Sports
Los Angeles Dodgers Eye Historic 117 Wins, But Repeat Title Is the Real Goal
A cool 100 mph is attainable for multiple members of a talented pitching staff that figures to be the key for reaching a triple digit of a different kind as the season moves toward its completion.
The MLB record for team wins in a regular season is 116 and was achieved twice, although neither of those teams grabbed the ultimate prize.
Already in 2025, the Dodgers have shown that getting to 116 wins and beyond is well within reach.
The Dodgers opened their season with a pair of wins on two different continents, improving to 4-0 at the start of a season for the first time since 1981, when they won the World Series.
The last time a club won 116 games in a regular season was in 2001, when the Seattle Mariners hit rarefied air. The only other time it happened was in 1906, when the Chicago Cubs pulled off the feat while playing just 152 games of their 154-game regular season.
For both, the regular-season achievement was as good as it would get. The Mariners lost in the American League Championship Series in 2001, while the Cubs lost the 1906 World Series.
For this year’s Dodgers, becoming the first team to reach 117 wins would merely be a side note, even with the history attached. Being the first team to win back-to-back titles since 2000 is the aim.
There are an abundance of reasons why repeating is so hard, but prevailing sentiment is that the hunger to dig a little deeper subsides. It’s natural. Another instinct is to go on the defensive as champion instead of taking charge.
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts moved to address the latter concept in a team meeting when the team arrived at spring training. Be the hunter, Roberts stressed to his team, not the hunted.
Players have elected to make 2025 an extension of 2024, when they used their downtime between the regular season and the start of their playoff run to gather at Dodger Stadium for long hours each day.
There was work on the field taking place, but the team took it a step further by having catered lunches and dinners as a group each day. The idea was to stress that the road ahead would be a shared experience, not an individual one.
And while the San Diego Padres nearly derailed the Dodgers’ path in the National League Division Series by forcing their rival to win two consecutive games or go home, it was a mutual trust that got Los Angeles to its goal.
While it is a simplified version of events, the Dodgers believe their bonding week before last year’s playoffs made a difference. Never underestimate a group that believes it is on to something.
What the Dodgers and Roberts were able to do was turn a patchwork pitching staff into a winner by using just three starters and a procession of relievers to first get through the Padres before dispatching the New York Mets and New York Yankees.
Injuries left Roberts with limited starting pitching options, with the bullpen able to step up in a time of need. The Dodgers addressed both areas in the offseason, bringing aboard Blake Snell and Roki Sasaki to bulk up the rotation and Tanner Scott and Kirby Yates to fortify the bullpen.
At some point this season, the Dodgers could have as many as 10 working starters at their disposal, considering that three-time Cy Young Award winner Clayton Kershaw is expected to be back by mid-summer, Shohei Ohtani is in line to resume a pitching schedule as early as May, and All-Star Tony Gonsolin is making his way back soon. Young pitchers like Bobby Miller, Landon Knack and Justin Wrobleski could get a chance or two to start.
The Dodgers did win as many as 111 games in 2022 and have hit the century mark five times in the previous eight seasons—seven not counting the shortened pandemic season of 2020. The triple digit now in their sights is 117.
“We just don’t quit,” Roberts said after the Dodgers rallied for an 8-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Friday with five runs in the 10th inning. Mookie Betts hit two home runs after he nearly missed the series because of a two-week illness caused by a stomach virus.
“As bleak as it might look at times, we keep competing and put at-bats together,” Roberts said.
While the current season is young, the championship energy is evident. Keeping it through another six months will be a challenge, and there are some concerns, like a shaky bullpen, but so far, traffic on the road to 117 has been light.
Sports
Matt Boldy, Wild make big statement, rout Stars in series opener
Apr 18, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Matt Boldy (12) celebrates center Joel Eriksson Ek (14) gaol against there Dallas Stars in the first period in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Thomas Shea-Imagn Images Matt Boldy had two goals and an assist for the visiting Minnesota Wild in a 6-1 win against the Dallas Stars in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series on Saturday.
Kirill Kaprizov had a goal and two assists, Joel Eriksson Ek scored twice, Ryan Hartman had a goal and an assist, and Mats Zuccarello had three assists for the Wild, who are trying to win their first playoff series since 2015 after getting eliminated in the opening round eight times since then.
Jesper Wallstedt got the start over Filip Gustavsson and the rookie made 27 saves for Minnesota.
Jason Robertson scored and Jake Oettinger made 23 saves for Dallas, which lost Game 1 of its first-round series 5-1 against the Colorado Avalanche last season before rebounding and eventually reaching to the Western Conference Finals.
Minnesota was on the first power play of the game when Zuccarello passed the puck from above the left faceoff circle to Boldy just below the goal line. He made a touch pass to Eriksson Ek cutting into the slot area and Ek scored with a one-timer from the left hash marks for a 1-0 lead at 5:35 of the first period.
Minnesota scored 56 seconds into the second period to extend the lead to 2-0.
