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️ Antonelli seizes US GP pole | Mail Tom with your thoughts
Grid change. Lance Stroll will now start from the pit after setup changes.
Just a reminder what Kimi needs to do to become the youngest world champion of all time today. He’ll clinch the title if he wins and George Russell finishes outside the top eight, with Lewis Hamilton outside the top four.
Continue reading...Shadab Khan’s maiden century rescued Pakistan from a dire situation and took them to a stunning one-wicket victory over England in the one-day international in Lahore on Sunday, booking the hosts’ spot in the final of the tri-series.
The Cleveland Cavaliers have had a frustrating start to the season. They’ve shown how good they could be with impressive stretches throughout their first two games, but poor closes to both contests have made it clear that they’re far from a finished product.
The Cavs will welcome a good Minnesota Timberwolves team to town on Monday. Minnesota made a big move this summer by trading for LaMelo Ball, and so far, things have paid off. The Timberwolves have beaten the Miami Heat and Orlando Magic by a combined 47 points in their first two contests. They’ll be hosting the Toronto Raptors on Sunday evening.
This will be a good test for the Cavs.
Anything bought from the links helps support Fear the Sword. You can also shop all of Homage’s Cavs gear HERE. The link to the 2016 championship shirt HERE.
Who: Cleveland Cavaliers (1-1) vs. Minnesota Timberwolves (2-0)
Where: Rocket Arena – Cleveland, OH
When: Monday, Oct. 26 at 7 PM
TV: DAZN, WUAB (Channel 43), RESN, NBA League Pass
Point spread: Not yet set
Cavs injury report: Nae’Qwan Tomlin – OUT (back), Khalifa Diop – OUT (left knee), Ernest Udeh Jr. – OUT (G League)
Timberwolves injury report for Sunday’s game vs. Toronto: Donte DiVincenzo – OUT (right Achilles)
Cavs expectedstarting lineup: James Harden, Donovan Mitchell, Peyton Watson, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen
Timberwolves expected starting lineup: LaMelo Ball, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels, Jaden McDaniels, Rudy Gobert
Cavs jersey:Black Statement Edition uniform
Previous matchup: Both teams split the season series last year. The Cavs won their last contest on January 10, 146-134.
Here’s a look at both teams’ regular-season impact stats from last season via Cleaning the Glass.
| Offensive Rating | Defensive Rating | Net Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cavs | 118.9 (8th) | 115 (15th) | +3.9 (9th) |
| Timberwolves | 116.8 (14th) | 113.2 (6th) | +3.6 (10th) |
It’s Sunday once more, and you know what that means — it’s time for our weekly social media roundup! With the untimely end of the Yankees season now more than a week and a half behind us, we begin to settle into what looks to be a long, long, loooooong winter. The offseason doesn’t mean that life stops, however, and this week, we have a jam-packed social media roundup. And so, without further ado, let’s get started!
This past Tuesday, the 2026-2027 NBA season went underway, and with it came one last celebration for the New York Knicks. The 2026 NBA Champions received their championship rings and raised a banner at Madison Square Garden, before unfortunately losing to the 76ers in the first game of the new season. A pair of Yankees fan favorites, Ben Rice and Cam Schlittler, were in attendance.
They weren’t the only ones from the Yankees family there, though. YES researcher James Smyth was also in the Garden, although since he didn’t mow down the Red Sox lineup or lead the league in postseason home runs and RBI (seriously, that’s how dominant Rice’s postseason was), he didn’t get a seat on celebrity row.
Former Yankee infielders Gleyber Torres and Gio Urshela, along with their wives, were spotted on vacation together in Europe. Although they no longer don the pinstripes (and although Urshela has retired from the sport entirely), it’s nice to see they still find time to hang out.
The Somerset Patriots, as always, take great pride in the big league performance of their former players; this week, they celebrated the season totals of Yankees rookie shortstop George Lombard Jr.
Two weeks ago, Luke Pettitte — not only the son of a Yankee legend, but himself now a Yankee prospect — celebrated his wedding. This past week, his mother Laura took to Instagram to reflect on the occasion. She and Andy also went on a hike.
Brendan Beck sat down with the Somerset Patriots to discuss his Major League debut and his dominant season with the Triple-A Scranton RailRiders.
The Scranton No-Longer-The-RailRiders are hosting a yard sale on November 1st, if anyone is in Scranton, PA, and interested in buying RailRider merchandise.
For the World Series, we’re bringing you some of the key quotes and storylines from each game following the postgame press conference.
Pat Murphy
The Brewers erased an early 4-0 deficit to win 5-4 and take a 2-0 series lead. Murphy again spent most of the press conference discussing what impressed him most, including rookie shortstop Cooper Pratt. Pratt made an error on the first play of the game that snowballed into the Rays’ four-run first inning, but he bounced back to deliver a go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the seventh.
“That speaks to Cooper, what type of individual he is, being able to hang in there when things didn’t go great for him early, even early in that at-bat. That guy is super tough on right-handers. For him to put that ball in play, we spent a lot of time on that reliever and talking about how to face him. He’s outstanding, and Coop just put together a great at-bat, a great teacher for every young person in the room that the game doesn’t start a certain way, doesn’t mean it has to end that way.”
