CINCINNATI, OHIO - MAY 12: James Wood #29 of the Washington Nationals high-fives third base coach Victor Estevez as he rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the fourth inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park on May 12, 2026 in Cincinnati, Ohio. (Photo by Dylan Buell/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After a couple tough losses in Miami, the Nats responded in a big way tonight. They overpowered the Reds in a 10-2 win where they homered 6 times. Luis Garcia Jr. and Daylen Lile both had multi-homer games in the blow out. The bullpen also did great work tonight, eating 5.2 innings in this one.
The Nats still made plenty of defensive mistakes, including 2 errors and a catcher’s interference. However, the offense was too good for that to matter. After not scoring in the first two innings, the Nats put a world of hurt on the Reds pitching staff.
James Wood started the scoring in the third with a homer. It was a classic James Wood home run, sailing majestically to the opposite field. Luis Garcia Jr. made it back to back jacks with a pull side bomb of his own. Garcia is red hot right now, and he is starting to hit for power. He only had one home run on the season entering this game, but he hit two tonight.
In the top of the 4th, Daylen Lile homered to make it a 3-0 game. However, Miles Mikolas would get into a sketchy situation in the 4th. He was on the ropes after allowing two singles and a walk to start the inning. With the bases loaded, Mikolas traded a run for an out on a ground ball. However, after walking another batter, his night was over after just 3.1 innings.
Brad Lord would come in to replace him, and the long reliever performed very well. His evening got off to a rough start, but it was not his fault. Lord got a much needed ground ball, but Brady House booted it. House has had a really rough season defensively at the hot corner. Heading into the year, his defense was seen as a strength, but it has been anything but that to start 2026. However, Lord would rebound quickly and get a double play ball to end the inning.
After that mess, the Nats knew they needed more runs. Luis Garcia Jr. would start the inning with his second homer of the night. A couple more batters would reach, and then Daylen Lile would come to the plate with 2 on and 1 out. Lile is from Louisville, which is right nearby, so his family was in attendance.
The Lile family saw their boy have his first career multi-homer game. Lile absolutely torched a 98 MPH sinker out of Great American Ball Park. It was a no doubt shot and his family went absolutely crazy in the stands. This was an amazing moment for the Lile family, and it also made the lead 7-2.
With the lead in a comfortable spot, Brad Lord went into cruise control. The right-hander gave the Nats 2.2 innings of scoreless baseball. Lord is such a valuable piece to this bullpen, and sometimes I think he may even be under-utilized.
The Nats were not done with their home run parade though. In the late innings, Brady House made up for his error and put a cherry on top of a blow out win. While he has a tough time hitting fastballs, House does not miss hanging breaking balls. Tony Santillan hung a breaking ball and House banged it out of the ball park.
This was one of the Nats bigger wins of the season. The offense, which is second in baseball in runs, flexed their muscles tonight. While Wood and Abrams both had good games, it was contributors from down the lineup that provided the biggest blows. Luis Garcia Jr. and Daylen Lile are starting to really heat up, and that makes the Nats lineup very dangerous.
If the Nats can get big time production from Lile and Garcia, this could be a truly deep lineup. It has been crazy to see what this offense has been able to do this year. We are deep enough into the season to say that this offense is no fluke. They are a fun and frisky unit. The pitching and defense needs work, but the Nats are really starting to build a foundation here.
May 12, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets left fielder Juan Soto (22) slaps hands with first base coach Gilbert Gomez (65) after hitting a single against the Detroit Tigers during the second inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images | John Jones-Imagn Images
After limping out of Kansas City bruised and full of more question-marks than The Riddler, the Tigers went to New York City to face the Mets, who have been terrible so far. Well, the questions kept coming as fast as the Mets scored runs in this one, with the New Yorkers besting the Detroiters by a 10-2 score.
Opening the series on the mound for the visitors was Jack Flaherty, who had a better start in his last outing, against the Red Sox: he gave up four runs, sure, and he slipped a bit in an inning that was threatening to get completely out of control, but when he was on, he was absolutely locked-in. He struck out the first five and the last four batters he faced, which has got to be some sort of first. In a rotation full of chaos, the Tigers absolutely need Flaherty to give them solid innings. Sadly, tonight, he didn’t give too many.
Freddy Peralta faced Flaherty in Flushing; the righty is in his ninth year in the major leagues, and his first with the Mets after spending eight years in Milwaukee. He’s dependable: he’ll keep extra-base hits down (especially home runs), he’ll give you six solid innings, and while his strikeout rate is down a bit this season, it’s still about one per inning. His final three years with the Brewers were a really nice run: a 3.40 ERA, WHIP of 1.136, and 10.7 K/9 innings, making thirty or more starts each of those years.
The Tigers opened the scoring in the second with a Dillon Dingler dinger.
The Tigers kept the party going: Wenceel Pérez singled, Gage Workman doubled, and Spencer Torkelson hit a fly ball deep enough to plate Pérez for a 2-0 lead. With two outs Kevin McGonigle walked to put two runners back on base, but Matt Vierling flew out to end the inning and this party was about to have someone put something awful in the punch bowl.
The bottom of the second saw Flaherty get into trouble… and this is the kind of situation that has had the potential to spin out of control for him: a leadoff walk and a single, and some big misses of the strike zone against Marcus Semien. Semien harmlessly lined-out, but A.J. Ewing walked in his first-ever major-league plate appearance to load the bases with one out. A sharp grounder to shortstop saw the Tigers try to turn a double play, and despite a fantastic turn at second base by Zach McKinstry, the throw to first wasn’t in time and a run came in to score. A harmless fly ball to shallow centre limited the damage, but it was clear that Flaherty was nowhere near as dialed-in as he was in his previous start.
