Its Monday, April 28 and the Yankees (17-11) are in Baltimore to take on the Orioles (10-17).
Will Warren is slated to take the mound for New York against Tomoyuki Sugano for Baltimore.
The Yankees won two of three against Toronto over the weekend. Their wins came yesterday as they swept a doubleheader following Saturday's rainout. New York outscored Toronto by a combined 16-3 yesterday. Paul Goldschmidt picked up another two hits in four trips to the plate to pace the Yankees to an 11-2 win in the first game and Trent Grisham continued his strong start to the season going 1-2 with a home run in the 5-1 win in the nightcap.
The Orioles were swept over the weekend by Detroit in Motown losing the three games by a combined score of 17-5. Gunnar Henderson is showing signs of breaking out of his season-opening funk. The shortstop went 4-13 in the series.
Lets dive into the matchup and find a sweat or two.
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Game details & how to watch Yankees at Orioles
Date: Monday, April 28, 2025
Time: 6:35PM EST
Site: Oriole Park at Camden Yards
City: Baltimore, MD
Network/Streaming: YES, MASN
Never miss a second of the action and stay up-to-date with all the latest team stats and player news. Check out our day-by-day MLB schedule page, along with detailed matchup pages that update live in-game with every out.
Odds for the Yankees at the Orioles
The latest odds as of Monday:
Moneyline: Yankees (-120), Orioles (+100)
Spread: Yankees -1.5
Total: 9.0 runs
Probable starting pitchers for Yankees at Orioles
Pitching matchup for April 28, 2025: Will Warren vs. Tomoyuki Sugano
Yankees: Will Warren (1-0, 4.79 ERA) Last outing: 4/22 at Cleveland - 5IP, 2ER, 3H, 1BB, 5K
Orioles: Tomoyuki Sugano (2-1, 3.54 ERA) Last outing: 4/23 at Washington - 7IP, 3ER, 5H, 0BB, 1K
Rotoworld still has you covered with all the latest MLB player news for all 30 teams. Check out the feed page right here on NBC Sports for headlines, injuries and transactions where you can filter by league, team, positions and news type!
Top betting trends & insights to know ahead of Yankees at Orioles
The Yankees are 5-2 against AL East teams this season
The Over is 7-2 in the Orioles' games against AL East teams this season
The Yankees have covered in 4 of their last 5 games showing a profit of 2.75 units
Anthony Volpe had a good series at the plate against Toronto picking up 5 hits in 10 ABs
Aaron Judge picked up a hit in each of the three games against Toronto but going 4-12 dropped his batting average to .409
If you’re looking for more key trends and stats around the spread, moneyline and total for every single game on the schedule today, check out our MLB Top Trends tool on NBC Sports!
Expert picks & predictions for tonight’s game between the Yankees and the Orioles
Rotoworld Best Bet
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Our model calculates projections around each moneyline, spread and over/under bet for every game on the MLB calendar based on data points like past performance, player matchups, ballpark information and weather forecasts.
Once the model is finished running, we put its projection next to the latest betting lines for the game to arrive at a relative confidence level for each wager.
Here are the best bets our model is projecting for Monday's game between the Yankees and the Orioles:
Moneyline: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the New York Yankees on the Moneyline.
Spread: NBC Sports Bet is leaning towards a play ATS on the Baltimore Orioles at +1.5.
Total: NBC Sports Bet is recommending a play on the over on the Game Total of 9.0.
Want even more MLB best bets and predictions from our expert staff & tools? Check out the Expert MLB Predictions page from NBC
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Cam Fowler and Corey Perry have a lot in common. Both were drafted by the Ducks in the first round, they played together for the Ducks and they were both part of one of the most historic moments in Ducks playoff history, the Comeback on Katella.
Both also had unceremonious ends to their Duck careers, as Perry was bought out in June 2019 and Fowler was dealt to the St. Louis Blues last December. Both players were just shy of 1,000 games played for the Ducks, a mark that has only been reached by their former teammate and captain, Ryan Getzlaf.
But Perry and Fowler have both been able to find success outside of Anaheim. Perry made it to four consecutive Stanley Cup Finals with the Montréal Canadiens, Dallas Stars, Tampa Bay Lightning and Edmonton Oilers. 33-year-old Fowler has fit like a glove into Jim Montgomery's system in St. Louis.
On Sunday, both of those players helped their teams even their playoff series at two apiece. In the early game, Fowler contributed an assist in the Blues' 5-1 win to bring his points total to eight for this playoff run. Per NHL PR, he became the fourth defenseman in franchise history with at least eight points in a single series. He also joined Cale Makar (10 in 2022 & 8 in 2024), Paul Martin (8 in 2014) and Al MacInnis(8 in 1999) as the fourth defenseman in the past 30 years to record at least eight points through a team’s first four games of a postseason.
"He's been remarkable," Montgomery told reporters after the Blues' Game 3 win on Apr. 24. "I told him after the game, 'Thank god you're not in Anaheim anymore.' I thought our d-core was really good tonight and I thought (Fowler and Colton Parayko) led us tonight with their skating, their willingness to shoot. That goal by Cam Fowler, that's what our d-core can do and we have a lot of guys who can skate back there (on the blue line)."
Perry is no stranger to the playoffs with his laundry list of postseason experience. It can't get much more painful in striving for success than four consecutive Cup Final losses. As he nears age 40, he knows time is running out not only to hoist Lord Stanley again, but continue his playing career.
