Chris Sale slept on it. It obviously did not help.
The Braves left-hander got ejected before the first pitch Sunday, Aug. 9, which takes some doing when he's not even playing in the game. Sale just could not resist when umpire Dan Merzel and the rest of the crew walked by the visitor's dugout at Yankee Stadium.
Sale started barking at Merzel as the umpires came out onto the field for Sunday's series finale. Mezel didn't waste much time, ejecting the Cy Young Award winner quickly. Before exiting the dugout, however, Sale had a few more words for crew chief Dan Bellino.
Clearly, Sale had not finished his argument from pitching on Saturday night.
In the fifth inning, Yankees outfielder Spencer Jones had just tripled home the tying run. Sale started his first pitch to Austin Wells and Merzel called him for a balk over a slight hitch in his right leg. It was the third balk of Sale's 16-year career. Jones jogged home. Sale and Walt Weiss argued it for several minutes before Weiss got run with the Yankees up 3-2. It was the first ejection of his managerial career.
Sale is what the league calls a hybrid pitcher, meaning he works from both the windup and the stretch and you can't tell which by looking at his feet. So he has to say which one is coming out loud to the umpire.
Bellino reiterated that rule after the game and pointed out that Sale had announced it before he struck out Jose Caballero. He did not before pitching to Wells.
Sale, 37, gave up three runs on five hits in six innings Saturday and took his first loss since June 28. He's 12-7 with a 2.20 ERA in 21 starts. Sunday was his fourth career ejection and his first in almost seven years. The last one came Aug.3, 2019, when Mike Estabrook ran him for arguing balls and strikes in a 9-2 Boston loss - also at Yankee Stadium.
WASHINGTON (AP) — Abimelec Ortiz hit his second career home run, Will Dion led a bullpen outing that allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings and the Washington Nationals beat the Cincinnati Reds 7-1 on Sunday to sweep the series.
Dion (1-0), who was acquired at the trade deadline from the Guardians, earned his first win of the year after retiring the first nine batters he faced. He allowed one hit in three innings. Trevor Williams tossed 2 1/3 scoreless innings and maintained his 0.00 ERA since returning from elbow surgery on July 29.
Brad Lord surrendered the only run during his start, and Jake Bird worked a hitless ninth.
Jacob Young and Andrés Chaparro each drove in two runs for the Nationals, who have won four of their last five games.
The 24-year-old Ortiz opened the third inning with an opposite-field fly ball off Reds pitcher Brady Singer (5-11) that put the Nationals up 3-1. Chaparro capped the scoring with a two-run double.
Keibert Ruiz’s single in the second inning tied the game at 1, before Young gave Washington the lead for good with a sacrifice fly. Daylen Lile added a single to right field that plated CJ Abrams in the seventh.
Singer gave up three runs on eight hits in six innings.
Dane Myers hit a sacrifice fly in the second inning that gave Cincinnati a 1-0 lead, but that was it and the Reds were outscored 20-6 in the series.
Up next
Reds: LHP Nick Lodolo (3-2, 4.60 ERA) starts game one against the White Sox on Tuesday.
Nationals: Yet to announce a starter for a series opener with the Cubs on Tuesday.
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - AUGUST 02: Tarik Skubal of the Los Angeles Dodgers looks on in the dugout against the Boston Red Sox during the eigth inning at Dodger Stadium on August 02, 2026 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Luke Hales/Getty Images) | Getty Images
After a dreadful road trip the Dodgers return home for seven games at Dodger Stadium. First up are the Kansas City Royals, beginning Monday night in Los Angeles.
Tarik Skubal makes his first Dodger Stadium start since joining the Dodgers, after allowing two runs in six innings last Tuesday in a tough-luck loss at Wrigley Field in his debut with the team.
Left-hander Noah Cameron starts for the Royals in the opener.
Don Nelson, the second-winningest coach in NBA history who won five championships as a player with the Boston Celtics, died Sunday. He was 86.
Nelson’s death was announced by the Golden State Warriors, one of the teams he coached.
Nelson is one of two coaches in NBA history to have at least 250 wins with three different franchises — Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden State — also serving as general manager for all three franchises. He was a three-time coach of the year and made the playoffs 18 times in 31 seasons. He went to the conference finals three times with the Bucks and once with the Mavericks, never winning a title.
