Sports
Braves bash 6 HRs in rout of Reds
Sep 19, 2024; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Atlanta Braves outfielder Ramon Laureano (18) reacts with first baseman Matt Olson (28) after hitting a three-run home run in the third inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images Matt Olson and Michael Harris II each clubbed a pair of home runs as the Atlanta Braves crushed the host Cincinnati Reds 15-3 on Thursday afternoon in the rubber match of a three-game series.
Olson opened the scoring with a second-inning solo shot before his three-run blast put Atlanta (83-70) up 8-1 in the fifth. Harris cleared the right-center-field wall to open the eighth, then cracked a three-run homer an inning later.
Harris finished 3-for-5 with four RBIs and four runs scored.
Ramon Laureano and Jorge Soler also smacked three-run homers for the Braves, who trail the Mets and Diamondbacks by 1 1/2 games in the National League wild-card race. New York and Arizona currently hold the last two wild cards, and both teams were scheduled to play later Thursday.
Atlanta starter Chris Sale (18-3) set a single-season career high by picking up his 18th win. He gave up two runs on five hits in five innings, walking two and striking out six.
Blake Dunn hit his first major league home run as part of a 2-for-3 day for Cincinnati (74-80), which has dropped five of its past eight. Dunn scored three times.
Reds starter Julian Aguiar (2-1) was knocked around in his four-plus innings, allowing seven runs and six hits. He walked two and fanned four.
Laureano helped the Braves pull away in the third, sending a sinker from Aguiar over the wall in right with runners on first and second to make it 4-0.
Cincinnati got a run back in the home half of the frame when Dunn singled, stole second and third and scored on Jonathan India’s base hit.
Harris and Soler were both hit by pitches ahead of Marcell Ozuna’s RBI double to start the fifth. Yosver Zulueta then took over for Aguiar and served up Olson’s three-run homer.
Dunn led off the bottom of the fifth with a solo home run, pulling the Reds within 8-2.
Soler proceeded to put the game well out of reach with his three-run shot in the sixth.
Elly De La Cruz singled home Dunn in the seventh to cut Cincinnati’s deficit to 11-3 before Harris’ late power display.
Atlanta racked up 18 hits to match a season high. De La Cruz had three of the Reds’ 10 hits.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sirens, Victoire to play in PWHL's first game televised nationally in US
Dec 3, 2017; Chicago, IL, USA; A general view of a hockey net with pucks during warm ups prior to a game between the Los Angeles Kings and the Chicago Blackhawks at the United Center. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images The Professional Women’s Hockey League will make its debut on national television in the United States on March 28 when the New York Sirens play the Montreal Victoire.
The game will be at Little Caesars Arena in Detroit at 1 p.m., part of the PWHL Takeover Tour that introduces the league to fans in communities that potentially could be targeted for an expansion team.
“We are continuing to fuel this rocket ship that is the PWHL as we expand the reach and exposure of our league to new fans,” said Amy Scheer, the league’s executive vice president of business operations. “This first ever national broadcast is a truly historic moment for our league.”
The game will be televised by ION, which is available in more than 126 million U.S. households.
“Fan interest in women’s hockey is at an all-time high, buoyed by the amazing success of Team USA in this year’s Winter Olympics Games,” said Brian Lawlor, president of Scripps Sports, which owns ION. “We are thrilled to be teaming with the PWHL and Ally Financial on this milestone event and to bring the excitement of this league to a national audience for the first time.”
The PWHL, in its third season, is approaching two million fans through the turnstiles, with a 20% increase in year-over-year attendance this season. In all, 61 PWHL players were on rosters at the recent Milan Cortina Olympics.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Max Verstappen not liking new F1 cars, enjoys 'positive distractions'
Nov 21, 2025; Las Vegas, NV, USA; Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen (1) celebrates his victory of the Las Vegas Grand Prix at Las Vegas Strip Circuit. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images Max Verstappen admitted that he is having more fun with his endurance racing projects as opposed to competing in Formula 1.
That’s a tricky spot given Verstappen is under contract until 2028.
“I don’t want to leave,” the four-time world champion said Thursday of competing with Red Bull. “I wish I had a bit more time and a bit more fun, for sure, but I’m also doing other stuff that is a lot of fun.
“I get to race the Nordschleife. I hope, in the coming years, I can do Spa, Le Mans, so I’m combining stuff to find other stuff that I find really fun as well. Of course, my team, so I have a lot of distractions at the same time.
“Positive distractions, I would call it. But at the same time, it’s a bit conflicting because I don’t really enjoy the car, but I do enjoy working with all the people in the team and from the engine department as well.”
Verstappen, 28, was voted the Formula 1 Driver of the Year for the fifth straight year in 2025. That said, he admitted to having other career ambitions.
“I don’t need to be only a Formula 1 driver, I can also do other things,” he said. “I’ve done this for a while and I’ve achieved everything that I wanted to achieve, so that’s why I want to explore other things, and I don’t want to do them when I’m 40 years old. So now I think this is the perfect age to do it.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jim Boeheim blasts Syracuse's 'best players' for Adrian Autry's firing
Oct 14, 2022; Syracuse, New York, US; Syracuse Orange associate head coach Adrian Autry (left) and assistant coach Gerry McNamara (center) and head coach Jim Boeheim (right) watch the action at the Orange Tip Off at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-Imagn Images Adrian Autry was unsuccessful as the successor to Jim Boeheim at Syracuse with 49 wins in three seasons before he was fired this week.
Boeheim believes Autry is a winning coach and suggested the Orange didn’t get enough from their best players this season.
“His two best players had horrible years,” Boeheim told ACC Network. “If you take any team in this league, and you take their two best players and they have really, really bad years — like Cam Boozer and Isaiah Evans have a bad year at Duke — they don’t win. That’s what happened this year at Syracuse. His two best players just didn’t play well.”
Syracuse brought back its top two scorers from 2024-25. But J.J. Starling and Donnie Freeman didn’t consistently perform at the same level in 2025-26. Starling dipped from 17.8 points per game last season to 10.9 in 2025-26. Freeman averaged 16.5 points per game but shot poorly in ACC play.
Syracuse elevated Autry, a former player and assistant coach for Boeheim, to head coach in 2023. But the Orange went 15-17 in Autry’s final season.
Boeheim said the Orange are nearing a crossroads and the program either must lower expectations or increase NIL commitments. He drew parallels between two other programs who fired coaches after the season.
“If you don’t have enough resources, that puts you behind,” he told ACC Network. “You look at the league — BC, Georgia Tech, now Syracuse — three of the (lowest for) NIL money in the league. You have to look at that.”
–Field Level Media
Sirens, Victoire to play in PWHL's first game televised nationally in US
Max Verstappen not liking new F1 cars, enjoys 'positive distractions'
