LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 25: Andy Pages #44 of the Los Angeles Dodgers celebrates a two run home run, for a 2-2 tie with the Chicago Cubs, during the third inning at Dodger Stadium on April 25, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images) | Getty Images
LOS ANGELES — After five losses in seven games and blowing a four-run lead in the series opener, the Dodgers needed some good news, and got in on Saturday thanks to an offense producing enough to overcome any deficiencies in a 12-4 win over the Chicago Cubs on Saturday evening at Dodger Stadium.
Dave Roberts said Max Muncy was feeling under the weather, which was part of the reason he batted third on Saturday, so he could get his at-bats in before coming out later in the game. Muncy made the most of his trips to the plate, including a two-run home run in the third inning and two walks before getting pinch-ran for in the fourth. Muncy leads the team with nine home runs, and this one was his first non-solo shot of 2026.
The Dodgers made Colin Rea throw 92 pitches to get 10 outs, and by the time the Cubs starter was chased, four runs were already in the bank. Javier Assad walked Muncy but got Kyle Tucker for the second out of the inning, before three straight singles turned it into a six-run frame, the Dodgers’ largest of the season, after scoring eight total runs over their last four games.
Roki Sasaki threw strikes on Saturday, including 20 of 23 first pitches for strikes (87 percent), up from 52.9 percent in his first four starts.
Being in and around the strike zone was a blessing and curse, as three of those strikes were hit out — Seiya Suzuki pouncing on a fastball high in the zone in the second inning, Moisés Ballesteros on a splitter right down Broadway in the fourth, and Miguel Amaya expanding the zone to hit an opposite-field shot in the fifth. All three home runs were hit with two strikes, though because Sasaki didn’t walk anyone, nobody was on base and both longballs were solo shots.
With a four-run lead, Sasaki got more rope to open the sixth, but he walked Ian Happ and allowed a single to Suzuki, ending Sasaki’s night at 99 pitches, two thirds of them for strikes. That was the only walk of the game for Sasaki, his lowest total in his 13 MLB starts.
A four-run lead even later in the game wasn’t safe on Friday night, so Dodger Stadium was understandably a little queasy when the bullpen gates opened with two on and nobody out in the sixth on Saturday, even more so when Jack Dreyer walked his first batter to load the bases.
But Dreyer recovered to strike out Dansby Swanson and Pete Crow-Armstrong, before Will Klein made a nice stab of a grounder to somehow escape the inning unscathed.
The game was never that close again, as the Dodgers scored four more runs in the sixth. Andy Pages doubled in two with the bases loaded, after Teoscar Hernández drove in two with fourth-inning single. It’s the first time the Dodgers had two bases-loaded hits in the same game since last September 14 in San Francisco against the Dodgers. Los Angeles was 4-for-20 with the bases loaded entering Saturday.
Saturday particulars
Home runs: Max Muncy (9); Seiya Suzuki (4), Moisés Ballesteros (4), Miguel Amaya (2)
LP — Colin Rea (3-1): 3 1/3 IP, 6 hits, 6 runs, 4 walks, 4 strikeouts
Up next
A battle of southpaws commences for the series finale at Dodger Stadium on Sunday (1:10 p.m.; SportsNet LA, MLB Network), with Justin Wrobleski and Shota Imanaga facing off with a combined five runs allowed in their last seven starts.
Austin Wells hit their third home run of the game, a go-ahead shot to lead off the seventh inning, before they added insurance runs on a pair of bases-loaded walks to secure their eighth straight win, 8-3 over the Astros.
Trent Grisham and José Caballero also went deep while Ryan Weathers became the latest starter to turn in a quality outing as the Yankees (18-9) matched their longest winning streak from last season.
Over the first two games of this series, the Yankees have racked up 20 runs on 25 hits, seven home runs and 16 walks, ganging up on the brutal pitching staff of the Astros (10-18).
“Patience was the difference tonight,” manager Aaron Boone said after his lineup drew 10 walks. “Just really good at-bats, deep counts, really good takes in walking situations. That’s just a lot of outstanding at-bats in winning times.”
With the game tied 2-2 entering the seventh inning, the scuffling Wells finally delivered a big hit, homering off Kai-Wei Teng to put the Yankees ahead by a run.
The catcher, whose underlying metrics suggested he was having better at-bats than the surface numbers would indicate, later added an RBI single in the ninth — giving him two RBIs in the game after entering Saturday with two RBIs on the season — as he went 2-for-3 with a pair of walks.
Austin Wells, who homered earlier in the game, rips an RBI single in the ninth inning of the Yankees’ win over the Astros. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
“It’s good to find some grass and have it not get caught,” said Wells, who now has more walks (15) than strikeouts (14) on the season. “There’s always tweaks and different stuff you think about, but just trying to keep it simple — swing at strikes and take balls.”
After Wells’ homer, the Yankees mounted a rally to create some more breathing room. Caballero, who had a three-hit night, nearly thwarted it by making the second out when he was thrown out trying to steal third (with a lefty at the plate) for the second time in the game. But Ben Rice followed with a single against lefty Bennett Sousa, and Aaron Judge came back from an 0-2 count to draw a nine-pitch walk to load the bases.
Cody Bellinger then fought back from a 1-2 count to walk and force in a run before Jazz Chisholm Jr. drew a five-pitch walk to score another run for the 5-2 lead.
Trent Grisham (left) celebrates with Ben Rice after hitting a solo home run in the third inning of the Yankees’ 8-3 win over the Astros on April 25, 2026 in Houston. Troy Taormina-Imagn Images
“It’s pretty dangerous, because we have a lot of guys that put at-bats together really [well],” Caballero said. “We just pass the baton and trust one another.”
Rice, who also had a three-hit night, came up just short of a grand slam in the eighth inning but settled for a sacrifice fly that made it 6-2.
Fresh off the paternity list, Weathers turned in a solid outing, giving up two runs over 5 ¹/₃ innings to continue a strong stretch of Yankees starting pitching.
José Caballero looks up to the sky as he rounds the bases after hitting a solo home run in the third inning of the Yankees’ win over the Astros. Getty Images
The rotation has allowed two or fewer runs in each of its past eight starts and a total of seven earned runs in 54 innings during that stretch.
The Yankees tied the game 1-1 in the top of the third, when Grisham went the other way for a solo home run into the Crawford Boxes off right-hander Mike Burrows.
It could have been a two-run shot, except Caballero had just gotten thrown out trying to steal third base after successfully swiping second.
Ben Rice hits a sacrifice fly in the eighth inning of the Yankees’ win over the Astros. Getty Images
But Caballero made up for it by homering to the Crawford Boxes in his next at-bat — going deep for the second time in as many nights — to put the Yankees ahead 2-1.
The shortstop now has three straight multihit games.
“Just a gritty, tough player,” said Boone, who did not have an issue with Caballero getting thrown out twice because he did not want to temper his aggressiveness. “We’ll get that steal of third locked down and it would’ve been a Rickey [Henderson]-like night.”
Arizona designated player Tele Jennings celebrates reaching first base with assistant coach Christian Conrad on Apr. 25, 2026 | Photo courtesy of Arizona Athletics
Freshman Rylie Holder doesn’t consider herself a strikeout pitcher at the college level. It’s all about the ground balls and double plays. Those were key in Arizona softball’s 8-0 victory over Houston on Saturday afternoon, but the five strikeouts against the Cougars didn’t hurt, either. The mark tied her career high.
“That’s pretty good,” Holder said.
She was more impressed by the work she and her defense did together.
