DENVER, CO - MAY 30: Adrian Houser #12 of the San Francisco Giants pitches in the second inning during the game between the San Francisco Giants and the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field on Saturday, May 30, 2026 in Denver, Colorado. (Photo by Ray Bahner/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The San Francisco Giants wrap up this four-game road series against the Milwaukee Brewers this morning.
Taking the mound for the Giants will be right-hander Adrian Houser, who enters today’s game with a 5.59 ERA, 5.21 FIP, with 35 strikeouts to 21 walks in 56.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Giants’ 8-3 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Saturday, in which he allowed four runs on eight hits with four strikeouts and two walks in three and two thirds innings.
He’ll be facing off against Brewers right-handed rookie Coleman Crow, who enters today’s game with a 3.14 ERA, 3.73 FIP, with eight strikeouts to three walks in 14.1 innings pitched. His last start was in the Brewers’ 5-4 win over the Houston Astros on Friday, in which he allowed four runs (two earned) on four hits with one strikeout and two walks in four innings.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - JUNE 03: José Ramírez #11 of the Cleveland Guardians celebrates after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium on June 03, 2026 in the Bronx borough of New York City. (Photo by Ishika Samant/Getty Images) | Getty Images
NEW YORK (AP) — Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno has received this season's King Clancy Memorial Trophy for leadership and service, the NHL announced Thursday.
The award is presented annually to the player who “best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and has made a noteworthy humanitarian contribution in his community,” according to the league's qualifications.
Each team nominates a player for the award, which is determined by a selection committee headed by NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman and including former King Clancy Memorial Trophy winners. Clancy, the namesake of the award, was a longtime player, referee, coach and manager who was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958.
Foligno was recently presented the trophy in a surprise appearance at the Masonic Cancer Center at the University of Minnesota by his older brother and current teammate, Nick Foligno, who won it himself in 2017. They established the Janis Foligno Foundation in memory of their mother, who died of breast cancer in 2009, and have been active in fundraising for breast cancer research.
The NHL will donate $25,000 to the foundation as part of the award to Foligno, who last month finished his 15th season in the league, including the last nine with Minnesota. He played his first six years for Buffalo.
Previous Wild players to win the award were defenseman Matt Dumba (2020) and forward Jason Zucker (2019).
At 32, Tomas Hertl knows there won't be that many more chances at a Stanley Cup.
Thus, he's making the most of his second chance.
Hertl hasn't stopped thinking about hoisting Lord Stanley's Cup since the first time he made it to Final.
That was in 2016, when the San Jose Sharks won the Western Conference but lost to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Cup Final.
And for Hertl, it was even more of a disappointment since his time was cut short in the series due to an injury.
The following year the Sharks lost to the Golden Knights in the Western Conference Final in six games, then it was another trip to the conference final and a loss to the St. Louis Blues.
Last season, in his first playoff run with the Golden Knights, it was another exit from the conference final, as the Edmonton Oilers ended things.
Hertl said after his game-winning goal in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final, he's making the most of his second-chance opportunity.
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) June 3, 2026
"Obviously, you don't waste it," he said on the postgame broadcast. "It's still a lot of game(s) left, (but) it's a great start (to) the series."
After a wild back-and-forth affair on Tuesday, it was Hertl's shot from the slot that put Vegas ahead late in the third period.
The Golden Knights' 5-4 win marked the first time in 56 games that a road team that trailed by multiple goals in Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final came back to steal the win.
"It was awesome," Hertl said. "The building buzzing. Obviously, we didn't have the greatest start, but it's kind of been our story all season, but we never give up.
"We just a team, it doesn't matter, we up or down, we just keep playing. We come strong in the second and the third and turn it around and big win in the first game."
After failing to score in 29 straight games, 20 in the regular season and nine in the playoffs, the 32-year-old from Czechia has four goals in the team's last eight games, two of them being game-winners in comeback victories.
"I haven’t coached him for long, and a lot of those games weren’t that good," Golden Knights coach John Tortorella said. "I think he’s grown. He never stopped working. I thought there were some major struggles in his game, but he never stopped working at his game.
"It’s just great timing, just to try to balance our lineup. He has given us some very important minutes."
"It's been our story all season, we never give up." 👏
Hertl knows how important everyone's role is, with so much at stake, which is why he's tried to stay focused with the task at hand.
That included Tuesday night pregame, when the Stanley Cup was brough onto the ice, and he avoided looking at it.
"I try to put head down and don't think about it because it's ultimate goal and chasing for a long time," Hertl said. "I have second shot in my career."
