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Three-time Formula One world champion Niki Lauda died on Monday, eight months after receiving a lung transplant. He was 70 years old.
“With deep sadness, we announce that our beloved Niki has peacefully passed away with his family on Monday,” his family said in a statement to the Austrian press agency.
Lauda was born in 1949 and began a career in racing, going against the wishes of his family. He made it to Formula One in 1971 driving for March Racing. He made his debut in his home country’s Austrian Grand Prix.
He returned to March Racing in 1972 before transitioning to BRM for the 1973 season. Lauda then caught the attention of Enzo Ferrari, who offered him an opportunity to join the famed Scuderia Ferrari team in 1974.
Lauda earned his first two Grand Prix victories in 1974 and backed them up with five more wins and the Formula One championship in 1975.
The 1976 season saw Lauda engage in his legendary battle over the Formula One crown with James Hunt. The two battled throughout the season before Lauda was badly burned in an accident during the German Grand Prix.
Much to the surprise of many, including Hunt, Lauda returned to competition six weeks after the crash in Germany to continue his fight with Hunt over the championship.
Lauda entered the finale in Japan leading the championship, but opted to retire from the race because he felt the torrential downpour taking place during the event made the racing unsafe. Hunt won the championship.
The 1976 season and the battle between Hunt and Lauda was dramatized in the 2013 film Rush, which featured Daniel Bruhl portraying Lauda.
Lauda returned to championship form in 1977, winning three times and capturing his second Formula One title. He left Ferrari to join Brabham in 1978, but following a frustrating 1979 season that saw Lauda fail to finish all but two rounds, he retired and started his own airplane business.
Lauda’s retirement didn’t last. In 1982, he joined McLaren and returned to Formula One, winning the United States Grand Prix and the British Grand Prix.
After a dismal 1983 season, Lauda returned to McLaren in 1984. Lauda and McLaren won five times and the Austrian driver claimed his third and final Formula One championship.
Lauda spent one more season with McLaren in 1985, but failed to finish most of the races. He won his final Formula One race that season during the Dutch Grand Prix. Lauda retired at the conclusion of the season.
After departing Formula One as a driver Lauda held multiple management and consulting positions. He was a consultant for Ferrari for a time and in 2001 Lauda became team principal of the Jaguar Formula One team. He left that role in 2002.
In 2012, he was appointed the non-executive chairman of the Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team and was often spotted in the Mercedes pits watching drivers Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and Valtteri Bottas.
All at McLaren are deeply saddened to learn that our friend, colleague and 1984 Formula 1 World Champion, Niki Lauda, has passed away. Niki will forever be in our hearts and enshrined in our history. #RIPNiki pic.twitter.com/Ndd9ZEfm6B
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 21, 2019
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SALISBURY, N.C. – Carson Kvapil kept his run of success during Charlotte Speedweeks going strong by topping Monday night’s open practice session for the sixth-annual QRC Open presented by HMS Motorsport.
Kvapil, the driver of the No. 35 CorvetteParts.net/SKE Chassis entry, turned a fast lap of 9.8665 seconds (60.812 mph) around the one-sixth mile dirt oval, leading a list of 24 drivers who took time during the three-hour period.
The teenager and oldest son of 2003 NASCAR Gander Outdoors Truck Series champion Travis Kvapil is looking to become the sixth different driver in as many years to win the QRC Open.
“The scary part is, I think we can be even better,” said Carson Kvapil. “We were OK, I felt like, but I didn’t think we were as good as we could have been … definitely not quite where I wanted to be. She was pretty happy around the top, though. This is a brand-new car, and we’re working on getting it right.”
After sending his son home prior to the clock expiring, since it was a school night, Travis Kvapil smiled as he began loading his oldest son’s kart back into the trailer and noted he was content with where they ended the night.
“I would say that’s the best we’ve been here, honestly,” noted Travis Kvapil. “Our last run, he ran (10) flats every lap and then a 9.90 on the last lap. It was turning times so effortlessly, and that’s always what you want as a parent and a crew chief. We’re in a good spot; we just have to carry that through the week.”
Recent Monster Energy NASCAR All-Star Race winner Kyle Larson was second-quick on the night in a brand new Factory QRC-backed No. 1k machine.
