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Jack Rudoni came on to score twice and edge Coventry a little closer to a Premier League return
2 min: Van Ewijk looks long for Simms. Clarke intercepts. Then Esse hassles Ward down the left and forces the first corner of the match. Coventry have scored 24 goals from set pieces this season, the division’s best … but this one comes to nothing.
Derby get the ball rolling. The CBS Arena roaring.
Continue reading...PARIS (AP) — Ousmane Dembélé scored twice in the first half as Paris Saint-Germain beat Toulouse 3-1 and increased its lead of Ligue 1 to four points on Friday.
The game was brought forward to give PSG more recovery time ahead of next Wednesday’s Champions League quarterfinal with Liverpool at the Parc des Princes.
PSG came into the match having scored 12 goals in its last three games and it took the lead midway through the opening period when Dembélé crashed a superb volley into the top corner from the edge of the 18-yard box.
However, four minutes later goalkeeper Matvey Safonov could not secure a wicked in-swinging corner and Rasmus Nicolaisen headed home the rebound to level the scores.
Dembélé restored PSG’s lead 12 minutes before halftime. Khvicha Kvaratskhelia headed on a corner kick and former Dortmund and Barcelona forward Dembélé was on hand to side-foot the ball over the line.
He had a third goal disallowed for offside in a second half dominated by the home side but it wasn’t until stoppage time that PSG added a third, substitute Gonçalo Ramos stroking home with his right foot from 25 meters.
The result lifted PSG four points clear of Lens, which travels to fifth-placed Lille on Saturday for the Derby du Nord.
Toulouse remained in ninth place.
___
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
INDIANAPOLIS – Everyone can think of an old dog.
You know, the one that’s kind of crusty, maybe losing sight or hearing — or both — hair matted, walks pretty slow and doesn’t play fetch? The funny thing about them is, when it seems like they’re in their final stages of life, they just don’t die. You wait for the end, and you keep on waiting.
There’s an old Husky lurking in the Connecticut locker room. It’s Alex Karaban, and he just won’t go down.
“Everybody knows that old dog that just won't die,” said UConn center Tarris Reed Jr. “My auntie had an old dog, he lived for a while. He just wouldn't die. Just stayed around, it be hard to kill him. I feel like that's (Karaban).”
Well, that’s one way to put it. That even threw off the dog himself.
“An old dog? Why an old dog,” he asked his teammate before the explanation only left him speechless.
He’s not exactly Old Yeller, but his coach offered him another title: baby sitter.
“He just babysits your team for 40 and a half years,” said UConn coach Dan Hurley. “I mean, he's been the best babysitter.”
Point is, this isn’t Karaban’s first rodeo, but it’s certainly his last as he closes his storied college career trying to achieve something that hasn’t been achieved by a player in more than 50 years: win three national championships.
Done eight times in history — all by those in John Wooden’s UCLA dynasty in the 1960s and 1970s — the last time it was accomplished was in 1971-73 with Larry Farmer and Larry Hollyfield.
Now 53 years later, Karaban is the person two wins away from joining this prestigious list, and even though the 23-year-old gets clowned on, his teammates want him to get there.
What’s remarkable about Karaban’s time is it wasn’t like he was some benchwarmer during the first two titles. A two-time captain, he has been a major factor in getting UConn on the cusp of a dynasty.
That’s why he became the first active men’s basketball player to be inducted into UConn’s illustrious Huskies of Honor, and already the team’s winningest player ever.
As a redshirt freshman, he appeared in all 39 games — starting the last 38 — to lead the team in total minutes played, all while shooting 40.2% from 3-point land. The following season, he started every game, upped his scoring from 9.3 to 13.3 points per game and shot nearly 50% from the field.
“He's the greatest problem solver you'll ever have in practice, in game, and then, like, the tone he sets for your culture with his work habits, the peer pressure that that puts on everyone in the organization when your best player works as hard as he does,” Hurley said.
Now in Indianapolis, the Huskies haven’t stopped leaning on Karaban either. He had some fun reminding the first-timers this is his third Final Four, and having him around has really helped those newbies go about the biggest stage in the sport.
Whether it’s dealing with playing in a football stadium, the pressure and endless questions from media, Karaban has given them tips on how to navigate it and not let it become too much. That’s probably why if Reed and guard Silas Demary Jr. needed a teammate as an emergency contact, they both would put down Karaban.
“Having a guy like that to literally lead your team been here before, he's poised on this stage,” Reed said. “Having that guy in your corner is really special.”
Not many people get to be in Karaban’s position, 4-0 in the Final Four with a chance to be 6-0. Even though he’s achieved all of this success, he feels like the Huskies have a chip on their shoulder as they aren’t the major favorite to win it all.
So, yes Karaban is an old dog, and he ain’t ready to go down just yet.
“It's an interesting way to put it, but I mean, yeah, I don't want this to end. I want to keep going. I want to keep fighting and really keep wearing that Connecticut jersey across my chest.,” Karaban said. “I guess the old dog wants to keep living for his treats — and my treat is a win — then, yeah, I'll keep fighting for it.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: At Final Four, Alex Karaban is UConn's 'old dog that just won't die'
Everything’s been coming up Yankees for the first week or so of the 2026 season. After a 5-1 West Coast trip to open the season that went about as good as anyone could’ve asked for, the Bronx Bombers came home to face an equally hot Miami Marlins team that was feeling good about themselves after a 5-1 start of their own, all at home.
Although the Marlins struck first off Will Warren early, the 26-year-old settled in and delivered a solid outing that would be more than enough for the Yankees. Aaron Judge set the tone with an early home run and had his first multi-hit game of the season, while Ben Rice shook off three strikeouts to start the game by adding much-appreciated insurance late to continue his blisteringly hot start, as the Yankees took the series opener on Friday afternoon, 8-2.
The very start of the game didn’t go so hot for the Yankees, as the first roll call of the season was rudely interrupted by an Xavier Edwards solo home run to right field to give Miami a near-immedaite 1-0 lead. It was remarkably the first dinger allowed all year by the Yankees’ pitching staff through seven games. Warren, unfazed by the quick deficit he faced, rebounded to get the next two hitters.
Of course, that lead didn’t last too long. Trent Grisham worked a leadoff walk off 22-year-old fireballer Eury Pérez, and just three pitches later, the captain rang in 2026 at Yankee Stadium with a monstrous two-run shot to left to flip the scoreboard and make it 2-1 Yankees. Statcast says it only went 378 feet, but it sure didn’t look like it.
