The Arizona Diamondbacks dropped the series opener to the New York Mets on Tuesday, falling 4-3 in extra innings after squandering a late lead. Leading 3-2 into the eighth, the D-backs watched the game slip away as the bullpen allowed tying and winning runs against Jonathan Loaisiga and Paul Sewald.

This felt like a painfully familiar script for a team built on thin margins: a solid starting pitching effort undermined by an anemic offense and late-inning bullpen trouble. Anyone who has followed this roster closely knows these issues all too well.

The D-backs’ entire offensive output came in the fifth inning. After a successful challenge overturned a third-strike call on Adrian Del Castillo with the bases loaded, he lined the next pitch into right field for a two-run single. Nolan Arenado followed with an RBI double to give Arizona a 3-2 lead. That was it. For the rest of the game — including a brutal extra-inning frame — the offense went silent.

Arizona finished a dismal 1-for-12 with runners in scoring position. They repeatedly stranded opportunities, leaving runners on base in key spots and failing to capitalize when it mattered most. Two runs simply aren’t enough in most games, no matter how well the pitching performs.

Zac Gallen delivered a quality start, tossing five innings and allowing just one earned run. He navigated a bumpy first inning in which the Mets’ first three batters reached base, escaping with only one run thanks to a timely strikeout and a pair of flyouts. Gallen leaned heavily on his cutter, which generated swings and misses and helped him settle in effectively.

The defense was serviceable but far from sharp, with the cold, inclement weather playing a role in a misplayed flyball by Corbin Carroll. In the eighth, Geraldo Perdomo had a chance to make a difference on a hot-shot grounder off Brett Baty’s bat (clocked at 100 mph). Shaded properly and positioned nearby, Perdomo couldn’t come up with the play. It wasn’t routine by any means, but it was a gettable ball that could have preserved the lead. Arenado had another play in this game where he wasn’t able to come up with the ball, it wasnt an error like the 2 he already has, however it was a play the Arenado of a few years ago makes no problem.

In the 10th inning, the D-backs failed to advance the automatic runner from second base. Nolan Arenado hit a shallow blooper that didn’t move the runner, Illdemaro Vargas lined out, and Tim Tawa struck out — continuing his early-season struggles. With injuries already thinning the lineup, questions about playing time and production loom larger.

Once the visiting team fails to score in the top of the extra inning, the odds shift heavily against them — especially against a fly-ball pitcher like Sewald. Still, the ending stung. Sewald got ahead 0-2 on Ronny Mauricio but grooved a 90 mph fastball right down the heart of the plate (dead middle-middle). Mauricio singled it into right field to score Francisco Lindor with the walk-off run. Sewald’s velocity sat at 89-90 mph all night, noticeably below his usual 91-92, and he relied almost exclusively on fastballs.

While Sewald has converted his first few save chances this season, a pitch like that in a 0-2 count in a high-leverage spot is concerning. It’s one thing to get beat with premium stuff; it’s another to lose on a hittable, poorly located fastball in a must-execute moment.

The lineup simply lacks the depth to overcome these kinds of offensive blackouts. The bullpen, meanwhile, continues to show vulnerability in tight, late-game situations. Wasting a strong outing from Gallen against a Mets team expected to contend all year feels especially costly — games like this could matter in the standings down the stretch.

For the D-backs to have sustained success, the offense must find a way to produce consistently with runners on base. Otherwise, nights like this — where good pitching goes unrewarded — will become far too common. Here’s hoping for a much-needed spark the rest of the series.

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The basketball gods seem angry with the Los Angeles Lakers. Losing two of their three best players for at least a few weeks just as the playoffs near certainly changes every thought Los Angeles has.

Few opponents will pester a new point guard as aggressively as the Oklahoma City Thunder will tonight, but my Thunder vs. Lakers predictions and these NBA picks still see value in new-look L.A. point guard Luke Kennard on Tuesday, April 7.

