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SUNRISE, Fla. -- Spencer Knight has been in contact with the Florida Panthers, and the team is working under the premise that the goaltender will be back with the Panthers this fall.
Knight entered the NHL/NHLPA player assistance program in February and was not with Florida for the remainder of the season, including the team's run to the Stanley Cup Final.
"He's doing well, and we expect him back in the fold in the fall," Panthers general manager Bill Zito said Wednesday.
Knight was in his second full season in the NHL, sharing responsibilities in net with veteran goalie Sergei Bobrovsky. He started in 19 games and appeared in 21 this past season, going 9-8-3 with a 3.18 goals-against average and .901 save percentage.
He last appeared for Florida on Feb. 18.
Knight leaving the team led to Alex Lyon getting significant playing time for the Panthers in the stretch run of the regular season -- in part because Bobrovsky got sick -- and in the beginning of the playoffs. Lyon went 6-2-1 with a .930 save percentage late in the season, fueling Florida's run to secure the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Lyon is about to become an unrestricted free agent.
"I can imagine that, at a minimum, we'll be talking to Alex," Zito said.
The NHL and NHLPA started the player assistance program in 1996, giving players access to a confidential phone line and counselors in each city in the league. The jointly funded group assists players and their families with mental health, substance abuse and other matters.
Adjusting to her new normal: Rose Zhang staying grounded in first major as a pro
How has life been for Rose Zhang since her historic win at the Mizuho Americas Open in early June?
“Pretty hectic.”
The 20-year-old is making her first major start since turning pro last month at this week’s KPMG Women’s PGA Championship. It’s not her first major start ever, she’s had plenty of those – eight, to be exact – as an amateur, but she’s certainly never been in the position she now finds herself. Unsurprisingly, she’s trying to keep everything in perspective.
“It's super exciting, no doubt,” Zhang said Wednesday about making her first start at the Women’s PGA Championship. “But I wouldn't say it's anything different. I wouldn't place it on another platform or pedestal for me to just admire and look up to. It's another event. I'm still playing the same sport. I'm just in New Jersey again and trying to play well.”
The game is certainly still the same, and while the majors present a more difficult challenge, her record so far indicates she’s a force to be reckoned with out the gate: eight starts with only two missed cuts and a T-11 best finish (2020 Chevron).
The difference is where Zhang is at in her career, and specifically, the waves she’s been making in the few weeks since she turned pro after winning her second-straight NCAA individual title.
In that time, Zhang played Mizuho – her first start as a pro, down the road at Liberty National – won in a playoff against Jennifer Kupcho, earned her LPGA card and returned to Stanford to finish her spring quarter finals, including computer science – "quite difficult" but, of course, she passed.
All that is normal: playing, winning, school. Zhang has been balancing it for years. The new variable is the media attention and, essentially, running her own business, which leaves little time for practice and, you know, playing golf, in general.
“I would say commitments are definitely much more prominent in my life. As a professional, you have to do a lot more things, and you're essentially your own business boss, so you have to really navigate towards what your career looks like, what your team looks like," she said. "I've been taking a lot more, I guess, quote-unquote, business phone calls than I was when I was a college athlete, college amateur.”
As talented as Zhang is, she can’t defy physics and give herself more time in the day; she gets the same 24 hours as the rest of us, meaning she hasn’t been able to “grind” like she usually does.
“I feel like, as an amateur, you take it for granted where you can just be out on the range, no one is talking to you. You can hit balls for like four hours. You can chip, putt, do whatever you need to," she said.
“But I can't really do that anymore. That will definitely take a bit of adjusting, just because when your game isn't as solid and when you've been playing a lot of events, going on the golf course, your game adjusts to the different weather conditions, how you're playing golf courses, and yeah, I think that will be the biggest transition for me.”
Not to mention she’s played a hefty schedule over the past few months and has had little time for rest.
“We played Pac-12s, came back for a little bit, and then immediately went to regionals, nationals, and then I played Mizuho. It's been a long stretch of golf, so my body has been tired. It's been a little burned out. I've been trying to navigate that, as well," she said.
It’s a new normal that you can only prepare for to a certain extent. You’re never going to be 100% ready – there’s always going to be unexpected changes that come along with such a major shift in your career. Even so, Zhang is still her poised, confident self, and she’s made time for family in the past few weeks, saying bye to Stanford in the middle of June and moving home to spend time in Irvine, California, in what she called “wholesome time.”
