The 2026 NBA playoffs has reached its penultimate stage with the conference finals next up.
Out West, it’s a matchup that’s been highly anticipated for a long, long time. The No. 1 Oklahoma City Thunder will battle the No. 2 San Antonio Spurs. Both teams are stacked with depth and quality and are arguably the two best teams in the league. It might just be the real final series.
The Eastern Conference will feature the No. 3 New York Knicks and No. 4 Cleveland Cavaliers. New York has been the best in the conference so far, while the Cavaliers are coming off a Game 7 blowout road win over the top-seeded Detroit Pistons.
So, which matchup combination would be the best for the NBA Finals? Let’s rank the four possibilities from least to most entertaining:
4. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
While it’s unique, the winner would likely be too predictable. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Chet Holmgren, Jalen Williams, Ajay Mitchell, Alex Caruso, Jared McCain and more should be too much for a Cleveland core that is anchored by Donovan Mitchell, James Harden, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Max Strus. Mitchell and Harden are the main players who can create magic, but need to be more consistent. Doing so enough times to take down Oklahoma City in four games…seems too much to ask.
3. San Antonio Spurs vs. Cleveland Cavaliers
A similar scenario likely unfolds here. Victor Wembanyama, De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Dylan Harper, Keldon Johnson, Julian Champagnie, Devin Vassell and more are a tough balance to take down. Cleveland won both battles this season with both matchups in December, but one did not feature Wembanyama. The two teams are different now, and San Antonio theoretically eliminating Oklahoma City should be enough momentum to defeat an inferior Cleveland side — unless Mobley and Allen rise to slow Wembanyama for four wins. It’d also be a new winner from last season regardless of the result.
2. Oklahoma City Thunder vs. New York Knicks
The Knicks take both of the top spots due to being the superior team in their conference. Barring a shock collapse, they should go through vs. Cleveland. So that puts Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns, Mikal Bridges, Josh Hart and OG Anunoby, among others, against Oklahoma City. Gilgeous-Alexander, Holmgren, Mitchell, Williams, and Caruso are the key Thunder pieces. The series likely comes down to Gilgeous-Alexander vs. Brunson. The back-to-back MVP should be the preferred victor, which would also make Oklahoma City back-to-back champions.
1. San Antonio Spurs vs. New York Knicks
No repeat bid on the line and two of the NBA’s most storied franchises hoping to end title droughts? This arguably is the best matchup. San Antonio’s drought since 2014 is undoubtedly shorter than New York’s wait since 1973. But that makes the stakes even bigger for Brunson and Co. to stamp themselves in the history books. They’d have to do so against a deep Spurs side that is anchored by Wembanyama, who is looking to make his own history at age 22 and in just his third season. San Antonio would also need Fox to stay consistent, but interest in this possibility should be the highest.
You can probably guess why the headline to this recap is what it is, because, well, there aren’t many non-profane words to describe the Cubs’ 9-8 loss to the White Sox Sunday afternoon on the South Side.
Two blown three-run leads. A remarkable ninth-inning comeback. And then… well, just too many home runs served up to an up-and-coming Sox team that seems to enjoy hitting them.
I suppose I’ll begin at the beginning.
The Cubs jumped out to a quick first-inning lead. Nico Hoerner led off the game with a single and Michael Busch made it 2-0 with this home run, his fourth [VIDEO].
Fun fact about Busch’s homer from BCB’s JohnW53:
The Cubs had not had a two-run homer hit by their second batter of the game since Aug. 3, 2024, at home vs. the Cardinals, following a leadoff walk.
They had not had one after a leadoff single since June 20, 2024, at Milwaukee.
The batter who hit both: Michael Busch.
Alex Bregman followed with a single, extending his hitting streak to eight games. One out later, he moved to third on a single by Seiya Suzuki, then scored on this wild pitch [VIDEO].
It’s 3-0 early! What could possibly…
You don’t want to know the answer to that question. But you will get it, right here.
The Cubs got that run back in the fourth. Dansby Swanson led off with a single and Nico walked, Both runners moved up on a fly ball by Busch, and this single by Bregman scored Swanson [VIDEO].
Unfortunately, the ball didn’t go far enough to score Hoerner and he was stranded. That turned out to be important.
The Sox made it 4-2 in the fourth off Colin Rea, who hit the first batter he faced, Miguel Vargas. Vargas eventually cored on a double by Andrew Benintendi. Then Rea walked the leadoff hitter in the fifth and, as you well know, that’s never a good thing. The Sox wound up scoring a pair of runs on a double by Vargas and that was it for Rea, who has struggled in his last couple of starts.
The bullpens for both teams took over and did well for a while. Jacob Webb, who’s been very good lately, threw 1.1 scoreless innings, as did Hoby Milner. For the Sox, they got five shutout innings of relief from Sean Newcomb, Grant Taylor and Bryan Hudson. The Cubs stranded a bunch of runners in those innings, too.
Personally, I think I’d have let Milner throw the entire eighth inning. I know he’s not used to multiple innings but he’d thrown only 18 pitches (14 strikes) to record his four outs. Craig Counsell did let him start the inning and he struck out Colson Montgomery. Phil Maton came on in relief and got Chase Meidroth to ground out.
Two out, nobody on, and then Maton fell apart. Walk, single, three-run homer by Tristan Peters. That, my friends, was Peters’ first MLB home run. It gave the Sox a 7-4 lead. Maton has been just awful most of the year, now with a 9.49 ERA, and the Cubs signed him to a two-year deal with a third-year option. That’s looking like a really bad signing right now.
So. To the ninth, and Seranthony Dominguez on to close for the Sox. Dominguez had some rough outings early in the year but had converted seven straight save opportunities since blowing a save April 16 vs. the Rays.
