Manzardo saves Guardians

CLEVELAND (AP) — Kyle Manzardo had his second career two-homer game and drove in three runs, Brayan Rocchio hit a two-run triple, and the Cleveland Guardians rolled to a 10-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies on Tuesday night.

Manzardo hit a two-run shot off Rockies starter Tanner Gordon (2-3) in the third inning and a solo homer against Jimmy Herget in the sixth. His other two-homer game occurred last Sept. 1 against Pittsburgh.

Gabriel Arias added a two-run single and José Ramírez and Bo Naylor scored two runs apiece for the Guardians, who are 3 1/2 games out of the final American League wild-card spot with Thursday’s trade deadline looming.

Logan Allen (7-9) worked seven innings and allowed two runs on homers by Jordan Beck and Michael Toglia. The left-hander threw a career-high 113 pitches and matched his longest outing, winning for the second time in his last seven decisions.

Cleveland built 7-0 and 10-1 leads, tying its season-best with 15 hits. Manzardo posted three and Nolan Jones, Daniel Schneemann, Ramírez and Rocchio each had two.

Colorado’s Warming Bernabel went 2 for 4 with a double and is batting .400 with two homers and three RBIs over his first four major league games. Kyle Farmer had a solo home run.

Key moment

Gordon fell off the mound on an aborted pitch in the second when his plant foot slipped on the dirt for a balk. David Fry advanced to second then scored when left fielder Beck mishandled Rocchio’s single, giving Cleveland an unearned run.

Key stat

The Guardians have won 13 of their last 19 games, a surge that began immediately after they lost a season-high 10 straight from June 26 through July 6.

Up next

Rockies LHP Kyle Freeland (2-10, 5.24 ERA), who allowed four solo homers in his last start July 25 at Baltimore, pitches the series finale on Wednesday. LHP Kolby Allard (2-1, 2.83) is scheduled to start for the Guardians.

Clipper girls win opener

COLUMBIANA — The Columbiana girls golf team opened its season by defeating Edison Local 174-205 on Monday at Valley Golf Club.

Claire Banner and Alyssa Kakavros each led the Clippers with a pair of 42s, while Maddie Jackson followed closely with a 43. Nia Missos and Victoria Buckingham both shot 47 to round out Columbiana’s balanced team effort.

Edison was led by Kallie McKeegan, who posted the low round of the day with a 41. Bella Evans added a 50, while Mandy Cornell and Teagan Basinger shot 55 and 59, respectively.

Columbiana (1-0) will host Poland today.

Quakers fall to Hubbard

SALEM — Salem came up just short in its season opener on Monday, falling 181-183 to Hubbard at Salem Hills.

Cason Citino led the Quakers with a steady 41, while Tanner James added a 46. Gabe Leek followed with a 47 and both Eli James and Caden Arcuri turned in scores of 49 to round out Salem’s total.

Hubbard was paced by Colton Smith’s medalist round of 36. Colin Gilliland chipped in a 45, with Jason Scarmack carding a 48. Jonathan Adamson and Niko Papini each shot 52 for the Eagles.

Salem (0-1) will return to action on Wednesday in a tri-match against Carrollton and Alliance at Carroll Meadows. Tee time is set for 1 p.m.

Eagle girls beat East Palestine

EAST PALESTINE — United’s girls golf team secured a 193-232 victory over East Palestine on Monday at East Palestine Country Club.

United was led by Emme Murphy, who shot a 44 to earn medalist honors. Claire Whetstone added a 46 and Olivia Ashburn had a 50. Alaina Brewer followed with a 53.

East Palestine was paced by Alivia Magness with a 48. Kennedy Andre shot a 54, and Olivia Snedeker added a 64. Cydney Jurjavic contributed a 66 to complete the Bulldogs’ scoring.

Badgers keep fighting

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin’s players only need to go through their phones to provide evidence they’re fixing the culture issues that led to the end of the Badgers’ 22-year bowl streak last season.

Strength coach Brady Collins organized an offseason contest in which he asked players to send him a photo whenever they went out with a teammate. Players were awarded points for each photo they sent, with a prize going to the position group with the highest score.

The Badgers said those types of activities helped make them much closer than they were a year ago.

“At the start, it sounds kind of silly, but then you get into it, and it’s kind of like a game,” outside linebacker Aaron Witt said. “Then it becomes natural. It went from forcing yourself to hang out with your teammates to actually wanting to be around them.”

Wisconsin knew it had to improve its culture after going 5-7 last year for its first losing season since 2001, snapping what had been the longest active streak of bowl appearances by any Power Four team.

This isn’t quite what Wisconsin expected when it hired Luke Fickell, who went 53-10 with one College Football Playoff appearance in his final five seasons at Cincinnati. The Badgers’ chemistry lessons continue Tuesday when they continue a Fickell tradition and open preseason camp by spending 1 1/2 weeks at Platteville, Wisconsin, about 70 miles from campus.

“Last year, I think a lot of guys kind of just gave up near the end of the season,” linebacker Christian Alliegro said. “Guys weren’t really close together and picking each other up. I think the big thing this offseason was getting the guys together and hanging out.”

As it prepares to open the season Aug. 28 against Miami (Ohio), Wisconsin is relying heavily on several players who weren’t part of last year’s struggles.

The projected starting quarterback is Maryland transfer Billy Edwards Jr. Davis Heinzen, who started 36 consecutive games at Central Michigan, is likely to take over as the first-team left tackle after Kevin Heywood tore his anterior cruciate ligament in spring practice. Tennessee-Martin transfer Charles Perkins had an impressive spring and should boost a defense that allowed the second-most yards rushing per game of any Big Ten team last season.

But the Badgers also will need their returning players to remember what went wrong last year and to make sure history doesn’t repeat itself. Wisconsin ended the 2024 season by losing five straight games for the first time since 1991. During that skid, the Badgers lost their three trophy games to Iowa, Nebraska and Minnesota by a combined margin of 110-42.

“Every week we started to believe in ourselves a little less,” outside linebacker Darryl Peterson said. “As a leader, you take that upon yourself to make sure that doesn’t happen again.”

The Badgers are confident that won’t happen again because they know one another so much better. Older players were hanging out with younger players this offseason. The guys on offense spent more time interacting with their counterparts on defense.

They believe it will make a difference.

“The best teams in football are the closest teams,” offensive lineman Joe Brunner said. “They might not be the most talented, but the closest teams are what create success on the football field because you trust one another. I don’t think I’ve ever been this close to defensive guys on the team, and that’s pretty special.”

Of course, it’s easy to say that now. The true test will come the first time the Badgers encounter adversity on the field this fall.

Witt was asked Monday how he knows Wisconsin has corrected everything that went wrong a year ago.

“You don’t,” Witt said. “That’s the thing. You’ve got to play the games. Everybody’s going to stand in front of the camera and tell you we did this different, we’re tougher, we’re this, we’re bigger, we’re faster. But you’ll see it on tape. We’ll see it when games start.”