Sports
Astros start fast, power past Jacob deGrom, Rangers
May 16, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Astros second baseman Jose Altuve (27) crosses home plate after hitting a home run to left field against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images Jose Altuve and Yordan Alvarez slugged first-inning home runs to key a four-homer assault that propelled the Houston Astros to a 4-1 victory over the visiting Texas Rangers on Saturday.
The Astros secured the three-game series and will aim for a sweep on Sunday in the finale. Houston prevented Rangers right-hander Jacob deGrom (3-3) from securing his 100th win by doing something only one other team has accomplished against deGrom in his illustrious career.
Altuve drilled a 2-0 fastball from deGrom 358 feet out to left field in the bottom of the first inning for his 42nd career leadoff home run. Altuve spotted the Astros a 1-0 lead with his fourth homer of the season and, two batters later, Alvarez doubled that margin by taking deGrom out to right.
Alvarez launched a 3-2 fastball 362 feet for his 15th home run this season. Suddenly trailing 2-0, deGrom rallied with strikeouts of Christian Walker and Braden Shewmake to begin a stretch where he retired eight of nine batters. Zach Dezenzo singled with two outs in the second inning.
But the Astros ambushed deGrom again in the fourth. Walker crushed the first pitch of that frame, a fastball, 422 feet to left-center field for his 11th home run and a 3-0 lead. After deGrom retired Shewmake and Brice Matthews, Zach Cole blasted his third homer 361 feet to right.
deGrom allowed four home runs for the second time in 257 career starts. On July 7, 2017, he surrendered four dingers in a 6-5 road win over the St. Louis Cardinals with the New York Mets. deGrom retired the final seven batters he faced following the Cole homer and surrendered four runs on five hits with four strikeouts in six innings. He matched his season high with 94 pitches.
Astros right-hander Kai-Wei Teng (2-3) worked five scoreless innings. He allowed two hits and issued four walks while notching seven strikeouts.
Joc Pederson produced an RBI single against Houston reliever Enyel De Los Santos in the top of the seventh, but the Rangers finished 1-for-10 with runners in scoring position and stranded 13 baserunners overall.
Altuve departed in the eighth, clutching his left side after grounding into a double play. He is set to undergo imaging Sunday morning.
–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.
Sports
Sabres score 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 tied a franchise postseason record with five points (one goal, four assists) 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, forcing 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 finished the game with seven unanswered goals.
“It’s unreal to win this game. Now we have a chance to advance,” Dahlin said postgame to Sportsnet. “The whole group stepped up and played an ‘A’ game. Every individual had their best game. That’s what we need.”
Goaltender Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen made 18 saves after starter Alex Lyon was pulled when he surrendered three goals on four shots.
It’s the first time since Game 3 of the 1975 Stanley Cup Finals that the Sabres won a playoff game after making a performance-based goalie change.
Game 7 will be Monday in Buffalo. The winner will face the Carolina Hurricanes in the conference final.
“That’s why I play hockey. That’s what I want to do. I live for this,” Dahlin said.
“There’s no panic or anything. I think we’re all excited. Just more hockey for us,” Montreal’s Lane Hutson countered. “We don’t like it easy. We like the challenge. They brought their best and we’ve got to answer the bell.”
Jake Evans collected one goal and one assist, while Arber Xhekaj and Ivan Demidov each 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.
Things got away quickly there from Montreal, which took its first loss in franchise history in a potential series-clinching home playoff game it led by multiple goals.
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.
“We’re up a goal in the second period and in a good spot and lost control of the game there,” Montreal captain Nick Suzuki said. “We were pushing in the third and they get that power-play goal that put it out of reach.”
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.
“I feel like every game’s had a lot of chaos to it, so I think we’re getting used to it,” Quinn said to Sportsnet postgame. “We knew we played well in the first (period) in stretches and just had to stick with it.”
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
Featherweight Arnold Allen back on winning track at UFC Fight Night
Jan 24, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Arnold Allen (red gloves) fights Jean Silva (blue gloves) during UFC 324 at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Seventh-ranked featherweight Arnold Allen defeated No. 12 Melquizael Costa at UFC Fight Night in Las Vegas on Saturday, putting together a dominant striking performance to end Costa’s six-fight winning streak.
Allen won on the judges’ scorecards by unanimous decision, 50-45, 50-45, 49-46.
Allen (21-4) capitalized on a first-round knockdown but really started to pull away in the third round, where the Englishman landed 44 significant strikes to Costa’s 23 after the Brazilian held an early advantage in that department.
Costa (26-8) fought an effective fourth round and had Allen on his backfoot to start the fourth, but Allen quickly recovered to preserve the lead he built on the cards.
The win marks Allen’s first in the UFC since July 2024, when he beat Giga Chikadze by unanimous decision at UFC 304. Allen lost a unanimous decision to Jean Silva in January in Las Vegas.
South Korean featherweight DooHo Choi defeated Brazil’s Daniel Santos in the co-main event by TKO at 4:29 of the second round, dropping Santos with a shot to the body after a come-from-behind effort.
Santos (14-3) dominated the first round and nearly finished the fight himself with his explosive striking, but Choi (16-4-1) withstood the onslaught and the early output proved costly for Santos later on.
The victory comes in Choi’s first UFC appearance since December 2024, when he beat Nate Landwehr by TKO at UFC 310. Choi, who missed all of 2025 with a knee injury, didn’t miss a beat in his return and looked as explosive as ever in the second round despite all of the damage he sustained in the first.
Seven months after earning a UFC contract with a spinning elbow knockout during Dana White’s Contender Series, Peruvian bantamweight Juan Diaz (16-1-1) shocked heavily favored Malcolm Wellmaker (10-2) in his first official UFC fight via rear-naked choke at 4:05 of the second round. Wellmaker, from Augusta, Ga., has now lost consecutive fights after starting his career 10-0 overall and 2-0 in the UFC.
Modestas Bukauskas (20-7) defeated Christian Edwards (8-5) by split decision in a closely contested 215-pound catch-weight fight.
Bukauskas nearly finished the American multiple times early in the fight but resorted to the clinch each time, allowing Edwards to make his way back in the fight and ultimately make it a toss-up on the scorecards, 28-29, 29-28, 29-28.
A light heavyweight from Lithuania, Bukauskas now has won seven of his last nine fights following his return to the UFC in 2023 after going 1-3 during his initial stint with the organization.
Rising bantamweight Bernardo Sopaj impressed with a second-round stoppage in just his third UFC fight, beating Timmy Cuamba by submission via rear-naked choke at 2:25 of the second round after leaving the American (10-4) bloodied and battered with a series of combinations and effective ground-and-pound.
Sopaj (13-3) of Albania is now 2-1 in the UFC, winning consecutive fights after losing in his debut.
Welterweight knockout artist Khaos Williams opened the main card with one of the finest TKOs of his career, stopping Kazakhstan’s Nikolay Veretennikov (14-8) at 3:31 of the first round with an explosive combination of punches.
Williams (16-5) inflicted significant damage throughout the short-lived fight, earning the ninth KO/TKO win of his professional career. The stoppage came nearly two years after the American’s last UFC win over Carlston Harris in May 2024 and directly following an 11-month layoff after a loss to Andreas Gustafsson at UFC 316 last June.
–Field Level Media
