Sports
New York Mets Manager Carlos Mendoza Officially on Hot Seat
The Boston Red Sox fired manager Alex Cora this past week, and the Philadelphia Phillies did likewise with Rob Thomson, not even bothering to wait for May flowers to bloom. Your team’s manager might be next. At least five other Major League Baseball teams have managerial situations ripe for change.
The manager of the team with the worst record in the league has been on most short lists for the next manager to be canned, but it didn’t happen Friday. Instead, New York Mets president David Stearns gave manager Carlos Mendoza what some cynics call the “dreaded vote of confidence.”
Sometimes when a team struggles, the front office makes a point to express confidence in the manager’s job security. Reporters long ago identified such talk as the “dreaded vote of confidence,” because the struggling team frequently would fire the manager anyway. Maybe not that day or that week, but relatively soon.
Stearns told MLB.com as the Mets had approximately 99 things wrong with them, but Mendoza was not the one at fault.
“We don’t view this as a manager problem,” Stearns said.
OK.
“And we don’t intend to make a change,” he added.
Oof, there it is. The Mets don’t intend to make a change. Intentions are about as stable as momentum, which in baseball is only as good as your next starting pitching performance or horrendous injury. Stearns’ intentions are liable to flip 180 degrees if the Mets have one too many arduous nights at the ballpark.
Apparently not wanting to risk telling a lie to the New York media, Stearns couldn’t even bring himself to say: “We won’t make a change.” Instead, he should have phrased it: “We’re not considering making a change.” After all, nobody can publish what Stearns was considering unless he confirms it.
Regardless, a vote of confidence gives Mendoza more time. Only, more time for what? Juan Soto is back in the lineup and raking, but Francisco Lindor remains out because of a calf strain, and Jorge Polanco and Luis Robert Jr. also remain sidelined. Mendoza won’t have a full complement of players for weeks. In the meantime, the Mets lineup and bullpen remain full of holes, no matter if it’s because of injuries or not.
The Mets, heading west on a road trip to Anaheim and Denver, probably banked on getting healthy against weaker opponents. They got the upper hand in the series opener against the Los Angeles Angels after falling behind by three runs early. Showed some grit and gumption. A good show for the perception of Mendoza’s motivational profile.
But the Mets remain 11 1/2 games out of first place in the NL East already. It’s possible Mendoza gets a full season to get the Mets back to the playoffs. But it’s more likely Stearns schedules another Mendoza vote in about a week, and he’s the next manager to go.
Sports
FaZe Vegas move to 3-0 in Week 2 of CDL Stage 3 qualifying
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. FaZe Vegas outlasted the Carolina Royal Ravens 3-2 on Friday, improving to 3-0 as the second week of qualifying for the Call of Duty League’s Stage 3 got underway.
Los Angeles Thieves and OpTic Texas also recorded victories and are 2-0. The Thieves swept Cloud9 New York 3-0, while OpTic defeated the Boston Breach 3-1.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the third major of the season, to be held May 15-17 as part of the DreamHack Atlanta event.
On Friday, the Royal Ravens won the opening map, Colossus Hardpoint, 250-199, before FaZe rebounded with back-to-back wins on Gridlock Search and Destroy (6-3) and Den Overload (4-3). However, Carolina pushed Vegas to a decisive fifth map, pulling out a 250-190 victory on Den Hardpoint. On Fringe Search and Destroy, Vegas edged Carolina 6-5 to remain unblemished.
Chris “Simp” Lehr of the United States was selected as match MVP after leading Vegas with 105 kills and a plus-5 kill-death differential.
The Thieves opened with a 250-140 victory on Colossus Hardpoint, then followed it up with 6-1 win on Gridlock Search and Destroy before closing out Cloud9 New York 5-4 on Den Overload.
Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez of France earned match MVP honors with 66 kills and a K-D differential of plus-14 for the Thieves.
Texas jumped out to a 2-0 lead with wins on Den Hardpoint (250-123) and Plaza Search and Destroy (6-3) before Boston battled back with a 3-2 victory on Den Overload. OpTic avoided a decisive fifth map with a 250-227 triumph on Sake Hardpoint.
Canadian/Lebanese player Brandon “Dashy” Otell was named MVP of the match, posting 81 kills and a plus-16 K-D differential.
The Week 2, Day 2 schedule for Saturday:
–Cloud9 New York vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
–Miami Heretics vs. FaZe Vegas
–Vancouver Surge vs. Riyadh Falcons
–Toronto KOI vs. OpTic Texas
Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major qualifying, with match record and map differential
1. FaZe Vegas, 3-0, 9-3
2. Los Angeles Thieves, 2-0, 6-1
T3. OpTic Texas, 2-0, 6-2
T3. Paris Gentle Mates, 2-0, 6-2
T3. Toronto KOI, 2-0, 6-2
T3. Vancouver Surge, 2-0, 6-2
7. Miami Heretics, 0-1, 1-3
8. Riyadh Falcons, 0-2, 2-6
T9. Cloud9 New York, 0-2, 1-6
T9. G2 Minnesota, 0-2, 1-6
T11. Carolina Royal Ravens, 0-3, 5-9
T11. Boston Breach, 0-3, 2-9
–Field Level Media
Sports
GamerLegion, FaZe Clan reach BLAST Rivals Spring semifinals
Jul 21, 2019; Miami Beach, FL, USA; A general view of gaming controllers on display during the Call of Duty League Finals e-sports event at Miami Beach Convention Center. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-Imagn Images GamerLegion swept Astralis 2-0 on Friday to reach the semifinals at the BLAST Rivals Spring event in Fort Worth, Texas.
