Sports
Experience vs. Youth: Golden Knights take on Mammoth in 1st-round series
Mar 19, 2026; Las Vegas, Nevada, USA; Utah Mammoth right wing Dylan Guenther (11) slashes the stick of Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Brayden McNabb (3) during the second period at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Following a topsy-turvy season that saw them fire their head coach with just eight games left in the regular-season, the Vegas Golden Knights appear to be peaking at just the right time.
The Golden Knights (39-26-17, 95 points) sprinted to a 10-game point streak down the stretch to claim their fifth Pacific Division title in nine seasons and will host the Utah Mammoth in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs beginning Sunday night in Las Vegas.
Vegas didn’t clinch the Pacific Division until it defeated Seattle, 4-1, in its regular-season finale. The Golden Knights, who won the 2023 Stanley Cup under Bruce Cassidy, captured 15 of a possible 16 points (7-0-1) down the stretch under the guidance of John Tortorella, who replaced Cassidy as head coach on March 29.
Before the coaching change, Vegas had won just five times (5-10-2) since the Olympic break and saw a four-point first-place lead disappear, falling to just four points above the Western Conference playoff bubble.
“Kind of a weird year for sure, especially in the Pacific,” defenseman Brayden McNabb said. “A lot of ups and downs. We were on top there for a while, and then we were in third flirting with the wild card. And then we found our game at the right time and were able to win the division. That’s what we wanted to do and we did it.”
Barely. Edmonton, which finished in second place with 93 points, lost four of its last six games (2-2-2), including a 5-1 home loss to the Golden Knights, while Anaheim, which finished third three points behind Vegas with 92 points, lost eight of its final 10 games (2-6-2).
Tortorella, who guided Tampa Bay to the 2004 Stanley Cup title, is credited with rebuilding confidence in a more relaxed locker room that appeared to have tuned out Cassidy.
“All I know is that since I’ve been here, they have played at a level and played as a team, consistently,” Tortorella said.
Utah (43-33-6, 92 points) finished fourth in the rugged Central Division but captured the top Western Conference wild-card spot, the franchise’s first playoff berth since moving from Arizona to Salt Lake City two years ago. Prior to that, the then-Arizona Coyotes last made the playoffs in 2020, losing in five games in the first round to Colorado.
Mammoth defenseman Nate Schmidt was a member of the inaugural “Golden Misfits” Vegas team in 2017-18 that went all the way to the Stanley Cup final before losing in five games to Alex Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals. He believes Utah, which won two of the three regular-season meetings with the Golden Knights, has the potential to do well in its first playoff series.
“I love the idea that our guys are quick, they’re fast, they’re in this time of year for the first time,” Schmidt said. “The youthfulness is going to be something I’m excited to see. When we put pressure on teams and continue to roll over them and roll onto them, get our puck in and kind of let our speed kind of dictate the pace and how we want to play, it makes it really hard to play against us.”
“We did our job getting there, and now it’s on to the next milestone here — getting some wins, getting some experience, and doing what we came here to do,” forward Michael Carcone said.
Tortorella said he’s excited to see how his new team responds to the challenge.
“It’s the most exciting time because everybody’s playing at a different level, and it’s a good test to see how high you can get as a team,” Tortorella said. “Everything is going to be amped up. As each game goes by in the series, it’s going to be harder and harder. So it’s a great challenge for the players.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers' Roki Sasaki hopes his turnaround starts vs. Rockies
Mar 30, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Roki Sasaki (11) walks back to the dugout as he is taken out from the game by manager Dave Roberts (left) during the fifth inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Roki Sasaki’s spectacular performance as a reliever during the 2025 postseason is not translating to success as a starter this season.
Sasaki (0-2, 6.23 ERA), in his second MLB season after much success in Japan, will start for the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday afternoon against the Colorado Rockies in the third game of a four-game series in Denver. The teams have split the first two contests.
This will be the first time Sasaki has faced the Rockies.
After earning three saves with an 0.84 ERA in nine games during the Dodgers’ run to their second consecutive World Series championship last year, the right-hander has made it through five innings in only one of his three starts in 2026 and has struggled with his control (10 walks in 13 innings).