Larson led the first hour of practice before being topped by Carson Kvapil, and when he went back out for another go, lowered his best time to a 9.8995-second (60.609 mph) clip.
“We’re better than we’ve started off here, for sure; we’re just not quite where Kvapil is,” noted Larson. “He was staying so consistent and we were falling off over the course of a run, so that’s something we’ll have to work on for tomorrow and Wednesday. It’s a good place to start, though.”
A trio of California drivers – Chase Majdic, Colby Copeland and Jesse Colwell – completed the top five.
Larson was the only past winner of the event to practice on Monday night. Joey Robinson ran the most laps of any of the two-dozen drivers in attendance, with 85 laps around the one-sixth mile dirt oval.
Tuesday night’s Cookout Night program at Millbridge features Open division qualifying for Wednesday’s 51-lap, $5,151-to-win QRC Open main event, as well as a separate $1,000-to-win feature.
Beginner Box Stocks and Box Stocks will also run full programs on Tuesday night as well.
Practice results for the sixth-annual QRC Open presented by HMS Motorsport:
- #35 – Carson Kvapil, 9.867 seconds
- #1k – Kyle Larson, 9.899 seconds
- #42x – Chase Majdic, 9.938 seconds
- #1m – Colby Copeland, 10.072 seconds
- #86j – Jesse Colwell, 10.210 seconds
- #23x – Demo Mittry, 10.234 seconds
- #1b – Chase Johnson, 10.263 seconds
- #83 – Jett Hays, 10.280 seconds
- #19m – Ethan Mitchell, 10.310 seconds
- #09 – Tyler Letarte, 10.320 seconds
- #84 – Dillon Latour, 10.341 seconds
- #33 – Joey Robinson, 10.355 seconds
- #11x – Brent Crews, 10.364 seconds
- #57 – Maria Cofer, 10.395 seconds
- #812 – Gray Leadbetter, 10.434 seconds
- #01 – Carson Sousa, 10.452 seconds
- #22c – Carly Holmes, 10.464 seconds
- #54 – Lucas Sipka, 10.477 seconds
- #52y – Dominic Gorden, 10.594 seconds
- #77h – Jerrod Huisenga, 10.630 seconds
- #02 – Branson Dils, 10.715 seconds
- #2a – Renee Angel, 10.767 seconds
- #21 – Kyle Beattie, 10.934 seconds
- #55s – Scott Hall, 10.956 seconds
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A closer look: Hard to appreciate Koepka's greatness in real time
Published in
Golf
Monday, 20 May 2019 12:40
FARMINGDALE, N.Y. – With the familiar glint of his own reflection once again staring back at him from the rim of the Wanamaker Trophy, Brooks Koepka was assigned the unenviable task of assessing what he had just accomplished. Another major down, another title retained.
Koepka was the clear alpha male last week at Bethpage, as those players who teed off in the afternoon wave Thursday spent the entirety of their PGA Championship experience staring up at his name atop the Black Course leaderboards.
It’s a fourth major title, and his third in the last five contested. At this point he’s moving so fast, the ink is barely able to dry before the history books require a revision.
“It’s been incredibly quick, I know that,” Koepka said. “I don’t think I even thought I was going to do it that fast. I don’t think anybody did, and to be standing here today with four majors, it’s mind-blowing.”
The accolades from Koepka’s dominant performance are still pouring in. He became the fastest ever to go from zero to four majors, and after celebrating his 27th birthday with just a single PGA Tour victory to his credit, he captured his fourth major just weeks after turning 29.
It’s been a whirlwind transformation from an also-ran to an all-time great. But the dizzying speed with which he’s pulled it off might make it difficult to appreciate the magnitude of the achievement in real time.
“It’s kind of an outlier situation,” said Rickie Fowler. “You’re not supposed to get four that quick, or that easy. Not to say that it has been easy, but he’s made it look easy.”
Too often in a culture replete with hot takes, fans and media alike can become prisoners of the moment. Recency bias is a constant temptress, making the conquests we just witnessed seem much more important in a historical context than they might eventually appear.
