Padres winning streak at 6 games

Padres can't be slowed down by the Mariners, Pivetta goes on the IL, NBA Play-In action is almost as crazy as the broadcast itself, FIFA considers begging Trump to take a break, and more!

I did a podcast yesterday. Ignoring the updates about my own life (although, thank you for those of you who were thoughtful enough to reach out with your kind words), I mostly talked about what I liked from these 2026 San Diego Padres compared to last year’s model.

I focused a lot on Craig Stammen. At this point, Stammen is everything that A.J. Preller hoped that he would be. The vibes seem much improved around the team, guys are either maximizing their potential or trying something different to see if they can get to the point where they are maximizing their potential, and the team has won six consecutive games.

More importantly, the Padres have won nine of their last ten games and….with a win in last night’s Vedder Cup game against the Mariners…are potentially on their way to a fourth straight series win.

I said in the podcast that I was at least a tiny bit concerned that the Padres were making hay against poor competition. I was looking forward to this series against Seattle because that’s a team that had been playing pretty well (coming to San Diego after a four-game sweep of the Astros) that has World Series aspirations.

After one game, the Padres still seem to be awesome. Maybe not completely healthy, but awesome.

I can’t help but remember the people, myself included, who said “This season is going to come down to how much offense the Padres can get from Tatis, Machado and Merrill.”

That still might be true! But, so far, the Padres have found a winning offensive formula with Ramon Laureano, Luis Campusano (!) and Jackson Merrill leading the way. Tatis and Machado will eventually catch up.

Now, onto the links…

San Diego Padres

King’s strong start, Bogaerts’ big hits help Padres win 6th straight - MLB.com
Through the first week or so of the regular season, there was no Padre unluckier than Xander Bogaerts. That luck appears to be turning: In the second inning Tuesday, Bogaerts singled off the second-base bag.

There wasn’t anything lucky about Bogaerts’ second hit of the night. With two men aboard, he fell behind Mariners starter Bryan Woo 0-2, but battled his way into a full count, laying off some tough pitches, including a 2-2 sweeper just off the outside corner.

Woo’s 3-2 pitch was a mistake, and Bogaerts made him pay. He dumped a two-out, two-run single to center, giving the Padres a lead they wouldn’t relinquish.

Padres notebook: Nick Pivetta to IL, Matt Waldron to take rotation spot - San Diego Union-Tribune
After Sunday’s exit, Stammen likened Pivetta’s elbow stiffness to what he felt in spring training. Pivetta did not speak with reporters on Tuesday after he was officially placed on the injured list.

“I think we’re trying to be cautious with Nick,” Stammen said. “I think the smartest move was to not push him and give him some time on the IL … and still trying to figure out exactly what’s going on. Medical team’s going through the process, and then we’ll probably have some more information coming up (in the) next couple days.”

Waldron was competing for a spot in the rotation until an unexpected hemorrhoid surgery in spring training set him back. He opened the season on the 15-day injured list and had a 12-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio while throwing 12 shutout innings across three rehab starts, the last requiring just 58 pitches over five innings on April 9.

Cubs, Padres Interested In Lucas Giolito - MLB Trade Rumors
Adding Giolito could make sense from a baseball perspective but the report from The Athletic notes that the ongoing sale process might be a snag. The Seidler family is actively trying to sell the franchise. Even if they get an agreement fairly soon, it would still have to be approved by the league. The current owners may be hesitant to add more money to the books while that process is ongoing.

NBA Play-In Tournament

Blazers clinch playoff spot; Hornets survive thriller: NBA Play-In Tournament takeaways - The Athletic
Ball finished with 30 points, five rebounds and 10 assists, despite going 2 for 16 from 3-point range. Miles Bridges scored 28 points and added nine rebounds, Brandon Miller had 23 points with five assists, and Moussa Diabate grabbed a team-high 14 rebounds, including eight offensive boards.

Miami played nearly the entire game without Bam Adebayo, who exited early in the second quarter with a lower back injury and did not return.

Spoelstra says Ball should’ve been tossed for Adebayo trip - ESPN
Miami Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said LaMelo Ball should have been ejected early in the second quarter after the Charlotte Hornets star point guard yanked Bam Adebayo’s left foot on a rebound, sending the Heat center hard to the floor and injuring his lower back.

Adebayo ended up missing the rest of the game, a 127-126 overtime win by the Hornets in Tuesday night’s play-in game.

Though Spoelstra repeatedly made it clear that the Heat made no excuses for losing what was a thriller, the Miami coach said there’s no place in the game for Ball tripping up Adebayo.

