Sports
MLB roundup: Dodgers beat Rockies, spoil Blackmon’s farewell
Sep 29, 2024; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies outfielder Charlie Blackmon (19) and wife Ashley and daughter Josie and son Wyatt wave to fans following the loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Shohei Ohtani fell short in his bid to become the first National League Triple Crown winner since 1937, but Chris Taylor’s home run helped power the Los Angeles Dodgers to a 2-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on Sunday in Denver to spoil Charlie Blackmon’s final game.
Ohtani, who led the NL in home runs (54) and RBIs (130), finished with a .310 average after going 1-for-4 on Sunday. San Diego’s Luis Arraez went 1-for-3 to all but lock up the title with a .314 average. Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna finished Sunday at .304 and will have a slight chance to win the batting title on Monday, when the Braves and Mets play a doubleheader in Atlanta.
Ohtani also stole his 59th base and Teoscar Hernandez had two hits for the Dodgers (98-64), who finished the season with the best record in baseball.
Blackmon, who is retiring after 14 major league seasons spent entirely with the Rockies, was given a standing ovation before the game. He went 1-for-2 before being removed in the third to another standing ovation. Sam Hilliard homered, but Colorado (61-101) sent Blackmon into retirement with a loss.
Mets 5, Brewers 0
David Peterson tossed seven innings of one-hit ball and earned the win, and visiting New York beat Milwaukee to ensure itself an opportunity to play for a postseason berth Monday.
The win snapped a three-game losing streak for the Mets (88-72), who can clinch a National League wild-card spot by winning at least once in Atlanta against the Braves during Monday’s makeup doubleheader. The teams had the final two games of their series postponed last week due to Hurricane Helene.
The Mets are in a virtual tie for the final two wild-card spots with the Arizona Diamondbacks (89-73) and the Braves (88-72). Francisco Lindor was 2-for-4 with a homer, two RBIs and two stolen bases against the NL Central-winning Brewers (93-69), who are slated to begin an NL wild-card series Tuesday against the sixth seed.
Diamondbacks 11, Padres 2
Ketel Marte’s two-run home run highlighted a six-run fourth inning as Arizona kept its wild-card playoff hopes alive with a victory over San Diego in Phoenix.
Eugenio Suarez and Randal Grichuk also homered for the Diamondbacks (89-73), who now await the results of the Mets-Braves doubleheader on Monday. Arizona starter Brandon Pfaadt (11-10) allowed two runs (one earned) on three hits over 5 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out nine.
Elias Diaz and Jake Cronenworth drove in runs for the Padres (93-69), who will host a wild-card playoff series beginning Tuesday.
Royals 4, Braves 2
Visiting Kansas City got home runs from Michael Massey and Hunter Renfroe to beat Atlanta, salvaging a game from their three-game series and preventing the hosts from clinching a spot in the postseason.
Gio Urshela homered for the Braves (88-72), who now need one win over the Mets in Monday’s doubleheader to secure a wild-card spot.
Alec Marsh (9-9) pitched five solid innings and allowed two runs (one earned) on five hits and two strikeouts for the Royals (86-76), who head into a wild-card series against the Baltimore Orioles.
White Sox 9, Tigers 5
Lenyn Sosa hit a three-run homer and visiting Chicago closed out its season with a win over playoff-bound Detroit.
Sosa had three hits and scored three runs and Bryan Ramos supplied two hits, two runs and two RBIs for the White Sox (41-121), who won five of their last six games.
Kerry Carpenter blasted a grand slam for the Tigers (86-76), who clinched an American League wild-card playoff berth when they beat the White Sox on Friday. Detroit will travel to Houston to face the AL West champion Astros in the playoff opener on Tuesday.
Orioles 6, Twins 2
James McCann hit a three-run home run, Jordan Westburg drove in a pair and Baltimore pulled away to defeat Minnesota in Minneapolis.
Heston Kjerstad hit a solo home run for the Orioles, who completed a three-game sweep to finish the regular season. The Orioles will return home to host the Royals in the American League wild-card series, beginning Tuesday.
DaShawn Keirsey Jr. hit his first career home run for Minnesota. Carlos Santana hit a solo shot for the Twins, who finished the season with 27 losses in their last 39 games to squander a shot at the postseason.
Phillies 6, Nationals 3
Kyle Schwarber and Weston Wilson each drove in two runs as Philadelphia wrapped up its regular season with a road victory over Washington.