PHOTO CAPTION
Vegas Golden Knights center Tomas Hertl (48) celebrates scoring during the third period against the Carolina Hurricanes in game one of the 2026 Stanley Cup Final at Lenovo Center.
The UIL concludes its 2025-26 athletic season with the Texas state baseball tournament, and as always, it's loaded with players who are either headed to college or waiting for the July Major League Baseball draft to assess their professional options.
Of the 11 state championship games spread over three days, most of the big names are in Class 5A and 6A.
The tournament starts Thursday, June 4 at the Dell Diamond in Round Rock.
Here are six top players at the UIL state baseball championships.
Lucas Nawrocki, Aledo, LHP, 1B/OF
Nawrocki is an LSU signee and left-handed pitcher ranked as the No. 151 prospect for the MLB draft. He enters the championship with an 11-0 record on the mound and a .530 batting average at the plate.
Cooper Webb, Lake Travis, RHP/OF
The University of Texas signee has 127 strikeouts and a 1.04 ERA. He has been clocked with a 94-mile-per-hour fastball.
CJ Sampson, Tomball, 3B/RHP
Sampson is a Texas A&M commit and son of former Astros pitcher Chris Sampson. The exit velocity on his fastball has been clocked at 99 miles per hour.
Logan Corley, Lucas Lovejoy, LHP/1B
The TCU signee has a batting average over .450 and a fastball in the low 90s, complimented with a good slider and excellent control
Reed Blakely, Lucas Lovejoy, OF/LHP
A USC signee, Blakely has a 0.70 ERA as a pitcher and a .403 batting average. He has been clocked in the low 90s with his fastball.
Isaac Richardson, Houston Memorial, 3B
A Houston signee, Richardson has hit four home runs in the playoffs, including a walk-off in the semifinals that sent his team to state.
Bret Bloomquist can be reached, bbloomquist@elpasotimes.com; @Bretbloomquist on X.
LOS ANGELES, CA - MAY 11: Jaxson Hayes #11 of the Los Angeles Lakers drives to the basket during the game against the Oklahoma City Thunder during Round Two Game Four on May 11, 2026 at Crypto.Com Arena in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Welcome to our annual Lakers season in review series, where we’ll look back at each player on the team’s roster this season and evaluate if they should be part of the future of the franchise. Today, we continue our series with a look at Jaxson Hayes.
Coming off a year in which he was thrust into a starting role after trading away Anthony Davis midseason and then a playoffs that saw him benched entirely in favor of 48 minutes of small-ball groups, Jaxson Hayes came into his third season with the Lakers looking for a bit of redemption that would only really come by being properly slotted back into a reserve role.
With Deandre Ayton signed as a starter, Hayes did just that, reestablishing himself as a more than capable backup center who flashed increasingly strong chemistry with both Dončić and Austin Reaves in bench groups. He even proved productive and ready to step into a larger role on nights when Ayton was unavailable or not at his best.
Hayes did not play well every night, as his issues with discipline and focus could resurface on any given night. But Hayes did mostly play hard, and his combination of motor, athleticism and general pick-and-roll know-how allowed him to positively impact the Lakers offense in ways that truly complemented his team’s best playmakers.
Ultimately, relative to his salary and slotting in the rotation, Hayes was one of the more impactful performers in executing his job and playing his role on a night-to-night basis. Whether he’s ever able to expand beyond a backup role on a team with real title aspirations is a question with more doubts than not, but that’s not to say he cannot help a good team. After all, he did that this year and it looks like he’ll continue to be able to do so for years to come.
How did he play?
Of Hayes’ three seasons with the Lakers, I think this past year was easily his best. He shot a career-best 75.6% from the field, was a monster finisher around the basket with 122 dunks (second on the team to Ayton’s 123), fouled less while showing more discipline on defense, showed real improvement on the offensive glass and played with better motor over the course of the full year.
His finishing was particularly impactful, especially as a contrast to Ayton’s more varied attack that relied more on short jumpers, baby hooks and flip shots in and around the paint. Hayes made progress with these sorts of shots too, but he remains one of the more ferocious finishers in the league and had countless highlight dunks over the course of the season.
Whether in the pick-and-roll or just running the floor in transition, Hayes’ dynamism as an above-the-rim threat helped grease the wheels of the Lakers’ offense by drawing attention to the paint so the team’s outside shooters could get good looks and by serving as a release valve for the team’s primary shot creators. With a great catch radius and good hands, Hayes’ finishing truly was helpful.
