Sports
Brandon Pfaadt, D-backs strive to fluster struggling Phillies
Apr 5, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks pitcher Brandon Pfaadt (32) pitches during the first inning at Chase Field against the Atlanta Braves. Mandatory Credit: Arianna Grainey-Imagn Images Brandon Pfaadt and Taijuan Walker have gotten off to poor starts this season, but they will have another opportunity to get on track Saturday afternoon when the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the Philadelphia Phillies.
Pfaadt (0-0, 6.75 ERA) gave up five runs in six innings against the Detroit Tigers on March 31 in his first start of 2026. The right-hander then failed to make it out of the fifth inning Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, yielding three runs in 4 2/3 frames.
“It was kind of a grinder, but it was an overall team win,” Pfaadt said after his teammates squeaked out a 6-5 victory in 10 innings. “It’s a big, big testament to the type of team that we are.”
Walker (0-2, 9.31 ERA) was pounded in his season debut on March 30, allowing seven runs (six earned) and 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings in a 13-2 loss to the Washington Nationals. His performance was a little better Sunday vs. the Colorado Rockies, who tagged the right-hander for four runs and seven hits — including three homers — in five innings. Colorado won 4-1.
“Rough,” Walker said, assessing his early-season performances. “I feel like the stuff is good. It’s playing up. But when I’m making mistakes, it’s getting hit right now.”
In Friday’s series opener, both starting pitchers suffered through one ugly inning in the game won by Arizona, 5-4.
For Arizona starter Michael Soroka, it was a four-run first that included a three-run homer by Brandon Marsh. That 4-0 lead held up until Philadelphia starter Jesus Luzardo yielded five runs in the fifth, highlighted by two-RBI hits from Ketel Marte and James McCann.
McCann initially came on after Diamondbacks catcher Gabriel Moreno made an early exit due to back soreness.
“One inning, he’s just sitting there minding his own business, and the next inning, he’s calling a game and just immediately impacted the game,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said of McCann. “And then he had the big hit that clearly helped us win the game, so props to him.”
Moreno’s status for Saturday’s matinee wasn’t clear when Lovullo met with the media on Friday.
“We’re going to evaluate him tonight, through the course of the morning, and find out what’s going on,” Lovullo said. “So he’s going to be day-to-day at this point.”
The Phillies have some examining to do as well, as they need to take a close look at an offense that has scored in only one of their last 29 innings. After 20 straight scoreless frames to end their trip to San Francisco, the Phillies did not score Friday after their first four batters of the game scored.
“The entire team tonight, a lot of swing-and-miss. That was really our bugaboo,” Philadelphia manager Rob Thomson said after his team struck out 16 times against Soroka and three relievers.
Kyle Schwarber went 0-for-3 with two strikeouts, lowering his batting average to .182. Bryson Stott is batting .179 and Alec Bohm, after going 0-for-4 with three punchouts, is down to .170.
“With Bohmer, he’s just missing,” Thomson said. “I don’t know whether it’s timing or contact point. It could be a number of things.”
Bohm will try to get back in a groove as he faces Pfaadt, who will make his second career start against the Phillies. He allowed seven runs in 4 2/3 innings in a 7-2 loss to Philadelphia last season.
Walker has made two career starts against Arizona — one in each of the last two seasons — and is 0-1 with a 6.75 ERA.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Donovan Mitchell nets 32 as Cavaliers overpower Raptors
Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Cavaliers guard Donovan Mitchell (45) drives to the basket against Toronto Raptors forward Brandon Ingram (3) during the first quarter of game one in the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Rocket Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Donovan Mitchell scored 32 points and James Harden added 22 points and 10 assists, powering the Cleveland Cavaliers to a 126-113 victory over the visiting Toronto Raptors in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first round series Saturday.
Max Strus had 24 points off the bench and Evan Mobley scored 17 for the fourth-seeded Cavaliers, who have won 11 straight playoff games over the Raptors. Game 2 is Monday in Cleveland, where Toronto is 0-8 all-time in the postseason.