The Cubs had themselves an amazing ninth inning. Bregman led off with a walk and after Ian Happ struck out, moved to second on a wild pitch. Suzuki then hit a ground ball to third that was thrown away by Vargas and was safe, advancing to second, with Bregman stopping at third.
Conforto has shown a flair for the dramatic in his first couple of months as a Cub. The homer, his third, tied the game 7-7. Also, from John:
A Cub had hit a game-tying three-run homer in the ninth inning only 15 times previously since 1910, first season for which baseball-reference.com has searchable play-level data.
The last to do it was Anthony Rizzo, at Cincinnati on April 21, 2017. He did it with two out. Nine days earlier, Willson Contreras had done it with one out at St. Louis.
The only three earlier since 1994: Shane Andrews, at home vs. the Braves, with nobody out, on April 10, 2000 Kosuke Fukudome, at home vs. the Brewers, with nobody out, on March 31, 2008 (his first game as a Cub) Geovany Soto, at home vs. the Brewers, with two out on Sept. 18, 2008.
There’s still only one out after Conforto’s blast, but Miguel Amaya popped to short center and PCA lined to second. In the bottom of the ninth, Daniel Palencia allowed a one-out double but got out of the inning scoreless, so on to extras the game went.
But that’s all they got. Happ was intentionally passed and Suzuki struck out to end the inning.
Still, there’s a one-run lead with three outs to go. Who’s going to pitch?
Well, there aren’t a lot of choices here. The Cubs could have gone with Ty Blach, who was just called up from Triple-A Iowa Sunday. Blach hasn’t pitched in the majors since 2024 and is 35 years old and wasn’t doing all that well at Iowa.
So Ryan Rolison, who threw the eighth Saturday night, was the choice. Meidroth was the placed runner for the Sox. They had Andrew Benintendi lay down a bunt, and here’s what happened [VIDEO].
That was pretty clearly a terrible call by Laz Diaz, and it took very little time for it to be overturned. So the Sox have a runner on third with one out.
Not that any of it really mattered when Sox catcher Edgar Quero hit a walk-off homer off Rolison.
From John:
That was the Cubs’ first walk-off loss of the year. They had won six games on walk-offs.
The Cubs blew three leads today, 3-0 and 8-7. They have blown 21 for the season, in 16 different games, including seven in the next half-inning after going ahead.
They are 8-8 in the 16 games.
The Cubs scored a lot of runs in this series — 21 of them, to be exact, averaging seven per game. That’s really good! They have now scored 241 runs for the year, which is 5.13 per game, which would be 831 for the year.
The problem, as you surely know, is pitching. The Sox scored 22 runs off Cubs pitching in this series. The Sox have some pretty good young hitters, but they are not that good. The Cubs need better starters and relievers; the current bunch, decimated by injury, is just not up to the task at this point. This was a winnable game, even after the two blown leads.
A reinforcement could come soon when Caleb Thielbar returns, but the Cubs will need more bullpen help. And clearly, they need a starting pitcher, or maybe more than one. It’s still several weeks until Matthew Boyd can return.
Hopefully they can hang in there until then, or until a deal or deals can be made. Fortunately, everyone else in the NL Central also lost Sunday, so the Cubs’ division lead remains at 1.5 games over the Brewers and Cardinals.
Oh, yes, one other problem with this game:
Yeah, that’s going to have to change.
Oh, speaking of the Brewers? They’ll be at Wrigley Field to open a three-game series Monday evening. Shōta Imanaga will start the opener of this series for the Cubs and Brandon Sproat goes for Milwaukee. Game time Monday is 6:40 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
WEST PALM BEACH, FLORIDA - FEBRUARY 22: Rainiel Rodriguez #88 of the St. Louis Cardinals at bat during a spring training game against the Houston Astros at CACTI Park of the Palm Beaches on February 22, 2026 in West Palm Beach, Florida. (Photo by Rich Storry/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Who’s rising? Who’s falling so far in the minor leagues for the Cardinals? We had on Kyle Reis to speak about that and worked in conversations about who the next man up might be for various spots on the big league roster. As usual when you involved Kyle, it was an entertaining and thought provoking conversation.
We covered a lot of ground: Rainiel Rodriguez gets multiple crazy comps, are they teaching Tai Peete to bunt with runners in scoring position to be the future centerfielder (we jest!), Liam Doyle’s rocky start and much, much more.
We think you enjoy the convo and always love to hear from the community. You’ll have thoughts about the next man up conversation – we guarantee it!
All the links are below. It would be fantastic if you could subscribe while you listen (you know how the internet works!). As always, thanks for listening!
One of the Philadelphia Flyers' top objectives this off-season should be to add another impactful defenseman. When looking at trade candidates around the NHL, Boston Bruins blueliner Mason Lohrei stands out as an interesting potential option.
Questions about Lohrei's future in Boston came up often during this season, and it should carry over to the summer. The 6-foot-5 defenseman notably was scratched by the Bruins multiple times during the playoffs and simply could use a change of scenery. With the Flyers needing an offensive defenseman, he would be an intriguing buy-low target for them to consider.
If the Flyers acquired Lohrei, he could compete for a spot in their top four due to his ability to play both the left and the right side. However, even if he played on their bottom pairing and was often used on their power play, he would have the potential to provide the Flyers' blueline with a real boost.
Lohrei appeared in 73 games this season with the Bruins, where he recorded seven goals, 26 points, and a plus-17 rating. This is after he had five goals and 33 points in 77 games with the Bruins in 2024-25. Overall, the 25-year-old defenseman has shown that he has the potential to produce decent offense from the point.
Yet, with Lohrei still being young, it is fair to wonder if he could hit a new level if given a change of scenery. Perhaps joining an exciting team on the rise, like the Flyers, could help him do just that.
