Christian Eriksen says kneejerk reactions come with the territory of playing for Manchester United as he laughed off the focus on their sluggish start to the season.
Having finished third in the Premier League, won the Carabao Cup and reached the FA Cup final last term, there is intrigue and increased expectations around Erik ten Hag’s second season.
United were fortunate to kick off their campaign with a 1-0 win against Wolves – a poor performance compounded by last weekend’s alarming drop-off after a fine start in the 2-0 defeat at Tottenham.
Saturday was shaping up to be an even more chastening day after Taiwo Awoniyi and Willy Boly put Forest two up within four minutes of kick-off at a stunned Old Trafford.
But United roared back through Eriksen, Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes to secure a 3-2 comeback victory against 10-man Forest, avoiding an intense week of scrutiny ahead of the trip to Arsenal.
Asked how important it was to win given a lot of people have had things to say about United’s start, goalscorer Eriksen said with a smile: “Yeah, this week. Maybe next week they’ll say something else and then the week after they’ll change their mind again.
“It’s how football goes and definitely here.
“I think everybody knows that if you lose one game everything is changed, everything is the worst thing that can happen.
“And if you win, it’s ‘oh, it’s normal’, so, yeah, it’s just how it is at this club and we expect that as players.
“Obviously we try to do our best to win every game, none of us like losing and we try to do it in the best possible way.”
Eriksen, unsurprisingly given his career and experiences, cares little for the background noise surrounding United, but the expectation at the club can weigh heavily on some.
Denmark team-mate Rasmus Hojlund is among those that will be under the spotlight this season having been brought in to solve their number nine issue.
Signed for a £64million fee that could rise to £72million, the talented 20-year-old striker has yet to make his debut due to a back complaint but could feature for the first time at Arsenal.
“He’s a guy who holds his ground,” Eriksen told club media. “He doesn’t back down from anything.
“He’s really a front-foot guy, who is aggressive and really attack-minded.
“But, at the same time, a nice guy outside of football.
“I will definitely (pass on my experience of English football) but he will definitely see it for himself, that the Premier League is different compared to any other league he’s been at before.
“So, he’s going to have to adapt, but I’m sure he will adapt quickly.”
Hojlund is highly unlikely to be United’s final arrival before Friday’s transfer deadline, just as Forest are expected to be active before the window closes.
There will also be talk about departures, with homegrown Wales international Brennan Johnson subject of interest from Chelsea, Tottenham and Brentford.
“Brennan’s, for me, a top young player,” manager Steve Cooper said. “He had some great moments in the first half, showed his real quality on a big stage and there’s naturally going to be talk and interest, speculation, whatever it may be.
“My focus is just on him day to day and helping him get ready for the next game, try to get the best out of him in training and the analysis side.
“Until I get told something will be different with any of the players, that is what we will do, so it’s not something I’ve really thought about, to be honest.”
Jamaica’s Minister of Culture, Gender, Entertainment and Sport, the Honourable Olivia Grange, has praised Shelly Ann Fraser-Pryce for her tenacity and inner strength that, after suffering an injury, allowed her to finish her leg of the 4×100m relay Saturday to help Jamaica to get the silver medal at the World Championships in Budapest.
Running on the back-stretch, Fraser-Pryce reported suffered a hamstring strain early into the leg but risking even greater injury, still managed to get the baton to Sashalee Forbes so that Jamaica was able to complete the relay.
Put in a disadvantageous position, Shericka Jackson on anchor was unable to overhaul 100m champion Sha’Carri Richardson on the anchor leg.
The Jamaican minister, who is in Budapest, was impressed by Fraser-Pryce’s courage in the face of great personal injury.
"Shelly, regarded by many as the greatest woman sprinter of all time, demonstrated another aspect of her greatness today (Saturday) when she suffered a muscle strain during the race but pushed on in spite of to safely hand off the baton, ensuring our medal,” the minister said.
"All of Jamaica hails you Shelly and we are grateful for your feat of seeing it through for the country despite the pain you must have been feeling. We are praying for your full and speedy recovery."
Following the race, Fraser-Pryce’s teammates rushed to the medical facility to support the veteran sprinter, who despite nursing a knee injury won bronze in the 100m final on last Monday to win her 15th medal at the World Championships.
The relay silver medal is her 16th and makes her Jamaica’s most decorated athlete – male or female – at the championships that began in 1983.
