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US PGA Championship golf 2025: day three – as it happened

  • Scottie Scheffler opened up a possibly decisive lead with some almost flawless golf down the closing stretch at Quail Hollow
  • Official leaderboard

… so having given Scottie Scheffler the grandstand introduction, he double-crosses himself and sends his approach at 1 towards the gallery to the left of the green. He’ll have a hell of a chip from there, from thick rough over sand. A pleasing symmetry to this.

… so having given Rory McIlroy the grandstand introduction, he carves his second at 10 towards the gallery to the right of the green. He’ll have a hell of a chip from there, from thick rough over sand. Meanwhile his playing partner, the defending champion Xander Schauffele, leaves his approach short and right, and immediately hollers “Mud ball!” Ah yes, mud balls …

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Paolini storms to victory over Gauff to win Italian Open and make history

  • Home favourite wins 6-4, 6-2 at Foro Italico
  • Paolini is first Italian to win women’s singles in 40 years

Jasmine Paolini became the first home winner of the Italian Open for 40 years with a dominant victory over Coco Gauff. The 29-year-old, who reached the final of the French Open and Wimbledon last year in a breakthrough season, delighted the fans at the Foro Italico with a 6-4, 6-2 success.

No Italian had won the singles titles in Rome since Raffaella Reggi in 1985, but Paolini thoroughly merited her triumph. Jannik Sinner could make it a home double when he faces Carlos Alcaraz on Sunday. “It doesn’t seem real to me,” Paolini said. “I came here as a kid to see this tournament, but winning it and holding up this trophy wasn’t even in my dreams.”

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Mets Notes: What LHP Jose Castillo brings to NY, next steps for Paul Blackburn and Frankie Montas

Mets manager Carlos Mendoza spoke to reporters ahead of Saturday's Subway Series matchup against the Yankees, and gave some updates on the team...

Dedniel Núñez still "going to be a big part of this team"

New York optioned the relief pitcher to Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday, SNY MLB Insider Andy Martino reported, as Mendoza said he needs to see more consistent strike-throwing from him.

"Feel like even though the past two outings he's been better, we just need to see consistency with the strike-throwing," Mendoza said. "That's what made this guy elite last year and became who he was last year for us. First couple of outings, we saw the inconsistencies with the strike-throwing.

"But it was good to see him yesterday, 98 (mph), and he was a lot better. He's just got to go down there and find that consistency, and just continue to throw strikes."

Mendoza was asked how Núñez received the message and made it clear he's still in the team's plans going forward.

"Nobody's happy when you tell them they're going back to the minor leagues, but he's a professional, he understood, he gets it," Mendoza said. "He was fine, he was professional. He just got to keep working. He's going to be a big part of this team and he'll be back."

What LHP Jose Castillo brings to NY

The Mets acquired Castillo from the Diamondbacks on Thursday, adding a second left-hander to their bullpen.

Mendoza discussed how the 29-year-old can help the team against lineups like the Yankees and Dodgers.

"It definitely helps, especially when you're going against a lineup like this (Yankees), or Boston, or the Dodgers coming up," Mendoza said. "We know the stuff is there. He's a lefty that throws hard, he's got a breaking ball, a slider. We saw him not too long ago.

"This is a guy that when he's healthy, he's got the talent. He's dealt a lot with injuries in the past, but he was a big-time prospect coming up with the Padres. We feel like there's more in the tank there and hopefully he can be a player for us out of the bullpen."

Castillo had struggled in five games for the Diamondbacks this season with a 11.37 ERA across 6.1 innings. Although he had a strong 2018 season in San Diego with a 3.29 ERA over 37 games with 52 strikeouts before injuries started to derail his career, including an ACL tear, causing him to miss all of 2024. Castillo pitched just three times from 2019 through 2024.

Latest on Paul Blackburn and Frankie Montas

Blackburn made another rehab start on Friday night for Double-A Binghamton, allowing five runs (three earned) on one hit (a home run) over 4.1 IP. He struck out seven and walked one.

Mendoza was asked what the next steps are for Blackburn before returning to the bigs, saying he'll get at least another rehab start.

"He was good. Five ups, up to 73, 74 pitches. He's going one more, at least, in the minor leagues and then we'll have a decision there," Mendoza said. "As of right now, came out fine. We'll give him one more in the minor leagues."

