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Sabalenka in awesome form, 4-0 up, and Danilovic is in imminent danger of being bagelled.
Zheng hasn’t found it as easy in the second set, she serving to go 5-3 up but the Canadian is dragging her heels. Navone eventually took that first set off Musetti and he celebrated by grabbing a break in the opening game of the second set.
Continue reading...Posey sends two-word message to Giants fans about Adames' struggles originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
“Be patient.”
That was Buster Posey’s message to fans when asked about Willy Adames’ early-season struggles in his first season with the Giants on KNBR’s “Murph and Markus.”
Adames signed a seven-year, $182 million contract with San Francisco this offseason and has batted just .208 in 56 games this season.
“It’s not uncommon when superstar players sign a big deal and struggle out the gate,” Posey said Thursday.
What also hasn’t helped the cause is that Adames’ defense has struggled this season, too.
Adames currently has a .961 fielding percentage, which is fifth-worst among 30 qualified shortstops this season.
“I’ve gone through it as a player when you struggle,” Posey said. “It’s rough. I mean, I didn’t, you don’t sleep well, it’s on your mind all the time.”
Still, just over a third of the way through the season, Posey isn’t wavering in his belief in the 29-year-old and says that through it all, Adames has shown a positive attitude and been a mentor to the younger players.
“For this guy to show up and be the same each and every day, it’s pretty remarkable,” Posey said. “He’s truly a leader, and I’ve got belief that offensively he’s going to find his groove here. He’s always been a bit of a streaky hitter, so hoping that hot stretch is right around the corner.”
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Birdsong, Harrison impress Posey; Hicks ‘disappointed' by bullpen move originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
This season’s Giants pitching rotation has been a bit of a carousel with players shifting from bullpen to starter and vice versa.
Buster Posey, president of baseball operations, spoke with KNBR 680 on Thursday regarding the staff changes and said that through the process, he has enjoyed seeing young players such as Hayden Birdsong and Kyle Harrison find their way as the season has gone on.
“I don’t think that it’s anything earth-shattering, but I do think the health of an organization is largely dependent on your young pitching and to have those guys, 23 years old, pitching with the confidence and stuff that they have is exciting,” said Posey.
Birdsong has found himself in the starting rotation as of late and boasts a more than respectable 2.48 ERA on the year, while Harrison, who just made his first start of the season on May 24 has also really impressed Posey.
“He looks like a different guy to me than what we saw this spring,” Posey said when speaking on Harrison’s conviction in his stuff.
While that pair has nestled themselves into the starting rotation, Jordan Hicks once again has shifted to the bullpen.
It’s a move Posey says Hicks wasn’t thrilled about, but one he says the 28-year-old has been a true pro throughout.
“He was disappointed,” Posey said. “He’s been very clear that he wants to be a starter, but again, I think between myself, Zach [Minasian], Bob [Melvin] felt like we were putting the team in the best position to have him pitch out of the pen right now.”
Hicks posted a 6.55 ERA as a starter for the club this season but has only given up one run in three appearances out of the bullpen since making the move last week.
Jalen Brunson gave the Knicks life early in Game 5. He hit six of his first eight shots, scoring 14 points in the opening nine minutes. He was even better to start the second half, hitting five of six shots for 16 points in the frame.
His scoring was one of the main reasons the Knicks live to fight another day in these Eastern Conference Finals.
But he couldn’t do it by himself. In those first and third-quarter scoring barrages, Brunson’s fellow starters supported him with strong team defense.
The Knick starting unit outscored the Pacers by 18 in 13 minutes on Thursday.
They held Indiana to 6 of 20 shooting in those 13 minutes with an effective field goal percentage of 37.5.
If the Knicks can get off to a strong start in Game 6 on Saturday and force a Game 7, Tom Thibodeau’s mid-series adjustments will be celebrated.
As it is, Thibodeau’s lineup changes have changed the series.
The new starting unit of Brunson, Mikal Bridges, OG Anunoby, Karl-Anthony Towns and Mitchell Robinson was key in Game 5. Thibodeau’s expanded rotation was key in both Knicks’ wins against Indiana.
Landry Shamet and Delon Wright helped stabilize things for the Knicks in the second half of Game 3. They played a similar role in Game 5.
Lineups featuring Shamet, Wright and Towns were a combined +8 on Thursday. Along with Mikal Bridges, Shamet and Wright and the rest of the Knick backcourt seemed to bother Indiana’s top offensive weapons on Thursday. Tyrese Haliburton took just eight shots. Pascal Siakam had, by his standards, a quiet game.