Warren settled in and pitched a clean second with a pair of strikeouts. In the bottom half, the Yankees struck for another two runs without recording a hit. Jazz Chisholm Jr., José Caballero, Ryan McMahon, and Grisham all worked walks, with Chisholm and Caballero contributing to Pérez’s meltdown by stealing three bases between them.
Already allowing one run to score, Pérez plunked Judge on the first pitch to make it 4-1. With the bases juiced and only one out, the young righty finally found his composure and retired the next two to get out of trouble.
Miami went down in order in both the third and fourth innings against Warren, who looked composed on the mound even when Liam Hicks almost took his head off with a hard liner that ended in a 6-3 groundout. Chisholm doubled in the third and got to third on a long fly out from Austin Wells, but was stranded when a push bunt by Caballero was snuffed out by the Marlins’ defense.
The Fish were finally able to take a chunk off of Warren in the fifth, as Owen Caissie, the centerpiece of the Edward Cabrera trade, smashed his second home run of the season to right-center to cut it to 4-2. While Warren sat down the last two hitters to get through the fifth, it marked the first time that a Yankees starter had allowed multiple runs in a game. As a reminder, this is the seventh game of the year.
The Yankees weren’t very good at ABS today, as Cody Bellinger’s narrow miss in the fifth had the team out of challenges for the first time all year. He made up for it with a double off new Marlins’ pitcher Tyler Phillips, but he was stranded.
Warren got the first two outs of the sixth before a pair of ground ball singles ended his day, with the finishing blow being a swinging bunt by former Yankees prospect Agustin Ramírez. It was a solid day for Warren, who was a split-second from a quality start but went 5.2 good innings without walking a batter. Tim Hill came on to face the lefty and did Tim Hill things, quickly inducing an inning-ending groundout.
A very similar rally to the one in the second started in the sixth. Wells walked, Caballero reached on an E5, and some good baserunning set the team up with second and third with one out and the top of the order up. Of course, they didn’t get a hit, but they got a run. After Judge walked, Phillips spiked a pitch in the dirt for a run-scoring wild pitch to make it 5-2.
Jake Bird got the seventh for the Yankees and continued an impressive start to the season with a powerful 1-2-3 inning.
The Marlins went to Michael Petersen after our first “God Bless America” of the season and were rudely greeted by Rice, who bounced back after striking out in his first three at-bats by thumping a hard liner into the short porch for his second homer of the season. 110.9 mph and 353 feet later, it was 6-2, Yanks.
Brent Headrick and his curious reverse splits pitched the eighth and tore through 8-9-1 in the Marlins order with a pair of strikeouts. We then got a pretty awkward bottom of the eighth, where Grisham walked, and Judge singled him to third, but a bizarre collision led to Grisham’s foot briefly coming off the bag and allowed Leo Jiménez to tag him in the ankle, ruling him out.
There was no need to worry though, as Bellinger walked and Rice finally got the Yankees’ first hit with runners in scoring position by drilling a two-run double off the right-field wall to make it 8-2. They finished the day 1-for-13 in such situations, despite scoring eight runs.
Unfortunately for Rule 5 pick Cade Winquest, we still didn’t get to see his MLB debut, so it was Ryan Yarbrough who made his season debut in the ninth. Edwards made a bid for his second extra-base-hit of the day to start the inning, only to be robbed by an acrobatic catch from Bellinger that even shocked him.
After plunking Ramírez, Yarbrough made up for it by picking him off second base to get the second out, before inducing a game-ending flyout to lock down the win.
The Yankees will look for their fourth consecutive win and another series victory in the middle game against the Marlins tomorrow. Southpaw Ryan Weathers faces off against his former teammate in Miami, righty Max Meyer, tomorrow at 7:05pm ET on YES.
Coming off two of their best wins of the season, it would have been fair to expect the Pittsburgh Penguins to keep things rolling along when they flew to Tampa Bay to take on the Lightning Thursday.
Unfortunately, they were unable to continue whatever momentum they had from those games into this one.
After leading 2-1 heading into the second period, the Penguins allowed five consecutive Tampa Bay goals and were defeated by the Lightning, 6-3. With the win - and in combination with a loss by the Buffalo Sabres - the Lightning took over first place in the Atlantic, while the Penguins were pretty much unaffected standings-wise by the regulation loss.
Even if the score indicates otherwise, the Penguins actually played very well for the first half of this game.
Tampa Bay opened the scoring a little more than five minutes into the first period when Anthony Cirelli beat Penguins' goaltender Stuart Skinner for his 21st of the season. But, the Penguins responded less than two minutes later when the red-hot Rickard Rakell took a Sam Girard feed at the goal line, kicking the puck behind himself and straight to the blade of his stick before burying his 21st goal of the season to tie the game.
Tricky Ricky is riding a six-game point streak (7G-2A) 🔥 pic.twitter.com/8Id2pF6txP
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 2, 2026
And with less than four to go in the opening frame, Egor Chinakhov - playing on Sidney Crosby's left wing for the third consecutive game - used his speed to break into the offensive zone and down the right side before he placed a perfect backhander over Andrei Vasilevskiy to give the Penguins the lead.
Egor Chinakhov supremacy. pic.twitter.com/XIQQCuTGv4
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 2, 2026
However, that didn't last long.
The Penguins were on the back legs of a power play opportunity to begin the second period, and they attempted to gain the zone off the opening draw. However, a misfired puck and misplays by both Erik Karlsson and Bryan Rust led to a Cirelli breakaway that he capitalized on for a shorthanded goal, and it all went downhill from there, even if the Penguins pushed back a few times in the second.
Later in the period, Brayden Point and Zemgus Girgensons scored big goals for the Bolts to give their team a two-goal lead, and Nikita Kucherov scored the back-breaker in the third period with a tough-angle shot from the bottom of the right circle near the wall to make it 5-2 and, essentially, put the game out of reach at that point.
The Penguins pulled Skinner with a little more than five minutes remaining in regulation, and Cirelli scored his hat trick goal on the empty net to put the game away for good. Chinakhov did add a second goal on a late Penguins' power play with 0.8 seconds on the clock - his 20th of the season, an absolute top-shelf scorcher - but the Penguins had quite literally run out of time by that juncture.
All things considered, it was a game the Penguins could afford to lose, and they will turn their focus to the Florida Panthers, who they play back-to-back home games against on Saturday and Sunday.
