Zach Thornton – LHP
Zack Wheeler – RHP
First pitch: 7:10pm EDT
TV: WPIX
Radio: Audacy Mets Radio WHSQ 880AM, Audacy App 92.3 HD2
It’s been a dispiriting three game losing streak, although yesterday’s near comeback at least raises some hopes. They get a chance to break out of their funk against Nathan Eovaldi today. Patrick Corbin will go for the Jays, trying to improve after a few weaker outings. Here are the lineups:
Rangers:
Blue Jays:
Go Jays Go!
Go Rays!
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Ireland stunned T20 world champions India with a landmark 34-run win in their series opener in Belfast on Friday after the tourists opted against giving an international debut to teenage sensation Vaibhav Sooryavanshi.
Flyers trade back, grab 6-foot-7 defenseman in first round of NHL draft 2026 originally appeared on NBC Sports Philadelphia
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. — The Flyers opened their 2026 NHL draft work Friday night by trading back in the first round and taking Maksim Sokolovskii at No. 27 overall.
They sent the 21st selection to the Sharks for pick Nos. 27, 62 and 120.
The 17-year-old Sokolovskii is a 6-foot-7, 240-pound defenseman who played for the London Knights. The lefty shot had eight points (two goals, six assists) and a plus-10 rating in 44 games this season. He had 23 shots and 49 penalty minutes.
The Flyers drafted two London products in 2023 with Oliver Bonk (first-rounder) and Denver Barkey (third-rounder). The Flyers have a lot of connections to the OHL club.
Coming off a playoff berth and series victory, the Flyers went into Friday night with their lowest first-round spot since 2020.
But good players can be found in the 20s. Claude Giroux, Simon Gagne, Travis Konecny and Tyson Foerster are some Flyers examples. With time and patience, the club will hope Sokolovskii becomes a hit.
Sokolovskii was the 22nd-best player in the draft on EliteProspects.com, but he was ranked down at No. 60 by TSN’s Craig Button. He was at No. 40 among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting. He made a serious climb from his midterm mark of No. 132.
Sokolovskii has roots in Kazakhstan and Russia.
By taking Sokolovskii, the Flyers went with size and the long game. He’s a project of sorts. The Flyers ended up passing on defensemen Ryan Lin, Juho Piiparinen and Tommy Bleyl. Lin and Bleyl are smaller, point-producing guys, while Piiparinen is a mature, defense-first type.
The Flyers are now slated to make five picks on Day 2 of the draft Saturday. They have two second-rounders (Nos. 53 and 62), one fourth-rounder (No. 120), one fifth-rounder (No. 136) and one seventh-rounder (No. 213).
(More coming …)
Mike Grier, Sharks look like winners after first three picks in 2026 NHL Draft originally appeared on NBC Sports Bay Area
Editor’s note: Sheng Peng is a regular contributor to NBC Sports California’s Sharks coverage. You can read more of his coverage on San Jose Hockey Now, listen to him on the San Jose Hockey Now Podcast, and follow him on Twitter at @Sheng_Peng.
BUFFALO — The Sharks, no doubt, were big winners during the first round of the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday.
We’ll see if it leads to be being big winners on the ice.
The Sharks selected winger Ivar Stenberg at No. 2, defenseman Keaton Verhoeff at No. 9 and defenseman Ryan Lin at No. 21.
What did an NHL scout, not with the Sharks, think of the picks?
None of these picks were used to address next year’s Sharks’ most glaring need, their blue line, but Stenberg, Verhoeff and Lin all are excellent prospects. Verhoeff and Lin were strong value choices, where they were selected.
And of course, the draft is not about today, it’s about tomorrow. But it’s worth noting that the widely held belief is that the Sharks acquired the No. 9 pick from the Ottawa Senators, in exchange for young winger William Eklund, to try to deal for a young-but-experienced, high-impact NHL defenseman.
That deal didn’t materialize, though Sharks general manager Mike Grier admitted that San Jose took one offer for No. 2, which included an established NHL player coming back to the Sharks, under “strong consideration”.
Anyway, 20-something, high-impact blueliners don’t grow on trees, so if you can’t find the right trade, drafting at Nos. 2 or 9 or 21 is no small consolation prize.
