Woods focusing on his health and wellbeing after crash
Florida judge grants his request to leave the US
Tiger Woods has turned down the opportunity to captain the United States at the 2027 Ryder Cup, the PGA of America has announced.
The former world No 1’s decision comes after he announced he would step away from golf for a period to focus on his health and wellbeing. Woods was charged with driving under the influence after being involved in a car accident last week.
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Something’s up with Carlos Narváez.
The Red Sox catcher was benched on Wednesday for undisclosed reasons, and his manager’s answer as to why was cagey to say the least.
“I just made a change,” Alex Cora told reporters. “I talked to Carlos a little bit and we move on from there. So, it’s one of those that I felt like we needed to make the change in the lineup. And I think it’s for the best.”
Cora wouldn’t say for sure when asked if it was for disciplinary reasons.
“Let’s keep it between me and Carlos,” Cora said. “And he understands. This is something that happens on every club. It just happens to be early in the season, and I think it’s the right thing to do.”
Narváez, 27, is in his second season in Boston, having hit .241/.306/.419 with 15 home runs and 50 RBIs across 118 games last season.
He played in three of the Red Sox’ six games heading into Wednesday, getting four hits in nine at-bats.
The Venezuela native spent nine years in the Yankees organization after signing with the franchise in 2015, playing 497 minor league games from 2016-24.
He debuted in July 2024 after starting backstop Jose Trevino went down with an injury, going 3-for-13 during his brief six-game stint in pinstripes.
Narváez was then dealt to Boston before that deadline for righty prospect Elmer Rodriguez-Cruz and international bonus pool space.
He became a bit of a Yankee-killer in 2025, having hit a go-ahead three-run homer during the Red Sox’ June 8 win over their bitter rivals.
Six days later, Narváez hit a walk-off single after throwing out Anthony Volpe on the bases earlier in the frame.
Location: Toyota Center — Houston, Texas
TV: Space City Home Network
Radio: KBME Sports Talk 790
Online: Rockets App, SCHN+
Time: 7:00pm
Rockets: Amen Thompson, Tari Eason, Jabari Smith Jr., Kevin Durant, Alperen Sengun
Bucks: Ryan Rollins, Gary Trent Jr., Ousamane Dieng, Kyle Kuzma, Myles Turner
The Los Angeles Lakers didn’t just beat the Cleveland Cavaliers on Tuesday. They sealed a month that will be remembered as the turning point of their season.
In doing so, they accomplished a bevy of historical feats, with each milestone leaning against another until at the end of the night it felt like they had built a monument.
The month of March wasn’t just a hot streak. It was a month that changed everything.
The Lakers finished the month with a 15-2 record and an 88% winning percentage.
A month ago they were staring directly at the play-in tournament. Holding the same amount of wins as the seventh-place Phoenix Suns and one bad week away from falling into single elimination chaos and uncertainty. Now? They are alone in third place. A guaranteed top-six seed. No play-in. No roulette wheel.
Exhale, because the Lakers have transformed from a team that looked destined for a first-round exit to a team that just maybe is on the precipice of greatness.
This is what it looks like when a team comes together, finds their identity and finally hardens.
And if we’re being brutally honest, it’s also an indictment on what this team wasted earlier in the season. They’ve always had the talent. The roster didn’t change dramatically, it just finally aligned.
And if you’re being honest, it’s also an indictment of what this team wasted earlier in the season. The talent didn’t just arrive in March—it finally aligned.
Luka Doncic didn’t just lead the Lakers through March. He put his stamp on history in the process.
In the Lakers 127-113 win over the Cavs he scored 42 points, dished out 12 assists, grabbed five rebounds, and had two steals. It was his 16th 40-point game this season. Now tied with Elgin Baylor for the sixth-most in a single season in franchise history—joining Baylor and Kobe Bryant as the only Lakers to reach that mark multiple times.
But even more impressive, Doncic had exactly 600 points in the month of March and that was missing one game because of a suspension.
That number lands like thunder because only one other player in league history has ever done that in this month: Michael Jordan (687) in 1987. That’s the air Doncic is breathing now.
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He didn’t just pass Bryant’s franchise March record of 578—he cleared it with room to spare and one less game played. He didn’t just score—he dominated every facet of the game: 600 points, 35+ steals, 50+ threes. No one has ever done that in a single month. Ever.
And yet, Doncic shrugged it off like a man who knows the real story hasn’t been written yet.
“For sure…if you don’t win, it doesn’t really mean anything. The run we have been on…that means a lot more.”
Doncic isn’t chasing numbers, he’s chasing wins and that’s scary for opponents.
Doncic also crossed 15,000 career points during the win on Tuesday. That’s not just an annotation on the box score, it’s a reminder of how quickly he’s climbing the ranks past legends of the past.
Doncic is the third-youngest ever to accomplish the feat. Behind only LeBron James and Kevin Durant. Ahead of Bryant. Ahead of Wilt Chamberlain.
And he got there in 513 games—the sixth-fastest in league history.
At 41 years old, in his 23rd season, LeBron is no longer chasing history—he’s now dragging it along behind him.