Pittsburgh Penguins Made Best Signing Of Last SummerThe Penguins made the NHL's best free-agent signing of last summer.Here are some thoughts and takeaways from Thursday's loss:
- Again, this loss didn't really mean too much in the grand scheme of things. As dominant as the Penguins looked in their games against the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings, it was highly unlikely they'd sweep the remaining seven games of the regular season, and Tampa Bay was going to be their most formidable opponent within those seven games.
So, again, the focus is on the Panthers, who the Penguins need to take care of business against. With other teams in the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division races continuing to lose, banking points in the front half of the final six games would be ideal. The Penguins are currently still four points clear of the playoff cutoff line, but creating more separation before playing a New Jersey Devils team that they typically struggle against despite their record this season and desperate Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues teams would be in their best interest.
Besides: The earlier they can clinch, the earlier they have the options to rest some of their stars, should they choose to. More on that later.
Penguins Defenseman Out For Season After Shoulder SurgeryPittsburgh Penguins defenseman Caleb Jones is out for the rest of the 2025-26 season.- Ben Kindel started the game centering a second line of Evgeni Malkin and Tommy Novak. And, well, that didn't last long.
After committing the defensive zone turnover that led to Cirelli's first goal, he and Rakell swapped, and that's the way it stayed. Rakell was, initially, centering Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau on the third line, a combination that worked well against the Islanders Monday. Unless my eyes were deceiving me, I believe Kindel was benched for just a few shifts after that one, too.
Unfortunately, Kindel also committed a neutral zone turnover that led to Point's goal, too - among other poor plays that led up to the game-winning tally.
He's been fantastic all season long, especially for an 18-year-old playing center at the NHL level - which is a rarity itself. That said, this was a night to forget for him.
'March Of The Penguins' Wasn't Perfect, But It Was More Than Enough To Prove This Team Isn't Going Away"Well, I suppose we'll see what they're made of during that brutal stretch in March."
- Speaking of nights to forget, Karlsson and Parker Wotherspoon were off in this one as well. I didn't like how Karlsson defended the Girgensons goal, as he puck-chased below the goal line when Wotherspoon was already there, leaving the net-front completely undefended. He was also making some bad decisions with the puck - especially on the power play.
And Wotherspoon just looked uncomfortable, was handling the puck like a grenade throughout the game, and lost a whole lot of puck and turnover battles.
These two have been absolutely excellent for the Penguins this season, so there's no reason for concern with them. Like Kindel, this just wasn't their night.
- Keeping to the theme, the Penguins' first line was - simply put - not working in this game. And Crosby and Bryan Rust stuck out like sore thumbs, even if Chinakhov still played pretty well individually.
They were hemmed in their own zone at Yanni Gourde's and the rest of his third line's will for most of the night, as - according to data from Moneypuck - they only generated a 10.7 percent expected goals share.
NHL Game Score Impact Card for Pittsburgh Penguins on 2026-04-02: pic.twitter.com/aR4F3qnche
— HockeyStatCards (@hockeystatcards) April 3, 2026
Crosby isn't himself right now. Maybe that injury sustained against the Ottawa Senators is still nagging. Maybe he's still getting re-acclimated after missing some significant time for the first time in years. Maybe his chemistry with Rust is fading a bit. Or, maybe, he's just in the midst of a cold streak, which is a common occurrence for him when he's close to a major milestone (tying Steve Yzerman on the all-time points list at 1,755.
In any case, I have a feeling Crosby will bounce back in a big way this weekend. But, if he doesn't, I'd consider trying the Chinakhov-Crosby-Rakell combination again, which had some great looks against Detroit.
- Now, about Chinakhov: We all know he has wrist and snap shots that are probably better than any forward's wrist and snap shot in the NHL.
But that backhand was nuts, too. As was his casual, angry, "Well, I'll leave you with this, I guess" snipe at the very end of the game to clinch his first 20-goal season at the point where it meant nothing for the Penguins' chances of winning the game.
Can someone provide a logical reason as to why this guy isn’t on the first power-play unit?
— Pensx87 (@pensx87) April 3, 2026
Since 87 has come back and Chinakhov got bumped to PP2, the Pens have had 22 opportunities through eight games. They are 3/22 (one on a 5 on 3). 13.6%.
That is the worst in the league. pic.twitter.com/tieGebVQjK
This guy is incredible, and he has an incredibly rare gift in his shot - no matter what form it comes in. With each passing game, it increases my belief that the Penguins could have a star forward on their hands.
- Even if Karlsson and Wotherspoon weren't very good in this game, Sam Girard and Kris Letang were very good for the third-straight game. Girard, especially.
He was everywhere. He was the one who made Rakell's goal happen, as he carried the puck into the zone on his own, went down low, and made a nice play to get the puck to Rakell. He also saved a goal in the first period in the blue paint.
And Letang? He led Penguins' defensemen in expected goals share at 60.5 percent, followed by Girard at 46.5 percent.
They have been legitimately good for three games now, and it's largely because Girard is clearly more comfortable within the Penguins' system and with the puck on his stick. It's also largely because Letang is generally letting him do all that while hanging back in a more stay-at-home capacity, recognizing when Girard activates.
If this pairing can get going, it would be a massive development for the Penguins. Their blue line and goals-against numbers have been a problem lately, and they were major culprits. If they can keep this up, the Penguins are much-better positioned going into the playoffs, should they get there.
Erik Karlsson Named NHL's Second Star Of The MonthPittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson was named the NHL's Second Star of March. - All that said, the Penguins have two major weaknesses right now: Special teams and goaltending.
As far as special teams, the penalty kill didn't surrender anything Thursday but has gone from first in the NHL all the way down to seventh in a short span. As has the power play, which has dropped from top-five down to eighth since the Olympic break.
Again, the penalty kill looked much better and more structured Thursday, so maybe that was a step in the right direction. But the power play, in particular, has been off. I asked Rust about the power play last week after the loss to the Dallas Stars, and he did point out that they had scored in consecutive games. He also said they are still probably passing up too many good looks.
This is certainly true. They are also too stagnant, and they are giving up far too many opportunities against right now. They've been money on five-on-three power plays, but that hasn't so much been the case five-on-four. They need to get back on track soon, whether that's changing up personnel or just getting back to basics.
