaan Mulder, Marco Jansen, Corbin Bosch, Kagiso Rabada, Lungi Ngidi, Dane Paterson, Keshav Maharaj, Senuran Muthusamy
What is the prize money for the WTC winners?
The prize money for the 2025 winners has more than doubled compared to the last two editions, from US$ 1.6 million to $3.6 million. The 2025 runners-up will take home $2.1 million this time, compared to $800,000 in the last two editions. While announcing the increase in prize money last month, the ICC had stated in a release it was their effort “to prioritize Test cricket.”ESPNcricinfo Ltd
What happens if the Test is drawn, tied or abandoned?
In any of those scenarios, Australia and South Africa will have to share the WTC trophy. However, to reduce the possibility of a draw, the match has a reserve day in place.
So will they use the reserve day if there’s no clear winner in five days?
That’s not quite it. The sixth day after the match starts – June 16 – has been kept as a reserve day. It will be used only if time has been lost to bad weather across the five days and they are unable to make up for it in those five days, and no result has been reached by the end of the fifth day.This was the case in the 2021 final when the first day’s play had been washed out in Southampton and the reserve day was used to cover for the time that had been lost. There were bad light and rain interruptions on other days, too.
So tell us now what’s the weather forecast like?
The first day is likely to be a little overcast but there is some rain forecast on the second day, June 12. The three days after that should be a lot better to play with sunny conditions and some clouds thrown in.
What ball will they play with in the final?
As was the case in the last two finals, it will be the Dukes ball again, which is used primarily in England, Ireland and the West Indies for Test cricket. Australia and South Africa both are used to playing with the Kookaburra at home.
Where can we watch the WTC final
There are different international broadcast partners who will bring the live coverage and the highlights to you. Here’s the list:India: Star Sports & Jiostar
Australia: Amazon Prime Video
South Africa: SuperSport TV
UK: Sky Sports Cricket
USA & Canada: Willow TV and Willow TV app
Caribbean & South America: ESPN Caribbean and ESPN Play Caribbean
New Zealand: Sky Sport Network
Middle East & North Africa: TSM via Nagorik TV, e&
Pakistan: PTV and Ten Sports
Afghanistan: Ariana Television
Sri Lanka: Maharaja TV
Singapore: StarHub
Malaysia: Astro
Hong Kong: PCCW
Pacific Islands: PNG Digicel
Rest of the World: ICC.tv
At one point it looked like the England seamer may never stop running
Vithushan Ehantharajah17-Jun-2023There was a moment when it looked like Stuart Broad may never stop running.His follow-through had taken him away to point and around the back of the slip cordon, which had dispersed to chase Broad like the tail of a fireball. And though you knew he wouldn’t, you couldn’t rule out him continuing into the Hollies and draining a celebratory pint with all of the Baywatch lifeguards, Fred Flintstones and cast of Mario Kart. Had he done so, he was only getting back onto the field by bringing all of them with him. He was theirs, they were his. In that moment – all Stuart Broad, aren’t we?The great Ashes conductor, Enemy of the Strayans, One Meme Army himself, had just turned Edgbaston and this Test match inside out with two wickets in two deliveries. The Australia first innings cracked open from 29 for none to 29 for 2. A day of huge importance – aren’t they all when you care too much? – skewed England’s way in an instant.To go by the reaction of Broad, his team-mates and everyone in the ground on Saturday – including crestfallen Australians – you’d think this was the first time anyone had taken two-in-two. Broad himself has done that 13 times, but what tipped this one-two into legendary status beyond the state of the match – and perhaps ahead of his two Test hat-tricks – was the status of the two victims.Related
