Weekly Update April 28, 2025

Baseball: This week’s headlines. 4 HRs in one game for Suarez. Little league HR for Giants. Multiple gender reveals.

Basketball – NBA: East and West playoff updates. One series already done with a sweep.

Football: Draft tea. Prank calls.

Golf: Zurich. LIV Mexico.

Hockey: Playoff update.

Olympic Sports: WRs going down.

Quick Headlines: NCAAF Football. NCAA Lax. Golf. Soccer. Softball.

Baseball – MLB:

• This week’s headlines:
  • The Cardinals broke a 5 game losing streak to the Braves, picking up 1 game 10-4. They would drop the next game to lose the series but they would win 2 over the Brewers.
  • The Marlins got their 3^rd straight win with their win over the Reds on Tues. However that would end and they are still below .500 on the season. The Padres beat the Tigers 2-0. That is the team’s 7^th shutout in just 24 games. The Pirates got 18 hits in their game over the Angels which they did win 9-3. That’s the first time the team has had that many hits since 2023. Brewers star Christian Yelich hit his 5^th career slam led the team to win 11-3 over the Giants. DBacks P Brandon Pfaadt won his 4^th straight game – this one over the Rays 5-1. They would drop the next game to the Rays though in extra innings.
  • The Royals won both games in their doubleheader over the Rockies. Colorado ended Thursday 4-20. The Rangers gave up 2 runs to the A’s in the 9^th inning to lose their game by 1.
  • The Phillies lost their 5^th straight game and it was a shutout by the Cubs 0-4. They would win the next two games thank goodness so that streak would end at 5. Speaking of 5 game streaks, the Royals won their 5^th over the Astros on Friday with a 2-0 win. They would win the next game with the same score to make it 6. However Houston would end that on Sunday.
  • The Tigers won both games in their double header after a game was postponed for weather. However there was another double header between the Red Sox and Guardians. But they split the games. The Mariners crushed the Marlins 14-0.
  • More double headers on Sunday. The Yankees won the first one 11-2 over the Jays and then they won the 2^nd won 5-1. Suarez became the first player since 2017 to hit 4 HRs in a single game. The Giants won in walk off fashion over the Rangers with a Little League HR. That means Ramos hit a single but 2 throwing errors let him make his way all the way around the bases!

• Bryce Harper had a gender reveal bat during their game on Tuesday. He went up to bat with a blue bat indicating a boy! It was a theme this week. Another player wore a ring on his bat that was pink to tell his wife that they are having a girl.

Basketball-NBA:

• East:
  • The Knicks had 2 Qs of only scoring 18 points. Jalen Brunson scored 37 points alone but it wasn’t enough to hold off the Pistons. This is the Pistons’ first playoff win in 15 games (2008) and they get a W in MSG no less! This tied up the series. Game 3 was a close one! The Knicks led at halftime by 13 points but the Pistons came back scoring 30+ in the final 2 Qs. They would try to surge back at the game but would fall 2 points short. Game 4 was on Sunday in DET but the Pistons started slow. The Knicks started well and ended well. The two Qs in the middle weren’t great but they were enough (by 1). NY leads the series 3-1 headed into next week.

• • The Pacers started 1-0 in the series. But Game 2 was a battle and back and forth. IND put up 40 to start and then the Qs flip flopped. But that lead at the beginning was enough to secure game 2 for the Pacers. The Bucks came back though in Game 3 and rocked it 117-101. Gary Trent tied the franchise record with 9 3s for Milwaukee (also it tied for the 4^th most ever in a playoff game). Sunday’s game 4 was owned by the Pacers. They won every Q to dominate and win by 26 points. Also newsworthy is that Damian Lillard went down with an injury and it does not look good.

• • The Celtics won 3 of the 4Qs and only lost the 1 by 1. That was enough to take game 2 by 9. But the Magic bounced back nicely in game 3. It was close with the Magic only scoring 18 in the 2Q but then the Celtics only scored 11 in the 3Q to even it back up. The Magic held the lead since 7:44 to go in the 3Q and wouldn’t give it back. Jason Tatum put up 36 and 37 in the last 2 games. Game 4 went to the Celtics 107-98 and they lead the series 3-1.

• • The Cavs went off in 2Q of game 2 with 43 points, that gave them a big lead at half by 17 points. The Heat did make up some of that difference but not enough. They demolished the Heat in Game 3 by 37 points. They are now just 1 game away from a sweep.

