Sports
Jorge Polanco, surging Mariners take on Angels
Apr 29, 2025; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners designated hitter Jorge Polanco (7) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the seventh inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images Do the Seattle Mariners dare take Jorge Polanco out of the lineup?
That will be the question facing manager Dan Wilson on Wednesday afternoon when the American League West leaders host the cellar-dwelling Los Angeles Angels in the finale of a two-game series.
The Angels are scheduled to start left-hander Tyler Anderson (2-0, 2.60 ERA).
A lineup spot wouldn’t normally be an issue for the switch-hitting Polanco, but he’s been serving as the designated hitter and batting almost exclusively left-handed — just one plate appearance against a lefty pitcher since March 31 — because of a mild oblique strain.
Considering what Polanco has done recently, perhaps he should just stick with what’s working.
The reigning AL player of the week homered twice and drove in all five runs Tuesday night in Seattle’s 5-3 win over the Angels.
“It was all Polanco’s night,” said Angels manager Ron Washington, who was celebrating his 73rd birthday. “If we keep him down a little bit more, it could be a different ballgame.”
Polanco hit a three-run homer in the second inning and a two-run shot in the seventh. He was robbed of a potential third homer on a leaping catch by Angels center fielder Jo Adell in the fifth.
“It’s been a really good stretch, really fun,” Polanco said. “Right now, with my approach and everything, I think this is the best I’ve (ever) felt.”
Polanco, who also went deep twice Saturday in a 14-0 victory against visiting Miami, has six homers over his past six games and nine for the season. He is tied for second in the AL with the New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge, the Angels’ Mike Trout and the Athletics’ Tyler Soderstrom — one behind teammate Cal Raleigh.
Though the Mariners also have tried to give Polanco plenty of rest following offseason knee surgery, one thing Wilson might consider when filling out the lineup card is left-handed batters are hitting .348 against Anderson this season, while righties are batting .120. Polanco, however, is 0-for-6 against Anderson.
Overall, Anderson is 1-2 with a 5.22 ERA in eight career appearances (all starts) versus the Mariners.
While the Mariners have won three consecutive games and 14 of 19 to go from last to first in the division, the Angels have done the opposite. They’ve dropped four in a row and 12 of 16.
Logan O’Hoppe, one of the few bright spots offensively for the Angels, hit his eighth homer Tuesday. The Angels’ .211 batting average is better than only the Chicago White Sox (.208). They struck out 11 times in the series opener, the 13th time in the past 16 games they’ve reached double digits.
The Angels hit three doubles in the eighth inning to score a pair of runs before Mariners reliever Andres Munoz pitched a scoreless ninth for his MLB-leading 11th save.
“We’ve got guys that can hit the ball out of the ballpark, but I don’t want to be a home-run-hitting team,” Washington said. “I just want to be a team that continues to pass the baton over to the next guy.”
The Angels will try to do that in the series finale against Seattle right-hander Emerson Hancock (1-1, 7.71 ERA).
Hancock has made two solid starts in a row after failing to get out of the first inning in his initial appearance of the season. Most recently, he gave up two runs and five hits over six innings in an 8-5 win over Boston on Wednesday. He will face the Angels for the first time.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers strike in 3rd to snap Bruins' 8-game point streak
Feb 28, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers left wing Noah Cates (27) reaches for the puck against the Boston Bruins in the first period at Xfinity Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kyle Ross-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers scored back-to-back goals to start the third period and held on to defeat the visiting Boston Bruins 3-1 on Saturday afternoon.
Travis Konecny and Jamie Drysdale both scored and assisted on each other’s goals for Philadelphia, which has won two of its three games since the Olympic break. Drysdale tallied the eventual game-winner with 8:05 left.
Sean Couturier added an empty-net goal with 55 seconds remaining, Christian Dvorak recorded two assists, and Dan Vladar was excellent with a 26-save performance to help the Flyers win.
Boston’s Charlie McAvoy extended his point streak to nine games with a third-period goal that cut the hosts’ lead to 2-1.
Jeremy Swayman made 14 saves for Boston, which entered on an eight-game point streak (5-0-3).
With the game scoreless through two periods, the Bruins looked to take a 1-0 lead 1:05 into the third as Hampus Lindholm’s point shot beat Vladar, but the goal was immediately waved off due to goaltender interference.
Instead, Konecny scored first at 3:41. After Dvorak’s shot into the zone hit a stanchion behind the net, he recovered the bounce and made a tight backhand feed to his oncoming linemate to bury into an open side of the net.
Drysdale doubled Philadelphia’s lead at 11:55 by slipping down the slot on a Konecny pass and firing an open wrist shot past Swayman’s blocker.
The Bruins found an answer from McAvoy 1:08 later. Pavel Zacha won the faceoff right to Hampus Lindholm, who found his fellow defenseman cutting to the net to make it a 2-1 game.
Swayman followed up that goal by stopping Konecny on a breakaway with 5:36 left, but Boston could not find an equalizer.