“They are a sense of normalcy when I'm around them, especially back home,” Zhang said. “My family, my mom, my brother and my sister-in-law. I was playing with my niece in the last three days that I was at home. Obviously, my niece is two-and-a-half; she’s not going to know that I won a tournament, or she doesn't even know that I play golf. It's more… I go back home and everything is just very relaxed, and I have a good time.”
That quality time is more important now than ever as Zhang prepares for life on the road, competing on tour and embracing her position as one of the game’s biggest new stars. All eyes are on her – she’s getting shout-outs from Steph Curry and meeting Al Roker – and she’s taking the attention in stride. Her budding sport celebrity status might be cause for concern for some, but as that first-win buzz wears off, she’s excited to get back to doing what she loves: playing golf.
“Just understanding what rest I need and how to take care of whatever I need to, all of that kind of funnels to how I should use my time, and practice isn't necessarily top priority at that point," she said. "But in the coming weeks, I'll definitely plan on trying to get back in the game. But I think all it needs is some fine tuning, and we should be OK.”
After taking some time to appreciate what she’s accomplished and focus on things outside of her game, Zhang is ready to get back out there and add to her already impressive resume.
“[The Mizuho win] was more just validation for myself to say that, hey, I can compete at the highest level, and as long as I do what I need to, as long as I perform as well as I can, I'll be able to be in contention week in and week out," she said.
Winning in her first start as a pro might not even be the No. 1 headline on Zhang’s Christmas card this year, seeing as she’s earned the attention of U.S. Solheim Cup captain Stacy Lewis, not to mention some of the biggest names in the women’s game today.
“I had her on my radar just more for 2024, because I knew it would be hard for her to win because that was the only way she was going to have a chance to play for ’23 – was for her to win,” Lewis, who is captain this year and next as the Solheim Cup returns to an even-year rotation, said Wednesday. “So I've been following her, and now, obviously, we're following things a little bit more closely. But, like everybody else, she can still go earn her spot. She's obviously moving up Rolex [world rankings] pretty quickly (currently No. 64). I'd love for her to make it on her own and take the decision out of my hands.”
While Lewis is also in the field at Baltusrol Golf Club this week, one of her likely team members, Nelly Korda, hasn’t seen Zhang play at all, but that doesn’t mean she isn’t excited about the new challenger and potential teammate.
“It was amazing to see that she won her first week out as a professional,” the current world No. 2 said. “I think it's going to be really good for women's golf. Hopefully we have some great battles coming down the stretch over the years.”
Current world No. 3 Lydia Ko was particularly impressed with Zhang’s performance at Mizuho.
“I bet there was a lot of weight on her shoulders, but for her to finish in that style, go into a playoff and win, I think she pretty much proved any doubters that hey, like don't need to be worrying about me, I'm casually doing my own business and doing it pretty well," Ko said. "She seems like she doesn't get fazed too much about all the attention that's surrounding her. She's a very special player, and I don't think you need me to say she's special. She's already… her accolades and everything speak for itself.”
Winning in your first start as a pro is hard. Winning in your first major start as a pro? With all eyes on you? That’s arguably an even tougher ask.
If Zhang did win this week, she would be the first to do so in three years, since A Lim Kim won the 2020 U.S. Women’s Open. Before her, in 2019, Hinako Shibuno won the AIG Women’s British Open.
Both Kim's and Shibuno’s wins marked their first-ever major starts, amateur or professional, so Zhang is already at an advantage. She knows what contending in a major feels like. She’s prepared for the more difficult course setup and, specifically, the unpredictable greens.
“That's what I've been doing in practice rounds, is just trying to get a feel for what the greens are doing. Rough is super thick," she said. "The chipping techniques that I've been using this week are definitely different from any other chipping techniques that I've been using.”
Course distinctions aside, Zhang is approaching Baltusrol like any other. She’s played in majors, and she’s still comparing this week to other tests, whether in college or on tour.
That ability to ground herself and her game might be the young star’s greatest strength in her bid to make history once again.
Maverick McNealy out until at least fall with shoulder injury
The PGA Tour’s top putter is out through at least the FedExCup Playoffs.
Maverick McNealy announced Wednesday afternoon that he is taking a break from competition for a few months to treat a left shoulder injury. He tore the anterior sterno-clavicular ligament in his left shoulder last February, and after a missed cut two weeks ago at the RBC Canadian Open, the 27-year-old Stanford product decided he needed to properly address what had become more than a nagging ailment.