“I was just letting my D work, just trusting my spin, trusting myself, and then letting them hit the ball how I want them to,” Holder said. “I have all those ground balls, almost exactly what I want. It’s a good outing for me.”
Holder pitched all five innings of the mercy-rule game. Of the 15 outs she got, five came on strikeouts, six came on ground balls, and just one was in the air. She induced two double plays.
With all those ground balls, centerfielder Regan Shockey didn’t have as much to do on defense. She was very involved on offense, though.
Shockey went 3-for-3 for the second straight day.
She is very glad to be back on the hard ground of Hillenbrand Stadium. Over the past three weeks, Arizona had played nine games on soft fields in the Midwest and South. It has provided Shockey with some challenges that she thinks will pay off in the long run.
“Honestly, it just allows me to use more of my tools,” Shockey said. “I think sometimes I get caught away here just bouncing the ball, as we’ve seen, but being on the road, it just allowed me to find fight within myself, to use different things, and I think it’s helped me flourish as a person. It challenged my character a little bit, but it also made me realize that whatever for the team, right? So I lay a lot more bunts down, power slapped, and I just realized, anything I could do to help this team win, I’m gonna do it.”
She’s not the only Wildcat junior who’s finding things within herself and flourishing. Tele Jennings had another outstanding outing as the designated player.
Sydney Stewart hit two home runs in four innings on Friday evening. On Saturday, Houston opted to walk her three times. Two were intentional walks.
The three walks gave Stewart sole possession of the Big 12 lead for bases on balls with 38. She is also first in OPS at 1.601. Her 70 RBI are six more than anyone else in the league. Her 18 home runs are tied for second just one behind Houston’s Maddie Hartley, but Hartley has played in four more games than Stewart. The Cougars’ Makenna Mitchell is tied with Stewart at 18. On top of the power numbers, Stewart’s .426 average is seventh in the league.
“She’s earned that kind of respect [to be walked three times] because she’s been so consistent with how dominant she can be, and how much she can affect the game with one swing,” said Arizona assistant coach Lauren Lappin. “You saw that last night, after they walked her, and then they rolled the dice, pitched to her and she did damage. But that’s just universal respect.”
The crowd didn’t like it, but the respect that put Stewart on base provided opportunities for Jennings, Tayler Biehl, and Grace Jenkins to hit with runners on.
“Tele Jennings right behind [Stewart] has been completely composed in that spot, and she’s keeping it really simple,” Lappin said. “They-walk Stew, and she’s ready for an at-bat, and she’s produced.
Jennings came into the season as a reserve. She has worked herself into the position of everyday DP as she raised her batting average to .345. On Saturday, she went 1 for 2 with a walk and an RBI. Every time she came up to bat, Stewart was already on base. Jennings’ coaches and teammates are noticing how often she comes through.
“She’s hitting right now like she’s hungry, and I feel like that’s what we all have to embody,” Shockey said. “Fight like you have nothing else left. And that’s how I feel, every one of her at-bats, she inspires me. And if you saw her work throughout the whole fall, she wasn’t an initial starter, but the work never stopped. If anything, it got harder and she started doing more of it. So for anyone who feels like they’re sitting or whatnot, there’s always going to be an opportunity, and your hard work, it’ll pay off.”
Lappin believes a lot of the success has to do with the way Jennings was raised to view the game. The younger sister of Oklahoma great Tiare Jennings knows that things don’t come easy or get handed to anyone at the highest level of the game.
“She’s up to the challenge, but she was raised right,” Lappin said. “She’s in a really good family. I mean, we have great families all around this roster, but she’s in a family that they know how sports work, and she’s able to kind of keep her head down and grind and support her teammates along the way. So it’s been really awesome to see her come in and perform.”
Biehl had similar success on Saturday afternoon. Arizona’s senior shortstop went 1 for 3 with a run scored and two RBI. Behind her, Jenkins was 1 for 2 with a walk and three RBI.
Holder kept Houston off-balance all game. She walked the leadoff hitter, but that runner was immediately wiped away by a double play. Her first strikeout of the day ended the inning.
In the second, she struck out two of the three batters she faced.
Holder didn’t give up a hit until the top of the fourth. Two straight singles put a runner in scoring position with no outs, but a double play put her one out from another shutout inning. A grounder to Jenna Sniffen at third accomplished that task.
Holder threw five innings of three-hit ball. She walked two to offset her five strikeouts. Her ERA dropped almost .30 to 4.64. That’s the lowest it’s been since March 21, when it was at 4.55. It was the fourth straight outing that finished with a drop in her ERA.
Arizona’s eight runs came on seven hits, five walks, and five Houston errors. The Wildcats got into run-rule territory in the fourth when they scored three runs on one hit and three Cougar errors.
The Wildcats improved to 33-13 overall and 14-6 in the Big 12. They are a game ahead of Oklahoma State for second in the conference standings. However, the Cowgirls (13-7), Kansas (13-8), and UCF (12-8-1) can still overtake them for the second seed in the final days of the regular season.
Apr 25, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Detroit Tigers pitcher Jack Flaherty (9) throws against the Cincinnati Reds in the first inning at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Aaron Doster-Imagn Images | Aaron Doster-Imagn Images
Jack Flaherty had zero command of anything in this one and was mauled for six runs in two innings of work. Even accounting for Flaherty’s usual rollercoaster nature, this is two in a row where he really couldn’t put the fastball remotely where he wanted it with any consistency. Kevin McGonigle and Spencer Torkelson homered early on, but the Tigers offense couldn’t put together a rally as they dropped their second in a row to the Reds in Cincinnati on Saturday.
This one started off auspiciously and in classic Great American Ballpark fashion, as Kevin McGonigle got a 1-0 sinker away from Brady Singer, and hammered it into the seats for his second major league home run. Perhaps he felt the pressure to maintain his lead in Baseball Reference’s WAR metric. Good to see his right hand was alright after getting hit last night.
Matt Vierling grounded out, but Colt Keith slapped a single up the middle and Riley Greene followed with an oppo roller to the left side that went for a hit as well. Dillon Dingler grounded one in the hole and the Reds could only get the out at second. So it was first and third with two outs to Kerry Carpenter. Singer fell behind in the count but eventually Carpenter flew out to end the inning, stranding two.
Jack Flaherty started his day by striking out TJ Friedl, but he quickly fell behind Matt McLain and walked him and did the same with Elly De La Cruz. Bad Jack continues, and in this park a lack of control is a disaster. I wrote that last sentence before Sal Stewart hammered a 1-1 slider down over the middle for a three-run shot and a 3-0 lead. Nathaniel Lowe launched a solo shot to make it 4-1. Flaherty still had just one out, and he was going to have to wear this. Spencer Steer would have to wear something as well, as he then got plunked, bringing Chris Fetter to the mound as this was trending toward a bullpen game as Flaherty was already over 30 pitches. Tyler Stephenson took a called strike three, and Will Benson whiffed on a knuckle curve to end the inning. 4-1 Reds.
The Tigers went in order, and Ke”Bryan Hayes started the bottom of the second by hammering a first pitch fastball to the wall in center field for a double. Friedl dropped a good bunt toward third base, but Colt Keith made a nice play to get him at first. Still, it did the job of advancing Hayes to third. Flaherty got away with a 3-2 meatball of a slider that McLain whiffed on. Flaherty’s velocity continued to swing wildly as his mechanics from 89.5-95.2 mph. De La Cruz got into a 2-2 count and smoked a curveball for a deep drive to center field. 6-1 Reds.
