Sports
Padres halt Angels' scorching offense, even series
Apr 18, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; San Diego Padres right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. (23) runs after hitting a RBI single during the ninth inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images Fernando Tatis Jr. had two hits and two RBIs and Mason Miller struck out two en route to his seventh save to lead the San Diego Padres to a 4-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night in Anaheim.
Ramon Laureano also drove in two runs, Jake Cronenworth scored a run and reached base four times with a single, two walks and a hit by a pitch and Freddy Fermin scored twice for San Diego, which won for the 12th time in its last 14 games.
Adrian Morejon (2-0) delivered 1 1/3 innings of hitless relief while Miller pitched around a leadoff single by Yoan Moncada and a walk to Vaughn Grissom in the ninth to extend his scoreless streak to 31 2/3 innings dating back to Aug. 6, 2025.
Zach Neto and Mike Trout each doubled and Nolan Schanuel had an RBI single for Los Angeles, which finished with just six hits. Ryan Zeferjahn (1-1) allowed two runs on three hits and two walks in one inning immediately after Yusei Kikuchi wrapped his scoreless six-inning start for Los Angeles.
Kikuchi allowed four hits, a walk and a hit-by-pitch, striking out eight.
The Angels, who entered the contest having hit 16 home runs while scoring 49 runs in their previous six games, managed just two hits over 5 2/3 innings against San Diego starter German Marquez.
However, they nearly took a 1-0 lead in the second. Moncada led off the inning with a deep drive to right-center that Padres center fielder Jackson Merrill made a highlight-reel grab on, reaching above the fence to deny Moncada of a home run. It was the third time this season that Merrill robbed a batter of a home run.
The Padres took a 2-0 lead in the eighth inning against Zeferjahn, who walked Fermin and Cronenworth on eight straight balls to open the inning. Laureano then grounded a single to center to drive in Fermin, and Tatis followed with a slow roller into shallow right to drive in Cronenworth.
Los Angeles cut the lead to 2-1 in the eighth on Schanuel’s single, driving in Logan O’Hoppe who had singled and advanced to second on a single by Adam Frazier.
San Diego then added a pair of insurance runs in the ninth on a bases-loaded sacrifice fly by Laureano followed by an RBI single from Tatis.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers emerge with win over Penguins in opening tussle of playoff series
Apr 18, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Cam York (8) checks Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) in front of Flyers goaltender Dan Vladar (80) during the first period against in game one of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images Porter Martone scored a timely goal late for the Philadelphia Flyers, who skated away with a 3-2 road victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins to take a 1-0 lead in their best-of-seven, first-round playoff series on Saturday night.
Travis Sanheim and Jamie Drysdale also scored for Philadelphia. Trevor Zegras, Denver Barkey, Rasmus Ristolainen, Christian Dvorak and Travis Konecny registered assists.
Dan Vladar stopped 15 shots for the Flyers, none bigger than a point-blank stop on Anthony Mantha in the closing seconds to preserve the win.
Evgeni Malkin scored his 68th postseason goal for the Penguins and assisted on Bryan Rust’s goal. Tommy Novak, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson earned assists.
Stuart Skinner faced 20 shots and made 17 saves.
The postseason renewal of the Battle of Pennsylvania was exactly that for the two teams ending lengthy playoff droughts. It was a physical affair that featured just 26 shots on goal and 59 hits through the first two periods. That favored the Flyers, who finished the season fourth in the league in hits.
Martone, the 19-year-old who joined Philadelphia from Michigan State on March 31, scored what appeared to be an insurance goal with 2:37 left that gave the Flyers a 3-1 lead. That prompted Pittsburgh to pull Skinner for a sixth attacker.
A tussle between Penguins star Sidney Crosby and Sanheim sent both to the penalty box with 1:09 left, and Rust made it a one-goal game from the high slot eight seconds later.
Drysdale gave Philadelphia the lead midway through the second. Zegras skated behind the net and found the defenseman in the faceoff circle. Denver Barkey also assisted on the goal and further helped by screening Skinner.
Less than seven minutes later, Malkin provided the equalizer as the Penguins applied pressure in the attack zone. Vladar stopped Rakell but allowed a long rebound to his right that Novak tapped to the 39-year-old, who scored from the faceoff circle with 4:09 left in the period.
Sanheim reclaimed the lead for Philadelphia at the midway point of the third.
Pittsburgh’s 17 shots on goal were its fewest in a postseason game since the Penguins mustered just 12 in Game 5 of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final against the Nashville Predators.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mike Malott TKOs Gilbert Burns, forces abrupt retirement
Oct 18, 2025; Vancouver, BC, CANADA; Mike Malott (blue gloves) reacts during the fight against Kevin Holland (red gloves) during UFC Fight Night at Rogers Arena. Mandatory Credit: Simon Fearn-Imagn Images The UFC Winnipeg main event on Saturday night featured Canada’s headliner Mike Malott stopping former UFC welterweight title challenger Gilbert Burns of Brazil to cap off an entertaining UFC Fight Night card.
