Sports
Padres continue playoff push vs. hapless White Sox
Sep 18, 2024; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres designated hitter Fernando Tatis Jr. (right) celebrates with third baseman Manny Machado (13) after hitting a home run against the Houston Astros during the eighth inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Orlando Ramirez-Imagn Images While the San Diego Padres chase home-field advantage for the first round of the National League playoffs, the Chicago White Sox continue their increasingly futile fight to keep the 1962 New York Mets in the record books.
The two teams and their opposite paths converge in San Diego this weekend for a three-game series that starts Friday night.
The Padres (87-66) will enter Friday with at least a two-game lead over the Diamondbacks and the Mets for the NL’s top wild-card spot. Both Arizona and New York play later Thursday.
San Diego is also four games behind the first-place Los Angeles Dodgers in the NL West entering Friday.
The Padres continue to look the part of a team that could go places in October. San Diego took two of three in a home series with the American League West-leading Houston Astros earlier this week.
Dylan Cease pitched 8 1/3 shutout innings in Wednesday’s 4-0 win. Third baseman Manny Machado went deep twice, leaving him one home run away from his third straight 30-homer campaign.
“That’s Manny Machado,” Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. said. “That’s what he does.”
Tatis, Machado and Donovan Solano clubbed three straight homers in a nine-pitch span leading off the bottom of the eighth inning on Wednesday.
San Diego has 105 home runs this season at Petco Park, a single-season record for their 20-year-old stadium.
The Padres are also getting excellent pitching of late, allowing three runs or fewer in six of their last eight games.
Joe Musgrove (6-5, 4.23 ERA) will try to keep that run going in the series opener after spinning a gem Saturday night in an 8-0 win at the San Francisco Giants. The right-hander worked six scoreless innings, allowing only three hits and fanning eight without a walk.
In three career appearances against Chicago — two out of the bullpen — Musgrove has whiffed nine without allowing a run in 7 1/3 innings.
Meanwhile, the White Sox will send their lone All-Star to the mound, left-hander Garrett Crochet (6-12, 3.78).
Crochet’s last start came on Friday, a 2-0 home loss to the Oakland Athletics. He allowed three hits and a run with no walks and four strikeouts over four innings.
Crochet has thrown just one inning in his career against San Diego, fanning two of the three men he faced. His workload has been cut back over the season’s second half as Chicago tries to keep him healthy for 2025 and beyond.
The White Sox (36-117) are coming off a 4-3, 13-inning loss Wednesday at the Los Angeles Angels in a game that saw them squander three one-run leads.
Chicago is four defeats away from setting the all-time major league record for most losses in a single season. After their three games against the Padres, the White Sox host the Angels for three games before playing their final three at the Detroit Tigers.
“We get the same question every day,” Chicago interim manager Grady Sizemore said. “We’re focused on just one series at a time, one game at a time. Everything else is irrelevant right now. We’re just trying to get better and win games.”
The teams ended the 2023 season in Chicago, where San Diego scored a three-game sweep.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Denny Hamlin tops Dover All-Star grid after late qualifying charge
May 2, 2026; Fort Worth, Texas, USA; Joe Gibbs Racing driver Denny Hamlin (11) is interviewed after the qualifying session for the 2026 Wurth 400 Cup race at Texas Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images DOVER, Del. – Denny Hamlin has claimed pole position for Sunday’s NASCAR All-Star Race (1 p.m. ET, FS1, FOX Deportes, PRN, SiriusXM NASCAR Radio) in a late qualifying session effort, unseating owner-driver Brad Keselowski in the final minutes of Saturday’s unique three-lap bid to set the field at Dover Motor Speedway.
The next to last driver to qualify, Hamlin spun his No. 11 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota on the warm-up lap just as he took to the one-mile high-banked track but recovered and excelled when it mattered — taking the lead starting position by .149-second over Roush Fenway Keselowski Racing Keselowski’s No. 6 Ford.
“Quite eventful for sure,” Hamlin conceded of his lap, insisting he’d never really been remarkably fast in this style of qualifying format.