• West:
  • Clippers star Kawhi Leonard had a monster game, putting up 39 points. They needed it too as the game was back and forth with every Q was won by the other team. The Nuggets put up a good fight and it was close by ultimately the Clippers tied up the series. Game 3 was not close. The Clippers owned the Nugs 117-83. DEN only scored 13 points in the final Q. It was ugly the whole way. LA leads 2-1. The Nuggets would end the next game in similar fashion only scoring 16 points – what is with this team? But they had done enough scoring including Jokic’ 36 points before that to tie up the series again at 2-2.

• • The Thunder crushed Grizzlies in the first game by 50. Game 2 was no different. They won by 19. Game 3 was closer especially as the Grizzlies were leading by 26 at halftime. However as the entire state of Oklahoma got nervous, Memphis choked. They only put up 18 and 13 points in the 2H.. the Thunder came back to win by 6. Game 4 was Saturday and finally it was close the entire time. There were 15 lead changes that I counted but eventually the Thunder was too much for Memphis and they take the sweep.

• • The Lakers started off hot in Game 2 putting up 34 in the 1Q compared to the Wolves 15. Luka and LeBron both scored over 30 points. They carried that momentum through the game to win by 9 and the series is tied. The Wolves went home and they played like it was a home game. LeBron put up 38 but it wasn’t enough. MN takes game 3 116-104. Game 4 was close and a great one to watch! Anthony Edwards made a statement with 43 points but the defense is what won the game for the TWolves in the end. The Lakers also didn’t play anyone else but the 5 players that started the 2H. they played the whole half – quite unusual. MN leads the series now 3-1.
    • Anthony Edwards was also fined $50K for inappropriate language and a hand gesture to LA fans.

• • The final match up is the Warriors and Rockets. Jalen Green from the Rockets had a bad game 1 but a great game 2, putting up 38 to help his team beat the Warriors and even up the series. The Warriors started off game 3 with only 18 points and it didn’t look good. But they picked it up as the game went on and crushed 4Q with 35 points. Steph looked like his old self with 36. The Warriors lead the series 2-1.

Football:

• The NFL draft was this weekend and there were many stories around this one. The #1 draft pick was Miami QB Cam Ward to the Titans and Heisman Trophy Winner Travis Hunter was #2 to the Jags (who traded up to get him). However the big news was how much Shaddeur Sanders fell from round 1 all the way into round 5 to the Browns. Sanders and Michigan player Will Johnson were the ones who fell from round 1. The Cowboys took Tyler Booker to make it 3 Tylers on the OL. 2 players of the top 15 were transfers (7 of the first 32). SEC set a record with 79 players drafted. But Ohio St was the school with the most at 14. UGA and Texas were close behind.

• You cant make this stuff up. Falcons DC Jeff Ulbrich’s son Jax made a couple of prank calls to players which he got the numbers from his dad private list. He pretended to be the HC for the Saints. This included Sanders and it was all caught on film (by Sanders and the stupid kid). The kid called Sanders saying he was picking him to NOLA but he will have to wait a while and hung up. I cant imagine making that call. What a POS.

Golf:

• Zurich: Remember Andrew Novak from last week who finished 2^nd to JT in the playoff? Well he won this week with his partner Ben Griffin. They combined for a -28 and this is the first PGA Tour title for both men. The Hojgaard brothers took second.

• LIV: Joaquin Niemann is on a roll and he won another LIV title this season. This time the CHI won in Mexico by 3 shots over Lucas Herbert and Bryson DeChambeau.

Hockey:

• Super quick hockey update: 9 games from week 1 went into OT (only 1 went to 2OT). There was at least 1 game every night and multiple nights with 2 games going into extra time. Hockey fans are loving it!
  • West: every single matchup in the West is tied 2-2 in their series. How crazy is that?! Those matchups are: Golden Knights/Wild, Stars/Avalanche, The Jets/Blues, Kings/Oilers. The Kings/Oilers have met in the first round for the last 4 straight tournaments.
  • East: Capitals lead the Canadiens 3-1. The Hurricanes also lead their series 3-1 over the Devils. And both games were 5-2 on Sunday. The Panthers lead their series 2-1 over the Lightning and the Senators lead the Maple Leafs 3-1.

Olympic Sports:

• KEN Agnes Ngetich broke the 30 min mark running 29:27 in the 10km women’s only race. Records are actually kept separate between women’s only races and mixed as it is believed there could be an advantage gained from having male pacesetters. ETH Tiget Assefa set the marathon women’s only race record 2:15.50 in London on Sunday. This record is still 5 seconds slower than the mixed race record set by a woman.

