Sports
Patrick Mahomes eyeing WNBA franchise for Kansas City
Oct 27, 2024; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes (15) is interviewed by CBS Sports reporter Melanie Collins after the game against the Las Vegas Raiders at Allegiant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Patrick Mahomes said he wants to see a WNBA expansion team come to Kansas City.
Unlike the average professional athlete, Mahomes may have the pull, and the money, to make it happen.
“We want to get basketball to Kansas City in general and then WNBA,” Mahomes said Thursday. “The success that they’ve had this last season and these last few seasons, it’s kind of a no-brainer.”
Mahomes and his wife Brittany are investors in the Kansas City Current of the National Women’s Soccer League. Mahomes also has purchased ownership stakes in Major League Baseball’s Royals and Major League Soccer’s Sporting Kansas City.
The three-time Super Bowl champion, who signed a $500 million contract extension with the Chiefs in 2020, said he wants to continue to be a professional sports team owner long after his playing days are done, saying with women’s sports in particular he wants to “showcase to my daughter that she can follow her dream and go out there and execute on whatever that dream is.”
Kansas City has an appetite for basketball, thanks to the tradition of the nearby University of Kansas. The city also built an NBA- and NHL-ready arena, the T-Mobile Center, which did not attract a permanent tenant in one of the major leagues.
As the WNBA expands from 12 to 15 teams over the next two seasons, adding clubs in San Francisco, Portland and Toronto, it hopes to reach the round number of 16. Nearby St. Louis and Philadelphia are also expected to compete with Kansas City for a franchise.
“To try to get a WNBA team in Kansas City to this fan base — you see it if you talk about University of Kansas basketball, the Chiefs or whatever it is — the city of Kansas City is going to come out and they’re going to fill the stadium,” Mahomes said.
“It was cool that we were able to get this soccer team, this women’s soccer team here in the Current and they’re going into the playoffs now and you see the support that they have. So let’s try to get a WNBA team in here as well (with) that same ownership group. They’ve done the Current the right way, and I want to continue to work with them to take that next step and get a WNBA team here.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Michael Lorenzen, double plays help Rockies top Mets
Apr 24, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Michael Lorenzen (24) delivers a pitch during the third inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Michael Lorenzen tossed a season-high seven innings and earned the win Friday night for the visiting Colorado Rockies, who beat the New York Mets 4-3 in the opener of a three-game series.
Jake McCarthy laced the tiebreaking RBI double in the sixth while Troy Johnston had what proved to be the decisive two-run single an inning later for the Rockies, who improved to 11-16. Colorado didn’t win its 11th game last season until June 3, when it was 11-50.
TJ Rumfield hit into a run-scoring groundout in the fifth while Ezequiel Tovar finished with two hits.
Marcus Semien hit into a run-scoring double play in the second and Brett Baty delivered a two-run single in the eighth for the Mets, who had won two straight following a 12-game losing streak.
Baty, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio had two hits apiece.
Lorenzen (2-2), who entered Friday with a 7.48 ERA and pitched beyond the fifth just once in his first five starts this season, gave up one run on seven hits and no walks while striking out three. He induced three double plays in his longest outing since last Sept. 19, when the right-hander tossed 7 2/3 innings for the Kansas City Royals in a 20-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Mets immediately rallied in the eighth against Jaden Hill, who gave up four singles, including Baty’s hit, while recording one out. But Antonio Senzatela entered and got Vientos to line into a double play.
The four double plays were the most for the Mets since they hit into four against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 9, 2019.
Senzatela threw a perfect ninth to close out his second save.
Freddy Peralta (1-3) took the loss for the Mets after allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda each homer twice as Rays beat Twins
Apr 24, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays infielder Jonathan Aranda (8) celebrates a home run during the fourth inning against Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Pablo Robles-Imagn Images Junior Caminero hit a pair of tape-measure home runs and drove in three runs and Jonathan Aranda also homered twice to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-2 victory over the visiting Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night.
