Royals 7, Mariners 6
Your Apple TV Winning Moment: Julio Rodríguez, +0.43 WPA
Setting your apple on fire: Bryan Woo, -.038 WPA
Game Thread Comment of the Day
16-17: Chart
LeBron James leads Lakers' rout of Rockets to close out series
LeBron James knew what was at stake in this first-round playoff series and that it was on his shoulders to meet the moment and have his teammates follow his lead.
James simply elevated his play like he has so many times over his illustrious 23-year NBA career, playing with a purpose and willing the Lakers to a 98-78 win over the Houston Rockets on Friday night at Toyota Center.
His 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds is why the Lakers won the best-of-seven series, 4-2, over the Rockets and why L.A. will meet the defending NBA champion Thunder on Tuesday night in Oklahoma City in the second round of the Western Conference playoffs.
James and the Lakers had been on the verge of collapsing in these playoffs, their commanding 3-0 lead cut to 3-2.
But the Lakers and James let the Rockets know they were going to stay the course in Game 6 by building a 25-point lead in the third quarter.
Rui Hachimura let James and the Lakers know he had come to play, scoring 21 points on eight-for-15 shooting and a sizzling five for seven on three-pointers. Hachimura also had six rebounds.
Austin Reaves started in Game 6 and Luke Kennard, who had started the first five playoff games and the last five regular-season games, came off the bench. Reaves did his part for the Lakers with 15 points.
Deandre Ayton had just seven points, but his 16 rebounds and defensive presence was just as powerful.
Marcus Smart was the defensive catalyst for the Lakers. He had two blocks, one in which he just raised up to swat a shot by Tari Eason in the third quarter while then falling down backward in the process. Smart scored seven points, but it was his defense that helped the Lakers limit the Rockets to 34.2% shooting and 17.9% from three-point range.
After grabbing his last rebound with 3 minutes and 17 seconds left with the Lakers leading by 26 points, James raised his hand to come out of the game. He left with 3:07 remaining having played 37 minutes.
The Lakers built a 19-point lead in the second quarter, doing it behind James’ thrust and a strong defense that stifled the Rockets early in the period.
James had 18 points in the first half, shooting seven for 14 from the field and two for four from three-point range to help the Lakers keep a 49-31 lead at the half.
He also had four assists and three rebounds.
On the defense, the Lakers worked hard and put the Rockets on their heels in the first 24 minutes.
The Lakers held the Rockets to 28.6% shooting and 16.7% from three-point range. The Rockets turned the ball over 10 times in the first.
James then opened the third quarter with a turnaround move in the post to give the Lakers a 20-point lead.
Returning to Houston for another game was not the end of the basketball world for the Lakers.
Even if all the momentum had shifted away from the Lakers and to the Rockets, L.A. still had the lead in the series.
Even if the Lakers had failed to close out the Rockets twice and had seen their three-game lead drop to one game, L.A. had no choice but to be ready for the next moment.
In the eyes of Lakers coach JJ Redick and his group, being back here is “exactly where we’re supposed to be.”
“So, you certainly don't want to drop two games in a row,” Redick said. “You certainly don't want to feel like you've given the other team confidence and momentum. But prior to the series, and if you said we were up 3-2, coming here for a close-out game and AR would be back, we'd be ecstatic.
"So, I said this after Game 2, that this thing was just getting started. I don't think any of us expected a full sweep. We know they're a great basketball team and they were going to continue to play, continue to fight. We've got to match that tonight.”
The Lakers did.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Lakers dominate Rockets in Game 6 victory, advancing in playoffs
HOUSTON — JJ Redick said the Lakers would need to “kill” the Rockets to close out their first round playoff series.
And on Friday night at Toyota Center, the Lakers accomplished their goal, suffocating the Rockets’ offense to a permanent end of their season en route to a 98-78 victory in Game 6 of the best-of-seven series, advancing to a second round matchup against the Thunder.
The Lakers didn’t have it going offensively, either.
The Rockets’ scoring total was not only the fewest amount of points they’ve scored in a game since 2018 (regular season and playoffs), but it was the fewest amount of points the Lakers allowed in a playoff game since May 16, 2012.
The Lakers didn’t have it going offensively either, shooting just 40.4% from the field. But they won the margins in two significant ways: Offensive rebounding (15-8) and turnovers (14-11), both of which were advantages for the Rockets throughout the first five games of the series.
LeBron James led the Lakers with 28 points, 8 assists and 7 rebounds in 37 minutes, finishing with a team-best individual plus/minus of plus-26.
Rui Hachimura added an efficient 21 points (8-of-15 shooting) and 6 rebiunds, while Austin Reaves recorded 15 points, 3 rebounds and 3 blocked shots in his second game back from his oblique injury.
Deandre Ayton controlled the boards with 16 rebounds to go with 7 points.
Alperen Sengun led the Rockets with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but only had 1 assist.
What it means
The Lakers won a playoff series for the first time in three years, when they beat the Warriors in the 2023 Western Conference Semifinals in six games.
They lost to the Nuggets and the Timberwolves in five games in the first round in the previous two seasons.
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Turning point
When the Lakers went on a 27-3 run from midway through the first quarter to midway through the second to flip a five-point deficit into a 19-point lead after a layup from James with just over eight minutes left in the second.
