Sports
10 Early World Series Contenders to Watch: 2025 MLB Playoff Sleepers & Favorites
May 4, 2025; Anaheim, California, USA; Detroit Tigers outfielder Kerry Carpenter (30) celebrates with teammates after hitting a three run home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the sixth inning at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jonathan Hui-Imagn Images Sometimes, the World Series teams are two clubs that began establishing themselves as championship favorites by early May. While they weren’t yet leading their respective leagues, the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Yankees were each 23-13 entering play a year ago today.
But most of the time, the eventual World Series combatants didn’t yet look the part by the first week of May.
Eleven of the 20 teams to reach the World Series in the last 10 full seasons were within five games of .500 through May 5 of their pennant-winning season. Four of those clubs — the pennant-winning 2014 Kansas City Royals (14-17) and 2022 Philadelphia Phillies (11-15), and the championship-winning 2019 Washington Nationals (14-19) and 2021 Atlanta Braves (14-16) — were under .500 on that date.
Only two World Series teams since 2014 — the curse-busting 2016 Chicago Cubs (21-6) and the 2018 champion Boston Red Sox (24-9) — had baseball’s best record through May 5.
All of which is to say: we may be surprised by who emerges in the World Series in late October. Here’s a look at five potential pennant winners in each league.
American League
Apr 22, 2025; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Ben Rice (22) celebrates his solo home run with right fielder Aaron Judge (99) in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images Detroit Tigers (22-13): Disregard everything we said about World Series teams not looking the part before May 5. The Tigers, who lead the AL with a 2.96 ERA and rank second with a .755 OPS, are the most well-rounded team in the Junior Circuit and seem to have found a little bit of magic during last year’s surprising playoff run.
New York Yankees (19-16): The defending champs of a mediocre league have the first-month MVP in .400-chasing Aaron Judge and the first-month Cy Young in Max Fried, who is flirting with a Bob Gibson-esque ERA. And, well, that’s it. Brian Cashman will surely be active at the trade deadline, but the Yankees will only go as far as Judge, Fried and a little institutional memory can carry them.
Seattle Mariners (20-14): With eight straight series wins and a surprisingly potent offense, the Mariners have already offered plenty of reasons to daydream they can finally end baseball’s longest World Series drought and reach the Fall Classic for the first time. But we’ve all been teased before by the Mariners, whose path to late October will require figuring out life without Logan Gilbert and George Kirby for an extended period.
Not the Sacramento Athletics (20-16): The surprising Athletics are a long shot to keep this up over the long haul. But imagine Major League come to life with a team that makes the World Series after the owner purposely tanks his way out of town. And how delicious it’d be seeing Rob Manfred squirming and trying to convince everyone how great it is that the World Series is being played in a Triple-A park with a media center that looks like a shed you’d buy at Home Depot.
Texas Rangers (17-18): The Rangers, with the fourth-lowest OPS in the game, have already begun shuffling desk chairs by firing “offensive coordinator” Donnie Ecker and replacing him with Bret Boone. But Texas also has the fourth-best ERA in the AL, and you can never underestimate the possibility of Bruce Bochy, in the last year of his contract, going out in style by winning yet another World Series.
National League
May 4, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals second baseman Brendan Donovan (33) dives safely to home plate in the third inning as New York Mets catcher Luis Torrens (13) waits on the throw at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Tim Vizer-Imagn Images New York Mets (23-13): Like the Tigers, the Mets look like they found something magical during a stunning playoff run last season. It also helps that Pete Alonso is mounting an early Triple Crown run and that David Stearns has constructed a deep bullpen behind an effective yet thin rotation.
Chicago Cubs (22-14): The Cubs are averaging a whopping six runs per game, which puts them on pace to finish with the most runs since the 2000 White Sox (978). They also lead baseball with a plus-69 run differential despite playing 30 games against over-.500 teams — by far the most in baseball. Pretty, pretty good.
Los Angeles Dodgers (24-11): The billion-dollar pitching staff fell apart almost as soon as the season began, but the Dodgers still have the best record in baseball because they are still the Dodgers. As always, the season will come down to Dave Roberts trying to MacGyver his way through October while everyone else gets the credit.
