Sports
Lakers, Suns tangle after winning in coaches' debuts
Oct 22, 2024; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers head coach JJ Redick signals a play beside guard Austin Reaves (15) during the fourth quarter against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jason Parkhurst-Imagn Images Longtime Pacific Division counterparts renew their rivalry for the first time in the 2024-25 season on Friday when the Los Angeles Lakers host the Phoenix Suns.
Both Los Angeles and Phoenix won in their regular-season openers. Kevin Durant’s 25 points paced all five Suns starters scoring in double figures, while Bradley Beal added 24 points in a 116-113 overtime defeat of the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday, spoiling the opening of Intuit Dome for the hosts.
The combination of Durant and Beal’s scoring, while Devin Booker added 15 points with 4-of-5 3-point shooting and six assists, was a welcomed way for Phoenix to start its season. The trio only played together 41 times in an up-and-down 2023-24 campaign that ended with the Suns swept out of the first round of the postseason by Minnesota.
“It’s just one game. We want to keep building,” Durant said in his postgame interview with ESPN. “We just have a system we can rely on for four quarters (with) coach (Mike Budenholzer) calling plays, guys getting out on the break and running and passing the ball.”
Wednesday’s win marked the regular-season debut of Budenholzer on the Phoenix sideline. He was previously head coach at Milwaukee where he won an NBA championship in 2021, beating the Suns in the Finals.
Budenholzer’s Bucks teams were consistently among the highest-scoring in the league. Durant’s comments following the win over the Clippers alluded to the wide-open style that Phoenix is likely to employ with its new head coach.
The Lakers won their own debut under a new head coach, JJ Redick. The offseason hire of the first-timer Redick, who was working in media since retiring from the NBA in 2021, raised eyebrows.
However, Los Angeles scored a 110-103 win over Minnesota on Tuesday in Redick’s debut behind a stellar performance from Anthony Davis. The veteran big man finished with 36 points, 16 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots to set the pace.
“The game plan, the schemes that he has on both sides of the floor, he trusts us and we trust him,” Davis said of Redick. “It’s our job to go out and execute it. … Our game plan was elite.”
Austin Reaves added 12 points, nine rebounds and four assists, while Rui Hachimura finished with 18 points and five rebounds.
LeBron James, tipping off his 22nd season, finished with 16 points, five rebounds and four assists. Most notable for James was the brief time he shared the floor with his son, Bronny, who played less than three minutes in his NBA debut.
While the role for the junior James off the Lakers bench remains to be seen, his fellow rookie, Dalton Knecht, appears poised for significant contributions.
Knecht had five points, two assists and a steal playing almost 16 minutes. His preseason included a 37-point performance.
Jaxson Hayes also made an impact coming off the bench on Tuesday with 10 points. The post player should see significant playing time while the Lakers await the return of Jarred Vanderbilt from a heel injury.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Max Scherzer comes off IL as Blue Jays eke past Nationals
Jul 27, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Mason Fluharty (68) throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals during the third inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images Luis Urias homered, Myles Straw had two hits and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Nationals 3-2 on Monday in Max Scherzer’s return to Washington.
Scherzer, who spent 6 1/2 seasons in Washington and won a World Series with the Nationals in 2019, came off the injured list to make his seventh start of the season. He gave up a run on four hits, walking three and striking out four on 75 pitches in 2 2/3 innings.
Mason Fluharty (5-1) pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Louis Varland, the last of six Toronto relievers, pitched the ninth for his 22nd save.
The Blue Jays have alternated losses and wins for six games.
Andres Chaparro homered for the Nationals, who had won two straight.
Nationals opener Eddy Yean (0-1) gave up two runs on three hits in 2 1/3 innings. He didn’t issue a walk nor fan a batter.
Scherzer, making his 100th start at Nationals Park and working on his 42nd birthday, had been sidelined due to back and thumb issues. He pitched in and out of trouble in the first inning.
James Wood led off with a single and stole second, and Luis Garcia Jr. singled him to third. Jose Tena struck out before CJ Abrams walked to load the bases. Scherzer struck out Dylan Crews, and Daylen Lile grounded out.
Nasim Nunez singled with one out in the Washington second and stole second. Wood walked and Garcia doubled off the wall in right, scoring Nunez to give Washington a 1-0 lead.
Urias tied it 1-1 with a solo homer in the third, and Straw and Ernie Clement followed with back-to-back doubles to make it 2-1 Blue Jays.
Scherzer left after striking out Lile to end a 12-pitch at-bat in the third. The crowd gave him a standing ovation and he waved as he entered the dugout.
In the fourth, Toronto’s Kazuma Okamoto singled, stole second and scored on a two-out single by Straw to make it 3-1.
With runners on first and third and two outs in the top of the fifth, George Springer got in a rundown between first and second. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. broke for home but was tagged out on a close play.
