However, since baseball expanded the playoffs to include two Wild Cards it’s become more difficult to tell which teams should do what — which brings us to the Tigers. Detroit is in the rare position of clarity, and it’s time for the Tigers to make some trades to get younger and better. Detroit enters the second half eight games behind Cleveland in the AL Central division with Kansas City and Minnesota in between them and first place....

One of the few reasons for fans to show up is Giancarlo Stanton. It’s almost impossible to overstate the wonder that Stanton can inspire. Marlins Park is a technicolor cavern, a gaping maw that swallows up fly balls. Even though the fences have been brought in, it’s still in the bottom third of the league for homers. It matters little for Stanton. He can make any park look like Williamsport....

MLB umps are under the microscope for every pitch, every out, every missed call. At some point, they start fighting back. That was the case Wednesday. Less than 24 hours after Guardians catcher Austin Hedges skewered umpires for an overturned call at home plate, the MLB Umpires Association released a statement defending the call and berated MLB and its players for implementing the somewhat confusing home plate collision rule (via ESPN):...

One day after defeating the Mariners in 14 innings in Seattle, the Astros (44-21) flew back to Houston and defeated the Orioles in 11, but they got a little help in the process. In the 11th inning with the game tied at 3, Robinson Chirinos doubled to left with Yuli Gurriel on base. The not-so-fleet-of-foot infielder then trucked around the bases and was waved around to go score, probably incorrectly....

Lewis was a beloved friend and inspiration to me, and I was proud that he was my congressman for many years. Like my father, Martin Luther King Jr., he personified the power of nonviolence, and offered his body and his blood to secure the right of all Americans to vote. Brutally beaten at the Edmund Pettus Bridge in 1965, he said he “gave a little blood” to dramatize the critical importance of the right to vote....

When Cal head coach Kevin Grimes told Lima he saw a future for him at right back, Lima wasn’t sure the switch was a good idea. When he saw the possibilities, though, Lima jumped in with both feet and now, less than four years later, the change has helped him realize his dream of playing as a professional for his hometown San Jose Earthquakes. “It was hard to grasp at first, but it only took a few days to understand why he did it,” Lima told Goal of the position change that shifted the course of his destiny....

Toronto FC’s slow start is due in part to the team’s quest for a CONCACAF Champions League title, a quest that will end after next week’s CCL final decider against Chivas de Guadalajara. Greg Vanney will trot out reserves in Houston to take on the Dynamo, and even though a loss is a good possibility, nobody in Toronto is panicking about digging too deep a hole in the East standings....

TFC won’t start thinking about 2018 just yet, not with a championship parade to enjoy and title to celebrate, but it’s only natural to wonder if this special collection of talent can take things a step further by becoming the first MLS team to win a CONCACAF Champions League in its current format. Saturday’s final was a bitter ending to Seattle’s season, but the Sounders too are built to sustain success....

Salah has hit a remarkable 23 Premier League goals already this term and, with eight assists also to his name, has been directly involved in more goals than anyone else in the competition. And Al-Owairan, who led Saudi Arabia into two World Cups, is confident Salah can lead the charge for the Arab teams in Russia. “I’m an optimist and we have enough time to prepare properly for the World Cup,” he said as the FIFA World Cup Trophy Tour by Coca-Cola arrived in Dubai....

“There are solid elements to affirm a causal role between the exposure of the person to radio frequencies from mobile phones and the disease that arose,” read the ruling in part, translation from Italian provided by The Guardian. The case in question was filed by former Telecom Italia worker Roberto Romeo, 59, against Italy’s National Institute for Insurance Against Workplace Accidents (INAIL), a national insurance provider. Romeo testified that he used cell phones for four to five hours daily during the average work week....

Recently, a team of Yale researchers found that limiting calorie intake moderately could enhance the immune system. The team used data from the Comprehensive Assessment of Long-term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE) clinical trial, the first controlled study of calorie restriction in healthy humans. The researchers then asked some of the 200 study participants to limit their calorie intake by 14% over a two-year period. The participants who restricted their calories had a healthier thymus gland, an organ located in the upper chest, compared to control group....

In his first public comments since the deadly confrontation, Modi said India was ready to respond to instigation along the disputed frontier where Indian soldiers died in hand-to-hand fighting with Chinese troops earlier this week. “I would like to assure the nation that the sacrifice of our jawans will not be in vain,” Modi said, using an Indian term for soldiers. “For us, the unity and sovereignty of the country is the most important....

While there was some speculation that Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif would throw his hat in the ring, he confirmed Wednesday that he is not running. “In my loneliness, I thought and calculated my shortcomings, both domestic and foreign, in a difficult and tense situation,” Zarif, a reformist, wrote on Instagram. I “finally concluded in good conscience that my participation does not agree with the virtuousness and expedience of the nation and the country....

The original poster (OP) u/bookfern, 28, explained that she and her husband Cam, 32, are expecting a girl. On being told the sex of the baby, “MIL [mother-in-law] immediately seemed upset at this and she told me that next time I need to try harder to give my husband a son.” The OP continued: “I told her we didn’t care what we were having, we just wanted a happy and healthy child....

Sometimes youngsters stay in their own bedroom and make a mess, or they go wandering around the house and end up in your bed. But one mom may have come up with a hilarious method to keep kids in their own rooms, and it uses the most unlikeliest of objects—a plastic goose. Mom Taylor shared a clip to her TikTok page, @taytertot95, imparting one of her “parenting tips.” It seems she set up a camera in her hallway, ready to capture her toddler’s inevitable attempt at escape....

In a post shared on Mumsnet last Monday, the parent, who goes by the username Butteryflakycrust83, explained that they’re planning a trip to York, a city in England, over Christmas, and while looking at deals they noticed they all charge an extra £75 ($90) if their 2-year-old daughter is included in the booking, raising the price of the room from £100 to £175 ($120-210). They wrote: “The size of the room doesn’t change....

Belle Rogers, 41, upcycled old materials left over from renovating her detached five-bed barn conversion home to create the incredible outdoor space on a shoestring budget. She used extra tiles from her bathroom to make the worktops and old pallets were turned into cupboards. Leftover patio slabs were used for the flooring area, and she scoured Facebook Marketplace for kitchen accessories for the finishing touches. The only thing she forked out on where the cast-iron handles and hanging rails - setting her back around $72....

Footage broadcast by Australian network 7NEWS showed McCormack, who served as Australia’s deputy prime minister from 2018 to 2021, looking unwell while wearing local garlands at a gathering. The National Party MP had his head in his hands, and was later helped by three men into a vehicle, which took him for medical treatment. Kava, which is made from the pepper plant, is well known for its sedating effects....

Kennedy’s pupils are among the growing ranks of Japanese who have become enthralled with black gospel music. In Tokyo alone, there are now 25 to 30 choirs. Countrywide, the number may be more than 100. Tommy Tomita, founder of the Harlem Japanese Gospel Choir, says it all started with the 1992 film “Sister Act,” in which Whoopi Goldberg teaches a choir of nuns to swing. It was a huge hit in Japan....

In last year’s Monaco Grand Prix, Nico Rosberg won because of Mercedes’ strategic blunder. Their numbers said Lewis Hamilton, the favorite in this year’s race and the best driver on the circuit, would come out of the final pit stop ahead of Rosberg, but they were wrong. Hamilton finished third after leading 64 of the 78 laps. MORE: Crazy Indy 500 crashes, wrecks | Memorable Daytona crashes Here’s all the information you need to watch the 2016 Monaco Grand Prix....