"The Worm," as he is fondly known to many, scored the Oilers' first goal in Game 4 as they worked to even not only the series, but the score as well, being down 2-0 at the time. Perry deftly batted the puck down before sweeping it past Los Angeles Kings goaltender Darcy Kuemper on the power play. With 56 career playoff goals, Perry is tied with Denis Potvin, Steve Larmer and Brad Marchand for 44th on the all-time playoff goals leaderboard.
"He's just elite," Oilers teammate Leon Draisaitl told reporters after their 4-3 overtime win. "He's nearly 40 years old and he has an impact on every single game. It's incredible. He's one of the smartest hockey players I've ever seen. He's so unique in the way he thinks and plays the game that I honestly feel like he could play till he's 50 just because of his brain."
Once down by two in their respective series, Fowler and Perry have found new life for their postseason hopes thanks to strong performances from themselves and their teammates.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talks with Palisades Charter High pitcher Jett Teegardin, who threw out the first pitch before the Dodgers played the Pirates at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. The Palisades baseball team was honored before the game for persevering despite their school being closed after the Palisades fire. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Traditionally, when a member of the Dodgers is honored with a bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium, someone from their family will throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
But on Saturday, on the night of his bobblehead commemorating the final out of last year’s World Series championship, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts had a different idea for the pregame guest.
Four months ago, in the weeks after the devastating wildfires that ravaged Pacific Palisades, Roberts received a message from a friend involved with the Palisades Charter High School baseball team, inviting him to speak at one of their preseason practices.
It was the start of a personal connection between Roberts and the school’s resilient baseball program; making the World Series-winning manager a source of moral support amid their catastrophic circumstances, and more simply one of their biggest fans.
“When all this happened, I got emails from people all over the country, everybody wanting to help out and all that stuff,” Palisades baseball coach Mike Voelkel said. “But Dave is one of the few who has stuck by us … I don’t think they’ve invented an adjective yet to describe how appreciative and how thankful [we are].”
Palisades Charter High School pitcher Jett Teegardin, left, leaves the infield with his teammates after throwing out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
Thus, when it came time for Roberts’ bobblehead celebration Saturday, he helped coordinate a Dodger Stadium surprise for the Palisades players.
During the Dodgers’ batting practice Saturday afternoon, the Palisades’ varsity and junior varsity teams were invited down to field level, where they watched the Dodgers in awe from behind home plate.
“This has been the coolest thing ever,” senior pitcher Ian Sullivan said, one of more than a dozen players in the program whose family was displaced by the fires. “I don’t have words.”
The ceremonial first pitch was delivered by junior infielder Jett Teegardin, whose family has bounced between living out of hotels and with friends in the area since their home was lost in the flames.
Dave Roberts hugs Palisades Charter High School pitcher Jett Teegardin after Teegardin threw out the first pitch at Dodger Stadium on Saturday. (Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times)
“I just spoke with Dave Roberts!” he exclaimed after Roberts came by to greet the team before the game — not even knowing Roberts would be behind the plate hours later to catch his throw from the mound.“How many people can say they’ve had a full conversation with him? It’s so cool.”
Even the traditional call of “It’s Time for Dodgers Baseball” had a Palisades twist, recited by a group of other players who were personally impacted by the tragedy.
“Just with what they’ve been going through, I just kept in touch with them,” Roberts said. “And then the bobblehead night comes up, and I was like, 'I want to do something. I want to make this a special night for them.'”
Long before then, though, Roberts’ impact had already been felt.
In the immediate aftermath of January’s Palisades fires, which wiped out more than 6,800 structures and much of the neighborhood’s iconic high school, there was doubt about whether the baseball program would even survive.
“When this happened, people were telling our kids we’re not going to have a team, and to transfer to other schools, and stuff like that,” Voelkel said. “But we were a little bit stubborn. We made sure we were gonna have a team.”
Once the season started weeks later, many around the baseball world quickly volunteered to help.
Hall of Fame manager Joe Torre and entertainer Billy Crystal made a surprise visit to one of their early practices. Texas-based baseball equipment company Bruce Bolt donated hundreds of dollars worth of gear for each player.
But few days were as meaningful as Roberts’ visit in late January, when he spent almost two hours with the team during their practice at a park near Century City.
“It was brutal,” Roberts said. “But they were having fun. And I was so excited.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts talks with Palisades Charter High baseball players whose lives were disrupted by the Palisades fire. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“It was definitely something to bring up the mood,” Teegardin said. “Because it was still kind of recent to everything that was happening [with the fires]. So I think it was one of the coolest things that has happened [this season].”
Roberts’ message to the team that day was simple: “Don’t make excuses.”
Voelkel appreciated such sincerity, finding Roberts’ words refreshing ahead of what he knew would be a daunting season.
“It was just like sitting in your backyard, talking baseball,” Voelkel said of Roberts’ interaction with the players. “I think that was a different kind of communication than those forums normally take on.”
Ever since, Roberts has stayed in regular contact with Voelkel for team updates.
“He’s wanted to know how our kids are doing,” Voelkel said. “I communicated with him when he was over in Japan.”
And shortly before first pitch Saturday, the entire program gathered near the third base line — wearing their blue “Palisades” jerseys — and were greeted by Roberts with a brief address.
“He has been absolutely golden during this whole process,” Voelkel said.
