The 25-year-old was experiencing something he had not yet experienced in his NHL career.
Playoff hockey.
And that feeling was the punctuation on his career resurgence in Year 1 with the Flyers.
“To find that passion for winning and success as a team was big,” Zegras said last Tuesday at his end-of-the-season press conference. “I think I had lost a little bit of that, the drive and the passion to win and be a really good team. We definitely had, in my opinion, a great, successful season.”
In a contract year, Zegras answered Rick Tocchet’s challenge with a career season of 26 goals and 67 points. He had five multi-goal games after having none the season prior with Anaheim.
“The one thing with Trevor I love is you can give it to him,” Tocchet said earlier this month. “It has been like that all year. Doesn’t pout, takes it. … He’s the last guy I’m worried about. He’s a very coachable kid.”
When Christian Dvorak signed a five-year extension with the Flyers in January, Zegras mentioned how he’d like to stay. He has a chance to sign long term with the Flyers this offseason.
“Personally, I would love that, I would love to be here for a long time,” Zegras said. “I hope that that would happen over the next couple of months or whatever the timeframe would be. I love playing here, I love the fans, I love the group that we have. That would be something I’d be excited for.”
Zegras is a restricted free agent coming off a three-year, $17.25 million deal ($5.75 million cap hit). Jamie Drysdale is also due a new contract as a restricted free agent. Dan Vladar has one more year left on his deal, but he’ll be eligible to sign an extension starting July 1.
“Negotiating contracts is a process, it takes time,” Danny Briere said last Thursday at his end-of-the-season press conference. “I don’t negotiate in public. But there’s not an order. When it can get done, it gets done. It all depends on sometimes the synergy. Sometimes you make ground faster with one than the other, things change along the way. It depends on the traction.
“I have nothing really that worries me at this point to say we’re not going to see those guys come back. I have no worries at this point in that regard. Hopefully it keeps going in that direction and we get them done later this summer.”
Trevor Zegras said what he appreciates about Rick Tocchet is that he’ll get in your face, but then he gets you back out there on the ice and gives you a chance to make up for stuff. pic.twitter.com/gDr2KzkCxm
Zegras led the Flyers with six points in the playoffs. He had two goals and four assists in 10 games. He was one of 13 players on the Flyers to appear in their first postseason. The Flyers beat the Penguins in six games before being swept by the Hurricanes.
“Excited for what’s ahead with this team,” Zegras said. “Such a good learning experience for myself and a lot of the other young guys that had never played a playoff game, kind of what it’s like to play a series, win a series, have a series against a team that maybe you shouldn’t beat. Know what to expect now. I think it’ll be good moving forward.”
The big question facing Zegras will be his position next season. Can he be a full-time center? Tocchet had Zegras on the wing earlier in the season to build his confidence, but the head coach moved him back to center as the Flyers made their playoff push.
“I’m fine with playing both,” Zegras said. “I liked playing in the middle down the stretch just because there’s a little bit more space and you can kind of pick and choose where you want to go a little bit more. I think playing center in the playoffs was a good experience for me just in terms of how different it was, how hard the battles are and all that type of stuff. But I thought it was good.”
DENVER — Nicolas Roy still has his place in Las Vegas. He still has plenty of friends on the Golden Knights. He still has those cherished memories, too, from helping them win a Stanley Cup title three years ago.
Roy, who was traded from Vegas to Toronto last summer as part of the Mitch Marner deal, landed in Colorado two months ago — through another deal — and now is facing his former team.
At stake, a spot in the Stanley Cup Final. So, yeah, those friendships developed over six seasons in Vegas are on pause.
“Just how it goes,” Roy said as the Avalanche get set to host Vegas in Game 1 of the Western Conference final. “The excitement’s already pretty high.”
Off to Toronto
Roy was caught off guard by the deal that sent him to Toronto and brought Marner to Vegas. Marner has been a big contributor for the Golden Knights in the playoffs, with a team-leading 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) through playoff series wins over Utah and Anaheim.
“As a player, you expect (a trade like this) more at the deadline than right there in the middle of the summer,” said Roy, who’s renting out his Vegas place to a member of the Golden Knights. “But again, you never know. It’s part of the business. It can happen at any given day. I just got surprised a little by it.”
Roy played in 59 games for the Maple Leafs with five goals and 15 assists, before going on the move again. The Avalanche picked him up on March 5 for draft picks.
It hasn’t taken long for Roy to settle in with Colorado. He’s been a steady contributor through the opening two rounds of the playoffs, with three goals and three assists.
“All the other guys here made it so easy from the first day,” the 29-year-old Roy said. “The coaches did a good job with me, of letting me know how to play the system. The guys talk to me a lot on the ice as well.”
Avalanche coach Jared Bednar knew what they were getting in Roy — a skilled veteran player with plenty of poise. Bednar and the staff studied film of Roy from his Vegas days and his stint in Toronto, just to brush up on his skillset. Roy had three goals and eight assists when the Knights won the Stanley Cup in 2023.
“We tried to figure out how we would deploy him, and could we get him back to playing as well or better than he did in Vegas. Because he was a highly effective player for them,” Bednar said. “The one thing that I’ve been impressed with is his patience with the puck. He never throws the puck away. ... He’s got a lot of patience for a guy with the production that he has.”
Roy’s already come up big for the Avalanche, scoring his second career playoff OT winner in Game 2 during a first-round sweep of the Los Angeles Kings.
“I’m in a great situation right now,” said Roy, a fourth-round pick by Carolina in 2015 who played in seven games over two seasons with the Hurricanes before being traded to Vegas in 2019. “Just trying to keep doing my best.”
Helpful hints
Need a scouting report on the Golden Knights? Roy’s your forward to ask.
Sure, the Vegas coach may be different — John Tortorella replaced Bruce Cassidy — but the system is virtually the same. Roy’s still friends with everyone from captain Mark Stone to Jack Eichel to linemate Keegan Kolesar.
“Obviously, I know their system and I know a little bit their player tendencies, as they know mine,” Roy said. “I don’t think it’s a big advantage. The game is just so fast, you don’t want to overthink, you just want to play your game.”
He recalled the time his Vegas team rallied to beat the Avalanche in the second round of the 2021 playoffs. The Golden Knights trailed 2-0 in the series before winning four straight to advance.
This time, he’s on the other bench.
“It’s going to be some really good hockey,” Roy said. “It’s going to be a good series.”
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The New York Knicks finally know what’s what.
Starting Tuesday, May 19, Jalen Brunson, Karl-Anthony Towns and co. will go toe-to-toe with Donovan Mitchell and James Harden’s Cleveland Cavaliers in the long-awaited 2026 Eastern Conference Finals.
Home games are Madison Square Garden are scheduled to go down at:
If you’d like to catch a game at MSG, last-minute tickets are available for all four potential Big Apple contests.
At the time of publication, the lowest price we could find on seats for any one game was $510 including fees on SeatGeek.
Other games start anywhere from $557 to $1,194 including fees.
New York comes into this series rather well-rested. Mike Brown’s club wrapped their Semifinals sweep of the 76ers on Sunday, May 10, nine days before Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
As a bonus, they’ll be getting star power forward OG Anunoby back from a mild right hamstring strain injury that he suffered in game 2 against the Sixers.
Meanwhile, Mitchell, Harden, Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley had to tough out a seven-game series against the No. 1-ranked Detroit Pistons before finishing them off with a decisive 125-94 Game 7 victory.