Via Sistina will head straight for the Prix de l’Opera on Arc weekend following her narrow defeat at Deauville.
So impressive when winning the Group Two Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket in the spring, George Boughey’s star mare subsequently struck Group One gold in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.
The five-year-old was out of luck when dropped back from 10 furlongs to a mile in last month’s Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, but looked set to double her top-level tally on her return to a mile and a quarter in the Prix Jean Romanet, only to be denied in the final stride by Andre Fabre’s Mqse De Sevigne.
While frustrated by the nose defeat, Boughey was delighted with Via Sistina’s performance and is now targeting a return to France on the first Sunday in October.
“We were obviously delighted to see her produce what was arguably another career-best really,” he said.
“The Fabre filly looks progressive and I think we were arguably unlucky in defeat. She was in front a long time as we just wanted to have a clear run at it.
“I think we’ll go straight to the Opera on Arc day and I think we’ll probably ride her with a little bit more patience. We’re always learning in this game and I think just holding on to her a bit longer and using that wicked turn of foot over that trip will suit.
“The Opera has been a long-term target for a long time. The Romanet was the immediate target and is possibly the one that got away, but we’re very proud of her.
“She’s finished first, second and third in three Group Ones this year, having won a Group Two beforehand, so she’s been a real star for us.”
Three weeks after the Prix de l’Opera, Via Sistina could make an appearance on Qipco Champions Day at Ascot, where she is doubly engaged.
She could take on the colts in the Qipco Champion Stakes or step up to a mile and a half for the British Champions Fillies And Mares Stakes.
Boughey is in no rush to nail his colours to either mast at this stage, adding: “Hopefully we’ve got another run or possibly two if she turns up on Champions Day. I think it would be very exciting to see her run on very soft ground as it usually is at Ascot.
“We’ve put her in the Champion Stakes and the Fillies And Mares and I know we ran her over a mile in the Falmouth, but if it did look the right spot for her, I would be interested to see her dropped out stone cold last over a mile and a half on soft ground and waited with.
“She’s by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare, so there’s a chance she might stay, and the fillies’ division would look notably weaker than the Champion Stakes.”
Via Sistina will head straight for the Prix de l’Opera on Arc weekend following her narrow defeat at Deauville.
So impressive when winning the Group Two Dahlia Stakes at Newmarket in the spring, George Boughey’s star mare subsequently struck Group One gold in the Pretty Polly Stakes at the Curragh.
The five-year-old was out of luck when dropped back from 10 furlongs to a mile in last month’s Falmouth Stakes at Newmarket, but looked set to double her top-level tally on her return to a mile and a quarter in the Prix Jean Romanet, only to be denied in the final stride by Andre Fabre’s Mqse De Sevigne.
While frustrated by the nose defeat, Boughey was delighted with Via Sistina’s performance and is now targeting a return to France on the first Sunday in October.
“We were obviously delighted to see her produce what was arguably another career-best really,” he said.
“The Fabre filly looks progressive and I think we were arguably unlucky in defeat. She was in front a long time as we just wanted to have a clear run at it.
“I think we’ll go straight to the Opera on Arc day and I think we’ll probably ride her with a little bit more patience. We’re always learning in this game and I think just holding on to her a bit longer and using that wicked turn of foot over that trip will suit.
“The Opera has been a long-term target for a long time. The Romanet was the immediate target and is possibly the one that got away, but we’re very proud of her.
“She’s finished first, second and third in three Group Ones this year, having won a Group Two beforehand, so she’s been a real star for us.”
Three weeks after the Prix de l’Opera, Via Sistina could make an appearance on Qipco Champions Day at Ascot, where she is doubly engaged.
She could take on the colts in the Qipco Champion Stakes or step up to a mile and a half for the British Champions Fillies And Mares Stakes.
Boughey is in no rush to nail his colours to either mast at this stage, adding: “Hopefully we’ve got another run or possibly two if she turns up on Champions Day. I think it would be very exciting to see her run on very soft ground as it usually is at Ascot.
“We’ve put her in the Champion Stakes and the Fillies And Mares and I know we ran her over a mile in the Falmouth, but if it did look the right spot for her, I would be interested to see her dropped out stone cold last over a mile and a half on soft ground and waited with.
“She’s by Fastnet Rock out of a Galileo mare, so there’s a chance she might stay, and the fillies’ division would look notably weaker than the Champion Stakes.”