Takeaways: Penguins Secure Huge Two Points Against Red Wings In Another Dominant Effort The Pittsburgh Penguins continued the momentum gained from Monday's 8-3 win over the New York Islanders to win yet another standings-crucial matchup - this time, against the Detroit Red Wings- And about the goaltending: This is a major concern that the Penguins will need to address as soon as possible, whether it's through improved performance by the two guys they already have or by bringing in a different face from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to help them clinch - and, maybe, help beyond that.
The Penguins were not good defensively in this game and gave up far too many grade-A looks, but Skinner wasn't very good, either. I didn't like the Kucherov goal at all - as sneaky as it was - and I didn't love Point's goal, either, although that was a near-perfect shot from close range.
Skinner and Silovs will go out and have a great game that makes you say, "Alright, he's the guy right now," only to struggle in the next start. Then, the cycle repeats. One of them has to break that cycle before the playoffs. Otherwise - and I was against this before - it absolutely would not hurt to give Sergei Murashov a look, especially if the Penguins clinch early.
This is one loss. It didn't really matter all that much, and a loss or two somewhere in the final stretch should be expected. But, if the Penguins are going to make the playoffs and get anywhere in them, they need more consistency from whoever mans the goal.
The Wraparound: Has Nikolaj Ehlers Lived Up To Expectations With The Hurricanes? Emma Lingan, Michael Augello and Kelsey Surmacz discuss Nathan MacKinnon scoring 50 goals, Nikolaj Ehlers, Steven Stamkos, Charlie McAvoy, Erik Karlsson and more.Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
We have a trade to talk about, folks — it’s not a big one but it’s a trade, nonetheless! In fact, the Braves have gone back to one of their most frequent trade partners (or at least it feels that way, as ComeBackTedTurner mentioned in the linked Feed post) for another deal: The Los Angeles Angels. The Braves have picked up another pitcher from the Angels, as they have acquired Victor Mederos in exchange for international bonus pool considerations.
Mederos is heading to Triple-A Gwinnett, where he’ll likely serve as roster depth in case the current big league pitching gets exhausted to the point where they need to dip into those particular reserves. Mederos pitched 17 big league innings last season and recorded a 7.41 ERA (179 ERA-) and a 7.19 FIP (171 FIP-). He has a career 8.53 ERA (206 ERA-) and a 6.95 FIP (166 FIP-), so it’s safe to say that the Braves aren’t exactly getting an ace here. Again, if he shows up in the bigs this season then the Braves will have to be suffering an injury crisis similar to what happened last season. I know things have gotten bad already in terms of missing starters but for now, it’s still not nearly as bad as how it was last season, so there’s that.
Speaking of the injury situation, AJ Smith-Shawver is now on the 60-Day IL in order to make room for Mederos on the 40-man roster. As a reminder, AJSS underwent Tommy John surgery back in back in June 2025 so he’s still a few months away from even considering a serious comeback since that’s a 12-month turnaround to begin with. The Braves weren’t getting Smith-Shawver back any time soon so this just confirms the situation while making room for some more depth to take his place.
Will Warren was terrific, continuing a team-wide run of sharp starting pitching, and Aaron Judge and Ben Rice both homered as the Yankees beat the Miami Marlins, 8-2, on Friday afternoon in The Bronx.
The sellout crowd of 48,788 on hand for the club’s 124th home opener also enjoyed a dose of Yankee speed as the Bronx Bombers used their legs to create offense, too.
- The Yankees came into the game on an impressive streak – they were the only team in baseball to have not allowed a home run this season. It was their longest streak since 1944 – a span of 83 years. It did not last long into Friday’s game, however. The second batter of the game, Marlins second baseman Xavier Edwards, smacked the first pitch from Warren over the right-field fence for a 1-0 Miami lead. In the fifth inning, Owen Caissie also homered off Warren.
Warren is just the latest starter to thrive for the Yankees this season. Their rotation entered the game with a 0.53 ERA – the lowest over the first six games of a season since ERA was made an official stat in 1913. Following Warren’s outing, the starter ERA was 0.91. Max Fried and Cam Schlittler have been spotless. Warren allowed one run in his first start and so did Ryan Weathers. Friday, Warren got multiple early swings-and-misses and totaled seven overall in the game, per Baseball Savant. He came out of the game with two out and two on in the sixth inning, following a groundball single through the infield and an infield hit in front of the mound. Lefty Tim Hill came out of the bullpen to face the Marlins’ cleanup hitter, Liam Hicks, who entered the game with 12 RBI, the most in the majors. Hill got Hicks to top a ground ball in front of the mound for an easy third out, protecting what was then a 4-2 lead.
Overall, Yankee pitchers have allowed just eight runs in the club’s first seven games. No wonder they are 6-1.
- Judge, who came into the game batting a mere .125 and had been 0-for-4 in each of his previous two games, perhaps quelled some of the hand-wringing over his start by cranking a first-inning home run. His two-run shot, his third homer of the season, came after a leadoff walk by Trent Grisham and put the Yankees up, 2-1. Judge’s home run was clocked at 101.2 mph off the bat and traveled an estimated 387 feet. Judge later added another RBI when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the second.
- The Yankee offense got some help from Marlins starter Eury Pérez, who struggled with command. Pérez walked six batters in just four innings of work and his wildness was primarily responsible for the Yanks’ two-run second inning. Speed helped, too – Jazz Chisholm Jr. walked leading off and stole second and third and, one out later, JoséCaballero walked and stole second. Pérez walked Ryan McMahon on a 3-2 pitch to load the bases and then did the same with Grisham up, forcing in a run. Then he plunked Judge with a 99 mph fastball to plate another one, giving the Yanks a 4-1 lead. They scored two runs in the inning without getting a single hit. Overall, Pérez allowed two hits and four runs in four innings of work, adding four strikeouts. He threw 84 pitches, but only 45 strikes.
- The Yanks added a run in the sixth, helped by their legs again. Austin Wells, who led off with a walk, scored from third on a wild pitch. He helped create the opportunity by tagging up from second to get to third on a fly to left. Caballero had another stolen base in the same frame as the Yankees kept exerting basepath stress on the Marlins. In the eighth, Judge stole a base, too, the Yanks’ fifth of the day. Stealth Bombers?
- Rice, off to a hot start, hit his second home run of the year leading off the seventh, pushing the Yanks’ advantage to 6-2. The next inning, Rice smacked a double off the top of the right-field wall to drive in two more runs. Rice has eight RBI so far this season, tops on the Yanks, and has reached base safely in 13-of-26 plate appearances while batting .409 with a 1.364 OPS.