It was the fifth career multi-homer game for Caminero, who has hit six home runs during a nine-game hitting streak.
Drew Rasmussen (2-0) picked up the win, allowing one run on five hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out six. Bryan Baker retired all three batters he faced in the ninth for his fifth save.
Brooks Lee homered and doubled in a 3-for-4 game and Royce Lewis also homered for Minnesota, which took its seventh loss in the last eight games
Taj Bradley (3-1), traded by Tampa Bay to Minnesota at the last year’s trade deadline for reliever Griffin Jax, allowed six runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings in his first start against the team that drafted him in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.
Bradley, who came into the contest third in the American League with a 1.63 ERA, allowed four homers after giving up none in his first five starts of the season.
Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a 450-foot blast over the batter’s eye in center field by Caminero, the longest home run of his career.
The Rays extended the lead to 2-0 in the third inning when Nick Fortes led off with a double, was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Taylor Walls and scored on a groundout to first by Chandler Simpson.
Aranda led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run down the right field line to make it 3-0, but the Twins cut the lead to 3-1 in the fifth on Lee’s fourth home run.
Aranda led off the sixth with his second homer of the game and sixth of the season, a 414-foot drive deep into the bleachers in right to make it 4-1. Tampa Bay then broke the game open in the seventh when Caminero clubbed a two-run homer, this one a 435-foot drive off the batter’s eye in center, to extend the lead to 6-1.
Lewis ended the scoring with a leadoff homer down the left field line in the ninth off reliever Trevor Martin.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Celtics eke out Game 3 win vs. Sixers, regain series lead
Apr 24, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) drives to the basket against Philadelphia 76ers forward Paul George (8) during the first half at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Jayson Tatum scored 11 of his 25 points in the fourth quarter as the visiting Boston Celtics defeated the Philadelphia 76ers 108-100 on Friday in Game 3 of their first-round playoff series.
Jaylen Brown matched Tatum with 25 points, while Payton Pritchard added 15 points for the second-seeded Celtics, who lead the best-of-seven series 2-1. Derrick White and Nikola Vucevic each chipped in 11 points for Boston.
Tyrese Maxey scored 31 points on 12-of-31 shooting for the seventh-seeded Sixers, who will attempt to even the series Sunday night when the teams reconvene back in South Philly.
Paul George (18 points) and Kelly Oubre Jr. (17) also made key contributions for the hosts, while VJ Edgecombe pitched in with 10 points but shot just 5 of 17, including 0 of 7 from long range. Edgecombe grabbed a game-high 10 rebounds.
Early in the third quarter, the Sixers embarked on a 12-0 run to turn a 64-55 deficit into a three-point lead. The Celtics regained the advantage shortly thereafter and went on to lead 79-74 after three quarters, thanks to two 3-pointers by Pritchard late in the session.
Philadelphia trailed 84-80 early in the fourth before Maxey made a tough fadeaway and a 3-pointer to put the Sixers ahead by a point.
However, the visitors responded with eight straight points. Brown found White for a layup before scoring the final four points of the burst, guiding Boston to a 92-85 edge with 5:39 remaining.
George and Andre Drummond helped bring the Sixers within 97-96 with 2:19 left, but Tatum answered with a 3-pointer. Following another Philadelphia bucket, Pritchard drained a 3-pointer at the shot-clock buzzer to make it 103-98 with 1:17 to go.
Philadelphia again made it a one-possession game, but Tatum swished a long 3-pointer with 26.6 seconds left to punctuate his dynamic performance.
Boston made seven 3-pointers in the first quarter en route to a 29-24 lead after 12 minutes.
The Celtics went ahead by double digits early in the second quarter as Baylor Scheierman’s 3-pointer made it 41-31. The Sixers chipped away and got within 47-45 with two minutes left in the half before Boston made a mini-push to bring a 54-47 lead into the locker room.
–Field Level Media
