Seattle Mariners fans love Julio Rodriguez – and the feeling clearly is mutual.  

One day after signing a unique and massive contract extension, Rodriguez spoke to the media on Saturday with several teammates and coaches seated in the back of the room.

Rodriguez’s contract is a $209.3 million, 12-year deal that starts next season, but it could be worth $469.6 million over 17 years if he wins two MVP awards.  

The contract includes seven seasons, a five-year player option, an eight-year club option with award escalators and the possibility the option could extend to 10 years.

"This is not about the contract and how long it is. I would love to be a Mariner for the rest of my career and playing for the Mariners fans," Rodriguez said. "I'd love to be here for the rest of my career, play with a lot of these guys here and be managed by Scott (Servais), have Ty (France) as my babysitter. I genuinely mean that. I love being here.

"It feels very cool to just drive around the city and see (number) 44 jerseys. It really touched my heart because as I said, I come from a place, Loma de Cabrera, 20,000 people, and there was more people in the stands yesterday than was in my hometown. So it feels pretty special to me.'' 

Mariners president of baseball operations Jerry Dipoto explained how the complicated contract took shape. 

''We started with something that looked very basic, and came out with something that looked like hieroglyphics," he said. "But again, the uniqueness of trying to capture what Julio has a chance to achieve in his career, and to be fair with him about what that could look like in the end was a challenge.'' 

The contract also includes a full no-trade clause. Some of the escalators tied to the deal and MVP voting were suggestions from Rodriguez's side, and betting on his continued increase in production. 

''The very first conversation set the tone,'' Rodriguez's representative Ulises Cabrera said, describing the development of the deal. "If we are going to look at this in the typical lens, that is not going to work.

"So there's going to be points probably in this conversation that what I say won't make sense, and what you say won't make sense, either. But we're going to have to just be comfortable with that because, right now, we're kind of starting something that we don't have any blueprint to point to.'' 

Saturday's third round of the Tour Championship was suspended due to lightning strikes in the area, but not before plenty of action took place, with Xander Schauffele pulling to within one stroke of leader Scottie Scheffler.

It is not just Schauffele who has given himself a chance either, as he was the only player within six strokes of Scheffler after 36 holes, but there are now eight players within that range.

While Scheffler did not drop any shots – at even par through 12 holes before the weather hit – he is the only player in the top-17 who was not under par on Saturday, with one birdie and one bogey to remain at 19 under.

Schauffele had chances to go past his playing partner, but inconsistency has held him back, with three bogeys to go with his four birdies as he is now at 18 under.

He had a four-stroke buffer to third place entering the day, but that has been cut in half as South Korea's Im Sung-jae is putting together another strong round, four-under through 14 holes to sit alone at 16 under.

Rory McIlroy is one further back – the only player at 15 under – and he has posted four birdies, one eagle and one bogey in his round to be five under with two holes to play.

A star-studded group is tied for fifth at 14 under, consisting of Justin Thomas, Jon Rahm, Patrick Cantlay and Sepp Straka, with Straka and Thomas both enjoying six-under rounds.

The only player to be better than six under on Saturday was Hideki Matsuyama, who shot a seven-under 63 to take sole possession of ninth place at 13 under. He had eight birdies, with his only bogey coming on the 10th hole.

Max Homa is in the group tied for 10th at 12 under, Collin Morikawa is at 11 under, and J.T. Poston is at 10 under, with the rest of the field at least 10 shots off the lead.

Adrian Mannarino won the second ATP Tour title of his career when he defeated Laslo Djere 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 in the final of the Winston-Salem Open on Saturday.

Mannarino, 34, entered the match with a 1-9 record from his 10 career final appearances, but capped off his incredible week with his fifth consecutive straight-sets win.

On his way to the decider, Mannarino eliminated ninth seed Emil Ruusuvuori, eighth seed Albert Ramos-Vinolas, fourth seed Maxime Cressy and second seed Botic van de Zandschulp.