“After a brief period of improvement, it worsened in Canada to the point that I did not think it was a good idea to continue playing,” McNealy said.
McNealy said the injury won’t require surgery, though the rehab will still be extensive. “We are attacking the problem,” he explained, “with physical therapy, biomechanics analysis, golf swing changes and regenerative stem-cell treatments.” He hopes to return in the fall.
“I will be doing my best to take advantage of this time off,” he added, “by pursuing my pilot’s instrument rating, spending time with my friends and family, getting some high-altitude cardio in, and keeping my putting speed dialed.”
McNealy, who ranks No. 1 on Tour in strokes gained putting, got off to a hot start this season, notching six finishes of T-18 or better in his first eight starts. He then withdrew from back-to-back starts, at Pebble Beach and Phoenix, and he's missed four of his last six cuts while not at 100%.
At No. 87 in FedExCup points, McNealy was not currently in position to qualify for the playoffs, which takes the top 70 players for the first of three postseason events. Should he return in the fall, though, he will still have a chance to keep his card by finishing inside the top 125 following the RSM Classic in mid-November. If he doesn’t, he’ll need a major medical extension.
Members of Canada's national team want a pay dispute settled before leaving for the Women's World Cup, which begins on July 20 in Australia and New Zealand.
Christine Sinclair, who holds the international goalscoring record, told the Canadian Press on Wednesday that the team wants the long simmering dispute settled before they get on the plane for a pre-tournament camp on June 28.
"We're not at a point where we're not getting on a plane, but time's coming where we want it done so as players we're not having to deal with it while we're trying to prepare," Sinclair, told the Canadian Press.
"But us as a women's team have flat out told the CSA (Canada Soccer Association) that we need a deal in place for at least the World Cup and this year before we head down there.
"I think it will happen. Will it be a long-term deal? No. But something will be done before the World Cup starts."
The demand is the latest salvo in a bitter dispute that has seen the women's team threaten job action.
At the SheBelieves Cup in the United States in February the Canadian women sat out a practice and had threatened to boycott the four-team tournament.
They played under protest, but vowed future boycotts if their demands over pay equity were not met.
The team has been without a collective bargaining agreement since 2021, but have agreed to a new deal in principal although several issues remain unresolved.
The Olympic champions are grouped with co-hosts Australia, Nigeria and Ireland at the World Cup. The seventh ranked Canadians open against Nigeria on July 21 in Melbourne.
Canada have qualified for every World Cup except the first in 1991 and had a best finish of fourth in 2003.
Lauren Filer backed to give England 'wicket-taking' edge
"It's hugely exciting for her," Knight said. "We've gone for her because we think she's a real impact bowler. I guess she's a bit of an unknown but she bowls wicket-taking deliveries and for me she's, if not the quickest, one of the quickest in the country. She gets bounce, and she's got skills, moves the ball both ways, and ultimately we need a team that's going to take 20 wickets and we feel like she gives us that. She can bang the ball in as well, there's not too many people queueing up to face her in the nets. I'm really excited for her to see how she goes."
Filer has taken eight wickets for Western Storm from four matches in the Rachael Heyhoe Flint Trophy so far this year at an average of 28. 62 and she took five wickets from as many matches in the Charlotte Edwards Cup at 24.80. Last season she claimed 11 wickets at 22.63 in the RHFT and one wicket in two Charlotte Edwards Cup appearances.
"I think probably at one point Danni probably felt like she was never going to get a Test cap," Knight said. "We picked her because we want her to play exactly how she does in the middle order in ODI cricket. She's one of the best players, and the best attackers, of spin in the world game for me and she makes it very tricky to set fields, she scores in quite unusual areas. That's exactly how I want her to play, how she does in white-ball cricket, have a little bit of a counter-punch and use her experience there as well."
Knight hadn't spoken to men's counterpart Ben Stokes since his side lost their opening Ashes Test to Australia by two-wickets in a last-evening thriller at Edgbaston on Tuesday. But she has picked the brains of seam spearhead and Nottinghamshire native Stuart Broad in the build-up to this game.
"I've spoken to Stuart about the conditions, he's played a lot of cricket here and this is my first ever game at Trent Bridge," Knight said. "Lots of really useful stuff on how to bowl on this pitch, how the pitch changes over the course of the cricket that he's played here."