“Yeah it’s great I get to play at home…doesn’t matter.” NYC native Donovan Mitchell said in a press conference after the game.
“We gotta be locked in and ready to go…they’re a tough team. We’re excited.”
Adding intrigue to this high-stakes series is Knicks Head Coach Mike Brown’s history with Cleveland. The 56-year-old Columbus native coached Cleveland from 2005-10 and ’13-14, leading the team to their first Finals appearance in 2007.
Now, he’s hoping to do the same for New York who haven’t gotten to the Big Dance since 1999 where they lost to the Spurs (just like the Cavs in ’07).
“I don’t look at it like [there’s pressure],” Brown said. “I literally do this to try to compete to try to win a championship. That’s what my focus is throughout the course of the year.”
“People can talk about Mike Brown, but it’s my job to ignore the noise. It’s easy to do that because the pressure that I put on myself and the team puts on itself to be great or try to be the best team in the league.”
While we don’t know how this series will turn out, we do know the Garden will be electric.
We’ll see you there.
New York Knicks playoff home game tickets
A complete calendar, including all announced Knicks Eastern Conference Finals home game dates and the best prices on tickets, can be found here:
New York Knicks home game dates
Ticket prices start at
Game 1 Tuesday, May 19
$557(including fees)
Game 2 Thursday, May 21
$510(including fees)
Game 5 Wednesday, May 27 (if necessary)
$809(including fees)
Game 7 Sunday, May 31 (if necessary)
$1,194(including fees)
Cleveland Cavaliers playoff home game tickets
All Cavs Rocket Arena playoff home game dates and the cheapest tickets available can be found below.
Cleveland Cavaliers home game dates
Ticket prices start at
Game 3 Saturday, May 23
N/A
Game 4 Monday, May 25
N/A
Game 6 Friday, May 29(if necessary)
N/A
How to watch the Knicks and Cavs on TV
Fans hoping to catch Brown’s ballers on the tube can watch all first-round playoff games on MSG, ABC, ESPN, TNT, Prime Video, NBC, and NBA TV.
Just make sure to review your local listings before tuning in.
If you don’t have cable, your best bet may be DIRECTV.
About Knicks-Cavs
Over the course of the 2025-26 campaign, the Knicks and Cavs met three times.
In the first game of the season way back on Oct. 22, New York won 119-111 behind OG Anunoby’s 24 points and Jalen Brunson’s 23.
The Knicks came out on top again in their second showdown, which took place on Christmas Day. This one was a bit of a nail-biter with leads varying wildly. Cleveland was up 38-23 at the end of the first quarter but by halftime, New York had regained the lead. By the end of regulation, Brunson had led the club to a 126-124 victory.
Cleveland notched their sole win against the orange and blue when they took down the Knicks 109-94 on Feb. 24. Donovan Mitchell dropped 23 points, grabbed five boards, recorded assists and notched three steals.
As for this series, Yahoo! Sports predicts “Knicks in six.”
2026 NBA playoff schedule
Been meaning to see how the postseason has shaken out?
This article was written by Matt Levy, New York Post live events reporter. Levy stays up-to-date on all the latest tour announcements from your favorite musical artists and comedians, as well as Broadway openings, sporting events and more live shows – and finds great ticket prices online. Since he started his tenure at the Post in 2022, Levy has reviewed a Bruce Springsteen concert and interviewed Melissa Villaseñor of SNL fame, to name a few. Please note that deals can expire, and all prices are subject to change.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — Buffalo Sabres coach Lindy Ruff’s bid to relinquish home-ice advantage has fallen on deaf ears. Montreal Canadiens coach Martin St. Louis, meantime, was busy citing physics in looking forward.
Odd as it might sound, the comments were befitting of a logic-defying, momentum-elusive NHL second-round playoff series that comes down to Game 7 at Buffalo — as much as Ruff would’ve welcomed a change of venue.
“It didn’t get switched,” Ruff said with a chuckle, referring to Buffalo’s 2-4 home record this postseason. “But we’re looking forward to giving our fans our best game.”
As for Montreal, St. Louis turned to science in explaining why he prefers having the Canadiens “bounce forward” as opposed to bounce back following an 8-3 loss in Game 6 at home.
“I just feel bounce back, you come back to where you were,” St. Louis said. “Bounce forward, you’re actually further than where you were. Physics.”
Hurricanes waiting in the wings
Einstein aside, someone’s going to advance, with the well-rested Carolina Hurricanes awaiting who they’ll host in opening the Eastern Conference finals. Carolina swept both its series, and has been off since a 3-2 overtime win over Philadelphia on May 9.
It’s anyone’s guess who they’ll face based on a series that has so far favored the road team, involved 20 of the 45 goals scored in the first period, featured a carousel of in-game goalie shuffles, and rewarded Buffalo for not practicing after not skating in the days leading to Game 6.
Game 6's outcome, perhaps, best captured the topsy-turvy essence with Montreal jumping to a 3-1 lead by the 10:14 mark of the first period, before giving up seven straight goals. The opposite happened in Game 5, in which the Sabres led 3-2 by the 10:15 mark of the first period, before losing 6-3 in Buffalo.
Ruff is so focused on making Game 7 feel like a road outing, he’s considered the Sabres spend the night before in a Buffalo hotel.
“I don’t know the answer. I can try to make one up,” Ruff said of his team’s 5-1 road record.
The Canadiens are drawing upon replicating their first-round series win over the Lightning. After a 1-0 loss at home in Game 6, the Canadiens followed with a 2-1 series-clinching win at Tampa Bay.
“It’s disappointing to have this effort on home ice. We can’t let that be our last game,” captain Nick Suzuki said of dropping to 2-4 at Montreal. “We’ve been in this situation already, so we have experience, and we just got to win one game.”
Relative playoff newcomers
Montreal and Buffalo are the two youngest teams by average age still in contention, and both relative recent playoff newcomers. The Sabres are in the postseason for the first time in 15 years, while the Canadiens are making their fourth appearance in nine years.
Montreal has the Game 7 experience edge by virtue of beating Tampa Bay. Buffalo’s lineup features just eight players who have appeared in a Game 7.
They include forward Alex Tuch, who previously went 2-1 in seventh games during his four-year tenure with Vegas. The loss stands out most, given how the Golden Knights allowed four third-period power-play goals in an 5-4 overtime loss to San Jose in a 2019 first-round series.
“I’m going to try to give some of my wisdom, but at the same time, I don’t want to talk too much about my past experiences or what could go right or what can go wrong,” Tuch said.
“I’ve said it a hundred times, you got to go out there and just play hockey,” he added. “I think we’re the better team. I think we’re going to come out and compete hard, and that’s all we can control.”
Overall, the Sabres are 1-6 in Game 7, with their only series victory coming in a 1997 first-round matchup over Ottawa. Montreal is 16-9, tied for the NHL lead with Boston in Game 7 wins.
Goaltending is a question, with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen expected to start after being pulled in Game 5. In Game 6, he stopped all 18 shots in taking over after Alex Lyon allowed three goals on four shots.
Jakub Dobes is Montreal’s expected starter. The rookie was yanked after allowing six goals on 33 shots in Game 6.
“Every loss is hard to sleep on, but in playoffs, it’s really after midnight you move on,” Canadiens veteran forward Phillip Danault said. “I know we’re young, but there’s no excuses. We know how we can play and we know how good we can be.”
