Undrafted rookie Pauline Astier scored 16 points on 6-of-8 shooting from the field while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out six assists as the New York Liberty held on for a 75-68 victory over the Phoenix Mercury Friday night in New York.

Astier’s two free throws with nine seconds helped ice the game.

Betnijah Laney-Hamilton scored 13 points for the Liberty (5-4), who have won two in a row.

Kaleah Copper scored 16 points to pave the way for the Mercury (2-7), who have lost five in a row. Alyssa Thomas finished with 15 points and eight assists while Monique Akoa Makani added 13.

The Liberty took a 34-31 lead into halftime and led 39-33 with 7:25 left in the third after Leonie Fiebich scored on a backdoor cut, drawing a foul and making the ensuing free throw.

But Copper pulled up for a jumper at the 6:06 mark, knotting the score at 39-39, marking the first tie of the game and Copper’s first field goal.

New York responded with a 9-0 run, highlighted by 3-pointers from Jonquel Jones and Han Xu that put the Liberty up 48-39 with 3:38 left in the quarter.

Phoenix closed to 54-52 on a pair of DeWanna Bonner free throws with 59 seconds left but New York finished the third with a 59-54 advantage.

By the 6:59 mark of the fourth, the Liberty were up by double digits as Rebekah Gardner drove through the lane for a layup and a 67-57 lead.

Phoenix battled back to get within 67-65 after a pair of free throws by Bonner with 3:35 to go.

The Mercury was within 71-68 after a 3-pointer from Makani and Bonner attempted a long range shot that would have tied the game with 17 seconds remaining.

Meeting for the second time in three days, New York led 17-11 at the end of the first quarter and stretched its advantage to double digits after Astier made back-to-back baskets for a 23-12 lead with 7:34 remaining in the half.

Thomas got the deficit back to nine (23-14) after scoring on a putback with 6:34 to go.

Thomas later went coast to coast for a layup off a turnover, cutting the Liberty lead to 27-23 with 2:58 left in the half.

Thomas pulled Phoenix within 31-29 with 1:05 left after hitting a pair of free throws but New York answered on a 3-pointer from Laney-Hamilton for a 34-29 edge with 46 seconds left until halftime.

–Field Level Media

Bryan Reynolds’ two-run walk-off home run lifted the host Pittsburgh Pirates to a 6-5 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night.

Reynolds’ sixth home run of the season came with one out in the ninth off Twins reliever Taylor Rogers (1-2) and represented his second career walk-off home run and fourth walk-off hit.

The 422-foot blast cleared the left field fence and brought in Tyler Callihan ahead of him. Callihan was pinch running for Spencer Horwitz, who led off the inning with an infield single to short.

The rally erased what appeared destined to be a disappointing night for the Pirates, who welcomed back starting pitcher Jared Jones for his first appearance since September 27, 2024, after undergoing right elbow internal brace surgery.

Jones struck out six during his 4 1/3-inning sting, but he allowed seven hits, two walks and all five Minnesota runs. Trevor Larnach had two hits, including a two-run homer in the third that put the Twins ahead 5-4.

The Twins suffered their third consecutive loss in manager Derek Shelton’s return to Pittsburgh a year and three weeks after he was fired by the Pirates following a 12-26 start to the 2025 season.

Gregory Soto (4-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to keep the deficit at one run after Pittsburgh failed to score in the eighth despite placing runners on second and third with no outs.

Kody Clemens hit his sixth home run of the season off Jones with two outs in the first to put the Twins ahead 1-0.

The Pirates answered in the bottom of the first with three runs, highlighted by RBI singles from Nick Gonzales and Konnor Griffin. Griffin returned to the Pirates’ lineup as a designated hitter after sitting out Thursday’s game with a low-grade flexor muscle strain.

Minnesota tied the game in the second on a two-run single by Tristan Gray.

Josh Bell started the Twins’ go-ahead rally with a two-out single in the third that was followed by Larnach’s homer to right.

Oneil Cruz’s solo homer in the bottom of the third off Twins starter Taj Bradley cut the deficit to 5-4. Bradley allowed five hits and four runs over four innings.

–Field Level Media

Tampa Bay’s Nick Martinez continued his amazing start with seven quality innings, and the Rays rallied with seven runs in the seventh inning to stop a season-long four-game losing streak in an 8-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Martinez (5-1) extended his streak of allowing two runs or fewer to 11 consecutive starts to open 2026 by yielding two on eight hits over seven innings. He fanned five with no walks.

Yandy Diaz homered twice, and Jonathan Aranda went deep. Junior Caminero had two hits, while Richie Palacios drove in two with a triple.

The Angels’ Vaughn Grissom (two RBIs, run) and Zach Neto (two runs, RBI, walk) each had two hits and a double. Oswald Peraza and Jose Siri notched two hits.

In his first game in two years, third baseman Nick Madrigal went 2-for-4.

Walbert Urena fired six strong innings, allowing one run on five hits. He struck out five and walked three.

Diaz sliced the second pitch from Urena to right field for a 1-0 lead. The opposite-field homer was his second leading off a game for the Rays this season.

After Neto’s one-out double, Grissom slashed an RBI single to left with two outs to tie it.

Los Angeles took the lead in the fifth when Neto followed Siri’s leadoff double with a single over a drawn-in infield.

The Angels turned a double play to finish the fourth with a runner at second, and left fielder Wade Meckler made a half-sliding catch to end the sixth after appearing to lose Nick Fortes’ liner in the lights with a runner in scoring position.

However, the home side’s bats came alive as it sent 10 batters up in the seventh.

The second batter to face reliever Ryan Zeferjahn (2-3), Diaz teed off with his second homer after Cedric Mullins’ walk. Diaz’s 10th blast was a majestic 400-footer to left for a 3-2 lead. Aranda then went back-to-back with a 410-foot rocket to right-center.

Oliver Dunn’s RBI bunt single, Palacios’ two-run triple and Fortes’ run-scoring sacrifice bunt rounded out the seven-run inning.

RBIs from Grissom, Jo Adell and Meckler trimmed it to 8-5 in the eighth, but closer Bryan Baker got a popout to first baseman Aranda from Grissom with the bases loaded for his 15th save in the ninth.

–Field Level Media