Over five minor league starts during his rehab assignment, Blackburn owns a 0-2 record with a 5.63 ERA and 21 strikeouts in 16.0 IP.

As for Montas (lat), who threw a live bullpen session on Friday in Brooklyn, the starter is getting closer to a rehab assignment of his own.

"Good. So he's got another one Tuesday, I think it is and then we'll go from there," Mendoza said Saturday,

The 32-year-old has yet to make his Mets debut, but pitched to a 4.84 ERA last season with the Cincinnati Reds and Milwaukee Brewers.

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Last-place Orioles fire manager Brandon Hyde after falling 13 games under .500

BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles fired manager Brandon Hyde on Saturday after a dismal start to the season by a team coming off two consecutive playoff appearances.

The Orioles are 15-28 and in last place in the AL East following a loss to Washington on Friday night. Hyde guided the team through an extensive rebuild and won manager of the year honors in 2023, but Baltimore’s performance slipped noticeably during the second half of last year, and the Orioles have put themselves in a significant hole so far in 2025.

“As the head of baseball operations, the poor start to our season is ultimately my responsibility,” Orioles executive vice president and general manager Mike Elias said in a statement. “Part of that responsibility is pursuing difficult changes in order to set a different course for the future. I want to thank Brandon for his hard work, dedication and passion all these years, and for returning the team to the playoffs and winning an AL East championship.”

Third base coach Tony Mansolino will serve as interim manager. The Orioles also fired major league field coordinator/catching instructor Tim Cossins.

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NBA Trade Rumors roundup: Lakers likely hang on to Reaves, Lonzo suggests LaMelo Ball move

With the NBA Draft next month and free agency a week after that, NBA trade rumors are starting to fly fast and furious around the league's back channels. Here are a few worth noting.

Lakers likely keep Austin Reaves

Rob Pelinka faces a challenge this offseason: He needs to upgrade the roster around Luka Doncic and LeBron James — landing a rim-protecting, vertical spacing center is at the top of the list — but has limited trade assets to do it.

One player a lot of teams want is Austin Reaves, who averaged 20.2 points and 5.8 rebounds a game last season, shot 37.7% on 3-pointers and is on a steal of a contract that will cost just $13.9 million next season. The Lakers, however, wisely like Reaves as the third option, and it will take a lot to get him, something Dan Woike put well at the Los Angeles Times.

"The team has shown no interest in using Reaves in a trade that nets them anything less than a top-tier big, and there really aren't any of those available, with the two most common names linked to them in the earliest stages of the offseason — Brooklyn's Nic Claxton and Dallas' Daniel Gafford.

Claxton would be the best available fit — he is just 26 and two seasons ago averaged 12.6 points a game on 70.5% shooting, grabbed 9.6 rebounds and blocked 2.5 shots a night. He's an athletic, switchable defender who J.J. Redick could employ a variety of ways, however, he's slight of build and with that not the screen setter that Gafford or others are. The cost for Claxton would be the Lakers' 2030 first-round pick (plus matching salary, such as Rui Hachimura and Gabe Vincent).

Whether the Lakers land one of those two centers or someone like Clint Capela from Atlanta, don't expect Reaves to be in that trade. It would take an All-Star level big to change that dynamic.

LaMelo Ball headed West?

Lonzo Ball was on the What an Experience podcast and dropped this:

"I lowkey got Dylan Harper going to the Hornets and I got Melo going to the Clips."

Um… no. First, there is zero chance Dylan Harper makes it past No. 2 on the board, he has put himself in his own tier on that front, and the Hornets pick at No. 4. San Antonio will take him (making their guard rotation an impressive De'Aaron Fox, Rookie of the Year Stephon Castle, and Harper ho might be the best of the group in a couple of years). If the Spurs trade that pick (hello, Milwaukee), that team will be trading to get Harper (Charlotte could try to trade up to No. 2, but the cost would be exorbitant).

