Sports
Magic withstand Pistons’ rally to gain 2-1 series lead
Apr 22, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Jamahl Mosley looks on in the second half against the Detroit Pistons during game two of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Paolo Banchero and Desmond Bane scored 25 points apiece as the Orlando Magic withstood a fourth-quarter rally to beat the visiting Detroit Pistons 113-105 on Saturday in Game 3 of their first-round Eastern Conference playoff series.
Detroit trailed 96-79 with 8:34 remaining before Cade Cunningham’s 3-pointer capped a 25-8 run and tied the game at 104 with 3:15 left.
Cunningham made one of two free throws to put top-seeded Detroit ahead by one with 2:52 left before Orlando closed on a 9-0 run to take a 2-1 lead in the series.
Game 4 is set for Monday in Orlando.
Banchero had 12 rebounds and nine assists for the eighth-seeded Magic, who improved to 7-1 in their last eight home postseason games, including play-in tournament games. Bane was 7-for-9 from 3-point range.
“That’s just him being himself,” Banchero said of Bane, who was 9-of-31 shooting in the series prior to Saturday. “He started slow in the first two games. We knew that wasn’t going to continue. He’s a killer; that’s just what he does. Glad to have him on our team.”
Franz Wagner added 17 points for Orlando. Jalen Suggs scored 15, and Wendell Carter Jr. had 14 points and 17 rebounds.
“We have a lot of respect for those guys over there,” Banchero said of the Pistons. “But we know how we stack up and we know what we have in our locker room. So we don’t fear them. We have a lot of respect for them. and we know we have to bring it on Monday.”
Cunningham scored 12 of his 27 points in the fourth quarter for the Pistons. Tobias Harris scored 23 points, Ausar Thompson had 17 and Duncan Robinson added 10.
The Pistons are now in a hole after being the top team in the East in the regular season.
“It’s one game at a time, that’s what playoff series are,” Detroit coach J.B. Bickerstaff said. “We come down here, we win on Monday and we take homecourt advantage back. Today’s game, we’ll learn from it but it’s over with. Our guys have been consistent all year. We’ve been able to move onto the next. I trust our guys that we’ll focus on it, we’ll learn from it, we’ll study it, we’ll get better at it and then Monday we’ll be ready to go.”
The teams were tied at 26 after the first quarter. Suggs was held scoreless before hitting a 3-pointer to put the Magic ahead 42-36 with 6:50 left in the second quarter.
Suggs had 12 points in the second quarter to help Orlando take a 61-54 at the half.
Thompson tallied 15 points to lead all scorers in the first half. Bane’s 14 points paced the Magic.
Bane made his first six 3-point attempts, including one with 8:32 left in the third quarter to give Orlando a 74-62 lead.
The Magic led 87-79 at the end of the third quarter and opened the fourth on a 7-0 run to move ahead 94-79 with 10:05 remaining.
Cunningham committed nine turnovers and was 8-for-23 shooting from the field and 3 of 10 from 3-point range for Detroit, which shot 34.4% (11 of 32) from beyond the arc.
Pistons All-Star Jalen Duren had just eight points in 27 minutes before fouling out. He is avearging just 9.0 points in the series, down from 19.5 in the regualr season.
“Just be there for him, encourage him and feed him the ball,” Thompson said of Duren. “Give him some space to work. I just want him to keep being aggressive. We’re good, we’re not worried about him.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers, Cubs close series with potential pitching duel
Apr 13, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Justin Wrobleski (70) throws a pitch against the New York Mets during the first inning at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images A resurgent Los Angeles Dodgers’ offense will take on the visiting Chicago Cubs in the rubber match of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
The Dodgers snapped the Cubs’ 10-game winning streak with a 12-4 win on Saturday night.
Teoscar Hernandez was 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs as Los Angeles racked up 14 hits. Hitless in his previous three games, Hernandez lined a two-RBI single up the middle in a six-run fourth inning.
“I haven’t been on base for the last couple games, but it is OK, everyone goes through that,” he said. “Hopefully I can keep up doing that and be consistent with it.”
