Day: April 17, 2026

There is always baseball happening — almost too much baseball for one person to follow themselves. Don’t worry, we’re here to help you by figuring out what you missed but shouldn’t have. Here are all the best moments from last night in Major League Baseball: A near no-no for the Guardians Cleveland has had baseball long enough to have multiple no-hitters in its history — 14 of them, in fact — but the last one came all the way back in 1981. To give you some perspective on how long ago that was, it’s three years before the Guardians’ manager, Stephen Vogt, was born. And hell, Vogt was born 10 years before FOX Sports was first founded. It’s been a while, is the thing. On Thursday, the Guardians had a chance at their first no-no in 45 years, when rookie starter Parker Messick got through eight no-hit innings against the Orioles. It was just the 11th start of his career, as he made seven of them in 2025 without losing his rookie eligibility, and Thursday was his fourth of the current season. He has shined throughout his brief time in the majors — his combined ERA through his first 65.1 innings in the bigs is 2.07 — but has never been better than on Thursday. Messick tied a career-high with nine strikeouts, walked two and didn’t allow a hit through the first eight innings against Baltimore. He would enter the ninth inning already at 106 pitches — his first time over 100 in the majors, and also the first time he pitched into the eighth or ninth — and give up a hit on the first pitch of that frame to center fielder Leody Taveras. The Guardians kept Messick in the game at first, to pitch to shortstop Blaze Alexander and see if he could get out of this with a complete game, at least, but another single followed, and he was pulled. While Messick was charged with two runs on the day, those came about because the runners he bequeathed to closer Cade Smith both scored. Cleveland did not end up breaking the no-hitter drought, but on the bright side: Parker Messick. He’s been pitching like the kind of shutdown starter the Guardians — which are not exactly an offense-first team — need if they are going to thrive in the AL Central. That’s not nothing. Messick had help in securing the 4-2 W, most notably from star third baseman Jose Ramirez. Ramirez had a great catch in foul territory where he somehow managed to hold on to a ball that he snowconed while coming up against the wall… …and he was also responsible for the first two runs of the day for the Guardians, when he belted a middle-middle 96 mph four-seamer over the fence in right-center field in the bottom of the first inning. That’s 289 career homers for Ramirez now, who looks likely to become the ninth-ever player with 300 home runs and 300 steals at some point this summer. Padres sweep Mariners for eighth-straight W The Padres barely put up a fight for last year’s inaugural Vedder Cup between San Diego and the Seattle Mariners, but things are going very differently in 2026. The Padres won on Thursday, 5-2, sweeping the M’s and ensuring that the best result Seattle can get here is a season split with San Diego. A four-run second inning did the job for the Padres. First baseman Gavin Sheets hit a one-out double, which was followed by back-to-back singles from DH Miguel Andujar and catcher Luis Campusano. Second baseman Jake Cronenworth would then reach on a fielding error to load the bases, which allowed a ground out by left fielder Ramon Laureano to score another run. Right fielder Fernando Tatis would then hit a two-run single to make it 4-0, and while the Padres didn’t need another run for the dub, they got it in the seventh on an RBI single by third baseman Manny Machado. Mason Miller came in for the save and struck out the side to give San Diego its eighth-straight victory. Miller is on an absurd run at the moment: he now holds the second-longest scoreless streak in Padres’ history, as he passed Randy Jones in this outing and is now at 30.2 innings without allowing a run. (The Padres are wearing patches to honor Jones this season, as died in November at the age of 75.) Cla Meredith’s franchise record is 33.2 innings. Oh, and Miller is getting there by being dominant in a way that has literally never happened before. Miller has pitched in nine games and thrown 9.1 innings. He has 23 strikeouts against two (2!) baserunners. The last time he gave up a run in a Padres’ uniform was Aug. 5, 2025, in his second appearance with the team: he struck out 42 batters with nine walks, four hits and no runs allowed for the rest of the regular season. Caminero’s timely homer, for his mom Junior Caminero bashed 45 homers in 2025, so his going yard in 2026 isn’t exactly a shocker. However, the Rays’ third baseman promised his mother that he would hit a homer for her on her birthday, and like a good, devoted son, he delivered. This wasn’t just some random homer for mom, though. The Rays were down 3-2 to the White Sox in the ninth inning on the road when Caminero strode to the plate to leadoff the inning against new pitcher, Chicago closer Seranthony Dominguez. Dominguez