The Rockets went from the 5:13 mark in the first quarter, when they led 16-11, until the 6:55 mark of the second without scoring a field goal – a dominant defensive stretch by the Lakers during a game in which they didn’t let up at all defensively.
The Lakers led by at least double digits for the remainder of the game.
MVP: LeBron James
James set the tone for the Lakers, who were desperate to avoid blowing their aries lead after winning the first three games.
The four-time league MVP had 4 points and 3 assists in the first quarter before scoring 14 more points in the second – single handlely outscoring the Rockets in the quarter.
The Rockets had just 13 points in the second after being held to 18 in the first.
Stat of the game: 35%
That was the Rockets’ field goal percentage in Game 6.
It was the worst field goal percentage an opponent has had against the Lakers in a playoff game since April 28, 2023.
Up next
The Lakers will play the defending NBA champions, the Thunder, in the second round.
Game 1 of Lakers-Thunder will take place on Tuesday at Paycom Center in Oklahoma City.
White Sox, Schultz win a laffer over Padres, 8-2
The White Sox have been worse than .500 all season long, so declaring them a must-watch team seems a bit hyperbolic.
But Friday’s 8-2 annihilation of a Padres team very strong out of the gate — 5 1/2 games better than Chicago entering play — touched on the three players most likely to make you stop whatever you’re doing and stare.
First off, and most substantially, it was a masterpiece start by Noah Schultz, in just his fourth career outing — although it didn’t begin as such. Schultz’s outing began miserably, a miserable first inning that found the wunderkind southpaw walking two Padres on, balking the runners to second and third, and then filling the bases with a third walk. However, the lefty attacked Ty France with three straight fastballs for strikes, generating a ground out to escape the jam.
And from there, that was all she wrote. After throwing just 15 of 29 pitches for strikes in the first, Schultz melted through the next three innings with 20-of-27 strikes, one single and zero walks.
Even better, Padres starter Germán Márquez, who’d already had a sloppy and inefficient first frame, was even worse in the second, issuing four walks. Three of those walks scored on a Sam Antonacci single, Andrew Benintendi sac fly and an Austin Hayes ground out. Then, with two on and two out with a full count, Munetaka Murakami took over the MLB lead in home runs and gave the White Sox a 6-0 lead with a no-doubter to right-center:
Our second must-watch player continues to place himself in rare air in MLB history. Per Sarah Langs, Murakami now ranks third all-time in home runs through 32 career games. Something tells me he is going to be No. 1 on the list by the time we get to Game 50 or so.
And finally, must-watch ABs come from Colson Montgomery as well. And Colson extended the White Sox rout with a first-pitch screamer out to right-center with two outs in the fifth:
That homer should have been a two-run shot, as right before Colson’s clout Miguel Vargas connected on a superb hustle double, turning a standard single to center into a two-bagger with an aggressive, hard cut at the first base bag. Vargas beat the throw but was ruled out on the field; the appeal at second was denied, backed by a claim that Vargas drifted off of the bag during his slide.
He did not:
Schultz ended up going a scoreless six innings and holding 88.9% of the Padres lineup hitless (Fernando Tatís Jr. was the only one to touch him, with a single in the third and triple in the sixth). The southpaw did not walk a single batter after the first inning, and struck out two.
Kudos to the offense as a whole tonight, for being smart enough to sense that Márquez was on the ropes struggling to get his knuckle-curve over the plate and working at-bats deep. Eight batters had worked counts at least five pitches deep through the first 3 1/3 innings of the game.
Three singles in the eighth rounded the White Sox run total up to eight.
The Padres did finally rally off of the eminently-hittable Osvaldo Bido in the eighth, stringing a walk and three singles together to puncture the scoreboard with two runs.
Pistons vs. Magic final score: Detroit forces game 7 with dominant second half
Well, that game took a turn, didn’t it? Full disclosure, this recap is coming so late because I had given up. It had been a tough work day, followed by an unwelcome call to a plumber, followed by an abysmal second quarter for the Detroit Pistons. Facing elimination and needing to deliver their A game, the Pistons delivered a D-, scoring just 12 points in the second quarter and facing a 22-point deficit. I was done. I needed to do something else with my time.
This is the moment I turned the game off, thinking it was the last time I’d see the 2025-26 Pistons.
Little did I know what the Pistons had in store in the second half.
The Pistons jumped out of the gate early, cutting a 24-point deficit to a 10-point margin by the 6:58 mark. A pair of Orlando threes from Tristan da Silva and Anthony Black and a Paolo Banchero free throw boosted the lead back up to 17, and it seemed like maybe time was out on the Pistons’ season.
That Banchero free throw at the 3:55 mark represented Orlando’s final points of the third quarter. Banchero’s missed jump shot on the ensuing possession started a string of 23 consecutive misses by the Orlando Magic. By the time they made their next field goal, an uncontested Banchero dunk down the middle of the lane, the Pistons were somehow up by 12, there was less than three minutes remaining, and it was clear we were headed back to Detroit for a deciding Game 7.
Cade Cunningham led the way for Detroit, scoring 24 points in the second half, including 19 in the fourth quarter. Those 19 points matched Orlando’s output as a team in the third and fourth quarters combined. Cunningham had his stepback game working; he was bullying his way into the rim for easy looks off the glass and hit a pair of threes.
