Sports
After rare misstep, Pirates' bullpen seeks redemption vs. Cardinals
Apr 27, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates relief pitcher Dennis Santana (60) waits for St. Louis Cardinals catcher Pedro Pages (43) to run the bases after hitting a solo home run during the ninth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: David Dermer-Imagn Images Thirty-six innings. More than a year. That’s how long it had been since the Cardinals scored against the Pirates in Pittsburgh.
St. Louis quickly made up for lost time.
The Cardinals exploded for four runs with one out in the ninth inning against the usually reliable Dennis Santana as St. Louis posted a 4-2 win in the opener of a four-game series with the Pirates on Monday.
The teams go right back at it Tuesday night.
The Cardinals went scoreless in the last inning of a 2-1, 13-inning defeat at Pittsburgh on April 9, 2025, dropping the decisive contest of a three-game series.
The Pirates then swept a three-game home series against St. Louis early last July, shutting out the Cards in all three games and outscoring the visitors 13-0.
And then came the 2026 season-series opener on Monday. Pittsburgh manager Don Kelly scheduled a bullpen game, and his relievers came into the contest in fine form, having combined for 24 1/3 consecutive scoreless innings extending back to a win at Texas on Wednesday.
The Pirates kept St. Louis off the basepaths entirely for the first 6 1/3 innings. Mason Montgomery started for the second time this season, and Justin Lawrence followed, each tossing a scoreless inning.
Wilber Dotel, making just his third major league appearance, threw four perfect innings and struck out three.
“We had targeted four innings from him, and we thought that would be the absolute max,” Kelly said. “I thought (the pitchers) did a tremendous job. I mean, from Monty to Lawrence and then Dotel came in firing and (Evan) Sisk as well.”
The Cardinals’ first hit didn’t blow the doors off. Alec Burleson beat out a ground ball to third against Sisk in the seventh, but Sisk, Isaac Mattson and Gregory Soto kept the Cardinals off the board until Santana entered in the ninth.
Santana came into the contest with two saves and a 0.69 ERA in 13 appearances, but he gave up back-to-back home runs to backup catcher Pedro Pages and rookie JJ Wetherholt.
“Everybody loves him,” Cardinals teammate and former West Virginia University teammate Victor Scott II said of Wetherholt. “It’s kind of hard not to love that guy. He’s a very infectious kid to be around. Just an awesome player.”
Jose Fermin followed four batters later with a bases-loaded, two-run double for the win. The Pirates lost their second straight game, marking the first time this season they lost on consecutive days.
Pittsburgh did not list a starting pitcher for Tuesday. Right-handed reliever Cam Sanders (0-0, 12.00 ERA) could be a possibility for his first major league start, but he got the last out on Monday after Santana’s meltdown. He has never faced the Cardinals.
St. Louis, which won for the first time in five games, will give the ball to right-hander Kyle Leahy (2-3, 5.63 ERA), who has alternated losses and wins in his five starts. He allowed four runs on eight hits in five innings of an 8-4 loss to the Miami Marlins on Wednesday.
Leahy will be starting against the Pirates for the first time. In seven career relief outings vs. Pittsburgh, he is 1-0 with a 0.00 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 8 2/3 innings.
Pittsburgh’s Nick Gonzales went 3-for-4 on Monday, extending his season-best hitting streak to eight games. Gonzales is batting .484 (15-for-31) with three RBIs and five runs during the streak.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nuggets scratch Aaron Gordon (calf) for Game 5
Apr 25, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Timberwolves guard Bones Hyland (8) shoots by the defense of Denver Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon (32) in the second quarter at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images The Denver Nuggets will be looking to avoid elimination in Game 5 against the Minnesota Timberwolves without key contributor Aaron Gordon due to his injured calf.
The team ruled Gordon out Monday evening ahead of the game in Denver. Minnesota leads the first-round NBA playoff series three games to one, following Saturday’s 112-96 win. In that game, Gordon played but was visibly limited in his movement. He finished 4-of-11 shooting from the field, including 1 of 5 from 3-point range in scoring 9 points.
The 12-year veteran sustained the injury in Game 2 of the series and did not play in Game 3.
Gordon had season averages of 16.2 points, 5.8 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game.
Neither team will be at full strength Monday, as the Timberwolves will be without guard Donte DiVincenzo who suffered a season-ending torn Achilles tendon in Game 4 as well as All-Star Anthony Edwards, who sustained a hyperextended knee and bone bruise in that same contest.
