DENVER, CO - APRIL 19: (L-R) Mickey Moniak #22, Troy Johnston #20 and Brenton Doyle #9 of the Colorado Rockies celebrate after Johnston made a diving catch to end the game and secure the 9-6 win against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field on April 19, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Justin Edmonds/Getty Images) | Getty Images
What losing to the Colorado Rockies does to a team.
The Colorado Rockies earned their eighth win of the season last night with a close and hard fought victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers—a feat they didn’t accomplish until August last season.
The Rockies tied their number of 2025 victories against the Dodgers with a strong win on a beautiful Sunday afternoon, earning at minimum a series split and setting them up for a potential series win tomorrow night. It was also the first time in four years the Rockies have notched back-to-back-victories against the Dodgers.
Making things even worse for Los Angeles? Just a few blocks away at Ball Arena, the Colorado Avalanche defeated the Los Angeles Kings in the first game of their Stanley Cup Playoffs.
A solid bounce back for Lorenzen
Veteran righty Michael Lorenzen has had an up-and-down season so far. His last time out he gave up seven runs—though only two were earned—in just 2.2 innings. The Rockies’ biggest name of the off-season needed a bounce back, but that was a potentially tall order against a strong Dodgers lineup.
But Lorenzen delivered.
While he gave up a decent amount of contact with seven hits, he also pounded the strike zone. He gave up just one walk, the fewest since his Rockies debut back at the start of the season. Lorenzen ultimately gave up three earned runs over five innings of work and struck out three batters to set the stage for an unlikely Rockies victory.
Senzatela leads a mostly solid effort from the bullpen
It took six appearances and 12.2 innings for Antonio Senzatela to give up his first earned run of the season. The former starter’s efforts are a stark contrast to his brutal struggles last season. Three singles in the top of the sixth inning plated a run with two outs, but he was able to secure the final out thanks to a good catch deep in left field by Mickey Moniak. After a breather in between innings, Senzatela set down the side in order in the top of the seventh.
Jimmy Herget also struggled somewhat in his inning of work, though without any damage. Herget gave up two singles in the top of the eighth, but navigated a scoreless frame with a strikeout.
Where things got hairy for the pitching staff was in the top of the ninth. The Rockies had plenty of cushion to work with as Victor Vodnik—who earned the save last night—had started warming up with just a two run lead and entered the game with five.
Vodnik struggled to locate his pitches. He gave up a lead-off double to Shohei Ohtani, who advanced on a wild pitch and eventually scored via a Will Smith single. Another single and a walk had the bases loaded with just one out. Rushing cast a sharp grounder to Willi Castro at second base, but Castro was unable to cleanly come up with the ball for what would have been a game-ending double play—only getting the out at first base—and another run scored.
With runners in scoring position, 28-year-old rookie debutant Ryan Ward made contact and sent the ball to right field. Thankfully, a diving catch by Troy Johnston secured the final out and the Rockies’ victory.
After barely squeaking out a win 4-3 last night, the Rockies hauled in plenty of runs on their lines this afternoon. The Rockies scored nine runs on a whopping 15 hits against Dodgers pitching. They drove starter Roki Sasaki from the game after 4.2 innings, drove relievers Blake Treinen and Edwin Díaz from the game with neither recording a single out, and overall made the Dodgers use six different bullpen arms with a game left to play tomorrow and their next day off not coming until April 30th.
Edouard Julien, the pride of Québec City, broke out of a short slump and went 3-for-5 this afternoon. He scored once himself but more importantly drove in three runs on a bases loaded single in the eighth inning to bust the game wide open and give the Rockies plenty of cushion — cushion the bullpen ended up needing.
Kyle Karros, Moniak, and Johnston all had two hits off of Dodgers pitching. Karros hit his first home run of the season in a 2-for-3 afternoon with a walk. Moniak had an impactful hit in the seventh inning by launching his team-leading sixth home run for two runs to put the Rockies in a lead they would never relinquish. He also drove in an additional insurance run in the eighth inning.
The Dodgers now cannot win their first series against the Rockies. It will be the first series split or loss against a National League team of the season for them. The Rockies can secure a series win with a victory tomorrow night as they aim to send the folks in Dodger Blue home disappointed for the third straight game. It will be a lefty-on-lefty match-up with Justin Wrobleski slated to start for the Dodgers and José Quintana scheduled for the Rockies. First pitch is at 6:40 PM MDT.
English player wins at first playoff hole with birdie
Fitzpatrick claims second PGA Tour victory of year
England’s Matt Fitzpatrick beat the world No 1, Scottie Scheffler, in a playoff to win the RBC Heritage for the second time.
Fitzpatrick took a three-shot into the final round at Hilton Head and still held that advantage standing on the 15th tee. But playing partner Scheffler produced birdies at 15 and 16 and Fitzpatrick’s duffed chip on 18 cost him a bogey, sending him into a playoff that he looked second favourite to win.
DENVER , CO - APRIL 18: Jaden McDaniels (3) of the Minnesota Timberwolves defends Jamal Murray (27) of the Denver Nuggets during the third quarter at Ball Arena in Denver, Colorado on Saturday, April 18, 2026. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post) | Denver Post via Getty Images
Minnesota Timberwolves at Denver Nuggets Date: April 20th, 2026 Time: 9:30 PM CDT Location: Ball Arena Television Coverage: NBC, Peacock
Game 1 in Denver was the kind of playoff loss that sticks with you.
