Sports
Cards grab early 3-run lead, add on to put away Dodgers
May 1, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; St. Louis Cardinals third baseman Nolan Gorman (16) hits a solo home run against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the first inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Joe Puetz-Imagn Images Nolan Gorman and Alec Burleson each hit home runs, Jordan Walker had four hits and the host St. Louis Cardinals extended their winning streak to five games with a 7-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Friday.
Matthew Liberatore (1-1) gave up two runs on five hits and two walks over 5 2/3 innings as the Cardinals returned from a four-game sweep at Pittsburgh to win in the opener of a three-game series and six-game homestand.
Walker capped his third career four-hit game with a two-run double in the seventh inning as St. Louis improved to 11-5 since April 14. Relievers George Soriano, Gordon Graceffo and Matt Svanson held Los Angeles scoreless over the final 3 1/3 innings.
Max Muncy had an RBI double and Kyle Tucker brought home a run on a sacrifice fly as the Dodgers lost their third consecutive game and fell to 5-8 since April 18.
Emmet Sheehan (2-1) gave up four runs on eight hits with eight strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings as he pitched at St. Louis for the first time.
Trouble arrived early for the Dodgers as Sheehan balked in a run during the first inning when he failed to inform umpires that he was switching from the windup to the stretch position during the same at-bat.
Six pitches later, Sheehan gave up the two-run home run to Gorman, his fifth of the season, as the Cardinals took a 3-0 lead.
The Dodgers got a run back in the second when Muncy’s double to the wall in left-center scored Andy Pages from first base.
St. Louis made it 4-1 in the third when Burleson hit a home run to right field, his fifth.
Los Angeles cut the deficit in half on Tucker’s sacrifice fly in the sixth.
The Cardinals took complete control in the seventh, getting Walker’s two-run double and a run-scoring ground ball by Nathan Church to take a 7-2 advantage.
The 12-hit game from the Cardinals came after they had 14 hits in a 10-5 victory over the Pirates on Thursday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jacob Misiorowski, William Contreras power Brewers past Nationals
May 1, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski (32) pitches against the Washington Nationals during the first inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Jacob Misiorowski took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before leaving with a cramp, William Contreras had four hits and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the host Washington Nationals 6-1 on Friday.
Misiorowski came out of the game with a right hamstring cramp after throwing a pitch to James Wood with one out in the sixth. Aaron Ashby came on and carried the no-hit bid into the seventh before Daylen Lile’s one-out bloop double.
Contreras had four hits for the second straight game and drove in three runs. Tyler Black had two doubles for Milwaukee, which has won four of five.
Misiorowski (2-2) was dominant, striking out eight and walking two. He retired the last 12 batters he faced, the final four by strikeout. Misiorowski threw 43 pitches of 100+ mph, the third-most in a game in the pitch-tracking era (2008), according to MLB.com.
After throwing a 98.9 mph swinging strike one to Wood, Misiorowski came off the mound and looked into the dugout. Manager Pat Murphy and the team trainer came out, and Misiorowski left the game.
Three Brewers pitchers combined on a two-hitter. Ashby went 2 2/3 frames and Easton McGee pitched a hitless ninth.
Washington starter Jake Irvin (1-4) gave up four runs (three earned) on six hits over five innings.
The Brewers took a quick 1-0 lead. Garrett Mitchell led off the game with a double, went to third on a groundout and scored on passed ball.
In the third, David Hamilton walked and stole second. Brice Turang walked and Contreras lined a single to center, scoring Hamilton.
With one out in the fifth, Turang and Contreras singled and Jake Bauers walked. Luis Rengifo grounded into a fielder’s choice to score Turang, and Black doubled, bringing home Contreras to make it 4-0.
CJ Abrams walked in the eighth, went to third on Lile’s double and scored on a groundout by Brady House, pulling Washington within 4-1.
The Brewers loaded the bases on two singles and an error with no outs in the eighth. Andre Granillo struck out Mitchell and got Turang to pop out, but Contreras grounded a single to right, scoring two runs.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pistons escape 24-point hole vs. Magic, head home for Game 7
May 1, 2026; Orlando, Florida, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Cade Cunningham (2) shoots the ball over Orlando Magic forward Paolo Banchero (5) in the second quarter during game six of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Kia Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Reper-Imagn Images Cade Cunningham scored 32 points as the Detroit Pistons came back from a 24-point deficit to stun the host Orlando Magic 93-79 on Friday, forcing a decisive Game 7 in the Eastern Conference first-round playoff series.