Of course, there are limitations to being almost purely a roll man within this team’s offense and when teams switched or were able to play the Lakers’ pick and roll with just two defenders without surrendering the lob, Hayes could be neutralized and mostly taken out of the game offensively. But when teams did overcommit to Luka and Reaves, or if their general coverages were not tight enough, he could make them pay.
That said, he still made his fair share of mistakes. The illegal screens and committing a silly foul/sniping at the refs when he thought he was wronged are two of the more enduring mistakes he needs to clean up. His focus could also drift at times and if he was not locked in, he would deservedly find himself back on the bench or see his minutes reduced.
But, for the first time in his Lakers tenure, Hayes’ minutes felt less defined by the negative aspects of his game than by what his positive contributions were, which is huge progress from where he was even a season ago.
What is his contract situation moving forward?
Hayes enters this summer as an unrestricted free agent. After making a shade under $3.5 million this season, and coming off one of his better years while squarely in his physical prime and focusing on getting stronger, I would imagine he’d be looking for at least a small raise, whether on the Lakers or elsewhere.
The Lakers do have Hayes’ Bird rights and could easily bring him back at a reasonable number, but it remains to be seen if they’ll renounce those rights to try to maximize their cap space or if they’ll simply keep his relatively small cap hold on their books. If the latter, it would clearly signal their desire to keep him in the fold as a rotational big whose offensive game really does complement the team’s best playmakers.
Should he be back?
I would certainly support Hayes returning next season, especially if he’s making close to what he did this year (or a slight raise). Hayes fits well with Luka — while also sharing an agent with him and just getting his Slovenian passport to play on the national team with him too — and his general athleticism and speed are assets I believe the Lakers should continue to try to leverage as a part of their team-building strategy around Dončić (and Reaves, should he return).
Further, I’m a firm believer that as players age and show even small bits of growth while playing through their prime seasons, teams would be wise to not let guys like that walk after investing multiple seasons into their development. Hayes fits that profile neatly, and I think the Lakers would benefit from continuing to see if he can round out his game in the right ways to have him develop into an even more productive rotation player.
ATLANTA, GEORGIA - JUNE 3: Mauricio Dubón #14 of the Atlanta Braves hits a three-run home run against the Toronto Blue Jays in the third inning at Truist Park on June 3, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Brett Davis/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Mauricio Dubón just continues to get the job done for the Atlanta Braves so far in 2026 in any way that they’ve asked of him. Whether it’s through his versatility in the field or increasingly more at the plate, Dubón’s been all over the place in a good way. Grant McAuley recently wrote an in-depth article covering Dubón’s great start to the season so far and so far, Dubón has been performing like he wants that story to continue rather than this being the peak for him in any way.
Dubón wrote yet another exciting page in what’s been a very fun chapter of his career that the Braves are benefiting from. His three-run homer off of Patrick Corbin in the third inning of Wednesday night’s eventual victory essentially turned the game around for the Braves at that point. While everybody has expected his defense to be what it has been so far (which is to say that there’s an expectation of quality defense no matter what position he plays in the field), the big hits have been something special to see. His numbers may not jump out as something fantastic as he’s hitting .249/.304/.380 with a .305 wOBA, 93 wRC+ and four homers but he’s getting it done in some big spots. He’s hitting .274/.354/.452 with two outs on the board, with an .806 OPS and an sOPS+ of 132 — indicating that he’s doing some of his best work when the Braves are down to their final out of any inning.
When did he crack that dinger last night? With two outs on the board. It’s impressive and a tiny bit shocking to witness Dubón coming up big in so many spots but one person who isn’t surprised by this development is Mauricio Dubón, himself. I asked him after Wednesday’s game about what’s changed at the plate for him with what he’s been doing now compared to what he had done in previous stops in his career. Dubón is a self-described “confident guy” and his answer to my question belied that confidence.
“I’m finally getting a chance to play, man,” replied Dubón. “In times past, I would get pinch-hit for and never get to finish the game. I’d go for 0-for-2…it’s funny because me and my Dad would always talk about ”You can hit righties,“ but I never got the opportunity to go out there [with the confidence of knowing] that I can hit anybody.”
Indeed, Dubón is hitting .258/.324/.411 against right-handers with a wRC+ of 107 and three of his four homers coming against right-handers so far this season. Those numbers are actually way up from his career numbers of .246/.285/.354 with a wRC of 76 against righties. Dubón has been given an opportunity with the Braves to play every day and he’s taking full advantage of showing what he can do in roles that he didn’t usually get to experience in the past.