Not because the Timberwolves got run off the floor. Not because they looked hopelessly outclassed. In some ways, that would have been easier to process. No, what made Saturday afternoon so maddening was that Minnesota showed us enough to make the loss feel avoidable. They came out looking like the sharper, faster, more urgent team. They built a 12-point lead. Nikola Jokic looked winded. The Denver crowd had that nervous, unsettled murmur that only comes when a favorite realizes the underdog may have actually shown up with a knife.
And then, little by little, possession by possession, whistle by whistle, the game slipped.
You can tell the story of Game 1 in two ways.
The generous version is the one Wolves fans have been angrily rehearsing ever since the final buzzer. It starts with the officiating, which was not just bad, but the kind of bad that makes you start wondering whether the refs were trying to set a record for most momentum-killing whistles in one afternoon. From the jump, it was obvious Minnesota was going to have to play this game while wearing ankle weights. Five team fouls within minutes of the opening quarter. Denver in the bonus before either team had really found an offensive rhythm. Jamal Murray living at the free-throw line like he had purchased a condo there, finishing with 16 attempts by himself, nearly matching Minnesota’s entire team total. The Nuggets shot 33 free throws to the Wolves’ 19, and in a game that was there for the taking late, that is not a side note. That is central to the story.
Then there was the Jaden McDaniels flagrant, which belonged in a museum exhibit titled How to Completely Misread a Basketball Play. Murray leapt forward, clearly initiating the contact, clearly landing inside the three line after starting his shot outside, and somehow the result was a flagrant on McDaniels. It was absurd. Worse than absurd, it was deflating. A well-defended miss converted to three points and the ball for Denver.
And yes, that stuff matters. It matters in the box score, where Denver got a pile of free points despite not shooting especially well. It matters in the defensive intensity, because once Minnesota realized every hard contest might become a foul and every foul might become an escalation, they were forced to defend with one hand tied behind their back. It matters emotionally too. You could feel the frustration building. You could see it in McDaniels shoving Jokic in the back. You could see it in the body language. You could feel a team trying not to boil over and, in the process, losing some of the edge it needed to survive.
Then there is the second part of the generous version: Anthony Edwards’ health.
Wolves fans spent the last couple of weeks convincing themselves that the late-season rest was going to be a blessing, that Ant’s knee would heal, that the version of him we would see in the playoffs would be the fresh, spring-loaded monster this team needs. And to his credit, there were flashes. He had some pop. There were moments where he attacked and you could see flashes of his greatness. But if you watched closely, you also saw the pain. The flinch on landings. The moments where he clearly was not fully himself. And when you are playing Denver, when the other side has Jokic operating at full power and Murray getting every whistle known to mankind, “not fully yourself” is a major problem.
That is the generous version.
It is also incomplete.
Because if Minnesota wants to get back in this series, it has to spend a lot less time talking about what happened to them and a lot more time correcting what they did to themselves.
The officials were awful. Edwards is clearly less than 100 percent. Both things can be true. But neither of those facts explains why the Wolves, after building that early lead, let the game turn into exactly the kind of half-court slog Denver wants. Neither of them explains the stagnant second quarter, when the pace dropped, the ball stopped moving, and the offense began to look like a collection of individual errands instead of a coordinated attack. Neither explains the third quarter, when Minnesota more or less donated the game by allowing a 17-2 run in which the offense shriveled into lazy isolation possessions and the defense cracked just enough for Denver to smell blood.
That stretch decided the game.
Not the first-quarter whistles. Not the Jaden flagrant. Not even Ant’s knee, really.
The Wolves looked like the better team when they were pushing tempo, playing in space, and forcing Denver to sprint. They looked like a team pushing Jokic to his limit, making him run, making him work, making him defend. Then they just… stopped. They let Denver catch its breath. They let the ball stick. They settled for ugly shots. They stopped making the Nuggets move defensively. They essentially invited a more composed, more experienced team back into the exact game environment it wanted.
And Chris Finch, to be honest, did not do much to stop the avalanche. That part matters too.
So now here they are, down 0-1, heading into a Game 2 that has all the emotional subtlety of a car crash. This is the swing game. Lose it, and you are asking this team to beat a very hot Denver squad four times in five games, with the Nuggets riding what would then be a 14-game winning streak. Sure, anything is possible. Kevin Garnett taught us that. But that is not a sentence you want to be clinging to when you are staring down a giant in the first round.
Game 2 is not technically must-win, but emotionally and mathematically, it sure as hell feels like it.
So with that, here are the keys to the game.
1. Push the pace.
This is non-negotiable.
The first quarter told the whole story. When the Wolves were flying, Denver looked vulnerable. Jokic looked human. He was huffing. He was laboring. He was being forced into the kind of game he does not love: one played at a pace where his genius still matters, but his conditioning gets tested and his margin for error narrows.
Minnesota cannot let this become a walking game.