As a follow-up, Murphy was asked about this team’s mentality and its ability to come back from deficits over and over again:
“We’re down to the end of the season here. They’re going to tap us on the shoulder here at some point and tell us no more. Guys just, they don’t give up. They believe, and they don’t give up. They just keep going. That’s a great club across the way, it really is.”
In a game full of quality at-bats, Murphy shouted out several, starting with Brice Turang.
“His day didn’t start exactly the way he wanted. He had a line drive caught, but he put together four quality ABs today. Numerous guys (did). Sal put together four quality (at-bats), hit four balls on the screws today. Bauers put together quality (at-bats). Chourio gets two knocks. Contreras two knocks.”
Another at-bat Murphy highlighted was William Contreras’ RBI single in the first inning.
“It’s a huge at-bat. Huge at-bat. We set (Contreras up), and he came through with a knock, and then Mitchell got a big knock. That first inning meant something that we bounced back against a pitcher that good. I mean, that guy (Rays starter Drew Rasmussen), he’s as good as there is out there. We got his pitch count up and got him out of there.”
Murphy had high praise for Aaron Ashby, who pitched the final 1 2/3 innings of the win, comparing him to legendary relievers Goose Gossage and Rollie Fingers.
“He does what it takes. It’s unconventional. Multiple innings in relief. It’s Goose Gossage-like. I guess we had a guy like that here too, Rollie.”
He was also asked about starting pitcher Logan Henderson, who gave up four runs (three earned) in that first inning.
“I think he was a little jittery again in the first inning. I think in his mind he thinks he’s tired because it’s the end of the year and it’s a lot, but this is where you’ve got to learn that lesson that you’ve got a lot left. You pick yourself up. You’ve got a lot left. He’s got to come to that realization because we need him going forward.”
Finally, Murphy was asked if he’s a “big Sal fan,” referring to Frelick. Murphy responded by saying he named his son’s dog Sal.
Sal Frelick and Cooper Pratt
Frelick, who hit the game-tying home run in the sixth, and Pratt, who hit a go-ahead single in the seventh, broke down their performances after the game.
Frelick on his approach against Tampa Bay reliever Ian Seymour prior to the home run:
“He’s pretty much a sinker guy. Was fouling them off. Missed a few good ones. And then late in the at-bat, he started throwing four seams and kind of caught me by surprise. Was able to spoil a few of those and was just really hoping, because I had seen the sinker earlier, that he would maybe leave one over the plate, and yeah, he did.”
Pratt on baseball being a redemptive game:
“I need to be better defensively, but it’s always awesome when you have an opportunity to kind of redeem yourself and make up for it. Yeah, probably wasn’t the best swing, but it did the job and gave us the opportunity to score a run. I’m not going to complain.”
Frelick on this team’s comeback mentality:
“It seems like we’ve had a lot of experience with it in the postseason so far. It feels like kind of down early almost every game so far. I’m not sure what the actual numbers are on that. Our offense is built to kind of chip away and wear on pitchers, which I think can be good when you’re trying to come back. At the same time, if we’re up, it’s the same exact approach.
I think just having an offense built like that is really good for when you’re down. Again, today we go down four. We know how good that guy (Rasmussen) is over there. Let’s just wear on him, see if we can get him out of the game, get to their bullpen and really break the thing open.”
Frelick on being a competitor:
“I don’t know, I just grew up playing a ton of different sports. I wasn’t always the most gifted athlete. Murph will tell you firsthand that it’s never pretty watching me take a swing or run or field or whatever it might be. I just always felt like that was where I was able to get my edge was just kind of turn everything into a competition. Put myself in the box and iso me and the pitcher. Or on defense, just iso me and the ball. How can I beat it?
I just feel like that’s how I’ve always played. I know Murph always tells me I can’t look flashy, I can’t look cool. That’s not me. He doesn’t want that. Not that I do either, but I’m glad that he allows me to play that way.”
And Frelick on Pratt:
“Just to highlight this guy real quick… has a little mistake early in the game, doesn’t slam a glove, doesn’t hang his head, nothing. Comes off the field and later in the game has a big at-bat and maybe swings at a ball or two, locks it back in. This is a rookie, like people forget. This is our shortstop. This is a rookie, and we trust him. I just hope that if there’s people, young kids watching, that was just really cool for me to see. Coop has grown up a lot — I don’t know if you would have done that maybe your first game, but it’s cool to see.
I just hope everybody understands how hard that is, especially in the moment. All you want to do is throw something or get mad, but you’ve got four at-bats. I was just proud of that.”
Frelick and Pratt on whether they thought Frelick’s deep fly out in the seventh inning had a chance to make it over the fence:
FRELICK: “Did you think it was gone?”
PRATT: “I thought it had a chance or at least off the wall.”
FRELICK: “I’ve never hit a homer that I thought was gone, so, no, I didn’t.” (Laughter.)
