Sports
Angels fans have clear message: 'Sell the team'
May 23, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels fans gather outside Angel Stadium before the game between the Los Angeles Angels and the Texas Rangers to protest the Angels team owner Arte Moreno. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images Los Angeles Angels fans are making it clear that they want owner Arte Moreno to sell the team.
Buoyed by the operators of various Instagram accounts — such as Angels Boycott and Angels Central — fans have held organized protests at Angel Stadium recently. The protests are expected to culminate with Sunday’s game against the Texas Rangers in a matchup that will be aired nationally on Peacock from Anaheim, Calif.
On Friday, Angels fans were asked to wear all black and be vocal. On Saturday, more than 100 fans gathered at the main entrance to the stadium before the Angels-Rangers game to protest Moreno’s ownership.
That followed a protest on Thursday among fans seated in an otherwise empty upper deck, who drew attention to their cause by following the new shirtless “tarps off” trend. Chants of “Sell the Team” and vulgar expressions directed toward Moreno have been heard throughout the stadium.
Angels fans have many issues with the team, but they boil down to performance. The Angels have not had a winning record since 2015 (85-77), and they are on their sixth manager, Kurt Suzuki, since Mike Scioscia departed after the 2018 season.
The Angels enter play Sunday with an MLB-worst 19-34 record.
The Angels Central page said this about the campaign:
“The chants will continue all season long because this is no longer just about wins and losses. It’s about accountability, leadership, and the future of the franchise. We are not rooting for wins anymore, we are rooting for change.
“For the first time in a long time, Angels fans are united behind one common goal, change in ownership. And the frustration is directed at the person that is responsible for holding this organization hostage. Arte Moreno.”
The Angels joined the American League in 1961 with entertainer Gene Autry as their owner. Upon his death in 1998, his widow, Jackie Autry, took over the team.
The Walt Disney Co. took over ownership until 2003, selling the Angels to Moreno after the team won its only World Series title in 2002.
Moreno paid $183.5 million for a franchise now valued by Forbes at $2.8 billion, placing it No. 11 among MLB teams in valuation.
In August 2022, Moreno announced he was taking the first steps toward selling the club. And with several interested suitors, a sale was considered a done deal.
But the follwing January, Moreno said the team had “unfinished business” and was off the market.
A perennial contender in the first decade of the 2000s, the Angels have made the playoffs just once since 2009, being swept in three games in 2014 by the Kansas City Royals in the American League Division Series.
Those are the only three playoff games in the career of Mike Trout, a three-time American League MVP.
The Angels’ issues are numerous.
First, Moreno has been criticized for his failure to spend money on free agents to pair with two of the biggest stars of this generation — Trout and Shohei Ohtani, who combined to win five MVP awards in an Angels uniform. And when Moreno did spend money, it turned out to be poorly spent.
Before the 2012 season, the Angels signed 32-year-old Albert Pujols to a 10-year, $240 million contract, and his numbers with the Angels didn’t come close to replicating his first 11 seasons with the St. Louis Cardinals.
After Anthony Rendon won the 2019 World Series with the Washington Nationals, the Angels signed him to a seven-year deal worth $245 million. He is no longer with the team — an agreement was made to make deferred payments to honor the final year of his contract — and he played in only 257 games. He produced 22 home runs and 125 RBIs. In 146 games with the Nationals in 2019, he hit 34 homers and drove in 126 runs.
Off the field, the Angels and the city of Anaheim — the owner of Angel Stadium — have been trying to reach an agreement about a stadium lease and renovations.
The team’s lease runs through 2032, and the team wants renovations to the stadium, which opened in 1966 and doesn’t include the upgrades of modern stadiums. It is the fourth-oldest venue in the majors.
Anaheim mayor Ashleigh Aitken has informed Moreno that the team needs to shed its Los Angeles designation and become the Anaheim Angels again — the franchise held that name from 1997-2004 — before substantial talks can take place.
The California state Assembly also unanimously passed a bill called the “Home Run for Anaheim Act,” which would require the team to reinstitute the former team name as a condition for any future stadium redevelopment, lease or sale agreement. It requires approval by the state Senate.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Facing Marlins, last-place Mets try to salvage series
May 23, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; New York Mets shortstop Bo Bichette (19) reacts after his at bat against the Miami Marlins during the sixth inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images The reeling New York Mets will look to avoid being swept on Sunday afternoon when they visit the Miami Marlins in the finale of a three-game series between the National League East foes.