Tuesday gave him another crown: 1,229 total wins (regular season + playoffs), passing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for the most in NBA history.
It’s almost absurd how routine this has become. Another game, another record.
But inside the Lakers locker room, when you celebrate the King, the face of the franchise, the young head coach, and the role players around them, you’re celebrating a team, and that means more than you know.
Lost in the avalanche was Rui Hachimura crossing 5,000 career points. It won’t grab the headlines, but as mentioned above it will go a long way in terms of this team’s success come the postseason. Moments in any player’s career, even the ones that aren’t superstars need to be acknowledged and celebrated.
Let’s be honest—when J.J. Redick got this job, a lot of people rolled their eyes.
“Podcaster.” “Broadcaster.” “In over his head.”
Two seasons later? 100 wins. Back-to-back 50-win seasons. The first Lakers coach to do that since Phil Jackson, and he did it in his first two seasons coaching at any level. Period. Only the 16th NBA coach to ever accomplish that feat, and just the fourth in Lakers history.
And when his kids, Knox and Kai, appeared on screen in that locker room to congratulate him, the moment cracked through the edge and revealed something human beneath the résumé.
“I don’t deserve to be mentioned along with Phil and Pat…we have a lot left to accomplish,” said Redick humbly.
That humility is real. So is the fact that Redick didn’t inherit a contender, he shaped one. And he did it all with clarity, stubbornness, and refusal to let the outside noise define him.
“I knew I wanted to be a head coach before I ever got the job,” said Redick reflecting back his motivation for getting into coaching. “My Dad was a potter and an artist. My parents were hippies. We grew up in the sticks…he became a counselor and eventually he and my mom both became life coaches. For most of the entirety that I’ve played basketball it’s been with that mindset to help people and to coach people.”
Milestones are nice. Banners are better. That’s something every Lakers fan knows.
March gave them everything you could ask for—momentum, identity, belief, proof. It bonded them through wins, adversity, road trips, late-night dinners, rounds on the golf course, and shared belief. It gave them something every contender needs but can’t ever fake: Trust.
But none of these milestones mean anything if it doesn’t get packed onto the plane with them come April, May, and June.
Because history doesn’t care about your best month. It only remembers your last one.
On an extremely cold and windy afternoon at Wrigley Field that really wasn’t suitable for baseball, Matthew Boyd looked like the Boyd of 2025 in getting to the sixth inning and striking out 10 Angels hitters.
That, some solid relief and timely hitting by the Cubs led to a 6-2 victory and a series win over the visitors from Anaheim.
The first hitter of the game, Zach Neto, singled off Boyd.
Then Boyd did something he did so well last year — picked him off [VIDEO].
Boyd then retired the next eight Angels in a row — until Neto walked leading off the fourth. Then Boyd set down six more Angels consecutively.
While all this was going on, the Cubs put together a nice rally in the fifth with only one extra-base hit. Miguel Amaya, serving as DH in this one, led off with a walk. That XBH, a double by Nico Hoerner, followed, with Amaya scoring on a close play [VIDEO].
Oddly, no review was asked for, and it appeared Angels manager Kurt Suzuki waited too long to ask for one, because he then had a rather animated discussion with the umpires. Anyway, Alex Bregman was next and singled in Nico [VIDEO].
Ian Happ hit into a force play, but Neto threw the ball into the dugout, so Happ took second. Carson Kelly followed with a walk and a single by Michael Busch loaded the bases.
Dansby Swanson’s sac fly made it 3-0 [VIDEO].
Matt Shaw followed that with this RBI single [VIDEO].
Another RBI single by Pete Crow-Armstrong made it 5-0 [VIDEO].
That’s a really good long-sequence offense, each hitter adding something down the line. No one was going to hit the ball out of Wrigley Field in this one, not with a 21 mile per hour wind blowing in. So the Cubs hitters adjusted their offense to fit the conditions. Well done.
Boyd allowed another single to Neto in the sixth — after he struck out the first two hitters — and when Mike Trout then walked, Boyd was removed to applause from the maybe 10,000 (of 25,125 paid) who showed up in the miserable conditions. Both runners scored, unfortunately. Hunter Harvey’s first pitch to Jo Adell was hit for a single up the middle and then a ball hit by Jorge Soler went under Bregman’s glove for an error, making one of the two runs unearned.
This was an outstanding outing from Boyd [VIDEO].
Here are Boyd’s 10 strikeouts [VIDEO].
More on Boyd’s 10-K outing from BCB’s JohnW53:
Matthew Boyd is the 24th different Cub to strike out at least seven batters in each of his first two starts of a season. The previous five had been Travis Wood, in 2014; Jon Lackey, Jon Lester and Jose Quintana, all in 2017; and Tyler Chatwood, in 2020.
All of their streaks ended in their third start. The last to go beyond two games was Rich Harden, who went four games in 2009. He had set the team record of five games in 2008. He, Mark Prior and Kerry Wood all did it in two seasons.