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History weighed heavy on the first. Ben Stokes admitted ahead of the match Broad’s selection had a lot to do with David Warner’s presence at the top of the order. It is why even Australia saw day one’s late declaration coming. England’s mantra of giving the fans what they want had provided 393 runs. But Stokes was all too aware of the main attraction this summer and pulled the warm-up act after 78 overs.Warner played the evening out soundly. Two crisp shots to the cover boundary in both Broad’s Friday night overs punctured the mood. With a new crowd in situ this morning, the anticipation ramped up again.A couple of maidens between the two went by with little of note. Then, at the start of the 11th over, Warner decided to have a go. Out came another drive, squarer than he’d have liked, but the width was there for it. But with balance all off – front foot tentative, back leg buckling – all he could do was bottom edge onto his own stumps.He stumbled into the off side, gathering his feet as Broad set off with a celebration that spoke of expectation rather than excitement, like someone who had finally called “tails” correctly on a series of coin tosses.David Warner walks off after being dismissed by Stuart Broad again•Getty ImagesBroad’s success over the left-hander feels a lot like probability. This was dismissal number 15, a ninth in 11 innings, third at this ground in three, and certainly not the last to come.Things had not always been one-sided. Warner averaged 64.80 against Broad prior to a recalculation from the Englishman before 2019. “Ultimately, the biggest praise I can give Davey is the fact I had to completely study him and change my style of bowling because of the success he had against me,” said Broad a few weeks ago.A month earlier, the 36-year-old was in a similarly analytical mood. Perched on the member’s benches on the second tier of the Lord’s Pavilion, as day three of Nottinghamshire’s County Championship match with Middlesex was coming to an end, he revealed a couple of technical tweaks.With the help of Notts bowling coach Kevin Shine, his action was starting to smooth out, losing the jerkiness that had developed after years of subsisting on the wobble seam delivery. By holding his hands higher, he was creating greater fluidity from gather to delivery, which in turn allowed him to workshop this new delivery called an “outswinger”. Its purpose? To rattle Australia’s brightest and best, specifically Steve Smith and the No. 1-ranked Test batter in the world, Marnus Labuschagne.”I think dragging them across with away swing is important,” explained Broad, like a TikToker claiming getting to McDonald’s for 10:29am so you can order hashbrowns with your Big Mac is some kind of life hack.We laughed, and rightly so. Even in his sincerity, there was a whiff of proto-Warne in talking up a new variation even better than the last. But an outswinger? That thing people have been bowling since they started doing it overarm? Come on, now, Stuart. But hey – who are we to tell you? Broad is the best talker in the game. So talk on.You wonder how many in the stands remembered those words when Labuschagne walked out. So many have been spoken in the lead-up to this series that it felt like Ashes content was folding in on itself like a dying star. This, though – Warner gone, Broad at it, crowd wild, Labuschagne facing – is what really matters.Labuschagne went through his usual routines, adding the removal of a police officer from his eyeline before facing up.Did Labuschagne know what was coming? Almost certainly. The 28-year-old is a voracious consumer of the game, to the extent he has had lost the habit of sending articles and stats to team-mates who are not. If you didn’t know that before, you certainly did when he triggered across to off stump to get a better gauge on what to play and what to leave.Then there was the leg gully and leg slip for the delivery coming into him, which given who was bowling puts the odds in favour of a bluff. Cover was free, too, which for a 38-cap No. 4 who averages 56.73, means don’t drive the balls they want you to drive. Like, ummmm, an early outswinger.Yet, the compulsion to feel forward, the desire to get bat on ball, the subconscious pull to contribute to the narrative, the gravitational chicanery of Broad was too great to resist. Down came the outswinger, just as prophesied. Out went Labuschagne – via a stunning one-handed catch from Jonny Bairstow – just as prophesied, for a first golden duck in Test cricket.And off went Broad – away past point, around the back of the slip cordon, right through the Hollies beyond the Baywatch lifeguards, Fred Flintstones and cast of Mario Kart, and even deeper into Ashes folklore.
