Hassan Haskins the Tennessee Titans running back was arrested Thursday for aggravated assault by strangulation, according to a Davidson County (Tennessee) Criminal Court report.
The felon arrest was from an incident that happened on June 22, per the court report. Haskins has been released after he posted a $10,000 bond.
“We are aware of the situation and gathering additional information,” the Titans said in a statement to NFL Media.
Hassan Haskins will appear before Judge Ana Escobar on July 10 in Davidson County Court.
He was chosen from Michigan in the fourth round of the 2022 NFL Draft by the Titans. In his rookie season, Haskins played on special teams for most of his snaps, he participated in 15 games with one start, scoring 93 rushing yards on 25 carries.
The New York Mets had a rough June, and after they went 7-19, they are hoping that the new month has better things in store for them. New York managed to get off to a good start on the first day of the month by snapping their three-game losing streak in a 4-1 victory over the Giants on Saturday afternoon at Citi Field. It also helped that Justin Verlander gave them length.
“We got July off to a good start. We’re hoping to build on it,” Mets manager Buck Showalter said.
Verlander was the difference, pitching seven innings, allowing just one unearned run and striking out six batters to pick up his third victory of the season. He looked like the Verlander of old in the first six innings, allowing just three baserunners through his first 18 batters faced.
“Verlander pitched a phenomenal game, and we weren’t able to score runs early on,” Giants manager Gabe Kapler said. “Historically, we do a really nice job in the first couple of innings of games. Right now, we’re just a little short in that regard.”
Verlander mentioned that he was developing new mechanics before the game, and throughout his start, he appeared locked in. His throw was free and easy, he felt it was his best match of the year.
“It was much better,” he said. “The slider was the best thing I can take from today. I was a bit more around the zone. It wasn’t perfect, but I was able to make pitches when I needed to. I felt better than last time. … It’s a huge step in the right direction and trying to build off that momentum.”
Justin’s toughest inning was in the seventh when he allowed his lone run. With a runner on first, Patrick Bailey struck a ground ball to first baseman Pete Alonso, who threw the ball away hoping to induce a second. With runners on first and third, J.D. Davis came home to deliver the Giants’ only run when Thairo Estrada hit into a double play.
However, the inning did not end easily. After the double play, Blake Sabol doubled, and Austin Slater walked to put runners on first and second. But Brandon Crawford struck out to end the attack.
The Mets gave Verlander all the run support he required in the third inning by playing a home run derby off Giants starter Anthony DeSclafani. With one out, Francisco Alvarez hit a solo shot over the right-field wall to give New York a 1-0 lead. When Luis Guillorme made the second out of the inning, Brandon Nimmo and Francisco Lindor hit homers successively. It highlighted the first time the Mets hit three home runs in an inning since last year October 4th.
For Nimmo, the home run happened on the seventh anniversary of his first career homer against the Chicago Cubs Jason Hammel.
“Put a punctuation mark on hitting the hardest homer of my career so far,” said Nimmo, whose knock had an exit velocity of 111.8 mph.
An inning later, he scored the fourth run of the game on a double by Tommy Pham.
“It was huge,” Verlander said. “As a starter, to have those guys put some runs on the board, you can really attack the zone, not really worried about giving up a solo home run and putting your team behind. It felt great.”
New York is off to a great start in July, winning the type of match they prayed 2023 would bring.
“[Saturday’s game] is how you draw it up,” Nimmo said. “It was a well-played game overall. It’s definitely what this team is designed to do, just more of it in the future is what we need.”
When Texas Rangers catcher Jonathan Heim was announced as American League starter in this year’s All-Star Game, he had just one thing to say about the potential starting pitcher “Hopefully I’m catching [Nathan Eovaldi].” Referring to Nathan Eovaldi.
The All-Star pitchers will be named tonight and on Saturday, Eovaldi made one last start to beef up his résumé which was ironically against the Houston Astros.
Eovaldi delivered a masterclass before a sellout crowd of 40,380 at Globe Life Field. The Rangers ace pitched seven scoreless innings on only two hits and five strikeouts, leading Texas to a 5-2 win in a big AL West matchup against the Astros that evened the four-game series at one match apiece.
On the other end of the pitch, the offense knocked Astros starter Hunter Brown around, tagging him for three runs on 10 hits. Texas totalled 15 hits and would have blown the match open if they had not gone 4-for-22 with runners in scoring position.
But Nathan was undoubtedly the star of that show.
And if he is named to the All-Star squad, he will be joining Heim and three other Rangers – Marcus Semien, Corey Seager and Josh Jung in Seattle to participate in the Midsummer Classic.
