HOUSTON, TEXAS - MARCH 31: Hunter Brown #58 of the Houston Astros pitches in the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Daikin Park on March 31, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
He may have been on a smaller pitch count than usual, but Hunter Brown didn’t let that stop him from charging through the Boston lineup.
Brown earned his first win of the season tonight, hurling 6 innings of 1 run ball with 8 strikeouts as the Astros throttled the Red Sox 9-2.
Brown was lifted after 6 innings despite only throwing 78 pitches. The Astros led 8-1 at the time. After the game, manager Joe Espada said he wanted to keep Brown’s workload a little lighter after he pushed Brown to 102 pitches on Opening Day.
Brown threw 51 of his 78 pitches for strikes. He had 21 called strikes and 8 swings and misses in a dominating performance in which he allowed only 1 hit.
After dropping the first two games of the season, the Astros have won four straight. They have also scored at least 8 runs in those 4 straight wins, the first time they’ve scored at least 8 runs in 4 straight games since 7/26-30 2021.
Speaking of those 8 runs, Yordan Alvarez was responsible for 4 of those 9 runs. Yordan had an RBI double in the first that banged off the wall in center field in the bottom of the first inning, scoring Jeremy Pena from first. He hit a solo homer in to the second deck in right for the second straight night in the fifth. Alvarez also walked and scored on a Carlos Correa 2-run single in the 6th.
Alvarez (2×3) was one of four Astros hitters with 2 hits on the night. Carlos Correa (2×3), Christian Walker (2×4) and Cam Smith (2×3) had 2 hits as well.
Correa singled, doubled, walked, scored twice and drove in two.
Walker singled, doubled, scored, and drove in two.
Cam Smith had an opposite-field solo homer in the 7th.
Cody Bolton, called up from Triple-A Sugar Land yesterday, pitched the final three innings for his first career save.
Houston is now 4-2 on the season, the Red Sox are 1-4.
The final game of the series is Wednesday at 1:10pm. Mike Burrows will start for the Astros, opposed by Garrett Crochet.
Michael Voss often speaks about standards and habits. Right now, the Carlton coach’s team are habitual dwindlers. It’s on the whiteboard of every opposition coach. It’s in the marrow of every Blues player and supporter. And it goes back a long way. Voss won eight of his first 10 games at Carlton. But of those wins, one was by three points after being 50 points up against Port Adelaide. They won by a point against Hawthorn after leading by seven goals. From then on, every significant loss of his tenure has seen the Blues squander large leads. They were four goals up at the final break before Collingwood “closed like the Grim Reaper” in 2022. They led by five goals in the first quarter of the 2023 preliminary final against Brisbane. They were 39 points ahead in the first quarter of the GWS clash in 2024, a loss the club has never recovered from. They were 41 points up against a bunch of Richmond kids last year. And they surrendered a 43-point lead to Melbourne on Sunday.
When teams keep losing like this, there is talk of effort, fitness and psychology. One talkback caller this week said they needed an exorcism. But Carlton’s problems are not just above the shoulders. A lot of it comes down to the way they play and the way they’re coached. Despite some tinkering around the edges, the Blues still prioritise a bulldozing brand of football. But playing like that is labour intensive, and difficult to maintain for more than a half. It’s impossible to maintain for months on end. It’s easy to scout and manipulate. And it’s not how good teams are playing in 2026.
Mar 31, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Yankees left fielder Cody Bellinger (35) is tagged out by Seattle Mariners shortstop Leo Rivas (76) in a steal attempt during the third inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: John Froschauer-Imagn Images | John Froschauer-Imagn Images
FanGraphs when they listed WPA to the thousandth: Julio Rodríguez, +.01 WPA
FanGraphs now that they list WPA only to the hundredth: Logan Gilbert, -.19 WPA
Game Thread Comment of the Day:
That game may have sucked, but the trans contingent of our community certainly does not. Love to you all.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 31: Yoshinobu Yamamoto #18 of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Donald Glover greet Yoshi after throwing out the first pitch before a baseball game against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium on March 31, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Ryan Sirius Sun/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yoshinobu Yamamoto will be the first Dodgers pitcher to make a second start in 2026, finishing off the six-game homestand on Wednesday evening against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium.
Yamamoto will be on five days rest after earning the win on opening day with six strikeouts in six innings, allowing only two runs to the Arizona Diamondbacks. Gavin Williams starts for Cleveland.
