Sometime after the Padres started to get healthy in early May, Padres manager Mike Shildt had a talk with Jose Iglesias.

The 35-year-old veteran had done his part to help hold things together as Jackson Merrill, Jake Cronenworth, Brandon Lockridge, Jason Heyward and Luis Arraez all hit the injured list in the early part of the season.

The next way that Iglesias could help — off the bench as he did in Sunday’s 3-2 walk-off win over the Kansas City Royals — would be just as critical in this eight-month slog through a 162-game season.

“It means a lot coming from the bench and in such a situation like that and to be able to come through for the team,” Iglesias said. “I’m just very happy to get the job done and just be ready in those situations.”

All three situations on Sunday arrived after Iglesias pinch-hit for Jake Cronenworth in Sunday’s seventh inning.

A two-run single with the bases loaded tied the game. Two innings later, Iglesias seamlessly collected a throw from the right-center alley from Merrill and fired to home plate to cut down the go-ahead run.

And a half-inning after that, Iglesias’ groundball to shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. against a drawn-in infield plated the winning run, securing the Padres’ first series win since June 6-8 in Milwaukee.

Not bad for a veteran feeling his way through his first year as a role player.

Then again, Iglesias has proven time and time again that he’s cut from the right cloth.

“It’s very high,” Padres manager Mike Shildt said of Iglesias’ situational awareness. “ … (Fernando Tatis Jr.) says it beautifully: Do what the game calls for. That’s way easier said than done. Part of the process of being a winning major league player is knowing what the game does call for.”

Iglesias had plenty of company Sunday.

Randy Vásquez threw a career-high seven innings in outlasting former Padres right-hander Seth Lugo, Xander Bogaerts was superb at shortstop to support a pitching staff that could afford few mistakes and Shildt pulled all the right strings, beginning with asking Iglesias to hit for Cronenworth with the bases loaded in the seventh inning.

Lugo retired 18 in a row after Tatis’ single to start the game when Merrill doubled to start the seventh. Two batters later, Lugo was out of the game and left-hander Angel Zerpa had walked the bases loaded to put a decision to Shildt:

Have the left-handed hitting Cronenworth face Zerpa or ask Iglesias to come off the bench to face right-hander Lucas Erceg, who was warming in the bullpen

Shildt chose Iglesias, Zerpa was lifted for Erceg and Iglesias poked an 0-2 single to right field, tying the game.

Two innings later, right-hander John Schreiber had Iglesias in another 0-2 hole after Arraez’s leadoff single and  Bogaerts’ one-out double when an 86 mph grounder up the middle pulled Witt behind the mound, just far enough to keep him from making a strong throw to the plate.

The throw was up the first line a bit, too, and Arraez slid across the plate safely to send a sellout crowd of 43,567 home happy.

“Man, he battled his tail off,” Shildt said. “He got down two strikes a couple times and just found a way. Bat to ball, good player, man. Finds a way to get it done.”

The same could be said for Vásquez, who really made just one mistake on Sunday: A middle-middle cutter that veteran Salvador Pérez pulled out to left to open a 2-0 lead in the sixth inning.

A one out-single from Vinnie Pasquantino preceded Pérez’s ninth homer of the season. Vásquez, however, recorded the next two outs to get out of the sixth and then retired the side in order the next inning as he completed seven innings for the first time in his career.

His previous best was an out shy of seven innings last June against the Diamondbacks.

Vásquez struck out two, walked two and scattered five hits while throwing 63 of his 89 pitches for strikes.

“I thought Vásquez was fantastic,” Shildt said of Vásquez’s first quality start since May 26. “. … A huge seven innings. Earning more trust deeper into games and rewarding it.”

A double play started by Bogaerts helped Jason Adam through a scoreless eighth inning and defense helped Suarez escape the ninth after walking Drew Waters with two outs.

Freddy Fermin gave the Royals a good look at retaking the lead, too, with a 103 mph double to right-center. Merrill, in this first game off the concussion list, gathered the ball before it reached the wall and fired to Iglesias, who sent a relay a bit up the third base line but in plenty of time to cut down the go-ahead run.

His third RBI of the game — all after beginning the day on the bench — followed a half-inning later.

Yes, Iglesias wants all the playing time he can get.

But this role is beginning to suit him, too.

“It’s my first time in 14 years that I’m in this role,” Iglesias said. “I’m still adjusting to the routine and each and every day learning about when to start my routine. It’s a process, but each and every day I feel more comfortable.”

