Sports
How Far Can Caitlin Clark, Indiana Fever Go in 2024 WNBA Playoffs?
The WNBA playoff schedule is set, and the Indiana Fever’s path is laid out. On Sunday, Cailtin Clark, Kelsey Mitchell, Aliyah Boston and co. will face the Connecticut Sun in Uncasville, Connecticut, in Game 1 of the postseason on ABC at 3 p.m. ET.
After a stellar rookie campaign that saw Clark break several records and help the Fever make the playoffs for the first time since 2016, the question on a lot of folks’ minds now is this: How far can Clark and Indiana go in the postseason?
If the second half of the regular season is any indication, the second round seems like a real possibility. And once the Fever get there, it’s all about matchups in an anything-can-happen postseason tournament.
Consider that the Fever went 9-5 after the Olympic break, a stretch that included a five-game winning streak with triumphs over fellow playoff-bound teams like the Atlanta Dream and Indiana’s next opponent, the Sun. The Fever seem like a new team after that time off in late July and early August and have elevated their game. Indiana leads the WNBA in field goal percentage (45.6), effective field goal percentage (52.3) and is second in total points scored. Simply put, there isn’t a team in the league that the Fever can’t keep up with offensively.
It’s a unit led by Clark, who has continued to draw in new eyeballs to the WNBA this season with her absolutely electric play. The 2024 regular season was the most-viewed ever on ESPN platforms with an average of 1.2 million viewers per game; the All-Star game drew a record 3.4 million viewers; and a game between the Fever and the Las Vegas Aces on Sept. 11 drew 678,000 viewers, making it the most-viewed WNBA game ever on NBATV. Much of the data for increased attention and viewership in the WNBA points in Clark’s direction, which is why Indiana vs. Connecticut is getting the ABC treatment on Sunday, with all other games aired on ESPN. Excuse the suits at Disney if you find them rooting for the Fever.
Clark, of course, has backed up the hype with her play.
She’ll likely win the WNBA’s Rookie of the Year award and could find herself voted to the All-WNBA First Team, both of which would be deserved honors. Clark averaged a league-leading 8.4 assists per game this season along with 19.2 points and 5.7 rebounds. She also led the WNBA in 3-pointers made with 122, or 3.1 per game. For some perspective, consider that the great Sheryl Swoopes averaged north of 19.2 points per game just once in her 12 seasons in the WNBA and never posted more than 4.3 assists per game.
That assists figure puts Clark in elite and exclusive company. Only Ticha Penicheiro and Courtney Vandersloot have ever averaged eight dimes or more in a single season. And no player in the history of the WNBA, which began in 1997, has ever posted per game averages of at least 19 points and eight assists in the same year.
But what makes the Fever a threat to make a potentially deep playoff run is more than just Clark. In the second half of the season, her teammates have stepped up in a big way. Remember, Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston were both all-stars alongside Clark. Mitchell is averaging 19.6 points per game this season and just dropped 30 points in a win over the Dallas Wings on Sunday. Boston is averaging 14.1 points and 9.1 boards per game and has shown that—in addition to being a defensive anchor for the Fever—she can score in bunches too, like when she scored 30 points in a Sept. 8 win over the Dream.
A game that could be a sign of things to come for the Fever is their Aug. 28 win over the Sun, which saw five Indiana players score in double figures for a well-balanced scoring attack that led to an 84-80 triumph. Lexie Hull was crucial in that game for Indiana, knocking down four 3-pointers.
Should the Fever get past the Sun in the first round, they might bump their heads against their ceiling. Since the Olympic break, Indiana is 0-2 against the second-seeded Minnesota Lynx with a pair of double-digit losses, and the Fever are 0-4 on the year against the two-time reigning champs, the Aces. Before the break, Indiana went 1-3 against the top-seeded New York Liberty.
But if the WNBA postseason is anything like March Madness, we know there are no limits on the destination with Clark in the driver’s seat.
Sports
Walk-filled 3rd inning helps Pirates beat Reds, snap 4-game skid
Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain (9) tags out Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez (55) on his way to second in the third inning between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft threw five solid innings and Jake Mangum had two hits and a run to lift the visiting Pirates to a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Ashcraft (11-4) allowed one run on two hits with one walk and five strikeouts before a 106-minute weather delay preceded the bottom of the sixth inning.
Bryan Reynolds, Esmerlyn Valdez, Nick Gonzales and Henry Davis finished with an RBI apiece for the Pirates, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Gregory Soto pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 14th save. Three Pittsburgh pitchers combined to hold Cincinnati to three hits. The Pirates recorded six hits.
Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead in the third despite collecting only one hit. Davis drew a leadoff walk, Mangum singled and Brandon Lowe coaxed a walk to load the bases. Reynolds and Valdez drew consecutive bases-loaded walks to make it 2-0.
Gonzales followed with a fielder’s choice to plate Brandon Lowe and give the Pirates a three-run lead. As a steady rain fell throughout the inning, the grounds crew briefly tended to the mound.
