Sports
Spring training roundup: Red Sox build big lead, hold off Rays
Feb 26, 2026; Fort Myers, Florida, USA; Boston Red Sox shortstop Trevor Story (10) hits a double in the first inning against the Tampa Bay Rays at JetBlue Park at Fenway South. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images Boston pitching dominated early and the Red Sox held on for a 7-5 victory over the visiting Tampa Bay Bays on Thursday in Fort Myers, Fla.
The Rays trailed 7-0 in the fourth inning but brought the tying run to the plate in the ninth follow an RBI triple by Marshall Toole.
Red Sox left-hander Garrett Crochet started the game and pitched two scoreless innings before Aroldis Chapman struck out the side in the third and right-hander Greg Weissert sailed through the fourth to get the win.
Boston scored all seven runs in the fourth but no earned runs were charged to T.J. Nichols before he exited after getting only two outs. The Red Sox rally began with third baseman Andruw Monasterio reaching on second baseman Ben Williamson’s error, which allowed Caleb Durbin to score and Kristian Campbell to advance to second.
Red Sox right-hander Devin Sweet secured the save, allowing two hits, a run and striking out two in the ninth.
Toole had a pair of hits for the Rays. Shortstop Trevor Story drove in two runs for the Red Sox in a seven-run fourth inning.
Orioles 6, Tigers 5
Jordan Sanchez laced a single up the middle past a drawn-in infield to plate the winning run in walk-off fashion against lefty Carlos Pena at Sarasota, Fla., to keep the Tigers winless in seven games this spring.
Sanchez, 20, entered the game in the No. 9 spot in Baltimore’s order, replacing second baseman Jeremiah Jackson, who had two hits, as did first baseman Pete Alonso. Tyler O’Neill was 3-for-3 with a home run in the first inning to boost his batting average to .778.
The Tigers powered up after falling behind 5-2. Eduardo Valenica golfed a two-run homer to left in the sixth and Carson Rucker’s solo homer in the seventh — both off of Baltimore’s Trey Gibson — tied it at 5.
Baltimore had 15 hits and stranded seven of the Tigers’ nine runners who reached scoring position.
Sanchez scored Aron Estrada in the ninth when he caught up with a Pena fastball and knifed the game-winner past a diving Jack Penney at short.
Detroit’s winless record includes two ties.
Mets 5, Astros 0
Nolan McLean pitched four scoreless innings with six strikeouts and the Mets used home runs by Tyrone Taylor and Marcus Semien to cruise past punchless Houston in West Palm Beach, Fla.
Right-hander Robert Stock relieved McLean in the fifth and fanned six batters in three innings.
The Astros were held to two hits, struck out 15 times in 28 at-bats and only one of the team’s non-starters — outfielder Anthony Huezo walked — reached base.
Taylor roped a two-run shot to center in the second and Semien, who was 2-for-3, followed with his first homer in a Mets uniform to left-center off of Bryan King. King replaced lefty Steven Okert, who took the loss allowing three runs and a walk in one inning.
Yankees 7, Braves 3
Left-handed slugger Spencer Jones blasted a solo home run out of George Steinbrenner Field and the Yankees powered their way past the Braves in Tampa, Fla.
The Yankees jumped in front 5-0 in the bottom of the first inning and five of their eight hits were for extra bases.
New York’s homers came from Jones, Paul Goldschmidt and Jazz Chisholm, who began the barrage of Braves veteran right-hander Carlos Carrasco with a two-run blast in the first inning. Jones cleared the bleachers and went windshield shopping in the parking lot outside the park in right-center field.
Ben Gamel homered for the second time this spring for Atlanta, and center fielder Jose Azocar had two hits. Carrasco allowed five runs in 1 2/3 innings.
Elmer Rodriguez was the winning pitcher for the Yankees with four strikeouts and two runs allowed in three innings.
Phillies 7, Nationals 3
Bryce Harper drove in two and scored a run, leading the Phillies past the Nationals in Clearwater, Fla.
Philadelphia busted it open with a four-run third, breaking a 1-1 tie with a home run from designated hitter Kehden Hettiger to left center. Bryson Stott, who homered in the first, reached in front of Harper and scored on a double to the right field corner. Harper came around on a single by catcher Garrett Stubbs.
Washington right-hander Gus Varland allowed four runs in two-thirds of an inning but was relieved before finishing the third inning.
Nationals first baseman Andres Chaparro yanked a two-run home run inside the left field foul pole to cut the lead to 5-3 in the bottom of the fourth.
Harper made it 6-3 with a sacrifice fly in the fifth, knocking in Hettiger.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Feb 22, 2026; Hampton, Georgia, USA; NASCAR Cup Series driver Tyler Reddick rounds the track at EchoPark Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mady Mertens-Imagn Images AUSTIN, Texas — One of the few things that wasn’t startling about Saturday’s NASCAR Cup Series qualifying session at Circuit of the Americas was Tyler Reddick’s run for the pole position.
Negotiating the 2.4-mile road course in 97.760 seconds (88.380 mph) in the second qualifying group, Reddick claimed his third Busch Light Pole Award in six attempts at the track. He will lead the field to green in Sunday’s DuraMAX Grand Prix Powered by Reladyne (3:30 p.m. ET on FOX, PRN and SiriusXM NASCAR Radio).
