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Guardians, back above .500, return home to face Twins

MLB: Minnesota Twins at New York MetsApr 22, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Connor Prielipp (61) follows through on a pitch against the New York Mets during the third inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Cleveland Guardians are the only American League Central team with a winning record, sitting one game over .500 after completing 4-3 road trip against the Athletics and Kansas City Royals.

Following victories in the final two contests at Kansas City, the Guardians are back home to begin a three-game series against the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

In the opening contest, Cleveland left-hander Parker Messick (3-1, 2.40 ERA) will take on Twins lefty Connor Prielipp (1-0, 3.86) in a battle of rookies.

Messick absorbed his first loss in his latest start, when he gave up four runs in five innings against the Athletics on Sunday. He pitched adequately in defeat, striking out six without a walk, but was done in by allowing three home runs.

“The thing I like to live on is any pitch is the right pitch in the right spot,” said Messick, who is 6-2 with a 2.56 ERA through 14 major league starts. “And the quicker I can control the tempo in the game, the more I can control.”

The burly hurler has faced the Twins once, working 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball in a no-decision last Sept. 19 in Minnesota. Messick is 3-1 with a 2.59 ERA in seven career home appearances and 3-1 with a 2.52 ERA in seven road starts.

He credits Guardians catchers Austin Hedges, Bo Naylor and David Fry with helping him make a smooth transition to this level. Hedges was behind the plate when Messick came within three outs of a no-hitter against the Baltimore Orioles on April 16.

“Hedgey, he’s the man back there for me,” Messick said. “He’s constantly communicating, sometimes telling me to slow down and sometimes speeding me up when I need it.

“It’s all the guys, really. I’m super blessed to be a young guy on a team with three great catchers.”

Minnesota is midway through a six-game trip, having dropped its final two to the Washington Nationals by a combined 22-7 score to match its low mark of six games under .500.

The Twins’ trip to Washington ended on a very sour note Thursday as starter Simeon Woods Richardson and Anthony Banda combined to hit two batters and walk two more in the fifth inning, leading to three runs and a 7-5 loss.

“We did not play a good baseball game and there are a lot of things we need to improve from it,” Minnesota manager Derek Shelton said. “We can’t hit guys and have free passes. We allowed them to have extra outs, and we can’t do that.”

The Twins went 5-for-11 with runners in scoring position as Brooks Lee drove in two runs and Ryan Jeffers homered and doubled twice, but Shelton also wasn’t pleased with the club’s offense.

Leaving nine runners on base in a two-run game was his primary complaint.

“We had chances, but we gave away outs,” Shelton said. “We had three runners on third base with less than two outs. You have to take advantage of those situations.”

Prielipp, who made his major league debut April 22 against the New York Mets, earned his initial win five days later at home against the Seattle Mariners. He has given up exactly two runs in all three of his starts, totaling 15 strikeouts and five walks over 14 innings.

The 6-foot-2, 210-pounder is 1-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two outings against AL foes, but this will be his first appearance against the Guardians.

–Field Level Media

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Vikings agree to 1-year deal with former 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings

NFL: Chicago Bears at San Francisco 49ersDec 28, 2025; Santa Clara, California, USA; San Francisco 49ers wide receiver Jauan Jennings (15) runs to score a touchdown against the Chicago Bears in the second half at Levi’s Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-Imagn Images

The Minnesota Vikings added to their receiver depth by agreeing to deal with former San Francisco 49ers receiver Jauan Jennings on Thursday.

The team didn’t disclose the terms, but The Athletic reported it’s a one-year deal with a base salary of $8 million with incentives which could pay Jennings as much as $13 million.

Jennings, 28, was a seventh-round pick by the 49ers in 2020 but became a critical member of their receiver corps. He broke out with 975 receiving yards and six touchdowns on 77 catches in 2024 and led all of San Francisco’s receivers with 643 yards last season, catching a team- and career-high nine touchdown passes.

Over five seasons of action with the 49ers, Jennings caught 210 passes for 2,581 yards and 22 touchdowns.

San Francisco elected not to re-sign him this offseason, allowing Minnesota to add to one of the better receiver rooms in the league as Jennings joins Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison.

That’s a strong trio of options for whoever wins the Vikings’ quarterback competition between 2024 first-round pick J.J. McCarthy and free-agent signee Kyler Murray.