Utah Jazz guard Ricky Rubio (3) reacts after being fouled as he shot a three-point basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the first half during Game 3 of an NBA basketball first-round playoff series Saturday, April 21, 2018, in Salt Lake City. | Rick Bowmer / Associated Press
After reigning MVP and the runner-up for MVP in 2019, James Harden and the rest of the Houston Rockets gentlemen-swept the Utah Jazz 4-1 in April of 2019 and beat the Jazz for the second year in a row in the playoffs, the Jazz decided it was time to change it up and “upgrade” the roster. With a desire to improve their 3PT efficiency (10th & 12th in both 3PA/100 and 3PT% the prior two years), they moved on from two of their least efficient high-minute players, Ricky Rubio and Jae Crowder. Rubio’s contract expired in free agency, and rather than re-signing him for roughly $17M per year — the deal he ultimately signed with the Phoenix Suns — the Jazz instead opted to trade for 31-year-old point guard Mike Conley, who was making roughly $30.5M annually.
On July 6th, 2019, the Jazz traded Crowder, Grayson Allen, Kyle Korver, the draft rights to Darius Bazley, and a future 1st-round pick (which ultimately became Walker Kessler) to the Memphis Grizzlies for Conley. That’s a hefty price for an aging guard who was already approaching the back end of his prime. Now, Mike Conley was a fantastic guard; Mike was an excellent facilitator, and despite being undersized, he still found ways to make opposing teams feel his presence on the defensive end in one way or another. Remember, the Jazz’s goal for the offseason was to help Donovan Mitchell with the scoring load while still not overtasking him with ball-handling responsibilities, and Mike Conley offered just that. Conley was joining the Jazz after shooting 37.4% from 3PT land on 4 attempts per game over the last 10 years of his career — it’s safe to say that he had a burner on him — and in that same span, he averaged 6 assists per game. There was no doubt that he could bring positive value and still carry an offense when Donovan Mitchell was off the floor — something Ricky Rubio didn’t do.
However, a question still lies: Did Mike Conley cover enough of the margins to be “better” than Ricky Rubio?
Excusing opponent 3PT data, there was still a +1.7 net point differential in favor of Conley. The Jazz successfully found a player who carried a more efficient offense
The switch from Rubio in 2018-19 to Mike Conley in 2019-20 was felt. The Utah Jazz jumped from the 13th-ranked offense in the NBA to #1 the following year. Conely boosting team TS% data was bound to happen when you supplant a career 41.7% eFG shooter (Rubio) for a player who shot ~11.0 eFG points better for their career (Conley). The offensive rebounding data is lineup noise due to playing with Gobert and Derrick Favors, who were one of the better off. glass crashing tandems in the NBA, but Conely brought a steadier offense with lower TOV rates, and because he left a larger 3PT footprint on games in both his passing and scoring.
When you’re comparing these two fantastic guards through the lens of a complementary role, I think it should be important how they’re complementing the players who were considered the best players on the team.
One thing I found interesting is that despite Rubio heavily favoring rim assists and how much he had the ball, Gobert’s FGA did NOT drop, and he still got his (relative to his average season & surrounding season FGA/FGA per 100 numbers):
Now let’s look at Conley & Rubio with Donovan Mitchell:
Now I find this SUPER interesting and there’s a lot to unpack here. While there is a +3 point differential in overall ORTG (in favor of Conley), there is only a marginal +1.6 difference in team TS%. It’s important to note that even while Rubio wasn’t efficient, he was still boosting the shot quality for everybody else on the basketball court at a high level.
It’s hard to say if the point guard context played a role in Donovan Mitchell’s overall efficiency numbers or if it was just a 3Y improvement like we typically see in budding young players, but if there’s one thing that’s certain regarding this side-by-side, it’s that Ricky improved Donovan’s overall shot quality more than Mike did. Now, because Donovan is a score-first guard whose offense is heavily slanted towards shot-making, he needs a real playmaking infrastructure around him. Donovan’s playstyle is largely complementary in a high-usage way. What I mean by that is that while he CAN pass the ball, he won’t do it at volume on a rate basis just due to the score-first nature of his game and how he operates. He is a high-volume second-side ball handler whose imprint on team offenses is boosting team TS% and TOV%, except he boosts each of those because he is efficient overall, and he takes a lot of shots (taking a lot of shots = less passes = ultimately lowering TOV%) — the ball falls a lot, but when it comes to enhancing his teammates and providing offensive ancillary goodness, that’s where he needs help.
Accounting for Donovan Mitchell’s style of basketball, and going back to Mike Conley vs Ricky Rubio, the player who complemented Donovan better overall while still increasing teammate productivity and providing ancillary goodness was probably Ricky Rubio.
I’ve talked about Mike Conley having better TO value over Ricky, but his worst years in passing TOVs were his years with the Jazz, which is highly uncharacteristic of him from an entire career standpoint.
The spacing was already an issue, but when you have a team that turns the ball over a lot, paired with NO playmaking outside of Rubio and Joe Ingles, it’s suboptimal for a lead guard! There is a real chance the Utah Jazz missed out on building WITH Ricky Rubio as the orchestrator and primary facilitator of the offense due to, primarily, just caring about “ball-goes-in” hoops. The Utah Jazz did the worst possible job when it came to maximizing Ricky Rubio’s talent and putting an optimal team around him.
Defense:
I’ve already stated that Conley found ways to make his presence known on defense despite his size, but his impact was incomparable to Ricky’s productivity on that end.
Ricky forced significantly more opponent turnovers, whether that be from drawing charges, fighting through, and drawing illegal screens, nabbing steals in the POA, or simply just using his IQ, reading the defense, and breaking up plays by defending in the passing lanes. He was widely used as a punching bag throughout the league because of how physical he was and how he annoyed players by simply being a pest; because he was such a nuisance on defense, the players would beat up on him even more.