This is a more touchy-feely version of the old gnarled champions, but among them is a match-winner every bit as bullish as the old macho men
Osman Samiuddin15-Nov-20212:28
Aaron Finch: Back against the wall brings best out of David Warner
They used to call David Warner the bull. That was when Warner was a cricketer but was also a living, breathing embodiment of The Line. The Line that Australia drew, the precise location and pulse rate of which only Australia knew, the policing of which only Australia could do.He was The Line because he once had no hesitation raising doubts about what South Africa did to get a ball to reverse and then, four years later, was one of the lead instigators in Sandpapergate.Cricket on ESPN+
Match highlights of the Men’s T20 World Cup final is available in English, and in Hindi (USA only).
He was The Line because he was such a serial sledger that the ICC warned of drawing their own line ahead of the 2015 World Cup, but who has gotten into a near-physical scrap once, and walked off the field once when he deemed the sledging to be too much.Somewhere along the way they started calling him The Reverend. It’s not clear why, other than because he became a father, smiled a bit more and stopped throwing punches at cricketers and constantly being all up in their faces.After he returned from Sandpapergate, they started calling him Hum-bull (humble, geddit?) More smiles, more Tiktok videos, less sledges (though Ben Stokes didn’t think so).It’s very likely that he’s none of these, was never really any of it, but also is all of it and was always all of these. In the real world of ordinary humans – who do not have every single detail of their lives publicly scrutinised as mercilessly as athletes – this is what we call growing up. But over the last week, Warner has shown us a truer, more genuine core, that can’t be faked or nicknamed, a trait that used to be ascribed to the best Australian cricketers.Justin Langer, Steven Smith, David Warner and Aaron Finch react as the winning runs are hit•ICC via GettyLet’s break this down. This is not an Australia side like those old Australia sides, those habitual winners, those snarling, gnarled champions. Sides don’t fear them the way they used to in big tournaments; some, like England, have treated them with disdain recently.Tim Paine gets a lot of attention for being a nice guy, but Aaron Finch is a decent man with the kind of open smile that his not-so-distant predecessors took for weakness. It is a side in which Glenn Maxwell can talk openly and bravely about mental health, not mental disintegration. In which Adam Zampa can be all kinds of a vegan, coffee-connoisseur hipster. In which Marcus Stoinis is Zampa’s bromance, not his mate. In which, as a fast bowler, Pat Cummins is Tom Cruise in Top Gun, not Ben Stiller in Dodgeball. This is, in the context of Australian cricket, a touchy-feely kind of side.And Warner, whatever he is now, is not exactly out of place in this side. Maybe there is something to Hum-Bull after all; the guy who silently served his time, didn’t snitch, and returned with dignity enhanced; maybe he’s just waiting till he’s done and then he’ll drop the memoir on it. But in this latter part of the tournament, he alone has summoned this old-school link to those champion sides and its greatest players; players who pulled out their biggest game for the biggest games; who, when they saw an occasion, rose to it; who went by nicknames like Tugga, Pidge, Punter or WarnieThese days such a conclusion sounds primitive. Data has been used – often persuasively – to argue that there are no clutch moments or games, let alone clutch players. Data can be a buzzkill, albeit a necessary one. In which case, take the following sentences of pure fact in whichever way makes most sense.David Warner is all smiles with his Player-of-the-Tournament trophy•Associated PressIn three successive games that Australia needed to win in a country in which their win-loss record before this tournament was 3-6, they first chased 158 against the defending champions, then 177 against the unbeaten, virtual home side, and then 173 in a final. Warner hit 89*, 49 and 53; 191 runs all told, strike rate 154, a boundary or a six struck at less than every five balls.This wasn’t the early, pioneering Warner. This was smart, ruthless Warner, working his way through his battles, picking his match-ups. It’s easy enough to calculate in numbers how he squeezed those preferred match-ups. But there’s no measure of how it deflated the opposition.Related
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The Imad Wasim over for instance, the fourth of the semi-final chase; favourable match-up sure, 17 runs in all from it, but quite tangibly it sucked the energy out of whatever vibe Shaheen Afridi had created. Or when he hit Mohammad Hafeez for that six and then stepped out to Shadab Khan for another; these weren’t metrics as much as a new Pakistan being taught an old lesson.Tim Southee came into the final on Sunday a transformed T20 bowler, conceding under five runs an over in the powerplay. Warner hit him for two boundaries in his very first over. Then he hit a six in his second. Southee came out the powerplay the old Southee: 2-0-20-0. Mitchell Marsh was well on his way by the time Warner went after Ish Sodhi, but that ninth over didn’t just take out a key member of the attack, it changed the mood of the chase. He doesn’t hit as many sixes as he used to, but each one of the six he hit through the two knock-outs, had an incremental effect on the opposition’s morale: going, going, going – as the late Dean Jones used to say – gone.Plus, he hasn’t totally lost the ability to be downright outrageous. The pull off a Sodhi slider that went straight down the ground for four, or the square drive off Imad having moved well outside leg-stump – this is what makes Warner, finding his own solutions to various problems. Those shots were also to be reminded of what Greg Chappell once said about Warner, that he is wired different to others.He sure is, although, as the last few days have shown, not so different to the greatest of those who came before him.