–Field Level Media

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Dominant Hurricanes blow past Flyers to take 3-0 series lead

NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-Carolina Hurricanes at Philadelphia FlyersMay 7, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Carolina Hurricanes center Jordan Staal (11) celebrates his goal with teammates against the Philadelphia Flyers during the first period in game three of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images

Jordan Staal and Andrei Svechnikov each had a goal and an assist Thursday as the visiting Carolina Hurricanes topped the Philadelphia Flyers 4-1 to take a commanding 3-0 lead in their best-of-seven second-round series.

Frederik Andersen made 18 saves and Jalen Chatfield scored the go-ahead goal for Carolina, which improved to 7-0 this postseason. The Hurricanes will go for a sweep when the teams reconvene in Philadelphia for Game 4 on Saturday.

After upsetting the Pittsburgh Penguins in the first round, Philadelphia has had its hands full with the Hurricanes. Dan Vladar made 26 saves and Trevor Zegras scored the lone goal for the Flyers, who went 0-for-5 with the man advantage while allowing two power-play goals as well as a shorthanded tally.

With the game tied 1-1 late in the second, Philadelphia began a power play with an offensive zone draw, but it was Carolina that scored 11 seconds later. Jordan Martinook made a diving play to spring a 2-on-1, and Staal fed Chatfield for a one-timer that zipped just under the crossbar.

The Flyers failed to score on that power play, even though they had a two-man advantage for more than a minute of it.

The Hurricanes tacked on a pair of third-period goals – Svechnikov’s one-timer on a 4-on-3 power play and Nikolaj Ehlers’ wrister on a breakaway.

The Flyers pressured Andersen early with a handful of great chances in the first period.

Travis Konecny snuck behind the Carolina defense, only to have his shot skim off the post. Several minutes later, Porter Martone hit the crossbar. Then the rookie winger set up Alex Bump on a great opportunity on a 2-on-0 in front of the net, but Andersen was up to the challenge.

Finally, a shot by Rasmus Ristolainen slipped through Andersen and was about to cross the goal line when Jaccob Slavin swept it away at the last moment.

In the midst of the Flyers’ pressure, the Hurricanes took a 1-0 lead. A shot by Svechnikov hit off the boards and caromed back in front of the crease, where Staal swept the puck off Vladar and into the net.

Carolina led 1-0 after one period, but Philadelphia tied it up 2:31 into the second. A loose puck found its way to Zegras in the right circle, and he elevated a shot past Andersen to forge a 1-1 tie.

Emotions ran high throughout the third period, where 36 of the game’s 58 penalty minutes were given out. That included a game misconduct on Konecny with 2:19 left and 26 penalty minutes in the final three minutes when the game had been effectively decided.

–Field Level Media

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MLB roundup: Cubs sweep Reds for 15th straight home win

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Chicago CubsMay 7, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Michael Conforto (20) celebrates the Cubs win against the Cincinnati Reds with left fielder Ian Happ (8) at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images

Shota Imanaga struck out 10 across six innings as the Chicago Cubs completed a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with an 8-3 victory on Thursday for their 15th straight home win.

Unlike the first three games of the series, the Cubs did not need to walk it off. Instead, they used a seven-run fourth inning to turn it into a rout and hand the Reds their seventh straight loss. Chicago has won nine in a row.

Michael Conforto went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. He hit a double, and his second-inning solo home run off Reds starter Rhett Lowder (3-3) gave the Cubs the early lead. It was the veteran’s second homer of the series and season.

Lowder pitched into the fourth but was pulled after allowing back-to-back walks to Alex Bregman and Ian Happ to start the inning and throwing a ball in the dirt to Michael Busch. The right-hander went three-plus innings, allowing three runs on just one hit, but walked four.

Sal Stewart hit his 10th homer of the season and Blake Dunn lasered his first home of the year for the Reds.

Yankees 9, Rangers 2

Trent Grisham laced a bases-clearing double during a six-run sixth inning as host New York cruised past Texas but lost left fielder Jasson Dominguez to a sprained left shoulder.

Dominguez was injured crashing into the auxiliary scoreboard to catch a fly ball by Brandon Nimmo, the first batter of the game. Dominguez sustained a low-grade AC sprain and will be placed on the injured list. The team announced after the game that concussion tests were negative at the time on Dominguez, who is in concussion protocol.