Second, LaMelo to the Clippers doesn't make much sense from the Clips' perspective. Los Angeles is looking to keep its long-term books clear to make a pivot after the Kawhi Leonard/James Harden era ends (likely the summer of 2027, maybe sooner). Ball has four years, $168.7 million remaining on his max extension, running through 2029. Having LaMelo would take the ball out of Harden's hands, and while the youngest Ball brother averaged 25.2 points and 7.4 assists a game he is not seen around the league as a guy who contributes to winning because of his lack of defense and style of play.

Other rumors of note:

• With Boston likely trimming payroll this summer, look for a lot of interest from playoff teams in Jrue Holiday, an elite defensive guard who has helped the Bucks and Celtics win rings. The Rockets and Spurs might be teams to watch.

• Interesting comment from the well-connected Sam Amick of The Athletic on any potential Giannis Antetokounmpo trade and how the Bucks GM plans to play it (from his appearance on The Ringer NBA Podcast):

"Jon Horst is going to go for blood here, I'm telling you. He just got a new extension. He has the organization's backing. Jon is not going to just try to be on good terms with Giannis—he's trying to do right by the Bucks. And that means that if every scenario in play leaves the other team so gutted that Giannis might not actually be in that much better of a situation, then maybe that's where he looks at the room and says, "All right, let me stay put."

• Speaking of an Antetokounmpo trade, the buzz that the Warriors likely sit this one out — unless the Greek Freak pushes an "only to Golden State" agenda — has now been confirmed by multiple sources. The reality is the Warriors know they can't win a bidding war with Houston, San Antonio, and Brooklyn, so unless they can get a friendly deal, it's not happening. If you think the Warriors might get a friendly deal, reread the note above this one.

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Giants move Hicks back to bullpen, Birdsong to rotation

Giants move Hicks back to bullpen, Birdsong to rotation originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

SAN FRANCISCO — It wasn’t hard to miss Jordan Hicks when the Giants took the field Saturday afternoon. The right-hander was wearing a bright orange long-sleeved shirt and surrounded by pitchers wearing black hoodies. The guys around him were all relievers, and Hicks now is, too. 

Manager Bob Melvin said young right-hander Hayden Birdsong will start Tuesday against the Kansas City Royals instead of Hicks, a longtime big league reliever who will move back to that role after struggling in his second season as a starting pitcher. 

“We’re just trying to get it right at a particular time,” Melvin said. “Jordan came in last year and signed here as a starter and came in here this year expecting to be a starter, and he was, but we’re just making adjustments a couple months into the season that we think are potentially going to make us better.”

Hicks has a 6.55 ERA through nine starts and Melvin was noncommittal when asked about his status on Wednesday, after Hicks got knocked out in the third inning. It seemed like an easy move to make, but the Giants were also well aware that some bad luck had been involved in those nine starts. Hicks has a 3.48 FIP and 3.75 xERA; he has mostly been undone by groundballs that have found holes, and his combination of throwing in the upper 90s and being among the league leaders in groundball rate is an intriguing one. But the results simply weren’t there. 

“He was great about it,” Melvin said of their conversation. “He just said, ‘Look, I want our team to win. I want to do whatever I can to help the team win.’ He thought the way he has pitched was better than the numbers and I agreed with him, but again, we have a lot of quality, we have a lot of good young arms, we have a lot of starters, and we’re just trying to get it right.”

Hicks had always been a reliever before signing a four-year, $44 million deal with the Giants before last season. He pitched well in the first half before running up against an innings limit, and he bulked up in the offseason to handle a greater workload this season.

Now, he’s back to a familiar role, although Melvin said it’s too soon to know exactly how Hicks might be used the rest of this season. He is stretched out and can provide length for the bullpen in the coming weeks, although ultimately he could be back in a late-inning role, similar to what he did in St. Louis. That’s to be decided, but Hicks certainly has shown the velocity this season to think he can be a big piece for what might be the league’s best bullpen.

“You look at our bullpen arms now … It’s a good problem to have that many plus arms and guys that have pitched late in games,” Melvin said. 

That mix includes Kyle Harrison, who was not in the conversation to take the rotation spot, Melvin said. Birdsong was always next in line after just missing out on Landen Roupp’s rotation spot this spring. He pitched well when the Giants asked him to become a reliever, and he’ll take a 2.31 ERA back to the rotation. 