Baseball alone has been a welcome distraction for the Palisades players.
“It’s like a normalcy in my life,” Sullivan said. “Something that hasn’t changed.”
But the complexities of this season have not been easy.
Early in the year, Teegardin recalled having to scramble to simply find gear for practice.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts laughs with Palisades Charter High baseball coach Mike Voelkel as they walk off a field. (Steve Galluzzo / For The Times)
“I didn’t have anything, I didn’t have any baseball clothes,” he said. “So my friends came and dropped me off some stuff.”
Standing next to him, Sullivan solemnly nodded his head.
“Yeah, me too.”
Practices have been a logistical nightmare, with the program finding refuge at several local parks after their on-campus field was damaged in the fires — and officially leveled just this past week.
“A smack in the mouth,” Voelkel called that news.
And while the team’s play has been up-and-down this season, entering Saturday 13-9 in an almost entirely road schedule in the CIF Los Angeles City Section, Voelkel said the simple fact that they’re even still playing together remains a point of pride.
“If you look at it realistically, it’s a victory just having a team,” said Voelkel, who last month was recognized by the CIF with a Model Coach Award. “That supersedes anything.”
Still, with a few weeks to go until the playoffs, the Palisades’ varsity team has a singular goal in mind: To return to Dodger Stadium for the City Section finals next month.
“Now being so close to it, it’s like a need at this point,” Sullivan said, his eyes wide as he gazed toward the diamond. “That would be the best way to cap off our season. So this is kind of an insane experience, and just another motivator for us.”
If they get there, few will be happier to see it than Roberts.
“I cannot tell you how valuable he’s been to the growth and stability of our program,” Voelkel said. “When you have the World Series champion manager give you their time and authentic care, it’s priceless."
Full admission: We’ve written this story before. You can go back in the archives and probably find 14 different versions of us gushing about ageless Al Horford’s impact. At this point, it feels like we’re just filling in an NBA Mad Lib.
At (CURRENT AGE, REFERENCE UPCOMING BIRTHDAY) years old, ageless Al Horford continues to be a defensive menace for the Celtics, holding the (ENTER PLAYOFF OPPONENT)’s superstar tandem of (SUPERSTAR X) and (SUPERSTAR Y) to just (X) points on (X) of (X) shooting with (X) blocks as Boston took a commanding (SERIES WIN-LOSS RECORD) lead.
In Sunday’s get-right Game 4 win over the Magic, the soon-to-be 39 year-old Horford held the age 23-and-under tandem of Franz Wagner and Paolo Banchero to seven points on 3-of-15 shooting with three blocks, per NBA tracking.
The Magic mustered just 11 points on 5-of-19 shooting overall as Horford swatted five shots in Boston’s 107-98 triumph at the Kia Center.
The Celtics own a 3-1 series lead with a chance to close out the Magic on Tuesday night at TD Garden.
Horford, per usual, has been fantastic throughout this series. Over four games, the Magic are shooting a meager 32.8 percent overall against Horford (21 of 64 overall), which is 12 percent below expected output. Among the 101 players with more than 25 shots defended this postseason, Horford ranks second in the NBA in defensive field goal percentage, trailing only Kawhi Leonard (9-of-38 FG, 23.7 DFG%).
Al Horford as primary defender vs Franz/Paolo in Game 4, per NBA tracking:
7 PTS, 3-15 FG, 3 BLK
Magic overall vs Al, Gm4:
11 PTS, 5-19 FG, 5 BLK
Magics vs Al, full series:
21-64 FG, 32.8 DefFG% (12% below expected FG%)
4th best DFG% in playoffs among 115 players > 20 DFGA
What more can we say about Horford? Every time we write this article, it gets slightly more preposterous what he’s doing at an advanced age, but also somehow less absurd because you wouldn’t expect anything less.
The same guy who spent his early 30s locking up Joel Embiid and his mid 30s handcuffing Giannis Antetokounmpo is now tormenting a whole new generation of offensive-minded NBA big men. They get older, Horford seemingly stays the same age.
It’s a good thing the Hall of Fame shortened its waiting period to two years after retirement, because at this rate, Horford is going to play until he’s 45 and we’d be waiting until 2036 to watch him get his spot in Springfield.
Horford is still tidying up that resume having admitted before the postseason that he’s even hungrier for a second NBA title than he was for last year’s crown. The Celtics have done everything to limit the wear and tear on Horford during his time in Boston, but here we are in the playoffs, and due to injuries at other spots, Horford has started three of the four games against Orlando while averaging 31.8 minutes per contest (up from 27.7 in the regular season).
In Sunday’s win, Horford became only the second player in NBA history to record five blocks in a game at age 38 or older, joining Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. He occasionally picked up the Orlando ball-handlers at near full court to force the Magic to eat up clock before getting into their half court sets.
It doesn’t quite make sense that Boston’s defensive rating is its worst when Horford is on the floor in this series (111.9 in Horford’s 127 minutes, 91.3 with him off the court). But his individual impact has been undeniable.
Horford felt vital to Boston’s chances to repeat entering the postseason. The way the bracket is shaking out, the Celtics should see plenty of size on their journey, and Horford will get all sorts of defensive challenges.
But whether he’s jousting with Banchero and forcing a tough fadeaway, or hustling over to swat Cory Joseph straight to Kissimmee, Horford has been exceptional yet again.
