NEW YORK (AP) — Rafael Devers snapped out of a slump with a homer and four RBIs in the San Francisco Giants’ 12-4 victory over the New York Mets on Sunday.
Rookie Carson Whisenhunt (1-0) threw 5 1/3 innings for his first win in the majors to help the Giants take two of three from the Mets following a six-game losing streak.
The Mets, who began the day a half-game ahead of the Philadelphia Phillies in the NL East, have lost five of six.
Making his second career start, Whisenhunt allowed two runs — one earned — on three hits, including Francisco Lindor’s first-inning homer.
Devers’ three-run homer capped a four-run third against Frankie Montas (3-2). The 403-foot blast to right was just the fifth homer for Devers since he was acquired from Boston on June 15. Devers closed out a three-run fourth with a run-scoring single.
The Giants piled on in the ninth. Dominic Smith had a two-run single, and Casey Schmitt hit a three-run homer off Ryne Stanek. Backup catcher Luis Torrens got the final out.
Key moment
Devers’ homer was his first since July 23, when he went deep twice against Atlanta. He was 3 of 29 in between round-trippers.
Key stat
Smith, who played for the Mets from 2017 through 2022, had five RBIs in the three-game series. He had five RBIs in his previous 25 games.
Up next
The Mets continue a six-game homestand Monday night, with LHP Sean Manaea (1-1, 2.08 ERA) set to start against Cleveland RHP Slade Cecconi (5-7, 3.77). Giants RHP Justin Verlander (1-8, 4.53) opens a three-game series at Pittsburgh.
With that figure, the event surpassed the crowd of 84,587 who were in attendance to see Cleveland host the New York Yankees at Municipal Stadium on Sept. 12, 1954.
However, Saturday’s game was postponed after a rain delay and resumed on Sunday. Under MLB rules, a game does not become official until after five innings have been completed. An official attendance figure for the event was not announced by MLB, but a noticeably lesser amount of fans returned to the Speedway on Sunday.
On the FOX broadcast, John Smoltz estimated that half of the fans (“maybe three-quarters”) from Saturday returned to Bristol on Sunday, but that was obviously not an official count.
The difference a day makes…
Pic 1: yesterday, nearly 90,000 Pic 2: today, *maybe* a quarter of the attendance
Built to break the MLB attendance record, the Speedway Classic looks like a game at Great American.@WLWTpic.twitter.com/AylSeFOoeP
According to MLB, fans from the U.S., Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands, nine countries and four continents purchased tickets for the game at Bristol Motor Speedway.
Pregame festivities on Saturday included a flyover by four U.S. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets from Naval Air Station Oceana in Virginia Beach, a concert featuring Tim McGraw and Pit Bull and a ceremonial first pitch featuring Hall of Famers Chipper Jones and Johnny Bench.
Braves won Speedway Classic, 4-2
Reliever Austin Cox ended up starting the game after a 2 1/2-hour rain delay scratched Spencer Strider from pitching for the Braves. The Reds took a 1-0 lead on an Austin Hays RBI single when the game was postponed after the first inning.
The game resumed on Sunday with Elly De La Cruz and Hays stealing bases. De La Cruz was tagged out at home attempting to score on a sharp Miguel Andujar grounder to third base.
Riley runs down Elly to get the out at the plate for the @Braves!
However, Atlanta third baseman Austin Riley appeared to hurt himself while stretching to make the tag. He left the game with what the Braves announced as lower abdominal pain. Riley just returned from the injured list with a lower abdominal strain, so it’s possible he re-aggravated that injury.
Eli White gave Atlanta the lead in the top of the second with a three-run homer off a high changeup from Brent Suter.
Cincinnati closed the margin to 3-2 on a sacrifice fly following Hurston Waldrep loading the bases on two walks and a single. However, White restored Atlanta’s two-run lead with his second homer of the game in the seventh inning, taking Scott Barlow deep. As the Braves’ social media account put it, White is the only MLB player to ever hit two home runs in the state of Tennessee.
The Reds put the tying run on base in the ninth, with Braves closer Raisel Iglesias giving up consecutive singles to TJ Friedl and Matt McLain. But Iglesias retired the next three batters to close out the win for Atlanta. The Braves improved to 47-63, while Cincinnati dropped to 58-54, 3.5 games behind the San Diego Padres for the National League’s final wild-card playoff berth.
Sixth time MLB has had 80,000-plus for a regular-season game
The field for the MLB Speedway Classic was covered up during a rain delay on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025. (AP Photo/George Walker IV)
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Only five other games in MLB regular-season history have broken the 80,000 attendance mark, according to the Hall of Fame, with the first happening on Sept. 9, 1928, during a doubleheader between the Philadelphia Athletics and New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium.