The Chicago White Sox visit the Seattle Mariners for a midweek series with momentum on their side.
After winning two out of three over the first-place Cubs, the Sox have won their last three series and five of the last six. Meanwhile, the Mariners have lost three in a row and six of the last nine.
That’s why my White Sox vs. Mariners predictions and MLB picks call for a Chicago road win.
Who will win White Sox vs Mariners today: White Sox (+150)
The Chicago White Sox have won seven of eight and are three games better than the Seattle Mariners. While they’re on the road and starting a less experienced pitcher, this is still a lopsided underdog price.
Chicago has scored 5+ runs in the last six games and eight of the last nine,averaging 6.2 runs per game over that stretch, which includes scoring 16 in three games against Seattle.
Seattle starter Bryan Woo’s fastball hasn’t been as effective as it was last season, while Chicago rookie Noah Schultz has better hit and homer per nine rates this season.
White Sox vs Mariners Over/Under pick: Over 7.5 (-106)
The Mariners have plated four or fewer in seven of the last nine, and J.P. Crawford left Sunday’s game after getting hit by a pitch. Seattle called up top prospect Colt Emerson, who had an .816 OPS in Triple-A and should add power to the left side of the infield.
Seattle scored 12 runs against Chicago earlier this month and could put up some runs against Schultz, who struggles with control. He’s walking more than six batters per nine, which could be trouble against a Mariners lineup that ranks third in the AL in walks drawn.
Shawn Krest's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 13-18, -4.33 units
Over/Under bets: 18-17, -0.51 units
White Sox vs Mariners odds
Moneyline: White Sox +150 | Mariners -165
Run line: White Sox +1.5 (-160) | Mariners -1.5 (+135)
Over/Under: Over 7.5 (-106) | Under 7.5 (-118)
White Sox vs Mariners trend
The White Sox have cashed the moneyline in 17 of their last 25 games for +10.75 units and a 41% ROI. Find more MLB betting trends for White Sox vs. Mariners.
How to watch White Sox vs Mariners and game info
Location
T-Mobile Park, Seattle, WA
Date
Monday, May 18, 2026
First pitch
9:40 p.m. ET
TV
CHSN, Mariners.TV
White Sox starting pitcher
Noah Schultz (2-2, 4.91 ERA)
Mariners starting pitcher
Bryan Woo (3-2, 3.91 ERA)
White Sox vs Mariners latest injuries
White Sox vs Mariners weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor hasn't played since injuring his calf on April 22 and hasn't yet resumed baseball activities, but it's possible he will be able to return in June.
Jon Heyman of The New York Post reported on Monday that there's "hope" that Lindor "may be back in about a month," adding that the Mets aren't putting a timetable on things.
Lindor underwent a follow-up MRI last week that showed healing.
"Now we’re moving to the phase of the strength part, moving to the weight room before he starts his running progression," manager Carlos Mendoza said about Lindor last Thursday. "Positive sign, we’ve just gotta let it heal."
There has been a bit of mystery surrounding Lindor's injury, with the team not disclosing the grade of the calf strain and not giving an estimate regarding his timeline.
By all indications, though, there is nothing going on beyond a calf injury that is simply more serious than the kind of strain Juan Soto was able to return from in roughly three weeks.
After starting the season in an offensive funk, Lindor was heating up at the plate before getting hurt, hitting .286 in 14 games between April 7 and 22.
The injury to Lindor is the most important one the Mets are dealing with, but their lineup is also without three other regulars -- Francisco Alvarez, Jorge Polanco, and Luis Robert Jr.
The Cubs just completed a 3-6 road trip. They were outscored 41-33 and those numbers are only that “good” because the first game of the trip was a 7-1 win over the Rangers.
After that they were shut out twice and had some bullpen failures.
Hopefully, some home cooking this week will help them get back on track. Even with the bad week, going 2-4 in Atlanta and on the South Side, the Cubs still lead the NL Central by 1.5 games.
Here’s who was hot and not for the Cubs over the past week.
Three up
Alex Bregman’s bat is heating up
Bregman is on an eight-game hitting streak. Over the six games in Atlanta and against the White Sox, Bregman batted .385/.429/.538 (10-for-26) with a double, a home run, three RBI and six runs scored. Now that the weather is getting warmer, hopefully Bregman’s power will return. He has hit just four home runs in 46 games so far this year.
Ben Brown seems to have taken to being a starter
After no-hitting the Rangers for four innings, Brown continued his good pitching with four one-hit innings against the Braves on Thursday. He struck out seven [VIDEO].
Maybe this starting pitcher thing will work out for him after all.
Jacob Webb has become a member of the Circle of Trust
Webb had a rough start to his 2026 season but over the week, threw 3.1 scoreless innings vs. the Braves and White Sox, allowing one hit and striking out five of the 12 batters he faced.
For the month of May: Seven appearances covering nine innings, 1.00 ERA, 0.667 WHIP, two walks, 11 strikeouts.
Craig Counsell could use some reliable relievers and Webb appears to be one of them now.
Tip o’ the cap to Michael Conforto for his home run Sunday that tied the game in the ninth, even though the Cubs lost the game.
Three down
Phil Maton, ugh
Maton started poorly and went on the IL in early April with a 13.50 ERA.
On his return he allowed two runs to the Padres in his first game back, then had a few scoreless outings. But this past week he allowed two runs to the Braves in a single inning, then had trouble getting outs against the White Sox. Result for the week: 2.2 innings, 16.88 ERA, 2.626 WHIP, two home runs allowed.
For the season: 9.49 ERA, 1.784 WHIP, three home runs in 12.1 innings.
And he’s under contract for next year, too. This looks like a bad mistake by Jed Hoyer.
Dansby Swanson’s bat has vanished
Swanson was in such a bad slump that Counsell gave him Saturday off. In the other five games: 2-for-17 with six strikeouts. He’s now batting .192/.302/.351 for the season with 38 strikeouts in 151 at-bats.
In two starts over the week against the Braves and White Sox, Rea threw nine innings and allowed nine runs (9.00 ERA), 13 hits and two walks (1.667 WHIP) and served up a pair of home runs.
Rea was good as a fill-in starter last year and for most of April this year, but these last two starts are concerning.
A note about Moisés Ballesteros, who was 1-for-11 with three strikeouts and didn’t play in the last two games vs. the White Sox: In his last 14 games since April 28, Ballesteros is 3-for-46 (.065) with 11 strikeouts. It might be time for him to spend a few weeks at Triple-A Iowa to get regular at-bats.
NEW YORK, NY - MAY 14: A.J. Ewing #9 of the New York Mets celebrates with teammate Carson Benge #3 after hitting a home run in the third inning during the game between the Detroit Tigers and the New York Mets at Citi Field on Thursday, May 14, 2026 in New York, New York. (Photo by Phebe Grosser/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
Welcome back to Monday Stat Party, a weekly series showcasing some of the most curious and nostalgia-inducing statistical developments from the past week of Mets baseball. What unites each entry is the sense of intrigue which they aim to spark, and the unbridled love of the game’s anomalies from which they arise. Without further ado, let the stat party begin.
TUESDAY
A.J. Ewing became the second Met this year, along with Carson Benge, to reach base three times in their MLB debut. It’s the first time the Mets have had two such debuts in the same season in franchise history.
The 2026 Mets also became the first team in history to have multiple players reach base three times, record an RBI, and record a stolen base in their major league debut.