The trouble followed Flaherty and his shaky fastball into the third, with a pair of singles to put runners on the corners. Another single plated the tying run, and after a pair of hard-hit outfield outs, a wild pitch pushed Juan Soto up a base to put runners on the corners. But a Semien grounder to shortstop saw McGonigle make a nice play and throw for the third out.
Again, in the bottom of the fourth, traffic on the basepaths produced a run: a one-out double-single combination pushed the Mets ahead 3-2. He stuck around to strike out Bo Bichette, and departed in favour of Tyler Holton to face the lefty Soto. Holton did the job, getting Soto to not-quite check his swing at a low-and-away sweeper for strike three. Thus, Flaherty’s final line: 3 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 R, 3 BB, 2 K. That’s… not great.
You know what else wasn’t great? Colt Keith on the basepaths in the top of the fifth. He singled with two out, and he went first-to-third on a Riley Greene single to right-fielder Carson Benge. Benge’s throw skipped a bit past the third baseman; Keith took off for home, forgetting that Peralta was (quite correctly) backing-up third base, but he also managed to run into the third base umpire inexplicably standing on the base path, which also didn’t help. Keith had to show the ump out of the way just to get up to speed and probably should’ve shut it down at that point. He was easily cut down trying to score.
Shoot, it looks like Keith also took a pretty good forearm to the left side of his jaw, too.
Holton carried on and had a 1-2-3 fifth; Burch Smith took over in the sixth and struck out Semien, but walked the next two batters and an infield single loaded the bases. A ground ball found Workman at third; he threw to second to start what probably would’ve been an inning-ending double play, but he rushed it with the baserunner right in his throwing lane and sailed the throw 20 feet wide of second base and into right field, two runs scored, and Smith departed a 5-2 game. That was really the play that put the game ultimately out of reach for the Tigers. Enmanuel De Jesus took over, a grounder to first got another out but allowed another run to score; a sharp liner to Vierling in centre ended the inning with the Tigers in a 6-2 hole.
They started the seventh against a new pitcher, Brooks Raley, and suddenly showed signs of life: with one out Hao-Yu Lee singled, and McGonigle followed with a double to put two runners in scoring position. Alas, a popup to second base and a strikeout ended the inning with those two runners staying right where they were.
In the bottom of the seventh the Mets tacked-on: with two out and a runner on first, Ewing — who’d already walked twice in his debut — tripled to the right-field corner as Wenceel Pérez fumbled the ball against the wall to make it 7-2 and chase De Jesus. Ricky Vanasco was brought in to stop any further damage, which he did not, as he surrendered a single, scoring Ewing for an 8-2 tally.
They scored even more runs in the eighth in ways I’d rather not describe, with an error from Vanasco contributing to the disastrous defensive work on the night. At least Jake Rogers got to pitch in this one, getting the final out in the bottom of the eighth. He touched a cool 80 mph on his fastball, but sadly we didn’t get to see his sterling knuckleball.
In the second inning, Kevin McGonigle walked. That was his 24th walk in the year, against 21 strikeouts. That is an impressive stat, and doubly so for a rookie. I can’t wait to see what he’s capable of in the years to come.
Colt Keith came into tonight’s game with a .304 batting average. If you’re not into some more advanced stats, though, here’s how they can be useful: his Batting Average on Balls in Play (BAbip) is .386. A normal value of that these days is around .285, which means he’s getting lucky. He’s also not getting too many extra-base hits, which isn’t great, but his hard-hit percentage is 46.0% (average is 40.0%), which is good.
Towards the end of this miserable contest, on the radio broadcast Dan Dickerson read off the standard “without written consent” blurb, which I have always found puzzling. (Isn’t this an “account or description” of such a game?) Anyway, Dickerson mused that, if you wanted to get written consent from MLB to do whatever it is people do that need this legal disclaimer, you’d be better off picking a game other than this one.
ATLANTA, GA - MAY 12: Mike Yastrzemski #18 of the Atlanta Braves rounds the bases during the game between the Chicago Cubs and the Atlanta Braves at Truist Park on Tuesday, May 12, 2026 in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by Kathryn Skeean/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Atlanta Braves were riding high after a road trip out west that saw them win a series with the Dodgers. They were faced with a new test when the Chicago Cubs came to town. It just so happens that MLB ranked the Cubs as number one in the power rankings over the Braves even though the Braves just beat the Dodgers.
Power rankings don’t mean anything, but it was a fun coincidence.
The biggest question mark was if Grant Holmes was going to be able to bounce back after his five earned runs appearance his last start. Holmes did just that. He did not pitch a perfect game, but we saw a huge improvement. Holmes sat down the first five hitters he faced before finally giving up a walk to Michael Busch, but then quickly ended the second inning. Holmes then sat down five in a row again, but then Bregman, who was only one of two Cubs to face him before took him deep. That is when things got shaky. Holmes has struggled with walks all year and tonight was no different. He walked three hitters in a row to load the bases. He was able to induce a groundout, but a run score to give the Cubs a two to one lead and then he struck out old friend Dansby Swanson.
Walt Weiss made the wise decision to replace Holmes in the fifth with Didier Fuentes. Holmes finished the night going 4.0 innings with only the HR to Bregman as his lone hit, but gave up four walks which was enough to end his night. The rest of the night was all bullpen. Fuentes, Lee, and Iglesias combined for 5.0 innings of no hit ball allowing zero walks and accumulating four strikeouts. Fuentes was the MVP for the pitching side of things tonight with three of those innings.
On the offensive side of things, Mike Yastremski finally came through. With Dominic Smith on second in the third inning, Yastrzemski knocked him in to give the Braves a 1-0 lead. After the Cubs took a 2-1 lead in the fourth, Austin Riley continued his much needed surge with a solo shot to tie the game in the fifth.
Not to be outdone, Yastrzemski decided he wanted to get hot too, and once again knocked in Smith, but this time it was a two run show to give the Braves a 4-2 lead. The scoring did not stop in the fifth inning. Matt Olson had a bit of fortune when a ball he hit was deflected by Busch, albeit hit very hard to put the Braves up 5-2, which would be the final score.