The most recent occurrence was in 1993, when 80,277 watched the Colorado Rockies play their first game at Mile High Stadium in Denver.
As for the postseason single-game attendance record, that is owned by the Los Angeles Dodgers. During the 1959 World Series, 92,706 packed Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum to watch the Dodgers play the Chicago White Sox in Game 5.
The Miami Heat upgraded this summer, moving on from Kevin Love and Duncan Robinson but adding a borderline All-Star last season in Norman Powell. That’s a positive for Miami, but how much does it move the needle for a 37-win team?
“It’s a very good shake up for our team and now there’s a different dynamic to it…
“I feel like Norman is one of those guys that floats under the radar. But as you saw this year, he’s really shown that he can be an All-Star caliber player. You’ve seen what he’s done and you’ve seen him grow in this league. And, obviously, he wants to take the next challenge. Obviously, the next challenge is being with the Miami Heat. So I’m happy to have him.”
Miami has a chance to make some noise in what is projected to be a down Eastern Conference, but it needs to find some more consistent offense this season. Powell helps with that, but the Heat need more: Adebayo and Tyler Herro need to stay healthy and play 65+ games, Andrew Wiggins needs play at his All-Star form from Golden State, Kel’el Ware needs to take a step forward (likely with Erik Spoelstra prodding him), and Davion Mitchell needs to show that how he played in the 30 games after being traded to the Heat were not a fluke, when he averaged 10.3 points and 5.3 assists per game. The Heat bet on Mitchell, signing him to a two-year, $24 million contract.
“Davion being back, obviously, we’ve been missing somebody that can really play on-ball defense,” Adebayo said. “And having him come in and be that guy and understand his role, I’m looking forward to him being here for a full year and all of us being together and getting to know one another and turning this into more of a brotherhood. We were kind of disconnected a little bit trying to figure out everybody’s role and trying to figure out everybody’s style of play. But now we’re going to have a good training camp and then we go from there.”
A return to the playoffs — and hopefully a better result than a 0-4 sweep exit in the first round (at the hands of the Cavaliers) — seems distinctly possible for the Heat, who should be improved over a season ago.
The 2025-26 Boston Celtics will face drastically diminished outside expectations compared to the championship-or-bust mentality that defined recent seasons. But that doesn’t mean individual members of the organization won’t face their own pressures during a so-called “gap year” ahead.
What’s more, the Celtics organization — particularly those in the brain trust — would be quick to remind us that pressure is just opportunity in disguise. While some tend to put a negative spin on that responsibility, the Celtics will encourage all levels of their organization to embrace the pressure that will come with new roles this season.
So, which members of the Celtics will face the most pressure — or embrace the most opportunity — during the 2025-26 season? Shoutout to our buddy Brian Robb, who recently posed this question to us on the “Still Poddable” podcast.
After some additional deliberation, we decided to power rank the top pressure/opportunity candidates based on Boston’s roster in early August.
1. Brad Stevens
We’re not sure Stevens ever feels pressure, but he certainly understands the obligation of being in charge of the Celtics’ roster. Those 18 banners are a constant reminder of the North Star you’re chasing. Even in a transitional year, Stevens’ challenge is to show the franchise is actively moving back toward that goal.
It’s an important season for Stevens’ draft picks. There should be more minutes and more ability to learn through the bumps for recent draftees.
Will first-round selections Baylor Scheierman and Hugo Gonzalez show they can be rotational presences for Boston’s next contender? Can Jordan Walsh show more consistency in Year 3? Stevens hasn’t had the most glitzy spots to select from in the draft, but the second apron makes it basically imperative that any team with a roster featuring two max-salary players needs to hit on their picks.
Beyond that, Stevens has to plot the next step forward. And that might actually be a step backward.
If the Celtics fail to show signs of being even a sneaky contender early in the 2025-26 season, does Stevens embrace trying to get completely under the luxury tax with hopes of resetting prohibitive repeater penalties? Can he do that without mortgaging draft assets in order to get off additional salary? Is there a move that can add a low-risk, high-reward player who the team can embrace while waiting for Tatum to get healthy again?
Stevens doesn’t like to procrastinate. Even this past summer, he got his initial roster tinkering done early, moving off of the bulky salaries of Kristaps Porzingis and Jrue Holiday.
This current Celtics puzzle feels far from finished, for this season and beyond, and Stevens will have plenty of opportunities to chart where things go from here.
