Sports
Marlins in position to pull off sweep of Nationals
Jun 1, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Miami Marlins left fielder Heriberto Hernandez (13) reacts after hitting a home run against the Washington Nationals during the sixth inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images The Washington Nationals will try to cool off Miami’s Heriberto Hernandez and salvage the finale of a three-game series when they host the Marlins on Wednesday.
Hernandez hit two of the Marlins’ four home runs in a 7-3 win on Tuesday. It was his first career multi-homer game, and it gave him three long balls in the series.
Joe Mack, Hernandez and Otto Lopez hit back-to-back-to-back home runs in the fifth inning after the Marlins were held hitless through the first four frames.
Washington had won or split six consecutive series since losing two of three May 8-10 in Miami. The Marlins came to Washington with a five-game losing streak but now will go for their second series sweep in two weeks.
The Marlins will send right-hander Max Meyer (5-0, 2.97 ERA) out against left-hander Andrew Alvarez (1-0, 4.02) in the finale.
Meyer is coming off his worst start of the season. After tossing 13 scoreless innings in consecutive wins against the Atlanta Braves and New York Mets, the Mets roughed him up on Friday. Meyer went six innings and gave up six runs (five earned) on six hits in a no-decision.
Meyer lost his only career start against Washington when he permitted five runs in 5 2/3 innings on Sept. 3, 2024.
Alvarez will be making his sixth appearance and first start of the season. He has worked in long and short relief as well as following an opener. Last time out, he went three innings against the San Diego Padres on Friday and gave up three runs on five hits. He threw 74 pitches.
“Just wasn’t as sharp today,” manager Blake Butera said of Alvarez after that contest. “Felt like when he was getting two strikes, it was just foul ball after foul ball. He wasn’t able to get the swing and miss with two strikes.”
Alvarez won his lone career start against the Marlins, when he tossed five shutout innings of one-hit ball in his major league debut on Sept. 1, 2025.
The teams’ Tuesday night game was quiet until the fifth inning, when a walk was followed by three consecutive Miami home runs. Mack started things off with his first big-league long ball.
“For Joe Mack to get his first career homer in a big spot like that — good for him, and certainly for us,” manager Clayton McCullough said. “And (for) Bert and Otto to follow up right away, it’s certainly a big boost.”
Lopez finished 2-for-5, and he leads the majors with 80 hits. Hernandez has hit safely in six of his past seven games, amassing four homers and 10 RBIs in that span.
Nationals pitcher Miles Mikolas had been steadily lowering his ERA after a poor start to the season, but he gave up six runs on six hits, including the back-to-back-to-back bombs, in six-plus innings.
“When I can keep the ball down, I’m really successful,” he said. “Once I start to float up to that thigh, belt area with those fastballs, big-league hitters are going to hit that.”
CJ Abrams singled and scored in the seventh inning for Washington, and he has reached safely in 21 of his past 22 games. He is batting .304 (24-for-79) with seven doubles, a triple, three homers, nine walks, 15 runs and 11 RBIs during that stretch.
The Nationals went 1-for-9 with runners in scoring position on Tuesday, including 0-for-5 with a runner on third base in the seventh and eighth innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rangers score 3 runs in 9th inning to subdue Cardinals
Jun 2, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Texas Rangers second baseman Nicky Lopez (33) throws out St. Louis Cardinals second baseman JJ Wetherholt (26) during the second inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Joc Pederson had three hits, including a go-ahead RBI single in a three-run ninth inning, and the visiting Texas Rangers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-4 on Tuesday.
Josh Jung followed with a run-scoring single against Riley O’Brien (3-3) to help Texas extend its winning streak to a season-high five games. Pederson scored on Brandon Nimmo’s sacrifice fly to cap the decisive rally.
Kyle Higashioka had three hits for the Rangers, who won despite being outhit 13-9.
Cal Quantrill (3-0) recorded the final out in the eighth inning before Jakob Junis worked around a two-out single in the ninth for his fourth save.
Nolan Gorman hit a solo homer for St. Louis, which lost for the seventh time in its last nine games. Alec Burleson and Jimmy Crooks each contributed a pair of hits and an RBI. The Cardinals went 3-for-14 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 baserunners.
The Rangers’ starting rotation shutout streak ended at 28 innings with a run in the second inning against Nathan Eovaldi, who allowed Crooks’ one-out RBI single.
The 28-inning scoreless streak is the third-longest in franchise history and the longest for Texas since July 9-16, 2011, when the run ended after 30 1/3 scoreless frames.
Gorman added to the lead with a one-out homer in the fourth inning. The 373-foot shot was Gorman’s seventh homer this season.
Texas pulled even with two runs against Dustin May in the fifth inning. Evan Carter hit a one-out single, moved to third on Higashioka’s single and scored on Nicky Lopez’s fielder’s choice grounder. Pederson tied the game with an RBI double to right field, scoring Lopez from first.
The Rangers moved ahead in the sixth inning when Alejandro Osuna’s two-out single scored Jake Burger from second base.
May allowed three runs on five hits with two walks and nine strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings.
Texas added to its lead with a run in the seventh inning. With runners on the corners and one out, Higashioka scored on Jung’s sacrifice fly.
