It looked like the Mets were going to end their nightmare for a moment on Sunday afternoon in Chicago. But then things took another turn for the worse as Devin Williams blew the save and the Cubs walked it off in the bottom of the tenth inning, handing New York its 11th straight loss.

After the crushing defeat, manager Carlos Mendoza discussed the “tough stretch” the team is going through.

“Yeah it’s tough, it’s tough, especially when you’re going through it,” Mendoza said. “You feel like you got to the ninth inning feeling good, but I mean when you’re playing in one-run games you have to be perfect and it’s hard to play like that. It’s a tough stretch right now.”

The Mets had opportunities to tack on to their 1-0 lead, but finished the game 1-for-9 with RISP and left six on base. Mendoza noted how New York wasn’t “impacting the baseball as a team” and “didn’t hit many balls hard” on Sunday, something that’s become regular during their losing streak. 

When asked if it’s getting “late” to turn things around, Mendoza said the team needs to “find a way” soon.

“11 losses, that’s a lot, whether it’s in April or at any point in the season,” Mendoza said. “Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us. We’ve got to find a way. Off day tomorrow and back at it Tuesday.”

Francisco Lindor had one of the scoring opportunities in the sixth inning after Luis Torrens hit a leadoff double, but the shortstop struck out to end the inning. He said it isn’t “a good feeling” to have this long of a losing streak and took accountability for the lack of production, adding that they all need to do a better job of executing in the clutch moments.

“This feeling sucks. It’s not a good feeling,” Lindor said. “You said it, we’re professionals, and we got to find a way out of it. We got to do whatever it takes to end up on top after 27 outs and sometimes 30 outs. It’s not a good feeling. But, no one here is hanging their heads, everybody has their heads held high and they’re fighting for each other.

“Today, they played a good game, but I came up in situations to drive runners in and didn’t do that. It came down to last two outs, I think when I get guys in scoring position, I don’t drive them in, I don’t help the team that way, it can come back. But what it comes down to is me executing, and all of us executing. Like you said, we are professionals and this is what we get paid to do so I got to be better.”

Lindor reiterated that they need to execute on the field, knowing only they can fix the problems on the field.

“We got to bring it,” Lindor said. “We got to continue to bring it day in and day out. No one’s going to feel sorry for us. We can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We’ve got to bring it.”

Having been in New York for six seasons now, Lindor understands the outside noise is going to continue until the team strings together some wins. He said they have to keep fighting and not let it distract them.

“Fight for each other, stick for each other,” Lindor said. “What Mendy has said from day one, protect the house. It’s going to get loud. It’s going to get very loud. And ultimately, everyone here knows it and we’ve just got to stick together and stay within ourselves and fight, fight.”

The All-Star agreed that having an 11-game losing streak is shocking, but said they have to forget in order to improve moving forward.

“Yeah, 100 percent. We have a tremendous team. David Stearns put a good team together, but this shows that nobody really cares,” Lindor said. “We’ve got to go out there and get it done and this past week-and-a-half, we haven’t gotten it done. It’s a bad feeling, but we got to turn the page. I’ve always said this, whether we win or lose, look at it for a little bit and then turn the page and focus on what we have in front of us.”

David Peterson, who tossed 3.2 scoreless innings on Sunday, and Williams both agreed with Lindor that the losing streak is on the players, not the coaches or front office.

“It’s on everyone. We’re in this together,” Peterson said. “Everyone has a part in this and we’ve got to stick together. Everyone’s got to take responsibility and accountability. We all need to look in the mirror and see what we can do better to help this team move in the right direction. That’s the job. Like I said, come back ready to go on Tuesday, fight like hell, and play our brand of baseball.”

“It’s tough to explain,” Williams added. “This is one of the most talented locker rooms in the league. We just can’t seem to string it together right now.”

Lindor was also asked how getting star Juan Soto back from the injured list soon could help the Mets out of their slump, but again, said it’s not on one player to be the savior as they all need to execute at the plate and defensively.

“I mean, like I said earlier, Soto is irreplaceable and having him back is going to help us a lot,” Lindor said. “Hopefully he is back [soon]. Top three hitters in the league probably, top two? So yeah he’s going to help us a ton. He’s going to lengthen our lineup.