The scout raved about Stenberg, “He’s a complete player.”
To that point, while the 5-foot-11 winger is considered a future point-per-game scorer.
“You also appreciate his ability to work under pucks and play on both sides,” Sharks director of amateur scouting Chris Morehouse emphasized. “He’s a dynamic offensive player, but he’s got that hard competitive skill that you’re always looking for.”
Grier said Stenberg was the No. 1 player on the Sharks’ board, ahead of winger Gavin McKenna, who went No. 1 overall to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
“Celebrini and Stenberg are going to be a terror for many years to come,” the scout said. “Talking in a world where need isn’t considered for San Jose, he’s an awesome pick.”
Stenberg is thought by many to be NHL-ready, and maybe one reason why the Sharks deemed popular winger Eklund expendable.
There was a lot of thought that the Sharks would go for a defenseman at No. 2 — Daxon Rudolph was the surprise first defenseman off the board at No. 4 to the Buffalo Sabres, while Chase Reid was a betting favorite for a while — but the Sharks, as they always said they would, went with their “best player available.”
“We didn’t pay attention to all the writers saying we should take a D,” Morehouse said, joking but not joking.
San Jose did address its organizational need on defense, at least in the future, with their next two picks.
Six-foot-4 right-hander Verhoeff had a fascinating campaign, entering the season as consensus No. 1 defenseman in the draft and ending up as the fifth blueliner off the board — still a tremendous feat.
Grier said the Sharks were entertaining trade offers until No. 7, when it was clear to them that Verhoeff would drop to No. 9.
“All things go right, you’re looking at a first-pair defensive anchor and first PK,” the scout opined.
“He’ll be more defensive-leaning,” the scout added. “Maybe not as much of an offensive sense? That showed up in college with more structure and tighter checking.”
Of course, the University of North Dakota defenseman deserves a lot of credit for playing in the NCAA as a 17-year-old, testing himself against older-than-junior players.
Sharks director of player personnel Scott Fitzgerald said the plan at the moment is for Verhoeff to return for more seasoning with North Dakota.
The Sharks showed how much they liked right-hander Lin, trading Nos. 27, 62, and 120 picks to the Philadelphia Flyers for the No. 21 pick.
“That’s a great swing to take Lin there,” the scout said. “He’s an excellent all-around defenseman, who just happens to be small.”
It doesn’t sound like Lin is projected to run a first-unit power play at the highest level, but like Stenberg, he’s a highly competitive smaller player who’s expected to make a significant two-way impact.
In one night, Grier blew up the narrative that he’s a size-obsessed GM, which was the thought of some, despite premium picks used on smaller talents like Will Smith and Leo Sahlin-Wallenius in previous years.
“Hard competitive skill” is the buzz phrase for all three of the Sharks’ first-round picks, including the smaller Stenberg and Lin.
“It’s something when you watch Carolina, they have some smaller guys, but they’re all competitive,” Grier said of this year’s Stanley Cup winner. “It’s a trait that goes back through the years, and in this league, if you’re a smaller guy and you want to have success, you better be competitive, and both these kids are.”
What do the Yankees have in store for us tonight after a sloppy effort in the opener at Fenway? Hopefully they have cleaned up their act after committing four errors leading to six unearned runs scoring. All units were to blame, not just the defense, with multiple HBPs and many runners stranded. It’ll take a cleaner brand of baseball to level the series heading into the weekend.
It becomes doubly important to play error-free baseball with Will Warren on the mound. He allowed four unearned runs to score in an inning following an error, that habit of unraveling cropping up multiple times this season. The trouble seems to stem from pitching out of the stretch with a lot of Warren’s misses coming in the strike zone when there are runners on – certainly something to monitor tonight. In 15 starts, Warren is 7-2 with a 3.45 ERA (121 ERA+), 3.36 FIP, and 84 strikeouts in 78.1 innings.
The Red Sox throw out back-to-back southpaws to open this series. Payton Tolle dominated the Yankees back on April 23rd, with 11 strikeouts as he allowed just one run on three hits in six innings. The 23-year-old rookie was particularly effective with his four-seamer that averages 96 and tops out at 99. In 11 starts, Tolle is 3-5 with a 3.08 ERA (133 ERA+), 3.32 FIP, and 62 strikeouts in 64.1 innings.