Defense is what makes Rubio stand out in the lineup data; Rubio covered a lot of the defensive flaws that the Jazz and Donovan Mitchell had. After Rubio departed from the Jazz, Utah’s defense went from the 1st and 2nd-ranked defense in back-to-back years to the 13th, 3rd, and 10th-ranked defense in each season with the trio of Conley, Mitchell, and Gobert — and that difference says a lot when you have one of the best paint defenders ever to play the game on the back line.
Rubio also added great rebounding value to the team, averaging 4 rebounds a game and a dREB% of 13.1 for his career at 6’2 is valuable stuff.
While Ricky Rubio had his flaws, he covered so much on the margins where I conclusively believe that the Utah Jazz missed out on a path that could have brought them to greater heights than a second-round exit. However, I do think that Mike Conley did exactly what the Utah Jazz wanted him to do, and he did it very well. The Jazz were very blessed to have these two greats play in purple.
BRIEF ANALYSIS OF THE BOJAN SIGNING:
What has been deemed the 2nd-best free agent signing in franchise history, the Utah Jazz signed Bojan Bogdanovic to a 4-year, $72M contract (~$18M AAV). My belief is that the Utah Jazz were so hyper-fixated on “ball-goes-in” hoops that they didn’t realize he didn’t do much else. He was a very turnover-prone forward who had positional size whose role was to score, and that he did.
Bojan was an abysmal defender who did not rebound the ball well at all. Which is something you’d expect from an aging forward. (No wonder the Utah Jazz only got Kelly Olynyk and Saben Lee when they shipped Bojan to Detroit)
Though the Jazz got what they wanted, they lost a significant amount on the margins. My favorite saying in basketball is “if the ball isn’t falling, WHAT DO YOU DO?” and Bojan didn’t have much to offer when the ball wasn’t falling; in fact, he was a liability.
SIDE THOUGHT: The Utah Jazz could’ve had the same impact, and if not better, had they not traded Grayson Allen to the Memphis Grizzlies for Conley (just at a different position).
After signing Bojan and trading for Mike Conley, they took up $50M of the Utah Jazz’s $118M active cap, while they were already -$18M deep into the entire cap as a whole — Bojan and Conley took up ~42% of our active cap. With Rudy Gobert on the brink of a new max contract in 2021 and Donovan Mitchell approaching a rookie extension, along with losing both depth & additive players on the margins, the Utah Jazz were dead in the water before they even swam.
The 2019 Utah Jazz offseason will go down as one of the most detrimental offseasons in franchise history. Every dream of watching Donovan Mitchell in his prime while playing next to Rudy Gobert in a Utah Jazz uniform was killed in 2019.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - APRIL 12: Randy Arozarena #56 of the Seattle Mariners reacts with Josh Naylor #12 after his slide home to score during the sixth inning against the Houston Astros at T-Mobile Park on April 12, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Mariners are trying to avoid being swept by the Padres for the season, having failed to win a single game against them so far while losing possession of the prized Vedder Cup guitar. Thoughts and prayers to Pete Woodworth. George Kirby will take the mound for the Mariners as Seattle’s last hope for a single win against the Padres this season.
Lineups:
Not to spoil the “news” section here, but there’s no shiny lineup graphic because we had a last minute change. See if you can spot the difference!
News:
In an earlier iteration of today’s lineup, Brendan Donovan was out but Leo Rivas was playing third base. Earlier today, Dan Wilson was asked about Donovan being out of the lineup again today and said the team is managing him day to day, but wouldn’t rule out the possibility Donovan could be available as a pinch hitter. That possibility evaporated shortly pregame, when Donovan was placed on the 10-day IL with a groin strain, and the Mariners announced they are summoning their top prospect, infielder Colt Emerson, from Tacoma. Read more here.
In other injury news, Gabe Speier threw a bullpen today and it appeared to go well. Matt Brash is in Tacoma today making a rehab outing.
Game Information:
Game time: 4:20 PT
Television: NBC or Peacock, or as Alex Mayer called it, “Big NBC,” with the Sunday Night Baseball crew: Jason Benetti and Jake Peavy, joined by Ryan Rowland-Smith
Radio: ESPN Radio with Roxy Bernstein and Doug Glanville, and Seattle Sports 710 AM with Rick Rizzs and Gary Hill Jr.
It was the first time as a major leaguer that the 24-year-old phenom pitched past the sixth inning. “I was able to listen to the English version of ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ on the mound for the first time,” he joked in Japanese afterward.
He also set an MLB career high by striking out eight batters and didn’t issue a walk for his first time in a big-league start.
“It was just great to see him be efficient and continue to do what he’s telling everyone that he needs to do better,” manager Dave Roberts said postgame. “I think that he’s understanding what is needed to get major-league hitters out, what’s needed to go deeper in a game.”
Granted, dominating the lowly Angels (16-31) these days is like beating your little brother in a driveway basketball game. Dunking on them — or shoving like Sasaki did Sunday — is no grand achievement against their slumping offense.
The way Sasaki did it, however, offered the most encouraging signs yet of the slow progress he has been making.
He consistently got ahead in the count (69 of his 91 pitches were strikes). He limited hard contact (snapping a six-start streak of allowing a home run). And when he had the chance to put hitters away, his reworked pitch mix allowed him to do so with ease.
“My delivery is gradually getting better,” Sasaki said. “I know that if I throw a certain way, the ball will more or less go to a certain place.”
The Dodgers’ Kyle Tucker slides into home plate to score on a sacrifice fly by Miguel Rojas during the second inning. AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh
It helped that Sasaki spent most of the day nursing a big lead, after the Dodgers (29-18) scored two runs in the top of the second and exploded for a five-run rally two innings later.
But for a team battling a wave of pitching injuries and looking for length out of its starters to protect a bullpen that has taken on a bigger recent workload, the strides Sasaki took were nonetheless important.