Arrest is likely to be Juddmonte’s Betfred St Leger hope after his Newbury success left him on track for the Doncaster Classic.
Trained by John and Thady Gosden, the Frankel colt won won the Chester Vase by a good margin in May when the race was run on soft ground, but could finish only 10th in the Derby at Epsom and fifth in the King Edward VII at Royal Ascot.
Both of those runs were on good to firm ground and on good to soft at Newbury, he looked more at ease when winning the Group Three Geoffrey Freer Stakes by a length and a half in the hands of Frankie Dettori.
The Leger is now on the agenda, but he will require a reasonable amount of give in the ground if he is to run.
“He’s obviously won his trial well and we know he likes a bit of ease in the ground,” said Barry Mahon of Juddmonte.
“I think as long as there’s that ease in the ground, the owners have said they’d like to go the Leger route, so that’s the way we’ll go.”
Juddmonte seem to have another promising horse on their hands in Macduff, a comfortable winner on debut at Newmarket earlier in the month.
The Sea The Stars colt beat a field of well-bred horses and has a notable pedigree himself as he is out of a mare named Present Tense, a half-sister to the great Kingman.
Connections were pleased with his maiden success but there will be little pressure put on him as he is expected to blossom as a three-year-old.
“It was a lovely debut, he’s a nice horse,” Mahon said.
“He’s a big horse, he won’t have a lot of racing this year, Ralph is taking his time and we’ll probably see how he is in the middle of September and pick another race.
“He’s from a good family, his mother is a sister to Kingman. He’s a nice horse that’s just full of potential, next year is going to be his year and I’d imagine that we won’t over-race him this year.”
George Ford admits England must conduct an uncomfortable inquest into Saturday’s Fiji debacle if they are to halt their freefall in time to make an impression on the World Cup.
Twickenham was stormed 30-22 by the Islanders as England fell to a current tier two nation for the first time in their 152-year history, registering a fifth defeat in six matches.
Fiji’s magnificent victory has heightened the sense of crisis at the Rugby Football Union with the pivotal World Cup opener against Argentina on September just two weeks away.
Even the Pool D fixtures against Japan and Samoa are fraught with danger given the depth of England’s current malaise and Ford insists that only by confronting hard truths will disaster be averted in Marseille.
“We don’t want the benefit of the doubt, we know we haven’t played well enough and know the results haven’t been good enough,” Ford said.
“When you lose for England you understand what’s going to come with it. We’re not shying away from that.
“We’re going to stick together and sort ourselves out in terms of making our preparation as good as it can be for Argentina. I’m comfortable we’ll be in a good place.
“What separates good teams from the great is that when things aren’t going well and you need to front a few things up and be honest, you do that.
“Look it square in the face because you can’t ignore those things – if you do then they will come back to haunt you later on.”
Head coach Steve Borthwick repeatedly highlighted the error count and missed tackles when explaining the nation’s first ever loss to Fiji, whose customary magic in attack was matched by tactical cohesion and smart decision-making.
England started like a freight train with Manu Tuilagi and Ollie Lawrence running on to Ford’s fizzing passes, Jonny May crossing in the left corner and the breakdown being bossed by a high-energy pack.
But as a downpour of heavy rain came and went, Fiji took control to expose a defence that has now conceded 30 tries in nine matches under Borthwick.
In recent weeks England have repeatedly stressed the quality of their training, suggesting the performances on a Saturday were an anomaly, but Ford insists practise has also been sub-par.
“Any time you play for England – especially at Twickenham – you you’ve got to pull out on the right side of the scoreboard and unfortunately we had a lot of errors against Fiji,” Ford said.
“We’re making too many errors. Now what the reason for that is I can’t be sure. Maybe it is a little bit of over eagerness or a little bit of inaccuracy, or maybe it is a little bit of understanding.
“It’s probably a little bit of all of it, to be honest. But one thing for sure is we can’t keep doing it.
“When it comes to our plan for Argentina and our understanding of what we need to do to win that game, we’ll be crystal clear on it. I’m more than confident we’ll be able to get it right for that game.
“We understand that we need to make fewer mistakes. There’s an urgency that we need to fix it and get better.
“The way you do that is to be more consistent in training. We’re clearly not consistent in training, there are probably too many errors in training. We’re playing the way we train at the minute, which is not good enough obviously.”
Jamie Ritchie declared Scotland were “ready to go” ahead of the World Cup after a largely encouraging summer campaign ended with a 33-6 win over Georgia.
