Sports
Phils' Aaron Nola eyes bounce-back start, series win vs. Marlins
Apr 26, 2026; Cumberland, Georgia, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Aaron Nola (27) pitches against the Atlanta Braves during the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Dale Zanine-Imagn Images Not much has gone right for Aaron Nola over his last two starts.
Janson Junk, however, couldn’t have pitched much better over his last two trips to the mound.
Nola (1-3, 6.03 ERA) will look to alter his current fortunes on Monday as the Philadelphia Phillies complete a four-game series against fellow right-hander Junk (2-2, 3.00) and the host Marlins.
The Phillies have won two of the first three games of the series, with Bryson Stott belting a three-run homer in both Friday’s 6-5 victory and Sunday’s 7-2 triumph. Before these blasts, Stott last went deep on Sept. 24 of last season.
Philadelphia has won five of its last six games since the team fired Rob Thomson and tabbed Don Mattingly as interim manager. Nola has been idle through all of that, as he last pitched on April 26.
“Eight days is a lot,” Nola said of the time off, per the Philadelphia Inquirer. “I’m not going to lie.”
The numbers don’t lie either, and they leave plenty to be desired. He has allowed 11 runs on 13 hits — including three homers — and seven walks over his last two starts (nine innings).
Nola has struggled to paint the corners of the plate this season, and let’s not even get him started on the ABS challenge system.
“Yeah, I’ve got to be me and pitch how I usually pitch,” Nola said. “I think all our guys are like that. That’s just kind of how we’ve been programmed to pitch. I don’t throw in the upper-90s where I can live in the middle. I can’t do that.
“I’ve got to focus on throwing to the quadrants. Yeah, it does make you come in the zone a little bit more when somebody challenges one and it kind of changes the count. We just have to adjust a little bit to the ABS and not completely adjust to it. We have to stay with our strengths and then adjust to it, rather than adjusting to it and then going back to our strengths.”
Nola, 32, also has struggled in his career against the Marlins, posting a 5-12 record with a 3.72 ERA in 25 appearances (all starts).
He’d be wise to pitch carefully to Otto Lopez, who is 7-for-14 with three RBIs and three runs in the series. Lopez is carrying a six-game hitting streak into the series finale.
Junk has yielded a total of four hits over 11 scoreless innings over his last two starts. He scattered three hits — all singles — with four strikeouts in a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers last Tuesday.
“He set the tone on the mound,” manager Clayton McCullough said of that start. “He was fantastic. They know he’s going to pound the strike zone. They came out aggressive, and he really mixed things up. He moved the ball around, executed. He was able to get through six innings very efficiently.”
Junk, 30, is 0-1 with a 1.93 ERA in his lone career appearance against the Phillies.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kentucky Derby sets several TV ratings records
Golden Tempo reached to nip the lead as Cherie DeVaux takes him out of his stall after winning the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby at Churchill Downs on Sunday, May 3, 2026. An estimated record 24.4 million people watched Golden Tempo’s historic comeback win on Saturday at the 152nd running of the Kentucky Derby.
NBC released that figure based on preliminary data collected from Nielsen and Adobe Analytics on Sunday.
The previous peak audience had been 21.8 million the year prior, meaning the 2026 running, in which jockey Jose Ortiz guided Golden Tempo from last place around the final turn all the way into first, was up 12% over the previous most-watched Derby.
Cherie DeVaux, the horse’s trainer, became the first woman trainer to win the Kentucky Derby in the event’s history Saturday.
NBC’s presentation also delivered the event’s highest average audience at 19.6 million, once again topping the previous year’s 17.7 million by roughly 11%.
The streaming numbers, mostly directed through Peacock, represented yet another record, with an average minute audience (AMA) of 1.3 million viewers, clearing 2025’s figure of 959,000.