Nelson introduced what is now known as the point forward, and his up-tempo style of offense created a buzz. He said the idea of shifting from the dominant big men of the 1970s to an offense focused on speed and the fast break came from his playing days under Celtics Hall of Fame coach Red Auerbach.
Nelson played 11 of his 14 seasons in Boston and was on five Celtics championship teams under four different coaches. He became an assistant coach in Milwaukee after retiring as a player, then took over after coach Larry Costello resigned 18 games into the 1976-77 season. Nelson coached the Bucks for 11 seasons starting in 1976 and won seven straight division titles.
His fast-paced offenses were probably best on display with Golden State in the “Run TMC” era featuring future Hall of Famers Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond and Chris Mullin. Nelson said he wanted them on the court at the same time.
Nelson spent 11 seasons over two stints with Golden State. The first one was punctuated by a rift with rookie star Chris Webber, who was traded away a month into his second season. Nelson, demoralized by the trade, missed nine games that season due to illness and resigned under pressure three months later in February 1995.
In between, Nelson was fired after less than one season in New York in 1995-96, then coached in Dallas for eight seasons, missing 21 games with the Mavericks starting in December 2000 to recuperate from prostate cancer surgery.
Nelson’s son, Donnie, joined his father as an assistant coach with the Mavericks in 1998, later became general manager and remained with the organization until 2021. Together they persuaded 20-year-old German star Dirk Nowitzki to pass up European basketball and join the Mavericks. Don Nelson also developed Steve Nash into one of the NBA’s top point guards before Nash went on to win back-to-back MVPs with the Phoenix Suns in 2005 and 2006.
At Golden State, Nelson’s “We Believe” Warriors led by Baron Davis upset Nowitzki and the top-seeded Mavericks in the first round of the 2007 playoffs in one of the biggest shockers in NBA history. In his final season as a coach, Nelson mentored rookie Stephen Curry in 2009-10.
Nelson retired as the NBA’s career coaching wins leader with 1,335, just ahead of Lenny Wilkens’ 1,332. Nelson kept that top spot for nearly 12 years before close friend and now-retired San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich passed him in March 2022.
NEW YORK (AP) — Atlanta Braves ace Chris Sale was ejected by umpire Dan Merzel before a pitch was thrown in Sunday’s game against the New York Yankees, a day after being called for a balk that scored a run.
As umpires took the field and walked by the Braves’ dugout on the third base side, Sale began barking. Merzel tossed him and Sale said something to crew chief Dan Bellino as the two talked near the dugout rail.
Sale was called for his third career balk by Merzel during the fifth inning of Saturday’s 5-4 loss. Rookie Spencer Jones scored on the balk after getting an RBI triple and Sale began fiercely yelling at Merzel before manager Walt Weiss continued the argument and was ejected.
Bellino told a pool reporter afterward that Sale was called for the balk because he did not declare he was going to pitch from the windup. Bellino said Sale declared he was pitching from the windup when he struck out José Caballero but did not do so ahead of the at-bat to Austin Wells.
It was Sale’s fourth career ejection. It was his first since Aug. 3, 2019, when he pitched for Boston and was tossed by Mike Estabrook for arguing balls and strikes during the fourth inning of a 9-2 loss at Yankee Stadium.
Sale allowed three runs and five hits in six innings Saturday for his first loss since June 28. In his third season with the Braves, the veteran left-hander is 12-7 with a 2.20 ERA in 21 starts.
The Buffalo Sabres have been considered to have one of the deepest prospect pools in the NHL, which is in part due to them selecting high in recent drafts because of their not qualifying for the playoffs. The Sabres have displayed an eye for talent, and the organization’s developmental model has begun to yield results, with 2023 first rounder Zach Benson making an impact in the playoffs, and 2024 top pick Konsta Helenius appearing as one of the AHL’s top prospects the last two seasons.
Leading up to the opening of training camp in mid-September, we will look at the club's top 40 prospects. These players are all 25 years old or younger, whose rights are currently held by the Sabres or are on AHL or NHL deals, and have played less than 82 NHL games.
With Buffalo’s organization littered with their own drafted prospects, the chances of an undrafted free agent making it to the NHL are slim, but the Sabres gave forward Riley Fiddler-Schultz a chance he has been making the most of his opportunity.