SEATTLE — The most dangerous hitter in the Detroit Tigers lineup has never hit 30 homers, driven in 70 runs or made an All-Star team. Injuries and left-handed pitchers have kept Kerry Carpenter from elite statistical thresholds and acclaim. But don’t do what the Seattle Mariners did in Game 1 of the ALDS: overlook him.
Carpenter is a career .507 slugger who mashes high fastballs. This year he slugged .571 against high fastballs (at least 33 inches off the ground), the 12th best mark among hitters who saw at least 350 such heaters—ahead of Shohei Ohtani, Jose Ramirez and Cal Raleigh.
“One thing about Carp,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said, “is he can be streaky. But no matter what, he’s looking to get off his A swing. Even if it’s two strikes, he can do damage. And that’s why he is so dangerous.”
The Mariners did not respect the danger ever present in Carpenter’s bat, and that is why they suffered a brutally painful 3–2 loss Saturday. They burned their closer for six outs and still lost, knowing they are staring at seeing the best pitcher on the planet, Tarik Skubal, two of the next four possible games, including Game 2 Sunday. Ouch.
Yes, a 73-mph, 15-hop single from Zach McKinstry plated the winning run in the 11th inning, a run set up by two egregious mistakes by Seattle reliever Carlos Vargas at such a juncture: a leadoff walk and a wild pitch.
But it was one swing by Carpenter that changed everything, a swing that should never have been permitted by the Mariners. Seattle manager Dan Wilson, running his first postseason game, held a 1–0 lead in the fifth with one on, two outs and first base open with George Kirby on the mound. Wilson had his best lefty, Gabe Speier, up in the pen with Carpenter due to bat with another lefty, Riley Greene, behind him.
Wilson sent pitching coach Pete Woodworth to the mound for a conversation with Kirby.
“Yes, in the back of my mind I thought they weren’t going to pitch to me,” Carpenter said, adding with a laugh, “Maybe my first two at-bats convinced them.”
Hinch had set a trap for Wilson by batting Greene and Carpenter back-to-back. By showing he will pitch-hit for either one with lefty masher Jahmai Jones, Hinch puts the onus on the other manager early in a game. No matter what option you choose, Hinch will have the platoon advantage.
Wilson chose to have Kirby pitch to Carpenter, even though Carpenter had four home runs in 10 at-bats against Kirby. Even though Carpenter is a high fastball hitter.
“Yeah. It’s a tough one,” Wilson said, “and you do the best you can and try to take the information that you have and what you’re seeing. And we thought George continued to throw the ball pretty well there and still had pretty good stuff and a lot left in the tank, and he had been in a couple of tough spots earlier, but really pitched out of it well.”
Kirby, a high-fastball pitcher, has the stuff to better attack Greene, not Carpenter.
“With Carpenter,” Wilson said, “you're trying to keep it down in the zone or trying to get him to chase up in the zone.”
Said Carpenter: “I always feel like the more I face people, the more opportunity I have to have success. And so yeah, I was hoping to get another opportunity off him.”
