Sports
Bryce Elder, Braves bid to continue torrid pace vs. Red Sox
May 10, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Atlanta Braves pitcher Bryce Elder (55) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the third inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images After claiming a series-opening win in walk-off fashion, the Atlanta Braves look to continue their majors-best pace when they host the middle of three interleague games against the Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.
The Braves have the right man on the mound as they look to follow up Friday’s 3-2, 10-inning victory, as right-hander Bryce Elder (4-1, 1.81 ERA) aims to continue a string of sparkling starts. The 27-year-old has allowed just three runs in his last 17 2/3 innings and now leads the National League in ERA.
Elder is coming off his third shutout start out of nine total this season. He allowed just one hit and struck out eight over 5 2/3 innings last Sunday against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
“Bryce is for real,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “This is a special roll that he’s on.”
The last two and six of Elder’s nine starts have been Braves’ victories.
Elder made his first career appearance and start against the Red Sox on June 1 of last season, allowing three runs on six hits across 5 1/3 innings.
A walk-off RBI double from Massachusetts native Mike Yastrzemski was the difference in Friday’s game, helping the Braves overcome losing a 2-0 lead after early solo homers by Drake Baldwin and Michael Harris II.
Atlanta’s 63 homers lead the National League.
Though Friday was not the most prolific showing for the best offense in baseball — just seven hits — it got the job done.
“It’s just gratifying. The hard work will eventually pay off,” Yastrzemski said after his heroics. “You’ve just got to keep fighting through it, trust the process, trust the hitting coaches, trust yourself, most importantly.”
Boston showed fight to climb out of its early deficit on Friday. Marcelo Mayer’s solo shot in the seventh inning tied the game.
However, there were opportunities for more.
Not only did interim manager Chad Tracy’s club go 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position, but Mickey Gasper and Ceddanne Rafaela were both caught stealing after leading off back-to-back innings with hits against Braves starter Spencer Strider. Jarren Duran was also picked off.
“The big thing (Friday) was careless mistakes on the bases more than anything,” Tracy said.
Perhaps Mayer’s big swing can be a positive for the rest of the series.
“We’re all working really hard,” he said. “Obviously, a lot of guys aren’t where they want to be.”
The loss dropped Boston to 3-6 in one-run games this season. Two losses in an 11-game span have come in an extra frame.
Boston turns to young southpaw Payton Tolle (1-2, 2.78) in hopes of snapping a two-game skid. It will be his first career outing against Atlanta.
Tolle began May with a one-hit performance over seven innings against the Detroit Tigers but took a Sunday loss to the Tampa Bay Rays in which he allowed three runs on seven hits across five frames. He has lost two of his last three starts.
The Red Sox entered the series with a 2.56 ERA this month, which ranks second in the American League. They have allowed two or fewer earned runs in nine of their 13 games in May.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pitt adds Bryant transfer G Timofei Rudovskii
Timofei Rudovskii, Bryant Men’s Basketball Bryant transfer wing Timofei Rudovskii has committed to Pitt.
ESPN reported the news Friday morning, and Rudovskii confirmed it in his Instagram bio.
Rudovskii averaged a team-best 12.9 points to go along with 4.7 rebounds in 31 games (all starts) last season en route to being named to the America East All-Rookie team.
The 6-foot-9 Russian shot 41.0% from the floor and 36.2% from 3-point range during his lone campaign with the Bulldogs.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Japan leaves injured Kaoru Mitoma off World Cup roster
Japan midfielder Kaoru Mitoma (7) controls the ball as USMNT midfielder Luca de la Torre (14) defends at Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio on Sept. 9, 2025. Credit: Joseph Maiorana-Imagn Images Japan left injured midfielder Kaoru Mitoma off the 26-man World Cup roster announced by coach Hajime Moriyasu on Friday.
Mitoma suffered a hamstring injury during Brighton’s Premier League match against Leeds on Saturday, leaving his World Cup status in serious doubt. That was confirmed with Friday’s reveal of Japan’s roster.
“The medical team assessed that it would be difficult for him to get back to fitness during the tournament,” Moriyasu told reporters Friday.
Monaco forward Takumi Minamino also will miss out on the World Cup after the 31-year-old suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in December.
Moriyasu did take a chance on some other players dealing with injury issues, with Wataru Endo, Ko Itakura and Takehiro Tomiyasu included on the roster. Ajax defender Tomiyasu has dealt with multiple injuries that have led to him not appearing for Japan for nearly two years, while Liverpool midfielder Endo has only played in eight Premier League matches this season due to an ankle injury.
Sporting CP defensive midfielder Hidemasa Morita did not make the roster after totaling seven appearances in World Cup qualifiers.
Meanwhile, defender Yuto Nagatomo will make his fifth World Cup appearance.
