Arizona

Cardinals vs Rams: Three X Factors

Published

2 years ago

September 15, 2024

The Arizona Cardinals’ opener against the Buffalo Bills a week ago had mixed results.

On one hand, Kyler Murray was solid and found ways to make plays despite being under constant duress. On the flip side of the ball, the defense was bullied by Josh Allen and couldn’t help the offense when they needed the help to play catch up.

Arizona returns to State Farm Stadium for their home opener against the NFC West rival Los Angeles Rams, which will be quite the challenge.

LA has a host of Pro Bowlers on offense, including Matthew Stafford, Cooper Kupp, and Kyren Williams – all of whom have had great success against the Cardinals’ defense.

It will once again fall on Murray and the offense’s shoulders to keep the Cardinals in this game, but they’ll need the following players to have great days if they want to get the upset and their first win of the season.

Paris Johnson Jr

This Cardinals offensive line was bullied against the Bills a week ago, surrendering four sacks and constant pressure throughout 60 minutes. Things get no easier ais the Rams, who have booked edge rushers in Byron Young and first-round rookie Jared Verse, who each recorded a sack in week one’s loss to the Lions.

The duo was far from the issue in the defeat, and they will be the key on defense for LA against the Cardinals.

We, unfortunately, know what to expect from Kelvin Beachum at right tackle, but second-year man Paris Johnson Jr will have quite the task in front of him with a chance to prove himself.
A lot of pressure will be placed on Johnson, right, wrong, or indifferent. But a strong day from Johnson dramatically increases the Cardinals’ chances to get the win.

Kyzir White and Mack Wilson Sr

White (first) and Wilson (third) were two of the Cardinals’ top three tacklers from last week and they’ll once again need to put up some big numbers against the Rams.

LA has no shortage of weapons but running back Kyren Williams may be the top priority for this defense to slow down. After all, Williams ran for 301 yards on 8.4 yards per carry plus a touchdown against Arizona in two games last season.

The defensive line needs to be on their A-game, but it’ll be up to White and Wilson to contain Williams if he gets to the second level and keep him from breaking off big runs.

Sean Murphy-Bunting

Sean Murphy-Butning has the “pleasure” of covering Cooper Kupp this weekend…

If the Cardinals are smart, and I believe they will recognize this as a top priority, they will put Kupp in bracket coverage to make sure Murphy-Bunting, and his teammates aren’t covering Kupp one-on-one. There are few defensive backs in the league who can do it, so this is no insult to the veteran corner.

However, Murphy-Bunting will be likely tasked with lining up on the former Super Bowl MVP the most, and thus he’ll need to put together the best performance of his career.

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Arizona

Arizona Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #19: 4/15 @ Orioles

Published

4 hours ago

April 15, 2026

Press Room

Arizona Diamondbacks Gameday Thread, #19: 4/15 @ Orioles

Today’s Lineups

DIAMONDBACKS	ORIOLES
Ketel Marte – DH	Taylor Ward – DH Advertisement
Corbin Carroll – RF	Gunnar Henderson – SS
Geraldo Perdomo – SS	Pete Alonso – 1B
Adrian Del Castillo – C Advertisement	Johnathan Rodriguez – RF
Jose Fernandez – 1B	Weston Wilson – LF
Ildemaro Vargas – 2B	Jeremiah Jackson – 2B Advertisement
Nolan Arenado – 3B	Coby Mayo – 3B
Alek Thomas – CF	Sam Huff – C
Jorge Barrosa – LF Advertisement	Blaze Alexander – CF

E. Rodriguez – LHP	Kyle Bradish – RHP

Will Jose Fernandez ever take a walk? Yesterday, he went 2-for-4, but failed to draw a base on balls for the 13th game since he made his debut on March 31st. That is getting him up there into some fairly rarefied company. Well, at least among non-pitchers. As far as records likely never to be broken, we have Enrique Burgos, who appeared 71 times for the Diamondbacks, without a walk. The fact he never came to the plate may have been a factor in this. But in terms of plate appearances to start a career, Fernandez is getting up there. That’s now 44 PA, which have resulted in 44 at-bats. No walks. No HBP. No catcher’s interference. Zero trots down the line to first.

He does have some way to go to reach the franchise record. For the longest time – over twenty years – the mark was held by Jerry Gil, the walkless wonder. In 2004, he played 26 times for the D-backs, coming to the plate 86 times without drawing a walk (he did get hit by a pitch ones). What’s more remarkable is, save one game as a pinch-runner for the Reds in 2007, that was his entire major-league career. Baseball Reference still tags that streak as active… No other position player has had a walkless career with as many PA for almost a hundred years, since Overton Tremper went 94 PA in 1927-28.

However, Gil was recently displaced as the franchise leader for walkless PA’s to start a career. And it was by someone currently on the roster. Nobody noticed much, since it took almost two full seasons to achieve it. But Jorge Barrosa went 35 games and 91 PA, before finally getting his first base on balls in the final game last year. Of course, baseball being baseball, he then walked again, the very next time up. Another D-back also makes the top 10 by games played. Ildemaro Vargas was walkless in his first 20 appearances, though a) they were back in 2017-18, and b) that covered only 28 PA. Right now, by PA, Fernandez sits sixth. We’ll see how much higher her rises!

