Sports
Astros, Red Sox eye series win after tough first month
May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros first baseman Christian Walker (8) celebrates a home run against the Boston Red Sox with shortstop Carlos Correa (1) during the fifth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images The Houston Astros are not used to looking up in the American League West standings.
While their first two games of a three-game road set against the Boston Red Sox have been a microcosm of an up-and-down season, a series win will be on the line when the teams return to the field on Sunday afternoon.
After being held in check in a 3-1 series-opening loss, the Astros looked like themselves on Saturday. Home runs by Brice Matthews and Christian Walker among the team’s 12 hits supported starter Spencer Arrighetti in a 6-3 win.
“That was a great baseball game,” Astros manager Joe Espada said of Saturday’s bounce-back victory. “Spencer really grinded through five innings. … We played really good defense. We turned some big double plays. I thought it was a really good team win.”
Saturday ended with some uncertainty for the Astros, though, as Walker was hit in the head by a Tyler Samaniego fastball and exited in the ninth inning.
“That’s always not a great situation, but I feel OK,” Walker said after a 3-for-4 day with two RBIs. “I think the helmet took most of it and turning away from (the pitch) hopefully made it more of a glancing blow than straight impact.”
With Houston trying to overcome injuries to Cristian Javier and Tatsuya Imai, Espada had not determined a Sunday starter before the series, and had his internal plan altered because of the flow of Saturday’s win.
Kai-Wei Teng was slated to start Sunday before throwing 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief Saturday. Instead, Cody Bolton (0-1, 5.79 ERA) will get the ball for his fifth appearance and third start of the season in the finale.
“He’s a weapon,” Espada said of Teng. “Going into the game, we wanted to use him (Sunday) as the starter, but he’s also that bridge to our late-inning guys.”
Bolton allowed two runs in both of his starts, though one was as a one-inning opener. The right-hander last pitched the closing inning of Thursday’s doubleheader nightcap against the Baltimore Orioles.
Additionally, right-hander Ryan Weiss was set to rejoin the Astros in time for Sunday’s game after a stint on the paternity list.
Saturday continued Boston’s mixed bag of results under interim manager Chad Tracy, marking its third loss in four games since a three-game win streak.
Houston scored a first-inning run off Connelly Early and eventually built a 6-0 lead. In the end, the Red Sox dropped to 2-19 when their starting pitcher tosses fewer than six innings and 2-14 when their opponent scores first, failing to capitalize three times with the bases loaded.
“I think if you’re looking at positives, we created a ton of traffic, which is what we’ve talked about here,” Tracy said. “We want to give ourselves chances, right? We gave ourselves a lot of chances. When you get some of those, if you can pop a double or execute, it changes things.”
Wilyer Abreu (2-for-3, RBI) was a bright spot, reaching base four times.
Boston left-hander Ranger Suarez (2-2, 3.09) looks to break a winless career mark against Houston and build upon his second eight-inning outing of the season in three starts.
Suarez dominated the Blue Jays during his Monday start in Toronto, using his entire arsenal to strike out 10 while allowing just one hit and one walk across eight shutout frames.
“When I’m able to command my four-seam and my sinker, I think that opens the door for my secondary pitches to get swings and misses,” he said.
Suarez is 0-3 with a 6.60 ERA in three career starts against the Astros.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Royals come from behind to hand Tigers fourth straight loss
May 8, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals right fielder Jac Caglianone (14) scores in the second inning against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images Kyle Isbel’s second RBI of the night came via a two-out single in the ninth, giving the host Kansas City Royals a walk-off 4-3 victory over the scuffling Detroit Tigers on Friday.
The Royals trailed 3-1 when they tied the game with three hits on the first five pitches of the eighth inning against Detroit’s Kyle Finnegan. Michael Massey opened the frame with a double to left-center field, and he scored on Isbel’s hit that turned into a three-bagger when the ball rolled under the glove and well past Tigers right fielder Wenceel Perez. Maikel Garcia followed an RBI single to center.
In the bottom of the ninth, Detroit’s Brant Hurter (4-1) retired the first two batters before Nick Loftin delivered a pinch-hit double to left field. One batter later, Isbel sent a slow bouncer through the left side of the infield to give the Royals a victory in this series opener and snap a four-game slide against the Tigers.
All four 2026 games between these teams have been decided by one run.
Keider Montero allowed one run, one walk and three hits over six solid innings for Detroit, which has lost four in a row.
Detroit opened the scoring against Kansas City starter Kris Bubic in the second inning when Riley Greene led off with a double into the right field corner for the first of his three hits. He went to third on Perez’s single and scored via Spencer Torkelson’s double-play ball.