2. Joe Mazzulla
We all know what Mazzulla is capable of with a talent-filled roster. The Celtics have a shiny Larry O’Brien Trophy that confirms his ability to push the right buttons with a championship squad. The question now is whether Mazzulla can mask some of the deficiencies of a team in transition.
Stevens had an uncanny ability to take teams perceived as having less talent than rivals and get them to far exceed expectations. Stevens did that at Butler with some magical NCAA tournament runs, and he did it in the infancy of his Boston tenure even before superstars started flocking here.
How much can Mazzulla mask the defensive drop-off after losing Jrue Holiday and an Al Horford? How does Mazzulla tinker with play style when Tatum is sidelined, and the team is lacking all the little ways he makes players around him better on the court?
The Celtics have plenty of question marks entering the season, particularly in a new-look frontcourt. Outside of Jaylen Brown and Derrick White, there are roles to fill and it’s going to be fascinating to see how Mazzulla chooses to deploy his available talent.
3. Jaylen Brown
We feel like a broken record, but every time the Boston Celtics have asked for more from Brown, he’s given it to them. As Tatum recovers, Brown will slide into the 1A role that many have wondered whether he might eventually crave. He’ll get every chance to show he can maintain an All-NBA level output when he’s at the top of every opponent’s scouting report.
It will be perhaps the biggest storyline of the 2025-26 season. How does Brown fare in that harsher spotlight? Every time someone has attempted to put a ceiling on his potential, he’s rocketed through it. Brown has routinely fueled himself off those doubters, and will get every opportunity to do the same this season.
If Tatum’s absence allows Brown to elevate to new levels, then the Celtics would be extremely well positioned to contend again when Tatum is healthy.
4. Payton Pritchard
Some have wondered if Pritchard might remain in his bench role to start the 2025-26 season. We’d much rather see the Celtics thrust him into a high-minute starting spot and allow him to show even more than what we saw in his evolution to Sixth Man of the Year.
We’ve already seen Pritchard (and White) go for 40 points in a spot start last season. Pundits have long suggested that teams would take advantage of his size if Pritchard was a starter, but he’s routinely found ways to antagonize bigger opponents.
There’s common theme for every Celtics player this season: Let’s see what you’ve got. Maybe if Tatum was healthy, or more of the roster had returned, then the Celtics would have been content to let Pritchard stick in the reserve role. Now? Turn him loose.
Let’s see if Pritchard can answer the lingering questions of whether he could be a high-efficiency starter. Given the thrifty salary at which the team extended him, Pritchard emerging as a starting guard absolutely would aid roster building.
It’s still truly wild that it’s been less than two full years since the Sacramento Kings waived Queta. His glow-up — from two-way addition, to earning his roster spot on the parent team thanks to his efforts while Boston was dinged up at the start of the 2023-24 title season, to securing a longer-term deal with the Celtics in the aftermath — has been fun to watch.
Now, with the overhaul to Boston’s frontcourt after the departures of Porzingis, Luke Kornet, and, presumably soon, Al Horford, there is going to be every opportunity for 26-year-old Queta to take his next step.
Whether he’s starter or a big-minutes reserve, the Celtics need Queta to hold down the fort, particularly as a defender and a rebounder. Mazzulla routinely put Queta in tough spots early in his Boston tenure with hopes that he would learn on the fly. Now, he’s really going to get every chance to battle through any growing pains.
Queta saw how Kornet turned himself into a $41 million player. Few thought Kornet was capable of that when he first arrived in Boston. Can Queta be the next center whom Boston nurtures into a starter-level player?
6. Sam Hauser
Boston’s sweet-shooting forward is entering the first year of his four-year, $45 million extension. The Celtics have been able to keep him on the roster by making cuts elsewhere, but Hauser still has to prove he’s worth the splurge long term.
Even with some health-hindered shooting woes early last season, Hauser still shot 41.6 percent beyond the 3-point arc. He should get even more looks this season.
7. Jordan Walsh
On one hand, Walsh was the second-youngest player on Boston’s Summer League team at just 21. On the other, it’s Year 3 for the 2023 second-round pick and it’s time to show that he can more consistently make an impact.
Walsh has to play with the edge he displayed at this year’s Summer League and make the most of the minutes available as Tatum recovers.
8. Amari Williams
We feel guilty having a two-way player this high on the list, but here’s the reality: The Celtics need to develop reliable big men, and Williams has an obvious skill set with his passing and shot blocking.
Can he make strides with his finishing around the basket and show his long-term potential? The Celtics didn’t hesitate to cut bait with a second-round two-way player last season in Anton Watson.