All in all the Braves won in demanding fashion. Not only did the pitching only allow five baserunners, but the Braves had eleven hits of their own to go along with two walks.
Yastrzemski was the star with three RBI tonight, in a time when we were wondering if he would ever hit again. However, the unsung hero was Dominic Smith. In a game that he may not have gotten the start if Murphy had not been injured, Smith went 4-4 and showed he very much is worth staying in the DH rotation.
Ha-Seong Kim made his return, but he will have to wait for his first hit of the season, although he did have a walk.
The Braves proved yet again tonight that they are for real. They have now won a series against the Dodgers and took game one against a Cubs team that has two separate ten game win streaks all within a week.
The Braves look to win this series tomorrow night at the same time and same place.
Alex McCoy OF/DH/1B won April Player of the Month for the Fort Wayne TinCaps. In 22 games, he hit .354/.386/.683 with 10 doubles and five home runs. For the season, McCoy has a .284/.344/.885 line with 15 RBI. His vital stats state he is 6-5 and 260, but in a recent interview with MadFriars.com, McCoy gave his updated size as 6-6 and 277. He stated he spent the offseason getting a little bigger and working on his swing to improve his swing-and-miss.
Reliever Logan Gillaspie won Pitcher of the Week for the El Paso Chihuahuas in the Pacific Coast League. In 5.1 innings pitched, Gillaspie allowed no hits, no runs with one walk and three strikeouts. For the season, he has a 4.44 ERA in 24.1 innings pitched with 25 strikeouts. Like many of the El Paso pitchers, the beginning of the season was not kind to Gillaspie.
Lake Elsinore lost its series against Inland Empire 2-4 but remained atop the California League South division with a 19-14 record. Starter Tyler Schmitt won California League Pitcher of the Week with six innings pitched with no earned runs, five strikeouts and one hit in his latest start. Fort Wayne went 4-2 for the week, San Antonio had a 4-2 record and El Paso copied with their own 4-2 record.
El Paso Chihuahuas (19-20 record, 3rd in Pacific Coast League East)
IF/OF Samad Taylor continues his hot tear through Triple-A, hitting .331/.403/.978 with seven homers and 22 RBI. He plays all three outfield spots, has played second base and can DH. Infielder Pablo Reyes has a .439 OBP with 20 walks and a .320 average. OF Jase Bowen has a .948 OPS with 10 home runs and 21 RBI. He is excellent defensively, runs well and has power. The only thing holding him back from a job with a major league team is his 40 strikeouts in 130 at-bats.
RHP Evan Fitterer has a 2.63 ERA in 27.1 innings pitched and seven starts. He has 24 strikeouts and 14 walks. LHP Jackson Wolf works with a low 90’s fastball but has a lot of extension with his 6-7 frame. He has 32 strikeouts in 29 innings pitched with five starts and 10 appearances overall.
Reliever Ethan Routzahn has a 3.00 ERA in 15 games and 18 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts. Reliever Alek Jacob, who has 17.2 innings pitched for El Paso, has 18 strikeouts and two saves.
San Antonio Missions (11-22 record, last in the Texas League South)
IF Carson Tucker continues to impress in his first season back in affiliated baseball after resetting in the Pioneer League. He has a .352 average with nine doubles, a triple and six RBI in 22 games. 1B/DH Leandro Cedeño leads in just about every other offensive category. His average sits at .325 with a .435 OBP and 1.006 OPS. He has four homers and 12 RBI. Catcher Ethan Salas continues his impressive 2026 season with five homers, seven doubles and 18 RBI with eight stolen bases.
RHP Eric Yost has a 3.21 ERA over four starts and seven games total and 28 innings pitched with 33 strikeouts. He has a mid-90’s fastball but it is the curve/slider/sweeper combo that gives him his swing and miss ability. Reliever Francis Peña had a difficult second half in 2025 and started off with the same issues this season. Struggling to command his sinker/slider combo, he fell down the prospect ranks at the end of last season. In nine games and 13 innings pitched, the 25-year-old has a 1.38 ERA with 16 strikeouts but still has too many walks at 14. Reliever Johan Moreno has excelled with a 1.62 ERA in 16.2 innings pitched and 18 strikeouts to six walks.
Fort Wayne TinCaps (16-17 record, 3rd in Midwest League East)
Outfielder Jake Cunningham, 23, signed a minor league contract with the Padres in January before the start of the season. He was originally drafted by the Baltimore Orioles in the fifth round of the 2023 draft and released in January. He struggled with injuries and consistency in his two full seasons in the Orioles organization.
Since joining Fort Wayne, Cunningham is hitting .323 and has a .591 slug with six home runs and 18 RBI, all of which lead the TinCaps. He plays all the outfield positions, can DH and has played first base with the Orioles. C/1B Lamar King Jr. has a .409 OBP, leading Fort Wayne, with 19 walks and eight stolen bases in 29 games.
RHP Carson Montgomery, playing his first full season since returning from Tommy John, has started five games and 22 innings pitched with a 1.64ERA and 18 strikeouts to eight walks. LHP Kash Mayfield continues to dominate with a 1.82 ERA in six games started and 24.2 innings pitched. He has 26 strikeouts to 13 walks. Closer Clay Edmondson, 22, was drafted last year in the 14th round and has done nothing but impress since the start of the season. In 12 appearances and 14.1 innings pitched he has a 0.63 ERA with 21 strikeouts and four walks. He has K’d 38.2% of the hitters he has faced with his sidearm/submarine-type delivery.