The 24-year-old has NHL bloodlines (his uncle Vern Fiddler played 877 games with Nashville, Phoenix, Dallas, and New Jersey), and Riley grew into a leadership role in junior with the WHL’s Calgary Hitman, becoming team captain in 2022 and leading the club with 75 points (31 goals, 44 assists).
The Sabres signed Fiddler-Schultz to a two-year AHL deal in 2023, and in his first professional season, he finished second in goals (23) for the ECHL’s Jacksonville Iceman and played six games for the Rochester Americans. In 2024-25, he played exclusively for the Amerks and posted 26 points (13 goals, 13 assists) in 51 games, which earned him a two-year, entry-level NHL contract. With more responsibility came more production, as last season, the Alberta native finished tied for second behind Isak Rosen with 21 goals in 62 games.
With Konsta Helenius and Noah Ostlund likely graduating to the Sabres, and Anton Wahlberg dealt to Anaheim in the Olen Zellweger deal, players like Fiddler-Schultz will be relied on even more, and that could lead to an NHL opportunity if he continues to show progress.
The NBA community is mourning the death of Hall of Fame player and coach Don Nelson.
Nelson, who won five championships as a member of the Boston Celtics and then became one of the sport's winningest coaches, died Sunday, Aug. 9, at the age of 86.
The Warriors issued a statement on their official Instagram account calling Nelson "an iconic figure in Warriors history" for his 11 seasons with Golden State.
"He was a true basketball visionary who saw the game differently and was never afraid to challenge conventional thinking," the post read, in part. "His approach helped shape the game and paved the way for generations of players and coaches who followed."
Steph Curry on Nelson
Warriors point guard Stephen Curry only played for Nelson for one season, but said he was "one of the big reasons I was drafted by the Warriors."
“The story is he never liked rookies," Curry said in a statement, "but from Day 1 he challenged me and gave me an opportunity to be my best self on the court ...
"He had an immeasurable impact on the sport and will go down as one of the greatest minds in the history of the game. He’s a true icon and will be missed by the countless number of people he touched, including myself, during a legendary career.”
Dirk Nowitzki flourished under Nelson
As general manager of the Dallas Mavericks, Nelson was the driving force behind the draft-day trade in 1998 that brought Dirk Nowitzki to the Mavs.
He went on to a Hall of Fame career, spending every one of his 21 seasons in a Mavericks uniform.
"Nellie… You didn't just draft me. You believed in me," Nowitzki posted on X. "You saw things in my game before I ever realized I could do them. I've said it a million times and I will always say it: I don't think my career could have turned out how it did without you being my first coach and giving me the freedom to play my game."
Nellie… You didn't just draft me. You believed in me. You saw things in my game before I ever realized I could do them. I've said it a million times and I will always say it: I don't think my career could have turned out how it did without you being my first coach and giving me…
BALTIMORE, MARYLAND - AUGUST 04: Cade Povich #37 pf the Baltimore Orioles pitches in the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on August 04, 2026 in Baltimore, Maryland. (Photo by Greg Fiume/Getty Images) | Getty Images
The Orioles can pretty much either win today to avoid a sweep by the Rangers or else they can give up on even pretending that they might have a chance at a wild card spot. The offense has scored 11 runs in seven games so far in August. These two things are connected.
Orioles lineup
Gunnar Henderson – SS
Pete Alonso – 1B
Jackson Holliday – 2B
Tyler O’Neill – DH
Dylan Beavers – LF
Leody Taveras – RF
Coby Mayo – 3B
Colton Cowser – CF
Carlos Narváez – C
Cade Povich will have the challenge of facing a tougher lineup than the Angels in this start. We’ll see how he responds.
The Buffalo Sabres have not been able to pull off a move to upgrade their club this summer after winning the Atlantic Division, making the playoffs for the first time since 2011, and advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs last season. GM Jarmo Kekalainen was able to get a good future return for defenseman Bowen Byram, but did not replace the offense and leadership of Alex Tuch after he was dealt to Washington.
Rumors of a deal for Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck percolated around the NHL Draft in late June, but Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff did not pull the trigger and now a trade involving the Hart Trophy and multi-Vezina Trophy winner seems to be in a state of limbo.