Ewing became the first Met to walk three times and triple in one game since Brandon Nimmo, the Mets’ previous No. 9, on May 26, 2023, at Coors Field. Ewing also became the first Met to do it at Citi Field and the second player overall along with the Phillies’ César Hernández on September 22, 2016—a game you might remember.
The Mets scored 10 runs against the Tigers in Queens for the second time. The first came on June 22, 2010, when another player made their major league debut with a little less success than Ewing. Tigers reliever Jay Sborz hit the first two batters he faced and allowed five runs in two-thirds of an inning, marking his first and only major league appearance. But thirteen years later, his brother Josh closed out the 2023 World Series.
Freddy Peralta generated 11 whiffs on his fastball, the most on a Mets pitcher’s fastball since Tylor Megill against the Rays on June 14, 2025.
WEDNESDAY
Carson Benge became the first Mets rookie to record a walk-off RBI since Patrick Mazeika, who did so twice within his first week in the Majors on a pair of fielder’s choices in May 2021. Benge became the first Mets rookie to record a walk-off hit since Travis Taijeron off future Met A.J. Minter on September 26, 2017. It was the last of Taijeron’s nine hits in the big leagues.
THURSDAY
The Mets hit five home runs in a game for the first time since August 29, 2025, during Jonah Tong’s debut against the Marlins at Citi Field. The Mets also hit all five home runs at 104+ mph, marking just the third time in the Statcast era (since 2015) they’ve hit five homers with that high an exit velocity. The other times were April 6, 2019 (against the Nationals at Citi Field) and September 5, 2023 (against the Nationals in Washington). Patrick Corbin started both games, giving up three of the 104+ mph homers in each one.
Juan Soto hit his 250th career home run to become the 10th-youngest player to reach that total behind. In alphabetical order, only these players did it at a younger age: Hank Aaron, Jimmie Foxx, Ken Griffey Jr., Andruw Jones, Mickey Mantle, Eddie Mathews, Mel Ott, Albert Pujols, and Alex Rodriguez. Of that group, none came close to Soto’s total of 911 walks at the time of their 250th homer, and only three (Griffey, Jones, Rodriguez) surpassed his 96 stolen bases.
Carson Benge became the first Mets rookie with three consecutive multi-hit games since Pete Alonso from September 16-18, 2019.
A.J. Ewing became the second Met to score a run in each of his first three major league games. Benny Ayala was the first to do it in 1974.
Nolan McLean received the win for the first time since April 3 in San Francisco. In his previous six starts, he had totaled 35 innings and allowed just 11 earned runs while receiving no wins. The last Mets pitcher to have a six-game stretch with that many innings pitched, that few earned runs allowed, and no wins was Steven Matz, and the last right-hander to do it was Jacob deGrom. Both Matz and deGrom accomplished the unlucky feat in 2018.
The Mets earned their first series sweep since August 25-27, 2025, against the Phillies at Citi Field, a series which also concluded with a McLean win (though the series MVP was arguably SNY’s parabolic microphones).
FRIDAY
Juan Soto became the eighth player to homer for both the Mets and Yankees in the Subway Series, joining Robin Ventura, Tony Clark, Miguel Cairo, Gary Sheffield, Curtis Granderson, Carlos Beltrán, and Robinson Canó.
Cam Schlittler generated 17 whiffs on fastballs against the Mets. The last pitcher to generate that many fastball whiffs in a single game against the Mets was Saturday night’s starter, Carlos Rodón, on April 20, 2022, as a member of the Giants.
With 1.2 scoreless innings, Austin Warren became just the fifth Met with an ERA below 0.75 and 15+ strikeouts through nine appearances to begin a season. The others are Tug McGraw (1971, 1972), Armando Benítez (1999), Jacob deGrom (2021), and Reed Garrett (2024). It’s worth noting that all these pitchers were relievers, who maintained their minuscule ERA over 25 IP or fewer — except for deGrom, who had a 0.62 ERA through 58 IP after nine starts in 2021.
SATURDAY
Carson Benge became the first Mets rookie with 10 hits in a five-game span since Pete Alonso from August 15-20, 2019.
SUNDAY
A.J. Ewing became just the fourth player in baseball history with multiple three-walk performances in their first six career games, joining: Bobby Estalella (1935), Earle Brucker (1937), and Jim Gilliam (1953).
Ewing also became the fifth Met to reach base 12 times in their first six career games, joining: Mike Vail, Kazuo Matsui, Mike Jacobs, and Daniel Murphy. Ewing and Matsui are the only two players in Mets history to walk seven times in their first six career games.
The Mets have won 14 of their last 19 games at Citi Field against the Yankees, dating back to June 10, 2018.
The Mets earned their 11th walk-off win against the Yankees, and their first since Brandon Nimmo’s double off Nick Ramirez on June 14, 2023.
Tyrone Taylor’s three-run, game-tying homer had a 48.3% WPA (Win Probability Added), the second-most of any Mets plate appearance this year behind Luis Robert’s walk-off homer on March 28 (48.7% WPA). No other Mets plate appearance has yielded greater than 33.9% WPA.
Taylor’s homer was also the Mets’ first game-tying homer when down to their final out since Francisco Alvarez took Andrew Chafin deep with the Mets down 1-0 in Arizona on July 5, 2023. Alvarez also had the Mets’ prior homer of that variety against Jason Adam and the Rays on May 17, 2023 — exactly three years before Taylor’s blast.
Taylor’s homer was also the Mets’ first game-tying homer by an outfielder when down to their final out or final two outs since Michael Conforto took Kyle Barraclough deep on September 13, 2018. Soon after Taylor’s blast on Sunday, Conforto hit an eerily similar three-run, game-tying homer in the ninth inning for the Cubs against the White Sox. It was Conforto’s first game-tying homer with his team down to their final out or final two outs since that September afternoon almost eight years ago.
Carson Benge became the first Met to record two walk-off RBI within five days since Patrick Mazeika, who did it on May 7, 2021, and May 11, 2021. It’s only fitting that Benge’s second walk-off came on a fielder’s choice, Mazeika’s patented play.
Benge also became one of two Mets to deliver a walk-off RBI against the Yankees at age 23 or younger. The other was David Wright, who did so in another 7-6 game almost exactly 20 years earlier on May 19, 2006, when he was just 33 days older than Benge.
The Mets overcame a deficit of three or more runs in the 9th inning to win against the Yankees for the first time in Subway Series history. The largest 9th-inning comeback by either side came when the Yankees scored four runs in the ninth to beat the Mets on…May 20, 2006 — the day after Wright’s walk-off.
The Mets won a game while trailing after eight innings for the first time since Game 3 of the 2024 Wild Card Series, when Pete Alonso hit a homer off Sunday’s winning pitcher, Devin Willams. The winless streak in those situations had reached 96 games, including regular season and postseason.
Miscellaneous Mets stat of the week: Ron Swoboda is baseball’s all-time leader in walk-off walks with four. All four came with the Mets between 1966 and 1970:
April 17, 1966 vs. ATL (facing Billy O’Dell) July 9, 1967 vs. ATL (facing Claude Raymond) June 1, 1969 vs. SF (facing Joe Gibbon) July 7, 1970 vs. STL (facing Sal Campisi)
Reggie Jackson arrived at Yankee Stadium on October 18, 1977 with a chip on his shoulder. In part, it was because that was his natural state. But he had something in particular to prove that day. Despite winning a trio of championships — and the 1973 World Series MVP — in Oakland, he had yet to show what he could do in New York. After Jackson went 3-for-22 through the first seven games of the Yankees’ postseason run in ‘77, team captain Thurman Munson sarcastically dubbed him “Mr. October,” a snarky reminder of how his larger-than-life persona was not yet lining up with his results on the field.