Lake Elsinore Storm (19-14 record, 1st in California League South)
First baseman Luke Cantwell was drafted in the 20th round of the last draft and has started quickly for the Storm. He is hitting .352/.477/.493 with seven doubles, a homer and 17 RBI. He leads the team in average and on base with shortstop Justin DeCriscio leading in slug with .544 (three homers and 18 RBI). Centerfielder Ryan Wideman spent the offseason re-working his swing and has broken out this early part of the season. He is hitting .328/.420/.541 with nine doubles, four triples, three homers and 26 RBI. He has stolen 27/31 bases. That is the best stolen base number in all of baseball, not just the minor leagues. He was a legitimate four-tool player when drafted with only a question about his contact ability due to the big swing he had when drafted. He seems to be answering that question quickly.
RHP Winyer Chourio, 22, an international sign out of Venezuela, has a 2.14 ERA in six games/five games started with 21 innings pitched and 32 strikeouts to 12 walks. That gives him a 13.71 K/9 while allowing no home runs. LHP Javier Chacon, 23, an international sign from Cuba, has pitched in eight games and 12 innings with a 1.59 ERA and has 24 strikeouts to seven walks. RHP Ethan Long has three saves and a 1.35 ERA in six games and 6.2 innings pitched.
LHP Kruz Schoolcraft had a miserable start to his Storm career but has worked his way back to a respectable start on May 8. He went four innings while allowing three hits and no earned runs with two strikeouts and two walks. He had seven whiffs with his fastball returning to the normal 95-98 mph.
ACL Padres (3-3 record in the ACL West)
Shortstop Yimy Tovar has played in six games with a .316/.381/.632 line with three RBI and three stolen bases. Third baseman Luis De Leon is hitting .313/.421/.500 to begin the season.
RHP Jordan Valenzuela has 4.2 innings pitched with a 3.86 ERA as the best reliever on the team. RHP Erick Batista has started one game with four innings pitched with a 2.25 ERA.
Injury and rehab
Both Ty Adcock (oblique) and Jhony Brito (elbow surgery) have begun their rehab with the ACL Padres. Brito has three innings in his first start with a 3.00 ERA. Adcock has one inning pitched, struck out one and walked none.
Padres prospect Michael Salina, the fourth-round pick in 2025 that required Tommy John surgery before the draft, has begun his rehab in Arizona with the ACL Padres. He made one start for 0.2 innings with two strikeouts but allowed two runs and a walk.
Former NBA star Marreese Speightsannounced on social media that he has stepped down as the head boys basketball coach at St. Petersburg (FL) Northside Christian School.
Thank you, Northside Christian, for this opportunity. It was truly a blessing to lead the program over the last year and build so many meaningful relationships. I especially want to thank Brandon Elam for believing in me. You taught me a lot, and I learned so much from your guidance and support.
I hope I left the program better than I found it. As I head back to college, I leave with nothing but respect and appreciation for Northside Christian.
Speights captured an NBA title in 2015 with the Golden State Warriors. He is one of only 47 players ever in history to have won both a national college championship and an NBA championship.
Over his 10-year NBA career, Speights appeared in 705 regular-season games, averaging 7.9 points and 4.1 rebounds per game. In the NBA playoffs, he played in 60 games and averaged 5.3 points and 2.5 rebounds per contest. Speights played for the Philadelphia 76ers, Memphis Grizzlies, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Los Angeles Clippers, and Golden State Warriors, respectively.
Back in April, 2025 Speights was tabbed as the Mustangs’ head coach, marking his first high school head coaching job out of Pinellas County.
Northside Christian finished the 2025-26 season with a 19-12 record and as the state’s No. 96 ranked team, according to the final Florida High School Boys Basketball Massey Rankings.
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Los Angeles, CA - May 11:Los Angeles Lakers guard Austin Reaves (15) shows frustration with an officials call in game four of the second round of the NBA playoffs in Los Angeles, CA on Monday, May 11, 2026.(Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In theory, one of the biggest questions that could be surrounding the Lakers this offseason would be the impending free agency of their All-Star caliber guard. In many situations, a player of Austin Reaves’ caliber and age entering free agency would be a cause for concern as to whether he’d leave this summer.
But nothing about this situation has created cause for concern for the Lakers. Every step of the way, both sides have spoken of wanting to find a new deal. Even when Austin Reaves turned down his contract extension last summer, he spoke of how difficult it was and maintained that he wanted to remain in Los Angeles.
It looks like that sentiment has remained throughout the season as well. On Tuesday, President of Basketball Operations Rob Pelinka spoke about Reaves during his exit interview and only added more belief that he would be returning.
“He started his journey here as a Laker and has made it very clear to us that he wants his journey to continue as a Laker,” Pelinka said. “We feel the same way. We want his odyssey to continue to unfold in the purple and gold. There’s rules and timing to all of that but I think both sides have made it abundantly clear where he continues his prolific career here.”
If you didn’t already have enough evidence to believe Austin is returning, there’s even one more piece that dropped on Tuesday as well. In a piece from Dan Woike of The Athletic, Luka Dončić reportedly let the Lakers know that he wants to play with Reaves moving forward, including advising the team to keep him out of Giannis Antetokounmpo negotiations at the deadline.
The good news is that the Lakers looked great when Austin and Luka were at their best. They were not just one of the highest scoring backcourts in the league, but one of the highest scoring duos.
Reaves is a huge success story for the Lakers’ front office and scouting department. If he does indeed re-sign with the Lakers this summer, it’ll be the second time he’s re-upped with the Lakers. He’s improved every step of the way in his career and the purple and gold are continuing to reap the rewards.
BUFFALO, NEW YORK - APRIL 28: Charlie McAvoy #73 of the Boston Bruins skates against the Buffalo Sabres in Game Five of the First Round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at KeyBank Center on April 28, 2026 in Buffalo, New York. (Photo by Bill Wippert/NHLI via Getty Images)
NHLI via Getty Images
NEW YORK — Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy has been suspended for the first six games of next season for slashing Buffalo’s Zach Benson.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced the ruling Tuesday after holding an in-person hearing at league headquarters in New York on Monday. That gave senior VP of player safety George Parros and Co. the option to suspend McAvoy for six or more games.