Duncan Robinson was also able to get some clean looks courtesy of Detroit’s ability to turn defense into free-flowing offense. He hit four of his nine three-point attempts. Tobias Harris was another hero for Detroit, especially when things were at their most precarious.
It was unclear if the veteran forward was going to be able to suit up for this one, as he was questionable with an ankle sprain. Harris powered through, though, and he had everything in his bag working. He scored 22 points and added 10 rebounds.
There is not much more that can be said about the Magic. They missed some open looks, but they were also forced into plenty of errors and terrible shot attempts because of Detroit’s stifling and swarming defense. There were only a handful of clean looks in that epic 23-shot brickfest spanning the third and fourth quarters.
Thank you, Ausar Thompson.
The Pistons now get to host a Game 7 on Sunday. Tip-off is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. The crowd better be insane.
Braves 8, Rockies 6: Atlanta wakes up late after Colorado’s hot start
The Colorado Rockies came out hot.
The Atlanta Braves stirred in the fourth, pushed again in the seventh, and fully woke up in the eighth and ninth.
A 6-0 Colorado lead became an 8-6 loss at Coors Field. The Braves improved to 23-10, while the Rockies fell to 14-19.
For a while, it looked like enough. Colorado built its lead behind a five-run first inning, Mickey Moniak’s ninth home run of the season, and six superb innings from José Quintana. Atlanta answered late, turning Colorado’s best version of the night into a loss.
The Rockies made Atlanta uncomfortable early
The night started with a little weirdness, which felt appropriate.
Atlanta put traffic on the bases in the top of the first before the Rockies escaped with one of the stranger double plays they will turn this season. Ezequiel Tovar and Edouard Julien appeared to miscommunicate around second base, but Colorado still managed to get the force before completing the play at first. Atlanta challenged the call, and the replay was close enough to feel like a coin flip.
Tie stays the same.
The call stood, the Rockies escaped, and then they made Atlanta pay.
Colorado’s five-run first was built on pressure. Hunter Goodman supplied the first real crack, ripping a ground-rule double to left-center to score Julien and move Moniak to third. The Braves helped the inning along from there, but the Rockies had already started it with the thing that mattered most: hard contact.
Then Moniak made sure the early lead did not feel like a first-inning accident.
His ninth home run of the season was not cheap, not Coors-aided, and not subtle: 105.5 mph off the bat, 439 feet, and into the right-center seats to make it 6-0 in the second inning.
At that point, the Rockies had made Grant Holmes work, made Atlanta play from behind, and made the best team in baseball look uncomfortable.
Quintana kept the night under control
For a while, Quintana made it stand.
Quintana did not overpower Atlanta, because that was never the assignment. He did something more important for this version of the Rockies: he kept the night under control.
The veteran lefty worked six innings, his longest start of the season, allowing one run on five hits with no walks and three strikeouts. He did it with the full veteran-lefty toolbox, mixing 31 four-seamers, 18 curveballs, 15 changeups, 12 slurves, and nine sinkers over 85 pitches.
The only real damage was Matt Olson’s solo homer in the fourth. Olson is having the kind of season where pretending he will stay quiet for nine innings feels like bad writing, and he got Quintana for one. Fine. Against this lineup, the Rockies could live with one swing.
Quintana made sure it did not become an inning.
It was more than Colorado could have reasonably expected entering the night. Quintana limited damage, avoided free passes, and continued a run of excellent starts from Rockies pitchers.
Holmes’ final line was not pretty — five innings, seven hits, six runs, five earned, three walks, four strikeouts, and one home run — but after Colorado’s early burst, he still absorbed five innings for Atlanta.
That mattered later.
The lead stopped growing
The Rockies’ offense quieted after Moniak’s homer.
Former Rockie Anthony Molina, cut loose by Colorado this offseason, threw clean sixth and seventh innings for Atlanta, helping the Braves keep the game close enough for their lineup to matter late.
The Rockies did enough early. Every starting position player reached base at least once except Willi Castro, who still drove in a run with a first-inning groundout. Contributions were not hard to find. But the game never became a full Coors Field avalanche.
And against Atlanta, that left the door open.
Then the monster woke up
Zach Agnos made the seventh interesting, but not dangerous. Atlanta scratched across a manufactured run after an Austin Riley single and a Jake McCarthy error, but Agnos kept the damage there. He got Jorge Mateo to roll over softly for the final out, then bounced off the mound with a little extra juice as the Rockies carried a 6-2 lead into the eighth. For seven innings, the Rockies had subdued the monster
In the eighth, it came looking for a fight.
Agnos returned for a second inning of work and ran into traffic, putting two on with one out and Olson coming to the plate. The Rockies went to Jaden Hill, asking him to face the hitter who had already provided Atlanta’s only real damage. Hill walked him.
Then came the swing Colorado had spent the night avoiding: an opposite-field triple that cleared the bases and cut the lead to 6-5.
One batter later, a sacrifice fly brought home the tying run. 6-6 Just like that, the comfortable version of the game was gone.
Hill struck out the final batter to keep the inning from getting worse, but the damage had already changed the night.
Colorado had a chance to answer right away against Didier Fuentes in the bottom of the eighth when Tyler Freeman was hit by a pitch to open the inning, but the response never came. Troy Johnston hit the ball hard, only to ground into a double play, and Castro popped out to send the game to the ninth still tied.
The Rockies had absorbed the punch. They had not answered it yet.
