KANSAS CITY, MO - APRIL 09: Dustin Harris #37 of the Chicago White Sox hits a single in the second inning during the game between the Chicago White Sox and the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium on Thursday, April 9, 2026 in Kansas City, Missouri. (Photo by Sydney Schneider/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Houston Astros claimed OF Dustin Harris off waivers from the Chicago White Sox.
He has appeared in six major league games for Chicago this season, hitting .250 (3×12) with a .438 OBP.
He has joined the Astros and will wear 37.
The Astros also recalled RHP Jayden Murray from Triple-A Sugar Land and have placed OF Joey Loperfido on the 10-day IL with a right quad strain (retro to April 18).
Houston has also acquired IF Braden Shewmake from the New York Yankees in exchange for minor leaguer RHP Wilmy Sanchez.
Shewmake has played his entire 2026 season at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in the Yankees minor league system.
"That's probably the craziest thing that's ever happened to me in my career."
When one considers the length and breadth of LeBron James' GOAT-level career, that statement says a lot. LeBron has been clear the past couple of years that playing with his son Bronny has been one of the — if not THE — greatest joys of his career.
On Saturday, that duo made history again as LeBron and Bronny became the first-ever father/son duo to play in an NBA game. You could see the joy in LeBron's eyes when he talked about it postgame.
LEBRON JAMES: "I was on the floor with my son. In a playoff game. That's probably the craziest thing that's ever happened to me in my career.
LeBron had a special day beyond playing with his son. With Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves out, the Lakers needed 41-year-old LeBron to shoulder the burden of being the team's primary shot creator — and he thrived. In seeming constant motion all night, he finished with 19 points, 13 assists and eight rebounds. He was drawing defenders and setting up teammates such as Luke Kennard, who had a team-high 27. The Lakers have a 1-0 series lead heading into Game 2 on Tuesday in Los Angeles, but Houston is expected to have Kevin Durant back for that game.
The Yankees announced a trade prior to Sunday's game against the Kansas City Royals.
The club has acquired minor league right-handed pitcher Wilmy Sanchez from the Houston Astros in exchange for minor league infielder Braden Shewmake.
Sanchez, 22, began the season in Double-A ball, pitching to a 1.29 ERA in five games. He has a career 3.80 ERA across five minor league seasons.
Shewmake, 28, was claimed off waivers by the Yankees from the Royals in February. He hit .176 for the Yankees during spring training, but showed off a decent glove.
He slashed .250/.314/.313 with five runs, two doubles, one RBI and one stolen base in 10 games with Triple-A Scranton/Wilke-Barre this season.
BUFFALO, N.Y. — The time has arrived as the Buffalo Sabres get set to play in their first playoff games in 15 years. You can immediately feel the vibe as an outsider when you cross the border into the Queen City and see the 'GO SABRES' signs with makeshift Stanley Cups, as the fanbase gets ready to scratch a long-standing playoff itch.
For Sabres head coach Lindy Ruff, the priority is managing emotions for the many players on his roster who have no experience with playoff hockey. While he doesn’t want his players doing something reckless that will lead to penalty trouble, he wants them to feed off the local energy.
“I'm hoping that we are amped up because it will be electric,” Ruff said. “It will be a totally different feeling for sure. I'm looking forward to how our guys are going to react to it. We've talked about the energy we need to bring and how we need to play. I anticipate them being ready to do it”.
There’s immense excitement throughout the city. When the Sabres last went to the postseason, the KeyBank Center was known as the HSBC Arena. Back then, the facility stood among many vacant parking lots that have since been developed. LECOM Harborcenter, the team’s official practice facility, had not yet been built.
Current owner Terry Pegula had only recently purchased the team at that time, and much of the modern development around the Sabres’ home did not exist. This includes the Canalside area around the building, which is expected to be packed with fans watching the game from outside the arena. The demand for entry is historic; as of Sunday morning, the lowest-priced ticket for Game 1 was $450 USD—by far the most expensive "get-in" price of any opening home game in the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs.