Ben Rice gets a rare day off, meaning Paul Goldschmidt gets the start at first. This allows Amed Rosario to DH after his costly error yesterday, moving José Caballero from left field to third. This also allows the Yankees to field a more defensively sound outfield, with Cody Bellinger in left, Spencer Jones in center, and Jasson Domínguez in right.
The Red Sox also make several changes to their lineup from last night. Mickey Gasper replaces Masataka Yoshida atop the batting order. Connor Wong replace Carlos Narváez behind the dish and Tsung-Che Cheng subs in for Marcelo Mayer at short.
How to watch
Location: Fenway Park – Boston, MA
First pitch: 7:10 pm ET
TV broadcast: YES, NESN
Radio broadcast: WFAN 660/101.9 FM, WADO 1280 (NYY) | WEEI 93.7, WESX 1230 AM, WCCM 1490 AM (BOS)
Streaming: Gotham Sports App, MLB.tv (out-of-market only)
For updates, follow us on BlueSky, Twitter, and Instagram, and like us on Facebook.
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Back to Baltimore march the Orioles, but we can’t say it’s with anything like momentum. The team went 4-5 in a nine-game road series against Seattle and both Los Angeles teams, at least several of those winnable games. The Birds probably should have swept the Dodgers, crazy as it sounds, but Ryan Helsley was fresh off the injured list, and blew a two-run lead in the ninth. They’ve blown six late-game leads, give or take, in the last three weeks. If this team is still buyers at the trade deadline, confessedly some relief help wouldn’t hurt.
Anyway, as the team well knows, this next stretch before the All-Star Break is critical. There are fourteen games left to play, and the Birds are two games out of a Wild Card spot. Their next chance to generate momentum comes tonight against their local rivals, the Nationals. The Nats come into this series at exactly .500, three games outside of an NL playoff spot.
Trevor Rogers gets the assignment tonight. For a time this season, he was making us wonder whether his ace-like 2025 was just a mirage, with a 10.31 ERA in May, but June saw quite a turnaround, as the lefty went 2-1 with a 2.22 ERA in four starts. That includes a seven-inning shutout at Dodger Stadium. The Nationals lineup is very good, although not quite the same challenge.
Rogers doesn’t have much history against these hitters. He’s faced catcher Keibert Ruiz ten times, holding him to a .200 average. Jacob Young is 1-for-7. CJ Abrams has hit him up, though, 4-for-7 with a home run.
On the opposing side of the bump, metaphorically speaking, is a 27-year-old lefty named Andrew Alvarez, making just his tenth career start, and his first against Baltimore. A twelfth-rounder for Washington in 2021, Alvarez debuted last year as a spot starter and pitched to a nice 2.31 ERA in five games. He’s 1-0 with a 3.34 earned run average and 37 strikeouts in 32 innings this season.
The lefty is known for his curveball and slider, a challenging formula for this Orioles lineup. That said, they’ve gone righty-heavy today, with Coby Mayo in at DH and Tyler O’Neill getting the start in right.
Let’s go O’s!
Orioles lineup
Nationals lineup
We all know how the last three games have gone, but it is time to turn the page and move on to the Orioles series. As has been mentioned at length, this Nats team has been resilient this season. However, this upcoming stretch is the biggest test yet. It is tough to drop three games in such brutal fashion in a row, but they managed to do it.
With a lefty on the mound, Andres Chaparro is in the lineup again over Luis Garcia. He will play first base in this one. CJ Abrams is back in the lineup after not starting yesterday. That moves Nasim Nunez to second and Jorbit Vivas out of the lineup. Daylen Lile will be the DH, and James Wood will move to right field. Andrew Alvarez will start, and hopefully he gives some length so we get as little of the bullpen as possible.
The O’s are missing Adley Rutschman, but they have a lot of firepower in their lineup. Pete Alonso has been red hot lately. Jackson Holliday missed the series in DC, but he is in the lineup today up in Baltimore. Samuel Basallo will catch with Rutschman out. Trevor Rogers is on the bump tonight.