Only one Cub notched double-digit strikeouts last season: Colin Rea, who had 11 in 7.0 innings of a 1-0 loss at Cincinnati on Sept. 18. He was the first in more than a year, since Shota Imanaga had 11 in 6.0 at home vs. the Athletics on Sept. 16, 2024. That was the Cubs’ sixth such game of 2024: three by Imanaga and one each by Ben Brown, Justin Steele and Jameson Taillon.
Harvey continued in relief in the seventh, retiring the side in order. The Cubs scored a sixth run in the seventh. Kelly led off with a routine fly ball to center that was dropped by Trout. That was really odd; it didn’t look like Trout had trouble with the wind, he just dropped the ball. Kelly wound up on second. He went to third on a single by Busch, and one out later scored on this Shaw single [VIDEO].
Caleb Thielbar threw a 1-2-3 eighth with two strikeouts and Daniel Palencia finished things up in the ninth in a non-save situation. Here’s the final out [VIDEO].
Cubs pitchers struck out 16 in this game. More on that from John:
That was the Cubs’ most strikeouts since they fanned 6 in a 14-1 rout of the Pirates at home on Sept. 19, 2023. They walked two. Their last game was at least 16 strikeouts and no more than two walks was 16 and two in a 3-2 win over the Rockies at home on July 29, 2015.
One more note before I wrap this up. The Angels challenged two calls of strike three and were wrong on both.
On Oswald Peraza in the seventh [VIDEO].
And on Neto in the eighth [VIDEO].
The K zone you see on broadcasts now is the exact ABS box, so as you can see on both of those, the pitch was within the zone. It wasn’t a bad strategic choice by the Angels, late in the game with the possibility of extending the at-bat, but they guessed wrong both times.
About the weather: It was as bad as you heard during the broadcast. The wind was strong and the temp at 39 didn’t really rise much, if at all, throughout the game. I am going to have more to say about this weather and scheduling tomorrow, presuming I thaw out by then. Per baseball-reference.com, for games on which they have reported game-time temperatures, this was just the 10th game ever at Wrigley Field with a game-time temperature of 39 or lower and a wind speed of 21 miles per hour or higher.
In the meantime, the Cubs won the series. A 3-3 homestand isn’t what we wanted, but as was pointed out to me before the game, this win means the Cubs are one win ahead of where they were after six games last year. Yes, the opponents last year were better teams but… this start to the season should be nothing to worry about, especially after seeing Boyd’s outing today (and Jameson Taillon’s Tuesday, and Edward Cabrera’s on Monday). This team will be just fine.
The Cubs will enjoy their off day Thursday and then head to Cleveland to begin a three-game series against the Guardians Friday. The Friday game is Cleveland’s home opener. Cade Horton will start for the Cubs. At this writing the Guardians do not have a starter listed, though if they stay on rotation it should be left-hander Joey Cantillo. Game time Friday is 3:10 p.m. CT and TV coverage will be via Marquee Sports Network.
MIAMI (AP) — Sandy Alcantara never stopped believing in himself.
Not when Tommy John surgery robbed him of the 2024 season. Not when 2025 ended in a disappointing 11-12 record, and a 5.36 ERA.
Instead, he “always kept the faith.”
Alcantara threw the first complete game of the MLB season in a 93-pitch shutout on Wednesday, leading the Miami Marlins to a 10-0 domination of the Chicago White Sox.
It was Alcantara’s second career shutout with fewer than 100 pitches, known as a “Maddux” in honor of Hall of Famer Greg Maddux.
Alcantara also threw his 13th career complete game and fifth shutout.
“Many negative things happened last year but that didn’t hold me back trying to be better,” Alcantara said. “This year, I am going to give my best every time, win more games and be more aggressive in counts. Today, as a club, we did a tremendous job.”
The White Sox did not have a hitter reach second as Alcantara (2-0) scattered three singles, hit a batter and struck out seven. After a dominant outing against Colorado in the season-opener, the 2022 NL Cy Young Award winner extended his scoreless streak to 15 innings.
Alcantara used six pitches to shut down the White Sox. Although his changeup and four-seam fastball were mostly used in his outing, Alcantara also utilized his slider, sweeper, sinker and cutter to carve through the Chicago lineup.
“Everything was working. Everything was good today,” Alcantara said. “I think I did a great job, trying to not miss much.”
Alcantara’s battery mate Liam Hicks continued his torrid offensive start as he homered, had two singles and drove in four runs to give him a major league-leading 12 RBIs.
“It was fun,” Hicks said of catching Alcantara’s gem. “He had a lot of pitches working. When you’re back there and he’s rolling like that, it’s cool to see. It makes your job catching easy.”
As Alcantara accumulated quick outs, the decision became easier for manager Clayton McCullough to allow his ace to pitch the ninth. With Alcantara needing only three pitches to retire the White Sox in the eighth, it became an easy call.
“I gave him a thumbs up and he gave me a thumbs up,” McCullough said.
He called the outing remarkable.
“It’s hard to do that today, to go nine innings with how you view workload," McCullough said. "Hitters are good. He was so efficient and guys played great behind him.”