Gregor Townsend’s team head to France next weekend for the global showpiece on the back of three home wins – all after trailing at half-time – and a narrow defeat away to the host nation from their four warm-up matches.
Captain Ritchie is now relishing the prospect of leading the Scots into the tournament, with their first game against South Africa in Marseille on 10 September.
“I’m really chuffed but probably the predominant emotion now is excitement – we’re just ready to go,” he said.
“I feel we’ve built well. We’ve not had a perfect performance yet but for me that’s a positive thing because we know there’s one coming.
“I’m glad we had a little bit of a tough test in that first half against Georgia. We had to manage ourselves through that and then we stepped up in the second.”
Despite their first-half struggles throughout the summer, Scotland scored 15 tries in their four summer Tests against Italy, France (home and away) and Georgia, with 13 of them coming in the second half.
“Positive,” said Ritchie, when asked to sum up the warm-up campaign.
“I think we’ve shown that we can play really well, we’ve shown that we can come back from adversity, which I think is a really positive thing, and we’ve played some really good rugby.
“We’ve shown how we’ve grown over this period in terms of how we’ve wanted to build when we’ve had this extended period of time together and we’re really clear on how we want to play.
“It’s not been perfect but we’ve had more positive results and positive performances than not and we’re really excited for this first game.”
For all that Scotland go into the tournament in good fettle, their first opponents South Africa have sent out an ominous warning with back-to-back destructions of Wales and New Zealand over the past two weekends.
Ritchie insists his team – who watched the Boks’ 35-7 annihilation of the All Blacks on Friday together in their hotel – will learn from having seen how the world champions are going about their business in the lead-up to the tournament.
“The main thing for us is it’s been great learning for us to see what they might bring to a game,” he said.
“It’s pretty clear how they want to play and for us, we’re looking to exploit that and match them in certain areas so these games have been great for us to learn from them.
“They’ll be riding high off the back of them but we do well with an underdog tag and I’m really excited for it.”
Stand-in captain Iain Henderson insists looming World Cup selection was not a factor in Ireland’s underwhelming performance in scraping past Samoa.
Ireland were far from convincing in rain-soaked Bayonne but ultimately emerged with a 13th consecutive win on the eve of Andy Farrell naming his 33-man squad for France.
Second-half tries from Conor Murray and Rob Herring earned an unconvincing 17-13 success after Samoa battled back to lead following Jimmy O’Brien’s early score.
Six Ireland players are set for disappointment on Sunday afternoon when Farrell announces his final squad.
Yet Henderson, who skippered a mix-and-match line-up at Stade Jean Dauger, does not feel that situation contributed to a disjointed display which almost ended in an upset.
“No and if it did it’s probably one of the adversities that Faz (Farrell) would like us to be tested by,” said the lock.
“That’s not the most difficult thing we’re going to face over the next number of weeks.
“It’s an incredibly strong group of guys and the guys who’ve been waiting to find out their fate have probably carried themselves as well as you could have expected them to throughout training.
“The guys who are nervous about selection, who might be carrying that anxiety have trained well, everyone’s been on time, been as diligent as possible throughout the reviews, staying on top of stuff.
“It’s been a well-prepped Test week for us, so hats off to those guys who’ve been prepping so well.
“I think it’s not that side of things that affected us, it was a handful of other things like conditions, probably great pressure brought by Samoa.”
Head coach Farrell is awaiting injury news on prop Cian Healy.
Veteran loosehead Healy hobbled off in the first half with help from medical staff due to a calf issue, throwing his participation in a fourth World Cup of his career into doubt.
Henderson, who has endured plenty of his own fitness issues in recent times, empathised with his Ireland team-mate.
“I’ve felt it a handful of times this campaign,” he said.
“It’s worse when it’s a team-mate but even watching other guys from other nations who are looking to play at a World Cup, whether it’s their first, second or third, pick up an injury it’s not nice.
“It’s a crescendo of hard work over four years and to see that pulled away from someone in the dying minutes of that four-year cycle is not nice.
“Again, it’s the game we’ve all signed up to and, again, that’s the reason what we do is so special, it means so much to us because it’s so fragile sometimes.”
Skipper James Tavernier believes Rangers’ 2-0 win over Ross County in Dingwall on Saturday sets them up for their crunch Champions League play-off tie against PSV Eindhoven on Wednesday night.
