The Philadelphia Phillies started their first road trip of the season with a pair of impressive wins over the Colorado Rockies. They will go for the sweep when the teams wrap up the three-game series in Denver on Sunday.

Philadelphia, which squeaked out a 2-1 win Saturday night, will send Taijuan Walker (0-1, 11.57 ERA) against Colorado’s Tomoyuki Sugano (0-0, 1.93 ERA) in a matchup of right-handers.

Walker struggled in his first start of the season for the Phillies, allowing seven on 10 hits in 4 2/3 innings against Washington on Monday, but he can turn things around against the Rockies. In 10 career starts against Colorado he is 5-1 with a 2.36 ERA.

He went 2-0 with a 2.45 ERA in two outings against the Rockies in 2025.

Walker can build on the first two starts of the weekend by the Phillies. Aaron Nola and Jesus Luzardo combined to strike out 20 batters and give up just one run each in their outings. Nola benefited from strong run support in a 10-1 win Friday but Philadelphia scored just a pair Saturday night.

The Phillies have struggled to score runs, outside of the 10 runs on Friday, but the players aren’t worried about the offense.

“That’s kind of how seasons go sometimes,” Bryce Harper said. “Some guys have good first months and then have a terrible rest of the season. Or they have a really bad first month and then they win an MVP. That’s why you play the whole season.

“You don’t put too much stock in the first couple games. You just play your game, understand it’s a long season and you’ve just got to find value in playing a full season.”

Philadelphia will go against a pitcher it has never faced. Sugano was sharp in his debut with Colorado on Monday when the Rockies routed Toronto, 14-5. He allowed just a run on two hits but an elevated pitch count limited him to 4 2/3 innings.

Colorado brought in Sugano, 36, to help shore up a rotation that struggled in 2025. The Rockies have pitched better this year but their offense, like the Phillies’, has struggled. Colorado has scored five runs over its last four games.

The Rockies fanned 15 times in their home opener on Friday and 13 more Saturday night.

It has been a factor in the Rockies starting 1-4 in one-run games.

“The big thing (Saturday) with the strikeout is we missed too many pitches in the zone, early in the count,” manager Warren Schaeffer said after the 2-1 loss. “You can’t miss pitches early and chase late, it’s a bad combo.”

Even with the strikeout issues, there have been some bright spots. Rookie TJ Rumfield is batting .360 with a home run, Ezequiel Tovar is hitting .294 after going 1-for-4 Saturday night and Troy Johnston, who played 44 games with Miami last season, is batting .333 with one of Colorado’s five home runs through the first eight games.

–Field Level Media

This time last year, Nebraska took home the inaugural College Basketball Crown trophy. The winner of Sunday’s championship game in Las Vegas between Oklahoma and West Virginia will hope to carry similar momentum into next season.

Oklahoma (21-15) endured a nine-game losing streak in the heart of Southeastern Conference play, ultimately dooming its NCAA Tournament chances before finishing as the first team left out of the 68-team field.

The Sooners face former Big 12 rival West Virginia on Sunday in the program’s first championship game since their 1991 NIT final loss to Stanford. For Oklahoma coach Porter Moser, the decision to accept the bid wasn’t a tough one, and so far, it’s paid off.

“I’m not going to lie, it was a very hard Selection Sunday,” Moser said. “The emotions were very raw, because of how much these guys battled through when no one else believed. We felt we should have been in (the tournament), but that’s for a later discussion. We could either talk about that, or we could show them why they made a mistake.”

After beating Colorado 90-86 in overtime on Wednesday in the quarterfinals, Oklahoma got 21 points from Xzayvier Brown in its 82-69 victory over Baylor on Saturday. Nijel Pack’s 16.6 points per game pace the Sooners, while Brown adds 15.5.

West Virginia (20-14) beat Creighton 87-70 in the semifinals on Saturday to earn its first 20-win season since the 2019-20 campaign. One more victory would give the Mountaineers their first postseason tournament title since winning the 2007 NIT.

First-year head coach Ross Hodge’s team flirted with the NCAA Tournament bubble all season. When that dream fell short, there were no doubts about heading to Las Vegas.

“There was no conversation that needed to be had about playing,” Hodge said. “These guys love each other. They love the university. They love the state of West Virginia. It’s their heart and their gratitude that is directly responsible for us to be in the position that we’re going to be in (Sunday).”

Freshman DJ Thomas scored 20 points in the Mountaineers’ win over Creighton — his second most this season. Honor Huff leads West Virginia with 15.9 points per game, followed by Brenen Lorient’s 11.8.

Nebraska followed up its CBC title last season by winning a school-record 28 games this season, including the first two NCAA Tournament victories in program history.

–Field Level Media

The visiting Atlanta Braves can begin the season with three straight series wins for the first time since 2018 when they face the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday afternoon in Phoenix.

Atlanta took two of three from both the Kansas City Royals and the Athletics and will finish a four-game set on Sunday. The Braves outscored Arizona 19-2 across their first two wins of the series before falling 2-1 on Saturday.

First-year manager Walt Weiss is far from worried about superstar Ronald Acuna Jr., but a .161 batting average through nine games has been an unwanted surprise.

“His swing looks kind of late,” Weiss said. “But they all go through ruts. We’ve seen all these guys go through ruts before. When he gets rolling, it’s going to be fun to watch. But he seems kind of late to me, right now.”

Atlanta’s pitching staff has allowed just three earned runs across the last four games and will turn to veteran Martin Perez (0-0, 0.00 ERA) in the series finale.

Perez, 35, threw 4 1/3 scoreless innings in relief on Tuesday against the A’s. After signing a minor league contract with the club in January, Perez had his contract selected as a dependable left-handed arm who can be plugged into the starting rotation.

“(Perez) is just a crafty veteran,” Weiss said. “He knows how to pitch. He’s a salty veteran. He’s been a good pitcher in this league for a long time. He threw the ball really well for us in that relief appearance last time out, so I expect him to be good again.”

Perez is slated to make the 280th start of his career and fourth against Arizona. He’s 0-2 with a 6.43 ERA in three appearances against the Diamondbacks.

Arizona, meanwhile, can stamp a successful first homestand of the season. The Diamondbacks swept the Detroit Tigers and have bounced back from a 17-2 Thursday loss to Atlanta with a pair of competitive outings.

Still, offense has been an issue for manager Torey Lovullo’s club. Albeit a small sample size, Arizona is batting just .204 and has failed to score more than two runs in any of the last four games. For Lovullo, an emphasis needs to be placed on honing in on pitches around the plate.

“If we zone in, try not to do too much, wait for our pitch, it’s the art of hitting and the beauty of baseball. When you do it, it’s sweet music,” Lovullo said. “When you chase, you get yourself into bad counts.”

Both of Arizona’s runs were unearned on Saturday. Rookie Jose Fernandez has been a bright spot, batting .333 with two home runs for the Diamondbacks.

On the mound Sunday, Brandon Pfaadt (0-0, 7.50 ERA) will look to bounce back after allowing five runs across six innings in a no-decision against the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday. The Diamondbacks won 7-5. Pfaadt, 27, is 2-0 with a 5.66 ERA in four career starts against the Braves.

–Field Level Media

–Field Level Media