Sports
Rangers hope bats comes alive again for series finale vs. Yankees
May 2, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Paul Blackburn (58) and catcher J.C. Escarra (25) celebrate after drafting the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images For most of the season, the Texas Rangers saw their pitchers deliver on the mound without the backing of their hitters.
For much of the season, the New York Yankees saw their pitching and offense mesh together as the team surged to the top of the American League.
After putting together both elements, the Rangers hope to duplicate it while the Yankees attempt to bounce back from a rare quiet showing when the teams conclude a three-game series in New York on Thursday afternoon.
Texas heads into the finale of the season series with a 3.69 ERA on the year, but a .237 team batting average is contributing to a 17-19 record. After Jacob deGrom uncharacteristically allowed six runs in a 7-4 loss on Tuesday, Nathan Eovaldi gave up three hits and one run in eight innings during the Rangers’ 6-1 win on Wednesday.
Eovaldi was dominating, and the Rangers backed him by scoring more than five runs for the seventh time this season and first time since April 23 against Pittsburgh.
Texas saw Corey Seager homer and hit an RBI single after the shortstop was 4-for-31 in his previous eight games. Seager drove in more than one run for the first time in 11 games.
Rangers center fielder Evan Carter ended an 0-for-23 skid with a double on Tuesday, then hit a two-run homer the next day. He still is just 10-for-69 (.145) in his past 23 games.
“It’s nice to see,” Texas manager Skip Schumaker said of Carter’s progress. “I know the guys were excited to push across a few runs for Evo (Eovaldi). I think that’s the main thing, they’re trying to give these pitchers a cushion. … They’re trying to win the game and do whatever they can, and after the game they’ll try to learn from what happened.”
The Yankees have 15 victories in their past 18 games, but they were held down on Wednesday after scoring 46 runs in a five-game winning streak. New York finished with three hits, its second-lowest total this season, and scored fewer than two runs for the fifth time.
Aaron Judge hit his major-league-leading 15th homer, and he has 12 in his past 23 games. Cody Bellinger finished 1-for-3 after going 10-for-19 (.526) during the winning streak.
Following Eovaldi’s gem, MacKenzie Gore (2-2, 4.67 ERA) will attempt to rebound from his shortest outing as a Ranger.
Gore last pitched on Friday, when he allowed three runs on four hits in 3 2/3 innings during a no-decision at Detroit. Texas won the game 5-4.
Gore is 1-2 with a 4.20 ERA in three career starts against the Yankees, all with the Washington Nationals.
Ryan Weathers was originally slated to start for New York, but an illness prompted the Yankees to move his next start back to Monday in Baltimore. Weathers was feeling sick after his start on Saturday and was able to play catch but not able to complete his preparation for Thursday.
“I pitched, then went home and pretty much threw my guts out for several hours,” Weathers said. “I thought I just had food poisoning, but woke up the next day and was running a 102 (degree) temp. I was just pretty much bedridden for a couple of days.”
Paul Blackburn (1-1, 3.21 ERA) is scheduled to make his first start since joining the Yankees in August. He will be pitching three days after throwing 17 pitches to finish New York’s 12-1 rout of the Orioles on Monday. Blackburn has pitched twice since April 26 and has not thrown more than 43 pitches in his nine appearances.
Blackburn is 0-3 with a 12.00 ERA in six career appearances (five starts) against the Rangers.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mets display power in handing Rockies sixth straight loss
May 6, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; New York Mets second baseman Marcus Semien (10) doubles in the fourth inning against the Colorado Rockies at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Marcus Semien had four hits, including a home run, Juan Soto led off the game with a homer, and the New York Mets beat the Colorado Rockies 10-5 in Denver on Wednesday night.
MJ Melendez, Bo Bichette, Carson Benge, Brett Baty and Francisco Alvarez had two hits apiece, Freddy Peralta (2-3) scattered four hits in five innings and Devin Williams earned his fifth save for New York.
The game was originally scheduled for a 1:10 p.m. start but a snowstorm moved into Colorado on Tuesday night and didn’t end until early afternoon Wednesday.
TJ Rumfield homered among his three hits, Jake McCarthy also went deep and Tyler Freeman, Edouard Julien and Troy Johnston had two hits each for Colorado, which has lost six in a row.
Soto hit Michael Lorenzen’s third pitch into the seats in left to give the Mets the advantage, and they added to the lead in the fourth. Baty led off with a walk and went to third on Semien’s bloop double to right. Benge drove them home with a single, and he eventually scored a groundout by Luis Torrens.
New York padded the lead in the sixth. Semien led off with a single, Benge doubled and both scored on Alvarez’s single. Zach Agnos relieved Lorenzen and hit Torrens with a pitch, Alvarez scored on Bichette’s single and Torrens came home on a groundout and throwing error by second baseman Julien to make it 8-0.
Lorenzen (2-4) allowed seven runs on 11 hits in five-plus innings.