PRATT: “It looked good off the bat.”
It will be a battle of early-season undefeated teams as the 2-0 Detroit Pistons will visit the 3-0 Philadelphia 76ers on Sunday evening at Xfinity Mobile Arena.
Both teams hope to contend for the Eastern Conference title, and both teams went about it in very different ways. The Pistons kept a young core intact, and their biggest move of the offseason was adding journeymen John Collins and Isaiah Joe. The Sixers, meanwhile, swung a huge trade of Paul George for Jaylen Brown and then convinced a little-known player named LeBron James of winding down his career in Philly.
When: 7:30 p.m. ET
Where: Xfinity Mobile Arena, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Watch: TV: TV20 Detroit | Streaming: DAZN-Detroit
Odds: Pistons +1.5
While this stands as a great test for the Pistons, they will not have their full complement of players. Jalen Duren has already been ruled out for tonight and the next two weeks with a hamstring injury suffered against the Miami Heat. The Pistons might also be without star defensive forward Ausar Thompson, who sustained an ankle injury against the Heat.
Duren left that game early in the second quarter and Thompson exited early in the third, and the Pistons were still able to cruise to victory over the Heat. But the Sixers should be a different story.
The good news with Duren out is that the Sixers are also expected to rest Joel Embiid after the big man notched a triple-double against the Milwaukee Bucks on Saturday. LeBron, who sat out that game Saturday, is expected to suit up.
The Pistons know that Paul Reed is more than capable of making winning basketball plays whether in a starter or reserve role. More interesting, and potentially worrying, is what the Pistons will do with their backup center minutes. I imagine it will be an opportunity for the organization to look at John Collins as a backup five. It also is another opportunity for the Pistons to become the prolific 3-point shooting team nobody thinks they are.
Without Duren and Thompson, two non-shooters, potentially replaced in the starting lineup by Reed and Isaiah Joe (or maybe Javonte Green), and having Collins play minutes at the five, expect a lot of five-out action. Last season, the Pistons attempted just 30.9 threes per game (29th in the NBA). It’s early, but through two games, they are hoisting 39 per game. After tonight, they could rank in the top five in 3-point shooting volume in the NBA. Weird.
Cade Cunningham, Duncan Robinson, Isaiah Joe, John Collins, Paul Reed
Tyrese Maxey, VJ Edgecombe, Jaylen Brown, LeBron James, Adem Bona
How many 3-point attempts for the Detroit Pistons tonight?
Being a young-player fan in the Bay has been a creative writing exercise for a while now. How many times has Dub Nation squinted at a flash in the third quarter of a blowout and built a whole career out of it? I’m thinking of Anthony Randolph truthers. We argue about the thin line between bad player fits and organizational rigidity . I’ve written plenty of those columns myself. The future was always the thing we got to talk about while the present belonged to Steph.
That’s why the first week of this season has felt strange. Generally most (good) teams let their rookies learn on company time, getting their feet wet without absorbing massive responsibility. The Warriors’ rookie Yaxel Lendeborg is already punching time on the clock with the season on the line.
Through three games, Big Yax is averaging 18.7 points, 8.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists in about 34 minutes a night, and he’s hitting 44.4% from three. He opened with a steady 12 in Los Angeles. Against Memphis, he put up 18 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and three steals. Then in Phoenix, he hit six threes on his way to 26.
Now, let’s just take a step back and activate gold blooded homerism. Hey Stathead, how many players in Warriors history have averaged 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 4 assists for a season?
That’s four Hall of Famers, with none none of them rookies. Three games doesn’t put Yaxel in that room, buuuut it’s a funny room to have him standing outside of, don’t cha think?
And for the blistering fireball of skepticism I’m sure awaits for me for daring to dream, let’s clarify that none of this is garbage-time production. Coach Steve Kerr is giving him starter minutes in close games because the team needs what he does right now. With Yaxel, I keep catching myself skipping the projection step entirely, because he’s already answering the questions I’d normally spend three years asking when checking out a prospect.
And it made me think of when James Wiseman was drafted and thrown into the fire on a depleted team. In December 2020, Klay was out with the Achilles, and the Warriors handed a 19-year-old the starting center job on opening night. Remember how Coach Kerr praised Wiseman at that time?
The Warriors are just three games into the season, but rookie James Wiseman has been the obvious choice when it comes to exciting storylines. “Now imagine doing that while playing three college games, then not playing at all for over a year, and then not having training camp. It’s insane. What we’re asking James to do is insane. He’s handling it beautifully.”
James Wiseman (2020–21, first 3 games, age 19): 14.7 points, 5.7 rebounds, 0 assists, 1.3 blocks, 1.0 steal in 24.0 minutes, shooting 46.9% from the field (15-of-32), 83.3% from three (5-of-6) and 64.3% from the line (9-of-14)
Wiseman scored 19 in Brooklyn, then had 18 points and three blocks on Christmas in Milwaukee. I remember how that felt. The Warriors were getting blown out, but a 7-footer galloping to the rim gave us something to believe in. Every good night was a promise, and we were all collecting promises.