There were 29 complete games thrown last season, and pitchers threw just 13 shutouts, the lowest in a non-shortened season since 1873.
___
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
EAST LANSING, Mich. (AP) — Michigan State's Tom Izzo said he considered coaching the Phoenix Suns after discussing the possibility last year with one of his former players, Mat Ishbia, who owns the NBA team.
“We talked seriously about it,” Izzo said Wednesday on “The Dan Patrick Show," during a virtual interview from his office on campus.
The 71-year-old Hall of Fame coach chose to lead the Spartans for a 31st season and extended his record of reaching 28 consecutive NCAA Tournaments. They were eliminated by Connecticut in the Sweet 16.
Izzo has turned down multiple opportunities to coach in the NBA, including with Cleveland and Atlanta. Izzo said last week that Huskies coach Dan Hurley asked him for advice after the Los Angeles Lakers offered him a $70 million, six-year contract in 2024.
Ishiba, a walk-on guard on Izzo's national championship team in 2000, hired former Michigan State video coordinator Jordan Ott to coach the Suns this season. Ishiba also hired a former Spartans assistant, Brian Gregory, to be the team's general manager and gave former teammate Mateen Cleaves a job in player development.
Phoenix is in a position to make the playoffs with Ott on the bench after it was 10 games under .500 under coach Mike Budenholzer in his only season with the franchise.
___
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/nba
The Atlanta Hawks (43-33) see Franz Wagner return for the Orlando Magic (40-35) tonight in a big seeding battle.
Starting lineup:
Please join in the comments below as you follow along.
Location: Kia Center, Orlando, FL
Start Time: 7:00 PM EDT
TV: Peachtree Sports Network (PSN), Atlanta News First (WANF), FanDuel Sports Network Southeast (FDSNSE)
Radio: Sports Radio 92.9 the Game (WZGC-FM)
Streaming: FanDuel Sports Network app, Fubo (out of market), NBA League Pass (out of market), Youtube TV (NBA League Pass out of market)
The Golden State Warriors begin the final month of the regular season with a five game homestand starting with Wednesday night’s matchup against the San Antonio Spurs. The game will be played at 7:00 PM PT in San Francisco and can be watched on ESPN and NBC Sports Bay Area.
Golden State saw their three-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday night, losing to the Denver Nuggets on the road, 116–93. Despite entering the game as big underdogs, the Warriors came out strong and even took a seven-point lead into halftime.
However, behind three-time MVP Nikola Jokić, Denver took control in the second half, outscoring Golden State 70–40 across the final two quarters to pull away with the victory. Jokić finished just shy of a triple-double with a game-high 23 points, 15 rebounds, and eight assists.
Meanwhile on the Warriors’ side, Brandin Podziemski and Kristaps Porziņģis tied for the team lead with 23 points apiece. Both were efficient from beyond the arc, with Podziemski knocking down five of his eight attempts, while Porziņģis went a perfect 5-of-5 from three.
While the Warriors received encouraging injury news with Steph Curry returning to practice and participating in a 5-on-5 scrimmage, he is not quite ready for tonight’s matchup against the Spurs. That means Curry will have now missed 26 games since suffering a right knee injury back in January, though there is optimism he could return Sunday against the Houston Rockets.
Unfortunately, the Warriors’ injury problems don’t end there. On the first night of a back-to-back, Golden State enters with a more extensive injury report than usual. It will be especially noticeable in the frontcourt as Porzingis, Al Horford, and Quinten Post are among those listed as out, leaving the team extremely thin at center.
That lack of size comes at a tough time as Golden State prepares to face one of the league’s most dominant big men in San Antonio’s Victor Wembanyama. The MVP candidate is coming off a monster 41-point performance against the Chicago Bulls on Monday, adding 16 rebounds, four assists, three blocks, and a steal.
Draymond Green is expected to draw the primary assignment on Wembanyama, but with limited depth behind him, players like 10-day contract Omer Yurtseven and two-way forward Malevy Leons could be forced into extended minutes against him too — a matchup that could spell a long night for the Warriors.
Enjoy the game Dub Nation. GO WARRIORS!!!
Warriors: Brandin Podziemski, Pat Spencer, Will Richard, Gui Santos, Draymond Green
Spurs: De’Aaron Fox, Stephon Castle, Devin Vassell, Julian Champagnie, Victor Wembanyama
Who: Golden State Warriors (36 – 39) vs. San Antonio Spurs (57 – 18)
When: Wednesday, April 1st, at 7:00 p.m. PT
Where: Chase Center — San Francisco, California
TV and Streaming: ESPN and NBC Sports Bay Area (available on fuboTV)
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There’s no joking around on “April Fools” when the San Antonio Spurs come to the Bay Area tonight to battle the Golden State Warriors... or what’s left of them.
My Spurs vs. Warriors predictions like Wemby to wipe the glass clean tonight against a thin Dubs frontcourt.
Find out more in my NBA picks for Wednesday, April 1.
The Golden State Warriors limp to the finish line with injuries up and down the roster.