missed with his first three offerings, and Caminero watched a 3-0 sinker up in the zone for strike one. Next came another 98-mph sinker, this time inside as it broke across the plate and right into the path of Caminero’s bat instead of underneath it. It barely made it over the wall, but it got out in a hurry and counts all the same. Tampa Bay would end up plating three runs that inning, and the White Sox couldn’t muster a response in the bottom of the frame. The White Sox are now just 6-13, while the 11-7 Rays are winners of six in a row and atop the AL East. Angels rout Yankees as Trout makes history Angels’ star center fielder Mike Trout was in position to make history against the Yankees on the road on Thursday — all he needed was one home run, and a couple of best-ever accolades would come his way. New York starter Max Fried pitched him carefully for most of the game, walking him twice early, putting Trout’s ability to hit a home run for the fourth-straight game — and his fifth in four days — into question for most of the series-concluding matchup. Then, the seventh inning came, and reliever Angel Chivilli was on the mound instead. He threw one too many pitches in the strike zone, and did not fool Trout with an 89.7 mph changeup low in the zone following a much quicker slider in the same place a pitch before. The result? Explosive. Trout didn’t just hit a homer. He drove that pitch 446 feet to deep left-center field, with an exit velocity of nearly 115 mph. He crushed that changeup, and put the Angels up 7-4 in the process. With this dinger, Trout became the first-ever opposing player at Yankee Stadium — any version — to hit a home run in four-straight games, and as it was his fifth of the series as well, he tied the all-time lead for home runs by a visiting player in a series against the Yankees, joining George Bell (1990), Darrell Evans (1985) Hall of Fame slugger Jimmie Foxx (1933). Not wanting Trout to become the first-ever player to hit six long balls in a series against them, the Yankees then walked the red-hot slugger the next time up. It worked, sort of: the Yankees avoided another dinger from Trout himself, but that walk loaded the bases for right fielder Jo Adell, who hit a grand slam instead to get the game to its final score of 11-4. The dinger after an intentional walk; there’s nothing quite as satisfying. The Yankees lost, but: Aaron Judge Mike Trout obviously deserves attention for a series by a visiting player unlike any that has come before at Yankee Stadium, but living in his shadow a bit was the Yankees’ own star slugger, Aaron Judge. Judge went deep again on Thursday, too, giving him four home runs during the series. That also ties Judge with Cardinals’ outfielder Jordan Walker for the MLB lead, while putting him atop the American League — one ahead of Trout. Both had a bit of a slow start to the season, but Trout is now up to .246/.416/594 with seven dingers, and Judge is at .236/.321/.597 with eight, so, safe to say they seem to be coming out of their respective early funks. Brewers bunt three times in a row, win The Blue Jays and Brewers were both having trouble scoring runs on Thursday, with the game still tied up at 1-1 in the bottom of the seventh. So, Milwaukee decided that playing for one run wasn’t so bad when a single run might end up being all that was needed to win. They took this concept to the extreme, and bunted in three consecutive plate appearances. Garrett Mitchell pinch-hit and drew a walk to start the inning, and then the bunting began. Outfielder Greg Jones was out on a sacrifice bunt to move Mitchell over, and that was followed by a bunt for a hit from third baseman David Hamilton when the throw to first took Kazuma Okamoto off the bag. Milwaukee decided to roll the dice a third time, having shortstop Joey Ortiz attempt to bunt Mitchell home from third, and while Ortiz ended up out, the damage was done; the Brewers now led, 2-1. And that would end up being the final score. Hey, when you play for one run, that’s all you’ll get, but sometimes one run is enough. Oneil Cruz has your hardest hit of 2026 Not a home run, no, but Pirates’ center fielder Oneil Cruz tattooed this ball all the same. That’s an exit velocity of 119 mph for Cruz on this double off of Nationals’ lefty Foster Griffin. Cruz is no stranger to hitting baseballs very hard, but it is still funny that Cruz’s earlier hit, a single to center, came off the bat at “just” 94 mph. Guess he had to course correct a bit, and did he ever. Tigers walk it off for sixth-straight win What a game between the Tigers and Royals. It took a late rally for Detroit to come out ahead and notch their sixth-straight W, but they got there in the end. It took until the middle of the game for the scoring to truly get going, too, as it was just 2-1 Tigers through four innings, but then everything opened up. Detroit scored four runs in the fifth to extend the lead to 6-1, but then catcher Salvador Perez hit a sac fly to cut into the lead slightly, and a huge sixth inning put Kansas City ahead, thanks to a six-run effort. The Tigers clawed