Max Friedthrew seven scoreless innings andGiancarlo Stanton drove in two runs as the Yankees defeated the Mariners, 5-0, on Tuesday night in Seattle.
Yankees (4-1) pitching has dominated so far this season. Starters have allowed just one run in the first five games, and the team as a whole has allowed just two runs this season.
Here are the takeaways...
-Fried was dealing. He didn't allow a hit until two outs in the fourth inning, and even then, he coasted into the seventh inning. But the Mariners would get to the southpaw a bit in that inning.
Fried would erase an infield single by Julio Rodriguez by getting Josh Naylor to hit into a double play. But after hitting Randy Arozarena with a pitch, Brendan Donovan looped a single to give Seattle their best chance to score a run off the lefty. However, Fried hunkered down and got Victor Robles to line out to the outfield to end the threat.
Fried was done after that, allowing just three hits and one walk across seven scoreless innings (90 pitches/60 strikes). He also struck out six batters. Fried has now pitched 13.1 scoreless innings across his first two starts of the season.
-The Yankees scored one run on Mariners pitching on Monday, they would double that in the first inning off of Logan Gilbert. After Gilbert disposed of Trent Grisham and Aaron Judge, Cody Bellinger worked the count and eventually picked up a single. Ben Rice then lined a double just fair down the right field line that kicked off the jutting wall. Bellinger scored from first on the double before Stanton's bloop single pushed Rice across for the first two runs of the game.
The Yankees' bats would be quieted by Gilbert after the first, but would break through again in the sixth. After a leadoff double by Grisham, Bellinger hit a one-out single to put runners on the corners. Bellinger stole second, but Cal Raleigh -- who got Bellinger stealing earlier in the game -- threw the ball into the outfield, allowing Grisham to score and Bellinger to get to third.
After a Rice walk, Stanton lined a double to put the Yankees up 4-0. Jazz Chisholm Jr. got into the fun with an RBI single
-Stanton finished 2-for-4 and has now had multiple hits in all five games this season. That's the fourth-longest streak to start a season in Yankees history. Rice was perfect at the plate, finishing 2-for-2 with two walks.
Judge went hitless (0-for-4) with two strikeouts. He did run into a bit of bad luck in the seventh when he hit a liner (107 mph) back to the pitcher. The ball hit Cole Wilcox's glove and right to second baseman Cole Young on a line for the out. It likely would have been a single if Wilcox hadn't slowed it down.
Judge has now started the season 3 of 20 with two home runs and 10 strikeouts.
-JC Escarra made his first start of the season and went hitless (0-4) with a strikeout.
Cricket Australia have confirmed that Test opener Jake Weatherald is in their long term plans as the left-hander was awarded a maiden national contract on Wednesday.
With back-to-back games against the New York Islanders and the Detroit Red Wings - two teams around them in the playoff race - the Pittsburgh Penguins had, perhaps, their biggest test of the season when facing them head-to-head.
And they passed that test with flying colors.
After routing the Islanders, 8-3, on Monday, the Penguins stormed right back on Tuesday and ousted the Red Wings, 5-1, in dominant fashion yet again. Goaltender Stuart Skinner was outstanding - stopping 22 of 23 Detroit shots on goal - and Pittsburgh got contributions from up and down their lineup.
“That’s the good thing right now,” said Noel Acciari, who registered his 11th goal of the season. “When we can go up and down the lineup, take the pressure off the top lines, it’s big. Especially this time of year and especially with what the (Eastern Conference) looks like, every goal counts. So, the fact that we have four lines that can do that is huge for our group. We’ll keep that rolling.”
The Penguins opened the scoring pretty early in this one, picking up right where they left off on Long Island Monday night. A little more than four minutes into the first period, Rickard Rakell took a feed from Sidney Crosby into the high-slot area, where he ripped home his 20th of the season top-shelf to give the Penguins a 1-0 lead - and securing his seventh career 20-goal season.
And just as the Penguins have done all season long, they just kept piling on after that.
A little more than four minutes later, the Penguins were cycling in the offensive zone with a split change. Both Connor Dewar and Evgeni Malkin had the puck around the net front, and Anthony Mantha found the loose change from just outside the crease, earning his first career 30-goal season and handing the Penguins an early 2-0 lead.