That includes holes in the frontcourt, with veteran center Al Horford and 7-footer Quinten Post out of action. Kristaps Porzingis and Draymond Green are all that stand between Victor Wembanyama and the rim.
With those forwards primarily playing above the foul line, they aren’t contending for offensive rebounds, letting Wemby scoop up a surplus of misses from a Golden State offense that finished March ranked 23rd in effective field goal rate.
The Warriors weren’t a great rebounding team even before injuries thinned out the herd, sitting 20th in rebound rate overall while allowing 11.5 offensive rebounds per outing.
Wembanyama grabbed nine, 12, and 15 boards in his three matchups with the Dubs, tallying nine offensive rebounds in those games.
The San Antonio Spurs’ 7-footer averaged a dozen rebounds throughout March on 17.3 rebounding chances across 15 games and closed the month with 16, 15, 15, and 15 boards in his last four outings.
It helps that the Spurs' defense is tightening the screws down the stretch, holding foes to under 44% from the floor during their nine-game winning streak.
That drum-tight defense is producing a spike in rebounding chances, with that metric jumping to 85.6 (the third-most in that span) from 77.3 since the All-Star break.
Player projections call for Wemby to dominate the window again, with forecasts between 12.6 and 14.2 rebounds tonight.
The Dubs are running out of answers on offense, and while they’ve put up some points against bottom-tier defenses, San Antonio shuts Golden State down from outside and allows nothing easy in the paint.
Devin Vassell runs hot and cold. He finished with only six points last time out, following efforts of 16 and 19 points. Projections peg the Spurs' small forward for as many as 13.5 points tonight.
If defense wins championships, then the Spurs are on the right path. This is one of the Association's most stingy teams, with Wemby cleaning the glass and sending shots back against a smaller Warriors lineup.
Wemby has cleared this block line in five of his last 10 games, totaling 33 swats over that span. With Wemby doing what he wants all game, the Spurs will cover with relative ease.
San Antonio is 7-10 Over/Under when set as a point spread favorite of -10 or higher. Find more NBA betting trends for Spurs vs. Warriors.
| Location | Chase Center, San Francisco, CA |
| Date | Wednesday, April 1, 2026 |
| Tip-off | 10:00 p.m. ET |
| TV | ESPN |
Not intended for use in MA.
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After a one hour plus rain delay, the Mets and Cardinals matched up in a pitcher’s duel, with Liberatore carrying a no-no into the fifth inning. The taut pitcher’s duel was interrupted by a Juan Soto solo HR in the 6th, but matched up by a key two-out, two-strike RBI single by Nolan Gorman to knot the score up. The 1-1 tie carried into the 11th inning, when a bloop single by Masyn Winn brought home the extra runner (JJ Wetherholt) for a Cardinal walk-off victory.
Mathew Liberatore pitched six strong innings giving up 3 hits, 1 R, 1 BB, 2 K. The Cardinals bullpen held serve for 5 more innings, pitching very sharp with the exception of Roycroft’s struggles in the tenth. Graceffo pulled a magic act escaping a bases-loaded, one-out situation and is rewarded with the walk-off win.
The Cardinals take the series, 2-1 and end the homestand 4-2. Well done by the home team. On to Detroit after an off-day tomorrow.
A view from the box score, for those who want a deeper sense of the game.
T1 – Libby starts out inducing weak contact. P6. 5-3. F9.
B1 – Wetherholt K’s. Can already see teams are peppering him high and away. The last two strikes were out of the zone, following a take on a borderline strike. Herrera singles. Burly GIDP, except Lindor forgot there was only one out and didn’t throw to first. Oops. Fielder’s indifference? Winn K’s to end the inning.
T2 – Another smooth inning for Libby. L4. 5-3. 5-3.
B2 – Gorman lines out. Sags K’s. Church with a deep fly. It must be a get-away day after a rain delay with the fast pace of the game <checks notes>.
T3 – 6-3. 1-3. 4-3. Nine up, nine down. 34 pitches first time threw the line-up. Very sharp.
B3 – Pages grounds out. Scott II K’s. Wetherholt gets a second look at Peralta. An ABS challenge goes his way (on an away pitch, of course). JJW K’s. Peralta is matching Libby with zeros and teaching an absolute master level class on how to live on the edge and then just off it with 2 strikes. He, too, is very, very sharp.
T4 – F7. K. L7.
B4 – Herrera grounds out. Burleson grounds out. Masyn Winn lines out. And the beat goes on.
T5 – L7. Sags has handled himself well today defensively. 6-3 on a nice play by Winn. Robert’s AB included a successful ABS challenge by Pages. Vientos breaks up Libby’s no-no with a 2-out double. Semien follows with a walk, following an unsuccessful ABS challenge by Pages. Libby pitching out of the stretch, just missing. Libby closes it out with a K. Still tied, 0-0.
B5 – Gorman walks. Saggese advances him with a single. Church grounds into force play after two unsuccessful bunt attempts. Church advances to 2nd on a weird wild pitch. Alvarez blocked a pitch, and then seemed to forget about Church, who then took second. Pages K’s. Scott II grounds out, stranding two.