Yaxel arrived with the job already posted, and there’s a reason the Warriors felt comfortable posting it. He’s 24. He went from a warehouse job to junior college, then to UAB and Michigan, before the Warriors took him 11th. He’s had five years of college basketball to figure out who he is. Wiseman had three college games.
So these NBA three games don’t prove Yaxel was the better prospect as they show two very different starting points. Wiseman was a raw idea the Warriors hoped would turn into a player. Yaxel already arrived as a player, and nobody knows yet how much bigger his game can get. With Wiseman, you fell in love with the ceiling and with Yaxel, you’re watching the floor and noticing it’s already pretty high.
Wiseman’s story went sideways for reasons no three-game sample could have predicted. He tore his right meniscus at the end of his rookie year and then missed the entire next season. The early flashes were real but they just never got the runway.
Here’s the part that keeps nagging at me. The Warriors are 0-3. For years, the problem with Warriors rookies was timing. The kids weren’t ready yet, and the Steph clock doesn’t wait. The whole plan was to keep winning with the vets while the young guys caught up. Now the Warriors finally have a rookie who doesn’t need to catch up, and they’re still losing because of injuries and age. In Phoenix he was plus-5 in a nine-point loss. The rookie has held up his end of the deal more or less for three straight games, and the deal still isn’t closing. He’s still got a ways to go, duh. He’s shooting 66.7% at the line, and he turned it over six times against Memphis. His helpside defense has been trash according to his coach.
But still, as far as a rookies go, there’s a lot to like so far with Big Yax. For years, the question was whether the Warriors’ young players could help Steph win now. Three games into Yaxel’s career, the question is whether the Warriors can win while he’s helping them.
Entering 2026, the catcher position was one the Nationals were dying to get more production out of, as their catching room ranked dead last in fWAR in 2025 with -1.3. Keibert Ruiz had steadily been declining ever since being extended in early 2023, and Drew Millas and Riley Adams each had something to offer in a backup role, but probably not in a starting role. The acquisition of Harry Ford for Jose A. Ferrer in the offseason provided the Nats with a little more long-term clarity about the position, but probably not an immediate solution.
Turns out, the answer to the Nationals’ catching woes was just a commitment to better coaching; with the new staff in charge, the Nats’ catching room took a major leap, going from last in fWAR in 2025 to 17th in 2026. Now, as the Nationals enter a critical offseason for setting them up for success in the near future, let’s take a look at the Nats’ catching unit as a whole, and make sense of where playing time makes the most sense to go to in 2027.
Keibert Ruiz
Keibert Ruiz took the biggest leap of perhaps any National under the new coaching staff in 2026. He hit .280/.316/.443 with 10 home runs and a 105 wRC+, making him five percent better than the league-average hitter after adjusting for league and ballpark. His 1.9 fWAR was a considerable improvement from his -1.1 mark in 2025, and made him a completely viable starting catcher option for the Nats.
The defensive improvement mattered just as much. In 2025, Ruiz finished with minus-six blocks above average, plus-one caught stealing above average, and minus-nine framing runs. Those numbers illustrate why catching defense requires more than counting runners thrown out. His throwing was respectable relative to his opportunities, but other parts of his game remained costly.
In 2026, Statcast credited Ruiz with plus-two catching runs, including plus-three framing runs, zero blocking runs and minus-two throwing runs, along with a positive ABS contribution. Blocking runs and blocks above average are different measures, but the broader improvement is clear. Ruiz became a more complete catcher, even with room to improve against the running game.
Ruiz’s contract went from practically unmovable last season to now not bad value, and raises the question of if another team called the Nats with an offer for Ruiz, should they consider it? Ruiz certainly now looks like at least a decent platoon option behind the plate, but the presence of some other catching options in Triple-A could make him expendable depending on how the front office feels.
Harry Ford
Ford’s first season with the Nats was hardly a declaration that the position belonged to him. In 38 major-league games, he hit .190/.314/.350 with three home runs and an 87 wRC+. His Triple-A performance also fell short of expectations: a .223/.370/.335 line and 96 wRC+.
There were encouraging details beneath those numbers. Ford walked in 14.4 percent of his major-league plate appearances, showing that his patience could survive the jump. But getting on base cannot carry the entire offensive profile. The Nats need more consistent contact and damage when he swings.
Ruiz and Ford are a sensible catching platoon, as Ruiz performs better against righties and Ford performs better against lefties. Still, Ford may need to take a step forward either offensively or defensively in 2027 to guarantee his starting role moving forward.
Maxwell Romero Jr.
Romero delivered the loudest power numbers of the group, hitting 23 home runs across Double-A and Triple-A while batting .253/.364/.515. He reached Rochester in July, putting himself close enough to matter in the 2027 discussion.
Minor-league production does not automatically translate into major-league success. Nevertheless, that combination of power and on-base ability deserves consideration at a position where the Nats have struggled to generate offense.
