Sports
D-backs eager to ignite offense in opener vs. Mets
May 7, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte (4) hits against the Pittsburgh Pirates in the first inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images These days, the Arizona Diamondbacks’ offense is mirroring the desert climate of the team’s home: dry.
The Diamondbacks have lost six of their past seven games. They’ve scored just 12 total runs in those losses and have been shut out twice.
They’ll aim to get it back on track Friday night when they face the New York Mets in the first contest of a three-game series in Phoenix.
In their most recent setback, the Diamondbacks fell 4-2 to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday in the rubber match of a three-game set.
Arizona appeared to find some life offensively in the opener of that series with a 9-0 victory on Tuesday, only to get blanked 1-0 the next night.
“We’ve got to get back to our basics and some of the things that we really, really believe in,” Diamondbacks manager Torey Lovullo said. “… But overall, I believe in this offense, and I see them working every single day, and those results will come, but it doesn’t happen by just going up there and believing it’s going to happen. You got to make it happen.”
Right fielder Corbin Carroll delivered two of his team’s five hits on Thursday, including a solo homer that put Arizona ahead 2-1 in the bottom of the third inning. The Diamondbacks struggled to get on base from that point on, going out in order in each of the next three innings before leading off their half of the seventh with a single. They had one more hit in the eighth.
“Once again, I think this was mostly an offensive issue that I’m going to kind of talk about and target,” Lovullo said. “This game is hard, for sure. It’s hard to hit, it’s hard to pitch, hard to catch, hard to do everything, but we’re making it way harder than it should be.”
Right-hander Ryne Nelson (1-3, 6.61 ERA) will be on the mound on Friday for Arizona.
Nelson is 1-3 with a 5.86 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against New York. That lone win came on April 8 when he allowed just one run on five hits with five strikeouts in 5 2/3 innings of a 7-2 victory.
The Mets, meanwhile, will look to bounce back from a 6-2 loss to the Colorado Rockies on Thursday that ended a three-game winning streak.
New York had a two-run lead after two innings. Colorado’s Jake McCarthy helped sink the Mets, driving in the game-tying run in the sixth before mashing a grand slam in the eighth to complete the comeback.
The home run was met with some question, however. The ball sailed over the right-field foul pole and was deemed fair, a call that stood after a crew-chief review.
“It was close,” New York manager Carlos Mendoza said. “Especially from our angle, I couldn’t tell. … It just didn’t go our way there.”
Mendoza went to his bullpen in the fifth inning after starter Christian Scott threw 82 pitches. Mendoza was managing Scott’s pitch count after the right-hander missed all of last season while recovering from Tommy John surgery.
Mendoza hopes to count on a longer run for right-hander Nolan McLean (1-2, 2.97 ERA), who will start for the Mets on Friday. McLean has faced Arizona once in his career, allowing two runs on three hits in 6 1/3 innings in a 7-1 loss on April 9.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Matthew Liberatore, Cardinals eke out low-scoring win over Padres
May 7, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; St. Louis Cardinals starting pitcher Matthew Liberatore (32) delivers during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images Masyn Winn’s RBI triple in the seventh inning Thursday night snapped a tie and helped the visiting St. Louis Cardinals edge the San Diego Padres 2-1.
Matthew Liberatore (2-1) came out on top in a classic pitchers’ duel, permitting only three hits and a run in six innings with three walks and six strikeouts. San Diego’s Michael King left after six innings, allowing just one hit and one run while walking two and fanning six.
Jordan Walker led off the seventh with a double against Bradgley Rodriguez (0-2). After Nolan Gorman fanned, Winn’s looping fly ball fell in front of right fielder Nick Castellanos and rolled into the corner, allowing Walker to easily score.
St. Louis’ bullpen took care of matters from there. George Soriano and JoJo Romero worked scoreless innings, followed by Riley O’Brien with a 1-2-3 ninth for his 11th save in 13 opportunities.
San Diego scored its only run in the first. Manny Machado drew a two-out walk, reached second on a single by Fernando Tatis Jr. and scored when Xander Bogaerts lined a check-swing single to right.
That was basically it for the Padres’ offense. Liberatore faced the minimum over the next four innings and didn’t allow another hit until Miguel Andujar grounded a single into center with two outs in the sixth. Machado followed with a groundout to end the inning.
Tatis led off the seventh by beating out an infield hit but was thrown out trying to steal second, a call which was confirmed after a manager’s challenge. That was their last baserunner of the game.
Alec Burleson tied the game in the fourth when he jumped on a first-pitch changeup from King and lined it 378 feet into the seats in right. It was Burleson’s sixth homer and 30th RBI.
St. Louis missed on a chance to add insurance in the ninth after Walker doubled and Gorman walked to start the inning. But Jason Adam quashed the rally there with the help of a failed sacrifice bunt by Winn.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Khamzat Chimaev, Sean Strickland to settle bad-blood feud at UFC 328
Aug 16, 2025; Chicago, Illinois, UNITED STATES; Dricus Du Plessis Murphy (red gloves) fights Khamzat Chimaev (blue gloves) during UFC 319 at United Center. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Things have reached a boiling point in the middleweight division ahead of Saturday’s UFC 328 event in Newark, N.J., as newly minted UFC middleweight champion Khamzat Chimaev looks to handle unfinished business against former champion Sean Strickland in the headliner of a 13-fight card.
The friends-turned-enemies let the racial insults fly Thursday evening at the Prudential Center in front of a rambunctious crowd at the pre-fight press conference.
The UFC allowed both men to do the traditional ceremonial faceoff before security pulled both off the stage after Chimaev kicked Strickland in the leg, marking a dark climax to a chaotic week of separation before the fight.