Philadelphia had a 7-6 shot advantage in a scoreless first. Swayman made one of his best early saves halfway through as Trevor Zegras fired a turnaround shot from the slot.
Vladar made two close-range stops on Morgan Geekie within the first eight minutes of the second period, including one early in Boston’s second power play. The first stop occurred when David Pastrnak set up Geekie for a one-timer in the slot at the 5:00 mark.
Less than a minute after Vladar’s second stop on Geekie, Swayman returned to the highlight reel at the other end of the ice. Konecny’s wraparound put the puck on goal before Swayman robbed Dvorak with the glove on a rebound effort coming to the doorstep.
After Boston’s first man advantage came up empty, Vladar made another big save as Sean Kuraly separated from the Flyers’ defense for a breakaway with 5:43 left in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Heat rally in 4th quarter to take down Rockets
Feb 28, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Houston Rockets forward Kevin Durant (7) argues with Miami Heat forward Jaime Jaquez Jr. (11) during the first quarter at Kaseya Center. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Bam Adebayo posted a double-double, and Andrew Wiggins ignited a fourth-quarter rally after returning from an in-game injury to lead the Miami Heat to a 115-105 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday.
Adebayo paired 24 points with 11 rebounds to help the Heat snap a two-game skid. Pelle Larsson (20 points) and Tyler Herro (18) contributed to the balanced scoring attack for the Heat, who also received double-digit efforts from Jaime Jaquez Jr. (14 points) and Kel’el Ware (13 points and a game-high 15 rebounds) off the bench. The Heat shot 50% overall from the floor.
But it was Wiggins, who took an elbow to the jaw from Rockets center Alperen Sengun and needed stitches in his cheek to close the gash, who led a critical fourth-quarter surge. He assisted on a Ware alley-oop and a Larsson 3 to put the Heat ahead 100-92 before his transition dunk resulted in a three-point play and a 111-103 lead with 2:24 remaining.
Wiggins finished with 12 points, six rebounds, four assists and three blocks.
Kevin Durant scored a game-high 32 points and added eight assists for the Rockets. Amen Thompson (20 points, 11 rebounds) and Tari Eason (10 points, 11 boards) added double-doubles, while Reed Sheppard chipped in 14 points and five assists for Houston.
The Rockets turned an early run, capped by a Sheppard 3, into a 14-4 lead, only for the Heat to respond with an 8-0 rally. Adebayo hit a 3-pointer to give Miami a 27-26 lead, and the Heat carried a 32-28 advantage into the second quarter after hitting 6 of 13 from beyond the arc in the first.
Miami extended its lead to double digits on a Ware tip-in, and led 41-28 before the Rockets scored their first basket of the second quarter with an Aaron Holiday 3-pointer at the 7:07 mark. That ended a 19-2 run by the Heat and sparked another Houston rally, featuring Sheppard and Durant combining to hit three 3-pointers and tie the game at 48.
The Rockets led 52-51 at the intermission after Miami missed 7 of 8 3-pointers in the second.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braeden Carrington explodes for 32 points as Wisconsin routs Washington
Feb 28, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Wisconsin Badgers guard Braeden Carrington (0) shoots a three point shot over Washington Huskies guard Zoom Diallo (5) during the second half at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Braeden Carrington came off the bench Saturday to score a career-high 32 points and Wisconsin knocked down 17 3-pointers to earn a 90-73 Big Ten Conference road win over Washington in Seattle.
Nick Boyd added 22 points, nine rebounds and five assists for the Badgers (20-9, 12-6 Big Ten), while Nolan Winter chipped in 13 points and nine rebounds. Wisconsin canned 44.7 % of its 38 3-point attempts, with Carrington going 9 of 15.
Freshman Hannes Steinbach led the Huskies (14-15, 6-12) with 22 points and 11 rebounds, his 18th double-double of the season and the most by a Big Ten player since Jared Sullinger of Ohio State collected the same total 29 years ago. Zoom Diallo scored 21 points.
Washington made 46% from the field but simply couldn’t mute the Badgers’ potent perimeter game. Bouncing back from an 85-71 upset loss Wednesday night at Oregon, Wisconsin earned a 39-35 edge on the boards and committed only six turnovers.
The final margin flattered the Huskies a bit. The Badgers led by as many as 28 points in the second half and cleared the bench by the time Washington scored the final seven points to make the margin more respectable.
Wisconsin set an early tone by stepping up its defense from the loss at Oregon. It held the Huskies without a field goal for a 6:04 stretch of the first half and opened up a 17-4 lead with 13:28 left when Carrington converted a 3-pointer.
Steinbach made two foul shots with 6:51 left to pull Washington within 22-14 but the Badgers pulled away when Carrington hit a 3-pointer and fed Winter for a layup and a 27-14 cushion.
With Boyd canning a short jumper from the baseline, Wisconsin went into halftime with a 36-21 advantage. The Huskies made only 7 of 28 field goals in the first 20 minutes and were outrebounded 25-17.
Boyd led the charge with 14 points in the half, sinking 7 of 14 shots from the field.
–Field Level Media