Romero should enter spring training with a chance to push the established options. Depending on how Romero performs, Ruiz may become a luxury rather than a necessity for the Nats, one they could move to upgrade other areas such as the pitching staff. At minimum, he gives the Nationals another potential answer if injuries or poor performance disrupt their plans.
Where do Drew Millas and Caleb Lomavita fit?
Millas faces a tougher argument after hitting .185/.277/.262 with two home runs and a 53 wRC+ in 50 games. A backup catcher can survive below-average offense, but that level of production leaves little margin elsewhere. He looks more like depth than someone the Nats should pencil into its preferred tandem.
Lomavita remains a longer-term consideration. He hit 14 home runs with a .244/.311/.453 line and 102 wRC+ at Double-A. The power increased considerably from his six-homer 2025 season, though his overall offensive production was only slightly above league average. His season also ended on the injured list.
Entering 2027, Ruiz offers the strongest immediate case, Ford remains the key development priority, and Romero supplies intriguing pressure from below. For the first time in a long time, the Nats seem to have some solid options for how they move forward with their catching unit, rather than hoping for the best from what they had.
The Detroit Pistons will be without their All-Star center for at least two weeks as the big man sits with a right hamstring strain.
Duren had started the season hot, lighting up the preseason and scoring 22 points and securing nine rebounds in Detroit’s opening-day win against the Boston Celtics. He played just 10 minutes against the Miami Heat before suffering the hamstring strain early in the second quarter.
The injury is a blow to a young big man who was eager to prove he was worth the $200 million deal he signed this offseason with Detroit, and will test Detroit’s big man depth. The Pistons traded away backup center Isaiah Stewart this offseason. That left Paul Reed to go from fan favorite third-string center to fan-favorite backup center, and now he gets a chance to be a fan-favorite starter.
Technically behind him will be Tolu Smith, who is in Detroit on a standard deal after showing promise as a two-way player the past few seasons. However, it is more likely that the Pistons will move to shift starting power forward John Collins into more small-ball five minutes while Reed rests.
Collins has had an up-and-down start to his Pistons tenure, and I guess this will be a great extended opportunity to see just how well Collins can hold up (or not) as a five in Detroit’s defensive system.
Pistons forward Ausar Thompson also suffered an ankle injury against the Heat, and he is listed as questionable against the Philadelphia 76ers.
ST. PETERSURG, FL — He’s one of their best friends, a beloved former co-worker, who now lives and works 1,200 miles away from Milwaukee.
They’ll forever cherish their memories together and still speak of him as if he’s family, but they realize it’ll be altogether different when they see him again Monday.
You see, he now is the enemy.
The Milwaukee Brewers, halfway to achieving their dream of winning the first World Series championship in franchise history, know that Freddy Peralta, now employed by the Tampa Bay Rays, is a huge obstacle standing in their way.
The Brewers will face Peralta on Monday at 8 p.m. ET at Tropicana Field knowing that if they win, they’ll have a commanding 3-0 lead in the best-of-seven World Series, an advantage that has never been squandered in World Series history.
And if the Brewers lose, it could flip the World Series script in a hurry, with the Rays having the best home-field advantage in baseball and certainly capable of winning three games in a row at "The Trop" and forcing the Series back to Milwaukee.
The Brewers, who traded Peralta last winter believing they’d have no prayer of keeping him as a free agent, now face the possibility of having Peralta ruin everything. They traded him to the New York Mets, believing it would be the last they’d see of him after he looked like a shell of himself with his struggles in Queens. Only now to see Peralta become resurrected after being traded to the Rays at the deadline and resurface as one of the finest pitchers in the game.
It leaves Peralta feeling a bit awkward with Brewers fans wildly cheering him during pregame introductions before Game 1, thanking him for everything he did while with the Brewers, and wishing him well in his future endeavors. Yet, with one commanding performance, they could be cursing him all winter, enraged that the Brewers ever traded him away.
"It is a little weird," Peralta says. "I've been trying to focus on what I have to focus on because even when I came out for practice, all the people, all the fans here (were) showing me some love, screaming my name. When I went to the bullpen last night, they were telling me, 'We still love you.'
"It's amazing, I just have to be professional and keep everything in the right direction."
A whole lot easier said than done facing some of his best friends in life.
Peralta, 30, spent the first eight years of his major-league career with the Brewers, becoming a two-time All-Star, winning 70 games, striking out 1,153 batters, and becoming an ultimate teammate and fan favorite. The Brewers wanted to keep him, but talks of a contract extension went nowhere so they traded him to the Mets.
Who’d imagine they’d now be facing him at the most critical time in the franchise’s history?
"I love that kid, man," Brewers manager Pat Murphy said. "I just do. This kid is just joyful. It's just a beautiful spirit that comes to do his job. He doesn't look at himself as better than others. He's just a great teammate. If you can't be around him for a while and not feel warm."
The feeling is mutual, Peralta says, who can’t stop raving about his experience in Milwaukee, knowing that if the Rays don’t win the World Series, he’d at least be thrilled for his buddies.
"I was very happy for them," Peralta said. "I texted some of the guys wishing them the best and they answered back telling me, 'We want to play against you guys because we want to see you.'