When Jayson Tatum and Jaylen Brown take their turns at the podium, they relentlessly gush about Horford’s impact, with Tatum pointing out Horford’s “heart of a champion” after Game 4.
Let’s be honest: We’re probably going to write this story again in a couple weeks. We’ll plug in some new numbers about how Horford is faring against Karl Anthony Towns or Evan Mobley. Just keep clicking and acting like it’s a fresh take.
Five years after Covid-19 restrictions prevented Liverpool fans from celebrating at Anfield their team's first top flight title triumph in 30 years, Reds faithful wasted little time on 27 April getting the party started on another Premier League success. With Anfield filled to the brim, Liverpool equalled Manchester United's record of 20 English top-flight titles with their 5-1 thrashing of Tottenham Hotspur. But it was after Alexis Mac Allister struck a blistering shot to put the Reds ahead for good in the 24th minute that the delirious crowd at the sun-drenched stadium erupted and they did not stop singing until well after the final whistle sounded.Thousands of fans not fortunate to be inside Anfield on Sunday celebrated outside, setting off flares before the game ended in a party that carried on through the night
Steph Curry added another accolade to his already impressive trophy case.
The Warriors superstar is the recipient of the 2024-25 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, the NBA announced on Monday.
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry has been named the 2024-25 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year.
The award recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment to his team. pic.twitter.com/57iiqHNcEi
As mentioned, the award “recognizes the player deemed the best teammate based on selfless play, leadership as a mentor and role model to other NBA players, and commitment to his team.”
The 37-year-old Curry, who has dealt with nagging injuries all season, did just about everything he could to lead Golden State back to the playoffs. Whether it was young teammates, like Brandin Podziemski, Moses Moody, Jonathan Kuminga and Quinten Post, or veterans like Jimmy Butler and Draymond Green, Curry was by their side every step of the way and elevated each one of their games both on and off the court.
Surprisingly, this is Curry’s first time ever winning the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year award, which was first presented in the 2012-13 NBA season.
However, as we have learned time and time again with Curry, there’s a first time for everything. Even in Year 16.
Midfielder keeps collecting nicknames – and goals – as he drives his side towards a title that would be his own
Scott McTominay could have said anything and a whole city still would have loved him: the man who fired Napoli clear at the top of Serie A with four rounds of games left to go. His first-half strikes delivered a 2-0 win over Torino on Sunday. He had scored the only goal as Napoli won away to Monza in their previous fixture, and two out of three in a rout of Empoli before that.
Carrying his team towards the finish line, in other words, though McTominay has been decisive from the start. He scored within 28 seconds of coming off the bench for his home debut in September and his goals have broken seven 0-0 deadlocks since then. No player in Serie A has done this more.
Head coach told squad what was wrong and how to fix it
Konaté sat alone in stands after title win almost in tears
Arne Slot predicted Liverpool could win the Premier League providing they corrected the flaws that undermined their title challenge last season, Ibrahima Konaté has revealed. The Liverpool defender was almost in tears after the club’s record‑equalling 20th league championship on Sunday. He took a moment to sit alone in an empty Main Stand at Anfield long after the 5-1 rout of Tottenham to absorb the size of the achievement.
Konaté cast his mind back to Slot’s debut pre-season. Liverpool had tailed off the title pace in Jürgen Klopp’s final campaign, dropping points in five of their last eight games to slip from first to third. One of Slot’s opening acts as head coach was to show the squad where they went wrong and what needed to change.
The Bell Centre was just as loud for game 4 as it was for game 3 of the Montreal Canadiens’ first-round series against the Washington Capitals, when poor Michel Lacroix tried to announce the anthems, he was drowned out by a very loud “Ole, ole, ole” chant, and you could feel the electricity in the air. To everyone’s surprise, goaltender Logan Thompson was back in the net, while Jakub Dobes was defending the Habs’ cage.
Asked about what happened in game three, Thompson explained:
I kind of got my bell rung a bit there. It was scary; it definitely could have been a lot worse, but coming back from injury and doing some protocol, I lost my balance getting up. Luckily, things were ok, and I was able to play.
- Thompson on Friday night's injury.
There was no mention of what looked like a knee injury on the play, whether that’s just playoff secrecy or if it was just a big scare, we’ll never know.
After the NHL warned both teams to watch themselves with the extracurricular activities, the referees seemed to want to play a bigger part in the game and establish limits early, calling three penalties in the first frame alone. They added another five in the second, including three against the Canadiens that did not go down well in the Bell Center.
Defending Ovechkin On The Power Play
The Canadiens had a new way to defend against Alexander Ovechkin tonight on the power play. Often, they isolated the Caps’ captain. The Russian sniper stands around waiting for the puck, making it easy to stand right before him to cut off any potential pass.
Montreal decided to do it very closely, almost forcing him out of the play. They sacrificed a player and had to defend four-on-three on the rest of the ice, but it worked well. It would have been a different story had it not been for Dobes’ heroics; the young netminder stole at least three goals on the penalty kill.
Twice, his side-to-side displacement was perfect to stop one-timers, and once, he made a glove save low nearside that looked like a definite goal. The Habs had three penalties in the second frame, but they still came out of the period with two goals on four shots.
The Future Is Now
With Patrik Laine still out of action, the newly formed first power play unit got more ice time, and it became evident that Ivan Demidov could be a key cog of the Canadiens’ man advantage.
