Yankees feel good about top prospect Elmer Rodriguez ahead of MLB deb…

With the Yankees sending Luis Gil down following another rough outing on Sunday, it created another opening in their starting rotation.

Some had thought Carlos Rodon could be a possibility the next time through, but they decided to look elsewhere with the lefty still needing two more rehab outings.

Instead, it’ll be top prospect Elmer Rodriguez to make his big-league debut. turconews.click

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“He’s a guy we view that’s gonna have a long career,” Aaron Boone said. “He’s coming off a phenomenal year at Double-A and a taste of Triple-A, and has gotten off to a great start there this year -- he’s earned the opportunity.

“We feel good about him taking the ball and he’s very, very capable.”

Rodriguez certainly has gotten off to a terrific start, building off of his two strong Grapefruit League appearances and lone scoreless outing with Puerto Rico at the WBC.

The talented 22-year-old has pitched to a stellar 1.27 ERA and 0.89 WHIP with 20 strikeouts and just one homer allowed over his first four outings down in Scranton.

“It’s just the preparation,” he told YES Network’s Meredith Marakovitz. “Just having that mentality to go out and just compete, have fun, and trust my stuff -- I know I have good stuff, I just try to go out and bring the best I can.”

Though Rodriguez is known for being calm, cool, and collected on the mound he’s expecting some nerves when he toes that big-league rubber for the first time in Wednesday’s series finale.

“I feel like they are obviously going to be there,” he said. “But I’m excited and happy be here -- hopefully I’ll be able to control them and just go out there and have some fun.”

Rodriguez is expected to take two turns through the rotation before Rodon is ready to return.

An event to celebrate York City FC's promotion to the English Football League will be held later at the LNER Community Stadium.

On Saturday, the Minstermen sealed promotion back to the Football League with a 1-1 draw at title rivals Rochdale with a last-gasp goal, ending a 10-year exile.

However, plans for an open-top bus parade were thrown into doubt after both City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police rejected the proposals.

More than 4,100 tickets have since been sold for a promotion party at the club's home ground.

When does the promotion party take place?

The party takes place at the LNER Community Stadium later.

Turnstiles for the event open at 18:30 BST, with celebrations due to get under way at 19:30.

Do I need a ticket?

Yes, the club said tickets for the event were selling fast with more than 1,600 sold in the first hour.

Tickets cost £1 with the money going towards an admin fee and a donation to Yorkshire children's cancer charity Candlelighters Trust.

They can be bought online at a maximum of four per person.

Sales will be monitored closely with more stands ready to open if required, a spokesperson for the club said.

What will happen at the party?

The event will include a trophy presentation and a lap on honour for the players.

There will also be fireworks and a live quiz, with prizes on offer.

How can I follow the celebrations if I cannot get to the party?

There will be coverage of the event on the BBC news website and on Radio York.

The BBC York sports team will be broadcasting live from the stadium from 19:00 BST on Wednesday and listeners can also follow on BBC Sounds.

Why is there no promotion parade?

City of York Council and North Yorkshire Police said proposals for a bus parade, due to be held on Tuesday, were rejected due to time constraints around preparation.

A spokesperson for North Yorkshire Police said: "Unfortunately, critical elements of the plan are unclear, with a significant lack of detail, and unresolved safety concerns."

They said they believed the plans were "not fit for purpose" within the short timescale.

In a statement, City of York Council said the "event plan from the club lacked key details and that raised concerns".

However, a petition calling for the council and the police to reverse their decision, saying that York City had achieved "something extraordinary", has already attracted over 2,000 signatures.

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.

More on this story

• York City promotion bus parade plans in doubt
• York City promotion 'the best day of my life'
• Fans 'sobbing in triumph' as York City promoted

The Mets’ offense put together a much-needed breakout against the Nationals on Tuesday night, and Carson Benge found himself right in the middle of things again.

The rookie slugger enjoyed his second consecutive multi-hit outing.

Benge first struck as part of the Mets’ seven-run bottom of the fourth, following up Marcus Semien’s gift run-scoring knock with an opposite-field two-run single of his own.

He went first-to-third on a Ronny Mauricio hit, then scored on a sacrifice fly.

The 23-year-old showed that same approach two innings later, again going the other way with an inside fastball and lacing it for one-out single that left the bat at 102.6 mph.

Benge would finish the night 2-for-4, but it was another encouraging showing.

He's now hitting .368 with a double, a homer, three RBI, four runs scored, and a .947 OPS over his last games.