Grisham had three hits and Ryan McMahon had a double and an RBI single as the Yankees totaled 14 hits and went 7-for-18 with runners in scoring position. Ezequiel Duran homered and drove in both for runs as the Rangers lost for the 11th time in 17 games.

Nationals 7, Twins 5

Keibert Ruiz had a home run and two doubles, drove in four runs and scored three times to lead Washington over visiting Minnesota in the rubber game of their three-game series.

Curtis Mead had two RBIs and Jacob Young scored twice for the Nationals. Ruiz hit the go-ahead solo homer to make it 6-5 leading off the seventh inning, and Mead delivered an RBI single later in the inning.

Ryan Jeffers had a home run, two doubles and three runs for the Twins. Brooks Lee had two hits and two RBIs for Minnesota.

Rockies 6, Mets 2

Jake McCarthy hit a grand slam in the eighth inning and drove in five runs, as Colorado defeated New York.

Antonio Senzatela (2-0) tossed two innings of scoreless relief for the victory for the Rockies, ending a six-game skid. Starter Jose Quintana allowed two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. McCarthy added an RBI double.

Colorado rallied from down 2-0 to tie it with runs in the fourth and sixth innings, then won it against reliever Craig Kimbrel (0-2). Austin Slater had two hits for the Mets. Starter Christian Scott struck out six, scattered three hits and left with the lead after 4 2/3 innings.

Guardians 8, Royals 5

Bo Naylor hit a three-run home run and Cleveland held on for a win over host Kansas City to earn a split of the four-game series.

Kyle Manzardo drove in two for the Guardians, who saw Slade Cecconi (2-4) allow two runs in 5 1/3 innings, giving up six hits. Cade Smith delivered a perfect ninth to record his 10th save of the season.

Bobby Witt Jr. was 4-for-4 with a walk and a homer. Vinnie Pasquantino homered for the Royals. Seth Lugo (1-2) needed 102 pitches to last four innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.

Athletics 12, Phillies 1

Brent Rooker and Zack Gelof each homered and drove in three runs and J.T. Ginn tossed eight stellar innings as the visiting Athletics posted a victory over Philadelphia.

Ginn (1-1) allowed just one run on four hits, striking out eight for the A’s, who salvaged the series finale after dropping the first two games. Shea Langeliers and Jacob Wilson also went deep in the win.

Andrew Painter (1-4) surrendered eight runs on seven hits across 3 2/3 frames for the Phillies, whose four-game winning streak ended. Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-4 with a homer as Philadelphia has won eight of 10 games since the firing of manager Rob Thomson.

Rays 8, Red Sox 4

Chandler Simpson went 2-for-2 with three RBIs off the bench, leading visiting Tampa Bay to a win over Boston in the opener of their four-game series.

Simpson entered the game in the sixth inning and immediately knocked a go-ahead, two-run single. He then provided a key insurance run on an RBI triple in his next at-bat in the eighth. Tampa Bay pounded out 13 hits and Hunter Bigge (1-0) worked two no-hit innings in relief of fellow right-hander Griffin Jax en route to the Rays’ seventh straight win.

The Rays had their streak of allowing three runs or fewer snapped after 13 consecutive games when Jarren Duran doubled and scored on a Wilyer Abreu sacrifice fly in the eighth.

Marlins 4, Orioles 3

Joe Mack doubled with two outs in the ninth inning and scored the winning run on a walk-off throwing error as Miami claimed a victory against Baltimore, dodging a sweep of the three-game series.

Liam Hicks hit a two-run home run in the first inning for the Marlins. Calvin Faucher (3-2) threw a scoreless ninth inning as the Marlins ended a four-game skid.

Mayo and Dylan Beavers each provided two hits, but the Orioles had a two-game win streak. Andrew Kittredge (0-1) gave up the unearned run in the ninth.

Pirates 4, Diamondbacks 2

Brandon Lowe went 3-for-5 with a home run and scored twice to help Pittsburgh win the rubber match of a three-game set against Arizona in Phoenix.

Joey Bart also homered for the Pirates, who have won five of their past six games, and starter Mitch Keller (4-1) allowed two runs on four hits over six innings.

Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen (1-3) gave up four runs on six hits in six innings. Corbin Carroll went deep for Arizona.

–Field Level Media

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