While Ruff was the coach the last time the club made the playoffs, the management structure around him has changed significantly. A mid-season change at general manager from Kevyn Adams to Jarmo Kekäläinen seemingly sparked the club’s fortune. The team transformed from a struggling 14-14-5 squad tied for last in the Eastern Conference into the winners of the Atlantic Division.
Simply getting to the "dance" is a milestone, but expectations remain high. The Sabres haven’t won a playoff round since 2007, and rolling over for their opponent, the Boston Bruins, won’t be accepted by a rabid fanbase eager for a return to glory.
The 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs have officially begun. The Carolina Hurricanes, Minnesota Wild, and Philadelphia Flyers have already won Game 1 of their respective series’ so far, with the Colorado Avalanche and Los Angeles Kings, Tampa Bay Lightning and Montréal Canadiens, Buffalo Sabres and Boston Bruins, and Utah Mammoth and Vegas Golden Knights set to begin their series’ today. The Hockey News - Vancouver Canucks Site Editors have put together their predictions for the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs: here are our picks.
Which Goaltender Will Have The Strongest Post-Season?
AK: Frederik Andersen
IC: Frederik Andersen
Which Former Canuck Will Have The Best Performance?
AK: Jalen Chatfield
IC: Vasily Podkolzin
Jan 3, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Carolina Hurricanes right wing Andrei Svechnikov (37) gets the shot away past Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (29) during the second period at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images
Make sure you bookmark THN's Vancouver Canucks site and add us to your favourites on Google News for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns, and so much more. Also, don't forget to leave a comment at the bottom of the page and engage with other passionate fans through our forum. This article originally appeared on The Hockey News.
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ATLANTA, GA - MARCH 30: The sneakers worn by Jaylen Brown #7 of the Boston Celtics against the Atlanta Hawks on March 30, 2026 at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, Georgia. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2026 NBAE (Photo by Adam Hagy/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
Angels outfielder Garret Anderson watches the ball after hitting a two-run homer against the Toronto Blue Jays on July 4, 2008. (Mark Avery / Associated Press)
Garret Anderson was a Hall of Fame-caliber major league baseball player who never made the Hall of Fame. Baseball is a numbers game, and GA didn’t have enough of them.
When he finished his career and was eligible for the vote in 2016, he got just one vote. That represented 0.2% of the total. It also meant that he wasn’t even on the ballot the next year.
So, when he died Friday, way too soon at age 53, it presented an interesting twist. Had he lived into his 80s or 90s, there would have been few still around to remember anything about him but statistics. Now, the memory of his underrated greatness remains. What he did and how he did it is still in the frontal lobe of those who watched and those who wrote and broadcast about him.
He was the quiet man who played for various versions of the Angels for 15 seasons — the California Angels, the Anaheim Angels and the Los Angeles Angels. Right there, you have a Hall of Fame problem. A team struggling so hard to find its own identity does not attract the deep and passionate interest of the bulk of the writers/voters who live in time zones whose bed time is the same as game time in Anaheim.
It should have mattered that GA delivered the most important hit in Angels’ history, the game-winner in the 2002 World Series. It was Game 7, it was at Angel Stadium and the opponent was the San Francisco Giants, who had superstar slugger Barry Bonds and his line drives that created dents in outfield fences, except when they flew over them, which was often.
Anderson came to the plate in the third inning. The bases were loaded and Anderson took a shoulder-high fastball, slapped it down the right-field line and three runs came home. The Angels won 4-1 and haven’t come close to a World Series title, much less a World Series, since then. That at least got Anderson into the Angels Hall of Fame in 2016.
Mike Scioscia was the manager then and the most effective the team has had. He is the one who, Saturday, called Anderson’s Game 7 hit the greatest in team history.
“I remember looking out there when he went to the plate with the bases loaded,” Scioscia said, “and thinking he is exactly the guy I want there right now.”
Scioscia called Anderson’s death “a punch in the gut.” He said the player everybody called GA, didn’t have to be managed. “He was a resource for me,” Scioscia said. “He had an incredible inner drive. He was one of the most talented players I have been around. I’d call him a superstar.”