“I just spun out. I don’t know. I didn’t think I was being that aggressive but spun out. At that point, just tried to minimize the damage. … That wasn’t ideal, but then I just committed to run the lap as hard as I could, and it was still good enough.”
“It’s risk versus reward and certainly challenges the driver. … But definitely a team effort.”
Zane Smith’s No. 38 Front Row Motorsports Ford team won Saturday’s $100,000 Mechanix Wear Pit Crew Challenge, establishing themselves best on the speed chart early in the session and their work ultimately proving unbeatable. Although Smith’s overall speed places him 25th on the starting grid, the Pit Stop Challenge win earned the team first pit stall selection Sunday – something that could be the difference in advancing Smith into the 200-lap finale.
The pole position was based on a three-lap run that also included the timed pit stop on the second lap. Late in the session, Hendrick Motorsports driver Kyle Larson seemed to have bettered Keselowski’s early work, but Larson received penalties for being too fast on pit road and not blending properly back onto The Monster Mile’s high banks – the time penalty ultimately costing the three-time All-Star race winner a front row spot. And Hamlin topped both drivers in the end.
Legacy Motor Club’s Erik Jones, Trackhouse Racing’s Ross Chastain and Hendrick Motorsports’ William Byron rounded out the five fastest cars. Defending All-Star Race winner, Joe Gibbs Racing’s Christopher Bell was sixth fastest.
Several perennial favorites struggled during the unique qualifying format with pit road miscues and/or time penalties, including rookie Connor Zilisch, Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chris Buescher, Daniel Suarez along with former series champs Chase Elliott and Ryan Blaney, who had slow stops.
This marks the first time the series has held its annual $1 million to-win, All-Star Race at the concrete Dover Motor Speedway. It will include two 75-lap segments and then a 200-lap finale to settle the big check.
There are 19 drivers currently in the 200-lap final segment and trophy-determining portion of the event – including NASCAR Cup Series championship leader Tyler Reddick and fellow 2026 race winners Ty Gibbs and Carson Hocevar. Joining them are 2025 race winners Hamlin, Shane Van Gisbergen, Blaney, Chase Briscoe, Byron, Larson, Elliott, Austin Dillon, Chastain, Josh Berry, Austin Cindric, Joey Logano, Bubba Wallace and Bell.
Kyle Busch, who won Friday night’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Dover, also has an automatic spot on the grid as a former All-Star race winner — as does Keselowski as a former series champion.
The first two segments of Sunday’s event are 75-laps followed by the 200-lap finale which includes the 19 drivers locked in, plus the six best performing drivers from the opening segments and the “Fan Vote” winner.
NASCAR Cup Series Qualifying – NASCAR All-Star Race
Dover Motor Speedway
Dover, Del.
Saturday, May 16, 2026
1. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 98.812 mph.
2. (6) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 98.682 mph.
3. (43) Erik Jones, Toyota, 98.289 mph.
4. (1) Ross Chastain, Chevrolet, 98.261 mph.
5. (24) William Byron, Chevrolet, 98.194 mph.
6. (20) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 98.084 mph.
7. (23) Bubba Wallace, Toyota, 97.962 mph.
8. (22) Joey Logano, Ford, 97.868 mph.
9. (54) Ty Gibbs, Toyota, 97.815 mph.
10. (2) Austin Cindric, Ford, 97.799 mph.
11. (8) Kyle Busch, Chevrolet, 97.386 mph.
12. (48) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 97.379 mph.
13. (4) Noah Gragson, Ford, 97.218 mph.
14. (45) Tyler Reddick, Toyota, 97.084 mph.
15. (10) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 96.999 mph.
16. (19) Chase Briscoe, Toyota, 96.737 mph.
17. (3) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 96.404 mph.
18. (97) Shane Van Gisbergen, Chevrolet, 96.054 mph.
19. (21) Josh Berry, Ford, 95.899 mph.
20. (34) Todd Gilliland, Ford, 94.444 mph.
21. (35) Riley Herbst, Toyota, 94.349 mph.
