Sports
Struggling Kodai Senga seeks better form during Mets-Rockies doubleheader
Apr 17, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; New York Mets starting pitcher Kodai Senga (34) delivers a pitch against the Chicago Cubs during the first inning at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images No player better symbolizes the topsy-turvy nature of the New York Mets than right-hander Kodai Senga.
On Sunday, the Mets will look to the 33-year-old starting pitcher to snap his slump and help New York avoid falling into another tailspin when it hosts the Colorado Rockies in a doubleheader.
Senga (0-3, 8.83 ERA) and fellow right-hander Nolan McLean (1-1, 2.67) are expected to start for the Mets. The Rockies will counter with left-hander Jose Quintana (0-2, 6.23) in Game 1 and an opener ahead of right-hander Chase Dollander (2-2, 2.88).
The doubleheader was necessitated by a rainout Saturday, when Senga was slated to oppose Quintana.
The Rockies need only a split to win the series. That’s because they claimed Friday’s opener, 4-3, when Michael Lorenzen tossed seven strong innings and Troy Johnston delivered what proved to be the decisive two-run single in the seventh inning.
The loss halted a two-game winning streak for the Mets, who snapped a 12-game losing streak with Wednesday’s 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Twins. At 9-17, New York entered Saturday’s play tied with the Kansas City Royals for the second-worst record in the majors. Only the National League East-rival Philadelphia Phillies (8-18) are worse.
The Mets’ season-opening slide could be considered a continuation of the struggles they endured over the final three-plus months of last season. New York had the best record in the bigs at 45-24 through June 12, but they missed the playoffs after stumbling to a 38-55 mark — the fifth-worst in the game — the rest of the way.
The Mets’ skid began the day after Senga suffered a right hamstring injury covering first base on June 12, 2025. Senga, who was 7-3 with a 1.47 ERA in 13 starts when he got hurt, only missed a month. But that was enough to ruin his rhythm as he went 0-3 with a 5.90 ERA in his final nine starts before ending the season with Triple-A Syracuse.
Senga opened this year allowing four runs over 11 2/3 innings in his first two starts, but he has surrendered 14 runs (13 earned) over 5 2/3 innings in his last two starts. That includes seven runs (six earned) in 3 1/3 innings in his most recent appearance on April 17, when he took the defeat in the Mets’ 12-4 road loss to the Chicago Cubs.
Senga’s start was pushed back from Thursday so he could throw two side sessions.
“This is a guy that’s very meticulous about his work and his mechanics and things like that,” Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Friday afternoon. “Just got to go out there and do it.”
Lorenzen’s longest outing of the season helped the Rockies improve to 11-16 and move into position to earn their third series win of the season.
When the Rockies finished 43-119 last season, they didn’t win their first series until a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins on June 1-3 — a trio of wins that improved their record to 12-50. Colorado didn’t post its third series win until winning two of three against the Minnesota Twins on July 18-20.
The win Friday — secured when converted starter Antonio Senzatela got the final five outs while facing just four batters thanks to getting Mark Vientos to line into an inning-ending double play in the eighth — also improved the Rockies to 4-6 in one-run games this season. Colorado was 3-7 in its first 10 one-run games last season — a stretch that spanned the first 46 games.
“Any time you are winning more games than last year, there is going to be better energy,” said Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer, who replaced Bud Black as skipper last year following Colorado’s 7-33 start. “They are playing well right now.”
McLean didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent start last Tuesday, when he gave up three runs over 6 2/3 innings as the Mets fell to the visiting Minnesota Twins, 5-3. He did fan 10 hitters without a walk.
Quintana took the loss in his most recent start last Monday night, when he allowed six runs (four earned) over five innings as the Rockies fell to the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers, 12-3.
Dollander, who has served as a reliever in all six of his appearances this year, took the defeat last Tuesday after giving up one run over a season-high six innings in the Rockies’ 1-0 loss to the visiting San Diego Padres.
Senga is 2-0 with a 1.47 ERA in three career starts against the Rockies. McLean has never opposed Colorado.