They continued to drive play for the remainder of the first, outshooting Detroit, 14-5. And before the end of the opening frame, they tacked on another one when an Egor Chinakhov wrister hit Detroit blueliner Moritz Seider's stick upon release, fooling goaltender John Gibson enough for it to sneak behind him and give the Penguins a three-goal advantage heading into the second.
After some four-on-four play - and a failed four-on-three power play attempt by the Penguins - Detroit earned a power play of their own early in the second when Mantha went to the box for tripping. In five seconds' time, Dylan Larkin found the back of the net, which was another notch against a struggling Penguins' penalty kill unit.
But that turned out to be the only offense Detroit could muster throughout the game.
Even though Detroit pushed a bit in the second period, Pittsburgh pushed back defensively, playing, perhaps, their best defensive game in a few weeks. The Penguins got back on the offensive attack, too, and were rewarded when Connor Clifton shot a puck toward the net from the right point, and it was tipped by Justin Brazeau in front to give him his first goal in 11 games and the Penguins the 4-1 advantage.
Acciari tacked on his goal in the second half of the third period, where the Penguins never really wavered.
Of course, it was a good thing to earn four out of four points in the two most consequential games of the season so far for the Penguins. But even more impressive was how they were able to earn the wins, controlling play pretty much from start to finish in both games.
“It tells you that we come out big in big moments,” Skinner said. “We’re a resilient group. If things don’t go our way [or] things do go our way, we just kind of stick to our game plan. That’s what’s so incredible about this group. The maturity obviously starts with the leadership [and] goes down to every single guy in how we play a simple, strong game.
“It’s very fun to play in, and it’s very fun to watch.”
Here are some thoughts and takeaways from this one:
- The lineup for Tuesday’s game - with Evgeni Malkin back in the fold after missing the previous four - was supposed to be a pretty interesting one.
Rust did take warm-ups, and it was deemed that he couldn’t go afterward. Head coach Dan Muse confirmed that Rust wasn’t injured during warm-ups and that the lower-body injury was something else. No further update has been provided yet.
Another day, another case of “a soul for a soul,” I guess.
In any case, when Rust is healthy, it will be interesting to see if Muse elects to go with the lineup that was originally slated. It included a top line of Chinakhov, Crosby, and Rust; a second line of Tommy Novak, Ben Kindel, and Malkin; a third line of Mantha, Rakell, and Brazeau, and; the same fourth line of Elmer Soderblom, Connor Dewar, and Acciari.
The look of that lineup is intriguing, especially the second and third lines. The Mantha, Rakell, and Brazeau line saw a lot of success against the Islanders, and Kindel was supposed to get a crack at centering Malkin. We’ll see what Rust’s status is for Thursday and if the Penguins elect to give the original lineup another shot.
- That said, I really liked the look of the top line the Penguins got on Tuesday, which consisted of Chinakhov, Crosby, and Rakell.
That’s a combination I’ve been curious about for a while. Combine Chinakhov’s speed, smarts, two-way game, and ridiculous shot with Rakell’s ability to find and create space, forecheck, crash the net, play defense, and rip the puck, and you’ve got a pretty lethal combination of players for one of the greatest players and playmakers of all time down the middle. And we saw a lot of that on display throughout Tuesday’s game, as they were dangerous on the forecheck.
I’ve long-believed that Rust’s skillset is better for moving up and down a lineup than Rakell’s is, even if I doubt that Crosby and Rust would separate if Rust is healthy. I think a second line of Rust, Kindel, and Malkin would be quite intriguing, and Novak has had success with Mantha and Brazeau this season.
- Short note here, but it was nice to see Brazeau finally get off the schneid. He has four points in the last two games, and he's looking much more like the version the Penguins got in the first half of the season.
If he and Mantha can reunite when the Penguins are healthy, that would be ideal. They're money together on the same line.
- Kris Letang and Sam Girard have really stepped up their games in these last two, and they have, by far, been their best performances together this season.
The Penguins have a very strong forward group. Arguably, the NHL’s deepest. If they do make the playoffs, they are going to need more consistency from their defense and goaltending. If Girard and Letang continue to improve - especially with the way the Parker Wotherspoon-Erik Karlsson and Ryan Shea-Connor Clifton pairings have fared this season - that would be a huge development for this team.
- Speaking of the goaltending, what a performance this was from Skinner.