Kody Clemens made a game-saving catch in left field to seal the victory for Philadelphia (95-67), which finished with its highest win total since going 102-60 in 2011. The Phillies will head to the playoffs for the third straight season — this time as the No. 2 seed in the National League — and will play their postseason opener Saturday at home.
In his final tune-up for the postseason, Philadelphia’s Aaron Nola (14-8) struck out seven in five innings. He gave up three runs and nine hits, including a liner off his right hip, although he stayed in the game. Washington finished 71-91 for the second straight season, marking the club’s fourth straight 90-loss-plus campaign. Dylan Crews went 3-for-3 and Luis Garcia Jr. homered.
Yankees 6, Pirates 4
Alex Verdugo hit a tiebreaking two-run single with two outs in the bottom of the eighth inning and New York held on for a win against visiting Pittsburgh.
Trent Grisham had a two-run home run and an RBI single and Gleyber Torres had two doubles and scored twice for the Yankees (94-68), who will open the American League Division Series at home next Saturday.
Joey Bart had two hits, an RBI and a run and Joshua Palacios drove in two runs for the Pirates (76-86), who finished last in the National League Central.
Reds 3, Cubs 0 (10 innings)
Elly De La Cruz drove in a pair on a go-ahead triple while Jake Fraley finished 3-for-4 as visiting Cincinnati beat Chicago in 10 innings.
After nine scoreless innings, De La Cruz slashed a two-run triple off Ethan Roberts (1-1). Tyler Stephenson then added an insurance run with a single, extending the Reds’ lead to 3-0. Cincinnati (77-85) snapped a five-game losing streak but missed the playoffs for the fourth straight year.
Chicago had its two-game winning streak snapped as the offense mustered just three hits. The Cubs finished 83-79 for a second consecutive year and missed the playoffs for a fourth straight season.
Red Sox 3, Rays 1
Quinn Priester limited visiting Tampa Bay to one run on four hits in five innings to help Boston avoid a three-game sweep.
Priester, called up from Triple-A Worcester on Sunday, was making his debut with Boston after being acquired from Pittsburgh at this year’s trade deadline. He struck out two and walked one. Priester (3-6) went 2-6 with a 5.04 ERA in 10 games with the Pirates earlier this year.
The victory ended Boston’s three-game losing streak. The Red Sox (81-81) finished third in the American League East. The Rays (80-82) posted their first losing season since 2017 and finished fourth in the East.
Cardinals 6, Giants 1
Brendan Donovan homered, Alec Burleson drove in three runs and visiting St. Louis denied San Francisco a .500 season with a season-ending victory.
Rookie Michael McGreevy (3-0) completed an unbeaten season with eight strong innings, helping the Cardinals take two of three in the series to wrap up a 6-2 year-ending run. St. Louis (83-79) finished in a tie with the Chicago Cubs for second place in the National League Central.
Hayden Birdsong (5-6) was pulled after Burleson’s hit, charged with three runs on four hits in 4 1/3 innings. He walked three and struck out 11. Casey Schmitt had two hits and a run for the Giants (80-82), who took fourth place in the NL West.
Marlins 3, Blue Jays 1
Jonah Bride had two hits, a walk and two RBIs as visiting Miami defeated Toronto to complete a three-game sweep.
Otto Lopez — a former Blue Jay — and Xavier Edwards added two hits each for Miami (62-100), which won its last four games.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. went 0-for-2 with two walks for Toronto (74-88) to finish the season with 199 hits. He was trying to become the sixth Blue Jay to reach 200 hits in a season. Toronto finished the season with a 1-5 homestand and dropped eight of its final nine contests.
Rangers 8, Angels 0
Nathan Eovaldi worked seven scoreless innings and rookie Dustin Harris went 2-for-4 with three RBIs to help Texas sweep the series against Los Angeles in Anaheim, Calif.
Eovaldi (12-8) struck out five while yielding four hits for the Rangers (78-84), and Harris hit his first major league home run in his second career game.
Starter Jack Kochanowicz (2-6) gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings for the Angels (63-99), who dropped six in a row and nine of their final 10 games.
Mariners 6, Athletics 4
Logan Gilbert took a perfect game into the sixth inning and Cal Raleigh homered for a third consecutive game as Seattle defeated visiting Oakland to sweep the three-game series.