Edwards will be week-to-week should Minnesota advance.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Magic silence Pistons late to take 3-1 series edge
Apr 27, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) dunks in front of Detroit Pistons forward Tobias Harris (12) during the first quarter during game four of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images Desmond Bane scored 22 points and made one of his five 3-pointers with 1:16 left as the Orlando Magic beat the visiting Detroit Pistons 94-88 on Monday to take a 3-1 lead in their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Detroit tied the game at 85-all with 5:24 remaining on Ausar Thompson’s layup before Bane’s 3-pointer capped a 7-1 run and put the Magic ahead 92-86.
Thompson missed two free throws with 28 seconds left and Detroit’s Caris LeVert was off target on a 3-point attempt before Jalen Suggs sealed the victory with two foul shots.
The top-seeded Pistons were held without a field goal in the final five minutes before Isaiah Stewart scored at the buzzer.
Game 5 in the best-of-seven series is set for Wednesday in Detroit.
Orlando forward Franz Wagner had 19 points before exiting late in the third period due to right calf soreness. Paolo Banchero scored 18 points, and Wendell Carter Jr. had 12 points and 11 rebounds.
The eighth-seeded Magic forced 20 turnovers and improved to 6-1 in their past seven home playoff games.
Cade Cunningham led Detroit with 25 points, nine rebounds, six assists and eight turnovers. Tobias Harris scored 20 points, and Jalen Duren contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.
Orlando jumped to a 17-7 lead before Detroit closed the opening period on a 20-9 run to go up by one.
After Cunningham’s layup put the Pistons ahead 40-30 with 7:14 left in the second quarter, Orlando battled back to take a 54-52 lead into halftime.
Wagner had 17 points in the first half to lead all scorers. Cunningham put up 16 for Detroit before the break.
Bane closed the third quarter with a 3-pointer and two free throws to give Orlando a 75-69 lead.
Jamal Cain ignited the home crowd with a thunderous one-handed dunk over Duren to put the Magic ahead 80-76 with 8:34 left.
Cain provided a spark for Orlando after Wagner left the game and finished with eight points and nine rebounds in nearly 24 minutes off the bench.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Aaron Judge hits 11th homer, Ben Rice hits 10th as Yankees top Rangers
Apr 27, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (22) bumps elbows with right fielder Aaron Judge (99) after hitting two-run home run against the Texas Rangers during the third inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Max Fried pitched six scoreless innings and was backed by three homers as the New York Yankees recorded a 4-2 victory over the Texas Rangers Monday night in Arlington, Texas.
Ben Rice, Aaron Judge and Jazz Chisholm Jr. homered as the Yankees won for the ninth time in 10 games. New York hit at least three homers for the seventh time in its first 29 games.
Fried (4-1) allowed four hits and produced his fourth scoreless start this season. The left-hander notched three of his five strikeouts against Corey Seager and walked two.
Fried was also backed by a pair of double plays started by Jose Caballero in the first and sixth against Josh Jung and Brandon Nimmo. Fried also notched his MLB-best 38th pickoff since 2017 when he picked off Jung in the fourth.
Rice hit a two-run shot off Texas starter Jack Leiter (1-2) in the second after a single by Trent Grisham. Rice homered for the sixth time in his past 11 games when he drove a first-pitch fastball into the visiting bullpen beyond the left field fence.
Judge followed by sending a full-count curveball to left field. Judge homered for the eighth time in 15 games and his 11th homer tied Houston’s Yordan Alvarez and Chicago White Sox rookie Munetaka Murakami for the major league lead.
Chisholm gave the Yankees a 4-0 lead by lifting a first-pitch slider into the right field seats in the fourth. It was the second baseman’s third homer in his past five games after not going deep in his first 23 games.
Judge finished with three hits and reached base four times as the Yankees improved to 6-1 on their nine-game road trip.
Leiter allowed four runs on eight hits in six innings. He struck out four, walked one and tied a career high by allowing three homers.
Joc Pederson hit a pinch-hit homer off Camilo Doval in the seventh but Texas lost for the sixth time in nine games. Seager grounded out with two on in the eighth against Tim Hill and David Bednar allowed an RBI single to Alejandro Osuna in the ninth before securing his eighth save in nine chances.
–Field Level Media
Nuggets scratch Aaron Gordon (calf) for Game 5
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