Mariners pitcher George Kirby has struggled mightily against Tigers slugger Kerry Carpenter. / Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images
Kirby opened with a slider in the zone that Carpenter fouled. The next pitch was an elevated sinker that was inside but was mistakenly called a strike.
“That ball called a strike probably changed the at-bat,” Carpenter said.
Now the count was 0-and-2. Carpenter had one homer all year after falling behind 0-and-2. It was easy now for Wilson and Kirby to throw caution aside and think they could finish him off.
Kirby missed with a sinker in. He decided to throw a third straight fastball. This one headed straight to Carpenter’s power zone: elevated over the plate. Carpenter crushed it harder than any home run he’s ever hit in his life: 112.5 mph.
He has hit only two home runs at 110 mph or harder, both in the postseason: one off Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase last season (110.8) and this one off Kirby (112.5), his fifth home run in 11 at-bats against the righthander.
“That’s what Carp does in the postseason,” McKinstry said. Carpenter has a postseason slash line of .294/.385/.500.
You simply cannot lose a lead by letting Kirby throw another elevated fastball to Carpenter. You knew that going into the game.
Carpenter typifies what the Tigers are about. Other than Skubal, they are low on star power. They strike out way too much. In Game 1 they became only the fifth team to win a postseason game with 16 strikeouts over 11 innings or less. They went 2-for-18 with runners on base, with eight of those at-bats ending with strikeouts. Empty at-bats galore.
And yet they won the game on swings from Carpenter and McKinstry. They used eight pitchers, the last of whom, Keider Montero, secured a save for the first time since pitching for the while playing Little League ball in Venezuela.
“I don’t pay attention to the name on the back,” Montero said after dispatching Randy Arozarena, Cal Raleigh and Josh Naylor for the save. “No matter when I pitch, I attack.”
Detroit, with all the strikeouts in its lineup and not enough whiffs in its bullpen, somehow is the best team in baseball at winning one-run games (23–12).
The Tigers became the first team to lose five straight series entering the postseason and advance. The wild-card Game 3 win restored their confidence. The dread of blowing a 15.5-game lead to Cleveland and the potential of being sent home by Cleveland has been replaced with the swagger they had in the first half after eliminating the Guardians. Their airways are fully open again. The Tigers are dangerous again, and not just on the days Skubal pitches.
With just 48 more runs to get in 45 balls, eight wickets standing, and two set batters at the crease, Bangladesh Under-19s looked set to beat Afghanistan Under-19s rather comfortably in their 284 chase. Although they scored 28 runs in the next four overs, these came at the cost of four wickets. At that stage, Afghanistan sniffed a comeback win.Earlier in the innings, the Bangladesh openers Zawad Abrar and Rifat Beg had added 151, while captain Azizul Hakim and Kalam Siddiki stitched together a partnership of 66 for the third wicket.Roohullah Arab got the first breakthrough for Afghanistan, when he dismissed Beg for 62 to end the first-wicket stand in the 27th over. Arab also took Abrar’s wicket in the 31st – the batter missed out on a hundred, falling for 96. Although Hakim and Siddiki looked like they were going to make it a one-sided affair, a middle-order collapse threatened to take the win away from Bangladesh. Eventually, though, Rizan Hossan’s speedy 17* ensured Bangladesh scraped through in the 49th over with three wickets remaining.Afghanistan had centurion Faisal Shinozada (103) to thank for putting up a big total. Shinozada put up stands of 66 and 89 for the second and third wicket with Osman Sadat and Uzairullah Niazai, respectively. His knock came in only 94 balls, and included eight fours and four sixes.Despite a strong start, Afghanistan found themselves at 225 for 7 in the 46th over. Azizullah Miakhil (38*) and Abdul Aziz (26*) provided the finishing kick with an unbroken partnership of 58 in only 28 balls to propel Afghanistan to 283. Eventually, their total proved to not be enough.
