Sports
Lakers' vets paving way for series sweep over Rockets
Apr 24, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James (23) celebrates with guard Luke Kennard (10) after scoring a basket during the fourth quarter against the Houston Rockets during game three of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Toyota Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images The two elder statesmen of the Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James and Marcus Smart, had shouldered the load of a dramatic fourth-quarter comeback against the Houston Rockets in Game 3 of that first-round series, performing with the ideal blend of poise and desperation.
In the aftermath of the Lakers’ 112-108 overtime road victory, a win that provided the Lakers a 3-0 series lead and an opportunity to complete the sweep in Game 4 on Sunday, James was asked how he and his teammates mustered the gumption to dig deep and outlast the younger, healthier, and presumably hungrier Rockets.
James answered a question with a question.
“What else are we going to do?” James said. “We don’t have the luxury of thinking about another game. We have to be in the moment.
“I keep harping on it: we are missing some very important pieces to our ballclub. We don’t have the luxury of being passive or being complacent. Our whole mindset is we have to do everything it takes in that particular game, in that particular moment, in that particular possession in order for us to win basketball games because we don’t have a long leash or a lot of room for error.”
Initially left for dead without Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) — the latter is listed as questionable for Game 4 — the Lakers continue to defy the odds in both grand and minute ways. James (29 points, 13 rebounds, six assists) and Smart (21 points, 10 rebounds, five steals) were Herculean throughout Game 3, yet more was required in the waning moments, with the Rockets leading 101-95 and in possession with 30 seconds left.
Smart duped Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. into throwing an ill-advised pass, nabbed the ball, and drew a critical foul on Jae’Sean Tate while attempting a 3-pointer. Smart sank all three free throws to shave the deficit in half, and James followed by forcing a backcourt turnover on the ensuing Houston possession before drilling a trey with 13.6 seconds left to force overtime.
The Lakers coughed up a 15-point lead. Their hot shooting in the first half cooled considerably. But just when the Lakers appeared stuck in the mud, they discovered what was needed to survive. And after creating a second opportunity, the Lakers seized it in the extra period.
“Everything that we needed to do, even when it wasn’t pretty, we just found a way to do it,” Lakers coach JJ Redick said. “We’re playing hard. You have to do that to put yourself in a position to win.
“There are some things that we can execute better, but I thought from the beginning of the game we played with a sense of desperation, and we played like a team that was down (in the series).”
The Rockets were without their leading scorer, Kevin Durant, in Game 3. He is listed as questionable for Game 4 with Durant desperately treating the ankle sprain he sustained late in Game 2. Without Durant, the Rockets started the second-youngest lineup in a playoff game since starters were tracked in 1970-71, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. That youth was evident late.
Smith and Reed Sheppard committed baffling turnovers. The Rockets failed to run the correct play after James’ game-tying 3. The Rockets are a whopping plus-63 in field goal attempts in the series, but they’ve shot 28.7% from behind the arc. Houston has squandered its chances.
There is no precedent for a team rallying from an 0-3 series deficit. The Rockets will be challenged to get off the mat facing that history.
“Disappointed with the ending,” Rockets coach Ime Udoka said. “Some good things before that … so you’re doing some good things with the opportunity. But now you’ve got to go get one on Sunday.
“Don’t let this one beat you twice.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reds place slugger Eugenio Suarez (oblique) on 10-day IL
Apr 17, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) hits a double in the fourth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images The Cincinnati Reds placed veteran designated hitter/third baseman Eugenio Suarez on the 10-day injured list Saturday due to a left oblique strain.
The move is retroactive to Thursday.
Cincinnati recalled outfielder JJ Bleday from Triple-A Louisville to fill the roster spot.
Reds manager Terry Francona doesn’t expect Suarez to be sidelined long.
“The hope is after possibly five or six days if symptoms are gone, we’ll get him imaged again,” Francona told reporters. “Then we’ll start to build him back up.”
Suarez was scratched from Friday’s lineup before a game against the Detroit Tigers about one hour before first pitch when he felt pain in his left side while swinging a bat. He underwent an MRI exam that detected the damage.
Suarez, 34, is batting .231 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 25 games. He signed a one-year, $15 million deal as a free agent in the offseason for his second tour of duty with Cincinnati. He also played for the Reds from 2015-21.
Suarez matched his career high of 49 homers last season while splitting time between the Arizona Diamondbacks (36 HRs) and the Seattle Mariners (13). He also hit 49 for the Reds in 2019.
Bleday, 28, was batting .341 with six homers and 19 RBIs in 24 games at Louisville. He nearly made the Cincinnati roster in spring training when he batted with .317 with four homers.
Bleday has 49 homers over four major league seasons with the Miami Marlins (2022) and Athletics (2023-25) but has just a .215 career average.
Cincinnati also recalled Jose Franco from Louisville and optioned fellow right-hander Kyle Nicolas to the same affiliate.
Franco, 25, had a 3.18 ERA in three appearances with the Reds earlier this season. Nicolas, 27, went 1-0 with an 8.59 ERA in seven appearances and walked 13 batters in just 7 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Alexander Zverev holds strong to remain perfect in Madrid openers
Mar 27, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Alexander Zverev of Germany reacts after missing a shot against against Jannik Sinner of Italy in the semi-finals of the men’s singles at the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images Second-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany maintained his composure to nab a three-set win to keep up his perfect record in opening round matches at the Mutua Madrid Open by taking down Argentina’s Mariano Navone 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday.