San Diego Padres (23-11): It’s now or never for the Padres, whose days of spending big in a small market are probably over following the death of owner Peter Seidler. But no team other than the Dodgers is as complete as San Diego, which leads the majors with a 2.73 ERA and has an early NL MVP candidate in Fernando Tatis Jr.
Cincinnati Reds (18-18): Here’s a long shot in a loaded NL. But nobody mixes and matches better come October than Terry Francona, the Hall of Fame-bound manager looking for one more Fall Classic trip. If the Reds can squeak in, they’ll be a team nobody wants to play — especially if Cincinnati can build some momentum with a wild-card series win.
Sports
Cody Bellinger homers twice, as Yankees eclipse Royals
Apr 18, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees center fielder Cody Bellinger (35) hits a two run home run against the Kansas City Royals during the third inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Cody Bellinger homered twice and collected five RBIs Saturday afternoon, and the New York Yankees easily recorded a 13-4 victory over the visiting Kansas City Royals on Saturday afternoon.
The Yankees notched their most lopsided win this season after their previous five victories were decided in the final at-bat.
Amed Rosario hit a two-run homer, and Ben Rice hit a solo shot during a five-run third off Kansas City left-hander Noah Cameron. (1-1).
Rosario started the scoring with his two-run blast to left after a three-base error by Kansas City center fielder Kyle Isbel.
J.C. Escarra hit a fly ball to the warning track in center field, and the ball was not caught when Isbel and right fielder Jac Caglianone converged. Isbel knocked the ball out of Caglianone’s glove and was charged with a three-base error.
After Rosario’s homer, Aaron Judge walked, then Bellinger sent a first-pitch slider into the second deck in right. Rice homered two batters later when he hit a fastball into the right field seats for his third straight game with a homer.
Bellinger homered again in the sixth off Mitch Spence for a 10-0 lead. It was Bellinger’s 20th career multi-homer game and his eighth game with at least five RBIs.
Bellinger also had an RBI single in between homers. Rosario added a run-scoring single in the sixth and Escarra contributed an RBI double in the fourth.
Escarra also drove in two with his first career triple in the seventh as the Yankees collected 11 hits. Randal Grichuk added a sacrifice fly in the eighth for his first RBI with New York.
New York’s Will Warren (2-0) allowed two runs on five hits in seven innings. The right-hander matched a career-high with 11 strikeouts and walked none.
The Royals dropped their sixth straight. Kansas City was blanked until Carter Jensen hit a two-run homer in the seventh and got a two-run double from Michael Massey in the ninth.
Cameron was shelled for a career-worst seven runs (five earned) on seven hits in four innings.
Kansas City manager Matt Quatraro was tossed by second base umpire Nestor Ceja before Cameron threw a pitch after the Royals batted in the first.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Blazers face Victor Wembanyama, Spurs to open playoffs
Apr 8, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; Portland Trail Blazers forward Deni Avdija (8) drives to the basket against San Antonio Spurs forward Carter Bryant (11) during the second half at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images The Portland Trail Blazers will get their first look of the season at erstwhile league MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama when they travel to San Antonio to play the Spurs on Sunday in their opening game of the first round playoff series.
The Trail Blazers (42-40) clinched the seventh seed and a meeting with the second-seeded Spurs with a 114-110 road win over Phoenix on Tuesday in the West’s 7 vs. 8 matchup in the play-in tournament. That victory allowed Portland to earn its first trip to the playoffs since 2021.
San Antonio has won two of the three games with the Trail Blazers this year — most recently a 112-101 decision at home on April 8 — but Wembanyama missed all three contests with injuries. That doesn’t bode well for Portland’s chances to upset the Spurs, who lost just four times in their 34 games since March 1.
“He will play in the fourth game,” Spurs coach Mitch Johnson said about Wembanyama. “That feels good.”
Wembanyama’s numbers this season — 1,600 points, 736 rebounds, 199 assists, 197 blocked shots, 122 3-pointers –are a combination never before produced in the NBA. Portland acting head coach Tiago Splitter said his team will employ a combined effort to try to slow the Spurs’ star center.
“Of course Wembanyama is a big emphasis for us both offensively and defensively,” Splitter explained. “He’s a 7-foot-5 guy that can handle the ball, shoot, guard the rim, guard the perimeter and brings something different that other teams don’t have.