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Game Info:
Stadium: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
Time: 7:05 PM EST
TV: Nationals.TV and MASN
Radio: 106.7 The Fan
As mentioned up top, this is a big test for the Nats. I am pretty confident that the offense will be resilient, but will the bullpen have their backs? We will find out soon enough. Follow along in the comments down below and let’s go Nats!
Jose Alvarado is not going anywhere.
The homegrown guard will decline his $4.5 million player option and sign a new three-year deal worth more than $14 million to stay with the world champion New York Knicks, according to several reports on Friday, June 26. Bringing him back was a priority for the Knicks this offseason.
For a kid from Brooklyn, the choice was not just about money.
Alvarado grew up in the city and played his high school basketball at Christ the King in Queens. He went undrafted out of Georgia Tech in 2021, latched on with New Orleans on a two-way contract and turned himself into one of the league's peskiest defenders. They call him "Grand Theft Alvarado" for the way he robs ball handlers.
The Knicks traded for him at the February deadline for Dalen Terry, two second-round picks and cash. He averaged 6.6 points, 3.8 assists and 2.0 rebounds off the bench in 28 regular-season games with New York.
His fingerprints were all over the Knicks' title run. Down 81-52 in Game 4 of the Finals, Alvarado hit a layup and a 3-pointer to chip into the deficit that had looked hopeless. New York won 107-106, grabbed a 3-1 lead and closed out the San Antonio Spurs in five games for its first championship since 1973.
I’m Home 🧡💙🧡💙🧡
— Jose Alvarado (@AlvaradoJose15) June 26, 2026
Staying probably cost him money. There were reports that he could command as much as $10 million a year on the open free agent market. He took less to come back and then posted on social media "I'm Home," with two hearts in Knicks orange and blue.
Free agency opens June 30. New York still has to sort out center Mitchell Robinson and other free agents, with owner Jim Dolan's eye on the luxury tax shaping every move.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jose Alvarado declines option, stays home by signing new Knicks deal
Time/Place: 6:40 p.m., Comerica Park
SB Nation Site: The Crawfish Boxes
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: RHP Keider Montero (3-5, 3.68 ERA) vs. RHP Spencer Arrighetti (7-3, 3.13 ERA)
| Player | G | IP | K% | BB% | GB% | FIP | fWAR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Montero | 15 | 80.2 | 16.5 | 5.3 | 35.5 | 3.95 | 1.5 |
| Arrighetti | 12 | 69.0 | 23.2 | 10.9 | 39.4 | 4.13 | 1.0 |
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Would it be too soon to call Tropicana Field the original home of the “Tarps off” movement? For it was in October 2024 that the Category 3 Hurricane Milton ripped through the Tampa area, and basically tore the roof off the place. Fortunately, nobody was hurt, but it meant that the Rays had to play all their home games last season at Steinbrenner Field, the spring training home of the Yankees. That explains the particularly light attendance for the team last year – though they still managed to outdraw the Athletics, similarly displaced out of a major league stadium, to one in Sacramento.
Technically, Tropicana Field is actually the sixth oldest ballpark in the majors – older than every NL stadium bar the Cubs and Dodgers. That’s because it actually opened eight years before the Rays moved in there. Construction began back in 1986, in the belief that a stadium needed to be in place to lure a major-league team to the area. St. Petersburg missed out in the first round of expansion franchises in 1993. But before that, of all teams, the San Francisco Giants nearly relocated there in 1992. The deal eventually fell one vote short of approval from the then fourteen National League teams. But as we know, Florida got its second team, with our expansion siblings in 1998.
Tonight’s game is the D-backs’ first return to the park since the storm, and it’s not one which has been a happy place for Arizona. Indeed, they have just one victory there since 2013. The last time the Diamondbacks visited Tropicana, in August 2024, they were swept. Though two of the defeats were by one run, including the series finale where defeat took twelve innings. That took place after the D-backs have come back from 6-0 down after six innings to force extras. Our last victory was also in extras, a 3-2 win in May 2019 which took thirteen frames. Ketel Marte is the only one of the 17 D-backs who took the field that day to still be with the team.