“I was able to select only 26 players, but I feel sorry that I couldn’t select many other players,” Moriyasu told reporters Friday. “However, I selected these 26 based on their past performances and through conversations with the coaching staff, believing that this is our best squad right now. I think I have chosen the best 26 players in order for Japan to win on the world stage at this moment.”
Mitoma, 28, has nine goals in 31 appearances for Japan.
Japan has won five consecutive matches ahead of its final pre-World Cup friendly against Iceland in Tokyo on May 31. The Japanese will then travel to the team’s base camp in Nashville, Tenn., where they will train at the Nashville SC Training Center.
They begin their Group F play against the Netherlands in Arlington, Texas on June 14, followed by matches against Tunisia in Monterrey, Mexico on June 20 and Sweden back in Arlington on June 25.
JAPAN WORLD CUP ROSTER
Goalkeepers: Tomoki Hayakawa, Keisuke Osako, Zion Suzuki
Defenders: Ko Itakura, Hiroki Ito, Yuto Nagatomo, Ayumu Seko, Yukinari Sugawara, Junnosuke Suzuki, Shogo Taniguchi, Takehiro Tomiyasu, Tsuyoshi Watanabe
Midfielders: Ritsu Doan, Wataru Endo, Junya Ito, Daichi Kamada, Takefusa Kubo, Keito Nakamura, Kaishu Sano, Ao Tanaka
Forwards: Keisuke Goto, Daizen Maeda, Koki Ogawa, Kento Shiogai, Yuito Suzuki, Ayase Ueda
–Field Level Media
Sports
NASCAR's All-Star Race making Northeast debut at Dover
Aug 22, 2020; Dover, Delaware, USA; The statue of “Miles the Monster” out of Dover International Speedway hold a car of NASCAR Cup Series driver Jimmie Johnson (not pictured) before the NASCAR Cup Series race. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images Watkins Glen’s incredible closing run Sunday by Shane van Gisbergen and the NASCAR All-Star Race this weekend at Dover Motor Speedway represent the complete opposite ends of certainty in the Cup Series.
After winning for the sixth time in seven road races, van Gisbergen has established himself as perhaps the greatest road-course driver in NASCAR history, though Fox Sports announcer Mike Joy mentioned Dan Gurney — a five-time winner in the 1960s.
That’s good company for van Gisbergen to keep, though the New Zealander has won seven of his 14 starts (50%) compared to Gurney’s five of 16 (31.3%).
If van Gisbergen shows up in adequate equipment at the next two road courses, he will be the prohibitive favorite at San Diego and Sonoma in consecutive weekends to end June.
Folks may have thought his Chicago Street Race win in 2023 was a one-off fluke, but the masterful pedal work and curvy asphalt ownership by the veteran driver has been obvious from Race 1.
The 37-year-old No. 97 pilot just has a driving style that is a cut above — far better, really — anyone else’s when it comes to his heel-toe technique.
“I just don’t see anyone coming up the ranks who are volunteering to learn that style and stick with it,” Denny Hamlin said on his podcast, adding that there’s a “large likelihood” that van Gisbergen wins the remaining two road events.
A successful future isn’t as guaranteed on Sunday in Delaware at the Monster Mile, which is hosting its first All-Star Race in a 350-lapper — a race length as out of sorts and odd as the concrete track’s situation.
What lies ahead for the one-mile track, a high-banked, Bristol-on-steroids oval that challenges drivers from the first green flag, is completely up in the air for now.
Dover’s future grew cloudy when NASCAR put a refurbished North Wilkesboro Speedway back on the schedule in 2023 for the past three All-Star Races.
The joy in Wilkes County, N.C., multiplied when it received its first points race since 1996 with the scheduled 450-lapper on July 19 — another odd distance.
The feeling around NASCAR is that North Wilkesboro is heading up the elevator toward the penthouse.
However, that’s not the popular opinion regarding Dover, as NASCAR removed a points race for an exhibition one in the daytime.
Unlike North Wilkesboro, has Dover taken the elevator to the ground floor, awaiting a ding, a door opening and an exit from the building?
Track president and general manager Mike Tatoian doesn’t think so and is excited about Sunday’s first All-Star Race in the Northeast.
“The reason why we like it is because we’ve never had it before,” he told the Delaware News Journal. “Any time you get a new product, I think it’s good for the fans. … We’ll get a points race back.
“But as it relates to what happens in 2027 and 2028 and beyond, I really don’t know what is in store. I know we’ll have a race. I don’t know if it’ll be a points race or an All-Star Race.”
The drivers want one major change: a bigger All-Star champion’s check than $1 million, the same amount of the winning purse since 2003.
“I would like to see the prize money go up, to match the inflation for the past two years,” RFK Racing’s Brad Keselowski said. “I know the TV money (for NASCAR) has.”
It may not go as far it did, but a seven-figure payday is still worth it.
Dover is certainly banking on it.
–Field Level Media
Pitt adds Bryant transfer G Timofei Rudovskii
Japan leaves injured Kaoru Mitoma off World Cup roster