“I mean it’d be a huge honor to be able to go out there,” Eovaldi said. “We’ve got four of our guys starting in the game. They’ve done an outstanding job this season, and all four of them had a great game today as well. To be able to go out there, and not only to be able to represent the Rangers but to be able to play alongside those guys would be a huge honor.”
Eovaldi did everything possible to prove he belongs there on Saturday.
He commandeered the Astros’ lineup facing only two over the minimum and not allowing a hit over his final five innings of work. He forced more double plays (3) than he permitted hits (2).
“He was good,” Baker said. “The thing about him is he throws ground balls. I think he threw up double plays every time we got something going. I noticed he’s leading the league in double plays. We just had the shortstop-itis.
“Between the third baseman and the shortstop, I don’t know how many outs [we hit into] … they probably had 10 combined. They had us played right, and we couldn’t keep the ball off the ground. He was tough. He kept the ball down, in, out, mixed in his fastball with his slider and his split-finger. He threw a real good game against us.”
Fresh off a June 25 start in New York where he felt he did not give his best, Eovaldi made certain mechanical adjustments to his arm path over the last week which helped him utilize his pitch mix to its fullest potential.
Against Houston, he used the four-seamer 29 per cent of the time, which matches his season averages, but he threw the curveball 21 per cent of the time, way above his usual 12.8 per cent. He added the cutter (19%), splitter (18%) and slider (14%) for a full five-pitch mix that kept the Astros hitters on edge for seven innings.
“Looking back at it, I feel like a lot of times I get too predictable out there,” he said. “Being able to rely on my splitter, my cutter, the curveball when I’m behind in counts to help me get back ahead in the count or just in the bat, I think that’s helped me out a lot.
Eovaldi will probably get one more start before the All-Star break, but this was by far the first half he has had in his career. Saturday’s meeting lowered his ERA to 2.64 on the season. Before his first All-Star appearance in 2021, Eovaldi had a 3.66 ERA entering the break.
“I think you start with the stuff,” Bochy said of Eovaldi’s success. “He’s got a good fastball, big fastball, and then the cutter and curveball and splitter. He’s got the four-pitch mix. He’ll go to both sides of the plate. He’s got a game plan when he goes out there.
“But I think you have to look at the man himself. He’s just a tough competitor. He’s been through a lot of battles, not just during the season but postseason. It’s all the little things you like from a pitcher.”
Minnesota United FC has dipped into the MLS NEXT Pro-to-first team waters for the first time announcing Friday the signing of MNUFC2 midfielder Emmanuel Iwe.
His historic contract runs through the 2023 MLS season, with club options for 2024-26.
Iwe who is a Nigerian, enjoyed a fast rise through Minnesota’s ranks after he impresses scouts during open tryouts in January 2022.
“The first time that we saw [Emmanuel] Iwe, the first thing that stood out was his pace – he’s incredibly athletic, he’s really quick,” Loons head coach Adrian Heath said in an announcement.
“… I think we always recognized that there was a lot of potential there and I think he started to realize some of that potential. We feel as though now he’s put himself in a spot where he’s deserved this opportunity to have an MLS contract, come onto the roster, and now let’s go from here. This is just the beginning.”
Iwe has four goals in 11 starts for MNUFC2 this year, while he made his MLS debut as a substitute against the Vancouver Whitecaps in Matchday 4 after signing a short-term agreement with the first team. Two extra short-term agreements ensued, allowing him to appear again off the bench against CF Montréal earlier this month while also starting the Loons’ 3-1 win over USL Championship side Detroit City FC in the US Open Cup Round of 32 in April.
“It’s a credit to [Emmanuel] for putting himself out there in the first place. Coming to an open tryout is never easy and then taking the opportunities that have come his way,” MNUFC2 manager Cameron Knowles said.
“… It’s great for him that he’s been able to take this next step, and it’s the beginning of the next phase of his career, which is really exciting.”
Blake Wheeler signed a one-year, $800,000 contract with the New York Rangers on Saturday. The deal came with a possible $300,000 in bonuses.
Wheeler was an unrestricted free agent after he had a final season of his five-year, $$1.25 million contract displayed by the Winnipeg Jets.
The Forward captained the Jets from 2016-22 before he was relieved of his duties this season. He had 55 points (16 goals, 29 assists) in 72 regular-season games last season and six points (two goals, four assists) in five Stanley Cup Playoff games.
“I want to thank everyone in Winnipeg for all the love and support over these past 12 years,” Wheeler said. “It has been my absolute honour and privilege to be a Winnipeg Jet and to represent this city and organization. My family and I can’t thank everyone in the city and province enough for everything you’ve done for us. Winnipeg is always going to be a home to myself, my wife Sam, and our children: Louie, Leni, and Mase. Thank you so much for the support, love and friendship that you’ve shown us these past 12 years and we look forward to rooting on the Jets in the future.”