The ninth broke it
Juan Mejía started the inning with a leadoff walk, and from there Atlanta’s contact got loud in a hurry. Michael Harris II followed with the swing that made it feel fatal, launching a two-run homer to give the Braves an 8-6 lead.
After seven innings of clean, controlled baseball, the Rockies gave the Braves the one thing they had mostly avoided all night.
Free traffic. Atlanta turned it into the lead and didn’t give it back.
Fuentes picked up the win, improving to 1-0 with a 4.50 ERA. Mejía took the loss, falling to 0-3 with a 5.87 ERA. Robert Suarez handled the ninth for Atlanta, working around a Brenton Doyle single to finish the comeback.
Seven innings were not enough
That is the hard part.
There was plenty worth liking. Quintana was excellent. The first inning was the kind of pressure inning this team has struggled to create in recent years. Moniak’s homer was loud enough to make the night feel real.
For seven innings, the Rockies had the Braves where they wanted them.
Then Atlanta woke up.
Up next
The Rockies continue their three-game series with the Braves on Saturday night at Coors Field. Atlanta will send Chris Sale to the mound, while Colorado’s starter has not yet been officially announced. It should be Chase Dollander.
If that holds, it will be a fascinating test.
Sale enters 5-1 with a 2.31 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 38 strikeouts in six starts. Dollander has been excellent in his own right, entering 3-2 with a 2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 39 strikeouts over 32 innings across seven games. First pitch is scheduled for 6:10 p.m. MT.
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Lakers to play Thunder in second round
After taking care of the Rockets in six games, the Lakers will move to the second round for a matchup against the league’s best team in the Thunder.
The series will start on Tuesday, May 5.
The defending champions ran riot through everyone not named San Antonio this season, then made quick work of Phoenix in the first round. As a result, it will be a well-rested OKC team that is waiting for the Lakers, who are anything but rested.
None of the four meetings between OKC and LA went the way of the purple and gold and the majority of them were blowouts.
In the first meeting, the LeBron James-less Lakers were routed in Oklahoma City early in the season. The second meeting did not come until early February and it was the closest result of the season, but still saw the Thunder, without Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, beat the Lakers, without Luka Dončić, with a late fourth-quarter burst.
The third meeting was the inflection point in the season for the Lakers as not only did OKC soundly beat a full-strength purple and gold side, but injuries to Luka and Austin Reaves drastically changed the final week of the season and the team’s playoff hopes. The final showdown five days later was a game that should have been an e-mail as the Lakers sat what was left of their team in a blowout loss.
As you can see, the Thunder have beaten every iteration of the Lakers, whether at full strength or not. That probably shouldn’t breed much confidence heading into the series, nor will the fact that Luka is not expected back any time soon either.
Outside of that, though, this should be a really fun series. At least they got to the second round, unlike a certain other team in the Rocky Mountains.
You can follow Jacob on Twitter at @JacobRude or on Bluesky at @jacobrude.bsky.social.
Lakers eliminate Rockets, advance to second round
After a couple of losses, the Lakers finally finished off the Rockets, beating them 98-78 in Game 6 to advance to the second round.
Los Angeles went on an impressive 13-1 run to start the second quarter, giving them control of the game and they never looked back.
Now the Lakers will face the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder in the second round. That series will begin on Tuesday, May 5, in OKC.
The Lakers started this game by scoring a pair of baskets in the paint. Tari Eason started off hot for the Rockets, converting on his first two shots, and after a three by Jabari Smith Jr., Houston was in front 10-6.
Points in the paint continued to be the focus for the purple and gold and after a dunk from Rui Hachimura, they had their first lead of the game.
Unfortunately for LA, Houston had a much more balanced attack. Alperen Şengün scored inside and after an Eason dunk, the Rockets were back in control.
With Austin Reaves starting, Luke Kennard was relegated to the bench and got his first minutes midway through the first quarter. He hit a corner three to give LA back the lead and end his two-game drought of not making a beyond-the-arc basket.
Jake LaRavia added a three of his own, making it a 9-0 run for Los Angeles.
Smith Jr. ended the scoring drought for the Rockets by knocking a pair of free throws, but LA was still ahead by five.
In the closing minutes of the quarter, the Lakers bricked all their shot attempts, but so did the Rockets, leaving LA ahead 23-18 after 12 minutes.
In the second quarter, the Lakers got their offense going with a LeBron basket. Jake LaRavi added a three and, after another basket by James, LA was on a 7-0 run and Luka Dončić was jokingly signaling for Houston to call a timeout.
The Rockets didn’t, but after another basket from James, they took Luka’s advice and asked for a stop in play.
Houston finally scored off a free throw, but LaRavia immediately responded with a fastbreak dunk. This second-quarter shift from LaRavia was his best play of this series.
The Rockets literally couldn’t score, missing 15 consecutive shots. Reed Sheppard finally scored on a layup, but by then the Lakers were up 38-21.
Sheppard scored again on a three and then Smith Jr. had a putback dunk to give the Rockets some offensive life.
The Lakers maintained their advantage with some timely baskets, including a gorgeous spin move by Reaves inside.
Slowly, but surely, the Rockets began chipping away at the deficit with some free throws and defensive stops. After an Amen Thompson layup, Houston was down by just single digits.