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Ben Duckett scored his first century in over a year and Jacob Bethell banished his first-innings blues after returning England captain Ben Stokes sparked a fightback in the third Test against New Zealand at Trent Bridge.
The Queens native who grew up a Knicks fan and helped them to their first title in 53 years is coming back.
Jose Alvarado is declining his $4.5 million player option and re-signing with the Knicks on a three-year deal, a story broken by Shams Charania of ESPN. The contract is worth close to $15 million, reports NBA insider Chris Haynes and Steve Popper of Newsday.
Alvarado was traded from New Orleans to New York at the trade deadline, and in 28 games with the team, averaged 6.6 points, 3.8 assists, and a steal per game. Most famously during the Knicks Finals run, he went 3-of-3 from beyond the arc in the fourth quarter of Game 4 and was a spark for the Knicks 29-point comeback win that essentially ended the series.
Jose Alvarado full highlights vs. San Antonio Spurs last night (107-106 W) - Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals
— MrBuckBuck (@MrBuckBuckNBA) June 11, 2026
8 Points on 3/4 FG (75.0%), 2/3 from 3 (66.7%), 2 Rebounds, 3 Assists (1 TOV), 5 PF, and a +/- of +11 in 15:38 minutes off the bench.
All his main stats came in the 4th… pic.twitter.com/ocY5VKJ4i3
This signing leaves the Knicks still dancing with the second apron. This deal leaves the Knicks $14 million under the second luxury tax apron — a line owner James Dolan has said he does not want to cross — with five open roster spots, reports Keith Smith of Spotrac. Another estimate, via Yossi Gozlan, is that New York is an estimated $9.8 million below the second apron with three or four more spots to fill.
The expectation around the league is that they will re-sign Landry Shamet and a couple of minimum-salary players, but that would leave Mitchell Robinson as the odd man out (and he has multiple suitors willing to beat his $12.9 million salary from a season ago).
We got a couple of Blue Jays roster moves this afternoon:
First, Simeon Woods Richardson was DFA’d to make room for Adam Macko. SWR made three appearances for the Jays after being reacquired from the Twins. He initially joined the Jays organization as part of the return from the Mets for Marcus Stroman, before being shipped out along with Austin Martin in the Jose Berrios trade. They brought him back from Minnesota in exchange for cash last month. He had a couple of decent seasons in Minnesota’s rotation in 2024 and 2025, but had lost the plot this season, posting a 7.74 ERA with just one more strikeout than walk. Since coming back to Toronto, he hasn’t allowed a run, but the underlying stats (7 walks against 5 strikeouts in 10.0 innings over three appearances) remain ugly. The Jays will no doubt hope he makes it through waivers so they can continue to try to help him rediscover his form in Buffalo.
Coming back up is Adam Macko. The Slovak-Canadian lefty has performed pretty well since converting full time to relief this season. In 12 appearances with the Blue Jays, he’s struck out 12 against 11 hits and two walks, allowing 2 runs over 12.0 innings pitched. He hasn’t been quite that strong in Buffalo, but his 25:10 K:BB ratio in 21 innings is still strong. He’ll inject a realtively fresh arm to a bullpen that’s been heavily taxed in the first half of this season.
The other move was also a surprise:
3B/1B Sean Keys is apparently with the Jays and is likely to be activated for tomorrow, presumably receiving SWR’s 40-man roster spot. Keys, 23, was a fourth round pick in 2024 out of Bucknell. He was our #17 prospect heading into the season, buoyed by strong underlying data that suggested his just OK results in A+ Vancouver last season were underselling his true offensive talent. Sure enough, he began 2026 at AA New Hampshire, forced his way up to AAA Buffalo, and has been one of the five or six best hitters in all of the upper minors. His combined .284/.409/.619 line is 64% above average. He brings easy plus power and a swing geared to lift and pull the ball to maximize his impact. He will swing and miss, but not excessively, and he has a strong approach. He’ll have to hit, as while he’s reportedly a hard worker he’s just not a great athlete and is a liability at third and not great at first either.
The corresponding move hasn’t been announced, but the speculation is that George Springer is likely to go on paternity leave, as his wife is expecting their third child any day now. If that’s the case, Keys’ cameo is likely to be brief for now. I suspect we’ll see him more of him at some point, though.