Against Djere, Mannarino stuck to what he had done all week, which was limiting his own errors and taking advantage of his opponent's mistakes.

The Frenchman committed 12 less unforced errors (29-to-17), while also controlling the game with his serve, winning 78 per cent (49-of-63) of his service points compared to 63 per cent (45-of-71) for Djere.

It was actually the Serbian who secured the first break of the match, but it would also be his last break of the match as Mannarino tightened the screws, not allowing a single break point opportunity in the second set.

With the win, and the 250 ranking points, Mannarino will rise 20 places up to 45th in the world.

Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag could not be certain Cristiano Ronaldo will still be at the club after next week's transfer deadline.

Ronaldo returned to Old Trafford a year ago and, although he finished the 2021-22 season as United's top scorer with 18 Premier League goals, he could not prevent the club having a dreadful campaign.

United registered their worst points tally in Premier League history and failed to record a positive goal difference for the first time in over 30 years.

As a result, United comfortably missed out on Champions League qulification for this season, which seemed to be the root of widespread pre-season reports suggesting Ronaldo wanted to leave.

He was linked with several clubs, including Bayern Munich, Chelsea, Napoli and Atletico Madrid, but no move materialised and he eventually linked up with Ten Hag's squad towards the end of pre-season after missing their tour of Australia and Thailand.

Although there are reportedly no clubs currently interested in him, uncertainty stoked by press speculation continues to cloud Ronaldo's future; and while Ten Hag says he wants the Portugal striker to stay, he was hardly convincing when asked if that will be the case.

Speaking following Saturday's 1-0 win at Southampton, during which Ronaldo endured an error-strewn second-half cameo, Ten Hag said: "We plan with him. So we want him to stay. So that is what we want."

Ten Hag was then asked if Ronaldo would definitely remain if he wanted him to stay, and the Dutchman looked unsure as he hesitated to answer.

With something of a shrug, he replied: "I hope so."

The transfer window closes on Thursday, and United are expected to be active in the market before then.

Ajax's Antony and Cody Gakpo of PSV are the two attackers who have been most prominently linked with United in recent weeks, with the former publicly pleading for his club to sell him on Friday.

Napoli coach Luciano Spalletti would love to see Cristiano Ronaldo move to Stadio Diego Armando Maradona.

He doubts it will happen before the transfer deadline on Thursday, but Spalletti made it clear he believes Ronaldo could make a big impact on his team.

Ronaldo is no stranger to Serie A after spending three seasons at Juventus, and Napoli have been linked with a move for the 37-year-old in recent days.

He continues to be linked with an exit after starting just once this season under new Manchester United manager Erik ten Hag, having joined the Red Devils when Ole Gunnar Solskjaer was boss 12 months ago.

Dutchman Ten Hag said on Saturday, after Ronaldo played as a substitute in the 1-0 win at Southampton: "We want him to stay."

There is time for movement, however, before the exit door closes, with Ronaldo reportedly keen to play Champions League football in the new season, which is something United cannot offer.

Talk of a swap deal involving Napoli's Victor Osimhen was brushed aside by Osimhen's agent this week, with Roberto Calenda writing on Twitter: "No negotiations in progress, no exchanges."

Now Spalletti has offered his personal view on Ronaldo, saying on Saturday: "Anyone would like to coach him, but as Osimhen's agent said there is no negotiation. [Napoli owner Aurelio] De Laurentiis also confirmed this."

With the window closing, Spalletti added: "I see it as difficult."

Ronaldo has had little to say about his future. He has been tipped for moves to the likes of Bayern Munich, Borussia Dortmund, Chelsea, Sporting CP and Atletico Madrid in recent weeks, but nothing has materialised. Last season, he was United's 24-goal leading scorer across all competitions.

Spalletti is one of the first significant figures to openly enthuse about the prospect of signing the veteran former Real Madrid forward during this twilight phase of his rightly lauded career.

He sees no problem with integrating Ronaldo, should he ever become available to Napoli.

