Sports
Red Sox strive to ride momentum into matchup vs. red-hot Rays
May 1, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox pitcher Jake Bennett (64) pitches against the Houston Astros during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Brian Fluharty-Imagn Images It has been a good week for both the Boston Red Sox and Tampa Bay Rays.
The American League East rivals will look to build on recent sweeps as they collide for the first time this season, opening a four-game series on Thursday night in Boston.
Amid their teams’ momentum, two starting pitchers who are quite new to their roles are set to take the mound. Boston interim manager Chad Tracy will hand the ball to rookie left-hander Jake Bennett (1-0, 1.80 ERA) for only his second career start, while Tampa Bay will have right-hander Griffin Jax (1-2, 5.14) continuing his recent transition from the bullpen.
Bennett made a solid first impression on Friday, earning a 3-1 victory after holding the Houston Astros to a solo home run and stranding six of his seven baserunners across five innings.
That game also marked Tracy’s managerial debut at Fenway Park. (The Red Sox fired Alex Cora as manager on April 25.)
“There’s comfort with that for me, for sure, because I know the kid,” Tracy said of Bennett, who also began the season at Triple-A Worcester. “I know him better than anybody here as far as watching him and what he’s capable of doing.”
Tracy’s club bounced back from a 1-4 slump to win three games in a row, completing a road sweep of the Detroit Tigers with a 4-0 victory on Wednesday. It was Boston’s fifth shutout of the season, which ties for the most in baseball.
While a pair of two-run innings and just four total hits got it done in the Detroit finale, the first two games of the series featured a one-run win and a 10-run outburst. The Red Sox are 6-4 under the new skipper.
“Just try to keep being as consistent as possible,” third baseman Caleb Durbin said. “As a lineup, we’re working really hard, and we expect a lot of ourselves. This series was great, but it’s on to Tampa Bay.”
The Rays, however, will present a tall task, having banked consecutive three-game sweeps against the San Francisco Giants and Toronto Blue Jays during a six-game homestand before arriving in Boston. Their five series sweeps are the most in MLB this season.
“It’s a really fun place to work right now,” starting pitcher Shane McClanahan said after his 5 2/3-inning start in a 3-0 win over Toronto on Wednesday. “I come into the field each day, and I’m like, ‘Man, I’ve got a lot of my friends just hanging out, and we’re gonna go to war for each other.’ I can’t say enough good things.”
Complete baseball has been the key to Tampa Bay’s recent run of 12 wins in the last 13 games. Not once during that stretch have the Rays allowed more than three runs.
With such dominant pitching and defensive play, the runs do not need to come in bunches.
On Wednesday, Jonny DeLuca’s fourth-inning RBI double was all the Rays needed vs. the Blue Jays. The center fielder has 10 RBIs and 10 runs since April 8.
Jax will look to keep the line of strong pitching moving in his third straight start since moving into the rotation, though he is 0-1 with a 7.27 ERA in 14 career appearances (one start) against the Red Sox.
After allowing 11 runs (eight earned) across 11 relief appearances to start the season, Jax has been sharp since helping the Rays’ injury-depleted staff in a starting role, pitching five innings of shutout, two-hit ball over two starts.
“They’re on a good run, no doubt,” Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash said of his team. “They’re setting the bar really high for themselves, and they should all be feeling pretty good about how individually they’re contributing.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pirates' Konnor Griffin 'settled in' ahead of opener vs. Giants
May 6, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates shortstop Konnor Griffin (6) against the Arizona Diamondbacks at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images San Francisco Bay Area baseball fans will get their first up-close look at Pittsburgh prized rookie Konnor Griffin when the Giants host the Pirates in a three-game series that begins Friday night.
Griffin, who made his MLB debut as a 19-year-old early last month, arrives in San Francisco on a nice run. He has hits in eight of his last nine games, raising his batting average from .213 to .257.
“It’s been good to get settled in,” said Griffin, who played just 127 games of minor-league ball before his promotion less than two years after he was drafted ninth overall by the Pirates straight out of high school.
“Just a good locker room,” he added. “Everybody supports you. I’m just glad to be out there every day, working hard and doing what I love.”
The shortstop appears to have settled in on the road as well. After starting his big-league career 1-for-22 there, he has rebounded to go 7-for-20 against the Milwaukee Brewers and Arizona Diamondbacks away from home.
Griffin has yet to face the Giants’ Friday probable starter, left-hander Robbie Ray (2-4, 2.95 ERA), who hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his seven starts this season. Ray, however, has a losing record, with the Giants having been shut out in three of his four losses — including 3-0 at Tampa Bay last Friday.
Ray, 34, is 2-2 with a 4.50 ERA in seven career starts against the Pirates, who have won five of their past six games.
Scheduled Pittsburgh starter Carmen Mlodzinski (2-2, 4.76 ERA) benefited from his team’s 19-hit assault in a 17-7 win over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday in his most recent outing. The right-hander won despite allowing five runs for a third consecutive start, a stretch that followed yielding a total of four runs over his first four outings of the season.