Chaparro’s pinch-hit homer made it 3-2 in the fifth.
With two outs in the bottom of the ninth, Nunez singled and Wood walked, but Varland fanned Garcia to end the game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Marlins end 12-game slide as Griffin Conine walks off Phillies
Jul 27, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins left fielder Griffin Conine (18) celebrates his home run with second baseman Javier Sanoja (8) against the Philadelphia Phillies during the second inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images Griffin Conine’s walk-off single capped a three-run ninth inning for the Miami Marlins, who snapped a franchise-record 12-game losing streak with an 8-7 win over the visiting Philadelphia Phillies on Monday.
Heriberto Hernandez and Conine homered for Miami, which had not won since July 9. The Marlins appeared destined for another defeat before Hernandez’s two-run single tied it against Jhoan Duran (1-4), who had previously blown only one save this season.
Bryce Harper hit an early two-run homer and J.T. Realmuto also had two RBIs for Philadelphia, which has lost seven of 10 since the All-Star break. Zack Wheeler struggled through three innings, allowing a season-high five runs and six hits.
With Miami trailing 7-5, Jakob Marsee opened the ninth with a single up the middle and advanced to third on Otto Lopez’s single to right. Duran hit Kyle Stowers to load the bases for Hernandez, whose single up the middle tied the game.
Three batters later, the bases were loaded with one out when Conine lined one into right field, over a drawn-in Philadelphia infield.
There was plenty of early action, beginning with Harper’s two-run homer off Tyler Phillips in the top of the first. In the bottom half, Miami answered with two runs of its own, highlighted by Hernandez’s solo shot off Wheeler.
The veteran right-hander struggled in the second inning as well, as he allowed three more runs, including Conine’s leadoff blast.
The fourth and fifth innings were uneventful, but Philadelphia rallied to take the lead with four runs in the sixth. Alec Bohm, Realmuto and Justin Crawford had run-scoring hits in the frame.
The Phillies led 7-5 after Bryson Stott tripled and scored an insurance run in the eighth before things fell apart in the ninth.
Phillips received a no-decision, allowing two runs and three hits in five innings. Calvin Faucher (5-5) worked the top of the ninth to earn the win.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mets rack up 19 hits, 14 runs in demolition of Braves
Jul 27, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; New York Mets catcher Francisco Alvarez (4) hits a single against the Atlanta Braves during the third inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images Francisco Lindor hit two homers and drove in six runs as the New York Mets battered the visiting Atlanta Braves 14-3 on Monday.
Tyrone Taylor went 3-for-5 with a three-run homer and Marcus Semien also had three hits and a homer for the Mets, who have won consecutive games for the first time since July 8-9.
Lindor, A.J. Ewing and Bo Bichette each added three of New York’s season-high-tying 19 hits.
Mets starter Zac Thornton (2-1) tossed 6 1/3 innings, allowing three runs on six hits while striking out five and walking one.
Braves starter Martin Perez gave up three runs on eight hits in five innings. He fanned four and walked one.
Connor Thomas (0-1) was blasted for 11 runs on 10 hits across 2 2/3 innings, walking five and striking out two. Ozzie Albies homered, singled and drove in three for Atlanta, which had won four of its previous five games.
Albies drove in the game’s first run with an RBI single in the top of the first.
New York answered in the bottom of the first, as Ewing led off with a single and Lindor tripled to even the score.
In the third, Ewing and Lindor paced the New York offensive attack again. Ewing singled and stole second before Lindor launched a homer to left-center, giving the Mets a 3-1 lead.
After Matt Olson’s walk opening the fourth, Albies connected on a 407-foot home run — his 18th of the season — to tie the game 3-3.
With two outs in the bottom of the fifth, Perez allowed singles by Bichette and Luis Robert Jr. before walking Francisco Alvarez to load the bases. Through heavy rain, Perez struck out Jared Young to escape the jam.
Thomas relieved Perez in the sixth and immediately allowed Taylor’s single and Semien’s two-run homer to give the Mets a 5-3 lead. The long ball was Semien’s 12th.
Thomas remained in for the seventh, walking Alvarez before Young’s single and Taylor’s ninth home run of the year broke the game open, giving the Mets an 8-3 advantage.
Thomas then walked Semien, allowed Luis Torrens’ double and issued a one-out walk to Lindor, loading the bases. Bichette’s sacrifice fly made it 9-3 and stamped a four-run New York frame.
Torrens drew a bases-loaded walk in the eighth to give the Mets a 10-3 advantage. Ewing followed with a sacrifice fly to extend the margin. The beating continued for Thomas as Lindor launched his eighth homer of the year before Atlanta shortstop Jorge Mateo entered in relief. Bichette singled before Mateo struck out Robert to end the inning.
–Field Level Media