Some quick highlights:

• Football: QB TJ Finley has officially entered the transfer portal for the 5^th time meaning he will be at 6 different schools in his FBS career. LSU, Auburn, Texas St, Western Kentucky, Tulane and then TBD. He did just get suspended from the Tulane team after allegedly stealing a vehicle.
• Lax: Cornell Senior CJ Kirst broke the NCAA scoring record for men’s lax with 226 goals to close out the regular season. We expect that number to grow as they enter the postseason. Kirst broke the Cornell schools record as well that had stood for 50 years.

• Golf: 5 way tie in the Chevron Championship and all 5 were from a different country (USA, CHN, JPN, THI and KOR). That’s a first in a women’s major. JPN Mao Saigo ended up winning it all for her first major title.
• Soccer: Liverpool won the Premier League for the 2^{nd time.} 

• Softball: Team USA has been announced who will be competing in China for the World Games.

What to watch this week

Baseball – MLB:

• Wed 4/30
  • Yankees at Orioles @ 5:35pm on Prime
• Fri 5/2
  • Padres at Pirates @ 5:40pm on Apple TV+
  • Cubs at Brewers @ 7:10pm on Apple TV+
• Sat 5/3
  • Twins at Red Sox @ 3:10pm on FS1
  • Royals at Orioles – or – Dodgers at Braves @ 6:15pm on FOX
• Sun 5/4
  • Dodgers at Braves @ 6pm on ESPN

Baseball/Softball – NCAA:

• Mon 4/28
  • Baseball: 9. Vanderbilt at 23. Ole Miss @ 9pm on SEC
• Tues 4/29
  • Baseball: Kennesaw St at 10. UGA @ 6pm on SEC
• Wed 4/30
  • Baseball: Kennesaw St at 10. UGA @ 6pm on SEC
• Thurs 5/1
  • Softball: 4. Oklahoma vs 6. Florida @ 5pm on SEC
  • Baseball: 1. Texas at 5. Arkansas @ 6pm on ESPN2
  • Baseball: 19. Louisville at ND @ 6pm on ACC
• Fri 5/2
  • Softball: 4. Oklahoma vs 6. Florida @ 5pm on SEC
  • Baseball: 1. Texas at 5. Arkansas @ 7pm on SEC
• Sat 5/3
  • Softball: 15. Alabama vs 11. South Carolina @ 11am on SEC
  • Softball: 16. Stanford at BC @ 1pm on ACC
  • Softball: Kentucky at 3, Texas @ 1pm on SEC
  • Softball: 2. Texas A&M vs 1. Tennessee @ 3pm on SEC
  • Softball: 7. Florida St at 14. Vtech @ 3pm on ACC
  • Softball: 4. Oklahoma vs 6. Florida @ 4pm on ESPN2
  • Softball: 20. Ole Miss vs 17. Miss St @ 5pm on SEC
  • Baseball: 2. Clemson at 4. Florida St @ 5pm on ACC
  • Softball: 12. Texas Tech vs BYU @ 6pm on ESPNU
  • Baseball: 10. UGA at Mizzou @ 7pm on SEC
• Sun 5/4
  • Softball: 16. Stanford vs BC @ 1pm on ACC
  • Softball: 7. Florida St vs 14. Vtech @ 3pm on ACC
  • Baseball: 18. Alabama at 9. Vanderbilt @ 3pm on SEC

Basketball – NBA:

• Mon 4/28
  • Game 4: Cavs at Heat @ 6:30pm on TNT
    • CLE leads 3-0
  • Game 4: Rockets at Warriors @ 9pm on TNT
    • GS leads 2-1
• Tues 4/29 – Game 5s
  • Bucks at Pacers @ 5pm on NBATV
    • IND leads 2-1
  • Pistons at Knicks @ 6:30pm on TNT
    • NY leads 3-1
  • Magic at Celtics @ 7:30pm on NBA TV
    • BOS leads 3-1
  • Clippers at Nuggets @ 9pm on TNT
    • Tied 2-2
• Wed 4/30 – Game 5
  • Heat at Cavs @ 6pm on NBA TV
  • Warriors at Rockets @ 6:30pm on TNT
  • Timberwolves at Lakers @ 9pm on TNT
• Thurs 5/1 – Game 6s
  • Celtics at Magic @ TBD
  • Knicks at Pistons @ TBD
  • Nuggets at Clippers @ TBD
• Fri 5/2 – Game 6s
  • Rockets at Warriors @ TBD
  • Cavs at Heat @ TBD
  • Pacers at Bucks @ TBD
  • Lakers at Timberwolves @ TBD
• Sat 5/3 – Game 7
  • Magic at Celtics @ TBD
  • Pistons at Knicks @ TBD
  • Clippers at Nuggets @ TBD
• Sun 5/4 – Game 7
  • Warriors at Rockets @ TBD
  • Heat at Cavs @ TBD
  • Bucks at Pacers @ TBD
  • Timberwolves at Lakers @ TBD