“It’s just a matter of getting the opportunity and getting the chance to go another [day],” continued Dubón during the presser. “Nobody has given me anything. I’ve gone out there and earned every chance and opportunity that I get.”
Dubón’s glove is more-than-enough to keep him in the lineup on an every day basis at this particular point in time but he’s also shown that he can get it done with the bat whenever the Braves need him the most. It’s been a lot of fun to see him continue to prosper in the role that he’s been put into here in Atlanta and obviously everybody in Braves Country is looking forward to seeing Dubón continue to make good things happen in that role as this season progresses.
The Astros (28-35) and the Pirates (33-29) conclude their three-game series tonight in Houston after a wild 11–9 Astros’ win last night, a game that featured 26 total hits and multiple lead changes. Houston’s offense surged late, scoring six runs in the eighth inning. Yordan Alvarez led the assault on Bucs’ pitching with four hits and Isaac Paredes drove in three runs and scored a couple himself. AJ Blubaugh was the fifth of six Houston hurlers in the game and he picked up the win even though he gave up a run in the only inning he pitched. Gregory Soto took the loss for Pittsburgh. The righthander did not get an out in the eighth and allowed three runs on three hits. Spencer Horwitz collected three of the Pirates’ 12 hits and Henry Davis launched a grand slam in the fourth but neither effort was enough.
Pittsburgh’s hottest hitters over the last 10 games include Nick Gonzales, who homered and doubled last night and has been one of the team’s most consistent bats, and Oneil Cruz, who reached base four times Wednesday with two hits, two walks, and a stolen base. Bryan Reynolds has also been steady, contributing timely hits throughout the series. On the colder side, several depth bats—such as Jake Mangum and Endy Rodriguez—have struggled to produce consistently, contributing to the team’s uneven scoring despite recent high‑scoring games.
Houston’s lineup enters tonight with multiple red‑hot hitters. Yordan Alvarez is scorching, going 4‑for‑5 last night and continuing a stretch where he’s hitting for both average and power. Isaac Paredes has also been a major factor, driving in three runs Wednesday and homering in the seventh. Christian Walker is consistently driving in runs. Conversely, Brice Matthews and Jake Meyers have been less consistent, cooling off during the recent homestand despite the team’s overall offensive surge.
Tonight’s pitching matchup features two right-handers trending in opposite directions. The Pirates send out Jared Jones, who has struggled but is just back following an extended stay on the disabled list. He has thrown just 4.1 innings but has a 10.38 ERA. Houston counters with Kai‑Wei Teng, who has been one of their steadier arms, carrying a 2.57 ERA across 42 innings with 43 strikeouts and a 1.10 WHIP.
Lets dive into tonight’s matchup and find a sweat or two.
We’ve got all the info and analysis you need to know ahead of the game, including the latest info on the how to catch first pitch, odds, recent team performance, player stats, and of course, our predictions, picks & best bets for the game from our modeling tools and staff of experts.
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Game Details and How to Watch: Pirates vs. Astros
Date: Thursday, June 4, 2026
Time: 8:10PM EST
Site: Daikin Park
City: Houston, TX
Network/Streaming: MLB.TV, Fox Sports 1, SCHN
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
The Latest Odds: Pirates vs. Astros
The latest odds as of Thursday courtesy of DraftKings:
Probable Starting Pitchers: Pirates vs. Astros for June 4
Pirates: Jared Jones Season Totals: 4.1 IP, 0-0, 10.38 ERA, 2.08 WHIP, 6K, 2 BB
Astros: Kai-Wei Teng Season Totals: 42.0 IP, 3-3, 2.57 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, 43K, 19 BB
Who’s Hot? Who’s Not! Pirates vs. Astros
Yordan Alvarez is 5th in the AL in average (.316), 2nd in home runs (21), and 6th in RBIs (44)
Christian Walker is 4-31 over his last 7 games
Brandon Lowe had his 3-game hitting streak snapped last night as he went 0-4
Bryan Reynolds is 15-37 over his last 11 games
Oneil Cruz is 4-8 this series
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top Betting Trends & Insights: Pirates vs. Astros
The Pirates are 31-31 on the Run Line this season
The Astros are 29-34 on the Run Line this season
The OVER has cashed 35 times in Pittsburgh’s 62 games this season (35-25-2)
The OVER has cashed 35 times in Houston’s 63 games this season (35-25-3)
Expert picks & predictions: Pirates vs. Astros
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for tonight’s game between the Pirates and the Astros:
Moneyline: Rotoworld Bet is leaning towards a play on the Astros on the Moneyline.
Spread: Rotoworld Bet is staying away from a play on the Run Line.
