Sports
White Sox pursue another memorable performance vs. Padres
May 1, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami (5) rounds the bases after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images Will Venable made it back to where it all began on Friday night: San Diego.
His MLB career started with the Padres in 2008, and he spent 7 1/2 seasons there, then went to the Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Dodgers before retirement. While he made plenty of memories playing in San Diego, Venable, 43, could start a new scrapbook there as Chicago’s manager.
The White Sox won 8-2 against the Padres on Friday, and the teams will meet again on Saturday in the second contest of a three-game serires.
The White Sox used their power to blow open Friday’s game early. MLB home run leader Munetaka Murakami blasted his 13th long ball of the season with two men aboard as part of a six-run second inning, and the lead grew to 8-0 before San Diego averted a shutout in the eighth.
Venable said his young team has embraced its underdog role as the White Sox seek their fifth straight victory.
“Obviously, these guys are getting some great results, and we’re changing that,” he said, “but we are still the underdogs, and that’s something I’m comfortable with, and like being in that role.”
Chicago went into Friday ranked ninth in the majors in homers. Most of that power comes from Murakami, Colson Montgomery and Miguel Vargas, who have combined for 28. Montgomery unloaded his ninth of the season in the fifth inning.
Lately, the team has gotten solid starting pitching, including six shutout innings from 6-foot-10 rookie left-hander Noah Schultz on Friday night. Right-hander Sean Burke (1-2, 3.21 ERA) will try to keep that run going in the series’ middle game.
Burke last worked on Sunday, firing 7 1/3 scoreless innings and allowing just three hits with no walks and four strikeouts in his team’s 2-1, 10-inning defeat to Washington. He’s faced the Padres twice in his career, going 0-1 with a 2.70 ERA in 10 innings.
Opposing Burke will be right-hander Michael King (3-1, 2.41 ERA), who hasn’t lost since April 3 in Boston, 5-2.
In his career against the White Sox, King is 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in five games, one as a starter. That was Sept. 21, 2025, when he threw five shutout innings and struck out four in a 3-2 win.
The Padres would love a good outing from King. Their starters rank 22nd in MLB in ERA at 4.57 — nearly two full runs a game more than their biggest National League West rival, the Dodgers (2.95),
But San Diego manager Craig Stammen said he isn’t that concerned about the rotation.
“They’re hanging in there,” he said. “Some guys are pitching well and some guys are up and down. They’ve been able to pitch enough innings to keep the bullpen fresh.”
Reinforcements are on the way this month. Offseason signee Griffin Canning could join San Diego after one more rehab start in the minors, while former White Sox ace Lucas Giolito likely has two more minor league outings before he joins the rotation.
Giolito’s contract stipulates that he has to join the Padres by May 16.
–Field Level Media
Sports
GamerLegion, FaZe Clan reach BLAST Rivals Spring semifinals
Jul 21, 2019; Miami Beach, FL, USA; A general view of gaming controllers on display during the Call of Duty League Finals e-sports event at Miami Beach Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images GamerLegion swept Astralis 2-0 on Friday to reach the semifinals at the BLAST Rivals Spring event in Fort Worth, Texas.
In the other quarterfinal match, FaZe Clan eked out a 2-1 victory over G2 Esports.
The results set up the semifinals on Saturday, when Natus Vincere will face FaZe Clan before Team Vitality will clash with GamerLegion.
The $350,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began with eight teams divided into two double-elimination groups for the initial stage. The group winners moved directly to the semifinals of the single-elimination playoff. The group runners-up went to the quarterfinals as high seeds, and the teams that finished third in their groups advanced to the quarterfinals as low seeds.
All matches in the group stage and the playoffs are best-of-three until the grand final on Sunday, which will be best-of-five. The championship team will receive $125,000 and two BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens.
On Friday, GamerLegion got past Astralis 13-8 on Overpass, then 16-14 in overtime on Inferno.
Sweden’s Fredrik “REZ” Sterner and the Czech Republic’s Oldrich “PR” Novy each logged 42 kills for GamerLegion, while PR had a team-best plus-4 kill-death differential. Lithuania’s Gytis “ryu” Glusauskas, Sweden’s Love “phzy” Smidebrant and Denmark’s Victor “Staehr” Staehr each amassed 37 kills for Astralis.
FaZe Clan opened with a 13-11 decision on Dust II before G2 Esports equalized by claiming Ancient 13-9. FaZe Clan sealed the series by taking Mirage 16-13 in overtime.
Slovakia’s David “frozen” Cernansky propelled FaZe Clan with 58 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nemanja “huNter-” Kovac and Spain’s Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia each posted 50 kills for G2 Esports.
BLAST Rivals Spring prize pool
1. $125,000, two BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens
2. $75,000
3-4. $40,000
5-6. $25,000 — Astralis, G2 Esports
7-8. $10,000 — FUT Esports, FURIA
–Field Level Media
Sports
Blue Jays flying high as they continue surge against Twins
May 1, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto (7) connects with a pitch from Minnesota Twins pitcher Luis Garcia (40) in the ninth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images The player known as “Big Oak” is starting to swing the lumber.