The 33–year-old is entering the fourth year of an eight-year, $68 million deal ($8.5 million AAV), and has a full no-movement clause until next July. After that, he has a 10-team trade list. Chatter around the draft indicated that the Sabres were willing to send a package that included goalie Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen, forward Jack Quinn and the fourth overall pick, later used to select Daxon Rudolph.
Who had the best and worst offseason in the Atlantic Division?
That deal seems less likely now, since Luukkonen has gained some control over his destination with a limited no-trade list, and because other potential suitors may have entered the fray. The New Jersey Devils, who like the Sabres are projecting a three-headed monster of Jake Allen, David Rittich, and Nico Daws is goal, potentially have the pieces that Cheveldayoff might be looking for in a Hellebuyck deal.
Another possibility is the Stanley Cup winning Carolina Hurricanes, who lost veteran Frederik Andersen in free agency, and has a duo of Brandon Bussi and Pyotr Kochetkov between the pipes. The Hurricanes have enough cap space to take on Hellebuyck’s $8.5 million salary, but could be a bit light on the return they could offer the Jets.
Kekalainen could be playing a game of chicken with the Jets, hoping they will lower their pricetag as training camp nears, but that is a dangerous game that could result in the veteran goalie ending up with another Eastern Conference foe.
The veteran forward is already beginning to move past the celebration of the franchise’s championship season as he prepares for the 2026-27 campaign, his 10th in the NBA.
Anunoby played an instrumental role in New York winning its first NBA championship since 1973, providing the high-level two-way production that has defined his career while also delivering the title run’s signature moment: a miracle game-winning tip-in with 1.2 seconds left in Game 4 of the Finals as the Knicks erased a 29-point deficit.
OG Anunoby (8) makes a game-winning tip-in after crashing the offensive boards against the San Antonio Spurs during Game 4 of the 2026 NBA Finals at Madison Square Garden. The win gave the Knicks a 3-1 series lead. IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect
But with the accomplishment now behind him, Anunoby indicated in an interview with Sky Sports that he is ready to turn the page rather than spend the offseason dwelling on what the team accomplished.
“It comes up quite a bit so I see it quite a bit,” the London-born Anunoby said while visiting the United Kingdom.
Asked if he gets the same feeling when watching it back, he replied, in classic Anunoby fashion: “No. I’m over it now.”
His reaction isn’t surprising, given that Anunoby has developed a reputation for hardly showing emotion, which has made him even more likable among Knicks fans.
Even after producing one of the most dramatic moments in recent NBA history, Anunoby has remained reserved about the attention surrounding him.
In describing what the title was like, Anunoby reflected on what it took to bring home New York’s first NBA title in 53 years.
New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani and Knicks forward OG Anunoby celebrate on a float during the championship ticker tape parade on June 18, 2026 in New York City. Getty Images
“Honestly, before the start of the playoffs, our whole team just came together and we knew we had one goal. We took every game day by day, game by game,” he said.
“We went on a crazy run. I don’t know how many games we won in a row (13) but every game was focused on the next, trying to build and be better than we were the last game. Even in the Finals, it was just day by day, game by game.”
Anunoby, who turned 29 in June, averaged 16.7 points per game while shooting 48.4 percent from the field, 38.6 percent from 3-point range and was named to the Second Team All-Defense for the second time in his career.
During the playoffs, Anunoby elevated to 20.1 points per game while shooting 56 percent from the field and about 49 percent from deep while also pulling down 6.3 rebounds per contest.
Anunoby, like Jalen Brunson, is extension eligible next season and his current deal runs through the 2027-28 season, with a player option in 2028-29.
UNITED STATES - APRIL 15: Basketball: Dallas Mavericks coach Don Nelson in huddle with team during game vs Minnesota Timberwolves, Dallas, TX 4/15/1999 (Photo by David E. Klutho/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images) (SetNumber: X57707)
He will be remembered around the DFW area as a Dallas Mavericks coaching and front office legend, but as large as his presence loomed over the franchise he guided from utter dormancy to perennial power, the basketball moments Don Nelson authored outside of his time with the Mavericks will be remembered as his most lasting and impactful.