Even before De La Cruz’s homer, this was already looking like the kind of game where you just want Flaherty to take an absolute beating if that’s what it takes to get four innings out of him and not hurt the bullpen too much. Coming back to win wasn’t really in the cards unless Singer fell apart entirely. Stewart was called out on strikes, but it wasn’t really close, and a challenge quickly overturned that. After an 11 pitch AB, he snoked a hot grounder that McGonigle could only dive for and keep in the infield for a single. After back-to-back disasters, Dillon Dingler apparently remembered that you need to pitch Nate Lowe up and in, finally getting a ground out to end the inning as RHP Burch Smith warmed in the Tigers’ bullpen. I won’t bore you with Flaherty’s line. It suffices to say it sucked, and you had to think his night was already over.
McGonigle led off the third by lining a cutter to center field for a single. Matt Vierling lined out to right, and Keith made an oppo bid with a drive to left that just fell short for the second out of the inning. Riley Greene continues to swing it great, ripping a hot one-hopper through the right side for a single that got McGonigle to third. Singer did the right thing with Dingler, staying down away from him with breaking balls. A ground out to second ended the threat.
Burch Smith’s outing didn’t begin well as he walked Steer. The veteran right-hander’s power curve got Stephenson to lift a routine fly out, and he froze Benson with a fastball for strike three. Hayes whiffed on a good curveball down, and we were on to the fourth.
Kerry Carpenter was ahead in the count to open the inning, but he whiffed on a sinker on the outer edge. Spencer Torkelson however, got a first pitch heater and killed it to right center field for his fourth home run of the year and fourth in as many days. The Tigers record is five straight from Marcus Thames in 2008. 6-2 Reds. Nice to see an oppo shot. Tork’s approach has been very good this year and he’s finally reaping the rewards.
Wenceel Pérez has been putting the ball in play a ton with horrific luck, but he got a sweeper and pulled it to right for a one-out single. Javy Báez chased a sweeper and struck out. With two outs, we were looking for Pérez to run on a pitcher that doesn’t hold runners well, but the Tigers continue to be really conservative with the base stealing. McGonigle flew out to center field to end the half inning.
Friedl landed a little bloop double to start the bottom half, but Smith went through the heart of the Reds’ order without issue, striking out McLain along the way.
The Tigers failed to take advantage of Singer, going 1-2-3 in the fifth. After a good two innings from Smith, Tyler Holton took over. He got two quick outs before walking Tyler Stephenson. Former Tigers’ farmhand Dane Myers pinch-hit for Benson against the left-hander, taking over in center field. A 2-1 cutter from Holton got a grounder to Báez at second to end the inning.
Dingler lined out to left to open the sixth inning with Singer’s outing coming to an end. Carpenter singled to center, and that was it for Singer with Connor Phillips ready to enter the game. Phillips dumped three straight sweepers in and struck out Torkelson, while Pérez flew out to center field.
Hayes and Friedl started the bottom of the sixth with consecutive singles off of Holton, and that ended his outing. Connor Seabold got McLain to fly out, but he walked Elly De La Cruz. That brought Sal Stewart to the dish with the bases loaded and one out. Not good. Seabold fell behind 2-1 but got a whiff on a 95 mph heater to even the count. He tried it again, but Stewart inside outed a hot grounder into the hole. Báez dove and got some glove on it but it bounced into right field as two runs scored for an 8-2 lead. Hopefully you moved on with your Saturday night if you hadn’t already.
Seabold threw three straight balls to Nate Lowe, and then collapsed to the ground. Replay showed that he slipped on his lead leg when he landed. He tried a practice pitch, but had to leave the game. Drew Anderson had to speed through a warm up and come into a 3-0 count with runners on 2nd and 3rd. Anderson walked Lowe to load the bases, but induced a 4-6-3 double play from Steer to clean up the mess. Nicely done.
Assuming Seabold hits the IL, my guess is that Ricky Vanasco gets the call after a great start in Toledo. He’s already on the 40-man roster. Brenan Hanifee and LHP Drew Sommers are the other relief options.
RHP Graham Ashcraft took over from Phillips to open the seventh inning. Báez chased a slider away from strike three. McGonigle got a 1-0 98 mph cutter and smoked it to right field for a double. Matt Vierling drew a walk, but Keith tapped one to Ashcraft and the Reds pitcher fired to second and on to first for an inning ending double play. Keith was ruled safe, but the Reds successfully challenged it.
Anderson carved up Stephenson to start the bottom half, spotting a perfect kick change on the bottom rail for strike three, then froze Myers with a good fastball for the first two outs. Myers wasted a challenge but it was clearly a strike. Anderson dialed up 98.2 mph against Hayes, and then fired a curveball down for a whiff to strike out the side.
At this point, the only thing the Tigers could do for themselves is close the gap and force Terry Francona to use his better relievers. They did not manage it in the eighth. Lefty Sam Moll came on for Ashcraft and walked Riley Greene, but Dingler grounded into a double play. Jahmai Jones pinch hit for Carpenter, but struck out on a sinker running back under his hands.
Anderson left a 2-2 curveball over the middle to TJ Friedl to open the bottom of the eighth and he launched it for a solo shot. 9-2 Reds. He bounced back to strike out McLain, and then Javy Báez made a brilliant diving catch on a 115 mph line drive from De La Cruz. Anderson walked Sal Stewart, but whiffed Lowe on a good changeup to send this to the ninth. One run in 2.2 innings of work with five strikeouts for Anderson. Good to see him coming around in terms of his command.
Emilio Pagan took over to finish this one out. Torkelson grounded out, but Pérez lined a single to right. Hao-Yu Lee pinch-hit for Báez, which was a little ominous after that incredible play on De La Cruz’s laser beam in the eighth. Lee flew out to left, while Pagan fell behind McGonigle and fired a wild pitch that got Pérez to second. McGonigle needed a triple for the cycle, but spanked a line drive to Myers in center field to end it.
The Tigers fall a game behind first place Cleveland, who lost to Toronto on Saturday. They are 7-5 over this 13 day stretch without a day off. If they can make it 8-5 on Sunday behind Keider Montero, we’ll take it. The Tigers will face a pretty good young right-hander in Rhett Lowder at 1:40 p.m. ET.
The Yankees hit three solo shots and the bottom of the order had seven hits as New York extended their winning streak to eight games after an 8-3 win over the Astros on Saturday night in Houston.
New York used power, contact, good pitching and defense to keep the Astros off the board. They outhit Houston 12-7 and drew 10 walks, while Yankees pitching only allowed two walks.
Here are the takeaways...
-Ryan Weathers returned to the team from paternity leave and faced an uphill climb early. Carlos Correa led off the first with a double and eventually scored from third on a one-out single by Isaac Paredes.
The young left-hander would settle in, but the long ball would get Weathers in the sixth. Correa launched a solo shot to tie the game at 2-2. The Astros would hit Weathers hard, even on outs, and manager Aaron Boone noticed it, taking out Weathers with one out in the sixth and a runner on for Fernando Cruz.
Cruz walked Jose Altuve but bounced back to strike out Christian Walker and Yainer Diaz to get out of the inning and put an end to Weathers' night.
The Yankees southpaw tossed 86 pitches (56 strikes) across 5.1 innings, allowing two runs on six hits, no walks and striking out four.
