
Spurs motivated, inspired by Popovich address
Spurs motivated by Popovich's words as they prepare for playoffs.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. and Vance Honeycutt hit home runs in their respective games, but pitching struggles plagued the Orioles' minor league teams. The Norfolk Tides lost 19-9 despite a strong start, while the Frederick Keys secured a 7-1 victory.
If you can believe it, the Tides had a 6-0 lead at one point in this game and later on held a 9-1 lead. Even still, this happened. The scoring started when Enrique Bradfield Jr. led off the third inning with a home run, his second of the season. The outfield prospect added another hit elsewhere in the game and has an .811 OPS through 10 games. Jhonkensy “Big Christmas” Noel hit a three-run homer that made it 9-1; he, however, is only OPSing .427. The pitching, however… the pitching was bad. Very bad! Starting pitcher Levi Wells had it all fall apart in the fourth inning and by the time his night was over with no outs recorded in the fifth, he’d given up nine runs on 11 hits, including three home runs. A parade of Tides relievers also stunk it up over the remainder of the game to allow the remaining runs, of whom none are particularly notable other than rehabbing major leaguer Andrew Kittredge. For Kittredge, his one inning saw him give up three runs on four hits. No need to rush back. Box score.
Enrique Bradfield Jr. hit a home run for the Norfolk Tides, while Vance Honeycutt homered for the Frederick Keys, contributing to their 7-1 win.
The Norfolk Tides' pitching struggled significantly, allowing 19 runs, with starter Levi Wells giving up nine runs in just four innings.
The New Hampshire Fisher Cats won 7-6 in 10 innings against the Chesapeake Baysox, with a walkoff wild pitch sealing the victory.
Standout players include Enrique Bradfield Jr. with a strong OPS and Vance Honeycutt, who has reached base in all nine games he started.

Spurs motivated by Popovich's words as they prepare for playoffs.

Wrexham's 2-0 win over Stoke reignites their play-off ambitions!
CJ Jackson, a Vanderbilt football transfer, will miss time in the 2026 season due to an injury that required surgery. Coach Clark Lea indicated the injury's impact on Jackson's availability for the season remains unclear.
Giannis Antetokounmpo wishes he had shut down trade rumors earlier.
Jaydan Kamason plans to leave on loan despite signing a new deal.
Hoffenheim's sporting director says Kramaric extension talks are going well.
See every story in Sports — including breaking news and analysis.
My guy Aron Estrada got two hits, including a double, to raise his season OPS to .626. There wasn’t much worth mentioning for the other hitting prospects on this roster. Hopefully it’s just an off day for guys like Thomas Sosa (1-5) and Ethan Anderson (0-5), who do have good season numbers, rather than the start of a trend. This was also not a great day for starting pitching prospect Luis De León, with the lefty being tagged for seven hits while allowing four walks in four innings. That resulted in the Fisher Cats putting four runs on the board against him. Despite this, the Baysox took a 5-4 lead into the eighth inning, but then New Hampshire tied it up and won it in extras, eventually getting a walkoff wild pitch after an intentional walk and a bunt single loaded the bases with nobody out. Box score.
In contrast to the previous two entries, and the one below it, there is actually some fun stuff to report from this game. Starting pitcher JT Quinn, an early draft pick last year, added a third excellent start to begin his first full pro season, posting five shutout innings with just three hits and one walk allowed. Quinn struck out seven Renegades batters. He has a 0.64 ERA and has struck out 23 batters in 14 innings this year. Pretty good. Batting out of the leadoff spot, Ike Irish did an excellent job of setting the table. He reached base with two hits and a walk and also stole a pair of bases – though he still only scored one run since the guys after him, Nate George and Wehiwa Aloy, each took an 0-for. Things picked up from lower in the lineup, including the spring training sensation Vance Honeycutt, who hit his second home run of the season in the fourth inning. He’s only hitting .229 but is OPSing .814 on the young season. This includes reaching base in all nine games where he was in the starting lineup. His problems aren’t guaranteed to have been fixed, but it’s an interesting beginning. Outfielder Braylin Tavera (3-4 including a two-run homer) and big man Victor Figueroa – one of the six players from the Padres trade last year – added multi-hit games as well. This continues to be the affiliate with the most excitement going on so far in 2026. Not that this is wholly reflected by their 5-7 record so far. Box score.
I have seen a lot of “the starting pitcher was bad, the defense was also bad, and so was the offense” games from the Shorebirds in recent years. Here’s another one. They committed three errors, although none of these led to unearned runs. But the real ugliness comes from starting pitcher Esteban Mejia, a hard-thrower who is battling command problems like many young hard-throwers do. What kind of command problems? How about, eight walks out of 13 batters faced in a 2.1 inning start? Yeah. 19-year-old DJ Layton, a sixth round overslot pick from two years ago, doubled and drew a walk out of the leadoff spot. The infielder has a 1.028 OPS across his first 12 games of the season. I’ll sign up for some more of that. Box score.