"It's probably a little bit patchier than I expected and probably the groundsman wanted it," she said. "Actually we asked for a pitch with just good carry. The Canberra wicket was awesome for women's Test-match cricket, a bit of pace, the bowlers could get a bit out of it but you could also score runs if the bowler missed. So we wanted a similar wicket to that, but generally it's a pretty good wicket to bat on and I look forward to getting out there.
"In terms of the pitch, you want a nick to carry because sometimes we've played on softer, duller pitches where actually it's really hard to score runs if you bowl straight but also really hard to take wickets and that's not really the pitches, we don't have as much pace in the women's game that's conducive to get a result. The Dukes ball is a really great addition. The bowlers have certainly enjoyed bowling with it and you can get a little bit out of it for a lot longer. Probably the biggest challenge in Women's Tests has been taking 20 wickets and I think the Dukes will help that."
All of England Women's recognised batters have scored runs in the lead-up to this match, most notably opener Tammy Beaumont, who retired on 201 not out off 238 balls against Australia A in a three-day warm-up on a lifeless Derby pitch last week, where Knight, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Sophia Dunkley and Amy Jones all reached the 70s and 80s.
"The tempo that we went at and the pace we scored at was brilliant without being overly risky and aggressive, that was awesome," Knight said. "We want to go on and make real match-defining innings, not just get a hundred if you can get a real big one. That puts the team in a great position. I'm really happy with the group and hopefully we can go out and replicate some of that in the next five days."
Valkerie Baynes is a general editor, women's cricket, at ESPNcricinfo
Somerset fire with bat and ball to close in on knockouts
Somerset 172 for 2 (Smeed 66, Kohler-Cadmore 62*) beat Glamorgan 171 (Carlson 71, van der Gugten 48, Overton 3-21, Brooks 3-35) by eight wickets
Somerset went clear at the top of the South Group thanks to a comprehensive win in their Vitality Blast fixture against Glamorgan in Cardiff.
This win puts Somerset clear of Surrey at the top of the Blast table with 18 points. Glamorgan currently sit outside the quarter-final qualification spots and will most likely need to win all three of their remaining fixtures to make the knockout stages.
It was a lacklustre start from Glamorgan who struggled in the opening overs having been put into bat. The early wickets of Will Smale, Billy Root and Sam Northeast reduced them to 14 for 3 with Brooks claiming two wickets and Overton one.
There was a 40-run stand between Carlson and Chris Cooke that took the home team past the 50 mark, but it was Carlson who was doing all the scoring. Cooke had made seven runs when he attempted to carve Overton over the extra cover boundary for six. The ball looked as it was going to clear the rope before a superb one-handed grab at full stretch from Kasey Aldridge sent Glamorgan's leading run-scorer in this competition back to the dugout.
When recently arrived overseas signing Cam Fletcher was out for a duck two balls later when he pulled a ball to Sean Dickson at midwicket Glamorgan were 53 for 5 and in danger of crumbling.
What followed was a record stand for the sixth wicket between these two teams as Carlson and van der Gugten put on 91 runs to give the home side some hope.
Carlson's 71 took him past 300 runs for the first time in a Blast season and was his first innings over over fifty in the format since 2018. Van der Gugten made 48, his fourth important contribution with the bat in his six Blast matches this season as he continues to show off his all-round ability.
The Somerset chase got off to a roaring start thanks to Smeed, but he should have been dimissed in the second over when he was on just 17. He pulled a ball from van der Gugten straight to Billy Root on the deep square leg boundary but the chance wasn't taken. It was parried over the rope for six and Smeed took full advantage of the life he was given.
Tom Banton was the one wicket to fall inside the Somerset powerplay when he was caught at fine leg by Andy Gorvin when he tried to scoop Ruaidhri Smith but that was the only success for Glamorgan until the 13th over as Smeed and Kohler-Cadmore took the game away from them. Smeed crashed eight fours and three sixes in an innings of 66 that lasted just 36 balls. By the time he was dismissed by Smith the required rate was down to less than a run a ball.
Smeed's dismissal slowed things down a little bit with the support of Tom Abell, Kohler-Cadmore guided Somerset home with 62 not out. The only moment of further alarm for the visitors came when Gorvin had Kohler-Cadmore caught on the midwicket boundary but it was off a no ball.
This comprehensive victory is the ninth of Somerset's Blast campaign and they are closing in on a home quarter-final.