Amazon Prime Video hits technical difficulties during Heat-Hornets OT - Awful Announcing
It was a thrilling game as Charlotte’s Coby White hit an incredible three-pointer in the closing seconds to force overtime. With 48 seconds left in the OT period, the Hornets led 123-120. During a timeout, as analyst Stan Van Gundy and play-by-play man Ian Eagle were discussing the situation, the broadcast feed suddenly went out.

After a few moments of silence, viewers were hit with the dreaded screen showcasing “Technical Difficulties” and music that you might hear from the glory days of the TV Guide Channel.

Odds & Ends

SDSU’s BJ Davis and Magoon Gwath join Miles Byrd in the Big East, UCSD’s Hudson Mayes heading to Mountain West - San Diego Union-Tribune
Davis was scheduled to visit Auburn and Oklahoma State this week. But both those schools either retained or landed other guards, and Davis opted for the Big East instead of the SEC or Big 12 for his final season of eligibility.

Gwath, who has two years of eligibility, had been talking to several SEC and Big 12 programs before, out of the blue, heading to DePaul.

It continued an interesting trend. With Miles Byrd’s commitment to Providence and forward Pharaoh Compton to Oregon, all four Aztecs who found new homes are getting more money — in some cases, significantly more — than they did at SDSU but all four are transferring “down” in terms of 2025-26 team performance.

Creighton (16-18), DePaul (16-16), Providence (15-18) and Oregon (12-20) all failed to have winning records, and none finished in the top 75 of the NCAA’s NET metric or were close to NCAA Tournament berths.

San Diego FC Struggles Continue with Loss to Minnesota United - Chromatic FC
Although Ferree is not the primary cause of the defensive issues, the backline lacks leadership and will be forced to start a young defense against a tough Real Salt Lake team without the suspended McVey. Fans are left hoping the club can replicate last year’s turnaround—where a 5-0 win against FC Dallas sparked a run of eight wins in ten matches—though they must find that spark with the team that is currently in place. Chucky Lozano is not walking through that door.

Dianna Russini resigns from The Athletic over photos with Patriots coach Mike Vrabel - The Athletic
NFL reporter Dianna Russini resigned from The Athletic on Tuesday, less than a week after photos were published showing her and New England Patriots coach Mike Vrabel holding hands, hugging and sitting together in a hot tub at an Arizona resort last month.

Houston Astros’ Tatsuya Imai ‘not able to adjust to the American lifestyle,’ interpreter says - The Athletic
In his first public comments since being sidelined with right arm fatigue, Japanese right-hander Tatsuya Imai acknowledged he has struggled to adapt to life in the United States — both on the baseball field and at the dinner table.

“He’s not able to adjust to the American lifestyle,” Imai’s interpreter, Shio Enomoto, said. “Baseball and outside of baseball. That’s probably the reason (for his arm fatigue).”

The Leader Board that Changed Golf ⛳️ - SportsBall
At Augusta, these aren’t digital screens. There are no pixels, no refresh rates, nothing electric at all.

Each board is updated by a team of people standing behind it, manually flipping through hundreds of number tiles as scores come in. Think Fenway’s Green Monster, but for golf.

And here’s the part that makes it even better.

At Augusta, there are no phones allowed on the course.

So if you’re standing on hole 11 and something happens on 17, you’re not checking an app. You’re waiting. Then suddenly, a number changes on the board. And the entire crowd reacts.

Report: FIFA Plans To Ask Peace Prize Winner If He Would Maybe Consider Pausing Domestic Terrorism Program For One Month - Defector
With just under two months until the start of the 2026 World Cup, it seems that FIFA executives have finally looked up at the horizon, seen the looming shitstorm, and are now scrambling to head it off. The Athletic reported on Tuesday that top FIFA heads have sought to convince Gianni Infantino to make a “president-to-president” appeal to Donald Trump and ask if he can find it in his heart of hearts to give his ICE jackboots a summer vacation.

Specifically, the idea FIFA wants Infantino to run by Trump is that there be a full moratorium on ICE activities in the United States for the 39-day duration of the World Cup.

THE 2026 EDSBS CHARITY BOWL IS UPON US - Channel 6
The EDSBS Charity Bowl (known online as the #CharitibundiBowl) is an annual fundraising contest staged in aid of New American Pathways, a full-service refugee resettlement nonprofit based in Atlanta. We’re about to launch the 20th (TWENTIETH) edition of the Charity Bowl, and are here to tell you more about that.

If you’re new here, and an offseason contest to out-fundraise teams of rival football fans in aid of our most vulnerable neighbors doesn’t sound like something that interests you, come back next week for more of our splendid regular programming.