A third-round left hook was the beginning of the end, securing the TKO at 2:08. Malott (14-2-1) extended his winning streak to four, improving his UFC stint to 7-1.
“I’m on top of the world right now,” Malott said following the win.
Malott paid respect to Burns (19-10), calling him a “legend” as the Canada Life Centre crowd exploded in jubilation.
As for what’s next, Malott kept it simple. He has no preferences regarding an opponent, just enjoying the journey as it comes.
Burns, meanwhile, took his gloves off while holding back his emotions and opted to retire after his fifth straight loss.
“I worked so hard,” the 39-year-old said, praising the UFC. “I think that’s it. But I am content.”
A bantamweight co-headliner saw Canadian fan favorite Charles Jourdain win a unanimous decision over Kyler Phillips of the United States in an entertaining, back-and-forth affair. Jourdain (18-8-1) is 3-0 since moving to bantamweight, defeating Phillips (12-5), who has lost his last three. Jourdain swept the cards 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, nearly securing a kimura submission from his back in the closing minutes of Round 3.
Lightweight veteran Jai Herbert of England survived an early flurry from UFC newcomer Mandel Nallo of Canada, silencing the pro-Canadian crowd with a first-round TKO at 2:05.
Herbert initially dropped Nallo just a minute before the final sequence, securing his second UFC KO/TKO to move a step closer to .500 in the Octagon. Herbert (14-6-1) made it clear he wants to be more “active,” praising Nallo’s toughness and resolve. Nallo (14-4) had won five straight entering his promotional debut.
Women’s flyweights Jasmine Jasudavicius and Karine Silva got the better of each other in a grappling-heavy affair, with Canada’s Jasudavicius earning a unanimous decision win over her Brazilian opponent.
Jasudavicius (15-4) took the scorecards 29-28, 29-28, 29-28, sending Silva (19-7) back to the drawing board. Jasudavicius has won five of her last six, while Silva fell to 1-3 in her last four after starting her UFC run 4-0 dating to June 2022.
Lightweights Gauge Young and Thiago Moises entertained the crowd in a 15-minute slugfest, with Young (11-3) earning a split decision victory (29-28, 28-29, 29-28). Young stole the last two rounds, knocking Moises down and nearly finishing him in Round 3 to open the five-fight main card. Young earned his third UFC win, whereas the loss for Moises (19-10) marked his 17th Octagon appearance.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Luke Kennard scores 27, Lakers take Game 1 against Rockets
Apr 18, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers guard Luke Kennard (10) shoots the ball against Houston Rockets forward Jabari Smith Jr. (10) in the first half during game one of the first round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Luke Kennard scored 27 points and LeBron James added 19 points with 13 assists as the short-handed Los Angeles Lakers earned a 107-98 victory over the visiting Houston Rockets on Saturday in Game 1 of a Western Conference first-round playoff series.
Deandre Ayton scored 19 points with 11 rebounds and Marcus Smart added 15 points with eight assists as the fourth-seeded Lakers won with leading scorers Luka Doncic (hamstring) and Austin Reaves (oblique) watching from the bench.
In just his seventh start since joining the Lakers from the Atlanta Hawks at the trade deadline, Kennard went 9 of 13 from the floor and 5 of 5 from 3-point range while delivering a season high in points to fill the scoring void at guard.
Alperen Sengun scored 19 points while Amen Thompson and Reed Sheppard each added 17 for the fifth-seeded Rockets, who were playing without leading scorer Kevin Durant (knee).
Jabari Smith Jr. scored 16 points with 12 rebounds and Tari Eason also had 16 points for Houston, which has lost three consecutive road games to Los Angeles since the middle of March.
The Lakers shot 60.6% from the floor and 52.6% from 3-point range, while the Rockets shot 37.6% and 33.3% respectively.
Kennard helped put the Rockets away with three 3-pointers in the fourth quarter. His second of the final period capped a 13-3 run and gave the Lakers an 88-72 lead with 7:58 remaining.
James made a turnaround hook inside with 4:43 remaining to put Los Angeles up 96-80. The 41-year-old added a fadeaway jumper with 2:57 remaining for a 98-84 lead.
Houston was within 100-91 with 1:40 remaining on a dunk from Thompson before Ayton put the game away for Los Angeles on a three-point play with 1:04 left for a 105-93 lead.
The Lakers shot 70.6% from the floor in the fourth quarter and 56.2% in the second half.
The Rockets finished with a 44-35 rebounding advantage.
The Lakers got off to a fast start, leading by eight points in the first quarter, when James had eight assists, and took a 33-29 lead after the opening period. Los Angeles led 50-48 at the half on 64.7% shooting from the floor as Ayton scored 12 points. Sengun had 11 at the half for Houston.
–Field Level Media
Flyers emerge with win over Penguins in opening tussle of playoff series
Star Trek’s Most Ambitious Villain Helped Create The Franchise’s Most Complex Hero