McAvoy was ejected for his retaliatory two-handed slash to the right arm of Benson, who seconds earlier tripped him and sent him crashing into the boards. The league called it a “dangerous trip” that was penalized.
The incident came with under two minutes left in the Sabres’ series-clinching victory in the first round of the playoffs on May 1, with the Bruins on the verge of being eliminated.
In a chaotic play in the top of the fifth inning at Citi Field on Tuesday night, the third base umpire got in the middle of the fray and might have even helped the Mets stop the Tigers from scoring a game-tying run.
It all started when Mets starter Freddy Peralta yielded a two-out single to right to the Tigers’ Riley Greene, and Colt Keith, who started the play on first base, made it all the way to third safely when Carson Benge’s low, hard throw could not be handled by third baseman Brett Baty.
As the ball bounced around near the boundary of the visitor’s dugout, Keith darted home but hit into an expected wall — Drake.
Chaos at Citi Field!
Colt Keith goes to third, the throw gets away and Keith is thrown out at home
Detroit Tigers third baseman Colt Keith (33) is tagged out by New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) while trying to score a run during the fifth inning at Citi Field on May 12, 2026. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Drake had been in position to make the call at third, but when Keith made his dash to the dish, the umpire could not move out of the way before Keith slammed into him.
As Drake fell to the grass, Keith threw off his helmet and stayed on his feet, but was thrown out at home by Peralta, who was in the right position backing up the play.
Had Keith b\scored, the ballgame would have been tied. Instead, he was the final out of the frame. The Mets added three more runs in the bottom of the sixth to extend their edge. They added two more in the seventh, one of which came on rookie A.J. Ewing’s first big league hit, an RBI triple.
NEW YORK, NEW YORK - APRIL 26: Ezequiel Tovar #14 of the Colorado Rockies strikes out during the third inning of game one of a doubleheader against the New York Mets at Citi Field on April 26, 2026 in the Queens borough of New York City. (Photo by Heather Khalifa/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Some teams need to be more productive with runners in scoring position, have more leadoff production or more base stealing, have a more consistent bullpen and more. Every team has things to improve — some more than others.
MLB.com’s Thomas Harding identified better hitting against right-handed pitching, specifically from Ezequiel Tovar, Brenton Doyle, Jordan Beck and Hunter Goodman. With Warren Schaeffer’s preference to focus on match-up specific lineups, Doyle’s and Beck’s struggles have relegated them to the bench more often than not.
If I could pick one thing, it would be to lower the strikeouts. The Rockies lead MLB with 401 total strikeouts and an average of 9.78 Ks per nine innings. I know this is a massive change to ask for, but just reducing those strikeouts by one per game would be a great start. My wishlist would be to finish around 20th in team strikeouts by the end of the season.
Your turn.
Realistic: What is one thing the Rockies can improve on the rest of the way?
Wishlist: What is the one thing you wish the Rockies could improve on the rest of the way?
May 12, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Zack Wheeler (45) throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images
It’s hard to believe that Zack Wheeler was a major question mark less than a month ago. At least for now, he looked like the Zack Wheeler of old as he went 7.1 innings against the Red Sox while allowing one run on just 87 pitches in a 2-1 win. Kyle Schwarber tied the Phillies franchise record with a home run in his fifth straight game in the first inning and Bryson Stott added an RBI double in the second to give Wheeler all the offense he needed.
Boston started a left-handed opener in Jovani Morán and Schwarber promptly greeted him with his seventh first inning home run of the year. Schwarber became the eighth Phillies hitter to homer in five consecutive games and the first since Trea Turner in 2023.
Bryan Bello entered the game in the second for Boston to serve as the bulk pitcher, and Brandon Marsh quickly greeted him with single to right field on the first pitch that extended Marsh’s hitting streak to 13 games. J.T. Realmuto then grounded out to the pitcher but was able to move Marsh into scoring position. That proved to be important when Bryson Stott laced a cutter down the right field line at 109 MPH that hopped over the short Fenway wall for a ground rule double that scored Marsh and gave the Phillies a 2-0 lead.
But that was all the offense the team would muster, as they would have only three baserunners the rest of the game. Luckily for the Phillies, that was all they needed with Zack Wheeler on the mound.
Wheeler needed only six pitches in each of the first two innings to retire the side and needed just four to get through the third, as the Red Sox were swinging early and often and grounded into two double plays in just the first three innings. Wheeler did not throw more than two pitches to any hitter until facing Jarren Duran in the fourth, who ultimately went down on six pitches with a strikeout.
Zack Wheeler needed just 16 pitches to complete the first 3 innings tonight.
That's the fewest pitches thrown by a starter through the first 3 innings of a game since at least 2000! pic.twitter.com/3Z6rYuMhFs
However, the seventh inning proved to be troublesome for Wheeler who had cruised through the previous six. Mickey Gasper led off with a single before Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida were both retired on fly outs, with Abreu’s landing in Adolis Garcia’s glove just steps from the short bullpen fence. But Trevor Story singled with two outs to put runners on the corners with two outs before Ceddanne Rafaela fought off a sinker on the hands and blooped it into shallow right for an RBI base hit.
Wheeler then got ahead 0-2 to Marcelo Mayer who scalded a 106 MPH grounder up the middle, but Trea Turner was able to make a nice play to field it cleanly and throw Mayer out to end the threat. Wheeler then went back out for the eighth and allowed a leadoff single to Carlos Narváez before getting Caleb Durbin to fly out to end his night. José Alvarado was then tasked with preserving the lead. He was able to do just that with a strikeout to end the inning after obtaining the second out on a replay review that overturned a safe call when Turner bobbled a 104 MPH grounder from Jarren Duran before running to tag second base. Wheeler meanwhile ended his night with six hits allowed, no walks, one hit by pitch, and four strikeouts on just 87 pitches. He generated seven total whiffs, and his fastball averaged 94.8 MPH, a slight uptick from his 94.5 average so far this season.