If Game 5 is any indication, Thibodeau may have found something with the new lineup/rotation.
“I thought the aggressiveness of Jalen and KAT to start offensively and then the group being tied together defensively (was significant). Then when the bench came in, they did the same thing,” Thibodeau said after the game.
If the Knicks can do the same things on Saturday, it will give them a good chance to bring the series back to New York for a Game 7.
Wallabies coach Joe Schmidt is open to the idea of NSW State of Origin star Nathan Cleary switching to rugby union but is focused on the ongoing development of the national team’s current fly-half options, including Queensland Reds No.10 Tom Lynagh.
Jalen Brunson scored 32 points as the New York Knicks beat the Indiana Pacers to keep alive their hopes of reaching the NBA Finals.
Indiana remain one win from clinching the Eastern Conference finals but the Knicks claimed a 111-94 home win to cut their deficit to 3-2 in the best-of-seven series.
Karl-Anthony Towns played through a knee injury to record 24 points and 13 rebounds as the third-seeded Knicks led throughout.
"I looked at the game and it was 'game five, do or die'," Towns said. "That was pretty much all I needed to see."
Bennedict Mathurin registered 23 points and nine rebounds off the bench for the fourth-seeded Pacers, who host game six on Saturday (01:00 BST, Sunday).
"We have no room for error," Towns added. "Our backs are against the wall and every game is do or die. If we don't bring that energy or execution, our season will be over."
Towns had 17 points and 10 rebounds in the first half as New York led 56-45 at half-time, before pushing their advantage to 90-73 heading into the final quarter.
Indiana crept to within 12 points with just over eight minutes remaining, but Josh Hart answered with consecutive baskets and Mikal Bridges hit a jumper to make it an 18-point margin.
Indiana star Tyrese Haliburton had 30 points and 15 assists in game four but was kept to eight points on Thursday, with six assists.
"Rough night for me," said the 25-year-old point guard. "I've got to be better setting the tone and getting downhill. I feel I didn't do a great job of that.
"They picked up the pressure a little bit and applied more as the game went on. Put it on me, I've got to be better in game six."
You'd be hard-pressed to find a team that plays better than the Knicks with their backs against the wall.
Just one loss away from their season coming to an end, the Knicks stepped up with arguably their best game of the Eastern Conference Finals to this point. They outhustled, outdefended and were simply better than the Pacers on Thursday night in their 111-94 win. While a lot of the credit will go to the offense -- Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns did combine to score 56 points -- it was their defense that deserves its flowers.
Including Thursday, the Pacers played 15 games this postseason and Game 5 was the first time they were held under 100 points.
"I thought we came out great defensively," OG Anunoby said after the game. "We were getting stops, flying up and down the floor."
Not only did the Pacers score below 100, they shot just 40.5 percent (33 percent from three) and turned the ball over 20 times. Tyrese Haliburton, the Pacers star who has become the face of dismay for Knicks fans, had his worst game of the series. The guard scored just eight points on 2 of 7 shooting after averaging 24 points per game entering Game 5. He was a minus-23 on the court. Pascal Siakam was the only starter to score in double figures, with bench players Obi Toppin (11) and Benedict Mathurin (23) the only others to hit that mark.
So, what changed? Knicks coach Tom Thibodeau didn't say it was just one thing, but praised his team's defense as a whole.
"Sometimes it’s a combination of [Haliburton] missing some shots he normally makes, but our guys were tied together and tried to make him work for everything," he said. "That’s what you have to do. You have to fight to win every possession."
"I feel like we picked up our intensity a little bit. I think we paid attention to detail better as a team," Brunson said of the defense on Haliburton. "The little things go a long way. Paying attention to the minute things, and things that don’t seem like a huge deal, they really do help.”
After Game 4's loss, a lot of the attention was on Brunson and how the Pacers seemingly were targeting him on defense. Forcing the All-Star to foul and exploit his defensive weaknesses.
If that was the Pacers' plan in Game 5, it didn't work, especially when Haliburton had the ball.
"[Brunson] did an amazing job. That's something that cap always does - he answers the call every time," Towns said of Brunson's defense. "We win as a team, we lose as a team. I'm never going to allow cap -- he does so much for us and we ask so much out of him every game -- he’s never going to go out there and take all the blame. We all do. Family and brothers never let someone go out there and take all the blame. We all got to be willing to lose together and win together."
"That's our guy, we know he's going to bring it offensively but I feel like he dug in defensively and had great intensity," Josh Hart said of Brunson.