Scioscia, reminded that his “superstar” didn’t make baseball’s Hall of Fame, said, “Sometimes, great players slip through the cracks.”
Anderson’s not-quite-Hall-of-Fame performances included three All-Star game appearances. He was the game’s MVP in 2003 and also won the home run derby that year. He beat out Albert Pujols, then of the Cardinals. His career batting average was .293, he hit 287 home runs and had 1,365 runs batted in. He went to the plate to hit, not to watch. He never drew more than 38 walks in a season and never struck out more than 100 times.
Yet the statistic he felt gave him the best chance for the Hall of Fame was number of hits. Getting 3,000 hits would make him almost an automatic choice. He ended with 2,529, and near the end of his career with the Angels, he sat down with a reporter to discuss just that, plus one other thing.
Garret Anderson, left, talks with Jackie Autry, widow of Angels team owner Gene Autry, as he is inducted into the Angels Hall of Fame on Aug. 20, 2016. (Reed Saxon / Associated Press)
It was uncharacteristic for Anderson to have this sort of conversation with anybody outside of his teammates, or maybe his family. It was lunch at Zov’s in Tustin and the question was how this voting system works and could maybe 200 more hits get him in. Could 2,750 do it? He wasn’t a big ego guy by any stretch of the imagination, but the Hall of Fame seemed to be dangling there and any baseball player who could see that for himself in the distance had to be intrigued.
There was no discussion of the intangibles, no consideration of the Angels being the Angels and what effect that will always have. Do voters even look much at other stats, such as his 24 walks and 35 home runs in the same season? The reporter wasn’t a great help. He wasn’t even a voter. Anderson wasn’t really stressed out over the Hall of Fame premise, just kind of fascinated. The reporter was probably more encouraging than realistic. Zov’s food was good, the company great.
Eventually, Anderson got to the second issue that had prompted the lunch: How to deal with Times columnist TJ Simers. He asked because the reporter was once Simers’ boss. Simers tended to probe and kid and seek to stir up things, but Anderson also recognized that he could be highly accurate, perceptive and even fun. Anderson, as a team star, was bracing for frequent visits. How should he handle it?
The answer was simple: Don’t lie to him. Don’t hide from him. If he is being a jerk, tell him so. He will accept that. If he is wrong, tell him that and tell him how. If he insults you, insult him back. He loves that.
Tim Mead, former director of public relations, when asked for his thoughts on Anderson, said that his perspective or quotes would not be as telling or as meaningful as simply watching the tape of Anderson’s three-run double that won the 2002 World Series for the Angels.
“Just watch it, just watch his reaction when he gets to second base,” Mead said Saturday.
And so we did. Anderson slaps his hit down the right field line, just fair. Angel Stadium goes crazy. Anderson stops at second base, claps his hands four times, then stands there quietly. Little emotion. Little hoopla. No contortions for "SportsCenter." He has done his job. He has done what was expected of him. There are six more innings left. Let’s celebrate when it is truly over.
That was Garret Anderson, GA to his friends, a Hall of Fame player in all the ways that numbers don’t show.
MIAMI, FL - APRIL 08: Brady Singer #51 of the Cincinnati Reds pitches during the game between the Cincinnati Reds and the Miami Marlins at loanDepot park on Wednesday, April 8, 2026 in Miami, Florida. (Photo by Lucas Casel/MLB Photos via Getty Images) | MLB Photos via Getty Images
The Cincinnati Reds have leaned in to winning games by the thinnest of margins so far this season, their threadbare offense somehow coming up with particularly good timing while their bullpen pulls out all the stops to hold on. The results, so far, have been impeccable, with the Reds sporting a 13-8 record that has them atop the National League Central division.
It’s been precisely that recipe this weekend in Minneapolis, too. The Reds squeezed out a 2-1 win on Friday in lefty Brandon Williamson’s homecoming, and they backed it up with an inch-by-inch comeback win in 5-4 fashion. Now, they head to Target Field on Sunday with a chance to sweep aside the Twins.