“There weren’t any bad walks [or] deep counts that didn’t need to be deep … Just losing a ball and hitting a batter accidentally didn’t happen [either],” Roberts said.
“I think he’s got clarity on what he needs to do,” the manager later added. “And you can see it in every throw.”
What it means
For perhaps the first time since he arrived from Japan last year, Sasaki looked exactly the way a reliable big-league starter should.
And given the star pitchers the Dodgers have on the injured list, not a moment too soon, either.
It wasn’t long ago, remember, Sasaki’s place in the Dodgers’ rotation was starting to look tenuous. But with Tyler Glasnow and Blake Snell going down in the last couple weeks, he should now have a runway to build off Sunday’s success.
His most critical task moving forward will be replicating the efficiency he finally found against the Angels. He didn’t have an inning that required 20 pitches. He was 19-for-24 on first-pitch strikes. And after allowing his lone run on a Yoán Moncada RBI single in the fourth, he faced the minimum number of batters over his final three frames.
“I want a little more strength behind my fastball,” Sasaki said, still finding a flaw with his performance after averaging only 96.6 mph with his heater. “But I think it was good that I was able to hold their hitters today. My breaking balls were better than they were last time.”
Sasaki struck out eight and walked no one Sunday in Anaheim. Getty Images
Who’s hot
Much of Sasaki’s recent turnaround — he at least pitched into the sixth inning in each of his previous three outings — has come as a result of two key factors.
The first: He is locating his fastball in the zone consistently, throwing it over the plate more than 80% of the time Sunday.
The other: His new pitch mix has made him less predictable, with the addition of a new splitter, to go along with his trademark forkball and newly added slider, giving his game a different dynamic.
Against the Angels, it led to more swings-and-misses (18) than he had ever before generated as an MLB pitcher. He also got batters to chase out of the zone 40% of the time.
“He attacked the strike zone. He attacked it with all three pitches, too,” catcher Dalton Rushing said. “And then from there, you can kind of play the chase card with him a little bit and get outside of hitters’ comfort zone. And obviously with the stuff that he has, it’s easy to miss barrels.”
Again, time will tell how much that was due to Sasaki himself, or the fact that he was facing such a miserable Angels lineup; which has averaged fewer than three runs per game during their current 5-21 free fall.
Then again, Sasaki became the first Dodgers pitcher other than Shohei Ohtani to go seven innings with two runs or fewer since Glasnow tossed eight scoreless April 23.
“Today,” Rushing said, “was obviously a big step.”
A fan holds up a sign for the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani before the game. AP Photo/Jessie Alcheh
Who’s not
The Angels were betting on Grayson Rodriguez’s upside when they acquired him in a trade for outfielder Taylor Ward this offseason.
But in his injury-delayed team debut Sunday, he looked helpless against the Dodgers’ resurgent offense.
The turning point in his 3 ⅔-inning, seven-run start came with two on and two outs in the fourth, when he was slow to cover first base on a two-out grounder from Hyeseong Kim that allowed the inning to continue.
The four at-bats that followed: a two-run single from Ohtani (who went 3-for-5), a walk from Freddie Freeman (which loaded the bases again), a two-run single from Andy Pages (putting him back in the MLB lead for RBIs with 41 this season) and then, after Rodriguez was removed from the game, another RBI single from Kyle Tucker (who ultimately finished the day with three hits and three runs driven in).
Just like that, the Dodgers led 7-0.
The way Sasaki was pitching, it would be more than enough.
“I think the games unfolded close to perfectly,” Ohtani said, after the Dodgers outscored the Angels 31-3 in the series.
“To break out like that,” Roberts added, “is good for the confidence of the offense.”
Up next
The Dodgers renew their recently heated rivalry with the Padres on Monday in San Diego, opening the series with Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-3, 3.60 ERA) on the mound and a one-game lead in the NL West standings (pending the outcome of the Padres’ Sunday game against the Mariners).
Edgar Quero finally got to play hero, with the key homer in Sunday’s win.
It’s a good thing Miguel Vargas is currently playing like he wants to wear an All-Star jersey in a couple of months, because something tells me the White Sox won’t be getting anything else in return for Erick Fedde when he departs the rotation this time around.
Despite what wound up being a cathartic, 9-8 victory in 10 innings, it appears likely that said departure will come sooner rather than later, given the glut of minor league pitching that needs a chance at some big league action. He just didn’t have particularly astute command today, and his stuff simply doesn’t have the juice to get much done when his command isn’t astute. It’s not surprising that the Cubs put three runs on him before we even had a chance to blink, when you take a look at the pitches they were swinging at in the first inning.
Those are a lot of fat locations for pitches that are pretty easy to make contact with, and it’s not particularly surprising that Michael Busch managed to extend his hands on one of those outside cutters and yank a two-run homer out to right field against the breeze. Two singles and a wild pitch later, it was a 3-0 game, and any hope at a repeat of yesterday’s home side thwacking was swiftly thwarted.
Fortunately, opposite Fedde, Colin Rea wasn’t exactly a portrait of intimidation, and it took just one additional inning for the Sox to string a few hits together, as singles from Colson Montgomery, Andrew Benintendi and Edgar Quero scratched their first run across.
Unfortunately, things didn’t get a whole lot better for Fedde, who still walked two Cubs in the second inning despite bouncing back to hold them scoreless. He then appeared to be dealing with some sort of cut or blister on his throwing hand, receiving brief medical treatment between innings before allowing another walk and double in a shaky third. Finally, it all fell apart entirely in the fourth inning, as Fedde failed to record an out and was removed from the game after allowing Dansby Swanson and Nico Hoerner to reach via a single and walk.
Taking the ball from Fedde 12 years after being taken three picks ahead of him in the 2014 draft, Sean Newcomb has been generally excellent this year in taking on whatever role has been asked of him, from garbage time to LOOGY work to traditional long relief. He couldn’t quite clutch up all the way this time, letting in a run by way of a deflected ground ball back up the middle and pushing the Cubs run total to four. But he was excellent the rest of his time in the game, keeping the Cubs off the board in the rest of the fourth and fifth and giving his club a chance to chip away.
