Sports
Padres end lengthy offensive drought, take down Cards
May 9, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) celebrates with right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) after hitting a one run home run during the eighth inning against the St. Louis Cardinals at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images Ty France and Manny Machado homered Saturday, while Fernando Tatis Jr. supplied a tiebreaking hit during a three-run fifth inning that lifted the San Diego Padres to a 4-2 win over the visiting St. Louis Cardinals.
Starter Randy Vasquez (4-1) scattered six hits over five innings while allowing just one run. Vasquez walked none and fanned six before San Diego’s high-leverage relievers took care of the rest.
St. Louis touched Adrian Morejon for a run in the eighth on Ivan Herrera’s RBI double that scored JJ Wetherholt. Mason Miller came in to get the final out of the eighth on Jordan Walker’s groundout, then pitched the ninth for his 12th save in as many chances.
Dustin May (3-4) pitched well aside from the fifth. He permitted three hits and three runs (two earned) over six innings with two walks and seven strikeouts.
Cardinals pitching brought a 17-inning scoreless streak against the Padres into the game. May took a no-hit bid into the fifth before France unloaded a 405-foot shot over the wall in center, his fourth of the year.
San Diego pressed the issue further with a walk to Sung-Mun Song and the first of Freddy Fermin’s two singles. A passed ball on Pedro Pages moved both runners up 90 feet before Jackson Merrill fanned. Tatis lofted a two-run single to short right to give the Padres a 3-1 lead.
Machado added insurance in the eighth when he lined a solo homer to left-center, snapping an 0-for-24 skid that dropped his average to .195.
St. Louis used a rare bout of wildness from Miller to construct a threat in the ninth. Walks to Nolan Gorman and Nathan Church put two on with one out and Yohel Pozo reached with two outs when Miller tossed a wild pitch on strike three.
But Miller got Wetherholt to look at a 102 mph fastball for a game-ending strikeout, his fourth of the inning.
Church gave the Cardinals a 1-0 fourth-inning lead with a two-out RBI double.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Gabriel Pec's second-half brace vaults Galaxy past Atlanta
May 9, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; LA Galaxy defender Harbor Miller (26) and Atlanta United defender Tomas Jacob (55) fight for the ball during the first half at Mercedes-Benz Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images Gabriel Pec scored two second-half goals for the LA Galaxy, who defeated host Atlanta United 2-1 on Saturday evening.
Pec’s brace, which gave him three goals in MLS play this season, led the Galaxy (4-4-4, 16 points) to their second road win in league action and a third straight unbeaten result (2-0-1).
Atlanta (3-8-1, 10 points) saw its three-match win streak across all competitions come to an end in its final home match before the World Cup break.
Pec scored the eventual match-winner in the 79th minute. As he ventured into the box, his initial shot was blocked. The LA winger then pounced on the loose ball and fired it home to make it 2-1.
That came five minutes after Pec equalized it in the 74th minute. A failed tackle by Elias Baez gave Pec a one-on-one chance against Atlanta goalkeeper Lucas Hoyos, which he converted to level the match at 1-all. Marco Reus and Joseph Paintsil assisted on the goal.
Pec’s tying goal canceled out Jay Fortune’s brilliant opener in the 69th minute. Fortune collected the ball near the left touchline, dribbled to the top of the box and laced it past a lunging JT Marcinkowski. It was Fortune’s first goal of the season, assisted by Elias Baez and Saba Lobjanidze.
An eventful, yet scoreless, first half featured three yellow cards for Atlanta United within four minutes, along with yellow cards issued to both the Atlanta and LA benches.
In the 41st minute, Atlanta appeared to take a 1-0 lead on a corner-kick routine, but Juan Berrocal’s potential first MLS goal was disallowed after Matias Galarza was ruled to have committed a foul on Marcinkowski in the process.