Brady Singer will get the start, and he’ll do so fresh off his best outing of the year so far. He fired 6.0 IP of 1 ER ball against the San Francisco Giants last time out, even though his peripherals (just a lone K) didn’t exactly jump off the page the way he’d prefer. Perhaps he’s still dealing with the residual effects of that blister issue – velocity, pitch selection, etc. – but another five-days removed will hopefully see him progress even more back to the guy he was in 2025.
The Reds will be up against righty Bailey Ober. First pitch is set for 2:10 PM ET.
Here’s how the Reds will line up to begin this one:
Oklahoma City's Ryan Ward (10) throws to first for an out during the minor league baseball between the Oklahoma City Comets and the Tacoma Rainers a the Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark in Oklahoma City, Wednesday, April, 16, 2025. | SARAH PHIPPS/THE OKLAHOMAN / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images
Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman was placed on the paternity list on Sunday, as he and his wife Chelsea are expecting their fourth child, their first daughter to join their three sons.
That opened the door for Ryan Ward, at age 28, to get called up to the major leagues for the first time and is starting at first base on Sunday against the Colorado Rockies, batting seventh. At 28 years, 55 days old, Ward will be the oldest Dodgers draft pick to debut with the team. Geoff Zahn, a pitcher drafted in 1968 who debuted with Los Angeles at 27 years, 257 days in 1973, held the previous mark.
Paternity leave in Major League Baseball is a minimum of one day and a maximum of three days, so this window for Ward will likely be short.
Ward picked right up where he left off last season in winning Pacific Coast League MVP, hitting .324/.432/.588 with a 165 wRC+ this season in Triple-A, with four home runs, six doubles, and 14 RBI in 18 games while splitting time between first base and left field.
Drafted by the Dodgers in the eighth round in 2019 out of Bryant, Ward methodically made his way through the minor leagues, one level per season — except for bypassing Class-A after the 2020 minor league season was canceled — to reach Oklahoma City in 2023.
Playing so long in Triple-A has Ward at or near the top of many Oklahoma City modern career records — from 1998 to present, at their current ballpark — including 94 home runs and 322 runs batted in. During his 2025 MVP campaign, Ward also set Oklahoma City record for hits (164), home runs, RBI, and runs scored (113).
Ward is an older version of Michael Busch, who also won PCL MVP but was a man without a path to playing time with the Dodgers, with Shohei Ohtani at designated hitter, Freddie Freeman at first base, and Max Muncy at third base. Freeman and Ohtani also blocked Ward’s easiest path to playing time in Los Angeles, and in 2025 when they needed outfielders the club opted for better defensive players in Esteury Ruiz and Justin Dean instead.
Minor league free agency beckoned for Ward this offseason, but the Dodgers tossed one more lifeline his way the day before free agency, adding him to the 40-man roster on November 6.
The Braves will look for a sweep in Philadelphia on Sunday night. The punchless Phillies have lost four straight, scoring a total of seven runs — including a total of one run in back-to-back losses to visiting Atlanta.
The Phillies start promising rookie Andrew Painter, but Atlanta has Grant Holmes, who has had a better April so far, on the mound.
My Braves at Phillies predictions and MLB picks have the Braves completing the sweep on April 19.
Who will win Braves vs Phillies today: Braves (+104)
The Atlanta Braves are tied for the most runs scored in MLB. And now Austin Riley, who had struggled, is heating up.
Riley has nine hits in his last 26 at-bats (.346), and he is four for 10 with two homers and five RBIs in this series. Fourteen of Riley’s last 20 balls hit into play have been hard hit (over 95 mph exit velocity). Ten have topped 100 mph.
Catcher J.T. Realmuto, one of the few Philadelphia Phillies who’s been hitting, left Saturday’s game with back trouble — the second time this month that’s happened. He’s already been declared unlikely for Sunday’s game.
COVERS INTEL: More than half of the swings against Holmes’ slider this season have missed. He has a 53.3% whiff rate on the pitch. Painter isn’t far behind with a 47.6% whiff rate on his slider.