Friday night’s Kentucky Oaks, contested for the first time in the television primetime window, likewise set viewership records. Always A Runner’s comfortable win averaged 2.4 million viewers on NBC and Peacock, a number that was four times higher than any previous viewership for the event (593,000 in 1997 on ESPN).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Twins ace Joe Ryan has MRI on elbow after early exit
May 3, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Joe Ryan (41) throws to the Toronto Blue Jays in the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Kluckhohn-Imagn Images Minnesota Twins ace right-hander Joe Ryan underwent an MRI after exiting with right elbow soreness nine pitches into Sunday’s home start against the Toronto Blue Jays.
Ryan fanned leadoff man Yohendrick Pinango on three pitches, then walked Kazuma Okamoto. After Ryan’s full-count fastball to Okamoto finished above the zone, he waved for manager Derek Shelton and trainer Nick Paparesta to come out to the mound.
After a brief conversation, Ryan headed to the dugout.
“Well, we got imaging,” Shelton told reporters after Minnesota’s 4-3 win. “We’ll kind of evaluate from there. I think, as you guys were told, it was something in the elbow. We’ll evaluate. We have the off day tomorrow, and then we’ll go off that.”
Following the abbreviated outing, the Twins’ Opening Day starter is 2-3 with a 3.72 ERA, 1.06 WHIP and 40 strikeouts in 38 2/3 innings over eight starts.
Ryan dealt with lower back issues during spring training, which included the need for an MRI exam, but did not miss any turns this season.
Minnesota already has three starting pitchers on the injured list: Pablo Lopez (elbow), David Festa (shoulder) and Mick Abel (elbow). Lopez tore his ACL during spring training and underwent season-ending Tommy John surgery.
Abel posted a 1-2 record and a 3.98 ERA in four appearances (three starts) before being shelved in mid-April, but he’s expected back relatively soon.
Ryan, who made his major league debut in 2021, has fashioned a 48-39 record and a 3.79 ERA in 123 appearances (122 starts).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees option SS Anthony Volpe to Triple-A after rehab stint
Yankees shortstop Anthony Volpe continued his rehab assignment with the Somerset Patriots at TD Bank Ballpark in Bridgewater, N.J. on April 17, 2026. The New York Yankees reinstated shortstop Anthony Volpe from his rehab assignment but optioned him to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Sunday.
Volpe played four games at Scranton and eight with Double-A Somerset to start the season as he works his way back from offseason shoulder surgery.
However, with Jose Caballero playing well as New York’s everyday shortstop, the club opted not to rush back the 25-year-old — an apparent change of heart after general manager Brian Cashman insisted “the plan” was for Volpe to return to the starting role.
Volpe made his major league debut in 2023 after spending just 22 games at Triple-A the year prior. He won the starting shortstop job in spring training and posted a 21-home run, Gold Glove rookie season. Volpe played in 159 games, then 160 in 2024 and 153 in 2025.
But his batting average and his fielding dipped in 2025, and it was revealed that the Yankees were playing Volpe despite a partial labrum tear in his left (non-throwing) shoulder. He had surgery in October after the Yankees were eliminated from the playoffs.
In 472 career games, Volpe has batted .222 with 52 homers, 192 RBIs, 82 doubles and 70 stolen bases. Across his 12 minor league rehab games, he batted .275 with one homer and six RBIs.
He also made one error, after he tied the American League lead with 19 errors in 2025.
Caballero, meanwhile, has laid his claim to the everyday job for the AL-leading Yankees (23-11). He has batted .259 with four homers, 12 RBIs and 12 steals through 32 games. He has a fielding percentage of .978.
Before the Yankees opened a series against the Baltimore Orioles Friday, manager Aaron Boone said Caballero’s play “complicates it a little bit, clearly,” when it comes to Volpe’s return.
“Jose’s earned opportunities and been a key part of our club here and a part of the success here to start out the season,” Boone said.
Caballero, 29, was a trade deadline acquisition from the rival Tampa Bay Rays last summer and has also played second base, third base and the outfield.
–Field Level Media
Kentucky Derby sets several TV ratings records
Twins ace Joe Ryan has MRI on elbow after early exit
