Christian Yelich woke up Tuesday having never hit a walk-off home run in his 12-plus season MLB career.
He ended the drought in grand fashion Tuesday night.
With his Milwaukee Brewers and the Boston Red Sox knotted in a 1-1 tie in the bottom of the 10th inning, Yelich tripled the game’s run tally with one swing of his bat.
After Jorey Ortiz was given second base because it was extra innings, the Brewers loaded the bases with a Brice Turang single and a Jackson Chourio walk. William Contreras flied out, bringing Yelich to the plate.
Yelich watched a first-pitch ball and a second-pitch strike without a swing. When Liam Hendricks left a third-pitch slider over the heart of the plate, Yelich unleashed. And there was no doubt about this one.
As soon as Yelich made contact, the entirety of American Family Field knew it was gone. The ball traveled deep over the right field wall for a walk-off grand slam and a 5-1 Brewers win.
Before that blast, Yelich had hit 213 career home runs in the regular season. None of them were of the walk-off variety. Now Yelich knows one of the best feelings in baseball that he didn’t before.
“It was kind of a weird feeling going around the bases knowing that the game’s over,” Yelich told reporters postgame. “Obviously, I’ve never done that before.”
Yelich’s heroics provided the Brewers with a much-needed win as they improved to .500 at 28-28 in a crowded NL Central and race for the NL wild card. They also provided a boost to the former MVP, who’s off to a slow start this season and entered Tuesday’s game flirting with the Mendoza Line with a .205/.294/.364 slash line with nine home runs and 30 RBI.
Yelich finished the night going 2 for 5 at the plate with two runs scored and the grand slam providing all four of his RBI.
As he rounded first, Ohtani lifted his arm and pointed toward the Dodgers bullpen, a gesture he makes after every homer. Around the league, that’s become a common salute of camaraderie and appreciation for a slugger to make. In Ohtani’s case, it also symbolizes something more.
That’s because his arm isn’t the same as other hitters. Each time Ohtani raises his surgically repaired, immeasurably valuable elbow, the Dodgers superstar is simultaneously offering an inadvertent reminder that the other side of his baseball life remains on ice.
Ohtani has not pitched in an MLB game since Aug. 23, 2023. Twenty seven days later, he underwent his second career reconstructive elbow surgery. He sat out the entire 2024 season as a pitcher — and still won MVP as a DH, becoming the first player ever to hit 50 homers and steal 50 bases in the same year. But heading into the 2025 season, anticipation grew about when Ohtani would resume his status as the game’s only two-way player.
If everything goes to plan, Ohtani will face live hitters again over the weekend, most likely on Sunday afternoon before that night’s game against the Yankees.
“It’s certainly been tempered early,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, “but now, when you start to ramp up facing hitters and doing back-to-backs and upping the innings, that takes a lot more mindful bandwidth and also physical exertion. So that’s gonna be interesting to see how he handles all this.”
Throughout the process, both Ohtani and the Dodgers have been insistent that the superstar’s return-to-mound timeline will be dictated by how Ohtani’s body feels. Given the strain accumulated by his nightly exploits as one of the planet’s best hitters, Ohtani’s pitching rehab is, like everything else about him, completely unique.
For example, when last Friday’s rain-delayed Mets/Dodgers game lasted until 1 a.m., Ohtani himself postponed the live pitching session that was originally scheduled for Saturday afternoon. He threw — against hitters for the first time since surgery — on Sunday instead.
It’s a sound, simple strategy. Ask the player how they’re feeling, adjust as necessary.
There’s only one problem with that inexact science: it’s an inexact science.
Ohtani is many things to the Dodgers. A DH, a leadoff hitter and, one day, a pitcher again. He is also a north star, a trajectory-altering colossus. The cornerstone of the operation. He is also a cash cow, an irreplaceable asset, and an expensive one at that. Even though the deferrals on Ohtani’s deal push its actual, inflation-adjusted total from the $700 million price tag closer to $460 million, according to MLB.com’s Mark Feinsand, it still represents a massive investment. But his value to the franchise, over the 10 years of his contract, is almost certain to stretch far beyond that figure. A recent estimate from the L.A. Times pegged Ohtani’s total influence on team revenue at $100 million a year. It could, given the scale of his superstardom, be even larger.
