6. INDIANAPOLIS COLTS (4-12)
LAST SEASON: Andrew Luck missed entire season after having surgery for partially torn labrum. Without Luck Hau'oli Kikaha Jersey , Colts struggled. Jacoby Brissett showed promise after being acquired in cutdown weekend trade. Pro Bowl receiver T.Y. Hilton struggled, at times, usually because of no viable supportive deep threat. TE Jack Doyle had breakout season and made first Pro Bowl. Defense improved throughout season but Indy couldn't hold leads, couldn't close out games, couldn't generate consistent pass rush. Missed postseason for third straight year, finished with first losing record since 2011 and coach Chuck Pagano was fired hours after season finale. Eventually, Frank Reich took over for Pagano after winning Super Bowl ring with Philadelphia.
THEY NEED: DE, OL, LB, CB, WR, RB.
THEY DON'T NEED: QB, TE, K.
POSSIBLE FIRST PICK: DE Bradley Chubb, North Carolina State; RB Saquon Barkley, Penn State; G Quenton Nelson Mike Pouncey Jersey , Notre Dame; CB/S Minkah Fitzpatrick, Alabama; LB Roquan Smith, Georgia; LB Tremaine Edmunds, Virginia Tech.
OUTLOOK: GM Chris Ballard wants to build through draft and has been looking to acquire extra picks to speed up process. Already pulled off deal with Jets, picking up two seconds this year and another next year. And he may not be done. If one of top QBs is still available at No. 6 and QB-needy team is willing to pay right price, Ballard says he could trade down again. If not, Colts are content staying at No. 6 and filling any number of needs. Chubb is considered best pass rusher in class and could help Colts move up from No. 31 ranking in sacks. Barkley is special and would replace recently departed Frank Gore. Nelson would help solidify interior offensive line and should help keep healthy Luck upright, if QB plays. Fitzpatrick could play anywhere in secondary that has lost both opening-day starters from 2017. Smith and Edmunds have made visits to team headquarters and would provide help in young, thin linebacking corps.
Chris Sale took a two-hitter into the seventh inning before being ejected, and the Boston Red Sox completed a three-game sweep of the Baltimore Orioles with a 5-1 victory Wednesday.
After issuing two walks to open the seventh in a 5-0 game, Sale (6-4) was lifted by manager Alex Cora. As he was making his way to the dugout, the left-hander yelled at plate umpire Brian Knight and was promptly ejected.
Sale struck out nine, allowed one run and gave up two hits in ending a run of three straight losing starts. Mookie Betts and J.D. Martinez homered for the Red Sox, who are 9-1 against the Orioles this season. Baltimore has lost seven straight and 14 of 16.
Betts, the major league leader in batting average, came off the disabled list Monday after missing 14 games with an abdominal strain. He played Monday Cameron Meredith Jersey , was rested Tuesday and returned to the top of the lineup in the series finale. Betts hit a 3-2 pitch from Yefry Ramirez over the center-field wall in the third for his 18th home run. A three-run fifth made it 4-0, and Martinez hit his team-leading 22nd in the seventh.
Ramirez (0-1) gave up three runs and four hits over 4 1/3 innings, striking out six.
NATIONALS 5, YANKEES 4
NEW YORK (AP) – Teenage rookie Juan Soto homered twice and drove in four runs, becoming the youngest player in 29 years to go deep in a regular-season game at Yankee Stadium, and Washington beat New York.
After getting a game off Tuesday, his first in three-plus weeks as a major leaguer, a refreshed Soto showed exactly why he was rated one of baseball’s best prospects.
The 19-year-old outfielder lofted a three-run homer into the left-field corner off Sonny Gray in the fourth inning to give Washington, shut out in its previous two games, a 4-3 lead. Soto then launched a titanic shot to right-center in the seventh against Chasen Shreve (2-1), putting the Nationals back in front 5-4.
Projected at 436 feet, the drive soared to the back of a standing-room terrace above and beyond the Yankees‘ bullpen in right-center. It also ended a 23-inning shutout streak for New York relievers and made Soto (19 years, 231 days old) the youngest player in Nationals history to have a multihomer game.
ASTROS 13, ATHLETICS 5
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) – Evan Gattis hit two home runs, including the first of back-to-back shots with Marwin Gonzalez during a seven-run second inning Larry Johnson Jersey , and streaking Houston beat Oakland for its seventh straight win.
Jake Marisnick also homered, Carlos Correa had a two-run triple and Yuli Gurriel had three hits and three RBIs to help Gerrit Cole (8-1) win his sixth straight decision.
The defending World Series champs moved a season-high 19 games over .500. This is Houston’s longest winning streak since taking seven in a row from Aug. 31-Sept. 6, 2017.
One night after homering and setting a career-high with five RBIs, Gattis had another huge day at the plate. He drove in five again, becoming the first player in franchise history to drive in five in consecutive games.
DODGERS 3, RANGERS 2, 11 INNINGS
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Enrique Hernandez dodged home on a wild throw by pitcher Matt Bush in the 11th inning and, hours after a hard collision at the plate led to a bench-clearing incident and a pair of ejections, Los Angeles edged Texas.
Hernandez drew a leadoff walk from Jesse Chavez (2-1) and moved up on a long flyout. Yasiel Puig was intentionally walked and Chavez was yanked after a walk to Logan Forsythe loaded the bases.
Austin Barnes followed with a comebacker, and Bush reached out to grab it. But Bush hurried as he spun around, and his throw home for a potential forceout pulled catcher Carlos Perez off the plate. Hernandez stepped over Barnes’ bat, danced around the catcher and touched home with his right hand, leaving Perez tagging nothing but thin air.
Adam Liberatore (2-1) got the win in relief.
BRAVES 2, METS 0
ATLANTA (AP) – Mike Soroka did not allow a hit until the seventh inning, Freddie Freeman homered and drove in both runs, and Atlanta beat New York.
Soroka DeForest Buckner Jersey , at 20 the youngest pitcher in the major leagues, returned from a right shoulder strain that sidelined him since May 17 to outpitch NL ERA leader Jacob deGrom (4-2) in a game that lasted only 2 hours, 12 minutes. The Mets have lost 10 of their past 11 and 17 of their past 21.
Making his fourth career start, Soroka (2-1) gave up one hit, one walk and struck out four in 6 1/3 innings. Freeman, the NL batting leader, has hit safely in 23 of his past 24 games. He drove in the first run with a single in the fourth off deGrom (4-2). He homered off Jeremy Blevins in the eighth.
DeGrom (4-2) allowed seven hits and one run and struck out seven in seven innings.
WHITE SOX 3, INDIANS 2
CHICAGO (AP) – Dylan Covey carried a shutout into the eighth inning, continuing his impressive June and helping Chicago beat Trevor Bauer and Cleveland.
Covey (3-1) allowed 10 hits – all singles – and walked none. The 26-year-old right-hander, who was acquired from Oakland in the 2016 Rule 5 draft, improved to 3-0 with a 1.53 ERA in five starts since he was recalled from Triple-A Charlotte last month.
Covey got a warm ovation from the crowd of 19,390 when he departed after the first two batters reached in the eighth. Edwin Encarnacion hit a one-out RBI single and Yonder Alonso doubled home another run before Jace Fry struck out Melky Cabrera and Jason Kipnis, preserving Chicago’s 3-2 lead.
Bauer (5-5) struck out 12 in 7 2/3 innings while becoming the third pitcher in franchise history to record at least 10 Ks in four consecutive starts, joining teammate Corey Kluber and Hall of Famer Bob Feller.
BREWERS 1, CUBS 0
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