-The Yankees haven't trailed much during their winning streak, but knotted things up in the third via a Trent Grisham solo shot over the Crawford Boxes. The Yankees would then take the lead thanks to a solo shot from Jose Caballero in the fifth. It's the second straight game Caballero has homered. Caballero also extended his hitting streak to seven games with a bunt single earlier in the game. That streak is tied for the longest of his career (2024 with the Rays).
-Austin Wells proved to be an unlikely hero, launching the team's third solo homer of the game, this time in the seventh to give the Yankees a 3-2 lead. The Yankees backstop had just one hit (1-14) over his last five games entering Saturday, and the homer was his first extra-base hit since April 11.
The Yankees would have a chance to add on. Caballero singled and Grisham walked, but Caballero was caught stealing third for the second time in this game. Ben Rice followed with a single and Aaron Judge walked, setting up Cody Bellinger with the bases loaded and two outs. Bellinger fell behind 1-2, but fought back to draw a walk and push across a big insurance run. Jazz Chisolm Jr. worked a walk as well to give the Yankees a 5-2 lead.
The Yankees would push across another run in the eighth on a Rice sac fly. The first baseman finished 3-for-4 and now has 21 RBI on the season. He's also leading the team with a .337 batting average. Well had an RBI single in the ninth and finished 2-for-3, his first multi-hit game since Opening Day (March 25). Wells entered the game with just two RBI and doubled it on Saturday.
Ryan McMahon got in on the fun with an RBI single to put the Yankees up 8-2. McMahon finished 2-for-5.
-Jake Bird, who returned to the team Saturday after Angel Chivilli was placed on the IL, was strong in his inning of work. He struck out a batter in a 1-2-3 inning on just nine pitches. Camilo Doval allowed a walk, but pitched a clean eighth. Tim Hill gave up a leadoff homer to Walker, but got the next three batters out to lock down the win.
Game MVP: Bottom of the order
Wells, McMahon and Caballero went a combined 7-for-13 with four RBI.
Apr 25, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers designated hitter Tyler Black (7) high fives teammates in the dugout after scoring a run during the fourth inning against the Pittsburgh Pirates at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images | Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images
Three times in this baseball game, the Brewers—a team that hasn’t homered in almost a week—nearly hit a baseball out of the park to right field. But none of those balls made it over the wall, and while Milwaukee sparred with the Pirates and answered their runs throughout the first nine innings, they lacked the big hit to give them a lead. Then some bad bounces (and questionable management of relievers) went against them in the tenth, and the team’s slide hit four games.
The late dramatics came after a compelling showdown between the teams’ two starters, Jacob Misiorowski and Mitch Keller. Misiorowski had the goods early. His first pitch of the night clocked in at 102.6 mph, and he struck out the first two batters on a total of seven pitches. After Bryan Reynolds turned an 0-2 count into a walk, Miz struck out Ryan O’Hearn on three more fastballs, and he had struck out the side.
Keller’s first inning looked quite a bit different, but the results were similar. Brice Turang was frozen by a 2-2 curveball, William Contreras hit a lazy fly ball to right, and Jake Bauers struck out, too.
Nick Gonzales led off the second with the first hit of the game, a base hit to center on a 1-2 fastball that got too much of the zone. But three pitches later, Spencer Horwitz hit a grounder into the shift that ended up as a 5-4-3 double play. A strikeout of Jake Mangum ended the inning.
Tyler Black led off the bottom of the second and struck out looking on an 0-2 curveball that was overturned on a challenge by Pittsburgh catcher Henry Davis. Garrett Mitchell battled, fouled off a couple of high fastballs (which have given him trouble this year), and then smoked a line drive that almost beheaded Keller, but Konnor Griffin had him positioned perfectly and caught Mitchell’s 108 mph liner on the fly. Sal Frelick became the Brewers’ first baserunner of the night when he drew a two-out walk, but Greg Jones struck out on three pitches to end the inning.
Griffin started the third with a base hit to right, but Davis flew out to right and Misiorowski struck out Oneil Cruz and Brandon Lowe for the second time each, and for the second straight inning, a leadoff Pirate baserunner did not advance past first base.
David Hamilton tried to drop one of his patented bunts-for-hits down to start the bottom of the inning, but Gonzales was ready for it and threw him out by a half-step. Joey Ortiz drew a one-out walk (on a 3-2 pitch that might’ve been successfully challenged had the Pirates not lost one in the previous inning), and Turang hit a ball hard to center field but Cruz made a nice catch running back on the warning track on Turang’s 106 mph fly ball. Contreras struck out looking on a front-door sweeper, and Milwaukee still didn’t have a hit after three innings.
Miz’s first pitch of the fourth inning was a curveball that got away and hit Reynolds on the thigh. O’Hearn followed with a single to center, and the Pirates had two on and nobody out in the fourth. Gonzales hit a ball to Turang at second and he tagged O’Hearn for the first out but it wasn’t hit quite hard enough to turn two. Horwitz was the batter with runners on the corners and one out, and Miz got ahead 1-2 but Horwitz went up and got to a 100 mph fastball that was even just a little bot up out of the zone and hit an RBI single to center. Another fielder’s choice that was nearly a double play gave Misiorowski the second out, but Griffin came through with another RBI single and the Pirates had a 2-0 lead. Davis flew out to end the inning, but a struggling Brewer offense now had to come to Misiorowski’s aid.
A couple of bloopers gave the Brewers life in the bottom of the fourth. Milwaukee’s first hit of the game came when Bauers flipped one into no-man’s land in left center. But Magnum misplayed it, and Bauers ended up at second. Black was next, and he got jammed on the first pitch and hit one weakly down the left-field line that landed just out of the reach of a diving Magnum. Bauers, who had to wait to see if it would be caught, only made it to third, but Black was on second with a double and the Brewers were in business with nobody out.
Mitchell again managed to not strike out on a couple of high fastballs again, and a productive groundout middle got Black to third and scored Bauers for the Brewers’ first run since the seventh inning on Thursday. A sacrifice fly from Frelick tied the game, and Milwaukee’s offense had mustered a response to Pittsburgh’s two runs in the top of the inning. Jones scalded a ball at 109 mph with two outs but hit it right at Lowe, who was able to knock it down and throw him out to end the inning. Through four innings, the Brewers had three balls hit at 106 or higher that all went for outs, while their two hits came off the bat at 74 and 71 mph, respectively. Baseball.
Misiorowski responded nicely with a clean fifth inning in which he needed only ten pitches to get two groundouts and a strikeout to retire the top of Pittsburgh’s order. Turang picked up a two-out single in the bottom of the inning to break an 0-for-15 streak, but Contreras grounded out weakly on the first pitch and the score remained knotted at two as we headed to the sixth.
For the second time in three innings, Misiorowski hit the first Pirate batter of the inning, O’Hearn, with a pitch (though this one needed a replay review to confirm that), and just like in the fourth, the next batter, Gonzales, singled to follow that up. To make matters worse, a wild pitch with Horwitz at the plate moved both batters into scoring position with nobody out. Horwitz hit a fly ball to left that was deep enough to score O’Hearn, and an ill-advised throw to the plate by Jones also allowed Gonzales to move up to third with just one out. Misiorowski got a needed strikeout of Mangum, and another one of Griffin ended the inning, but Pittsburgh had retaken the lead.
Once again the Brewers were searching for an answer, and once again Bauers led off the inning with a hit, this time a single in between the shortstop and second baseman, and once again, Black followed with a blooper that landed in the outfield, this time for a single. Milwaukee had runners on first and second this time with nobody out, and that was it for Keller, who was pulled after five-plus innings and 93 pitches in favor of the righty Isaac Mattson.
