"Not yet," Mendoza said whether he has an update on Nimmo. "I'm waiting. Hopefully -- because he didn't do any baseball activities (Saturday). So, hopefully, he does something (Sunday) and we'll see if he's available off the bench."
"This morning, my neck tightened up on me," Nimmo, who is slashing .212/.274/.397 with eight home runs and 27 RBI through 49 games, said after Friday's loss. "It's from 2019 when I ran into the wall and we've been really good with the training staff and myself about keeping it under control and at bay.
"Sometimes with the travel and just everything, it pops its ugly head and it takes a few days to deal with it."
The Mets start an outfield of Jeff McNeil (left), Tyrone Tracy (center) and Juan Soto (right) in Sunday's rubber match with Los Angeles.
Heading into the Eastern Conference final of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Carolina Hurricanes were in a very good place. They demolished the New Jersey Devils in five games in the first round, then eliminated the Washington Capitals with relative ease by sending them home in a five-game second-round victory. And the ‘Canes did it with defense, allowing only seven goals to the Caps, and just 11 goals to the Devils.
With that in mind, it was fair to presume the Hurricanes would put the squeeze on the defending Cup-champion Florida Panthers in the Eastern final. But instead, the opposite has happened, with the Panthers generating 16 goals in the first three games against the Hurricanes, and Florida staking out a commanding 3-0 series lead over Carolina after romping to a 6-2 win in Game 3.
While you can’t pin down just one reason for the Canes’ struggles against the Panthers, we’ve already seen Carolina coach Rod Brind’Amour changing up his goaltending picture, pulling starter Frederik Andersen after two letdown games, and going with backup Pyotr Kochetkov, to no avail, in Carolina’s Game 3 loss.
The disappointment has put Andersen in a particularly bad spot, as he had signed a one-year contract extension at the start of May. The 35-year-old looked terrific against the Devils and Capitals, posting a save percentage of .905 or higher in seven of his nine games in the first two rounds. But the bottom fell out of Andersen’s game against the Panthers, as he posted an a save percentage of .750 in both Games 1 and 2 before Brind’Amour put him on the bench in favor of Kochetkov in Game 3.
Small wonder, then, that the Hurricanes have lost all three games against Florida thus far in their Eastern final series. Kochetkov has put up a save percentage of .886 or worse in three of his four playoff appearances this year, and he had nothing going for him in Game 3, as the Panthers hung up six goals on 28 shots on him for a bleak .786 SP.
The Panthers were always going to be a tough opponent for Carolina, but when their goaltending hasn’t been up to snuff, the Hurricanes have been on the wrong end of three blowout games. If the ‘Canes are swept by the Panthers, it would be a letdown of the highest order for a team many believed would be significantly better this season. But they’re now on the verge of being swept in the Eastern final for the second time in the past three seasons, and they still haven’t won even a single Eastern final game since they won a Cup in 2005-06.
Meanwhile, Brind’Amour sure sounded like a coach who is seeing his season sunk before his eyes because of sub-par goaltending.
“I don’t blame Freddie on any of the goals that went in,” Brind’Amour said after the Game 2 loss. “Obviously, save percentage is not great, if you look at that. We do need some saves, but I can’t blame him on any.”
Clearly, Brind’Amour was engaged in some mixed messaging there. He doesn’t blame Andersen, but his save percentage is “not great." Carolina does “need some saves”, but Brind’Amour isn’t blaming him for any of the goals he allowed. If that sounds like a coach desperate to not totally jump all over his goalie despite plenty of evidence he’s not doing his job between the pipes, that’s because it is. But that doesn’t mean Andersen and Kochetkov don’t have to own their role in three straight losses to the Panthers.
If and when the Hurricanes are eliminated by Florida, Carolina GM Eric Tulsky is going to be faced with some very difficult decisions about his goaltending next season. It doesn’t matter how good the ‘Canes look at forward and on ‘D’ if Carolina’s goalies can’t outperform their opponent's netminder when they get to the Eastern final.