T6 – P9. Followed by E-5, but then Lindor gets picked off while drifting off first base. Libby was paying attention, Lindor was not. Soto hits solo HR. Bichette singles. Polanco F9. Mets now up 1-0.
B6 – Wetherholt singles. Herrera walks. Burly K. Winn pops out. Gorman picks everyone up with key two-out RBI single. Brozoban in for Peralta, who pitched extremely well. Sags K’s. Now 1-1.
T7 – Stanek replaces Liberatore, who was really, really good. Lead-off single. F9. K. An E-2 (catcher’s interference) ended Stanek’s outing. Romero relieves and gets a key strikeout. Still 1-1.
B7 – Raley in for Brazoban. Walker backwards K. Pages K. Scott bunts out 1-3.
T8 – 6-3. F9. 6-3. Romero very sharp.
B8 – Weaver in for Raley. F9. K. L9.
T9 – O’Brien in for Romero. Double. K. 6-3. K. Dominance.
B9 – Williams replaced Weaver. Winn walks. Gorman lines out to right. Winn steals second to put winning run in scoring position, but F9 and another Walker K quelled the rally. Extra innings ahead, 1-1.
T10 – Bruihl in for O’Brien. Semien is the runner at second. A skipper back to Bruihl catches Semien off, but poor execution on the run down results in the batter getting to second. P6. Walk. P4 gets a big out on Soto. Nice job by Bruihl to keep the extra runner stranded. 1-1.
B10– Myers in for Williams. Pages K (his third). Scott 4-3. Wetherholt 3-1. Nothing doing here.
T11 – Roycroft in for Bruihl. Soto the extra runner. Bichette bangs one off Roycroft that became 6-3 with Soto to third. A pair of subsequent walks ended Roycroft’s outing. The wheels came off for him. The poise he was showing in spring has evaporated. Graceffo in. 4-2 force at home holds the tie. F9 allows Graceffo to wiggle out of the inning. Great job! Good moment for him. Still 1-1.
B11 – Wetherholt is the extra runner. Herrera IBB. Burleson GIDP takes the wind out of the sails, but a bloop by Winn that drops brings home some walk-off magic, 2-1 Cardinals.
West Coast game times, we won’t miss you! The initial two series of the Tigers season have been rough for anyone with a strict bedtime, and the results have been more mixed than fans would have liked, but the Tigers took to the field on Wednesday hoping to keep the Diamondbacks from completing the series sweep. They’d have Tarik Skubal on the mound, always a good place to start when you want to win a game. The DBacks, meanwhile, were counting on Zac Gallen, who was hoping to have a better game today than his first outing of the season.
Gallen collected two quick outs to start the first inning, but Gleyber Torres kept things alive for the Tigers with a sharply hit single to left. Unfortunately the Tigers weren’t able to keep the momentum up and a fly out ended the inning. Unfortunately, things started to go badly for the Tigers almost immediately in the bottom of the inning as Corbin Carroll hit a one-out solo home run. Skubal got the next two outs, but the DBacks were first on the board.
It was another quick 1-2-3 for the Tigers in the top of the second. Ildemaro Vargas kicked off the home half with a single, but he was soon eliminated in a double play off the bat of Nolan Arenado.
In the third, Colt Keith got a two-out double, but it wasn’t enough to get something going for the Tigers. In the home half, Tim Tawa started things off with a leadoff double, but Skubal was able to steer the ship back in the right direction, following up that gaffe with three consecutive outs.
The Tigers went down in order in the fourth, but the DBacks did much the same in the bottom of the inning, keeping things nice and even.
The game motored right along into the fifth, and with one out in the inning. Matt Vierling sucessfully challenged a strike call to stay alive, then used it to his advantage to work his way to a single. The Tigers didn’t manage to take advantage of the baserunner, and the score stayed at 0-1 heading into the bottom of the inning. Arenado got a leadoff single, but was eliminated by a double play off the bat of Jose Fernandez. Tim Tawa reached in a throwing error by Javier Baez, who overthrew a toss to first that pulled Colt Keith off the bag. Jordan Lawler singled, but the DBacks were also struggling to convert baserunners and Skubal got out of the jam.
In the top of the sixth Kevin McGonigle legged out his first career triple with one out in the inning. It’s too bad that Torres managed to groud into an ill-place double play. Corbin Carroll singled to start the home half. A double play and a groundout followed in quick succession, however, to end the inning and show that Skubal remains a force to be reckoned with.
Gallen’s day was done after six, making way for Taylor Clarke. Clarke gave up a one-out single to Dillon Dingler, but two outs followed to leave him stranded. Skubal plowed through the order in the bottom of the inning, getting the DBacks out 1-2-3. That was likely it for Skubal, whose line for the game was 7.0 IP, 6 H, 1 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, 1 HR on 87 pitches. Not his best outing to be sure and the strikeout numbers were low, but aside from the first inning slip-up with Carroll, it was a good outing from Skubal.