And so, it would be foolish, irresponsible even, for the Dodgers to handle the health and well-being of its most important person based entirely on “feeling.” Pitching coach Mark Prior, when talking to the media Sunday after the practice outing, downplayed the objective measurements the club is using to assess Ohtani’s rehab process.
“I mean, there is some data we have, but some, a lot of it is just how he’s feeling, he understands his body,” Dodgers pitching coach Mark Prior said.
That feels like a significant understatement, given how thorough, cutting edge and analytically inclined this organization is. And so, it’s a near certainty that the Dodgers are collecting some type of biometric data from Ohtani in order to monitor his workload and guide his comeback. That, in and of itself, is not unique in today’s game. Teams use wearable technology, like Driveline Baseball’s PULSE device, to track pitcher health. Many players around baseball wear fitness-tracking devices like Whoop or Oura Ring.
Ohtani himself has been seen wearing a Whoop on multiple occasions and praised the tech for helping him establish better sleep habits in a January 2022 GQ video titled “10 Things Shohei Ohtani Can’t Live Without.” Five of the 10 items referenced in the video are related to either sleep or recovery.
Reportedly, Ohtani adopted a more considered sleep regimen at some point during the 2020-2021 offseason. That change, according to people around the sport, played a non-negligible role in helping Ohtani unlock a new level of performance that he has sustained in the years since.
Unsurprisingly, objective information matters to the world’s best player.
What’s up Shohei Ohtani’s sleeve? Power, as he leads MLB with 20 homers this season. (AP Photo/David Dermer)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Ohtani has worn the same striking jet black compression sleeve over his right arm in every single game he’s played as a Dodger. The device, made by a company named CW-X, is outfitted with various knobs and straps. It seems to include an integrated component further down his arm, just above his wrist that creates a noticeable outline underneath the uniform.
Interestingly, Ohtani did not wear the sleeve while pitching Sunday, though some sort of device was visible underneath his blue long-sleeve shirt.
CW-X does not sell arm sleeves or any upper body wear (besides sports bras) to the public. But a customer service representative for CW-X told Yahoo Sports that the sleeve Ohtani has been wearing was custom made for him by the company’s design team in Japan.
It is not shocking that the game’s most unique player, attempting a singular comeback, would request and require a bespoke piece of equipment.
And considering the stakes, the Dodgers are handling Ohtani’s road back to the mound with great care.
Tyrese Haliburton and the Indiana Pacers are just a win away from their first trip to the NBA Finals in decades.
The Pacers, thanks to a dominant performance from Haliburton on Tuesday night, fended off the New York Knicks and grabbed a 130-121 win at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference finals. That gave the Pacers a 3-1 series lead, and put them on the cusp of clinching their first NBA Finals appearance in 25 years.
Haliburton finished with a 32-point triple-double in the win. He had 15 assists and 12 rebounds to go with it, and he didn’t commit a single turnover in the process. Haliburton is now the third player, along with Oscar Robertson and Nikola Jokić, to put up a 30-15-10 triple-double in the playoffs. He’s also the first to do that without a turnover.
Tyrese Haliburton’s historic first half
Haliburton came out firing. He dropped 15 points in the first quarter alone while leading the Pacers to an early lead. He accounted for half of their six made 3-pointers, too, which already surpassed the amount they made as a team in their Game 3 loss on Sunday night.
Haliburton had six assists and five rebounds in the first period. That made him just the second player, and the first since LeBron James, to have at least 15 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists in a playoff quarter in the play-by-play era.
The Knicks, though, tied the game just a few minutes into the second quarter after going on a quick 9-2 burst. It wasn’t anywhere near as high-scoring as the opening period, but the Pacers still carried a five-point advantage into the locker room after they successfully fended off the Knicks’ push in the final minutes. Haliburton entered halftime just two rebounds away from his triple-double, and he set another NBA milestone.