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Arizona

Ildemaro Vargas’ 3-run homer helps the Arizona Diamondbacks top the Baltimore Orioles 4-3

Published

16 hours ago

April 15, 2026

Press Room

Ildemaro Vargas’ 3-run homer helps the Arizona Diamondbacks top the Baltimore Orioles 4-3

Ildemaro Vargas hit a three-run homer in the fifth inning to lift the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles on Tuesday night.

The night after the Orioles rallied from a 7-1 deficit, Arizona turned the tables with a smaller comeback. The Diamondbacks were down 2-0 when Vargas connected off Trevor Rogers (2-1) for his second homer of the year.

Merrill Kelly (1-0) allowed two runs and five hits in 5 1/3 innings in his first start of the season. He walked four and struck out three.

Ryan Thompson retired Jeremiah Jackson on a grounder with the bases loaded in the eighth to preserve Arizona’s one-run lead, and Paul Sewald worked a perfect ninth for his sixth save.

Geraldo Perdomo had three hits for Arizona.

Diamondbacks star Ketel Marte was scratched shortly before the game because of back tightness. Manager Torey Lovullo said afterward he’s planning for Marte to be in the lineup Wednesday.

Kelly (left intercostal nerve irritation) started the season on the injured list, and Samuel Basallo hit a solo homer off him in the second inning. In the third, Kelly walked three hitters, including Leody Taveras with the bases loaded, to make it 2-0.

After Vargas’ one-out homer in the fifth, Jose Fernandez doubled home a run to chase Rogers.

Taveras singled home a run in the eighth, and Thompson came on with two outs and the bases full to face Jackson, who homered twice in Baltimore’s win Monday. Jackson hit the first pitch into the ground, and Thompson came off the mound quickly to field the ball and throw him out.

Orioles manager Craig Albernaz was back in the dugout after being hit in the face by a foul ball Monday.

Up next

Kyle Bradish (1-2) starts for the Orioles on Wednesday against Eduardo Rodriguez (1-0).

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Arizona

Huge Usher and Chris Brown tour coming to iconic Arizona concert spot

Published

1 day ago

April 14, 2026

Press Room

Huge Usher and Chris Brown tour coming to iconic Arizona concert spot

Chris Brown and Usher are set to bring their co-headlining tour of stadiums to Arizona.

The R&B Tour brings the Grammy-winning superstars to State Farm Stadium in Glendale on Sept. 29, 2026.

Produced by Live Nation, the 33-date tour kicks off on Friday, June 26, at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver, making stops in Detroit, Chicago, Toronto, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Houston, Miami and more before wrapping up on Friday, Dec. 11 at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa.

The tour will partner with Global Citizen to provide access to quality education for children around the world by donating $1 for every ticket sold to the FIFA Global Citizen Education Fund.

The R&B Tour follows record-breaking accomplishments for both artists. At the end of 2024, the North American leg of Usher: Past, Present, Future sold more 1.1M tickets, featuring 62 sold-out shows, with multiple nights in each city, followed by an equally impressive European leg.

Last October, Brown wrapped his sold-out BREEZY BOWL XX WORLD TOUR, capping a massive international run celebrating the 20th anniversary of his career.

The trek marked Brown’s highest-grossing tour to date and has become the highest-grossing tour ever by a solo Black American male artist, earning nearly $300 million and drawing 2 million fans across stadiums in North America, Europe and the United Kingdom.

How to get tickets to Chris Brown and Usher

Tickets will be available starting with a Citi presale on Tuesday, April 21, followed by The R&B Tour presale on Thursday, April 23. Additional presales will run throughout the week ahead of the general on sale at noon on Monday, April 27, at RaymondAndBrownTour.com.

Fans must sign up for The R&B Tour presale by 10 p.m. ET April 21. Anyone who signs up for the presale can join, no code needed. To sign up for the The R&B Tour presale, you must be a Live Nation All Access member. You can join for free when signing up for the presale at livenation.com or by visiting livenation.com/allaccess.

Citi is the official card of the The R&B Tour in the United States, giving cardmembers access to purchase presale tickets from noon on Tuesday, April 21, until 10 p.m. Wednesday, April 22, through the Citi Entertainment program at www.citientertainment.com.

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VIP packages for Chris Brown and Usher

The tour will also offer a variety of VIP packages, which vary but include premium tickets, an invitation to a behind-the-scenes tour, access to the pre-show VIP Lounge, exclusive VIP merchandise and more. VIP package contents vary based on the offer selected. For more information, visit vipnation.com.

Ed has covered pop music for The Republic since 2007, reviewing festivals and concerts, interviewing legends, covering the local scene and more. He did the same in Pittsburgh for more than a decade. Follow him on X and Instagram @edmasley and on Facebook as Ed Masley. Email him at ed.masley@arizonarepublic.com.

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