“Hayden hasn’t been getting the type of regular work he was earlier in the season when the starters weren’t going as long,” Melvin said. “I don’t think Jordan’s numbers are as bad as they look. If you look at a lot of the internal numbers and FIP and so forth, he has pitched a lot better than his ERA and some numbers would suggest, but at this point in time that’s what we’re going to do, starting on Tuesday.”

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Astros’ Lance McCullers Jr. returns to mound after online threats that followed his previous start

ARLINGTON, Texas — Houston Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. allowed two unearned runs over four innings against the Texas Rangers on Friday, six nights after the right-hander failed to get out of the first inning in a game that he said was followed by online threats.

“Honestly, a lot, a lot of prayer. And a lot of faith,” McCullers said when asked how he handled everything between those starts. “And my teammates were so supportive of me. I hope one day I’m able to repay the favor of what these guys in here have meant to me over the last couple years, and over the this last week.”

The 31-year-old right-hander made only his third start for the Astros since the 2022 World Series. He got a no-decision in their 6-3 win over the Rangers, who led 2-0 when he threw his last pitch.

McCullers, who is making a comeback after missing two full seasons with injuries, allowed seven runs while getting only one out in Houston’s 13-9 loss last Saturday, then said afterward that he had received online death threats directed at his children. The Astros said Houston police and Major League Baseball security were alerted to the threats.

“They’re on it,” McCullers said, adding that he was asked to not comment on any investigations. “These things aren’t taken lightly.”

Back on the mound, McCullers needed 83 pitches to get through his four innings and he threw 53 strikes. He struck out two, walked one and gave up four singles.

The only runs against McCullers came when Jonah Heim had a two-run single with two outs in the second inning. That was three batters after shortstop Jeremy Peña was charged with an error when he failed to catch a throw from McCullers, who was trying to get the lead runner at second base after fielding a comebacker.

“I’m sure if you ask Peña, he’s going to say he should have made the play. And I’m going to say I should have made a little bit of a better throw,” McCullers said. “I kind of joked with some of the guys, my best sinker all night was to Peña at second.”

Jake Burger, whose homer was the only run in the Rangers’ 1-0 win in the series opener Thursday night, then had an infield popout before Heim’s hit into the right field corner.

Astros manager Joe Espada said before Friday’s outing that McCullers was mentally in a good spot and fine physically, and he liked what he saw during the game.

“It was a really good bounce-back outing for him,” Espada said. “He came out throwing a ton of strikes. ... Where he was five or six starts ago, and where he’s at now is now, it’s a step in the right direction.”

McCullers had surgery in June 2023 to repair his right flexor tendon and remove a bone spur, and was rehabbing last June when he had a setback during a bullpen session that shut him down for the rest of the season. He made four starts in the minor leagues this year before rejoining the Astros’ rotation on May 4.

“We all have confidence he can do it. He just needs to go out there and do his thing,” Espada said. “It’s going to happen.”

McCullers is 49-33 with a 3.53 ERA in 133 games (130 starts) for the Astros since his big league debut with them in 2015.

An All-Star in 2017, McCullers went 10-6 with a 3.86 ERA in 25 games in 2018 before having Tommy John surgery. He was 13-5 with a 3.16 ERA in 28 starts in 2021, then signed a five-year, $85 million contract that goes through 2026.

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Bryce Harper reaches 1,000 RBIs in the Phillies’ 8-4 victory over the Pirates

PHILADELPHIA — Bryce Harper reached 1,000 RBIs and was part of a wild seventh inning rally in which the Philadelphia Phillies scored four runs on just one hit in an 8-4 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.

Harper, who had three hits and reached base four times, picked up his milestone RBI with a bloop single to left field off Pirates starter Andrew Heaney. Harper is one of eight active players with 1,000 RBIs.

The Phillies scored four runs in the seventh inning when six consecutive batters — including Harper — reached base against three relievers. Only one — Trea Turner — had a hit. The others all reached base via a walk or a hit by pitch and three of the four runs scored without a ball being put in play.

Philadelphia tacked on three more runs in the eighth inning. Turner had an RBI triple, and Harper added No. 1,001 with a single.

Ranger Suarez (2-0) pitched seven innings and allowed three runs on six hits. Jose Alvarado retired the final two batters to clean up a bases loaded jam for his seventh save.