The Lakers continued to apply pressure on the rim and while it didn’t lead to makes, it did force the Rockets to foul and send them to the line.
In the final moments of the second quarter, LeBron dished the ball to Hachimura for a three and then scored himself to send the Lakers to the locker room in front 49-31.
LA came out firing on all cylinders to start the second half. LeBron scored on the first possession, Hachimura knocked down a three and, after a basket by Reaves, LA was up by 20 points.
The Lakers shifted into cruise control in the third, but Hachimura remained hot while the Rockets struggled to score or go on any kind of significant run. Reaves continued to look more and more comfortable in his second game back, beating Şengün to the rim for a smooth layup.
Add in an impressive block by Smart on Eason’s dunk attempt and it was becoming increasingly clear this wasn’t going to be Houston’s night.
The Rockets finished the quarter with a 7-0 run to give themselves a puncher’s chance entering the fourth. Still, LA was in full control, leading 71-55 with 12 minutes left to play.
The final period was more of the same for the Lakers. Hachimura hit a three to start the fourth and LeBron scored inside. After a Deandre Ayton putback, the lead was once again up to 20 points.
The Rockets continued to struggle, unable to knock down any shots. Houston didn’t make their second field goal until there was 6:57 left in the game.
Meanwhile, Hachimura kept on scoring on mid-range shots and was clearly in the flow state, slicing through the Houston defense.
Midway through the fourth, Sheppard hit a three. He was the only Rocket that had anything going. However, Smart responded with a three of his own, making it 91-67 Lakers.
Then Jaxson Hayes had a slam dunk and Lakers head coach JJ Redick cleared out the benches as the game was over.
Key Player Stats
LeBron was magnificent in this game. His play is the main reason this contest was an easy win for Los Angeles. He ended the night with 28 points, seven rebounds and eight assists.
Hachimura was a laser throughout the night, scoring 21 points and going 8-14 from the field with six rebounds. Austin Reaves struggled with his shot from distance, but got to the rim repeatedly to finish with 15 points on 7-14 shooting.
Ayton had just seven points, but grabbed 16 rebounds. Marcus Smart had a masterful game, finishing with seven points, seven rebounds, two steals, two blocks and an assist.
LaRavia had seven points, Hayes had five points and four rebounds and Kennard had three points, three rebounds and three assists.
You can follow Edwin on Twitter at @ECreates88or on Bluesky at @ecreates88.bsky.social.
Christian Scott's career-high-tying eight strikeouts, Ronny Mauricio's go-ahead home run fuel Mets' 4-3 comeback win at Angels
The Mets won Friday's series opener at the Los Angeles Angels, scoring four runs across the sixth and seventh innings as they started their nine-game road trip on a high note.
Takeaways
- In Christian Scott's first start since he "couldn't throw the ball over the plate" -- last Thursday's 10-8 win against the Minnesota Twins -- he rebounded with his best MLB start since July 8, 2024, when he went 5.2 IP and allowed one hit in the Mets' 8-2 loss at the Pittsburgh Pirates. Scott tied his career high with eight strikeouts, a feat that he set May 11, 2024, when he threw six frames in the Mets' 4-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves. His return from Tommy John surgery has been a winding one, but Scott showed promise Friday. He allowed three runs (two earned) on three hits and, most importantly, walked none.
- Francisco Alvarez and Marcus Semien delivered in the Mets' three-run sixth inning, capitalizing on the Angels' weak bullpen. Alvarez's one-out single put the Mets on the board before Semien, who left the bases loaded via an inning-ending flyout in the fourth, redeemed himself with a two-out single that scored Juan Soto and Alvarez to tie the game at 3-3.
- Ronny Mauricio snapped his 0-for-12 draught with the go-ahead home run on a one-out solo shot to right-center field, showing why the Mets cannot give up on him. He launched his first homer of the season in a clutch moment, rebounding from an inning-ending double play that killed the Mets' third and a fifth-inning flyout to center field when it looked like New York would get shut out.
- Soto returned to the outfield for the first time since last Wednesday's reactivation from the injured list, and he looked at home after eight games as the Mets' designated hitter. Soto's 1-for-3 night featured a second-inning walk and the aforementioned single in the sixth inning that sparked the Mets' three-run wakeup. In a struggling Mets offense, the lineup needs Soto healthy and humming. He took a subtle but big step by playing a clean game in the field and coming through at the plate.
- Carlos Mendoza's bullpen combination of Huascar Brazobán, Brooks Raley, Luke Weaver and Devin Williams was lights out. The four relievers each went an inning after Scott's exit, retiring 12 straight to end the game. Weaver (hold) and Williams (save) each struck out two.
Who's the MVP?
Walbert Urena, who stifled the Mets with one hit through five innings until Bo Bichette's comebacker knocked the 22-year-old RHP out of the game on the sixth's first at-bat. Urena, in his fifth MLB outing (third start), allowed one run on two hits while striking out four and walking three over five-plus frames. He threw 41 strikes on 68 pitches before exiting. When he did, the Angels unraveled.
