Sports
Red Sox, Braves set for rubber game after two thrilling finishes
May 5, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Brayan Bello (66) throws a pitch against the Detroit Tigers in the second inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images The Boston Red Sox and host Atlanta Braves have authored two dramatic finishes to begin their weekend interleague series.
What will Sunday’s rubber game have in store?
Boston hands the ball to right-hander Brayan Bello (2-4, 6.46 ERA) as it looks to build off a 3-2 Saturday win, which came on the strength of a two-out, two-run home run by Willson Contreras in the eighth inning. Aroldis Chapman stranded the bases loaded in the ninth for a save, making the big swing and Payton Tolle’s eight-inning start stand tall.
“It feels great to be able to help the team,” Contreras said. “We’re trying to play better baseball, we’re trying to have better at-bats. … I come here every single day to play baseball and play for the guys. Tonight, we played for each other.”
Tolle and Bello have helped the Red Sox pitch the ball incredibly well in May, as their 2.34 team ERA for the month is tops in the American League.
Sunday is expected to be a true start for Bello, who has followed an opener in each of his last two outings. After going 1-4 with a 9.12 ERA through six starts to begin the season, Bello is 1-0 with a 1.35 ERA in his last two outings (13 1/3 innings).
Bello followed Jovani Moran into the game and ultimately tossed 6 1/3 innings of one-run ball in his Tuesday appearance against the Philadelphia Phillies.
“Sometimes you gotta flip something,” Boston catcher Carlos Narvaez said. “Flip that mentality, and coming out of the bullpen he probably thinks, ‘OK, I gotta be convicted right now. It’s not like, OK, I got five innings, 90 pitches.’ Something in his mind has changed.”
In three career starts against Atlanta, Bello is 1-1 with a 6.61 ERA.
The Red Sox started Saturday with shortstop Trevor Story being placed on the 10-day injured list with a sports hernia, but he is contemplating surgery that would sideline him for at least six weeks. Nick Sogard was recalled from Triple-A Worcester to take Story’s roster spot.
“He’s meant a lot to me in my transition here, the way he’s accepted me and pushed other guys to do so. So he’s a big piece of it,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said of Story.
The Braves were unable to duplicate their series-opening magic, as Mike Yastrzemski — a Massachusetts native and grandson of Red Sox legend Carl — hit a 10th-inning double to make the difference in a 3-2 Friday win.
On Saturday, they were held to just four hits by the duo of Tolle and Chapman. Drake Baldwin and Jose Azocar both had two, with the former leading off the bottom of the first with a home run. It was the team’s National League-leading 64th of the season.
“Bryce (Elder) was throwing the ball well, pitch count was OK. It’s unfortunate (to lose),” Atlanta skipper Walt Weiss said. “The game was going to be Bryce and Martin (Perez).”
Baldwin, the reigning NL Rookie of the Year, has swung a hot bat of late. He has socked first-inning homers in the first two games of the series.
“There’s no egos here,” Yastrzemski said earlier this week. “Nobody feels like they own any piece of this team. We’re all pulling on the same rope together, the same direction. Whatever opportunities come for you that day, that’s good enough.”
Grant Holmes (2-1, 4.35) looks to earn his first win since April 24 against Philadelphia and lift Atlanta in the series. Last Tuesday, Holmes allowed two runs on one hit and four walks while striking out five in a four-inning start against the Chicago Cubs.
The Braves have won four consecutive Holmes starts.
Holmes is 0-1 with a 3.86 ERA in two career starts against the Red Sox, both coming in May of last season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Casey Schmitt, Giants dominate Athletics pitching in victory
May 16, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; San Francisco Giants designated hitter Casey Schmitt (10) hits a home run against the Athletics during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Casey Schmitt hit two homers for the second time in his career and finished with four hits and three RBIs to lead the San Francisco Giants to a 6-4 victory over the Athletics on Saturday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
The four-hit outing was the fourth of Schmitt’s career and it helped the Giants halt a three-game losing streak. Willy Adames had three hits and two RBI and Rafael Devers and Drew Gilbert added two hits apiece for San Francisco, which had 14 overall, eight for extra bases.
Trevor McDonald (2-0) allowed one run and five hits over 6 2/3 innings for the Giants. He struck out five and walked one.
San Francisco’s Matt Gage worked a perfect ninth for his first save.
Brent Rooker hit a three-run homer and joined Darell Hernaiz in having two hits for the Athletics, who lost for the fourth time in their past six games.
Luis Severino (2-5) gave up five runs and 10 hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked two while dropping to 3-11 in 19 starts at Sutter Health Park since joining the A’s prior to last season.
Schmitt hit a full-count sweeper from Severino over the wall in left with two out in the first to give San Francisco the lead for good.
The Giants loaded the bases with one out in the third when Jung Hoo Lee singled, Luis Arraez drew a walk and Schmitt singled. After Devers struck out, Adames knocked in two runs but was thrown out trying to stretch it into a double.
Arraez walked with one out in the fifth before Schmitt went the opposite way. He hit a first-pitch cutter from Severino off the right-field foul pole to make it 5-0.
The Athletics got on the board in the bottom of the inning. Lawrence Butler walked and moved to third on a single by Hernaiz and scored on Jeff McNeil’s fielder’s choice.