"He's our leader," Miles McBride said. "When we see he's playing like that, we all just want to do anything we can to get the win."
Haliburton was asked if he was surprised by how the Knicks turned up the ball pressure on him and the team, and the Pacers star said he wasn't and wants to look ahead to Game 6.
"We’re up 3-1, their season was on the line today. I understand they are going to come out and play hard, increase the pressure, do whatever they have to do to win," Haliburton said. "And they did a great job of that and now it’s up to us to respond in Game 6. When you get here to this point, there’s no such thing as surprises... Kudos to them, they played better than us today. We've got to be prepared for Game 6."
The Knicks will look to shut down Haliburton and the Pacers offense again in Game 6 on Saturday night to force a decisive Game 7 back at MSG.
(This article was written with the assistance of Castmagic, an AI tool, and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy. Please reach out to us if you notice any mistakes.)
From high-octane lineups to crafty pitching, this Yankees-Dodgers battle is baseball’s main event of this weekend. As Jordan Shusterman and Jake Mintz of the "Baseball Bar-B-Cast" podcast put it: “I don’t think we have to explain why Dodgers-Yankees is compelling … There is some stuff here, people.”
Here is some of the stuff:
As pointed out in the latest episode of "Baseball Bar-B-Cast," there’s a different energy compared to their last showdown. This isn’t just a rehashing of last year’s World Series vibe. Both the Yankees (35-20) and Dodgers (34-22) are entering the weekend as true contenders, but, if anything, the Yankees look stronger this time around.
Mintz summed it up like this: “Last year it was pretty clear pretty quickly that the Yankees were playing worse baseball than the Dodgers. That’s not the case right now. There’s a strong argument the Yankees are better than the Dodgers.”
The Yankees' run differential is nearly double that of the Dodgers (+113 to +65), and their recent form has been more consistent across the board.
Shusterman's take: "The Yankees are playing much better, basically, across the board, they’ve been way more consistent. The run differential speaks for itself. They have a lot more of their team clicking.”
The arms on display promise some compelling duels:
Friday — Max Fried vs. Tony Gonsolin
Saturday — Will Warren vs. Landon Knack
Sunday — Yoshinobu Yamamoto vs. Ryan Yarbrough
Mintz points out the intrigue around pitchers: “Will Warren I’m interested in. He was not a character during the World Series last year. Neither was Max Fried. I’ll take Max Fried against Shohei Ohtani. Thank you very much.”
It’s also a series full of new faces — like the Yankees' Cody Bellinger, Trent Grisham and Paul Goldschmidt.
As Shusterman jokes, expect the networks to lean heavily into World Series nostalgia. Will we see countless replays of Freddie Freeman’s grand slam in the World Series opener? Probably. The over-under, according to the "Bar-B-Cast" is set at 12.5. But don’t let that distract from the fact that this series is packed with new storylines and fresh drama.
Title favorites: The defending champion Dodgers have the best odds to win the World Series (+240 at BetMGM), and the Yankees aren’t too far behind (+550).
The Tigers (+900), Mets (+900), Phillies (+950), Cubs (+1500) and Mariners (+1800) are the only other teams with better than 20-1 odds.
MVP favorites: Reigning MVPs Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani are mashing. If the season ended today, they would both be virtual locks to win the awards again, which would be three in four years for Judge and four in five years for Ohtani.
Judge leads the AL in every part of the triple-slash (.391/.488/.739), runs (51), hits (81), total bases (153) and WAR (4.2). He’s also second in HRs (18), RBI (47) and walks (38).
Ohtani leads the NL in HRs (20), runs (59), slugging (.648) and total bases (140), is second in WAR (2.8) and OPS (1.042) and is top 10 in BA (.292) and steals (11).
Looking ahead: There’s still a lot of baseball left, but if the Yankees and Dodgers each make it back to the Fall Classic it will be just the 10th World Series rematch ever, and the first since these same two teams did it nearly 50 years ago (1977-78).
For more of the latest baseball news and debates, tune in to "Baseball-Bar-B-Cast" on Apple, Spotify or YouTube.
Although he may not always be one for the prying public eye, Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will hit fans' TV screens in a different format than what they're used to this fall.
It was announced Thursday that Crosby - along with Matthew and Brady Tkachuk, Dallas Stars superstar Mikko Rantanen, former Penguins goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, and more - will be featured in season two of Amazon Prime's original series titled, "Faceoff: Inside the NHL."
"Faceoff" gives a candid, unfiltered glimpse into the everyday lives of NHL players both on and off the ice, from their training regimens all the way to their personal lives.
