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Rays, Twins out to shake off subpar starts to season

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MLB: Minnesota Twins at Baltimore OriolesMar 29, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) looks on during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images

The start of the season has been far from perfect for the Minnesota Twins.

But manager Derek Shelton sees reason for optimism ahead of Friday’s home opener against the Tampa Bay Rays.

“The one thing we’re learning about this club,” Shelton said, “is they fight.”

After playing their first six games on the road, the Twins return home for a three-game weekend set. Minnesota dropped its first two series in Baltimore and Kansas City but is coming off a 5-1 win over the Royals on Thursday afternoon.

Tampa Bay, which is starting the season with a nine-game road trip, has an identical record as the Twins with two victories and four losses. The Rays dropped two of three games at the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers.

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The Rays are coming off an 8-2 loss in their series finale against the Brewers on Wednesday that featured uncharacteristically shoddy defense. Tampa Bay has committed nine errors through its first six games, which ranks among the worst in the league.

Rays manager Kevin Cash expressed confidence that his players would improve on defense.

“It’s going to be good,” Cash said. “We just haven’t been as good or as crisp as the standard so far.”

Star slugger Junior Caminero pinned the blame on himself for the defensive miscues. He committed three errors in the series finale against the Brewers.

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“I want to make perfect throws, I want to get the out,” Caminero said through a team interpreter. “Just right now, it’s not working.”

The 22-year-old Caminero, who finished with 45 home runs and 110 RBIs last season, also is looking to get going at the plate. He is hitting .238 (5-for-21) with zero homers or RBIs, and he has six strikeouts to go along with six walks.

Yandy Diaz leads the Rays with 12 hits, including two homers, and eight RBIs in six games.

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Twins right-hander Bailey Ober (0-0, 6.75 ERA) will look to stymie Diaz, Caminero and the rest of the Rays.

Ober is coming off a no-decision in his season debut against Baltimore. He allowed three runs on four hits in four innings, and he walked one and struck out one.

The 6-foot-9 hurler should be fresh after making only 56 pitches in his first start.

Tampa Bay will counter with another tall starter. Right-hander Joe Boyle (0-0, 3.00), who stands 6-8, will make his second start of the season.

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In his season opener, Boyle allowed two runs on three hits in six innings against the Cardinals. He walked none and struck out four, and he threw 52 of 75 pitches for strikes.

Byron Buxton will look to get back on track for the Twins. He has been quiet at the plate, hitting .174 (4-for-23) with no homers and one RBI.

The early-season slump is uncharacteristic for the Twins’ fan favorite who bashed 35 homers and swiped 24 bases a season ago.

Minnesota and Tampa Bay played six times last season, with each side winning three games. The Rays outscored the Twins 29-21 in those six contests.

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–Field Level Media

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Towering statue of Pele unveiled in Guadalajara ahead of FIFA World Cup | FIFA World Cup 2022

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Pele's statue installed in Guadalajara

Pele’s statue installed in Guadalajara


A large statue of soccer great Pele was unveiled Thursday in the Mexican city of Guadalajara to commemorate his achievements with the Brazilian national team.


Pele, who died at age 82 in 2022, won one of his three World Cup titles in Mexico at the 1970 edition of the tournament.


“This monumental figure of this great player, who played here and scored a great goal, is a great gift to the people of Jalisco and to all visitors,” Jalisco Gov. Pablo Lemus said. “Pele loved Guadalajara, and the Brazilian national team fell in love with it because the Mexican public gave them everything in 1970.” 

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The 9.5-meter-tall (31-foot) statue is located in a public square called Plaza Brazil outside the Jalisco Stadium, which hosted matches in the 1970 and 1986 World Cups. For its 1970 title run, Brazil played its first-round, quarterfinal, and semifinal matches at the stadium before beating Italy in the final at Azteca Stadium in Mexico City.


“People who come to the Jalisco Stadium now will stop to take pictures. This statue will be a landmark, especially since it depicts a football star like Pele,” Lemus said. “It’s a great gift for the World Cup.” 
In the 2026 World Cup, Guadalajara will host four first-round matches: South Korea vs. Czech Republic on June 12; Mexico vs. South Korea on June 18, Colombia vs. Congo on June 23, and Uruguay vs. Spain on June 26.

(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)

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First Published: May 22 2026 | 12:32 PM IST

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Pro reveals details of insane tattoo bet with caddie

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On Sunday, Lottie Woad enjoyed what is becoming a regular tradition in her pro career.

With a final-round 69 at the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati, Woad, who is 22, won her second LPGA event (and third event in total) since turning pro in the middle of last year. Woad’s victory was the latest highlight in her rapid climb up the food chain in the women’s game. It was also a moment of affirmation for one of her more … eclectic competitive rituals: a bag of gummy bears that has served as her good-luck charm.

As the story goes, the tradition started with Woad’s caddie, David Taylor, a veteran LPGA looper who evidently shares her sweet tooth.

