PHOENIX — Well, maybe Munetaka Murakami won’t have a difficult time making that transition from Japan to Major League Baseball after all.
In the meantime, is he ever making a whole lot of teams look foolish for ignoring him in free agency.
Murakami made more history Tuesday night by homering for the fourth consecutive game in the Chicago White Sox’s 11-5 rout over the Arizona Diamondbacks — a 434-foot shot —going where no Japanese player has ever gone before.
He is not only the first Japanese-born player to hit nine homers in his first 23 games, but also the first player since at least 1900 to produce nine homers and more than 20 walks in the first 23 games of a career.
The only Japanese players who have ever homered in four consecutive games at any juncture in their career are three-time MVP Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Chicago Cubs All-Star outfielder Seiya Suzuki.
Murakami, 26, is looking just like the dude who was Nippon Professional Baseball’s premier slugger, breaking the legendary Sadaharu Oh’s single-season home run record with 56 homers as a 22-year-old, and winning two MVP awards.
Sure, the season is just three weeks old, but the strikeouts and swing-and-miss rates that spiked since his historic 2022 season, with teams concerned whether he’d make enough contact to even provide power, now are regretting that they allowed the White Sox to virtually steal Murakami with a modest two-year, $34 million contract.
Murakami is soft-spoken and humble about his early heroics, saying he simply is happy that he’s contributing, but his bat is doing a whole lot of talking.
Murakami is hitting .234 with nine homers — just one behind MLB leader Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros — with 17 RBI and a .978 OPS. He has struck out 33 times in 97 plate appearances, but he has also walked 22 times, giving him a .398 on-base percentage.
He is everything the White Sox could have imagined, and much more.
“He puts himself in a real good position every single pitch,’’ White Sox manager Will Venable said. “He’s on time. He sees the ball well. … We’re seeing real good plate discipline. Obviously, the power is incredible. Continues to improve defensively. I think I may be slowing him down a little bit on the bases. He always wants to get out and steal some bases. But he’s just a guy that’s getting more and more comfortable every day.
“Obviously, he’s having a lot of success.’’
Murakami indeed is looking quite comfortable these days, hitting four homers for a combined 1,705 feet. He reached base four times Tuesday, including his 434-foot blast off Diamondbacks starter Merrill Kelly, his MLB-leading third homer this season traveling 113 mph or faster off his bat.
It certainly brought back memories of his 432-foot blast off Kelly in the 2023 World Baseball Classic championship game over USA.
“I was able to image the pitcher a lot better because I did face him in the WBC,’’ Murakami said. “The time I hit in the WBC was a fastball, but today was a [89-mph] changeup. But I was really happy that I was able to hit it for a home run.’’
What pleases Murakami more than anything, he says, is that his home runs have helped ignite the White Sox offense. They’ve scored 33 runs in their four games on this trip, winning three of them.
“We’re very much connecting from the top to the bottom in the lineup,’’ he said, “and I think it’s just really important that we really continue as a team to get good results. I hope we can keep doing that.’’
The Diamondbacks, one of several teams that had interest in Murakami but were not a finalist in the bidding, could only sit back and admire the show, feeling a tinge of jealousy.
“He was on a lot of people’s radar screens,’’ Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “We knew there was a special player there. I’ve been watching him closely, and I’ve been a fan of his.
Munetaka Murakami smashed his fourth home run in four games, kicking off a back-to-back-to-back homer parade in the second. | (Getty Images)
After a truly insane nine innings of baseball, the White Sox (9-14) won their second game in a row, taking the first game of the series against the Diamondbacks (13-10), 11-5. The South Side bats were on fire, the pitching was solid, and the defense was making diving plays all over the place — it would probably be easier if I told you what didn’t happen. It’s been a minute since I was this excited watching the Chicago White Sox play baseball, so bear with me as I am still slightly in shock.
Outhitting the D-backs 14-8, the Good Guys smashed six of those for extra bases: a double, triple, and four home runs. Although they exploded for 11 runs, they did still manage to go 2-for-12 with runners in scoring position and left nine on base, but we’re not talking about that right now. Nearly everyone got a hit, except for Everson Pereira and Reese McGuire, who still managed to drive in at least one run. There was so much offensive production from this team tonight that half of the lineup (five batters) produced multi-hit games.
Sean Burke mostly cruised through his start and was able to maintain control, though the same couldn’t be said for righthander Merrill Kelly. The Good Guys nearly batted through the order in the top of the first, and they wasted no time pouring runs on Kelly and the Diamondbacks, dropping a four-spot to give Burke plenty of cushion before he even threw a pitch. The Sox immediately caused trouble to start the game with consecutive base hits from Andrew Benintendi and Munetaka Murakami, and Miguel Vargas walked to load the bases. Keeping his momentum up from Sunday after mashing a long ball, Colson Montgomery squared one up and ripped a two-run double to center to give the South Siders a two-run lead, 2-0. They tacked on two more after a sacrifice fly from Everson Pereira, and Sam Antonacci drove in his first major league run with an RBI triple to make it 4-0, Good Guys.
If you thought the first inning was fun, the second was even better. Murakami continued to showcase his prowess at the plate and kicked off a two-out rally by smashing his fourth home run in as many games, joining some solid company as just the third Japanese-born player ever to homer four games in a row. Have a freaking week, Mune:
To really pour salt into Kelly’s gaping wound, Vargas followed up Mune’s moonshot with a line drive homer to left, and Montgomery clobbered a 440-foot tank to center to give the Sox a seven-run lead.
BACK.
TO BACK.
TO-BACK!
With seven runs to work with, Burke simply just had to lock in and throw strikes, and he pretty much did just that. It also helped that the South Siders added an eighth run in the top of the fifth on a Reese McGuire sacrifice fly. Burke had gotten into some hot water in the bottom of the first, but cleaned up after himself. Ketel Marte drove a leadoff base hit, making it to second a few moments later on a wild pitch to get into scoring position. A swinging bunt pulled Burke over to the first base line, and he was able to tag the runner and get the double play at the plate to end the inning as Marte was trying to sneak a run in.