Christian Scott (0-0, 4.12 ERA) is slated to start for the Mets against fellow right-hander Tyler Phillips (0-0, 1.20), who will make his first start of the season for Miami.
The Marlins locked up the series win on Saturday when Max Meyer allowed only one hit over seven scoreless innings and improved to 5-0 as Miami beat the Mets 4-1.
The loss was the fourth in five games for the Mets, who will head home following this game in sole possession of last place in the NL East. The Marlins moved 1 1/2 games ahead of New York with their Saturday win.
The Mets didn’t score on Saturday until Mark Vientos’ two-out RBI single in the ninth and have been outscored 24-14 in the past five games.
The team-wide slump is reminiscent of the extended drought the Mets endured in April, when they lost 17 of their final 20 games of the month while averaging 2.7 runs per game. The slide started with a 12-game losing streak from April 8-21 — the longest skid for New York since 2002.
The Mets opened May by winning 11 of 16 games, a span in which they averaged 5.4 runs per contest.
“The past couple games, we’ve faced some good pitching,” Vientos said. “Obviously we haven’t done what we’ve wanted at the plate, but got to give credit where credit is due. The pitchers that we’ve faced, they’ve been doing their thing. And we’re just going to come (Sunday) and come back strong.”
Phillips, who has allowed more than one run just once in 15 relief appearances this season, will look to follow in the footsteps of Meyer and Eury Perez as the Marlins try to complete their first series sweep since March 27-29 against the Colorado Rockies.
Perez gave up one run on two hits — both to Juan Soto — over 6 1/3 innings in the series opener on Friday as he earned the 2-1 win for Miami.
Phillips, who has thrown three innings in relief four times this season, is taking the rotation spot of Braxton Garrett, who was demoted to Triple-A Jacksonville on Wednesday. The start against the Mets will be the first for Philips since last Sept. 7 and the ninth of his three-year big league career.
“We believe he has the pitches and the ability to start it,” Marlins manager Clayton McCullough said. “He’s done it in the past, something we had spoken with him about last year and had stretched him out some on the fly. As circumstances have happened in recent weeks, felt like he’s been throwing the ball terrifically.”
Scott didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent start last Monday, when he gave up three runs over four innings in New York’s 16-7, 12-inning win over the Nationals.
Phillips hasn’t pitched since Wednesday, when he allowed an unearned run over three innings in the Marlins’ 9-1 loss to the Atlanta Braves.
Scott is 0-2 with a 7.88 ERA in two career starts against the Marlins, and Phillips is 0-0 with an 0.00 ERA in five career relief appearances spanning 6 2/3 innings against the Mets.
–Field Level Media
Sports
White Sox, Giants eager to land final blow in series rubber game
May 23, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants center fielder Harrison Bader (9) celebrates after hitting a grand slam home run against the Chicago White Sox during the fifth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Two sparkplug outfielders who have helped deliver wins in vastly different ways the last two days hope to continue to be a nuisance for opposing pitchers Sunday afternoon when Sam Antonacci and the Chicago White Sox face Harrison Bader and the host San Francisco Giants.
The teams have split the first two contests of a three-game set, each using a big inning to provide the difference in blowout wins.
Antonacci drew two hit-by-pitches and scored twice in a nine-run fourth inning in Friday’s series opener, which the White Sox won 9-4.
The 23-year-old leadoff batter has yet to get a hit in the series but has scored three times, which doesn’t surprise his Chicago teammates. He’s been hit by pitches 10 times this season, which is tied for the major league lead.
“Grinder. He’s our Cam Skattebo,” Davis Martin, Friday’s winning pitcher, assured reporters, making a comparison to the New York Giants’ running back. “Just any way imaginable to get the job done, he’s going to get the job done. And everybody knows it. To spearhead that lineup, I couldn’t think of anybody better.”
Giants fans are starting to see some of the same in Bader, who joined the club as a free agent over the winter, mostly as a defensive addition. But the veteran has been surprising offensively, hitting five home runs in 25 games in a season interrupted for a month by a hamstring injury.
Bader appeared to have disappointed the big crowd Saturday when, with the Giants leading 5-3, he popped up with the bases loaded and two outs in the fifth inning. But White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas lost the foul ball in the sun, giving Bader new life, and the veteran responded with a grand slam to cap a six-run uprising.