Nelson passed away at age 86 on Sunday. At the time of his passing, Nelson had been living full-time on Maui, Hawaii, specifically in a home overlooking the Pacific Ocean in Kihei. He had come a long way from Muskegon, Mich., where he was born on May 15, 1940, but his mileage in the game of basketball is rivaled only by an elite few. And he’d hate for his name to be mentioned in a sentence also occupied by the word “elite.”
“On Sunday morning our beloved husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather Don Nelson peacefully went to be with the Lord, surrounded by his loving family. Throughout his last week, friends and family encircled him with love, sharing the blessing of his friendship and revisiting treasured memories.”
Hall of Famer Don Nelson, three-time NBA Coach of the Year and five times a champion as a player with the Boston Celtics, has died at age 86.
The family has issued this statement:
“On Sunday morning our beloved husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather Don Nelson… pic.twitter.com/MkDMNugYcu
Nelson will be remembered as an innovator and a maverick, befitting the name of the franchise he coached from 1997-2005, a giant of the game he spent his life dedicated to and a fun-loving, unforgettable figure. He advocated for wildfire relief in Maui and for cannabis reform outside the game.
“People thought I was a mad scientist,” Nelson said in 2025 after receiving the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award by the NBA Coaches Association. “They may have been right.”
He arrived in Dallas in 1997, taking on the tall task of revitalizing a stagnant Mavericks franchise. He immediately jettisoned Oliver Miller, the overweight and chronically unhappy center. The brand of “Nellie Ball” he would introduce Mavericks fans to over the next nine seasons would help usher in a new, fast-paced style of play that coincided with the game’s growing globalization.
“I read where Miller said he doesn’t care anymore, and I don’t want people like that around,” Nelson said, according to the Los Angeles Times. “I don’t want anybody on my basketball team who doesn’t care.”
He was already the sixth-winningest NBA head coach ever when he came to Dallas, after being fired by the New York Knicks the year prior. He replaced Jim Cleamons as head coach late in the 1996-97 campaign.
“I thought I would be coming back to the NBA as a coach,” he told the Times. “Not many of these [general manager] jobs open up. I’m as surprised as anyone here.”
Nelson continued to surprise us all throughout his tenure as the Mavs’ coach and GM.
His first two seasons with the Mavericks were not successful, perhaps even steps back from the team’s 24-58 record in 1996-97, but as Dirk Nowitzki began to develop into the game-changing star that Mavs fans would come to know and love, Nelson’s stock, and his team’s, began to soar.
Nowitzki would go on to score 20.7 points and pull down 7.5 rebounds per game over his 21-year career with the Mavs, earning MVP honors for the 2006-07 season and leading the franchise to its first and only championship in 2011. Nowitzki posted his remembrance on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday afternoon, saying:
“I don’t think my career could have turned out how it did without you being my first coach and giving me the freedom to play my game. I can only say THANK YOU. For everything.”
Nellie… You didn't just draft me. You believed in me. You saw things in my game before I ever realized I could do them. I've said it a million times and I will always say it: I don't think my career could have turned out how it did without you being my first coach and giving me…
The Mavs went 40-42 in 1999-2000, then embarked on an 11-year run of 50 wins or more, the first five of which came under Nelson’s tutelage. His son and future Mavericks’ GM Donnie Nelson is credited with initially scouting and “discovering” the otherworldly talent hiding in Wurtzburg, Germany, and Don and Donnie did their best to hide Nowitzki’s raw, game-changing talent from other front offices early on in that process.
Don Nelson watched Nowitzki train for the first time at the Downtown Dallas YMCA, leading Nelson to call the future star “the most unbelievable young player” he had ever seen. He literally hid the teenage Nowitzki in his basement for a time before Nowitzki was drafted ninth overall by the team in 1998.
Nelson was also integral in point guard Steve Nash’s development. Nowitzki and Nash would lead the Mavericks to 57 wins in 2001-02 and 60 more the next year. Dallas would lose in the Western Conference Finals both seasons before Nash departed for Phoenix in the summer of 2004. Nash would go on to win NBA MVP honors in both 2004-05 and 2005-06.
Outside of his time with the Mavericks, Nelson will be remembered for scoring a Game 7-securing insurance bucket in the 1969 NBA Finals, when he played for Red Auerbach’s Boston Celtics. His shot from near the right elbow bounced high off the back of the rim and straight in, as if guided through the net by the basketball gods. It will be forever remembered as one of the biggest moments in late-game championship history.