Shohei Ohtani also snapped an 0-for-12 skid over his previous three games when he led off the game with an opposite-field single.
Andy Pages, Hyeseong Kim and Alex Freeland posted two-hit games as the Dodgers scored in double digits for a major league-leading fifth time this season. The Cubs have scored in double figures in four games.
Los Angeles manager Dave Roberts said Max Muncy will be out on Sunday. The Dodgers third baseman felt sick yet still hit his ninth home run of the season, a two-run shot in the third.
“Muncy wasn’t feeling well,” Roberts said. “We talked and said to him, give us what you got, three at-bats. That’s what we did and felt good about getting him three at-bats. Max will be down tomorrow and be back in there on Monday.”
Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (3-0, 1.88 ERA) is slated to start for the Dodgers. He covered seven innings in his most recent start and earned the decision in a 12-3 road win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday, yielding one run on eight hits with three strikeouts.
In his past three starts — all wins– he has allowed only two runs in a combined 20 innings. He never has faced the Cubs.
“At the end of the day I am going out there and doing the same thing every time,” Wrobleski said. “That’s trying to fill the zone, create contact and see what happens.”
Chicago’s scheduled starter is Shota Imanaga (2-1, 2.17), who earned the win when he surrendered one run on three hits over seven innings in his last start, a 7-4 home win against the Philadelphia Phillies on Tuesday.
The lefty is 1-0 with a 1.64 ERA on the road this season. In four career starts against Los Angeles, Imanaga has a 1-0 record with a 3.48 ERA.
“I come to the field every day, whether it’s a start day or not, with the same responsibility,” Imanaga said. “I know if someone gets injured I can help cover them. We have a very tight circle with full support.”
He has a stellar defense in the field — the Cubs are ranked No. 1 on FanGraphs with 17 defensive runs saved — and knows he can pitch to contact.
“It helps with my confidence as well, knowing that behind me, the Cubs’ defense is the best of all 30 teams,” Imanaga said. “If I can control and avoid damage and extra-base hits, I know they are going to get outs. So it’s a big confidence booster.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Royals call on stellar veteran RHP Seth Lugo vs. Angels
Apr 9, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals starting pitcher Seth Lugo (67) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Chicago White Sox at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images The Kansas City Royals will go for their first series sweep of the season when they host the Los Angeles Angels on Sunday night.
The Royals rapped out 14 hits and benefited from 10 walks in a 12-1 rout of the Angels on Saturday.
Kansas City right-hander Seth Lugo (1-1, 1.15 ERA) will oppose left-hander Reid Detmers (1-2, 4.08) in the series finale — a rare nationally televised game for these teams.
Lugo will look to continue his stellar start to 2026. The 36-year-old has allowed two earned runs or less in each of his five starts and has pitched into the seventh inning four times.
Last time out, he tossed seven shutout innings Monday in a no-decision against the Baltimore Orioles. He left with a 1-0 lead after allowing one hit, striking out seven and walking four, but the bullpen couldn’t hold the lead. Baltimore won 7-5 in 12 innings.
“There were a couple of guys that I know they could hit a good breaker that’s sharp like that,” Lugo said of his strategy against the Orioles. “So I took some off for them. But the other guys are the opposite. So I added some more velocity for those guys.”
Lugo is 2-0 with a 1.61 ERA in four games (three starts) against the Angels. Both wins came in 2024.
Detmers has alternated good and not-so-good starts thus far. After allowing one run in seven innings to beat the New York Yankees 7-1 on April 14, he was touched for four runs on five his in six innings of a 5-2 loss to the Toronto Blue Jays last Monday. He struck out five and walked two.
Detmers is 0-1 with a 6.62 ERA in five games (three starts) against the Royals.
On Saturday, Kansas City’s Salvador Perez had three hits, including a home run. Cole Ragans pitched six strong innings and the Royals pulled away late, scoring three runs in the seventh and four in the eighth as the Angels resorted to position player Adam Frazier pitching in the eighth inning.
