Alexander-Walker had a career year, starting in 71 of the 78 games he played in this season. The 27-year-old guard averaged 20.8 points, 3.7 assists, 3.4 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game – all personal career highs. Walker also set the Hawks record for most 3-pointers in a season, draining 251 in the 2025-26 season while shooting 39.9% from 3-point range.
Alexander-Walker was traded to Atlanta on July 6, 2025 after spending two seasons with the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The Hawks have become the first team to have back-to-back Most Improved Award winners. Guard Dyson Daniels won the award as a member of the Hawks last season.
Alexander-Walker and the Hawks are currently playing in the postseason, leading the New York Knicks 2-1 in an Eastern Conference first-round series.
Tonight’s starter? It’s reliever Bryan Hudson. | (Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images)
I’m sure most of you are thinking that it’s WAY COOL that after a surprisingly successful road trip (4-2, two series wins!) out west that the home cooking will taste MIGHTY FINE with the Nationals in town. Yes, it’s true that no one is expecting anything from the Nasty Nats this season, the club is a half-game better than our guys at the moment. Let’s not start counting our City Connects before they’re worn.
But worn they will be, tonight, for the first time all season. Last year was an incredibly successful one 8-5, not losing on a home Friday until the end of June and ending up 8-5 for the year; for a 102-loss team, that’s quite a nice clip.
In addition to vibes the White Sox have going for them, there’s also another opener situation happening, as lefty Bryan Hudson starts the game for Erick Fedde tonight. And once again, a DH leads off, only it’s not Andrew Benintendi:
Manager Will Venable continues to concentrate his best power in the middle of the lineup, as Nos. 3-5 boast 22 HRs and the other six hitters just five combined. And for all the surge of the trip west generated, four batters in tonight’s lineup are languishing below the Mendoza Line.
The Nationals are throwing an opener as well, PJ Poulin. I believe he’s opening for Robbie Ray (another southpaw, so not sure that checks out given the lefty-righty fetish in MLB), but seriously I can hardly keep track of the White Sox. We’ll learn together!
Australia No 1 defeated 6-3 6-1 by 19-year-old in second round
World No 8 has lost six of past 10 matches in alarming stretch of form
Alex de Minaur has suffered a startling defeat, crushed by the latest teenage Spanish wonder boy in the second round of the Madrid Open.
On a day when Carlos Alcaraz caused consternation by announcing his withdrawal from the upcoming French Open with a wrist injury, 19-year-old Madrid local Rafael Jodar filled his place seamlessly by blowing away the Australian 6-3 6-1 in 75 one-sided minutes.
It was reported after Thursday’s game that the Cubs had acquired Nicky Lopez from the Rockies for cash considerations. As Lopez was on a minor-league deal with Colorado, there was no immediate 26-man or 40-man roster move needed by the Cubs.
This afternoon, before Friday’s game against the Dodgers at Los Angeles, the Cubs added Lopez to the 26-man active roster and optioned infielder Scott Kingery to Triple-A Iowa. The option was not announced but is listed on the Cubs transactions page.
Kingery had largely just been a pinch-runner this year, but when pressed into service in the field Wednesday, he made two errors that made that night’s win over the Phillies closer than it should have been. Lopez is a better defender.
To make room for Lopez on the 40-man roster, pitcher Porter Hodge, who will miss the entire 2026 season, was transferred to the 60-day injured list.
Lopez is 31 and a Chicago-area native (Naperville Central HS) who grew up as a Cubs fan. Last year Lopez spent Spring Training with Cubs, was released, signed with the Angels, played four games there, was let go by them and re-signed with the Cubs in late April. He played in 14 games with the Cubs, largely as a defensive replacement, and went 1-for-18. He can play third, short and second and so gives manager Craig Counsell some more flexibility.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 9: Chelby Coley of Atlanta takes a photo of the new Texas Rangers City Connect jersey at Globe Life Field's Grand Slam Team Store in Arlington, TX, Thursday, April 9, 2026. (Juan Figueroa/The Dallas Morning News via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 18: Luis Severino #40 of the Athletics pitches against the Chicago White Sox in the top of the six inning of a major league baseball game at Sutter Health Park on April 18, 2026 in Sacramento, California. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images) | Getty Images
A much-needed day off should have our A’s rested and charged for their second stop of this road trip. After going into Seattle and taking two of three the A’s are now in Texas to take on the Rangers for a three-game weekend series. Big stakes on the line between these two as both enter the series at 13-12 and the series winner will be in first place on Monday morning.