"But I want to make something clear. When I'm on the mound, I see everything like a competition. … I know that sometimes you have people that you love on the other side, but you have to do what you have to do. Then everything takes care of itself."
Certainly, this is a different Peralta than the one who struggled so badly with the Mets. He went 17-6 with a 2.70 ERA last season with the Brewers, but in New York, he was just 5-9 with a 4.99 ERA, struggling to even pitch five innings in starts.
What in the world happened?
"Sometimes," he said, "I ask the same question myself. I don't try to make excuses. I was feeling really good physically. I was trying to give the best of myself as always. I prepared how I should be preparing. But I don't know, for some reason, things weren't going my way. I was feeling bad because I couldn't do anything for them. I wasn't able to perform well over there. …
"I think that it was a lot of things going on for me and for the team too because we weren't playing well in general, and we were trying to make adjustments."
And, yes, besides the adjustments he made on the mound, it sure helps going from a flawed, defensive-challenged team like the Mets to the powerful Rays, who have one of the game’s best defenses.
"That's a huge part, man," Peralta said. "Sometimes I tell myself, just whatever I'm going to throw, just put it in the sun. Just looking for the hitter to hit the ball because I trust all the guys I have behind me. It’s been working pretty well."
Oh, to say the least.
Peralta is 7-0 with an 0.81 ERA over his last seven starts, including a 0.79 ERA in three postseason appearances, earning the American League Championship Series MVP.
"When I got traded here, I just felt different," Peralta said. "For some reason I got here, and I felt like myself again."
The Rays made several key adjustments with Peralta, pitching exclusively out of the stretch, tweaking his stride, using a higher arm slot, moving him to the third-base side of the pitching rubber. Voila! His fastball got faster, hitting 99.4-mph on the radar gun in the ALCS – the fastest pitch of his career – with 71 of his 99 pitches fastballs in his Game 2 start against Cleveland.
"We see that he’s in his element, man," Murphy said. "That’s Fastball Freddy."
Says Rays manager Kevin Cash: "I feel like he’s kind of come back to being Freddy Peralta with us."
Yep, the same Peralta that could derail the Brewers’ plans for a clinching in St. Petersburg, with Peralta still holding out hope that he can still make one postseason start on that same mound that was home for so many years at American Family Field.
"I know how special it is to pitch on this mound here in Milwaukee," Peralta said. "I would like to pitch here during the postseason."
To do so, that would require a Game 7.
And for the potential of a Game 7, it would require Peralta to shut down his former teammates Monday night, giving the Rays a chance to still make this an intriguing series.
"Crazy," Peralta said.
He broke into an expansive grin, and smiled.
No further words were needed.
Follow Bob Nightengale on X: @Bnightengale
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Freddy Peralta was beloved in Milwaukee. Now he stands in Brewers’ World Series path
Sunderland stay bottom of the Premier League table after a hard-fought goalless draw played in horrible conditions
1 min Peep peep! Leeds, in their yellow change strip, kick off from left to right as we watch.
Prokofiev is on the tannoy at the Stadium of Light, which means the teams are about to take the field.
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Well, that didn’t take long, did it? It appears that Devin Booker is the primary point guard on this team rather than Jalen Green. It’s Point Book SZN once again, isn’t it?
“Settle down, Voita! We’re two games in!” I know, I know. But I am here to observe and report, and therefore I am reporting what I have observed through the first two games of the 2026-27 season. Ultimately, the fact that the sample size is so small has merit. We don’t know what this team is yet. Nor do they. But that doesn’t mean that I’m going to sit on my couch until game 20 on December 20 to note what is occurring.
This past offseason, there were rumors floating around that the Phoenix Suns wanted to see more facilitation out of Jalen Green. And that would be the ideal scenario for the organization because, after all, they have Devin Booker. He’s a shooting guard, and if you can put him alongside somebody capable of taking the reins and running the offense, Booker becomes an even more potent player. He can navigate off-ball screens, find himself open for catch-and-shoot opportunities, and operate within the spaces a shooting guard typically occupies.
But wanting something to happen doesn’t necessarily mean it’s going to occur. And through the first two games of the season, it appears that Point Book remains.
Again, I recognize that it’s a small sample size. Perhaps it’s a matter of survival, with the Suns prioritizing getting a win on the board before fully integrating Jalen Green into the point guard role. And you’ll have people tell you that in the modern NBA, there really isn’t such a thing as a true point guard, to which I agree. But if the goal is to have Jalen Green become more of a facilitator, the early returns aren’t particularly encouraging.
Because it’s Devin Booker who possesses a 27.3% assist percentage, while Jalen Green sits at 11.4%. It’s Booker with a 1.5 assist-to-turnover ratio, compared to Green’s 0.8. Booker has generated 22 points off assists, while Green has generated 9. And when it comes to potential assists, Booker has 7 compared to Green’s 8.
The funny thing is, when you look at Collin Gillespie, who’s coming off the bench with the second unit, his numbers are better than both of them. Gillespie currently possesses a 28.2% assist percentage and a 1.83 assist-to-turnover ratio. His 28 points generated off assists lead the team, while his 11 potential assists rank second, one behind Miles Bridges.