Burke was otherwise scoreless through three and was efficient overall in his six innings. Geraldo Perdomo tripled to begin the fourth and subsequently scored on an RBI ground out for Arizona’s first run of the game. Just two runs allowed on five hits — including a solo home run from Alek Thomas in the fifth — and one walk while striking out three. Burke has now lowered his ERA from 4.43 to 4.10.
To help Burke and the pitching staff out, the defense was also excellent and definitely helped keep some Arizona runs from scoring, especially as the ninth inning got a little dicey. Antonacci had made a nice sliding catch out in left, and Pereira was all over the place, laying out twice for two different balls to rob a couple of base hits, making the catches flawlessly. This play, especially in the seventh, was key to shutting down any momentum that the Diamondbacks were building up, as this almost surely would have been a triple had Pereira not caught it:
Out of the bullpen, Lucas Sims tossed a hitless inning thanks to Pereira bailing him out, as the two baserunners reached base on balls, though he did strike out one. For the final two innings, righthander Osvaldo Bido made his first appearance in a White Sox uniform, picked up on waivers after being designated for assignment by the Atlanta Braves last week. Bido walked two batters but was otherwise decent in the eighth, and he fortunately didn’t have to worry too much about the lead since the South Siders tagged on three more runs in the ninth.
After checking his first MLB RBI off the list earlier in the game, Antonacci decided to cross off his first major league homer: an inside-the-park home run. The rookie ripped a ball down the left field line that ended up sort of hitting the ball boy, but Lourdes Gurriel Jr. gave up on the play, likely thinking that it would be called a ground-rule double or interference. Who knows.
Since the top of the inning was weird, the bottom half had to follow suit. Arizona started to rally, and it seemed like the game wasn’t ever going to end. Will Venable clearly didn’t want to go to the bullpen for a couple of outs with a nine-run lead, and I can not blame him for that, but Bido was struggling to throw strikes, and when he did, the D-backs were really starting to catch up to him. After two base hits, he gave up a garbage-time three-run bomb to Ildemaro Vargas, who extended his hitting streak to 19, right in the nick of time. Though Bido walked a couple more batters, he eventually was able to get out of it to close out the game, officially crediting Burke with his first win of the season.
Apr 21, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley (92) takes a face off against the Vegas Golden Knights during the first period of game two of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images
LAS VEGAS — Logan Cooley scored off a rebound with six minutes left to give the Mammoth a 3-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights on Tuesday night, and they will head back to Utah with a split of the first two games in their first-round playoffs series.
Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is Friday night in Salt Lake City.
Cooley, a 21-year-old from Pittsburgh, is the youngest U.S.-born player to scored a goal in each of his first two playoff games.
It's the first playoff victory for the Mammoth since the organization relocated from Arizona two years ago.
This was the Golden Knights' first regulation defeat under coach John Tortorella (8-1-1).
Dylan Guenther had a goal and assist for the Mammoth, MacKenzie Weegar scored and Kailer Yamamoto finished with two assists. Karel Vejmelka recorded 19 saves.
Mark Stone and Ivan Barbashev scored for the Golden Knights, with Jack Eichel picking up the primary assist on each. Carter Hart, who stopped 26 shots, suffered his first loss under Tortorella in Vegas after winning his first seven starts.
With the score tied at 2 in the waning minutes of regulation, Guenther took a shot off the rush, got his own rebound and then hit the puck off the post. Cooley was waiting there, knocking in the puck to pull the Mammoth even.
The teams traded goals in each of the first two periods.
After Stone scored in the first period on a shot that went off Utah defenseman Mikhail Sergachev's skate, the Golden Knights, for the second game in a row, had an unforced error in which the puck ended up in their net. Weegar was credited with the goal after the puck went off two Vegas defensemen — Noah Hanifin's stick and Rasmus Andersson's shin — into the open net.
Guenther delivered a shot from the left point in the second period for the Mammoth, before Barbashev answered 1:02 later by weaving through the slot to put in a backhand.
ST.
LOUIS – The
St. Louis Blues tried their darndest. Oh, did they ever.
They
tried to overcome near impossible odds
to break the door down to the Western Conference playoff race for a
second straight season.
But
in the end, it was just too much to overcome this year. Living on the
edge, in the end, is not the way to go, to be honest.
The
Blues got into the tournament as the second wild card in large part
to a franchise-record 12-game winning streak, and even then, they
squeaked in past the Calgary Flames by winning on the final day of
the regular season and getting in on the first tiebreaker with one
more regulation win (32-31).
They
were 14 points out of the wild card heading into the Olympic break
but were able to get as close as three points as late as April 5 but
finally ran out of steam, before finishing this season 37-33-12, four
points behind the Los Angeles Kings.
So
why are the Blues of the past two seasons so good late but so poor
early?
“It’s
kind of hard to say what really caused it,” Blues
forward Jordan Kyrou said.
“I think that’s something as a team internally, we’ve got to
talk to each other about and find out as a group and then obviously
down the stretch after the break, we kind of found our footing a
little bit. We started to play kind of how we wanted as a team and
kind of to our identity.”
Let’s
look at the numbers by month of the past two seasons:
*
October – 8-13-2
*
November – 12-10-5
*
December – 13-12-3
*
January – 9-16-1
*
February – 7-4-2
*
March – 22-4-3
*
April – 9-4-2
So
October-January, the team is 42-51-11, and once the clock turns and
they go to February-April, the Blues are 38-12-7.
And
after bulldozing their way into the playoffs last season and
expectations rising to a level of at least competing for the playoffs
once again. And losing in the fashion that they did in Game 7 of the
first round against the Winnipeg Jets, there should have been a
summer’s worth of motivation to come in with their skates on fire.
It
never happened.
“Disappointing
I would say,” Blues
general manager Doug Armstrong said.
“I thought we were, based on the second half of last season and
then the playoffs, I thought we had progressed to a spot where we
would be more competitive out of the gate. Obviously our first half
of the season was not to the standard that we had hoped for, made us
re-assess our short term and maybe medium-term plans, not our
long-term plans. I would say that I thought that we would be a better
team.”
