It's an exciting time for Texas A&M and Jimbo Fisher. Tomahawknation.com
Texas A&M has made the biggest splash possible when they officially hired Jimbo Fisher.
Fisher won a national championship with Jameis Winston in 2013 and went 83-23 at Florida State. Fisher is a grand slam hire for the Aggies, who desperately want to compete with Alabama and LSU in the SEC West. Fisher’s record at Florida State is impeccable. He won at least 10 games in six of his eight seasons, winning nine once and just six this year. He made the playoffs twice. He took over a top-level program from Bobby Bowden and kept it at a high level.
Does that make the Aggies instant contenders? Maybe not. Coaching changes do not always work. But if Fisher is the right guy, A&M has every advantage in place for Fisher to succeed. Besides his 10-year, $75 million dollar deal, Fisher has money to hire top assistants, has top-flight facilities and is set up to thrive.
Obviously, this is a great hire for the Aggies. But will it work? Fisher is moving to the toughest division in college football, and will have to match wits with Nick Saban every year. The ACC is no joke, but it is top heavy with FSU, Clemson, Louisville and Virginia Tech. Fisher was able to feast on a lot of weaklings in the ACC. That won't happen at A&M.
But if you are Texas A&M, you make this move any day of the week. The Aggies believe they should be able to compete with the best, and there simply aren’t that many national championship level coaches out there. Fisher is one of them. The money is almost immaterial; A&M is printing dollars.
It’s a great time in College Station. The Aggies have made an amazing splash, and the future is as exciting as it has ever been at A&M.
Most Popular
SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome
Listen Live
Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz homered, Jesús Sánchez ended a lengthy slump with five hits and the Houston Astros beat the Baltimore Orioles 7-2 Thursday night to snap a four-game losing streak.
The Astros scored early and often against Baltimore rookie Brandon Young, who six days earlier in Houston had a perfect game ruined with two outs in the eighth inning. In the rematch, the AL West leaders built a 7-1 lead in the third and coasted.
Walker hit a two-run homer in the first, Carlos Correa singled in two runs in the second and Diaz connected in the third with a runner on after Sánchez delivered an RBI single.
Sánchez broke an 0-for-29 skid with a first-inning single and finished 5 for 5, his most productive day with Houston since being acquired from Miami in a July 31 trade. The five hits tied a career high.
Young (1-7) gave up seven runs and nine hits before leaving with one out in the sixth after hurting his left hamstring while covering first base on a grounder.
Jason Alexander (4-1) allowed two runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings for Houston. Since being claimed off waivers from the Athletics on May 18, the right-hander is 4-1 with a save in eight appearances.
Dylan Beavers hit his first major league homer for Baltimore in the second inning and added a run-scoring groundout in the sixth.
The Orioles had won three straight and six of seven.
Key moment
Walker’s 17th home run with two outs in the first got the Astros rolling against Young, who yielded only one hit in Houston on Aug. 15.
Key stat
Not only did Sánchez end his slump, but Houston C Victor Caratini broke an 0-for-17 run with a second-inning single.
Up next
Astros RHP Lance McCullers Jr. (2-4, 6.90 ERA) faces Baltimore lefty Cade Povich (2-6, 4.98) on Friday.