“Even when he comes, we’ve still got to get it done. It would be unfair to just throw everything on him. As a team we got to come together and execute, that’s what it’s going to come down to.”

New York will have Monday off to regroup and find a way to win on Tuesday when they start a three-game series back home against the Minnesota Twins. 

The Oklahoma City Thunder were frequently dominant while posting the NBA’s best record this season.

They flipped a switch Sunday into playoff mode as they began their quest for a second straight NBA championship in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns kept things close in the opening minutes of a game that was tied 12-12. But the Thunder closed the first quarter on a 23-8 run to enter the second with a 35-20 lead. From there, it was a runaway for a 119-84 OKC win.

It wasn’t quite the opening salvo the Thunder delivered in their playoff opener last season, a 131-80 thrashing of the Memphis Grizzlies. But it puts them in elite company.

Per ESPN, the Thunder became the second team in NBA history to post a 30-plus-point win in consecutive playoff openers. The other team to do it: The 1986-87 Showtime Los Angeles Lakers.

The 1985-86 Lakers opened their playoffs with a 135-88 drubbing of the San Antonio Spurs. Those playoffs ended in a loss to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals.

Their next postseason started with a 128-95 win over the Denver Nuggets. Those playoffs ended with a win over the rival Boston Celtics for the fourth NBA championship of the Showtime era. They followed up with another championship the following season, this time with a win over the Detroit Pistons in the Finals.

Familiar scene in OKC

The Thunder looked very much Sunday like the unit that won the franchise’s first NBA championship last season since moving to Oklahoma City. They locked down on defense, limiting the Suns to 35% shooting from the field while forcing 17 turnovers and blocking seven shots.

Those turnovers led to repeated easy buckets on the other end as the Thunder scored 30-plus points in each of Sunday’s first three quarters.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled from the field (5 of 18) but, as usual, got the job done at the free-throw line in a 15-of-17 effort. He led the Thunder with 25 points and seven assists. He was one of three Thunder players, alongside Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, to record two blocks.

After a regular season hampered by injury, Jalen Williams was back in All-NBA form with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block and 1 steal in an efficient shooting effort (9 of 15 from the field, 2 of 5 from 3).

This is similar to how things started last postseason as the Thunder won a championship. And all is well so far in Oklahoma City’s quest for a second straight title.

The Oklahoma City Thunder were frequently dominant while posting the NBA’s best record this season.

They flipped a switch Sunday into playoff mode as they began their quest for a second straight NBA championship in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Phoenix Suns.

The Suns kept things close in the opening minutes of a game that was tied 12-12. But the Thunder closed the first quarter on a 23-8 run to enter the second with a 35-20 lead. From there, it was a runaway for a 119-84 OKC win.

It wasn’t quite the opening salvo the Thunder delivered in their playoff opener last season, a 131-80 thrashing of the Memphis Grizzlies. But it puts them in elite company.

Per ESPN, the Thunder became the second team in NBA history to post a 30-plus-point win in consecutive playoff openers. The other team to do it: The 1986-87 Showtime Los Angeles Lakers.

The 1985-86 Lakers opened their playoffs with a 135-88 drubbing of the San Antonio Spurs. Those playoffs ended in a loss to the Houston Rockets in the Western Conference finals.

Their next postseason started with a 128-95 win over the Denver Nuggets. Those playoffs ended with a win over the rival Boston Celtics for the fourth NBA championship of the Showtime era. They followed up with another championship the following season, this time with a win over the Detroit Pistons in the Finals.

Familiar scene in OKC

The Thunder looked very much Sunday like the unit that won the franchise’s first NBA championship last season since moving to Oklahoma City. They locked down on defense, limiting the Suns to 35% shooting from the field while forcing 17 turnovers and blocking seven shots.

Those turnovers led to repeated easy buckets on the other end as the Thunder scored 30-plus points in each of Sunday’s first three quarters.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander struggled from the field (5 of 18) but, as usual, got the job done at the free-throw line in a 15-of-17 effort. He led the Thunder with 25 points and seven assists. He was one of three Thunder players, alongside Chet Holmgren and Isaiah Hartenstein, to record two blocks.