Chosen by the Phoenix Coyotes in the first round (No.5) of the 2004 NHL Draft, Wheeler has 922 points (312 goals, 610 assists) in 1,118 regular-season games for the Jets, Atlanta Thrashers and Boston Bruins and 45 points (10 goals, 35 assists) in 65 playoff games. He is first in games (897), assists (550) and points (812) in Jets/Thrashers history and third in goals (262).
Blake was not the only player signed to the Rangers on Saturday, Jonathan Quick penned down a one-year $825,000 contract with the team. It includes a possible $100,000 in bonuses.
Quick was 16-15-6 with a 3.41 goals-against average, .882 save percentage and two shutouts in 41 regular-season fanes (36 starts) for the Vegas Golden Knights and Los Angeles Kings last season, plus 5-2-2 with a 3.13 GAA, .901 save percentage and one shutout in 10 games (nine starts) after he was bought in a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on March 2.
Jonathan did not play in the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the Golden Knights, who won the Cup. He also won the Stanley Cup in 2012 and 2012 with the Kings.
Atlanta United VS Philadelphia Union brings MLS fans a fresh fixture to end the matchday after its earlier hours were packed with numerous exciting matches.
Philadelphia will be visiting Atlanta off of 6 successive matches without a loss against the Five Stripes and will want to advance to 2nd position in the Eastern Conference table as both teams clash in the Mercedes-Benz Stadium tonight.
Atlant United continues to battle for results away from home after a 4-0 lashing from New York Red Bulls at the Red Bull Arena last Monday.
Despite being behind for most of the matches and seeing only 34% of the ball possession, goals from Daniel Edelman, Cristian Casseres Jr. and second-half support from Frankie Amaya helped United win an easy victory.
Atlanta has played 9 successive matches without a victory on the road, losing 4 and getting 5 draws since a 3-0 win over Charlotte FC on March 11.
But, Atlanta United is now home, where they have recorded just one loss since the season began and are undefeated in their last fixture, securing 2 wins and 2 draws since they lost 3-1 to Charlotte in May.
With 29 points gathered from 20 games, the Five Stripes are presently 6th in the Eastern Conference standings, two points behind Columbus Crew which is in fifth place, and have one pending match.
At the other end of the field, Philadelphia Union went back to winning in style when they destroyed Inter Miami 4-1 when they met at Subaru Park last Sunday.
Jakob Glesnes, Julian Carranza and Leon Flach scored goals to put the Union in a dominating first-half lead, Robert Taylor for Miami in the 50th minute, but a 68th-minute own goal from David Ruiz restored the three-goal deficit.
Before that, Philadelphia witnessed their six-game undefeated run end on June 11 no thanks to a 2-1 defeat by the San Jose Earthquakes, 11 days before a 2-2 draw at Orlando City.
After last weekend’s win, the Union now has 4 home wins on the trot and is undefeated in 9 straight games, obtaining 6 wins and 3 draws since a 2-1 loss at Orlando in March.
Coming up for Philadelphia is a rival that is winless in all of their last 6 meetings across all competitions, losing 3 and claiming 3 draws since a 4-0 victory in January 2020.
The Union have won 10 of their 19 matches thus far, with 4 draws and losing 5 to score 34 points and sit in 4th place in the Eastern Conference table, 9 points behind first-placed Cincinnati.
Atlanta United will want to save face tonight after their belittling defeat against New York. But, they are playing Philadelphia Union who has been on the better end of this fixture over the past two years.
Although home advantage makes Atlanta slight favourites, experts predict that the guests will do enough damage to enjoy the good of this game.
The Seattle Sounders started the season with 6 victories from 9 MLS fixtures, which led to some expectations that they would last at the top of the Western Conference.
Although they have done that to some extent, there is no denying that they are lucky to still be in 3rd position after a five-game defeat galore.
Additionally, the Sounders won only two of their last 11 games, with the goalless draw with Orlando City keeping them in the right direction.
But, their last three victories since the middle of April have been 1-0 scorelines, and Seattle failed to score four in their most recent five matches.
While they still have the best defensive record in the West, there is no confusion that they should find better balance if they must keep playing to enter playoffs.
Possible Lineups: Frei, Baker, Andrade, Ragen, Tolo, Paulo, Vargas, Lodeiro, Rusnak, Chu, Heber.
Betting On Houston Dynamo
1XBet Spread: +1.5
1XBet Over/Under: Under 2.5
1XBet Moneyline: 3.98
If Houston Dynamo wrote the reports, they’ll say they are a rising team even after losing 3-0 at mid-table Austin FC last time out.
Before that loss, they have gotten three consecutive victories with four goals against Los Angeles FC and San Jose Earthquakes.