That chipping began with Newcomb still pitching, as Miguel Vargas got plunked to open the fourth and circled the bags on a double into the gap off of Benintendi’s bat, his second hit of the day.
The ability to meaningfully chip away at a deficit is not a skill that Sox offenses have possessed very much in recent years, but evidence mounts that this might finally be changing. The whipping wind was as important as any individual player in this one — according to Statcast, it robbed a would-be Ian Happ home run to right of an absurd 124 feet of distance in the third inning.
And for a minute in the fifth inning, it felt as though the White Sox were putting this one in the category of games that would be more reasonable to expect them to win next season. A would-be game-tying home run from Derek Hill, smoked off the bat at 100.4 mph at a nearly-ideal 24° launch angle, was kept in the park just enough for Pete Crow-Armstrong to get his glove on it. Munetaka Murakami’s hustle kept the inning alive with a legged-out fielder’s choice that could have been an inning-ending double play, and though it looked like Vargas was on the precipice of being a wind victim for the second time, his 103 mph line drive evaded Crow-Armstrong’s leather to tie the game at four:
Grant Taylor was nails in relief of Newcomb, facing the minimum six hitters and using just 25 pitches over two perfect innings against the top of the Cubs lineup. It was the 55th appearance of his career, which moved him into a tie with a couple of the dead ball era’s most infamous names — Carl Mays and Ed Cicotte — for the most games to start a career without allowing a home run. Bryan Hudson avoided disaster for the second time in three days, narrowly escaping a bases-loaded jam to keep things scoreless headed to the Sox half of the eighth.
Much to his credit, Benintendi came to play ball today, working a two-out walk to get Phil Maton on his toes before moving into scoring position on an Quero single and, finally, gloriously streaking home on Tristan Peters’ first big league bomb:
Then Seranthony Domínguez came on and had an easy 1-2-3 inning to secure the 8-5 win, right?
Reader, you know the answer to that question. Domínguez walking Alex Bregman to start the inning was predictable, as might have been his subsequent strikeout of Ian Happ. It also probably wouldn’t have been hard to predict that he’d be unable to bear down and stop the fire when Vargas threw away the second out of the inning and made Michael Conforto the tying run at the plate.
You know why I called Conforto the tying run at the plate, right?
Murakami gave the Sox some hope for keeping things out of extra innings with a slightly bizarre double that dropped between a tumbling Seiya Suzuki and Crow-Armstrong in the outfield, but Vargas and Chase Meidroth couldn’t bring Mune around to score. Crow-Armstrong himself started the 10th inning on second base for the North Siders, and instantly stole third with freshman righty Tyler Davis taking over for Domínguez. Crow-Armstrong eventually was thrown out trying for home on an infield-in ground ball, but it nonetheless set the table for Alex Bregman to step to the plate with the bases loaded.
Davis did his job, drawing a slowly-chopped ground ball, but it was just a hair too slow for Montgomery to have a play at the plate. Even though Davis nutted up and punched out Suzuki to end the threat, the Cubs still took a 8-7 lead to the bottom of the 10th.
It’s worth repeating, Benintendi had a hell of a game, capping off his afternoon with a perfectly executed sacrifice bunt to move the tying run to third — perfectly executed enough that it rather irritated me when he couldn’t beat it out and make himself the winning run.
Fortunately, it didn’t matter, because as I was typing up my message of complaint into the South Side Sox slack, Quero made it all a moot point. Given the slight reported setback in Kyle Teel’s rehab assignment, Quero couldn’t have possibly picked a better time to escape from the malaise that’s plagued his bat all season. What started out as a sure game-tying sac fly kept carrying into the seats, for a game-winning home run:
Even with every game spent with a winning record this season being house money, failing to come back and win this game would have been tough to swallow. But the win wraps up Chicago’s longest homestand of the season, and one that undoubtedly brought some of the best vibes Rate Field has seen in years despite a couple of highly-avoidable losses.
Their schedule has them on a plane to the West Coast as I write, where they’re set to take on Seattle for a trio of nightcaps Monday through Wednesday. Tomorrow will be the most challenging start of Noah Schultz’s young career, as he’ll see a potentially potent Seattle lineup for the second time in 10 days opposite All-Star Bryan Woo. First pitch is at 8:40 p.m. CT, and I’ll be there to watch and recap it with you!
After the Mets got the first two men on against Yankees closer David Bednar in the bottom of the ninth inning down by three, their big boppers in Juan Soto and Mark Vientos weren’t able to get the job done. So, down to their last out, it was left to Tyrone Taylor, who didn’t even start the game but entered as a pinch-hitter for MJ Melendez in the fourth inning.
And after going 0-for-2 in his first two at-bats, despite hitting the ball hard both times just for an outfielder to make a great play on the ball, Taylor came through in the ninth, attacking the first pitch and hitting it where nobody could make a play on it.
“Awesome. That’s all I can say. It was awesome,” Taylor said of his game-tying, three-run home run.” I was just happy to contribute for the team and do my part.”
Actually, it had been a while since Taylor, now 6-for-37 in his last 15 games, had done something with the bat. In fact, his entire season had not been going as he would’ve liked, hitting just .177 before the home run with an OPS below .500.
That’s what makes the home run that much more stunning, or “special” as Sunday’s starter Freddy Peralta called it.
“It was one of the best moments that I’ve experienced before,” Peralta said.
Following the blast, Citi Field was sent into a full on frenzy as the Mets fans in attendance were finally able to give it to their Yankee counterparts with the Yanks leading since the third inning and the Mets playing poorly, particularly in an ugly sixth inning.
