Sports
Improved Carlos Rodon leads Yankees against Royals in Game 2
Sep 27, 2024; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Carlos Rodon (55) pitches against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the first inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: John Jones-Imagn Images NEW YORK — Carlos Rodon’s lowest moment for the New York Yankees occurred in the final start of a disastrous 2023 season on the mound in Kansas City.
While Rodon was going through a nightmarish first season in New York, Cole Ragans was providing 12 starts as the Kansas City Royals concluded a 106-loss campaign and looked ahead to better results in 2024.
Rodon bounced back in a big way to help the Yankees win the American League East, while Ragans dominated at times as the Royals reached the postseason for the first time since 2015. Game 2 of their AL Division Series on Monday features both left-handers on the mound.
The Yankees are attempting to take a 2-0 lead after opening the series with a 6-5 win on Saturday. Alex Verdugo hit the tiebreaking RBI single in the seventh inning for the game’s fifth lead change and also made a sliding catch in left field for the final out of the fourth to strand two.
Verdugo struggled for most of the final three-plus months of his first season with New York, similar to Rodon’s initial campaign when he missed the first three months with a back injury and went 3-8 with a 6.85 ERA in 14 starts. He ended the disastrous season by allowing eight runs without retiring a hitter against the Royals and was seen yelling at pitching coach Matt Blake on the mound.
“I just think that the mental growth we’ve seen of just understanding who he is, understanding who he can be going forward,” Blake said Thursday. “And then just seeing how the league’s adjusting to him, I think he’s done a really nice job of just continuing to evolve.”
This season, Rodon made every start, won a career-high 16 games and increased usage of his changeup and curveball while lowering his reliance on the four-seam fastball.
“I think one of the bigger things is just the confidence, just finding that confidence again to go out and compete,” Rodon said Sunday. “The biggest thing for me is the confidence and the conviction in every pitch that I’m throwing and going out to win ballgames.”
Rodon allowed two earned runs or fewer in 21 of his 32 starts this season, including his last five (2-0, 2.20 ERA). He also completed six innings in 16 starts, including Sept. 9 against the Royals when he allowed four runs (two earned) in six innings in New York’s 10-4 win.
Rodon is making his third career postseason start. In his first two, both with the Chicago White Sox, he allowed a combined four runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings in the 2020 wild-card round against the Oakland Athletics and the 2021 ALDS against the Houston Astros.
After tying a season-high by issuing eight walks, the Royals are hoping their struggles commanding the strike zone do not carry over to Ragans, especially since they could not win when they held Aaron Judge hitless in four at-bats. Ragans led the Royals with 223 strikeouts this year but also issued a team-worst 67 walks, placing him eighth in the majors.
“I don’t think it was the stadium,” manager Matt Quatraro said after the Royals allowed eight walks for the third time this year. “I think we’ve been here, we’ve played here, we’ve been in big environments. It’s not the stadium. We just didn’t execute pitches.”
Ragans, a first-time All-Star in 2024, issued at least three walks in 13 outings this season. On Sept. 11 at New York, he allowed two runs on three hits and three walks in six innings of a no-decision before the Yankees won in the 11th.
Ragans made his postseason debut in Game 1 of the wild-card series in Baltimore and allowed four hits in six scoreless innings, struck out eight and did not walk a hitter. Regans exited after 80 pitches due to a leg cramp but said he felt fine on Saturday.
“It’s the same game,” Ragans said. “Obviously maybe a little louder. But at the end of the day, after the first pitch, the nerves kind of settle down a little bit, and it’s the same game of baseball we’ve played all year. Just trying to keep that mindset of just execute and it’s the same game of baseball. Just a little louder.”
–Larry Fleisher, Field Level Media
Sports
Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
[Subscription Customers Only] Jun 30, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (9) celebrates scoring their second goal with midfielder Rodri (16) during a round of 16 match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images Manchester City will try to keep pace with Premier League front-runner Arsenal on Monday night when they pay a visit to an Everton side still on the fringes of the European picture.
City (21-5-7, 70 points) will begin the day six points back of Arsenal with two matches in hand after the Gunners dispatched Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. The Cityzens won’t be even on games played until May 13, when they make up a postponed match against Crystal Palace that was delayed because of City’s triumphant League Cup run.
As a result, there continues to be the appearance of a chase, although the teams would finish level on points if they win out.
Manager Pep Guardiola insists it shouldn’t matter.
“It’s normal, so it’s the calendar,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Sometimes you play first. Sometimes behind. It is what it is. So, nothing changes in these stages, and you know exactly what you have to do.”
City have won six in a row in all competitions, the last three by a single goal: A 2-1 home league win over the Gunners on April 19, a 1-0 league victory at Burnley three days later, and a 2-1 FA Cup semifinal triumph over Southampton on April 25.
Erling Haaland scored once in both league fixtures to bring his EPL-leading total to 24. In the FA Cup semifinal, Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez scored inside the final 10 minutes to complete a late rally.
Everton (13-13-8, 47 points) finished Saturday in 11th place, but only four points out of seventh, which currently would earn a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should City win the FA Cup, it could be the top eight English league finishers who earn a spot in Europe.
And if Everton could return to continental competition for the first time since 2017-18, it would conclude a much-improved first season at their new Hill Dickson Stadium, after bringing the curtain down on historic Goodison Park last May.
“We still believe there could be something out there for us. And we’ll keep pushing,” manager David Moyes said. “Building Everton back up is a process which I think is going to take quite a bit of time, but I think the first year or so here, we’ve certainly put decent foundations down. And hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
The Toffees are looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time this season after a 2-1 home loss to derby rivals Liverpool on April 19 and a 2-1 away defeat at West Ham last weekend.
Beto, one of two Everton players with eight goals, departed the former contest late with a head injury and missed the latter fixture working through the league’s concussion protocol. He should be available Monday night, Moyes said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series
May 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.
Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.
Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.
Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.
Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.
The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.
Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.
Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.
Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.
The four-game series concludes Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox
May 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.
Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.
Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.
Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.
Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.
The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.
Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.
–Field Level Media
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Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