Alexander Canario provided most of the offense for Pittsburgh when he hit a three-run homer off Suarez.

Ryan Borucki (0-1) didn’t get an out and allowed two runs.

Key moment

Borucki hit Nick Castellanos with a pitch ahead in the count 0-2. It allowed the tying run to score in the middle of the Phillies’ rally.

Key stat

Pirates interim manager Don Kelly was ejected from the game by third base umpire John Libka after arguing Libka’s call of no swing on Harper that resulted in a walk to load the bases. Kelly has been Pittsburgh’s manager for seven games and has been tossed twice.

Up Next

Pittsburgh RHP Carmen Mlodzinski (1-3, 5.20) was set to start Saturday against Philadelphia RHP Zack Wheeler (4-1, 2.95).

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Flores hits three home runs, drives in eight runs to back Webb as Giants thump A’s 9-1

SAN FRANCISCO — Wilmer Flores homered three times — including a grand slam — and drove in eight runs to back a strong start by Logan Webb, leading the San Francisco Giants past the Athletics 13-5 on Friday night.

Flores, who set single-game career highs for homers and RBIs, hit his seventh slam in the third inning off A’s starter JP Sears. He had a three-run shot against Michel Otañez in the sixth, then added a solo shot off Anthony Maldonado in the eighth.

That was more than enough support for Webb (5-3), who carried a shutout into the eighth inning. The 2024 All-Star allowed one run and five hits in eight innings with four strikeouts and two walks. The Giants ace has allowed two runs over his last four home starts covering 28 1/3 innings for a 0.64 ERA.

Camilo Doval struck out the side in the ninth to wrap up the win in the Giants’ first game against the A’s this season in the former Bay Bridge Series.

Sears (4-3), who gave up one run in 14 2/3 innings covering his previous two starts, allowed four runs and six hits in four innings.

It was the A’s first visit to the Bay Area since leaving Oakland for Sacramento while a new stadium in Las Vegas is built.

Key moment

The A’s had two on with one out in the eighth when Webb got A’s slugger Brent Rooker to ground into a 1-4-3 double play.

Key stat

The A’s got two runners to third base twice in the first three innings, but failed to score.

Up next

A’s RHP Luis Severino (1-4, 4.70 ERA) makes his league-leading 10th start against Giants RHP Landen Roupp (2-3, 4.95) on Saturday.

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Giro d’Italia: Luke Plapp powers to stage eight win while Diego Ulissi moves into pink

  • Australian escapes for remarkable solo win
  • Home hope Ulissi ousts Primoz Roglic from maglia rosa

Luke Plapp of Team Jayco Alula won stage eight of the Giro d’Italia on Saturday with a formidable solo effort on the 197km ride from Giulianova to Castelraimondo while Diego Ulissi became the first Italian in four years to take the pink jersey.

After nearly 20 riders formed a breakaway group with 100km to go, Plapp attacked the Montelago climb and the Australian rode to victory by a handsome margin and claim his first Grand Tour stage win.

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Will Horford stay in Boston? C's veteran noncommittal as free agency looms

Will Horford stay in Boston? C's veteran noncommittal as free agency looms originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston

The Boston Celtics’ offseason of potentially substantial change has begun. Whether Al Horford is part of that change remains to be seen.

The veteran big man, who turns 39 in June, will be an unrestricted free agent this summer when his two-year, $19.5 million contract expires. Horford has the option to re-up with the Celtics for a fifth consecutive season — likely on a team-friendly deal, given Boston’s salary cap constraints — pursue a bigger contract with another team, or retire after 18 NBA seasons.

One day after the Celtics’ season-ending Game 6 loss to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden, Horford declined to discuss any of those options.

“For me, it’s just too soon to talk about that stuff,” Horford told reporters Saturday in Boston. “I’m going to take some time here with my wife and my kids and just — it’s not even been a day, so there’s still a lot for me to process. I’m just feeling everything out from last night; that was difficult.”

Horford hinted last month that he plans to play at least another year while praising Florida point guard Walter Clayton Jr. after his Gators won the college basketball national championship.

“I know that I’m going to be playing against him next year in the NBA,” Horford said in early April. “Maybe he’ll be with us, who knows? I’m sure he’ll be playing in the NBA.”