The altitude is real. The temptation to conserve energy is real. But the Wolves are younger, longer, and more athletic than this Denver team, and if they are going to win this series, they have to weaponize that advantage. Every miss has to become a sprint. Every rebound has to turn into an opportunity. They need to run after makes if they can. They need to turn this into a game where Jokic has to log extra miles, not just extra touches. You beat Jokic by making him carry an exhausting burden for 48 minutes and then asking him to do it again two days later.
Minnesota eased off that pressure after the first quarter. It cannot happen again.
2. Move the ball like your season depends on it, because it kind of does
Denver’s defense is not some impenetrable wall. This is not 2004 Detroit. This is a unit that can be manipulated, stretched, and made uncomfortable, but only if you make it work.
The Wolves did not do that consistently in Game 1.
Too much of the offense became stagnant, especially once the initial burst wore off. Too many possessions ended with Ant or Julius Randle dribbling into a crowded floor and trying to solve the problem themselves. Too many possessions died before they really started. And the tragedy of it is that Minnesota has too many capable offensive pieces for that kind of nonsense to be necessary.
Donte DiVincenzo was feeling it, starting 4/4 from beyond the arc. But Minnesota never capitalized on his hot hand because the ball would not move. The Wolves are at their best when the rock is snapping around, when they force the defense to rotate twice instead of once, when the offense feels like five guys participating in the same idea instead of one guy improvising while everyone else watches.
This team cannot afford sticky offense. It needs drive-and-kick, swing-swing, relocate, attack-closeout basketball. It needs to make Denver guard every inch of the floor, every second of the shot clock.
If the Wolves do that, they will get clean looks. If they don’t, they are making life far too easy on a defense that should be under more stress than it was in Game 1.
3. Close out with purpose.
The Nuggets did not torch Minnesota from three in Game 1. In some ways, that’s the scary part.
Because if you rewatch the game, you see all kinds of open or semi-open looks that Denver simply did not cash in at its normal clip. And if you are the Wolves, that should terrify you more than it comforts you. You cannot build your survival plan around the idea that Denver will keep missing makeable shots.
The closeouts were not good enough. The urgency was not sharp enough. The Wolves were so focused on the interior pressure from Jokic that they sometimes lost the thread on the perimeter. That is understandable. It is also deadly.
Denver’s wings and guards need to feel crowded. Jamal Murray cannot be allowed to rise into clean rhythm shots. Cam Johnson cannot be casually stepping into open threes. Bruce Brown cannot be operating like this is a warmup line. If Denver is going to hit shots, fine. Make them hit them over hands, over bodies, over full-speed closeouts that force them to actually earn it.
Soft perimeter defense is how you lose to Denver in five. Contested, miserable, exhausting perimeter defense is how you make them sweat.
4. Get all three bigs involved, not just Rudy
Rudy Gobert was magnificent in Game 1. He was exactly what the Wolves needed, present, physical, engaged, and more than willing to throw his whole body into the problem that is Nikola Jokic. For all the Rudy discourse that inevitably bubbles up around playoff time, this was one of those games where he reminded everyone why he matters so much. Without him, this thing could have gotten ugly fast.
But that is also the problem.
Minnesota cannot waste that kind of Rudy game. It cannot get one-third of the frontcourt equation right and expect that to be enough. Julius Randle has to be better. He has to be more disciplined offensively, more engaged defensively, and more connected to the overall flow of the game. He cannot spend possessions trying to force his way into a contested look when a kick-out or secondary action is there waiting. He needs to keep the bully-ball aggression while stripping out the nonsense. Attack with purpose. Rebound with force. Defend like the game matters.
Naz Reid has to show up too. The bench was too quiet, and Naz is too important for that to happen. This is the exact kind of series where he can swing a quarter, with his scoring, his spacing, his size, his general Big Jelly skills. The Wolves need him aggressive, not passive. They need him hunting offense, not floating around the perimeter waiting for someone else to rescue the possession.
One big monster game from Rudy will not carry this series. Minnesota needs the three-headed monster it built for exactly this kind of matchup.
5. Anthony Edwards has to seize the series, even if he is hurting
This is the hard one, because it is the least fair and the most true.
Yes, Edwards is hurt. Yes, it is obvious. Yes, he deserves credit for playing through it. But the Wolves are not winning this series with the version of Ant they got in Game 1. They just aren’t.
He has to be better. He has to impose himself on the game offensively, and he has to do it in a way that does not devolve into desperate hero ball. He needs to attack. He needs to get downhill. He needs to draw two defenders and create for teammates. He needs to hit enough jumpers to keep Denver honest and enough free throws to keep the scoreboard moving. He needs to defend like a star who understands that this is not just about scoring.
And most of all, he needs to make everyone leave Game 2 thinking he was the best player on the floor.
That is a gigantic ask when Jokic exists. It is still the ask.
Because that is what stars are for in a series like this. Not to keep you respectable. To change what feels possible.
This is where Ant’s postseason reputation gets sharpened or stalled. If he comes out aggressive, explosive, and fully engaged on both ends, Minnesota can absolutely steal this game. If he drifts, if he settles, if the knee prevents him from attacking with conviction, then the entire burden falls on a team that has not shown enough consistency to survive without him at full tilt.
This is his moment whether it feels fair or not.