Mitchell went after Mattson’s first pitch and hit a ground ball to second, which was not hit hard enough to turn a double play, so Milwaukee had runners on the corners with one out for Frelick. For the second straight at-bat, Frelick came through with a sac fly to right that tied the game. Jones, who continued to have some rough luck, hit a solid line drive to center but Cruz caught it and the inning ended. For the second time, though, the Brewers answered the Pirates, and the game was again tied as it headed to the seventh.
Misiorowski was taken out of the game after six pretty good innings; the two HBPs didn’t help him and he gave up a few poorly timed somewhat tough-luck hits, but he only walked one, he struck out nine, and he completed six innings for just the second time on the season. Aaron Ashby was the chosen arm out of the bullpen, and he quickly got the first two outs before Lowe singled to center. No trouble, though, as Ashby struck out Reynolds looking to end the inning.
Luis Rengifo came off the bench to hit for Hamilton to counter lefty Mason Montgomery in the bottom of the seventh. He got a couple of good fastballs to hit but could merely foul them off, then he struck out on a 2-2 breaking pitch. Ortiz grounded out, but Turang drew a two-out walk to give Contreras an opportunity versus the lefty. Contreras got into a hitter’s count and drove one deep to right… but it held up just in front of the wall for Reynolds, and Montgomery escaped the inning.
Ashby kept going in the eighth and struck out O’Hearn looking to start the inning, with an assist from Contreras and the ABS challenge system. Gonzales struck out, too, and Ortiz made a nice pick on a hard one-hopper from Horwitz to end the inning.
What amounted to one pitch after Contreras flew out to the wall in right, Bauers did the same to lead off the bottom of the eighth, on the first pitch against the new Pittsburgh pitcher Dennis Santana. Black popped out, but with two outs Mitchell nearly gave the Brewers a late lead. He hit a fly ball that hit just below the yellow line on the top of the wall in right-center, but had to settle for a double. Frelick had an opportunity to put the Brewers ahead with his third RBI of the night, but he was walked on three pitches (intentionally after the third), and it came down to Jones. Santana spammed sliders until Jones struck out on the seventh pitch, and sixth slider, of the at-bat.
Garrett Mitchell was thiiiiis close to giving the Brewers the lead and snapping their home run drought, which started Sunday in Miami.
Anxious to end a three-game slide, the Brewers went to Abner Uribe in the top of the ninth. Uribe’s first pitch, to Mangum, was grounded to second for an easy first out. Griffin struck out looking (and burned Pittsburgh’s second challenge in doing so), and Davis flew out to Frelick in right. Pittsburgh sent lefty Gregory Soto to the mound to try to get the game to extra innings. Rengifo flew out to left, Ortiz popped out, and Turang struck out looking. Soto succeeded.
Even though Uribe had only thrown eight pitches in the ninth, it was the struggling Ángel Zerpa to face the lefty-heavy top of the Pirates’ order in the tenth. Cruz did Zerpa a favor by swinging and missing at a 2-0 pitch that was quite a ways inside, and Zerpa came back to strike Cruz out after that. Pittsburgh countered the Zerpa move by pinch-hitting Marcell Ozuna for Lowe, and Ozuna drew a walk (and was pinch-run for by Nick Yorke). Not the end of the world, as it set up a double play with one out, and Zerpa did get a ground ball, but Reynolds hit it where there weren’t any fielders, and Pittsburgh took a 4-3 lead. A chopper back to the mound bounced too high to get a double play—or even a lead runner—but Zerpa did get the second out. Pat Murphy opted for Grant Anderson to face Gonzales, and it did not work; Gonzales hit a 1-1 single that plated both runners and made it 6-3. A fly ball to right ended the inning, but the Brewers, who were just a couple of luckier bounces or a couple of better pitches from getting it to the bottom of the tenth tied, were facing a daunting task.
The Pirate pitcher was Yohan Ramírez (remember him?). The Brewers went quietly, as Contreras grounded out and Bauers and Black struck out.
It’s been a rough week for the Brewers. Go get ‘em tomorrow, I guess. Black did have two hits including a double, which was nice, though both of those hits were softly hit. Mitchell made good contact a couple of times tonight, but his evening will be remembered for just missing a go-ahead homer. Bauers had a couple of hits. Misiorowski was mostly pretty good, but still couldn’t escape that one big inning that tends to plague him. Ashby and Uribe pitched well out of the bullpen.
Milwaukee will look to salvage a game tomorrow at 1:10 p.m., when Carmen Mlodzinski faces Kyle Harrison.
18 Jun 2000: Jeff Cirillo #7 of the Colorado Rockies throws the ball during a game against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Coors Field in Denver, Colorado. The Rockies defeated the Diamondbacks 19-2.Mandatory Credit: Rodolfo Ganzales /Allsport | Getty Images
The Colorado Rockies will play a double-header tomorrow to wrap up their series against the New York Mets after an unexpected off-day thanks to a rainy day in Queens.
Since there was no baseball game today, I thought we could play a little game instead. It’s time to remember some guys who played for our Rockies.
In this exercise, the goal is to come up with a lineup of players for your favorite team—in this case, the Rockies—comprised of players who posted between 20 and 40 wins above replacement (WAR) according to Baseball Reference. This spread cuts out the team’s Hall of Fame players like Larry Walker (72.7 bWAR) and Todd Helton (61.8 bWAR), but still includes players who overall had strong careers.
The other stipulation is that players selected must be retired. For the Rockies, that means that DJ LeMahieu—their all-time second baseman—isn’t currently on the list.
For a team as young as the Rockies I found it both interesting and challenging. For older teams there are certainly a lot more players to choose from. However, I ultimately was able to come up with a full 10-player lineup, including designated hitter. For this lineup, I did not necessarily take into account how they performed with the Rockies, especially since they usually only played one or two seasons here. Instead, I went with their career WAR.
Lineup:
Catcher: Charles Johnson, 2003 (22.6 WAR)
First Base: Andrés Galarraga, 1993-1997 (31.7 WAR)
Second Base: Mark Ellis, 2011 (33.5 WAR)
Third Base: Jeff Cirillo, 2000-2001 (34.6 WAR)
Shortstop: Juan Uribe, 2001-2003 (22.6 WAR)
Left Field: Ron Gant, 2001 (34.1 WAR)
Center Field: Charlie Blackmon, 2011-2024 (21.5 WAR)
Right Field: Carlos González, 2009-2018 (24.5 WAR)
I decided to take things one step further and come up with a five-man starting rotation and a four-man bench.
Rotation:
LHP Mike Hampton, 2001-2001 (28.2 WAR)
RHP Pedro Astacio, 1997-2001 (25.6 WAR)
LHP Denny Neagle, 2001-2003 (22.4 WAR)
RHP Bill Swift, 1995-1997 (20.7 WAR)
RHP Ubaldo Jiménez, 2006-2011 (20.4 WAR)
Bench:
INF Marco Scutaro, 2012 (22.1 WAR)
UTIL Howard Johnson, 1994 (22.2 WAR)
OF Matt Kemp, 2020 (21.6 WAR)
INF Ronnie Belliard, 2003 (20.8 WAR)
Of course, the methodology has some flaws. For example, this list of Rockies has no backup catcher. Chris Iannetta failed to make the cut with just 14.9 career bWAR. The WAR criteria also makes building a bullpen impossible. I discussed it with a few friends, and we decided that for a bullpen we could select players that had at least 10 career WAR. In true Rockies fashion, this leaves us with a bullpen that has only one lefty.