St. Louis pulled even in the bottom of the seventh. Burleson doubled in a run and Jordan Walker added an RBI single against Eovaldi, who gave up four runs on 11 hits with one walk and seven strikeouts over six-plus innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Aaron Donald’s Return Would Make the Rams’ Myles Garrett Trade a Victory
If Aaron Donald comes out of retirement to suit up for the Rams, then Los Angeles officially wins the Myles Garrett trade.
Really, if the trade results in a Super Bowl championship for Los Angeles, the trade is a win. But Donald and Garrett on the same defensive line with that offense would be lethal.
According to ESPN’s Pat McAfee and NFL insider Jordan Schultz, Donald is contemplating coming out of retirement if he could find the fire to lace up the cleats one more time. Garrett’s arrival in Los Angeles has piqued Donald’s interest following the legendary defensive tackle’s retirement in 2024.
Garrett, Donald and newly-acquired superstar cornerback Trent McDuffie would make life a living hell for NFC West quarterbacks including turnover-prone Super Bowl champion Sam Darnold, Jacoby Brissett and Brock Purdy. The Rams are already a big Super Bowl favorite, if they added Donald, even at 35, those odds would move even further.
The Rams sent the Cleveland Browns defensive end Jared Verse, a 2027 first round pick, 2028 second round pick and 2029 third round pick. After Rams general manager Les Snead drafted Ty Simpson No. 13 overall, Los Angeles felt comfortable going all in for Garrett.
A Super Bowl is the expectation. Anything less would be a disappointment.
Offensively, the Rams should be loaded. They’re returning Matthew Stafford for his age 38 season. The reigning MVP is defying time, battling through back injuries to lead the Rams through another Super Bowl title window. Puka Nacua, Davante Adams and Kyren Williams are all star players in their respective ways, giving Stafford plenty of options to put up points.
Why Garrett could be even more dangerous on the Rams
That’s what could make this Garrett thing even more lethal, with or without Donald in Los Angeles.
Last season, Garrett broke the NFL’s single-season sack record with 23. The Browns won only five games. Many of Cleveland’s 12 losses were blowout defeats. Yet still, Garrett was finding ways to get sacks when the other team was running the ball with a massive lead.
In Los Angeles, Garrett will be exposed to something relatively unfamiliar – playing with the lead. This is going to allow him to pin his ears back and get after the quarterback at a rate unlike anything we’ve ever seen before. If Donald returns, opposing offensive lines won’t sleep the entire week leading up to the Rams on the schedule.
Even after breaking the single-season sack record and winning back-to-back NFL Defensive Player of the Year awards, Garrett still feels underrated. But he’s such a generational talent that his arrival in Los Angeles is causing another all-time great in Donald to contemplate giving it one last go.
Sports
Rookie hurler Gage Jump, Athletics shut down slumping Cubs
Jun 2, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Athletics third baseman Zack Gelof (20) reacts after hitting an RBI-single against the Chicago Cubs during the fourth inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Gage Jump pitched seven stellar innings in his second big league start and Zack Gelof had the decisive tiebreaking single to lift the Athletics to a 2-1 victory over the host Chicago Cubs on Tuesday night.
Jump (1-1) allowed one run and three hits and retired the final 14 batters he faced in an 85-pitch effort. He struck out five and walked one.
Nick Kurtz homered to help the Athletics win for just the third time in the past 10 games.
Justin Sterner pitched a perfect eighth inning and Hogan Harris replaced an ineffective Scott Barlow to record the final out for his fifth save.
Before Harris retired the final batter, Barlow encountered troubles in the ninth as Nico Horner led off with a walk and Pete Crow-Armstrong followed with a single, Chicago’s first hit since the second inning. Barlow then struck out Alex Bregman and retired Seiya Suzuki before being pulled.
The left-handed Harris came in, forcing the switch-hitting Happ to bat right-handed. Harris retired Happ on a fly to center to end it.
Bregman had the lone RBI for the slumping Cubs, who lost for the 13th time in their past 16 games.
Jameson Taillon (2-5) gave up two runs and six hits over 6 1/3 innings. He struck out six and walked one. Taillon has allowed nine homers over his past four outings.
The A’s took the 2-1 lead in the fourth when Brent Rooker and Henry Bolte hit consecutive one-out singles to put runners on first and second. One out later, Gelof lined a single up the middle over the leap of Chicago second baseman Hoerner and into center to score Rooker.
Jump didn’t get off a great start, giving up singles to Hoerner and Crow-Armstrong in the bottom of the first. Crow-Armstrong proceeded to steal second.
Bregman’s infield grounder scored Hoerner. But the uprising was short-circuited when A’s catcher Shea Langeliers gunned out Crow-Armstrong trying to steal third. Jump then struck out Suzuki to end the inning.
In the second, Jump hit Happ with a pitch and allowed a one-out single to Michael Busch, the Cubs’ final hit off the 23-year-old. The inning ended when Langeliers threw out Kevin Alcantara trying to steal second with runners at the corners.
The Athletics tied the game in the third when Kurtz came up with two outs and smacked an 0-1 sweeper from Taillon over the wall in left-center.
–Field Level Media
Rangers score 3 runs in 9th inning to subdue Cardinals
The New Star Wars Movie Just Made History In The Worst Possible Way