Thunder vs Lakers prediction

Thunder vs Lakers best bet: Luke Kennard Over 5.5 assists (+105)

Point guard Luke Kennard. That is a reality for the Los Angeles Lakers as the playoffs loom. This was certainly not their plan.

With both Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves sidelined for the next few weeks, Kennard and LeBron James shared the offensive initiation duties in Sunday’s loss at Dallas, with James playing nearly 39 minutes and dishing out 15 assists while Kennard played more than 41 minutes and handed out 11 assists.

Expect Kennard to also cough up a bounty of turnovers against the Oklahoma City Thunder’s perimeter defenders. That should be obvious.

But the sheer amount of ball-handling now required of Kennard creates unquestionable value in this prop. As long as Los Angeles has hopes of the No. 3 seed in the West — currently effectively tied with the Nuggets, though the Lakers hold the tiebreaker — expect them to lean into this new-fangled look.

This was not the design, but it is now the reality.

Thunder vs Lakers same-game parlay

The value is in Kennard’s assists prop, not as much as in LeBron James’s. Kennard’s ball-handling role is the surprise induced by Los Angeles’s injuries; LeBron already initiated plenty.

The reaction to Sunday’s stats should be amazement at how much Kennard was asked to do. LeBron’s 15 assists were impressive, but also less of an outlier than Kennard’s 11.

Thunder vs Lakers SGP

• Luke Kennard Over 5.5 assists
• LeBron James Under 9.5 assists
• Thunder moneyline

Our “from downtown” SGP: Rest LeBron?

JJ Redick faces a difficult choice this week. As the No. 3 seed slips from Los Angeles’s grasp, how long will he ride LeBron James? Any deficit against the Thunder tonight should quickly feel insurmountable, and getting some rest for the 41-year-old James before the playoffs is certainly a concern on Redick’s mind.

Thunder vs Lakers SGP

• Thunder -17
• LeBron James Under 9.5 assists
• LeBron James Under 23.5 points
• LeBron James Under 6.5 rebounds

Thunder vs Lakers odds

• Spread: Thunder -17 | Lakers +17
• Moneyline: Thunder -2000 | Lakers +1000
• Over/Under: Over 222.5 | Under 222.5

Thunder vs Lakers betting trend to know

The looming threat of the Spurs in the standings has kept the Thunder engaged enough to go 3-1 against the spread in their last four games, all as favorites of at least eight points. Find more NBA betting trends for Thunder vs. Lakers.

How to watch Thunder vs Lakers

Thunder vs Lakers latest injuries

This article originally appeared on Covers.com, read the full article here and view our best betting sites or check out our top sportsbook promos.

Fresh off the heels of their third consecutive one-run loss, the Mariners will dust themselves off and square up with the Texas Rangers for the penultimate game of the first road trip of the young 2026 season. Seattle will try to avoid the ignominious distinction of starting 4-8 through their first twelve games for the fourth straight season; protagonists, indeed.

Lineups:

J.P. Crawford returns to Seattle’s lineup after a scheduled day off, which pushes Cole Young to the nine-hole second leadoff spot. For the Rangers, it’s Kyle Higashioka’s turn behind the plate thanks to his even job share with Danny Jansen, and Ezequiel Durán gets the start at third base in place of Josh Jung. Durán came in yesterday’s game to pinch-run for Jung, and given his adept base-stealing abilities, it would behoove the Mariners to keep him off the basepaths in what is likely to be another close one.

Game Info:

First Pitch: 5:05pm PT

TV: Mariners.TV

Radio: 710 AM Seattle Sports

The Mets returned from their Monday off day coming back to Citi Field for the first time since their season opening series against the Pirates. They were facing the Diamondbacks, and the weather was looking so inhospitable that they had to move up the start times of the first two games to the early afternoon. Freddy Peralta was back on the mound to face off against Zac Gallen, who had returned to the Diamondbacks in the offseason on a one-year contract.

Freddy Peralta ran into a little bit of trouble in the first inning, getting two baserunners on a single and a walk but he worked his way out of it without allowing a run. In the bottom of the inning, the Mets loaded the bases on three consecutive singles against Gallen. Brett Baty hit a one-out sacrifice fly to drive in the Mets first run of the game, but they were unable to capitalize further.