Leus du Plooy steers Derbyshire chase after Zaman Khan three-for
Derbyshire 160 for 4 (Came 43, du Plooy 40*) beat Northamptonshire 156 for 8 (Gay 47, Zaman 3-26) by six wickets
Having won the toss and opted to bat, the Steelbacks lost Ricardo Vasconcelos in the opening over, pinned leg before by offspinner Alex Thomson. That wicket ushered Chris Lynn to the crease and the big-hitting Queenslander pulled a short ball from Zak Chappell over midwicket for six, combining brute power with shrewd placement as he reached 33 from 23.
However, attempting to smash Thomson's first ball after the powerplay over the top, Lynn picked out the long-on fielder and Derbyshire cemented control as George Scrimshaw sent Justin Broad's middle stump cartwheeling. Scrimshaw also picked up the prize wicket of David Willey, caught behind off a miscued pull and that meant the Steelbacks needed Gay, who had seen little of the strike early on, to hold their innings together.
The left-hander seemed on the verge of his second T20 half-century, having steered Zaman to the cover boundary to reach 47 - but the Pakistan international had the last word with his next delivery, a fast swinging yorker that took out Gay's leg stump.
It was a similar tale for Saif Zaib, whose leg-side maximum off Zaman took him to 25 from 13, only to punch his next ball straight to long-off and it needed Ben Sanderson's audacious ramp for four in the final over to haul Northamptonshire above 150.
However, the Falcons found it hard to get the ball away at the start of their reply, stuttering to 37 in the powerplay for the loss of Luis Reece and Haider Ali - the latter giving Tom Taylor the charge and skying into the gloves of Lewis McManus.
Taylor was unfortunate not to add the scalp of Madsen, who survived a compelling lbw appeal before he had scored and capitalised on that close call by drilling the bowler back down the ground for four. There was also frustration in the field for Taylor, who did well to prevent Came's drive off Freddie Heldreich from crossing the long-off fence, but could not hold on after palming the ball back into play.
Madsen continued to milk the bowling cleverly until Willey brought himself back on to bowl the veteran for 35 from 24 and, with pressure building, Came holed out to deep midwicket soon afterwards. But du Plooy kept the scoreboard moving along, finding the boundary regularly enough to keep Derbyshire in touch and drove Sanderson for six in the penultimate over before Taylor conceded four wides to end the contest.
Gators win another 'nail-biter,' reach MCWS finals
One-run games never get old as long as you're winning -- and Florida is doing plenty of that right now.
Florida reached the Men's College World Series finals with a 3-2 victory over TCU on Wednesday, making the Gators the fourth team in history to win their bracket with three straight one-run wins.
"It's not easy to get to this point. It's just not," coach Kevin O'Sullivan said. "I know I overstate it and say it over and over, but we just played three one-run games and they're all nail-biters down to the end."
Cade Kurland, who had struggled at the plate in the MCWS, reached on an infield single to drive in the tiebreaking run in the ninth. Michael Robertson, who scored the winning run as a pinch runner and stayed in the game to play center field, ran down Brayden Taylor's deep fly to make a dazzling catch at the wall to end the game.
"There's a lot of things that have to go right," O'Sullivan said.
Florida joined Eastern Michigan in 1976, South Carolina in 1977 and Texas in 2002 as the only teams in the 76-year history of the MCWS to win their first three games by a single run.
The Gators' run started Friday with a walk-off 6-5 win over Virginia after they erased a two-run deficit in the ninth. Then on Sunday, they survived Oral Roberts' inside-the-park home run, O'Sullivan's mound-visit rules violation that forced their closer out of the game and anxious moments in the last two innings to win 5-4.
The Gators have won eight in a row since facing elimination in the regional they hosted. They're hot at the right time, and TCU's Taylor could see it Wednesday.
"Florida is going to be the team to win this thing," he said.
The Gators (53-15) will play No. 1 national seed Wake Forest or LSU in the best-of-three championship series starting Saturday. Wake Forest would advance with a win over the Tigers on Wednesday night. An LSU win would force a second bracket final Thursday.
Florida is in the finals for the fourth time, and first since it won the national championship in 2017.
TCU (44-24) staved off elimination twice to get to Wednesday's game, and it finished the season with wins in 21 of 25 games.
"Obviously ran up against a great Florida team and just came up one run short," Horned Frogs coach Kirk Saarloos said. "But like I told them, just the story and the journey that they took us on this year will never be forgotten. I think it completely changes our program in terms of what they did from the middle part of the season until now. It just stinks that it's over."
