Sports
No. 17 BYU's defense stymies No. 23 Colorado in Alamo Bowl
Dec 28, 2024; San Antonio, TX, USA; Brigham Young Cougars wide receiver Parker Kingston (11) returns a punt for a touchdown during the second quarter against the Colorado Buffaloes at Alamodome. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images No. 17 BYU’s stout defensive effort shut down No. 23 Colorado’s explosive offense in the Cougars’ 36-14 Alamo Bowl win on Saturday night in San Antonio.
The Cougars, who had four sacks and two interceptions, held Colorado to just two rushing yards and 210 yards of total offense. The Buffaloes averaged 34.5 points and nearly 400 yards of offense per game entering the Alamo Bowl.
BYU’s Parker Kingston had a 64-yard punt return touchdown. Jake Retzlaff completed 12-of-21 passes for 151 yards and two interceptions.
LJ Martin (93 rushing yards) had two touchdowns on the ground and Sione I Moa ran one in for the Cougars (11-2). Evan Johnson and Isaiah Glasker had interceptions.
Colorado’s Shedeur Sanders completed 16-of-23 passes for 208 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions. Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter caught four passes for 106 yards and a touchdown. Sav’ell Smalls added a touchdown catch.
DJ McKinney, Anquin Barnes Jr. and Cam’Ron Silmon-Craig had interceptions for Colorado (9-4).
Martin gave BYU a 7-0 lead with a 1-yard touchdown run midway through the opening quarter. A 28-yard pass to Martin on a wheel route out of the backfield was the key play on the drive.
After BYU forced a three-and out, Will Ferrin gave the Cougars a 10-0 cushion with a 51-yard field goal.
At the start of the second quarter, Sanders hit Hunter on a short crossing route he turned into a 58-yard gain. But the drive stalled when Sanders was sacked by Logan Lutui for a 23-yard loss. On the next play, Alejandro Mata missed a 48-yard field goal.
With a wall of blockers down the sideline, Kingston’s 64-yard punt return touchdown gave the Cougars a 17-0 lead late in the second quarter. BYU went into halftime up 20-0 on Ferrin’s 54-yard field goal.
On Colorado’s first second-half possession, Johnson picked off a pass that set up BYU’s nine-play scoring drive. The Cougars took a 27-0 lead on Moa’s 13-yard touchdown run.
Hunter made three Cougars defenders miss on a 43-yard touchdown reception that cut the BYU lead to 27-7 with 6:14 left in the third.
Martin’s second TD run gave BYU a 33-7 fourth-quarter lead. Colorado tacked on a late score when Sanders hit Smalls with a 2-yard pass.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Late 6-run rally carries Guardians past Astros
Apr 21, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Houston Astros designated hitter Yordan Alvarez (44) hits an RBI double against the Cleveland Guardians during the fifth inning at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Rookie Chase DeLauter delivered a go-ahead three-run triple and Kyle Manzardo added a two-RBI single in a six-run eighth inning, rallying the Cleveland Guardians to a 8-5 victory over the visiting Houston Astros on Tuesday night.
DeLauter’s sinking liner toward the foul line in left dropped just in front of Brice Matthews, who was attempting to make a sliding grab. Angel Martinez, Brayan Rocchio and Steven Kwan came around to put Cleveland ahead 6-4.
Manzardo, also facing reliever Bryan King, drove in Jose Ramirez and DeLauter two batters later. Rocchio began the comeback from a 4-2 deficit with an RBI single that chased Enyel De Los Santos (0-1).
Rule 5 Draft selection Peyton Pallette (1-1) tossed a scoreless eighth for his first career win. Closer Cade Smith gave up an RBI single in the ninth to major league homer and RBI leader Yordan Alvarez in a non-save situation.
Alvarez drove in three runs and had two hits for the Astros, who have split the first two games of the series. Carlos Correa and Matthews had two hits and an RBI apiece.
De Los Santos was charged with three runs in one-third of an inning, the final two scoring as inherited runners against King. The Astros, who have just three wins in the past 16 games, remain last in the American League West.
Houston trailed 2-0 before scoring three times in the fifth off Parker Messick, who entered the evening with the third-best ERA in the majors at 1.05. Matthews singled in Isaac Paredes before Alvarez drove in Yainer Diaz and Dustin Harris.
Correa extended the Astros’ lead to 4-2 in the seventh with a single against Tim Herrin, plating Cam Smith.
Messick, who came within three outs of a no-hitter in his last start April 16 against the Baltimore Orioles, gave up three runs on six hits over five innings. The left-hander struck out four and walked one.
The Guardians went up 2-0 in the second when Martinez hit a solo homer off Ryan Weiss, who made his second start as a major-leaguer. George Valera singled home Ramirez in the first to open the scoring.
Weiss went 3 1/3 innings, allowing two runs on five hits. The right-hander, who spent the last two years in the Korean Baseball Organization, walked four and struck out four.