But with Koepka’s torrid stretch over the last two years, it’s somehow worked in the opposite direction. Afforded little time to process what he’s done before he’s added another achievement to the list, we might end up short-changing what will inevitably become one of the greatest heaters the game has ever seen.
“People don’t realize how hard it is to get from zero to four really quickly,” said Jason Day. “He’s playing some amazing golf, and the last time I saw someone do that was Rory.”
Koepka’s major haul has now tied that of Rory McIlroy, with only Woods and Phil Mickelson ahead of them among active players. But McIlroy’s wins were stretched across a four-year span, still compact enough to have many wondering if he might be on a trajectory to rival Woods and Jack Nicklaus when he left Valhalla in 2014.
Mickelson’s fourth major came six years after his first. Ernie Els’ four titles encompassed an 18-year window, while Ray Floyd, whose dominant, wire-to-wire win at the 1976 Masters and steely determination drew comparisons to Koepka over the weekend, won his fourth major 17 years after his maiden triumph. Those arcs offered plenty of time to savor each chapter and appreciate the ascent into rarified air, from major champ to multiple winner to Hall-of-Famer.
In this regard, even the two greatest players ever can’t keep pace with Koepka. Woods won his fourth major a little more than three years after his first, while Nicklaus reached No. 4 in just shy of three years.
Although delineating the boundaries of a golfer’s prime is a fool’s errand, Koepka has undoubtedly capitalized on his with unprecedented efficiency.
“Pretty much if you watch everybody’s career, they get about 18 months where they truly peak,” said Padraig Harrington. “Whether they’re 100th in the world and they become 50th, or 50th becomes 20th, or 20 becomes 10, or 10 becomes 1, everybody gets that 18 months where they become a little bit more comfortable with who they are and their game. And things happen.”
It’s a viewpoint that has ample merit from a man who made the most of his time in the sun. Harrington captured three majors in a 14-month span, while Woods’ peak engineered the Tiger Slam and seven majors in an 11-tournament stretch. Jordan Spieth came within a few shots of winning the single-season Grand Slam in 2015, and he very well might spend the next two decades being compared against his former self.
For Koepka, it’s 24 months and counting. The nonchalance with which he threw out the target of 10 majors titles at the beginning of the week, a mark reached by only three players in history, was jarring. But it reflects the notion that no one, least of all Koepka, believes he’s done collecting hardware.
Still, there is no exit sign aglow when a player begins his descent from the summit. Arnold Palmer was done winning his seven majors by age 34, while Tom Watson won his eighth and final at age 33 despite a memorable runner-up decades later. Harrington has only contended once in a major since defending his Open title at Royal Birkdale in 2008.
Even McIlroy’s recent drought, while unexpected, has served in some ways to make his previous victories seem all the more impressive. Majors just aren’t that easy to win, even when you’ve done it before with some regularity.
Such could be the case for Koepka, who in a matter of months has reached a plateau others have needed a decade or more to find. This is more than just a hot streak; this is one of the best to ever play the game condensing an entire career’s worth of celebrations into a Congressional term in office while showing no signs of slowing down.
But in a sport that often marries greatness with sustained excellence, Koepka’s achievements might only get their just due once he flashes a little mortality. Until then, the record keepers will have a fresh pen at the ready.
“It’s hard to peak all your life,” Harrington said. “Otherwise, it wouldn’t be a peak.”
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Providence head coach Ed Cooley has emerged as a candidate for the vacant Michigan job, sources told ESPN.
Cooley was expected to interview with Michigan athletic director Warde Manuel on Monday, sources told ESPN. Manuel is also expected to interview Juwan Howard, the Miami Heat assistant and former Michigan star, on Tuesday.
The Wolverines are looking to replace John Beilein, who left last week to become the head coach of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Beilein had been at Michigan since 2007, leading the Wolverines to two national championship game appearances.
Cooley's connection to Michigan comes through the search firm hired to help the school, Turnkey Sports. Turnkey's managing director, Gene DeFilippo, was the athletic director at Boston College when Cooley was an assistant under Al Skinner.
Cooley, a lifelong New Englander who was born in Providence, Rhode Island, has been the head coach of the Friars for eight seasons. He led them to five consecutive NCAA tournament appearances from 2014-2018, before finishing 18-16 last season.