Florida led 2-1 after the first inning, and neither team scored again until TCU tied it in the bottom of the eighth when Tre Richardson singled and came home on Anthony Silva's deep fly to left-center that bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double.
Tyler Shelnut doubled off the right-center wall leading off the Florida ninth against Ben Abeldt. Garrett Wright relieved, and pinch hitter Dale Thomas popped out trying to bunt before Colby Halter's deep flyout allowed Robertson to take third.
Robertson scored when Kurland's grounder to short pulled Silva to his right. Silva bounced a throw to first that was far too late to get Kurland, who had been 1-for-14 in the MCWS.
"A lot of times in baseball things may not go your way, but I think baseball always has a way to come back around," Kurland said. "It's really important to stay in the moment for when you do get the opportunity. He got me 0-2 quick, and I just knew he wasn't going to get me out. I wasn't going to go down."
Florida two-way star Jac Caglianone was shaky over 4⅓ innings in his first start since June 2. He had walked three, hit three batters and gave up three hits when he left.
Josh Rivera, the Gators' shortstop, hit a two-run homer in the first inning and made a perfect relay throw home to prevent TCU from scoring the tying run in the fourth.
TCU freshman Kole Klecker, starting on four days' rest for the first time, allowed two runs on six hits in five innings.
Sources: Celtics working to acquire Porzingis
The Boston Celtics, LA Clippers and Washington Wizards are working on a three-team trade that would see the Celtics acquire Kristaps Porzingis and the Clippers land Malcolm Brogdon, sources told ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski, although there are still outstanding issues to be resolved before a deal can be completed.
As part of the proposed framework, Porzingis would opt into his $36 million contract for the 2023-24 season and go from Washington to Boston; Brogdon would go from Boston to the Clippers; and the Wizards would receive Marcus Morris, Amir Coffey and the 30th pick in this year's draft from the Clippers, along with forward Danilo Gallinari from Boston, sources said.
Porzingis, who will turn 28 on Aug. 2, had arguably the best season of his NBA career this past year in Washington, averaging a career-high 23.2 points to go along with 8.4 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.5 blocks in 65 games for the Wizards. The fourth overall pick in the 2016 NBA draft by the Knicks was playing his first full season in Washington after the Wizards traded for him at the 2022 trade deadline, sending Spencer Dinwiddie and Davis Bertans to Dallas in exchange.
Now, he could potentially be off to Boston, which is attempting to retool its roster to make another run at an 18th NBA championship this coming season. In addition to possibly landing Porzingis, Boston can offer All-Star forward Jaylen Brown a five-year, $295 million contract extension this summer, and it also has to sort out the future of restricted free agent forward Grant Williams.
Brogdon, 30, won Sixth Man of the Year this past season for the Celtics, averaging 14.9 points, 4.2 rebounds and 3.7 assists in 67 games -- all of which came in a reserve role after he had started every game he played across the previous four seasons with the Milwaukee Bucks and Indiana Pacers.
Brogdon would provide the Clippers with a similar offensive boost, in exchange for the final pick of the first round in this year's draft, an expiring contract in Morris and a young wing player in Coffey.
Washington, meanwhile, continues to revamp its roster under its new president of basketball operations Michael Winger after making the blockbuster trade to send Bradley Beal to the Phoenix Suns on Sunday for Chris Paul, Landry Shamet, several second-round picks and first-round pick swaps.
Sources told Wojnarowski on Tuesday that Washington forward Kyle Kuzma, one of the more intriguing free agents available this summer, has declined his player option and will be an unrestricted free agent.
Bichette (thumb) sits, Belt returns in Jays' win
MIAMI -- Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette was a late scratch for Toronto's series finale against the Miami Marlins on Wednesday because of left thumb discomfort.
Second baseman Cavan Biggio took Bichette's spot in the lineup batting sixth and went 2 for 4. Biggio had an RBI double during a five-run second inning against Miami starter Sandy Alcantara that put the Blue Jays ahead 5-0. They held on to win 6-3.
The 25-year-old Bichette leads the American League in hits with 101 and played in Toronto's first 75 games this season. He was replaced at shortstop by Santiago Espinal, who batted seventh and went 1 for 4.
Designated hitter Brandon Belt was reinstated from the 10-day injured list before the game after missing time with left hamstring inflammation and batted third. He went 1 for 4.
Spencer Horwitz was optioned to the Blue Jays' Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo in a corresponding move. Horwitz had two hits, scored a run and had an RBI in eight at-bats in his three games with Toronto this season.
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