After a regular season hampered by injury, Jalen Williams was back in All-NBA form with 22 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 block and 1 steal in an efficient shooting effort (9 of 15 from the field, 2 of 5 from 3).

This is similar to how things started last postseason as the Thunder won a championship. And all is well so far in Oklahoma City’s quest for a second straight title.

In such a short period of time, dare I say that Noah Schultz has really, truly, already arrived?

It almost seems too good to be true, for somebody who’s gotten plenty used to even the best White Sox prospect requiring some adjustment time in the majors. But the young condor-like lefty is is looking like an exception, perhaps just a little bit in the mold of another tall, lanky lefty whose presence undoubtedly changed the current of Sox history.

As far as today’s action goes, Schultz fired five innings of one-run baseball in his second career start, punching out six while walking just one along the way. Even more excitingly, he did it in a way that makes you think there’s a lot more in the tank moving forward.

The vibes were good from the outset in this one, beginning with a manufactured run in the first — courtesy of Chase Meidroth and Edgar Quero — and expanding farther with a towering Derek Hill fly ball to start what wound up being a bevy of White Sox home runs:

On another part of the lineup, I won’t mince words. Miguel Vargas spent the entire series against Tampa Bay getting completely hosed on some excellent batted balls. His BABIP entering today was a a paltry .161, which is stupid given the fact that he runs around league average in terms of swing speed and hitting the ball hard. His BABIP actually decreased today, but that’s because his one hit wasn’t a ball in play, as he demolished a baseball out to left field in the second inning to spot the Sox a four-run early lead for the second straight day:

I spoke in the game thread about how Schultz was either going to need to get better at spotting his breaking balls to righties or he’ll have to figure out how to effectively use his changeup. While he did manage to break out the cambio quite a bit more, his breaking ball command remains a work in progress, as evidenced by the wildness of the breakers on his pitch chart this afternoon:

The spinners weren’t quite rolling for Schultz today, but a lot of the other stuff was. That changeup I was just talking about? It drew six swings, all against right-handed hitters, three of which resulted in whiffs. Overall, an excellent 30% of swings against Schultz came up with air over his five innings of work, heavily contributing to allowing just one run and one hit on the board. He also walked one, but more than compensated with six punchouts in total.

That one run, though? Schultz learned the consequences of being unable to spot a breaking ball in Sacramento’s half of the second inning. After being ahead in the count, 1-2, Schultz wasn’t able to locate either his fastball or sweeper near enough to the zone to put Darnell Hernaiz away, and when forced to throw one over the plate on a 3-2 count, the young righty made him pay:

It became somewhat clear that Schultz’s high velocity last week was at least partly a function of debut-at-home adrenaline. He still reached back to touch 97-98 mph a few times today, but after one time through the order he settled more at 94-95 mph. With his huge frame and unconventional release point, that was still enough to remain effective through all five of his innings.

At least the Sox offense actually gave him enough of a cushion to work comfortably late into the outing. Just as on Friday, Munetaka Murakami provided the death blow for the Athletics with yet another mammoth homer on a Springs breaking ball that hung like a half-dry chunk of beef jerky:

That makes eight homers on the year for Murakami, bringing him into a three-way tie with Jordan Walker and Aaron Judge for second in the majors. With that homer, he also became the Sox leader in home runs over their first 22 games with the team, actually surpassing José Abreu’s magical start to the 2014 season.

Hey, remember when Abreu came up and hit a walk-off grand slam within a few weeks of joining the team? Even the bad times produce some good times in this game.

Anyhow, Murakami wasn’t the only of Springs’ worries. Immediately after surrendering Murakami’s blast, Colson Montgomery decided to make his day even worse by knocking one into the batter’s eye in dead center field for his fourth dinger of the young season.