Originally Published: June 22, 2025 at 3:37 PM PDT

NASCAR Cup Series The Great American Getaway 400 Presented by VISITPA.COM Results

Sunday

At Pocono Raceway

Long Pond, Pa.

Lap length: 2.50 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (6) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 160 laps, 57 points.

2. (1) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 160, 50.

3. (20) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 160, 37.

4. (2) Chris Buescher, Ford, 160, 48.

5. (18) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 160, 43.

6. (4) John H. Nemechek, Toyota, 160, 31.

7. (24) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 160, 32.

8. (13) Ryan Preece, Ford, 160, 29.

9. (14) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 160, 28.

10. (19) Austin Cindric, Ford, 160, 31.

11. (25) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 160, 27.

12. (35) Josh Berry, Ford, 160, 34.

13. (11) Erik Jones, Toyota, 160, 30.

14. (7) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 160, 23.

15. (10) Daniel Suárez, Chevrolet, 160, 22.

16. (12) Joey Logano, Ford, 160, 25.

17. (9) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 160, 20.

18. (3) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 160, 20.

19. (22) Justin Haley, Chevrolet, 160, 18.

20. (26) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 160, 17.

21. (33) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 160, 16.

22. (5) Cole Custer, Ford, 160, 15.

23. (17) Noah Gragson, Ford, 160, 14.

24. (16) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 160, 13.

25. (15) Zane Smith, Ford, 160, 17.

26. (21) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 160, 11.

27. (31) William Byron, Chevrolet, 160, 19.

28. (32) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 160, 9.

29. (36) Cody Ware, Ford, 160, 8.

30. (30) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet, 160, 7.

31. (23) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 159, 6.

32. (8) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 159, 13.

33. (27) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 140, 4.

34. (37) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, garage, 111, 0.

35. (28) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, accident, 73, 2.

36. (34) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, accident, 54, 1.

37. (29) Riley Herbst, Toyota, accident, 41, 1.

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Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 130.204 mph.

Time of Race: 3 hours, 4 minutes, 20 seconds.

Margin of Victory: .682 seconds.

Caution Flags: 7 for 31 laps.

Lead Changes: 11 among 9 drivers.

Lap Leaders: D.Hamlin 0-32; B.Keselowski 33-56; C.Hocevar 57; J.Logano 58-62; A.Bowman 63-77; R.Stenhouse 78-79; C.Hocevar 80; C.Briscoe 81-118; C.Buescher 119-120; R.Blaney 121-123; B.Keselowski 124-126; C.Briscoe 127-160

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): C.Briscoe, 2 times for 72 laps; D.Hamlin, 1 time for 32 laps; B.Keselowski, 2 times for 27 laps; A.Bowman, 1 time for 15 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 5 laps; R.Blaney, 1 time for 3 laps; C.Buescher, 1 time for 2 laps; C.Hocevar, 2 times for 2 laps; R.Stenhouse, 1 time for 2 laps.

Wins: K.Larson, 3; C.Bell, 3; D.Hamlin, 3; W.Byron, 1; R.Blaney, 1; R.Chastain, 1; J.Logano, 1; A.Cindric, 1; J.Berry, 1; S.Van Gisbergen, 1.

Top 16 in Points: 1. W.Byron, 604; 2. K.Larson, 537; 3. C.Bell, 524; 4. C.Elliott, 500; 5. D.Hamlin, 494; 6. T.Reddick, 477; 7. R.Blaney, 466; 8. R.Chastain, 443; 9. J.Logano, 411; 10. B.Wallace, 411; 11. C.Briscoe, 393; 12. A.Bowman, 376; 13. C.Buescher, 373; 14. R.Preece, 354; 15. A.Cindric, 337; 16. M.McDowell, 330.

As it stands, Williams are comfortably 5th in the constructors standings. The British team have generally been the ‘best of the rest’ in 2025, with the FW47 proving a competitive machine.

Despite the volume of crashes and incidents they suffered 2024, the Grove-based squad managed to address many of last year’s shortcomings.

Team principal James Vowles made a point to switch Williams’ focus to this season relatively early last season – so that his personnel could focus entirely on the 2026 regulations.

Until the Imola GP, Williams enjoyed a significant buffer over other teams in the midfield.

In recent months, however, Vowles’ personnel have seen their advantage steadily eroded.

Williams losing out in the development race

As previously outlined, Williams abandoned 2024 development relatively early to focus on this year’s package.

This decision put them in a very strong position in the opening rounds, with Alex Albon in particular achieving big points hauls.