"We are talking about someone who has won more championships, scored more goals, has the quality to be anywhere on the pitch," said Spalletti, quoted by Corriere dello Sport, ahead of his team's match at Fiorentina on Sunday.

"He is someone who resolves things on his own. The problem would not exist in one way or another."

Jamaican Aiko Jones had 10 kills, four aces and six blocks to lead the No. 4-ranked Louisville volleyball team to a 25-14, 25-14, 25-20 sweep of South Dakota on Friday night at the Coyote Invitational.

The Cardinals hit .369 with nine aces and nine blocks. Anna DeBeer notched 10 kills with Claire Chaussee adding six kills and a block. Setter Raquel Lazaro led with 25 assists and a team-high 10 digs.  South Dakota hit .120 with one ace and four blocks. The Yotes were paced by Elizabeth Juhnke's 15 kills and eight blocks. 

The Cardinals took off with an early lead of 7-4 before the Coyotes countered with a five-point run to take the lead at 8-7 in the first set. UofL pushed back with a 12-1 run to take a 20-11 lead.  Jones had two of her five kills late in the set to get the Cards to set point. A USD hitting error gave UofL the 25-14 win. UofL hit .478 with four blocks and three aces. Anna DeBeer tallied four kills for the Cards.
 
The Coyotes improved their -.036 hitting from the first set to a .346 in the second but the outcome remained the same as USD again fell 25-14. UofL hit .462 in the set with four aces, all four by Aiko Jones, three blocks and 13 kills. Anna DeBeer added five more to her total and Raquel Lazaro had three kills. USD kept it close early, down just two points at 10-8 before the Cards broke free to go up 17-9 and force a USD timeout.  South Dakota never regained its footing as Louisville took a two-set lead into the set break.

Down 2-0 in sets, South Dakota came out swinging in the third set, standing close to the Cards. Trailing by just two at 16-14, the Yotes let the Cards go on a 6-2 run to go up 22-16. USD made one final push to 24-20 but could not close the set as the Cards won 25-20. Amanda Tillman and Phekran Kong both had four blocks, and Aiko Jones had four kills and 4 blocks. Claire Chaussee zinged four serves by the Yotes for aces in the set.
 
Louisville are now 2-0 in the young season and South Dakota drops to 0-1. The Cardinals play Missouri on Saturday as the Coyote Invitational continues. 

Daria Kasatkina dug deep to fend off Daria Saville in the Granby Championships final and land the sixth WTA singles title of her career.

World number 10 Kasatkina took a 6-4 6-4 victory in one hour and 53 minutes of hard battle with her great friend, Saville showing resilience despite struggling with an ankle problem.

The outcome made Kasatkina the second Russian winner of the day on the WTA Tour after Liudmila Samsonova took the Tennis In The Land title in Cleveland, Ohio.

Kasatkina, who also won the Silicon Valley Classic in early August, will turn her focus away from a successful week in Canada and towards the US Open, which gets under way in New York on Monday.

The 25-year-old will be targeting a deep run at Flushing Meadows after achieving her best grand slam result in June when she reached the French Open semi-finals, before being prevented from playing Wimbledon due to a blanket ban on players from Russia and Belarus imposed by the All England Club.

In the second set of a gruelling and gripping tussle, Saville looked nailed on to come from 4-1 down to level at 4-4 when she led 40-0 in the eighth game, only for her game to briefly disintegrate, allowing Kasatkina to move 5-3 ahead.

Still, it was an unsteady Kasatkina at the other end of the court, and the Barcelona-based player was broken by Saville when serving for the match.

There was nothing secure about Saville on serve either, and Kasatkina had two match points in the next game at 15-40. She was unable to take either, or the third and fourth that arrived soon after. On her fifth opportunity, Kasatkina was relieved to see Saville hit wide.

Kasatkina begins her US Open campaign against British qualifier Harriet Dart on Monday, while Saville starts on the same day against Romanian Elena-Gabriela Ruse.

Mikel Arteta applauded Arsenal's grit as they proved their ability to win ugly against Fulham, but he is not getting carried away about title talk.

