Sports briefs 8/7
Baseball
Seattle Mariners reliever Gabe Speier was given a three-game suspension Thursday after hitting Detroit’s Gleyber Torres with a pitch in the eighth inning of Wednesday night’s game.
Speier is appealing the ban, according to the MLB Players Association.
Additionally, Mariners manager Dan Wilson was also suspended one-game and will serve his suspension in the series finale Thursday against the Tigers. Managers cannot appeal a suspension. Manny Acta will serve as the manager for the Mariners.
Speier had relieved Bryan Woo in the eighth inning of Seattle’s 4-2 win. After getting the first two outs, Speier threw two inside fastballs to Torres, with the latter pegging him on the upper left leg on a 96.3 mph pitch.
Torres and Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh proceeded to have words with each other before the benches and bullpens cleared. There were no punches thrown, and Wilson was ejected in the aftermath after Speier was tossed from the game. It was the second time this season Wilson was removed from a game.
Raleigh had been plunked as well in the bottom half of the seventh by Detroit left-hander Enmanuel De Jesus with a 95-mph fastball in the bottom of the seventh.
• Boston Red Sox first baseman Triston Casas had arthroscopic surgery on his left wrist, the team announced Thursday, in the latest setback to land him on the injured list.
Casas has been sidelined since rupturing his left patellar tendon while attempting to run out a slow grounder to first base on May 2, 2025.
After missing the remainder of last season, Casas developed an abdominal strain during spring training. Then came the wrist injury, which emerged as he was being eased back into action.
The Red Sox provided no timetable on when Casas might return.
College football
North Carolina defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, the son of head coach Bill Belichick, is on medical leave, his father said Thursday morning.
The Tar Heels are in the second week of preseason camp. UNC opens the season Aug. 29 against TCU in Dublin, Ireland.
“It’s a medical situation so I really can’t make any further comment on that,” Belichick said, adding only that the team hoped to have him back “as soon as possible” when asked about a timeline for his return.
He also said the defensive staff already works “collectively” when asked how the team would adjust during his son’s absence.
Steve Belichick joined his father’s staff ahead of the NFL coaching great’s first college season last year, following a year as the University of Washington’s defensive coordinator.
Tennis
Coco Gauff understands the reasoning behind the WTA Tour’s newly introduced gene-testing policy. What the two-time Grand Slam champion doesn’t favor is how politicized the discussion becomes in generating what Gauff called, “animosity towards the trans community.”
To her, the topic requires a more nuanced conversation, which is why Gauff provided what she called a nuanced answer, in speaking to reporters at the Canadian Open in Toronto following her opening-match win over Kayla Day on Wednesday.
“So, yes, I guess I kind of agree with trying to protect the fairness in women’s sports. But I also do not like the attack that it is creating,” Gauff said. “People who don’t really care, but just want to use this as a reason to attack the trans community — so I’m not really a big fan of that either.”
Her comments come in response to the Women’s Tennis Association last month introducing one-off mandatory gene-testing for all players as a requirement to compete at the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.
Players are being tested for the SRY gene, a segment of DNA typically found on the Y chromosome that initiates male sex development in utero and indicates the presence of testes.
It remained unclear how many, if any, transgender women are competing at the Olympic level, let alone the WTA Tour.