Reggie responded, going 5-for-11 with two long balls in the next three games as the Yankees took a 3-2 series lead over the Dodgers. But it was on this day that he’d metamorphose from superstar into legend, transforming a snide moniker into an earnest superlative.
Reginald Martinez “Reggie” Jackson Born: May 18, 1946 (Abington, PA) Yankees Tenure: 1977-81
Reggie grew up in a working class family within a more affluent suburb of Philadelphia, where he was often among the only people of color in his classes at school. He was an extraordinary athlete, excelling in several sports in high school before narrowing his interests to baseball and football at Arizona State University. After his sophomore year there, the Kansas City Athletics took him second overall in the 1966 MLB Draft. With the first pick that year, the Mets selected Steve Chilcott, a catcher who never made it to the big leagues. Jackson would later claim the Mets passed him over because he had a white girlfriend.
In 1967, Jackson played for the Double-A Birmingham A’s. This relocation led to culture shock for the 21-year-old, who was forced to deal with the tail end of the Jim Crow era in the South. Upon his return to that team’s home ballpark, Rickwood Field, nearly 60 years later, he eloquently and emotionally recounted his experience dealing with segregation that threatened both his career and his life. Instead of pulling quotes from the below clip, I’d encourage you to watch it in full so you can hear from Reggie in his own voice.
Despite facing the adversity with which most of his teammates and opponents did not have to contend, Jackson’s talent shone through. In 114 games that season, he slashed .293/.372/.562 and earned a call to The Show. For the first time in his career, he struggled, hitting just .178 for Kansas City before getting sent back down. After helping Birmingham to a first-place finish back at Double-A, Reggie closed the chapter on minor-league baseball.
Jackson earned the starting right field job with the nascent Oakland Athletics before the 1968 season and was an instant star. He hit 29 home runs in 553 at-bats while striking out 171 times, the first of four straight years in which he’d lead the league in that category. He’d follow up that breakout campaign with the best year of his career. By early July in ‘69 the phenom already had 34 home runs, ahead of Roger Maris’ record-breaking 61-homer pace. That brought Jackson national media attention. “Microphones were shoved in my face for the first time,” he would later say. “Fans grabbed and screeched for autographs.” By his own account, this onslaught got to him, limiting him to one homer in September. He finished the season with a career-high 47 dingers, a league-leading 1.018 OPS, and valuable experience about handling pressure.
Reggie would play six more years in Oakland, helping the team ascend from afterthought to perennial contender while winning AL MVP honors in 1973. That run culminated in five AL West titles and the only three-peat in MLB history by a franchise other than the Yankees, from 1972-74. A nasty leg injury sustained in the 1972 ALCS victory over Detroit prevented him from participating in the first of those A’s World Series, but he absolutely made his presence felt in the latter two against the Mets and Dodgers. Jackson hit .302 with a .400 on-base percentage in those Fall Classics, establishing himself as a playoff MVP and seasoned postseason performer while still in his 20s.
Before the 1976 season, with his franchise disassembling and amidst contentious contract talks with his homegrown superstar—and the new concept of free agency on the horizon—A’s owner Charlie Finley traded Jackson to the Orioles. Despite the glory to come, he would later say that “the eight years I spent in Oakland were the best baseball years of my life.”
After a single successful year in Baltimore, Jackson hit free agency at 30 years old. Yankees owner George Steinbrenner pounced, signing him to a five-year, $2.96 million compact that made him the team’s highest-paid player. It’s hard to believe now, but the Yankees were actually outbid by the Montreal Expos and San Diego Padres. Steinbrenner won Jackson over with the allure of being a star in New York City. The expectations that came with that contract, paired with Jackson’s bravado and the existing tensions within the “Bronx Zoo” clubhouse of the era, led to a tumultuous first season in pinstripes.
In a June article that would become the stuff of legend, Reggie was quoted as saying, “This team, it all flows from me. I’m the straw that stirs the drink. Maybe I should say me and Munson, but he can only stir it bad.” Jackson continues to deny having made the comments, though the damage was done. When told Reggie had claimed he was misquoted, Munson supposedly retorted, “For 12 fucking pages?”
An even more contentious relationship developed between Jackson and his manager, Billy Martin. “He lied to people,” Jackson later wrote of his skipper. “That was his history. He lied to the general manager; he lied to the owner. He lied to players all the time, which was a big reason why he wore out his welcome.”
The drama bubbled over in public view on June 18th. During a nationally televised game, Martin pulled his star right fielder mid-inning, accusing him of not hustling. The two got into a shouting match in the dugout and likely would have come to blows if not for coaches Yogi Berra and Elston Howard separating them.
As was a trend throughout his career, this rancor did not prevent Jackson from performing, as he posted a .925 OPS with 32 homers and 110 RBI as the Yankees won 100 games and the AL East title. And, after getting swept by the Reds in the World Series the year prior, the newly christened “Mr. October” helped the Yankees to their first title since 1962, hitting three home runs to punctuate the decisive Game Six victory.
The distinctive title by which he remains best known became something of a double-edged sword. “I’ve got to live with it both ways,” Mr. October said in 1980. “It’s tough to have a big name like this when you’re not hitting, but I don’t mind the name. I just don’t want to be ridiculed.”
There would be nothing to ridicule in 1978, when Reggie hit .417 with four homers in the postseason as the Yankees repeated against Los Angeles — now managed by Bob Lemon instead of Martin, who had resigned shortly after insulting Jackson and Steinbrenner to the media in July. While he posted a typically excellent season in 1979, the loss of Munson in a mid-season plane crash was a crushing blow which dulled the Yankees’ momentum as they missed the playoffs altogether.
Although Martin had briefly returned in the latter part of the ’79 season, there would be less manager/star tension heading into the new decade. An offseason brawl with a marshmallow salesman led to Martin’s second dismissal, and he was replaced by the level-headed Dick Howser. Jackson felt more supported by the level-headed Howser, who had previously been a longtime Yankees coach. Reggie would have perhaps his best regular season in pinstripes in 1980 under Howser, hitting .300 with 41 homers while finishing runner-up to George Brett for AL MVP, but the Yankees got swept by Brett’s Royals in the ALCS.
1981 would be Jackson’s last year as a Yankee, now teamed up with a new superstar outfielder who joined the team in free agency, Dave Winfield. At the age of 35, Jackson looked somewhat diminished, playing in 94 games and hitting just .237. He was back for the playoffs, performing well in another pennant run as the Yankees fell to the Dodgers .
With Winfield effectively replacing him in the middle of the order, Jackson exited, signing a five-year deal with the California Angels. In total, he’d hit 144 home runs while batting .328/.417/.672 with 12 homers and a 1.090 OPS in 34 playoff games, netting two rings during his five years in New York. That cemented a legacy which would later earn him a spot in Monument Park.
Jackson’s five years with the Angels were a mixed bag, punctuated by an MLB-leading 39 home runs for a division-winning team in 1982, slugging No. 500 in 1984, and a memorable appearance in The Naked Gun. He played one more season, his 21st in the MLB, at the age of 41 in 1987, returning to Oakland to round out his career while playing with ascendant stars José Canseco and Mark McGwire. Reggie’s 563 home runs and big game pedigree earned him first-ballot induction into the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1993.