Coach
Jim Montgomery added, “Poor start, and then I would say not being
able to find solutions early enough to be able to get on the right
path was very frustrating, for everybody involved, and we all need to
be significantly better. We all need to change and affect change
within ourselves, and that’s not easy to do, whether it’s your
training habits, it’s your attitude, it’s your mindset. All of
those things need to be different for us to get off to a better
start. It’s two years in a row that I’ve been accustomed to
what’s happened here. I don’t know what happened in the two years
prior to that, but they were non-playoff years as well. Getting off
to a better start and trying to find the attitudes and the mindsets
that we’ve had in the last two months of the season in the last two
years, not because of results, but because the mindsets and the
attitudes were significantly different.”
Montgomery
used a word there that’s key to everything: attitude.
Why
is it that this particular group, and it likely won’t look exactly
the same as the one that ended the season against the Utah Mammoth,
doesn’t view October-January games like it does February-April?
Those
games mean the same on Oct. 28 mean exactly the same as the ones
played on April 5, and that’s attitude, and until that changes, the
Blues are going to be the same group that disappoints early, gets the
fans’ hopes up late, only to more times than not, come up short.
“Attitude’s
the most important thing,” Montgomery said. “All of us have to be
willing to do the right things on a consistent level and it’s got
to be an attitude of, I believe it’s a Truman quote that it’s not
who gets the praise but it’s the common good of the group that
succeeds. It doesn’t matter who gets the credit for the success. It
matters who’s doing the work together to create the success, and
that needs to be the attitude by everybody, and I’m not just
talking players.
“I
don’t care of you drive the Zamboni. Drive the Zamboni the best way
that you can and make sure you don’t miss a line. Those are the
kind of attitudes that we’ve got to make sure everyone’s having.”
Armstrong
agreed.
“Yeah,
there has to be a reckoning of what happened and how it happened and
make sure it doesn’t happen again,” he said. “I’m not talking
about the wins and losses, it’s just our attitude of how we came to
work every day. I shared with some people today, the groups that I
have worked with that have had success loved the grind. They loved
the challenge. They loved the adversity. They couldn’t wait for it.
They thrived under it. They wanted someone to punch them in the mouth
so they could respond. That’s what you’re seeing (from) 16 teams
playing now that had that and we are not one of them today.”
So
how do they change it?
“I
think it’s preparation, but I think guys got to truly sink into
that,” said Blues forward Dylan Holloway, who ripped off 34 points
(14 goals, 20 assists) the final 25 games of the season. “It’s
not that guys aren’t prepared, per se. Everybody’s working all
summer, everyone’s training hard, but I think more mentally, it’s
kind of like, ‘OK, we start on this day’ like mentally. I think
mentally we’ve got to take it back a little bit and truly like be
mentally prepared for the season because like you said, we got off to
two slow starts. But for me, it’s not like this team doesn’t have
the capability to be an elite team, to be a playoff team. It’s just
kind of finding that consistency more and the start’s huge.”
The
Blues never had more than a four-game winning streak this past
season. That’s part of the consistency that was missing for large
swaths. Last season, they were the last team to reel off a three-game
winning streak. This season, they never won more than two games in a
row until the first of three four-game streaks starting March 1-6.
The
harsh reality of having to sit at Enterprise Center this past
Saturday and think about why they failed really set in.
“I
think it starts with training camp,” Armstrong
said.
“And it’s going to be interesting because we’re all going into
a new training camp format. We’re down to four (preseason)
games,
it’s two weeks, there’s a lot of pressure on the players to show
up in great shape. The nagging training camp injuries you see are
going to bleed into the first and second week of the season now. So
players are going to have to skate harder in the summer, they’re
going to have to take care of themselves, they’re going to have to
have leadership practices that are almost NHL practices. You can’t
have sore groins and sore backs like you could when Bernie [Federko]
was playing. You have to show up ready, so I think that’s going to
be a main focus and then I think respecting the league. Understand
that it’s a very difficult league and if you’re not prepared
mentally and physically to play, you’re going to fall back and I
think our mental toughness has to improve. Our ability to turn the
page quickly, I think we hung onto things organizationally too long
and they dragged into the second game, the third game, and then I
think we didn’t get grounded quick enough after a couple of wins.
It felt like it took us five years to win multiple games in a row
there for a while. We didn’t have that mental resolve that
playoff-caliber teams have.”
Montgomery
wasn’t around for the off-season going into the 2024-25 season but
was last year. It was his first full camp as the coach and
understands when players report, there will be no easing into camp.
“There’s
a couple of things you can do. I’ve always been a coach that looks
to get the team off to a … pace is really important in camp, I’m
just talking about training camp,” Montgomery
said.
“I think training camp bleeds into … players got to do their work
to be in great shape and be ready to go and having done improvements
in their games on their own in the summer because they’re not under
our guide at that time. When you start the year, training camp, I
always believe you build the whole, which means five-man groups and
you get off to pace and you start to build the details and habits
within that. The finer points, they have to teach individuals. You
build that as you go along. So you start with a whole, then you build
the small parts, and then you go back to the whole. That has usually
driven a lot of success, but I would say my last two training camps,
that hasn’t happened. So now I’m going to be looking at those
habits and details starting with the small parts and that requires a
lot more gruntwork, a lot more grind on the players. It means camp’s
going to be harder, but that’s the way it needs to be. We need to
change things in order … to affect change, you need to change. So
that’s the things I’m looking at to affect change.
“After
being done with the year-end meetings with the players and getting
their perspective on some of the questions that you guys are asking,
I’m asking them pointedly, ‘What will they do to affect change?’
I told you guys that. Then I’ve got to start looking for assistant
coaches. Then it’s going to be working a lot with ‘Steener’ on
how we see the team, not only playing, how we’re going to make our
team have a better camp. All those things, him and I need to discuss
ad nauseum because it’s really important that we have a great
summer. In order to have a great start, you have to have a great
summer. It starts right away. For us, that’s this week.”
The
players get the long off-season to reflect but they’ve really got
to dig into it and understand that the status quo isn’t nearly good
enough.
