Jeff McNeil and Shea Langeliers hit home runs as the Athletics defeated the host Seattle Mariners 5-2 Tuesday night, clinching a series victory against their American League West rivals.

The teams will wrap up the three-game set Wednesday afternoon at T-Mobile Park.

A’s left-hander Jacob Lopez (2-1) earned the victory by allowing two runs on seven hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked two and struck out one.

Right-hander Jack Perkins pitched the final two innings for his first save of the season.

Cal Raleigh homered for a second consecutive night for the Mariners, who have dropped six of their past eight games.

The A’s broke a 2-2 tie against reliever Eduard Bazardo (0-1) in the sixth. Tyler Soderstrom led off with a double off the wall in center field and Jacob Wilson followed by grounding a run-scoring double past diving third baseman Leo Rivas and into the left-field corner.

The loss was the first of Bazardo’s six-year career after eight consecutive victories.

Langeliers made it 4-2 with a solo shot to center with two outs in the seventh off Gabe Speier. It was Langeliers’ second homer in as many nights.

The A’s added an insurance run in the ninth off Cole Wilcox. Nick Kurtz and Langeliers led off with singles and advanced on Carlos Cortes’ chopper down the first-base line. The Mariners intentionally walked Soderstrom to load the bases. Wilson lined a single to center to complete the scoring.

The A’s scored in the first inning as Kurtz drew a leadoff walk, stole second and came home on Soderstrom’s two-out double to right.

The Mariners tied it in the third as Rob Refsnyder lined a leadoff single to center and Raleigh grounded a single into left. Refsnyder took third on Julio Rodriguez’s lineout to left and scored on Josh Naylor’s sacrifice fly to center.

The A’s responded in the top of the fourth as McNeil went deep to right-center with two outs.

Raleigh’s solo shot to left-center with one out in the fifth tied the score at 2-2.

Mariners starter Luis Castillo went five innings and allowed two runs on five hits. The right-hander walked two and struck out six.

–Field Level Media

LeBron James compiled 28 points, eight rebounds and seven assists to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a 101-94 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets to take a 2-0 lead in their first-round Western Conference playoff series on Tuesday.

With leading scorers Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) watching from the bench, Marcus Smart added 25 points, including 5 of 7 from 3-point range, and Game 1 hero Luke Kennard contributed 23 points, which included 3 of 6 from deep.

Kevin Durant, who missed the opening game with a right knee contusion, scored 23 points for Houston, but he had nine turnovers and was held to just three points after halftime.

Houston’s Alperen Sengun paired 20 points with 11 rebounds, Jabari Smith Jr. had 18 points and Amen Thompson posted 16 points and nine assists.

After the Rockets held a 16-12 lead midway through the first quarter, Los Angeles hit back, closing the quarter with a 9-0 rush to lead 33-26.

Durant showed no signs of being hampered by his knee, playing all 12 minutes and scoring 11 points.

At the other end, Smart (14 points) and Kennard (10 points) hurt Houston from the perimeter, combining to hit five 3-pointers in the opening quarter.

The Lakers’ lead swelled to 46-31 before Durant led a 17-3 Rockets run to trim that margin to 49-48.

Durant had 20 points on 6-of-7 shooting at the half, but Los Angeles still held sway 54-51.

Houston briefly captured the lead in the third period before the Lakers used a 13-4 burst — highlighted by a spectacular reverse dunk from 41-year-old James after he blew by Durant — to pull ahead 67-59.

With Durant held to just one unsuccessful shot attempt in 10 minutes of action for the quarter, the Rockets struggled offensively, outscored 21-17 for the period, as Los Angeles led 75-68 with one quarter to play.

Josh Okogie’s 3-pointer with 6:38 remaining in the fourth cut the gap to 85-82, but it was as close as Houston would get down the stretch.

With the Lakers up 97-92, Durant’s ninth turnover led to a powerful James dunk with 55 seconds left before Kennard sealed it from the stripe.

The best-of-seven series shifts to Houston for Game 3 on Friday.

–Field Level Media

A year after NHL viewership shrunk, the league drew its highest average television audiences in 14 years for the just-concluded regular season, Sports Business Journal and Sports Media Watch reported on Tuesday.

In games on ESPN, ABC and TNT/truTV, the NHL posted averages of 546,000 viewers, per the reports. That’s a year-on-year increase of at least 23% and a better average than all seasons since 2012-13, when NBC and NBCSN averaged 590,000.

Nielsen’s change in methodology might explain a part of the decade-plus high, as ratings across all sports are higher based on the new measurement system. NBA ratings were up 35% this year, other sports also seeing double-digit-percentage increases.

The 54 games airing on ESPN and ABC drew 760,000 viewers on average, a 30% jump from 2024-25. ESPN games in particular saw a major rating improvement, with games attracting 602,000 on average, a 48% hike from the prior season.

TNT/truTV carried 72 games that brought in 381,000 viewers on average, a rise of 21% year-on-year. Those contests saw a significant bump after Team USA won hockey gold at the Milan Olympics, as NHL viewership on TNT Sports rose to 453,000 on average following the league’s midseason break.

The top-rated NHL game of the regular season was the Stadium Series game at Tampa on Feb. 1, when the Tampa Bay Lightning edged the Boston Bruins 6-5 in a shootout. ESPN drew 2.07 million viewers for that contest, a cable-TV record for an NHL regular-season game.

NHL ratings declined in the 2024-25 season despite the league replacing the All-Star Game with the wildly popular 4 Nations Face-Off that saw Canada defeat the United States 3-2 in overtime in the final.

–Field Level Media