Luke Yaklich and Saddi Washington, who were assistants under Beilein, also have been mentioned in connection with the vacancy. Butler coach LaVall Jordan, who was an assistant under Beilein for six years, and Texas' Shaka Smart were linked early in the process, but it's unclear if either name is on the current shortlist.
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Portland Trail Blazers fans gave a standing ovation to high school coach and former University of Oregon football star Keanon Lowe on Monday night for his help in stopping a potential shooting at a local high school last week.
Lowe, a star wide receiver at Oregon from 2011 to 2014, tackled a student armed with a shotgun on Friday at Portland's Parkrose High School, where he works as the football and track coach as well as a security guard. Lowe said he had just entered a classroom when the student appeared in the doorway with a gun.
Lowe was honored during Game 4 of the Western Conference finals between the Blazers and Golden State Warriors.
A hero among us.
Thank you @KeanonLowe for your incredible bravery. We're proud to have you as a member of #RipCity! pic.twitter.com/Ry94hllLIw
— Trail Blazers (@trailblazers) May 21, 2019
The former Ducks receiver said in an interview with "Good Morning America" that he lunged at the gunman and wrestled with him for the weapon as other students ran screaming out a back door. Lowe said he managed to get the gun away from the student and pass it to a teacher, while Lowe held down the student with his other hand. Lowe wrapped the student in a bear hug until police arrived, he said. No one was injured.
Police are still trying to determine if any shots were fired.
"I lunged for the gun and we both had the gun, we had four hands on the gun,'' Lowe recalled. "I'm just trying to make sure the end of the gun isn't pointing toward where the students are running.''
Lowe said it was the "longest fraction of a second of my life, but I kind of assessed that situation and my instincts kicked in.''
The suspect, 19-year-old Angel Granados-Diaz, pleaded not guilty on Monday during a brief court hearing to a felony count of possessing a weapon in a public building and three misdemeanors. His public defender, Grant Hartley, declined to comment.
Granados-Diaz turned 19 in jail on Monday, the same day students at Parkrose High returned to class after an emotional weekend that included their prom.
A police report said the incident was a "suicide attempt with a gun."
Granados-Diaz has declined an interview with authorities and has no prior convictions, according to court papers. He is being held on $500,000 bail and has another court appearance next week.
Lowe said he was called on a radio to go to a classroom in the fine arts building and get a student. When he got there, the substitute teacher told him the student wasn't in class. Lowe said he was about to leave when Diaz entered the room.
"I feel like I was put in that room for a reason,'' Lowe said. "He didn't know I was in that room when he opened the door, and I think there's things in my life that have happened that have prepared me for that very moment.''
Lowe was a star wide receiver at Oregon. He caught 10 touchdown passes and had nearly 900 receiving yards. After college, he worked as an offensive analyst for the San Francisco 49ers and as an analyst for the Philadelphia Eagles.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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PORTLAND, Ore. -- Competitive sweep? It sounds like an oxymoron, but it provided a bit of consolation for the Portland Trail Blazers after the franchise's longest playoff run in 19 years ended with a four-game dismissal by the dynastic Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference finals.
"We were very competitive in this series, even though it was a sweep," Portland coach Terry Stotts said after what he described as a "special season" ended with a 119-117 overtime loss in Monday's Game 4.
The Trail Blazers actually led for more minutes in the series than the Warriors by a 101-83 margin. Portland's problem, however, was that no lead was large enough against Golden State.
According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Blazers became the only team in the last two decades to lose three games that they led by at least 15 points in the same playoff series. The Warriors rallied from a 17-point deficit in Game 2, from 18 down in Game 3 and from another 17-point deficit in Game 4.
"We had to fight and scrap," Warriors coach Steve Kerr said after Golden State clinched its fifth consecutive NBA Finals appearance. "In the end, it's a sweep, but we had to scrap and claw for three of the four victories. This was more difficult than it appeared."
Portland had legitimates opportunities to win Games 2 and 4 but faltered offensively down the stretch. The Trail Blazers scored only 19 points on 8-of-29 shooting in 14 clutch minutes during the series, situations defined by the score being within five points in the final five minutes of regulation or overtime. That included six points on 3-of-10 shooting in overtime Monday, when Blazers star Damian Lillard missed a corner 3-pointer in the final seconds that could have been the game-winner.