Bullpen:
RHP LaTroy Hawkins, 2007/2015 (17.8 WAR)
RHP Steve Reed, 1993-1997/2003-2004 (17.6 WAR)
RHP Adam Ottavino, 2012-2018 (14.9 WAR)
RHP Houston Street, 2009-2011 (14.5 WAR)
RHP Dave Veres, 1998-1999 (12.9 WAR)
RHP Greg Holland, 2017 (12.4 WAR)
RHP Curtis Leskanic, 1993-1999 (12.1 WAR)
LHP Brian Fuentes, 2002-2008 (10.5 WAR)
Overall this gives us a complete “remember some guys” 26-man roster! What names are you surprised to see? Who are you surprised to see not make the cut? Let us know in the comments. Feel free to come up with your own lineup or roster for either the Rockies or a different team as well!
The Phillies, of course, already have a manager in Rob Thomson.
They also have a team that’s grossly underachieving, with the worst record in the National League, and on a 10-game losing streak entering play Saturday night against Atlanta.
It was a bit of a surprise that the Phillies kept Thomson after last season when they were knocked out in the first round of the playoffs again, signing him to an extension through 2027.
The Phillies didn’t think it would be fair to dump him. He led the Phillies to the postseason four consecutive years. He is well-liked. He is respected by the players and front office.
And Cora was still employed by the Red Sox.
The worst-kept secret in baseball is that Dombrowski loves Cora from their days together in Boston, hiring him in 2017 and winning the World Series a year later.
While Dombrowski expressed his public support of Thomson three days ago, and insisted that his job is safe, Dombrowski didn’t realize that Cora was about to be fired.
If Cora had not signed his three-year, $21.75 million contract extension last summer, Cora likely would have managing the Phillies at the start of this season.
Now that Cora, 50, is available, the Phillies must quickly decide whether they want to remain patient with Thomson, wait until the end of the season to determine whether they want to pivot to Cora, or do they make a move now.
And if they do wait, what’s the chances Cora will still be unemployed?
You don’t think the New York Mets are asking themselves whether they should hire Cora now, and part with Carlos Mendoza?
You believe the Houston Astros will simply still stick with Joe Espada without making a call to Cora, their bench coach when they won the 2017 World Series championship, to at least gauge his interest?
Really, Cora, with a 620-541 career record, is the one with all of the power.
He still is being handsomely paid through 2027, and can just hang out in Boston with his family.
He can wait until the season is over, sit back, with a larger assortment of job opportunities to choose.
Or he can jump right back in the saddle, take a job now, and show the Red Sox just how foolish they are to dump him, along with five members of his coaching staff: hitting coach Peter Fatse, third-base coach Kyle Hudson, bench coach Ramón Vázquez, assistant hitting coach Dillon Lawson and major-league hitting strategy coach Joe Cronin.
And, oh, wouldn’t Dombrowski, fired himself by the Red Sox in 2019 — just 10 months after winning the World Series — love to stick it to the Red Sox.
Surely, Cora’s firing wasn’t solely about the win-loss record. The Red Sox were 11-16 the following year after winning the World Series and weren’t contemplating firing Cora. They were 10-17 in 2022 and Cora was still safe. They hovered around .500 each of the last three seasons after 27 games and no worries.
Never since John Henry and Tom Werner bought the team in 2002 have they fired a manager during the season.
Only now was there an issue, likely philosophical differences that couldn’t be overcome between Cora and Craig Breslow, president of baseball operations, who heavily integrated Driveline philosophies into the organization.
“We got a bunch of kids that are learning the game,’’ Cora said Friday. “It’s my job to keep teaching them the game.’’
Yep, not quite a ringing endorsement for the Red Sox’s player development folks, with a major-league team that ranked last in homers (15) and slugging percentage (.335), and a pitching staff that was 27th in ERA (5.31).
If this was simply a matter of wins and losses, there’s no chance Cora would have been fired after their biggest victory of the season, 17-1 over the Baltimore Orioles.
The Red Sox actually had decided to fire Cora on Friday, and if their game Saturday wasn’t moved up four hours because of the threat of rain, Cora would have been fired Friday night or even Saturday morning. They simply couldn’t get Chad Tracy, the interim manager from Triple-A Wooster, Massachusetts, and his coaches into Baltimore quickly enough for the early start.
So, Cora stayed one final game.
And makes history, becoming the first manager to be fired after winning a game by at least 16 runs since the New York Metropolitans fired Bob Ferguson after and 18-2 victory over the Cleveland Spiders on May 30, 1887, according to Sportradar.
He leaves a winner, and becomes the latest champion to depart a dysfunctional organization, joining the likes of executive Theo Epstein, manager Terry Francona, and yes, Dombrowski.
A potentially bad injury day for the Minnesota Timberwolves might have just gotten a lot worse.
All-Star guard Anthony Edwards appeared to suffer a left knee injury Saturday, April 25 late in the second quarter during Game 4 of Minnesota’s first-round series against the Denver Nuggets. At the start of the second half, Edwards was not on the floor or on the bench. Later in the third quarter, the Timberwolves ruled him out for the remainder of the game.
The play came with 2:45 left in the first half, when Edwards jumped vertically to defend a Cameron Johnson layup during a fastbreak drive. When Edwards landed, his left knee appeared to hyperextend as his weight came down, and he immediately grabbed at the area, writhing in apparent discomfort. Edwards slapped the court a few times in obvious frustration.
Trainers rushed over as Edwards popped up to his feet. The trainers helped Edwards hobble off the floor, as he did not put any weight on the injured leg.
Edwards had been struggling from the floor, shooting 1-of-8 for just 5 points, adding 3 rebounds. At halftime, the Nuggets held a 54-50 lead, as Minnesota’s bench outscored Denver’s by a margin of 36-10.
Throughout his career, Edwards has been fairly fortunate in avoiding major injuries and has usually been available for Minnesota. In his first five seasons in the NBA, Edwards played in 381 of a possible 400 regular season games. Over that span, he had appeared in at least 72 games each season.
This year, however, Edwards battled a few nagging injuries, namely, knee and elbow issues that limited him to just 61 games played. That prevented him from being eligible for individual awards, and Edwards lost an appeal to receive an exemption.
In 61 games this season, Edwards averaged a career-high 28.8 points (which ranked third in the NBA behind only Luka Dončić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander), 5.0 rebounds and 3.7 assists per game. His field goal percentage (48.9%) and 3-point percentage (39.9%) were also career bests.
In February, he was selected to his fourth consecutive All-Star team.
Anthony Edwards hobbled off the court with a left leg injury in the second quarter of Game 4 of the first-round series between the Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets in the 2026 NBA Playoffs. Edwards had been playing through a right knee injury, but injured his other knee after an awkward landing trying to challenge a shot from Nuggets forward Cameron Johnson.
The Wolves entered Game 4 with a 2-1 series lead. Minnesota guard Donte DiVincenzo was also injured 90 seconds into the game with a season-ending Achilles injury that has now been confirmed. Minnesota has now lost its two best guards during a golden opportunity at home to put the Nuggets on the brink of elimination.
Update: Edwards has been ruled out for Game 4. He won’t return.
Donte DiVincenzo injury: Wolves guard tears Achilles vs. Nuggets in NBA Playoffs
DiVincenzo has been diagnosed with a torn Achilles tendon. He’s out for the series and will miss most or all of next season as he recovers.