Highlights
Christian Scott is up to 7 strikeouts tonight through 4 innings pic.twitter.com/aRTPBgpdj7
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2026
Christian Scott matches his career-high with his 8th strikeout tonight pic.twitter.com/EaxO7QgWGd
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2026
Walbert Urena is coming out of tonight's game after a Bo Bichette line drive single hits him in the knee pic.twitter.com/9vS884yMPe
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2026
Francisco Alvarez with a base hit to bring home Bo Bichette to get the Mets on the board pic.twitter.com/gje5lhoIaA
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2026
A two-out, two-run single for Marcus Semien to tie the game! pic.twitter.com/D77uks4qp7
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2026
RONNY MAURICIO!
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2026
The Mets take the lead in the 7th! pic.twitter.com/9xKgUbxZOp
Austin Slater's first hit as a Met pic.twitter.com/8opug9CbvX
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2026
Two strikeouts in a perfect 8th inning for Luke Weaver!
— SNY (@SNYtv) May 2, 2026
Mets pitching have retired the last 18 Angels hitters they've faced pic.twitter.com/NAJCn5uMY5
What's next
The Mets and Angels continue their three-game set with Saturday's 9:38 p.m. game on SNY.
Nolan McLean (1-2, 2.55 ERA) and Reid Detmers (1-2, 4.28 ERA) are set to start.
‘Wrecking ball’ Ben Rice makes his case against lefties with big day at plate for Yankees
Ben Rice took another step Friday in proving his value in the big leagues.
At the start of the season, the Yankees were hesitant to use him against left-handed pitchers, often leaving the catcher-turned-first baseman out of the lineup.
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Try it freeHowever, he continued to make his case to the Yankees that he can be matched up against anyone when he ripped a fifth home run of the season off a lefty in the Bombers’ 7-2 win over the Orioles.
In the bottom of the second inning, Rice hit a three-run blast off Cade Povich to give the Yankees an early 5-1 lead.
The 27-year-old does not feel he has established himself against left-handed pitchers just yet.
“I feel like I’ve taken some good at-bats against them. I don’t know if established would be the right word,” Rice said after the game. “I’m always confident in myself regardless of who is on the mound. Fortunately, today [I] was able to put a good swing on one but still got a long way to go.”
This season, the left-handed hitter has more reps against righties. Before facing the Orioles, he went 22-for-71 (.310) with six home runs and a 1.116 OPS against righties.
He was 10-for-27 (.370) with four homers and a 1.266 OPS against lefties.
A year ago, Rice faced southpaws in 106 at-bats versus 361 against righties.
After the home run dagger, Rice went 1-for-2 against Povich before finishing the game 2-for-5 with three RBIs. Following the victory, he ranked second in OPS against lefties (1.308) in MLB.
“We are continuing to see the evolution of one of the game’s really outstanding hitters, as simple as that,” Aaron Boone said. “He’s really disciplined. He’s got a really good plan night in and night out for who he is facing and what he wants to look for, and then he does a really good job controlling the zone. So, this is kinda that trajectory he’s been on since he first debuted.
“He’s just gotten better and better to the point of now he’s kinda been a wrecking ball.”
'I Hope We Play Together One More Year': Malkin Wants Another Year, Pittsburgh Or Not
During the Pittsburgh Penguins' locker cleanout day on Friday, one of their longtime stars addressed some of the uncertainty concerning his future with the organization.
Evgeni Malkin, 40, is set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, and as of now, he does not have a new contract for next season. He and GM/POHO Kyle Dubas plan to meet before Malkin heads home to Russia for the summer, but in the meantime, he addressed the Pittsburgh media Friday for what could be his final time in a Penguins' uniform.
Malkin - drafted second overall in 2004 - has spent all 20 of his NHL seasons with the Penguins, and, for the first time, there seems to be some uncertainty about his future in Pittsburgh. With the direction the Penguins are headed in terms of getting younger - and him turning 40 this summer - it remains unclear whether or not Dubas will re-sign Malkin, who has amassed 533 goals and 1,407 points in his NHL career and was above point-per-game for the first time in three years this season.
Even if Dubas and the Penguins have not yet come to a decision regarding Malkin, it's clear what Malkin wants, as it has been for a long time and after 20 years of playing with Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang.
"Now I want more, you know?" Malkin said. "It's different emotion when you play playoffs. Fans are crazy. First game against Philly, in warmup, it's probably, like, 18,000 already here. Again, yeah, I want to play again, for sure. It’s special two guys for me. Love to play together. And yeah, we're not happy we lost, but we try to fight every game. But sometimes, you're losing.
"But again, these are two special guys. I hope we play together one more year. But if not, I have great 20 years together. And never forget."
Penguins Head Coach Dan Muse Named Finalist For Jack Adams AwardDan Muse has been nominated for the Jack Adams Award.Malkin also made it clear that he wants to remain in Pittsburgh - and would accept a role change if he stays - but he would be willing to sign elsewhere if Dubas and the Penguins decide to go in a different direction.
"It's fine if I start wing next year. It’s coach wants me, and I help second line to play wing, it's fine. Nothing changes (for) me like crazy. Just, like, a little bit," Malkin said. "But I think it worked this year. I play not bad. I think it's play with Tommy [Tommy Novak] and Chinny [Egor Chinakhov]. But we see what coach wants (from) me. And it's always, like, you talk to individual, like with coach, and he tell you what role he wants to see (from you on) team. But for me, it's not been a problem."
He added: "I mean, I want to play NHL, for sure. But again, I know it's not easy for Kyle. Maybe he wants new blood here. I understand it's business, and I understand he wants maybe new team, see new faces here. But for me, I want to play one more year in the NHL. I'm not looking back to KHL, play in Russia.