In the second, Peralta worked around a walk and an error that resulted in Ildemaro Vargas reaching base, and delivered another scoreless inning. In the bottom of the inning, Francisco Alvarez drew a two out walk, and Francisco Lindor drove him in on a double for the Mets second run of the game. 

The Mets’ two-run lead stood until the fifth inning. After two outs to start the top of the fifth, a single, walk, and hit by pitch drove Freddy Peralta from the game. Huascar Brazobán came in to try and get the Mets out of it, and nearly did. But after an overturned strike call, he gave up a two-run single to Adrian Del Castillo to tie the game. Nolan Arenado followed that with a bloop double (you read that right) that drove in a third run for the Diamondbacks, bringing the Diamondbacks ahead by a run. 

The score stayed the same for several innings, through several pitching changes. Brazobán turned the ball over to Luis García, García was followed by Brooks Raley. After Brooks Raley got through his inning giving up just one hit, the Mets came up in the bottom of the eighth inning with Jorge Polanco leading off. Polanco singled, and was replaced by Tyrone Taylor as a pinch runner. Brett Baty hit a one-out single to move Taylor to third, and Jared Young came in to pinch hit for Mark Vientos and delivered, driving in Taylor with a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Marcus Semien flew out to end the inning but the Mets went into the ninth inning with the score tied 3-3.

Neither side scored in the ninth inning, and the game headed into extra innings. Luke Weaver kept the Diamondbacks scoreless, giving the Mets a chance in the bottom of the inning to walk it off. With Lindor starting at second as the free runner, Bichette grounded out and moved Lindor to third. Ronny Mauricio was brought in to bat for Tyrone Taylor, and in his first at-bat since being called up to replace Juan Soto on the roster, he hit a single to right field to drive in Lindor and win the game.

The Mets play another weather-impacted afternoon game tomorrow, with David Peterson looking to bounce back from his awful start in San Francisco. The Diamondbacks will be starting Ryne Nelson, who has been similarly shaky to start the season. The Mets now have a four game win streak, which is coincidentally the same amount of days since they lost Juan Soto to his calf strain.

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Win Probability Added

What’s WPA?

Big Mets winner: Ronny Mauricio, +18% WPA
Big Mets loser: Huascar Brazobán, -32% WPA
Mets pitchers: 26% WPA
Mets hitters: 24% WPA
Teh aw3s0mest play: Bo Bichette advancing Francisco Lindor to third on a ground out in the tenth inning, +19.3% WPA
Teh sux0rest play: Adrian Del Castillo’s two-run single in the fifth inning, -22.7% WPA

Detroit Tigers (4-6) vs. Minnesota Twins (4-6)

Time/Place: 7:40 p.m., Target Field
SB Nation Site: Twinkie Town
Media: Detroit SportsNet, MLB.TV, Tigers Radio Network
Pitching Matchup: LHP Tarik Skubal (1-1, 0.69 ERA) vs. RHP Taj Bradley (1-0, 0.87 ERA)

Player	G	IP	K%	BB%	GB%	FIP	fWAR
Skubal	2	13.0	19.1	0.0	47.4	2.80	0.3
Bradley	2	10.1	27.9	9.3	37.0	2.03	0.4

In Game 1, the when you’re commenting. Thanks!

North Carolina basketball introduced new coach Michael Malone on Tuesday, April 7, and it paid the former NBA champion a pretty penny to join the program.

Malone, the former Denver Nuggets coach that won the NBA Finals in 2022-23, agreed to a six-year deal with the Tar Heels to replace Hubert Davis, a former assistant coach and player. Malone is the first North Carolina coach since 1952 to not have prior experience as an assistant coach or player.

REQUIRED READING: Michael Malone hired as UNC basketball coach; former NBA champion replaces Hubert Davis

Malone has 510 career NBA wins as a head coach across stints with the Nuggets and Sacramento Kings. He was fired prior to Denver’s playoff run last season, and has since been an NBA analyst for ESPN.