After much consternation yesterday, we did see Grant Taylor toe the rubber again, though in a much less useful situation than if he had been available yesterday — which he understandably wasn’t after heavy work on Thursday. Taylor worked around a tapper of a single to put together a scoreless seventh inning before getting touched up just a bit for two runs, just his second set of runs allowed this year. Still, the stuff looked as excellent as ever, and he still has yet to allow a home run in the major leagues. He’s not quite Mason Miller — nobody is — but he does have a chance to go neck-in-neck with Caleb Bonemer as the franchise’s best second round pick since Terry Forster back in 1970.

The rest of the game was easygoing for a Sox bullpen that desperately needed an easygoing game. Taylor gave way to Jordan Leasure in the seventh inning, and Leasure managed to keep the ball in the yard to bring the game to the eighth at 7-3. Bryan Hudson got into a little bit of trouble in his own bridge inning, bringing the 7-4 game just close enough that, with an off-day tomorrow, Will Venable felt comfortable giving Seranthony Domínguez his seventh save opportunity, and ultimately, his fourth successful conversion of the year so far.

The squad gets the day off tomorrow as they move south for a three-game bout with the Arizona Diamondbacks, who have looked pretty dang good across a 14-8 start in a bitterly competitive NL West. We’ll see you for that one on Tuesday night, at 6:40 p.m. Central time!

Offence! By the Toronto Blue Jays! So the legends were true…

After a terrible four game stretch, this win was cathartic.

This one got late early. Nathan Lukes lead the game off with a single, Ernie Clement doubled to put runners on second and third, and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined a single to bring them home. Jesus Sanchez, Eloy Jimenes and Andres Gimenez each singled in turn to score a third and load the bases, and then a Kazuma Okamoto double to left increased the margin to five. After a Myles Straw walk, Brandon Valenzuela was the only Blue Jay not to reach the first time through the order, striking out swinging. Not to worry, as Nathan Lukes lined a double to left for his second hit of the inning, clearing the bases. That spelled the end for Ryne Nelson, who recorded just one out while giving up eight. Reliever Andrew Hoffmann escaped the inning from there and get through the second unscathed, but Okamoto lead off the third with a home run to run the Jays tally up to nine. The tenth run came in the next frame, as Vlad singled, was pushed up on a Sanchez walk, advanced on a wild pitch, and came home on a Gimenez sac fly.

Meanwhile, Kevin Gausman stayed sharp. He gave up a ground ball single in the first, and one run on a walk and a pair of singles in the bottom of two. He went back to holding the snakes scoreless in the third, fourth and fifth. Arizona got one more back in the sixth, on a Lourdes Gurriel jr. single and an Adrian Del Castillo double. All in all, Gausman gave up two earned on seven hits and a walk over six, striking out four.

Mason Fluharty gave two back in the bottom of the seventh, on a Ketel Marte single and a Jorge Barrosa home run. 10-4 would be the final, as Tommy Nance and Braydon Fisher combined to shut the door.

Jays of the Day: Nobody actually qualifies because the good work was spread around. Lukes had three hits and two doubles, Vlad had three of his own, and Okamoto had a homer and a double. Every Jays batter got on base. Gausman also deserves a nod.

Less So: Nobody.

Tomorrow it’s on to Anaheim for *bass reverb voice* Blue Jays After Dark. Dylan Cease (0-0, 1.74) will try to finally get a win in the books after four excellent but indecisive starts. The offence will contend with Reid Detmers (1-1, 3.57). First pitch is set for 9:38pm ET.

The third game of a wrap-around four-game series had a start time that was pushed back by three hours to accommodate some inclement weather moving through Boston. After the rains came and (occasionally) went, the Tigers won the game 6-2 while dodging raindrops, especially late in the game.

Framber Valdez made his fifth start for the Tigers, and if you Porcello-out his clunker against the Twins, he’s been sensational. But since we can’t selectively remove only one start from a record, let it just be said that he’s been, overall, pretty decent. His previous start was on April 14, a seven-inning outing against the Royals in which he only gave up one run; that was the game in which both teams combined to strike out a half-dozen times. Weird.

