After another rocky start Sunday, the Marlins designated veteran right-hander Chris Paddack for assignment on Tuesday and recalled right-hander William Kempner from Triple-A Jacksonville.

Paddack, 30, gave up seven runs on six hits with three walks over 2 2/3 innings on Sunday against the Philadelphia Phillies. The outing came after a promising start against the Los Angeles Dodgers last week when he allowed two runs over four innings.

In seven starts this season, his first with Miami, Paddack was 0-5 with a 7.63 ERA and was tied for the major league lead with 26 earned runs allowed, entering Tuesday’s play.

Over eight major league seasons, Paddack is 32-41 with a 4.79 ERA in 125 appearances (116 starts) for the San Diego Padres (2019-21), Minnesota Twins (2022-25), Detroit Tigers (2025) and Marlins.

Kempner, who is poised to make his major league debut, was 0-3 with a 6.46 ERA in 12 relief appearances at Jacksonville. He has three saves and 34 strikeouts in 15 1/3 innings.

The 24-year-old was a third-round draft pick by the San Francisco Giants in 2022.

–Field Level Media

Veteran defensive tackle DJ Reader is signing a two-year deal with the New York Giants, according to multiple reports on Tuesday.

The contract is reportedly worth $12.5 million, but can escalate to $15.5 if the 10-year veteran reaches incentives.

Reader started all 17 games last season with the Detroit Lions. He had 28 total tackles and four quarterback hits during his second season in Detroit.

A 2016 fifth-round draft pick by Houston, the former Clemson standout spent four seasons with the Texans (2016-2020) and four with the Cincinnati Bengals (2021-24).

Reader, 32, has played in at least 14 games in seven of his 10 seasons. In 137 games (128 starts), he has 328 total tackles, 27 tackles for loss, and 12.5 sacks.

The Giants traded three-time Pro Bowl defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to Cincinnati for the No. 10 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. Lawrence followed Reader as a defensive tackle at Clemson, playing for Dabo Sweeney from 2016-18.

–Field Level Media

Playoff experience is lived and learned, a concept the Spurs are tired of hearing about.

San Antonio is reaching for the mute button entering Game 2 of the best-of-seven Western Conference playoff semifinal series with the Minnesota Timberwolves, who landed the first punch to take a 1-0 lead on the Spurs’ home floor Monday.

“It’s on me,” Spurs MVP candidate Victor Wembanyama said after a dominant defensive performance in the 104-102 loss.

Minnesota won despite shooting 12 of 21 from the free-throw line because of a lackluster shooting night from the Spurs. Wembanyama and De’Aaron Fox, the top two scorers for San Antonio during the regular season, combined for 21 points on 10-of-31 shooting. The pair missed all 12 of their 3-point attempts; Wembanyama was 0-for-8. He had 15 rebounds and an NBA playoff single-game record 12 blocked shots but walked off the floor in disbelief as the Spurs lost at home for the second time in six games this postseason.

“I used too much energy (on defense) and things that didn’t really help our team,” he said. “So that’s on me. But first thing I have to start making some shots.”

Wembanyama played only 11 minutes, 41 seconds in the other playoff defeat at home — 106-103 to Portland in Game 2 of their first-round series — because of a concussion.

He wasn’t hurt Monday night, but the Timberwolves did enough to get San Antonio out of a comfort zone. Both teams played plenty of three-quarter court pressure defense and challenged the ball with tight defense for 48 minutes.

Minnesota’s playoff legs held up.

“We know it’s going to be a hard fought series,” Spurs head coach Mitch Johnson said. “That team has success in the playoffs in recent history. They just go through a hard-fought series. They obviously showed the mettle that they have. It’s going to be a fight.”

Anthony Edwards might not be fully healthy for Minnesota. He was a surprise game-time decision and scored 18 points off the bench in Game 1. Edwards is dealing with a knee injury and the Timberwolves were without Ayo Donsumu (calf). Donsumu had games of 25 and 43 points in Minnesota wins over Denver the first round.

The Spurs are shooting for a postseason run for the first time since 2019. As the No. 2 seed in the Western Conference, San Antonio entered Game 1 and the series as the prevailing favorite.

Timberwolves head coach Chris Finch told his team to continue being the aggressors on the day off Tuesday, when he shared the opinion that the team’s film breakdown of Game 1 told a little bit different story about Wembanyama’s big night.

“Historic night. But when we looked at (Wembanyama’s 12 blocks), at least four of them were goaltending,” Finch said. “To me, it’s a little alarming that none of them were called. Here’s a generational shot blocker — 7-foot-6, goes after everything — and there’s no heightened awareness that these blocks could be goaltends? The third possession of the game is a goaltend. A clear, obvious one. So let’s just say there were four (violations), that’s eight points. You know the value of eight points in an NBA game? It’s massive.”

Finch credited his guards, in particular, for getting downhill and not shying away from the swat threat. That plan is unchanged ahead of Game 2 on Wednesday before the series shifts to Minneapolis for Games 3 and 4.

“He gonna have to block it every time, I ain’t gonna stop going downhill. I told him that when he said a little something,” Terrence Shannon Jr. said. “He gonna have to block it every time, man. I know he ain’t gonna block it every single time. I’m gonna dunk on him.”

Shannon and Julius Randle, who scored 21 points with 10 rebounds, proved to be difficult one-on-one matchups for the Spurs.

“Just was kind of just reading the game,” Randle said of Monday’s win. “What’s going on, what’s working at certain points of the game, just just trying to be like, aware, present, reading what’s going on the game earlier.”

San Antonio had the ball, down two, with seven seconds left. Julian Champagnie’s 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded bounced off the front of the rim, allowing Minnesota to steal home court advantage.

“Felt like there were times we got a little in between, whether that was to shoot or not to drive or not to pass or not,” Johnson said. “Just in general, we were indecisive, and that hurt us. In the first half, we picked up the pace a little bit there. In the second half, we missed some good shots.”

Rookie Dylan Harper led the Spurs with 18 points off the bench, with many of his minutes coming with starting point guard Stephon Castle on the sidelines in foul trouble. Castle fouled out with 3:20 to play, marking the second straight game he’s been on the bench for the closing minutes.

“In a game like this, our goal is only to be better moving forward,” Harper said. “Every little thing matters. It’s a series (not just) one game. I mean, we’re gonna bounce back. We’re not gonna let this one dwell with us. Just gotta just tweak some things and limit, limit the mistakes.”

Minnesota has now won three of the four games played between the teams this season.

–Field Level Media