Sports
Mariners ride stellar pitching performance into rematch vs. Angels
Mar 12, 2026; Mesa, Arizona, USA; Seattle Mariners pitcher Emerson Hancock (26) throws against the Chicago Cubs in the first inning at Sloan Park. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images As a former catcher, Dan Wilson understands both the hitting and pitching aspects of the game.
“Sometimes when you’re not scoring a lot of runs, you need your pitchers to step up,” said Wilson, the Seattle Mariners manager.
That’s pretty much what happened Friday night as the Mariners took on the Los Angeles Angels, who were hosting their home opener in Anaheim, Calif. Four Mariners pitchers — Bryan Woo, Matt Brash, Andres Munoz and Gabe Speier — combined on a one-hitter as Seattle prevailed 3-1 in 10 innings.
The three-game series between American League West rivals continues Saturday at Angel Stadium.
After nine scoreless innings, Seattle’s Cole Young led off the 10th with a triple into the right-field corner to score ghost runner Luke Raley from second base.
“Obviously, every time in that situation, you want to get the runner over,” Young said. “That was my whole approach in that at-bat, just hit the ball to the right side, get the runner over. Just do a job and let the top of the order do the rest.”
He did more than that.
With two outs, the Angels intentionally walked Julio Rodriguez, despite his .100 batting average. After a wild pitch allowed Rodriguez to take second, Josh Naylor lined a single to right to make it 3-0. It was Naylor’s second hit of the night, surpassing the total of one he had through the season’s first six games.
The Mariners conceded a run in the bottom of the inning, with Raley catching Jorge Soler’s foul ball down the right-field line to turn it into a sacrifice fly.
Young, who is batting .310 with one home run and five RBIs, has been one of the few offensive bright spots for the Mariners, who rank 26th of 30 MLB teams with a .204 batting average. The Angels are 30th at .186.
“The one thing we’ve talked about with Cole is the game doesn’t speed up on him,” Wilson said. “He’s been able to kind of keep that consistent pace to his game, and that plays extremely important in those kind of situations.”
The Mariners welcomed back shortstop J.P. Crawford, who made his season debut after recovering from right shoulder inflammation. Third baseman Brendan Donovan left in the middle of the seventh after straining to beat out a groundball and suffering a leg injury.
“(Donovan) hit the bag kind of funny,” Wilson said. “We’ll assess it (Saturday).”
Angels starter Reid Detmers nearly matched Woo, allowing three hits over 6 2/3 innings.
The Angels’ only hit was a wind-aided pop-up down the right-field line by Oswald Peraza that fell just out of the reach of diving outfielder Victor Robles with one out in the third inning. Woo proceeded to pick off Peraza.
The wind also potentially took a homer away from Mike Trout on a deep blast to left-center field in the sixth.
“I thought I got it,” Trout said. “I might have hit it a little off the end of the bat, but …”
Saturday’s pitching matchup is scheduled to feature a pair of right-handers in Seattle’s Emerson Hancock (1-0, 0.00 ERA) against the Angels’ Jack Kochanowicz (0-0, 11.25).
Hancock, who pitched six hitless innings in his season debut against the Cleveland Guardians, is 0-0 with a 3.52 ERA in two previous appearances against the Angels, including one start. Kochanowicz is 0-2 with an 8.03 ERA in three career starts against the Mariners.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Stewart Cink wins Regions Tradition to clinch back-to-back majors
Stewart Cink hits his driver on the first tee during the first round of The Galleri Classic at Mission Hills Country Club in Rancho Mirage, Calif., Friday, March 28, 2025. Less than a month ago, Stewart Cink had never won a PGA Tour Champions major.
Now he has won two.
Cink shot a 3-under-par 69 on Sunday at the Regions Tradition in Birmingham, Ala., taking home the title by three strokes over nearest competitor Scott Hend of Australia in breezy conditions.
“It wasn’t easy,” Cink said. “But I was pretty resilient and I trusted what I had and our game plan was good. You know, I wasn’t perfect by any stretch, but I played good golf under the circumstances.”
The Florence, Ala. native had his own cheering section at Greystone Golf and Country Club on Sunday, as Cink carded five birdies against two bogeys to earn his second straight major after winning the Senior PGA Championship in Bradenton, Fla. two weeks ago.
“This is where I cut my teeth in golf,” Cink said. “The fans out here were awesome, I saw a lot of familiar faces. Everybody’s put on the years, but some people from junior golf that I played with and against and their families. A lot of my friends and family have been out here all week anyway that I knew they were coming. It’s just been great.”
The eight-time PGA Champions tourney winner cited the importance of keeping his focus on the present for his recent hot streak, which has included four wins overall in 2026. He has yet to finish lower than sixth this calendar year.