"It's the furthest that we have played into the postseason, and that's a little deeper water than what we've seen," said Lillard, who had 28 points and 12 assists in Game 4, his best performance of the series. "It's a little bit more physically and mentally trying. The level of play is higher. There's more on the line. Teams take their scouting reports and detail it to the next level. I think it was a great experience for us. ...
"I think we showed that we're capable of being here and competing at this level. But it's definitely different."
By and large, the Blazers considered the results of the series to be more of a testament to Golden State's greatness than an exposure of Portland's flaws.
"Give the Warriors credit," said Portland center Meyers Leonard, who did not play Game 1 due to a coach's decision and scored a career-high 30 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in Game 4. "They have kind of been there, done that, obviously. They are able to sustain a certain level of play and execution that clearly allowed them to find their way back the last three games."
It marked the third consecutive year that Portland's postseason ended with a sweep, but the Blazers walked out of the Moda Center on Monday night with their heads held much higher than after their last two exits. They failed to win a playoff game the previous two years, getting swept by the Warriors in 2017 and the New Orleans Pelicans last season.
This postseason run represented remarkable progress for Portland, a popular preseason pick to fall out of the West playoff picture. The Blazers claimed the conference's third seed with a 53-win regular season, closed out the first round in five games when Lillard waved goodbye to the Oklahoma City Thunder by capping his 50-point performance with a tie-breaking, 37-foot buzzer beater and won a road Game 7 over the Denver Nuggets in the West semifinals.
"I think it was a special season for us," Lillard said. "We're coming off back-to-back sweeps. I mean, it's another sweep, but you'd rather get swept in the Western Conference finals than in the first round."
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Warriors first to 5 Finals in row since 1966 Celtics
Published in
Basketball
Monday, 20 May 2019 22:01
PORTLAND, Ore. -- The Golden State Warriors have earned their fifth straight trip to the NBA Finals after beating the Portland Trail Blazers 119-117 in overtime of Game 4 of the Western Conference finals on Monday night.
This is the first time a team has made five straight Finals appearances since the Boston Celtics went 10 straight times, from 1957 to 1966.
The Warriors made it happen on Monday night by coming back from a double-digit second-half deficit for the third straight game, this time crawling all the way back from a 17-point hole.
Once again, it was star guard Stephen Curry who led the Warriors all the way back. The two-time MVP finished with a triple-double, racking up 37 points, 12 rebounds and 10 assists.
It was the fifth straight postseason game that Curry scored at least 30 points, the longest such streak of his career. Curry is now just the sixth player in NBA history to score 35 or more points in each of the first four games of a series, joining Elgin Baylor, LeBron James (twice), Michael Jordan (twice), Bernard King and Jerry West, according to ESPN Stats and Information data.
Warriors forward Draymond Green continued his stellar postseason play on Monday, racking up his second straight triple-double with 18 points, 14 rebounds and 11 assists, including a huge 3-pointer with 39.6 seconds left in overtime that helped seal the win.
Curry and Green became the first teammates in NBA postseason history to record a triple-double in the same game, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Curry and Green made huge plays throughout the series with the Blazers, and they are the main reasons why the Warriors' streak of dominance continued over the past week.
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Stephen A.: Warriors have proven they don't need KD
Stephen A. Smith says that the Warriors' sweep of the Trail Blazers shows that the 2-time champions don't need Kevin Durant to win.
The Warriors now have nine days of rest before heading to either the Milwaukee Bucks or Toronto Raptors for Game 1 of the NBA Finals on May 30.
The extra time to recover is even more important than usual for Golden State, given that the Warriors are dealing with several lingering injuries as they look to win their third straight NBA championship.
Kevin Durant hasn't played since injuring his right calf in Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets on May 8. The Warriors are optimistic Durant will be able to return for the Finals, but as Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has said several times over the past week, the organization has been vague about a potential return date because it is waiting to see how Durant continues to respond to treatment.
Warriors swingman Andre Iguodala missed Monday's game because of a sore left calf after suffering the injury in Game 3 on Saturday. The Warriors don't sound concerned the former Finals MVP will have to miss extended time, but they know he could use the extra rest, as well.