Gilbert (9-12) retired the first 17 batters he faced before Oakland’s Nick Allen lined a single to left field with two outs in the sixth. That was it for the right-hander, who struck out seven. Justin Turner added a two-run double for the Mariners (85-77), who fell short of the playoffs despite winning eight of their last 10 games.
Tyler Nevin and Darell Hernaiz both drove in two runs for the A’s (69-93), who were wearing their gray road uniforms with “Oakland” stitched across the front for the final time.
–Field Level Media
Sports
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
Oct 1, 2024; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Las Vegas Aces center A’ja Wilson (22) and New York Liberty forward Breanna Stewart (30) during game two of the 2024 WNBA Semi-finals at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images LAS VEGAS — Entering her eighth season in the WNBA, Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson is poised to build on what was arguably the most dominant individual campaign in league history.
Wilson joined Cynthia Cooper (1997) as the second player in league history to win a unanimous MVP award and joined an exclusive club as the fourth player to win the award three times. She averaged 26.9 points and 11.9 rebounds per game last season and set the all-time single-season mark for points (1,021) and rebounds (451).
Unfortunately for Las Vegas, injuries and fatigue from their two previous championship runs mounted and resulted in the team’s worst regular-season record (27-13) since 2019. The Aces’ three-peat hopes ended with a 76-62 home loss to the New York Liberty to drop their semifinal series 3-1.
It’s that loss on her home floor that served as Wilson’s motivation this offseason.
“Losing sucks, especially on your home court,” Wilson said “It still kind of burns a little bit, but I’ve used that as fuel to help my teammates understand how hard it is to win in this league. Yes, we can celebrate the two championships. They were great. But for us to move forward, we have to understand how hard this league is and value the basketball and the little things. I think that’s what we lacked last season, so we’re going to make sure that we can show up better than we did.”
While the Aces appeared to be on top of the world heading into their potential three-peat campaign in 2024, the reality inside the locker room was that both the internal and external pressure to win another championship had become suffocating. A common theme across media day was the fact that the team feels less pressure entering the 2025 season, a sentiment Wilson shared as the unquestioned leader of the team.
“(Three-peat talks) obviously impacted us, because it’s like, y’all think we don’t want to win? We’re trying as well,” Wilson said.
“I would definitely say it’s refreshing this year. I feel like this is one of my only years where it feels like there’s no weight. There’s a lot of weight to be defending champs. It’s a lot of weight to be trying to win one. We don’t have that. We actually have a clean slate to really dial into getting back to who we are culturally, like, in our system and everything.”
Leading the Aces back to the top of the mountain for a third time in four years is one of a few historically significant achievements Wilson can collect this upcoming season. Wilson could also become the first four-time MVP in league history, though the meaning of that is something she hasn’t quite allowed herself to ponder yet.
“I haven’t given it much thought, but it would be a blessing to have my name in that conversation,” Wilson said. “Every year, I try to be better than I was the year before just to give myself a chance in this league. Because the league is getting better. We’re growing. At this point, you just want to maintain your stamina. You want to maintain your mental, all of that, because the season gets hard. I can’t think too much about that just yet, but I’m definitely going to try to be better than I was last year.”
As Aces coach Becky Hammon put it, fans can expect to see an even better version of Wilson this season.
“What I see is, she went and got better,” Hammon said. “Which is hard to do when you’re already the best, but it speaks to her work ethic, her desire and her mindset this whole offseason. We talked a lot this offseason. She’s a busy lady, but I can tell you what she always does is her workouts. She’s always getting her workouts in. That comes first and foremost, she never gets her priorities jumbled up.”
When Hammon was asked what a player like Wilson would possibly need to improve after last season’s campaign, the coach did not feel like revealing too much.
“There was (something for Wilson to improve), and she did,” Hammon said. “I’m not going to tell you what it was. Actually, there were two things.”
–Will Despart, Field Level Media
Sports
Jacob Wilson joins Aaron Judge in spotlight for Yankees-A's series
May 5, 2025; West Sacramento, California, USA; Athletics shortstop Jacob Wilson (5) throws to first for an out against the Seattle Mariners during the seventh inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images The top two hitters in the majors square off Friday night when the New York Yankees face the Athletics in the opener of a three-game series in Sacramento, Calif.
It’s no surprise to see Yankees star Aaron Judge off to a superb start after winning American League MVP honors last season. He has a major league-best .400 batting average and entered Thursday’s play tied for the big-league lead with 12 homers and 34 RBIs.
