Sports
Miles Kelly, No. 1 Auburn bring hot hands to No. 22 Texas A&M
Mar 1, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Auburn Tigers forward Chaney Johnson celebrates with guard Miles Kelly after the game against the Kentucky Wildcats at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images National Player of the Year candidate Johni Broome receives most of the attention for top-ranked Auburn’s stellar season, but other players have stepped up to deliver key performances.
It was senior guard Miles Kelly who excelled in that role in the Tigers’ last contest and he will look to deliver another strong outing when Auburn faces No. 22 Texas A&M on Tuesday night in Southeastern Conference play at College Station, Texas.
The Tigers (27-2, 15-1 SEC) have nothing to play for Tuesday after clinching the outright regular-season title on Saturday — and nobody’s questioning their credentials as a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
Texas A&M (20-9, 9-7) figures to be quite hungry after losing four consecutive games.
Auburn is coming off a stellar 94-78 victory over then-No. 17 Kentucky, its first victory in Lexington in 37 years and just its third in 54 overall visits.
Kelly was hotter than lava as he made a career-best nine 3-pointers and scored a season-high 30 points. He personally ended the Tigers’ 20-game losing streak on Kentucky’s floor.
“At shootaround, I fell in love with the rims,” Kelly said. “Everything I was putting up at shootaround was going in. I knew I would get some looks early and I knocked them down. My teammates did a great job of finding me.”
The big performance lifted Kelly’s scoring average to 11.5, third on the squad behind Broome (18.4) and Chad Baker-Mazara (13.0). He has knocked down a team-best 69 treys and is making 41.1 percent of his shots from behind the arc.
Kelly spent three seasons at Georgia Tech before transferring to Auburn after last season.
He established career highs in scoring (14.4 points per game) and 3-pointers (89) as a sophomore with the Yellow Jackets. But as a junior, his overall shooting fell to 36.9 percent and his proficiency from 3-point range was just 32.1 percent.
Baker-Mazara matched his season high of 22 points against Kentucky and reserve Tahaad Pettiford scored 21 points on a day in which Broome had just nine points.
Texas A&M was sailing along with five straight victories before the current four-game slide that includes Saturday’s 89-70 loss at then-No. 3 Florida.
The Aggies had just three assists on 23 baskets and shot 39 percent from the floor against the Gators. Florida outscored Texas A&M 42-15 from the 3-point line, which could be a good sign for Kelly.
“(The Gators) are very proficient in how they play, very efficient in how they play,” Aggies coach Buzz Williams said. “I think how we play defensively somewhat encourages threes. And so teams that have as many shooters as they have and are as comfortable with the ball, it will probably lead to high assists and high threes.”
Zhuric Phelps scored 16 points to lead the Aggies and Pharrel Payne added 14.
Wade Taylor IV was just 1 of 7 from 3-point range while scoring 11 points. Taylor leads Texas A&M in scoring (15.1) and 3-pointers (61), but he’s shooting just 32.4 percent behind the arc.
“I do think regardless of the opponent, he commands attention,” Williams said of Taylor. “Some of it is because of his ability to score. Some of it is because in many respects, he makes good decisions that help our team.”
Texas A&M also has lost to then-No. 21 Mississippi State and then-No. 6 Tennessee during its skid, but the one that hurt most was falling 86-84 at home to Vanderbilt.
The Aggies are tied for sixth with Ole Miss in the SEC race and badly need a big effort on Tuesday. Their regular-season finale is Saturday at LSU.
Auburn won last season’s lone meeting, dispatching visiting Texas A&M 66-55.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braves RF Ronald Acuna Jr. leaves Rockies game with hamstring tightness
May 1, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr. (13) before the game against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images Braves right fielder Ronald Acuna Jr. left Saturday’s game at the Colorado Rockies with left hamstring tightness.
Acuna grabbed at his hamstring and pulled up when attempting to run out a grounder he hit in the second inning in Denver. He limped off the field under his own power after being examined by the team’s medical staff.
The 2023 National League MVP, Acuna entered the day hitting .248 with two homers and nine RBIs in 33 games. He led off the game with a single and scored when Drake Baldwin followed with a home run.
Acuna was replaced in right field by Eli White, who is hitting .186 with two homers and seven RBIs in 19 games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pirates wreck Reds; tie MLB record for consecutive walks
May 2, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Home plate umpire Willie Traynow keeps Cincinnati Reds second baseman Sal Stewart (27) away from Pittsburgh Pirates cvatcher Henry Davis after he was nearly hit by the ball during the seventh inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Philip G. Pavely-Imagn Images The host Pittsburgh Pirates scored 15 runs in the first four innings and took advantage of record wildness by the Cincinnati Reds to roll to a 17-7 victory on Saturday.