Football:

• Fri 5/2
  • Arlington Renegades vs St. Louis Battlehawks @ 7pm on FOX
• Sat 5/3
  • Memphis Showboats vs Houston Roughnecks @ 11am on ABC
• Sun 5/4
  • DC Defenders vs Michigan Panthers @ 11am on ESPN2
  • San Antonio Brahmas vs Birmingham Stallions @ 3pm on FOX

Golf:

• Thurs 5/1
  • PGA: CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Round 1 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
  • LIV: KOR – Round 1 @ 9pm on FS1
• Fri 5/2
  • PGA: CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Round 2 @ 3pm on Golf Channel
  • LIV: KOR – Round 2 @ 9:30pm on FS1
• Sat 5/3
  • PGA: CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Round 3
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS
  • LIV: KOR – Round 3 @ 10:30pm on FS1
• Sun 5/4
  • PGA: CJ Cup Byron Nelson – Final Round
    • @ 12pm on Golf Channel
    • @ 2pm on CBS

Hockey:

• Mon 4/28
  • Game 4: Lightning at Panthers @ 6pm on ESPN
    • FLA leads 2-1
  • Game 5: Avalanche at Stars
    • Tied 2-2
• Tues 4/29
  • Game 5: Senators at Maple Leafs @ 6pm on ESPN
    • TOR leads 3-1
  • Game 5: Devils at Hurricanes @ 6:30pm on TBS
    • CAR leads 3-1
  • Game 5: Wild at Golden Knights @ 8:30pm on ESPN
    • Tied 2-2
  • Game 5: Oilers at Kings @ 9pm on TBS
    • LA leads 2-1
• Wed 4/30
  • Game 5: Canadiens at Capitals @ 6pm on ESPN
  • Game 5: Panthers at lightning @ 6:30pm on ESPN2
  • Game 5: Blues at Jets @ 8:30pm on ESPN
• Thurs 5/1
  • Game 6: Maple Leafs at Senators @ TBD
  • Game 6: Stars at Avalanche @ TBD
  • Game 6: Golden Knights at Wild @ TBD
  • Game 6: Kings at Oilers @ TBD
• Fri 5/2
  • Game 6: Lightning at Panthers @ TBD
  • Game 6: Capitals at Canadiens @ TBD
  • Game 6: Hurricanes at Devils @ TBD
  • Game 6: Jets at Blues @ TBD
• Sat 5/3 – Game 7s
  • Senators at Maple Leafs @ TBD
  • Avalanche at Stars @ TBD
  • Wild at Golden Knights @ TBD
  • Oilers at Kings @ TBD
• Sun 5/4 – Game 7s
  • Panthers at Lightning @ TBD
  • Canadiens at Capitals @ TBD
  • Devils at Hurricanes @ TBD
  • Blues at Jets @ TBD

Horseracing:

• Sat 5/3
  • Kentucky Derby @ 1:30pm on NBC
    • Post time: 5:57 pm

Motor Sports:

• Fri 5/1
  • F1: Miami Sprint Qualifying @ 3:25pm on ESPNEWS
• Sat 5/2
  • F1: Miami Sprint Race @ 10:55am on ESPN
  • F1: Miami Qualifying @ 2:55pm on ESPN
• Sun 5/4
  • Miami GP @ 3pm on ESPN

Olympic Sports:

• Sat 5/3
  • T&F: Grand Slam Miami @ 4pm on CW
• Sun 5/4
  • Swimming: TYR Pro Series @ 1:30pm on NBC
  • T&F: Grand Slam Miami @ 4pm on CW

Soccer:

• Wed 4/30
  • CONCACAF Champions Cup: Inter Miami vs Vancouver Whitecaps @ 7pm on FS1
• Thurs 5/1
  • Premier League: Nottingham vs Brentford @ 1:30pm on USA
  • CONCACAF Champions Cup: Cruz Azul vs Tigres UANL @ 9pm on
• Sat 5/3
  • Premier League: Aston Villa vs Fullham @ 6:30am on USA
  • Premier League: Everton vs Ipswich Town @ 9am on USA
  • Premier League: Teams TBA @ 11:30am on NBC
  • MLS: Atlanta vs Nashville @ 1:30pm on FOX
  • MLS: San Diego vs FC Dallas @ 8pm on FS1
• Sun 5/4
  • Premier League: Brighton vs NewcastleU @ 8am on USA
  • NWSL: Gotham vs CHI Stars @ 12pm on CBS