Bader gladly accepted a Gatorade soaking from teammate Willy Adames during a postgame television interview on the field.
“Feels good,” Bader, 31, insisted. “Every single day since I was 5 years old, I dreamed about playing this game at a high level. I love what I do, so it feels real good to deliver for my team.”
The pitching matchup on Sunday will feature two left-handers: the White Sox’s Noah Schultz (2-3, 4.93 ERA) and the Giants’ Robbie Ray (3-6, 4.28).
Schultz will make the eighth start of his rookie season, his fifth on the West Coast. He already has beaten the Athletics and San Diego Padres on the road, and he has lost at the Los Angeles Angels and Seattle Mariners.
The 22-year-old has never faced the Giants, who hit three home runs in a game for just the fourth time all season Saturday. Schultz has served up just three homers in his seven starts this year, never more than one in a game.
Meanwhile, Ray is coming off his worst start of the season, roughed up for 10 runs (nine earned) in a 12-2 shellacking at Arizona last Monday.
Ray will face the White Sox for the sixth time in his career, having gone 1-2 with a 2.78 ERA against them.
– Field Level Media
Sports
Padres a study of contrasts as series with A's closes
May 23, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres outfielders Gavin Sheets (30), Bryce Johnson (29) and Jackson Merrill (3) celebrate with shortstop Sung-Mun Song (24) after defeating the Athletics at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images San Diego Padres manager Craig Stammen cracked a joke about a lack of hitting on Saturday night, when his team managed only two hits in a 2-0 shutout of the visiting Athletics.
“If you want to put it into football terms, we got our safety and got out of there,” he said.
Stammen will hope for a bit more offense from his team, as well as a series sweep, on Sunday afternoon when the Padres wrap up their weekend series against the A’s.
All jokes aside, winning without much offense has been the norm for San Diego much of this season. The Padres are last in the majors in batting average (.219) and are tied for last with San Francisco in on-base percentage (.293). San Diego stands 27th in slugging percentage (.365) and 24th in runs (209).
Yet the Padres are 11 games over .500 and have won six of their past eight games, mainly because they seem to score runs when absolutely necessary. And San Diego rarely gives up a late-inning lead because of its high-leverage arms in the bullpen.
Stammen said the Padres will figure things out offensively, citing the eight walks they drew Saturday night as proof they are taking the proper approach at the plate.
“We celebrate the small wins, and if we have enough of those, it’s going to turn into big things,” he said. “Any time we can find a way to hand a lead to our bullpen, it’s a good day for us.”
Having right-hander Michael King (4-2, 2.31 ERA) on the mound typically gives San Diego a chance to win, and he will start against the A’s on Sunday. King excelled in a 1-0 shutout of the Los Angeles Dodgers on Monday, firing seven scoreless innings and allowing just four hits while walking two and striking out nine.
In three career games against the Athletics, two of them starts, King is 1-0 with a 3.75 ERA. The win, 5-4, occurred on April 7, 2025, in West Sacramento, Calif.
Opposing King will be right-hander Luis Medina, who’s 1-1 with a 2.41 ERA in 14 relief appearances. This will be the first start since 2024 for Medina, who fired two scoreless innings Wednesday night at the Los Angeles Angels in a 6-5, 10-inning win for San Diego.
In his only previous game against San Diego, Medina worked 3 2/3 innings of relief in 2023, striking out seven and walking four while allowing two hits and an earned run.
This will likely be a second straight game in which the A’s bullpen does most of the work. J.T. Ginn left after only 2 1/3 innings Saturday night because he had thrown 73 pitches, given up two runs, walked six and hit a batter, forcing relievers to record 17 outs.
The bullpen gave up just two hits during its lengthy stint to keep the Athletics in contention, but the A’s couldn’t come up with timely hits for a second straight game. They were 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and stranded eight runners.
But San Diego did see Nick Kurtz tie Rickey Henderson for the third-longest on-base streak in franchise history. Kurtz’s first-inning single marked the 46th straight game he has reached base. If he makes it 47 on Sunday, he’ll tie Jimmie Foxx for second. Mark McGwire leads with a 62-game streak.
“Every day is a new day for him,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said of Kurtz. “He’s not a hitter that chases hits. He’s a hitter that takes what’s given to him.”
–Field Level Media
Facing Marlins, last-place Mets try to salvage series
White Sox, Giants eager to land final blow in series rubber game
