After trying for half of her life, Sabrina Carpenter is finally having a moment.

For the past seven weeks, she’s claimed three songs in the top 10 of the Billboard Hot 100, the longest streak ever for a woman and not too far off from champions 50 Cent (11 weeks in 2005), the Beatles (10 weeks in 1964) and Justin Bieber (10 weeks in 2016).

After serving as the musical guest on “Saturday Night Live” in May, her inescapable hit “Espresso” was cleverly parodied by host Ariana Grande on Saturday’s episode. (The 25-year-old Carpenter reposted the clip on Instagram with several heart emojis.) Social media and the gossip press breathlessly cover her every move, outfit and date. Her sixth record “Short n’ Sweet” earned rave reviews and stands as the second-longest running No. 1 album of the year behind Taylor Swift, an obvious influence.

By all measures, the former Disney Channel star’s career is the hottest it’s ever been since she began acting at the age of 12. So it was a surprise to hear her tour was not providing local critics with tickets, nor allowing press photographers to cover her totally and completely sold out Monday night concert at Minneapolis’ Target Center. (Scalpers were getting $500 for the worst seats in the house.)

What is Carpenter trying to hide?

After watching her 85 minute performance, it’s not immediately clear. She has earned some negative buzz about the skimpy run time, although the set list was solely drawn from her first adult album (2022’s “Emails I Can’t Send”) and her new one, with which the tour shares its name. (Truth in advertising!)

Perhaps it was because Carpenter has consciously moved away from teen-friendly pop of her early days into a more explicit, sexually charged mode. Yet she still has a significant number of young fans. A trio of what looked to be grade schoolers were sitting in front of me Monday night and it was, uh, odd to see them singing along to Carpenter’s steamy single “Bed Chem,” which was introduced on stage with a “parental discretion is advised” notice on the big screens and ended with a muscular cameraman stripping off his shirt and Carpenter climbing on top of him.

Whatever the case, Carpenter proved to be a solid live performer with an excellent grasp on how she wants to present herself to the world. Her extremely choreographed show was modeled after a ’70s television variety show taking place at a slumber party.

Carpenter opened the show wearing what looked to be just a bath towel until she opened it to reveal a sparkly leotard and garters, the first of numerous outfits she’d wear during the evening. From there, she bounced between her two most recent albums, with the “Short n’ Sweet” numbers getting the bigger response. (The laid-back album is synth pop but not really dance music. At times it’s vaguely reminiscent of ’80s Fleetwood Mac.)

On “Espresso” as well as much of the new album, Carpenter sings in more of a hushed whisper. But live, she proved she’s got a big voice when she chooses to use it, as she did during “Fast Times” and “Read Your Mind.”

At one point she took to the heart shaped tip of a catwalk that extended out from her stage. The heart sunk down to create a conversation pit where her backup dancers joined her for “Coincidence” and her nightly surprise cover song chosen by Carpenter spinning a bottle. Madonna’s “Material Girl” was Monday’s winner and just in case the crowd didn’t know it, the words appeared on the big screens, karaoke style.

I can’t help but wonder how many of the Zoomers in the audience got the references to ’70s variety shows, analog TV and, well, conversation pits. But Carpenter proved to be a charming enough performer that it didn’t matter if they did or not.

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More reinforcements appear to be on the way for the Vikings.

After opening the practice window for star tight end T.J. Hockenson before the bye week, the Vikings have done the same for right guard Dalton Risner coming out of it.

Though he technically has the next 21 days to get himself back into playing shape, Risner made it clear on Monday afternoon at TCO Performance that he’s fully recovered from the back injury that has sidelined him since training camp.

“It’s been a tough deal having to sit out,” Risner said. “I’m really happy to be back.”

The fact that Risner is back at practice could eventually pave the way for being a starter once again. He started 11 games for the Vikings last season, and while the offensive line has played well this season amid a 5-0 start, right guard Ed Ingram has remained a weak link in the trenches.

That’s been a common trend for Ingram as he has struggled with consistency throughout his career. He has become a lightning rod for criticism as a result, and frankly, if Risner hadn’t suffered a back injury during training camp, he more than likely would have challenged Ingram for his spot as starter.