He was outstanding whenever he needed to be, even if it wasn’t much. He made some huge saves in situations that could have swung momentum the other way, including a flurry of saves in the waning seconds of the middle frame and a sprawling one on Alex DeBrincat. If Detroit scores there, it’s a 4-2 game going into the third, and the Red Wings would have had the momentum. He also made some nice saves just beyond the midway point of the third period and before Acciari scored his goal to, essentially, put the game away.
There are seven games left. The Penguins need to finish this thing off and secure their spot in the playoffs. There are two more back-to-backs.
It should be Skinner’s net on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Lightning, and if he performs well, his again on Saturday against the injury-depleted and tanking Florida Panthers. This team is at a point where they need to pick a lane with their goaltenders heading into the playoffs, and the lane should be whoever the hot hand is.
And they also need to frontload wins as much as possible in the final stretch.
- And why is that? Well, perhaps because the Washington Capitals and St. Louis Blues are two of hockey’s hottest teams since the Olympic break, and those are the final three games of the Penguins’ regular season.
Right now, the Penguins are six points clear of the playoff cutoff line. If they win in Tampa on Thursday? That number could be higher. And if they win again on Saturday, or - better yet - sweep the weekend back-to-back against Florida? Depending on what happens with the rest of the teams in the East playoff picture, they could clinch by the end of the weekend.
And if not by the end of the weekend, how about next Thursday on Apr. 9 against a lowly New Jersey Devils team?
The worst possible scenario for the Penguins is them needing at least two of the three final games of the regular season in order to clinch a playoff spot. That’s a situation they do not want to find themselves in.
So, they need to beat the teams they should beat, and it would be great if they could earn another hard-fought and well-played win against another formidable opponent on Thursday. Anything can happen in the final two weeks of the regular season, and nothing is a guarantee.
But a playoff “guarantee” would be a whole lot more assured if they can take at least two of the next three and three of the next four.
“We play with everyone,” Chinakhov said. “And when we play the right way, and when we play our game, we can win.”
EDMONTON, Alberta (AP) — Connor Ingram celebrated his 29th birthday Tuesday by making 27 saves for his second shutout of the season as the Edmonton Oilers extended their winning streak to four games by beating the Seattle Kraken 3-0.
Max Jones, Kasperi Kapanen and Connor McDavid scored for the Oilers who have won six of their last eight.
Edmonton moved two points back of Pacific Division-leading Anaheim and three points up on third place Vegas. The Oilers are now 28-5-5 when scoring first this season.
The Kraken have lost six of their last seven and remain two points out of a wild-card playoff position.
Philipp Grubauer made 21 stops for Seattle.
Bobby McMann, who leads Seattle in goals and points since coming over in a deadline trade with Toronto — seven goals, four assists in eight games — had his goal scoring streak stopped at three games. He had a chance to match the second-longest goal streak in franchise history.
McDavid extended his goal streak to five games. He leads the NHL in goals since Dec. 1 with 32. The Oilers captain in now one point back of Dale Hawerchuk for the third-most points by a player before age 30. Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux are first and second on that lofty list.
Edmonton has been a regular pest for Seattle, as no team has recorded more victories over the Kraken than the Oilers. Edmonton came into the contest with a 14-4-0 record all-time against Seattle including going 7-1-0 at home and had outscored them 76-50.
"I just think we're not going in the right direction," Hart said. "We're not trending upwards. So, we've got to figure it out. It was three tough ones. We've got another one tomorrow. That's a must-win for us, and build from there."
The Knicks trailed 14-1 in Tuesday's opening three minutes and entered the second quarter down 37-21.
"That effort, the attention to detail, the discipline was pretty embarrassing," Hart said. "So, we've got to figure it out, make sure we're all locked in mentally to get where we want to go and, like I said, build on that."
Unlike Sunday's game against OKC, which improved to a league-leading 60-16 with a 114-110 overtime win over the Eastern Conference-best Detroit Pistons, Tuesday in Houston saw the Knicks lack a fight, according to Mike Brown, who said that he was "frustrated with that part."
"I think the togetherness is there," Brown said. "Now, like any other team -- throughout the course of the season, sometimes you feel like it's not there, sometimes you don't. But if I'm talking overall, yes, I do. But tonight, it wasn't -- especially in the pick and roll. And there are isolated times where it feels like you're not on a string defensively and/or offensively, and tonight was definitely one of 'em -- especially on the defensive end of the floor."