It also doesn’t matter that Andersen and Kochetkov are relatively underpaid next season, with Andersen set to make $2.75 million, and Kochetkov signed at a salary cap hit of $2 million. When the games have mattered most in this series, Andersen and Kochetkov have failed in their duties. That’s not a criticism, that’s a fact, and absent some miracle turnaround against the Panthers, the Hurricanes need to make some serious changes to their lineup next year.
DETROIT — Tarik Skubal gave up two hits and matched a career high with 13 strikeouts in his first professional complete game, Zach McKinstry had a two-run homer in a five-run fourth inning and the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Guardians 5-0 Sunday to avoid a four-game sweep.
The reigning AL Cy Young Award winner was perfect through five innings and finished with a nearly flawless performance. He had a baserunner for the first time after Will Wilson doubled on the second pitch of the sixth.
Skubal (5-2) gave up only one more hit and hit one batter with a pitch in a masterful, 94-pitch outing that included just 22 balls. It was the eighth complete game in the major leagues this season and fifth individual shutout.
Logan Allen (2-3) allowed a season-high five runs — four earned — five hits and four walks over 3 2/3 innings.
Justyn-Henry Malloy hit a leadoff single and scored on McKinstry’s third homer. Javier Báez followed with a double and came home on Gleyber Torres’ double. Allen’s throwing error allowed Detroit to take a 5-0 lead.
Cleveland kept leadoff hitter Steven Kwan out of the lineup for the first time this season. First baseman Carlos Santana was scratched with tightness in his left leg.
Key moment
McKinstry provided a much-needed homer for a team that lost the first three games in the series against the defending AL Central champions who eliminated them in their AL Division Series.
Key stat
Skubal became the first in franchise history to have 10-plus strikeouts in four straight home games.
Up next
Detroit RHP Keider Montero (1-1, 5.28) and San Francisco RHP Hayden Birdsong (2-0, 1.91) are the probable pitchers in their series opener at Comerica Park on Monday afternoon before Cleveland starts a homestand with RHP Gavin Williams (4-2, 3.94) and RHP Yoshinobu Yamamoto (5-3, 1.86) scheduled to start.
ATLANTA — San Diego right-hander Michael King, who was scratched from Saturday’s scheduled start, was placed on the 15-day injured list on Sunday with right shoulder inflammation.
The Padres said Saturday that King had stiffness after sleeping on the shoulder. The team announced the inflammation on Sunday and said the right-hander would be sidelined for at least two weeks.
The Padres recalled right-hander David Morgan from Triple-A El Paso before Sunday’s game at Atlanta.
The Padres did not say how King’s spot in the rotation would be filled. Morgan has worked only in relief at El Paso, posting a 6.91 ERA in 14 games.
On Saturday, the Padres used a bullpen game and lost to the Braves 7-1. Sean Reynolds got the start and allowed three runs in 2 2/3 innings. Wandy Peralta, Alek Jacobs and Yuki Matsui also pitched.
King is 4-2 with a 2.59 ERA in 10 starts. He was 13-9 with a 2.95 ERA in 2024 and finished seventh in the NL Cy Young Award voting.
The Padres have not announced their starters for a three-game series against the visiting Miami Marlins that begins on Monday night. Right-hander Dylan Cease was Sunday’s starter against the Braves.
Official blew before Morgan Rogers put ball in net for Villa
Villa unhappy at selection of inexperienced referee
Aston Villa will lodge an official complaint with the Premier League about why a more experienced referee than Thomas Bramall was not appointed for their game at Manchester United after the official blew before Morgan Rogers put the ball in the net. This meant the video assistant referee could not intervene to rule on whether the forward had illegally kicked the ball from Altay Bayindir’s hands – as Bramall judged – and Unai Emery claimed later that this was the “key moment” that cost Villa Champions League qualification.
The incident happened in the 73rd minute with the game at Old Trafford goalless and as Newcastle were losing to Everton, Villa – despite having had Emi Martínez sent off – were heading for the Champions League. Bramall’s ruling caused a furious reaction from Emery and his staff. After this Amad Diallo and Christian Eriksen goals – each provoking sarcastic Emery gestures – gave United a 2-0 win. The visitors ended in sixth and so will play Europa League football next season.
Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani winds up to deliver the ball from the mound during a live batting practice session Sunday in New York. Ohtani threw 22 pitches and used his full repertoire of throws. (Adam Hunger / Associated Press)
It had been 641 days since Shohei Ohtani last threw a pitch to a live hitter from a big league mound.
At 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, inside an empty Citi Field on a cool afternoon in Queens, he finally did so again — this time, for the first time, in a Dodger blue uniform.
Nineteen months removed from a second career Tommy John procedure that has limited the two-way star to hitting-only duties during his first season and a half with the Dodgers, Ohtani threw a live batting practice session on Sunday in what was the biggest step in his pitching progression yet.
In five at-bats against Hyeseong Kim, Dalton Rushing and game-planning coach J.T. Watkins, (who pitched in so that Ohtani didn’t risk hitting any of the team’s actual right-handed hitters), Ohtani threw 22 pitches. He was 94-97 mph with his fastball. He used a full repertoire of sinkers, cutters and sweepers. And — with two strikeouts, one walk, a comebacker he fielded on the mound, and only one hit allowed to Kim on a line drive to right — he further raised hopes about the potential in his arm, even coming off another major procedure.
“It was a big jump today, from what I understand, from the bullpens to here facing hitters,” said manager Dave Roberts, who has targeted some point after the All-Star break to have Ohtani potentially join the Dodgers’ rotation.
“If it kind of works out as it should, he's a top-end starter,” Roberts added, “and so that's kind of all of our expectations.”
The most striking part of Sunday’s session was how overjoyed the 30-year-old Ohtani looked back in a simulated pitching environment.
He joked with coaches and laughed with teammates throughout the session. He sarcastically pumped his fist after fanning Watkins (a former minor league catcher in the Boston Red Sox organization) with a wicked sinker. He yelled to Teoscar Hernández (who was one of several teammates watching from the dugout) after Kim’s line drive to right, asking if he would have caught the ball. And he was greeted by a round of fist bumps and high-fives from staff members after throwing his final pitch.
“I think today was great because he was able to keep the mood light, but be able to maintain real stuff,” pitching coach Mark Prior said. “I think that’s always important. He didn’t look like he was having stress or [was] under stress to amp up, try to generate any of his power. He was loose and it was all free and easy. So that’s always a positive.”
Ohtani will probably keep building up through regular live batting practices and simulated games over the coming two months, rather than miss time with the big league team to go on a minor league rehab assignment.
It will be a delicate balance, trying to push Ohtani through the final stages of his pitching recovery without diminishing his potency as a hitter.
“When you start to ramp up, facing hitters and doing back-to-backs and upping the innings, that takes a lot more mindful bandwidth and also physical exertion,” Roberts said. “So that's going to be interesting to see how he handles all this.”
But, given the quality of stuff Ohtani flashed on Sunday, worth it for a Dodgers team that might need him to bolster their currently banged-up rotation for the stretch run of the season.
“It's power stuff, and he knows how to get guys off his best pitch,” said Rushing, who was Ohtani’s other strikeout victim. “That's what really good pitchers do to be successful."
Sunday had been a long time coming for Ohtani, the three-time MVP with a career 3.01 ERA in 86 career big league starts.
Last year, at the outset of his pitching rehab, Ohtani progressed from simple catch play to regular bullpens by the end of the regular season. He wasn’t far off from being able to face hitters by the time the playoffs started, but the Dodgers decided to dial back his pitching progression so he could focus on his first career MLB postseason.
An offseason surgery on Ohtani’s non-throwing left shoulder further delayed his pitching plan entering spring camp this year, limiting him only to a handful of bullpens before the club departed for its season-opening trip to Japan.
Ohtani resumed semiweekly bullpens once the regular season started — lighter sessions on Wednesdays followed by more intensive ones on the weekends — and had been increasing the number of pitches in his bullpens over recent weeks.
This past week, he also began reincorporating his sweeper for the first time since getting hurt, one of the last boxes he had to check before Sunday’s live BP.
While the Dodgers have been wary of laying out the specific checkpoints that remain before Ohtani can join the team’s rotation, Roberts said it’s unlikely he pitches any big league games until after the All-Star break.
“I just think that you’re talking about end of May, he's doing his first simulated game,” Roberts said Saturday night. “And in theory, you got to build a starter up to five, six innings. And so just the natural progression, I just don't see it being before that.”
