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
FC Cincinnati back home, vying for turnaround vs. streaking Fire
Apr 11, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; FC Cincinnati midfielder Evander (10) chases after a loose ball against Toronto FC during the first half at BMO Field. Mandatory Credit: John E. Sokolowski-Imagn Images A massive opportunity to right the ship awaits FC Cincinnati Saturday night when they host the Chicago Fire.
Cincinnati (2-4-1, 7 points) has struggled mightily since winning its season opener. It has been plagued by a sluggish offense and a suspect defense, with its minus-6 goal differential tied for third-worst in the Eastern Conference. To be fair, a 6-1 drubbing on March 15 at New England represents most of that goal differential.
“It’s been inconsistent,” head coach Pat Noonan said about his team’s performance. “We just need to be more consistent with our play, home and away. We just need to be better all-around in our play, wherever we’re playing.”
Kevin Denkey will not play for Cincinnati Saturday night. He is suspended after a red card in Cincinnati’s previous match, a 1-1 draw against Toronto on April 11. Denkey leads Cincinnati with two goals, but it feels far removed from when he and Evander combined for 33 MLS goals for Cincinnati in 2025.
FC Cincinnati are 2-1-0 at home in MLS regular-season competition, and this is their first home match since March 22. They will play four home matches in the next five weeks.
Chicago (4-2-1, 13 points), currently sitting in second place in the Eastern Conference, is off to a strong start in building on its long-awaited return to the MLS Cup playoffs a year ago.
“Since the beginning of the season, we have always shown that we have something to prove this year,” midfielder Mauricio Pineda said. “That’s what really keeps us driving: approaching every game with the mentality to win.”
The Fire are on a three-match winning streak, and this is their only road match in a six-match span stretching from April 4 through May 9.
Hugo Cuypers leads the Fire with four goals, with Jonathan Bamba next at two goals.
Cincinnati leads the all-time series 7-4-3 and swept the series in 2025. The teams will play their return match on May 2 in Chicago.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Revolution bid to stay perfect at home vs. Crew
Apr 4, 2026; Foxborough, Massachusetts, USA; New England Revolution defender Mamadou Fofana (2) reacts with defender Brayan Ceballos (3) after scoring a goal during the second half against CF Montréal at Gillette Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images The New England Revolution set out to continue their dominant home form when they host the Columbus Crew on Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.
The home/away splits are as stark as they come for New England (3-3-0, 9 points). The Revolution have been outscored 8-2 while going 0-3-0 on the road, but are 3-0-0 with a 10-1 goal differential on their own field.
New England hasn’t allowed a goal in either of its last two home matches, which defender Mamadou Fofana felt was due to a strong effort from the entire lineup.
“We are a team. So it’s (from) the defense up to the striker … To win the game with a clean sheet, it is perfect,” Fofana said.
The offensive credit has also been spread around, as New England’s 12 goals have come from nine different players. Brayan Ceballos, Peyton Miller and Alhassan Yusuf share the team lead with two goals apiece.
By contrast, five of the Crew’s nine goals this season were scored by striker Wessam Abou Ali, who sustained a season-ending torn ACL in last Sunday’s 1-1 draw with Orlando City.
“When you don’t have Wes … we don’t need to change everything, but of course we need to find other ways to get more out of more players,” Columbus coach Henrik Rydstrom said.
Diego Rossi has three goals for Columbus (1-3-3, 6 points), and Max Arfsten is the only other Crew player to score.
Abou Ali’s injury is an unwelcome obstacle for a team that seemed to be finding its form. The Crew were winless (0-3-2) in their first five matches before recording a 3-1 road win over Atlanta United on April 4 and then overcoming the loss of Abou Ali to salvage the draw with Orlando.
Forward Jamal Thiare left Wednesday’s U.S. Open Cup match with an apparent leg injury and is questionable for Saturday.
The Crew are 8-2-6 in their last 16 matches with the Revolution (regular season plus playoffs) and 3-0-2 in their last five trips to Foxborough.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Knicks begin championship-or-bust playoff run vs. upstart Hawks
Apr 6, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Hawks guard Nickeil Alexander-Walker (7) dribbles past New York Knicks guard Landry Shamet (44) during the second half at State Farm Arena. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images The New York Knicks and Atlanta Hawks each were Cinderella stories the last time they opposed each other in the NBA playoffs.
Only the Hawks qualify for that moniker this time around.
The Knicks will begin a championship-or-bust pursuit when they host the Hawks in the first game of a best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series Saturday night.
The Knicks (53-29) earned the third seed in the East after recording their most wins since the 2012-13 season. The Hawks (46-36) finished in sixth place and clinched the final guaranteed playoff spot after racking up their most victories since the 2015-16 campaign.
But a successful regular season isn’t the goal for the Knicks, who reached the Eastern Conference finals last year for the first time since 2000 yet fired head coach Tom Thibodeau three days after being eliminated by the Indiana Pacers.
Thibodeau directed New York to four playoff berths in five years dating back to 2020-21 — or as many postseason appearances as the franchise made from 2001-02 through the 2019-20 seasons.
During a rare radio appearance in January, Knicks owner James Dolan said he believed the Knicks should “want to get to the Finals and we should win the Finals.” New York hasn’t won the NBA title since 1973 and hasn’t reached the championship round since 1999.
The Knicks did raise a trophy this season when they won the NBA Cup in December. But the team didn’t hoist a banner commemorating that championship — and any momentum generated by the title run disappeared during a 2-9 skid from Dec. 31 through Jan. 19.
The Knicks went 28-11 the rest of the way, including 15-10 against teams that either made the playoffs or participated in the play-in tournament.
“At the end of the day, we’ll be judged on what we do on this run,” Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns said.
Expectations were lower for the Hawks, who never built on their deep playoff run in 2021. Led by polarizing point guard Trae Young, Atlanta beat the Knicks in five games that year on its way to reaching the conference finals for the second time since 1970.
The Hawks were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs in 2022 and 2023 before getting knocked out in the play-in tournament in 2024 and 2025. The Young era ended Jan. 7, when he was dealt to the Washington Wizards in exchange for CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert.
At the time of the trade, Atlanta was 18-21 and sitting in ninth place in the East. But the Hawks won 28 of their final 43 games — including 20 of 26 following the All-Star Break, the third-best record in the NBA.
While Young played in just five games for the Wizards due to back and quad injuries, the 34-year-old McCollum averaged 18.7 points per game while Kispert collected 9.2 points per game as a key reserve over a combined 80 games.
“We’ve added stuff, we’ve taken stuff out, we’ve kind of evaluated what works, what doesn’t work and what’s going to work for this group,” McCollum said.
–Field Level Media
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