Sports
New-look Suns bid to pick up steam vs. reeling Hornets
Jan 6, 2025; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Phoenix Suns guard Bradley Beal (3) reacts after a play against the Philadelphia 76ers during the third quarter at Wells Fargo Center. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images A change worked for the Phoenix Suns already this week.
The Charlotte Hornets could use revisions on the trajectory of their season as well.
The teams meet Tuesday night in Charlotte, N.C.
The Suns altered their starting lineup and ended a four-game losing streak with a 109-99 victory at Philadelphia on Monday. Phoenix coach Mike Budenholzer pulled Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic from the starting lineup.
“I just feel like we needed to make a change,” Budenholzer said. “You got to figure out your best combinations.”
Yet Beal still figured prominently, scoring a game-high 25 points in 30 minutes off the bench. Nurkic had five points and seven rebounds in 14 minutes.
“He has been a pro,” Budenholzer said of Beal. “He was there for us (Monday night) in a big way.”
Inserted into starting roles were Ryan Dunn and Mason Plumlee. Dunn, making his 14th career start, provided 15 points, while Plumlee had two points and seven boards in 13 minutes.
“We’re focused on what we need to do each day,” Budenholzer said. “Continue to evaluate, but I wouldn’t turn this into a day-to-day type thing. … Trying to figure out how to help our team.”
The Hornets are mired in a 10-game losing streak, though perhaps the return of top scorers LaMelo Ball and Brandon Miller after more than a week out of the lineup will help. They each poured in 24 points in a 115-105 loss at Cleveland on Sunday night.
“It felt good to be back out there competing with my teammates,” Miller said. “Of course, we didn’t get the outcome we wanted, but we’re just going back to the crib and just trying to protect the home court.”
While Miller went 6-for-10 from 3-point range, Charlotte’s other starters were a combined 4-for-20 from beyond the arc.
With Ball and Miller back, Seth Curry didn’t play Sunday as he’s nursing a sore knee and was listed as probable to play. He had been in a starting role when members of the backcourt were on the injured list.
Charlotte has lost 18 of its past 19 games, so some sort of shift in approach might be worth exploring.
Hornets center Mark Williams took only seven shots against the Cavaliers. He played 28 minutes, so getting him more involved might be one of the objectives for Charlotte.
“Mark is in a great place right now with how he’s playing the game and dominating the paint,” coach Charles Lee said. “But just like everyone on our team, we want to continue to grow, and so eventually, the 3-ball will be part of his growth.”
Nick Smith Jr. gave Charlotte a boost off the bench with 18 points after a recent stint with the organization’s G League team.
“He took full advantage of his opportunity to play,” Lee said. “It’s a testament to Nick continuing to put in the work.”
Plumlee is familiar with Charlotte. The veteran, in his 12th season and with his seventh franchise, started 129 games in less than two full seasons with the Hornets.
The visit to Charlotte marks the end of the Suns’ three-game road trip. The teams will meet twice across a six-day period, playing again Sunday in Phoenix.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Tigers fired Gabe Alvarez over harassment claim
Erie SeaWolves manager Gabe Alvarez watches warm-ups prior to a game with the Binghamton Rumble Ponies at UPMC Park in Erie on July 13, 2022.
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The Detroit Tigers fired Triple-A manager Gabe Alvarez after an investigation into alleged harassment claims by a female employee, The Athletic reported Wednesday.
The Tigers announced Tuesday that Alvarez’s contract had been terminated due to an undisclosed “violation of club policy.”
Alvarez, 52, was in his second season as manager of the Toledo Mud Hens, who were 17-16 under his leadership.
Sources told The Athletic that Alvarez was fired following a human resources investigation into the complaint.
Neither the Tigers nor Alvarez and his representatives responded to The Athletic’s requests for comment.
A major leaguer for parts of three seasons, Alvarez was a career .222 hitter with seven home runs and 33 RBIs over 92 games for the Tigers (1998-2000) and San Diego Padres (2000). During nine seasons in the minor leagues, Alvarez batted .278 with 114 home runs.
A second-round pick out of Southern California in 1995, Alvarez served as an assistant coach at his alma mater starting in 2010. He was hired by the Tigers to be the manager at Double-A Erie starting in the 2022 season and was promoted to manager at Toledo in October of 2024.
–Field Level Media
Sports
No close shaves for Cameron Young with Quail Hollow up next
May 3, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Cameron Young watches his tee shot on the 11th hole during the final round of the Cadillac Championship golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Romance-Imagn Images Cameron Young might be the hottest golfer on the PGA Tour with two victories and two other top-five finishes in his past five events.