Total: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Game Total OVER 8.5
Team Total: Rotoworld Bet is recommending a play on the Astros Team Total OVER 3.5 runs
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SAN ANTONIO — All season long, there has been a cloud darkening the skies over the LA Clippers and the NBA, an investigation into owner Steve Ballmer and the organization allegedly using former team sponsor Aspiration to funnel money to Kawhi Leonard outside of his contract.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sounds ready for that investigation to be over. That investigation is being handled by the law firm Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz, independent of the NBA, and has been ongoing since September.
"My instruction to them is, you know, we can't be investigating forever, and at some point we have to wrap it up, but at the same time, I think the most important thing is we get it right," Silver said during his annual media address before the start of the NBA Finals.
The Pablo Torre Finds Out Podcast — which won a Pulitzer Prize for its reporting in this case — found multiple former employees of Aspiration who said Leonard was given a "no-show" endorsement contract that was simply a workaround to funnel more money to Leonard outside of his contract with the team — a blatant violation of league rules. Joseph Sanberg, the founder of Aspiration (a "green bank" company), has been sentenced to 14 years in prison for defrauding his investors.
The Clippers and Ballmer have consistently and vehemently denied any wrongdoing, with Ballmer saying he was duped, like other investors (Ballmer invested more than $50 million in Aspiration).
Silver had no timeline for when the investigation will wrap up, but he understands that this dragging out is not a great look for the league.
"I certainly hear and read things all the time about the perception of what really happened or didn't happen here, and I think my only reaction is I wouldn't be doing my job if ultimately I issued a determination based on perception," Silver said. "My job is to follow the facts."
Once the law firm finishes its report and hands it over to Silver, he has to take it to a neutral arbitrator — as required by the CBA — who will review the evidence and decide to give Silver the authority to punish the Clippers or say there is not enough evidence to move forward. While nothing is official, the buzz in league circles is that the law firm found some incriminating evidence, and the league will want to come down hard on Ballmer and the Clippers.
Silver spoke on several other issues during his annual media availability.
• Silver had no formal update on plans to expand in Seattle and Las Vegas, but said the effort is moving forward.
"There's multiple groups interested in both cities. We are in discussions with them..." Silver said. "What we have told all interested parties, our anticipation is our Board will make a decision by the end of this calendar year."
• Silver said the NBA has not made a decision about active NBA players being able to own part of NBA Europe franchises. It's become an issue because the Lakers' Luka Doncic is part of a group that purchased a smaller team in the Italian league, intending to move it to Rome and become a founding member of NBA Europe.
"Our bidding process is continuing," Silver said of finding the 12 permanent members of NBA Europe (the other four spots in the annual tournament will be filled by teams that play their way in). "The end of this month, bids will be due, and presumably we'll be in a position in the fall to award franchises...
"In terms of whether it's Luka Doncic or other players owning teams, that's not been resolved yet. That's an issue we have to work through with our Players Association. I will just add I think part of the determination will be what the basketball relationship will be between these teams... and the NBA."
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - AUGUST 18: Starting pitcher Trevor Rogers #28 of the Baltimore Orioles throws a pitch in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on August 18, 2025 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Jaiden Tripi/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Alas, for the Orioles, forward momentum has been hard to come by this season. After a tidy 4-2 Game 1 win on Tuesday behind seven strong innings from Shane Baz, on Wednesday night Chris Bassitt turned in another flawed outing, going three innings with three runs allowed before exiting with back tightness. It’s not clear whether he’ll have to miss any time with this. Meanwhile, the Birds couldn’t get much done against—yes, a lefty, in Peyton Tolle, who silenced them over six scoreless.
Bassitt himself, after the game, said he felt like it was just one of those things and he had “full confidence” that the team would bounce back tomorrow with Trevor Rogers on the mound. Let’s hope so, because last year’s ace hasn’t been very good this year. After starting the year with a seven-inning shutout, he’s thrown a duck in practically every outing since, with four runs-plus allowed in six of his last nine appearances, along with a 10.01 ERA over his last seven outings. I’m sure the Orioles are working hard to fix whatever this is. Hopefully Chris Bassitt’s confidence in Rogers is warranted.
The Sox are countering with fifth-year right hander Brayan Bello. After a strong 2025 season where he went 11-9 with a 3.35 ERA, the team expected Bello to be a rotation contributor this year. But the results have mixed, to say the least. For whatever reason, Bello has pitched poorly as a starter, but very well coming in late behind an opener: in the former role, he has a 9.68 ERA; behind an opener, he has a 0.71 ERA. It sounds like the Red Sox don’t really know why this is, and Bello is getting a shot as a proper starting pitcher today. He’s been allowing lots of hard contact and striking out few hitters. The Orioles need to take advantage.