Kansas City, though, evened things during its half of the second. Jac Caglianone doubled off the right field fence with two outs and came home on Isaac Collins’ single.
Detroit regained the lead in the sixth. With two outs, Dillon Dingler raced from first base all the way home on Perez’s double after Royals catcher Carter Jensen couldn’t hang on to the relay throw. Perez then scored on Torkelson’s double into the left field corner off reliever Nick Mears.
Bubic allowed three runs, four hits and four walks while striking out five in 5 2/3 innings. Teammate Lucas Erceg (3-1) pitched the ninth for the win.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sporting KC brings lengthy losing streak to Portland
May 2, 2026; Sandy, Utah, USA; Portland Timbers forward Kevin Kelsy (19) and Real Salt Lake defender Sam Junqua (29) play for the ball during the second half at America First Field. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images The Portland Timbers and Sporting Kansas City will be searching for more consistency when they meet on Saturday night in the Pacific Northwest.
The Timbers (3-6-1, 10 points) have won two of their last four with defeats of LAFC and San Diego FC, a pair of teams expected to be among the Western Conference elite when the season began.
But manager Phil Neville has been concerned by the response to those victories, particularly last weekend’s 2-0 defeat at Real Salt Lake that followed the win in San Diego.
The Timbers found themselves nearly out of the contest by the opening half-hour after early goals from Zavier Gozo and Diego Luna.
“It’s not a reflection of what I want from the team,” Neville said. “It’s definitely not a reflection of what this group of players are capable of. We’re taking one step forward and a couple back in the last month. We are seeing positive signs, but that consistency now needs to start coming very quickly.”
Despite a respectable 13-goal output as a team, only Kristoffer Velde (three) and Kevin Kelsy (two) have scored multiple times this season for the Timbers.
Kansas City (1-7-2, 5 points) faces the opposite problem. While striker Dejan Joveljic scored his fifth goal in last Saturday’s 1-1 home draw with the Seattle Sounders, his teammates have combined for only three.
That said, first-year manager Raphael Wicky hopes last weekend represents the beginning of a sustained improvement after a five-match MLS losing streak landed his side in the basement of the Western Conference.
In particular, Wicky was impressed by the response to going behind in the second minute, considering they had leaked 18 goals over that losing streak.
“I think the team reacted really well on that early goal, stayed in the game, stuck with the game plan, and was there for 90-plus minutes,” Wicky said. “And I think we felt that this was a pretty mature performance from the team. We saw some good football as well, attacking-wise. So this is what I want to see again.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rapids, St. Louis City eager to break out of winless ruts
May 2, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Colorado Rapids midfielder Paxten Aaronson (10) attempts to control the ball during the second half against the Houston Dynamo at Shell Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images When a team is in the middle of the MLS pack as the Colorado Rapids are, the ability to win on the margins is a necessity.
After failing to do that on May 2 in a 1-0 loss at Houston, Colorado will aim to produce a three-point result Saturday night when it hosts struggling St. Louis City in Commerce City, Colo.
Rapids coach Matt Wells wants to see his team find a flow sooner instead of later in matches.
“We need to be able to put some points on the board where we don’t quite hit our stride,” he said. “At the moment, if we don’t quite hit our stride and our rhythm, we’re always on the losing end of these tight games with small margins.”
The Rapids (4-6-1, 13 points) own a losing record despite outscoring opponents 22-19. They are tied for third in the league in scoring but are tied for 19th in goals against. Rafael Navarro has posted seven goals, while Darren Yapi and Paxten Aaronson have three apiece.
Yapi, a Denver-area product, signed a contract on Tuesday that binds him to the club through the 2028-29 season, with an option for 2029-30.
While Colorado tries to find its best form, St. Louis (1-6-3, 6 points) continues to struggle, as it has since a magical expansion year in 2023. St. Louis City are coming off a 2-0 loss Sunday in Austin, dropping the visitors to 0-3-2 in their past five matches.
The team has been outscored 11-5 in that span, extending its trend of failing to hit the back of the net this year. St. Louis’ nine goals in 10 fixtures are tied for the second-fewest in the league, and the team’s once-stingy defense has fallen to the middle of the pack with 18 goals conceded.
However, players such as Eduard Lowen maintain confidence in the system of first-year coach Yoann Damet.
“I’m more confident than ever before,” Lowen said. “The results haven’t been there and we’re not where we want to be right now. If the results come, we’ll have a great future ahead of us.”
–Field Level Media
Royals come from behind to hand Tigers fourth straight loss
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