“I
think we’ve all got to really reflect on it,” said
Blues forward Robert Thomas, who also ended the season on fire with
31 points (14 goals, 17 assists) in 22 games.
“Obviously it’s been something that’s happened the last two
years in a row. I think a lot of opinions and stuff should be kept
private and handled inside. After those conversations happen, I think
we can all come together and kind of voice our opinions and plans on
how we’re going to change that.”
And
just just change one thing, it’s change plenty, because early this
season, goaltending was poor, defensive play was poor, the offense
was lacking consistency and special teams were bad.
“Obviously
everybody strives to get into the playoffs and go for a run,” Blues
defenseman Philip Broberg said. “Obviously sitting here, it’s
disappointing. We didn’t get (off) to a good start to the season
and then we kind of got going. But I think it was pretty
disappointing to not make the playoffs for sure.”
But
as much as the Blues need to change with their attitude towards Game
1 to 84 – yes, 84 next season, Holloway wants to make one thing
clear.
“Our
culture in the room is amazing,” he
said.
“I feel like everybody’s friends with everybody, everybody talks
to everybody. The guys go for dinner with everybody. It’s a rare
thing to have as tight of a group as we do. It was weird like that to
start. I feel like everybody thought that we were going to get off to
a hot start and it was just going to continue from where we were last
year and then when that didn’t happen, it was kind of a shock to
everyone. It took us a little bit to get it back together and then
when we did, you can see how good hockey that we did play. I think
the goal going into next season is to find that right away.”
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Lakers forward LeBron James elevates for a double-pumping reverse dunk during the third quarter of Game 2 on Tuesday night. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
They did the heavy lifting for the Lakers, combining for 76 points, 16 rebounds and 16 assists to carry the Lakers to a 101-94 win over the Houston Rockets in Game 2 of the Western Conference playoffs Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
James had another near triple-double with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to help the Lakers take a commanding 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series. He capped his night with a two-handed dunk with 55.3 seconds left to make sure the Lakers didn’t blow a 15-point lead they built in the first half.
Lakers guard Marcus Smart, sprawled on the court, steals the ball from Rockets forward Kevin Durant during the first quarter of Game 2. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times)
Smart had 25 points, seven assists and two rebounds while his defense was outstanding once again. Smart, who was eight-for-13 from the field, drilled a big-time three-pointer late in the fourth quarter to give the Lakers an eight-point lead.
Kennard had 23 points, six rebounds and two assists. His two free throws with 14.3 seconds left capped the scoring.
And once again, the Lakers showed their clutch genes, this time doing so with Luka Doncic (Grade 2 left hamstring strain) and Austin Reaves (Grade 2 left oblique muscle strain), sitting on the bench injured.
The Lakers had the best clutch record in the NBA during the regular season, going 22-8 in games when the score was within five points in the final five minutes. The Rockets on the other hand, went 22-23 during clutch moments, ranking 16th in the league.
“We all got to pick up our play,” James said. “When you’ve got two big guns out like we have, we all got to pick up our play. And that's all it's about. We’re all just trying to contribute, make contributions in all facets of the game, pick up our play. Obviously, we're missing Luka and missing AR, so we’re just trying to seize the opportunity. That's all.”
Kevin Durant returned to play after missing Game 1 because of a right knee contusion, and he was sharp early on, scoring 20 points in the first half. But Durant had just three points in the second half and he had nine turnovers for the game.
With the Rockets hosting Game 3 on Friday night, James said he found no comfort in how the Lakers defended Durant.
“None. That just makes him even madder going into Game 3. No satisfaction,” James, who played 39 minutes and 12 seconds, said. “You know, we did our job. We did that. But the guy's a first-ballot Hall of Famer and he's going to make way more great plays than not. So, we don't have no satisfaction. That game is over and done with, but it's still a tall challenge.”
Lakers guard Luke Kennard takes the ball from Rockets forward Kevin Durant during Game 2 of their first-round playoff series at Crypto.Com Arena on Tuesday. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
The starting backcourt of Smart and Kennard, starting in place of Doncic and Reaves, had the kind of first-quarter scoring display Doncic is known for delivering.
Smart had 14 points in the first 12 minutes, shooting five for seven from the field and three for four from three-point range. Kennard had 10 points in the first, shooting four for six from the field and two for three from three-point range.
"Whether those guys are here or not, obviously we would love for them to be here,” said Smart, who played 35:29. “They elevate us to a whole other level, right? And we understand that. But they're not and there's nothing we can do about it but step our game up for those guys."
During the regular season, Doncic, Reaves and James were the Big Three for the Lakers.
But James has two new mates to help the cause, and Smart and Kennard are holding it down.
It started in Game 1, when James, Smart and Kennard combined for 61 of the Lakers’ 107 points, 14 rebounds and 24 assists.
Houston forward Kevin Durant passes the ball under pressure from Lakers forward Rui Hachimura and center Jaxson Hayes Tuesday night at Crypto.com Arena. (Robert Gauthier/Los Angeles Times)
“We know throughout the game we’re going to have the ball in our hands the most, us three,” said Kennard, who played 41:58. “Again, it’s just playing within the flow of the game when we can. Seeing what adjustments they made earlier in the game and just trying to find ways to beat it. I thought we did a good job of staying poised and under control overall. … But, like I said, us three, we know we’re going to have the ball the majority of the time when it comes down to it and we have to be aggressive and look for the right play each time.”
Etc.
When asked about a report saying Reaves has progressed to one-on-one court work and what Doncic is able to do, Lakers coach JJ Redick said, “Yeah, no update on the timeline for either of those guys.”
“Austin has started a return-to-play [plan,] but we don't have any timeline update for him,” Redick added. “And then Luka I think is gonna start some court work here soon. But again, no update on timeline.”
Redick was asked if Reaves returning to play meant he is starting some support work.
“Yeah. But he, again, it's an upper-body injury versus a lower-body injury, so it's different things,” Redick said.
Redick was asked one last time what return-to-play progression looks like for Reaves.