He’ll be tasked with revitalizing a program that has failed to meet North Carolina’s sky-high standards in recent years, as the Tar Heels are coming off back-to-back first-round NCAA Tournament exits. UNC blew an 18-point lead against No. 11 seed VCU in this year’s March Madness.

Here’s a look at Malone’s contract with North Carolina, which makes him among the highest-paid coaches in college basketball:

Michael Malone contract, salary

Malone agreed to a six-year contract worth $50 million, which makes him believed to be the second highest-paid coach at a public university behind Kansas’ Bill Self, according to the Fayetteville Observer. The deal runs through 2032.

He’ll make $7.5 million in 2026-27, with his salary raising to $8 million in 2027-28 and $8.5 million for the three following years. Malone will also have an assistant coaches salary pool of $4 million.

Malone’s contract also includes $1.475 million in single-season, incentive-based bonuses. Here’s a look:

• ACC Coach of the Year: $50,000
• National Coach of the Year: $100,000
• Academic Progress Rate >975: $75,000
• ACC Regular-Season Championship: $100,000
• ACC Tournament Championship: $100,000
• NCAA Sweet 16 Participation: $150,000
• NCAA Elite Eight Participation: $200,000
• NCAA Final Four Participation: $200,000
• NCAA Tournament Championship: $500,000

Michael Malone buyout

Malone’s buyout is set at $8 million, should he leave North Carolina or have his contract terminated before April 1, 2027. That number drops to $6.5 million in 2028, $5 million in 2029, $3.5 million in 2030, $2 million in 2031 and $500,000 in 2032, the final year of his current contract.

He will also receiver 80% of the total remaining amount of his contract if terminated without cause before April 1, 2032.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Michael Malone contract, buyout: New North Carolina coach’s salary

Ronny Mauricio ripped a single to right field to score Francisco Lindor in the bottom of the 10th to give the Mets a 4-3 walk-off win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday afternoon at Citi Field. 

Mauricio, in his first at-bat of the season after being added to the roster with Juan Soto on the IL, fell behind 0-2 on two high fastballs from ex-Met Paul Sewald, before ripping a third that was right in the heart of the plate, 107.1 mph off the bat. He improved to 5-for-9 as a pinch-hitter with the first walk-off hit of his career. 

On a cold and blustery afternoon, New York won its fourth straight game, improving to 3-1 in Queens and 7-4 overall. Arizona fell to 5-6 on the year and is now winless in four games away from home.

Here are the takeaways…

– Freddy Peralta allowed a leadoff single to Ketel Marte, after getting squeezed on a 2-2 pitch at the knees, and a two-out walk, but got through with no damage on 22 pitches in the first. He was in a spot of bother with one out in the second after a Lindor error and a walk put two men aboard. But the righty got out of things thanks to a curious Jorge Barrosa sac bunt and Marte going down swinging on the changeup. After an 11-pitch, 1-2-3 third, Peralta got around a two-out bunt single for a 20-pitch fourth.

Peralta, who pitched in numerous deep counts, got back-to-back strikeouts to start the fifth before allowing a third single of the game to send pitching coach JustinWillard out for a visit. After issuing a walk on a 3-2 count, Peralta lobbied to get one more batter. He couldn’t make it count as he lost control of a 1-2 curveball and plunked Gabriel Moreno to load the bases to end his afternoon.

Huascar Brazobán thought he got Adrian Del Castillo looking at a 1-2 changeup to end the threat, but an ABS challenge said otherwise. The very next pitch floated over the plate and was lined into right for a two-run single. Nolan Arenado followed with a broken-bat bloop double into center to plate another run before Brazobán finally ended the inning with the visitors ahead 3-2.

That closed the book on Peralta: 4.2 innings, three runs, three hits, three walks, one hit batter, and five strikeouts on 101 pitches (62 strikes).