The two-time Madrid Open winner improved to 9-0 in his first match at the tournament after receiving a first round bye. Zverev converted 4 of 8 break point attempts and had 22 winners to Navone’s six.
“It’s definitely a different type of tournament here,” Zverev said when asked about the high-altitude conditions. “I love it. You either love it or hate it, kind of, because there is no in between. Everything is a bit faster, the ball bounces higher, the serve is maybe a bit more effective. So you either love it or hate it. Winning the tournament twice here, of course I hope to add some more titles to that. I enjoy playing here.”
With the win, Zverev has a date in the round of 32 with France’s Terence Atmane, who beat his fellow countrymen Ugo Humbert, the No. 30 seed, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) earlier in the day.
Also advancing was defending champion and No. 12 seed Casper Ruud of Norway with his 6-0, 6-1 win over Spaniard Jaume Munar. Rudd maintained his serve without being broken and forced Munar into 17 unforced errors.
No. 3 seed and 2024 finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada advanced past Lithuanian qualifier Vilius Gaubas 6-3, 6-4. Auger-Aliassime never faced a break point behind his dominant serve that yielded seven aces.
Facing off against Auger-Aliassime will be Belgium’s Alexander Blockx, who upset American and No. 28 Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The other big upset of the day was Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo beating 17-seed Learner Tien 6-4, 6-3. This was Daniel Vallejo’s first ever win over a top 75 opponent.
Vallejo will take on No. 10 Flavio Cobolli of Italy. He beat Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4.
In the other three-set match, seventh-seeded Daniil Medvedev held strong against Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4.
In two-set action on the day, No. 13 Karen Khachanov of Russia took down Australia’s Adam Walton 6-2, 6-3; No. 16 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina outdueled German Yannick Hanfmann 6-1, 7-5; No. 18 Luciano Darderi of Italy bested Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-1, 6-3; Spain’s No. 20-seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat fellow countrymen Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-3 and No. 23 Jakub Mensik of Czechia got past qualifier Martin Damm 6-3, 6-4.
Spanish qualifier Daniel Merida upset No. 26 Corentin Moutet of France 6-3, 6-4; Norwegian qualifier Nicolai Budkov Kjaer dominated No. 31 Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-1 and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas got the best of No. 8 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-2, 7-5.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mariners top Cardinals for 3rd straight win
Apr 25, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Seattle Mariners third baseman Will Wilson (7) reacts after hitting a two home run against the St. Louis Cardinals during the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Leo Rivas’ tie-breaking, two-run single in the ninth inning propelled the Seattle Mariners to an 11-9 victory over the host St. Louis Cardinals on Saturday afternoon.
Julio Rodriguez, Will Wilson and Cole Young homered for the Mariners, who posted their third straight victory and sent the Cardinals to their third loss in a row.
For St. Louis, Nathan Church hit two home runs and JJ Wetherholt, Ivan Herrera and Pedro Pages also went deep.
Mariners reliever Matt Brash (2-0) earned the victory and Andres Munoz worked the ninth for his fifth save.
Cardinals closer Riley O’Brien (3-1) allowed two runs and four hits in one inning in taking the loss.
J.P. Crawford reached on a bunt single with one out in the ninth, Mitch Garver walked, and Young was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Rivas lined the next pitch up the middle for two RBIs to break a 9-9 deadlock.
Seattle had tied the game in the eighth. Garver and Young led off with singles and advanced on Rivas’ sacrifice bunt. The Mariners called on Connor Joe to pinch hit, and the Cardinals countered with O’Brien. Joe lined a two-run single to right to make it 9-9.
The Mariners took a 2-0 lead in the first inning. Cal Raleigh singled, and Rodriguez followed with a blast into the third deck in left field.
The Cardinals tied it in the bottom of the frame as Wetherholt lined the second pitch over the wall in right field and Herrera hit the next out to left-center.
Seattle regained the lead in the second as Garver led off with an infield single and, an out later, Wilson went deep to left. It was the first career homer for Wilson, who was making his Mariners debut at third base with former Cardinal Brendan Donovan on the 10-day injured list (left groin strain).
Church homered to right-center with one out in the bottom of the second to pull the Cardinals to 4-3.
St. Louis took the lead with four runs in the third. Jordan Walker and Nolan Gorman singled to left, and Masyn Winn hit a run-scoring single to right. Church’s sacrifice fly to center scored Gorman with the go-ahead run. Pages followed with a two-run shot just inside the left-field foul pole to make it 7-4.
The Mariners tied the score with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth.
Young led off the fourth with a homer to right.
In the fifth, Rodriguez singled and stole second. He advanced to third on Josh Naylor’s groundout and scored on Randy Arozarena’s sacrifice fly.
Church robbed Garver of a home run with a leaping catch at the left-field wall leading off the sixth. Young followed with a double and tied it at 7-all on pinch hitter Dominic Canzone’s single up the middle.
The Cardinals regained the lead in the seventh as Winn singled with one out and Church went deep to right-center.
–Field Level Media
Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo lasted just three innings and gave up seven runs on nine hits, including four homers
Cardinals lefty Matthew Liberatore allowed five runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings, with three homers.
Reds place slugger Eugenio Suarez (oblique) on 10-day IL
Alexander Zverev holds strong to remain perfect in Madrid openers
