Comment on Smith embracing challenge of critical season

Guardians star Jose Ramirez did heavy lifting at the plate on Tuesday. So when he got the chance to be a passenger on the game-changing homer, he stopped short of rounding third, turned to watch the ball fly over the wall, and held up his hands in joy. Ramirez finished with a homer, a double, two walks, two RBIs and four runs scored in Cleveland’s 13-7 triumph that took the shine off Colorado’s recent momentum over the past three weeks. The Rockies’ loss, started by an opening homer from Ramirez and underscored by a two-homer night from Josh Naylor, was punctuated by rough performances by both starter Ryan Feltner and the bullpen on a beautiful night at Coors Field. Feltner allowed seven runs (six earned) over four-plus innings, while right-hander Matt Carasiti gave up the no-doubter to David Fry on a hanging 0-2 forkball that also scored Ramirez and Naylor. Fry’s swing in the seventh was the turning point in a game that see-sawed for several innings before Guardians were able to take temporary control in the fifth, chasing Feltner from the mound in the process. Cleveland struck first via Ramirez’s two-run homer to right-center in the opening inning.

BOULDER — The irony’s as cruel as an own goal, as cutting as a Lindsay Horan header. Only a handful of tickets were left after Memorial Day for the USA-South Korea friendly at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park on Saturday. Any other summer, Miranda Spencer and Annie Weaver would’ve snapped those puppies up. “We’re pretty sad we’re not going,” Weaver told me Tuesday with a rueful chuckle. “We would definitely be there,” Spencer added. They’ve got a good reason, though.

Colorado hoops star Alexandra Eschmeyer was selected to play for USA Basketball’s under-age 17 women’s team at the FIBA World Cup in July. She’s thrilled. Sunday’s announcement came after Peak to Peak’s 6-foot-5 senior-to-be spent four days last week at the U. S. Olympic and Paralympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Peak to Peak’s Alexandra Eschmeyer shoots a free throw during the Pumas’ game against Colorado Academy on Thursday, Jan.

On a scale from 1 to 10, how are you feeling about this Broncos training camp roster so far? Also, what’s your overall reaction to the Broncos’ 2024 schedule? — Ed Helinski, Auburn, N. Y. Hey Ed, great questions, so let’s get to the first one first. The bottom line is it’s still too early to say, mostly because the pads haven’t come on yet and won’t until training camp.

In the latest edition of the Nuggets Ink podcast, beat writer Bennett Durando and sports editor Matt Schubert are joined by esteemed author and former Nuggets beat writer Mike Singer. Among the topics discussed: Mike weighs in on what went wrong for the Nuggets after they were eliminated by the Minnesota Timberwolves 4-3 in the Western Conference semifinals.

Two days after the Pac-12 took its final competitive breath, the conference lost its soul. Bill Walton passed away Monday after 71 years of a life like no other, ever. The cause: cancer. Left unsaid: a broken heart. Walton might have been the greatest player in college basketball history. He won two NCAA titles with UCLA and two more in the NBA (with Portland and Boston) and was a no-brainer Hall of Fame inductee. He was the world’s preeminent Grateful Dead fan, a cycling enthusiast, a passionate environmentalist, a voracious reader and an iconic sports broadcaster. He was as brilliant as he was goofy, as genuine as he was colorful, as joyous as he was loquacious. Oh, could he talk. My first conversation with Walton, years ago, was by telephone.