But Taylor, perhaps the unlikeliest of sources, was able to help the Mets finally win a game in which they trailed after the eighth inning, a well-documented distinction that they hadn’t accomplished since 2024.
Having it come against the Yankees, in the rubber match of the Subway Series during an intense weekend, made it all the more sweeter for Taylor and the Mets.
“It was pretty awesome, the atmosphere here was electric,” Taylor said. “Bednar is a really good pitcher so it felt good for sure.”
Already dramatic enough, the home run had an added level of spice to it with the ball hit towards the left-field foul pole and nobody, not even Taylor, knowing if it would be fair or foul until it finally landed in the seats.
“I didn’t know it was gonna stay fair,” Taylor said. “I kind of waited there to see if it would.”
But in a season where not a lot has gone the Mets, or Taylor’s, way, for one moment, it all did.
“The way that we came back was very special,” Peralta said. “And coming from [Taylor] as well too, it was really nice because he’s a great guy, great player and I feel great about him.”
ANAHEIM, CA - MAY 17: Roki Sasaki #11 of the Los Angeles Dodgers pitches in the first inning during the game between the Los Angeles Dodgers and the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium of Anaheim on Sunday, May 17, 2026 in Anaheim, California. (Photo by Katelyn Mulcahy/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Dodgers did not forget how they fared against the Angels last year. This year, the Dodgers are returning the favor as they completed the sweep of the Angels on Sunday behind Roki Sasaki’s finest start at the big league level, taking the finale 10-1.
The Dodgers once again took the first lead, as after loading the bases against Grayson Rodriguez with one out in the top of the second, Miguel Rojas drove home Kyle Tucker on a sacrifice fly for the game’s first run. Hyeseong Kim followed up Rojas with an RBI single to drive home Max Muncy and take a 2-0 lead.
Rodriguez faced the minimum in the third inning, but the Dodgers wouldn’t make life easy for him in the fourth. Following a leadoff walk to Teoscar Hernández, Rodriguez got two quick outs, but Rojas kept the inning alive with a base hit to left. Kim followed with another single to load the bases, and Shohei Ohtani continued to torment his former team by smacking a two-run single up the middle, giving him seven RBI in the series and making it a four-run lead.
Freddie Freeman continued the two-out rally with a walk, and Andy Pages registered the second two-out, two-run single, knocking Rodriguez out of the game and giving the Dodgers a 6-0 lead. Pages’s 41 RBI on the year surpassed Miami Marlins catcher Liam Hicks for the most in all of baseball. The Dodgers ended the rally with an RBI single from Tucker against José Fermin to make it another five-run inning in the series.
Had the Dodgers just scored two runs, it would have been enough for Roki Sasaki. In what was the greatest start of his young big league career, Sasaki tossed his second quality start of the season. After allowing a one-out double to Mike Trout in the bottom of the first, Sasaki went on to retire the next nine hitters in a row, with the only blemish on his outing being an RBI single from Yoan Moncada in the bottom of the fourth.
Sasaki tossed 91 pitches with a career-high 69 strikes on Sunday, logging a career-high in innings and strikeouts with seven and eight respectively while not allowing a single walk for the first time in a big league start. A noticeable difference in the way Sasaki pitched was the increased reliance on his slider, which he struck out five hitters with and tossed at a 27 percent clip. His 18 whiffs on the day were the most he’s generated in any start throughout his big league career.
Although the overall numbers on the season still reflect a poor start for Sasaki, he continues to show improvements on the mound as he has a 3.50 ERA over his lsat three starts with 17 strikeouts to just three walks over 18 innings.
The Dodgers added three more runs in the ninth inning with a two-run double from Tucker and an RBI single from Hernández to give the Dodgers two consecutive 10-run outbursts against the Angels. Right-hander Chayse McDermott made his Dodger debut on Sunday, coming in for the ninth and helping secure the sweep.
It is the first time that the Dodgers have outscored their opponent by at least 25 runs in a series this year, as the Dodgers combined for 31 runs compared to just three for the Angels. It is their first series win since taking two of three against the Houston Astros and their first sweep since their three-game sweep of the New York Mets at home. It is the first time that the Dodgers have swept the Angels at Angel Stadium since May 2021.
The Dodgers’ road trip stays in Southern California, as the Dodgers open a three-game series against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park on Monday (6:40 p.m. PT, SportsNet LA). Yoshinobu Yamamoto goes for the Dodgers, while San Diego has yet to announce Monday’s starter.
Game 6 was a nightmare for the Montreal Canadiens, as they fell to the Buffalo Sabres by an 8-3 final score. While this is the case, the Canadiens now have the opportunity to get their revenge against the Sabres in Game 7.
If the Canadiens pull things back together and win Game 7 against the Sabres, Jakub Dobes would join some elite company.
According to NHL Public Relations, Dobes would join Ken Dryden, Carey Price, Patrick Roy, and Jaroslav Halak as the only Canadiens goalies with multiple Game 7 wins in their franchise history.
This would undoubtedly be a major accomplishment for Dobes in what has been a strong post-season for the 24-year-old netminder. Despite having a tough start in Game 6, he still has a .906 save percentage and a 2.59 goals-against average in 13 games this post-season.
It will now be interesting to see if Dobes can lead the Canadiens to a victory in Game 7 from here.
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 16: Daylen Lile #4, Jacob Young #30 and James Wood #29 of the Washington Nationals celebrate after winning a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Nationals Park on May 16, 2026 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Jess Rapfogel/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After today’s loss to the Orioles, I could focus on the negatives, but I do not think that is the story of this weekend. Even though the Nats could not pull off the sweep, it was still a very successful weekend in the nation’s capital. The Nats did something they have not done in a long time, show their fanbase a good time.