Arsenal preserved their perfect start to the Premier League season with a 2-1 win over the Cottagers at the Emirates Stadium on Saturday.

It was arguably the least fluent Arsenal have looked this season but they managed to get the job done, with Gabriel Magalhaes getting the winner to make amends for the error that initially gifted Aleksandar Mitrovic the opening goal.

Captain Martin Odegaard had levelled for the Gunners prior to Gabriel's 85th-minute goal, which ensured Arsenal began the season with four successive wins for the first time since 2004.

Arsenal have routinely been criticised for a perceived lack of character over the years, but Saturday's success suggested the current team may have more about them.

"Big boost, winning like this is really nice," Arteta said.

"We made a mistake and they punished us but then how we reacted against adversity, the connection with the supporters, the way we went about it, the team believed.

"They wanted to win the match, they went for it and we managed to do it."

Regardless of results in the remaining matchday four fixtures, Arsenal will head into the midweek games at the top of the table and with the last remaining 100 per cent record in the division.

The Gunners have garnered much acclaim for their start to the campaign, with Arteta's side playing attractive – and effective – football prior to the Fulham win.

Arteta is not getting sucked into any talk of a title challenge, though.

"No, it's the start of the season," he said when asked if they are already in a title race.

"This is a long marathon. Be humble, and hungry."

Arsenal face Aston Villa next on Wednesday before a trip to Old Trafford four days later.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Sam Darnold is expected to miss four to six weeks after suffering a high left ankle sprain in Friday's preseason game against the Buffalo Bills, according to NFL.com.

Panthers coach Matt Rhule told reporters on Saturday that Darnold's injury is "significant", and the former first-round pick will undergo further testing to determine a timetable for a return.

"We're not sure we have the exact length," Ruhle said. "We've sent images to specialists to try to gauge it. But again, that does look like a significant injury that could take some time."

Darnold was carted off during the third quarter of Carolina's 21-0 win after landing awkwardly when hit by Buffalo defensive tackle C.J. Brewer.

The fifth-year QB was slated to be the primary backup to offseason addition Baker Mayfield, whom Ruhle declared the starter earlier in the week.

Ruhle acknowledged Darnold could begin the season on short-term injured reserve, which would keep him out for at least four games. 

With both Darnold and rookie Matt Corral out, P.J. Walker is expected to serve as the number two QB for the September 11 opener against Cleveland.

Corral, a third-round pick in this year's draft, sustained a season-ending Lisfranc injury in last week's game at New England. 

"We have two quarterbacks [and] normally we would go into the season with two," Ruhle said. "Sam, I think he will be back. It's just a matter of how many weeks it is."

Ruhle also said kicker Zane Gonzalez will be sidelined indefinitely with a groin injury that also took place in the third quarter of Friday's game.

"He's going to be seen by a specialist, and that will lead to any future decisions that have to be made," Ruhle said. "But it is a significant injury to his groin.

"He's a warrior. He'll find a way to battle back, and we'll find out exactly what the length of that is."

Gonzalez is coming off a strong 2021 season in which he converted 20 of 22 field goal attempts and 22 of 23 point-after tries. 

Rafael Leao scored one and assisted another as Milan continued their unbeaten Serie A start with a dominant 2-0 victory over Bologna.

Stefano Pioli's side had to recover from a goal down in each of their opening two league games, winning one and drawing the other, but did not need another rescue act on Saturday.

Leao was a constant threat down the left flank and grabbed a deserved goal in the first half, before setting up a smart Olivier Giroud finish in the second half to cap an impressive performance.

Victory at least temporarily moved Milan to the top of the embryonic Serie A table, while the Rossoneri are now unbeaten in 19 top-flight games – the longest ongoing undefeated streak in Europe's top five leagues.

 

Pioli's men started slowly but kicked into gear after 21 minutes as Charles de Ketelaere dispossessed Jerdy Schouten and powered forward to tee up Leao, who rolled his finish into the bottom-left corner.