Strickland (30-7 MMA) was visibly frustrated the entire press conference, screaming throughout at Chimaev (15-0 MMA) about his Russian heritage and how he’s now classified as fighting from the United Arab Emirates. Chimaev, in turn, invoked Strickland’s abusive father and childhood trauma.
“He’s going to be dead in two days,” Chimaev said. ” … I’ll be your daddy in the cage. I’ve been all day, every day, your daddy. You know about it. I’m your daddy. Listen to your daddy.”
UFC CEO Dana White said the rivalry has bad blood, which has made it a top-three rivalry in the promotion’s history.
Unlike Dricus du Plessis, who lost to Chimaev at UFC 319 after Chimaev used a dominant wrestling base, Strickland made one thing clear.
“They don’t want to watch a boring-ass f****** fight,” Strickland said. “I want you to wrestle. I will outwrestle you.”
Strickland described Chimaev’s sparring session against him, which has since resurfaced on social media, as a 2022 “warm-up match” that set Chimaev off.
Hostility aside, Chimaev enters the fight with four submission wins in nine UFC matches. Strickland earned the title shot off a third-round TKO defeat of Anthony Hernandez at UFC Houston in February.
The fight is set as a five-rounder, marking Chimaev’s first title defense while Strickland attempts to regain the title after relinquishing it to du Plessis in January of 2024 at UFC 297.
The co-main event sees a re-booked flyweight title fight between Joshua Van and Tatsuro Taira. The pair were supposed to meet at UFC 327 last month in Miami, Fla., but Van sustained an undisclosed minor injury that shifted the fight to this event.
Van (16-2 MMA) became the new UFC flyweight champion in December at UFC 323, as an arm injury to then-champion Alexandre Pantoja ended the fight after just 26 seconds. He is the first fighter born this century to become a UFC champion, while Taira (18-1 MMA) aims to be the first UFC champion from Japan with a win over Van, who is from Myanmar.
The main card gets underway on Paramount Plus at 9 p.m. ET.
Main card (subject to change)
— Main Event: (C) Khamzat Chimaev (15-0) vs. Sean Strickland (30-7) for UFC middleweight title
— Co-Main Event: (C) Joshua Van (16-2) vs. Tatsuro Taira (18-1) for UFC flyweight title
— Alexander Volkov (39-11) vs. Waldo Cortes-Acosta (17-2), heavyweight
— Sean Brady (18-2) vs. Joaquin Buckley (21-7), welterweight
— King Green (34-17-1) vs. Jeremy Stephens (29-22), lightweight
–Field Level Media
Sports
Skidding Reds get back Nick Lodolo for start against Astros
Mar 12, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Cincinnati Reds pitcher Nick Lodolo against the Los Angeles Dodgers during a spring training game at Camelback Ranch-Glendale. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Cincinnati Reds were probably hoping to ease Nick Lodolo back into action after the left-hander missed the start of the season with a blister on his left index finger.
Instead, Lodolo will be asked to help snap Cincinnati’s seven-game losing streak when he takes the mound against the visiting Houston Astros on Friday.
The Reds are limping into the three-game series after being swept in four games by the Chicago Cubs. Cincinnati has lost eight of its past nine games to fall into last place in the National League Central.
“It’s a long season, and I know a lot of people say that,” Reds catcher Tyler Stephenson said. “And sometimes when things aren’t going well, it seems like nothing goes well during those stretches. But we’ve got to just regroup. We’ve just got to continue to battle and do what we do.”
Houston had an off day on Thursday after losing two of three at home to the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Reds are hoping Lodolo can provide a boost to an injury-plagued rotation. Rhett Lowder exited Cincinnati’s 8-3 loss on Thursday due to right shoulder discomfort, and he could join Hunter Greene (bone chips in right elbow) and Brandon Williamson (left shoulder fatigue) on the injured list.
Lodolo, 28, is making his season debut after going 9-8 with a 3.33 ERA last season in 29 games (28 starts). He is making his first career appearance against Houston.
“I’m really excited,” Lodolo said. “I’ve just been kind of sitting here, trying to truck along slowly. I’m excited to get back in, get out there and compete and just be a part of it with the boys.”
The Astros will counter with right-hander Mike Burrows (1-4, 5.97 ERA), who allowed three runs over six innings in a 3-1 road loss to the Boston Red Sox on May 1.
Burrows, 26, has given up three runs or fewer in four of his first seven outings, but the Astros have gone 1-6 in his starts.
“It’s a humbling game,” Burrows said. “You can do everything right and still, stuff happens.”
Burrows is set to make his second career start against Cincinnati. He allowed four runs over five innings as a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates in a no-decision vs. the Reds on Aug. 10, 2025.
The Astros are still processing the news that infielder Carlos Correa will have season-ending surgery to repair a tendon in his left ankle. He sustained the injury in the batting cage on Tuesday.
“Pretty devastating,” Astros pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. said. “Such a big part of our clubhouse, team leader, such a great player. All the stuff he went through early in his career with the other ankle and just the way he’s been able to continue to fight back and these last few years really post and be healthy — he’s a special, special talent, and I feel awful for him.”
Isaac Paredes will receive regular playing time at third base with Correa sidelined, and shortstop Jeremy Pena (hamstring) is set to rejoin the lineup next week.
Paredes has hit safely in 13 of his past 16 games dating back to April 19, a span in which he is batting .345 (20-for-58) with three homers and nine RBIs. He has reached base safely in 11 consecutive games.
–Field Level Media
Matthew Liberatore, Cardinals eke out low-scoring win over Padres
Khamzat Chimaev, Sean Strickland to settle bad-blood feud at UFC 328