And now for the big picture.
The Wolves got a rotten whistle in Game 1. That is real. They got a less-than-healthy version of Edwards. That is real too. But none of that changes the central fact: they had opportunities, and they let too many of them slip. That is why they are down 0-1. That is why Game 2 feels like a cliff edge.
You can point at the refs. You can point at the knee. You can point at the variance. At some point, though, every finger has to turn back toward Minnesota. Because this series is still right there, but only if they decide to take hold of it. Only if they play the kind of locked-in, apex Timberwolves basketball they have teased often enough to make all of us crazy.
If they do that, if they clean up the offense, sustain the pace, support Rudy, and get a true Ant game, then they can absolutely walk out of Denver with home-court advantage and turn Target Center into a madhouse for Game 3.
If they don’t, then they have painted themselves into the corner they spent all season pretending they could always escape from later.
It is gut-check time now.
Not in theory. Not in some abstract “eventually this team will need to grow up” way.
Right now.
Monday night. Denver. Season hanging in the balance more than anyone wants to admit.
The Yankees swept the Kansas City Royals with Sunday's 7-0 win at Yankee Stadium.
Takeaways
LHPRyan Weathers arguably delivered his best start of the early season. He scattered five hits in 7.1 scoreless IP, striking out five and walking one. Weathers (1-2, 3.18 ERA) threw 66 strikes on 95 pitches and retired 12 straight at one point, including four consecutive strikeouts. After 22 frames without run support until the first inning of Sunday's game at Yankee Stadium, Weathers showed up once more with his best stuff -- and he was repaid.
RFAaron Judge's ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot to center field, ended the aforementioned run-support drought for Weathers and put the Yankees (13-9) in control as a three-run first inning ensued. (Austin Wells later added a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Cody Bellinger and giving Weathers a 3-0 lead into the second inning.) Judge's three strikeouts dampened the captain's 1-for-5 afternoon, but he ultimately changed the game with an early long ball that Weathers needed to settle in and get his first win as a Yankee.
DHBen Rice, whose leadoff walk set the table for Judge's first-inning homer, did his own damage in the second when he launched a one-out blast to right and extended the Yankees' 4-0 lead. Rice's eight home run of the young season puts him one behind Judge in a three-way tie with the Chicago White Sox's Muntaka Murakami and the St. Louis Cardinals' Jordan Walker among the MLB's HR leaders. (The Houston Astros' Yordan Alvarez leads with 10.) With 17 combined home runs between them, Judge and Rice are becoming a top duo in the sport.
CF Trent Grisham's three-run homer in the fifth inning polished off the Yankees' 7-0 final and showed what this lineup is capable of beyond Rice and Judge at the top. Grisham's 2-for-4 day included a first-inning walk and sixth-inning single.
Who's the MVP?
Weathers, whose tone-setting start featured the type of swing-and-miss material that could be a game-changing presence in the Yankees' starting rotation.
The Yankees take Monday off before they have their first rivalry series of 2026 with the Boston Red Sox.
This week's three-game series at Fenway Park begins with Tuesday's 6:45 p.m. opener, in which RHP Luis Gil (0-1, 7.00 ERA) is set to start for New York.
Apr 19, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford (3) rounds the bases after hitting a two-run home run during the second inning against the Texas Rangers at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images | Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images
All dressed in your Sunday best: Bryan Woo, +.21 WPA
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 19: MacKenzie Gore #1 of the Texas Rangers warms up in the bullpen against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park on April 19, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Texas Rangers scored two runs but the Seattle Mariners scored five runs.
A dumb weird little road trip for our dumb weird little baseball team in what is shaping up to be a dumb weird little baseball season.
Brandon Nimmo singled for Texas on the game’s first pitch and then the lineup went until the sixth inning before their next base runner of the game. Can’t complain about the lack of hits with RISP when you don’t even get on base, right? *points to temple with self-satisfied grin*
Meanwhile, Seattle leadoff hitter Rob Refsnyder also had a hit on the first pitch offered to the Mariners, only his went over the fence in what would become a trend today as the Mariners hit three home runs off of Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore, two of which were of the two-run variety.
The Rangers did finally spark a rally in the top of the seventh when they loaded the bases against Seattle starter Bryan Woo. After a Josh Jung sac fly scored a run, and a Evan Carter double that scored another, the rally ended with Texas still trailing by the eventual final score.
And so the Rangers lost the game and series to finish this long West Coast trip at 4-6. Texas went 4-2 during the middle portion of the road trip but bookended their days away from home with two losses each to Los Angeles and Seattle as they return to .500 baseball.
Player of the Game: Um, er, well… Tyler Alexander tossed an inning of scoreless relief. That’s pretty cool.
Up Next: The Rangers get a day off to reacclimate to Texas before starting a series at home against the Pittsburgh Pirates beginning on Tuesday.
The first pitch of the series opener from The Shed is scheduled for 7:05 pm CDT and will be broadcast via the Rangers Sports Network.
Mar 19, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forwards Keldon Johnson (3) and Victor Wembanyama (1) celebrate in the second half against the Phoenix Suns at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images | Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images
The NBA announced the first batch of finalists for regular-season awards, and two Spurs made the cut. Unsurprisingly, Victor Wembanyama is one of the three finalists for Defensive Player of the Year, while Keldon Johnson is among the finalists for Sixth Man of the Year.