After Wednesday's game in Memphis against the Grizzlies (25-50), the Knicks return to MSG for Friday's 7:30 p.m. tipoff with the Chicago Bulls.
"The last few games, we haven't had it," Brown said. "And teams go through stretches like that. We've got (six) more games to try to find it."
Draymond Green (23) defends against Victor Wembanyama (1) in the first half as the Golden State Warriors played the San Antonio Spurs at Chase Center in San Francisco, on Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026. (Photo by Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Let’s talk about what’s happening Wednesday night, Dub Nation. The San Antonio Spurs are coming to town. Yes, those SpursL winners of nine straight, holding the second best record in the Western Conference, operating with the terrifying efficiency of a franchise that spent a decade in the wilderness. They roll into Chase Center while the Warriors are running a MASH unit masquerading as an NBA roster.
San Antonio Spurs (57-18) at Golden State Warriors (36-39)
When: April 1, 2026 | 7:00 PM PT
Where: Chase Center, San Francisco
TV: ESPN | Radio: 95.7 The Game
Deep breath before I rattle off these depressing injury reports…..Stephen Curry is out with a knee injury. Jimmy Butler is watching from a couch somewhere with a surgically repaired ACL. Moses Moody just got diagnosed with a torn patellar tendon. Al Horford’s soleus strain has him re-evaluating week to week. Will Richard and Quinten Post are both day-to-day.
Meanwhile, Victor Wembanyama is out here dropping 41-piece performances against the Bulls, recording the fastest double-double in NBA history, and using these final regular season games as a personal finishing school before the playoffs arrive. He’s averaging 24.5 points, 11.4 rebounds, and 3.07 blocks this season. He has De’Aaron Fox running point beside him now, and Fox is dishing 7.2 assists per game. The Spurs are 27-11 on the road. This is a machine that is fully assembled and warming up its engines.
The Warriors beat Wembanyama twice in November with Curry going completely supernova for 49 and 46 points in back-to-back outings. Those were different Warriors. Wembanyama returned the favor in February, as the Spurs pulled away late 126-113. He knows what this building feels like now.
This game is a measuring stick held up against a franchise that is about to remind the entire Western Conference exactly where the bar has been set. The play-in is still the mission for Golden State. Surviving to fight another day is the only thing that matters right now.
Tonight is just a reminder of how far the road ahead actually goes.
The Chicago Blackhawks welcomed Jonathan Toews and the Winnipeg Jets into the United Center on Tuesday night. This was the second time that Toews has returned to the United Center as a visiting player, and the fourth matchup between the two clubs this season.
Winnipeg won both meetings in Manitoba, while the Blackhawks took a 2-0 victory to the bank when the two met in Chicago back on January 19th.
In the first period, Toews received a standing ovation when he came out onto the ice for the first time, but he didn't acknowledge it. It was clear from the jump that Winnipeg, which came in just three points below the playoff line, was on a business trip. Their playoff chances seemed bleak on their first trip to Chicago, but not as much these days.
The Blackhawks were the first team to find the back of the net, as Anton Frondell scored his first career NHL goal at 4:42 of the opening frame. Louis Crevier threw one towards the net, Ilya Mikheyev found the rebound, and sent it to Frondell for the goal.
Scoring the first goal of the game has not been the problem for the Blackhawks. They have actually been solid in first periods overall. It's playing well for 60 minutes and sustaining leads that have been the problem.
That problem continued in the second period. Just 1:06 into the middle frame, the Jets tied the game on a goal scored by Josh Morrissey. This was Winnipeg's three best skaters stepping up as Kyle Connor and Mark Scheifele assisted on the goal.
About 10 minutes of game-clock later, the Jets scored two goals in under a minute. Cole Perfetti and Isak Rosen combined to make it 3-1.
Before the period ended, Tyler Bertuzzi saved the Blackhawks from going into the second intermission down by two. His incredible spin-o-rama fooled Connor Hellebuyck and found twine. The 3-2 score held through the second intermission.
In the third period, the Blackhawks continued to even the playing surface. That included Bertuzzi's second of the game to tie it up at three. His 30th and 31st goals of the season not only helped his team even the score, but they also set a new career high.
In the third period, the Blackhawks ended up outshooting the Jets 10-2, but no more goals were scored. Overtime was required.