Still, Sunday was the most tangible sign yet of Ohtani’s nearing return to pitching.
“He has taken a very methodical approach to this. We've tried to take a very methodical approach to this, understanding the uniqueness of the situation,” Prior said. “I will never, and I don't think anybody in that room would ever, doubt what he can do. But, you know, still got a long way to go. We'll see where it comes out at the end of this year.”
WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. — The Phillies climbed all the way back from a three-run hole on the final day of a week-long road trip and took a late lead after an uplifting start from Jesus Luzardo only for the A’s to score twice on Matt Strahm in the eighth inning to prevent a sweep.
The Phils were a mere five outs away from pulling off their first undefeated road trip of at least seven games since July 1968 but had to settle for a 6-1 week after losing, 5-4.
The game ended with pinch-runner Johan Rojas being caught stealing second with Brandon Marsh at the plate against A’s closer Mason Miller. Rojas was in the game for that purpose but didn’t appear to get his best jump.
Strahm recorded the first out in the bottom of the eighth, then walked rookie Logan Davidson and allowed a game-tying triple to left-handed-hitting Lawrence Butler, who went 2-for-2 with two extra-base hits vs. Strahm this weekend after going 5-for-42 with two extra-base hits against all other lefties this season. Rookie catcher Willie MacIver followed with the game-winning RBI single.
“The walks, way too many this year, I feel like they all score,” Strahm said. “That pitch to Butler, I wanted a slider down there, not necessarily in, but I feel like it was down and he got the head to it and found a corner.”
It’s not as if Strahm is walking many batters. Entering Sunday, he’d issued one free pass in his last 10 appearances. But they have been clustered together. His last three appearances that included a walk resulted in five earned runs in 2⅓ innings.
“I’m always upset about walks,” he said. “I feel like I’ve had too many too close together so it’s just kind of a building frustration, I guess.”
The Phillies had a terrific week, and despite the loss they’ll still come home with the best record in baseball at 34-19. The bullpen will continue to be a question, though, as Jose Alvarado serves the remainder of an 80-game suspension that will also include the playoffs. Strahm has not yet been as sharp as he was in 2023 and 2024. Jordan Romano’s run of nine straight scoreless appearances ended Friday with a three-run ninth inning. The Phillies have too much invested in an elite team to not bolster the bullpen in-season, but the trade deadline is still more than two months away with some sellers yet to present themselves.
“We have high expectations in this clubhouse and our expectation coming into today was to sweep and we didn’t do it,” Strahm said, placing some of the loss on himself.
The Phils were close to pulling it off and extending their winning streak to 10 games. Trea Turner put them ahead in the top of the eighth with a solo home run, his third in four days, after driving in a pair earlier with a single and sacrifice fly. He helped the offense chip away as Luzardo stacked up zeroes after a rocky bottom of the first.
Luzardo allowed a leadoff homer to AL Rookie of the Year-favorite Jacob Wilson and a two-run double later in the first inning to Davidson, then he completely settled in. He was still hitting 98 mph in the bottom of the sixth and ended up striking out 10 over seven innings. It’s the first time Luzardo’s struck out at least 10 in consecutive starts, and he’s already exceeded last year’s innings total.
Luzardo is 5-0 with a 2.15 ERA and has struck out 77 in 67 innings.
“Unbelievable,” Strahm said. “I think that just shows how much he’s grown as a pitcher and his game. I feel like seeing it from afar the last few years of him, that’s when things kind’ve unraveled for him and he never got back into it, but to watch him flush it and go pitch by pitch, I mean, that’s what we stress in the bullpen, one pitch at a time. Can’t change a thing, just get the next guy. It was good to see him do that.”
Luzardo is averaging more than 6.0 innings per start and has thrown at least 100 pitches five of his last six times out, matching the most times he’s done it in any single season.
“I feel like it’s just maturity, just progressively maturing,” he said. “I think everyone moves at a different pace throughout their career. Some guys figure it out really early. Unfortunately for me, I’ve taken my lumps and bumps, and I’ll continue to take my lumps and bumps. But I thought I’ve done a good job this year, especially just kind of maneuvering around contact and finding ways to get deeper in the games.”