But even with Kevin Durant available and having a hot start, Game 2 played out similarly to the playoffs series-opener, with the Lakers beating the Rockets 101-94 at Crypto.com Arena to take a two-game lead in the best-of-seven first round series.
Durant led the Rockets with 23 points, six rebounds and four assists after missing the first game of the series because of a right knee contusion.
But the Lakers once again stifled the Rockets’ offense.
“There’s a natural flow to series where the team that wins [Game 1] can relax a little bit and the team that loses comes out and plays with more desperation,” coach JJ Redick said. “Our guys at least matched their sense of desperation. Our second efforts, all that stuff. You’ve got to win a bunch of little fights, that can be your catch position, that can be your screens, that can be creating separation, that can be boxing out. But this team requires you to win a bunch of little fights.”
LeBron James scored a team-high 28 points to go with eight rebounds and seven assists. Luke Kennard had 23 points and six rebounds, while Marcus Smart stuffed the stat sheet with 25 points, seven assists and five steals.
What it means
The Lakers have a 2-0 series lead over the Rockets, the first time they’ve done so since winning the 2020 NBA Finals against the Heat.
Since the NBA moved to a 16-team playoff format in 1984, teams that go up 2-0 in a series under the 2-2-1-1-1 home/away pattern have a 245-23 record (91.4% winning percentage of the series).
“It means nothing,” James said. “The series is not won until you win four. It’s the first to four.”
LeBron, who had a game-high 28 points, goes up for a dunk during the Lakers’ 101-94 win over the Rockets in Game 2 of their first-round series on April 21, 2026 in Los Angeles. NBAE via Getty Images
Turning point
When Smart knocked down a corner 3 to give the Lakers a 95-87 lead with 2:23 left in the game.
The shot was not only Smart’s fifth 3-pointer, but gave the Lakers breathing room late.
Smart also picked up a crucial steal against Durant, who had nine turnovers, before assisting James on a dunk to give the Lakers a 99-92 lead.
Kevin Durant looks to grab a loose ball as Marcus Smart defends during the Lakers’ Game 2 win over the Rockets in Los Angeles. Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images
MVP: Marcus Smart
Smart made five of the Lakers’ 13 3s and made big plays on both ends of the floor throughout Tuesday.
His scoring total was the third time he reached at least 25 points in a playoff game, which he last did during the 2020 Eastern Conference Finals when he had 26 points in a Game 1 loss to the Heat.
Smart’s playoff career-high is 27 points.
“To be able to be back on this stage again,” Smart said, “making the plays that I’m making with these guys, with this team, this organization, I’m just grateful.
Stat of the game: 9
That was the number of turnovers Durant had on Tuesday, which tied a career high for the most giveaways he’s had in a playoff game
Including Tuesday, Durant’s turned the ball over nine times in a playoff game three times.
Up next
The Lakers-Rockets series will move to Houston for the next two games, with Game 3 taking place on Friday at Toyota Center.
SAN FRANCISCO — Jung Hoo Lee and Rafael Devers each hit RBI singles in the first inning that held up to support starter Landen Roupp, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-1 on Tuesday night.
Shohei Ohtani went hitless with a pair of strikeouts over his initial three at-bats before a seventh-inning single that extended his career-best on-base streak to 53 games, tied for second place on the Dodgers' franchise list with Shawn Green. On the 3-1 pitch from Erik Miller before his single, Ohtani challenged thinking it was a ball, but the called strike was upheld to make it full count.
Roupp (4-1) struck out seven, walked five and allowed one run on one hit over five innings against the big-spending Dodgers. He struck out the side swinging in order in the third, including Ohtani’s second K of the game — a sign to manager Dave Roberts how much he wanted to keep the on-base streak alive.
Ryan Walker, San Francisco's sixth pitcher, pitched a 1-2-3 ninth with two strikeouts for his second save after blowing his first opportunity Saturday at Washington. The Dodgers were held to three hits.
Casey Schmitt added a sacrifice fly in the three-run first as the Giants won for the fourth time in five games while outscoring opponents 23-15 after beginning the season 6-12.
It began pouring rain for a stretch in the bottom of the sixth inning, but the game went on as fans in the sellout crowd of 40,066 sought cover.
World Series MVP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (2-2) gave up three earned runs on six hits over seven innings with four strikeouts and two walks.
Los Angeles center fielder Alex Call was checked on by an athletic trainer in the bottom of the first after making a running catch on Schmitt's sacrifice fly and collided straight into left fielder Teoscar Hernández. Lee followed with an RBI single to make it 3-0 after Devers' single started the scoring.
Ross Lyon’s press conferences are typically a mix of battery and flattery. On any given day, you’ll get smart-arsery, hostility, humility, occasional mirth and genuine insight. Sometimes, he will provide a 10-minute explanation of how the game was won or lost. Sometimes, he’s playful and rhetorical. Sometimes, he’ll cock his head and look at the questioner like they have no business even being in the same room as him.
The St Kilda coach has been criticised for the way he responded to a set of perfectly reasonable questions in Adelaide last weekend. “Do you have a sense of where you’re at in the context of the season?” was one of them. He didn’t exactly react like Bob Hawke to Richard Carleton’s “impertinence” in 1983. But it was a typical Lyon response – part superciliousness, part drollery, part deflection. It was nothing, really. The journalist handled it well, and the coach didn’t cross the line.
BOSTON — For a few minutes Tuesday, it seemed VJ Edgecombe and the Sixers’ night would be defined by his first-quarter crash to the TD Garden floor after he leapt for a defensive rebound.
Then Edgecombe showed up on the Sixers’ sideline and reminded everyone that he’s more than just a rising star.
In the second playoff game of his rookie year, Edgecombe was downright heroic in a 30-point, 10-rebound performance. Backcourt mate Tyrese Maxey was also excellent in the fourth quarter of a 29-point, nine-assist night and the seventh-seeded Sixers flew home with their first-round playoff series vs. the Celtics tied at 1-1.
“He’s a tough kid,” Andre Drummond said of Edgecombe. “His confidence is something I haven’t seen in a very long time. He plays with a swag that a lot of guys don’t play with when they’re coming up.