Juan Morillo was next out of the DBacks bullpen, and he got the Tigers out in order as the Detroit bats fell silent. Kyle Finnegan was the first out of the Tigers’ pen after Skubal’s start. A comebacker to start the inning had him checking his reflexes. With two outs, he walked Ketel Marte. He then walked Carroll, which is better than giving up a home run, but not by much. After Dingler came out to help set Finnegan right, they turned around to get the final out of the inning.
It was the Tigers’ last opportunity to try and make something happen. They’d be up against Jonathan Loaisiga. McGonigle wasn’t going to go down without a fight, squaring off against Loaisiga and getting a perfectly-placed single into center. Torres once again hit a ball to precisely the wrong place, hitting into another double play and likely ending the Tigers’ opportunity to come back. Riley Greene doubled into center, following the old adage to hit ‘em where they ain’t. The effort was there, but it didn’t pay off. A Dingler groundout ended the inning and the game. The Tigers suffered their first sweep of the season, and this time they were shut out as well.
ST. LOUIS — The Mets haven’t hit much since Opening Day, wasting strong pitching in the process.
Wednesday, it was Freddy Peralta’s fine work, with solid relief behind him, that got forgotten as Masyn Winn’s bloop single in the 11th inning sent the Mets to a 2-1 loss to the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.
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Try it freeThe Mets, who lost for the third time in four games, went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position, getting their only run on a Juan Soto homer. In the three-game series, they went 1-for-29 with runners in scoring position.
A night earlier, the Mets wasted Kodai Senga’s solid work over six innings in a 3-0 loss.
“I still believe in what we have,” Francisco Lindor said. “[David] Stearns and the front office did a good job of putting a good team together, and we have got a good team. … It’s hard to win if you don’t score runs. Overall, I think we are just a couple of pitches away.”
The Mets wasted a bases-loaded opportunity in the 11th inning, with Brett Baty hitting a grounder that resulted in a force out at the plate before Marcus Semien was retired to end the inning. The Mets also left two runners on base in the 10th inning, when Soto was retired for the final out.
“We have just got to get back to what we do well, which is controlling the strike zone, getting good pitches to hit and doing damage,” manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Good hitters that right now, a couple of games, they’re not getting it done.”
The Mets scored only five runs in the three games. They have already played three extra-inning games, including two they split against the Pirates last weekend.
Tobias Myers, in his second inning of relief, induced a double-play grounder from Alec Burleson after intentionally walking Iván Herrera to begin the 11th, with the automatic runner at second. Winn won it with his bloop to right that fell in front of a diving Carson Benge.
“Our pitchers have done a tremendous job,” Lindor said. “We have got to score runs for them.”
Peralta showed improvement from his Opening Day start by allowing one earned run on three hits with seven strikeouts and two walks over 5 ¹/₃ innings in a no-decision. The ace right-hander allowed four earned runs over five innings against the Pirates in his Mets debut last week.
Peralta retired 11 straight following Herrera’s single in the first inning. Nolan Gorman snapped the string by drawing a walk to begin the bottom of the fifth.
The Mets didn’t get their first base runner against Matthew Liberatore until Mark Vientos stroked a two-out double in the fifth. Semien followed with a walk before Francisco Alvarez struck out to end the inning.
What is Francisco Lindor doing?
— Mike Kurland (@Mike_Kurland) April 1, 2026
Very next pitch was a home run by Juan Soto
If the Mets lose by a run, this is why pic.twitter.com/HXkSzfzjYe
Peralta escaped a jam in the fifth by retiring Victor Scott II for the final out after walking Gorman and allowing a single to Thomas Saggese, who had reached second on a wild pitch with one out. Gorman remained at third.
Soto’s first homer of the season produced the game’s initial run. Soto lofted a fly to right that landed just inside the foul pole. Lindor led off the sixth by reaching on Gorman’s fielding error, but was picked off first base. Soto homered three pitches later.
Gorman delivered a two-out RBI single in the sixth to tie it 1-1. The run was charged to Peralta, who departed with runners on first and second with one out. Huascar Brazobán retired Winn before surrendering the game-tying single to Gorman.
Luis Robert Jr. singled leading off the seventh and with two outs Alvarez reached on a catcher’s interference. But pinch hitter Benge struck out against lefty JoJo Romero to leave the go-ahead run at second base.
Jorge Polanco doubled leading off the ninth, but the Mets never pushed across pinch runner Jared Young as Robert, Baty and Semien were retired in succession.
“We have got to make some adjustments, but they are good hitters,” Mendoza said. “And right now, for the last couple of games, they haven’t gotten the job done.”
Six games in, and it’s safe to say that—outside of the offensive outburst on opening day—the bats have gotten off to a slow start for the Mets. They haven’t scored more than four runs in a game since that first one, and numerous games have gone into extra innings because the Mets couldn’t bring enough runs home to win in regulation despite the pitching staff holding the opposing offense at bay.
Well, we got another one of those games today—and this was perhaps the most frustrating of them all, as the Mets failed twice to score in extra innings and fell to the Cardinals 2-1 to lose the series.