Facing Valdez was a fellow lefty, Garrett Crochet. He spent three years in the White Sox bullpen (and another on the shelf recovering from Tommy John surgery), had a solid year in the White Sox’ rotation, exchanged white hosiery for red for 2025, and had a fantastic season last year in Boston, leading the American League in strikeouts. He placed second in the Cy Young voting last year to you-know-who. His previous outing was, shall we say, uncharacteristic for him: eleven runs (ten earned) in 1 2/3 innings against the Twins. The Twins have early on showed a knack for beating up on top shelf southpaws.

With two outs in the top of the first inning, Matt Vierling and Dillon Dingler hit back-to-back doubles for a 1-0 lead.

In the bottom of the inning Willson Contreras turned around a sinker that didn’t sink, and parked it over the Green Monster to even the score at 1-1. Trevor Story then singled and Wilyer Abreu walked, but Valdez struck out Ceddanne Rafaela to end the inning and limit the damage. He bounced back in the next inning for a 1-2-3 frame, though and went on to a really stong start.

In fact, both starters settled down for a while, with some inconsequential hits sprinkled here-and-there. But Jahmai Jones, who was in the leadoff spot against a lefty today, cracked a long home run to centre to put the Tigers up 2-1 with two out in the top of the fifth.

But the Tigers weren’t done: Gleyber Torres walked, Vierling singled, and Dingler smacked another home run to centre to make it a 5-1 game. All the runs in the fifth scored with two out, incidentally. How about Dillon Dingler, eh?

The rain occasionally intensified through the later innings, and the Fenway grounds crew did their best to make the dirt part of the field as playable as possible. Fresh rosin bags had to be delivered to the mound more than once.

Valdez finished six innings and gave up three hits, two walks and one run while striking out seven. It was good to see him increase his strikeout total today; he’s a big groundball pitcher but the strikeouts were still pretty nice nonetheless. Kyle Finnegan pitched a mostly-boring seventh, which is exactly what you want from him, particularly as it was pouring rain again by this point in the game. Will Vest’s eighth inning featured a leadoff walk, a double play, and a nice play by Hao-Yu Lee on a grounder deep down the third base line for the third out.

In the ninth Javier Báez singled to start the inning and Kerry Carpenter followed with a walk. Torres singled to right to plate Báez for a 6-1 score. After a double play, Dingler singled to left — his fourth hit of the day — and Torres tried to score all the way from first, but someone forgot to tell Torres how short that left field is and he was thrown out at the plate trying to score. Hey, the ball was sure to be wet, why not force the throw?

Connor Seabold came on for the last three outs; he gave up an infield single to Abreu, who advanced to second on defensive indifference and scored on a double by Caleb Durbin. A routine grounder to second ended things, and both teams went to their clubhouses to dry off a bit. Good win over one of the best pitchers in baseball, and the Tigers take a 2-1 lead in the series heading into Monday’s odd 11:05 am ET conclusion to this four-game set. They’re 8-2 over their last 10.

Final score: Tigers 6, Red Sox 2

Prior to the game, Kevin McGonigle and Hao-Yu Lee got the customary trip inside the famed Green Monster to add their signatures to the enormous list of players both famous and obscure who have inked their names inside the wall.

Notes and Notices

• The word crochet is the French word for “hook.” So, if you buy a crochet hook, you’re buying a hook hook, and this has been Languages Corner with JT.
• The series finale goes Monday at 11:10 am EDT due to Patriots’ Day in Boston. The game is meant to coorindate with the running of the Boston Marathon.
• On this day in 1810, the people of Venezuela overthrew the governor that had been appointed by Spain so they could rule the place themselves. And that was the last time anything interesting happened with the government of that country.

With Missouri baseball hoping to grab at least one win in the series, the Tigers came up just short, battling to the finish in their final game against Oklahoma on Sunday, April 19.

Left-hander Javyn Pimental set the tone early for Mizzou, working a composed opening inning that included a double play, a pair of walks and a key throwout at second to escape early traffic. 

Kaden Peer provided that lone early spark with a single to left, but a batter interference call on Pierre Seals quickly ended that inning.

The Sooners struck first that same inning, with a home run to center, followed shortly by a triple and multiple hits that forced the Tigers into an early bullpen situation. Keyer Gonzalez came on in relief in the second and recorded a strikeout, but Oklahoma continued to apply pressure and added another run, making the score 4-0 before he could fully settle the inning.