Mlodzinski, 27, has yet to start a game in San Francisco. Overall, he has faced the Giants five times — all in relief — and is 0-2 with a 6.00 ERA.
Mlodzinski will try to keep the Giants’ Willy Adames in a slump. The shortstop has a hit in only 10 of his last 78 at-bats, with no homers or RBIs as his batting average has plummeted to .194.
The Giants have scored just 18 runs in their last nine games, losing eight times.
Manager Tony Vitello has cautioned his players that no starting spot is guaranteed. In fact, he sat third baseman Matt Chapman on Tuesday and second baseman Luis Arraez on Wednesday so that he could find a spot for his hottest hitter, Casey Schmitt.
Schmitt, who homered twice in the just-completed series against the San Diego Padres, also can play shortstop. The Giants lost two of three games in the home set to San Diego.
Vitello said he believes resting veteran players can be for their own good.
“There’s going to be days where they’re not playing,” Vitello said earlier this week, “but the benefit of that is that when they are playing, they’re not going to have any excuses. Not that they have, but they’re going to be fresh of mind and fresh of body.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Commanders sign 1st-round pick Sonny Styles
Apr 23, 2026; Pittsburgh, PA, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes linebacker Sonny Styles is selected by the Washington Commanders as the number seven pick during the 2026 NFL Draft at Acrisure Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images The Washington Commanders signed first-round draft pick Sonny Styles to his four-year rookie contract on Friday.
Styles, the seventh overall pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, will receive $37.2 million in fully guaranteed money that includes a $23.5 million signing bonus. The deal also includes a fifth-year team option.
The Commanders also signed the remaining members of their draft class: Clemson wide receiver Antonio Williams (third round), Tennessee defensive end Joshua Josephs (fifth), Penn State running back Kaytron Allen (sixth), Michigan State center Matt Gulbin (sixth) and Rutgers quarterback Athan Kaliakmanis (seventh).
Styles, who was converted from safety to linebacker, recorded 82 tackles and 6.5 tackles for loss in 14 games as a first-team All-American last season at Ohio State.
He totaled 244 tackles, 22.5 tackles for loss, nine sacks, three forced fumbles and a fumble recovery in 53 career games with the Buckeyes.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cavaliers Need Major Changes After Falling Behind 2-0 to Pistons
The Detroit Pistons took a commanding 2-0 lead over the Cleveland Cavaliers after a massive 107-97 win in game two. Cade Cunningham came through in the clutch for Detroit, the exact opposite of what occurred for the Cavs on the road.
Donovan Mitchell didn’t have a bad game two, but wasn’t able to get it going from beyond the arc. The real issue came from James Harden. In his age-36 season, Cleveland actually expected to get really playoff value out of Harden.
I feel a good description of Harden’s entire game came through with 40 seconds in the 4th quarter. Harden walked it up the floor, dribbled out the entire shot clock down six points, then immediately turned the ball over. You can live with Harden being a traffic cone on defense when he turns it up on offense, but he was simply the worst Cleveland player on both ends of the floor. He finished 3/13 from the field and had 4 horrible turnovers to go along with it.
Cavaliers head coach Kenny Atkinson has been the worst coach in two straight series to start the playoffs, and if he wants to change things, he might have to make an insane move and bench Harden. I would love to see Harden contribute as an off-ball catch-and-shoot player, but he can’t seem to even accomplish that. If that’s the case, you might as well just try Craig Porter Jr. to see if he can provide energy.
I’m not sure if Cleveland is truly even dead in this series. Of course, they haven’t found any way to win on the road in the playoffs (0-5 thus far), but Detroit hasn’t wowed me with anything they’ve done. The Pistons’ defense has been aggressive and limited what Cleveland wanted to do, but the Cavs have played right into it. They’ve slowed the game down and relied on isolation, or high pick-n-roll offense right at half court, and it’s been insanely ugly for Cleveland.
Two things have to change for the Cavs. They need to get to the basket. In the third quarter, they made a run to make things interesting, then went right back to isolation basketball, zero ball movement, and James Harden starting the offense with 10 seconds left on the shot clock.
However, more important than that, they’ve simply got to make shots. They were 7/32 from three, while Detroit was 14/28. That’s the ball game. I have no idea why Atkinson continually blitzes Cunningham, which allows Detroit to finish a possession with a wide-open three. This is a bad defensive unit that struggles to make the right rotations. Quit overhelping; you’re letting a bad-shooting Pistons team get into a rhythm with easy catch-and-shoot threes.
Rebuilding in basketball is painful, but I’m not sure this Cavs team will ever be a real contender. Even if you somehow manage to get out of this round, you’re still left with a very flawed roster. Cleveland will have some tough decisions this offseason, and I wouldn’t be surprised if we’re seeing the last few games of this core in Cleveland.
Pirates' Konnor Griffin 'settled in' ahead of opener vs. Giants
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