With only 4 points separating 3rd and 9th, those points have made Houston contenders finish with playoff spots.
Regardless, they already lost to Sounders this year by a 1-0 scoreline in a match where players were sent off in the 21st and 78th minutes.
Despite having luxurious positions in MLS, none of these teams has proven that they deserve this spot, particularly with the Sounders losing their way.
Regardless, experts believe that Seattle will play well enough to get enough points and maintain their third position.
While some teams have been consistent in the Western Conference, the San Jose Earthquakes take the cake this season for unpredictable results.
They have faced two consecutive defeats, with the most recent one at the hands of Houston Dynamo and St. Louis City.
However, even after losing many games as they have won this year and possessing a negative goal difference, they are still in 5th position.
After last year’s 14th-placed finish, the Earthquakes can start enjoying the campaign, although there is more to come from them.
On that note, the majority of their points have been in familiar territory, securing 6 wins and 3 draws from 10 games and it is important that they maintain this form since they have played poorly on the road.
The LA Galaxy have failed to defend their last season’s 4th position finish and struggle with improvement.
Presently, they are in 13th place, avoiding the bottom of the standings thanks to a four-game undefeated streak with has given them 6 points.
They have 3 consecutive draws, yet there is a chance for them to go back to contending for playoffs with two games left with some teams above them.
For this to happen, LA Galaxy which lost half of their 18 league games, must get maximum points on the board regularly and one of their three wins was from the Earthquakes in a match that happened on May 15th.
With the Earthquakes slacking at a time when Galaxy are gradually finding their form, this game may be closer than expected. However, the hosts will have the edge.
In FC Dallas VS Los Angeles FC, Los Angeles will play to get back to the winning side in the MLS Western Conference when they visit Dallas today.
The visitors are presently second in the table, level on points with leaders St Louis City, while Dallas is in 7th position, with 26 points from their opening 19 games of the year.
FC Dallas ended third in the Western Conference last year, eventually making it to the conference semi-finals where they lost 2-1 to Austin FC.
They have had a hard time staying consistent this season, even with a record of 7 wins, 5 draws, and seven defeats from 19 matches to collect 26 points, which has left them in 7th place.
June 8 was the last time this team won a match, recording a 2-0 win over St. Louis, but they’ve lost to Portland Timbers and Austin, recording losses in 4 of their last 5 matches.
Dallas has consecutive home games at the beginning of July, hosting DC United in their next match after this one, before going to Colorado.
They won 2-1 over Los Angeles in the corresponding match last season, but they also lost 2-1 to them when they met earlier this year.
Los Angeles FC on the other hand, enters today’s match on the back of a 3-2 loss to Vancouver Whitecaps, which was their fourth league loss of the season.
They were plunged into 2-0 down inside the opening 23 minutes of the match in California and could not recover, with the Whitecaps running out narrow winners.
LA is second in the table on 32 points, level with St. Louis City, although they have a match in hand on the team at the top of the division.
The team had a fantastic run last season, concluding top of the Western Conference with 67 points before dominating in the playoffs, and defeating Philadelphia Union on penalties to win the MLS Cup.
Los Angeles has a busy beginning to July, playing 5 times before July 16, and will be playing for control of the division in the coming weeks, especially since leading team Louis lost 7 times this year.
Los Angeles will fight to go back to winning after their disappointing loss to Vancouver and experts are predicting a win for them. Dallas has what it takes to get a positive result today, but they may not live up to that expectation in this game.
The Miami Heat traded Victor Oladipo back to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday night in exchange for future Draft compensation, per multiple reports.
Oklahoma get:
Victor Oladipo.
Heat get:
Two future second-round picks.
This move will create a $9.45 million trade exception for the Heat, said the person, who spoke to the Associated Press on the condition that he’ll be kept anonymous because the trade has not been finalized by the NBA. It also gives Miami some financial flexibility, which is way above the tax threshold for the coming season.
Last season, Oladipo averaged 10.7 points, 3.0 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 1.4 steals per game in 26.3 minutes per game as a reserve for the Heat.
Oladipo exercised this choice on Tuesday to be under contract for the upcoming season, though it is unclear when he will be able to play next. He tore his left patellar tendon in the first round of the playoffs against Milwaukee in April.
The Heat guard had undergone his third major surgery in the last four years, the other two were on his right knee area and there is no set timetable for his return.
Victor was a two-time All-Star with Indiana before getting injured in January 2019. The Pacers traded him to Houston in January 2021. The Rockets traded him to Miami two months later, he played for matches in March 2021 with the Heat before he was wounded again.
In the 2016-17 season, Oladipo averaged 15.9 points with the Thunder. He spent his first three years in Orlando, then had a year in Oklahoma City before moving to Indiana.