Josh and Jace Jung square off in rare, emotional Mother's Day matchup with mom watching: 'My heart is just exploding'

Josh and Jace Jung square off in rare, emotional Mother's Day matchup with mom watching: 'My heart is just exploding'

Mary Jung had perhaps the best Mother's Day an MLB mom could have asked for. She got to watch her two sons play each other, and throw out the first pitch, at Comerica Park on Sunday afternoon in a rare Mother's Day brothers meeting in Major League Baseball. Mary — who wore a custom half-and-half Detroit Tigers and Texas Rangers jersey — threw out the first pitch on Sunday ahead of her sons', Josh and Jace Jung, matchup in Michigan. Josh's and Jace's dad, Jeff, was also there in a similar custom jersey. Mama Jung delivered today's game ball 🩷#MothersDaypic.twitter.com/fdv0OIfLkI — Detroit Tigers (@tigers)May 11, 2025 Can't keep the family apart on#MothersDayBrothers Jace and Josh Jung are facing off in front of their mom today ❤️💙pic.twitter.com/TcfoIXEqwc — MLB (@MLB)May 11, 2025 "I mean my heart is just exploding," Mary said on the Rangers' broadcast. "I mean, I couldn't ask for a better Mother's Day gift. To watch them — we're all in the same place, to begin with — but then to watch them live their dream, do what they love to do, I couldn't be more proud." Watching your sons play in@MLBon Mother's Day? Pricelesspic.twitter.com/gMuh3aNnD4 — Texas Rangers (@Rangers)May 11, 2025 Josh, the older brother, is in his fourth season with the Rangers this spring. He's dealt with numerous injuries that have kept him sidelined throughout his career, including a broken thumb and a broken wrist, and has surpassed only 100 games in a season once. Jace, the younger brother, was only called up by the Tigers last fall, though he started this season back with their Triple-A team. He was recalled not quite a month into the season, and has been there ever since. Now, with both brothers on the field on Sunday, they are just the seventh set of siblings to face off in an MLB game on Mother's Day in the last 45 years. Brothers to Play Against Each Other on Mother's Day, Last 45 Years:May 11, 2025 Jace and Josh JungMay 9, 2021 Lourdes Jr. and Yuli GurrielMay 11, 2003 Jolbert and Orlando CabreraMay 11, 1997 Vladimir and Wilton GuerreroMay 14, 1989 Otis and Donell NixonMay 9, 1982 Hector… — Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports)May 11, 2025 "My mama heart just melted at that possibility," Marytold the Dallas Morning Newsabout when she first saw the schedule line up. "But I didn't want to talk about it in case something came up. I thought about getting a split jersey with both teams. If I looked at flights, I'd erase the browser history. "I found a hotel but wouldn't call to make reservations. If it happened, great, but I really worked hard not to say anything about it. I didn't want any evidence that I'd even been thinking about it. Every time I'd actually say something, I'd retract it and say 'what if.'" And, to make the day even better, Josh hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning. That put the Rangers up 5-0 and pushed them to the 6-1 win. "I think it will be everything for the family," Josh told the Dallas Morning News before the game. "Just in general, you've got two kids in the big leagues playing against each other. Just to play against each other, that's something special on its own. We've worked forever just to get to the big leagues. It's going to be an emotional day for them." "She might shed a tear here or there," Jace added. "But, yes, she will be off the wall." Without a doubt, this was a Mother's Day Mary won't soon forget.

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Josh and Jace Jung square off in rare, emotional Mother's Day matchup with mom watching: 'My heart is just exploding'

Josh and Jace Jung square off in rare, emotional Mother's Day matchup with mom watching: 'My heart is just exploding' Mary Jung ...