– The Mets had the chance for a big inning in the first as Lindor and Bo Bichette singled through the right side of the infield and Jorge Polanco notched an infield hit to load the bases against Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen. But after Luis Robert Jr. went down swinging, Brett Baty’s sac fly to center was all the Mets could muster. Gallen settled in and got through five innings, allowing one earned run on five hits with four walks and five strikeouts.

– Lindor doubled the Mets’ lead with two down in the second when he got help from the wind on a drive to right that fooled Corbin Carroll for a double over his head. Francisco Alvarez, who walked with two outs, managed to score from first on a poor relay throw from the right fielder. 

Lindor, who was hitless in his last 10 at-bats entering the game, got a chance with two on and two down in the fourth, but popped out in foul ground on the first pitch from Gallen as he’s still looking for his first RBI of the year and finished 2-for-5 with a strikeout swinging.

– With the Mets down a run and one out in the eighth, Jared Young entered as a pinch-hitter with runners on the corners and got the job done with a sac fly to right.

– Polanco cracked a single to start the home half of the eighth inning and was lifted for pinch-runner Tyrone Taylor, sporting the No. 28 for the first time. Polanco finished 2-for-4 with a strikeout swinging.

– After his RBI sac fly, Baty bounced into a 3-6 double play to end the third and struck out looking at three straight after getting ahead 3-0 to end the fifth, before grounding a single up the middle to cover the corners with one out in the eighth.

– Robert, after striking out swinging in the first, had a patient day, walking the next two times he was up, but went down looking in the eighth, looking at three straight after getting ahead 3-0. He finished 0-for-2.

– Alvarez, after a 4-for-11 series in San Fran, hustled out a broken-bat two-out single in the fourth and finished 1-for-3 with a walk. 

– Carson Benge, who entered hitless in his last 18 at-bats, worked a two-out walk in the fourth, and after a pair of ground outs, drove a ball to the warning track to start the ninth, but it went for an out as Barrosa made a sliding catch in right-center, 387-feet from the plate. He finished 0-for-3. 

– Bichette finished the day 1-for-5 with a strikeout swinging.

– Mark Vientos went 0-for-3 with a strikeout looking before being lifted for a pinch hitter in the eighth. 

– Marcus Semien went hitless in four at-bats.

Game MVP: Final four arms out of Mets’ bullpen

– Luis Garcia, after an eight-pitch, 1-2-3 sixth, got past a two-out double for a 15-pitch, scoreless seventh. The right-hander stayed in the game after taking a hard shot off his left forearm on a liner, 94.3 mph off Geraldo Perdomo‘s bat, when getting the second out.

Brooks Raley got the eighth and worked around a leadoff single from Arenado with two strikeouts. Devin Williams kept the score tied in the ninth despite allowing a pair of singles as he tallied two more strikeouts.

Luke Weaver, pitching with the free runner at second, fell behind 3-0 with two outs, but blew three straight fastballs past Tim Tawa for a 1-2-3 10th.

Combined: 5.0 scoreless innings, surrendering just four hits and no walks wth five strikeouts.

Highlights

What’s next

The two teams are back in action tomorrow afternoon with a 4:10 p.m. first pitch. 

David Peterson (4.66 ERA in 9.2 innings) gets the ball against right-hander Ryne Nelson (5.79 ERA in 9.1 innings).

Two in a row. Write it down somewhere. Frame it, even! The 2026 Orioles, playing a 3:10 afternoon matinee in the cold because apparently, temperate weather is too much to ask of Chicago even in late April, have won consecutive games for the first time this season. They did so courtesy of a 4-2 Tuesday afternoon win led by six strong innings from Trevor Rogers, three perfect innings from the bullpen, and a late rally kickstarted by new guys Blaze Alexander and Taylor Ward and capped off by Gunnar Henderson’s two-run bomb in the eighth.