The 24-year-old took a 5-2 loss in his most recent start last Sunday against the Texas Rangers. He threw 94 pitches in only four innings and gave up two runs on five hits and five walks, adding six strikeouts.
“So that’s something that I talked to him about, and challenging him to, when you take the baseball, we’re trying to go five innings or more,” manager Dave Roberts said after that game. “So I think that’s kind of the next progression for him, to be consistently able to do that.
“But I do feel the growth part of it is to hang in there, make pitches when he needs. That’s important. He spread the walks out, I guess, as well as you could, to kind of limit damage. That was something I was proud of in that sense.”
And Roberts can continue to be proud of Shohei Ohtani, who extended his on-base streak to 50 games. That ties “Wee” Willie Keeler for the third-longest such streak in Dodgers’ history since 1900. Next on the list is Shawn Green, whose 53-game streak came in 2000.
Ohtani had a single in the ninth inning but had reached base on Colorado errors twice before that.
Right-hander Michael Lorenzen (1-2, 8.10 ERA) will be Colorado’s starter on Sunday.
He will look to continue the momentum the Rockies gained Saturday night with their 4-3, come-from-behind win. Troy Johnston’s two-run double in the sixth inning turned a 3-2 deficit into the winning margin. Relievers Brennan Bernardino (who got the win), Jaden Hill and Victor Vodnik protected the lead.
Vodnik earned his third save of the season.
“They have some of the best stuff in the league,” Saturday’s starter, Ryan Feltner, said about the team’s bullpen. “I think their biggest thing is coming out and attacking.”
Lorenzen will look to turn around his fortunes this season.
He has given up 32 hits, tied for the most in the National League, in 16 2/3 innings over five games, four of them starts. Lorenzen’s latest outing was Tuesday, in which he took the loss at Houston, 7-6, by giving up seven runs (two earned) and six hits in 2 2/3 innings.
In nine career games against the Dodgers, Lorenzen is 1-0 with a 4.08 ERA over 17 2/3 innings. His sole win came as a member of the Texas Rangers on July 13, 2024, allowed an earned run in seven innings in the 3-1 Rangers’ victory.
— Field Level Media
Sports
Nothing comes easily for M's ahead of finale vs. Rangers
Apr 14, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Bryan Woo (22) throws a pitch during the sixth inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images At some point this season, the Seattle Mariners will coast to a victory.
It appeared that might be the case on Saturday, when they carried a six-run lead into the ninth inning against the visiting Texas Rangers.
But nothing has been easy for these Mariners.
Closer Andres Munoz, who blew a four-run lead in a 7-6 loss Wednesday at San Diego, was forced to make an entrance in the ninth on Saturday with two outs and the bases loaded and the tying run at the plate.
Munoz struck out Brandon Nimmo for the final out in a 7-3 victory as the Mariners beat the American League West co-leaders for the first time in five meetings this season. The current three-game series will conclude Sunday afternoon in Seattle.
“It feels a lot better,” said Munoz, comparing Saturday to his previous outing. “We still have a lot of work to do. I’ve been working a lot these (last) couple days to get to this point. Obviously, we are not there yet, but it makes me feel a lot better that we are going in the right direction.”
Seattle’s George Kirby (3-2) allowed one run over 5 2/3 innings in improving to 9-1 in his career starts against Texas. Luke Raley homered as the Mariners snapped a four-game skid.
Josh Jung went deep for the Rangers, who had a two-game winning streak snapped.
Texas had its chances on Saturday, going 1-for-8 with runners in scoring position and leaving 16 on base.
“We kept putting pressure on, had the right guys up, the hot hitters up and just couldn’t get that big hit,” manager Skip Schumaker said. “I loved the battle, loved the at-bats. We did not chase today, for the most part, against a really tough pitcher.”
The Mariners were without third baseman and leadoff hitter Brendan Donovan, who left after the third inning Friday with discomfort in his left hip.
Donovan, who had offseason surgery for a sports hernia, has missed time with hip and groin issues this season.