Warriors center DeMarcus Cousins, who tore his right quad in Game 2 of the Western Conference quarterfinals against the LA Clippers on April 15, remains the wild card for the Warriors. After initially being listed as "unlikely" to return this season following his injury, Cousins continues to put in work on the floor, and the Warriors have been pleased by his progress. He still has some hurdles to clear over the next week, but there is hope he also could return for the Finals at some point.
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CHICAGO -- The Philadelphia Phillies' Jake Arrieta no longer calls Wrigley Field his home park, but the denizens there haven't forgotten their former ace, and he hasn't forgotten them.
On Monday, Arrieta made his first start in the Friendly Confines since signing with Philadelphia before the 2018 season. In what turned out to be a 5-4 Phillies win in 10 innings, Arrieta worked around trouble for six innings, allowing just one run, and departed with Philadelphia ahead 3-1.
The Phils blew that lead but came back to tie the game in the ninth on Jean Segura's RBI single and win it in extra innings on J.T. Realmuto's home run. For Arrieta, that's what really mattered.
"Great atmosphere as always," Arrieta said. "Two really good teams going at it. Both teams showed multiple signs of why we're both leading their division. Tough outs top to bottom in that lineup."
Arrieta's name spurred a nice round of cheers when lineups were announced, and again when he toed the rubber to begin the bottom of the first. But the real love-fest erupted when Arrieta stepped to the plate in the third inning and his days in Chicago flashed back vividly. Another nice round of applause gathered momentum and soon turned into a full-blown standing ovation. Arrieta stood off to the side for 30 seconds or so, waiting for the clamor to die down. When it didn't, he doffed his batting helmet in acknowledgment.
"That moment for me was when the fans all stood on their feet and gave me a pretty nice round of applause," Arrieta said. "That was something that really brought back some great memories of getting the same sort of ovation on pretty much a nightly basis. I'm very appreciative of that. I can't say thank you enough to the city of Chicago, I really can't."
It's a ritual as old as baseball itself. A beloved ballplayer moves on to a new team, by his choice or otherwise. The next time he appears in his former stomping grounds, he is received warmly unless the circumstances of his departure were acrimonious. Arrieta's return was something beyond that, almost a commemoration of a time no one forgets.
"It felt great," Arrieta said. "It was something that I experienced pretty much from day one here, with the fan base, and Cubs fans all across the country and all across the world. They really respect and appreciate what guys are able to do for them. It means a lot, it really does. I'll never forget this city, the fan base and organization."
Arrieta became a star with the Cubs, going 22-6 in 2015 with a 1.77 ERA and winning that season's Cy Young award. The next year, he went 18-8 and helped lead Chicago to its first World Series title in 108 years.
"Brings back a lot of memories of what we were able to do as a team," Arrieta said. "From [2013] all the way through [2017]. It felt good to pitch here again. Really, really enjoyed the opportunity, [especially since] I missed both series against these guys last year. It was a lot of fun, it really was."
The last time Arrieta toed the rubber at Wrigley Field was when he beat the Dodgers in Game 4 of the 2017 National League Championship Series. Even then, he knew it was possibly his last time taking the mound there as a Cub; he talked about looking around to let the moment sink in.
The Cubs went on to lose that series, and after the season, Arrieta became a free agent. After the kind of long winter wait that has been the norm in recent Hot Stove seasons, Arrieta inked a three-year, $75 million contract with Philadelphia that has a player option after this season and team options after subsequent two seasons.
Meanwhile, at the end of that same Hot Stove season, the Cubs signed free-agent starter Yu Darvish to a six-year, $126 million deal. Though it's more complicated than saying the Cubs chose Darvish over Arrieta, that's how it became perceived in many corners. That Darvish has struggled with injuries and control problems hasn't helped matters from a Cubs perspective.
So it was no surprise that when fortune ended up pitting Arrieta against Darvish in Arrieta's return to Chicago on Monday, it generated more media and fan attention than usual for a Monday night game in the third week of May. But for Arrieta, the identity of the opposing pitcher didn't really matter.