Wembanyama is the prohibitive favorite to win Defensive Player of the Year, but will have to beat out the Pistons’ Ausar Thompson and the Thunder’s Chet Holmgren, who were also named finalists. All three of the top defenses in the league are getting one representative. The biggest snub is Rudy Gobert, who kept an inconsistent Timberwolves team in the top 10 in defensive efficiency and has won the award four times in the past.
The 2025-26 Finalists for Kia NBA Defensive Player of the Year.
Things are different for Keldon Johnson. He clearly deserved to be named a finalist, but his chances are not as good as Wembanyama’s to claim the award. He’ll be competing with the Nuggets’ Tim Hardaway Jr. and the Heat’s Jaime Jaquez Jr., who appears to be the favorite to get the hardware. Jaquez’s edge comes in offensive production, while Johnson’s case relies heavily on team success. Either would make a good pick.
The 2025-26 Finalists for Kia NBA Sixth Man of the Year.
Anthony Edwards Shai Gilgeous-Alexander Jamal Murray
The finalists for Coach of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Most Valuable Player of the 2025/26 season will be announced at halftime of the Pistons – Magic game. Mitch Johnson and Victor Wembanyama have decent chances of being named finalists in two of the categories, while it’s likely Dylan Harper is going to miss the cut on Rookie of the Year, largely because of his small role on a contending team.
Victor Wembanyama averaged 25 points, 11.5 rebounds, 3.1 assists, one steal, and a league-leading 3.1 blocks per game in the 2025/26 season.
Keldon Johnson averaged 13.2 points, 5.4 rebounds, and 1.5 assists while shooting 52 percent from the floor and suiting up for all 82 games.
Dodger Ryan Ward follows through on an RBI single in the first inning against the Rockies Sunday in Denver. It was Ward's first major league hit. (Justin Edmonds / Getty Images)
What do you know? The once-stampeding Dodgers have been caged by the Colorado Rockies.
In a 9-6 loss Sunday at Coors Field, the two-time defending World Series champs lost their second consecutive game to their plucky hosts. The Dodgers again couldn’t hold a lead or keep up offensively at the hitter-friendly park, though they put some pressure on in the ninth inning.
After Shohei Ohtani led off the ninth with a ground-rule double, the Dodgers scored twice to cut the lead to three runs. They had runners on second and third and Ryan Ward at the plate with two out in his first game in the majors. But right fielder Troy Johnston robbed Ward of his chance to chip away at the deficit further, diving to catch his line drive to end the game.
Before that, the Rockies chased starter Roki Sasaki from the game in the fifth inning and then ruffled the Dodgers’ relievers. That included closer Edwin Diaz, who came on in the eighth inning to pitch for the first time in nine days and promptly gave up three singles, a walk and two runs.
(David Zalubowski / Associated Press)
He and Blake Treinen combined to face eight batters without getting an out.
Now, after arriving in Denver without having lost a game to a National League opponent, the Dodgers (15-6) are in danger of losing their four-game series against an NL club that is 9-13 and hasn’t made the postseason since 2018.
It’s well below the bar the Dodgers have set, and it added a bitter note to Ward’s otherwise sweet big league debut.
Ward punched a big league clock for the first time wearing No. 67 and cranked his first big-league hit off Rockies starter Michael Lorenzen in the fourth inning.
Ward lined a changeup to right field for a single that scored Andy Pages, made it 3-0, and got the 20-some members of Ward’s party up, jumping in place, hugging and high-fiving.
He also singled in the sixth, sending Antonio Senzatela’s 96-mph sinker into center field. That advanced Alex Call, who scored to make it 4-3 after Kim’s fielder’s choice and another RBI single by Alex Freeland.
In his first at-bat, Ward flew out to lead off the third inning, when the Dodgers gave Sasaki a 2-0 lead to work with. Freeland drove in Hyeseong Kim and Ohtani doubled in Freeland — while extending his career-best on-base streak to 51 games, moving past Willie Keeler into third place in Dodgers’ history.
But to start the fifth, Sasaki fell behind to Kyle Karros, who hit a 96-mph fastball 448 feet for his first home run this season, cutting the Dodgers’ lead to 3-2. The Rockies tied it two batters later on Edouard Julien’s RBI double.
After that, Sasaki lasted only three more batters, including walking Tyler Freeman to put runners on first and second base with two out before reliever Alex Vesia came in and got TJ Rumfield to line out to second base to preserve the tie for the time being.
Sasaki went 4.2 innings, threw 78 pitches and gave up seven hits, three runs, striking out and walking two. His ERA after his fourth start: 6.11, worst in the Dodgers’ current six-man rotation.
The Dodgers fell behind 6-5 in the seventh when Treinen — who was cleared Friday after he was struck in the head by a batted ball during batting practice — gave up four consecutive hits without getting an out, including a two-run home run to Mickey Moniak.
After Diaz’s disastrous eighth, the Dodgers trailed 9-4 going into their final at-bat.
Still, the result will be a minor detail when Ward tells the story about getting the call after Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list, the opportunity of a lifetime.