Just 33 seconds into the extra period, Kyle Connor scored to give the Winnipeg Jets a 4-3 victory. The Blackhawks didn't have much time to even try to possess the puck, as Winnipeg ended it before Chicago was able to even make a line change.
This loss was a complete flip from their four games on the East Coast, including the one in which they earned a win. Chicago's defense was better, their compete was better, and they found a way to score a couple of goals when they needed them in regulation.
The Chicago Blackhawks will be back in action again on Tuesday night when they will be back on the road for a handful of games, starting with a visit to Alberta to take on the Edmonton Oilers.
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PHOENIX, ARIZONA - MARCH 30: Ketel Marte #4 of the Arizona Diamondbacks runs to second base during the first inning of the home opener against the Detroit Tigers at Chase Field on March 30, 2026 in Phoenix, Arizona. The Diamondbacks defeated the Tigers 9-6. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Introduction
For the past couple of years, I have tried to compile lists of individual player milestones that might be reached during the season. Those lists have included Eugenio Suarez successfully reaching 300 career home runs and Torey Lovullo’s elusive attempts to return to a winning record as a manager. I find it fascinating to see how close (or far) players are to certain big, round-number milestones in their career. I love that baseball is one of the most team-focused sports we have, but I still think it’s worth focusing on the individual from time to time so we can remind ourselves of the kinds of individual goals that players may have. As always, these milestones are not comprehensive, are not listed in any particular order, and are primarily centered on milestones that would make for nice headlines. And since the team is only four games (and counting) into the campaign, I thought a check in at the beginning of the year would be an appropriate way to start the year’s column.
Ketel Marte slamming his 200th career home run
Arguably one of the best second basemen in the game and inarguably the team’s leader on and off the field, Marte has been an incredible offensive force over the last three years. In that span, he’s posted a .283/.368/.519 slash line and blasted 89 homers – seven more than he had in the previous eight seasons. That combination puts him at 172 career home runs, good enough for 53rd on the active list – and somewhere in the upper 400s on the all-time list. No matter, reaching 200 career homers would be a nice capstone for Marte as he enters the next phase of his career of his early 30s, and he’s already got one tater on the young season. And there’s more than a few other milestones that are possibly within sight – including Marte moving to the number two spot in the all-time list for the franchise. He’s currently sitting ~6.8 bWAR behind Paul Goldschmidt on that list so a repeat performance of his 2024 campaign would match that perfectly. As long as he isn’t traded, it’s likely more a question of when rather than if he’ll move up that list, but it’s another one I’ll be watching this season.
Nolan Arenado hitting his 2000th career hit
It’s not often that likely Hall of Famers are traded for relative peanuts, but Arenado is not most players. For one, there aren’t very many players who have complete MLB articles detailing their top-10 defensive highlights. And there haven’t been that many players who have managed to stay in the league for 14 plus years either. While Arenado wasn’t brought to the desert for his offensive prowess at this point in his career, that doesn’t mean there aren’t some offensive milestones the longtime veteran could read this season. In my opinion, the biggest one is hitting his 2,000th base hit which he’s very likely to get at some point this season. Even a particularly disappointing offensive performance similar to the one he put up last year when he had just 95 knocks all season would still net him this milestone. As of writing, Arenado’s 1.923 hits places him sixth on the active list for career hits and reaching 2,000 hits would put him in some elite company as just 298 players in all of baseball have ever reached that plateau.
Paul Sewald securing his 100th career save
It’s not a particularly bold statement to point out that the D-Backs have a bullpen problem. We’ve seen that in four out of the first five games as the relief corps nearly blew an eight-run lead last night and struggled to keep a powerful Dodgers lineup down. Amazingly, Sewald has been one of the few bright spots coming out of the pen as he has yet to allow a hit in either of his first two appearances on the young season. That obviously won’t hold for long, but he will still likely play an important part in the bullpen rotation until AJ Puk and Justin Martinez return from their respective injuries. You’d also be forgiven for not realizing that Sewald was so close to this particular milestone as he’s quietly accumulated saves over the last five years since moving to the back end of the bullpen with the Mariners back in 2021. But reaching 100 saves would similarly put Sewald into some relatively rare space: there are only 171 relievers who have hit that milestone since saves became an official statistic nearly 60 years ago. I’ll also go out on limb and assume that if Sewald reaches the milestone this season, the D-Backs will be in pretty good shape as it likely indicates quite a few converted save opportunities before Puk and Martinez make their way back to the team.