Note the graphic above represents 3 minutes on the Gillespie/Booker/Brooks/Bridges/Maluach combo. And a glorious 3 minutes it was.
It’s too early to start banging the drum for Collin Gillespie to be in the starting lineup alongside Devin Booker to alleviate some of the responsibility on Booker’s shoulders. But as we saw Saturday night against the Warriors, that’s going to be a significant burden if Booker has to score 43 points every night to help this team win while also serving as its primary facilitator and distributor.
As the season progresses, we’ll have more opportunities to see what it looks like when Jalen Green assumes more of those facilitation and distribution responsibilities. From there, decisions can be made. Because remember, this is a year of evaluation for Jalen Green. How does he respond to the role being asked of him? And how does he handle the adversity that comes with it when success in that role doesn’t immediately follow?
It’s going to take time and repetition for the organization to fully understand his skill set and how it complements the players around him. The fan base? We’re not nearly as patient. We see something that isn’t working, pound our fists on the table, and demand that it be changed. If there’s anything we’ve learned over the years, it’s that things don’t necessarily work that way. This isn’t a video game where you can simply swap players in and out. It takes time, the management of personalities, and a willingness to provide players with opportunities rather than making decisions based on knee-jerk reactions.
But this is another footnote in the collection of things we’re observing throughout the season. And through two games, this is where we stand.
A few days ago, our good friends at The Good Phight in a similar boat—a star-studded, expensive squad that failed to live up to expectations—featured an article that resonates with every team of this profile, one discussing the hypothetical scenario of being able to amnesty a contract. After all, what big-market team is complete without the looming presence of at least one regrettable long-term deal, paying a former star a sum that’s not justified by their current production but more so the back of their baseball card? Read about it here as they argue for the merits of moving on from Aaron Nola in Philly.
Encouraged to run with the idea, we’ll look at who the Yankees would attempt to offload in a scramble to recoup some spending cash, having finished the 2026 season with a payroll of $313 million. First and foremost, as expensive as the Yankees’ active payroll is, the number of long-term commitments isn’t as large as you might expect. The likes of Gerrit Cole, Giancarlo Stanton, and Carlos Rodón all see their contracts end in two years or fewer, and those signed to long-term deals are essential to this team’s current contending window: the likes of Max Fried, Aaron Judge, and Cody Bellinger. In years past we might have had our pick of options in this exercise; happily, it’s slim pickings now.
Out of that group, the only one who arguably could get amnestied is Stanton, whose recent chapters of his Yankees tenure have been spent primarily on the injured list—sincerely placing in jeopardy the notion of him at any point being able to produce consistently in the Bronx. Before getting to Stanton’s contract, there is one more player who could feasibly fit as an amnesty candidate, even if his contract is only on the books for one more year: third baseman Ryan McMahon.
To assess which of these two gets the nomination neither would like, we must assess their respective contracts. Stanton is owed $25 million in 2027, of which $10 million will be covered by the Marlins. Stanton has a team option for 2028 worth $25 million, with a $10 million buyout, the exact figure the Marlins owe the Yankees for that year as well. In essence, the Yankees owe Stanton a minimum of $15 million. McMahon is entering the final year of his deal in 2027, with the Yankees owing their starting third baseman $16 million.
It’s not as simple as looking at those figures; although the Yankees may owe Stanton one million less, the luxury tax figure for his deal in 2027 is $22 million. Ultimately, that’s the number that would theoretically count toward whatever version of the tax exists next year, making moving on from Stanton a more appealing option than McMahon from a financial point of view.
On the field, Stanton seemed to move from an asset whose regular-season reliability is extremely questionable to one whose likeliest scenario is that of being a non-factor after spending nearly all of 2026 hurt. Given his postseason impact and reliable skill when healthy in recent seasons, Stanton would need very little to compete with McMahon here. However, even that very little seems unlikely to come at this point, or at the very least, it’s not a reasonable gamble to make.
For all of his faults, McMahon is still capable of bringing a plus glove at third, even if 2026 was a down year for him defensively. Push comes to shove, you might look at him as a reasonable bench option. With or without McMahon, the Yankees can look at third base this winter. Without Stanton, you free up the DH position to rotate and keep players fresh or acquire a standout bat—not to mention the extra money in the budget given the luxury tax figures. Put it all together, and the choice becomes clear that the contract to wipe clean would be Stanton’s.
Sale centre returns after ending his two-year spell in France
Gloucester’s Will Joseph also in Steve Borthwick’s 36-man squad
Joe Marchant has been recalled to England’s training squad for next month’s Nations Championship as Steve Borthwick faces injury disruption to his midfield options.
Marchant receives his first England call-up since the 2023 World Cup after his two-year spell at Stade Français ended with his return to the Gallagher Prem with Sale this season, making him available for selection once again.
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The Brooklyn Nets are still searching for their first win of the 2026-27 season, and they’ll have to find it on tired legs.