Reggie went in with a Yankees cap despite spending twice as many years with the A’s, a sign of how much he personally valued his time in the Bronx. The Yankees retired his No. 44 the same year and followed with a Monument Park plaque in 2002. He was a fixture at the club’s Old-Timers’ Days and the spring training facility for many years, a tradition that concluded when he became a special advisor to the Astros in 2021 but could one day resume after he departed that role in the fall of 2024.
Reggie Jackson remains a true icon of the game, the type who commands attention whenever he speaks and whose exploits on the field are intrinsic to the story of Major League Baseball. Join us in wishing a very happy 80th birthday to Mr. October.
See more of the “Yankees Birthday of the Day” series here.
May 15, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Ildemaro Vargas (6) and third baseman Nolan Arenado (28) celebrate defeating the Colorado Rockies delivers a pitch in the first inning at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images | Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images
The pitching’s a mess and the lineup is a disappointment. Which team am I talking about?
Arizona has just 3 more home runs as a team than the Giants (40 to 37) and a sub-average offensive production (95 wRC+). That’s with Corbin Carroll having an MVP-caliber start to the season, a resurgent Nolan Arenado, a surprise in journeyman Ildemaro Vargas, and the always reliable Ketel Marte in the lineup. The Giants thought they had their best lineup since 2021, if not the championship era, and it’s cruising around 10% worse than league average.
Arizona’s pitching has been about as valuable as the Giants’ (2.2 fWAR to 2.0), but when you split it into starters and relievers, the Giants have managed to get solid performances out of three starters (Robbie Ray, Landen Roupp, and Trevor McDonald) compared to Arizona’s two (Eduardo Rodriguez and Michael Soroka). Meanwhile, Arizona’s relievers are better at avoiding walks (by 1.75 BB/9) and striking out batters a bit better than the Giants’ pen, giving them a slight edge in value there, by around a win above replacement.
On the other hand, Arizona’s been great on defense: +5.5 Defensive Runs Above Average — 6th in MLB, and a full 10 runs (or 1 win) better than the Giants (-5.5 Def).
But let’s circle back to that disastrous rotation the Diamondbacks are sporting. Here’s what it looks like:
Eduardo Rodriguez, 2.53 ERA Ryne Nelson, 5.40 ERA Michael Soroka, 3.49 ERA Zac Gallen, 5.02 ERA Merrill Kelly, 5.91 ERA
Rodriguez was a hot commodity around the 2023 trade deadline until he made it clear that he didn’t want to be traded. The Diamondbacks signed him that offseason and in the first two years of the deal, he posted a 5+ ERA. They’re finally seeing some strong positive value in year 3, but it’s worth noting that the 2.53 ERA is betrayed by a 3.85 ERA and the Giants won’t see him in this series! Meanwhile, Michael Soroka was once a promising arm for Atlanta whose career was derailed by injuries. He’s back with Arizona and have a great reclamation project season. The Giants will miss him, too.
But the rest?
Even after all the drama that followed Zac Gallen’s first foray into free agency, he has come back looking like the wornout arm we saw last year. Ryne Nelson has managed to frustrate the Giants before (2-0, 3.05 ERA in 44.1 IP), but he’s allowed 9 home runs in 9 starts. Merrill Kelly was traded to the Rangers last deadline and then re-signed with Arizona, but the 37-year old has been bad — though, it must be noted, his last start was a complete game in Colorado where he gave up a solo home run. The start before that was 7 innings of 1-run ball at home against the Mets.
Are the Giants bats heated up enough to do some damage against a vulnerable staff? How Devers, Adames, and Chapman do against a “Please Hit Me” trio of starters could be very telling about how all three will do this season.
In terms of their fearsome lineup, it’s Corbin Carroll, Ildemaro Vargas, and Nolan Arenado who’ve been consistently threatening. Ketel Marte is still 20% below the league average, Gabriel Moreno is around 25% worse. Shortstop Geraldo Perdomo is backing up his 7-WAR 2025 with a very slow start in 2026 (sub-100 wRC+ and -100 points of slug). Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was close to league average last season (95 wRC+) but has been really bad this season (61 wRC+) — though, it must be noted he’s 6-for-his-last-17 with 2 doubles and a homer.
It’s a scary lineup if everyone’s clicking and it’s possible that a bat or two beyond Carroll, Vargas, and Arenado are close enough to create real problems for the Giants. It’ll be an interesting test to see if the Giants’ ability to frustrate their NL West opponents is only possible against the Dodgers and Padres and not the two other teams in their division, because on paper, the Diamondbacks look like they could really frustrate the Giants.
Series overview
Who: San Francisco Giants (20-27) at Arizona Diamondbacks (22-23) Where: Chase Field | Phoenix, Arizona When: Monday & Tuesday at 6:40pm PT, Wednesday at 12:40pm PT National broadcasts: None.
Projected starters Monday: Robbie Ray (LHP 3-5, 3.04 ERA) vs. Zac Gallen (RHP 1-4, 5.02 ERA) Tuesday: Landen Roupp (RHP 5-4, 3.49 ERA) vs. Ryne Nelson (RHP 1-3, 5.40 ERA) Wednesday: Tyler Mahle (RHP 1-5, 5.59 ERA) vs. Merrill Kelly (RHP 3-3, 5.91 ERA)
Players to watch
Diamondbacks (besides Corbin Carroll)
Ildemaro Vargas: The infielder is having the best season of his career at age 34 and it comes on his third stint with the Diamondbacks. This is a wacky transaction log!
In 2026, he went to Arizona’s Spring Training as an NRI and earned his way onto the major league roster from there. He has a .903 OPS so far this season and has hit about as well as Munetaka Murakami, Bryce Harper, and Nick Kurtz. He’s always done fine against the Giants (career .720 OPS), so we’ll see if his hot streak is just a streak or if he goes off on our favorite team in such a way that we know that he’s simply having one of those years.
Nolan Arenado: The Cardinals tried very hard to trade him the past two offseasons and finally found a taker in the Diamondbacks, who will pay him just $11 million of the $42 million owed to him over this season and next. In 2022, he was worth 7.2 fWAR, but in the three seasons that followed, just 6.8 total. Here in his age-35 season, he’s hitting 25% better than league average (125 wRC+) thanks to a .798 OPS. Time has taken away enough of his physicality that he’s no longer the demigod defender at the hot corner of days gone by — we have seen him make some unbelievable defense plays against the Giants over the years, that’s for sure — but he’s still adequate. Coupled with a resurgent bat, it’s plausible that we’ll be cursing his name before the end of the series just like old times.
Paul Sewald: He’s sort of like their Ryan Walker in that he backed into the closer role by accident. Arizona traded for him in 2023 as part of their World Series run. He was on the team in 2024 but sort of fell apart as their closer and left as a free agent. He played for two teams last season and then this past offseason the Diamondbacks re-signed him and he’s back to being their closer. He has just 1 blown save on record, but 4 losses already. Could his vulnerability give the Giants an opening late in one of these games?
