Sports
Nationals try to bring good vibes home vs. road-challenged Twins
Apr 29, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Washington Nationals second baseman Nasim Nunez (26) catches a pop fly by New York Mets center fielder Tyrone Taylor (not pictured) during the sixth inning at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Something’s bound to give when the Minnesota Twins visit the Washington Nationals for a three-game series beginning Tuesday night.
The Twins are tied with the Miami Marlins for the fewest road wins (five) in the majors, while the Nationals — who have been strong on the road — have posted the fewest home wins (four).
Washington won its first game at Nationals Park since April 21 on Sunday, salvaging the finale of a three-game series against the Milwaukee Brewers with a 3-2 win. The Twins beat the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 Sunday to earn a four-game series split.
Minnesota right-hander Taj Bradley (3-1, 2.85 ERA) opposes Washington right-hander Cade Cavalli (1-1, 3.82) in the series opener.
Bradley, 25, has given up two earned runs or fewer in six of his seven starts this season. On April 24 he gave up six runs in 6 1/3 innings of a loss to his former team, the Tampa Bay Rays, but in his last start he bounced back. In a no-decision against the Seattle Mariners, Bradley allowed two runs and four hits over seven innings while striking out seven and walking two.
“I think I had command of my off-speed (pitches) early, and I feel like I could pitch backwards, pitch forwards, and I felt like I had good command of the fastball,” Bradley said.
He won his only previous start against Washington, tossing 5 2/3 scoreless innings.
Cavalli has allowed two earned runs and struck out 10 batters in each of his past two starts, against the Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets. Cavalli picked up his first win against the Mets, spreading out eight hits and two walks over six innings.
“You probably have to do it more than once or twice to say, like: ‘Alright, this is real,'” Nationals manager Blake Butera said. “Now, we know what he’s capable of. We’ve seen it. I think the last outing is the Cade we expect to see and want to see.”
Cavalli has never faced the Twins.
On Sunday, Nasim Nunez had a pair of run-scoring singles, Jose Tena had an RBI triple and CJ Abrams had two hits and scored twice for Washington.
Nunez has reached base in eight of his last nine appearances, going 9-for-24 (.375) with five walks, four stolen bases and six RBIs.
“When he can come up in big spots, and do what he did (Sunday) … big hits, huge at-bats to help us win the game … there’s just a lot of different aspects to the game where Nas helps us win,” Butera said.
In Toronto, Twins starter Joe Ryan left with a sore elbow after facing two batters, but Andrew Morris pitched 3 2/3 scoreless innings in relief for the win.
Luke Keaschall had a pair of hits, including an RBI double in a three-run fifth inning for Minnesota. Kody Clemens and Matt Wallner each doubled in a run.
“Felt like everybody top to bottom had something going for them (Sunday) offensively,” Keaschall said. “Everybody hit a double or a single or a big walk or something. When the whole lineup produces, it really is a lot of fun.”
Minnesota’s bullpen, which entered the game with a 5.48 ERA, allowed three runs over 8 2/3 innings.
Manager Derek Shelton said after the game that Ryan was getting an MRI on the elbow.
–Field Level Media
Sports
LYON, FlyQuest keep pressure on top sides at LCS Spring
Apr 13, 2019; St. Louis , MO, USA; A view of a gaming chair and computer during the League of Legends Championship Series Spring Finals at Chaifetz Arena. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images A day after Cloud9 and Team Liquid maintained perfect records atop the standings of the LCS Spring event in Los Angeles, LYON and FlyQuest kept pace Sunday with victories of their own.
LYON improved to 4-1 with a 2-0 sweep of the Sentinels, while FlyQuest held off Shopify Rebellion 2-1, boosting that squad to 3-2.
That gave FlyQuest a two-game lead over the other four teams competing in the event, while LYON now has a three-game lead and the co-leaders are four games up.
Eight teams are competing in best-of-three matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs of the League of Legends event, which will be contested in best-of-five matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
The Mexico-based LYON made short work of the Sentinels with 37- and 44-minute victories, both playing on blue, to secure the sweep.
Kim “Berserker” Min-Cheol racked up a 12-1-20 kills-deaths-assists ratio to pace the victors.
The America-based FlyQuest team got off to a similar start with a 31-minute win on blue to kick things off, but a 32-minute loss on red evened things up. Ultimately, FlyQuest secured the victory with a 34-minute win on blue.
Song “Quad” Soo-hyung was the leading point-getter for FlyQuest with a 13-3-27 KDA ratio.