Even Carlos Sainz, who has vocalised his struggles in adapting to the FW47, has regularly fought in the top 10.

Misfortune has also negatively impacted the Spaniard, with floor damage in Miami preventing him from finishing ahead of the Ferrari duo.

Despite this, the British team can generally be satisfied with their performance so far in 2025.

Unfortunately for James Vowles, this could change over the coming months. In fact, the Grove outfit’s advantage is largely eliminated already.

Unlike Williams, others in the midfield have introduced substantial upgrade packages since the European leg of the calendar.

Aston Martin, for example, have been far more competitive since their Imola updates.

Poor strategy and reliability failures prevented Fernando Alonso from securing big points in Imola and Monaco – but cleaner weekends in Spain and Canada saw the Double Champion secure solid results.

Haas and VCARB can also be credited with impressive mid-season updates. Haas’ transformation into a team with an effective development programme is particularly notable.

Even Sauber, at least in the hands of Nico Hulkenberg, are capable of fighting for points.

Like Aston Martin, the Swiss team have more updates scheduled for the coming weeks.

The Canadian GP was of unique significance for Williams, given it is a circuit well-suited the FW47.

For James Vowles’ team to be relatively average at a track like Canada does not bode well for the remainder of 2025.

Focus remains on 2026

To some extent, it is obviously frustrating for Williams to see other teams catch up in the midfield.

It is also plausible that, as mentioned above, the likes of Aston Martin progress further.

This could further complicate their efforts to retain 5th place in the constructors – which would be their best result in F1 since 2017.

At the same time, James Vowles has clearly articulated what the priorities at Williams are.

The former Mercedes engineer wants to lead Williams into Championship contention – with the 2026 regulations being the best opportunity to rapidly progress.

Because of this, the team’s entire development approach has been centred on next year.

Inevitably, this mean’s the FW47 is unlikely to see any major improvements. This could certainly pay off when the lights go out in Australia next year.

Until then, however, Williams will be in an increasingly demanding midfield scrap.

Main photo: Williams Media Gallery

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Chase Briscoe got the cold facts when the third-generation driver’s career took an unexpected turn, leaving his lame-duck NASCAR team for the sport’s most coveted available seat with powerhouse Joe Gibbs Racing.

The message was clear at JGR — home of five Cup driver titles and a perennial contender to win another one.

“You don’t make the playoffs,” Briscoe said, “you don’t race in this car anymore.”

The Toyotas were better at JGR, sure. So were the championship standards set by Joe Gibbs and the rest of the organization.

“It’s been a lot of work,” Briscoe’s crew chief James Small said. “From where he came from, there wasn’t much accountability. Nobody was holding his feet to the fire. That’s probably been a big wake-up call for him.”

Briscoe’s eyes are wide open now, a first-time winner for JGR and, yes, he is indeed playoff bound.

Briscoe returned to victory lane Sunday at Pocono Raceway, stretching the final drops of fuel down the stretch to hold off Hamlin for his third career Cup victory and first with his new race team.

“I’ve only won three races in the Cup Series, right? But this is by far the least enjoyable just because it’s expected now,” Briscoe said. “You have to go win. Where at SHR, you really felt like you surprised the world if you won.”

Briscoe raced his way into an automatic spot in NASCAR’s playoffs with the win and gave the No. 19 Toyota its first victory since 2023 when Martin Truex Jr. had the ride. Briscoe lost his job at the end of last season at Stewart-Haas Racing when the team folded and he was tabbed to replace Truex — almost a year to the day for his win at Pocono — in the four-car JGR field.

Hamlin, who holds the track record with seven wins, appeared on the brink of reeling in Briscoe over the final, thrilling laps only to have not enough in the No. 11 Toyota to snag that eighth Pocono win.

“It was just so hard to have a guy chasing you, especially the guy that’s the greatest of all time here,” Briscoe said.

Briscoe made his final pit stop on lap 119 of the 160-lap race, while Hamlin — who returned after missing last week’s race following the birth of his son — made his final stop on 120. Hamlin’s team radioed to him that they believed Briscoe would fall about a half-lap short on fuel — only for the first-year JGR driver to win by 0.682 seconds.

“The most nervous I get is when two of our cars are up front,” Gibbs said.

Gibbs now has Hamlin, Bell and Briscoe in the playoff field.

“It’s definitely more work but it’s because they’re at such a high level,” Briscoe said. “Even racing with teammates that are winning has been a big adjustment for me.”

Briscoe, who won an Xfinity Series race at Pocono in 2020, raced to his third career Cup victory and first since Darlington in 2024.