Striker Kemar Roofe, hampered by injury problems during his time at Ibrox, was handed his first start in 16 months and scored the opener after 22 minutes with his first goal since February.
Tavernier added a stunning second four minutes later with a strike from distance for his third goal in the first six games of the season and attacker Tom Lawrence, out for a year with a knee injury, made his return off the bench in the second half to offer boss Michael Beale another boost.
Ahead of their trip to the Netherlands, where the Light Blues take a 2-2 draw from the first leg at Ibrox, right-back Tavernier was pleased with his goal and the day overall.
He told RangersTV: “It was a quick interception, I was driving and I saw Kemar make a run to take the player away and my eyes lit up when I saw the goal. I am really happy it went in.
“Kem is a really good player for us – as is Tom Lawrence – and to have those two back in the squad fully fit is only going to make us stronger so I am delighted to see them back on the pitch and Kem starting and getting his goal.
“We need all the players to chip in this season. It was really important to go there and get the three points.
“I was delighted we got the clean sheet and I thought we were really dominant in possession in the first-half performance, and in the second half, we probably let them back into the game more than what we should have, but we kept a clean sheet and towards the end, Abdallah (Sima) made an unbelievable header to keep it that way.
“So I am really pleased and it puts us in good stead for the PSV game.
“It is a big week ahead – we will look forward to the game at PSV – we know it is going to be a tough game but we are coming off the back of a win and a clean sheet so hopefully we can do the same over there.”
Ross County boss Malky Mackay thought the difference in finishing was key to the three points going to Govan but he was happy to see midfielder Yan Dhanda back in action following the hip injury which led him to miss last week’s Viaplay Cup win over Airdrieonians.
He said: “I thought he was excellent. No matter any time he was near the ball he showed real quality.
“He is a top player who drives us forward and he has real nerve to make sure he wants the ball over the park. He is someone who is going to help us massively this season.”
James Maddison is more than happy to shoulder responsibility at Tottenham but has insisted it will take a “collective” effort to replace Harry Kane.
Maddison continues to impress in the Spurs number 10 shirt previously worn by Kane, who completed a £100million move to Bayern Munich on the eve of the new season.
Kane’s departure has not derailed the early progress of Ange Postecoglou’s team with Maddison relishing his role as creator in chief with two assists at Brentford earlier this month followed up with a maiden Tottenham goal in Saturday’s 2-0 win over Bournemouth.
While Richarlison and captain Son Heung-min are yet to open their accounts for the season, Dejan Kulusevski ended his drought with the second at the Vitality Stadium to extend the feelgood factor currently around the club.
“It’s tough if you’re asking me to try and get 30 goals,” Maddison joked.
“It’s a collective. You can’t even look to replace what Harry Kane gives you. You’ve got to all chip in and look to try and score the same amount of goals from different areas.
“Harry is probably the best number nine in the world. You will never find a direct replacement in terms of goals and what he can give you. We should all be chipping in.”
Spurs have had five different goalscorers and benefited from an own goal during their three Premier League fixtures and there appears a new lease of life for several members of a squad rundown by the end of a tough 2022-23 campaign.
Yves Bissouma and Pape Sarr, having rarely featured under Postecoglou’s predecessor Antonio Conte, have quickly formed an encouraging midfield partnership with Maddison, and Pedro Porro has made the most of his early opportunities at right-back.
When Maddison joined from Leicester in June for an initial £40million fee, he was not viewed as a replacement for Kane but continues to provide creativity and a goal threat.
The 26-year-old insists the philosophy of ex-Celtic boss Postecoglou has been key to Tottenham’s flying start despite losing the England captain.
Maddison told BBC’s Match of the Day: “The type of person I am, I’m at my best when I have responsibility on my shoulders and that’s when I thrive.
“I am a player who loves to be on the ball and that fits with how the manager wants his players to play. This was a good day for all that.
“We’ve got the bit between our teeth. We have some momentum so long may that continue and hopefully we can still implement the final steps the gaffer wants to see, which is attacking football.”
Postecoglou has enjoyed an unbeaten start to life at Tottenham but it is a different story for Bournemouth head coach Andoni Iraola.
Iraola watched his team open the season with a 1-1 home draw against West Ham before defeats have followed against Liverpool and Tottenham.
The fixture list does not get any kinder with Brentford, Chelsea, Brighton and Arsenal to come in September but Iraola blamed himself for a drop-off during the latter stages of this Spurs loss, with Ryan Christie’s withdrawal on the hour mark viewed in hindsight as a mistake.