Colorado answered in the bottom of the sixth against Tobias Myers. Rumfield led off with a home run, Freeman and Tyler Johnston doubled to make it 8-2. After Myers retired the next two, McCarthy crushed his first homer to cap the four-run inning.
Semien answered with a two-run homer in the ninth, but the Rockies responded in the bottom of the inning. Mickey Moniak hit a one-out single to extend his hitting streak to 18 games, two more singles loaded the bases and a run scored when Sean Manaea hit Freeman.
Williams struck out Jordan Beck and Kyle Karros to end the game.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spurs blow past Timberwolves, even series in Game 2
May 6, 2026; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) shoots over Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert (27) in the first half during game two of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Dunn-Imagn Images Victor Wembanyama scored 19 points and grabbed 15 rebounds as the host San Antonio Spurs dominated the final three quarters on the way to a 133-95 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday, leveling the teams’ Western Conference semifinal series at one win apiece.
Second-seeded San Antonio has not lost back-to-back contests since Jan. 11 at Minnesota and Jan. 13 at Oklahoma City, a stretch of 49 games.
San Antonio swamped the sixth-seeded Timberwolves in the second quarter, turning a seven-point lead after the opening period into a 24-point advantage at halftime. The Spurs expanded the margin to 98-63 after three periods as Julian Champagnie poured in all 12 of his points on the night via four 3-pointers in the frame.
From there, San Antonio cruised to the finish, building its lead to as many as 47 points.
Stephon Castle’s 21 points led the Spurs, with De’Aaron Fox scoring 16, Harrison Barnes tallying 12, Dylan Harper adding 11, Devin Vassell hitting for 10 points and Keldon Johnson pulling down 10 rebounds. Wembanyama canned two 3-pointers but is just 2 of 15 from behind the arc for the series.
Julius Randle, Anthony Edwards, Jaden McDaniels and Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 12 points each to lead the Timberwolves. Naz Reid added 11 points, and Rudy Gobert snagged 10 rebounds.
Games 3 of the best-of-seven series is scheduled for Friday in Minneapolis.
San Antonio led 24-17 after 12 minutes of play.
The Spurs used a grab-it-and-go attack in the second quarter to run away from the Timberwolves. San Antonio forced the pace even after made baskets and went to the hole at every opportunity, scoring eight fastbreak points and amassing 18 points in the paint in the second period alone to take a 59-35 lead into the break. The Timberwolves logged their lowest scoring output for a first half in any game this season.
Wembanyama and Fox each had 14 points before halftime, in the process exceeded their combined total points in San Antonio’s Game 1 loss by seven. Castle added 12 points for the Spurs, who outshot Minnesota 45.7% to 29.8% in the first half despite missing 15 shots in the paint.
Randle and Edwards led the Timberwolves with eight points apiece in the first half but shot a combined 6 of 17 from the floor.
On the night overall, the Spurs made 50% of their field-goal attempts and the Timberwolves hit 39.8%.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: NCAA finalizing expansion to 76-team tournaments
The NCAA could formalize expansion of the men’s and women’s basketball tournaments to a 76-team format as soon as Thursday, ESPN reported on Wednesday night.
The tournament fields will expand from 68 teams beginning in 2027, with NCAA calls scheduled for Thursday as the final steps in the process, ESPN reported.
The NCAA denied any final decision had been made following multiple reports in late April that plans for expansion are expected to be approved by NCAA committees and formalized as soon as this month.
“Expanding the basketball tournaments would require approval from multiple NCAA committees, including the men’s and women’s basketball committees, and no final recommendations or decisions have been made at this time,” the NCAA’s April 28 statement read.
The format change requires approval from the men’s basketball committees, the men’s and women’s basketball oversight committees, the Division I cabinet and the Division I Board of Governors.
ESPN reported on Wednesday that after expansion talks for more than a year, and contracts with the men’s tournament media partners near completion in late April, the final steps are expected to be smooth.
Multiple outlets reported last month that the NCAA plans for 52 teams to slot into the main bracket and the other 24 teams will face off in 12 games on the Tuesday and Wednesday after Selection Sunday, filling out the Round of 64 with the winners. It will no longer be called the “First Four,” with the terminology expected to be “opening round” for the play-ins and “first round” for the Round of 64.
The 12 games are expected to be in Dayton, Ohio, current site of the First Four, and a second site to be determined.
It would mark the first expansion of the tournament since the field moved from 65 to 68 teams with the addition of the First Four games in 2011. The field had previously been 64 or 65 teams since 1985.
The Big 12 and Atlantic Coast Conference were the leading voices behind tournament expansion, Yahoo Sports reported in April. NCAA president Charlie Baker has also voiced his support.
“I said all along that I think there are some very good reasons to expand the tournament,” Baker told ESPN in February. “So, I would like to see it expand.”
–Field Level Media
Mets display power in handing Rockies sixth straight loss
Spurs blow past Timberwolves, even series in Game 2