“I’m happy that he’s here. He’s playing at a very high level and we need more from him next game, too. So he has to stay prepared.”
Based on all the evidence of his rookie season, readiness shouldn’t be an issue for Edgecombe the rest of this series. Time and again, he’s elevated his play in the clutch, shrugged off rocky shooting starts and attacked whatever’s in front of him.
Even as he’s quizzed teammates on NBA life and digested a constant flow of new information, nothing about Edgecombe’s day-to-day demeanor has betrayed uncertainty.
Has he ever doubted himself as a rookie?
“I just try not to overthink it,” he said. “I try not to put pressure on myself. Everyone else is already putting pressure on us to perform, so I’m not trying to put pressure on myself.
“I’m around a great group of guys that also help me and keep instilling confidence in me just to keep going, regardless of who’s on the floor, who’s not on the floor. It’s just a big shoutout to my teammates and my coaches.”
Those teammates sometimes forget exactly how young Edgecombe is.
In the middle of glowing about Edgecombe’s game at the postgame press conference podium, 35-year-old Paul George looked to his right.
“It’s just impressive, man,” George said of the Sixers’ rookie guard. “Thirty and 10, but it was just what we needed in moments throughout this game where he took over. He kind of just put us at ease when I wasn’t on the floor or Tyrese wasn’t on the floor. He just put us at ease, got to his spots and made big plays. And he had some big rebounds as well.”
There’s still room to grow, but Edgecombe’s jump shooting progress has been exceptional since his freshman season at Baylor. He was fine as an outside shooter in college (34 percent from three-point range), but Edgecombe wasn’t especially smooth off the dribble and lacked craft in the mid-range.
Edgecombe has increased his three-point volume in the NBA and sharpened his mid-range skills. He’s been happy to punish defenses that play drop pick-and-roll coverage and let him walk into pull-up jumpers, give him space in transition, or leave him open for catch-and-shoot chances. After an 0-for-5 day in Game 1, he shot 6 for 10 beyond the arc Tuesday.
“I think we knew where the shots were going to come, where the help was going to be at,” Edgecombe said. “Credit to my teammates. We kept trusting each other. Everyone can make a play on the court. … I was in the spot and they wanted me to shoot the ball.
“It wouldn’t have been right if I didn’t shoot the ball, so I had to shoot the ball. They were wide-open shots. Try to get my teammates their assists.”
Edgecombe also made a visit back to the locker room early in the third quarter. Once more, he returned and thrived.
He had a good-natured but cagy veteran’s answer on his health postgame.
“I just landed on my back, but I’m good. I was able to finish the game, so I’m good,” Edgecombe said, smiling. “That’s all I got for you. Ain’t nothing wrong with me; I’m good.”
LOS ANGELES, CA - APRIL 21: Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) reacts after a big offensive play during the second quarter of game two in an NBA playoff game against the Houston Rockets at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday, April 21, 2026 in Los Angeles, CA. (Robert Gauthier / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
In a rock fight of a Game 2, the Lakers did just enough to go ahead 2-0 in the series with a 101-94 win over the Rockets.
Offense was a precious commodity throughout the contest, a change of pace from the opening game of the series. As the game went on, the defenses took over, especially in the closing minutes.
Fortunately, the Lakers held a lead throughout that stretch, doing just enough to keep Houston at a distance throughout the second half. The Rockets finished the game shooting 40.4% from the field and 24.1% from three.
Jabari Smith Jr. got things going early with a triple for the Rockets. LeBron James responded with a steal and a layup on the other end as part of a back-and-forth battle to start.
Kevin Durant was back after missing Game 1 and had seven points. Marcus Smart was leading LA with nine points.
At the first timeout, the Rockets were up by two.
Out of the break, Amen Thompson threw down a dunk, but Smart responded with his third 3-pointer. The Lakers were shooting 61% from the field.
Luke Kennard began to heat up with seven points. At the 2:36 mark, it was a tie game.
Kennard continued to cook, draining a triple that put him in double figures with 10 points. LA ended the first quarter with a 9-0 run to take a seven-point lead.
LeBron opened the second period with consecutive 3-pointers. Smith Jr. responded with a triple for the Rockets. Houston cut the lead down to eight for the Lakers, but Rui Hachimura knocked down a 3-pointer to put LA back up double-digits.
Smart, LeBron and Kennard were all in double-figures with 14, 12 and 10, respectively.
Deandre Ayton scored his first points of the half on a lob from Smart. Kennard and Smart then added a combined five more points to give Los Angeles a 15-point lead, forcing a Rockets timeout.
Houston responded in a big way with a 12-0 run to get back in the game. By the 2:15 mark, it was a one-point game.
Hachimura stopped some of the bleeding with a triple. The teams shot a string of free throws as the quarter wound down. At halftime, it was a three-point Lakers lead.
Every postseason, I see Rui Hachimura hitting shots and elevating his game.
Smith Jr. scored on a dunk to start the third period, making it a one-point game. Smith Jr. then converted on a layup that put Houston up by one. Kennard responded with a 3-pointer to give LA the lead back.
Ayton and LeBron took the game over, scoring a combined seven points to help Los Angeles gain a cushion on their lead. Hachimura pitched in with his third triple of the game.
The Lakers were up by eight at the 6:32 mark.
With the fourth quarter nearing, LA was still up, having picked up its defense. Kennard connected with Hachimura for a dunk that gave the crowd a jolt of energy. Alperen Şengün scored four in a row for Houston.
Turnovers were an Achilles heel for Los Angeles as they had 11. At the end of the third, the purple and gold were up by seven.
The Lakers lead the Rockets 75-68 after three. They are 12 minutes away from being up 2-0 in the series.
Jaxson Hayes opened the final frame by converting on a three-point play. Thompson answered on the other end by converting on his own three-point play.
Houston was still within reach after scoring four straight. At the 7:40 mark, LA was up six.
Kennard scored again on a midrange jumper, pushing his point total to 21. Josh Okogie drained a triple for the Rockets. LeBron answered with a layup on the other end.
The playoff intensity was high as both teams were fighting through tight defenses. The Lakers were doing well defending KD, who struggled through the double teams.