22. (41) Cole Custer, Chevrolet, 93.923 mph.
23. (51) Cody Ware, Chevrolet, 93.185 mph.
24. (77) Carson Hocevar, Chevrolet, 91.867 mph.
25. (38) Zane Smith, Ford, 90.532 mph.
26. (60) Ryan Preece, Ford, 88.938 mph.
27. (88) Connor Zilisch #, Chevrolet, 87.709 mph.
28. (12) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 84.942 mph.
29. (5) Kyle Larson, Chevrolet, 83.581 mph.
30. (71) Michael McDowell, Chevrolet, 83.422 mph.
31. (9) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 80.981 mph.
32. (17) Chris Buescher, Ford, 77.170 mph.
33. (7) Daniel Suarez, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
34. (47) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
35. (42) John Hunter Nemechek, Toyota, 0.000 mph.
36. (16) AJ Allmendinger, Chevrolet, 0.000 mph.
— Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service
Sports
Inter Miami hosts Timbers seeking first win at Nu Stadium
May 13, 2026; Cincinnati, Ohio, USA; Inter Miami CF forward German Berterame (19) high fives midfielder Lionel Messi (10) after scoring a goal against FC Cincinnati in the second half at TQL Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Katie Stratman-Imagn Images Lionel Messi and Inter Miami will try again to win their first match in their new stadium when they welcome the Portland Timbers, coached by former Herons manager Phil Neville.
Miami (7-2-4, 25 points) has failed to win its previous four matches at Nu Stadium, the permanent venue that opened in April. Incredibly, that included a 4-3 defeat to Orlando City on May 2 after the Herons raced to a three-goal lead.
But interim manager Guillermo Hoyos’ side has been exceptional away, winning five straight on the road. He particularly admired the passion shown by Messi, Rodrigo De Paul and other stars in Wednesday night’s 5-3 win at Cincinnati, in which Miami rallied with three late goals.
“Just think about it, they have the World Cup coming up very soon,” Hoyos said. “There are players who have the World Cup on their minds and nothing else, yet the way they run, play and commit themselves is incredible.”
Messi scored his 10th and 11th goals of the season, and his 60th and 61st for the club since his arrival in July of 2023.
That tally began just months after Neville was dismissed as Miami’s second permanent manager after two-plus seasons. He helped Miami to a then-club-best 12th-place finish in the 2022 Supporters’ Shield standings but suffered a first-round playoff defeat that year and a bad start the following spring.
He’s now in his third season with Portland (4-6-2, 14 points), a team that may be coming together following a slow start.
Kevin Kelsy has scored three times in Portland’s last two matches, a 6-0 home win over Sporting Kansas City on May 9 and a 2-2 draw at CF Montreal on Wednesday. And in April, the Timbers pulled off impressive wins against LAFC and San Diego.
Now, they face Miami for the first time since Messi’s arrival. Neville likens it to his time as a Premier League player for Everton visiting his former club, Manchester United, for the first time.
“The first time back at Old Trafford, I literally just went to the stadium with blinkers on my eyes and tried to perform to the best of my ability for my club and fight for my club,” he said. “And then after the game I hugged and kissed and celebrated some incredible friendships.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Chelsea to hire Xabi Alonso as new head coach
[Subscription Customers Only] Jul 9, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso before a semifinal match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Amanda Perobelli-Reuters via Imagn Images Chelsea is set to hire Xabi Alonso as their next head coach, according to multiple reports.
He is finalizing a four-year contract and was the club’s top target, per The Athletic.
Alonso was hired as the head coach of Real Madrid in 2025, but both sides mutually agreed to part ways in January. His overall record with the club was 24-6-4.
Liam Rosenior was Chelsea’s previous head coach. He was hired in January, but he was fired in April after a scoreless, five-game losing streak. Calum McFarlane has been serving as the club’s interim manager.
Chelsea lost in the FA Cup final on Saturday 1-0 to Manchester City. They hold a Premier League record of 13-13-10 with 49 points.
–Field Level Media
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Denny Hamlin tops Dover All-Star grid after late qualifying charge