Tobias Harris racked up 22 points and Duncan Robinson had 14 points as Detroit won its second elimination game in a row. Cunningham, Harris and teammate Ausar Thompson each grabbed 10 rebounds.
The top-seeded Pistons began the fourth quarter on an 18-1 run to build an eight-point lead and ended up outscoring Orlando 55-19 in the second half. The eighth-seeded Magic missed 23 consecutive shots from the field during one stretch covering about 15 minutes in the second half.
Game 7 is Sunday in Detroit.
Desmond Bane and Paolo Banchero each scored 17 points for Orlando, and Tristan da Silva added 10 points. Banchero, who posted 45 points in Game 5, shot 4-for-20 from the field. The Magic ended up 9-for-36 (25%) on 3-point attempts.
Detroit also was the No. 1 seed in 2003, when the Pistons rallied from a 3-1 series deficit to defeat the Magic in the first round.
The Magic were held to 12 points over the first 19 minutes of the second half Friday as Detroit pulled ahead at 74-72 on a pair of Harris free throws with more than seven minutes to play.
Cunningham’s 3-pointer and two free throws on the next possession put the Pistons up 85-75 with less than four minutes to play. Robinson’s trey was the next basket as the lead grew.
The Pistons, down 22 at halftime, stormed back into the game by scoring 16 of the first 20 points of the second half. Detroit then went more than 4 1/2 minutes without scoring as Orlando built the margin to 71-54, but the Pistons closed the third quarter with an 8-0 spurt capped by a Robinson layup.
The Magic shot 3-for-17 (17.6%) in the third quarter, when they scored only 11 points.
Orlando appeared to take control in the second quarter and built a 60-38 halftime lead, with Bane hitting his first three 3-point attempts.
The Pistons made only 6 of 25 attempts from the floor (28.6%) in the second quarter.
Detroit shot 10-for-19 (52.6%) from the field in the first quarter to lead 26-25. The Magic began the second quarter on a 13-2 run, which ended with Anthony Black’s three-point play and Bane’s inside hoop.
After a Detroit timeout, the Magic kept pouring it on to build a 17-point lead.
Orlando forward Franz Wagner missed his second game in a row because of a calf injury.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jarren Duran, Jake Bennett help Red Sox knock off Astros
May 1, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran (16) runs the bases after hitting a three-run home run against the Houston Astros during the third inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images Jarren Duran hit a three-run home run and Jake Bennett pitched well in his major league debut to propel the Boston Red Sox to a 3-1 victory over the visiting Houston Astros in the opener of their three-games series Friday night.
Bennett, who was called up from Triple-A Worcester on Friday to start in place of Garrett Crochet, allowed one run on five hits in five innings. He walked two and struck out three. Crochet was placed on the injured list Wednesday with shoulder inflammation.
Boston received four scoreless innings from four relievers after Bennett (1-0) was pulled. Carlos Correa doubled against Aroldis Chapman with two outs in the ninth, but Chapman got Yordan Alvarez to ground out to second to end the game. Chapman earned his sixth save.
The victory ended Boston’s two-game losing streak, and its three-game home losing streak.
Correa had three hits, including his third home run of the season. Isaac Paredes and Yainer Diaz each had two hits for the Astros.
Houston starter Mike Burrows (1-4) took the loss. He surrendered three runs on eight hits in six innings.
Roman Anthony collected three of Boston’s 10 hits. Anthony hit a double and singled twice. Trevor Story was 2-for-4, and Marcelo Mayer collected a single to extend his hitting streak to nine games.
The Astros grabbed a 1-0 lead on Correa’s solo home run in the top of the third.
Boston took a 3-1 lead in the bottom half of the third. After Carlos Narvaez walked and Caleb Durbin singled, Duran drove in both runners when he hit his second home run of the season.
Houston had runners on second and third with two outs in the eighth, but Garrett Whitlock retired Cam Smith on a pop-up to first base.
The loss dropped Houston’s road record to 4-13.
–Field Level Media
Jacob Misiorowski, William Contreras power Brewers past Nationals
Pistons escape 24-point hole vs. Magic, head home for Game 7
