Sports
Marlins tab ace Sandy Alcantara for rubber game vs. Nats
May 5, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins pitcher Sandy Alcantara (22) throws against the Baltimore Orioles in the first inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images The Miami Marlins look to end their 10-game homestand on a winning note when they host the Washington Nationals in the rubber match of their three-game series on Sunday.
After splitting the first two games, Miami is 3-6 on its homestand which began with series losses to the Philadelphia Phillies and Baltimore Orioles.
Sunday’s starters will be Washington’s Cade Cavalli (1-2, 4.15 ERA) against fellow right-hander Sandy Alcantara (3-2, 4.01) for Miami.
Alcantara, 30, appeared to be returning to the form that made him a Cy Young Award winner in 2022 when he strung together three straight outings in which he allowed three earned runs or less. He took a step back in his last start, however, allowing seven runs on eight hits in 4 1/3 innings of a no-decision Tuesday against the Orioles, raising his ERA by nearly a full run.
“Pitch count ran up, Pete (Alonso) hooks the ball down the line for a couple of runs and we have a little trouble handling down there,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “Get another guy to third base and just some times today where he had some counts in his favor, he just didn’t execute well enough with (two strikes).”
Despite the outing, Alcantara is expected to once again be one of the hottest commodities at the trade deadline.
He is 8-6 with a 3.58 ERA in 16 starts against the Nationals.
Cavalli, 27, closed out April with a couple of strong starts but struggled in his first May outing, giving up six runs (three earned) in four innings of a loss to the Minnesota Twins on Tuesday.
Cavalli had a fielding error that contributed to his tough night. He gave up five hits and walked three.
“I felt great all night, that’s the thing,” he said. “It’s not like I was erratic, throwing crazy pitches. It was competitive and just untimely hits. That’s baseball, and I’m going to get back to work and get ready to go on day five.”
Cavalli is 2-0 with a 3.60 ERA in two starts versus Miami.
Cavalli will be challenged if the Marlins can carry over their offensive approach from Saturday. Miami fell behind 4-0, then scored eight unanswered runs before holding on in the ninth for an 8-7 win.
Jakob Marsee hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to put the Marlins up 7-4. Xavier Edwards had tied it 4-4 in the seventh when he hit his second homer in as many days. Kyle Stowers had three hits including a home run.
“Some really good at-bats. Some slug. Come back in a game we were down to start with,” McCullough said. “Offensively this is probably one of our best performances on this homestand and in a while.”
Luis Garcia Jr. had three hits and James Wood homered and doubled for Washington, which had won three straight and got the tying run on base during a three-run ninth.
“This group, what they’ve done all year to this point is they continue to fight, they continue to have good at-bats,” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “They never feel like they’re out of it, even when you get a gut punch like we did that inning before.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Byron Buxton accounts for both Twins runs to beat Guardians in 11
May 9, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) hits a solo home run in the first inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: David Richard-Imagn Images Byron Buxton’s RBI double in the 11th inning gave the Minnesota Twins a 2-1 win over the host Cleveland Guardians on Saturday night as each team managed only two hits.
The game’s start was delayed two hours and 6 minutes by rain.
Buxton had both of the Twins’ hits as he led off the game with a home run. His double in the top of the 11th was the game-winner, scoring automatic runner Matt Wallner from third to snap Minnesota’s three-game losing streak.
The Twins escaped bases-loaded, one-out situations for the Guardians in the bottom of the ninth and 10th innings.
Cleveland had its three-game winning streak ended.
Minnesota reliever Eric Orze (1-1) pitched 1 2/3 scoreless innings, and Luis Garcia worked the 11th for his first save.
Guardians right-hander Peyton Pallette (1-2) allowed one run on one hit and one walk with three strikeouts in two innings.
Both starters were outstanding.
Cleveland’s Tanner Bibee allowed a run on one hit — Buxton’s homer — in six innings with two walks and a season-high nine strikeouts. His run of retiring 10 straight batters was snapped by a walk to Luke Keaschall with two outs in the fourth.
The Twins’ Joe Ryan gave up a run and two hits in six innings with three walks and five strikeouts.
Kyle Manzardo’s RBI single tied the game 1-1 in the fourth for Cleveland. Jose Ramirez, who got the first hit off of Ryan with one out and stole second, scored on the play.
Ryan worked his way out of a bases-loaded, one-out jam later in the inning by striking out Angel Martinez and Austin Hedges.
Buxton’s homer was his 13th this season as he took Bibee’s 1-1 cutter over the wall in left.
The Twins placed starting pitcher Taj Bailey (4-1, 2.87) on the 15-day injured list, retroactive to May 6, with pec muscle inflammation. Minnesota also recalled RHP Travis Adams from Triple-A St. Paul.