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Rockies fire manager Bud Black amid MLB-worst 7-33 record

Rockies fire manager Bud Black amid MLB-worst 7-33 record

TheColorado Rockiesannounced the firing of manager Bud Black on Sunday, followinga 9-3 winover theSan Diego Padres. The Rockies have theworst record in Major League Baseballat 7-33. Colorado wasn't just losing games, and a lot of them. The team was losing badly, looking completely outmatched on the field. On Saturday, the Rockies lost to the Padres,21-0. That was part of a week during which Colorado's pitching staff allowed 10 or more runs in four consecutive games. Bench coach Mike Redmond, who held that position during Black's entire tenure with the Rockies, was also dismissed. Third base coach Warren Schaeffer was named interim manager. The Rockies' -128 run differential is the worst in MLB by a considerable margin, 59 runs worse than the next closest team. An inept offense has also contributed significantly to that figure. Colorado has scored the second-fewest runs in baseball (133) with the third-worst team batting average (.219) and OPS (.646). pic.twitter.com/nsIwiYBmVR — Colorado Rockies (@Rockies)May 11, 2025 The Rockies are on their way to their seventh consecutive losing season and third with 100 or more losses. At 7-33, Colorado is on pace to overtakelast season's Chicago White Soxas the team with the most defeats (121) in a single season in MLB history. Black's firing comes less than 24 hours after general manager Bill Schmidt supported him following Saturday's blowout, saying he thought the team could "turn it around." "I think our guys are still playing hard, and that's what I look at," Schmidt toldthe Denver Post's Patrick Saunders. "Guys are working hard every day, they come with energy, for the most part. I don't think we are [at that point of firing Black]. Guys still believe in what we are doing and where we are headed. We are all frustrated." Schmidt may be the next to go. Little help is coming from a minor league system that ranks 18th among baseball's 30 organizations,according to MLB.com. The payroll is saddled with horrible contracts such asthe seven-year, $182 million pactwithKris Bryant, who's played 170 games in his four seasons with Colorado and just had surgery toalleviate a degenerate lumbar condition. "Our play so far this season, especially coming off the last two seasons, has been unacceptable. Our fans deserve better, and we are capable of better," Rockies owner Dick Monfort saidin a statement. "While we all share responsibility in how this season has played out, these changes are necessary. We will use the remainder of 2025 to improve where we can on the field and to evaluate all areas of our operation so we can properly turn the page into the next chapter of Rockies Baseball." Montfort has been the Rockies' principal owner since 2000. Colorado has had six winning seasons during that span, including a run to the World Series in 2007. Prior to joining the Colorado staff for the 2023 season, Schaeffer coached in the Rockies' organization for 10 seasons, progressing from high Single-A to Double-A and Triple-A affiliates. Former Rockies manager Clint Hurdle, who wasnamed interim hitting coachin mid-April, will now be the interim bench coach. Black finishes his Rockies tenure with a 543-690 record (a .440 winning percentage). In his first two seasons, Colorado qualified for the MLB postseason as a wild card and advanced to the divisional round in 2018. However, the Rockies hadn't won more than 74 games in the following six seasons.

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Rockies fire manager Bud Black amid MLB-worst 7-33 record

Rockies fire manager Bud Black amid MLB-worst 7-33 record TheColorado Rockiesannounced the firing of manager Bud Black on Sunday, followinga...

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NASCAR: Kyle Larson's Kansas win in front of a bunch of empty seats exemplifies NASCAR's fundamental problem

NASCAR: Kyle Larson's Kansas win in front of a bunch of empty seats exemplifies NASCAR's fundamental problem