“It’s something that you have to closely monitor and keep watching,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “It’s a big surgery, and he did a great job of getting through it, getting through spring training, and the slow ramp-up in spring training. Now that we’re into the season, it’s just continued monitoring.”
Sunday’s series finale will feature Rangers left-hander MacKenzie Gore (2-1, 3.00 ERA) against Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo (0-2, 2.16).
The two squared off April 8 in Arlington, Texas, with Gore and the Rangers winning 3-0. Gore pitched five scoreless innings of one-hit ball with nine strikeouts while Woo gave up one earned run (three overall) on five hits over five frames.
Gore, who suffered a 2-1 loss to the host Athletics on Tuesday in West Sacramento, Calif., is 2-0 with an 0.50 ERA in three career starts against Seattle.
Woo, who lost 4-1 Tuesday at San Diego despite pitching seven solid innings, is 2-3 with a 4.12 ERA in eight previous starts vs. the Rangers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
A's, White Sox wrap up power-fueled series
Apr 18, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) hits a two run home run during the seventh inning against the Chicago White Sox at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Marshall-Imagn Images Reigning American League Rookie of the Year Nick Kurtz is looking to escape the sophomore slump.
The Athletics’ first baseman hit .290 last season with 64 extra-base hits — 36 of them home runs — to go with 86 RBIs. But on Saturday night against the Chicago White Sox, his two-run homer in the seventh inning tied the game at 6, and the A’s went on to win 7-6 in 11 innings on Max Muncy’s sacrifice fly.
The teams will finish their three-game series on Sunday afternoon in West Sacramento, Calif., after splitting the first two contests. The White Sox have homered four times in the first two games, the A’s twice.
One of those home runs was Kurtz’s second of the season, off reliever Jordan Leasure in the seventh to make the score 6-6 as the A’s erased an early 5-0 White Sox lead.
Kurtz said he knows his home-run pop can come and go.
“It’s baseball. It’s not always going to happen,” he said of balls going over the fence. “Especially for me. I feel like I’m a streaky power hitter, so when the times come where you put them all together, they’ll come together.”
Kurtz has kept a positive view throughout the first 21 games of the season, putting his focus on team success for the A’s.
“I wouldn’t really call it frustrating with the home runs, because we’re sitting here around .500. That’s all you can focus on, is winning games.”
Hitting only .235, Kurtz has had no trouble getting on base. His 23 walks lead the major leagues. He has 19 hits.
There could be a chance for both offenses to pile on the runs after the teams’ bullpens were stretched in the first two games.
On Friday, when Chicago won 9-2, the Athletics’ bullpen covered 4 1/3 innings, and the A’s used four relievers after starter Luis Severino exited in the sixth inning. On Saturday, the White Sox used six relievers following the departure of Erick Fedde in the fifth.
Munetaka Murakami broke open Friday’s game with a grand slam in the seventh for the White Sox.
On Sunday, the Athletics will turn to left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-0, 1.46 ERA) as the starter. Springs, with his fourth team in nine seasons, is 1-1 with a 5.54 ERA in four career appearances (two starts) against the White Sox.
Rookie left-hander Noah Schultz (0-1, 6.23 ERA) will start for Chicago. A first-round selection for the White Sox in the 2022 MLB Draft, Schultz will make his second career start after debuting against Tampa Bay on Tuesday. He took the loss, giving up four runs (three earned) in 4 1/3 innings of the 8-5 game.
Schultz said he saw both the positive and negative in his performance.
“A lot of stuff to build off of,” he said. “A lot of things I was proud of, a lot of things I need to work on this week.”
Schultz acknowledged there were “definitely nerves in the first inning” when three runs scored, but he credited himself for the way he “bounced back” and “got ahead of hitters a little bit more” in the following innings.
The White Sox are looking to win their first series win since they swept the Toronto Blue Jays from April 3-5.
–Field Level Media
Dodgers' Roki Sasaki hopes his turnaround starts vs. Rockies
Nothing comes easily for M's ahead of finale vs. Rangers