Gonzalez later found his rhythm on the mound, mixing in two strikeouts and limiting damage after a defensive shift that saw Isaiah Frost and Tyler Macon switch positions. 

Still, Oklahoma’s big swing came in the fourth inning, when Ian Lohse came in to relieve Gonzalez during the middle of the inning, when a three-run home run to right pushed the lead to 8–0. Sooners

Offensively, Missouri was held quite early by Oklahoma starter Cord Rager, who worked through the first five innings with eight strikeouts while allowing just one hit.

Slight Hope for Mizzou

The Tigers’ offense finally broke through in seventh inning. Kam Durnin launched a 398-foot home run for his fourth of the season to put Mizzou on the board at 8–1. Isaiah Frost followed with a single, and while the inning ended on a double play, it gave Missouri its first real momentum of the day.

Defensively, the Tigers had bright spots throughout. Juan Villareal and Kaden Drew each turned in steady relief innings, while Sam Rosand benefitted from a highlight catch by Peer in center field that took away extra bases. Isaiah Salas also worked a clean frame, allowing one hit with a double play and strikeout.

The late push came in the eighth. Peer sparked it again with a single, Eric Maisonet followed with another hit and Tyler Macon worked a walk to load the bases. Blaize Ward delivered the biggest swing of the inning with a two-run single to left, scoring Peer and Maisonet to make it 8–3. Durnin later walked to reload the bases, but the rally ended when Frost grounded out.

Mizzou added one final push with Serna reaching on a walk, Peer collecting his third hit of the day and Maisonet hitting a single to the right side scoring Serna. Although the Tigers comeback attempt stalled as Macon struck out to end the game.

What’s Next

The biggest key for the Tigers right now is clear, they need timely hitting. Mizzou has shown they can get runners on, but the next step is cashing in when it matters. If the offense can start producing in those situational spots, the upcoming series against No. 16 Arkansas could be a real turning point for the season.

That test begins Thursday, April 23, and runs through Saturday, April 25 against the Razorbacks. It won’t be easy, but with an 11-10 record at home, the Tigers will be looking to lean on familiar surroundings and try to steal the series in front of their own fans.

Before that, Mizzou gets one more tune-up, hosting Southern Illinois at 6 p.m. Tuesday, April 21 at Taylor Stadium. After a stretch of road games, the Tigers finally return home, where they’ll hope the energy from the crowd can help spark the consistency this lineup has been searching for.

To follow along and read more about Mizzou Baseball, follow @Rock MNation,@SophBleedsLA and @Henry_C81, on twitter/x.

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The Atlanta Hawks were excellent against the spread down the stretch, and despite getting smoked in the second half of Game 1 vs. the New York Knicks, they will be competitive in this series, particularly in Game 2.

With Nickeil Alexander-Walker coming off an uncharacteristically poor shooting night, we’re building an SGP banking on a bounce-back game from the guard en route to cashing the Over.

Read on for our full Hawks vs. Knicks predictions ahead of tip on Monday, April 20.

Our best Hawks vs Knicks SGP for Game 2

I picked the Atlanta Hawks to cover the same 5.5-point spread in Game 1, and they lost by 11. But I’m not deterred, as Atlanta has a clear path to making this one more competitive.

The Hawks were a putrid 12 of 19 from the charity stripe, falling well below their season average of 77.4%.

The New York Knicks hit 25 of 30 free throws, and Atlanta can do a better job at limiting opportunities there. The Hawks went 18-8 against the spread between the All-Star break and the end of the season, and I expect them to keep this one close as they look to avoid a 2-0 hole.

The Hawks and Knicks faced off four times this season, finishing with combined game totals of 215, 213, 210, and 253. Game 1 finished just a bucket shy of hitting the Over, and I’m betting on that extra bucket in Game 2.

Atlanta’s shooting was off, as the team hit just 44% of their field-goal attempts, and leading scorer Nickeil Alexander-Walker finished with only 17 points on a miserable 6-for-17 shooting. A slightly more efficient offensive attack from the visitors should push this one to hit the Over.

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.