Braves vs Phillies Over/Under pick: Under 8.5 (-125)
It’s not the marquee pitching matchup of Saturday’s Chris Sale vs. Cristopher Sanchez, but Andrew Painter against Grant Holmes is underrated. Holmes has leaned harder on his slider and four-seamer this season, throwing those two pitchers 80% of the time. Opponents are hitting .121 against those two pitches.
Painter has yet to allow a home run in three MLB appearances. He’s striking out a quarter of all batters he’s faced, and his hard-hit percentage is in the 92nd percentile among pitchers. He’s even better in Philadelphia with a 1.74 ERA, 0.871 WHIP, and 13.1 strikeouts per 9 in home games.
Shawn Krest's 2026 Transparency Record
ML/RL bets: 6-7, -1.42 units
Over/Under bets: 8-9, -1.19 units
Braves vs Phillies odds
Moneyline: Braves +104 | Phillies -108
Run line: Braves +1.5 (-194) | Phillies -1.5 (+186)
Over/Under: Over 8.5 | Under 8.5
Braves vs Phillies trend
The Atlanta Braves have hit the Moneyline in 24 of their last 35 away games (+15.00 Units / 37% ROI). Find more MLB betting trends for Braves vs. Phillies.
How to watch Braves vs Phillies and game info
Location
Citizens Bank Park, Philadelphia, PA
Date
Sunday, April 19, 2026
First pitch
7:20 p.m. ET
TV
Peacock
Braves starting pitcher
Grant Holmes (1-1, 3.32 ERA)
Phillies starting pitcher
Andrew Painter (1-0, 3.77 ERA)
Braves vs Phillies latest injuries
Braves vs Phillies weather
Odds are correct at the time of publishing and are subject to change. Not intended for use in MA. Affiliate Disclosure: Our team of experts has thoroughly researched and handpicked each product that appears on our website. We may receive compensation if you sign up through our links.
BOSTON — The Sixers never even sniffed a Game 1 upset Sunday afternoon at TD Garden.
They began their first-round playoff series against the Celtics in nightmarish fashion, falling to a 123-91 loss. The second-seeded Celtics never trailed the seventh-seeded Sixers.
Celtics star Jaylen Brown scored 26 points. Jayson Tatum posted 25 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists.
The Sixers’ leading scorers were Tyrese Maxey with 21 points and Paul George with 17.
The only player sidelined on either side was Joel Embiid. He’s out indefinitely after undergoing an appendectomy last week.
The Sixers had two players start in their playoff debuts with rookie VJ Edgecombe and second-year big man Adem Bona.
The day did not begin according to plan for Bona. He was whistled for his second foul at the 10:23 mark of the first quarter when he rumbled down the floor on a fast break and charged into Sam Hauser. Andre Drummond subbed in. Less than two minutes later, Maxey drove to the rim and drew the second foul on Celtics center Neemias Queta.
Boston dealt with the frenetic energy of the early action much better than the Sixers.
George threw a poor cross-court pass that wound up as the Sixers’ fourth turnover in the first five minutes. Brown snagged the steal and Tatum sprinted the other way for a fast-break layup. Following a Sixers timeout, Tatum canned a mid-range jumper to give Boston a double-digit advantage. The Celtics built their lead to 33-18 on a Jordan Walsh layup with 1.1 seconds left in the first quarter.
The Sixers’ cause was not helped by the fact that they missed several good long-range looks. The team shot just 6 for 21 from the floor and 1 for 9 from three-point territory in the opening period. Their shooting numbers were similar all day long.
Sixers’ backcourt struggles at the start
The Sixers played a nine-man rotation and Justin Edwards was an unsurprising addition. The lefty wing played 17 minutes and tallied seven points on 3-for-9 shooting and six rebounds.
Nothing the Sixers tried early in the second quarter turned the tide, including zone defense.
The players’ body language grew increasingly frustrated and out of sync. Drummond goaltended a baseline Queta push shot and was then assessed a technical foul. Payton Pritchard made the ensuing free throw to bump Boston’s lead up to 49-29. The Sixers’ deficit swelled as high as 23 points in the second quarter.