So, in a rare opportunity, fans will get the chance to see - firsthand - a day in the life of Crosby, the game's biggest name and biggest star for the better part of the last two decades. It is quite a change of pace for the notoriously private Crosby, as the cameras were following him around for most of the 2024-25 NHL season as well as for the 4 Nations Face-off tournament in February.
Season 2 will also follow Fleury - first overall draft pick by the Penguins in 2003 - during what was his final NHL season.
No, Evgeni Malkin Should Not Play On The Wing - Except In One CircumstanceAs of right now, the 2025-26 season looks to be Pittsburgh Penguins' veteran center Evgeni Malkin's last.
Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
Laura Kane demoted and Tanya Hosch to depart organisation
Movements are ‘the right thing for the AFL’, says Dillon
AFL chief Andrew Dillon insists there’s nothing personal in the demotion of Laura Kane while brushing off fierce criticism of the umpiring standard.
Dillon has gone on the Friday hustings after his reshuffle of the AFL executive cost Indigenous identity Tanya Hosch her role and pushed Kane down the pecking order.
Continue reading...The Knicks kept their season alive by beating the Pacers 111-94 in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference Finals as stars Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns led the way to force a Game 6 on Saturday back in Indiana.
While the duo combined for 56 points on 22-for-38 shooting and got plenty of cheers from The Garden crowd, guard Landry Shamet also heard his name chanted by Knicks fans on Thursday night, including a standing ovation -- and deservingly so.
Shamet played 14 minutes in Game 5, the most he's played in a playoff game this year, and scored five points to go along with two assists and an offensive rebound. After the win, the 28-year-old gave his appreciation back to the New York fans for their support throughout the must-win game and all season long.
"I love New York. I love these fans. I've seen how they ride the wave with us, the highs, the lows," Shamet said. "It's just important for me to give everything I've got to them. I appreciate it. We got more to do."
"I love New York. I love these fans. I've seen how they ride the wave with us - the highs, the lows. It's just important for me to give everything I've got to them."
— Knicks Videos (@sny_knicks) May 30, 2025
Landry Shamet talks about the standing ovation he got tonight: pic.twitter.com/dswhNMm6MA
He credited Brunson and Towns for carrying the team and setting the tone offensively, but his defense and energy off the bench pressured the Pacers guards and helped create a couple of turnovers. Overall, the Knicks forced a series-high 20 turnovers against the Pacers in the Game 5 win, as Shamet noted their awareness and energy all night long.
"I think just our intensity, our attention to detail, that's a sense of desperation which is what we needed," Shamet said. "And we're gonna have to go do it again. That was the biggest thing, just our energy. Our communication was great. Did a better job in transition. Still, some other things we got to clean up, we'll get to that tomorrow."
Shamet was asked if they could tell the Pacers were frustrated by the Knicks defense, but said that's not their job. Instead, the team will look to replicate their performance on Saturday in Game 6 to force a Game 7.
"I could sense a competitive game, there's waves like I said," Shamet said. "Our job is not really to pay too much attention to that. We just got to focus on us and do what we can do. We know they're a hard team to guard, play fast. If we take care of what we have to take care of, hopefully we see results like tonight."
After two tumultuous months, the NHL head coaching carousel is drawing close to a conclusion.
On Thursday, the Seattle Kraken took themselves off the market for a new bench boss, as they named Lane Lambert - formerly of the New York Islanders - their third head coach in franchise history.
And with Seattle's search officially concluded, that leaves two teams still in the mix for a new coach: the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins.
Both teams are in the later stages of their coaching search, and in both cases, news is expected by early June.
As for the Penguins - according to multiple reports - two of the names in the late-stage mix are Washington Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love and Los Angeles Kings assistant coach D.J. Smith.
Pittsburgh's GM and POHO Kyle Dubas is conducting in-person interviews this week, and - according to Josh Yohe of The Athletic - a final decision could come as soon as the end of this week.
Opinion: Mitch Love Is The Right Choice To Lead The PenguinsWith the IIHF Men's World Championship wrapped up - and Canada, shockingly, having lost Thursday to Team Denmark - Pittsburgh Penguins GM and POHO Kyle Dubas can shift his focus from managing Team Canada fully to the coaching search for his NHL club.
Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!
The Reds (28-29) are in Chicago Friday to open a series against the Cubs (35-21).
Andrew Abbott is slated to take the mound for Cincinnati against Colin Rea for Chicago.
Thursday was an off day for each of these clubs. The Cubs are coming off a three-game sweep of the Rockies. Pete Crow-Armstrong homered and Matthew Boyd allowed a single, unearned run over six innings to earn his fifth win of the season in Wednesday's 2-1 win.