Not that Risner feels entitled to that role upon his return.

“Those guys have played so great, and I’ve been out since training camp,” Risner said. “I have no right to say anything or do anything. My job is to go out there and get these boys right and practice. That’s all I’m going to do.”

Naturally, Ingram tried to downplay the narrative that he’s battling with Risner for playing time, choosing instead to focus on how internal competition pushes the group as a whole. Asked how he thinks he has played so far this season, Ingram replied, “I feel like I’ve been gradually getting better and better.”

It will be important for Ingram to continue to show those strides in the right direction. Especially now that Risner is back in the mix with his sights set on making a difference.

“I have that chip on my shoulder,” Risner said. “I have a lot I want to prove.”

In the meantime, Risner vowed to continue to work hard in practice, patiently waiting until it’s his time to be put into a game.

“I’m grateful to be out there practicing,” Risner said. “Whenever my name is called, I’ll be ready to roll.”

Briefly

Though it wasn’t the most intense practice on Monday afternoon at TCO Performance Center, veteran running back Aaron Jones was spotted stretching during the portion open to reporters. He’s considered week-to-week with a hip injury, so it will be interesting to monitor his status with the Vikings preparing for a matchup with the Detroit Lions on Sunday afternoon at U.S. Bank Stadium.

Minnesota Vikings guard Dalton Risner (66) lines up for play during the second half of an NFL football game against the San Francisco 49ers, Monday, Oct. 23, 2023, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)

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The Twins are bringing back a coach who is very familiar with their hitters.

As they overhaul their coaching staff — the Twins announced earlier this month that four coaches, including hitting coaches David Popkins, Rudy Hernandez and Derek Shomon, would not be returning in their roles — the Twins are hiring hitting coach Matt Borgschulte, a source confirmed.

Borgschulte, 33, previously was a minor league coach in the organization and has experience working with players on the current roster, many of whom have spoken highly of their time with him.

In his first stint with the Twins, Borgschulte was the Triple-A Saints hitting coach in 2021, worked at the alternate site in 2020 and served as the hitting coach for Single-A Fort Myers in 2019 and for the GCL Twins in 2018.

But after the Twins hired Popkins ahead of the 2022 season to lead their hitters, Borgschulte departed for Baltimore to serve as the Orioles’ co-hitting coach, a role he served in for the past three seasons.

The Orioles, a team stocked with young talent, finished the 2024 season with a .750 OPS, which was fourth in the majors. Their 786 runs scored was also fourth in the majors, their 235 home runs were second and their 115 wRC+ (Weighted Runs Created Plus) was third in the majors behind just the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees.

The Twins, meanwhile, tailed off offensively at the end of the season for six weeks, collapsing and missing the playoffs, after which manager Rocco Baldelli expressed that “sometimes the players need a different voice with a different message.”

“Situational hitting approach, things like that, are going to be part of the conversation we have here around the next hitting group,” president of baseball operations Derek Falvey said earlier this month. “What that looks like, what were we missing on that. It did feel like, particularly in certain situations, it was hard for us to execute on maybe a key moment.”

In addition to turning over their hitting staff, Twins also dismissed assistant bench coach/infield coach Tony Diaz earlier this month, creating four coaching openings, which is the most turnover since before Baldelli took over before the 2019 season.

In what figures to be a busy offseason, Derek Falvey said earlier this month that the filing out their coaching staff “will likely be the first order of business,” this offseason.

The beginning to that has now happened.

A 13-year-old boy was killed Saturday night when he was run over by a trolley wagon pulled by a tractor at a haunted hayride event in central Minnesota.

The Stearns County Sheriff’s Office said that Alexander Mick, 13, of Rice, was pronounced dead at the scene in St. Augusta.

At about 7:37 p.m. Saturday, the sheriff’s office received a call reporting an accident at the annual Harvest of Horror Haunted Hayride.

The caller said that a boy had been injured when he was run over by a trolley wagon being pulled by a tractor, according to the sheriff’s office. Staff and bystanders, including an off-duty police officer and an off-duty medic, rendered aid.

A Stearns County deputy and others were at the event and responded, as well.

Lifesaving efforts continued at the scene but were unsuccessful.

The incident remains under investigation by the sheriff’s office.