The youngster has also racked up a .368 OBP and has struck out just once over that span.

Carlos Mendoza has certainly been encouraged by what he’s seen of late.

“He’s just been short, aggressive, getting the barrel to the ball,” the skipper said. “He’s not only pulling the ball but he’s going the other way, hitting line drives and not missing pitches -- it’s really good to see.”

Benge has really struggled to find his footing in the majors thus far, but it would go a long way towards helping the Mets' offense turn things around if he could keep this stretch going.

EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Leon Draisaitl scored a pair of goals and Evan Bouchard chipped in with three assists as the Edmonton Oilers staved off elimination by beating the Anaheim Ducks 4-1 on Tuesday night.

The Oilers now trail the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff series 3-2 with game 6 on Thursday night in Anaheim.

Vasily Podkolzin and Zach Hyman also scored for the Oilers who had previously allowed six separate leads to slip away in the first four games of the series.

Connor McDavid and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a pair of assists. Edmonton is now 18-3 when scoring first in a game when facing elimination.

Alex Killorn scored for the Ducks.

Connor Ingram made 29 stops for Edmonton, while Ville Husso recorded 10 saves for Anaheim after coming in to relieve Lukas Dostal, who allowed three goals on nine shots.

For the fifth straight game the Oilers struck first, scoring on the game’s first shot just 2:22 into the contest as Podkolzin beat Dostal high for his second of the postseason.

Edmonton took a 2-0 lead 8:33 into the opening period as a point shot was deflected twice, the second time through Dostal’s legs by Hyman.

The Oilers took a 3-0 lead just 1:14 later as Draisaitl tipped Bouchard's point shot in for his second of the playoffs. That spelled an early end of the night for Dostal.

Anaheim got on the board on the power play 8:26 into the second period as Mason McTavish dropped it back to Killorn, who extended his points streak to four games with his third goal of the playoffs.

Edmonton responded with a power-play goal a couple of minutes later on a one-timer by Draisaitl, who tied Wayne Gretzky for the most postseason power-play goals in franchise history at 23.

Edmonton has played the most playoff games of any NHL team since 2022 with 80, two more than the Florida Panthers, who beat the Oilers in the last two Stanley Cup finals before failing to qualify this season.

Playing in his 80th career playoff game, Bouchard collected his 88th point, moving into a tie for third place for players through 80 games with Brian Leetch, behind only Bobby Orr (92) and Paul Coffey (92).

McDavid (63 points) passed Adam Oates for the second-most points in NHL history when trailing in a playoff series. Only Gretzky (80) has more.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

Football governing body FIFA on Tuesday announced that the Afghan Women's Refugee Team will be allowed to participate in official competitions.

"The FIFA Council today approved a momentous amendment to the FIFA Governance Regulations, which enables Afghan female players – including members of the FIFA-funded and FIFA-supported Afghan Women United squad – to represent their country in official international matches as part of FIFA competitions," said FIFA president Gianni Infantino.

FIFA said that the purpose of the "historic decision" was to "ensure that players are not excluded from international football due to situations beyond their control, in line with FIFA’s statutory principles of universality, inclusion and non-discrimination."

FIFA regulations had previously required the women's team to receive recognition from the Taliban-controlled Afghanistan Football Federation in order to compete.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have issued more than 70 decrees restricting girls' and women's rights. The women's national team has not played an official competitive international since then, amid a ban on women's sports.

"This is a powerful and unprecedented step in world sport," Infantino said.

"FIFA has listened to these players as part of its responsibility to protect the right of every girl and woman to play football and to represent who they are. By enabling Afghan women to compete for their country in official matches, we are turning principles into action. FIFA is proud to lead this historic initiative and to stand alongside these courageous players on and off the pitch."

The FIFA-supported Afghan Women's Refugee Team, also known as Afghan Women United, was brought together to provide structured playing opportunities for Afghan women footballers living outside the country.

It debuted against Morocco in October in the FIFA Unites – Women’s Series 2025 following talent identification camps across England and Australia. The team is coached by former Scotland player Pauline Hamill.

"This decision recognizes Afghan women footballers not as victims of circumstance, but as elite players with the right to compete, be seen and be respected," said Nadia Nadim, who was born in Afghanistan and went on to win over 100 caps for Denmark.

"It shows what is possible when sport is guided by values and leadership."

Former Afghanistan captain Khalida Popal added: "For these players, representing Afghanistan is about identity, dignity and hope. Thanks are due to the leadership of FIFA, which listened to their biggest request and delivered a solution that no other sport has ever achieved."