The first unit scored the Canadiens two goals tonight, and Demidov shone brightly on each. The youngster has excellent hands and repeatedly dazzled the Bell Centre crowd. On the first goal, he evaded his coverage with a couple of nifty moves, got behind the net, saw Juraj Slafkovsky on the doorstep, and just like that, the puck was behind Tompson.
On the second goal, he got the secondary assist, but it was his puck possession skills that allowed the Canadiens to keep possession and set up properly, allowing Cole Caufield to give Montreal a 2-1 lead.
Hitting The Wall
The Canadiens were less than 17 minutes away from tying the series at two a piece when Tom Wilson rocked Alex Carrier with a big hit and gained puck possession for the Caps. Seconds later, after the puck went up in the air and dropped in front of Dobes, Brandon Duhaime tapped it to tie up the score.
Asked if the Canadiens tried to talk to him after his hit on Carrier and if he just skated away, Wilson explained:
It’s a loud building, there’s a lot of emotion, the last game was really chaotic, and speaking to the coaches and a lot of people that I trust over the last couple of days, it’s good for me to be on the ice. I can’t be sitting in the box for 14 minutes. In the first game, I get coincidental, and I’m in the box for eight to nine minutes, so I want to be on the ice and control my emotions. It’s a tough building to do that, it’s one of the best building in the NHL for a reason, it’s loud, the fans are passionate, it’s one of those buildings you love to play in as a player, it’s stuff you’ll remember when your career is done, but you want to keep your emotions in check.
- Tom Wilson on why he skated away.
From then on, it was a different game. The Canadiens looked somewhat shaken up, and with under four minutes to go, Andrew Mangiapane unleashed a heavy wrister from the high slot that beat Dobes glove side.
Martin St-Louis pulled his goalie early on an offensive zone faceoff, and the Canadiens lost possession. This led to Duhaime getting his second in an empty net. Wilson added another one later, still in an empty cage, to give the Caps a 3-1 series lead.
The coach looked somewhat dejected after the game:
I feel bad for the group a bit; I don’t really know what to tell them. If you have some answers for me, let me know.
-
St-Louis looked more like a player than a coach for the first time this season when providing that answer. Asked why he didn’t know what to say to his players, he answered:
I don’t know…It’s hard…I’ll be careful with my words but, it’s hard to watch some of these calls. Tonight, the mandate was about embellishing.
-
Every morning, the GM meets with the person in charge of the referees and is told what the zebras will be trying to crack down on during the game. On Sunday morning, Kent Hughes was told the zebras would be trying to eradicate embellishment. Listening to the coach, he clearly felt like that wasn’t accomplished. One can imagine he was referring to the high-sticking call on Christian Dvorak, which infuriated the Bell Centre.
The Canadiens now have a few days to lick off their wounds before heading to Washington for game five which will be held on Wednesday night.
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As a pending restricted free agent, Helge Grans has done about as much as he possibly can to force his name onto the Philadelphia Flyers roster for the upcoming 2025-26 season.
Grans, 22, made his NHL debut for the Flyers in a 3-2 loss to the Colorado Avalanche on Nov. 18, filling in for the then-injured Jamie Drysdale for six games.
Next season, Grans will have an opportunity to reprise his role as the injury understudy with Rasmus Ristolainen set to miss roughly six months following his surgery to repair a ruptured triceps tendon in his right arm.
The first step for Grans, of course, is earning a new contract with the Flyers, who concluded the season with just six healthy defensemen on their roster.
Cam York and Travis Sanheim, two left-shots, played most of the season together on the Flyers' top defense pair. Youngsters Emil Andrae and Egor Zamula ended the season on a pair together. As a result of Ristolainen's latest injury, the Flyers have had a difficult time striking some balance on the back end.
The same was true last season, too. Ristolainen was limited to just 31 games and Sean Walker was traded to Colorado, leaving Philadelphia with Erik Johnson and Drysdale as their only two right-shot options.
At the time, Grans was not even being considered for a role in the NHL and was even benched by Lehigh Valley Phantoms head coach Ian Laperriere in the second round of the Calder Cup playoffs a few weeks later.
The 22-year-old Swede managed just one goal, seven assists, and eight points in 56 games with the Phantoms last year, but the difference a year makes is front and center.
On top of making his NHL debut and scoring his first NHL point for the Flyers, Grans exploded for eight goals, 15 assists, and 23 points in 66 games. He's showing the potential he flashed in the 2021-22 season, when he scored seven goals, 17 assists, and 24 points in 56 games with the Ontario Reign in his first full season in North America.
It's been a long road for the 6-foot-3 blueliner, who needed to become meaner, more assertive, and more reliable in his own end of the ice. Grans is finally doing that, and he proved to himself that he didn't have to sacrifice his offensive gifts to do it.
Grans scored his first career Calder Cup playoffs goal on Friday, just under a year after watching the Phantoms' last two games of the year from the press box.
Grans used his elite skating to enter the zone, dropping the puck off to Jett Luchanko at the blueline before stick-checking a defender and rotating to set a screen in front of the net.
While Luchanko's pass to Anthony Richard was rebuffed by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' goaltender, Grans was in the right place at the right time to swat the rebound into the goal from the ground, scoring the game-winning goal and powering the Phantoms to a 3-2 Game 2 win to sweep the Penguins in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
"He’s a young guy still, but he’s played a number of years because L.A. put him in the American League as a young player. Over the years, from L.A.’s program to now, he’s steadily getting better,” Flyers assistant GM Brent Flahr said of Grans in September. “Now he has to find a niche for himself. He’s a tall, rangy guy. He can skate. He can move the puck. He just has to find a way to beat out another player.”