“So, back in the UK, we’ve got kind of little supermarket called Marks & Spencer, and they do this sweet called Percy Pigs, and it just so happened that Singapore had one of these little small supermarkets, and I came across it one night when we were out for dinner,” Taylor said. “So, I took them and I put them in the bag, and I said, ‘These are some birdie sweets.’”

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Caddies are famously adept at discovering motivational tools for their players, and in Taylor’s case, the key to Woad’s heart was simple.

“Now, every player is driven by different things, some are financially driven, Lotte is in fact driven by sweets,” he said. “So, I put them in the bag, and I said, ‘Every birdie you make, we get one each.’ So it’s not she’s going to hit some mad sugar rush or anything.”

Woad is careful to point out that she’s not exactly housing gummy bears during the course of competition. The candies are a boost that helps to break up the monotony of life on the road.

“I don’t know, we’ve done it the last few events that we remembered,” Woad said with a grin. “Yeah, I think people think that we’re like stuffing our faces with sweets during the round, but like realistically we’re eating like four gummy bears.”

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But Woad’s moment in the sun at the Kroger Queen City Championship was dually rewarding, and not just for the sugar high of a pro victory. As Taylor explained in an interview with SiriusXM, he’d made his pro an unusual promise: The next time she won an event, she could choose the design for the next tattoo on her caddie’s body.

Woad’s victory in Cincy meant that she had earned that right, and as you might expect, there was only one option that made sense.

“Actually, about one hour ago, I got a text message from her, and she’s finally chosen what to get,” Taylor said with a laugh. “She’s chosen the piece, and it is, in fact, going to be a little gummy bear with a crown on it.”

A gummy bear with a crown — fitting for the first crowning of a new LPGA heavyweight player-caddie pairing … and one that just so happened to come in the Queen City.

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You can’t put it on kids

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Former India player Aakash Chopra has questioned Ruturaj Gaikwad for attributing the Chennai Super Kings’ (CSK) early exit from IPL 2026 to a young and inexperienced team. He highlighted that the blame shouldn’t be put on kids and that the seniors need to own up.

CSK were eliminated from IPL 2026 after an 89-run loss against the Gujarat Titans (GT) in Ahmedabad on Thursday, May 21. The visitors were bowled out for 140 in pursuit of a 230-run target.

In a video shared on his YouTube channel, ‘Aakash Chopra,’ the former India batter opined that Gaikwad should have spoken about the underperforming seniors instead of the youngsters while reflecting on CSK‘s exit in the post-match interview.

“He said that’s a very young team, that they cannot show that much faith in youngsters, and that they don’t have enough experience. I am wondering why those who have experience aren’t being spoken about. The talk should have been about Sanju Samson, Rutu, Shivam Dube, and Dewald Brevis. The talk shouldn’t be about Ayush Mhatre, Kartik Sharma, Prashant Veer, or Urvil Patel. What they did was excellent,” Chopra said.

“The talk should actually be about the elders. Rutu, how was your season? Kids bring bravado and an attacking approach. They don’t bring consistency, and how will they bring consistency? They are kids. So whose responsibility was it? You said you would open and don’t want to let Mhatre open. You needed to score runs. I agree that anyone can have a bad season, but you need to own up. You can’t put it on kids that they didn’t do well,” he added.

Ruturaj Gaikwad aggregated 337 runs at an underwhelming strike rate of 123.44 in 14 innings in IPL 2026. Shivam Dube (270 runs at a strike rate of 158.82 in 12 innings) and Dewald Brevis (151 runs at a strike rate of 127.96 in eight innings) also weren’t at their best this season.


“The mistake was in the auction as well” – Aakash Chopra on CSK’s IPL 2026 exit

Dewald Brevis was one of the two overseas batters in CSK's IPL 2026 squad (Image via X/@IPL)Dewald Brevis was one of the two overseas batters in CSK's IPL 2026 squad (Image via X/@IPL)
Dewald Brevis was one of the two overseas batters in CSK’s IPL 2026 squad (Image via X/@IPL)

In the same video, Aakash Chopra reckoned it wasn’t the youngsters’ mistake, highlighting that CSK had also erred in the IPL 2026 auction.

“In that interview, it seemed like it was the kids’ mistake. It wasn’t the kids’ mistake. The mistake was in the auction as well. You had two overseas batters, and they weren’t even like-for-like. You played with three overseas many times,” he said.

While acknowledging that Gaikwad might not have had enough time to reflect on the loss before the post-match interview, the cricketer-turned-commentator opined that his comment was odd.

“Plenty of problems that can be talked about later, but I found that one comment odd. Putting your responsibility on someone else is not the nicest way of doing things. You might not have got enough time to think about it post-match, you reacted suddenly, and you don’t mean it perfectly, but it still felt slightly odd as the kids have done decently. It wasn’t about them at all,” Chopra observed.

However, Aakash Chopra concurred with Ruturaj Gaikwad that the Chennai Super Kings were hit hard by injuries in IPL 2026. While terming CSK the ‘Chotil Super Kings’ because of the number of injuries they have endured, he pointed out that even Sanju Samson got injured while keeping in their last league game.

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