Pec’s double gave the Galaxy a third straight win over Atlanta United, tying the all-time series at 3-3-0.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rangers end Cubs' win streak at 10 with shutout
May 9, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers designated hitter Joc Pederson (3) celebrates hitting a double and driving in a run against the Chicago Cubs during the fourth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Josh Jung and Justin Foscue each hit solo homers and the Texas Rangers snapped the Chicago Cubs’ 10-game winning streak with a 6-0 victory on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Jung went 3-for-4 with two runs, Alejandro Osuna had two hits and two RBIs, and Joc Pederson added two hits and an RBI for Texas, which snapped a two-game skid by outhitting the Cubs 9-4.
Chicago had won 20 of its last 23 games before being shutout for the fourth time this season. The Cubs went 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position and left 11 on base.
Rangers starter Jack Leiter allowed three hits with a season-high five walks and six strikeouts over 4 2/3 innings.
Jalen Beeks (2-1) replaced him and threw the next 1 1/3 innings with no baserunners allowed. Cole Winn followed with a perfect seventh frame before Gavin Collyer pitched the final two innings.
Texas opened the scoring with two runs in the second inning. Jung snapped an 0-for-12 skid by depositing an 0-2 fastball from Edward Cabrera into the right-center field seats for his fifth homer of the season.
With runners on the corners and no outs, the Rangers added another run on Osuna’s RBI single to left field.
The Rangers tacked on two more runs in the fourth when Pederson doubled in a run with one out before scoring on Osuna’s single to right.
Cabrera (3-1) was victimized by the home run ball again in the fifth inning on Foscue’s leadoff homer to left field. The 358-foot shot was Foscue’s first career homer in his 23rd major league game.
Cabrera gave up five runs on seven hits with one walk and six strikeouts over five innings. He has allowed seven homers in his past four outings.
The Rangers added to their lead with two outs in the sixth on Kyle Higashioka’s run-scoring single against Jacob Webb.
Chicago left fielder Ian Happ extended his on-base streak to a career-high 30 games with a first-inning walk.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Merrill Kelly, Ildemaro Vargas lead D-backs over Mets
May 9, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo (2) scores a run against the New York Mets in the third inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Ildemaro Vargas had a two-run single, Merrill Kelly delivered his most effective start of the season and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the New York Mets 2-1 to even the three-game series in Phoenix on Saturday.
Kelly (2-3) gave up one run on three hits in seven innings in his fifth start since returning from an early-season back injury, with six strikeouts and three walks. He had given up 19 runs in 13 2/3 innings in his previous three starts.
Vargas’ bases-loaded single off Clay Holmes (4-3) in the third followed two-out singles by Corbin Carroll and Geraldo Perdomo and a walk to Adrian Del Castillo, giving Kelly the only support he would need.
Vargas has hit safely in 29 of 31 games this season and is hitting .350, second in the major leagues to Miami’s Otto Lopez (.353). Vargas’ season-opening 24-game hitting streak, a franchise record, was stopped May 2.
The Mets (15-24) are one-half game ahead of the Los Angeles Angels (15-25) for the worst record in the majors. They had won four of five.
The Dbacks had lost 12 of 16 since going a season-high five games over .500 at 13-8 on April 18. They have not won a series since.
The Mets had three hits, none after Tyrone Taylor’s two-out double in the fifth.
Kelly retired the final seven he faced. Taylor Clarke pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and Paul Sewald struck out two in a perfect ninth for his eighth save.
The Mets scored off Kelly for a 1-0 lead in the second, when Marcus Semien hit a two-out single and scored on Brett Baty’s double to right-center.
The Mets only hit after that was Taylor’s double inside the bag at third with two outs in the fifth. Kelly intentionally walked Juan Soto after reaching a 2-0 count before Bo Bichette flew out to end the inning. Soto was the last Met to reach base.
Holmes (4-3) gave up two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings, leaving after Nolan Arenado’s two-out single in the sixth. He tied a season high with six strikeouts and walked two.
–Field Level Media
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Gabriel Pec's second-half brace vaults Galaxy past Atlanta
