Gunnar’s RBI single beats Guardians

CLEVELAND (AP) — Gunnar Henderson singled in Alex Jackson with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and Charlie Morton matched his longest start of the season, helping the Baltimore Orioles to a 4-3 win over the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday afternoon.

Henderson’s liner to right came against Erik Sabrowski, giving the loss to Guardians starter Logan Allen (6-9). The Orioles won for the second time in nine games and avoided a four-game series sweep.

Morton (6-8) went 6 2/3 innings and threw a season-high 107 pitches, giving up three runs while striking out seven. Gregory Soto tossed a clean ninth for his first save, filling in for injured closer Felix Bautista, who is on the injured list with right shoulder discomfort.

Steven Kwan hit a pair of solo homers and Nolan Jones had a sacrifice fly for Cleveland, which is 11-3 since July 7 and wrapped up its homestand with five wins in seven contests. The Guardians’ current surge came immediately after they lost 10 straight.

Baltimore took a 3-0 lead in the first on Ramon Laureano’s two-run homer and an RBI double by Ramon Urias. Allen lost for the fifth time in his last six starts.

Kwan went deep in the third and fifth, both to right field, for his first multi-homer game in the majors.

Mariners acquire Josh Naylor

PHOENIX (AP) — The Seattle Mariners acquired first baseman Josh Naylor from the Arizona Diamondbacks on Thursday, a person familiar with the deal told The Associated Press, as the franchise tries to beef up it’s roster ahead of the July 31 trade deadline.

The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal hadn’t been officially announced.

The 28-year-old Naylor is hitting .292 with 11 homers and 59 RBIs this season, which was his first with the D-backs. He was acquired from the Cleveland Guardians in a trade during the offseason.

The D-backs acquired left-hander Brandyn Garcia, who has two appearances for the Mariners this season, and minor-league lefty Ashton Izzi.

The Mariners currently have a 54-48 record, which is good for second place in the AL West. They are in the second wild-card position.

The D-backs — who have a disappointing 50-53 record — are expected to continue dealing players ahead of next week’s trade deadline. Third baseman Eugenio Suarez and pitchers Merrill Kelly and Zac Gallen are among the players with expiring contracts who could be on the move.

Naylor was an All-Star last season with a career-high 31 homers and 108 RBIs for the Guardians.

Jets’ Fields dislocates toe

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) — New York Jets quarterback Justin Fields has a dislocated toe on his right foot and will be evaluated by the team on a daily basis.

The team announced the diagnosis a few hours after Fields limped off the practice field Thursday morning and was carted into the facility. It eased some initial concerns that the quarterback, in his first season with the Jets, could miss significant practice time.

Fields threw an incomplete pass to Jeremy Ruckert on his fifth play of team drills when he went down. The quarterback sat on the grass for a few moments before getting up and limping to the sideline while helped by a trainer.

“I know it was a quick throw, so I’m assuming someone stepped on his toe,” coach Aaron Glenn said after the Jets’ second practice of training camp. “It had to be because of the nature of the call that we had as far as offensive play call. I want to look at the tape and be sure.”

Fields spent a few minutes in the injury tent on the sideline as trainers examined him before a cart came out to transport him into the facility. Fields sat in the passenger seat next to the driver in the cart and then got up under his own power before stepping inside to be further evaluated.

Glenn stopped the team period after Fields was hurt and the Jets ran special teams drills.

“When anybody goes down, there’s a lump in my throat,” Glenn said. “Listen, I hate injuries for any player, but the thing is I want to make sure that I understand exactly what the injury is before I move forward on my thought process.”

Fields signed a two-year, $40 million contract as a free agent in March after playing last season in Pittsburgh and is expected to be New York’s starter this season. Veteran Tyrod Taylor, the team’s oldest player who turns 36 next month, is the backup and replaced Fields in team drills.

“I think the most important part is, if anything does happen to Justin, I don’t think there’s any drop-off as far as what we want to do when it comes to play calls,” Glenn said. “Very similar when you talk about skill set, so that was like enticing for us. And then the leadership ability … you could just tell the players really gravitate to him. When he says something, everybody really listens, even the coaching staff. He’s been around this league a long time. He knows what it takes to win, and he’s a really good person. So, we’re all excited to have that guy here.

“Listen, Justin is who he is and if something happens to him, we’ve got Tyrod and we’re ready to go.”

New York also has Adrian Martinez, the 2024 United Football League MVP, and rookie Brady Cook on its roster, but neither has thrown a pass in an NFL game. Glenn noted that Martinez was in camp with the Lions in 2023, so he has some familiarity with the offense that the Jets are running with Tanner Engstrand, Detroit’s former passing game coordinator.

The news of Fields’ injury sent Jets fans into a frenzy on social media, with many recalling how Aaron Rodgers’ torn Achilles tendon in the team’s opening game in 2023 sunk their Super Bowl hopes and how Zach Wilson missed time early in the 2022 season with a knee injury.

Glenn urged fans to remain calm because “I’ve been there and done that” — referring to how he adjusted to various injuries in Detroit last season as the Lions’ defensive coordinator — and it’s still early in training camp.

“I understand how this league is and I understand how social media starts to take over and everybody starts to panic,” Glenn said. “The one thing I would say is, listen, we have a number of men in that locker room that want to win. And we have a number of men in the locker room that’s learning how to win and it’s my job to make sure that I push that over the edge. And that’s my plan.”