Giants
Daniel Susac: Maybe it’s me, but I can’t shake the feeling that Buster Posey shoved aside Patrick Bailey for Daniel Susac because of batting average. I’d like to believe that the front office hasn’t bought into the equivalent of magic beans in the form of a small sample size heater in a position that had basically been a black hole of production in the lineup. The Diamondbacks-Giants matchup used to feature two of the best defense catchers in the sport — Bailey vs. Gabriel Moreno — but the focus has become “will Daniel Susac hit a single?”
Jung Hoo Lee: He ended April slashing .297/.344/.441 but has fallen off here in May. His pinch-hit RBI single in yesterday’s win raised his May line to just .215/.250/.292. He has a career .607 OPS at Chase Field, suggesting that his slump will be prolonged for at least a few more days. Then again, Arizona’s rotation has been Athletics/Rockies/Nationals bad, so it’s as good a time as any for that bat to get going again.
Robbie Ray: In 5+ seasons for the Diamondbacks, he made 147 starts and one All-Star appearance. He has a 3-0, 3.15 ERA in 3 starts (21 IP) against his former team, including a 102-pitch complete game last July. It’s not too early to start putting him on lists for “players who will be traded this season,” which means each start will be watched not just by scouts, but by fans salivating at the prospect of the team acquiring, um, err, a prospect for him near the deadline. Regrettably, he’s likely to net something in the range of what Tyler Rogers brought back for the Giants: 2-3 prospects near the bottom of the trading team’s top 10 or outside of it altogether.
Bryce Eldridge: Throwing him in here because either as a pinch hitter or a starter, Arizona’s righties would seem to have a lot to offer a masher looking to get his bat going. The rotation gives up a lot of home runs!
Tony Vitello Watch
There was a moment before the Vitello hire that Torey Lovullo’s job was maybe not so secure despite a World Series appearance just two years prior. In that brief bit of time I wondered if maybe the Giants might try to poach Lovullo a la Bruce Bochy from San Diego. His modest success in Arizona aside (686-715 a month and a half into his 10th season with two postseason appearances), he seems like the kind of player-centric and stats-second manager Buster Posey would want. He does a regular radio hit on MLB Network Radio and sounds like a good guy and the type of energy the Giants’ manager position needed in a post-Bochy/Kapler/Melvin period. It didn’t work out that way and instead the Giants signed a guy whose name sort of sounds like Torey Lovullo.
Tony Vitello, Torey Lovullo. Torey Lovullo, Tony Vitello.
Lovullo. Vitello. Lovullo. Vitello.
Torey. Tony. Torey. Tony.
Prediction time
Those are some rough numbers from Arizona’s starters. It stands to reason that the Giants should win a game in this series for that fact alone.
Boston, MA - April 7: Boston Red Sox second baseman Marcelo Mayer and shortstop Trevor Story watch a replay in the fourth inning. The Red Sox played the Milwaukee Brewers at Fenway Park on April 7, 2026. (Photo by Barry Chin/The Boston Globe via Getty Images) | Boston Globe via Getty Images
Well, maybe it wasn’t a phantom IL stint after all? The Red Sox have reported that Trevor Story, rather than battling a minor “groin issue,” has a sports hernia that could require surgery, keeping him out for up to ten weeks. Though for what it’s worth, Story himself sounds a little hesitant: “We’re still unsure, but [surgery is possible.] Still trying to diagnose it, the severity of it, because we’ve got a couple of different opinions.” (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
So with the news that Story could be on the shelf until the second half of the season, we have a little more clarity on what’s going to happen at shortstop. Marcelo Mayer will start working out there in anticipation of moving across the bag if Story goes under the knife. Of course, he doesn’t sound like he needs much prep time: “Obviously, that’s home to me. That’s where I’ve played my whole life. And we’ve had some discussions, going to get some reps there in practice whenever I can. But wherever Trace [tells] you to play, that’s what it’s going to be, whether it’s short, third, second. I’m just here to help the team.” (Tim Healey, Boston Globe)
Marcelo Mayer sure looks like he handle shortstop with the glove. But can he hit enough to be an everyday plaer in the big leagues? Here’s a look at the new Red Sox hitting coach who is going to try to turn Mayer’s offensive season around, John Soteropulos, the former Driveline coach and Red Sox minor league hitting coordinator. (Jen McCaffrey, The Athletic)
Of course Soteropulos has a lot of work to do with the entire lineup, not just Mayer. The Red Sox offense continues to be shockingly bad. (Rob Bradford, WEEI)
Brayan Bello isn’t hurt like Story; he’s just been mostly terrible to start the season. And with Garrett Crochet hoping for a May 1 return, his time in the starting rotation may be coming to an end. (Chris Cotillo, MassLive)
Bello’s battery mate in yesterday’s game may find himself with some time off, too, though not because of poor performance. Carlos Narvaez left yesterday’s game after experiencing some pain in his middle finger. X-rays were negative, though, and he is considered day-to-day:
DENVER — Most of the Colorado Avalanche’s players returned to the ice for practice Saturday after a two-day break.
Emphasis on most.
Noticeably missing were defensemen Cale Makar and Brent Burns, along with forward Artturi Lehkonen. There to warm up before heading to the locker room was defenseman Josh Manson, while fellow blueliner Sam Malinski participated in a red, no-contact sweater.
The Avalanche emerged from their second-round series with Minnesota with their share of bumps and bruises. That’s why this hiatus between series — six full days of practice/rest — was welcome. The Presidents’ Trophy-winning Avalanche don’t kick off the Western Conference final against Vegas until Wednesday night.
“They’re all dealing with stuff in their day-to-day,” Avalanche coach Jared Bednar explained of Makar, Burns, Manson and Lehkonen.
Expected to be back at practice soon?
“Yeah,” Bednar responded. “I think some of them will practice in the time we have.”
Lehkonen and Malinski both are dealing with upper-body injuries and didn’t play in the final two games of the Minnesota series. Manson has been dealing with an upper-body ailment, while Makar, a Norris Trophy finalist, left the ice after a collision late in Game 5, only to return as Colorado won 4-3 in overtime. Burns is, well, 41 years old.
“It’s good,” Jack Drury said about the break, “for a couple of guys that are banged up. Given them some extra time. For the rest of us, just kind of mentally get fresh. I think everyone’s really excited.”
The Avalanche didn’t spend much time Saturday going over a game plan for Vegas. Instead, it was more of a chance to skate around and squeeze in a few shots on net.
“A couple days before the game we’ll prepare and do some meetings,” forward Martin Necas said. “Until then, just all on us.”
The Avalanche and Golden Knights have some recent postseason history, with Vegas eliminating Colorado in the second round in 2021. The Knights fell behind 2-0 — and trailed in the third period of Game 3 — before reeling off four straight wins to take the series.
Vegas has a new coach in John Tortorella but several remaining players from the team that won the Stanley Cup title in 2023. They also have Mitch Marner, who has 18 points in the postseason (seven goals, 11 assists) after being acquired in a deal with Toronto last June that sent Nicolas Roy to the Maple Leafs. Roy, a member of Vegas’ Stanley Cup team, now is with the Avalanche following a trade in March.
“It’s an experienced group. You’re not going to rattle them,” Bednar said about Vegas. “They’re very well-defined in their structure of their game. They’re a stingy defensive team, and they’ve got lots of firepower.”
The Golden Knights have some ailments, too, most notably captain Mark Stone and defenseman Jeremy Lauzon.
“It’s a good team. I mean, we’re not looking past this team,” Bednar said. “These guys are healthy and firing on all cylinders ever since they made the coaching change.”