Minnesota's Donte DiVincenzo has been diagnosed with a torn right Achilles tendon, sources tell ESPN. His season is over with a lengthy recovery. Devastating blow for the Timberwolves starting guard. pic.twitter.com/fx06g2WXDN
ARLINGTON, TEXAS - APRIL 25: Josh Jung #6 of the Texas Rangers celebrates after hitting a two run home run against the Athletics during the sixth inning at Globe Life Field on April 25, 2026 in Arlington, Texas. (Photo by Ron Jenkins/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Texas Rangers scored four runs while the Did You Know They Were Originally From Philadelphia? Athletics scored three runs.
Against the AL West-leading A’s tonight, the Rangers looked like they were about to finally succumb to the dreaded below .500 record while guaranteeing themselves a series loss only for their April hero to save them again.
Texas has been playing hot potato with .500 ball for weeks now hanging on the precipice of falling back down below the mark only to rise to the occasion when a losing record stares them in the face several times over.
In fact, since April 5 when the Rangers were 4-5 for their only day below .500 this season, they’ve faced five games with an even record and won all of them. However, on the flip side, since that date they’ve only risen to a highwater mark of two games above .500 and have also lost five games that immediately put them back at .500.
It’s been quite the roller coaster and that’s exactly what tonight’s game was too.
Rangers’ starter MacKenzie Gore started things well with a 1-2-3 first inning, all on strikeouts. But then he struggled to finish off A’s hitters as they collected a two-out RBI in the top of the second to take an early lead. A messy top of the third finished with the A’s up 3-0.
But the bats came through in the bottom of the inning with their own messy rally to put two runs on the board off left-handed former Ranger Jeffrey Springs. The two runs scored despite only two singles from Texas with Corey Seager’s two-out RBI lefty-on-lefty hit proving to be a big moment.
The game stayed at 3-2 and it seemed like maybe the third inning flareup would be all we’d see at the offense-adverse Shed, but then Josh Jung stepped up to the plate with a man on.
There’s really no Ranger you’d rather see in such a situation right now, and Jung delivered again with an opposite field two-run shot to the Texas bullpen on a ball that just kept carrying and carrying.
The superlative relief arms for the Rangers finished things off from there with four, one-hit shutout innings and the Rangers once again find themself above .500.
Player of the Game:
Up Next: The Rangers and A’s close out this series with a rubber match that will see RHP Kumar Rocker take the mound for Texas against RHP J.T. Ginn for Someday Vegas’ squad.
The Sunday afternoon first pitch from The Shed is scheduled for 1:35 pm CDT and will be covered by the Rangers Sports Network.
From the opening tip, the Knicks brought a physicality and intensity to Game 4 that they had been lacking all series — and the Hawks could not match it. New York played its best defense of the series, improved its player movement and, more importantly, showed much better intentionality in how it wanted to attack the Atlanta defense. On the other end of the court, Hawks players could not get to the rim, could not finish in transition, while the Knicks were in their element and found their groove.
It all started with the guy the Knicks most needed to have a big game, Karl-Anthony Towns, who posted a 20-point triple-double.
Karl-Anthony Towns' triple-double leads New York to a game 4 victory!
The result was a blowout win for New York, with the game never in doubt from the middle of the third quarter on. A few minutes of garbage time made the final score 114-98, New York.
The series is now tied 2-2, with Game 5 back at Madison Square Garden on Tuesday. Expect these Knicks to show up again at MSG. These were the Knicks we all remember from last year's run to the Eastern Conference Finals. The question becomes, can the Hawks match it?
"Let's go Knicks! Let's go, Knicks!" chants rang out in the State Farm Arena as the Knicks took the lead in the first quarter and never surrendered it. It wasn't just their stars carrying the team, the Knicks got fantastic play from OG Anunoby and Josh Hart, they combined for 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting in the first half. Anunoby went on to finish with 22 points and 10 rebounds. Everything seemed to go right for New York, there was even a Grand Theft Alvarado moment from Jose Alvarado.
Jalen Brunson left the game in the third quarter after tweaking his ankle, went back to the locker room and got it re-taped, then returned to the court. Late in the game, he banged knees with a Hawks player as well. He was a little slowed by all this and had just 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting.
CJ McCollum was the Hawk who handled the pressure best, and he finished the game with 17 points but was 0-of-4 from 3-point range.
Hawks not named McCollum shot just 37% through the first three quarters, and as a team Atlanta was just 7-of-31 (22.6%) with 17 turnovers in those three quarters. Plus, they had zero fast break points.
Quin Snyder and the Hawks can chalk this up to it being "one of those games" and point out that it's now a best-of-three series. They are not wrong.
But when the Knicks bring this intensity again, will the Hawks be able to match it?
MEXICO CITY, MEXICO - APRIL 25: Mason Miller #22 of the San Diego Padres celebrates after winning the MLB Mexico City Series game between San Diego Padres and Arizona Diamondbacks at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helú on April 25, 2026 in Mexico City, Mexico. (Photo by Hector Vivas/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The San Diego Padres found themselves down by four runs after starter German Marquez struggled to get the third out of the second inning against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Estadio Alfredo Harp Helu in Mexico City. The Padres mounted their comeback and scored six unanswered runs to set Mason Miller up to get his 10th save of the season with another scoreless ninth inning, giving him the franchise record for most innings pitched (34.2) without allowing a run, to give San Diego a 6-4 win over Arizona.
FINAL: San Diego Padres 6, Arizona Diamondbacks 4.
Miller came in for the bottom of the ninth inning after Ty France gave the Padres a two-run lead in the top of the inning with his second home run of the game. It was fitting that France, who opened the scoring for San Diego with a solo home run in the top of the fifth inning. also drove in the final run of the game. The right-handed closer continued his dominance with another three-up, three-down inning that saw him get an east flyout to left field for the first out before finishing with back-to-back groundouts.
Marquez seemed to be unable to stop the bleeding in the bottom of the second. However, he returned to the mound in the bottom of the third and pitched well enough to keep the Diamondbacks from adding on. Marquez completed six innings, allowing four runs on six hits with one walk and two strikeouts. Perhaps the most important fact was Marquez allowed just one home run, a two-run shot, to Alek Thomas.
The Padres offense started sluggish once again. They faced Zac Gallen to open the game, but he exited in the top of the fourth inning after he was struck by a line drive off the bat of Freddy Fermin. Brandon Pfaadt came in for Arizona and pitched well until the top of the seventh inning. Jackson Merrill opened the inning with a leadoff walk and was followed by Manny Machado who singled and Xander Bogaerts who walked to load the bases.
Taylor Clarke replaced Pfaadt and faced Gavin Sheets, who came through once again for San Diego. Sheets hit a two-run single that scored Merrill and Machado and pushed Bogaerts to second base. France then reached on a fielder’s choice and an error. Fermin hit a sacrifice fly to score Bogaerts to make the score 4-4 before Jake Cronenworth was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Ramon Laureano, who did not have a hit in the game, hit a sacrifice fly to right field which allowed Sheets to tag up and score to complete the comeback and put the Padres in front 5-4.
Apr 25, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) tries to reach the basket against Atlanta Hawks forward Onyeka Okongwu (17) during the first half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images | Dale Zanine-Imagn Images
And the tri-state area expelled a sigh of relief. The New York Knicks (2-2) took control early tonight and never let go, rolling past the Atlanta Hawks, 114–98, in Game Four of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series. Behind a dominant, wire-to-wire effort, Karl-Anthony Towns recorded the first triple-double of his postseason career (20-10-10), while OG Anunoby added a 22-point, 10-board double-double. Jalen Brunson dropped 19 points to steady the offense and secure the comfortable, and reassuring, victory.
