CHICAGO (AP) — Jake Meyers felt it was his best game at the plate. At least he couldn't remember a better one.
Not in the majors. Not in the minor leagues. Not in three seasons at the University of Nebraska, where he also pitched.
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Houston Astros' Yainer Diaz (21) scores on a triple from Jake Meyers during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Houston Astros' Jake Meyers (6) runs the bases after hitting a 3-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Houston Astros' Jake Meyers (6) slaps hands with Zach Dezenzo after Meyers hit a 3-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Houston Astros' Jake Meyers (6) celebrates after hitting a 3-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Houston Astros' Jake Meyers (6) celebrates after hitting a 3-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
“Not that I can remember, not like this,” Meyers said. “Pretty cool.”
Meyers homered twice on his way to a career-high seven RBIs in an 8-3 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Saturday. Batting ninth in the lineup, he went 4 for 4 and scored three times while matching a franchise record with 13 total bases.
The 28-year-old Meyers began the day with a .262 batting average, no homers and six RBIs in 30 games this season.
“That was an awesome day by Jake,” manager Joe Espada said. “He got some good pitches to hit and he didn’t miss ’em.
“I think Jake was seeing the ball well. He’s a hard worker. He goes through some stretches where he misses some of his fastballs and the pitches he handles.”
Meyers set career highs with 13 homers and 61 RBIs in 148 games last season, helping Houston win the AL West. He was selected by the Astros in the 13th round of the 2017 amateur draft.
He had his big day in Chicago with Yordan Alvarez sitting out because of right hand inflammation.
Meyers hit his first homer of the season on Davis Martin’s first pitch of the third. He tied it at 3 with a two-run triple with two out in the fourth, capping a 10-pitch at bat.
Meyers’ three-run drive in the sixth off Penn Murfee put the Astros ahead to stay. Murfee, a right-hander, had just come in to face Meyers, who hits from the right side.
“It was awesome,” Meyers said. “It was a lot of fun."
An RBI double to center in the eighth gave Meyers 13 total bases. He had no idea he was near the team record, most recently accomplished by Alvarez in Philadelphia last August.
“I was just trying to keep the rhythm of the game and trying to score some more runs,” Meyers said.
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Houston Astros' Yainer Diaz (21) scores on a triple from Jake Meyers during the fourth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Houston Astros' Jake Meyers (6) runs the bases after hitting a 3-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Houston Astros' Jake Meyers (6) slaps hands with Zach Dezenzo after Meyers hit a 3-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Houston Astros' Jake Meyers (6) celebrates after hitting a 3-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
Houston Astros' Jake Meyers (6) celebrates after hitting a 3-run home run during the sixth inning of a baseball game against the Chicago White Sox, Saturday, May 3, 2025, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Erin Hooley)
ST. LOUIS (AP) — World champions Ilia Malinin and the ice dance duo of Madison Chock and Evan Bates will anchor one of the strongest U.S. Figure Skating teams in history when they head to Italy for the Milan Cortina Olympics in less than a month.
Malinin, fresh off his fourth straight national title, will be the prohibitive favorite to follow in the footsteps of Nathan Chen by delivering another men's gold medal for the American squad when he steps on the ice at the Milano Ice Skating Arena.
Chock and Bates, who won their record-setting seventh U.S. title Saturday night, also will be among the Olympic favorites, as will world champion Alysa Liu and women's teammate Amber Glenn, fresh off her third consecutive national title.
U.S. Figure Skating announced its full squad of 16 athletes for the Winter Games during a made-for-TV celebration Sunday.
"I'm just so excited for the Olympic spirit, the Olympic environment," Malinin said. “Hopefully go for that Olympic gold.”
Malinin will be joined on the men's side by Andrew Torgashev, the all-or-nothing 24-year-old from Coral Springs, Florida, and Maxim Naumov, the 24-year-old from Simsbury, Connecticut, who fulfilled the hopes of his late parents by making the Olympic team.
Vadim Naumov and Evgenia Shishkova were returning from a talent camp in Kansas when their American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter and crashed into the icy Potomac River in January 2025. One of the last conversations they had with their son was about what it would take for him to follow in their footsteps by becoming an Olympian.
“We absolutely did it,” Naumov said. “Every day, year after year, we talked about the Olympics. It means so much in our family. It's what I've been thinking about since I was 5 years old, before I even know what to think. I can't put this into words.”
Chock and Bates helped the Americans win team gold at the Beijing Games four years ago, but they finished fourth — one spot out of the medals — in the ice dance competition. They have hardly finished anywhere but first in the years since, winning three consecutive world championships and the gold medal at three straight Grand Prix Finals.
U.S. silver medalists Emilea Zingas and Vadym Kolesnik also made the dance team, as did the Canadian-born Christina Carreira, who became eligible for the Olympics in November when her American citizenship came through, and Anthony Ponomarenko.
Liu was picked for her second Olympic team after briefly retiring following the Beijing Games. She had been burned out by years of practice and competing, but stepping away seemed to rejuvenate the 20-year-old from Clovis, California, and she returned to win the first world title by an American since Kimmie Meissner stood atop the podium two decades ago.
Now, the avant-garde Liu will be trying to help the U.S. win its first women's medal since Sasha Cohen in Turin in 2006, and perhaps the first gold medal since Sarah Hughes triumphed four years earlier at the Salt Lake City Games.
Her biggest competition, besides a powerful Japanese contingent, could come from her own teammates: Glenn, a first-time Olympian, has been nearly unbeatable the past two years, while 18-year-old Isabeau Levito is a former world silver medalist.
"This was my goal and my dream and it just feels so special that it came true,” said Levito, whose mother is originally from Milan.
The two pairs spots went to Ellie Kam and Danny O'Shea, the U.S. silver medalists, and the team of Emily Chan and Spencer Howe.
The top American pairs team, two-time reigning U.S. champions Alisa Efimova and Misha Mitrofanov, were hoping that the Finnish-born Efimova would get her citizenship approved in time to compete in Italy. But despite efforts by the Skating Club of Boston, where they train, and the help of their U.S. senators, she did not receive her passport by the selection deadline.
“The importance and magnitude of selecting an Olympic team is one of the most important milestones in an athlete's life,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Matt Farrell said, "and it has such an impact, and while there are sometimes rules, there is also a human element to this that we really have to take into account as we make decisions and what's best going forward from a selection process.
“Sometimes these aren't easy," Farrell said, “and this is not the fun part.”
The fun is just beginning, though, for the 16 athletes picked for the powerful American team.
AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Amber Glenn competes during the women's free skating competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Friday, Jan. 9, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Alysa Liu skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Maxim Naumov skates during the "Making Team USA" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Madison Chock and Evan Bates skate during the "Making the Team" performance at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Sunday, Jan. 11, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Stephanie Scarbrough)
Gold medalist Ilia Malinin arrives for the metal ceremony after the men's free skate competition at the U.S. Figure Skating Championships, Saturday, Jan. 10, 2026, in St. Louis. (AP Photo/Jeff Roberson)