“[Auerbach] called me up and said, ‘What do you think about Nelson?’” Tommy Heinsohn, Basketball Hall of Famer in the class of 1986 and Auerbach’s assistant, said. “I said, ‘This guy is slower than the turtle. But I’m going to tell you something, Red. He is a terrific offensive player. He can score.‘”
He would go on to win five championships as a player and three NBA Coach of the Year titles during his 31 seasons roaming the sidelines. Including his 14-year playing career, he spent 45 years in the professional game. He was a titan among titans. An icon who left an ever-lasting impact on every franchise he touched, from his start in Boston to his late coaching run with the Golden State Warriors, where he led the eight-seeded “We Believe” bunch to a first-round playoff win over his former team, the Mavericks, in the 2006-07 playoffs.
The Mavericks won 67 games that regular season, but that old rascal lovingly known as Nellie knew a little something about how to bring down the team he had built into the best in the West.
He finished his coaching career with 1,335 coaching wins, which at the time of his retirement in 2010 was the most all-time. His 79 ejections during his 31-year coaching career are an unofficial record as well. You could never accuse Nelson of not caring.
Nelson made 18 playoff appearances as a coach, finishing with a 75-91 postseason record. San Antonio Spurs coaching legend Gregg Popovich passed his regular-season mark in 2022, and Popovich’s 1,390 still stands today.
The Nelson Family has also announced that there will be a celebration of life in tribute to Don Nelson on Thursday, Aug. 13, at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas. An ashes ceremony in Maui for friends and family will be confirmed at a future date, according to Stein.
The Nelson Family has also announced that there will be a Celebration of Life in tribute to Don Nelson on Thursday (Aug.13) at Preston Hollow Presbyterian Church in Dallas.
An ashes ceremony in Maui for friends and family will be confirmed at a future date.
Mavericks Governor Patrick Dumont released a statement shortly after the initial reports of Nelson’s passing, saying:
“Don Nelson was a true original whose impact on the Dallas Mavericks and the game of basketball will endure for generations. Nellie helped transform this franchise, bringing an innovative spirit, a belief in doing things differently and, most importantly, a winning culture to Dallas. His influence can be seen throughout Mavericks history and across the NBA today.
“On behalf of the entire Mavericks organization, our thoughts are with Don’s family, friends, former players and coaches, and the many people whose lives he touched. We are grateful for all he gave to the Mavericks and to the game he loved.”
Rest easy, Coach Nelson. The game you loved with every ounce of your soul mourns your loss today.
And now, he’s ante’d up at the Great Card Game in the Sky.
1999: Head Coach Don Nelson of the Dallas Mavericks shares a light moment with Mavericks rookie star forward Dirk Nowitzki during an NBA game circa 1999. 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 1999 NBAE (Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The Milwaukee Brewers and Minnesota Twins are back at it for their series finale. It’ll be the rubber match as the two teams have split the first two games so far.
The Brewers made some roster moves prior to this game, however, due to injuries. Last night, Joey Ortiz left early with neck tightness, so there were concerns as to whether or not he’d need an IL stint. Pat Murphy said Ortiz was day-to-day with his injury, but also shared with the media pregame that Cooper Pratt was dealing with a hamstring issue and was getting an MRI.
A little while later, about 40 minutes before first pitch, the Brewers officially placed Pratt on the injured list with a right hamstring strain. To take his place, the Brewers selected infielder Ji-Hwan Bae to the active roster after signing him to a minor league deal this morning. To make room on the 40-man roster, the Brewers designated lefty Drew Rom for assignment.
It’s a tough break for the Brewers infield, now losing both of their top shortstop options to injury. Ortiz is still on the active roster and has not been placed on the IL yet, but there’s still concern for his availability. With this being a day game after the injuries were suffered last night, it may have been difficult to arrange travel in time for someone already in the system. It’s likely Bae was one of the first available players the Brewers found that could get to Milwaukee in time for the game today.
With no Pratt and no Ortiz, that leaves the Brewers thin on the left side of the infield, which is why Andrew Vaughn is starting at third base for today’s game. He’s played there in some late-game emergency situations before, but this is the first start Vaughn has had there with the Brewers and just the second time he’s started at third base in his career. The lone other time came in 2021 with the White Sox when he was a rookie.