- In the ninth, Cody Bellinger made a catch you’ll doubtless see in repeated highlights, ranging back in left field to snag a drive by Edwards. The ball initially struck the heel of Bellinger’s glove and plummeted toward the ground, but he reached down to snag it. Bellinger, delighted and amazed, thrust his hands into the air in celebration.
Warren may have given up the most runs in a single outing of any Yankee starter so far this season, but that says more about how good the team’s rotation has been than it does about Warren’s outing. He gave up two runs and four hits in 5.2 innings, striking out six and walking none. Warren has allowed three earned runs and nine hits in 10 innings over two starts, a 2.70 ERA.
Aaron Judge goes deep in his first Yankee Stadium at-bat of 2026! pic.twitter.com/3rexsBWGvV
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026
Jazz Chisholm Jr. steals second and third base in the 2nd inning! pic.twitter.com/3gyCrTzdNY
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026
Aaron Judge gets hit with the bases loaded and it’s 4-1 Yankees pic.twitter.com/bKYDINX37L
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026
Ben Rice drills a solo shot! pic.twitter.com/KcF020jHRF
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026
Ben Rice drives in two more! pic.twitter.com/O39Qq0C84P
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026
Cody Bellinger HOW?! pic.twitter.com/W7GXc80f5t
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) April 3, 2026
The two teams are back in action on Saturday night.
Left-hander Ryan Weathers (2.08 ERA) gets the ball against his former club with righty Max Meyer (5.40 ERA) going for the visitors for the 7:05 p.m. start in the Bronx.
Shohei Ohtani has officially been welcomed to the new MLB year after hitting his first home run of the 2026 season.
Ohtani looks like he's back in form following a three-run home run as the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Washington Nationals, 13-6, on April 3 in Washington D.C.
There's nothing sweeter than seeing baseball fly out the park and Ohtani and the Dodgers made that happen not once, not twice, but five times in the nation's capital.
The first came in the third inning with the Dodgers down 3-0. Ohtani hit a three-run bomb that went 401 feet between right and center field, as Teoscar Hernández and Andy Pages scored to tie the game.
Ohtani finished 2-for-5 with 4 RBIs – also his first of the season – and is batting .217 now. He is 1-0 on the mound with 6 strikeouts in as many innings pitched.
The Dodgers added two more scores in the inning as Mookie Betts followed with a two-run, 380-foot home run that brought home Kyle Tucker. Los Angeles got out of the inning with a 5-3 lead but continued to pour it on throughout the ball game.
Pages got in on the action, hitting the longest homerun of the game. His went 412 feet to left field as he and Hernandez ran across home plate to pad the Dodgers' lead to 7-4 in the fourth inning.
Freddie Freeman smacked one 391 feet in the following inning, scoring Betts. Dodgers dominance carried on. They led 9-4 in the fifth but weren't done.
Tucker added to an 11-4 lead with a solo home run on a 404-foot shot in the top of the seventh. It was also his first home run of the 2026 season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Shohei Ohtani hits 3-run home run in Dodgers vs Nationals
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the first inning, and the New York Yankees beat the Miami Marlins 8-2 in their home opener Friday for their second 6-1 start in three seasons.
Trent Grisham reached leading off with the first of 11 walks by Marlins pitchers and Judge drove a slider into the left-field seats against Eury Pérez (0-1).
Judge, who had three RBIs, hit a record 20 first-inning home runs last year, when he finished with 53. Three of Judge's five hits this season have been home runs.
Ben Rice homered and hit a two-run double for the Yankees.
Will Warren (1-0) allowed four hits in 5 2/3 innings, including solo homers by Xavier Edwards in the first and Owen Caissie in the fifth.
Miami entered the game at 5-1, matching its franchise-best start, and had spent six days atop the NL East — double its total for 2021-25 combined. Miami pitchers had their most walks since April 2023; they had walked just nine in the team's first six games.
Pérez (0-1) allowed four runs, two hits and a career-high six walks in four innings. He forced in runs on consecutive pitches in the second when he walked Grisham and hit Judge. Tyler Phillips threw a run-scoring wild pitch in the sixth.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and José Caballero each had two stolen bases and Judge one off catcher Liam Hicks, who has allowed 60 steals in 66 attempts since reaching the major leagues last year.
Yankees LHP Ryan Weathers (0-0), acquired from the Marlins in January, starts Saturday night against Miami RHP Max Meyer (0-0).
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AP MLB: https://apnews.com/mlb
After several days of anticipation, the Milwaukee Brewers have made official the news that many fans have been waiting for: shortstop prospect Cooper Pratt has signed a long-term contract extension.
Reports surfaced on Monday that the Brewers and Pratt had come to terms on a deal, with Pratt himself confirming the news on his Instagram. Eight years with $50.75 million guaranteed and a pair of club options is the reported contract.
The deal begins this year and runs through the 2033 season. The club options are for 2034 and 2035. Because he’s signed the deal, the Brewers have added Pratt to the 40-man roster. To clear space, the Brewers designated outfielder Steward Berroa for assignment.
“We are very excited to make this long-term commitment to Cooper,” said Arnold. “He is a player we feel will be an instrumental part of our future success in Milwaukee. Cooper has all the tools to be a special player, and we are thrilled that he will be in a Brewers uniform for years to come. This commitment continues to show our organization’s passion, led by ownership, to consistently produce a winning team season after season.”
The Brewers did not release the financial details and breakdown for how the money will be paid out to Pratt over the years, though it can be assumed that the deal will be backloaded.
Pratt had just three games of Triple-A experience at the time of his deal, which is the fewest of any player at that level to sign an MLB extension. He’s been held out of the Nashville Sounds lineup all week while the deal was getting finalized. Now that it’s official, we can expect to see Pratt return to the lineup for Nashville.
Pratt is regarded as the best defender in the Brewers’ farm system. It’s that defensive prowess at a premium position that helped convince the Brewers he was worth extending. There is a strong belief in his offensive development despite non-overwhelming numbers in Double-A last season. There should be more power to come, and the Brewers are making a big bet on his bat. If he’s able to be even a decent hitter at the MLB level, he’ll be well worth his contract.
It’s unclear just when the Brewers will promote Pratt to the big leagues. We know that it won’t be immediately, but it still could be soon. With the contract now finished, as soon as the Brewers feel he is ready for the majors, there will be nothing to stand in the way of his promotion.
Stephen Curry went through a full second scrimmage with the Warriors on Thursday, and afterward coach Steve Kerr said, "He looked like Steph Curry."