Righty Luis Severino is on the mound tonight for his sixth start this season. The veteran has been up and down mostly this year, and more down than up in recent outings. He’s given up nine runs combined over this two most recent starts so he’ll be looking to right the ship against a Texas team that is tied with the Athletics for first in the division.
Here’s how the Athletics’ lineup looks for the first game in Arlington:
Get used to this lineup, it might be a consistent one we see over the coming weeks. Manager Mark Kotsay seems to love Carlos Cortes in the three hole. And apparently he’s also comfortable with Zack Gelof in center field. He should get lots of run there with Denzel Clarke on the IL.
That starting nine will be tasked with taking down Rangers starter Nathan Eovaldi. The veteran has a long track record of success against the A’s but has had a tough start to his season here in 2026, so the team needs to get on the right-hander quickly or else he could get on a roll.
KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI - MAY 28: Starting pitcher Noah Cameron #65 of the Kansas City Royals pitches during the first inning of the game against the Cincinnati Reds at Kauffman Stadium on May 28, 2025 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Jamie Squire/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Royals desperately need a series win, and the Angels provide an opportunity this weekend.
Noah Cameron takes the bump after giving up a career-high seven runs his last start against the Yankees. Matt Quatraro goes with a righty-heavy lineup against lefty Yusei Kikuchi.
CLEVELAND, OHIO - APRIL 19: José Ramírez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates hitting a solo home run during the fifth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field on April 19, 2026 in Cleveland, Ohio. (Photo by Nick Cammett/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Kevin Durant is out with a left ankle sprain on Friday night, missing a must-win Game 3 for the Houston Rockets.
This is a massive setback for a team that has struggled to generate offense through the first two games against the Lakers. Durant suffered the sprain during Game 2. Durant's status for Game 3 was moved to "questionable" on Thursday, but the widespread expectation was that he would play. Before the game, Rockets coach Ime Udoka said Durant was a game-time decision based on how his pregame workout went, but according to reporters in the building, Durant never went out for warmups.
Durant missed the first game of this first-round series with a knee contusion, and the Rockets scored only 98 points in that game. KD played in the second game, but the Lakers doubled him nearly every time he touched the ball, and while he still scored 23 points, he also had nine turnovers and had to pass out of the double a lot, and his teammates were not stepping up.
With Durant out, and looking to shake things up, Udoka said he would move Reed Sheppard and Tari Eason into the starting lineup.
The Rockets have a 106.1 offensive rating through two games in this series, 12.5 points per 100 possessions worse than their regular-season number. The Rockets need to find a way to generate offense on their home court Friday night, or they could find themselves in a 0-3 hole, something no NBA team has ever climbed out of.
WASHINGTON, DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA - APRIL 22, 2026: Joey Wiemer #21 of the Washington Nationals hits a solo home run during the sixth inning of a game against the Atlanta Braves at Nationals Park on April 22, 2026 in Washington, District of Columbia. The Braves beat the Nationals, 8-6. (Photo by Diamond Images via Getty Images) | Diamond Images/Getty Images
The Nationals are hitting the road, where they have been a much better team this season. They will face a White Sox team that is pretty similar to themselves. Both are rebuilding teams that do not have great records but have shown flashes of a bright future. This should be a fun little series.
The White Sox are using a lefty opener, so the Nats have made some lineup tweaks to account for that. Luis Garcia Jr. will be in the 8 hole so he can avoid the lefty. Daylen Lile will be in the 2 spot, which is the highest he has hit this season. Brady House will be the DH and hit third. That means the hot hitting Jorbit Vivas will be at third base. Drew Millas will be behind the plate. PJ Poulin will be the opener, while Miles Mikolas and Riley Cornelio will follow him.
wonder if NL home run leader james wood took his new bonsai tree to chicago
This White Sox lineup is led by new addition Munetaka Murakami. The Japanese slugger is a true three outcome hitter. He is hitting third. Colson Montgomery is another exciting young power bat for the southsiders. This White Sox lineup has some big time power, but they do not hit for a ton of average. Lefty Bryan Hudson will open for the White Sox and he will be followed by former Nat Erick Fedde, who has had a lot of success against his old club.
It is not the sexiest matchup, but I am excited to watch these two rebuilding teams. Hopefully Murakami does not feast against this homer prone pitching staff. If the Nats can keep him and Montgomery in check, I like their chances. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
And, the most recent case in 2014 involved the Los Angeles Kings looking lifeless in their first three games in the opening round against the San Jose Sharks, only to storm back, win the series, and go on to win the Stanley Cup.