O Corinthians alinhou a contratação de Cacá, e Cuca — técnico do Athletico-PR — tentou atrapalhar a negociação. O zagueiro estava emprestado ao Furacão pelo Tokushima Vortis, do Japão.
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➡️ Tudo sobre o Timão agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso novo canal Lance! Corinthians
O defensor agrada ao treinador recém chegado ao clube paranaense. O profissional pediu a permanência do jogador, que está cedido pelos japoneses até junho deste ano. A informação foi publicada inicialmente pelo portal “Goal”.
Mesmo com o desejo de Cuca, Cacá está a detalhes de ser anunciado pelo Corinthians, que precisa regularizá-lo até esta quinta-feira (7), data do fechamento da janela de transferências. O zagueiro publicou despedida do Athletico-PR e desembarcou em São Paulo nesta semana.
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– Chegou o momento de dizer adeus a essa família que me acolheu com tanto carinho. Cada jogo, cada vitória e até mesmo as derrotas, foram parte de uma jornada inesquecível aqui no Athletico. Levo comigo as lembranças mais preciosas e a gratidão por todo apoio da torcida e da equipe. Seguirei em frente, mas sempre carregando o Furacão no coração. Obrigado por tudo – escreveu o jogador, em suas redes sociais.
+ Cuca foi inocentado da condenação por violência sexual na Suíça? Entenda
Cacá despontou no Cruzeiro e foi vendido ao futebol japonês por R$ 10,7 milhões, assinando contrato até o fim de 2025. Pelo Athletico-PR, o zagueiro de 24 anos soma 20 jogos e dois gols.
There has been a major update on the future of Nottingham Forest’s Arnaud Kalimuendo, with three clubs now keen on securing his signature in the January transfer window.
The forward has featured just twice since the arrival of Sean Dyche, being brought on as a late substitute in the 2-0 Premier League defeat at AFC Bournemouth at the end of October, before going to start in the 0-0 draw against Sturm Graz in the Europa League.
It would be fair to say the 23-year-old struggled to make an impact against the Austrian side, however, recording an xG of just 0.16 and touching the ball 22 times, the lowest of any Forest player that started the match.
The summer signing was also uninvolved in the statement 3-0 victory against Liverpool at Anfield on Saturday, failing to make it off the bench as the Tricky Trees romped home to an easy win, and there has now been a new update on his future at the City Ground…
Update on Arnaud Kalimuendo's future at Nottingham Forest
According to a report from France (via Sport Witness), Kalimuendo’s time at Nottingham Forest is now coming to an ‘abrupt end’, with an ‘abrupt’ exit on the cards, amid interest from the likes of Paris FC, Stuttgart and AS Roma.
The three clubs from across Europe are queuing up for the striker’s signature, with his lack of game time sparking widespread interest from elsewhere, having not yet started a single game in the Premier League so far this season.
The Frenchman may be set to receive even fewer minutes going forward, given that Dyche recently offered a promising update on when a fellow striker could return from injury, saying: “Chris Wood is getting re-scanned, so we are checking up on that. But it is good news so far. Being re-scanned is just part of the process,
“There is nothing untoward about it — it is just a check-up.”
The Forest boss will no doubt be hoping the New Zealand international is able to make a comeback soon, given that Igor Jesus hasn’t exactly set the world alight as of late, having failed to score in his opening 11 Premier League matches this season.
Ultimately, Kalimuendo’s move to the City Ground hasn’t worked out, with Nuno, Ange Postecoglou and now Dyche deciding against giving the centre-forward a run in the side, which suggests he hasn’t been doing enough in training to merit a start.
As such, it may be a wise move to cash-in on the £60k-a-week forward in the January transfer window, in order to reinvest the money into other areas of the squad, with Forest still not out of the woods in the relegation battle, despite moving up to 16th place with the victory over Liverpool.
Sean Dyche personally requests January signing of "fantastic" colossus Sean Dyche now requests Nottingham Forest sign "fantastic" colossus in January
The Forest manager has specifically asked the board to bring in a new defender, who could be his first signing.