But will Jayson Tatum’s ruptured Achilles change Horford’s calculus? If the Celtics superstar misses most or all of the 2025-26 season and Boston is forced to take a “bridge year,” would Horford be willing to be a part of that in his 19th season?

“Yeah, I’m just not ready to talk about that right now,” Horford replied. “I just need some time with my wife and my family, and that’s what I plan on doing these next few weeks.

“I just think everything is just still very fresh for me,” he added. “Those are all things that I’ll be thinking about these next few weeks.”

Horford has had an immeasurable impact in Boston, from becoming the first big-ticket free agent to sign with the Celtics back in 2016 to serving as the stabilizing force on the 2024 championship squad. While his 3-point percentage dipped from 41.9 percent last season to 36.3 percent this season, he still averaged 9.0 points over 60 games played and helped pick up the frontcourt slack with Kristaps Porzingis sidelined to begin the season.

If Horford’s teammates had their say, the veteran big man would be suiting up in Celtics green next season.

“You can’t replace Al,” guard Payton Pritchard said Saturday. “So, I definitely hope we can get that figured out, because just his locker room presence alone is crucial. And then having him on the court, just for all the young guys to see how he goes about his business how professional he is, he’s just a leader.

“We definitely need him back.”

The unofficial start to NBA free agency isn’t until June 30, so Horford will have some time to ponder his future. In the meantime, Brad Stevens and the front office will need to consider making several hard decisions to avoid draconian luxury tax penalties.

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Draymond admits he ‘lost' matchup vs. Randle in Warriors-Wolves

Draymond admits he ‘lost' matchup vs. Randle in Warriors-Wolves originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area

Draymond Green had to give credit where credit was due.

After Julius Randle and the Minnesota Timberwolves got the best of Green and the Warriors in the Western Conference semifinals, ending their 2024-25 NBA season, the four-time NBA champion tipped his hat to Randle’s playoff performance.

“I think that was my [31st] playoff series. The only other playoff series where I felt like I lost my matchup like that I didn’t completely dominate my matchup and take over my matchup, the only other series in my career where I feel like I lost my matchup was Toronto,” Green said on “The Draymond Green Show with Baron Davis.” “I feel like I lost my matchup to Pascal Siakam. Game 1, he crushed me. Game 2, I stifled him. Game 3, he was on. Game 4, I had a better game. But I felt like I lost my matchup in that series.

“And this series also reminds me of that series where I don’t feel like I lost my matchup — I lost my matchup. Julius was incredible. He played great basketball. Honestly, some of the shots he was taking were shots you want him to take, and he made them. He made the shots. At the end of the day, the game comes down to shotmaking and he made the shots. So I got to give Ju a lot of credit.”

Randle is in the midst of his first season with the Timberwolves after being traded from the New York Knicks to Minnesota as part of a three-team trade that also sent Karl-Anthony Towns to New York.

During the regular season, he averaged 18.7 points on 48.5 shooting from the field in 32.3 minutes through 69 games (69 starts).

After the Timberwolves beat LeBron James and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games in the first round of the playoffs, Randle came up big-time for Minnesota against Golden State.

Randle, mostly defended by Green over the five-game series, averaged 25.2 points on 53.3 percent shooting from the field, with 6.6 rebounds, 7.4 assists in 37.6 minutes against the Warriors.

Afterward, Green had no choice but to tip his hat.

Respect.

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SEE IT: NYC back pages react to Knicks advancing to Eastern Conference Finals

The Knicks dominated the Boston Celtics in Game 6 on Friday night to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time since 2000.

Here's how the NYC back pages reacted...

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New GM Ken Holland: "I Just Want to Win"

  © Kirby Lee   

LA Kings General Manager Ken Holland sat down with LA Kings broadcaster Josh Schaefer and gave some noteworthy insight into how he plans to implement his new role with the franchise. 

When asked by Schaefer about how he intends to put his stamp on the team, Holland made it clear that he wasn't going to make a move just to be able to say that he did something. On the contrary, he emphasized that if the current roster built by Rob Blake was to go on to win the Stanley Cup next season he would be "thrilled".