9. Luka Garza
Garza hasn’t played more than 250 minutes since his rookie season. That’s about to change. The offensive talents are obvious. The Celtics need him to show he can learn and grow on the defensive end.
10. Baylor Scheierman
It’s only Year 2, but Scheierman will turn 25 before camp opens. The end of his rookie season hinted at great potential beyond just 3-point shooting with his flashy playmaking and high basketball IQ.
Like Walsh, Scheierman needs to take advantage of minutes at the wing spot while they’re available.
Damian Lillard has followed in the footsteps of Stephen Curry (Davidson), Trae Young (Oklahoma), Patty Mills (Hawaii) and Terance Mann (Florida State).
Lillard has become the general manager of his alma mater, the Weber State men’s basketball program.
A legacy continues in Ogden. Wildcat legend Damian Lillard is officially joining Weber State Men’s Basketball as the new General Manager.
Dame is stepping into a leadership role that will help shape the future of Wildcat hoops.
— Weber State Men’s Basketball (@WeberStateMBB) August 3, 2025
While these GM roles for NBA players are often more ceremonial — the star can help with recruiting, swing by some practices and stay in touch with players, has valuable experience, but is not the one making decisions on NIL money or anything on the court — Lillard is hoping to do a little more, part of which is boosting the NIL resources for the program. Here’s what he said at Weber State’s annual basketball alumni game, according to Isaac Fisher of The Ogden Standard-Examiner (hat tip Hoop Rumors).
“It’s something that, my relationship with coach [Eric] Duft and this program means a lot to me, and seeing the success of the program means a lot to me. I feel like I can do a lot to help the program be successful, to help the players even individually continue to grow their careers past college, that’s something that I’m passionate about…
“All of the resources that I have, I’ve got an opportunity to be able to create for the program, while they’re in the program and even after the program, it’s something I’m excited about. I’m looking forward to doing that work, looking forward to continue to lift up the university, lift up the program. It’s going to be fun.”
Weber State went 12-22 last season, but has had 20+ wins in two of the past four seasons. It’s been a decade since the Wildcats advanced out of the Big Sky to the NCAA Tournament.
Lillard was surprisingly waived-and-stretched by the Milwaukee Bucks this summer, then signed to return home to the Portland Trail Blazers. He will spend the coming season rehabbing from a torn Achilles suffered during last season’s playoffs. Lillard will spend time this season mentoring the Trail Blazers’ young stars such as Scoot Henderson, Toumani Camara and Yang Hansen. Now, it will have a new group to help mentor in Utah, as well.
The rookie was scheduled to start for the Brewers on Sunday against the Washington Nationals. Logan Henderson was called up from Triple-A Nashville to pitch in his place.
Misiorowski sustained the injury during Monday’s 8-4 win over the Chicago Cubs when he was hit by a comebacker from Seiya Suzuki in the first inning. He stayed in the game and eventually pitched four innings, allowing two runs and three hits with two walks and seven strikeouts on 80 pitches.
The Brewers made Misiorowski’s IL stint retroactive to July 31, making him eligible to be activated on Aug. 15 when Milwaukee begins a three-game set with the Cincinnati Reds. If he returns after 15 days, Misiorowski will have missed two starts.
Misiorowski’s velocity was down slightly during his between-starts bullpen session, Hogg reports, which apparently compelled the Brewers to make the IL move. But the team is also being cautious with its prized arm.
“I want to play every game. It sucks. It’s not fun to sit on the bench. I don’t want to go out there and not have my best stuff,” Misiorowski told Hogg. “I was trying to fight it a little bit trying to throw, but I understand. They’re looking out for me.”
Putting Misiorowski on the IL also allows Milwaukee to keep his workload in check. He set a career-high with 97 1/3 innings last year and has 96 2/3 innings this season between Triple-A and MLB.
Since getting called up to the majors, Misiorowski has been a sensation, striking out 47 batters in 33 1/3 innings with a 2.70 ERA in seven starts. His performance quickly drew attention, resulting in him being named as an All-Star alternate despite making only five starts, causing some controversy among MLB players.
Henderson registered a 1.71 ERA and 3-0 record in four starts with 29 strikeouts in 21 innings during an earlier stint this season with Milwaukee,. At Triple-A, he compiled a 3.59 ERA and 10-4 record while averaging 10.1 strikeouts per nine innings in 16 appearances (15 starts).
Injuries are becoming a concern for the Brewers as they currently hold a two-game lead over the Cubs in the NL Central. Jackson Chourio (right hamstring strain) went on the IL on Aug. 1, while Sal Frelick is dealing with left knee soreness.