Kyle Larson's win at Kansas Speedway in front of a sparse crowd was a great example of the fundamental problem NASCAR faces as it navigates the 2020s and beyond. To be clear, that problem has nothing to do with Larson's excellence overall and his dominance on Sunday. He won all three stages and clearly had the fastest car, though there was a bit of drama on the final lap. Larson's car slowed abruptly on the final lap as he nursed it to the finish line less than a second ahead of Christopher Bell. Had the race been 268 laps and not 267, Larson may not have been the winner. Instead, the problem was with just how few people were in attendance to watch Larson get his second straight spring win at Kansas. After years of sellouts in the 2000s and 2010s, the grandstands on Sunday were roughly half-full. People had ample room to spread out, and if you looked closely, you could roughly see how the seats in the middle spell out "Kansas Speedway." Kansas is the best track in NASCAR. The 1.5-mile oval's asphalt has aged exceptionally with the rough-and-tumble midwest winters for great tire wear, and the progressive banking creates multiple racing lanes. It's a three-lane track on its worst days and can produce four- and even five-wide racing immediately after restarts. Just a year ago, Larson beat Chris Buescher inthe closest finish in NASCAR history. Larson won the race by 0.001 seconds after the immediate timing and scoring loops showed Buescher had crossed the finish line first. Yes, the close finish was the product of a restart with two laps to go, but it was a fitting way to describe just how good the racing has been at Kansas. If the track were located a few hundred miles south, it'd be a no-brainer candidate to host a championship race in early November,when NASCAR starts rotating the site of its title races after the 2026 season. But will fans show up even if Kansas did get a title race? Marketing the best track in NASCAR should be easy. Yes, Sunday's race was held on Mother's Day and high school graduation season is in full tilt in Kansas City. But the local buildup to the race was nearly non-existent. NASCAR weekends were big-time events in this city for years. They've felt like an afterthought recently. That can't be only a Kansas City problem, either. NASCAR has heavily cut back on its public-relations departments in recent years in the name of cost savings. It's hard not to see a correlation between those cuts and a lack of promotion. NASCAR still can tout itself as the top motorsport in the United States. A week ago, the Cup Series race at Texas Motor Speedway went head-to-head with the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix. The Cup race got more TV viewers than the Miami Grand Prix on ABC did even though the NASCAR race was on Fox Sports 1. But the F1 race easily won the coveted 18-49-year-old demographic in both total number and share. Over a third of the F1 viewers were in that age range. Less than 20% of NASCAR's viewers were. It's still hyperbolic to say NASCAR is facing an existential crisis. TV ratings for the Cup Series have stabilized after years of declines, and NASCAR is in the first year of its new TV deal. But it's also fair to say NASCAR has little hope of getting back to the heights it experienced 20 years ago. If NASCAR can't come close to filling the grandstands for its best product, how can it say that everything is OK?

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NASCAR: Kyle Larson's Kansas win in front of a bunch of empty seats exemplifies NASCAR's fundamental problem

NASCAR: Kyle Larson's Kansas win in front of a bunch of empty seats exemplifies NASCAR's fundamental problem Kyle Larson's win a...

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Hamas announces imminent release of Edan Alexander, last known living American hostage

Hamas announces imminent release of Edan Alexander, last known living American hostage