Briscoe has been on bit of a hot streak, and had his fourth top-10 finish over the last six races, including a seventh-place finish in last week’s ballyhooed race in Mexico City.

He became the 11th driver to earn a spot in the 16-driver field with nine races left until the field is set and made a winner again of crew chief James Small. Small stayed on the team through Truex’s final winless season and Briscoe’s winless start to this season.

“It’s been a tough couple of years,” Small said. “We’ve never lost belief, any of us.”

Hamlin finished second. Ryan Blaney, Chris Buescher and Chase Elliott completed the top five.

Briscoe, raised a dirt racer in Indiana, gave JGR its 18th Cup victory at Pocono.

“I literally grew up racing my sprint car video game in a Joe Gibbs Racing Home Depot uniform,” Briscoe said. “To get Coach in victory lane after them taking a chance on me, it’s so rewarding truthfully. Just a big weight off my shoulders. I’ve been telling my wife the last two weeks, I have to win. To finally come here and do it, it has been a great day.”

The race was delayed 2 hours, 10 minutes by rain and the conditions were muggy by the time the green flag dropped. Briscoe led 72 laps and won the second stage.

Briscoe wrote before the race on social media, “Anybody going from Pocono to Oklahoma City after the race Sunday?” The Pacers fan — he bet on the team to win the NBA title — wasn’t going to make it to Game 7 of the NBA Finals.

He’ll certainly settle for a ride to victory lane.

Clean race

Carson Hocevar made a clean pass of Ricky Stenhouse Jr. and two feuding drivers battled without incident on restarts as they appeared to race in peace after a pair of recent wrecks on the track threatened to spill into Pocono.

Stenhouse’s threat to beat up his racing riva l after last weekend’s race in Mexico City but cooler heads prevailed back in the United States. Hocevar finished 18th and Stenhouse 30th.

Ouch

There was a minor scare on pit road when AJ Allmendinger struck a tire in the carrier’s hand with his right front side and sent it flying into the ribs of another team’s crew member in the pit ahead of him. Jonpatrik Kealey, the rear tire changer on Shane van Gisbergen’s race team, was knocked on all fours but finished work on van Gisbergen’s pit stop.

Brake time

Bubba Wallace, Michael McDowell and Riley Herbst all had their races spoiled by brake issues.

“It was a scary feeling for sure,” Herbst said. “I was just starting to get tight, just a bad adjustment on my part. Getting into (turn) one, the brakes just went to the floor. A brake rotor exploded and I was along for the ride.”

Up next

NASCAR heads to Atlanta. Christopher Bell won the first race at the track this season in March.

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Denny Hamlin earned the top seed in the inaugural version of NASCAR’s In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament set to kick off next week in Atlanta.

The tournament, which comes with a $1 million prize to the winner, is part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT.

The final 32-driver field was set by results of the races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. Chase Briscoe won the Cup race Sunday at Pocono Raceway to finalize the field.

The drivers will be paired in head-to-head matchups based on seeding, with the winners advancing to the next round in a bracket format that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Hamlin goes head-to-head next week against the 32nd seed, Ty Dillon. Briscoe earned the second seed, Chris Buescher is third, Christopher Bell fourth and Chase Elliott fifth.

The format is single elimination with the field cut to 16 at Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four at Dover and the final two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The tournament is patterned after in-season tournaments that are staged by soccer leagues around the world and even brought to the NBA.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed without permission.

LONG POND, Pa. (AP) — Denny Hamlin earned the top seed in the inaugural version of NASCAR’s In-season Challenge, a five-race, bracket-style tournament set to kick off next week in Atlanta.

The tournament, which comes with a $1 million prize to the winner, is part of a new media rights deal that includes TNT.

The final 32-driver field was set by results of the races at Michigan, Mexico City and Pocono. Chase Briscoe won the Cup race Sunday at Pocono Raceway to finalize the field.

The drivers will be paired in head-to-head matchups based on seeding, with the winners advancing to the next round in a bracket format that mirrors the NCAA basketball tournaments.

Hamlin goes head-to-head next week against the 32nd seed, Ty Dillon. Briscoe earned the second seed, Chris Buescher is third, Christopher Bell fourth and Chase Elliott fifth.

The format is single elimination with the field cut to 16 at Chicago, eight at Sonoma, four at Dover and the final two at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The tournament is patterned after in-season tournaments that are staged by soccer leagues around the world and even brought to the NBA.

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AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

The Associated Press