Quintana, who pitched for the Mets from 2023-24, is 2-3 with a 4.25 ERA in five starts against his former club. Dollander absorbed the defeat in his lone previous start against New York last June 8, when he allowed five runs over three innings in the Rockies’ home 13-5 loss.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick get 15-under for four-shot lead at Zurich
Apr 25, 2026; Avondale, Louisiana, USA; Alex Fitzpatrick hits tee shot on hole 2 during the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Lew-Imagn Images It might not get much better than this for English brothers Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick.
The duo began to break away from the pack by shooting a tournament-record 15-under 57 during the third round of the Zurich Classic of New Orleans on Saturday at Avondale, La.
“I think I can think of one bad shot that we both hit, and that was me,” Matt Fitzpatrick said. “Yeah, it was an awesome day.”
The Fitzpatricks were sparked by Matt’s eagle on the par-5 seventh hole and maintained the momentum during the four-ball format to carry a four-stroke lead into the final round at TPC Louisiana. This is the PGA Tour’s only team event.
The Fitzpatrick team is at 30 under. Davis Thompson/Austin Eckroat (61) and second-round leaders Alex Smalley/Hayden Springer (62) are next at 26 under. The team of Doug Ghim/Jeffrey Kang (61) is at 25 under.
The Fitzpatrick brothers could be headed toward special territory given that last year’s winning score was 28 under from the team of Ben Griffin/Andrew Novak.
“He played brilliant golf both of the last two days,” Matt said of this brother. “His game has really turned a corner these last few months, and I believe in him to continue that trend.”
The Fitzpatricks posted birdies on eight of the nine holes on the backside. They were without a bogey and had four pars.
They each provided the best score seven times.
Matt Fitzpatrick, the older of the brothers, has been on a roll recently, including winning last week’s RBC Heritage.
“Playing alongside my brother, who happens also to be one of the best players in the world is pretty fun,” Alex said. “When he’s playing well, it’s pretty cool to watch.”
The Fitzpatricks placed 11th in the Zurich Classic in 2024 and then missed the cut last year.
The format goes back to foursomes for the final round.
“Your mindset is kind of changed from day-to-day, so (Sunday) will be a different animal,” Thompson said. “Hopefully we can get off to a good start and put some pressure on those guys.”
Smalley said there won’t be an overhaul in strategy.
“I think if we just kind of stick to what we’re doing, just trying to give ourselves as many looks as we can,” he said. “I think that will serve us pretty well.”
The teams pursuing the Fitzpatricks don’t want to become overly consumed by the chase.
“At the end of the day, you have to hit your good shots and try to pick up after your partner if you need to,” Kang said.
Seven teams were in the lead or one shot back by mid-afternoon Saturday.
Then there was the case of Davis Chatfield and Belgium’s Adrien Dumont de Chassart. They were 9 under through 11 holes after Dumont de Chassart ‘s eagle on No. 2, which was the pairing’s 11th hole of the day. But they played the rest of the way at 1 over without another birdie.
Until some of the final groups came in, the day’s best score of 61 belonged to Canada’s A.J. Ewart and South Africa’s Casey Jarvis. That moved them to 22 under and in a tie for 10th place.
“Kind of ham-and-egged it, as some would say,” Ewart said. “Kind of working in shifts and not birdieing the same holes, but making sure we’re setting our partners up to kind of free will it and go at it.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Aryna Sabalenka improves to 25-1; advances to 4th round in Madrid
Mar 28, 2026; Miami Gardens, FL, USA; Aryna Sabalenka of Belarus hits a forehand against Coco Gauff of the United States in the final of the women’s singles at the Hard Rock Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Frey-Imagn Images Top-seeded Aryna Sabaleka improved to 25-1 in 2026 and moved into the fourth round of the Madrid Open on Saturday with a routine 6-1, 6-4 victory over 29th-seeded Jaqueline Cristian of Romania.
Sabalenka has moved seamlessly onto the clay after a dominant early hard court season. The Belarussian captured the “Sunshine Double” in March, winning back-to-back titles in Indian Wells and Miami. Her lone loss occurred in the finals of the Australian Open, where she fell to Kazakhstan’s Elena Rybakina.
