SEATTLE (AP) — Seattle reliever Trent Thornton was injured while coming off the mound on a ground ball in the ninth inning Thursday night and was carted off the field during the Mariners' 6-0 win over the Texas Rangers.
Thornton was using crutches to get around the Mariners’ locker room after the game and the team did not have an official diagnosis of the lower left leg injury he sustained on the grounder hit by Adolis Garcia with two outs.
Thornton said he feared it was a significant Achilles injury and that he would have an MRI on Friday.
“It’s probably the Achilles, but that’s just speculation, so I’ll find out tomorrow,” Thornton said. “Very frustrating.”
Thornton entered the game to start the eighth inning and retired the first five batters he faced. The right-hander then had a full count on Garcia before the righty hitter hit a grounder on his 95 mph fastball on the lower outside corner.
“I threw the pitch, and as soon as I turned, I thought I broke the guy’s bat and it hit me in the back of the leg, and I fell,” Thornton said.
Thornton said his first reaction at that point was to try to look at his leg to see what had happened.
“I tried to get up and just couldn’t even put pressure on it at all,” Thornton said. “It didn’t hurt. It’s just achy and numb. But I guess I don’t know. I’m still trying to process this a little bit, and I’ll find out more tomorrow.”
Mariners manager Dan Wilson said he thought Thornton pitched “fabulous” before the injury.
“We’ll find out more tonight,” Wilson said. “Hoping for the best.”
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Seattle Mariners pitcher Trent Thornton rides a cart off the field with an injury during the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers in a baseball game Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
Seattle Mariners pitcher Trent Thornton goes to the ground with an injury during the ninth inning against the Texas Rangers in a baseball game Thursday, July 31, 2025, in Seattle. (AP Photo/John Froschauer)
FRANKFURT, Germany (AP) — Germany's troubled economy returned to modest growth last year after two years of falling output, official figures showed, as hopes rise that government spending on bridges, rail lines and defense may help end years of stagnation.
The expansion in gross domestic product of 0.2% for 2025 was fueled by stronger consumer and government spending while exports sagged under the weight of more restrictive U.S. trade policy under President Donald Trump, the German Federal Statistical Office said on Thursday.
That follows shrinkage of 0.5% in 2024 and 0.9% in 2023.
“Germany’s export business faced strong headwinds owing to higher U.S. tariffs, the appreciation of the euro and increased competition from China,” statistical office head Ruth Brand said in a statement accompanying the statistical release.
Expectations have risen for Germany to finally see stronger growth this year as the government under Chancellor Friedrich Merz implements plans to increase spending on infrastructure to make up for years of underinvestment. Meanwhile defense spending is rising due to a perceived higher level of threat from Russia after its invasion of Ukraine.
Germany has endured a period of extended stagnation following the COVID-19 pandemic. Higher energy costs following the war in Ukraine and increasing competition from China in key German specialties such as autos and industrial machinery have held back an economy that is heavily focused on exports. Then came Trump's imposition of higher tariffs, or import taxes, on goods from the European Union. The slow growth has also exposed long-term structural issues such as excessive bureaucracy and lack of skilled labor. A stronger euro has also made exports less competitive on price.
A group of leading economists has predicted 0.9% growth for this year but said that forecast could be at risk if the increase in government spending is unleashed more slowly than expected.
The German economy grew 0.2% in the last three months of 2025, according to available preliminary data.
FILE - Containers are piled up in the harbor in Hamburg, Germany, on Oct. 26, 2022. (AP Photo/Michael Probst, file)