With Ristolainen set to miss all of training camp, Grans might not have to beat out another player to make the Flyers. Keeping his spot from there will be up to him and his play, especially if the Flyers continue to evaluate trade packages for Ristolainen as they have in the past.
Grans's sustained elevated level of performance indicates a motivated player who knows he doesn't have a contract next year and wants to take his talents to the NHL. The ball is now in the Flyers' court.
Zafar Gohar’s half-century helped Middlesex secure a draw against Derbyshire in the only County Championship match in this round to make it to the fourth day
And now Eskinazi slips through the Derbyshire fingers, gloved behind – the ball seems to fly off the gloves of Guest and loop just short of the sprawling close fielders. Derbys 94-1.
“There might be a fight break out or something,” Brown said Friday night. “Because it’s starting to feel like it’s not even basketball, and the refs are not controlling the environment. So, it is what it is.
“If you want to fight it out, we can do that. We can fight to see who goes to the second round.”
While the Magic ended their flagrant foul streak in Sunday’s Game 4, they continued their physical style of play — but this time it cost them. Orlando committed 24 personal fouls, resulting in the Celtics making a season-high 30 free throws on 32 attempts en route to a 107-98 win.
After the game, Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley decided to play his own officiating card.
“We were attacking the basket the exact same way,” Mosley told reporters. “Now, we didn’t knock them down when we got there. We had to understand that the calls, the whistle was going to head in that direction after what’s been said. So we have to continue to just be smart there, hold our ground, get positioning earlier and make sure we show our hands.”
Mosley apparently feels that Brown’s comments influenced the officiating in Game 4 and led to Sunday’s discrepancy in free throws (Orlando made just 14 of 20 free throw attempts). So, this appeared to be Mosley’s attempt to lobby the refs ahead of Tuesday’s Game 5 and swing the foul margin closer to the Magic’s favor.
“I always look at our ability to attack the rim. … Them shooting, let’s just say, 26 free throws before the back stretch; you look at those margins and they’re very similar attacks, but it’s not the same foul count,” Mosley said. “Whether that’s the physicality part of it or not, it’s just something we look at.”
Campaigning for calls is par for the course in the NBA playoffs, so Mosley’s comments aren’t too surprising. But they are a validation of Boston’s response to Orlando’s physicality.
After multiple hard fouls by the Magic in the first three games, the Celtics easily could have responded with some message-sending fouls of their own. Instead, they maintained their composure and struck the balance of matching Orlando’s physicality without racking up fouls — especially down the stretch.
The Celtics committed just two personal fouls in the fourth quarter, playing aggressive defense without fouling with the game in the balance. The Magic, meanwhile, racked up eight fouls, leading to 14 free throw attempts for Boston, which made all 14 to ice Game 4.
Jayson Tatum was the primary beneficiary, repeatedly getting to the basket late in the game to make 9 of 9 free throw attempts in the fourth. He finished the night 14-for-14 from the charity stripe with 37 points and a spot in the NBA history books.
“Just poise. Poise. Having an understanding of your environment,” Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla said of Tatum after the game. “Obviously, some shot-making there, but at the same time, physical drives and getting to the free-throw line.”
The Magic are a very physical team, but Boston’s ability to maintain its poise is a big reason why it owns a 3-1 series lead, and could be moving on to Round 2 as soon as Tuesday. Tip-off for Game 5 at TD Garden is set for 8:30 p.m. ET on NBC Sports Boston.
SAN FRANCISCO — There was a hell of a reward waiting for the Giants after they finished a stretch of 17 games in 17 days. They flew to San Diego on Sunday evening instead of Monday, giving players, coaches and former Padres manager Bob Melvin a full off day in one of this country’s best cities.
“They’ve really earned it with the way they’ve played baseball during this stretch,” Mike Krukow said on the broadcast Sunday.
As grueling as this stretch was, it’s actually kind of normal for MLB teams this season. The Giants are one of 12 to have a stretch of 17 consecutive games this season, although only them and the Kansas City Royals have had to do it in April. While that would seem to be more difficult given how much time it takes to fully build up starters these days, the Giants actually might have benefited from the timing.
They left camp remarkably healthy, and they have lost just one player — backup infielder Casey Schmitt — to the IL this season. They made their first roster move during the stretch of 17 consecutive games, but that’s still the only one they’ve needed all year.
At some point, the injuries will hit. They always do. But at the moment, the Giants are healthy, happy, and ready to find some good tacos in San Diego. As they head for a well-deserved day off, here are 17 notes from the impressive 17-day stretch, which ended with a 10-7 record and the Giants in first place:
RBI Guy
Wilmer Flores went 4-for-35 on the road trip, but still managed to drive in nine runs in 10 games. The overall production was much better once he returned home, and with a bases-loaded walk Sunday, he finished with 14 RBI over the 17 games. Flores, who missed much of last year with a knee injury, also appeared in every game.
“It’s amazing, especially after last year,” Melvin said of the run production. “It shows you, it doesn’t take ultimate bat speed, it doesn’t take 110 (mph) off the bat to impact the game. His track record of being up there in big situations kind of speaks for itself.”