And the World No. 3 is not interested in changing much during a hot streak, including whether it’s time to shave his beard.
“Yeah, I don’t think it’s coming off. I’m kind of afraid to see what I might look like without it,” said Young, who turns 29 on Thursday. “It’s been a couple years now and, yeah, I don’t know, we weren’t allowed to have a beard in college, so it was one of those things, as soon as I was allowed to, I just did it for no reason, other than that.
“Yeah, it’s been there since. Between that and not having to deal with it on a daily basis, it’s kind of lower maintenance and I’ve grown accustomed to the way I look with it.”
Young went to college at Wake Forest, located approximately 90 miles from Quail Hollow Club in Charlotte where he will tee it up in the Truist Championship, beginning Thursday.
“Always nice coming back to North Carolina and especially here,” Young said. “I mean, this is a top-notch golf course facility and tournament. I always look forward to coming back here. It’s quite a challenge, so I really look forward to the challenge of this golf course.”
Young tied for second at Quail Hollow in 2022 before tying for 59th the next year and tying for 34th in 2024. He bounced back to tie for seventh last year.
He figures to be a contender at Quail Hollow this week after winning last week’s Cadillac Championship by a mammoth six strokes. He posted a 19-under 269 at Trump National Doral’s Blue Monster Course outside Miami, with President Trump in attendance.
“Last week was a really good week,” Young said. “I feel like a lot of pieces came together pretty well. Yeah, difficult golf course, kind of an atypical week with the President around, just some different things that go on with that piece of it. But I feel like I did a really good job just staying where I was and doing my job. Yeah, very pleased with the outcome.”
Young’s strong year leaves him only behind No. 1 Scottie Scheffler and No. 2 Rory McIlroy of Northern Ireland in the rankings. It also has increased his own notoriety but he said handling the rise in outer noise isn’t as challenging as maintaining his own mental game.
“Yeah, it really hasn’t been too different, in my opinion,” Young said. “I do a few more things like this (press conference), but most of the noise and the noise that’s probably more difficult to deal with is the noise in your own head.
“So to me that’s where a lot of my time is spent. … Those World Rankings are based in the past. It’s a good indicator of how you’ve played recently or whatever it is, but that No. 3 next to my name in the World Ranking doesn’t give me one thing this week. Doesn’t give me one thing next week.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ty France comes through as Padres knock off Giants
May 6, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants shortstop Willy Adames (left) gets the force out at second base ahead of San Diego Padres right fielder Nick Castellanos (right) during the fifth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Marshall-Imagn Images Ty France broke a seventh-inning tie with a two-run, pinch-hit triple, Xander Bogaerts added a two-run homer in the eighth, and the San Diego Padres captured a road series win over the San Francisco Giants with a 5-1 victory Wednesday afternoon.
After taking over from opener Bradgley Rodriguez, Matt Waldron (1-1) threw five one-run innings for his first win of the season, propelling San Diego to a second straight triumph after a series-opening defeat on Monday.
After offsetting solo homers by the Padres’ Gavin Sheets, his fifth of the season, and Giants’ Rafael Devers, his third, the Padres took advantage of an inning-opening throwing error by San Francisco third baseman Matt Chapman to grab the lead for good in the seventh.
Giants starter Adrian Houser (0-4) was pulled at that point, then watched as Keaton Winn walked Ramon Laureano.
Winn got two outs as the runners reached second and third, before France greeted Matt Gage with a flyball down the right-field line that barely eluded a diving Jesus Rodriguez, scoring Fernando Tatis Jr. and Laureano.
The triple was France’s second of the year. He’d totaled just four in his first seven major-league seasons.
Bogaerts’ homer, his second of the series and seventh of the season, came two batters after Ryan Walker walked Manny Machado to lead off the eighth.
After Rodriguez needed just seven pitches to set down the Giants in order in the first, Waldron allowed just Devers’ homer and one other hit in his five innings. He struck out seven and did not walk anyone.
Adrian Morejon and Mason Miller, making his first appearance of the series, combined for six strikeouts over the final three innings, allowing just one hit.
Nick Castellanos had two hits for the Padres, who out-hit the Giants 6-3.
Rodriguez went 2-for-3 with a pair of singles for San Francisco, which has lost eight of its last nine.
Houser was charged with two runs (one earned) on three hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out three.
-Field Level Media
