On the surface, it wouldn’t appear too easy for the Saints to find any positives to take out of a 9-1 loss to the Omaha Storm Chasers on Sunday at CHS Field. But another sign that starting pitcher Louie Varland is beginning to find his groove again was a legitimate reason for optimism.

Varland took the loss to drop his record to 3-8. He pitched five innings, allowing three runs on four hits. He struck out six while allowing four walks. Both he and pitching coach Pete Larson will take it.

Prior to Sunday, Varland had three outstanding starts following the low point of his season, when he allowed 11 earned runs on 11 hits over 2 1/3 innings against Toledo on June 23. The previous two games, he allowed a total of four hits in 11 2/3 scoreless innings.

“I’ve been really impressed with how, with the changes we’ve made, he’s bought in on them,” Larson said. “He’s really picked it up his last four (starts). It’s nice to get some momentum, and hopefully he can keep carrying that on and finish the season out strong.”

Larson said one of the changes has to do with Varland’s delivery — having a higher front side when he strides toward the plate to produce more leverage.

“It’s something we played around with last year, so we brought that back,” Larson said. “Maybe he slightly got away from it. It might not be the biggest thing, but it helps with consistency.

“And then a little shift on the rubber. He’s seen a little benefit from that, too.”

Asked about the work he is doing with Larson, Varland said, “I’m working on a couple pitches, but I’m pretty much the same pitcher I always have been.”

But, with better results than he was getting earlier in the season.

“His changeup is improving, and we’re seeing some really good life on his fastball, too,” Larson said. “He’s got a pretty good arsenal. Throughout his tenure, he has tried everything; he’s worked on and developed a lot of different pitches.

“I think it’s ironing the mix with the lineup that night for how we best use it.”

Varland said he is looking at the 11-run nightmare as what he hopes to be the turning point in his season. It could end up being a turning point in his career.

“That was the lowest of the low, result wise,” he said. “I don’t want to do that again.”

Larson played a role in helping Varland get through some dark days.

“You’ve got to sympathize and try to meet him where he’s at currently,” he said. “I’ve been fortunate to be around Louie for a lot of years now and I’ve seen the whole progression. That
was a tough one, and we’ve looked at video, (pitch) usage — just trying to find something different.

“I think we just went back, when things were clicking and he was rolling last year, what were some of the things he was doing to help maximize that? At the end of the day it might not be those changes that made a difference, but it helped right the ship.”

While Sunday’s outing wasn’t as good as the three previous ones, the positives outweighed the negatives.

“You want to regain confidence, you want to see some success,” Larson said. “When he has success, he’s getting swings and misses, he’s using the fastball well and he’s showing good velocity, too.

“A combination of those things leads to being comfortable and more consistent outings.”

Varland was solid through the first four innings on Sunday, the only blemish coming on a solo home run to lead off the second inning. He struggled in the fifth after retiring the first two batters. A walk and a two-run home run gave the Storm Chasers a 3-1 lead.

Varland walked the next two batters but got out of the inning when shortstop Rylan Bannon made a diving stop on a hard hit ball over second base and threw to first for the out.

Larson noted that the walks came on a hot day when Varland’s pitch count was beginning to climb.

“I wouldn’t say it was it was wildness at all,” Varland said of the walks. “I think I was barely missing. I think they made an adjustment that last inning and weren’t swinging at pitches they normally would have swung at.”

Varland said he isn’t ready to proclaim that he is back to where he wants to be.

“I’m never satisfied,” he said. “There’s always room to grow.”

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St. Paul gymnast Suni Lee has a very good chance to add more hardware to her already-impressive collection this week at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Not only did Lee perform well enough Sunday to help the U.S. qualify for the team final in convincing fashion, she did enough to earn the right to defend her gold medal in the all-around competition final. She also will compete in several individual finals.

Here’s a look at the next week or so for Lee’s schedule and when to watch her:

Tuesday, July 30: She will compete in the team final, with competition beginning at 11:15 p.m. CT.
Thursday, August 1: She will compete in the all-around final, with competition beginning at 11:15 p.m. CT.
Sunday, August 4: She will compete in the uneven bars final, with competition beginning at  8:40 a.m. CT.
Monday, August 5: She will compete in the balance beam final, with competition beginning at at 5:36 a.m. CT.

All events will be televised live on NBC and streamed live on Peacock. You can also catch replays of each event in primetime.

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Sahith Theegala entered this week ranked No. 11 in the world and No. 7 in the FedExCup standings. The 26-year-old is a rising superstar in the sport, who had struggled in his past appearances in Blaine.

And yet he still made the decision to tee it up in this week’s 3M Open.

That, in itself, is a major win for the tournament, and Hollis Cavner’s vision.

The 3M Open is not a “signature event” on the PGA Tour schedule. Those feature bigger payouts and essentially an obligation for the game’s top names to participate. Minnesota’s tour stop is a young event with a challenging location on the calendar, positioned directly after The Open.

The best players in the world simply aren’t going to be inclined to fly back across the pond the week after a major championship to play in Blaine.

Knowing that, Cavner — the tournament’s executive director — has had to get creative in his recruiting. Included in his strategy has been handing up-and-comers exemptions to play in the event when they’re not otherwise qualified.

Receiving one of those exemptions in 2020 was Theegala. At that point, Theegala was the reigning college golf player of the year getting starts on the Korn Ferry Tour. But he was invited to Blaine, where he missed the cut that week.

