内容摘要：They will go up against contenders selected in Tuesday’s first semifinal including

They will go up against contenders selected in Tuesday’s first semifinal including

United Therapeutics’ designated pathogen-free facility in Christiansburg, Va., on May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)United Therapeutics’ designated pathogen-free facility in Christiansburg, Va., on May 29, 2024. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)

On the research farm, Tom Petty’s “Free Fallin’” was serenading a piglet barn, where music acclimates the youngsters to human voices. In air-conditioned pens, the animals grunted excited greetings until it’s obvious their visitors brought no treats. The 3-week-olds darted back to the security of mom. Next door, older siblings laid down for a nap or checked out balls and other toys.“It is luxury for a pig,” Ayares said. “But these are very valuable animals. They’re very smart animals. I’ve watched piglets play with balls together like soccer.”About 300 pigs of different ages live on this farm, nestled in rolling hills, its exact location undisclosed for security reasons. Tags on their ears identify their genetics.

“There are certain ones I say hi to,” said Suyapa Ball, Revivicor’s head of porcine technology and farm operations, as she rubbed one pig’s back. “You have to give them a good life. They’re giving their lives for us.”A subset of pigs used for the most critical experiments – those early attempts with people and the FDA-required baboon studies – are housed in more restricted, even cleaner barns.

But in neighboring Christiansburg is the clearest signal that xenotransplantation is entering a new phase — the sheer size of United Therapeutics’ new pathogen-free facility. Inside the 77,000-square-foot building, the company expects to produce about 125 pig organs a year, likely enough to supply clinical trials.

David Ayares, president and chief scientific officer of Revivicor, looks at pigs at the company’s research farm near Blacksburg, Va., on May 29, 2024, where organs are retrieved for animal-to-human transplant experiments. (AP Photo/Shelby Lum)Playing his sixth major league game, Hassell hit

to make it 7-0. The touted rookie began the night batting .118 (2 for 17) with one RBI since making his debut last Thursday.The 23-year-old Hassell was drafted eighth overall by San Diego in 2020 and traded to Washington — along with Wood, CJ Abrams and MacKenzie Gore — for Juan Soto and Bell in a blockbuster deal at the August 2022 deadline.

Williams, who had a career-low 2.03 ERA in 2024, has struggled this season and owned a 7.45 ERA in May entering this one. But the veteran right-hander needed just 77 pitches to make it through six innings while yielding only three hits — all singles — and striking out two in his best start of the year.Seattle right-hander George Kirby (0-2) encountered early trouble in his second start of the season. He gave up consecutive solo homers to García and Bell in the second. Wood connected in the fifth to make it 6-0.