Sports
Fire pull away in fourth quarter to beat Sun, extend win streak to 3
May 27, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Fire guard Carla Leite (0) is fouled during the first half against Connecticut Sun guard Hailey Van Lith (2) at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images Carla Leite scored 20 points and the Portland Fire dominated the fourth quarter to post a 71-61 victory over the visiting Connecticut Sun on Wednesday night.
Bridget Carleton added 13 points and seven rebounds as Portland (5-3) won its third straight game. Megan Gustafson had 10 points for the Fire, who broke the game open with an 18-2 run to continue their strong play in their first WNBA season.
Aneesah Morrow recorded 13 points and 13 rebounds for the Sun (1-8), who went 1-4 on a five-game road trip. Connecticut lost twice in Portland during the excursion, including 83-82 on May 18.
Connecticut’s Brittney Griner missed her fourth straight game due to a rib injury.
Portland shot 46.2% from the field, including 7-of-22 from 3-point range (31.8%).
The Sun were a dismal 1-of-21 from behind the arc (4.8%) while shooting 38.7% overall.
Charlisse Leger-Walker added 11 points for Connecticut.
The contest was tied at 50 entering the fourth quarter but the Sun scored the first five points of the period and led 55-50 after a three-point play by Hailey Van Lith.
The Fire responded with 10 straight points to start the decisive surge. Frieda Buhner scored consecutive baskets to give Portland a 58-55 lead with 4:25 left and Carleton ended the 10-0 burst with a short turnaround with 3:36 remaining.
Saniya Rivers ended the run with a basket for the Sun, but Leite and Buhner both canned 3-pointers during a stretch of 22 seconds as the Fire opened up a 66-57 lead with 1:32 to play.
Leite added two free throws 24 seconds later to end the run and boost the lead to 11 as the expansion Fire joined the Minnesota Lynx as the only teams with five victories.
Connecticut trailed by 10 at halftime but used a 16-4 burst in the third quarter to take the lead.
Diamond Miller’s steal and layup brought the Sun within one and Morrow added a layup to give Connecticut a 44-43 lead with 5:12 left in the quarter. Raegan Beers’ basket capped the run and gave the Sun a 48-45 edge with 2:06 remaining.
Portland scored the next four points with Carla Leite’s floater providing a one-point lead with 1:04 left.
Portland led 37-27 at halftime behind 11 points from Carleton. Morrow had eight points and 10 rebounds in the half for the Sun, who were 0-for-13 from 3-point range.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yordan Alvarez bangs two more homers as Astros edge Rangers
May 27, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) and left fielder Taylor Trammell (26) celebrate after Alvarez hits a go-ahead home run against the Texas Rangers during the eighth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Yordan Alvarez went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs, including a go-ahead blast in the eighth inning, and the Houston Astros beat the Texas Rangers 4-3 on Wednesday in Arlington, Texas.
Alvarez has hit five home runs in his last three games to pull even with Chicago White Sox slugger Munetaka Murakami for the American League lead with 20 homers.
Mike Burrows (3-6) allowed two runs on five hits with one walk and six strikeouts over seven innings. He retired 20 of his final 23 batters to help Houston win for the fifth time in its last six games. Bryan King gave up Joc Pederson’s leadoff homer in the bottom of the eighth before Enyel De Los Santos pitched the final 1 2/3 innings for his fourth save.
Alvarez broke a 2-2 tie by crushing a 3-0 sweeper from Tyler Alexander (1-1) to start the eighth. After Christian Walker walked, another run scored on Taylor Trammell’s sacrifice bunt when Alexander’s throw sailed past first baseman Jake Burger.
Pederson went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo homers for Texas, which has lost five of its last six. Pederson has gone deep three times in his last two games.
The Rangers claimed a 1-0 lead in the first inning against Burrows, who was greeted by Pederson’s leadoff single. Pederson moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Brandon Nimmo’s one-out single.
Houston answered with a run in the second inning against Jacob deGrom, who was denied in his bid for his 100th career victory.
Trammell doubled to begin the inning, advanced to third on Cam Smith’s fly ball and scored on Braden Shewmake’s sacrifice fly.
Pederson began the third inning by depositing Burrows’ 0-1 changeup over the wall in right center.
Houston pulled even on Alvarez’s leadoff homer in the fourth against deGrom, who allowed two runs on four hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out six.
With two more home runs on Wednesday, Alvarez has 25 homers against the Rangers in 72 regular season games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
First-period spree brings Hurricanes to verge of Stanley Cup Final
May 27, 2026; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; during the first period in game four of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Bell Centre. Mandatory Credit: Eric Bolte-Imagn Images The visiting Hurricanes scored three times in less than three minutes in the first period and Frederik Andersen made 18 saves, lifting Carolina to a 4-0 victory over the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals on Wednesday.
The Hurricanes hold a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series. Carolina can punch its ticket to the Stanley Cup Final for the third time in franchise history with a win in Game 5 on Friday in Raleigh, N.C.
Sebastian Aho scored a power-play goal and captain Jordan Staal and Logan Stankoven also converted in a 2:47 stretch late in the first period. Andrei Svechnikov added an empty-net tally late in the third period.
Andersen turned aside three shots in the third period to preserve his eighth career postseason shutout and fifth with the Hurricanes, surpassing Cam Ward for the most in franchise history. Andersen has three shutouts this postseason, one in each round.
Nikolaj Ehlers and defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere each notched two assists for the Hurricanes, who became the seventh team in NHL history to win each of its first six road games of a postseason.
Jakub Dobes made 39 saves on his 25th birthday for the Canadiens, who have lost four in a row at home and six of eight overall in Montreal during the playoffs.
Carolina opened the scoring for the fourth time in as many games in this series after Aho’s one-timer from the right circle beat Dobes inside the near post with 5:01 remaining in the first period.
Aho’s 11th career power-play goal in the playoffs eclipsed former captain Eric Staal for the most in franchise history.
The Hurricanes doubled the advantage 68 seconds later after defenseman K’Andre Miller skated below the goal line and backhanded a centering feed that caromed off the stick of Jordan Staal and into the goal. Montreal’s Josh Anderson was attempting to fend off Jordan Staal in front of the net.
Gostisbehere blocked a shot by Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson, setting up a 2-on-1 rush that saw Jackson Blake feed Stankoven for his team-leading eighth goal of the playoffs 1:39 later.
Dobes extended his left pad to deny Blake on a breakaway to keep the game scoreless just over two minutes into the game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers OF Teoscar Hernandez exits vs. Rockies with hamstring strain
May 23, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez (37) hits an RBI single during the ninth inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images Los Angeles Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez left Wednesday’s game against the Colorado Rockies after the second inning with a left hamstring strain.
Hernandez hit a ground ball to shortstop in his first at-bat and had a pronounced limp after running through the first-base bag. He grabbed at his left hamstring after reaching the dugout.
Hyeseong Kim replaced Hernandez in left field to start the third inning, his first appearance in left during two seasons in the major leagues.
In 51 games this season, Hernandez is batting .276 with seven home runs and 31 RBIs. After some early-season struggles, Hernandez entered Wednesday’s game batting .370 with three home runs over his previous 15 contests.
A veteran of 11 seasons, Hernandez is a career .261 hitter with 224 home runs and 692 RBIs in 1,149 games with the Houston Astros (2016-17), Toronto Blue Jays (2017-22), Seattle Mariners (2023) and Dodgers (2024-26).
–Field Level Media
Yordan Alvarez bangs two more homers as Astros edge Rangers
First-period spree brings Hurricanes to verge of Stanley Cup Final
