Sports
Astros bid to pick up steam vs. Jacob deGrom, Rangers
May 10, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Jacob deGrom (48) throws to the plate during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Raymond Carlin III-Imagn Images Since winning the final five games of a season-opening seven-game homestand, the Astros have not won more than two games in a row.
That served as a factor in their inability to gain ground in the American League West despite four of the five teams entering Friday with sub-.500 records.
After squandering an opportunity to close the gap on the Seattle Mariners earlier this week, the Astros rebounded from dropping three contests of that four-game set by defeating the Texas Rangers 2-0 in the opener of that three-game series.
Houston will host Texas in a rematch on Saturday.
The Astros have struggled blending good pitching with quality hitting, and while their bats did little to support the no-hit bid of starter Spencer Arrighetti, a series-opening win was claimed.
“A little more urgency out of both sides of the ball,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “I think it’s important for us to set the tone early. We need to come out and put pressure on this team from the very beginning.
“We just need to get going and keep that fire for weeks.”
Right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (1-3, 3.12 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Astros on Saturday. It will mark the third start and 16th appearance for Teng, who is making a bid for a spot in the rotation following a pair of outings as an opener.
Teng allowed three runs on five hits and one walk with one strikeout in three innings in a 5-0 loss to the Cincinnati Reds on Sunday. He also worked three innings in a start against the Baltimore Orioles on April 28, and allowed two runs on five hits with two strikeouts in a 5-3 loss. He is 0-2 with a 7.50 ERA as a starter.
Teng will make his first career appearance against the Rangers.
Right-hander Jacob deGrom (3-2, 2.62 ERA) is scheduled to start the middle contest of the three-game series for the Rangers. He has allowed one or zero runs in six of seven starts since April 6, including working seven shutout innings against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, allowing three hits with 10 strikeouts in a 3-0 victory.
deGrom is second in the AL, averaging 11.49 strikeouts per nine innings and third with a 0.92 WHIP.
He is 1-2 with a 3.70 ERA in four career starts against the Astros, all coming last season. In his previous start against the Astros on Sept. 17, deGrom allowed five runs on six hits — including two home runs — and one walk with six strikeouts across five innings in a 5-2 road loss.
Rangers shortstop Corey Seager was given the series opener off with another day on the bench likely coming soon. Seager is mired in a 0-for-27 slump with 11 strikeouts across seven games, the longest career hitless spans by both games and at-bats for the three-time Silver Slugger.
“I honestly hope he doesn’t swing a lot,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “I think a lot of the guys we’ve given off days to, they have done it the right way, where they don’t overswing or overwork. It’s more of a sit and observe. Be a really good teammate and watch video and tweak different things.
“The dangerous part of anybody is if they try early (batting practice) and extra work in the cages and try to swing your way out of it with thousands of swings. I know Corey won’t do that, but I think that’s the dangerous part of a lot of guys that get off days.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sabres scores 7 straight goals, force Game 7 vs. Canadiens
May 16, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; Buffalo Sabres center Konsta Helenius (94) celebrates with his teammates his goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the second period in game six of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: David Kirouac-Imagn Images Rasmus Dahlin scored once in a five-point game and Tage Thompson posted one goal and three assists to pace the visiting Buffalo Sabres to a 8-3 comeback victory over the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday and force a seventh game in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Jack Quinn tallied twice in a three-point performance, Zach Benson and Jason Zucker both collected one goal and one assist and Konsta Helenius and Zach Metsa added a goal apiece for the Sabres, who scored seven unanswered goals.
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 18 saves after starter Alex Lyon was pulled when he surrendered three goals on four shots.
Game 7 will be Monday in Buffalo.
The winner will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference final.
Jake Evans collected one goal and one assist, while Arber Xhekaj and Ivan Demidov tallied once for the Canadiens.
Goalie Jakub Dobes was tagged for six goals on 33 shots before being pulled. Jacob Fowler stopped one of two shots in relief.
With his team trailing 3-2, Benson tied the clash when he cashed in a loose puck 60 seconds into the second period.
Quinn’s power-play marker at 10:54 of the frame, his first career playoff goal, put Buffalo ahead, and Helenius made it a 5-3 count by finishing a 2-on-1 rush at 12:59 of the period.
Quinn added his second of the game midway through the third period, Thompson netted an empty-net goal and Metsa notched his first career playoff goal with a late power-play marker — Buffalo’s fourth of the game — to round out the scoring.
It was a wasted opportunity for the Canadiens after holding a 3-2 lead at the first intermission. Buffalo tallied first when Dahlin converted the first shot 32 seconds into the clash, but Montreal responded with a trio of goals.
Xhekaj tied the game 68 seconds later on his team’s first shot for his first of the playoffs, Demidov put Montreal ahead on the power play at 8:12 and Evans added a short-handed goal at 10:14 to make it a 3-1 lead.