back a run in the seventh, but things could have gone better than that for Detroit, if not for this incredible sliding catch out in right-center field by Kyle Isbel. He had to consider not just his own place in the outfield relative to the wall, but also his incoming teammate, right fielder Jac Caglianone, who was also speeding to the fence to make the grab. The only way to make it work without incident was by sliding, and Isbel pulled it off — luckily, Calgianone knew enough to hop up against the wall to avoid running right into Isbel as he was defenseless on the ground. On top of this bit of run prevention, the Royals got the one they did give up back in the top of the ninth to make it 9-7, Kansas City, with three outs to go for Detroit. This was not an insurmountable lead: Royals’ closer Lucas Erceg came in for the save, but instead, he allowed a leadoff single to second baseman Gleyber Torres and a walk (after an ABS challenge) to rookie infielder Kevin McGonigle. It looked like Erceg might escape trouble after getting the next two batters out, but left fielder Riley Greene doubled in both Torres and McGonigle, and suddenly it was tied up 9-9. Third baseman Colt Keith, who entered the game earlier as a pinch-hitter, got an 89.8 mph changeup middle-middle from Erceg, and was not fooled. He laced it through the hole in the right side of the infield, and Greene came around to score the winning run. The Tigers were in real trouble for a bit very recently, but have turned things around from a 4-9 start to now be 10-9. Meanwhile, the Royals just made getting back to .500 or better more difficult thanks to Detroit getting the brooms out. But hey, it’s early on both fronts: Detroit was a mess a week ago, and now they’re surging!​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports

LONG BEACH, Calif — The 2026 INDYCAR schedule has some shiny new street venues. Racing along the streets of Arlington around the home of the Dallas Cowboys. Racing along the streets of Washington, D.C., around some of the most recognizable national landmarks. And as those shiny new venues create a spotlight, here comes the Long Beach Grand Prix, which can puff out its chest and its iconic fountain turn and scenic Shoreline Drive. This place can boast something the others don’t — 41 years of INDYCAR history. This event has regularly been recognized as the second-biggest event on the INDYCAR circuit behind the Indy 500. During the years of the split, this was arguably the biggest race on the CART calendar. “This place has been it for many years,” Graham Rahal, who will make his 19th start at Long Beach, told me Thursday. “On the [CART] Champ Car side, this race and Surfer’s Paradise [in Australia] were kind of it, and that is still the case today. “Other than Indy, this place always carries the weight. It’s pretty awesome for sure.” This 1.968-mile, 11-turn street course will see 90 laps of INDYCAR racing Sunday, with FOX coverage beginning at 5:30 p.m. ET, following the NASCAR Cup Series race at Kansas Speedway. There are five drivers among the 25 in the field who have won at Long Beach. “This is still one of the major … races of the year,” two-time race winner and six-time INDYCAR champion Scott Dixon told me Thursday. “[This race] has 40 years of longevity, typically always the same date, and that’s huge. “Arlington set a new standard with attention to detail, the track condition, the hospitality, all that stuff, was definitely next level.” Here’s what to know about the Long Beach weekend. Besides Dixon, who are the other past Long Beach winners in the field? Dixon, Alexander Rossi, Will Power and last year’s winner Kyle Kirkwood — who currently leads the series championship standings — have all won twice at the track. Josef Newgarden has won once. Rossi, notably, was inducted into the track’s “Walk of Fame” on Thursday. Rossi — a California native — had several family members there for the induction. The ECR driver, who won at Long Beach in 2018 and 2019, admitted it is a little weird to be enshrined like that while he still hopes to race for several more years and add to his number of wins. “It’s very cool [to be honored],” Rossi told me after the ceremony. “I think it’s a good reminder to put some things into perspective. “But ultimately, it’s also weird when you’re still doing it. So I hope I have to make their life difficult, and they have to add some years [to the plaque].” What it has taken to be good at Long Beach in recent years is the same as over the last couple of decades, Rossi said. “This race has always been fairly straightforward from a tire life and strategy standpoint,” Rossi said. “The track has stayed very consistent from a surface architecture. It has been resurfaced in some areas, but ultimately, but it’s still the same racetrack as it was when I won here six years ago. “So really, it’s up to me and the team to execute in order to get back to Victory Lane.” Can Former Pole Sitter Felix Rosenqvist Turn Season Around? Felix Rosenqvist sat on the pole at Long Beach in 2024, and he’s hoping this track being a good one