Showing a marked improvement from Game Three, the Knicks shot well early, converting six of their first nine field goals. Atlanta matched that efficiency at the start, but New York’s wings applied frantic defense that helped the Knicks secure a 15-14 lead at the midway point of the first quarter.
Defying our cries to always play either Brunson or Towns at all times, head coach Mike Brown inserted Jose Alvarado (6 PTS, 3 STL), Miles McBride (11 PTS, 3-6 3PT), Jordan Clarkson (7 PTS), and Mitchell Robinson (6 PTS, 8 RBS, 15 MIN) to play alongside Josh Hart (10 PTS, 9 RBS, 2 STL) at the 4:20 mark. Luckily for him, his stubbornness paid off. Determined to reclaim their glory, our heroes played at a blistering pace and outrebounded the Hawks more than 2-to-1. Credit Brown for wisely deploying Robinson early, and the big fella brought immediate energy and dominance around the rim.
As New York hit the accelerator, Atlanta wilted under the defensive intensity. The Hawks shot just 7-of-20 in the first quarter and missed nine of their 12 three-point attempts. Thanks to a 14-5 run over the final four-and-a-half minutes, the Knicks closed the period ahead 27-20.
To start the second quarter, Brown rolled out a unit featuring Alvarado, Mikal Bridges (8 PTS, 3-4 FG, 19 MIN), Clarkson, Anunoby, and Towns. The Knicks kept the game in high gear, and Alvarado provided instant energy with a three-pointer and then stripping CJ McCollum (17 PTS, 8-15 FG), leading to an easy bucket.
Towns burst with newfound vigor, repeatedly attacking the cup and dominating the Hawks’ frontcourt. Even more impressive, New York’s defensive pressure stayed elevated while their offense hummed. Brunson rested comfortably until the 7:30 mark, with the Knicks ahead 38-29.
After Hart grabbed a defensive rebound off a Jalen Johnson (14 PTS, 3 RBS, 5 ATS) miss, the ball swung around through five or six Knicks before finding Brunson, who swished a triple. It was arguably the best offensive cohesion the Knicks have shown all series, and one of the first times they looked like the championship contenders we were promised by owner James “Eye in the Sky” Dolan (who took in the game at State Farm Arena).
Following a timeout from Hawks coach Quin Snyder, Atlanta’s defense tightened, forcing Brunson, Anunoby, and Hart to lose their handles on consecutive possessions. Both teams committed at least six turnovers in the period and missed several open shots. However, Anunoby answered with back-to-back perimeter triples, and Hart picked Nickeil Alexander-Walker’s (15 PTS, 5-10 3PT, 6 TO) pocket for a fast-break score, pushing their lead to 16 points.
The Knicks fans in attendance shook the building, and they went even crazier when Hart drilled a three with a minute-and-a-half left that put New York up by 16 again. By halftime, the Knicks held a commanding 58-44 lead.
Through the first half, New York outshot Atlanta 51% to 47% from the field and 43% to 26% from three-point range. The Knicks also dominated the boards 24-13, forced a whopping 10 turnovers in the second quarter alone with steals by Hart, Alvarado, Brunson, and Anunoby, and owned the paint 32-24. Atlanta’s defense was solid in forcing 10 giveaways, too, but they managed zero fast-break points in the half. McCollum led all scorers with 14 points, while Anunoby paced the Knicks with 12.
Out of intermission, the feathers were flying. The Birds scored five unanswered points to open the third quarter. Worse, Brunson rolled his ankle and headed to the locker room for examination within the first two minutes. Alvarado replaced him and did admirably, driving the Knicks at a blistering pace, knocking down a three-pointer, and recording his third steal of the game. Rumors of an Atlanta rally were greatly exaggerated!
"Look how he's just lurking."
Another look at Alvarado's sneaky steal that led to OG's tough bucket 🔥
When Towns hit a cutting Clarkson for an assisted bucket, the lead touched 17. Clarkson then knocked down two free throws, and the Knicks tied their largest lead of the playoffs at 19 points. Brunson returned to the bench and then re-entered the game at the 5:38 mark. The ankle appearing just fine, hallelujah, amen.
Atlanta got brief bursts from Johnson and Onyeka Okongwu (12 PTS, 6 RBS), but their shooting remained trash overall. Through three quarters, the Hawks had made just 7-of-31 from three-point range. McCollum, Okongwu, Dyson Daniels (6 PTS, 9 RBS, 6 ASTS, 2 STL), Johnson, and Jonathan Kuminga (10 PTS, 2 RBS) combined to shoot 1-for-18 from beyond the arc. Due to Atlanta’s ineptitude and New York’s sizzling play, the Knicks took a 86-65 lead into the fourth.
Anunoby scored the first four points of the final period with a free throw and a triple, pushing the advantage to 22. Assisting on Anunoby’s three gave Towns his tenth dime of the game, sealing a triple-double, the first of his career in the playoffs.
The lead ballooned to 24, but a Kuminga jumper and a Alexander-Walker three trimmed it back to 18 with eight minutes remaining. Given how freely the Knicks have surrendered leads this series, that margin still felt a little too close for comfort. From there, though, Brunson hit two free throws and McBride drained his second triple of the night, restoring the lead to 23 points. With those points, Brunson passed John Starks to take fourth place on the Knicks’ all-time playoff scoring list with 1,354 points and counting.
There had to be a blemish somewhere. At the seven-minute mark, Towns exited after tweaking his knee. He remained on the bench, which looked like a positive sign. Then, with 4:20 left, Brunson knocked knees wit somebody (Rowan had distracted me, showing off a drum fill he’s working on), and Jalen was still wincing when Brown called timeout shortly after.
From there, with a 22-point lead, Brown emptied the bench, giving time to Alvarado, Tyler Kolek, Landry Shamet, Mohamed Diawara, and Ariel Hukporti. The reserves did a good clean-up job, and when the buzzer buzzed, the better team won, 114-98.
Up Next
Matthew Miranda’s cooking up your recap hot and fresh. Meanwhile, the series swings back to Madison Square Garden for a tilt on Tuesday. Safe travels, Knickerbockers.
Early in Game 4 of Minnesota’s first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, shooting guard Donte DiVincenzo appeared to suffer an Achilles injury when he fell to the court on a non-contact play. The Timberwolves ruled DiVincenzo out of the game with a lower leg injury. ESPN is reporting that DiVincenzo suffered a torn right Achilles tendon.
The Injury happened with 10:43 to play in the first quarter, right after DiVincenzo took a deep 3 on the left wing. When the ball bounced off the rim, DiVincenzo lunged to track the ball down, but he fell to the floor and immediately grabbed his right calf area.
DiVincenzo sat on the floor and immediately motioned for Minnesota’s training staff to come to his aid. Once the trainers arrived, DiVincenzo writhed on the floor as the staffers tended to him.
Slow-motion replays later appeared to show his Achilles bounce or snap, which is also a common indicator of ruptures.
DiVincenzo was immediately removed from the game, and the Timberwolves ruled him out shortly afterward. During halftime, ESPN cameras showed DiVincenzo being led in a wheelchair down a hallway in the Target Center, with a large brace around his right leg and foot.
DiVincenzo played all 82 games this season and averaged 12.2 points, 4.1 rebounds and 3.8 assists per game. Prior to Game 4, DiVincenzo had been shooting 51.6% in the series.