Two more weeks are left in the season. Week 6 will commence on Saturday when Shopify take on the Sentinels and Disguised faces Dignitas.
Regular-season standings (Win-loss total, map differential)
T1. Cloud9, 5-0, 10-3
T1. Team Liquid, 5-0, 10-3
3. LYON, 4-1, 9-3
4. FlyQuest, 3-2, 8-5
5. Shopify Rebellion, 1-4, 3-8
6. Sentinels, 1-4, 5-9
7. Disguised, 1-4, 2-9
8. Dignitas, 0-5, 3-10
–Field Level Media
Sports
Five-star TE Ahmad Hudson stays in state, commits to LSU
Dec 1, 2025; Baton Rouge, LA, USA; LSU new head coach Lane Kiffin speaks at South Stadium Club at Tiger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Hinton-Imagn Images Five-star prospect Ahmad Hudson, regarded as the No. 1 tight end in the country in the Class of 2027, decided to stay in state and committed to LSU in a social media post on Sunday.
The Tigers and new head coach Lane Kiffin secured the pledge from Hudson, who was deciding between LSU and Nebraska as of last month and had publicized a commitment deadline of July 4.
A two-sport star at Ruston (La.) High School, Hudson is ranked the No. 1 tight end by ESPN and rated No. 18 overall in the country, first at his position and third in Louisiana in the 247Sports Composite rankings for the Class of 2027.
Listed at 6-foot-6 1/2 and 239 pounds, Hudson has 36 football offers, per 247Sports, as well as reports of basketball offers from Nebraska, LSU, Alabama, Auburn, Texas A&M, Missouri, Ole Miss, Louisiana Tech and Grambling.
He visited LSU multiple times this year and canceled official visits for Nebraska and Southern California in June.
Kiffin also secured pledges this year from Class of 2027 four-star prospects Jaiden Bryant (defensive end, Columbia, S.C.), Braylon Calais (wide receiver, Carencro, La.) and Ah’Mari Stevens (wide receiver, Hollywood, Fla.). The program also is holding a commitment from four-star quarterback Peyton Houston (Shreveport, La.), who chose LSU when Brian Kelly was head coach last September.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Avs put up 9 goals in outscoring Wild in series opener
May 3, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Avalanche defenseman Nick Blankenburg (37) celebrates his goal scored against the Minnesota Wild during the second period in game one of the second round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Ball Arena. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Cale Makar scored twice in the third period, Nazem Kadri also had a goal in the third, and the Colorado Avalanche beat the Minnesota Wild 9-6 in a high-scoring Game 1 of their Western Conference semifinal series on Sunday night in Denver.
Makar added an assist, Devon Toews had a goal and three assists, Nathan MacKinnon added a goal and two assists, Artturi Lehkonen and Sam Malinski each contributed a goal and an assist, and Nick Blankenburg and Jack Drury also scored for Colorado.
Game 2 is Tuesday night in Denver.
Quinn Hughes had a goal and two assists, and Mats Zuccarello, Marcus Johansson, Vladimir Tarasenko, Ryan Hartman and Marcus Foligno scored for Minnesota, which rallied from down 3-0 early to take a brief lead late in the second period.
The game was tied 5-all when Makar, who shook off an early injury, got a pass from MacKinnon in the right circle and wristed a shot high past Jesper Wallstedt at 3:21. Kadri padded the lead at 5:43 of the third with a breakaway goal.
Wallstedt turned away 34 of 42 shots in the game.
Zuccarello gave the Wild life when the puck went off his leg and in at 16:01, but Makar answered at 17:06. MacKinnon added an empty-netter to seal it.
Martin Necas had three assists and Valeri Nichushkin contributed two assists for the Avalanche.
Scott Wedgewood had 10 of his 30 saves in the third period to make the lead stand up for Colorado
Malinski, Drury and Lehkonen scored 2:01 apart midway through the first period to give the Avalanche a 3-0 lead. Johansson and Hartman answered with goals a minute apart to cut it to 3-2.
The second period continued the scoring trend. Blankenburg scored 4:16 into the second to make it 4-2, and Tarasenko answered at 6:45 to get the Wild back in it.
Hughes tied it when his shot through a screen beat Wedgewood at 12:43 of the second, and Foligno scored a short-handed goal at 16:55 to give Minnesota a 5-4 lead.
Toews tied it again when he scored at 18:04, seconds after the Wild killed off a power play.
–Field Level Media
LYON, FlyQuest keep pressure on top sides at LCS Spring
Bose introduces the Lifestyle Collection with a new speaker, soundbar, and subwoofer