He returned to TPC Twin Cities as a tour member in 2022, and hasn’t missed the event since.

“I’ve said this numerous times, it’s a great tournament, golf course is awesome, logistics are great. The place is really pure and it was one of the first starts that I got on tour as well,” Theegala said. “This was my third start on a sponsor invite, so grateful for them to have me out.”

Oftentimes, such an invite can lead to a sense of obligation to continue to come back. But Theegala noted he doesn’t feel he “owes” the 3M Open anything. He’s returning year after year because he wants to.

“They’ve been so good to me and it’s a really, really well run event, one of the best run events and they treat you right. Logistics of it are great,” Theegala said. “The golf course is really pure, too. The grounds crew does a great job. Just all of that just keeps me coming back.”

And that’s part of the genius in Cavner’s plan.

By supplying exemptions to up and comers, he’s getting some potential up and comers out to the event so they can see — firsthand — how the tournament is operated. The gamble is that, if you do things right, guys will come back.

Tony Finau continues to come back year after year because of it, though he wasn’t a sponsor’s exemption.

The plan doesn’t always come to fruition. Other young players like Collin Morikawa and Viktor Hovland received exemptions into the tournament in its inaugural edition in 2019, and they’ve never been back. But even if just a few of the lottery tickets hit, the tournament is better for it.

Sponsor’s exemptions this year included Neal Shipley — a dominant amateur who recently turned pro — and Luke Clanton, the current No. 2 amateur in the world.

Maybe three years from now, they’ll be established stars returning to Blaine because they want to pay back Cavner and the tournament, or simply because they liked the event.

What’s funny about Theegala’s commitment to the 3M Open is this course hasn’t done him any favors in past visits. This year marked the first time Theegala even made the cut in four starts in Blaine.

He noted on Thursday this was a “revenge week” for him, and an opportunity to see if his improved driver could finally tame TPC Twin Cities.

“It’s funny, I’m not even like — this is probably the only week where I genuinely feel I’m not even worried about the score, I just want to beat the golf course. I’m not even looking at other guys or the board, don’t care what they shoot, I just want to feel like I’ve tackled this course,” Theegala said. “It’s fun, it’s a different challenge. I know some guys would shy away, but I have no problem taking it on. If I fail, so be it, but I really don’t want to let the course get the best of me again. … The first couple years I played out here I wasn’t fully aware of the level of the tour and how good the guys are. I walk off the golf course thinking this course is hard, like the course is hard. All of a sudden look up at the board, 7, 8, 9, 10 under.”

This year, Theegala finally cracked the code. He was near the top of the leaderboard all week and finished the tournament at 13-under par, good for a tie for sixth. Theegala needed eagle on No. 18 Sunday to keep hopes alive for victory, and his 230-plus yard approach from the left rough found the water. He went on to bogey the hole.

Still, he certainly beat the course.

Now the 3M Open and its patrons will wait and hope he wants to take on the task again in 2025.

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Now that he has a contract extension in his possession — a four-year deal that could be worth up to $113 million — star left tackle Christian Darrisaw is looking to take the next step in his career.

What does that look like for him?

Though he’d obviously like to continue his ascension among the best players at his position, Darrisaw is also trying to push himself to grow in an area outside of his comfort zone.

“I feel like the next step for me is my leadership role for this team,” Darrisaw said. “Just being a better leader and being more vocal for all my guys.”

That doesn’t come naturally for Darrisaw. He’s a reserved person at his core and has long preferred to let his play do the talking.

That said, head coach Kevin O’Connell has slowly started to see Darrisaw come out of his shell as of late, and he’s excited to see even more of that moving forward.

“The progression and upside of a player like Christian has been on full display with his impact on the game,” O’Connell said. “There’s so much room for him to grow in multiple facets of the game, and he’s more excited about that than anybody.”

Asked about Darrisaw taking on a bigger leadership role, star right tackle Brian O’Neill mentioned how Darrisaw is locker mates with rookie left tackle Walter Rouse at TCO Performance Center. That should give Darrisaw an opportunity to take Rouse under his wing with relative ease.

“He’s going to do a great job with that,” O’Neill said, while adding that Rouse is actually sandwiched in between he and Darrisaw. “We were joking around with (Rouse) this morning, like, ‘You nervous?’ ”

The mentorship from Darrisaw will also extend to practice on a daily basis. Whether he’s helping Rouse learn some of the fundamentals in the trenches, or he’s letting rookie edge rusher Dallas Turner pick his brain about potential counters moves, Darrisaw plans on making himself available

“Just let the guys know right from wrong,” Darrisaw said. “Somebody might take a bad step or something, or they might mess up on a play, I can go up to that guy and be like, ‘Yo. This is how we do it.’ ”

The steady growth of Darrisaw has been on display since the Vikings selected him with the No. 23 pick in the 2021 draft. He quickly established himself a force to be reckoned with up front, and now he’s in position to finish his career with the Vikings.

As for the contract extension that made that possible, Darrisaw credited the front office for the Vikings, as well as his agent Drew Rosenhaus, emphasizing that getting a deal done right before the start of training camp will allow him to focus on the task at hand.

“I can just play football now,” Darrisaw said. “I ain’t got to worry about nothing. Everything is taken care of. I can just go out there and do my job.”

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