Daniel Johnson was hit on the right wrist with the first pitch he saw in his Houston debut, thrown by Herrin in the seventh inning. He was signed as a free agent to a minor league contract two days earlier, then recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land before the game.
Johnson entered to replace left fielder Harris, who had been hit on the left hand with a fifth-inning pitch from Messick.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Wild's Marcus Foligno: Stars 'can't hang with us 5-on-5' entering G3
Apr 9, 2026; Dallas, Texas, USA; Minnesota Wild left wing Nick Foligno (71) skates against the Dallas Stars during the game between the Stars and the Wild at American Airlines Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images As far as Minnesota Wild forward Marcus Foligno is concerned, the key to regaining control of his team’s first-round playoff series is staying out of the penalty box.
That’s it. Simply keep the same number of players on the ice as the Dallas Stars.
“They’re looking to play 5-on-4,” Marcus Foligno said. “That’s their game. They can’t hang with us 5-on-5. So we’ve just got to be smarter, and myself included.
“But it’s a heated game out there.”
The heat figures to intensify when the Wild face off against the Stars on Wednesday night in Game 3 of their best-of-seven Western Conference quarterfinals series in Saint Paul, Minn. The series is tied at 1-1 after the Wild took Game 1 and the Stars responded to win Game 2.
Stars coach Glen Gulutzan heard about Marcus Foligno’s 5-on-5 comment, but he shrugged it off as Game 3 approached.
“He’s probably emotional or whatever,” Gulutzan said. “I don’t know if we need (bulletin-board material). We’re just going to keep doing what we’re doing and grind this thing to where we need it to go.
“Obviously, I don’t agree with it.”
The pace of play increased dramatically in Game 2 as both teams traded high-quality scoring chances. One key difference was that the Wild committed eight penalties totaling 16 minutes, which paved the way for the Stars to capitalize on the power play.
Wild coach John Hynes said he felt better after rewatching film of Game 2. He never likes seeing his team lose, but he said the team’s mistakes were correctable and not a sign of a larger, more foundational problem.
“Going back through it, I thought we did a lot of good things,” Hynes said. “… The thing I love about our group is we’re extremely competitive. Even if you (compare) the two games, I think from a competitive aspect of the game, we were there, we didn’t take a step back in that area.
“I think now it’s just understanding that we have to play with emotion and not (be) emotional. There’s a difference in that. To me, that’s controllable.”
One thing the Wild cannot control is the health of injured forwards Mats Zuccarello and Yakov Trenin. Zuccarello was a late scratch before Game 2 because of an upper-body injury, and Trenin left in the first period Monday after absorbing a crushing check from Stars forward Colin Blackwell.
Hynes said he was not sure whether either forward could play in Game 3. If not, he said, there is a chance that the team could dress 11 forwards and seven defensemen instead of the usual combination of 12 forwards and six defensemen.
“That is something that is on the table,” he said. “But also, you look at 12 and six, and you look at the intensity level of playoff games and things like that, I think you want to take that into consideration as well.”
The Stars’ Jake Oettinger and the Wild’s Jesper Wallstedt likely will start in net for the third straight game of the series. Oettinger is 1-1 with a 3.54 goals-against average and an .879 save percentage in the series, and Wallstedt is 1-1 with a 2.02 GAA and a .932 save percentage.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Giancarlo Stanton, Yankees shut out rival Red Sox to open trip
Apr 21, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Yankees designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (27) rounds the bases after hitting a home run against the Boston Red Sox in the second inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images Giancarlo Stanton hit a solo home run and collected three RBIs as the New York Yankees opened a three-game series with a 4-0 road victory over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday.
Stanton’s home run came against Boston starter Connelly Early. It was his third home run of the season. He added a two-run double in the sixth.
Stanton, Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Randal Grichuk each had two hits for the Yankees, who had 10 hits in the win. New York has won five of its last six games.
Luis Gil (1-1) pitched into the seventh to earn the win. He exited the mound with one out in the seventh after issuing back-to-back walks to Trevor Story and Ceddanne Rafaela. Brent Headrick came on in relief and stranded both runners.
Gil gave up two hits, struck out two and threw 83 pitches.
The Red Sox have scored three runs or fewer in 12 of their 23 games. Boston has allowed at least four runs in 13 of those 23 contests.
Boston was limited to four hits, a double by Marcelo Mayer and singles by Willson Contreras, Carlos Narvaez and Rafaela.
Early (1-1) was pulled with one out in the sixth. He gave up three runs on five hits and struck out four. He was lifted after he walked three in the sixth.
Stanton’s leadoff home run in the top of the second opened the scoring, and the Yankees added two runs in the sixth. Following walks to Amed Rosario and Aaron Judge, Stanton drove in both runners with a two-run double to center.
It was 4-0 after Cody Bellinger singled in the eighth and scored on Grichuk’s one-out double.
Tuesday’s game was the start of a nine-game, three-city road trip for the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