It will surely go down as one of the most disappointing losses of the Ottawa Senators’ season.
In a nearly must-win game, the Senators fell behind 5-0 in the first period and lost 6-3 to the Florida Panthers, an injury-ravaged team with absolutely nothing to play for. Matthew Tkachuk led the way with four points in the game, earning bragging rights for the next podcast.
Linus Ullmark carved out an extra day of rest for himself on Saturday in Tampa, but you wouldn't know it from his performance. He was chased from this game after allowing five goals on 16 shots. They certainly weren’t all his fault, but he helped put the Senators on their heels straight away.
Despite all the rest, he was part of a clumsy miscommunication just eight seconds into the game. After the Panthers dumped the puck in, it bounced to the front of the Sens net and Ullmark motioned like he was going to play it, then changed his mind.
By that point, Jordan Spence had peeled off, so the puck was left sitting there for ex-Senator Noah Gregor to score an easy goal.
It was a nightmare start for Ullmark, who’d been a target of criticism after needing rest and making himself unavailable to start on Saturday.
The Panthers then made it 3-0 on a pair of power-play goals, both set up by Ottawa high sticks. The first was a tip-in goal by Mackie Samoskevich to make it 2-0 just over a minute into the game.
Eight minutes later, Carter Verhaeghe scored his 22nd of the year, beating Ullmark from below the goal line, banking it in off his knee and back through his legs. Five minutes after that, AJ Greer tucked home his 14th goal, and 34 seconds later, Verhaeghe got another one to make it 5-0.
It was around that moment when the Blue Jays TV ratings suddenly spiked.
The Senators did battle back to make it semi-respectable on goals by Drake Batherson, Jordan Spence, and Michael Amadio. Batherson’s goal marked the first time in his career he’s hit the 30-goal mark. But despite having a 6 on 3 for over a minute in the third period, the Sens couldn't get any closer.
To add to their woes, the Senators’ already banged-up blue line endured yet another loss. Carter Yakemchuk left the ice woozy, dealing with what looked like a probable concussion. Noah Gregor caught him with a shoulder or elbow on a fly-by near the boards.
“Disappointing,” head coach Travis Green told the media after the game. “We talked about the importance of a good start in this building, and that was the opposite. We take three penalties in the first five or six minutes, give up two power-play goals, it’s 3-0 nine minutes into the game.”
The good news is that the much-maligned out-of-town scoreboard finally came through in every way for the Senators on a night they deserved it the least.
The Blue Jackets lost in regulation to Carolina.
The Islanders lost in regulation to the Sabres.
The Red Wings lost in regulation to Pittsburgh.
The Flyers lost in regulation to Washington.
The Capitals are suddenly a factor again, just one point back of the Flyers, Red Wings, and Senators, who are all two points behind Columbus for the final wild-card spot.
So it's no harm, no foul. But moving forward, out of town results really won’t matter if the Sens can’t get some healthy bodies back on the blue line. They'll also need to come up with a hell of a lot more than they did against a banged-up Panthers team that's been out of it for weeks, and slowly saying goodbye to their time as champions.
Ottawa came into March like a lion, going 9-2-1. They went out like a lamb at 0-2-1.
The Senators will be back at it on Thursday night, hosting the Buffalo Sabres, a team that's 25 points better than the team that throttled them on Tuesday.
C.B. Bucknor is already catching more heat just days into the MLB season.
The longtime umpire looked foolish yet again on Tuesday after he made a bad call during the Brewers’ 6-2 win over the Rays, when he said Milwaukee’s Jake Bauers missed first base, calling him out after Tampa Bay applied a tag.
The only problem? Bauers very clearly touched the bag, and Bucknor was spotted not even looking at first base when he made the call.
The managers and players were laughing at CB Bucknor for missing the easiest call of all-time pic.twitter.com/z5aMCbQmrH
The call was quickly challenged and overturned, leading the players and managers from both teams to laugh at Bucknor and the broadcasters to mock him on air.
It all started with Bauers’ at-bat with two outs in the bottom of the sixth when he hit a line drive that Rays second baseman Ben Williamson knocked down before he tried to get the out at first.
But his throw went wide, allowing Bauers to seemingly reach first without any issue. That was until Bucknor oddly called that the Brewers first baseman didn’t touch the base.