That's good enough for the Warriors: Curry is expected to be cleared to return to play on Sunday, when the Warriors take on the Houston Rockets on NBC Sunday Night Basketball, reports Shams Charania and Anthony Slater of ESPN.
This was expected, Sunday had been Curry’s target for more than a week. This would give him as many as five games before the end of the season to get his legs under him and rekindle some chemistry with his teammates after a lengthy absence.
Curry has been out since Jan. 30 due to "runner's knee" — and he strained his adductor during rehab — missing 27 games. Without him, Golden State has gone 9-18 and fallen to 10th in the West, which is very likely where they will finish. The Warriors will need to win two games on the road just to get out of the play-in and into the No. 8 seed.
Because of the Warriors' long odds of making the playoffs, there have been some calls to have Curry shut it down for the rest of the season, but that is not something he wanted, according to reports out of the Bay Area. Curry is the greatest Warrior player ever, the biggest draw the franchise has ever had, and with that he has the power — if he wants to play, he will be allowed to do so.
When Curry, 38, has been healthy this season, he is averaging 27.2 points and 4.8 assists a game, shooting 39.1% from 3-point range. It remains his gravity on offense that opens up everything for everyone else, particularly with Jimmy Butler (ACL) out for the rest of the season.
You can catch Curry's return to the court Sunday at 10 p.m. ET on NBC and Peacock as part of a Sunday Night Basketball double header (the Lakers at the Mavericks is the early game, a matchup that loses a little luster if Luka Doncic is out due to his hamstring injury).
WASHINGTON –– And, breathe.
The Dodgers’ offense isn’t broken. Its superstar hitters aren’t imploding. And the concerns over their opening-week slump, it turned out, might have indeed been prematurely overblown.
For one day, at least, the team finally looked as advertised in a 13-6 win over the Washington Nationals.
All it took was 16 hits and five home runs to quiet the recently mounting questions.
“Rome isn’t burning,” manager Dave Roberts quipped.
“Nobody in here is panicking,” added shortstop Mookie Betts.
That doesn’t mean there wasn’t frustration with how the offense had started the season. Entering Friday, the Dodgers ranked 22nd in scoring, were hitting just .237 as a team and were coming off a lackluster series loss back home to the Cleveland Guardians.
On what was Opening Day at Nationals Park, however, a three-inning onslaught changed all that.
It started with Shohei Ohtani, who erased an early deficit with his first home run of the year, sarcastically looking to the heavens after a 401-foot drive to right field.
Betts then put the team in front with a two-run homer two batters later.
From there, the Dodgers (5-2) kept on mashing veteran Washington starter Miles Mikolas.
Andy Pages hit a two-run blast in the fourth, continuing his blistering start to the season with a three-hit day. Freddie Freeman ignited a four-run rally in the fifth with a two-run shot of his own. Teoscar Hernández chipped in with three hits, including an RBI double.
And, in a late-game highlight, Kyle Tucker added some late insurance with his first Dodgers home run in the seventh, punctuating his breakout three-hit day.
“Everyone clicking today was kind of nice,” Tucker said. “Hopefully this is just the start of a really good offensive year for us.”
The outburst made Emmet Sheehan’s choppy 5 ⅔-inning, four-run start largely irrelevant.
It also showed, for really the first time this season, how dangerous the Dodgers can be when the top of their lineup is all doing damage.
“There was a lot of hoopla going on in that first homestand,” Roberts said. “So hopefully this will spur something else.”
Depends if the Dodgers can keep this going.
Beating up on Mikolas, after all, is no special accomplishment. The former two-time All-Star has a 5.00 ERA over the last four seasons. He’s also been especially bad against the Dodgers in his career with a 7.80 ERA –– ironic, since he has been one of the few MLB players to publicly criticize their recent spending.
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Still, games like Friday are more what the Dodgers envisioned when putting together this year’s record-breaking $415-million payroll. Their Nos. 1-4 hitters alone, who had a combined .161 average entering play, they went 8-for-21 as a group with 10 RBIs.
As Freeman presciently noted earlier this week: “I think our offense is inevitable.”
Outside of Pages, who is now batting a team-best .480, how about the leadoff duo of Ohtani and Tucker –– who not only hit their first home runs in Friday’s victory, but also recorded their first multi-hit games of the season, Ohtani going 2-for-5 with four RBIs and Tucker 3-for-6 with two RBIs.
Entering Friday, the pair had seven total hits (and only one for extra bases) against 14 combined strikeouts. Even after just six games, Roberts was asked Friday morning if he had considered splitting them up at the top of the order.
The manager hadn’t, of course, noting it was far too early for such drastic changes.
However, he did emphasize the importance of Tucker’s No. 2 spot in the lineup directly behind Ohtani.
“Him getting on base and being a threat,” Roberts said, “changes how a team is going to approach Shohei.”
Sheehan did well to limit damage after an early three-run home run by CJ Abrams. But two starts into the campaign, the fourth-year starter still doesn’t look right.
For a second-straight game, his fastball velocity was noticeably down, averaging just 93.8 mph (even with a late uptick at the end) compared to 95.6 mph a season ago. Both Abrams’ homer and James Wood’s leadoff double earlier in the first inning came against heaters that failed to break 95.
Roberts was expecting Sheehan’s velocity to be improved before the game, saying the team’s pitching coaches had identified a flaw in his mechanics.
“I think a lot of what he’s done lately is spin out (of his delivery) more than is typical,” Roberts said. “So getting the direction better, we feel it should increase velocity … and his pitch mix should be better.”
Instead, the search remains ongoing for the right-hander, who now has an 8.00 ERA and an 8-to-5 strikeout-to-walk ratio through his first two outings.
The Dodgers continue their weekend series at Nationals Park with a 1:05 p.m. start Saturday. Tyler Glasnow will take the bump, coming off his six-inning, two-run season debut last week. Jake Irvin will start for Washington. The right-hander has a career 4.92 ERA, but gave up just two runs in five innings to the Chicago Cubs in his first outing this year.
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All 30 teams are in action on Saturday, April 4, and I'm poring over the odds to make moneyline predictions for all 15 games.