"I think that's maybe more just from a fan and a media perspective," Arrieta said. "For me, it was obviously a very meaningful start, not only with two first-place teams going at it and trying to separate ourselves from the Braves and other teams in our division, but facing these guys for the first [time] as a visiting player. It meant a lot. But as soon as I went out there, it was kind of like any other start."
Still, it was anything but just another outing for the Phillies' righty. Even as he pursues another championship with his new team, the more time that passes since the historic title with his old team, the more appreciation he feels for the experience.
"The longer I'm kind of away from it," Arrieta said, "the more I do appreciate it. In the moment, it's not necessarily tough to appreciate it, but [now] you're able to reflect a little bit deeper and put some more time and thought into it. It really, really sinks in what we were able to do here overall as a team and an organization, and the strides we took to get where we were. And you see what they're able to continue to do as an organization. I'm proud of those guys over there still."
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Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Julio Urías will be reinstated from administrative leave following a domestic-violence arrest after Major League Baseball did not obtain a security video that allegedly showed the incident, sources familiar with the situation told ESPN.
Urías, 22, was arrested May 13 after an alleged altercation with a woman in a parking lot of a Los Angeles shopping mall. The left-hander is expected to rejoin the Dodgers on Tuesday.
MLB and the MLB Players Association agreed to place Urías on paid administrative leave pending the league's review of the video, sources said. Mall officials in possession of the video declined to give it to MLB, and while the league could have pursued a seven-day extension of administrative leave, the union and Urías would not have consented and could have filed a grievance, per the jointly negotiated domestic-violence policy.
The league's investigation into Urías remains open, according to sources. Prosecutors have yet to file charges against Urías, and the Los Angeles Police Department still has not released an incident report.
The severity of any potential punishment will depend upon the level of evidence MLB gathers in its investigation. Suspensions under the domestic-violence policy have ranged from 15 to 100 games. Two investigations, into Dodgers outfielder Yasiel Puig and Minnesota Twins third baseman Miguel Sanó, did not lead to discipline.
The Dodgers, who declined comment through a spokesman, are required to abide by the jointly negotiated rules and cannot levy discipline on Urías or keep him from returning to their roster. Los Angeles in 2015 ended its pursuit of closer Aroldis Chapman after a report of a domestic issue that led to a 30-game suspension
Urías, who debuted with the Dodgers at 19 years old, has started four games this season, pitched in relief in five and posted a 3.02 ERA with 32 strikeouts in 28⅓ innings.
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BALTIMORE -- Just as he was turning to leave his locker late Monday night, Luke Voit fielded one final question that he started answering with a smile before the reporter could even get all his words out.
The query was about how Voit felt the New York Yankees' latest dramatic, come-from-behind win -- this one a 10-7 triumph Monday over the host Baltimore Orioles -- differed from some of the Bronx Bombers' other recent victories that were sparked by late-game rallies.
"Right," the smirking Voit interrupted, "because it wasn't Gio for once?"
Indeed. This win was different. This win looked and felt a lot like the scrappy, gritty, gutty victories the ragtag, injury-riddled Yankees have clawed their way to in recent weeks. But at the same time, it had a flair for some of the power-hitting bravado of a year ago.
"It was also the epitome of a team win," said Yankees newcomer, and 13-year major league veteran, Cameron Maybin.
Yes, it was certainly that. But as Voit ultimately deduced, this was in fact different. This win was unique specifically because of who its heroes were. Gio Urshela? No. Thairo Estrada? No. Clint Frazier? No. Mike Ford and Mike Tauchman are at Triple-A now, so clearly it wasn't them, either.
For the first time in what seems like forever, the stars of a Yankees victory were, in fact, their stars. Instead of those little-known Bombers delivering the big blows, the key plays came from players who have become household names the past few years: Gleyber Torres, Aaron Hicks, Brett Gardner.
And Gary Sanchez.
Baseball world, brace yourself. The cavalry is coming back to the Bronx. The Yankees' previously beat-up bashers are starting to return from injury, and they're beginning to have the type of tangible impact their replacements have enjoyed all year.
From the time he came off the injured list April 24, Sanchez has been leaving his mark on the Yankees' lineup, crushing seven home runs in the 19 games he's played. But now he's coming through in the clutch, too.