Coming back from down 3-0 to win a series in the NHL is extremely rare air, as the 209 other teams in NHL history that have gone down 3-0 went on to lose their respective series. But, even if it's near-impossible, it's not, in fact, impossible, and it has happened. Special teams make history for a reason.
And, this year, there are three different opportunities in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs for history to repeat itself. The Ottawa Senators trail the Carolina Hurricanes by a 3-0 series deficit, as do the Kings against the mighty Colorado Avalanche.
Then, there are the Penguins, who are on the brink of getting swept by their cross-state rival Flyers.
These teams have both been players in this situation before: The Penguins were on the wrong end of it in 1975, while the Flyers did the improbable in 2010. It is the Penguins who are faced with the improbable this time around, and - to be quite frank - they have looked much like the Kings did in 2014 prior to their out-of-the-blue comeback against the Sharks. And they look just like most of those 209 other teams that couldn't pull off historical feats.
In Games 1 and 2 in 2014, the Kings lost 6-3 and 7-2, respectively. They did take home a 4-3 overtime loss in Game 3, which - oftentimes - is the nail in the coffin for teams in that situation. But they somehow flipped a switch, and they found a way to dominate the remaining four games. They won by sequential scores of 6-3, 3-0, 4-1, and 5-1, and - again - went on to defeat the New York Rangers in five games during the Stanley Cup Final.
There was belief, just like there is with a lot of teams in this situation. And that belief is still alive and well in the Penguins' locker room, despite the daunting task that lies ahead of them.
And one Penguins' player has some experience in this arena, as his former team came pretty close to accomplishing the feat.
"You win one game, and a lot of things can happen, a lot of things can change," said goaltender Stuart Skinner, whose Edmonton Oilers recovered from a 3-0 deficit against the Florida Panthers in the 2024 Stanley Cup Final only to lose in Game 7. "As a team that's up 3-0, and you lose that first game... it's a tight second game, and you end up losing that second game... I mean, it's a series. Momentum shifts, and that can change a lot of things. One win can do a lot."
During media availability following Friday's practice, Skinner recalled that series, talking about how - one by one - plays built up throughout Game 4 that snowballed and allowed Edmonton to find their game again, forcing Florida to back into a bit of a corner. They took it one play at a time, one game at a time.
And that will be the Penguins' focus heading into Game 4 on Saturday in Philadelphia: win one game. It can be a bit hard to get into that headspace, especially knowing that four consecutive wins are necessary to stay alive.
But Skinner dove into the mental side of things as well, and he is confident in his own ability to do that.
"I've done a lot of that work in, just, my career in general, because it's the same thing in a season, too," Skinner said. "You can be having a couple tough bad games or, just, results aren't going your way, and you've got to find out how to switch that up in your mind.
"To be honest, I've been in so many situations that this feels - I don't want to say, 'normal,' because we're down 3-0, but - just normal in the sense of mentally juggling. I feel like I know how to do that."
It helps, too, that the Penguins have a nice collection of veterans in the room who know what it takes to win. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Sam Girard all have Stanley Cup wins on their resumes, and the adversity of the playoffs is something they've all experienced to the very end, when they - ultimately - had the chance to hoist Lord Stanley in celebration on the ice.
"It's pretty clear. I think, being in this position, you can't look too far ahead, you've just got to look at what's in front of you, and that's tomorrow and making sure that we put our best game on the ice," Crosby said. "I don't feel like we feel like we've done that for a complete game yet. Maybe different parts of games, but that first period's more of how we want to play. We just weren't able to sustain it. So, if we can put some periods together like that, then we can give ourselves a chance."
He added: "Ultimately, as a player, this is the best time of year, and it's not an ideal situation. But, at the same time, we would have took this last year. So, I think it's a matter of having the right approach, enjoying it, and just making sure we focus on what's in front of us here."
But, even though winning means everything to every player in that locker room, for guys like Skinner and Erik Karlsson - veterans who have "been there, done that" but never got to the finish line - defining moments like this mean even more.
"We believe in ourselves, and I believe in my team."
The last time Karlsson skated in the playoffs prior to this season was in 2019 with the Sharks. The closest he came to the Stanley Cup Final was in 2017, when the Penguins beat the Senators in dramatic fashion during a memorable Game 7 double-overtime - and when Karlsson was the best player on the ice for either team in that series.
Karlsson and the team know what's at stake. But, at the end of the day, he's also aware that it's important to embrace the feeling of playing in the hardest postseason in sports, having fun with it, and understanding the opportunity that lies in front of them.