Rookie Konnor Griffin doubled, tripled and went 4-for-5 while driving in two, while Ryan O’Hearn doubled and drove in three as the top eight hitters in the Pirates lineup each had at least one hit while seven batters had at least two hits.
Pittsburgh also drew seven consecutive walks in the second inning — tying a major league record set in 1909 and equaled in 1983. The Pirates scored five runs in the second without a hit, becoming the first team to accomplish the feat since 1994.
Right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski (2-2) was the beneficiary of the offensive outburst. He struck out a career-high 10 while scattering eight hits, two walks and five runs over 5 2/3 innings.
Will Benson and JJ Bleday homered and Nathaniel Lowe drove in three runs for the Reds, who trailed 15-3 after four innings. Cincinnati starter Rhett Lowder (3-2) surrendered eight runs, five hits and four walks before being removed with one out in the second.
Since losing 2-0 to Cincinnati in their first meeting on March 30, Pittsburgh has won the last four by a combined 42-14 score.
For a second straight day, the game was played in raw conditions, with a game-time temperature of 43 degrees.
Lowder appeared miserable in the cold and struggled badly early. He was unable to find his rhythm or command while allowing four runs before there were two outs in the first inning. The five runs allowed in the first were a career high for the right-hander.
Lowder labored through 30 pitches in the first as O’Hearn, Marcell Ozuna and Griffin each doubled in the five-run outburst. Lowder then walked the bases loaded in the second before being pulled.
Reliever Connor Phillips came in and walked all four Pirates he faced to force in four runs. He left after throwing just five of his 21 pitches for strikes.
The last time seven straight walks were issued in a Major League game came on May 25, 1983, when three Pirates pitchers walked seven in a row at Atlanta in a 6-0 Braves win.
The five runs without a hit in the second happened for the first time since April 27, 1994, when the Seattle Mariners allowed five runs to the New York Yankees in the top of the third inning.
With the score 15-6, Pittsburgh reliever Chris Devenski was ejected for throwing inside near the ribcage of Sal Stewart to open the seventh. Stewart took exception and stared out at the mound. But the encounter did not escalate as umpires intervened.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Max Meyer, 2 relievers hold Phillies to 1 hit
May 2, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Max Meyer (23) throws against the Philadelphia Phillies during the first inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Rhona Wise-Imagn Images Max Meyer only allowed one hit in seven shutout innings and Xavier Edwards homered in the host Miami Marlins’ 4-0 win over the Philadelphia Phillies on Saturday
Meyer (2-0) faced one over the minimum number of batters with a walk and seven strikeouts in the longest start of his career. He threw 55 strikes in 83 pitches.
Anthony Bender and Andrew Nardi each retired the side in order in the combined one-hitter.
Otto Lopez and Edwards each had two hits with a run and an RBI and Connor Norby was 2-for-3 with a run batted in for the Marlins, who evened the four-game series at one win each.
Garrett Stubbs got the lone hit for the Phillies, who had their four-game winning streak under interim manager Don Mattingly snapped. Kyle Schwarber was 0-for-3 with three strikeouts and has struck out in all eight at-bats over his last two games, tying a career high for consecutive strikeouts.
Philadelphia right-hander Andrew Painter (1-3) gave up three runs on seven hits in five innings with three walks and seven strikeouts.
The Marlins took a 2-0 lead in the third on consecutive bases-loaded, two-out walks to Agustin Ramirez and Norby.
It was the second straight inning Miami loaded the bases with one out with three consecutive singles. In the second, Painter got Graham Pauley on a foul out and struck out Esteury Ruiz swinging to end the inning.
Edwards’ one-out solo homer in the fifth made it 3-0. He drove Painter’s 1-1 four-seam fastball into the right-field stands for his second home run.
Lopez’s infield single with two outs in the sixth increased the Marlins’ advantage to 4-0.
Stubbs singled in the third with one out and was erased on an inning-ending double play.
Justin Crawford was scratched from the Phillies’ lineup because of a migraine.
Philadelphia also activated catcher J.T, Realmuto from the 10-day injured list (back spasms) earlier Saturday and designated Dylan Moore for assignment. Realmuto was hitless in three at-bats.
–Field Level Media
Braves RF Ronald Acuna Jr. leaves Rockies game with hamstring tightness
Pirates wreck Reds; tie MLB record for consecutive walks