The Guardians acquired catcher Patrick Bailey from the San Francisco Giants for left-handed pitching prospect Matt Wilkinson and Cleveland’s Competitive Balance Round A pick (29th overall) in the 2026 draft and sent catcher Bo Naylor to Triple-A Columbus.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jeong Sang-bin's goal lifts St. Louis City past Rapids
May 9, 2026; Commerce City, Colorado, USA; St. Louis City midfielder Conrad Wallem (6) and Colorado Rapids midfielder Paxten Aaronson (10) battle for the ball in the first half at Dick’s Sporting Goods Park. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images Jeong Sang-bin scored in the 26th minute Saturday and visiting St. Louis City SC logged its first clean sheet since last year, blanking the Colorado Rapids 1-0 in a contentious match.
It was the first goal this year for Sang-bin. Goalie Roman Burki started the sequence with a long goal kick that Simon Becher conveyed to a streaking Sang-bin. Racing down the pitch’s middle, Sang-bin easily dribbled by goalie Nicolas Hansen and poked the ball home.
Colorado’s bid at a second-half rally took a hit when Rob Holding was sent off in the 51st minute after fouling Becher. St. Louis (2-6-3, 9 points) played 36 minutes of 11-on-10 soccer before Chris Durkin was booked for the second time in the 87th minute, leveling the teams at 10 men each.
Rafael Navarro, Keegan Rosenberry and Georgi Minoungou each had good chances to equalize after Durkin’s dismissal. But Navarro’s header sailed right of the net in the 87th minute and Rosenberry couldn’t finish two minutes into stoppage time.
Minoungou then sailed a header over the crossbar, a shot that was estimated to have a 48% chance of going into the net. St. Louis held on through six more minutes of stoppage time for its first road win of the year.
The Rapids (3-5-4, 13 points) wasted a major advantage in possession time (58.1% to 41.9) and got just two of their 11 shots on frame, with Burki denying both. Colorado created a whopping 11 corner kicks but couldn’t convert its set pieces into goals.
Both teams were hoping to display better form than they showed in recent fixtures. St. Louis was 0-3-2 in its previous five matches and the Rapids were 0-3-1 in their prior four matches.
The first half was played on even terms until Sang-bin struck. Despite Colorado controlling the ball 55.1% of the time, each team took five shots and got one to net.
Referee Tim Ford whistled 36 fouls and administered a total of nine cards in a physical match.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pirates collect 20 hits as Braxton Ashcraft dominates Giants
May 9, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Braxton Ashcraft (35) throws a pitch against the San Francisco Giants during the first inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Braxton Ashcraft threw seven innings of one-run ball, batterymate Joey Bart matched his career high with four hits and the Pittsburgh Pirates used a 20-hit assault to roll past the host San Francisco Giants 13-3 on Saturday night.
Nick Gonzales also collected four hits and Brandon Lowe had four RBIs for the Pirates, who won for the sixth time in their last eight games.
Giants starter Landen Roupp (5-3) matched zeroes with Ashcraft for four innings before Bart led off the fifth with an infield single on the right-hander’s 94th pitch, prompting San Francisco manager Tony Vitello to go to his bullpen.
After a single and steal by Oneil Cruz, the Pirates went ahead 1-0 on Lowe’s sacrifice fly and then 2-0 on an RBI single by Bryan Reynolds.
Bryce Eldridge launched his first career home run to get the Giants on the board in the last of the inning, before Pittsburgh seized control with a two-run sixth and blew the game open with a six-run seventh.
Konnor Griffin and Bart had RBI singles in the sixth, before Lowe lashed the big hit of the seventh — a two-run triple.
Bart made it a four-hit day when his leadoff single off Christian Koss, normally an infielder, triggered a three-run ninth.
Ashcraft (2-2) limited the Giants to six hits in his seven innings. He struck out six without walking a batter.
Bart, who played his first four seasons with the Giants, matched the four hits he’d recorded twice last year for the Pirates. He had three hits five times as a Giant.
The catcher scored three times and drove in two runs.
Cruz also scored three times and had three hits, while Lowe and Spencer Horwitz scored twice apiece. Lowe and Ryan O’Hearn had two hits each in the season-best 20-hit attack.
Heliot Ramos had a pair of singles for the Giants, who won the series opener 5-2 on Friday night. San Francisco has lost nine of its last 11 games.
The Giants completed the game’s scoring with two in the last of the ninth on a bases-loaded walk to Drew Gilbert and an RBI single by Eric Haase.
–Field Level Media
Byron Buxton accounts for both Twins runs to beat Guardians in 11
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