for him will be the place where he can have a rebound race in 2026. Rosenqvist hasn’t finished better than 12th in the opening four races. He finished fourth at Long Beach a year ago. “It’s been a little bit of a rough start for us. So nice to come back here to a track, where, normally, when I come here, I know that I can be quick,” Rosenqvist told me Thursday. The Meyer Shank Racing No. 60 car driver, who will have a Green Day-themed paint scheme as part of his organization’s SiriusXM partnership, said the team has improved in some areas. “We’ve actually improved everything we wanted to improve — which is pit stops and strategy and just the small details have been really good,” Rosenqvist said. “We just haven’t really had much speed, which has never really been a problem previously.” What are the qualifying rules for the final round? Oh yes, the always changing rules for the Fast Six, the final round of qualifying where the top-six drivers from the second round duke it out for the pole. After the first street race of the season, INDYCAR experimented with instead of a timed round where drivers could make as many laps as possible to post a fast time, it opted for single-car, single-lap runs. That worked well except the driver slowest among the six in the previous round went out first in the final round and appeared to have an advantage. [DRIVER’S EYE: How drivers navigate Long Beach’s unique 11-turn track] So at Long Beach, INDYCAR will allow the fastest driver from the second round to choose when he will go out in the Fast Six, and then the second-fastest will get to choose his spot and so on. That makes where a driver finishes in the second round possibly important because if you can be the fastest (instead of worrying about just being in the top-six), you have the advantage of choice in the order for the final round. Anything else unique about the street course rules? Teams and drivers are getting used to the new rule this year that they must use at minimum two sets instead of one set of the alternate soft tires during a street race. What have they learned? It isn’t always clear-cut strategy that will work for all drivers. “It’s been very split throughout the field who believes in the alternates,” Christian Lundgaard, driver of the No. 7 car for Arrow McLaren said during a virtual news conference this week. “Obviously, I think that depends a lot on car setup, how your car is treating the tires. “We see cars that are more abusive to the tires and more cars that are nicer to the tires. You see different strategies in the race.” The strategy at Long Beach likely will be to come in and change tires twice, using two sets of the alternate soft tires and one set of the hard primary tires during the race. But if a driver punishes the tires too much, a third stop will be necessary to use four sets of tires overall during the event. “The [alternate] needs to have a higher degrade to it,” Dixon told me. “They’re both pretty consistent. “That could really switch up how this weekend rolls because it now makes the two-stopper very achievable [because the alternates last longer]. Because last year, that just wasn’t a possibility from the longevity of the of the soft tire. This one could get super interesting.” Who are the favorites? Kirkwood — who drives the No. 27 car for Andretti Global, a team known for its street-course prowess — has won the last two races so he is going to be the favorite. And then Chip Ganassi Racing’s Alex Palou because, well, he’s Alex Palou and he’s won 10 of the last 21 INDYCAR events. If anyone is going to catch those two, it could be Lundgaard, who finished third at Long Beach a year ago behind Kirkwood and Palou. The Arrow McLaren driver also finished second to Palou in the most recent INDYCAR race a few weeks ago at Barber Motorsports Park. You can see more of my thoughts on predictions by reading this on the FOX Sports Super 6 contest for Long Beach. OK, enough about Long Beach, what about Indy 500 entries? That will be a topic of discussion in the garage and it is becoming pretty clear that there will be 33 entries. There have been 31 announced entries and the other two most likely will be Jacob Abel and Katherine Legge. Legge’s manager Klint Briney confirmed that Legge’s entry is possible. “We’re working hard behind the scenes to get Katherine back in the Indy 500 field this year after missing 2025,” he told me. “She certainly brings a unique story and perspective to the grid.” Having 33 cars is a mixed bag because that means no drama on bump day, but for the drivers who could be on the bubble, that is something that at least allows them to breathe. “God bless, I’ll sleep a lot better,” said Rahal, who was the last driver to make it in on the first day of qualifying last year and was the last driver to make the 2024 field, when he was told it will likely be 33 entries. “I’ve never been a fan of guaranteed entries, … but what I hope people understand is it isn’t an indication of where the sport is at. “It’s not easy to get cars and it’s not easy to get engines.”​Latest Sports News from FOX Sports