Just like Miguel Rojas, the Dodgers’ veteran infielder has a vivid recollection of his major league debut at Coors on June 6, 2014: He remembers making an error at shortstop. That the whole thing was wildly nerve-racking. And wonderful.
“You feel really good about being in the big leagues and getting your first shot of accomplishing your dream, what you've been working for your whole life,” said Rojas, standing in the same visitors clubhouse he entered before making his debut, trying not to be starstruck when he spotted his new teammates Matt Kemp, Andre Ethier, Clayton Kershaw getting ready to play.
“But then you have to deal with the emotions of being on the big league roster for the side of the Los Angeles Dodgers. That's what I remember the most, the mixed feeling of emotions.”
So the Dodgers’ assignment, Rojas said, was to make the first baseman Ward “feel as comfortable as he can be.”
Then Rojas headed out to take grounders and give pointers at first base alongside Ward, who got the start there instead of his pal Dalton Rushing. The hot-hitting backup catcher might have played first base if manager Dave Roberts hadn’t decided Ward deserved the opportunity — with Rushing’s enthusiastic blessing.
The Dodgers’ No. 19 prospect and reigning Pacific Coast League MVP has spent the last seven years in the minors. Last season, he hit 36 home runs and drove in 122 runs with a .937 OPS for triple-A Oklahoma City, and he has a 1.020 OPS and four homers so far this year.
Ward made it a point to improve his chase rate, draw more walks, get on base more frequently, everything the Dodgers asked of him. He also passed the broadest patience test.
“The plate discipline, being a better hitter … he's done all that,” Roberts said. “He's improved his defense. But honestly, for me, just not to let his lack of opportunity in the big leagues deter him. That's easy when you get frustrated and let it affect performance, and he hasn't done that.”
If anything, Ward said, the waiting made him better.
“Honestly, I used it to keep going. ‘Okay, if I’m not there yet, what do I have to do to get there?’” he said. “‘What part of my game do I need to work on to keep getting better?’
“I used it as fire to keep working.”
That will be the Dodgers’ assignment too.
In the finale of the four-game series Monday, the Dodgers are expected to start left-hander Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12) against Colorado left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63).
The 2026 NBA MVP will be decided between Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Nikola Jokic or Victor Wembanyama.
Finalists for all of the league's end-of-season awards were announced on April 19 during NBC's "NBA Showtime" broadcast on April 19. Defensive Player of the Year, Sixth Man of the Year, Clutch Player of the Year and Most Improved Player were announced before tip-off of Game 1 of the playoff series between the Detroit Pistons and Orlando Magic, while the most prestigious honors — MVP, Rookie of the Year and Coach of the Year — were revealed at halftime.
In addition to MVP, Wembanyama is also a finalist for DPOY, while Gilgeous-Alexander is in the running for Clutch Player of the Year.
Neither Luka Doncic nor Cade Cunningham made the top three for Most Valuable Player despite each being granted an extraordinary circumstances waiver, though they will likely round out the top five in the final voting.
Here are the finalists announced for the NBA's individual awards:
NBA MVP Finalists
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Nikola Jokic, Denver Nuggets
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Rookie of the Year
VJ Edgecombe, Philadelphia 76ers
Cooper Flagg, Dallas Mavericks
Kon Knueppel, Charlotte Hornets
Coach of the Year
JB Bickerstaff, Detroit Pistons
Mitch Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
Joe Mazzulla, Boston Celtics
Defensive Player of the Year
Chet Holmgren, Oklahoma City Thunder
Ausar Thompson, Detroit Pistons
Victor Wembanyama, San Antonio Spurs
Sixth Man of the Year
Tim Hardaway Jr., Denver Nuggets
Keldon Johnson, San Antonio Spurs
Jaime Jaquez Jr., Miami Heat
Clutch Player of the Year
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Oklahoma City Thunder
Jamal Murray, Denver Nuggets
Most Improved Player
Nickeil Alexander-Walker, Atlanta Hawks
Deni Avdija, Portland Trail Blazers
Jalen Duren, Detroit Pistons
Who is ineligible for NBA awards this season?
Here are some notable players who were ineligible for end-of-season individual awards and All-NBA teams due to not meeting the league's 65-game requirement:
LeBron James, Los Angeles Lakers
Stephen Curry, Golden State Warriors
Anthony Edwards, Minnesota Timberwolves (more on him below)
Giannis Antetokounmpo, Milwaukee Bucks
Devin Booker, Phoenix Suns
Jayson Tatum, Boston Celtics
Jalen Williams, Oklahoma City Thunder
Joel Embiid, Philadelphia 76ers
Though Edwards only played in 59 games this season, Clutch Player of the Year does not have a 65-game requirement.
Luka Doncic and Cade Cunningham both fell just short of 65 games, but are eligible for awards after being granted an Extraordinary Circumstances Challenge exception.
The Minnesota Timberwolves had a vision when they traded for Ayo Dosunmu in February, but that vision was not realized much in Game 1 against the Denver Nuggets.
If Minnesota wants to spring the upset in this series, it needs to run.
Anthony Edwards emphasizes rebounding in the postseason, averaging better than seven boards per game in each of the last two postseasons. Not coincidentally, the Minnesota Timberwolves ran to the Western Conference Finals each of the last two years.
