Finally, the Boston Red Sox have a turn in the right direction.

Back-to-back victories over the Milwaukee Brewers have the Red Sox feeling good as they turn their attention to another National League Central opponent, with the opener of a three-game series against the St. Louis Cardinals on Friday night.

Strong pitching performances set the stage for Boston’s two latest victories, as left-hander Garrett Crochet and right-hander Sonny Gray each pitched 6 1/3 innings en route to their respective 3-2 and 5-0 decisions. Now, manager Alex Cora looks to southpaw Connelly Early (0-0, 2.89 ERA) to continue the trend.

“We will pitch. We’re going to be better,” Cora said. “And for this team to make it to October, we have to pitch. And we will.”

Though the Red Sox lost his first two starts of 2026 by 3-2 scores, Early has picked up where he left off as a rookie last September. The 24-year-old has allowed just three runs and struck out 10 through 9 1/3 innings, including four innings of two-run ball in his start Saturday against the San Diego Padres.

Across four starts late last season, Early was 1-2 with a 2.33 ERA and 29 strikeouts in 19 1/3 frames.

“Stuff-wise, he’s really good,” Cora said earlier this season. “He slows down the moments, and he’s getting better.”

Like Gray did after Crochet, Early will look to help the Red Sox continue building momentum from their first series win. There were more positive signs, too, as Wilyer Abreu continued his hot start (.383 average) with a 2-for-4 effort on Wednesday, and Trevor Story erased an 0-for-16 funk with a four-game hit streak and three straight multi-RBI performances.

“(The slow start is) already in the past. We’ve got to move forward,” catcher Carlos Narvaez said. “We won the series. That’s all that matters now. We’ve got six on the road.”

The Cardinals return home with momentum themselves, having followed up a 7-6, 10-inning triumph on Tuesday with a convincing 6-1 effort on Wednesday against the Washington Nationals.

It has been a stretch to remember for 23-year-old outfielder Jordan Walker, who homered in all three games against Washington and four of the last five, giving him 12 RBI and a 1.049 OPS for the season.

“Man, I always feel like I can do it,” Walker said. “But just working with the guys all day … (my confidence) is just going through the roof right now and I’ve got to get it to stay there.”

On top of Walker continuing his recent exploits, Alec Burleson went 3-for-4 with three RBI and starter Michael McGreevy (1-1) pitched six solid innings to lead to Wednesday’s win. It was just the second of seven St. Louis victories that did not require a comeback effort.

“It’s a very complete team. That’s how it feels,” McGreevy said. “Everything you want out of a baseball team. You’ve got great defenders behind you. You’ve got great offense. I never felt like we were out of any game on this road trip.”

Manager Oliver Marmol agrees.

“The style of play, how we’re winning these ballgames, has been consistent,” he said. “More proud of that than anything.”

However, the struggles of Dustin May (0-2, 15.95) have been a sore spot for St. Louis thus far, as the veteran righty has been touched up for 13 runs on 17 hits in just 7 1/3 innings. He lasted just 3 1/3 and allowed seven runs last Saturday in an 11-6 setback to the host Detroit Tigers.

May made six appearances (five starts) for the Red Sox late last season. His only career appearance against them was a five-inning losing effort on July 27, just four days before the Los Angeles Dodgers traded him to Boston.

–Field Level Media

Oklahoma City wrapped up the No. 1 overall seed with a win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday night, making the final two games inconsequential for the reigning NBA champions.

The Denver Nuggets, on the other hand, have something to play for when they host the Thunder on Friday night.

Denver (52-28) leads the Los Angeles Lakers for the No. 3 seed, which would mean avoiding the Thunder (64-16) in the second round should both make it that far. The Nuggets have won 10 in a row for the first time in 13 years to climb into third place, and close out their home schedule against Oklahoma City.

They finish the season Sunday night in San Antonio, which has locked up the No. 2 seed.

The Thunder have won the first three matchups between the teams, the last one on March 9 when Shai Gilgeous-Alexander hit a 3-pointer at the horn to win it, part of a streak of winning 19 of their last 20 overall to hold off the Spurs for the top seed.

“It’s impressive,” Gilgeous-Alexander said after the win over the Clippers. “Obviously, none of it means anything if you don’t win in the end, and you know that. But teams that win in the end have some of the same characteristics and traits and check off the same boxes.