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 21: Carlos Rodón #55 of the New York Yankees pitches during the game against the Toronto Blue Jays at Yankee Stadium on May 21, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by New York Yankees/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On paper, the Yankees had a real pitching advantage in this series, tossing Cam Schlittler and Gerrit Cole in the first two games of the series before drawing one of Cleveland’s worst performing starters on Thursday.
But the thing about paper is that… It’s paper. The Guardians have put together two impressive offensive performances against two aces and kept the Yankees at bay to win the series at Yankee Stadium, a rarity. From 2022-25 (including playoffs), Cleveland was just 4-13 in the Bronx, but now has a chance to sweep in a Thursday matinee.
Carlos Rodón will look to help salvage the final game of this series, making his fifth start. It’s been a mixed bag for the All-Star left-hander, as he’s gritted his way through back-to-back strong starts after two poor ones to start the year, pitching to a 3.32 ERA (127 ERA+) and 3.89 FIP in 19 innings. He’s struggled with command, often falling behind in counts and already issuing 13 free passes through four starts, but he’s also been able to get outs despite not having his best strikeout stuff or velocity over the last two weeks. Rodón, if you remember, had the best postseason outing of his career in Game 1 of the 2024 ALCS at Yankee Stadium against this team.
The Guardians will counter with 26-year-old Slade Cecconi, who’s in his third year of being a full-time MLB starter. He was solid, if unremarkable, for Cleveland last year, but has struggled to the tune of a 5.25 ERA (79 ERA+) and 4.96 FIP in 61.2 innings across 12 starts. 364 days ago was his only previous start against the Yankees, where he allowed two runs in five innings, taking the loss.
He doesn’t allow too much hard contact and keeps the ball on the ground, but is well below average in strikeout, whiff, and chase rates, while being mediocre in keeping the ball off the barrel. He’s gotten unlucky in terms of batted ball outcomes, but not by much. Cecconi has a six-pitch mix, but throws some variation of fastball 76 percent of the time, while mixing in a curveball, sweeper, and changeup.
Aaron Judge is still out of the lineup as he gets more imaging on his rib injury, so it’s a similar top of the order with Trent Grisham, Ben Rice, Paul Goldschmidt, and Cody Bellinger. The top seven is identical, with only JC Escarra replacing Austin Wells and Max Schuemann replacing Anthony Volpe, playing right field as Caballero takes over at shortstop.
2024 ALCS Game 3 hero David Fry is leading off for the Guardians in front of José Ramirez, Rhys Hoskins, Travis Bazzana, and Angel Martínez. Stuart Fairchild slides in at sixth in front of Steven Kwan, while Austin Hedges gets his first start of the season, batting eighth. Brayan Rocchio rounds it out.
How to watch
Location: Yankee Stadium — The Bronx, NY
First pitch: 1:35 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES, Guardians.TV
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY), WTAM 1100, Guardians Radio Network (CLE)
An arbitrator has ruled that Terry Rozier must forfeit the majority of his $26.6 million NBA salary for the 2025-26 season due to a violation of his Heat contract.
Rozier was arrested by the FBI last October for alleged involvement in an illegal gambling scheme and has since pleaded not guilty. In late May, the arbitrator decided that Rozier breached his contract obligations because the conditions of his pretrial release in his criminal case left him in violation of the contract.
Rozier’s release conditions banned him from contacting anyone with the Heat and Hornets, and imposed travel restrictions.
Initially, the arbitrator ruled the Heat must pay Rozier his full salary since it ruled that he couldn’t be put back on unpaid leave by the NBA, which he was placed on when indicted by New York’s Eastern District.
Miami Heat’s Terry Rozier arrives at Brooklyn federal court, April 27, 2026, in New York. (AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura, File) AP Photo/Yuki Iwamura
Rozier’s attorney, Jim Trusty, then stated that the team decided not to make payments to Rozier “almost immediately,” forcing a second round of arbitration in early April, per the court filing.
In his most recent court filing on Wednesday, Trusty asked that Rozier’s release conditions remove the Hornets from the no-contact list, as they removed Heat personnel from the no-contact list after his release from the team. Trusty argued that changing the condition could affect his ability to play in the NBA as the free agency negotiation period begins this month.