"But if not Pittsburgh, I hope some team."
'There's A Lot To Build On': Penguins Confident 2025-26 Season Is Just The Starting Point For ContentionAfter being eliminated from the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins are confident that they'll be back in the post-season in the years to come.Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
RJ Barrett hits ridiculous game-winning shot to send Raptors to Game 7
RJ Barrett did the Tyrese Haliburton.
And Haliburton noticed.
During Game 6 between the Raptors and Cavaliers on Friday night, the score was 110-109 as No. 5 seed Toronto, with its season on the line, scrambled on its potentially final possession at home against No. 4 seed Cleveland.
Scottie Barnes attempted to drive on Dean Wade, saw help from Evan Mobley and kicked it out to the Toronto-born Barrett near the top of the key. Barrett fired up a shot that hit back iron before elevating high in the air, dropping into the net with 1.2 seconds remaining, awarding Toronto a 112-110 lead, which held as the final score.
The shot was reminiscent of Haliburton’s Game 1, game-tying heartbreaker in New York against the Knicks in last year’s Eastern Conference finals.
“That looked familiar,” Haliburton wrote on X on Friday night.
RJ BARRETT WHEN TORONTO NEEDED HIM MOST
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) May 2, 2026
The hometown hero drains the game-winning bucket in overtime to force Game 7pic.twitter.com/D2AJbSiA5M
In the game, Haliburton made what was initially thought to be a three-point shot, which would’ve given Indiana the victory, but instead tied the game at 125 each heading into overtime.
Despite getting a break with Haliburton’s foot being on the line, the Pacers won 138-135 in overtime, taking a 1-0 lead in the series, which jump-started their eventual 4-2 victory and trip to the NBA Finals, where they pushed the eventual champion Oklahoma City Thunder to Game 7, where Haliburton ruptured his Achilles.
With a chance to win the series, Cleveland had time for one final possession, but Evan Mobley was short on a 3-point shot, giving the Raptors the win to tie the series 3-3 to force a Game 7 on Sunday.
The winner of Sunday’s Game 7 will see the winner of another Game 7 on the same day, between the Pistons and Magic, in the Eastern Conference semifinals.
THE SHOT HEARD 'ROUND THE WORLD
— NBA (@NBA) June 2, 2025
Tyrese Haliburton's game-tying buzzer beater in G1 of the ECF was one for the ages!
Listen to broadcasters from around the world reacting to one of this season's most clutch bucketspic.twitter.com/0lV3mXwli5
The Magic, with a 3-2 lead, led the Pistons 60-38 at halftime before suffering a historic collapse, where they missed 23 straight shots, 27 of their last 28 attempts, and scored just 19 second-half points en route to a 93-79 Detroit victory.
In the 112-110 win, Barrett — Toronto’s leading scorer in the series — finished with 24 points and four made threes with nine rebounds. Scottie Barnes (25 points) and Ja’Kobe Walter (24 points) — who started in place of the injured Brandon Ingram — also emerged for the scrappy fifth seed.
Lakers star LeBron James reaches another postseason scoring milestone
LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakersfinished off their Western Conference first-round series against the Houston Rockets on Friday, May 1.
The 41-year-old superstar finished with 28 points, eight assists and seven rebounds as the Lakers beat the Rockets 98-78 in Game 6.
He produced 18 points and was responsible for seven of Los Angeles' 18 successful shot attempts from the field throughout the first two quarters of play.
During the game, James reached 1,500 career playoff points as a member of the Lakers.
He reached the mark with a 4-foot, two-point shot, giving the Lakers a 32-18 lead with 9:26 left in the second quarter. James entered Game 6 with 1,489 playoff points for the Lakers.
LeBron James career playoff points
James is currently the NBA’s all-time leader with 8,428 career points scored in the postseason. He scored a career-high 748 during the 2017-18 postseason while playing with the Cleveland Cavaliers. The most he scored in a single postseason with the Miami Heat was 697 in 2011-12. He finished with 580 with the Lakers on the way to winning the 2019-20 NBA title.
- Cleveland Cavaliers: 4,573 (2003-2010, 2014-2018)
- Los Angeles Lakers: 1,517 (2019-2026)
- Miami Heat: 2,338 (2010-2014)
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LeBron James reaches another postseason scoring milestone
With Yankees' reinforcements coming, Will Warren makes latest pitch to stay in starting rotation
It's no secret that the Yankees are on the verge of a roster crunch when it comes to their starting pitching.
Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole are both expected to rejoin the team before the end of June, and that means two spots in the rotation are needed to facilitate their returns. Rodon will likely take the spot of rookie Elmer Rodriguez, who was just called up this week, but whose spot will Cole take?
Will Warren is an option, but if he continues to pitch the way he did in Friday's 7-2 win over the Orioles, the Yankees may have to look elsewhere.
Warren struck out nine batters, allowing two runs (one earned) across 6.1 innings on just three hits and one walk. He's now 4-0 with a 2.39 ERA and 46 strikeouts in seven starts this season. Warren has allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his seven starts, the most in the majors.
"We say he’s the guy we haven’t talked about, and it’s just been the body of the work, starting from spring training, has been excellent over and over again," Aaron Boone said. "Stuff’s been excellent, the strike-throwing is there, he was just in command. ... Just another really strong performance."