De Ketelaere continued to be Milan's chief creative force, chipping a delicate pass through for Pierre Kalulu, only for the defender to waste a glorious one-on-one chance up against Lukasz Skorupski.

Junior Messias was the next to be thwarted by Skorupski, before Leao blazed over the rebound, and Giroud dragged just wide of the target prior to the break.

The Rossoneri deservedly doubled their lead after 58 minutes when Leao lofted in a cross from the left for Giroud to acrobatically volley into the bottom-right corner.

Nicola Sansone almost hit back for Bologna, but his driven effort cannoned against Mike Maignan's right-hand post as Milan preserved their first clean sheet of the campaign.

What does it mean? Milan continue Bologna dominance

Milan had only lost one of their previous 25 Serie A meetings with Bologna, with that defeat coming in January 2016 when Rossoblu coach Sinisa Mihajlovic was with the Rossoneri.

Given their recent dominance in this fixture and last season's Scudetto-winning exploits, it came as little surprise to see Milan control most of proceedings – not allowing a single Bologna shot on target.

With Inter to come next weekend, Milan have thrown down an early marker as they look to defend their title this season.

Home comforts for Leao

Leao was a pivotal factor for Pioli last season as Milan edged out fierce rivals Inter to lift the Scudetto, and the Portugal international proved his worth once more here.

The 23-year-old has scored eight times in the league at home since the start of 2022, with no Serie A player finding the net on more occasions at their own stadium in that time.

Awful Arnautovic

Marko Arnautovic was in the headlines earlier in the month after being linked to Manchester United, only for backlash from Red Devils fans to seemingly end any talk of a move.

The forward subsequently became the first player to score in both of Bologna's first two games in a Serie A season since Roberto Baggio in 1997-98, but he failed to deliver up against Milan's well-regimented defence.

What's next?

Milan will look to maintain their unbeaten run when they travel to Sassuolo on Tuesday ahead of the derby against Inter. Bologna host Salernitana on Thursday.

Borussia Monchengladbach goalkeeper Yann Sommer was "delighted" to deliver a record-breaking performance on a "really tough day" at Bayern Munich.

Switzerland international Sommer made a sensational 19 saves, the most on record in a single game in Europe's top five leagues, to help his team to a 1-1 draw against the champions.

Gladbach took a first-half lead against the run of play through Marcus Thuram, but a second-half onslaught from Julian Nagelsmann's side ramped up the pressure on the visitors. 

However, Sommer made save after save and looked impenetrable until Bayern finally found a way through as Leroy Sane picked out the bottom-left corner, giving the goalkeeper no chance.

The hosts pushed for a winner, but Sommer held firm to earn Gladbach a hard-fought draw, preventing a staggering 3.3 goals according to expected goals on target data.

"I'm glad I did a good job so we can take a point today," Sommer told Sky Sport.

"It was a really tough day today, because we know how much power and pressure Bayern exert on opponents.

"The defence can't keep everything out, so I'm delighted that I had such a good game."

Sommer has been linked with a move away from Gladbach, with Manchester United reportedly interested in the former Basel keeper.

And he indicated he would discuss his future in the next next week, adding: "I've been here for eight years, so of course I feel at home here, it's like a family"

"But we'll still sit down and have a chat in the next few days."

Jose Mourinho told his Roma players he "felt ashamed of being their coach" before they recovered from a goal down at half-time to draw 1-1 against Juventus.

Roma had won their opening two Serie A games without conceding but fell behind to a Dusan Vlahovic free-kick inside 76 seconds at the Allianz Stadium on Saturday.

Juve had a second goal through Manuel Locatelli ruled out for a Vlahovic handball in the build-up in a half the home side dominated, outshooting their opponents 10 to three.

Mourinho responded by replacing Gianluca Mancini and Leonardo Spinazzola with Stephan El Shaarawy and Nicola Zalewski at the break, and Roma improved in the second half.

The visitors found a way through from one of their three efforts on target in the second period, with Tammy Abraham turning in former Juve player Paulo Dybala's acrobatic pass.