Terry Rozier played with the Charlotte Hornets from 2019 to 2024. Getty Images
“Under the current ruling of the arbitrator, an inability to play for or against the Charlotte Hornets would constitute a ‘failure to perform services’ by Mr. Rozier and substantially diminish or eliminate any chance of being contracted by an NBA team,” Trusty wrote in the document.
Rozier is scheduled to be arraigned next week on new charges, including sports bribery and honest services wire fraud conspiracy, and will plead not guilty, per Trusty.
Rozier pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering in October, when he also pleaded not guilty.
The annual NHL draft combine is underway in Buffalo this week, featuring some of the future stars we'll see in the NHL.
NHL teams will get official measurements of plenty of 2026 draft-eligible players, such as Gavin McKenna, Ivar Stenberg, Chase Reid, Caleb Malhorta and Keaton Verhoeff, and will also have the opportunity to speak with them and see them participate in physical tests.
The scouting combine takes place at the KeyBank Center and LECOM HarborCenter. The NHL draft, which is set for June 26 and 27, will also take place in Buffalo.
NHL Draft Combine Schedule
Throughout the week, team management staff and scouts from around the NHL will have the opportunity to talk with prospects.
On Thursday and Friday, there are four fitness tests that happen, which are not open to the media: Y-balance, grip strength, isokinetic squat strength, and aerobic fitness.
On Friday, top prospects will be asked questions in media scrums during the afternoon.
Saturday is fitness testing day, followed by a media availability for all the participants. On top of measuring standing height and wingspan, Saturday's testing will evaluate musculoskeletal fitness and anaerobic fitness.
Welcome to the Gavin McKenna show!
The Hockey News' 2026 Draft Preview • Top 100 prospects • In-depth scouting reports • Feature stories on McKenna, Stenberg, Verhoeff, Carels and more!
Although many of the tests will still be run, there are some changes.
The pro agility test will remain, along with the bench press, pull-ups, horizontal jump, force plate vertical jump, grip strength, and the Wingate cycle ergometer test. The classic VO2 max aerobic tests will also be conducted.
The new tests that will be conducted in 2026 are the isokinetic squat test and the 10-meter sprint. This will allow teams to see how these players use their lower bodies during the test.
The isokinetic squat test will measure lower-body strength, as it requires the player to squat using specialized machinery that controls movement speed. As the player pushes against the machine, the equipment matches their force, maintaining a constant speed throughout the full range of motion. Controlling the speed allows the prospect to generate maximal force throughout the motion.
The 10-meter sprint will measure a player's acceleration and speed, as its short distance will force the players to push off hard from a standstill. Each player gets two tries with about a minute in between, and the faster time will be reported.
Although the combine can be a great indicator of the physical traits players have developed or lack, it's not the be-all and end-all.
In the past, Sam Bennett or Casey Mittelstadt failed to do a single pull-up at the combine, but both players have gone on to have long NHL careers. In other cases, we've seen players impress at the combine but fail to make the NHL.
Since 2015, the five players with the most pull-ups all took part in the 2022 scouting combine:
1. Jack Hughes (Los Angeles, 51st overall in 2022): 19 pull-ups
T-2. Lane Hutson (Montreal, 62nd in
’22): 18 pull-ups
T-2. Jake Karabela (Washington, 149th in ’22), 18 pull-ups
T-4. Julian Lutz (Arizona, 43rd in ’22), 17 pull-ups
T-4. Matthew Poitras (Boston, 54th in ’22), 17 pull-ups
Of that top five, only Hutson and Poitras have played NHL games so far, and the latter spent most of this season in the AHL. Hutson, meanwhile, has the third-most career points by players drafted in 2022, with 146 in 166 games. He also leads the class in career points per game among those who played at least five games, with 0.88.
In the agility test, we've seen outstanding times since results were published online in 2014, highlighted by Toronto Maple Leafs top prospect Easton Cowan. He set the combine record in 2023 with a time of 4.07 seconds. Anaheim Ducks prospect Stian Solberg ranks second with a time of 4.10.
The most recent record set was by Pittsburgh Penguins prospect William Horcoff in 2025. He set the record for the longest horizontal jump, at 124.80 inches.
Although most tests haven't been tracked online as long, the longest-standing combine record is Sean Farmer's 196.9-pound grip strength result in 1995.
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The Buffalo Sabres are entering the summer with several pending free agents. Due to this, there is a chance that we could see a few of their players not back on the team next season.
Because of this, let's look at four Sabres pending UFAs who may not be back in Buffalo in 2025-26.