“We're going to have to embrace and understand that being in this situation, even though we're down 3-0, is still a lot of fun, and we would have paid a lot of money to stand here today back in October and say this is where we were going to be,” Karlsson said after Game 3. “We've just got to realize that and understand that we're a good hockey team here. We've got a great opportunity."
And, as who understands what it takes to come back in an a near-impossible situation, Skinner believes this group of Penguins has what it takes to seize that opportunity and do something very few others in NHL history have managed to accomplish.
“You know it's possible,” Skinner said. “Statistics are fun to look at. But, it doesn't mean they're always right. What really helped me in my experience was it, kind of, just frees you up. You don't really have anything to lose.
“We've got the bodies in here. We've got a resilient group. I can say that over and over and over again, but we've proven it. We've shown it. This is the group that can definitely come back from this deficit. I certainly believe that.”
ST. PETERSBURG, FL - APRIL 10: Ryan Vilade #26 of the Tampa Bay Rays looks on during batting practice prior to the game between the New York Yankees and the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field on Friday, April 10, 2026 in St. Petersburg, Florida. (Photo by Mary Holt/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Apr 7, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; A detailed view of shoes worn by Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Kevin Gausman (34) as he jumps over the third base line on his way to the mound to pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images | Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images
There were some bits of Jays news while I was out:
The Jays traded ‘cash considerations’ to the Rangers for catcher Willie MacIver, who they optioned to Buffalo. Tyler Fitzgerald was DFAed to make room. And, judging by his picture, he has enough hair for the whole team to share.
They also announced that Jeff Hoffman wouldn’t be closer anymore, that they would go closer by committee for the next while.
The team is deciding if Trey Yesavage will make his next start in the majors or the minors
PITTSBURGH, PA - APRIL 18: Paul Skenes #30 of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitches in the second inning during a baseball game against the Tampa Bay Rays at PNC Park on April 18, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Mitchell Layton/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Pitching Matchup: Paul Skenes (3-1, 3.27 ERA) vs. Brandon Woodruff (2-0, 3.42 ERA)
The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today against the Milwaukee Brewers looking to grab a win.
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BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - APRIL 10: Gunnar Henderson #2 of the Baltimore Orioles hits a two-run home run in the ninth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on April 10, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by G Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Where to watch: MASN/MASN+
Probable pitchers: RHP Brandon Young (0-0, 0.00 ERA, 2 K) vs. RHP Brayan Bello (1-2, 6.75 ERA, 13 K)
The Orioles return to Camden Yards Friday night after a road trip that had more reasons for concern than celebration. Across seven games in Cleveland and Kansas City, the O’s went 3-4, while continuing to show the inconsistent offense and starting pitching that’s plagued them throughout their 12-13 start.
Getting off to strong starts in games has been the Orioles’ biggest problem in 2026, as they often find themselves playing from behind and in need of last-ditch comeback attempts. In the first three innings of games, MLB as a whole is hitting .237 while scoring 1.46 runs/game across innings 1-3. The Orioles, conversely, are hitting .184 in the first three innings of games, while putting up 0.88 runs/game in the first three frames. Combine those early inning offensive struggles with a starting rotation sporting a 4.37 ERA (21st in baseball) and get a consistent game script that never leads to comfortable victories.
The few positives coming from the Orioles’ road trip are the steady resurgence of Pete Alonso’s bat and the continuation of Ledoy Taveras’ hot start. After shuffling through the first six series of the season with an average under .200, Alonso hit .250 on the road trip with a .751 OPS and his third Orioles homer. Taveras slashed .273/.360/.545 across the two road series, and broke up a no-hitter in Cleveland, collected a game-winning, extra-inning grand slam in Kansas City and swatted a game-tying single in the Royals series finale.
The only team in the AL East that’s been more disappointing than the Orioles this year is tonight’s opponent, the Red Sox. Boston comes into tonight’s contest with the Major’s 26th-ranked offense to go along with a middle-of-the-pack rotation. Right-hander Brayan Bello has struggled to begin the season, failing to make it through 5 innings in three of his four starts, while struggling with walks and home runs. Bello does have a 3.13 ERA and .181 BAA in four career starts at Camden Yards, but the O’s will hope they can pile on his early-season struggles.
Opposing Bello is Baltimore’s recently recalled right-hander, Brandon Young. The 27-year-old Texan was sharp in his only previous start this season, tossing five scoreless innings while only allowing two hits against the White Sox. It will be Young’s first career start vs. Boston, with the righty holding a 8.72 career ERA in seven starts at Camden Yards. Also returning to the Orioles’ active roster tonight is former Red Sox Tyler O’Neill and set-up man Andrew Kittredge.