Flores heads into the off day leading the majors with 28 RBI. He’s one ahead of some guy named Aaron Judge and two ahead of Pete Alonso.
The Little Things
The biggest difference for the Giants early on might be the fact that they’re finally — after years of talking about it — playing fundamentally-sound baseball. They’re ranked seventh in FanGraphs’ all-encompassing baserunning metric and they have made just 10 errors all year, tied for the least in baseball.
The advanced metrics haven’t been as kind, with Outs Above Average ranking them 27th and Defensive Runs Saved also having them in the bottom third, a lot of which is because of a slow start at short. Willy Adames has been worth negative six DRS and negative five OAA.
But overall, the Giants aren’t kicking the ball around nearly as often as they did in previous seasons, and that’s a big step in the right direction. They’re reminded of that every time they watch a team do what the Rangers did Sunday.
2021 Vibes
For 162 games — and 107 wins — four years ago, just about everything went right. It’s hard not to feel like some of that magic has returned. Here’s Exhibit A:
There have been a lot of positives early on, but there are also a few key Giants who can’t wait for the calendar to turn to May.
Adames is hitting .202 and has one homer a year after crushing 32 of them. Patrick Bailey is hitting .164, slugging .247, and still looking for his first homer. Somehow, neither has the lowest OPS of the regulars; LaMonte Wade Jr. is at .460. There are struggles on the bench, too, most notably with Luis Matos, who has two hits in his last 28 at-bats and was 1-for-21 with no walks in six starts during this 17-game stretch.
The Giants are hopeful the off day will clear some heads, and they need it to happen. Winning games with late walk-offs is fun, but at some point the lack of production from key spots is going to catch up to them.
Who’s On First?
With the bases loaded in the first inning Sunday, Wade jumped on a sinker and hit one into the arcade — but it was foul by about 20 feet. Three pitches later, he missed a two-run double by a few feet. Two pitches after that, he smoked a 107 mph liner — right at second baseman Marcus Semien.
When you’re cold, you’re cold, and nobody has had a rougher month than Wade, who lost the leadoff job and is hitting just .110. The Giants will stick with him, in part because there’s simply been a lot of bad luck. Wade’s walk rate is in line with previous years and he has struck out just once in his last eight games after some early concerns. He’s sitting on a .135 BABIP, about 140 points below his career average.
The Giants also will be patient because there are no clear solutions. Schmitt is on the IL, joining Jerar Encarnacion, who will start taking swings this week but isn’t eligible to return until May 23. Veteran Jake Lamb is struggling in Triple-A. Top prospect Bryce Eldridge hit a homer in his first at-bat of the year, but then missed two games with an illness. He’s 2-for-13 so far in Double-A and the Giants plan to be extremely patient with his development.
The starts will continue to be there for Wade, who could use a little luck as he tries to come out of this.
Stressful Job
In New York, two-time All-Star Devin Williams has temporarily been removed from the closer role. In Cleveland, Emmanuel Clase — who finished third in Cy Young voting last year — has a 7.15 ERA.
It’s extremely difficult to find a closer who churns out one strong season after the next, and when those guys falter, there’s no safety net. It often costs you a game, and Ryan Walker lived that at the end of the road trip. Walker gave up four runs in Anaheim and then was pulled after nearly blowing another save against the Brewers, but he looked much better over the weekend, and the Giants are hopeful this will just be a two-game blip.
“I know it’s been a few rough outings in a row but the stuff has been there all year,” Bailey said Saturday. “It happens, it happens to the best of them — and he is one of the best of them.”
Walker’s fastball velocity is right in line with 2024 and his slider has been just about as effective, but hitters are batting .348 against his fastball. He made some mechanical adjustments last week and felt his command got much better, and it seems the Giants avoided any additional questions about their closer.
A Helping Hand
The Giants have the luxury of having a former All-Star closer who wants to return to the ninth at some point, and he shined when Walker needed some backup. Camilo Doval had three saves in the series against the Brewers and picked up the win on Sunday after a clean ninth.
During the 17-game stretch, Doval threw 7 2/3 shutout innings over eight appearances, allowing just one hit with two walks and eight strikeouts. Prior to that, he had allowed runs in three straight appearances.
Walk This Way
Matt Chapman has reached base in 25 of 29 games, including 16 of 17 during this stretch. He drew 18 walks in the 17 games and is tied for the lead in the Majors with Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna with 26.
This is all somewhat new for Chapman, who is 32 and in his ninth big-league season. He is just about doubling his previous best walk rate in the majors and he’s more than double last year’s rate of 9.9 percent.
A Red Flag
The 2025 Giants have a .311 on-base percentage and are slugging .377. The 2024 Giants had a .305 OBP and slugged .396. The 2023 Giants had a .312 OBP and slugged .383.
The Giants averaged 4.6 runs over the 17 games, but their OPS actually was lower than their season-ending mark in each of their last two campaigns. In a lot of ways, this offense isn’t any better than the one that was an issue under the previous regime, but they’ve been good with runners in scoring position and their bullpen has been outstanding, which allowed them to win five one-run games over the past 17 days.
Right now, this is a top-heavy lineup that is leaning very, very heavily on Jung Hoo Lee, Mike Yastrzemski, Chapman and Flores’ ability to drive in runs in key spots. If there’s anything that keeps team officials up at night, even at 19-10, it’s probably this. They’re one or two injuries to key starters away from having one of the worst offenses in the league.