But Zucker sparked the Sabres with a power-play goal of his own at 13:56 of the wild frame and swung the pendulum the other direction.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Guilherme scores in final minutes as Houston stuns 10-man Vancouver
May 16, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Dynamo FC forward Lawrence Ennali (11) attempts to control the ball away from Vancouver Whitecaps FC midfielder Thomas Muller (13) during the first half at Shell Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images Guilherme scored in the sixth minute of second-half stoppage to give the host Houston Dynamo a stunning 1-0 victory over the high-flying Vancouver Whitecaps on Saturday night.
Guilherme had some operating room and took a few dribbles before slamming a right-footed shot that ricocheted off Whitecaps star Brian White and bounced past backup goalkeeper Isaac Boehmer.
The Dynamo (7-6-0, 21 points) won for the fifth time in their past seven MLS matches. Jonathan Bond made three saves for Houston.
Vancouver (9-2-2, 29 points) had a seven-match MLS unbeaten streak (5-0-2) snapped.
Houston received a break when Whitecaps goalkeeper Yohei Takaoka received a red card in the 64th minute to leave his club playing a man short the rest of regulation and for eight stoppage-time minutes. Boehmer replaced him for just his fifth MLS appearance in six seasons with Vancouver.
Earlier, the match was delayed for 12 minutes in the first half after Houston’s Diadie Samassekou collided in the air with Vancouver’s Sebastian Berhalter while competing for the ball after a Whitecaps’ corner kick.
Samassekou fell to the ground awkwardly and players from both sides immediately showed great concern. He was eventually taken off via ambulance and taken to a nearby hospital. The game broadcast received information from the Dynamo saying that Samassekou was alert while being taken away from the scene.
The match was played tightly until Houston’s Augustin Resch delivered a long pass down the left side in the 64th minute with teammate Mateusz Bogusz sailing along unmarked. Takaoka ran all the way over to his right and took down Bogusz with a slide just outside the box.
Boehmer (two saves) replaced Takaoka (four saves), and Houston stepped up the pressure since it boasted the man advantage.
Bogusz had a chance in the 70th minute but Boehmer made the save. The rebound went directly to Ezequiel Ponce and he kicked it into the net. However, Bogusz was flagged for being offside and the goal was negated.
Guilherme broke in free in the 72nd minute and Boehmer came out to cut off the angle, leading to Guilherme kicking the ball wide right of the net.
Vancouver had a big chance in the first half-minute of the match but Edier Ocampo’s bouncing shot hit the left goalpost.
The Whitecaps looked to have taken the lead in the 17th minute when Berhalter’s shot bounced off White en route to ending up in the net. But White was ruled offside and the goal was disallowed.
In the 39th minute, Guilherme had a solid opportunity but his right-footer shot was saved by a diving Takaoka.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Galaxy finally find way to notch road win vs. Sounders
May 16, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; The Los Angeles Galaxy celebrate after a goal scored by Los Angeles Galaxy forward Gabriel Pec (11) during the first half against the Seattle Sounders at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Gabriel Pec had a goal and an assist in the Los Angeles Galaxy’s 2-0 away win over the Seattle Sounders on Saturday.
Los Angeles (5-5-4, 19 points) is 3-1-1 in its last five MLS matches, and Saturday’s victory ended the club’s 10-match winless drought (0-5-5) in Seattle. The Galaxy’s previous regular-season win in Seattle came on July 9, 2016.
Pec scored for the fourth time in his last three matches, as the forward has stepped up in place of the injured Joao Klauss. Pec and Klauss are now tied for the team lead with five goals apiece.
Matheus Nascimento came off the bench in the 83rd minute and then scored two minutes into stoppage time for his first goal of the season.
JT Marcinkowski stopped six shots on target to secure his first clean sheet in 10 regular-season starts.
Seattle (7-2-3, 24 points) lost for just the second time in MLS play, ending its nine-match (6-0-3) regular-season unbeaten streak.
The defeat also ended the Sounders’ 22-match (16-0-6) home unbeaten streak in all competitions, dating back to last season.
A brilliant pass from Marco Reus set up Los Angeles’ opening goal in the 23rd minute. Reus sent a perfectly-placed ball that split two Sounders players and found Pec heading into the box for the finish.
Danny Musovski had to leave the match in the 12th minute after a collision with Galaxy defender John Nelson. Musovski’s fifth-minute shot on target was Seattle’s only real chance of the opening 45 minutes, and his early departure resulted in a quiet offensive half for the Sounders.
More offensive pressure came from the home side early in the second half, and Paul Arriola had a tremendous chance on a header attempt in the 59th minute. Jesus Ferreira’s pass found Arriola by the far post, but Marcinkowski was in position for a big save.
Marcinkowski made two more decent saves in the second half, though Seattle’s lack of a finishing touch was the larger issue. Nine of the Sounders’ 14 shots in the match were off-target.
The Galaxy had several counter-attacking chances off these Seattle misses, and the second goal finally came on Nascimento’s late strike. Pec had plenty of room on the far side to approach the Sounders’ net, and crossed in front to Nascimento for the easy conversion.
Sabres scores 7 straight goals, force Game 7 vs. Canadiens
Guilherme scores in final minutes as Houston stuns 10-man Vancouver