Jhoan Duran then entered in the ninth for his first save opportunity since April 11th. He quickly got Wilyer Abreu to strike out on a foul tip before Yoshida followed with a single. Isiah Kiner-Falefa entered as a pinch runner and stole second base after a replay review overturned an out call. Duran then walked Story to put the winning run on first with one out before getting a strikeout of Rafaela on a 99 MPH fastball way up and out of the zone. Mayer then sharply grounded out to second to allow Duran to escape the jam and seal the win for the Phillies.
Tomorrow’s matchup
Andrew Painter (1-4, 6.89) will look to rebound from his brutal last start against Sonny Gray (3-1, 3.54) of the Red Sox. First pitch is scheduled for 6:45.
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Giants center fielder Harrison Bader said when The California Post posed a question about the only hip thrusts viewed this many times on the safe-for-work corner of the internet.
Mum’s the word on the most viral celebration in baseball this season. NBC Sports Bay Area“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Giants center fielder Harrison Bader said when The California Post. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
Nothing out of the ordinary. Then their lower bodies got involved.
Following the Giants’ 9-3 win over their archrivals Monday night, Bader and his fellow outfielders, Jung Hoo Lee and Drew Gilbert, locked arms in a group hug. AP
The outfielders appeared to mimic a sexual act not once, not twice, not three or four times, but brought their pelvic sections together five times. All of it was captured on camera.
The clip was shared far and wide on social media, getting mixed reactions. Some fans appreciated the show of levity and personality, while others were concerned about children imitating the NSFW celebration.
A day later, the Giants didn’t seem to want to draw any additional attention to it.
“They’re a close-knit group,” manager Tony Vitello said. “Let’s put it that way.”
Bader declined further comment, Gilbert wasn’t interested in getting too deep into the weeds, and Lee didn’t make an appearance in the clubhouse during the time it was open to the media.
But the Post was able to get to the bottom of who was responsible for initiating the celebration.
“They’re a close-knit group,” manager Tony Vitello said. “Let’s put it that way.” NBC Sports Bay Area
“Bader’s spontaneous,” said Gilbert, who was known for expressing himself in creative ways on the ballfield when he played for Vitello at the University of Tennessee.
It doesn’t sound like there will be a repeat performance.
“We’ll change it up, come up with something different,” Gilbert said. “Hopefully keep the vibes going here. Just trying to win some ballgames.”
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The team preferred to deflect attention onto what preceded the unofficial Hingle McCringleberry homage, handing the Dodgers their biggest defeat of the season and winning consecutive games for the first time since April 25-26. Fair enough.
Between Willy Adames’ gatorade baths after every home win and the latest display by their outfielders, the Giants are drawing eyeballs as much for the way they celebrate their wins as they are for the wins themselves, which so far have been few and far between.
Gilbert and Bader both played coy when asked if they were aware of their newfound virality.
Between Willy Adames’ gatorade baths after every home win and the latest display by their outfielders, the Giants are drawing eyeballs as much for the way they celebrate their wins AP
“If we win games, it’s cool,” Gilbert said. “Everything kind of goes for me off wins and losses. If it’s spreading because we lost, well we lost, who cares? If we win, then cool. If it helps us win, we’ll keep doing stuff like that.”
It was the first time Bader and Gilbert had a chance to show off their personalities in tandem, or share an outfield. Bader had every reason to be enthusiastic, having played his first game since he went on the injured list April 15 with a strained left hamstring.
Vitello’s teams at Tennessee earned a reputation for their over-the-top exhibits of emotion, and Gilbert brought a similar energy to the Giants’ dugout when he was called up late last season.
Vitello acknowledged this spring that his college teams at times “crossed the line” but said he merely permitted his players to express themselves.
It would seem his big leaguers are following suit.
“It’s kind of a fun collage of personalities and skillsets,” Vitello said of the Giants’ outfielders. “The one common theme is they’re all very energetic in their personalities. It makes it fun. If you look back on it, a lot of the winning teams, their personality kind of comes out. Those guys are doing that. They all pull it out of each other.”
HOUSTON, TEXAS - MAY 05: Yoshinobu Yamamoto #18 of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on from the dugout during the second inning of the game against the Houston Astros at Daikin Park on May 05, 2026 in Houston, Texas. (Photo by Kenneth Richmond/Getty Images) | Getty Images
Yoshinobu Yamamoto on the mound, trying to stop a Dodgers losing streak.
MILWAUKEE, WISCONSIN - APRIL 10: Giannis Antetokounmpo #34 of the Milwaukee Bucks looks on before a game against the Brooklyn Nets at Fiserv Forum on April 10, 2026 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images) | Getty Images
On a day of terrible news around the NBA (our sincerest condolences to the family and friends of Grizzlies forward Brandon Clarke AND trailblazing center Jason Collins), there is a small bit of good news for Bucks fans. You may recall that, towards the end of the regular season, Giannis Antetokounmpo infamously called on the league to investigate the Bucks for violating the player participation policy, publicly accusing the Bucks of holding him out of games despite being healthy. The league obliged his request, and what followed was a series of contradicting reports from both sides, being aired to the media by both Giannis and via ESPN’s Shams Charania (who is also feuding with the Bucks).
Well, Charania relayed earlier this evening that the league completed its investigation and will not take any disciplinary action against Milwaukee for this part of Giannisgate, implicitly exonerating them. While Giannis said the team wouldn’t clear him medically, the Bucks countered that not only was their star not physically ready, but also wasn’t serious about playing. March 15th was when Giannis sustained a left knee hyperextension—the same knee he famously hyperextended in the 2021 Eastern Conference Finals—and a bone bruise; he hasn’t seen an NBA court since. That came after other knee issues, a groin strain in November, and yet another calf strain in December.