Vegas went went 7-0-1 to close out the regular season after Tortorella took over for Bruce Cassidy. They beat Utah in the first round and Anaheim in the second, both in six games.
Colorado relied on defense to dispatch of Los Angeles in a first-round sweep. Against Minnesota, 16 Avalanche players scored in the 4-1 series win.
Defense or offense, they’re ready for any style.
“We want to dominate the game so they have to adjust to us,” said Necas, whose team had a week break after the first rounds. “It will be a good challenge.”
The Brewers (26-18) and Cubs (29-18) meet at Wrigley Field for a three-game series. This is the first meeting of the season between NL Central opponents.
Chicago dropped its series against the White Sox over the weekend, losing the past two games. After going on a 10-game winning streak, the Cubs lost six of the next eight games. Chicago's pitching staff has a 5.26 ERA (25th) over the last six games and allow a .265 opponent batting average (26th). The offense is hitting .205 in that span (26th), so it's safe to say Chicago is in a slump.
Milwaukee lost its previous game, which snapped a three-game winning streak. The Brewers are 8-2 in the last 10 games and currently the hottest team in the NL Central. Milwaukee's offense is clicking lately with a .263 batting average over the past week (6th). The Brewers' pitching staff owns a 2.38 ERA (4th) as they've held opponents to three or fewer runs scored in eight of the last 10 games.
Let’s dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
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Game details & how to watch Brewers at Cubs
Date: Monday, May 18, 2026
Time: 7:40 PM EST
Site: Wrigley Field
City: Chicago, IL
Network/Streaming: MLB TV
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Odds for the Brewers at the Cubs
The latest odds as of Monday:
Moneyline: Milwaukee Brewers (+139), Chicago Cubs (-168)
Spread: Brewers +1.5 (-136), Cubs -1.5 (+113)
Total: 10.5
Probable starting pitchers for Brewers at Cubs
Monday's pitching matchup (May 18): Shota Imanaga vs. Brandon Sproat
The Cubs’ Seiya Suzuki is hitting .258 with 32 hits and 38 strikeouts over 124 at-bats
The Cubs’ Carson Kelly is hitting .300 with 33 hits and 45 total bases over 110 at-bats
The Brewers’ Brice Turang is hitting .268 with 44 hits and 74 total bases over 153 at-bats
The Brewers’ Garrett Mitchell is hitting .223 with 27 hits and 54 strikeouts over 121 at-bats
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Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Brewers at Cubs
The Cubs are 21-26 ATS this season
The Brewers are 26-18 ATS this season
The Cubs are 27-19-1 to the Over
The Brewers are 22-21-1 to the Under
The Cubs are 12-11 ATS at home, but 9-11 ATS as a home favorite
The Brewers are 11-9 ATS on the road and 3-2 ATS as a road underdog (1-4 on the ML)
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Brewers and the Cubs
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Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Monday's game between the Brewers and the Cubs.
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the Cubs on the Moneyline.
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Jordan Spence's time in Ottawa came with humble beginnings.
After two years as a regular in the LA Kings lineup, Spence was traded at the draft to the Senators for a mere third-round draft pick.
New Kings GM Ken Holland wanted to move off Spence because, "It's just hard to play him and Brandt Clarke right now," referring to the sameness of the two players. Holland wanted a different sort of right-shot D, so he later went out and signed former Senator Cody Ceci to effectively take Spence's spot on the roster.
As Jordan Spence worked back in the fall to get into the lineup everyday, Senators GM Steve Staios spoke back then about why he acquired him.
After breaking the bad news to him and the feelings that go with that, the Kings took solace in the fact that Spence would have a better opportunity to play in Ottawa.
But a few months later, when the Senators opened their new season in Tampa Bay, Spence was a healthy scratch. Even with Tyler Kleven injured, Spence sat in the press box while Nikolas Matinpalo, Donovan Sebrango and a quick-healing Nick Jensen all suited up.
How times have changed.
By the time the season was over, Spence established himself as more than an everyday defenseman. Among Sens defensemen, he finished fourth in time on ice per game, which is the very best measurement of what your team thinks of you. He finished with a career-high 31 points, and along with being an excellent puck mover, he didn't mind finishing his checks along the boards.
One of his biggest virtues, at least on this team, was availability. While the Sens endured one injury after another on the blue line, Spence managed to dodge the injury bullet all season.
Now Spence is a restricted free agent, and the Senators find themselves considering lucrative compensation packages for Spence that they probably never would have dreamed of at the start of this season.
Naturally, a lot will depend on what Steve Staios does this summer. If he goes out and gets another top-four defenseman, ideally a physical, shutdown guy, that might knock Spence down to a bottom-six pairing, which would certainly affect what the Senators want to pay.
Spence is also two years away from unrestricted free agency.
So the Sens could sign him to a one-year deal and see if Spence can impress again, and also see what everything looks like when everyone stays healthy for a season. In particular, that's been a challenge for Thomas Chabot, who plays a similar game to Spence on the opposite side. Chabot has missed 15-30 games in four of the last five seasons.
The Sens could also buy up some of Spence's UFA years and do something longer term. He's still only 25 with just three full NHL seasons under his belt. Now he'll have a big new contract and a greater sense of belonging next season, so we're betting the best is yet to come.
With the NHL cap going bananas over the next few seasons, Spence isn't likely to re-sign for the max seven years. But barring the offseason addition of another right-shot defenseman in Ottawa, a good bet for Spence would be four years at $4.5 million AAV.
Meanwhile, back in LA, the Kings might be reconsidering Spence's value these days.
After Holland put his stamp on the team for this season, which included dealing Spence away for a third-round pick, the Kings' goal differential this season dropped 66 points, going from +44 last season to -22 this season.
By Steve Warne The Hockey News
This article was first published at The Hockey News Ottawa. Check out more great Sens features from The Hockey News at the links below:
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 17: Brandon Nimmo #24 of the Texas Rangers catches a fly ball that was hit by Yordan Alvarez #44 of the Houston Astros at the wall in the fourth inning at Daikin Park on May 17, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Season Record: 22-24
Week Record: 3-3
Series Record: 6–8, 1 split
GAME 41: 0-1 LOSS vs ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS GAME 42: 7-4 WIN vs ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS GAME 43: 6-5 WIN vs ARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS
GAME 44: 0-2 LOSS @ HOUSTON ASTROS GAME 45: 1-4 LOSS @ HOUSTON ASTROS GAME 46: 8-0 WIN @ HOUSTON ASTROS
Whatever Texas had on Wednesday and Sunday, they need to bottle it up, multiple it, and use it in every game going forward.
Both games proved the Rangers have it in them, but brining that out once a series, isn’t really worth anything.
Truly the win on Wednesday to end the home stand and the series, was maybe the biggest shock of the season so far. I fully expected three up three down that inning. To get their first walk off going into the 9th inning down 5-3 and scoring all three runs with two outs, that’s the determination they needed to show going into a nine game road trip against the three worst teams in MLB.
Going into Friday, Houston was the second worst team in the American League.
In Friday’s game, the Rangers got one hit.
In Saturday’s game, they stranded 13 base runners, this series was theirs to win.
Sunday had a slow start but they did a good job of stringing together hits to score runs as well as additional slugging in the form of home runs.
And what feels like the eighth time I’ve said this, maybe they can ride the momentum of Sunday’s win into the next series.
COVERS INTEL: Bryan Woo has 