Cristian did have four break point chances to go ahead 4-2 in the second set, but Sabalenka wiped them all away, then broke her opponent and 4-4 and will now face Japan’s Naomi Osaka in the next round.
Osaka cruised past Anhelina Kalinina, 6-1, 6-3. She constantly put pressure on the Ukrainian’s service, winning nearly 50% while receiving and breaking six times.
The two WTA Tour veterans have only met twice, splitting their encounters, with Sabalenka prevailing, 6-2, 6-4 in the same round at Indian Wells.
No. 31 Ann Li recorded the biggest upset of the day, defeating fourth-seeded Iga Swiatek of Poland, but not in manner either player was totally satisfied with. Li led, 7-6 (4), 2-6, 3-0 when Swiatek had to retire due to illness.
“Defintely knew it was going to be a tough match, I’m super sorry for her that she’s had to pull out, it’s never easy to go like that,” said Li. “I was just super proud of the way that I fought and I pushed through.”
Ninth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia advanced with a 6-3, 6-2 win over Hungary’s Dalma Galfi. Like Osaka, Andreeva feasted on her opponent’s serve, winning 42 of 75 (56.0%) of her returns.
Andreeva improved to 9-1 on the clay in 2026.
“Clay is such a special surface,” said Andeeva. “You really have to adjust your game.”
In other third-round matches, No. 30 Hayley Baptiste upset eighth-seeded Italian Jasmine Paolini, 7-5, 6-3; Switzerland’s No. 11 Belinda Benic edged Russia’s No. 18 Diana Shnaider, 6-2, 7-6 (6); Hungary’s Anna Bondar eliminated Czechia’s Laura Samson, 7-6 (3), 6-1 and Canada’s No. 24 Leylah Fernandez got post 15th-seeded Iva Jovic, 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in a match that lasted two hours, eight minutes.
Fernandez broke Jovic three times in the final set to advance to the fourth round, where she will face Li.
–Field Level Media
Sports
David Martinez's goal lifts LAFC over Minnesota United
Apr 25, 2026; Saint Paul, Minnesota, USA; Los Angeles Football Club forward David Martinez (30) celebrates his goal during the first half against Minnesota United FC at Allianz Field. Mandatory Credit: Brace Hemmelgarn-Imagn Images David Martinez’s goal in the ninth minute was the lone score as Los Angeles FC defeated Minnesota United in Saint Paul, Minn., on Saturday.
For LAFC (6-2-2, 20 points), the win was its first since a victory over reigning CONCACAF champions Cruz Azul on April 7.
Minnesota (5-3-2, 17 points) hadn’t lost since a 6-0 defeat to Vancouver on March 15. Loons goalie Drake Callender recorded six saves in Saturday’s loss, his second highest tally of the season.
Martinez’s goal ended a 278-minute run without a goal scored in Minnesota’s Allianz field, a streak that spanned three matches.
The motto of the match was missed opportunities, as Minnesota accumulated 11 corner-kick opportunities compared to LAFC’s two, and 24 shot attempts to Los Angeles’ seven.
Stephen Eustaquio perfectly executed a touch through two Minnesota defenders that cruised with an in-motion Martinez. From the left side of Minnesota’s penalty area, Martinez delivered a strike to the high right side of the net that secured the only goal for either side.
The victory saw Hugo Lloris record his eighth clean sheet in league play this season, leading MLS. The win was also LAFC’s third straight 1-0 rout of Minnesota United.
LAFC hopes to use the win as momentum as they prepare to face Deportivo Toluca FC in the CONCACAF semifinals on Wednesday night.
Minnesota will look to rebound against San Jose in MLS play on Tuesday night.
Minnesota and LAFC are set to square off again on Nov. 1 in Los Angeles.
–Field Level Media
Matt Fitzpatrick and Alex Fitzpatrick get 15-under for four-shot lead at Zurich
Aryna Sabalenka improves to 25-1; advances to 4th round in Madrid
