Sports
Mets, Braves meet in critical series with wild-card implications
Sep 13, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Spencer Schwellenbach (56) throws against the Los Angeles Dodgers in the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images
Over the next three days, the visiting New York Mets and the Atlanta Braves will most likely clarify the National League’s wild-card playoff scenario.
With six games left, the Mets (87-69) entered Monday tied with Arizona for the second wild-card spot. New York holds a two-game lead over the NL East rival Braves (85-71), who are trying to make the playoffs for the seventh straight season. Their series opener is Tuesday.
“These are big that we’re going to play,” Atlanta manager Brian Snitker said. “We’ve got six more and they’re all going to be big. We’ll just come up Tuesday and try to go 1-0.”
The season series between the two teams is tied at 5-5. They split a four-game series in New York in July. New York can clinch a playoff spot by winning two out of three.
“It’s going to be a lot of fun,” said New York outfielder Brandon Nimmo, who hit the winning home run to beat Philadelphia on Sunday. “It’s going to be a playoff atmosphere down there and we’ve been playing playoff baseball honestly for a week now. So we’re just going to take the same energy and attack it with everything we have.”
The pitching matchup for the opener features New York right-hander Luis Severino (11-6, 3.79) against Atlanta rookie righty Spencer Schwellenbach (7-7, 3.61).
Severino will make his 31st start and has been one of the staff’s most consistent performers, failing to pitch five innings only twice all season. He has won four straight decisions and beat Philadelphia on Thursday, working six innings and allowing three runs on five hits and two walks while striking out seven.
He has faced the Braves twice this season but has not received a decision. In 10 combined innings he has allowed four runs on 11 hits, five walks and 10 strikeouts. He is 1-1 with a 3.15 ERA in four career starts against Atlanta.
Schwellenbach has emerged as a bright young arm for the Braves, being recalled from Double-A in May — bypassing the Triple-A level — and making 19 major league starts. He has won two straight games and beat Cincinnati in his last outing on Wednesday by allowing one run in six innings.
In his only career appearance against the Mets on July 27, Schwellenbach earned a road win by pitching seven scoreless innings, striking out a career-high 11 and allowing only two hits.
It was thought the Braves might send ace Chris Sale to the mound in the series opener, but the decision was made to give the southpaw an extra day of rest. Sale and fellow left-hander Max Fried will start the final two games.
Atlanta got second baseman Ozzie Albies back from the injured list, but the switch hitter is restricted to batting from the right side. He went 2-for-15 with one homer in the three games against Miami over the weekend.
The Mets may get star shortstop Francisco Lindor back on Tuesday, even though he will need to play through the back pain that has limited him to one inning since Sept. 13. He took limited batting practice on Sunday. Lindor is hitting .271 with 31 homers, 86 RBIs and 27 stolen bases in 148 games.
In Lindor’s absence the Mets have used Luisangel Acuna, younger brother of injured Atlanta star Ronald Acuna Jr. In nine games, the younger Acuna is batting .379 with three home runs and six RBIs since being recalled from Triple-A Syracuse on Sept. 14.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
[Subscription Customers Only] Jun 30, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (9) celebrates scoring their second goal with midfielder Rodri (16) during a round of 16 match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images Manchester City will try to keep pace with Premier League front-runner Arsenal on Monday night when they pay a visit to an Everton side still on the fringes of the European picture.
City (21-5-7, 70 points) will begin the day six points back of Arsenal with two matches in hand after the Gunners dispatched Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. The Cityzens won’t be even on games played until May 13, when they make up a postponed match against Crystal Palace that was delayed because of City’s triumphant League Cup run.
As a result, there continues to be the appearance of a chase, although the teams would finish level on points if they win out.
Manager Pep Guardiola insists it shouldn’t matter.
“It’s normal, so it’s the calendar,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Sometimes you play first. Sometimes behind. It is what it is. So, nothing changes in these stages, and you know exactly what you have to do.”
City have won six in a row in all competitions, the last three by a single goal: A 2-1 home league win over the Gunners on April 19, a 1-0 league victory at Burnley three days later, and a 2-1 FA Cup semifinal triumph over Southampton on April 25.
Erling Haaland scored once in both league fixtures to bring his EPL-leading total to 24. In the FA Cup semifinal, Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez scored inside the final 10 minutes to complete a late rally.
Everton (13-13-8, 47 points) finished Saturday in 11th place, but only four points out of seventh, which currently would earn a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should City win the FA Cup, it could be the top eight English league finishers who earn a spot in Europe.
And if Everton could return to continental competition for the first time since 2017-18, it would conclude a much-improved first season at their new Hill Dickson Stadium, after bringing the curtain down on historic Goodison Park last May.
“We still believe there could be something out there for us. And we’ll keep pushing,” manager David Moyes said. “Building Everton back up is a process which I think is going to take quite a bit of time, but I think the first year or so here, we’ve certainly put decent foundations down. And hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
The Toffees are looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time this season after a 2-1 home loss to derby rivals Liverpool on April 19 and a 2-1 away defeat at West Ham last weekend.
Beto, one of two Everton players with eight goals, departed the former contest late with a head injury and missed the latter fixture working through the league’s concussion protocol. He should be available Monday night, Moyes said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series
May 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.
Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.
Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.
Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.
Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.
The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.
Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.
Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.
Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.
The four-game series concludes Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox
May 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.
Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.
Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.
Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.
Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.
The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.
Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.
–Field Level Media
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