Thursday's Report: Mercer vs. Mercer in bigs; Milledgeville's MacLeod, GMC JC; Braves, Cousins, Atlanta's Wimbledon star; MLB, WNBA, Wimbledon, golf, soccer, college 🏈, NFL, NBA, MMA/UFC
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⚾ ⚾ ⚾ Coastal Plain ⚾ ⚾ ⚾
Macon at Asheboro, postponed, weather
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Around/About Central Georgia
Bear vs. Bear in the bigs
They were never teammates, but they share some baseball blood, so to speak.
One won the showdown, the other was part of the winning team.
Atlanta’s Austin Cox and the Athletics’ Colby Thomas suddenly put a pair of Mercer Bears against each other Tuesday in Sacramento.
Cox came on in the bottom of the sixth and got the final out, and returned for the seventh. Thomas was inserted as a pinch-hitter with one out in the seventh of a 10-1 lead.
Thomas fouled off a pair of two-strike pitches before going down swinging.
Cox, an FPD grad who made his MLB debut in 2023, and is amid a nice run in five games since joining the Braves. He has no decisions or saves, but has 11 strikeouts against no walks in seven innings, and owns a 2.57 ERA, opponents hitting .250 against him.
Thomas, picked in the third round in 2022, is off to a rough start in the majors. The outfielder is 1 for 11, having struck out six times.
Honor Roll
Longtime Milledgeville high school, college sportscaster MacLeod enters Hall
GMC JC puts a dozen on academic team
Around/About Georgia
Acuña hits 2 homers as Braves end 13-game losing streak in California with win over A’s
The one scenario where Braves can justify buying at the trade deadline
Cousins: “Not going to dwell on things that aren’t reality”
Wimbledon run for Atlanta’s Shelton comes to an end
A Worthy Read
Baseball/MLB
Angels interim manager Ray Montgomery has different tack from Ron Washington. Is it working?
MLB trade deadline 2025: GMs tell their best trade stories
Yankees cut 2-time batting champ DJ LeMahieu with nearly $22 million left on contract
Harper’s hitting, Luzardo’s pitching key Phillies’ 13-0 romp over Giants, keeping Verlander winless
Harper after slump-busting game vs. Giants: ‘I’m really good. I mean, I really am’
Wood, Lowe HRs power Washington past Cardinals 8-2 as Cairo earns 1st win as Nats’ interim manager
All-Stars Abbott, De La Cruz help Reds beat Marlins 7-2, halt Miami’s 11-game road winning streak
WNBA/Women’s Basketball
Caitlin Clark became a legend at Iowa. Muffet McGraw, Notre Dame almost changed history
Allen scores 27, Reese has 13th double-double this season as Sky beat Wings
Valkyries rout the Fever as Clark struggles in her return from injury
Thomas scores career-high 29 and the Mercury close on a 19-4 run to beat the Lynx
Charles scores 29 and the Sun end a 10-game losing streak
Wimbledon
Djokovic reaches a record 14th Wimbledon semifinal and faces No. 1 Jannik Sinner next
Swiatek’s first Wimbledon semifinal comes against Belinda Bencic. Djokovic to face Sinner
Run for Atlanta’s Shelton comes to an end
Taylor Fritz and Amanda Anisimova put Americans into Wimbledon semifinals
Last American to win Wimbledon: Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton looking to end drought
Wimbledon fines players for swearing, abusing rackets and unsportsmanlike conduct
Wimbledon slaps down Raducanu and Draper over AI line judge row
Paolini fires coach right after loss
Golf
McIlroy rekindles his excitement and enthusiasm ahead of the Scottish Open
Korda ‘feels like a grandma’ among rising stars like Woad at Evian Championship
Tennis
Fognini announces his retirement at Wimbledon after a first-round loss to Carlos Alcaraz
Soccer
Pedro doesn’t celebrate goals for Chelsea, saying former team `gave everything to me
After routing Real Madrid in Club World Cup, PSG eyes Chelsea and historic quadruple
Messi has MLS-record 4th straight multi-goal game as Inter Miami beats New England
Two players plead guilty to match-fixing over yellow cards in Australian soccer’s A-League
Ruiz scores 2 goals and PSG routs Real Madrid 4-0 to reach Club World Cup final
College Football/South
Belichick and North Carolina football show must deal with ACC Media Days circus
Auburn linebacker dismissed following recent arrest
How Alabama and Auburn football support staff spending compares to rest of SEC
College Football/Big 12
Sanders declines to address health issues at Big 12 media days
'We don't know the rules': Big 12 coaches paint wild picture of college football confusion
Rodriguez’s return as coach at West Virginia is a homecoming, too
Gundy addresses pressure, revamped roster
Frost rips his bad Nebraska stint after returning to UCF
Texas Tech's McGuire challenges LSU to home-and-home
NFL/USFL/UFL/Football
Buccaneers’ Wirfs has knee surgery, could miss start of the season
NFL players union appealing ruling in collusion case
Vikings' Turner lost $240K in bank fraud scheme, according to Twin Cities police
College Basketball
Calipari heads into his second season at Arkansas trying to balance old and new
Report: Judge denies motion to dismiss NIL lawsuit against Leonard Hamilton
NBA/Basketball
Suns sign Devin Booker to 2-year, $145 million max extension through 2029-30
Former Jazz coach and GM Frank Layden dies at 93
Holmgren and Oklahoma City Thunder agree on a 5-year contract extension
NHL/Hockey
Top 2026 NHL draft prospect Gavin McKenna says he’s committing to Penn State
Boxing/UFC/MMA
Former Olympic wrestler and MMA star Ben Askren recovering after double lung transplant
UFC legend Randy Couture suffers serious burns and other injuries in racetrack crash
Scoreboards