The Phillies are cognizant of Luzardo’s workload and have gotten him an extra day of rest before eight of his 11 starts. He’ll have an extra day again this week before facing the Brewers at home. That helps. They could dial him back as the summer wears on, they could skip a start, they could go to a six-man rotation when Andrew Painter arrives. There are ways to preserve Luzardo’s arm without going too easy on him and that’s the balance the Phillies are hoping to find. They’ve found it so far, though two-thirds of the season remains.
“The strength coaches, just the whole staff in general, they do such a good job of managing workload,” Luzardo said. “I’m finding ways to really recover in between outings and I think that’s huge, something that in the past in my career, maybe I didn’t take it seriously, the recovery aspect of it. Almost taking a step back, not doing more, doing less. Letting your body really bounce back. All you need is to be ready for the fifth day. Thanks to them and hopefully we keep it going.”
On the eve of Shohei Ohtani facing batters for the first time since elbow surgery in September 2023, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said the two-way star likely won’t return to a major league mound until after the All-Star break.
Ohtani is to pitch batting practice before Sunday night’s series finale against the New York Mets.
“He’s doing his first simulated game for two innings and in theory you got to build a starter up to five, six innings,” Roberts said. “And so just the natural progression, I just don’t see it being before that.”
Roberts wouldn’t rule out Ohtani making a minor league injury rehabilitation appearance. Normally a pitcher coming back from elbow ligament repair makes several minor league starts in the final stage of his recovery. But because Ohtani is among the top hitters in the major leagues, the defending World Series champion Dodgers wouldn’t want to lose his bat for any games.
Minor league teams are off on Mondays, leaving Thursday, June 12, as the only day next month Ohtani could pitch in the minors while the Dodgers are off.
“It’s not going to be five minor league starts, I do know that,” Roberts explained. “I think this is just such a unique situation that there’s no one kind of blueprint. So we’re going to do this live session. I can’t even speak to if it’s going to be an up and down. … And then we’ll see what the next week brings. If he’s going to be around, it’s going to be simulated games, but I really don’t know what that even really looks like.”
Hyeseong Kim and Dalton Rushing are among the hitters likely to bat against Ohtani.
“It’s a big step getting on a mound facing hitters. Rightfully so, there’s a lot of anticipation but I think he’s really looking forward to it.” Roberts said. “I’m looking for command. I just want him to get through it healthy and be willing to get to the next step.”
“I think up to this point he’s checked every box,” Roberts said. “You’re talking about really adding velocity — I think right now it’s been tempered or controlled. You’re talking throwing a slider to hitters, which he has only done in a bullpen. So those are two other boxes.”
"Stanton has been doing everything," Cashman said. "He's kind of completed his baserunning now, he's been hitting for a long time with that tremendous BP machine that we have.
"... So he's been getting live ABs, he's scheduled for live BP in the next two weeks and I think he's getting really close to doing a rehab assignment thereafter."
New York transferred Stanton, 35, to the 60-day injured list May 1 due to right and left elbow epicondylitis.
Originally, the Yankees placed him on the 10-day injured list March 26.
In 114 games during the 2024 regular season, Stanton slashed .233/.298/.475 with 27 home runs and 72 RBI.
He upped his production during the Yankees' run to a World Series appearance, slashing .273/.339/.709 with seven home runs and 16 RBI in 14 games.
Next season will present a prime opportunity for several Pittsburgh Penguins’ prospects to crack the NHL roster.
And one blueline prospect should get a pretty good look.
21-year-old defenseman Owen Pickering - drafted 21st overall by the Penguins in 2022 - got a small taste of NHL experience in 2024-25 and figures to take on a bigger role next season.
With the Penguins shorthanded on left-side defense, Pickering could play a crucial role heading forward. In 25 games with the Penguins last season, he registered one goal and three points and played some minutes in a top-four role next to Kris Letang.
Even though he experienced those top-four minutes last season - and did well for a while in them - Penguins’ POHO and GM Kyle Dubas is aware that Pickering is not quite ready to be thrust into a full-time top-four role.