The Long Man
The Giants haven’t made a single move with their pitching staff this season, which is remarkable given how the previous five years looked. Buster Posey wants continuity, and it certainly helped that several starters — especially in Philadelphia — avoided blowups that would have led to a fresh arm being added.
It also helped that Spencer Bivens took on such a heavy workload over these 17 games. The right-hander threw 8 1/3 innings over five outings, and on three occasions he gave Melvin at least six outs. After allowing a run in each of his first three appearances this season, Bivens has given up just two hits over his last five, all of which have been scoreless.
Birds Flying High
While he waits for a rotation spot to open up, Hayden Birdsong is helping to win a lot of games as a high-leverage reliever who is giving Melvin length. Birdsong pitched twice on the homestand, throwing three shutout innings each time and striking out nine. He has 18 strikeouts in 16 innings this year and is sitting on a 1.13 ERA.
As a reliever, Birdsong is averaging 96.5 mph with his fastball and holding opposing hitters to a .130 average. They’re even worse (.111) against his new changeup.
Eventually, Birdsong will return to starting, likely for good, but right now he’s a heck of a weapon in close games. He entered in the sixth or seventh inning four times during this 17-game stretch and helped the Giants close out three wins.
Keeping The Door Closed
When a Giants starter struggles, it’s impossible to ignore the fact that Birdsong is literally right there. Thus far, the Giants haven’t seemed at all close to making a move, including with Jordan Hicks, who pitched four times during the 17 days and allowed 20 runs. Just two of those came Sunday, though, and it looks like Hicks might have found something.
Hicks’ velocity was down across the board Sunday, including 3.4 mph on his sinker, which was sitting at 99 mph on the road trip. But he changed it up Sunday and went slider-heavy, getting eight swinging strikes on the pitch. There are some within the organization who also believe it wouldn’t be the worst thing if he dialed it back on the velocity; he found a lot of success early last season while focusing on having good command and getting plenty of movement on his sinker.
Sunday seemed to be a step in the right direction for Hicks, who needed the break in the schedule as much as anybody.
No Production Loss With Koss
Christian Koss stepped in over the weekend after Tyler Fitzgerald bruised his chest on a dive and the rookie contributed in both of his starts. His single on Sunday tied the game in the bottom of the fourth, and he had a hit in all five starts during the 17 games. One of the reasons the Giants put him on their bench was their belief that his simple swing and approach would allow him to contribute even if he had to sit four or five days in a row, and that’s been the case.
“I’m just trying to have consistent, quality at-bats and put good swings on balls,” Koss said Sunday.
Koss also became the first position player to take the mound for the Giants this year and threw a scoreless inning. He joined Brandon Crawford and Pablo Sandoval atop the franchise’s ERA leaderboard.
Rising Randy
Randy Rodriguez went a week without pitching recently, but it had nothing to do with his performance or any minor ailment. Melvin wants to use him as the bullpen’s “fireman” and Rodriguez got up several times, only to see a starting pitcher get himself out of a jam.
This is similar to the role Walker had before getting elevated to the ninth, and Rodriguez looks capable of following that path down the road. He has started his season with 11 straight appearances without allowing a run or a walk, the longest season-opening streak ever by a Giants pitcher. Rodriguez is the first MLB pitcher to do it since Baltimore’s Yennier Cano in 2023. Cano went 17 straight scoreless/walkless appearances to start that year and ended up making the All-Star team.
Hey Now, You’re …
Speaking of All-Stars, if the team were picked today, Tyler Rogers would have one of the strongest cases in the clubhouse. His 0.63 ERA is the best among pitchers with at least 14 innings pitched this season and he has held the opponent scoreless in 14 of 15 outings.
Rogers pitched eight times over the 17 games and is tied for the National League lead in appearances. Opponents are hitting just .156 against his fastball, which averages 82.7 mph.
Playoffs? Playoffs?
Per FanGraphs, the Giants’ odds of making the postseason currently are 58.6 percent, although that’s not a monumental jump from their last off day. After winning nine of their first 12 games, they were at 48.9 percent. The lack of major movement is in part because they’re in a division with four teams that are currently above the 40 percent mark.
The NL West is where the Giants have seen some real changes, though. They entered the year with a 2.3 percent chance of winning the division and were at 6.1 percent on their last off day. Currently, they’re at 10 percent, which is well ahead of what anyone projected during the spring, but also still well behind the Dodgers’ 75.7 percent.
The NL Best
Before you finish this, take a moment and send some kind thoughts Colorado’s way. The Rockies are 4-23, and they have five more months to go in the best division in baseball.
The Giants are 19-10, and they would be smart to keep pushing while some of their division rivals are trying to get right. The Padres have been one of the best teams in baseball all year, but they have 11 players on the IL, including Jackson Merrill, Luis Arraez and Jake Cronenworth, and that started to show in recent days. They’ve lost seven of nine as the Giants come to town.
Since the start of this 17-game stretch for the Giants, the Dodgers have gone 8-6. Both Blake Snell and Tyler Glasnow are dealing with shoulder discomfort, and the heavy, heavy favorites certainly look more vulnerable than anyone expected.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are without star Ketel Marte and their vaunted rotation is underperforming. They’re 15-13 and in fourth place.
The West is very likely to be the best division in baseball for 162 games, but last week was a rough one. As the Giants start seeing some division rivals, this is the time to keep banking wins.