Today’s game started an hour late due to rain, but the Mets’ bats did not seem to get the memo about the new start time. Indeed, after failing to score at all in last night’s game, the offense once again looked helpless against Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore, who retired the first fourteen batters of the game before Mark Vientos broke up the perfect game with a two-out double in the fifth. Alas, through five innings the Mets were held scoreless, making it seventeen straight innings without a run dating back to Monday night. Thankfully, the Amazins had their top starter on the mound, as Freddy Peralta suited up for his second start of the season and matched Liberatore in putting up zeroes. The biggest threat against him came in the bottom of the fifth when the Cardinals got runners on second and third with just one out, but a strikeout and groundout kept the game scoreless.
Francisco Lindor got on base in the top of the sixth thanks to a one-out error, but was immediately picked off (which counted as the second mental error of the day for Lindor, who also forgot how many outs there were and gave up a potential double play earlier). That proved to be consequential, as Juan Soto then came up and hit a high fly ball to right that just barely stayed fair and went over the fence for what should have been a two-run homer. Still, the scoreless streak was finally over thanks to the Soto’s first bomb of the season, and the Mets had themselves their first lead of the day. But alas, they would not hold it for long. Peralta quickly got into trouble in the bottom of the frame, allowing a single and walk to put runners on first and second with nobody out and then falling behind 3-1 to Alec Burleson. He managed to fight back and strike Burleson out, at which point Carlos Mendoza turned to the bullpen. Huascar Brazobán came on and induced an infield pop-up for the second out, but Nolan Gorman then lined a single into center to tie the game at 1-1. A strikeout then ended the inning and finalized Peralta’s line on the day (5.1 innings, 3 hits, 2 walks, 7 strikeouts, 1 run).
The Cardinals pulled Liberatore after six innings of one-run ball, and old friend Ryne Stanek was the first pitcher out of the St. Louis bullpen. The Mets got two runners on against him—on a Luis Robert Jr. single and a two-out catcher’s interference against Francisco Alvarez—and Mendoza then called upon Carson Benge to pinch-hit for Tyrone Taylor. The Cardinals responded by bringing in lefty reliever JoJo Romero, who struck out the rookie to end the threat. We then got a string of 1-2-3 innings from both bullpens (first from Brooks Raley, then a full frame from Romero, then from Luke Weaver) to bring us to the ninth with the score still tied.
Jorge Polanco led off the inning with a double against Riley O’Brien. But as they have done over and over and over and over again in this first week of the season, the Mets failed to capitalize on the threat, and three straight outs—culminating in a strikeout by Marcus Semien, who has not gotten a hit since opening day—sent the game into the bottom of the ninth. Seeking to get the game to extra innings, Mendoza turned to his closer, and Devin Williams was able to work around a leadoff walk to hold the Cardinals scoreless and give the Mets their third extra inning game in this young season.
The Mets and their futile offense then committed the cardinal (no pun intended) sin of playing extra innings on the road and failed to score even the ghost runner in the top of the tenth against new pitcher Justin Bruihl. In do or die mode, Mendoza turned to Tobias Myers (who had just pitched multiple innings on Monday) to attempt the unenviable task of trying to hold the Cardinals scoreless and send the game to the 11th. And remarkably, Myers was able to get the job done, as he struck out the leadoff batter after a failed attempt at bunting the ghost runner over to third, and then two harmless groundouts ended the frame with the game still tied at 1-1.
Given new life, surely the Mets’ bats wouldn’t fail to score yet again, right? Surely they aren’t THAT pathetic, right? Well, after a Bo Bichette groundout off new pitcher Chris Roycroft sent the ghost runner to third, back-to-back walks loaded the bases with one out. The Cardinals brought in a new pitcher—right-hander Gordon Graceffo—to try to get out of the jam. And get out of the jam he did, as Brett Baty then hit a soft grounder to second that result in a forceout at home and Semien (who, again, has not gotten a hit since opening day) flew out to end the inning with the Mets being held scoreless yet again.
So Myers was forced to go out for a second inning and try to pull a rabbit out of his hat yet again. And for a moment it looked like he might, as he induced a groundball double play (following an intentional walk to start the inning) to give the Mets two out with a runner at third base. Alas, Masyn Wynn—who had not had a hit all series leading up to this at-bat—blooped a ball into right field that was just past the reach of a diving Benge, bringing the winning run home to end the game.
It’s been six games. Far too soon to be drawing any meaningfully conclusions. But boy howdy this offense has been dreadful to watch one week in, and for the sake of all of our sanity they should try really hard to be better moving forward—particularly in this part of the season before they start facing off against some more intimidating competition later in the year. Onto San Francisco.
Big Mets winner: Freddy Peralta, +20.8% WPA
Big Mets loser: Marcus Semien, -34.9% WPA
Mets pitchers: +25.4% WPA
Mets hitters: -75.4% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Juan Soto solo homer in the sixth, +18.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Masyn Wynn walk-off single in the 11th, -37.5% WPA
Location: Great American Ball Park, Cincinnati, OH
Broadcast: KDKA AM/FM, SportsNet Pittsburgh
The Pittsburgh Pirates are on the road today against the Cincinnati Reds looking to grab a win at Great American Ball Park.
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