But who had Athletics rookie Jacob Wilson ranking second in the majors at .357 as the season nears the quarter pole? Wilson has played in just 64 career games and quickly has solidified himself as a future All-Star, perhaps even this season.
Sharing the marquee board with Judge seems quite surreal for the 23-year-old shortstop who was the No. 6 overall pick of the 2023 draft.
“It’s a great feeling, for sure,” Wilson said of his name being mentioned with Judge. “Obviously, everybody has seen what he is doing. It’s pretty incredible watching him do his thing on a daily basis. To be up there with him is pretty cool for me.
“I’m excited to play against him this week and see what it looks like in person.”
Wilson had his first career four-hit game during Wednesday’s 6-5 home loss against the Seattle Mariners and has six multi-hit outings in the past eight games. He went 8-for-14 with one game-winning hit in the three-game series against the Mariners and is 16-for-34 (.471) with four walks during the eight-game stretch.
The hot hitting led to Athletics manager Mark Kotsay moving Wilson to the leadoff spot on Wednesday. Kotsay indicated Wilson may be sticking at the top of the lineup.
“I think you’ll see Jacob up there now,” Kotsay said. “Jacob’s earned it. … Jacob has shown enough over the last week. He’s walking and taking pitches, and, obviously, swinging the bat really well.”
Judge arrives in Sacramento in the midst of a four-game funk in which he is 2-for-15.
The two-time MVP just went 1-for-10 in a three-game home series against the San Diego Padres, but the one hit was a homer.
Judge grew up 50 miles south of Sacramento in Linden and starred for Linden High but wasn’t highly sought by major league teams. The then-Oakland Athletics selected him in the 31st round in 2010.
Judge instead went the college route and starred for Fresno State. He was chosen in the first round (32nd overall) by the Yankees in the 2013 draft.
Trent Grisham was one of the heroes of Wednesday’s 4-3, 10-inning win over the Padres. He hit a tying two-run pinch-hit homer in the eighth inning.
Grisham had two homers and five RBIs in the series against the Padres — one of his former teams — and already has 10 long balls in just 89 at-bats. He hit just nine last season in 179 at-bats.
“I’m having fun with the guys, I would say that more than anything,” Grisham said. “The clubhouse is really good in here, led by Cap (Judge). So, I would say the guys have been the most enjoyable part.”
New York is starting right-hander Will Warren (1-2, 5.65 ERA) in Friday’s series opener. Right-hander Osvaldo Bido (2-2, 4.71) will be on the mound for the Athletics.
Warren, 25, struck out a career-high eight in 4 2/3 innings while losing to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. He gave up five runs (three earned) and seven hits. Warren hasn’t previously faced the Athletics.
Bido, 29, received a no-decision against the Miami Marlins last Saturday when he gave up four runs on three hits over five innings. He is winless (0-1) over his last three starts. Bido hasn’t faced the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao coming out of retirement
Aug 21, 2021; Las Vegas, Nevada; Manny Pacquiao (right) fights Yordenis Ugas in a world welterweight championship bout at T-Mobile Arena. Mandatory Credit: Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images Boxing legend Manny Pacquiao plans to end his retirement and return to the ring on July 19 against Mario Barrios in Las Vegas, ESPN reported Thursday.
Pacquiao, 46, will be fighting for the first time since losing a unanimous decision to Yordenis Ugas in 2021.
The fight will be for Barrios’ WBC welterweight championship belt. Barrios turns 30 on May 18.
Pacquiao is an eight-division champion who is slated to be inducted into the boxing Hall of Fame in June. He reportedly will formally announce his return to boxing next week. The report stated that Pacquiao has been cleared to compete by the Nevada State Athletic Commission.
In recent years, Pacquiao has been focusing on his political career in the Philippines.
The boxer nicknamed “PacMan” has a 62-8-2 record with 39 knockouts during his career. He won his first major title — the WBC flyweight crown — at age 19 in 1998.
Pacquiao was 54-3-2 prior to turning 33 and 8-5 afterward. One of those losses was to Floyd Mayweather Jr. via unanimous decision in 2015, a bout that reportedly drew nearly $400 million in pay-per-view sales.
Barrios (29-2-1, 18 knockouts) fought to a 12-round, split-decision draw against Abel Ramos last November. This will be his third defense since winning the title by beating Ugas in 2023.
–Field Level Media
A'ja Wilson has no shortage of motivation after Aces' early exit in '24
Best Mothers Day gifts: Show mom some love
