Sports
Reeling Red Sox draw Tigers ace Tarik Skubal for second time in '26
Apr 29, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Tarik Skubal racked up a season-high 10 strikeouts against Boston last month. The Red Sox have the misfortune of facing the two-time Cy Young Award winner in the opener of a three-game series in Detroit on Monday night.
Skubal held the Red Sox to one run and four hits in six innings on April 18 while recording his most recent victory. Skubal (3-2, 2.70 ERA) deserved a better fate in his last outing when he gave up just two runs in seven innings at Atlanta. The Braves pulled out a 4-3 win when Tigers closer Kenley Jansen gave up a walk-off home run.
In the seventh, Skubal gave his team a big scare when he took off his glove and rubbed his forearm after throwing a fastball. Following a mound visit by manager A.J. Hinch and a trainer, Skubal remained in the game and struck out the side.
“I don’t really know how to explain it,” Skubal said. “I just needed a little bit of time. Whatever happened, I just needed a little bit of time and the symptoms I experienced on that one throw went away. Obviously, I felt better after that.”
There were no lingering effects since that start.
“It’s all systems go for tomorrow,” Hinch said on Sunday.
Both runs Skubal allowed last week came in the first inning.
“It looked like he got better as the game went on,” Hinch said. “It looked like his stuff got a little better and his execution got a little better and we really played good defense. It’s what you need to do behind Tarik. (Atlanta) is a high-contact team and you’ve got to make plays and we did. He put us in a position to win.”
Skubal is 3-2 with a 4.33 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox.
Left-hander Payton Tolle (0-1, 3.38 ERA) will be making his third start of the season for Boston. The 23-year-old appeared in seven games last season.
Tolle sparkled in his season debut on April 23, holding the New York Yankees to one run in six innings while piling up 11 strikeouts. He wound up with a no-decision.
In his second start, Tolle gave up three runs in 4 2/3 innings to Toronto on Tuesday. He had control problems in that contest, issuing four walks.
“Just didn’t feel myself,” Tolle said. “Really thought I was pressing a little too hard on myself. Even (fellow starting pitcher) Connelly (Early) came in here and said, ‘Hey, you look like you’re beating yourself up.’ So, definitely felt like I got in my own way (Tuesday).”
Tolle relied heavily on fastballs against the Blue Jays and his velocity dropped toward the end of his outing.
“It wasn’t like he was soft-tossing, but it was something we were aware of going into the game,” interim manager Chad Tracy said.
Tolle pitched an inning of scoreless relief against the Tigers last season.
The reeling Red Sox have lost four of their last five games. Boston left 13 runners on base in a 3-1, 10-inning loss to Houston at home Sunday.
Detroit has won all five of its home series. It took two of three from Texas this weekend.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kentucky Derby sets several TV ratings records
Golden Tempo reached to nip the lead as Cherie DeVaux takes him out of his stall after winning the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Sunday, May 3, 2026. An estimated record 24.4 million people watched Golden Tempo’s historic comeback win on Saturday at the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby.
NBC released that figure based on preliminary data collected from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics on Sunday.
The previous peak audience had been 21.8 million the year prior, meaning the 2026 running, in which jockey Jose Ortiz guided Golden Tempo from last place around the final turn all the way into first, was up 12% over the previous most-watched Derby.
Cherie DeVaux, the horse’s trainer, became the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby in the event’s history Saturday.
NBC’s presentation also delivered the event’s highest average audience at 19.6 million, once again topping the previous year’s 17.7 million by roughly 11%.
The streaming numbers, mostly directed through Peacock, represented yet another record, with an average minute audience (AMA) of 1.3 million viewers, clearing 2025’s figure of 959,000.
Friday night’s Kentucky Oaks, contested for the first time in the television primetime window, likewise set viewership records. Always A Runner’s comfortable win averaged 2.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, a number that was four times higher than any previous viewership for the event (593,000 in 1997 on ESPN).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Twins ace Joe Ryan has MRI on elbow after early exit
May 3, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan (41) throws to the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images Minnesota Twins ace right-hander Joe Ryan underwent an MRI after exiting with right elbow soreness nine pitches into Sunday’s home start against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ryan fanned leadoff man Yohendrick Pinango on three pitches, then walked Kazuma Okamoto. After Ryan’s full-count fastball to Okamoto finished above the zone, he waved for manager Derek Shelton and trainer Nick Paparesta to come out to the mound.
After a brief conversation, Ryan headed to the dugout.
“Well, we got imaging,” Shelton told reporters after Minnesota’s 4-3 win. “We’ll kind of evaluate from there. I think, as you guys were told, it was something in the elbow. We’ll evaluate. We have the off day tomorrow, and then we’ll go off that.”
Following the abbreviated outing, the Twins’ Opening Day starter is 2-3 with a 3.72 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 40 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings over eight starts.
Ryan dealt with lower back issues during spring training, which included the need for an MRI exam, but did not miss any turns this season.
Minnesota already has three starting pitchers on the injured list: Pablo Lopez (elbow), David Festa (shoulder) and Mick Abel (elbow). Lopez tore his ACL during spring training and underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Abel posted a 1-2 record and a 3.98 ERA in four appearances (three starts) before being shelved in mid-April, but he’s expected back relatively soon.
Ryan, who made his major league debut in 2021, has fashioned a 48-39 record and a 3.79 ERA in 123 appearances (122 starts).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees option SS Anthony Volpe to Triple-A after rehab stint
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe continued his rehab assignment with the Somerset Patriots at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, N.J. on April 17, 2026. The New York Yankees reinstated shortstop Anthony Volpe from his rehab assignment but optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday.
Volpe played four games at Scranton and eight with Double-A Somerset to start the season as he works his way back from offseason shoulder surgery.
However, with Jose Caballero playing well as New York’s everyday shortstop, the club opted not to rush back the 25-year-old — an apparent change of heart after general manager Brian Cashman insisted “the plan” was for Volpe to return to the starting role.
Volpe made his major league debut in 2023 after spending just 22 games at Triple-A the year prior. He won the starting shortstop job in spring training and posted a 21-home run, Gold Glove rookie season. Volpe played in 159 games, then 160 in 2024 and 153 in 2025.
But his batting average and his fielding dipped in 2025, and it was revealed that the Yankees were playing Volpe despite a partial labrum tear in his left (non-throwing) shoulder. He had surgery in October after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs.
In 472 career games, Volpe has batted .222 with 52 homers, 192 RBIs, 82 doubles and 70 stolen bases. Across his 12 minor league rehab games, he batted .275 with one homer and six RBIs.
He also made one error, after he tied the American League lead with 19 errors in 2025.
Caballero, meanwhile, has laid his claim to the everyday job for the AL-leading Yankees (23-11). He has batted .259 with four homers, 12 RBIs and 12 steals through 32 games. He has a fielding percentage of .978.
Before the Yankees opened a series against the Baltimore Orioles Friday, manager Aaron Boone said Caballero’s play “complicates it a little bit, clearly,” when it comes to Volpe’s return.
“Jose’s earned opportunities and been a key part of our club here and a part of the success here to start out the season,” Boone said.
Caballero, 29, was a trade deadline acquisition from the rival Tampa Bay Rays last summer and has also played second base, third base and the outfield.
–Field Level Media
Kentucky Derby sets several TV ratings records
Twins ace Joe Ryan has MRI on elbow after early exit