While many LA Kings fans are very disappointed in the team's inability to advance to the second round of the playoffs, Holland drew parallels between LA and his previous team, the Edmonton Oilers.

“We went through the same process in Edmonton: lost in the first round to Chicago, lost in the first round to Winnipeg, but you stuck with it and you keep putting yourselves in that situation. That’s what's gotta happen here.”
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“We went through the same process in Edmonton: lost in the first round to Chicago, lost in the first round to Winnipeg, but you stuck with it and you keep putting yourselves in that situation. That’s what's gotta happen here.”

To be a LA Kings fan in 2025 is a classic "glass half-full, glass half-empty" situation. For some, four straight years of playoff failure is definitely an empty glass, whereas Ken Holland sits squarely in the half-full camp: "The most important thing over 82 is to qualify. And then things have got to happen in there internally: growth of some kids, maybe a move or an addition at the trade deadline.”

As every longtime Kings fan knows, it took "45 years for the Kings to wear their crown" and it has been 11 years since they lost won the Stanley Cup. The fan base is hungry to get back to that level, which is completely understandable. According to Holland's metric, however, the team is already doing the first step of the plan: qualifying for the playoffs every season.

The next step of the plan now falls upon Holland: winning playoff series. How long that will take and how much patience fans will have with the process remains to be seen: “It can’t be that the manager is going to make some blockbuster trade or some free agent signing, it might happen, but that’s not the only…odds are it’s not going to happen, it’s gotta be brick by brick.”

Now that the dust has settled on the latest first round flameout, can one begin to take stock of how much of this recent playoff failure is due to LA not playing up to the moment or is it more a question of Edmonton just being a very good team? They have ended up in the Western Conference Finals three out of the past five years, which probably doesn't happen by accident. The Oilers were also one good third period away from winning the Cup last year, despite having fallen into the dreaded 0-3 hole to start the series. Thus, a begrudging stick tap may be due for the Oilers, as hard as that may be for the inhabitants of The Kingdom.

Edmonton being good, however, shouldn't completely absolve the Kings of their failings. You have to beat good teams, even great teams if you want to win the Cup. There are no easy outs in the Western Conference. End of story.

Now it's up to Ken Holland to draft a new ending for the LA Kings. And as the esteemed Elliotte Friedman likes to say, "you always have a chance to rewrite the narrative."

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Mets reinstate Ronny Mauricio from 10-day IL, option him to Triple-A

The Mets reinstated infielder Ronny Mauricio from the 10-day IL and optioned him to Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday after he completed a rehab assignment, the team announced.

Mauricio, who missed all of the 2024 season due to a torn ACL suffered during winter ball in December 2023, played 10 games with Single-A St. Lucie and Double-A Binghamton during his rehab stint.

The 24-year-old recorded four hits over 32 at-bats, including two doubles. Defensively, he's seen action at 3B (three games), SS (two games), and 2B (two games), in addition to three games as DH.

President of baseball operations David Stearns spoke about the plan for Mauricio on Wednesday, noting that he will stay in the minors "until we have a need."

“Ronny continues to progress. He’s still in Double-A. We’ll get him up to Triple-A here pretty soon, and then it’s just play all three [positions] on the infield, continue to build up volume,” Stearns said. “He’s still got, I think, a little ways to go to get – he’s a healthy player, but to get back into that true baseball shape, ready to compete art a high level at the big leagues, I think we’ve still got a little bit of a ways to go. So, it’s continue to get him at-bats, continue to get him reps in the minor leagues.

“He’s a player who has options, so he’s going to stay in the minor leagues until we have a need.”

Over 26 major league games during the 2023 season, Mauricio hit .248 with two home runs and four doubles for nine RBI. He also stolen seven bases.

Manager Carlos Mendoza also spoke about expectations for Mauricio on Saturday ahead of the team's game against the Yankees, saying that he needs to get reps at multiple positions across the infield.

"I think it's that, become a normal baseball player," Mendoza said. "Getting used to playing every day without the restrictions, 'Hey, you're only playing five innings, you're only playing seven.' Just continue to play full games, continue to play back-to-back, three, four games in a row. And he's not there yet, so we got to get him there.

"I think it's more getting every day at-bats, every day reps. And then we'll go from there."