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“We knew from the beginning that we had a very tough schedule to start and now we have some important players out with injuries but we have to keep competing,” Iraola insisted.
“I think probably after the game you think and I shouldn’t have taken Ryan out of from the game because especially without the ball, he was pressing really well.
“I wanted to go a little bit more offensive, but we were worse from that point. I don’t know if it was after the subs or 2-0 because it was one minute later.
“Probably until the 62nd minute we were playing well and – against a very good team – having our chances.
“So, I was quite happy with the performance, but from there we couldn’t keep the intensity and they were controlling the game much easier.”
Norwegian Viktor Hovland is closing in on his first FedEx Cup title as he surged to a six-stroke lead in Atlanta on Saturday.
Hovland started the Tour Championship tournament on eight under par on the handicap system as the number two seed due to his good form over the year, and pushed away from American Xander Schauffele who sits in second place.
He said the tournament has felt like more of a sprint then a marathon but “it’s hard to win the FedEx Cup if you haven’t played well the last few weeks”.
“It’s just a great list of names that’s won the tournament… and it would be awesome to have my name on there.
“Like, putting it all together, I don’t think I’ve ever played this well before, with this stretch, just putting all the short game and stuff together.”
The 25-year-old hit a four under par 66 to finish the day on 20 under, landing five birdies and one bogey to get closer to the 18 million dollar prize that comes with the trophy.
Rory McIlroy won the title last year and holds the most FedEx Cup wins with three, but sits tied for eighth on nine under par.
Hull ended a 74-year wait for a Wembley victory as they came from behind to beat favourites Warrington 12-10 in a classic Challenge Cup final on this day in 2016.
It was Hull’s fourth Challenge Cup triumph, but their first at the national stadium as the Wolves suffered their first defeat in four trips to Wembley under coach Tony Smith.
The agony looked set to continue for the Black and Whites when they trailed 10-0 after an hour, but tries in the last 13 minutes from centre Mahe Fonua and full-back Jamie Shaul brought them level and half-back Marc Sneyd kicked the winning goal to settle a 114th cup final that lived up to all the pre-match hype.
Sneyd was named the Lance Todd Trophy winner as man-of-the match, two years after being substituted in Castleford’s defeat by Leeds, and his joy was in sharp contrast to Warrington’s goalkicker Kurt Gidley, whose simple penalty miss early in the second-half proved costly.
Gidley, who had done much to earn his side their 10-point cushion, kicked just one goal from three attempts and missed the last 22 minutes of the match with a head injury as the Wolves lost their way towards the end.
In a contest of epic twists and turns, Hull were indebted to hooker Danny Houghton’s last-ditch tackle – his 52nd of the match – that denied Warrington second rower Ben Currie what looked like the match-winning try two minutes from the end.
Hull coach Lee Radford said: “This is history-making. So many teams prior to us, so many unbelievable players, have not achieved what we did today. I feel privileged and proud putting this group of players together.
“You can’t manufacture chemistry and friendship. We have been mocked, but that togetherness won us the cup final.
“Throughout this competition we have been clinical and dominant, and nobody can begrudge us taking that cup back to Hull. My greatest achievement is putting that together.
“A mention to Danny Houghton, who came up with that tackle. That is the most important tackle in any game I have been involved in.”
Teoscar Hernandez hit two of the Seattle Mariners’ franchise record-tying seven home runs in a 15-2 drubbing of the Kansas City Royals.
Hernandez hit a grand slam as part of a seven-run third inning and belted a 446-foot shot off infielder Matt Duffy in the eighth.
Josh Rojas, Mike Ford, Julio Rodriguez, Cal Raleigh and Cade Marlowe also homered as the Mariners improved to 10-1 in their last 11 games and remained tied with Texas atop the AL West.
Seattle hit seven home runs in a game for the fifth time, also done in 2002, 1999, 1996 and 1985.
Logan Gilbert didn’t need all the offense as he limited the Royals to one run and two hits in seven innings. He walked one and struck out seven to win his sixth straight decision.
The Mariners broke open the game with three home runs and seven run off 15-game loser Jordan Lyles in the third inning.
Rojas led off with a home run, Hernandez connected for his third career grand slam and Ford’s two-run blast made it 7-0.