Kaprizov received a pass along the wall in the Dallas zone after he was left alone coming down the right side. He had room to skate just below the right faceoff dot before scoring shortside with a wrist shot for his 16th career playoff goal, tying Zach Parise for the most in franchise history.
Brock Faber shot a bouncing puck from just above the left circle that Hartman redirected into the net from in front of the crease to make it 3-0 at 3:28.
Boldy made it 4-0 at 6:30 when he tapped in a loose puck from the side of the net.
Robertson backhanded the puck into the net from in close while on a power play to cut it to 4-1 at 15:10 of the second period.
Eriksson Ek tacked on a power-play goal at 8:13 of the third period to make it 5-1, and Boldy scored into an empty net with 3:08 left for a 6-1 lead.
Game 2 is Monday in Dallas.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Gavin Williams fans 11 in gem as Guardians stifle O's
Apr 18, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Gavin Williams (32) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Brayan Rocchio hit a three-run homer and Gavin Williams pitched seven strong innings to lead the Cleveland Guardians to a 4-2 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Saturday.
Bo Naylor also homered for the Guardians, who won for just the second time in the past five games. Cleveland had just three hits.
Williams (3-1) struck out 11 and allowed one run, three hits and one walk. It marked the second time this season and sixth time overall that he has struck out 10 or more in a game.
Cade Smith fanned the side in the ninth for his fifth save.
Leody Taveras and Gunnar Henderson (two hits) hit solo homers for Baltimore, which had just four hits while losing for the fourth time in the past five games.
Dean Kremer (0-1) pitched six innings for the Orioles and gave up three runs and two hits. He struck out seven and walked two.
Baltimore’s Pete Alonso and Colin Cowser struck out in all four at-bats. Dylan Beavers fanned three times as 16 Orioles went down on strikes.
Taveras came up with one out in the fourth and drilled a 1-0 curveball from Williams over the fence to right for the game’s first run.
Meanwhile, Kremer tossed 4 1/3 no-hit innings and his walk to Rhys Hoskins was followed by Daniel Schneemann’s line single to right. After Naylor fanned, Rocchio jumped on a 2-2 fastball from Kremer and deposited the ball over the fence in right to give the Guardians a 3-1 lead.
Williams picked up where he left off after the Taveras homer by retiring the final 11 batters he faced.
Hunter Gaddis replaced Williams and Henderson touched him up for a one-out solo shot to right in the eighth.
But Naylor got the run back leading off the bottom of the inning when he launched a 1-1 changeup from Albert Suarez into the bleachers in right.
Smith fanned Beavers, Cowser and Taveras while closing it out as Cleveland gained a 2-1 edge in a series that concludes Sunday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyler Reddick rules AdventHealth 400 qualifying, collects another pole
May 11, 2025; Kansas City, Kansas, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick (45) races during the AdventHealth 400 at Kansas Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Scott Sewell-Imagn Images KANSAS CITY, Kan. — A fourth victory from the pole position would suit Tyler Reddick just fine after the driver of the No. 45 23XI Racing Toyota prevailed in Saturday’s highly competitive qualifying session at Kansas Speedway.
Reddick toured the 1.5-mile speedway in 29.142 seconds (185.300 mph) to claim his third pole of the season, his second at Kansas and the 14th of his career.
In doing so, Reddick edged his car owner, Denny Hamlin (185.179 mph), by 0.019 seconds for the top starting spot in Sunday’s AdventHealth 400, the ninth NASCAR Cup Series race of the year.
The pole was the fifth in the last six Kansas races for Toyota drivers.
The 2026 season already has been a remarkable one for Reddick, who won the first three races and added a fourth victory March 22 at Darlington Raceway. Reddick’s last three wins have come from the pole position: at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta (starting on metrics after a qualifying rainout), Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, and at Darlington.
Should Reddick win on Sunday, he would become the fourth driver in Cup Series history –and the first since Dale Earnhardt in 1987 — to win five of the first nine events of a season. Reddick tops the series standings with a 62-point edge over second-place Ryan Blaney.
“We had a lot of good handling in our car for Atlanta,” Reddick said of his and his team’s ability to convert qualifying speed into race wins. “COTA, obviously I felt like the 12 (Blaney) and Shane (van Gisbergen) were really strong. I think just good handling, handling that you can trust, handling that stays with you in the long run (really helps). So, Darlington, same thing.
“Here, the speeds were a bit higher, and I didn’t know if we’d be able to get the pole, but it was really nice to see that the handling that we have, the short-run speed that we have, appears to be all there today.”
Bristol winner Ty Gibbs and defending series champion Kyle Larson posted identical times (29.192 seconds for 184.982 mph) and will start third and fourth, respectively, with Gibbs getting the nod on owner points. Larson is the two-time defending winner of the spring race at Kansas.
Chase Briscoe qualified fifth at 184.938 mph as Toyotas claimed four of the top five starting positions. Carson Hocevar was sixth, followed by Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez, Blaney and Bubba Wallace.
–NASCAR Wire Service
Matt Boldy, Wild make big statement, rout Stars in series opener
Gavin Williams fans 11 in gem as Guardians stifle O's