My MLB picks are especially bullish on the Toronto Blue Jays, Arizona Diamondbacks, and Seattle Mariners.
| Matchup | Pick |
|---|---|
 Cardinalsvs  Tigers | +133 |
 Blue Jaysvs  White Sox | -156 |
 Dodgersvs  Nationals | -270 |
 Astrosvs  A's | -104 |
 Oriolesvs  Pirates | +104 |
 Padresvs  Red Sox | -133 |
 Brewersvs  Royals | +100 |
 Redsvs  Rangers | +138 |
 Marlinsvs  Yankees | +138 |
 Raysvs  Twins | +100 |
 Cubsvs  Guardians | +113 |
 Bravesvs  Diamondbacks | -104 |
 Philliesvs  Rockies | +186 |
 Metsvs  Giants | +113 |
 Marinersvs  Angels | -150 |
Prices courtesy of Polymarket as of 4-3.
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Cardinals win probability: 43%
Let's open with a slight upset, as the St. Louis Cardinals can make life miserable for former Redbird Jack Flaherty. The Detroit Tigers right-hander has been extremely uneven over his career, including last season, when he posted a 4.64 ERA over 31 starts. He also issued four walks in just over four innings in his first start, and I like the young St. Louis lineup to step up on the road.
Blue Jays win probability: 61%
Even though the Toronto Blue Jays haven't announced their starter as of this writing, I'm taking the visitors because of how the lineup rakes against left-handed pitchers like Chicago White Sox starter Anthony Kay. Toronto boasted the third-highest wRC+ against southpaws in 2025, highlighted by Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Ernie Clement, and George Springer, all of whom recorded an OPS north of .800 in these matchups.
Dodgers win probability: 73%
Washington Nationals starter Jake Irvin had the highest ERA (5.70) among all qualified starters in 2025. The Los Angeles Dodgers haven't quite turned on the offensive jets this season, but this isn't an advisable position to back the underdog.
A's win probability: 51%
This is mostly a fade of Houston Astros starting pitcher Tatsuya Imai, who looked very shaky in his MLB debut and now has to contend with the poor pitching conditions at Sutter Health Park against an A's team that has dangerous power up and down the lineup.
Pirates win probability: 49%
While no one would expect Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski to maintain a 40% strikeout rate, he looked exceptional in his season debut against the Yankees. But his success shouldn't be a surprise. He has a career 3.27 ERA over 190 innings split between the bullpen and rotation, and I like him to keep the Baltimore Orioles guessing.
Red Sox win probability: 57%
This is a combination of preferring starter Connelly Early to Randy Vasquez and how the Boston Red Sox lineup ultimately matches up against the right-hander. Vasquez racked up the strikeouts in his season debut, but that's not his bread and butter, as he fanned just 13.7% of batters last season.
Brewers win probability: 50%
Expect a better performance from Milwaukee Brewers rookie Brandon Sproat than what we saw in his first start. He issued four walks in three innings, and while he never had pinpoint command in the minors, this was far worse than anything he was accustomed to.
Reds win probability: 42%
The Texas Rangers haven't announced a starter, and the Cincinnati Reds lineup is an exciting one from top to bottom. More importantly, we're getting an extremely good price here, especially if Sal Stewart, Eugenio Suarez, and Elly De La Cruz get the bats going early.
Marlins win probability: 38%
Like with the Reds, I'm taking the Miami Marlins as significant road underdogs largely due to the value at +163. The Marlins have hit lefties like New York Yankees SP Ryan Weathers well in the early going, and this isn't the same perennial loser Miami team as we've grown accustomed to.
Rays win probability: 50%
The Minnesota Twins are a disaster in 2026, and while the Tampa Bay Rays may not be much better, I'll fade Mick Abel, who has often struggled with command throughout his career in the majors and minors.
Cubs win probability: 53%
Of all of the Cleveland Guardians starting pitchers, Slade Cecconi is the least impressive/daunting. He doesn't overpower anyone, rarely misses bats, and surrenders a ton of hard contact. He lives in the zone, and the Chicago Cubs will make mincemeat of his offerings, giving Shota Imanaga enough of a cushion in case he doesn't have his best stuff.
Diamondbacks win probability: 51%
Even after a sharp first outing of the season, I don't trust Atlanta Braves right-hander Bryce Elder, especially against an Arizona Diamondbacks lineup featuring Corbin Carroll, Ketel Marte, and Geraldo Perdomo.
Rockies win probability: 35%
This is my biggest underdog pick of the day. Philadelphia Phillies lefty Jesus Luzardo was snakebitten by the long ball in his season debut, and while I don't expect that to become a new norm for him, a game at Coors Field doesn't bode well.
Giants win probability: 47%
The New York Mets haven't looked quite right at the plate so far, and I don't expect that to immediately change against San Francisco Giants starter Landen Roupp at Oracle Park.
Mariners win probability: 60%
I'm not on board the Emerson Hancock train after one start, but I still expect the Seattle Mariners to knock Los Angeles Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz around enough for the right-hander to secure a win for the visitors.
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change.
Not intended for use in MA.
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Happy Opening Day, Detroit! Today’s home opener marked the warmest Opening Day ever at Comerica Park (70 degrees Farenheit at game-time), and the warmest Tigers Opening Day in general since 1991. The Tigers lineup also warmed up following Wednesday’s 1-0 loss to the Diamondbacks, and new Tigers ace Framber Valdez came through with six shutout innings in his Tigers home debut. Tigers win, 4-0, and win their third straight home opener.
Through the first three innings, Tigers hitters produced some impressive swings, but no runs. Kevin McGonigle, in his first-ever game at Comerica Park and his first-ever game hitting leadoff for the Tigers, lead off today’s game by knocking a ball 403 feet into center field!… and into Victor Scott II’s glove for an out. Then, two hitters later, Kerry Carpenter lasered a ball to right field, 110.3 MPH off his bat!… his hardest ball hit in two years!…and off the right field wall for a long single. As a reminder, Colt Keith practically did the same thing on Wednesday, hitting the ball off the top of Chase Field’s right field wall; that ball staying in the park was the difference in Wednesday’s game.
In the third inning, Javier Báez singled and stole second, setting up a potential RBI for Gleyber Torres. Torres singled, but right fielder Jordan Walker gunned him out on the plate with a 100.6 MPH throw.
Tough luck for Detroit’s bats to start the day. Framber Valdez had their back, however, and opened today’s game by retiring the first eight batters he faced en route to six shutout innings. But although he only allowed five total hits and walks today, Valdez found himself managing traffic before the Tigers gave him a lead. The first potential Cardinals rally came with two outs in the third inning, as Victor Scott II and Masyn Winn notched back-to-back hits before an Iván Herrera groundout ended the threat.