In the other quarterfinal match, FaZe Clan eked out a 2-1 victory over G2 Esports.
The results set up the semifinals on Saturday, when Natus Vincere will face FaZe Clan before Team Vitality will clash with GamerLegion.
The $350,000 Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament began with eight teams divided into two double-elimination groups for the initial stage. The group winners moved directly to the semifinals of the single-elimination playoff. The group runners-up went to the quarterfinals as high seeds, and the teams that finished third in their groups advanced to the quarterfinals as low seeds.
All matches in the group stage and the playoffs are best-of-three until the grand final on Sunday, which will be best-of-five. The championship team will receive $125,000 and two BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens.
On Friday, GamerLegion got past Astralis 13-8 on Overpass, then 16-14 in overtime on Inferno.
Sweden’s Fredrik “REZ” Sterner and the Czech Republic’s Oldrich “PR” Novy each logged 42 kills for GamerLegion, while PR had a team-best plus-4 kill-death differential. Lithuania’s Gytis “ryu” Glusauskas, Sweden’s Love “phzy” Smidebrant and Denmark’s Victor “Staehr” Staehr each amassed 37 kills for Astralis.
FaZe Clan opened with a 13-11 decision on Dust II before G2 Esports equalized by claiming Ancient 13-9. FaZe Clan sealed the series by taking Mirage 16-13 in overtime.
Slovakia’s David “frozen” Cernansky propelled FaZe Clan with 58 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential. Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Nemanja “huNter-” Kovac and Spain’s Alvaro “SunPayus” Garcia each posted 50 kills for G2 Esports.
BLAST Rivals Spring prize pool
1. $125,000, two BLAST Frequent Flyer tokens
2. $75,000
3-4. $40,000
5-6. $25,000 — Astralis, G2 Esports
7-8. $10,000 — FUT Esports, FURIA
–Field Level Media
Sports
Blue Jays flying high as they continue surge against Twins
May 1, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Kazuma Okamoto (7) connects with a pitch from Minnesota Twins pitcher Luis Garcia (40) in the ninth inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Blewett-Imagn Images The player known as “Big Oak” is starting to swing the lumber.
That could be bad news for the Minnesota Twins as they face the Toronto Blue Jays and their hard-hitting third baseman, Kazuma Okamoto, on Saturday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Okamoto is coming off the first two-homer game of his brief career Friday night. He finished with three RBIs to help the Blue Jays pull away for a 7-3 win over the Twins in the second contest of a four-game series.
The performance gave Okamoto seven home runs in 31 games to start the season, tops on the team. The 29-year-old signed with Toronto during the offseason after playing professionally in Japan.
The Blue Jays hope to benefit from Okamoto’s power surge as they look to put an up-and-down April behind them. Toronto started the season 7-13 but has gone 8-4 since then.
A win on Saturday would guarantee Toronto at least a tie in the series against the Twins. Toronto won its previous three series before heading to Minneapolis.
The Twins hope to obstruct Toronto’s turnaround. Minnesota won the series opener 7-1 Thursday before falling short Friday.
Since April 15, the Twins are 3-12. They have lost four consecutive series and need back-to-back victories this weekend to secure their first series win in two-plus weeks.
Twins manager Derek Shelton will need a bounce-back performance from his hitters on Saturday. Byron Buxton is hot with four home runs in his past five games, but the rest of the lineup did not generate much offense in Friday’s loss. The team stranded nine runners.
“(Blue Jays left-hander Patrick) Corbin just kind of kept us off balance,” Shelton said. “He mixed and matched. He used his fastball both in and out, but he was able to use the changeup to keep us off balance.”
On Saturday, the Blue Jays will turn to right-hander Dylan Cease (1-1, 2.87 ERA). He is coming off his first loss of the season after giving up four runs on seven hits in 5 2/3 innings against the Boston Red Sox on Monday. Toronto fell 5-0.
Cease has made 13 career starts against the Twins, going 4-5 with a 4.69 ERA. He has walked 33 and struck out 79 in 71 innings.
The Twins will counter with left-hander Connor Prielipp (1-0, 4.00), who will take the mound for the first time since earning his first career big-league victory. He pitched in front of family and friends and held the Seattle Mariners to two runs on one hit in five innings in an 11-4 win on Monday.
This will be Prielipp’s first career start against the Blue Jays.
Okamoto is not the only player heating up for Toronto. Rookie outfielder Yohendrick Pinango will look to stay hot after going 3-for-4 with a pair of RBIs on Friday night.
Blue Jays manager John Schneider said Pinango has impressed him. The rookie has appeared in five games, batting .500 (5-for-10).
“We’re going to give him a bit of runway while he’s here,” Schneider said. “That’s the profile you want. Go ahead and swing it, and swing at a good pitch.”
–Field Level Media
FaZe Vegas move to 3-0 in Week 2 of CDL Stage 3 qualifying
GamerLegion, FaZe Clan reach BLAST Rivals Spring semifinals