The play was challenged, and when the Brewers broadcast showed the replay, Bauers could be seen stepping on first while Bucknor was watching the ball, not the runner.
The broadcast also showed both Brewers manager Pat Murphy and Rays skipper Kevin Cash cackling at how outrageous the initial call was.
Umpire CB Bucknor looks on during the eighth inning of the Brewers’ 6-2 win over the Rays on March 31, 2026, in Milwaukee. AP
“I think that is a horrendous call. Where is C.B. Bucknor looking?… C.B. Bucknor wasn’t even looking at the play,” Brewers play-by-play broadcaster Jeff Levering said on air.
Following the overturned call, Bauers stole second base, and Brandon Lockridge doubled to drive him in to give Milwaukee a 5-2 lead.
Bucknor was left with egg on his face over the weekend when he had six calls overturned by the Automated Ball-Strike System (ABS) during the Reds-Red Sox game on Saturday.
Two of those reversed calls came on back-to-back pitches in the same at-bat.
Bucknor has been a major league umpire since 1996 and is the second-longest-tenured behind Phil Cuzzi.
Islanders defenseman Matthew Schaefer (48) looks to make a pass during the first period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center.
BUFFALO — In a season that, regardless of how far the Islanders go, will always be remembered as the debut campaign of Matthew Schaefer, their rookie phenom made some more history Tuesday night. But, in the context of a 4-3 loss to the Sabres, he didn’t want to focus on it.
Schaefer’s assist on Anders Lee’s third-period goal gave him 57 points for the season, moving him past Stefan Persson (1977-78) and into first place all time for most points by an Islanders rookie defenseman. He’ll enter Friday’s game one point behind Phil Housley for most points by an 18-year-old defenseman in NHL history, and Schaefer has collected 20 points — including seven goals — across the past 20 games.
“Obviously you hear things and people say stuff,” Schaefer said when asked if he was aware of breaking the record, “but, I mean, I don’t really care. I mean, obviously, it’s something pretty cool, and there’s so many great players that have gone through this organization and things like that. I’ve put up so many points, but at the end of the day, we’re in a playoff push right now and this was a big game.”
Matthew Schaefer looks to make a pass during the first period of the Islanders’ 4-3 loss to the Sabres on March 31, 2026 at KeyBank Center in Buffalo. Timothy T. Ludwig-Imagn Images
At that moment, Schaefer was more concerned about being on the ice for the Sabres’ game-winning goal, when Alex Tuch pulled possession around the net and fed Peyton Krebs in front. “I mean, if that doesn’t go in it’s still a tie game,” he said. Schaefer was in front of the crease when the puck snuck past him and went right to Krebs’ stick.
And that moment was enough to take away from his historic night.
The Islanders were forced to operate without a piece of their power play and a consistent offensive producer Tuesday, as Simon Holmstrom didn’t play due to an upper-body injury and was listed as day to day by head coach Patrick Roy.
That meant Anthony Duclair, who hadn’t appeared in a game since March 21 amid another roller coaster of a season, slotted back into the lineup, skating alongside Mathew Barzal and Brayden Schenn on the second line. He finished with 11:29 of ice time and didn’t attempt a shot. Holmstrom, who has collected 19 goals and 30 points this season, had finished the Islanders’ game Monday.
Anders Lee (27) and Sam Carrick (10) fight during the third period of the Islanders’ road loss to the Sabres. AP
When asked what he wanted to see from Duclair during his return to the lineup, Roy, during his answer pregame, cited his connection with Barzal earlier in the season. Duclair strung together 13 points in 13 January games — including a hat trick against the Devils on Jan. 6.
He only managed one point across the eight games he has appeared in since, though, but Roy wanted to see if that Barzal chemistry could work again.
Roy didn’t think the fight between Lee and Sam Carrick — which Carrick initiated to stand up for a hit by Lee on the Sabres’ Josh Norris in the second period — was warranted. Carrick remained down on the ice with an apparent left shoulder injury and exited with a trainer.
“I thought that was — it was a very good non-call,” Roy said. “I don’t think we needed that fight personally, but, I mean, [Lee] looked good.”
The AHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the relocation of Bridgeport — the Islanders minor league affiliate — to Hamilton, Ontario, the league announced. The move will happen for the 2026-27 season.