The Cardinals fourth inning rally was more dramatic, and Detroit’s play in the face of adversity allowed them to settle into a comfortable win once the threat was put away. The inning got off to a typical start; Valdez allowed a leadoff single, secured two outs, then produced a ground ball to Spencer Torkelson off the bat of Yahel Pozo. But Torkelson struggled to field the ball, and once he finally got ahold of it and tossed it over to Valdez covering at first, Valdez not only failed to catch the ball, but took it off his throwing hand. Detroit had to check on their newly-signed star to see whether he could continue, and once they elected to keep him in the game, Valdez walked Thomas Saggese to load the bases. With the bases loaded and Tigers hitters in a 18-inning scoring drought, Valdez stayed down in the zone with his sinker and back-to-back curveballs to produce a weak José Fermín fly ball to end the threat. Isn’t it nice to have two aces?
After Valdez worked his way out of that fourth-inning jam, today’s Opening Day festivities truly began. First, after working a full count, Riley Greene sizzled a double to the gap in right-center field, 111 MPH off the bat. From there, rising star Dillon Dingler brought him home.
2-0, Detroit, and home run #2 for Dillon Dingler — and the Tigers period — this season.
Next, in the bottom of the fifth, Kevin McGonigle knocked a one-out double to left field, but was thrown out at third after Gleyber Torres hits into a fielder’s choice. With two outs, the Tigers rebuilt the rally, as Kerry Carpenter and Riley Greene knocked back-to-back singles off lefty Justin Bruihl to give Detroit a 3-0 lead. Carpenter’s unlikely lefty-on-lefty hit was a welcome sight after a miserable road trip that saw him go just 2-22 with 12 strikeouts. Greene’s hit, meanwhile, was his 500th hit!
Fun fact: the Tigers have two of baseball’s three top hitters through age-25 of all time: Ty Cobb tops that leaderboard with a staggering 1,433 hits through age-25, and Al Kaline had 1,200 hits through age-25 himself.
The last noteworthy bit of action from today came in the sixth inning, when Parker Meadows was hit by a pitch with two outs. Meadows stole second — his second stolen base of the year — to set up a Javier Báez single that gave the Tigers a 4-0 lead. From there, Will Vest, Kyle Finnegan, and Tyler Holton finished out the day; they redeemed Detroit’s Tuesday bullpen collapse with three combined shutout innings, allowing three total baserunners and striking out four. Holton was only out there for a couple of minutes, as he threw just seven pitches in the non-save situation to close this one out.
Thanks for the lack of stress, boys.
Final: Detroit 4, St. Louis 0
After struggling mightily on offense in their last series and really in the last four-plus games of the homestand, the Dodgers were understandably confident that their star-studded lineup would get things going. Facing Miles Mikolas helped, as the Dodgers torched the right-hander for four home runs in a 13-6 win over the Washington Nationals on Friday afternoon in Washington D.C.
During the homestand, the Dodgers only scored nine total runs in the first five innings during the six games. They put an 11-spot in 4 1/3 innings against Mikolas on Friday, thanks to the long ball.
Shohei Ohtani’s first extra-base hit of the season was a three-run shot in the third inning. Then Mookie Betts followed with a two-run homer in the same inning, and Andy Pages continued his scorching start with a two-run shot in the fourth.
Freddie Freeman added a two-run shot in the fifth inning, which Mikolas did not complete.
Mikolas is the first pitcher to allow 11 runs in a game to the Dodgers since Alec Bettinger of the Milwaukee Brewers did so on May 2, 2021. In his career, Mikolas has a 7.80 ERA in 45 innings against the Dodgers, fueling a 1-6 record.
During spring training in 2024, Mikolas, then with the St. Louis Cardinals, said, “We’re not exactly a low payroll team, but you got the Dodgers playing checkbook baseball. We’re going to be the hardest working group of Midwestern farmers we can be.”
In four starts against Los Angeles since those words, the Dodgers have cashed in off the veteran right-hander, scoring 25 runs in 17 1/3 innings, with 11 home runs off him.
“We had an inkling they were ready to erupt, and we also had an inkling with Mikolas on the mound,” Orel Hershiser said of the Dodgers offense during the SportsNet LA telecast.
The Dodgers gave Emmet Sheehan a lot of run support, but he was working out of a hole for a bit as his team didn’t score until the third inning.
Sheehan had a rough opening frame. He gave up rockets to James Wood and CJ Abrams, the former on the first pitch of the game just off the edge of Andy Pages’ glove in center, and the latter a home run to right field. It was a three-run shot because, in between, Sheehan issued a five-pitch walk to Brady House, who walked once every 34 plate appearances as a rookie last season.
Of concern for Sheehan in his first start was a lack of command, as he needed 83 pitches to get 10 outs. He rebounded Friday after that first inning to pitch into the sixth, getting 17 outs on 98 pitches, and allowed only one more run, though with more walks (three) than strikeouts (two).
Sheehan, who averaged 95.6 mph on his four-seam fastball hasn’t yet hit that in either of his starts, averaging 94 mph last Friday against the Arizona Diamondbacks and 93.8 mph against Washington. He also saw his velocity drop as the game progressed in his first start. The drop wasn’t as stark on Friday, with his sixth-inning average the same as the first, but that pitch is lacking the juice it had in 2025.
| Start | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th |
| March 27 | 95.5 (9) | 93.7 (6) | 94.0 (10) | 92.8 (11) | n/a | n/a |
| April 3 | 94.5 (8) | 93.1 (7) | 92.6 (3) | 93.5 (6) | 93.5 (3) | 94.5 (7) |
“We’re still digging into that,” manager Dave Roberts said last Friday after Sheehan’s first start of the season. “Our staff has talked to Emmet, and he says he feels good and feels strong. He works as hard as everybody. It’s probably something mechanical, but physical, the player’s got to let us know a little bit, too, and we haven’t heard anything about that part.”
Home runs: Shohei Ohtani (1), Mookie Betts (2), Andy Pages (2), Freddie Freeman (2), Kyle Tucker (1); CJ Abrams (2)
WP — Emmet Sheehan (1-0): 5 2/3 IP, 7 hits, 4 runs, 3 walks, 2 strikeouts
LP — Miles Mikolas (0-2): 4 1/3 IP, 11 hits, 11 runs, 1 walk, 4 strikeouts
The two teams are back at it again with a slightly later start time on Saturday (4:05 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Tyler Glasnow makes his second start, with right-hander Jake Irvin pitching for the Nationals.