The lineup is not only missing Ortiz and Pratt, but there’s also no Garrett Mitchell and no Christian Yelich in the order either. The two left-handed hitters get the day off against the left-handed Connor Prielipp of the Twins.
Prielipp, the pride of Tomah, WI, has a 4.75 ERA on the season with a 3-5 record. He’ll be dueling against the Brewers ace, Jacob Misiorowski.
Misiorowski is 11-5 with a 1.63 ERA on the year and is five strikeouts shy of 200 on the season. He’ll have Gary Sánchez behind the dish for him today, which has only happened a small handful of times this year.
LOS ANGELES - OCTOBER 12: Head coach Don Nelson of the Golden State Warriors cracks a smile during the game against the Los Angeles Clippers on October 12, 2009 at Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. The Clippers won 124-117. 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 2009 NBAE (Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images) | NBAE via Getty Images
The NBA world lost one of its greats on Sunday, as Hall of Famer Don Nelson has passed away at the age of 86. His family announced the news, saying, “On Sunday morning our beloved husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather Don Nelson peacefully went to be with the Lord, surrounded by his loving family. Throughout his last week, friends and family encircled him with love, sharing the blessing of his friendship and revisiting treasured memories.”
Nelson was a legendary figure with the Golden State Warriors and numerous other teams. After a collegiate career at Iowa, Nelson played briefly with the Chicago Zephyrs and Los Angeles Lakers before cementing his legacy with an 11-year tenure on the Boston Celtics, in which he won five NBA championships and had his No. 19 jersey retired.
In his first year after hanging up his sneakers, Nelson worked as an assistant coach for the Milwaukee Bucks, but was promoted to head coach just 18 games into the season. A year later, he took on double duty as both coach and general manager, and held both roles for more than a decade. He resigned in 1988 due to fractured relationship with Milwaukee’s owner.
That led to Nellie’s first stint with the Warriors. He took over as Golden State’s head coach in 1988, and coached for six seasons before resigning in February of 1995. With the Warriors, Nelson formed the famous Run TMC era, as Tim Hardaway, Mitch Richmond, and Chris Mullin became a fast-paced, free-wheeling, highly-entertaining trio.
After a brief stint coaching the New York Knicks, and eight years at the helm of the Dallas Mavericks, Nellie returned to the Warriors for the 2006-07 season. In his first year back in the Bay Area, Nelson formed built the deeply entertaining We Believe Warriors squad, when the eighth-seeded Dubs shocked the top-seeded Mavericks for one of the biggest upsets in NBA history.
Nelson continued coaching the Warriors through the 2009-10 season, which was Steph Curry’s rookie year, before resigning. It has been reported that Nelson was one of the strongest voices advocating for the Warriors to draft Curry, while many had questions about the future superstar’s ability to survive against the size and physicality of the NBA.
That was Nelson’s final year in the NBA, after which he retired to Maui where he was known for his celebrity-filled poker games and his marijuana farm.
Nelson, who was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2012, finished his playing career with 10,898 points and five rings, and his coaching career with a 1,335-1,063 record, 18 playoff appearances, and three Coach of the Year honors (including in 1992 with the Warriors).
As the National Hockey League enters the second month of free agency, a number of former Buffalo Sabres still remain unsigned. At this point of the offseason, players who have not latched on with an NHL club might consider playing in Europe, or taking a short-term deal or professional tryout to earn a one-year deal.
A player who has been well-travelled since entering the league in 2014 is center Curtis Lazar. A 2013 first round pick of the Ottawa Senators, the Salmon Arm, BC native Kitchener, ON native played 2 ½ seasons in Canada’s capital before being dealt to Calgary in March 2017. After playing a full season with the Flames, Lazar spent nearly all of the 2018-19 season in the AHL, and he signed with the Sabres in the summer of 2019.
Who had the best and worst offseasons in the Atlantic Division?
The versatile depth forward split time between AHL Rochester and Buffalo in the COVID-shortened campaign and 33 games in 2020-21 before being dealt allong with Taylor Hall to Boston. Since then, Lazar has made stops in Vancouver, New Jersey, and Edmonton, where he played 45 games last regular season and five games in the playoffs.