Brooklyn nearly erased a 22-point deficit in Cleveland on Saturday, outscoring the Cavaliers 41-29 in the fourth quarter before falling 125-121. The Nets return to Barclays Center on Sunday to face the Indiana Pacers in the second game of a back-to-back.
Meanwhile, sixth-overall pick Mikel Brown Jr. won’t be active for this one. He’s already on a minutes restriction and it looks like the Nets will keep him out of second night of back-to-backs for the foreseeable future. He rolled his ankle in the preseason.
But is there something else we should be keeping an eye on? In today’s injury report, the Nets listed Mikel Brown Jr. out with “Back, Injury Management.” He missed time during training camp due to a rolled ankle, but this is the first we’ve heard anything related to his back. Brown Jr. missed 12 games including the NCAA tournament last season in Louisville. Should we be worried?
Indiana arrives in Brooklyn coming off their own 16-point loss to the Dallas Mavericks.
Brooklyn Nets
Indiana Pacers
Check the official injury report closer to tip-off for any updates.
The Nets showed fight in Cleveland with the comeback. We can’t call it a win, but we can call it encouraging.
Julius Randle is averaging 28 points, seven rebounds, and six assists through two games, while Michael Porter Jr. is averaging 27 points and seven rebounds. Brooklyn trailed by double digits most of the game, but these two kept Brooklyn afloat. That’s also when Egor Dëmin and Mikel Brown Jr. joined in on the fun.
Day’Ron Sharpe fell into foul trouble for a second consecutive game. He picked up a sixth foul – a flagrant – with 6:54 remaining in the fourth quarter. The Nets aren’t built with much size at the five after Sharpe. In the season opener, the Charlotte Hornets shot 17-of-22 at the rim. Brooklyn followed with a good effort on the boards on Saturday, but they still lost the paint battle 46-30 and came up with one blocked shot compared to Cleveland’s 10.
The Indiana Pacers feature a star-studded frontcourt with Pascal Siakam at the four and Ivica Zubac at the five. It’s certainly something to watch out for as the Nets try defending the paint — with a ton of weight on Sharpe.
First and foremost, it’s good to see Tyrese Haliburton back on the court and playing well. He’s always a player to watch and we all know that. For this particular match, keeping Zubac off the glass is a task that’s about 7-feet too tall. Brooklyn has struggled to contain bigs in recent years.
Zubac’s size and rebounding make him a difficult matchup for Brooklyn, particularly with the Nets struggling to protect the rim and contain opposing centers. Indiana can stretch the floor and put pressure on Brooklyn’s interior defense, forcing the Nets to account for both perimeter movement and Zubac’s presence around the basket.
If Day’Ron Sharpe gets into foul trouble again, Brooklyn could struggle to defend Zubac inside and limit Indiana’s second-chance opportunities.
Hornets center Moussa Diabate finished with 17 points, eight rebounds (five offensive), and five steals against the Nets. Cavs center Jarrett Allen logged 21 points, eight rebounds and two blocks on 7-of-8 shooting in yesterday’s game.
Zubac is star and he’s shown it thus far, averaging 12.5 points, 13 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots per game. Brooklyn struggles here most — it only feels inevitable Zubac gives them trouble.
Jordi Fernández was asked whether he had seen enough from Brown and Dëmin together to want to use that pairing more often when Brown’s minutes restriction allows it.
His answer offered a glimpse into how he approaches lineup decisions (H/T Brian Lewis):
“Yeah. The way I would explain this is when you’re coaching the game, if you’re coaching thinking you want to play certain guys together, it’s when usually you’re doing it for the wrong reasons. And a lot of times you have to coach the game feeling the game,” Fernández said. “Obviously you have a preparation, you look at their matchups, their sub patterns, yours, your lineups, and you have an ideal way of how you want the game to go. But then when the game goes, there’s fouls, there’s guys that play better, worse. Then you have to start coaching the game and see who can guard this guy or all these things. And I think then the game flows.”
Then…
“Then that’s when I felt like it was a good moment to play together. Did I plan it? No. But a lot of times it’s how basketball is. We have all this preparation, the coaches do a great job putting all these pages and film and so forth. But then at the end of the day, you have to react to a lot of things that are not controllable in the game. And that’s why I know that I’ve gotten this question before, would I like to play them together? Yes. But if I’m just thinking about playing them together, I may not do what’s best for the group at the moment. So that’s the way I feel.”
On this date in 1964, The Rolling Stones made their first appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show
The Stones opened with Chuck Berry’s “Around and Around” and fans screamed so loudly that Sullivan struggled to speak over them, repeatedly asking that the crowd quiet down. CBS received complaints after the broadcast and Ed Sullivan reportedly said: “I promise you they’ll never be back on our show. It took me 17 years to build this show and I’m not going to have it destroyed in a matter of weeks” and wrote to them, “I would like to learn from you, whether your young men have reformed in the matter of dress and shampoo.”
So much for that. The Rolling Stones went on to make five more appearances on The Ed Sullivan Show through 1969… and they’re still making music.
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