The Reds took two of three from the Royals to begin the week. They did lose Wednesday, though, 3-2. Tyler Stephenson and Spencer Steer each picked up three hits in the loss.
Lets dive into the series opener and find a sweat or two.
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With Jazz Chisholm Jr. set to return from his oblique injury soon, the question of which position the young slugger will play has come up. Yankees manager Aaron Boone told the media that they want Chisholm Jr. to give the team flexibility and the infielder started at third base on Thursday night in his first rehab start with Double-A Somerset.
Chisholm Jr. began the 2025 season exclusively as the team's second baseman with the departure of Gleyber Torres but the Yankees didn't anticipate the injuries that would happen. Aside from Chisholm being sidelined for a month, Oswaldo Cabrera, the team's starting third baseman out of spring training, will miss the rest of the season with an ankle injury.
That has left Boone and the organization with some decisions to make and it seems like Chisholm Jr. will be asked to move back to the hot corner.
"[Boone] told me he wanted me at third base. He really wanted me at third base. I'm a team guy. I'm here to win a ring. I'm not here to fight over positions," Chisholm said about playing third base after his rehab game. "We've got some of the best players in the world on our team...I'm just here to help us win."
Prior to the 2024 season, Chisholm Jr. had played third base in a professional game, whether in the majors in minors. When the Yankees acquired him at the trade deadline last year, Torres was not receptive to moving, so Chisholm Jr. was asked and accepted the move to third base. He played 45 regular season games at third base for the Yankees and the entire postseason run in 2024.
“I always wanted to play third. That’s why I liked playing third last year," Chisholm said. "I grew up as an A-Rod fan, wore 13, 3 all the time as a kid... I always thought it was a fun position to try and play. All reaction."
Before being sidelined, Chisholm Jr. was struggling at the plate. He was hitting just .181 but had seven home runs in 30 games. He also had three errors playing second base in 29 games this season -- he had seven playing third in 45 games a year ago. Perhaps this time away can reset his bat when he returns. He had two hits and reached base three times in his game on Thursday.
Chisholm Jr. said he thinks he'll only need one or two more rehab games before he feels ready to be activated. Once he does, the Yankees will need to make room for him. If Chisholm Jr. becomes the everyday third baseman, that leaves second base to DJ LeMahieu and either Oswald Peraza or Jorbit Vivas.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. says he was given the choice to play third or second base, but Aaron Boone strongly indicated he'd like him to play third
— Yankees Videos (@snyyankees) May 30, 2025
"I'm a team guy. I'm here to win a ring. I'm not here to fight over positions. We've got some of the best players in the world on our team" pic.twitter.com/VIakYtWqTn
NEW YORK — Jalen Brunson scored 32 points, Karl-Anthony Towns added 24 points and 13 rebounds despite a bruised left knee and the New York Knicks stayed alive in the Eastern Conference finals by beating the Indiana Pacers 111-94 on Thursday night in Game 5.
The Knicks won on their home floor for the first time in the series and prevented the Pacers from earning the second NBA Finals trip in franchise history. Indiana will try again Saturday night at home.
Knicks fans chanted “Knicks in 7! Knicks in 7!” in the final minutes as New York extended its first trip to the conference finals since 2000 and kept alive hopes of becoming the 14th team to overcome a 3-1 deficit to win a series. No team has won a conference finals series after dropping the first two games at home.
Two nights after giving up 43 points in the first quarter, the Knicks held the Pacers to just 45 in the first half and limited Tyrese Haliburton, who had 32 points, 15 assists and 12 rebounds Tuesday, to just eight points and six assists.
Brunson, outplayed by his point guard counterpart Tuesday, rebounded with his franchise-record 20th postseason game of 30 or more points with the Knicks.
Bennedict Mathurin scored 23 points off the bench for the Pacers, who had won six straight road games. Indiana shot just 40.5% from the field in by far its lowest-scoring game of the postseason.
Brunson scored 14 in the first quarter as the Knicks held a 27-23 lead - giving up 20 fewer points than in the first quarter of Game 4, when they trailed 43-35.
Towns, who was questionable to play after hurting his left knee in a collision late in Game 4, picked up the slack with 12 in the second, when Brunson was scoreless.
Brunson came back with the Knicks’ first eight of the third quarter as they opened a 20-point lead midway through the period. The Pacers cut that in half before New York regained control with a 12-0 burst, highlighted by Brunson’s four-point play, to make it 86-64.