Nick Loftin had two hits and drove in four runs for the Royals, and Bobby Witt, Jr., Michael Massey and Kyle Isbel had two hits each.
“We all know what these guys are capable of,” Ragans said. “Watching them put in the work day-in and day-out, it’s just a matter of time. It’s an unbelievable group of guys and so much fun to watch.”
Ragans also was fun to watch Saturday, as he allowed one run on five hits and struck out 11 without a walk.
The Royals will look to win a season-high three straight games for just the second time this season.
Jo Adell homered and Vaughn Grissom had three hits and is 6-for-12 in his past three games for the Angels, who have lost six of their past seven games. They have scored two runs or less in five of the losses.
On Saturday, the Angels were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and left seven men on base.
“It’s one of those things,” manager Kurt Suzuki said. “When it gets rolling for the other team, it gets rolling, and it just seems like you can’t do anything right. One game. Just move on to the next.”
Los Angeles catcher Logan O’Hoppe departed the game after the seventh inning with left wrist irritation after taking a foul tip off the wrist.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Aljamain Sterling Wants Title Shot After Beating Youssef Zalal
When a UFC fighter’s title reign at a weight class is done, or if they have run out of realistic chances to gain a division’s belt, sometimes they will switch weight classes to try to give their career new life. Unfortunately, this doesn’t always go for the better.
But for Aljamain Sterling, it really seems to have gone pretty well, at least so far.
UFC Vegas 116 had an intriguing main event. You had Sterling, a former UFC bantamweight champion, looking to prove he belongs in the upper echelon of contenders for UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski. And Sterling’s opponent was Youssef Zalal, unbeaten since the end of his first run with the UFC. Returning to the Octagon in 2024, he was 5-0 entering this bout.
Sterling and Zalal started things competitively, though Sterling seemed to have a slight edge in terms of striking. But where Sterling really had control? The ground, of course.
Even with Zalal developing into a strong, well-rounded fighter, Sterling spent half of round one on top, controlling the action. He continued this into the second round, which played similarly to the first, with Sterling adding in some ground-and-pound before the round’s end.
Sterling did face a little trouble, however, in the third round. Firstly, Zalal managed to lock up a decent guillotine that Sterling had to work his way out of. Zalal also got to work on Sterling’s back and had his best striking in the entire frame.
But why is everyone calling this performance dominant? Because after facing that trouble, “Funkmaster” gave Zalal hell right back – and then some.
The fourth round of this fight was perhaps one of the most dominant seen in the Octagon so far this year. Sterling had over four minutes of control time in this round, dominating with strong ground-and-pound and submission attempts. It was unanimously agreed by the judges, and a lot of the MMA community, that it was a 10-8 round.
By the time the fifth ended, Sterling secured almost 14 minutes – nearly three full rounds – of control time on the ground. His wrestling was on full display and led to him scoring the decision win.
Sterling – who entered this fight No. 5 in the UFC’s featherweight rankings – made a statement in this fight that he is a legitimate threat to the championship. The question is, how much closer does this fight get him to the title shot?
Movsar Evloev and Lerone Murphy fought to a controversial decision last month. Evloev got the win – and many feel he is long overdue for a shot at the title. Others had it scored for Murphy, and several (this writer included) had the bout scored a draw.
Jean Silva is ranked right behind Sterling as of now. And when Dana White, UFC CEO and President, spoke following the Evloev vs. Murphy fight, you could see a look on his face when a reporter suggested the possibility of Silva jumping the two of them to challenge Volkanovski.
Then, you have a performance like this from Sterling to mix things up even more. The only sure-fire thing is that Diego Lopes, who has now lost twice to Volkanovski, won’t be getting a title shot.
But if Sterling doesn’t get a title shot, perhaps he next faces Lopes in a title eliminator to try and lock one up.
One thing to take away from this dominant win over a rising contender – even as he nears 37 years of age, Aljamain Sterling hasn’t shown he’s going away any time soon.
Dodgers, Cubs close series with potential pitching duel
Royals call on stellar veteran RHP Seth Lugo vs. Angels