Hamas has announced the imminent release of Edan Alexander, the last known living American hostage held inGaza. The head of Hamas' negotiating team said they had been in contact with the US administration "during the past few days" in talks that "showed high positivity." Following the communications, Hamas announced it will release Alexander as part of thesteps toward a ceasefirethat will see the crossings into Gaza opened and humanitarian aid brought into Gaza following an Israeli blockade that has lasted more than two months. "The movement affirms its readiness to immediately start intensive negotiations, and make serious efforts to reach a final agreement to stop the war, exchange prisoners in an agreed manner, and manage the Gaza Strip by an independent professional body," Khalil Al-Hayya said in a statement. The Alexander family described the news on Mother's Day as "the greatest gift imaginable" and thanked US President Donald Trump, his Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff and the US administration for their "tireless work to make this happen." In a post on Truth Social, Trump hailed the development as "monumental news," describing it as a "step taken in good faith toward the United States and the efforts of the mediators – Qatar and Egypt – to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved ones." The release could be as early as Monday but is more likely to occur on Tuesday, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Hamas leader Mahmoud Mardawi told the Hamas-affiliated Al Aqsa TV that they conducted direct negotiations with the US that would lead to the resumption of humanitarian aid into Gaza. According to a third source familiar with the matter, Witkoff will arrive in Tel Aviv Monday morning ahead of the release of Alexander. Witkoff told CNN the talks with Hamas were indirect. The source called it "a total good will gesture," especially since it comes with Israel poised to expand its military operations in Gaza. Israel is not expected to release any Palestinian prisoners in exchange for Alexander. "We're going to go into immediate peace deal negotiations," the source said. US Special Envoy for Hostage Response Adam Boehler will travel with the parents of Alexander to Israel for their son's expected release, he told CNN Sunday. Boehler and Adi and Yael Alexander will land in Israel on Monday. "There was a team-led effort that the president really focused on Edan and then (US Secretary of State) Marco Rubio and Steve Witkoff made it a huge focus," Boehler said. He would not give further details about the negotiations, but noted that "the signals have been very good." Boehler said that Trump remains committed to the release of all of the hostages and the return of US remains. Alexander's release "should be viewed by Israelis and Americans alike as a first important step," he told CNN. In a closed meeting of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee on Sunday evening in the Knesset, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the members that Hamas may soon release Alexander, according to another source familiar with the matter. The Prime Minister's Office said in a statement that it had been informed by the US of Hamas' intention to release Alexander "without compensation or conditions." The release is expected to lead to negotiations for the release of more hostages, but Netanyahu's office said that "negotiations will take place under fire." News of the announcement of Alexander's release was first reported by Axios. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum said Alexander's release must be the beginning of a "comprehensive" agreement to secure the release of all the hostages. "Prime Minister Netanyahu must immediately fulfill the supreme moral obligation – and the demand of the vast majority of the Israeli public – to bring everyone back," the forum said. "President Trump, you've given the families of all the hostages hope. Please, complete your mission and bring them all home." Alexander is one of 59 hostages still held in Gaza. Last week, Trump said that only 21 of the hostages were still alive, fewer than Israel's official count of 24 living hostages. Trump's surprise announcementforced Netanyahu to acknowledgethat there are three hostages "where there is doubt whether they are alive." Among the hostages are four deceased American citizens, including husband and wife Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein Haggai, as well as soldiers Itay Chen and Omer Neutra. In an interview aired on Saturday evening, US Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee called the return of the hostages "the highest priority that the president has as it related to this country." In a joint statement, Qatar and Egypt called Alexander's release "an encouraging step for the parties to return to the negotiating table for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, the release of prisoners and detainees, and ensuring the safe and unhindered flow of aid to address the tragic situation in the Strip." Alexander's release is "part of the steps taken" for humanitarian aid to once again flow into Gaza, according to Hamas, following a complete Israeli blockade of the territory that began on March 2. Since then, food stocks have run out at warehouses and food kitchens across Gaza as the enclave has moved closer to famine. The Ministry of Health in Gaza said Sunday there were severe shortages of medical supplies, warning that 43% of essential medication is currently out of stock. Emergency rooms and ICUs in Gaza are being forced to operate on "depleted supplies amid a rise in critical injuries," the ministry said. UNRWA, the main UN agency in Gaza, warned Friday that "basic humanitarian supplies, including food, fuel, medical aid and vaccines for children, are rapidly running out." The agency said it has now run out entirely of its stocks of flour and food parcels. On Friday, World Chef Kitchen said that its teams in Gaza can "no longer cook meals or bake bread" and are focusing their efforts instead on expanding clean water supply in the enclave. The statement from the Israeli Prime Minister's Office made no mention of resuming the entry of humanitarian aid into Gaza. This is a developing story and will be updated. Jennifer Hansler and Kit Maher of CNN, and Khader Al-Za'anoun of Wafa, the official Palestinian news agency, contributed to this story. For more CNN news and newsletters create an account atCNN.com

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Hamas announces imminent release of Edan Alexander, last known living American hostage

Hamas announces imminent release of Edan Alexander, last known living American hostage Hamas has announced the imminent release of Edan Alex...