Luke Schenn
The Sabres brought in Luke Schenn at the deadline for more defensive depth. He was not used often by Buffalo, as he played in just four regular-season games and two playoff games for the Sabres. With the Sabres having more notable players due for contracts this summer, there is a good chance that the 36-year-old Schenn won't be back.
Logan Stanley
It would not be surprising if Logan Stanley decided to test the market this summer. The 6-foot-7 defenseman had a career year, posting new career highs with nine goals, 17 assists, and 26 points in 73 games. With this, he will certainly be getting a raise, but it seems likely it won't be from Buffalo.
Tanner Pearson
Tanner Pearson is another Sabres pending UFA who might not be back next season. He had two assists in four games after being acquired by the Sabres ahead of the deadline and did not make a playoff appearance for Buffalo.
Alex Tuch
There is certainly a good chance that Alex Tuch will re-sign with the Sabres. However, until that comes to fruition, questions about his future in Buffalo will continue to come up. Tuch is in a position to ask for a major payday as the NHL's top pending UFA forward. Will the Sabres be willing to pay the price, or will the Syracuse, New York native sign elsewhere?
The 2026 NBA Finals began Wednesday night when the New York Knicks beat the San Antonio Spurs by overcoming a double-digit second-half deficit to win Game 1 on the road.
Jalen Brunson’s 30 points and fourth-quarter heroics dominated headlines after the game, but the real star of the series opener for the Knicks was center Karl-Anthony Towns, who scored 18 points with 12 rebounds. But more importantly, Towns played really good defense against Spurs superstar center Victor Wembanyama.
It was another example of how important it is to have a center capable of guarding the league’s best big men. Many of the top contenders have a center who can impact games at a high level. That list includes Wembanyama and Towns, as well as Nikola Jokic, Joel Embiid, Rudy Gobert, Chet Holmgren, Evan Mobley and Alperen Sengun. Giannis Antetokounmpo could potentially be traded to a contender this offseason.
The Celtics are lacking in this department.
Neemias Queta had an excellent regular season as the starting center, but he was far less effective in the playoffs against Embiid. Queta scored fewer than 10 points in five of the seven first-round games against the Philadelphia 76ers, and he was also in foul trouble in several of those matchups.
One place where the Celtics can upgrade their frontcourt is the 2026 NBA Draft later this month. The C’s have the No. 27 overall pick in the first round.
Here’s a list of potential Celtics targets in Round 1 based on recent predictions from experts in 2026 NBA mock drafts.
“The Celtics had good luck last year taking Hugo Gonzalez in the late first round. Why not go with another Spaniard? De Larrea is a tall playmaking guard with major feel and a knockdown jumper who thrives within team concepts. He suffered a dislocated shoulder that ended his 2024-25 season and removed him from draft boards, but it ended up a blessing in disguise since he returned with a bigger role and stronger production for a great team in the EuroLeague. With size, smarts and defensive versatility, he could carve out a role in the NBA if his international skill can translate.”
“If you pop in the film of Okorie’s 36-point outburst from Stanford’s Jan. 14 win over North Carolina, you’ll wonder why he slipped this far. He followed it up with three more 30+ point showings during one of the most unexpectedly dominant freshman seasons in college basketball. The margins are slim for making it in the league as an undersized scoring guard. But if nothing else, perhaps he can sustain an NBA bench unit.”
“Tanner might be destined to return to college after being one of the most divisive players in this year’s class. He was one of the very best players in college basketball as a sophomore, but he’s just so small at a tick under 5’11 barefoot and 167 pounds with a 6’4.25 wingspan. He definitely plays bigger than his size on both ends with a sixth sense for forcing turnovers and a rare ability to dunk on your head for such a tiny guard. I have questions about his three-point shooting and creation ability at the next level. He’d be a great flier in this range.”
“The Celtics typically load up with as many shooters as they can get, and they naturally have an affinity for floor-spacing bigs. Once financial constraints forced them to split from the likes of Al Horford and Kristaps Porziņģis in 2025, they pivoted to Luka Garza and Nikola Vučević. But Vučević is a free agent now, and Garza is unproven as a rotation regular, so Boston could continue its stretch-big search with Veesaar. He is a 7’0″ play-finisher both around the rim and beyond the three-point arc.”
“The Celtics could stand to improve their secondary playmaking, regardless of position. The way the board has fallen, Boston could land one of the best passers in the class while also shoring up its frontcourt depth. Jefferson may not have ideal length for his position, but he makes up for that with brute strength, quick hands, and excellent two-way instincts. At their best, the Celtics exhibit a five-man flow that adapts to the coverage at hand. Having a quick processor like Jefferson on the floor would help keep things in motion.”