“Every game is a team effort,” Splitter added. “Stay connected on offense. Share the ball, play together. It’s a big team effort on both ends of the court.”
Deni Avdija led the way for Portland in Tuesday’s win, scoring 41 points that included his three-point play with 16.1 seconds remaining that capped the Blazers’ comeback from an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit.
San Antonio had the second-best record in the NBA this season at 62-20, trailing only defending champion Oklahoma City. The Spurs are on the hunt for their sixth NBA title in franchise history and are one of the favorites to lift the Larry O’Brien Trophy in June.
But this is lofty company for San Antonio, which hasn’t earned a spot in the playoffs since 2019. The Spurs are just the fourth team in league history to win 60 games in a season a year after they won less than 35.
“I can’t really help but dream about it, of course,” Wembanyama said about the team’s quest for a championship. “But we have to stay grounded, stay in the moment. And before even thinking about Game 1, I have to think about showing up the right way. Practice, doing all my stuff, preparing, being locked in on the scouts.”
San Antonio is far from a one-man team. The Spurs had seven players average in double-figure scoring, with Wembanyama leading the way at 25 points per game in 65 contests. De’Aaron Fox was second at 18.6 points, and Stephon Castle (who had five triple doubles) racking up 16.7 points.
“We know where we are,” Johnson said this week. “We will be ourselves. We’ll be excited to play. If that means we come out in the first three minutes and there’s some nerves, I think that’s excitement. But I think we’ll get back to being ourselves. That’s what I expect.
“As soon as we can get back to making it the basketball game we’ve been playing all year, we’ll be in a good spot.”
Game 2 will be Tuesday night in the Alamo City before switching to Portland for Games 3 and 4 on Friday and April 26, respectively.
–Field Level Media
Sports
CF Montreal wins first game under Philippe Eullaffroy, beat Red Bulls
Apr 18, 2026; Montreal, Province of Quebec, CAN; CF Montreal forward Prince Owusu (9) celebrates with teammate midfielder Victor Loturi (22) after scoring a goal against the Red Bull New York during the first half at Saputo Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images Prince Owusu recorded a goal and three assists as CF Montreal bested the visiting New York Red Bulls 4-1 in the home side’s first match under interim head coach Philippe Eullaffroy.
Owusu scored his fifth goal of the season, as Montreal (2-6-0, 6 points) claimed their 100th win all-time at Stade Saputo.
Montreal strode past the visitors’ backline with relative ease in the early going. Red Bulls (3-3-2, 11 points) captain Emil Forsberg failed to control a hurried pass from his goalkeeper, allowing Owusu to play in Victor Loturi, who blasted it past Ethan Horvath in the fifth minute to make it 1-0.
Owusu nearly extended their lead soon after when Ivan Jaime played him through on a one-on-one. The towering center forward opted to hold the ball up before sending it wide of goal.
Owusu made no mistake on his 39th-minute penalty, catching out Horvath with a sly stutter step and slotting it into the left corner to make it 2-0. The penalty came as a result of Dylan Nealis’s handball.
Montreal’s Matty Longstaff knocked balls into both nets at the start of the second half. Longstaff met Owusu’s perfectly threaded through ball to make it 3-0 in the 49th minute. The English midfielder then overhit an attempted backpass to goalkeeper Thomas Gillier four minutes later and inadvertently brought the Red Bulls back within two.
More than the flurry of goals, the single biggest change in Montreal’s approach was in their defensive setup. Eullaffroy’s zonal marking stood in stark contrast to Marco Donadel’s aggressive man-marking, the Red Bulls managing just one shot on goal all game long. Eullaffroy also started Samuel Piette in the midfield after the Montreal captain remained on the bench in their last two outings.
Owusu chipped the ball over Matthew Dos Santos and into the path of Kwadwo Opoku, who guided it into the open net to restore Montreal’s three-goal lead.
The victory marked Montreal’s first at home since August of last year. Both of Montreal’s wins this season have come against the Red Bulls. New York, meanwhile, has won just one of its last six league matches.
–Field Level Media
Cody Bellinger homers twice, as Yankees eclipse Royals
NYT Connections Sports Edition today: Hints and answers for April 19, 2026