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Trump says last living American hostage Edan Alexander will be released by Hamas: 'Coming home'

Trump says last living American hostage Edan Alexander will be released by Hamas: 'Coming home'

President Donald Trumpconfirmed that the last living American hostage, Edan Alexander, would be released by Hamas after nearly two years in captivity. "I am happy to announce that Edan Alexander, an American citizen who has been held hostage since October 2023, is coming home to his family," Trump wrote in a post on his social media platform 'Truth Social' on Sunday. "I am grateful to all those involved in making this monumental news happen. This was a step taken in good faith towards the United States and the efforts of the mediators — Qatar and Egypt — to put an end to this very brutal war and return ALL living hostages and remains to their loved ones," Trump continued. "Hopefully this is the first of those final steps necessary to end this brutal conflict. I look very much forward to that day of celebration!" Hamas Claims It Will Release American Hostage Edan Alexander Alexander, a dual U.S.-Israeli citizen, has beenheld captive in Gazasince the October 7 Hamas attack on southern Israel. Read On The Fox News App The news comes after the terror organization announced on Sunday it was "in contact with the U.S. administration in recent days." "The movement has shown a high level of positivity, and the Israeli soldier with dual American citizenship, [Edan] Alexander, will be released as part of the steps being taken toward a ceasefire, the opening of border crossings, and the entry of aid and relief for our people in the Gaza Strip," the statement read. Vice President JD Vance also commented on the announcement, writing: "Pray that Hamas follows through and Edan gets to come home." "If they do, it will have been another triumph of Steve Witkoff, who continues to face withering attacks for freeing hostages, negotiating complex diplomatic proposals, and serving his country (at great financial cost)," Vance wrote in a post on X. It's unclear when Alexander will be released. The Hostages and Missing Families Forum Headquarters also released a statement following the announcement of Alexander's release, saying that they "are embracing and supporting the Alexander family." New Pulitzer Prize Winner Disparaged Israelis Kidnapped By Hamas On Oct 7, Questioned Their 'Hostage' Status "Should this release be confirmed, the release of Edan Alexander must mark the beginning of a comprehensive agreement that will secure the freedom of all remaining hostages," the statement read. "President Trump, you've given the families of all the hostages hope. Please, complete your mission and bring them all home." Trump recently marked his 100th day in office, and the families of the five Americans still held hostage urged him to reflect on his strategy and apply pressure on both Israel and Hamas, through both economic and diplomatic means, to secure therelease of all hostages. In addition, fifty members of Congress sent Trump a letter on May 9 urging him to prioritize getting the remaining hostages out. Hamas Agrees To Release Edan Alexander, The Last Living American Hostage "As months have passed since the most recent exchange, we must keep the five remaining Americans and additional 54 hostages top of mind. The five American hostages include Edan Alexander, Omer Neutra, Itay Chen, Gadi Haggai and Judi Weinstein Haggai. Only Alexander is believed to be alive while Nuetra, Chen, Haggai and Weinstein Haggai were either murdered on October 7th or in captivity," the group wrote in a letter to President Trump. "Our government's most solemn responsibility is to keep Americans safe. With that responsibility in mind, we urge you to use all diplomatic tools at your disposal, in concert with our regional allies and partners, to ensure Edan's release and the release of the remains of the deceased American hostages as soon as possible. Every day in captivity adds to the nightmare for the hostages and their families. We must bring them home now," the letter continued. Raised in Tenafly, New Jersey,Alexander moved to Israel at 18 to volunteer for military service in the IDF's Golani Brigade. He lived with his grandparents in Tel Aviv and at Kibbutz Hazor, where he was part of a group of lone soldiers. He was kidnapped on the morning of October 7 — a Saturday, he wasn't required to remain on base. His mother was visiting from abroad, and like many lone soldiers, he had the option to go home for the weekend. But he chose to stay, not wanting to leave his comrades short-staffed on guard duty. There are 59 hostages still in Gaza, at least 24 of whom are assessed to be alive, includingAlexander, now 21 years old after having spent two birthdays in Hamas captivity. Fox News Digital's Caitlin McFall contributed to this report. Original article source:Trump says last living American hostage Edan Alexander will be released by Hamas: 'Coming home'

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Trump says last living American hostage Edan Alexander will be released by Hamas: 'Coming home'

Trump says last living American hostage Edan Alexander will be released by Hamas: 'Coming home' President Donald Trumpconfirmed that...

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