Against the Denver Nuggets, the Timberwolves as a whole need to emphasize transition opportunities.
How many players do the Nuggets really want to play? Jonas Valanciunas saw less than eight minutes in Game 1, while Spencer Jones played nine. Effectively, Denver had a seven-man rotation, led by Nikola Jokic at more than 40 minutes.
Minnesota goes at least eight deep and could stretch to 10 if Kyle Anderson and Bones Hyland are given some runway. Both Anderson and Hyland help the Timberwolves in transition, the former via quick thinking off rebounds and the latter via a general helter-skelter approach.
More Anderson and Hyland will not necessarily come at the expense of Jaden McDaniels and Ayo Dosunmu. In fact, more transition opportunities will highlight the duo.
The best Minnesota adjustment from Game 1 should create a pathway to cash this same-game parlay that already came home once in this series.
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OKLAHOMA CITY — Shai Gilgeous-Alexander scored 25 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder began their title defense with a 119-84 rout of the Phoenix Suns in Game 1 of their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Sunday.
The reigning league MVP made just 5 of 18 field goals but went 15 of 17 at the foul line before sitting out the fourth quarter.
Jalen Williams scored 22 points and Chet Holmgren added 16 for the top-seeded Thunder, who will host Game 2 on Wednesday.
Devin Booker scored 23 points and Dillon Brooks scored 18 on 6-of-22 shooting for the Suns, who shot 34.9% from the field.
Phoenix broke out to a 5-0 lead as the Thunder started cold following a week off.
Oklahoma City heated up quickly. Brooks was called for a flagrant-one foul in the first quarter for hitting Holmgren in the face. The Thunder went on a 12-2 surge after that to take a 24-14 lead.
In the closing seconds of the quarter, Oklahoma City’s Jaylin Williams threw a pass about three-quarters of the length of the court. Holmgren caught it with his back to the basket, took one dribble to his right, then turned and drained a 3-pointer as time expired to put Oklahoma City up 35-20.
Oklahoma City extended the advantage to 65-44 at halftime. Holmgren had 16 points and Gilgeous-Alexander had 15 at the break.
Gilgeous-Alexander converted a three-point play to push Oklahoma City’s lead to 90-63 late in the third quarter, and the Thunder took a 97-66 edge into the fourth.
The Avalanche were by far the better team in this contest, creating the most dangerous chances and dominating puck possession. Despite Colorado imposing their will on this game for most of the outing, the Kings weren't completely out of it.
It was an awakening opening stretch of the first period, with the Avs suffocating the Kings offensively, and it seemed like Los Angeles had no answer, nor any sort of pressure.
It's worth mentioning that the Kings weathered the storm, remained patient, and slowly got more and more comfortable in the contest. But the truth is that they just couldn't break down the star-studded Avalanche.
A large part of the reason the Kings were ineffective for most of this game was the team's inability to survive Colorado's quick pressure, and they couldn't orchestrate many clean breakouts.
For instance, Colorado's second goal by Logan O'Connor was a result of Los Angeles getting hemmed in the defensive zone because the defense couldn't make a clean breakout pass to relieve the pressure.
Another note to add to this Kings' loss in Game 1: they couldn't capitalize on their chances. As coach D.J. Smith put it, they "need to be meaner offensively."
Defenseman Drew Doughty had a grand opportunity to open the scoring in this game, missing a wide-open net.
In the rare two-minute intervals that the Kings see the offensive zone, against a top-dog like the Avalanche, there's almost no room for error in terms of not taking advantage of opportunities. And that's exactly what happened in this contest for Los Angeles.
Anton Forsberg and Logan O'Connor (Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images)
But the result of this game shouldn't deflect from the effort the Kings put in this contest. They kept it to a one-goal game and had a respectable showing defensively. The longer the Kings can keep it tied or close, the more likely they are to creep in a goal or two, which they did in the late stages with a power-play marker from Artemi Panarin.
In the end, the Kings will have to take these positives and improve on what went wrong quickly because the playoffs are a blur.
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DENVER — For the first time this season, the Dodgers have lost back-to-back games.
And in a 9-6 loss to the Rockies on Sunday, they picked an ugly way to do it.
Despite being up three runs early, the Dodgers slowly wilted on a sunny afternoon at Coors Field. Roki Sasaki repeatedly stubbed his toe at the end of a 4 ⅔-inning, three-run start. Blake Treinen surrendered another lead in the seventh with a clunker out of the bullpen. The offense went quiet until a short-lived rally in the ninth.
The Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani reacts after fouling off a pitch. Ohtani went 2-for-5 with an RBI on Sunday. AP
“In this ballpark, a lot of things happen,” manager Dave Roberts said. “This ballpark is certainly a neutralizer. The pitchers don’t have the same feel.”
That became abundantly clear as the afternoon dragged along, with the Dodgers (15-6) failing to protect a late-game lead for the second straight day.
The team scored the first three runs, plating two in the third on an RBI single from Alex Freeland and an RBI double from Shohei Ohtani –– extending his on-base streak to 51 games –– then another in the fourth when debuting 28-year-old prospect Ryan Ward lofted a line drive over the second baseman’s head for an RBI single that marked his first career hit.
