Sports
Steph Curry Is Out, but the Golden State Warriors Keep Winning
Stephen Curry is hobbled. But the show goes on.
Just ask Draymond Green, who is fully confident in the Golden State Warriors’ playoff chances even though Curry left Tuesday’s series opener against the Minnesota Timberwolves because of a strained left hamstring.
The Warriors cruised to a 99–88 win despite losing Curry in the second quarter.
“Robin turned into Batman,” Green explained. “Alfred turned into Robin, and they just filled in. It was beautiful to see.”
If the Warriors want to grab a 2–0 series lead on the road Thursday night, they likely will have to shuffle their starring roles once again.
The original Batman is Curry, of course. He averaged 24 points per game in the Warriors’ first-round win against the Houston Rockets, and he drew attention from defenders that helped free up many of his teammates on the offensive end of the court.
Curry was off to a great start in Game 1 at Minnesota. He had 13 points in his first 13 minutes, and the Warriors built an early lead to subdue a Timberwolves crowd that was eager to see a win.
But Curry grabbed his left leg after making a floating jump shot. He signaled toward the bench that something seemed wrong, and he quickly left the game and never returned.
Warriors coach Steve Kerr said he was planning for Game 2 without his veteran sharpshooter. Curry is expected to undergo an MRI on Wednesday to learn more about the severity of the injury.
“We don’t know yet,” Kerr said. “But with a hamstring, it’s hard to imagine that he would play Thursday.”
So, what happens when Batman is out?
Robin gets the call.
In this case, that means Jimmy Butler. He flirted with a triple-double in Game 1 as he finished with 20 points, 11 rebounds and eight assists in 41 minutes.
Butler loves the spotlight. He has played along with being Robin to Curry’s Batman this season, but everyone knows that he is an alpha at heart. Look for him to try to take control in Game 2.
Will it work? That’s the harder question to answer.
Minnesota is a great defensive team despite showing some breakdowns in Game 1. The Timberwolves will be desperate to salvage a game at home before the series shifts west, and coach Chris Finch almost certainly will draw up a game plan to try to frustrate Butler as much as possible.
If Robin becomes Batman, as Green explained, then Alfred will need to fill Robin’s role. In this case, that means Buddy Hield will be asked to step up and fill some of the void left by Curry.
Hield has shown he can handle the extra responsibilities. He scored 33 points on 12-for-15 shooting — including 9-for-11 from 3-point range — in Game 7 at Houston, and he stayed hot on Tuesday night with a team-high 24 points while making five of eight shots from distance.
It’s reasonable to think that Hield will cool off soon, perhaps as soon as Game 2. He’s a good shooter, but he averaged 11.1 points during the regular season, and at some point one would think he would regress to the mean.
Green left himself out of the Batman description, but clearly he is the villain in any show. He had a strong series opener in which he finished with 18 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Perhaps equally as important, Green played with an edge but stayed careful not to go over the edge. He will have to take that approach again Thursday, especially if the action intensifies and the Timberwolves try to beat him at his own game by getting under his skin.
It’s too soon to know if Curry will be back in the series and, if so, how soon.
Don’t count out the Warriors, though.
Sports
Josh Jung’s 2-run blast lifts Rangers past Athletics
Apr 25, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers catcher Danny Jansen (9) scores at home plate as Athletics catcher Austin Wynns (29) attempts to make the tag during the third inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images Josh Jung hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Texas Rangers beat the Athletics 4-3 on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.
Corey Seager had two hits and an RBI for Texas, which evened the three-game series after losing the opener 8-1 on Friday.
Rangers starter MacKenzie Gore allowed three runs on six hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over five innings. Cole Winn (2-1), Jalen Beeks and Jakob Junis each pitched a scoreless inning before left-hander Jacob Latz retired the Athletics in order in the ninth for his first save.
Shea Langeliers and Jacob Wilson had two hits apiece for the Athletics, who lost despite out-hitting the Rangers 7-5. The Athletics were 2-for-8 with runners in scoring position and fell back into a tie with the Rangers for first place in the American League West.
The Athletics claimed a 1-0 run in the second inning when Wilson doubled and scored on Darell Hernaiz’s two-out single.
Gore allowed two more runs in the third. With two on and no outs, Colby Thomas singled in a run before Tyler Soderstrom grounded out. Wilson followed with a sacrifice fly to score Nick Kurtz from third.
Texas answered with two runs in the third against Jeffrey Springs (3-2). The Rangers loaded the bases with no outs and pushed a run across on Brandon Nimmo’s sacrifice fly before Seager singled in a run with two outs.
