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Max Fried stymies Royals in Braves' 3-0 win

MLB: Kansas City Royals at Atlanta BravesSep 27, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried (54) throws against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Max Fried scattered three hits over 8 2/3 scoreless innings and Sean Murphy belted a two-run homer to lift the host Atlanta Braves to a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.

Fried (11-10) retired the first 10 batters he faced and struck out nine batters overall to highlight his 98-pitch performance.

Marcell Ozuna scored on a throwing error in the eighth inning for the Braves (87-71), who have won four in a row to move within a half-game of both the New York Mets (87-70) and Arizona Diamondbacks (88-71) for one of the final two wild-card spots in the National League. The Mets and Diamondbacks were playing their respective games later Friday night.

Michael Massey had two doubles among the three hits for the Royals (85-75), who saw their three-game winning streak end. Kansas City can still punch its ticket to the postseason should the Minnesota Twins lose to the Baltimore Orioles later on Friday.

Fried got off to a fast start before Bobby Witt Jr. reached on an infield single with one out in the fourth inning. The left-hander induced Massey to hit into a fielder’s choice before picking him off first base to end the inning.

Massey hit a one-out double in the seventh before Fried retired the next two batters on three total pitches. Fried struck out two during the eighth inning and one more in the ninth before exiting after Witt walked and Massey doubled with two outs.

Raisel Iglesias induced a game-ending flyout from Salvador Perez on his only pitch to notch his 33rd save.

Atlanta opened the scoring in the fourth inning.

Jorge Soler had a one-out single to left field before Murphy stepped up two batters later and deposited an 0-2 sweeper from Brady Singer (9-13) over the wall in left field. Murphy’s homer was his 10th of the season.

Ozuna tacked on another run in the eighth inning after stealing third base and coming around to score after catcher Perez’s throw toward third sailed into left field.

Singer fell to 0-5 in his last seven outings after permitting two runs on four hits in six innings. He walked three and fanned five.

–Field Level Media

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Magic withstand Pistons’ rally to gain 2-1 series lead

NBA: Playoffs-Orlando Magic at Detroit PistonsApr 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

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Reds place slugger Eugenio Suarez (oblique) on 10-day IL

MLB: Cincinnati Reds at Minnesota TwinsApr 17, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Cincinnati Reds third baseman Eugenio Suarez (28) hits a double in the fourth inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Nick Wosika-Imagn Images

The Cincinnati Reds placed veteran designated hitter/third baseman Eugenio Suarez on the 10-day injured list Saturday due to a left oblique strain.

The move is retroactive to Thursday.

Cincinnati recalled outfielder JJ Bleday from Triple-A Louisville to fill the roster spot.

Reds manager Terry Francona doesn’t expect Suarez to be sidelined long.

“The hope is after possibly five or six days if symptoms are gone, we’ll get him imaged again,” Francona told reporters. “Then we’ll start to build him back up.”

Suarez was scratched from Friday’s lineup before a game against the Detroit Tigers about one hour before first pitch when he felt pain in his left side while swinging a bat. He underwent an MRI exam that detected the damage.

Suarez, 34, is batting .231 with three homers and 11 RBIs in 25 games. He signed a one-year, $15 million deal as a free agent in the offseason for his second tour of duty with Cincinnati. He also played for the Reds from 2015-21.

Suarez matched his career high of 49 homers last season while splitting time between the Arizona Diamondbacks (36 HRs) and the Seattle Mariners (13). He also hit 49 for the Reds in 2019.

Bleday, 28, was batting .341 with six homers and 19 RBIs in 24 games at Louisville. He nearly made the Cincinnati roster in spring training when he batted with .317 with four homers.

Bleday has 49 homers over four major league seasons with the Miami Marlins (2022) and Athletics (2023-25) but has just a .215 career average.

Cincinnati also recalled Jose Franco from Louisville and optioned fellow right-hander Kyle Nicolas to the same affiliate.

Franco, 25, had a 3.18 ERA in three appearances with the Reds earlier this season. Nicolas, 27, went 1-0 with an 8.59 ERA in seven appearances and walked 13 batters in just 7 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

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Alexander Zverev holds strong to remain perfect in Madrid openers

Tennis: Miami OpenMar 27, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Alexander Zverev of Germany reacts after missing a shot against against Jannik Sinner of Italy in the semi-finals of the men’s singles at the Miami Open at the Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images

Second-seeded Alexander Zverev of Germany maintained his composure to nab a three-set win to keep up his perfect record in opening round matches at the Mutua Madrid Open by taking down Argentina’s Mariano Navone 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 on Saturday.

The two-time Madrid Open winner improved to 9-0 in his first match at the tournament after receiving a first round bye. Zverev converted 4 of 8 break point attempts and had 22 winners to Navone’s six.

“It’s definitely a different type of tournament here,” Zverev said when asked about the high-altitude conditions. “I love it. You either love it or hate it, kind of, because there is no in between. Everything is a bit faster, the ball bounces higher, the serve is maybe a bit more effective. So you either love it or hate it. Winning the tournament twice here, of course I hope to add some more titles to that. I enjoy playing here.”

With the win, Zverev has a date in the round of 32 with France’s Terence Atmane, who beat his fellow countrymen Ugo Humbert, the No. 30 seed, 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5) earlier in the day.

Also advancing was defending champion and No. 12 seed Casper Ruud of Norway with his 6-0, 6-1 win over Spaniard Jaume Munar. Rudd maintained his serve without being broken and forced Munar into 17 unforced errors.

No. 3 seed and 2024 finalist Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada advanced past Lithuanian qualifier Vilius Gaubas 6-3, 6-4. Auger-Aliassime never faced a break point behind his dominant serve that yielded seven aces.

Facing off against Auger-Aliassime will be Belgium’s Alexander Blockx, who upset American and No. 28 Brandon Nakashima 3-6, 6-3, 6-4. The other big upset of the day was Paraguay’s Adolfo Daniel Vallejo beating 17-seed Learner Tien 6-4, 6-3. This was Daniel Vallejo’s first ever win over a top 75 opponent.

Vallejo will take on No. 10 Flavio Cobolli of Italy. He beat Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-7 (7), 6-1, 6-4.

In the other three-set match, seventh-seeded Daniil Medvedev held strong against Hungary’s Fabian Marozsan 6-2, 6-7 (3), 6-4.

In two-set action on the day, No. 13 Karen Khachanov of Russia took down Australia’s Adam Walton 6-2, 6-3; No. 16 Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina outdueled German Yannick Hanfmann 6-1, 7-5; No. 18 Luciano Darderi of Italy bested Argentina’s Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-1, 6-3; Spain’s No. 20-seed Alejandro Davidovich Fokina beat fellow countrymen Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3, 6-3 and No. 23 Jakub Mensik of Czechia got past qualifier Martin Damm 6-3, 6-4.

Spanish qualifier Daniel Merida upset No. 26 Corentin Moutet of France 6-3, 6-4; Norwegian qualifier Nicolai Budkov Kjaer dominated No. 31 Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-2, 6-1 and Greece’s Stefanos Tsitsipas got the best of No. 8 Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan 6-2, 7-5.

–Field Level Media

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