Almost every area of the game was problematic. One major issue for most of the first half was the inefficiency of the Maxey-Edgecombe backcourt. Edgecombe started 1 for 7 from the field, Maxey 4 for 13. The duo combined for a single made three-pointer on eight attempts in the first half.
The Sixers need plenty of variables to click into place to beat the Celtics. Maxey and Edgecombe being great is a core part of the equation.
Adjustments time …
Both Edgecombe and Maxey saw shots drop late in the second quarter. Among Edgecombe’s highlights were a soft floater and a turnaround jumper.
The Sixers still trailed by 18 points at intermission. Drummond started the third quarter instead of Bona.
The team tightened up its defense in the first few minutes of the third and Kelly Oubre Jr. laid in his own miss to cut the Celtics’ advantage to 73-58. However, the Sixers continued to misfire on jumpers and couldn’t sustain momentum. With three-pointers from Brown and Nikola Vucevic, Boston’s lead was back over 20 points.
From there, the Sixers didn’t show anything that suggested they might have a giant comeback in store.
“Adjustments” is always a buzzword before Game 2 of a playoff series. The Sixers do have many possibilities under that umbrella. Head coach Nick Nurse could alter the rotation, perhaps throwing in Jabari Walker or Trendon Watford. He could place a greater emphasis on screening for Maxey and seeking out desirable switches. The Sixers could tweak their defensive approach, shading harder help toward Tatum and Brown.
Just about everything’s worth considering. Still, the heart of the matter is the Sixers appeared to be the less talented team by a wide margin in Game 1 and also had a brutal day with the factors under their control.
Jacob Misiorowski, slated to start later today against the Marlins, just turned 24 but is already one of the most exciting arms in the league. Through four stars, we’ve seen both sides of Miz — he has a 3.32 ERA and 4.04 FIP with 33 strikeouts but nine walks and two hit batters in 21 2/3 innings.
The good news?
Misiorowski’s last start against the Blue Jays featured zero walks. While the Brewers ultimately lost in extra innings, Miz went 5 1/3 innings in that one, allowing two runs (both solo homers), five hits, and no walks with five strikeouts. Let’s hope he can repeat that performance against Miami.
In honor of the Brewers new City Connect uniforms — which, I’m slightly upset to admit, are beginning to grow on me — Breaking T created a new Nobody Beats the Miz shirt in those colors.
An empty Yankee Stadium for the home opener against the Boston Red Sox on Friday, July 31, 2020, in New York. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, no fans will be allowed at major league baseball games this season. Yanks Home Opener
Entering play on Sunday, April 19th, the American League only has five of its 15 teams with a positive run differential. Normally, a small number like that means there’s a great likelihood of it being a top-heavy league, but that’s not necessarily the case. In fact, for all the potential flaws that the Yankees have displayed so far, the teams predicted to be their main rivals for American League supremacy have struggled far more, seemingly opening a path for the Yankees to not only take control of the American League East, but the AL as a whole.
Not simply due to the fact that they faced off in last year’s ALCS, but for everything they did on the path to it and afterwards, the Blue Jays and Mariners opened the season as the two strongest adversaries the Yankees could face. Through these first 20+ games, both of these teams have encountered more than their fair share of issues, some far more concerning than anything the Yankees have had to deal with.
Starting off with the Mariners, you have key players struggling for different reasons, everything from the continuance of Luis Castillo’s steady decline over the past few seasons to core hitters unable to match last year’s career-high numbers. While it’s too early to pass judgment on the numbers of Cal Raleigh, Josh Naylor, and Julio Rodríguez, the former two, particularly Raleigh, went out of their way to carry the load for this lineup last season. Just how much of those 2025 numbers they can replicate remains to be seen. Furthermore, the M’s were only a 90-72 team last year with a healthy number of breaks going their way — it’s reasonable to ponder if too much time was spent projecting potential marginal improvements and not enough on the steps back that were just as likely.