Outlook: At this point in the summer, and at this point in Lazar’s career, it is more likely that the 31-year-old, if he wants to play for an eighth NHL club, will have to open to accepting a professional tryout.
Don Nelson, the Hall of Famer who won five championships as a player before a decades-long coaching career that included a brief stint with the Knicks, died Sunday, his family said in a statement.
He was 86 years old. A cause of death wasn’t revealed.
“On Sunday morning our beloved husband, dad, grandfather and great-grandfather Don Nelson peacefully went to be with the Lord, surrounded by his loving family,” Nelson’s family said in a statement, according to NBA reporter Marc Stein. “Throughout his last week, friends and family encircled him with love, sharing the blessing of his friendship and revisiting treasured memories.”
Before his second career as a coach, where he notably helped jumpstart the careers of Dirk Nowitzki and Steph Curry, the 6-foot-6 Nelson starred for the Celtics. He won five titles in Boston while averaging 10.3 points and 4.9 rebounds across a 14-year playing career that also included stints with the Chicago Zephyrs — who drafted him in the third round of the 1962 draft out of Iowa — and the Lakers.
Don Nelson, a Hall of Fame coach who spent one season at the helm for the Knicks, has died. AFP via Getty Images
Nelson — whose coaching career began as an assistant with the Bucks in 1976 and stretched until his final season as head coach of the Warriors in 2009-10 — won 1,335 games as a head coach, which sits as the second-most in NBA history behind former Spurs coach Gregg Popovich. He earned the league’s Coach of the Year honor three times. He invented “Nellie Ball,” which embraced a smaller lineup based on speed, and made it acceptable to use a point-forward. “Most of all I wanted to have all my best players on the court at the same time — regardless of position,” Nelson wrote in an article in The Players’ Tribune in 2016.
That vision all started to take shape after landing his first chance as head coach during that first season in Milwaukee, when Larry Costello resigned in November 1976 after a 3-15 start.
“I expected to be an assistant at least two years, maybe longer, before trying for a head coaching job,” Nelson, just 36 years old at the time, said, according to the New York Times. “I don’t have the most experience in the world.”
But Nelson was never an assistant again. He served as the Bucks’ head coach until 1988, winning Coach of the Year twice — in 1983 and 1985 — and guiding Milwaukee to at least 50 wins across seven consecutive seasons. Then, after a season away from the sport, Nelson took over the Warriors for the 1988-89 campaign, staying in the Bay Area until his resignation in February 1995 with a 14-31 record. He earned his third and final Coach of the Year nod in 1992.
The Knicks hired him as their Pat Riley successor for the 1995-96 season, but Nelson was fired after just 59 games. He latched on with the Mavericks in 1997-98, though, and slowly started to restore their franchise. Dallas picked Nowitzki at No. 9 overall in the 1998 draft, and by the end of the 2000-01 campaign, the Mavericks were back in the playoffs.
Nelson’s final stint as a coach doubled as a reunion, as he took over a Warriors team that hadn’t cracked the postseason since his resignation. Golden State, as the No. 8 seed, upset the Mavericks in the first round of Nelson’s first season. And while they didn’t make the playoffs again before his exit in September 2010, he coached Curry during his rookie campaign — with Curry acknowledging in a statement Sunday that “one of the big reasons I was drafted by the Warriors” was because of Nelson.
Don Nelson won five NBA championships as a player with the Celtics. Getty Images
“The story is he never liked rookies,” Curry said in a statement, “but from Day 1 he challenged me and gave me an opportunity to be my best self on the court. … He had an immeasurable impact on the sport and will go down as one of the greatest minds in the history of the game. He’s a true icon and will be missed by the countless number of people he touched, including myself, during a legendary career.”
The Warriors, in a statement, described Nelson — who was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012 — as “a true basketball visionary who saw the game differently and was never afraid to challenge conventional thinking.” Chris Mullin, part of the “Run TMC” Golden State teams with Tim Hardaway and Mitch Richmond, said Nelson “was more than a coach to me.” Richmond said, in part, that Nelson “made the game fun.” Nowitzki credited Nelson with seeing “things in my game before I ever realized I could do them.”
“Nellie was ahead of his time,” Hardaway said in a statement, “and there was nobody else like him.”