That could be bad news for the Minnesota Twins as they face the Toronto Blue Jays and their hard-hitting third baseman, Kazuma Okamoto, on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Okamoto is coming off the first two-homer game of his brief career Friday night. He finished with three RBIs to help the Blue Jays pull away for a 7-3 win over the Twins in the second contest of a four-game series.
The performance gave Okamoto seven home runs in 31 games to start the season, tops on the team. The 29-year-old signed with Toronto during the offseason after playing professionally in Japan.
The Blue Jays hope to benefit from Okamoto’s power surge as they look to put an up-and-down April behind them. Toronto started the season 7-13 but has gone 8-4 since then.
A win on Saturday would guarantee Toronto at least a tie in the series against the Twins. Toronto won its previous three series before heading to Minneapolis.
The Twins hope to obstruct Toronto’s turnaround. Minnesota won the series opener 7-1 Thursday before falling short Friday.
Since April 15, the Twins are 3-12. They have lost four consecutive series and need back-to-back victories this weekend to secure their first series win in two-plus weeks.
Twins manager Derek Shelton will need a bounce-back performance from his hitters on Saturday. Byron Buxton is hot with four home runs in his past five games, but the rest of the lineup did not generate much offense in Friday’s loss. The team stranded nine runners.
“(Blue Jays left-hander Patrick) Corbin just kind of kept us off balance,” Shelton said. “He mixed and matched. He used his fastball both in and out, but he was able to use the changeup to keep us off balance.”
On Saturday, the Blue Jays will turn to right-hander Dylan Cease (1-1, 2.87 ERA). He is coming off his first loss of the season after giving up four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox on Monday. Toronto fell 5-0.
Cease has made 13 career starts against the Twins, going 4-5 with a 4.69 ERA. He has walked 33 and struck out 79 in 71 innings.
The Twins will counter with left-hander Connor Prielipp (1-0, 4.00), who will take the mound for the first time since earning his first career big-league victory. He pitched in front of family and friends and held the Seattle Mariners to two runs on one hit in five innings in an 11-4 win on Monday.
This will be Prielipp’s first career start against the Blue Jays.
Okamoto is not the only player heating up for Toronto. Rookie outfielder Yohendrick Pinango will look to stay hot after going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs on Friday night.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Pinango has impressed him. The rookie has appeared in five games, batting .500 (5-for-10).
“We’re going to give him a bit of runway while he’s here,” Schneider said. “That’s the profile you want. Go ahead and swing it, and swing at a good pitch.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
'Wrecking ball' Ben Rice, Yankees take on Orioles again
May 1, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (22) hits a three run home run during the second inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images In the offseason, the New York Yankees never sought Pete Alonso in free agency because they were confident in Ben Rice’s bat and development.
Through the first month of the season, Rice is among the best hitters in baseball, and the Yankees hope to see more productive at-bats from their first baseman when they host Alonso and the Baltimore Orioles on Saturday afternoon.
The Yankees are 11-2 in their past 13 games, and Rice’s production is in the middle of their surge. He hit a three-run homer in the second inning of Friday’s 7-2 win over Baltimore and has seven of his 11 homers this year in the past 14 games.
“I just think we’re continuing to see the evolution of one of the game’s really outstanding hitters, simple as that,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said about Rice, 27. “He’s really disciplined, and he’s got a good plan night in and night out for who he’s facing and what he wants to look for, and he does a good job of controlling the zone.
“So, this is kind of that trajectory he’s been on since he first debuted (2024). He’s just gotten better and better to the point of now he’s kind of been a wrecking ball.”
Rice is hitting .330 this season, and his latest big night was part of the Orioles surrendering 11 hits and six walks on Friday. Jose Caballero also homered, while Aaron Judge had an RBI single, scored twice and reached base four times.
Rice has a .317 average with eight homers and 18 RBIs in 16 career games against the Orioles, who are 6-10 in their past 16 games.
Alonso homered in his first at-bat at Yankee Stadium since joining the Orioles on a five-year, $155 million contract following seven seasons with the New York Mets. He drew a pair of walks and scored both runs as the Orioles were held to a season-low three hits on Friday.
The Orioles also were limited to three runs or less for the 13th time. Baltimore is 2-11 in those games.
“Obviously we want to go out there and score as many runs as possible,” Baltimore’s Blaze Alexander said. “We want to do better, and we’re going to do better.”
After the Yankees’ Will Warren struck out nine in 6 1/3 innings Friday, left-hander Ryan Weathers (1-2, 3.21 ERA) will take the mound on Saturday for his first career appearance against Baltimore. He allowed two runs on 11 hits in 12 2/3 innings in his two most recent games as the Yankees defeated the Kansas City Royals and Houston Astros.
Those starts followed his April 14 outing when he allowed four homers to the Los Angeles Angels. Weathers last pitched a week ago, when he took a no-decision in an 8-3 win against the Astros, allowing two runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings.
Kyle Bradish (1-3, 4.20 ERA) is scheduled to start for Baltimore on Saturday. The right-hander is 1-1 with a 3.09 ERA in seven career starts against the Yankees. He has held them to a .241 batting average and has limited Judge to one hit in nine at-bats.
–Field Level Media
GamerLegion, FaZe Clan reach BLAST Rivals Spring semifinals
Blue Jays flying high as they continue surge against Twins