Of course, there’s more at stake for Reddick than simply a victory at COTA. In winning at EchoPark Speedway near Atlanta last Sunday, the driver of the No. 45 Toyota became the sixth Cup competitor to start a season with two consecutive wins. No driver has ever won three straight to open a season.
The 23XI Racing driver acknowledged that the pole position, the 12th of his career, is a positive first step toward that goal.
“It helps the chances, certainly,” said Reddick, whose series-best average finish of 4.6 at COTA includes a victory in 2023. “I think starting up front is huge.”
Michael McDowell led the first qualifying group of 19 drivers with a lap at 88.031 mph but fell to sixth soon after the second group took to the track. Ultimately, Ross Chastain posted the second-fastest lap at 88.256 mph (97.897 seconds) and will start on the front row beside Reddick.
The shocker was not that Chastain, the 2022 COTA winner, fashioned an excellent lap. What was surprising was that his two Trackhouse Racing teammates, Shane van Gisbergen and Connor Zilisch — both vaunted road course racers — failed to crack the top 10 in qualifying.
Van Gisbergen was 13th fastest on his third lap. Zilisch could do no better than 25th. Van Gisbergen is seeking his sixth straight road course victory in the Cup Series, a mark that would tie NASCAR Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon for most consecutive road course wins.
Chase Briscoe (88.242 mph) will start third, followed by Ryan Blaney (88.179 mph) and Chase Elliott (88.161 mph). Elliott leads active drivers with seven road course victories.
Behind McDowell in sixth, AJ Allmendinger qualified seventh, followed by defending race winner Christopher Bell, Ty Gibbs and William Byron.
“We’ll see how it gets going,” Reddick said. “Certainly, Ross, Shane, Ryan Blaney-there’s a number of good drivers who were really strong in practice today. We’ll try to understand what that all looks like and make our best decisions on the car and everything.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
Feb 25, 2026; Memphis, Tennessee, USA; Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos (15) passes the ball as Memphis Grizzlies guard Javon Small (10) defends during the third quarter at FedExForum. Mandatory Credit: Petre Thomas-Imagn Images Golden State Warriors forward Gui Santos signed a multi-year contract extension on Saturday.
Specific terms were not disclosed by the Warriors. However, ESPN reported it was a three-year, $15 million contract extension with a player option in 2028-29. Santos was in line to become a restricted free agent prior to this extension.
Santos, 23, is posting career-best averages in points (6.6), rebounds (3.2) and assists (1.7) in 48 games (13 starts) this season.
He is contributing 4.9 points, 3.0 boards and 1.4 assists in 127 career games (15 starts) since being selected by the Warriors in the second round of the 2022 NBA Draft.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Isaiah Evans, No. 1 Duke overwhelm No. 11 Virginia
Feb 28, 2026; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils forward Isaiah Evans (3) grabs a pass as he moves around a pick center Patrick Ngongba II (21) as Virginia Cavaliers guard Sam Lewis (5) defends during the first half at Cameron Indoor Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Kinnan-Imagn Images Isaiah Evans used a hot start on the way to 19 points and top-ranked Duke’s defense contained No. 11 Virginia for much of Saturday afternoon’s showdown in a 77-51 victory at Durham, N.C.
The Blue Devils, with two games remaining, secured at least a share of the Atlantic Coast Conference regular-season championship and locked up the top seed for the upcoming ACC tournament.
Cameron Boozer racked up most of his 18 points on free throws for Duke (27-2, 15-1 ACC), which built its lead to 28 points in the second half. Boozer also had a team-high nine rebounds, while Patrick Ngongba II added 11 points.
Thijs De Ridder had 16 points for Virginia (25-4, 13-3), which was bidding to pull even atop the ACC standings. Instead, the Cavaliers’ nine-game winning streak was halted as they were held to a season-low point total.
Virginia went 29.1% from the field, including 7-for-35 on 3s, so the Cavaliers’ 12-for-13 shooting at the foul line couldn’t save them. Virginia collected nine offensive rebounds despite its volume of missed shots.
Evans shot 5-for-9 on 3-pointers and was 7-for-11 overall from the floor, accounting for nearly half of Duke’s 12 baskets from 3-point range.
Boozer had 11 first-half points on 11-for-12 free-throw shooting, but didn’t make a field goal until a 3-pointer early in the second half. He ended up 3-for-9 from the field in 33 minutes in Duke’s second-to-last home game of the season.
Aside from De Ridder, Virginia’s starters shot a combined 4-for-22 from the field.
An 11-0 run in the second half stretched Duke’s advantage to 70-43.
Duke built an 18-9 lead across the first 11 minutes, with Evans providing 14 of those points. The Blue Devils carried a 41-26 lead into halftime.
Virginia shot 4-for-17 on first-half 3s, while going 4-for-8 on 2-point range attempts.
By game’s end, Boozer attempted 12 of Duke’s 14 free throws.
–Field Level Media
Tyler Reddick starts bid for 3rd straight NASCAR Cup win with pole run
Warriors F Gui Santos signs multi-year extension
