Two teams coming off impressive weekend series meet when the Colorado Rockies visit the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a three-game series Tuesday night.

The Reds have been one of the better stories in the National League to open the season. They’ve won all 11 of their games decided by two runs or less in racing to the top of the NL Central. Cincinnati dropped an 8-3 decision to the Detroit Tigers Sunday but still took two of three in the series and have won nine of 12 heading into the series with the Rockies.

Colorado is coming off a road sweep of the New York Mets, in which they allowed just four runs in the three-game set, capped by a Sunday doubleheader of 3-1 and 3-0 victories. Colorado has already won 13 games before the month of May after winning just 43 in all of 2025.

The series opener features a compelling contrast on the mound. The Reds will hand the ball to right-hander Chase Burns (2-1, 2.57 ERA), who has emerged as a cornerstone of their young rotation. Burns has been dominant early this season, recording 30 strikeouts in his first five starts and allowing two or fewer runs in four of those outings.

Colorado counters with veteran right-hander Tomoyuki Sugano (2-1, 3.42 ERA). Sugano has been a stabilizing force for a Rockies rotation that has struggled with depth, providing the experienced veteran presence the team was looking for heading into the season.

The Reds’ offense continues to be sparked by Elly De La Cruz, whose combination of speed and power remains a nightmare for opposing pitchers. Complementing him is third baseman Sal Stewart, who leads the team with a .291 batting average and a .385 on-base percentage.

Cincinnati had 10 home runs in the just-completed series against Detroit and has 37 homers on the season. The Cincinnati bullpen has been very reliable, though it was rocked for six runs in four innings of Sunday’s loss to the Tigers. Detroit scored four in the seventh and two more in the eighth after starter Rhett Lowder left with a 3-2 lead after five innings.

“Early on our guys were fine,” Reds manager Terry Francona said. “It went (bad) from there. I know it’s early. No matter what time of year it is, that’s a hard way to win.”

Francona has had to lean on his bullpen in the first month of the season as the rotation has dealt with inconsistency from Andrew Abbott and injuries that have sidelined Nick Lodolo and Hunter Greene.

Colorado outfielder Troy Johnston leads the club with a .315 average and a .371 OBP. As for the pitching, despite posting the second-most relief innings in MLB early on, the Rockies have maintained high efficiency. A shift in philosophy under new pitching coaches has improved the performance of young arms like Jaden Hill.

Five pitchers have at least one save for the Rockies, with veteran Antonio Senzatela and Victor Vodnik combining for six saves in their eight chances.

“There are 15, 16 or 17 guys who will ultimately take on a lot of the innings here,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said of the bullpen. “The talent base of the pitching is there… the guys have to keep progressing.”

–Field Level Media

He celebrated his 81st birthday last month but Heat president Pat Riley is “really pissed” and fully committed to getting Miami back to the playoffs next season.

“I’m not going to retire. I’m not going to resign,” Riley said Monday. “I’m not going to step aside. When I came here almost 31 years ago, I have the same attitude as I had in that press conference on the (cruise line ship) Imagination. Period. I want another parade down Biscayne Blvd. It may come. It may not. It has always been my desire is to win, to win big. I’m not going down that road talking about (retiring). I just clarified it’s not going to happen unless something happens that I can’t control.”

Riley said the only philosophical approach that could lead him to walk away from his 32nd year with the Heat would be ownership deciding to “tank” in an effort to stockpile draft picks. Miami hasn’t been in the lottery — picks 1-14 in the NBA draft — since 2018. But the Heat are in the lottery this year.

Miami missed the playoffs for the first time since 2018-19 when the Charlotte Hornets beat the Heat in the 9-10 play-in game earlier this month.

“You don’t make radical changes right now, not in my philosophy,” Riley said. “I am not going to tank. We are not going to lose. We are not going into the lottery and do that insanity because I will quit — if I ever get ordered to go down that road. I am always thinking of ways to win. Now all I can give you is a bunch of excuses. And I don’t want to do that. We are just not good enough. We are not happy with it. This is the first time in those three years that we have an opportunity to do something with our roster, with our flexibility, with our players.”

The decision ultimately falls to ownership, Riley acknowledged as part of an admission that outside perception on the pecking order and power structure in Miami. He said the gavel on personnel decisions and organizational plans has always rested with Heat owner Micky Arison.

“There are times when he said, ‘No. I don’t think we should go down that road,'” Riley said of Arison’s role in the decision-making structure of the Heat. “And that is the way it is today. I don’t have final say here. I never had it. Never had it when I came, and quite frankly, I don’t think I want it.”

Arison purchased the Heat franchise in 1995 and hired Riley, who said he still feels the same fire to deliver a winner. Losing and not making the postseason fanned those flames, he said.

“I’m really pissed,” Riley said. “I’m disappointed. Disgruntled. Just like everybody else in the organization that understands what we are about — about winning. The last three or four years, with (the) exception of the ’23 season when we got all the way to the Finals, has been something that I am not, we are not proud of.”

–Field Level Media

Mike Vrabel was back with the New England Patriots on Monday, two days after he voluntarily left the team to seek counseling amid a controversy over his visit to an Arizona resort with then-Athletic reporter Dianna Russini.

Vrabel was photographed in Utah at a Salt Lake City airport boutique on Saturday, when Rounds 4-7 of the NFL draft transpired.

ESPN reported Vrabel was in “constant contact via email and text message” with the Patriots during his brief absence and returned Monday to resume “full responsibilities as head coach.” The Patriots claimed not to be in contact with Vrabel while he was away from the team and stated that the only messages exchanged were sent from team employees to Vrabel, according to vice president of player personnel Eliot Wolf.

“We kind of talked through things and made the decision that the time away really needs to be time away, so we were not in contact with Mike (Saturday) other than some just, ‘Hope everything’s going OK’ kind of texts early (in the) morning,” Wolf said.

The 50-year-old coach said he felt family counseling was necessary to move forward after the alleged tryst with Russini became public.

“This is what I have to do to be the best husband, father and coach that I possibly can be. This is not an easy thing for me to admit, but it is one that I know will make me a better person,” he said.

Vrabel and Russini both have spouses. The New York Post published photos of the two of them in Sedona, Ariz., ahead of league meetings in Phoenix last month. Russini resigned from The Athletic, where she was lead NFL insider, amid an investigation by the New York Times-run organization into the nature of her relationship with Vrabel.

Vrabel spoke openly to the media last Tuesday about the fallout.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell said during the draft that the league is not considering punishment or further investigation into the matter under the “off-field conduct” policy.

Vrabel became the head coach of the Patriots — the team for which he played — ahead of the 2025 season and guided New England to Super Bowl LX. The Seattle Seahawks defeated the Patriots 29-13.

Vrabel earned his second AP NFL Coach of the Year honor last season after winning the award in 2021 when he led the Titans. He was Tennessee’s head coach from 2018-23.

–Field Level Media