“He's got to have a great summer,” Dubas said. “We can't have him same as we had him go down, settling into a 12-13 minute a night role. He needs to come in and push his way into 17-18-19-20 minutes and earn that.”
Dubas added: “He played for the team this year, but is he ready to step into one of those roles? I don't think so.”
The other left defensemen on the Penguins' roster - Ryan Graves, Ryan Shea, and Vladislav Kolyachonok - have been logging primarily bottom-pair minutes and, ideally, would remain in a bottom-pair role, at least when Pickering has earned his way into top-four minutes.
In other words, the spot is there for the taking for Pickering, but - as Dubas said - he'll have to earn his way into those minutes. And he wants to work on continuing to be a player the coaching staff can rely on.
"Obviously, being up [in the NHL], you kind of learn what it takes.," Pickering said. "Coming from juniors and all the way in your first year pro, the coaches have to trust you. And that's something I feel like I've been working on and that I feel has gotten better, and something I'm trying to improve."
And Pickering defintely worked on that rebliability aspect in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) after he was re-assigned there on Jan. 25. He finished the AHL season with two goals, 13 points, and a plus-18 rating in 47 games, often logging top-pair minutes and playing in all situations.
But, make no mistake: Pickering does not want to be playing AHL hockey next season. He wants to be rolling with the big club, and he is aware of the opportunity that lies in front of him heading into training camp.
"You never want to get sent back," Pickering said. "You always want to be in the NHL. I feel like I proved to myself that I can play in the NHL.
"I want to be full-time next year, I want to be [in Pittsburgh] the whole year. That's the goal."
The last time we saw Mario Hezonja on an NBA court was in the bubble, when the former No. 5 pick was coming off the bench for the Trail Blazers. Since then, he has been in Europe playing in Greece and Russia before spending the past few seasons with Real Madrid. Just last summer he inked a five-year contract with the Spanish powerhouse, but the contract has an NBA out clause.
Hezonja, 30, spent five seasons in the NBA after being drafted by the Magic, but the 6'8" forward's game never rounded out as hoped. He didn't space the floor well from 3, and his offense was more straight-line drives than anything else.
That growth in his game may have come in Europe. He shot 39.2% from 3 last season for Real Madrid, averaging 13.6 points and 4.9 assists a game this past season. Hezonja also averaged 30.3 points, 9.2 rebounds, 3.8 assists and a couple of steals a game for Croatia in the 2025 EuroBasket qualifiers (Croatia did not make the cut).
It's something to watch. Hezonja's NBA buyout clause is for around $850,000, Urbonas reports, which is about the going rate for an NBA buyout in Europe.
Ipswich bid farewell to their Premier League status after just one year back in the top flight with defeat against West Ham in the final game of the season at Portman Road.
Town gifted the first goal to James Ward-Prowse just before the half-time break following a dreadful back-pass from the captain Sam Morsy.
Levi Colwill’s goal secured Champions League football for Chelsea next season, and sent Nottingham Forest in the direction of the Conference League
4 min: Gibbs-White barges his way down the inside-left channel … but James makes up ground and barges him off the ball. Elanga picks up the loose ball and tries to keep things going but Cucurella gets in the road and puts a stop to his gallop.
2 min: Chelsea are on the front foot quickly, though, and Palmer wins a corner down the left. It’s played short before being swung in, and it causes no danger to the hosts. What an atmosphere, though!
Bournemouth arrested their end-of-season slump to beat Leicester 2-0 on the final day and ensure a top-half finish. Antoine Semenyo struck twice to clinch victory on what was otherwise a fairly forgettable afternoon.
This is Bournemouth’s best-ever Premier League season, but somehow it has not felt like it lately. As recently as the end of February, they were fifth in the league, eyes firmly fixed on the Champions League places.
For quite a while the excellence of Everton’s Jordan Pickford and Carlos Alcaraz threatened to derail Newcastle’s Champions League ambitions.
Ultimately Aston Villa’s defeat at Manchester United enabled Eddie Howe’s team to stumble into European’s showpiece competition on goal difference but, as confirmation of the result from Old Trafford finally arrived and the home players broke into an almost obligatory bout of linking arms and bouncing on the spot they looked almost sheepish.