Los Angeles was nursing a four-point lead when Hachimura knocked down a big-time midrange jumper.
After a basket from KD, both teams exchanged triples, making it a five-point lead for LA. Smart was fouled and converted on both, pushing the lead to seven with 1:51 left. Şengün then dunked on the other end.
LeBron responded with a monster two-handed dunk to put LA back up seven.
Şengün converted on the other end, but Houston did absolutely nothing else worthy of being talked about down the stretch as Kennard drained two free throws to seal the win.
Key Player Stats
LeBron finished with 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Smart ended with 25 points, seven assists and five steals. Kennard had 23 points with six rebounds.
Hachimura pitched in with 13 points and five rebounds. Ayton scored six points with five rebounds. Hayes had a nice game off the bench, tallying six points and four rebounds while closing the game.
Game 3 will be on Friday against the Houston Rockets at 5:00 PM PT.
Apr 21, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Merrill Kelly reacts in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images | Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images
In the words of Jack Sommers, regression is a harsh mistress. And the past 2 games the Dbacks have played, there couldn’t have possibly been more regression. This game seemed like a game where absolutely nothing went the Dbacks way and everything the White Sox’s way. From baseballs getting stuck in Nolan Arrenado’s mitt, to inside the park home runs due to golden glover interference. The Dbacks could absolutely not catch a break in this game.
The starting rotation may have been a storyline of the early season, but the Dbacks have now allowed 12 runs in the previous 2 first innings. Merrill Kelly flat out stunk in this one allowing 4 ER in the first inning and 3 consecutive home runs to put the Dbacks into a 7 run deficit almost immediately.
The offense was able to come up with 5 runs tonight, however they should’ve come up with a lot more. Dbacks had leadoff hitters on base 6 of the 9 innings tonight, a 45.5% hard hit percentage and an xBA of .277. The White Sox defense seemed to be positioned perfectly all night to take hits away from the Arizona offense. It felt like almost every single inning there would be some base traffic followed by a diving catch in the outfield or a snared line drive by a White Sox infielder. Certainly a frustrating loss for the fans and the team, however with slightly better luck the score could’ve certainly been much closer.
About the only positive from tonight’s game may have been the the bullpen did a good job of holding the White Sox in check. They had to really shoulder the load tonight because of Kelly’s ineffectiveness, and they did a pretty good job of doing just that silencing the White Sox offense to mostly singles the rest of the game.
In addition, Ildemaro Vargas continued his hitting streak in this one with a 3-run home run in the 9th inning. This marks the 16th straight game he has hit safely in to begin the season. What an accomplishment!
As if this game wasn’t already lopsided enough against the Dbacks favor due to batted ball luck, things really got ridiculous in the 9th inning when a ball was hit down the 3rd base line that was clearly interfered with by the golden glover and the umpire team ruled that the play wasn’t reviewable despite the challenge by Torey Lovullo. This was the second time in the past 3 games a golden glover interfered with a ball in play. The official scoring came back as an inside the park home run. Clearly one of the most bizarre plays you will see and a clear head scratcher as to why that play wasn’t reviewable. Home plate umpire Doug Eddings had already had himself a game by not allowing several players to challenge ball strike calls, and then he didn’t allow Torey to challenge the clearly blown call by the 3rd base ump.
Obviously none of the above matters a whole lot when your starting pitcher allows 7 runs in the first 2 innings, however nothing much was going the Dbacks way tonight. There is still time to salvage this series to maintain their series winning streak, however it doesn’t appear as thought the White Sox are going to just roll over and just let them take it. The Dbacks are going to have to do a better job this season of playing when they have expectations on them to win, something this team has struggled with in previous seasons.
New jerseys of new, losing streaks of old. One was introduced, and another stayed the same on Tuesday night in Mizzou baseball’s 11-4 loss against SIUE at Taylor Stadium. After two straight SEC series, which have now accumulated to two sweeps and seven straight losses, Mizzou’s offensive struggles reached their compounding point, accumulating just five hits against the Cougars.
The Tigers started well from the plate, with a lead-off homer from Blaize Ward, his second over the last four games and of his freshman season as a Tiger. Missouri bats continued to slowly chip away at SIUE pitching, as catcher Juliomar Campos’ RBI double and an infield RBI single by Eric Maisonet gave the two Puerto Ricans with an RBI apiece and a 3-0 Missouri lead by the bottom of the fourth.
The main difference between SIUE and Mizzou? The Cougars’ offensive production wasn’t slow but surely, and it wasn’t spread out; it was condensed to just two innings of pure offensive devastation. A three-and-eight run slot in the sixth and eighth innings was too much to overcome for Kerrick Jackson’s squad, on a night where the debut of brand-new COMO jerseys and free admission aimed to set a more positive evening tone for the Tigers.
The visitors did exactly that from the sixth inning onward, scoring 10 runs against the Tigers’ bullpen, to the one run in response by Mizzou, which came on a Kam Durnin sac fly in the bottom of the sixth.
“[From an offensive standpoint] just not consistent and focused in what their approach needed to be,” Jackson said. “We had flashes and had a couple of guys that were consistent on the day with how they went about their business. But again, just getting anxious. The worst thing for us was Blaize hitting a home run in the first, and the reason why that was the worst is that that’s his second home run of the year. Everybody else after that thought I should hit a home run too.”
THE INFAMOUS EIGHTH
After the Cougars scrapped their way back from a 3-0 deficit, Kam Durnin’s sacrifice fly gave the Tigers a one-run lead. In the space of an inning, two in-game replays, and what felt like a slow-motion collapse, SIUE turned a one‑run deficit into an 11–4 lead before the Tigers recorded the third out.
An error on a routine grounder by Ward at second base resulted in Gage Franck reaching first. The inning grew more complicated from there for Tigers reliever Juan Villarreal, who didn’t end up earning any earned runs due to the error by Ward.
A passed ball moved Franck up, a balk pushed him to third, and suddenly, Juan Villarreal was working with a runner ninety feet away and no real margin for error. He walked Joshua Heyder, and SIUE brought the game even when Ethan Willoughby lifted a sacrifice fly to right.