Suffice it to say, the Bucks wanted to protect their asset, whether he remains a Buck or is traded, and they are reportedly again listening to offers. But if they are to be believed (and the league apparently does), Milwaukee was scheduled to have Giannis play three-on-three, and he declined. He also may have said no to a group workout session the first week of April. We may not know the full details anytime soon, if ever.
For now, we can chalk up a W for Milwaukee in a season where they had 50 Ls. In the eyes of the league, they were on the up-and-up, and their player may not have been. I can’t say I’m surprised: the NBA tends to side with its teams more than its players. After all, the commissioner is selected by 30 team owners. And to be honest, 29 other teams would do the same with a star who faced that many lower-body injuries in a lost season.
The difference is that Giannis, always the fierce competitor who wants to be on the floor, health be damned, piped up about it. Other stars didn’t when they were shut down this season or in previous seasons, with the possible exception of Joel Embiid. It’s anyone’s guess how this affects Giannis’ already-strained relationship with the team. He might dig his heels in further, maintaining the Bucks were in the wrong, or he might be contrite and recognize his part in this whole kerfuffle.
Whether or not the relationship can be repaired, though, remains to be seen. I’m not sure this would make Giannis more eager to sign an extension with Milwaukee. And it may not matter to ownership, who might have already made up their minds one way or the other. I doubt either side will go on record about this anytime soon, and they probably both want to move on. Whatever that looks like.
The basketball community has suffered another loss.
On May 12, it was announced that former Brooklyn Nets center and NBA Cares Ambassador Jason Collins passed away at the age of 47. Last September, Jason revealed that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 glioblastoma, a tumor of the brain. Following the announcement of his passing, tributes poured in across the basketball world.
“Jason Collins’ impact and influence extended far beyond basketball as he helped make the NBA, WNBA and larger sports community more inclusive and welcoming for future generations,” NBA Commissioner Adam Silver said in a statement. “He exemplified outstanding leadership and professionalism throughout his 13-year NBA career and in his dedicated work as an NBA Cares Ambassador. Jason will be remembered not only for breaking barriers, but also for the kindness and humanity that defined his life and touched so many others.
“On behalf of the NBA, I send my heartfelt condolences to Jason’s husband, Brunson, and his family, friends and colleagues across our leagues.”
The Brooklyn Nets shared a statement following Collins’ passing…
We are heartbroken to learn of the passing of Jason Collins.
Jason spent eight seasons in a Nets uniform, helping define an era of our franchise and playing a vital role on our back-to-back Eastern Conference championship teams in 2002 and 2003. He was a constant in our locker… pic.twitter.com/mN9KUyJ8oK
Collins’ NBA journey began with a bang. Though New Jersey Nets selected Eddie Griffin with the #7 overall pick in 2001, Rod Thorn knew the Rockets liked Griffin; the two teams soon worked out a trade to swap #7 for #13 (Richard Jefferson), #18 (Collins), and, #23 (Brandon Armstrong).
New Jersey made the NBA Finals in each of Collins’ first two seasons, as the California native brought interior defense and tough to matchups against Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan on basketball’s biggest stage. In the ‘03 run, Collins started all 20 of New Jersey’s playoff games.
He saw the whole arc of those 2000’s Nets teams, from championship hopefuls to the unceremonious end, spending his first six-and-a-half seasons there before a trade in early 2008 sent him to the Atlanta Hawks. Collins also played for the Boston Celtics and Washington Wizards.
Jason Collins was a beloved member of the Celtics family. He was a pioneer in the NBA and professional sports, and we are grateful to have felt his impact in Boston.
But a snapshot of Collins’ Basketball Reference page will never tell half of his story. In April 2013, Jason publicly came out as a gay man. In a wonderful story he co-penned for Sports Illustrated, Collins explained why he decided to come out…
“No one wants to live in fear. I’ve always been scared of saying the wrong thing. I don’t sleep well. I never have. But each time I tell another person, I feel stronger and sleep a little more soundly. It takes an enormous amount of energy to guard such a big secret. I’ve endured years of misery and gone to enormous lengths to live a lie. I was certain that my world would fall apart if anyone knew. And yet when I acknowledged my sexuality I felt whole for the first time. I still had the same sense of humor, I still had the same mannerisms and my friends still had my back.“
In the middle of the following season, Collins signed a 10-day contract with the now-Brooklyn Nets, then another, then an end-of-season contract to close out his playing career. In doing so became the first active openly gay player in four major American men’s sports leagues…
I was at Barclays Center the night Jason Collins returned to the Nets following his Sports Illustrated interview. When his former teammate Jason Kidd called on him to enter the game the arena erupted and stood in a Brooklyn embrace. Made me so proud to be a Nets fan. RIP Twin.
Following his retirement, Jason worked for NBA Cares and The Trevor Project, a non-profit organization that provides suicide prevention and crisis intervention for LGBTQ+ youth under the age of 25. Throughout Jason’s life, he sought to help and advocate for others around the world and make the world a better and safer place.
“Jason changed lives in unexpected ways and was an inspiration to all who knew him and to those who admired him from afar,” the Collins family said in a statement. “We are grateful for the outpouring of love and prayers over the past eight months and for the exceptional medical care Jason received from his doctors and nurses. Our family will miss him dearly.”