Mitchell extended his league-record streak of scoring 30-plus points in a series opener to nine straight, two more than Michael Jordan had on two occasions. The Cavaliers’ largest lead was 100-76 early in the fourth quarter on a Sam Merrill 3-pointer.
RJ Barrett scored 24 points and Scottie Barnes contributed 21 points and seven assists for the fifth-seeded Raptors. Brandon Ingram added 17 points and Jamal Shead had 17 points in his playoff debut, starting for injured guard Immanuel Quickley (right hamstring strain).
Harden became the fifth player in NBA history to appear in a playoff game in 17 seasons, joining Karl Malone, John Stockton, Tony Parker and Jason Kidd. He also moved past Boston Celtics legend Larry Bird into 13th place in playoff points with 3,917.
Strus made back-to-back 3-pointers and followed with a layup in transition, giving the Cavaliers a commanding 82-60 lead midway through the third. Mitchell recorded 11 points in the period, which saw Toronto held to five made field goals.
Cleveland held a 61-54 advantage at the half, fueled by Harden’s 15 points and six assists and Mitchell’s 13 points and four assists. The Raptors had four players in double figures with Ingram scoring 13 points and Barnes, Barrett and Shead with 11 apiece.
Mitchell had eight points and a pair of assists in the first quarter, including a strip of Shead that he turned into a Strus’ layup at the buzzer and a 35-31 Cavaliers lead. Ingram and Barnes scored nine apiece.
Both teams shot the ball well, but the Cavs buried 16 of 32 from 3-point range. They also enjoyed a significant advantage at 52-36 for points in the pain.
Cavaliers backup center Thomas Bryant (left calf strain) was inactive and has not played since April 5.
–Field Level Media
Sports
LAFC, Earthquakes clash in Western Conference showdown
Mar 21, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; LAFC forward David Martinez (30) waits for gameplay to resume during the first half against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images Goals will be at a premium when two of the top teams in the Western Conference meet Sunday as Los Angeles FC plays host to the San Jose Earthquakes.
Each team allowed just two goals through seven league games to lead MLS. They are also two of four teams in the league with a positive goal differential in double digits.
LAFC (5-1-1, 16 points) will be out to protect a perfect 4-0-0 home record in league play during a busy early part of the season.
In two home games during the first seven days of April, LAFC earned a 6-0 MLS victory over Orlando City and a 3-0 victory over Mexico’s Cruz Azul in CONCACAF Champions Cup play. The club absorbed its only MLS loss, 2-1 on the road against the Portland Timbers, on April 11, then went to Mexico on Tuesday and advanced against Cruz Azul with a 1-1 road tie.
While Denis Bouanga leads LAFC with four goals and eight goal contributions in MLS play, 20-year-old forward David Martinez of Venezuela has six goals across all competitions and scored twice in the first leg against Cruz Azul.
“If you guys would see training, for me it’s normal,” LAFC head coach Marc Dos Santos said of Martinez’s play. “… When he has space in front of him, he goes and it’s fantastic to watch. He has this quality. David is strong. He seems little, but he’s really strong when he has courage behind him.”
Mired in mediocrity after not delivering a winning season in any of the previous 13 seasons, the Earthquakes (6-1-0, 18 points) have been reborn in just the second season under head coach Bruce Arena.
The Earthquakes are on a four-game winning streak across all competitions and are coming off a 2-0 victory over Phoenix Rising FC on Wednesday in U.S. Open Cup play. The 7-1-0 start across all competitions is the best in club history.
“We’re going to utilize our (full) roster this week,” Arena said. “If we have any aspirations of being a good team, it’s critically important that we can show that we can have depth and we can rotate our squad when it’s called upon.”
San Jose also scored three goals in each of its last two MLS games, earning a road victory over Sporting Kansas City and a home shutout win over San Diego FC on April 4.
Jack Skhan scored a pair of goals against Sporting KC, and Niko Tsakiris scored two against San Diego FC. Preston Judd leads the Earthquakes with three goals on the season, while Tsakiris has four assists.
–Field Level Media
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
Nicole Kidman’s R-Rated Satire On Netflix Is A Masterclass In Manipulation
Donovan Mitchell nets 32 as Cavaliers overpower Raptors