Moving over to a more well-known rival and the responsible party for the Yankees’ demise last season, the Jays have been the biggest disappointment of the AL and maybe all of baseball early on — even managing to get swept by the White Sox at one point. The Blue Jays had a better season than the M’s last year, winning 94 games, but they both shared the same Pythagorean win-loss record of 88-74. Assessing how the Jays got to that win total, there are some warning signs, particularly on the offensive side of the ball.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. may be the star, but who unequivocally ran the show last year was George Springer, a 36-year-old who experienced a resurgent and surprisingly healthy season. He is currently sidelined with an injury, and it’s unrealistic to expect something close to those numbers he put up in 2025, especially playing as many as 140 games. The impact of losing Bo Bichette and indirectly replacing him with Kazuma Okamoto, with some infield shuffling, is going to be felt throughout the whole campaign. Current injuries to Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk also lower this offense’s floor, but even at full strength, it may not be quite as imposing as it was a year ago.
The boost of adding Dylan Cease has been nullified early on by the absence of the injured Trey Yesavage. Speaking of injured players, as much as that quote-unquote excuse can be used to address some of the struggles the Jays have had early on, if you look at a team like the Yankees, there is a clear pathway of improvement from that department.
If you look at the Yankees’ Opening Day payroll, a healthy chunk of that is tied up with Carlos Rodón and Gerrit Cole, by all accounts two-thirds of the top three in this rotation. Yes, he was out last year, but even counting on Cole’s imminent return in 2026 — something that was factored into how they built their staff — the Yankees had a very real excuse for a bit of a slow start pitching-wise, and yet, they’ve flourished in that department.
The smart money is on both the Jays and Mariners finding their stride as the year moves forward, but whether they figure out their problems or not the Yankees can gaze at the American League picture right now and foresee a path for dominance.
Back before the season started, the Marvel movie star vowed he'd jump into Lake Erie come playoff time if the Sabres made it. Sure enough, the Sabres not only made the playoffs, they gained the Eastern Conference's No. 2 seed with 109 points.
So on the eve of Buffalo's playoff opener, it was time for Russell to make good.
Braving 40-degree temperatures − along with colleagues from Lake Hour, the canned cocktail company he founded − Russell took a big chug and then took the plunge.
His father and fellow actor Kurt Russell (who has a hockey connection of his own after starring in the movie "Miracle") offered his congratulations.
"I like an underdog story always, first of all, number one," Russell told Buffalo TV station WIVB. "Number two, the Sabres right now this year have represented like what hockey is to me, which is like hard work, nose to the grindstone, don’t give up when everybody’s doubting you."
Hmmm. Sounds a lot like the plot to "Miracle." And we all know how that turned out at the 1980 Olympics in nearby (well, 300 miles or so ...) Lake Placid, New York.
Erling Haaland settled a pulsating clash at the Etihad to leave Arsenal ruing a series of near misses
When Pep Guardiola was preparing for the challenge of taking on Jürgen Klopp’s peak Liverpool team at Anfield in February 2021, training that week at Manchester City was a little different, according to Oleksandr Zinchenko. Guardiola’s instructions seemed counterintuitive. “Guys, let’s start from the goal-kick, I want you to make at least three or four touches on the ball,” the manager told them. “Most of the teams come to Anfield and shit themselves. They want to play one touch, two touch. ‘Oh, don’t give me the ball! Oh you take it!’ But you have to play with big balls at Anfield! Big balls! ‘Give me the ball!’ Demand it! If you need to dribble past two or three players, do it. But play football. I want you to play football.”
Zinchenko recalls that Guardiola made the same speech before they walked out at Anfield. “Teams coming here are scared. They play one or two touches, and that’s what Liverpool like, because they get the ball back so quickly. I want you to be brave. Play your football!” as Zinchenko puts it in his autobiography, Believe. Admittedly that game came in the midst of City’s record-breaking 21-game winning run that season but was also Guardiola’s first win at Anfield, so not dissimilar to the title showdown at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday with Arsenal.
COVERS INTEL: More than half of the swings against Holmes’ slider this season have missed. He has a 53.3% whiff rate on the pitch. Painter isn’t far behind with a 47.6% whiff rate on his slider. 