I think back to this article by current Defector writer and New Jersey Nets fan David Roth, published in 2013…
But if his dignity is a big part of what makes Jason Collins so admirable at this moment, the way he has consistently found dignity in his very public labor is what makes it stick. Jason Collins has faced off with Shaquille O’Neal and Tim Duncan and David Robinson in the NBA Finals and his generation’s other NBA giants in games significant and insignificant, and he has not outscored or outplayed them in any of those games. Collins went into those games knowing that he would not, could not do that. He might foul them in a timely or intelligent way, or piss them off, or set good enough screens and play good enough defense to mitigate at least to some extent the inescapable physical fact that his opponents were bigger and stronger and better at basketball than him. His ability to do those things, his willingness and knack for the NBA’s most rote and punishing work, has made him both professionally valuable and personally wealthy.
And if Collins’ bravery has made him an historically significant figure—and I’d argue that it has—it’s worth remembering that his humble heroism is of a piece with his reliable and consistently unheroic life in basketball. Jason Collins earned both respect and a living by doing work, by pushing and fighting and fighting even when it was more or less futile, because that was his job as he understood it and because it was the way he could do it best. He won what he won by finding ways to make his humble individual utmost a component part of a collective effort towards a common goal, and so both buried and multiplied his labor’s significance. He makes his living like that, by disappearing into his work and doing it, by doing invisible and important things that aren’t easily or adequately captured on either side of a basketball card. It makes sense that we wouldn’t have seen this coming, but it makes even more sense that, if Jason Collins were to make history, he’d do it just like this.
Glioblastoma is a tremendously awful, aggressive type of brain cancer; Collins was dealt an unimaginable hand of cards in his mid-40s, and yet, he died as he lived: Trying to pave the way for those behind him. As he told Ramona Shelburne this past December:
Currently I’m receiving treatment at a clinic in Singapore that offers targeted chemotherapy — using EDVs — a delivery mechanism that acts as a Trojan horse, seeking out proteins only found in glioblastomas to deliver its toxic payload past the blood-brain barrier and straight into my tumors.
The goal is to keep fighting the progress of the tumors long enough for a personalized immunotherapy to be made for me, and to keep me healthy enough to receive that immunotherapy once it’s ready.
Because my tumor is unresectable, going solely with the “standard of care” — radiation and TMZ — the average prognosis is only 11 to 14 months. If that’s all the time I have left, I’d rather spend it trying a course of treatment that might one day be a new standard of care for everyone.
I’m fortunate to be in a financial position to go wherever in the world I need to go to get treatment. So if what I’m doing doesn’t save me, I feel good thinking that it might help someone else who gets a diagnosis like this one day.
Jason Collins was 47 years old, fondly remembered by Nets fans for his play but a treasure and source of inspiration to so many more. May he rest in peace, and may his legacy live on.
You can add Rick Pitino to the rapidly expanding Knicks bandwagon.
The St. John’s coach sees the possibility of the orange and blue going deep — deeper than the franchise has gone in more than 50 years.
Yes, that includes a championship. The Hall of Famer believes this surging group has that kind of potential.
Head coach Rick Pitino celebrates after St. John’s second-round win over Kansas in the 2026 NCAA Tournament. Charles Wenzelberg / New York Post
“I think they have the best nine or 10 players. They may not have the best three, they have the best nine or 10,” Pitino told The Post. “Their bench is excellent, [coach Mike Brown] uses them great. The improvement offensively and defensively in OG [Anunoby], the improvement in Karl-Anthony Towns away from the basket with his passing, [Jalen] Brunson is the most unique player I’ve ever watched in my lifetime.
“I love it. I root for the Knicks like they’re my team. I do think they are championship driven.”
The Knicks are on a stunning run, coming off a conference semifinal sweep of the 76ers — the first time they have swept Philadelphia in the playoffs since Pitino was the coach in 1989.
They have won seven straight playoff games by an average of 26.4 points and are currently the betting favorites to reach the NBA Finals for the first time since 1999.
Though most experts still see the defending champion Thunder as the favorite, the Knicks are playing just as well.
Since the team tweaked its offensive game plan to run more offense through center Towns — the change happened during the opening-round series against the Hawks — the Knicks have found a higher level. In the postseason, Towns has 66 assists — 40 more than he amassed in the playoffs a year ago.
“They look for each other much better than before,” Pitino said. “If you watch Cleveland and Detroit, you know the ball is going to [Cade] Cunningham or [James] Harden is going to create or the ball is going to be in Donovan [Mitchell’s] hands. Although Brunson is a great scorer, they are sharing the basketball so well that keying on Brunson is not enough to stop this team. Before the Atlanta series, keying on Brunson was the way to stop the Knicks. That’s no longer working because of their ball movement.”
“They went from a one-on-one team to a ball movement, player movement team. They do a lot of different offensive things that are much more pleasing to the eye.”
Brunson remains the linchpin. The three-time All-Star is enjoying another awesome postseason, averaging 27.4 points and 6.1 assists.
He is shooting a robust 48.5 percent from the field and 40.9 percent on 6.6 attempts from 3-point range. Both are his highest numbers as a Knick in the playoffs.
“How a player that size with that vertical can get off any shot around the basket, he’s got Tiny Archibald in him around the basketball. He has the best midrange game,” Pitino said. “He gets off any shot midrange and he’s become a great 3-point shooter. He’s just an amazing, amazing 6-foot, 2-inch basketball player. Pound for pound, inch for inch, maybe one of the best players I’ve ever seen.”
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The next two rounds figure to be tougher. The Knicks opponent in the conference finals has yet to be determined.
The Pistons-Cavaliers series is tied 2-2. If the Knicks get past that round, it will likely be either the Thunder or the Victor Wembanyama-led Spurs to follow.
They wouldn’t have home-court advantage against either of those teams. But with the way the Knicks are currently playing, nobody should scare them.
“The only negative is the home court,” Pitino said. “Outside of that, I think the Knicks have the best team. Now OKC obviously is great, they’re the defending champions. But the Knicks are deep, talented, and the way they are playing offensively — I don’t mean 3-point shooting, I’m talking about the ball movement, player movement — it’s so much better than what I watched in January.”
5 out! 