Tyrese Haliburton is the first player with at least 20 points, 10 assists, 5 rebounds and 0 turnovers in a playoff half in the play-by-play data era (1996-97).
The Pacers remained a step ahead throughout the third quarter, and repeatedly shut down the Knicks defensively. Haliburton at one point came up with a perfect steal on Jalen Brunson in the corner of the floor while they fought to maintain the double-digit lead they regained early on in the period.
The Pacers then ended the third quarter on a 9-4 run to take an 11-point lead. That carried over into the early minutes of the fourth period, and a huge corner 3-pointer from Pascal Siakam sent the arena into a frenzy and gave the Pacers a 15-point advantage — their largest of the game at the time.
Though the Knicks mounted one last push — they went on a 10-2 run and briefly made it a two-possession game again — it came too late. The Pacers successfully held on, and held the Knicks without a field goal for a three-minute span late, to jump back ahead and grab the nine-point victory.
Karl-Anthony Towns bangs his knee
Towns went down twice with a knee injury in the loss, and the second one looked significant.
After banging knees in the opening minutes of the game, Towns collided again late in the final quarter with Myles Turner and went down grabbing his left knee. He was down on the baseline for quite some time, slamming his hand on the floor and was seen covering his face on the bench while the Knicks challenged the play. The call ended up being successful, and Towns drew the offensive foul.
Towns eventually limped back onto the floor and finished the game. He was favoring his left leg significantly the rest of the way. His status going forward isn’t clear, but finishing the night — even minimally — is a good start.
Towns finished with 24 points and 12 rebounds on the night. Brunson led the Knicks with 31 points, though he was largely shut down in the fourth quarter and scored just once in those 12 minutes. The Knicks had 17 turnovers as a team, too.
Can the Pacers close out the series at MSG?
While they are now up 3-1 in the series, which is a hole very few teams in NBA history have come out of, the Pacers will now have to attempt to close out the series at Madison Square Garden on Thursday.
The first two games in New York were both tight. The Pacers won Game 1 only after Hailburton hit a wild bucket at the buzzer in regulation to force overtime. They snuck out a five-point win in Game 2 a few days later, too.
Like the Pacers, the Knicks are trying to end an equally long postseason drought. The franchise hasn’t been to the Eastern Conference finals since 2000, though the Pacers beat them in that series 4-2. The Knicks were last in the NBA Finals in 1999, though they’ve not won a title since the early 1970s.
The Knicks now have their backs against a 3-1 wall. If they are going to pull this off, they’ll have play better. Actually stopping this Pacers group has been just about impossible for anybody in the East.
The 2025 NBA playoffs are in full swing, and the conference finals are underway.
The Oklahoma City Thunder (-375) are now the prohibitive title favorites at BetMGM, followed by the Indiana Pacers (+550), New York Knicks (10-1) and Minnesota Timberwolves (40-1). The Thunder responded to a Game 3 blowout by making several big shots down the stretch in a 128-126 Game 4 win over the Wolves to take a 3-1 series lead.
In the East, the Knicks entered as -155 series favorites, which is only the second time in the past 50 years that the franchise has been favored in a conference finals series. The Pacers, however, won both games at Madison Square Garden to take a 2-0 series lead, before the Knicks held on to win Game 3.
Whereas public betting may waver at times during the NBA season because of all the injuries and load management, the playoffs are a big betting event, Thomas Gable, sportsbook director at the Borgata in Atlantic City — a BetMGM book — told Yahoo Sports.
“From a betting perspective, the handle is very good,” Gable said. “The NBA suffers from the way that they handle the day-to-day season with players resting, and I think a lot of the recreational players have phased out of the NBA because of that. But the playoffs are a totally different story.”
Brian Middleton is fulfilling a dream long delayed.
Middleton, who led Tishomingo County’s girls to a state title in 2024, has been hired as women’s head basketball coach at Northeast Mississippi Community College. He replaces Chelsey Rhodes, who left after three seasons for a job as recruiting coordinator at the College of Charleston.