“One of the things I’m doing a pretty good job of is just kind of staying in the moment,” he said. “It feels good to get back in the winner’s circle again, of course. I hope there’s a lot more times coming.”
Hend surged up the leaderboard to apply some pressure as most other golfers struggled to match Cink’s strong day. Hend did Cink four better with a 7-under 65, but he ultimately had too much ground to make up coming into the day. Still, a day with six birdies, a bogey and an eagle on the par-5 No. 13 left much to be proud of.
Scotland’s Colin Montgomerie shot a 1-under 71 which left him in third place at 13 under once the dust settled, while Denmark’s Soren Kjeldsen took fourth with a 3-under 69 that put him at 12 under.
Three golfers rounded out the top five in a tie for fifth: South Korea’s Charlie Wi (68), Germany’s Alex Cejka (70) and Doug Barron (71).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Missing Game 7 a tough pill to swallow for Jayson Tatum
May 2, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Celtics forward Jayson Tatum (0) and the rest of the Celtics bench react to a three point basket against the Philadelphia 76ers during the second quarter of game seven of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Winslow Townson-Imagn Images It was going well until it wasn’t.
The second-seeded Boston Celtics took a 3-1 series lead over the Philadelphia 76ers in the NBA Eastern Conference quarterfinals. Six-time All-Star forward Jayson Tatum, who came back from Achilles tendon surgery much faster than anyone expected, was averaging 24.8 points through the first four games of the series.
But then the Sixers routed the host Celtics in Game 5 and Tatum hobbled off the court in the second half of Game 6, another Philadelphia triumph.
It was not apparent whether Boston coach Joe Mazzulla did not re-insert Tatum into Game 6 due to an injury or the fact that his team trailed by 23 points in the fourth quarter.
But Tatum’s status for Sunday’s Game 7 continued to downgrade and two hours before tipoff, he was ruled out for Boston’s do-or-die contest.
Hence, the four-time All-NBA first-teamer sat on the bench in street clothes as the Sixers completed the comeback, ousting Boston 109-100.
Tatum addressed the media on Sunday, reflecting on his satisfaction on returning to the court and his frustration about the last few days.
“My recovery and comeback (from the Achilles injury) were going so well that how it ended, I didn’t think it was going to end that way,” said Tatum. “It was just unfortunate.
“I worked really, really, really, really hard to come back in the fashion that I did and play at the level I was playing at. So for it to end the way it did was a tough pill to swallow.”
Tatum explained that, since he was still in the return-to-play window, NBA protocols had to be followed pertaining to his left knee stiffness. The Celtics’ medical team and Tatum’s trainer, Nick Sang, agreed that he would not be able to compete on Saturday.
Tatum admitted on Sunday that he was not playing at full capacity since his return to the court on March 6 vs. Dallas. He rated himself at about 80-85% and relayed that his right leg is still shorter than his left.
The Boston star averaged 31.0 minutes per game in 11 March games and 36.2 minutes in five regular-season contests in April. His scoring (21.8) and shooting splits (41.1% FG, 32.9% 3FG) were a little below his career marks, but he rebounded at a career-best 10.0 per game heading into the playoffs.
But Tatum has no regrets about pushing himself to return in a 10-month window and help this year’s team.
“I’m happy and proud of the fact that I was able to do that,” Tatum said. “And, unfortunately, if somebody else has to deal with this, they can look at what I was able to do and have some hope and inspiration that it’s not what people used to think it was. And you can come back from this and be who you were and hopefully be better.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kentucky Derby sets several TV ratings records
Golden Tempo reached to nip the lead as Cherie DeVaux takes him out of his stall after winning the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Sunday, May 3, 2026. An estimated record 24.4 million people watched Golden Tempo’s historic comeback win on Saturday at the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby.
NBC released that figure based on preliminary data collected from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics on Sunday.
The previous peak audience had been 21.8 million the year prior, meaning the 2026 running, in which jockey Jose Ortiz guided Golden Tempo from last place around the final turn all the way into first, was up 12% over the previous most-watched Derby.
Cherie DeVaux, the horse’s trainer, became the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby in the event’s history Saturday.
NBC’s presentation also delivered the event’s highest average audience at 19.6 million, once again topping the previous year’s 17.7 million by roughly 11%.
The streaming numbers, mostly directed through Peacock, represented yet another record, with an average minute audience (AMA) of 1.3 million viewers, clearing 2025’s figure of 959,000.
Friday night’s Kentucky Oaks, contested for the first time in the television primetime window, likewise set viewership records. Always A Runner’s comfortable win averaged 2.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, a number that was four times higher than any previous viewership for the event (593,000 in 1997 on ESPN).
–Field Level Media