Sanchez's three-run, 385-foot blast to left in the ninth was the hit the Yankees needed to cap a miraculous final-inning comeback. Down 7-6 entering the ninth, it took a series of deep at-bats, a misjudged foul ball behind home plate and a well-earned hit-by-pitch to Voit to bring up Sanchez in the key spot.
"When Gary goes up there and throws a good at-bat, he's as dangerous as anyone in the world," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. "So that's always my cry to him: Just go out and have a good at-bat, and the results will take care of themselves."
The big blast was the third career go-ahead homer in the ninth inning or later for Sanchez. He had two such homers last year, and his total of three over the past two seasons is the most on the Yankees.
"Situations like that, I try to stay as calm as possible," Sanchez said through an interpreter. "That's the key, just staying calm in a high-pressure situation like that."
Prior to Sanchez's knock, the Yankees got a rally going when No. 8 hitter Gardner led off with a single to left. That was quickly followed by a single to right from Maybin.
As Maybin's hit traveled into right field, Gardner motored past second and hustled hard on a first-to-third sprint. With Gardner advancing to third, Maybin smartly moved up to second on the back side of the play, putting two Yankees in scoring position with no outs.
"You know, Gardy and myself down there, I feel like we're not your typical eight, nine guys," Maybin said. "Those are some tough outs down there. Gardy did a great job of getting it started, and it kind of upped my focus a bit to try to get the job done.
"You play for those moments. Game on the line, ninth inning, you're trying to get the big boys back to the plate and trying to turn that lineup over."
Part of the reason Maybin and Gardner are currently bottom-of-the-order hitters in the Yankees' lineup is because of the depth that has begun to return from the injured list.
First it was Sanchez who returned late last month from a calf strain. Then, earlier this month, Hicks -- who delivered a sacrifice fly to bring in Gardner with the tying run just before Sanchez's homer -- came back from a back injury that sidelined him in spring training.
On the horizon, Giancarlo Stanton and Didi Gregorius are expected back sooner rather than later, and given his resumption of baseball activities this week, Aaron Judge might be returning sometime in the not-too-distant future as well.
"Looking forward to all of them getting back," Boone said. "They've all been a part of what we do. Most of our guys have been involved in our preparation every day, our helping each other along, being part of the camaraderie of the group. Over the long haul of the season, 162 games, you want to get your dudes back in there, so I look forward to getting them all back at some point."
Since the biggest Bombers have been gone, the Yankees have been more of a small-ball operation, using their speed, bunts, hit-and-runs and aggressive baserunning to rack up runs. That's been the philosophy of the replacement-filled 2019 Yankees.
The 2018 team was a considerably healthier bunch built with boppers who hit their way to a major league home run record. Often throughout the year, that team was criticized for living by the homer and dying by the strikeout.
Monday's win showed the two philosophies -- at least with this current form of the Yankees' roster -- can coexist.
In addition to the savvy baserunning Gardner and Maybin showcased, along with Sanchez's clutch home run, Gleyber Torres had a multi-homer day, going deep twice to push his total to 10 for the season. Eight of those have come against the Orioles, five in the teams' last three meetings alone.
New York's 10-run outburst followed a lackluster outing from starting pitcher J.A. Happ, who left in the fourth after having surrendered six runs and nine hits. An inning after Happ's departure, the Yankees trailed 6-1, and looked destined for a loss at Camden Yards, where they have yet to lose this season.
"I heard the guys saying, 'we got a lot of game left,' as I came out of the game," Happ said. "So we never lost faith, and I could sense that."
That faith may have started with the manager.
"Boonie came on the mound when he took out Happ and was like, 'Hey, let's put your hitting shoes on and let's go to work,'" Voit said. "We did."
The bullpen only allowed one run across the final five innings, keeping the Yankees in it just enough to chip away at the Orioles' lead. Certainly facing the lowly Baltimore squad and its inferior talent was a help, but the Yankees still earned this latest win.
So whether it is fighting through injuries or adding new pieces, why does it seem like this year's Yankees are always in ballgames late?
"We are the Yankees. We have a history, you know what I mean?" Torres said. "We just like to compete. We have a goal. We want to go to the World Series.
"We have 27 [championships], and we want a 28th."
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