It could have been easier—I certainly wish, against the lowly White Sox, that it had been. Entering the eighth, Baltimore was down 2-1, a frustrating lack of production given they’d already posted five hits and been walked seven times by what cannot exactly be a great Chicago pitching staff. Nonetheless, the eighth inning turned the tables. With one out, the new guys set to work. Blaze Alexander started the rally with a double to right. Taylor Ward followed him with a game-tying double into the right field corner, easily scoring the runner, who came home with blazing speed. (Sorry.) The White Sox changed relievers to challenge Gunnar with a lefty. Right decision, but bad result: Gunnar hammered a high sinker into the bleachers, and this was a 4-2 game.

Prior to that there wasn’t a ton of offense to report, although the hitters were not so much inept against Chicago’s Shane Smith (in the sense that many Orioles reached base) as inconsistent (in the sense that they didn’t score). Smith kept walking people—to wit, two in the first inning, two more in the second, plus a HBP of Blaze Alexander, and one in the fourth—but got enough strikeouts in key spots that he kept the O’s off the board. If I were Chicago’s manager, I’d say that five walks in 3.2 innings from my starting pitcher is not great, but Smith did allow zero runs and strike out eighth.

On that last, it feels like the Orioles’ team approach is partly to blame. When the starter is wild, it makes sense to take the walks. But it’s hard to deny, on a day the Birds struck out 13 times, that the approach is still frustratingly aggressive. In fact, every hitter in the starting lineup struck out at least once, except Alexander.

The one Orioles run prior to the eighth inning came thanks to yet another leadoff walk from Chicago. After Samuel Basallo took a free base, Tyler O’Neill was brought in to pinch-hit against lefty Sean Newcomb, and he delivered, with a well-timed single to advance Basallo to second. A groundout moved Basallo over, and Ryan Mountcastle plated the O’s first run with an RBI groundout off a big Newcomb curveball. Productive Outs for Orioles.

As for Orioles pitching, Trevor Rogers was very good today, which we’ve come to expect from our No. 1 starter, if not the rest of the rotation in April. The lefty went six innings, gave up two runs on six hits, struck out six, and walked none.

After a perfect two innings, he ran into some trouble in the third with two outs. With a runner on first, Rogers heaved a ball down the middle, and infielder Chase Meidroth served it into left field to put the White Sox up 1-0. A Lenyn Sosa single made it 2-0 immediately thereafter. This was a good piece of hitting where Sosa connected on a pitch maybe six inches off the dirt and golfed it into center field. I wouldn’t lay that one at Rogers’ feet. A popout ended the damage, and Rogers got through the fifth and sixth innings without great difficulty.

It wasn’t his prettiest start, given that Rogers needed 101 pitches to go six innings, but it’s a total luxury to have an ace who can pitch deep into games, especially given how unreliable the bullpen has been. Happily, that wasn’t the case today. Yennier Cano tossed a perfect seventh, including with one swinging strikeout. Grant Wolfram struck out two in the eight, but was lifted for Anthony Nunez after a HBP. Nunez threw a wild pitch, bringing up the faintest prospect of a blown inning, but with the count 3-2 against catcher Edgar Quero, he got a huge swinging strike three.

Closer Ryan Helsley then struck fear in our hearts with a leadoff walk in the ninth—apparently that’s just his thing now, as he’s walked a batter or more in his last three appearances. But that’s as nerve-inducing as things got: the O’s closer struck out Tristan Peters with 99 at the bottom of the zone, made slugger Munetaka Murakami swing through 100 at the corner, and got Derek Hill to fly out to the end the game. When Helsley is on, it’s simply beautiful stuff. Save No. 4, O’s win. Now everybody go party.

The Orioles are 5-6. This may not inspire visions of a ticker-tape parade come October, but they are, however improbably, sitting pretty in third in the AL East, just a game back of Tampa Bay at the time of this writing. It’s April, after all, and anything can still happen.

Who is your vote for Most Birdland Player today? Gunnar Henderson, who went 2-for-4 with the big bomb in the eighth? Blaze Alexander, who took one for the team, stole a base, started the rally in the eighth, and is hitting .320 in the nine spot? Your team ace, Trevor Rogers, who gave six good innings even on what was not his best day? Let us know in the comments.