Springs gave up four runs on five hits over six innings. He walked two and struck out four.
The Rangers pulled ahead on Jung’s two-run homer in the sixth. Seager hit a leadoff single and Jake Burger flied out before Jung deposited Springs’ 0-1 slider over the right-center field wall.
The 381-foot blast was Jung’s fourth homer of the season. After going 0-for-17 in March, Jung is batting .371 (26-for-70) with 14 RBIs in his last 20 games.
The Athletics put the tying run in scoring position with one out in the eighth on Carlos Cortes’ double, but Jeff McNeil and Austin Wynns each flied out to end the threat.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Michael Lorenzen, double plays help Rockies top Mets
Apr 24, 2026; New York City, New York, USA; Colorado Rockies pitcher Michael Lorenzen (24) delivers a pitch during the third inning against the New York Mets at Citi Field. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images Michael Lorenzen tossed a season-high seven innings and earned the win Friday night for the visiting Colorado Rockies, who beat the New York Mets 4-3 in the opener of a three-game series.
Jake McCarthy laced the tiebreaking RBI double in the sixth while Troy Johnston had what proved to be the decisive two-run single an inning later for the Rockies, who improved to 11-16. Colorado didn’t win its 11th game last season until June 3, when it was 11-50.
TJ Rumfield hit into a run-scoring groundout in the fifth while Ezequiel Tovar finished with two hits.
Marcus Semien hit into a run-scoring double play in the second and Brett Baty delivered a two-run single in the eighth for the Mets, who had won two straight following a 12-game losing streak.
Baty, Mark Vientos and Ronny Mauricio had two hits apiece.
Lorenzen (2-2), who entered Friday with a 7.48 ERA and pitched beyond the fifth just once in his first five starts this season, gave up one run on seven hits and no walks while striking out three. He induced three double plays in his longest outing since last Sept. 19, when the right-hander tossed 7 2/3 innings for the Kansas City Royals in a 20-1 win over the Toronto Blue Jays.
The Mets immediately rallied in the eighth against Jaden Hill, who gave up four singles, including Baty’s hit, while recording one out. But Antonio Senzatela entered and got Vientos to line into a double play.
The four double plays were the most for the Mets since they hit into four against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sept. 9, 2019.
Senzatela threw a perfect ninth to close out his second save.
Freddy Peralta (1-3) took the loss for the Mets after allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out eight over 5 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Junior Caminero, Jonathan Aranda each homer twice as Rays beat Twins
Apr 24, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays infielder Jonathan Aranda (8) celebrates a home run during the fourth inning against Minnesota Twins at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Pablo Robles-Imagn Images Junior Caminero hit a pair of tape-measure home runs and drove in three runs and Jonathan Aranda also homered twice to lead the Tampa Bay Rays to a 6-2 victory over the visiting Minnesota Twins in the opener of a three-game series on Friday night.
It was the fifth career multi-homer game for Caminero, who has hit six home runs during a nine-game hitting streak.
Drew Rasmussen (2-0) picked up the win, allowing one run on five hits over six innings. He walked one and struck out six. Bryan Baker retired all three batters he faced in the ninth for his fifth save.
Brooks Lee homered and doubled in a 3-for-4 game and Royce Lewis also homered for Minnesota, which took its seventh loss in the last eight games
Taj Bradley (3-1), traded by Tampa Bay to Minnesota at the last year’s trade deadline for reliever Griffin Jax, allowed six runs on seven hits over 6 1/3 innings in his first start against the team that drafted him in the fifth round of the 2018 MLB Draft.
Bradley, who came into the contest third in the American League with a 1.63 ERA, allowed four homers after giving up none in his first five starts of the season.
Tampa Bay took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on a 450-foot blast over the batter’s eye in center field by Caminero, the longest home run of his career.
The Rays extended the lead to 2-0 in the third inning when Nick Fortes led off with a double, was moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Taylor Walls and scored on a groundout to first by Chandler Simpson.
Aranda led off the bottom of the fourth with a home run down the right field line to make it 3-0, but the Twins cut the lead to 3-1 in the fifth on Lee’s fourth home run.
Aranda led off the sixth with his second homer of the game and sixth of the season, a 414-foot drive deep into the bleachers in right to make it 4-1. Tampa Bay then broke the game open in the seventh when Caminero clubbed a two-run homer, this one a 435-foot drive off the batter’s eye in center, to extend the lead to 6-1.
Lewis ended the scoring with a leadoff homer down the left field line in the ninth off reliever Trevor Martin.
–Field Level Media
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Josh Jung’s 2-run blast lifts Rangers past Athletics