“So checking off those boxes is kind of just like knowing we’re headed in the right direction,” he continued. “Obviously, we’re far from the finish line of where we want to go, but like I said, it lets us know we’re heading right there.”

Oklahoma City is trying to league’s first repeat winner since Golden State in 2017-18, and Gilgeous-Alexander, who is second in the NBA in scoring at 31.1 points a game, is favored to win his second straight MVP.

The Thunder may choose to rest some of their top players on Friday night, which would benefit Denver. The Nuggets, who have won their last 10 home games, are surging at the right time of the year despite needing rallies to beat bad teams.

“I think some of the wins have been better than others, we’ve played better,” guard Christian Braun said after Denver rallied to beat the visiting Memphis Grizzlies. “In this league, a win’s a win. You’ve got to find a way to string them together however you can get them. We’ve done a good job of doing that. Now we’ve got to keep it going.”

One of Gilgeous-Alexander’s main competitors for league MVP is Nikola Jokic. The Nuggets center is averaging a triple-double for the second straight season (27.8 points, 12.9 rebounds and 10.9 assists) and is poised to become the first player in NBA history to lead the league in rebounding and assists.

Last season, Denver took the Thunder to seven games in the second round but feel better equipped for a longer playoff run this time. The Nuggets are deeper, with the ability to go nine or 10 deep when fully healthy if guard Peyton Watson and forward Spencer Jones can return from hamstring injuries for the postseason.

–Field Level Media

The Utah Jazz have shown flashes of potential and competitiveness during its current 10-game losing streak. But the lows have outnumbered the highs heading into a showdown with the Memphis Grizzlies in Salt Lake City on Friday night.

Utah hit one of those lows in a 156-137 loss to New Orleans on Tuesday. The Jazz found themselves on the wrong end of the Pels’ multiple franchise records following a second-half defensive collapse.

New Orleans set franchise highs for total points scored in a game (156) and points scored in a quarter (50 in the third). Pelicans rookie Jeremiah Fears led the way with a franchise rookie record 40 points. The Jazz (21-59) allowed 90 points in the paint and 44 fastbreak points.

Utah led 69-61 at halftime before self-destructing in the third quarter. New Orleans used a 31-6 run to pull away — fueled by baskets from Jordan Poole, who scored 22 points in the quarter.

Kennedy Chandler and John Konchar offered a bright spot for the Jazz off the bench. Chandler totaled a career-high 31 points, seven rebounds and eight assists, while Konchar produced 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for his first career triple-double.

Fan support has remained strong even as Utah staggers to the finish line on a fourth straight playoff-less season. The Jazz are hopeful it will make a positive difference in their final regular-season home game Friday.

“They’re passionate. They’re knowledgeable. They’re fair. But they want to win,” Utah coach Will Hardy said of the Jazz fans in a video posted to the Utah Jazz’s X account. “And they believe that they add to the environment, and that they make this place a hard place for opponents to play, and a great place for our team to play.”

Memphis, much like the Jazz, are trying to find positives as losses continue to pile up at the end of the season.

The Grizzlies (25-55) lost their sixth straight after falling 136-119 to Denver on Wednesday. They have won twice in their last 21 games. Memphis fell to the Nuggets after Nikola Jokic finished with 14 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists for his 34th triple-double of the season.

Cedric Coward matched his career high with 27 points against Denver. Coward has been a bright spot for the rebuilding Grizzlies, averaging 17.3 points on 55.6% shooting over his last four games.

“I just try to impact winning the best I can,” Coward said to the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “I hope people who watched our games throughout the whole year — not just recently or early in the season — can see that I’ve impacted winning in a lot of ways. I’m just trying to keep doing that.”

For the season, he is averaging 13.6 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.8 assists. That level of production has put Coward in the mix to earn NBA All-Rookie first-team honors at season’s end.

“From day one, he’s been super impressive in how he’s contributed — especially to winning,” Grizzlies coach Tuomas Iisalo told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. “If you look at his lineups, he’s been a guy driving winning in multiple ways, defensively and offensively. I think he’s just scratched the surface of what he can be.”

Three players currently on the Memphis roster — Ja Morant, Zach Edey and Jaylen Wells — earned first-team honors in their rookie NBA seasons. Seven players have earned All-Rookie honors with the Grizzlies in five of the past seven seasons.

–Field Level Media