The games on Friday and Saturday were so fun to attend. It has been a long time since Nationals Park has been buzzing like this for a game that was not the home opener. On the rare occasions where Nats Park does have energy, the team often let the fans down. However, this weekend felt different. They were able to send the fans home happy.
After yesterday’s win, manager Blake Butera thanked the fans for their support. It was clear that it meant a lot to this group to play in front of a packed house. The fact they were able to perform made it mean even more. There are young kids out there that have never seen a good Nats team. While this group is not there yet, they are showing signs of life, which I love to see.
In game one of the series, the Nats showed their grit. Zack Littell and Andrew Alvarez kept the O’s off the board for the first 8 innings. Daylen Lile carried the load offensively with a double and a decisive two-run homer. While the 9th inning got very dicey, the boys were able to lock it down in the end. Getting that game was so big for the group, especially now that we know the Nats dropped the last game of the series.
The Nats showed their offensive firepower in game two of the series. They lead the league in runs, and showed why with an offensive explosion. After going ahead 4-0 early in the game, they wasted some opportunities. It looked like that would come back to bite them when the O’s made it a 4-3 game in the top of the 7th.
However, the Nats went on a rampage in the bottom of the 7th, scoring 7 runs and blowing the game open. They showed a new found depth in the lineup. Keibert Ruiz and Jacob Young have had their struggles offensively this year, but both are red hot at the moment. Those two were the biggest sparks in that 7 run inning.
This whole series was massive for Keibert Ruiz in particular. Ruiz had 3 hits and 5 RBI’s yesterday, and got a double and a walk today. It must have felt so good for Keibert to hear the roar of the crowd when he hit that 3-run home run yesterday. It has been far from smooth sailing for Ruiz, but he is showing real signs of life.
The whole offense is just operating at a very high level as a collective. Sure, there are times where they leave too many runners in scoring position, but it is baseball, that stuff happens. However, they come through more often than not. Matt Borgschulte has this offense operating at a level I did not believe was possible.
Another thing I loved about this series was how much emotion this team showed. That has been a theme in recent weeks, with players like Richard Lovelady and Daylen Lile really expressing themselves. Lovelady showed his signature emotion when he struck out Adley Rutschman to end game one of the series.
Sure, this team is probably not going to make the playoffs, but they are making fans feel something. After last year’s disastrous squad, that is fun to say. At times last season, it just did not seem like the group was having any fun. You can accuse this Nats team of a lot of things, but you cannot say they aren’t playing the game with joy.
It is a team that you can connect with and enjoy. Sure, they can infuriate you with bad pitching and sloppy mistakes in the field. However, the ride is pretty fun most of the time. The Nats finally seem to be building towards something. They still have a long way to go, but they are heading in the right direction.
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - MAY 15: Xander Bogaerts #2 of the San Diego Padres high fives Jackson Merrill #3 of the San Diego Padres after beating the Seattle Mariners 2-0 at T-Mobile Park on May 15, 2026 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Olivia Vanni/Getty Images) | Getty Images
San Diego Padres (27-18) at Seattle Mariners (22-25), May 17, 2026, 4:20 p.m. PST
Don’t troll in your comments; create conversation rather than destroying it
Remember Gaslamp Ball is basically a non-profanity site
Out of respect to broadcast partners who have paid to carry the game, no mentions of “alternative” (read: illegal) viewing methods are allowed in our threads
Naz Reid (11) reacts on the bench as the San Antonio Spurs lead by 30 points late in the fourth of Game 6 of the NBA Western Conference semifinals at Target Center in Minneapolis, Minn. on Friday, May 15, 2026.
Naz Reid has some strong ideas on what it will take for the Timberwolves to take it to the next level.
Minnesota lost to the Spurs in Game 6 on Friday, which ended its season in the Western Conference semifinals.
The Timberwolves reached the Western Conference finals in back-to-back seasons before this year.
In the end-of-season media availability, Reid — a former Sixth Man of the Year winner who has developed from an undrafted rookie in 2019 to one of the core players during his tenure — spoke on why the team keeps falling short.
Naz Reid (11) reacts on the bench as the San Antonio Spurs lead by 30 points late in the fourth quarter of Game 6. Star Tribune via Getty Images
“Probably just moodiness. You look at both of those teams, and they’re playing for one another,” Reid said, referring to the Spurs and Thunder, who will play in the Western Conference finals.
“They’re excited to be on the court with one another. They’re a team where they’re selfless, like I mentioned before. So I think just probably some of those aspects. I think we have more than enough talent. I think we have more than enough guys bringing it to the table and can compete at a high level, but just being less moody. I think that’s just the name of the game for us, just being less moody and more selfless and just carrying ourselves with championship aspirations like we’ve done before.”
There’s online speculation among Minnesota fans and NBA observers as to whether or not this is a jab at Julius Randle, in particular.
In the season-ending 139-109 loss, Randle shot 1-for-8 with three points and was a team-worst -34 in just 24 minutes.
Reid, who had 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting, along with seven boards, averaged 12.6 points and 7.3 rebounds on 48.4 percent shooting from the field and 40 percent shooting from deep in 12 playoff games this year.
Julius Randle (30) and Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) react as they head into halftime against the San Antonio Spurs in Game 5 at Frost Bank Center in San Antonio, Texas, on Tuesday, May 12, 2026. Minnesota Timberwolves vs. San Antonio Spurs, NBA Western Conference Semifinals, Game 5. NBA Playoffs. Star Tribune via Getty Images
It was Reid’s best postseason performance, statistically, in his career.
Notably, the Timberwolves have some financial concerns to address, with Rudy Gobert ($36 million) and Randle ($33 million) entering the second-to-last year of their respective contracts, with player options to follow for the 2027-28 season — making them potential free agents next year and potential trade targets for Minnesota this summer.
Reid will make north of $23 million next season and will be on the second year of a five-year extension, keeping him under contract for the rest of the decade, with a player option for 2029-2030.