Missouri still had a chance to settle things, but the Cougars kept stacking up runs. Mack Mitchell jumped ahead in the count against Villarreal and turned a 3–0 pitch into a two‑run homer that traveled well over the left field fence.
Brenden Fry followed with a double to right‑center, prompting a move to the bullpen, but the momentum didn’t shift. A pitching change by Jackson led to PJ Green didn’t stop pinch hitter Cooper Eggert from attacking the first pitch he saw and sent another two‑run shot out to right.
Even after the opening onslaught, Missouri couldn’t slow the inning down. A walk and a wild pitch set up another run when Daniel Gierer punched a single through the left side. Another wild pitch moved Gierer up a base, and a throwing error on a comebacker to Green brought in yet another unearned run.
By the time the Tigers finally recorded the third out, SIUE had turned a one‑run game into an 11–4 lead, fueled by a mix of hard contact, free bases, and defensive mistakes. A bullpen game for the Tigers rotation ultimately led to seven total pitchers being used, starting with Dane Bjorn and ending with a very sudden and devastating end in the infamous eighth.
“Guys come in and throw strikes, but you also need to execute pitches,” Jackson said. [SIUE] was aggressive. Their ball club was aggressive, and we threw pitches in the zone, and they attacked them. Hopefully, if anything, our guys are watching that thinking to swing the bat. If a guy’s coming in, he’s coming in to throw strikes, and if he’s gonna throw strikes, then you could be on time, that’s what they were.”
THE MENTAL ERRORS
What was going wrong for the Mizzou offense and defense was compounded by mental mistakes that drove the point home of Tuesday evening being one to forget for the Tigers. Two players, Isaiah Frost and Juliomar Campos, were sent to the bench mid-game by Jackson. Jamal George replaced Campos to begin the fourth, and Donovan Jordan replaced Frost to begin the ninth.
The common theme? Errors on the base-paths. After a Tyler Macon walk occurred in the bottom half of the second, Campos inexplicably wandered too far off of second base and was caught in between the baselines between third and second, thrown out at third, by Jose Fichera behind the plate.
Frost, after reaching base on a hit-by-pitch in the eighth, was doubled off at first base following a line drive hit by Eric Maisonet. Jackson was critical of both of these moments post-game when I asked about the thought process behind the two substitutions.
“[The subsitutions] were based on stupidity.” Jackson said. “You can’t just take off running when you’re Campos in a situation where we just drew a two out walk, where were you going? Isaiah Frost, we talk all the time about when a line drive is hit, you go back on a line drive. This is the second time that as a fifth year senior, he’s looked to advance, and you just can’t do bad things on the baseball field, and then think that you’re still going to have the opportunity to be out there. If you’re going to do that, then just come out and let me put somebody who is hopefully is a little bit more mentally locked in.”
UP NEXT
Missouri turns its attention back to Southeastern Conference play later this week. The Tigers stay home to open a three‑game series against No. 24 Arkansas on Thursday night at Taylor Stadium, with first pitch set for 7 p.m. The matchup begins another stretch of conference play where Mizzou will look to steady its bullpen and bounce back from its seven-game losing streak.
Apr 21, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Athletics second baseman Jeff McNeil (22) is greeted by Athletics third base coach Bobby Crosby (8) after hitting a solo home run during the fourth inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: John Froschauer-Imagn Images | John Froschauer-Imagn Images
The Mets fans who showed up to Citi Field on Tuesday night were none too happy when they walked out of the Queens ballpark, and they voiced their frustration throughout a disastrous night.
After Devin Williams imploded in the ninth and allowed the go-ahead runs to score, the Mets called in Austin Warren to try and clean up the mess.
After he struck out his second batter of the inning, Mets fans began sarcastically chanting “M-V-P” at the right-hander.
The small but vocal group of Mets fans that had started the tongue-in-cheek chant summed up the frustration of Mets fans on Tuesday night.
Austin Warren lets out a yell after getting out of the ninth inning in relief of Devin Williams in the Mets’ 5-3 loss to the Twins on April 21, 2026 at Citi Field. Robert Sabo for NY Post
Warren did manage to end the pain by getting the last out of the inning and capping the damage to just a 5-3 deficit.
Video from inside the stadium showed Citi Field nearly empty by the time the final out was recorded.
And the fans that did remain all the way until the end were loudly booing as the Mets left the field.
The Mets’ 12-game losing streak is the longest the franchise has had since the team lost 12 straight back in 2002.
“We’re all very aware of it,” Francisco Lindor told reporters after the latest defeat. “But at the end of the day, every day is new. We have to come out and bring it. It’s one of those where you know what’s happening and everybody has the urgency of winning and trying to do their best. You just got to learn from it and move on.”
Carlos Mendoza hands the ball to Austin Warren who got the final three outs in the ninth inning after being brought in to replace closer Devin Williams who had another rough outing. Getty Images
Mendoza told reporters afterward that “it sucks” after the loss.
The Mets have two more games against the Twins before they begin a three-game series against the Rockies in Queens.
NFL MVP Matthew Stafford and his star wide receiver Puka Nacua took a break from offseason workouts with the Los Angeles Rams to catch all the action on the hardwood for the NBA Playoffs.
Stafford and his wife Kelly sat courtside for Game 2 between the Houston Rockets and the Los Angeles Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Tuesday night.
Stafford wore a black hat pulled low, and beside him, Kelly, wore a No. 8 Kobe Bryant jersey.
Matthew Stafford and his wife Kelly Hall attend a game between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Houston Rockets on April 21, 2026 at Crypto.com Arena. NBAE via Getty Images
Across the court, and a few rows up in the tunnel suites was Nacua, soaking it all in and watching his quarterback across the court.
Nacua, fresh off a personal reset at a rehab facility in Malibu, is back working out at the Rams’ facility in Woodland Hills.
Michael J. Duarte
The Rams’ stars were just some of the famous athletes and celebrities in the building for Game 2. Seated next to Nacua was Green Bay Packers linebacker Micah Parsons, and actor Scott Speedman.
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