Alas, just like their loss Saturday, the offense cooled off, scoring only once more until the ninth.
And, also like Saturday, their pitching couldn’t keep them in front against the Rockies (9-13) and their light-hitting lineup.
The meltdown started with Sasaki, who couldn’t maintain his strong start to the day.
In the first three frames, the right-hander retired 8 of 10 batters he faced while attacking with his fastball. But after that, he let 8 of 12 reach base while once again losing his command.
The Rockies got one run in the fourth, an inning that could’ve been worse if not for a double play that retired the side. They then tied the game in the fifth, when Kyle Karros hit a 448-foot blast to lead the inning off and Edouard Julien followed Jake McCarthy’s double with an RBI single.
Veteran reliever Treinen was Sunday’s other culprit. Handed a 4-3 lead in the seventh, he failed to record an out while allowing four straight hits. The big blow was a two-run, go-ahead homer from Mickey Moniak. Tyler Freeman drove in another to extend the Colorado lead.
Then came Díaz, who also failed to record an out in his three-run eighth inning –– extinguishing virtually any hope of a comeback (even though the Dodgers got the tying run to the plate in the ninth) to send the team to this season’s first losing streak.
The Dodgers’ Hyeseong Kim reacts after misplaying a ball Sunday against the host Rockies. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
What it means
That, surprisingly, the Dodgers will not win this series in Denver.
They can still salvage a four-game split, with a quirk in the schedule setting up a series finale Monday.
But given the gulf of class between the franchises, even that would represent a disappointment for a Dodgers club that had won five of its first six series this season.
Who’s hot
Díaz. But only in the most literal sense.
For the first time since a blown save back on April 10, the Dodgers’ new $69 million closer not only got warm but finally entered a game.
What happened next, however, was not pretty.
He faced four batters. He recorded zero outs. And his velocity concerns did not go away, with his fastball averaging only 95.4 mph –– and bottoming out at 92.8 mph, one of the 10 slowest four-seamers of his 10-year career.
Granted, Díaz was coming off a long layoff and not pitching in a save situation. He also hit 97 mph on the radar gun a couple of times.
Overall, though, he simply didn’t look sharp, ballooning his early-season ERA over 10.00.
“Obviously, today, it just didn’t look sharp,” Roberts said of Díaz, who did not address reporters postgame. “I know what it’s supposed to look like, and when it doesn’t look like that, it gets a little concerning.”
Who’s not
There’s obviously Sasaki, who allowed 10 baserunners (seven hits, two walks, one HBP) for a second straight start and now has a 6.11 ERA and 1.87 WHIP in four outings (only one of which has seen him complete the fifth).
However, even before Díaz’s entrance, Treinen and the Dodgers’ bullpen made their own ugly case.
Over the first three weeks of the season, the unit had only blown two late-game leads. Now, they’ve done it on back-to-back days.
Treinen had entered Sunday without allowing a run in his first eight appearances this year. Amid the Colorado altitude, however, he had trouble with his trademark sweeper. All four hits he allowed came on the pitch, with all but one of them smoked at least 95 mph off the bat.
Up next
The Dodgers will go for a series split Monday with Justin Wrobleski (2-0, 2.12 ERA) on the mound. The Rockies will counter with veteran left-hander Jose Quintana (0-1, 5.63 ERA).
PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA - APRIL 17: Austin Riley #27 of the Atlanta Braves celebrates a solo home run with Ozzie Albies #1 in the ninth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Citizens Bank Park on April 17, 2026 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Emilee Chinn/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Grant Holmes and the Braves are hoping to sweep the leg vs. the Philadelphia Phillies in the series finale on Peacock. First pitch is scheduled for 7:20 pm ET.
It has become clear that the Philadelphia Flyers would not be where they are right now without Porter Martone, and they certainly would not have won their first Stanley Cup playoff appearance since 2020 without him, either.
Martone, 19, was the hero for the Flyers on Saturday night, turning a mostly ho-hum performance into the zenith of his young career with a moment of individual brilliance.
With the Flyers up 2-1 on the Pittsburgh Penguins late in Game 1, Martone galloped down the ice in transition, and instead of forcing a pass to manufacture a scoring chance, found the composure to peel back at the right circle and evaluate his options with the puck.
The best option, clearly, was letting a shot fly; the 2025 No. 6 overall pick beat Stuart Skinner glove side at his near post with a bullet against the grain.
Not many players have the stones to make that choice nursing a fragile 1-goal lead in a playoff game, let alone their first-ever NHL playoff game and 10th total game in the NHL.
But Martone did, and that is as good an indicator as any that he will eventually ascend to star status in this league.
The impact Martone has had on the Flyers since coming over at the end of his first and only campaign with Michigan State is demonstrable, and this play at this moment is only the latest example of that.
Martone's dagger against the Penguins Saturday night is one that will be shown in highlight reels and game previews between the two clubs for decades to come, and he only needed one chance to make that kind of impact for Philadelphians and Flyers fans everywhere.
The Flyers still have business to take care of, including at least two playoff games at home later in the week, but we can expect this won't be the last of Martone this postseason.