While his side's unbeaten start to the season remains intact with a credible point in Turin, however, Mourinho accepted Roma were rather fortunate.

Asked what he said at half-time, Mourinho told DAZN: "I told the team I was ashamed of them. I felt ashamed of being their coach.

"The game changed, but let's not talk about tactics; let's instead talk about attitude. We can't get where we want with this attitude.

"I told [assistant coach Salvatore] Foti to pray that it finished only 1-0. That would have been a good result after that first-half performance.

"I told them to take advantage of the luck we had, knowing the game could have been over at that point. Every now and then, you are dominated but you have to manage it better.

"I had a bench with very few offensive solutions, especially compared to [Massimiliano] Allegri. But after analysing the second half, we deserved to win that 1-0."

 

The goal Roma conceded came from Vlahovic's first touch and was Juve's first direct free-kick goal in the league since Cristiano Ronaldo scored against Torino in July 2020.

It ended the Giallorossi's four-game run without conceding in all competitions, but the home team were unable to hold on and now have just one win from three games this term.

And Juve head coach Allegri recognised his side could have no complaints with the full-time scoreline after they failed to finish off Roma when on top in the first half.

"Jose's always smart and sharp in the way he reads games," Allegri said of his opposite number. "If you don't kill off the game, you always leave the possibility of an equaliser.

"We were tired after a strong first half and probably should have focused on passing the ball around to slow things down.

"That's something we need to learn. You cannot expect a team to dominate the match for the full 90 minutes."

Juve, who had beaten Roma in 10 of their 11 previous league games at the Allianz Stadium, went with a 4-2-3-1 formation, but Allegri hinted he is open to change once at full strength.

"First of all we need to focus on getting Federico Chiesa, Paul Pogba and Angel Di Maria back," Allegri said when asked about his set-up. 

"They all have technique and a change of pace. Having changes available from the bench makes a big difference."

Serena and Venus Williams have accepted a wildcard entry to play the women's doubles at the US Open.

The two-time doubles winners at Flushing Meadows are likely to appear at the tournament for the final time in 2022, with Serena having already announced her intentions to soon retire from tennis.

Both sisters have entered the singles draw, with Serena facing Danka Kovinic in round one while Venus begins her campaign against Alison van Uytvanck.

The pair have not played a major doubles event together since the 2018 French Open, suffering defeat in the third round, and were last paired in New York in 2014, when they reached the quarter-finals.

However, the duo boast 14 major doubles titles and three Olympic gold medals together and are to be reunited again after the US Open announced the 14 wildcard pairs for the doubles events on Saturday.

Serena's involvement at the US Open begins on Monday, with Venus following on Tuesday, before the first round of the women's doubles is scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday.

Liudmila Samsonova headed off to the US Open with a second successive title in the bag after sweeping to victory on Saturday at the Tennis In The Land tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.

The Russian scorched to a 6-1 6-3 demolition of Belarusian Aliaksandra Sasnovich, extending her winning streak to 10 matches after winning the Citi Open earlier in August.

Samsonova rolled past the in-form Bernarda Pera for the loss of just three games in the Cleveland semi-finals, before imposing a similarly commanding display on the trophy match against seventh seed Sasnovich.

Just nine places in the world rankings separated the two finalists heading into the final, with Sasnovich at number 36 the higher-placed player, but she could not cope with an opponent who did not lose a set all week.

Indeed, Samsonova only dropped 18 games across five matches, the 23-year-old tying up a third career title on the WTA Tour. Sasnovich has now lost all four of her finals.

At Flushing Meadows, Samsonova begins her campaign against Czech world number 194 Sara Bejlek and could face last year's runner-up Leylah Fernandez in round two.

Both Samsonova and Sasnovich have to play as neutrals for now, being unable to perform under the flags of their home countries because of Russian and Belarusian involvement in the ongoing invasion of Ukraine.

Samsonova said of Saturday's win: "We made a special final. We were both without the flag, so it's special.

"I think it's important to spend a minute to say we are very good people."

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