Warren had few words when talking about his recent success, almost bashfully when speaking about it, but boiled it down to confidence.
"Feel good," Warren said. "Confident taking the mound every five days."
But it's a bit more than that. Boone pinpoints the experience Warren has gained after pitching most of the 2025 season. Warren made 33 starts and pitched to a 9-8 record and a 4.44 ERA, and while it wasn't great, the trial-by-fire the young right-hander had to endure is seemingly paying off in the early going this season.
Two examples of that learned experience appeared in Friday's game.
Pregame, Warren and Austin Wells figured out that the changeup against lefties will work. Warren threw that pitch 12 times on Friday, 11 to left-handers, and got three whiffs. Of the three hits allowed, only one came off a left-handed bat.
The second was adjusting mid-game. Warren recognized early that he wasn't executing with his four-seamer and so he went more to the offspeed stuff and it worked. Warren throws his fastball 43 percent of the time, which went down to 32 percent on Friday.
"The ability to execute what I wanted to do wasn't there tonight, so we kind of shifted," Warren said. "More offspeed than I’m used to. Just being able to shift and still have confidence throwing out there and getting the results was nice, too."
That perception and confidence is serving Warren well
"We're just talking about a young, talented guy that's shown really good aptitude over the years, and I think a love for the craft and an expectation to be really good," Boone said of Warren's improvement. "He's not satisfied. For all the good he did last year, he’s not satisfied.
"He’s continued to lean into his strengths while also attacking some of his weaknesses…really understanding more this year and doesn’t have to nibble as much. He trusts his stuff in the zone. He knows he can beat you in a lot of different ways."
"Another year under my belt. You learn a lot out there," Warren said of his improvements. "Talk about it in here all you want, but it’s about getting your feet wet and learning as the game goes long. Have a solid staff to ask questions and learn from. It’s a mix of that."
Yankees starters have posted a major league-best 2.70 ERA and 184 strikeouts in 32 starts this season, and Warren has contributed greatly to that. He's pitched at least 6.0 innings in his last three starts, and the Yankees are 6-1 in Warren's starts this year.
So, what will happen when reinforcements do come?
Warren said there's "friendly competition" among the Yankees' starters. While they all want each other to succeed and feed off each other, they have fun trying to outdo the last starter. But Warren knows it's out of his control and all he can do is keep doing what he's doing.
"We’re going to have the best staff in all of baseball when [Rodón/Cole] come back," Warren said. "Best pitchers are going to pitch the majority of innings. I gotta make sure I keep going out there and doing my job."
Michael Harris II delivers again as Braves rally from big early hole to stun Rockies
This Braves road trip couldn’t have started much worse, with the team facing a 5-0 deficit in the first inning.
It ended, though, like so many games have this season. With Atlanta celebrating a victory.
The Braves rallied from a 6-0 second-inning deficit for an 8-6 victory over the Colorado Rockies in the opener of a nine-game road trip Friday night in Denver, securing their 12th comeback victory of the season.
The Braves (23-10) got a run back on Matt Olson’s 10th homer in the fourth inning and another on Jonah Heim’s RBI groundout in the seventh.
The real damage, though, was done in the eighth, when Atlanta loaded the bases with one out before Mauricio Dubon promptly unloaded them with a three-run triple down the right-field line. Austin Riley — who had a two-hit night — tied the game in the next at-bat with a sacrifice fly down the right-field line.
After a scoreless eighth from Didier Fuentes, a leadoff walk in the Braves ninth put a runner on for pinch hitter Michael Harris II, who is still producing despite being limited with a sore quad, lofting a go-ahead two-run homer to right with an assist from the thin Denver air.
Robert Suarez worked a scoreless ninth for his first save, preserving Fuentes’ bad night.
Ronald Acuña Jr. and Dubon each had two hits as well for the Braves.
It’s tied for the franchise’s largest-ever comeback at Colorado. And given how it started, it’s that much more impressive.
Atlanta was in a 3-0 hole before Grant Holmes recorded an out in the bottom of the first. On the play where the Braves finally recorded an out, the Rockies tacked on two more runs thanks to a Matt Olson throwing error.
When the dust had finally settled after a first inning which saw the Rockies bring 10 batters to the plate, the Braves were in a 5-0 hole.
Colorado made that 6-0 when Mickey Moniak led off the second with a moonshot to right.
But for as bad as Holmes was early, he saved his outing, relatively speaking, over his final four innings. After a 38-pitch first inning, he needed just 49 pitches to get through the second through fifth.
After the Moniak homer, Holmes allowed just one more hit, one more walk and no strikeouts over his last four innings. At the time, it seemed that was just going to be a good thing for the preservation of the bullpen on the fourth day of a stretch which will see the Braves play on nine straight days.
But as the offense woke up, it wound up being critical that Holmes settled in to keep Atlanta’s dangerous offense in striking distance.
Anthony Molina, called up the major league roster on Friday, followed with two no-hit innings where he allowed just one walk.
After the Rockies had five hits and six runs in the opening one-plus inning, they managed just three hits the rest of the way.
Mind you, it wasn’t a particularly great game for the Braves offense either, which started slow and finished 1-for-11 with runners in scoring position.
But this team has shown time and time early again this season that it doesn’t need to play its best game to win.
That was certainly the case Friday night at Coors Field.