Middleton has led Tishomingo County for the past nine years. Prior to that, he was head boys and girls coach at Oak Hill Academy in West Point for eight years, leading the girls to a state title in 2016. High school is all he’s ever coached, but it was not his original career path.
After graduating college, Middleton had a chance to be a graduate assistant at the college level. But with a baby on the way, he opted for the high school route instead.
“I’m 45, and then when this came open I was like, well, this may be the last opportunity that you get for something like this – let’s take a shot, let’s go, let’s do it,” he said.
Middleton’s daughter, Baylon, played for him at Tish County and just graduated, which made for an easier decision. Not that leaving Iuka was at all easy. Middleton built the Braves into a Class 4A power, with a record of 143-16 over the last five years and two title game appearances. Tish County lost to Choctaw Central in the 4A final in 2022, then returned two years later and beat Morton for the program’s first championship.
“I don’t think people understand how difficult it was for us to make this decision,” Middleton said of leaving Tishomingo County. “There were tears over it, and just trying to decide if this was the right move for us. … (My players) were in shock when I told them, but everyone one of them said, ‘We’re proud of you.’ And normally it’s me saying, ‘I’m proud of y’all,’ and it was funny for them to hug me and say, ‘Look, we’re proud of you.’ That made me understand that they understood.”
The Braves were 27-2 this past season and lost to Choctaw Central in the state quarterfinals.
Under Rhodes, Northeast notched a 20-win season in 2023-24, its best win total in 18 years. Last season, the Tigers went 17-13.
“Coach Rhodes had done an excellent job with the girls the last three years,” Middleton said. “I had gotten to know her pretty good. So I think the program’s in pretty good shape. Just excited about going in and putting my spin on it and see if we can take it to the next level.”
Tishomingo County is in the process of finding Middleton’s replacement.
Watch Eric Hansen and no-longer-vacationing Tyler James on YouTube as they explore college football’s big-picture issues that are swirling around Notre Dame Football as it heads into summer school, summer workouts and a summer of change.
Included in that is where ND goes with the USC rivalry, how the College Football Playoff’s long-term format plays with the Irish ambitions, when and how revenue-share might change the dynamic of roster construction. Plus, the latest on recruiting and viewer questions answered LIVE.
Cory Sandhagen thinks Ilia Topuria would have been too much for Islam Makhachev if they fought.
Topuria (16-0 MMA, 8-0 UFC) vacated his UFC featherweight title for a move up to lightweight to challenge Makhachev (27-1 MMA, 16-1 UFC) but won’t get his desired fight after Makhachev relinquished his belt to go to welterweight.
With the power in Topuria’s hands, which resulted in back-to-back knockouts of Alexander Volkanovski and Max Holloway, Sandhagen sees Makhachev likely having suffered the same fate.
“I’m going to actually go against what most people say, and I honestly think Ilia would win that fight,” Sandhagen said on the “Overdogs Podcast.” “It’s a hot take, but I do. I think his stature is going to be hard to take down for Islam, and I think if those two are standing, I just think that Ilia is a way, way dangerous guy standing, and I just really can’t see Islam hurting him because his guard is real good. I think Ilia will win that one.”
Makhachev will now challenge newly crowned UFC welterweight champion Jack Della Maddalena – a fight which doesn’t peak Sandhagen’s interest.
“I have watched a bunch of JDM’s fights, and I know that he’s real good, but I don’t really want to see JDM fight Islam honestly,” Sandhagen said. “I don’t really like when someone wins a belt and then they fight a guy from the lower weight class. I kind of want to watch JDM fight at 170 for a bit before too much of that stuff starts happening. I really want to watch Ilia and Islam fight, and I really want to watch Tom Aspinall and Jon Jones fight.”
As for Topuria, the former champion will still get his opportunity to claim a second belt when he meets Charles Oliveira (35-10 MMA, 23-10 UFC) for the vacant 155-pound title in the UFC 317 main event on June 28 from T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas (ESPN+ pay-per-view, ESPN, ESPN+).