Rodgriguez’s fifth-inning solo homer made him just the second player in history with at least 50 home runs and 50 stolen bases in his first two seasons.
The other is Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr., who totaled 67 homers and 53 steals over his first two seasons in 2018 and 2019.
Reds get help from balk to cool Diamondbacks
TJ Friedl scored the go-ahead run in the 11th inning on a balk and the Cincinnati Reds pulled out a wild 8-7 win to end the Arizona Diamondbacks’ six-game winning streak.
Arizona trailed 7-4 in the 10th but rallied for three runs, helped by an error from Reds second baseman Matt McLain. Christian Walker’s sacrifice fly tied it at 7.
Cincinnati closer Alexis Diaz suffered just his second blown save of the season, though all three runs were unearned.
Arizona’s Paul Sewald failed to protect a 4-2 lead in the ninth, as Tyler Stephenson doubled home a run before Friedl singled and McLain knocked in the tying run with a soft groundout.
Brewers edge Padres for seventh straight win
William Contreras delivered a two-run double in a five-run fifth inning as the Milwaukee Brewers held off the San Diego Padres, 5-4 for their seventh consecutive victory.
Mark Canha, Brice Turang and Andruw Monasterio opened the fifth with three straight singles.
With one run already home, the Brewers pulled off a double steal and an errant throw by catcher Luis Campusano produced another run. After Christian Yelich walked, Contreras doubled down the left-field line to make it 4-1.
Freddy Peralta struck out nine in 5 1/3 innings and allowed two runs to improve to 5-0 in five starts this month.
Daniel Dubois’ camp said they are lobbying for a no contest following a controversial low blow call in the British boxer’s loss to world heavyweight champion Oleksandr Usyk in Wroclaw.
A ninth-round knockout ensured Usyk kept hold of his WBA, IBF and WBO belts with a 14th knockout win in 21 fights, much to the delight of the large contingent of his fellow Ukrainians who have resided in Poland since Russian’s invasion of their country last year.
However, promoter Frank Warren told reporters at the post-fight press conference that the contest was spoiled by the referee’s decision to allow Usyk to recover after he was buckled by a low blow from Dubois in the fifth.
The shot was deemed accidental, but Warren said his camp would be taking action seeking either a no contest or rematch.
He said: “The situation is that we will be lobbying the WBA to declare this as a no contest.
“The knockdown which the referee said was below the belt… the punch actually landed on the waistband of his shorts.
“The criteria, as is explained at the rules meeting, waist is the mid-point of your hips. So it’s much lower.
“That was a legitimate blow and (the fight) should’ve been stopped. He got three minutes and 46 seconds recovery time, which was wrong. He got it wrong the referee and I still don’t understand, if it was a low blow, why he didn’t take any points off him.”
Warren added: “I don’t think (the referee’s) crooked, I think he just got it totally wrong.
“As a result, it should be declared a no contest in the worst case, or a rematch ordered.”
Dubois did not attend the press conference, but earlier told talkSPORT: “It wasn’t to be my night. But that wasn’t a low blow, it was a body shot. I’m gutted.”
Dubois was the overwhelming underdog but he had tipped the scales on Friday almost a stone heavier than Usyk’s 15st and 10lbs frame, and the Londoner did himself justice with a battling performance.
Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky appeared on the giant screens before the fight to deliver a rallying cry for his country in their war with Russia.
The crowd at the Tarczynski Arena chanted “Usyk, Usyk, Usyk” as the action got under way with Dubois determined not to be overawed.
The 25-year-old tried to hold the centre of the ring but Usyk’s accurate jab saw him shade the opening round.
Dubois was more adventurous at the start of the second but was briefly set back on his heels by some powerful shots.
Usyk stayed on the outside to dominate the next two rounds but Dubois was proving many pre-fight predictions wrong by remaining in the contest.
Usyk was put down by the accidental low blow in the fifth, but was given time to recover.
However, Dubois sensed this was his moment and the pair traded heavy punches.
The bad feeling between the pair was evident as the bell sounded and Dubois continued to focus on the Ukrainian’s body in the sixth.
Usyk upped the pace in the seventh, forcing Dubois to take a backward step and leaving the Londoner marked for the first time.
Dubois recovered in the eighth but in the final 10 seconds he was dropped to the canvas.
He managed to get back to his feet as the bell sounded but there was to be no respite for Dubois.
Usyk charged in again and put down Dubois again for the referee Luis Pabon to wave the fight off.
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