In the seventh, Devers led off with a double and scored later in the inning on Matt Chapman’s double.
The Athletics closed the gap in the eighth as Nick Kurtz and Shea Langeliers led off the inning with walks against Erik Miller. One out later, Caleb Kilian replaced the left-hander and Rooker came up and drilled a first-pitch slider well over the wall in left to pull the A’s within 6-4.
Kilian recovered by striking out the next two hitters.
The walk stretched Kurtz’s streak of reaching base to 39 consecutive games, the longest by an A’s player since Jason Giambi reached in 39 straight in both the 1997 and 1998 seasons. Mark McGwire had a 48-game streak in 1996.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers score season-high 15 runs, pound Angels
May 16, 2026; Anaheim, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers two-way player Shohei Ohtani (17) slides to third base on a single by shortstop Mookie Betts (not pictured) ahead of a tag from Los Angeles Angels third baseman Vaughn Grissom (5) during the first inning against the Los Angeles Angels at Angel Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images Shohei Ohtani drove in five runs with a late triple and double, Justin Wrobleski combined with three relievers on an eight-hitter and the Los Angeles Dodgers took advantage of Jose Soriano’s wildness to wallop the Los Angeles Angels 15-2 on Saturday night in the second game of their rivalry series in Anaheim, Calif.
The Dodgers did all but one run of their season-high scoring in three innings, with Ohtani doing all his damage in a four-run eighth and five-run ninth.
While the game was still competitive, Alex Call had the only hit of a five-run sixth, a two-run single, helping the Dodgers pull away 24 hours after they had opened the three-game set with a 6-0 victory.
Ohtani walked and scored on Will Smith’s sacrifice fly in the first inning for the game’s only scoring until the decisive sixth.
After getting Ohtani on a grounder to second to lead off the sixth, Soriano (6-3) walked Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman before hitting Smith to load the bases.
Two more walks — to Andy Pages and Max Muncy — produced runs and also ended Soriano’s night, one in which he allowed just one hit in 5 1/3 innings.
Reliever Chase Silseth plunked Teoscar Hernandez to force in the inning’s third run, and Call followed with his two-RBI single to make it 6-0.
Jo Adell’s two-run double in the bottom of the inning got the Angels on the scoreboard, but that’s all they got against Wrobleski (6-1) in his six innings. Coming off his worst outing and only loss of the season, 7-2 last Sunday against the Atlanta Braves, the left-hander limited the Angels to two runs and seven hits, walking one and striking out five.
Soriano was charged with six runs in his 5 1/3 innings. He walked six and struck out six.
The Dodgers blew the game open in the eighth when Ohtani tripled into the right-field corner, scoring two runs, and raced home when right fielder Adell’s throw eluded his cutoff man for an error. Betts then followed with a home run, his fourth, to make it 10-2.
In an inning that ended with infielder Adam Frazier on the mound, the Dodgers reached the 15-run mark in the ninth, capped by Ohtani’s three-run double.
Muncy scored three times for the Dodgers, who have won four in a row, while Ohtani, Betts, Smith and Pages scored twice apiece.
Ohtani, Betts and the Angels’ Jorge Soler, who had two doubles, were the only players in the game with multiple hits, all with two.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ronda Rousey re-retires after 17-second submission defeat of Gina Carano
May 16, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Ronda Rousey (blue gloves) celebrates defeating Gina Carano (red gloves) after a women’s featherweight bout at Intuit Dome. Mandatory Credit: Jayne Kamin-Oncea-Imagn Images Netflix’s MMA debut was capped off with a high-stakes women’s legacy fight, as inaugural UFC bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey made her return to the sport opposite Gina Carano – with Rousey winning with her signature armbar only 17 seconds into the featherweight fight at Inglewood, Calif., at Most Valuable Promotions’ first MMA event.
An immediate takedown from Rousey saw Carano briefly attempt a guillotine before Rousey popped her head out, landed a few strikes from mount and locked in the inevitable submission.
Rousey (13-2-0 MMA) secured her 10th submission win, returning to the cage following an exit from MMA in December of 2016.
She announced after the win that she’s once again retiring to focus on having more children.
“There’s no way I could’ve ended it better than this,” Rousey said at the InTuit Dome. “I want to have some more babies and I’ve got to get cooking.”
Rousey, held back by tears, gave it up for Carano following the fight.
“Gina is the person who brought me into MMA,” Rousey said. “She’s the only person who could have brought me back to MMA. She’s my f***ing hero, man.”
Carano (7-2-0 MMA) had been inactive in the sport since August of 2009, returning to MMA after a conversation last fall at Rousey’s encouragement. She admitted the fight was too fast for her, regretting what more she could have done in a short timeframe.
“I feel great,” Carano said after the loss. “I wanted to fight, and I didn’t get that. But she trained. She had her gameplan. I have so much love and respect for her, and this was a victory in my life. She changed it. I woke up at 3 a.m. every morning thinking about her. I took 100 pounds off my body, which is going to give me a longer life. I fell back in love with mixed martial arts. There’s so many things to think about here. It’s just (that) the fight didn’t go my way.”
Carano, 44, is unsure whether she’ll return to MMA, choosing to keep the door open.
-Field Level Media
Casey Schmitt, Giants dominate Athletics pitching in victory
Dodgers score season-high 15 runs, pound Angels