Cincinnati got on the board in the fifth when Jose Trevino opened the frame with an opposite-field homer to right.
The Pirates extended their advantage to 4-1 in the sixth when Davis feathered an RBI single into shallow center, just beyond the reach of a diving TJ Friedl.
The Reds, who were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, threatened in the fourth. Sal Stewart was hit by a pitch before being forced out at second on JJ Bleday’s fielder’s choice. Nathaniel Lowe singled to center and, after Noelvi Marte popped out, Bleday advanced to third when no one covered second on Ashcraft’s pickoff attempt. But Eugenio Suarez struck out to end the inning.
Elly De La Cruz lined a rocket to center to open the eighth, but Mangum chased it down and made a leaping catch.
Reds starter Andrew Abbott (5-7) allowed three runs on three hits while matching a season high with five walks over five innings. He struck out one.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hunter Goodman (2 HRs, 5 RBIs), Rockies rough up Royals
Aug 1, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman (15) celebrates with center fielder Brenton Doyle (9) in the dugout after hitting a three run home run during the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Hunter Goodman homered twice and drove in five, Willi Castro also went deep and the Colorado Rockies beat the Kansas City Royals 12-6 in Denver on Saturday night.
TJ Rumfield finished with three hits and three RBIs, Kyle Karros had two hits and two RBIs and Jake McCarthy also had two hits for Colorado, which won its 44th game of the season, eclipsing last year’s victory total with 51 games remaining.
Jac Caglianone, Salvador Perez homered and John Rave all went deep and Tyler Tolbert and Nick Loftin had two hits each for Kansas City, which pulled outfielder Lane Thomas from the game in the middle of the fourth inning. Multiple outlets reported Thomas had been traded to Atlanta along with left-hander Bailey Falter.
Rockies starter Ryan Feltner worked out of a jam in the first inning but couldn’t escape trouble in the second. Isaac Collins led off with a triple to the gap in right-center and one out later scored on Michael Massey’s sacrifice fly to left.
Tolbert started the third with a double to right and stole second, and two outs later Caglianone hit his 18th home run of the season. Perez followed with his 16th homer to give the Royals a 4-0 lead.
Feltner (4-5) allowed four runs on eight hits over six innings.
Kansas City starter Luinder Avila faltered in the third when Colorado sent 11 batters to the plate. The Rockies loaded the bases with two walks and a single, then Karros drove in the first two with a double and Rumfield made it 4-3 with a single.
Goodman capped the scoring with his 32nd home run of the season, breaking his franchise mark for homers by a catcher in a season that he set last year, and gave Colorado a 6-4 lead.
Avila (5-4) was charged with six runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Colorado added to the lead in the fourth on Rumfield’s RBI single. Castro hit a solo homer in the fifth, his 12th, to make it 8-4.
Goodman extended his franchise record with a leadoff homer in the seventh and drove in another run in the Rockies’ three-run eighth. The Royals scored twice in the ninth.
-Field Level Media
Sports
Red Sox stay hot with another win over Dodgers
Aug 1, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Payton Tolle (70) throws a pitch against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Navarro-Imagn Images Ceddanne Rafaela hit two home runs, Andruw Monasterio doubled and scored the go-ahead run in the eighth inning and the visiting Boston Red Sox slipped past the Los Angeles Dodgers 3-2 on Saturday.
Left-hander Payton Tolle gave up two runs on nine hits over six innings with seven strikeouts as the Red Sox opened August with a victory after they went 21-4 in July to set a franchise record for a full month with a .840 winning percentage.
Right-hander Justin Slaten (2-4) replaced Tolle and pitched the seventh inning before left-hander Aroldis Chapman pitched the ninth inning for his 27th save as Boston played without first baseman Willson Contreras as a precaution after he was hit in the helmet by a pitch on Friday.
After winning the first two games in the series, the Red Sox are 5-1 on a seven-game road California road trip that included a stop to face the Athletics.
Teoscar Hernandez hit a home run among his three hits for the Dodgers, who lost for the fourth time in their past six games. Freddie Freeman also had three hits and has seven multi-hit games over his last nine contests.
Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (11-7) continued a run of solid pitching since the All-Star break by allowing three runs on four hits over eight innings but still took the loss. The Dodgers had 10 hits to four for the Red Sox but were hitless in four at-bats with runners in scoring position and stranded seven.
Boston took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Rafaela hit his first home run of the game on a drive to left-center field against Yamamoto.
The Dodgers took a 2-1 lead in the second inning on Hernandez’s two-run home run to right field. It was his 10th of the season and second in three games.
Boston tied the score 2-2 in the third on another home run from Rafaela. It was his 14th of the season and his third in a span of four at-bats going back to the series opener on Friday.
Monasterio doubled to lead off the eighth, went to third on a Jarren Duran bunt single and scored on a double-play grounder by Connor Wong.
–Field Level Media
Walk-filled 3rd inning helps Pirates beat Reds, snap 4-game skid
Hunter Goodman (2 HRs, 5 RBIs), Rockies rough up Royals
