San Diego FC stay perfect through three games
SDFC might never lose again, Padres players finding success in the WBC, SDSU eeks out an important win, and a bunch more in today's Front Row Seat!
Today is my daughter’s birthday, which means this weekend was spent with family creating happy memories for her to look back fondly on for the rest of her life.
As such, I did not watch a ton of sports this weekend. I caught bits and pieces of WBC games, but mostly it was blow-outs by time I got them on the television. I saw a few innings of San Diego Padres spring training baseball, which feels even less meaningful than usual with the star players off playing in the WBC.
And, unfortunately, I missed the third game of San Diego FC’s 2nd MLS season. I was having dinner at a place with a beautiful view, good food, and no TVs. It’s fine, dinner was great, but the story of March in San Diego should be all about 19-year old Duran Ferree and I was mad to be missing a start of his.
That being said, I love how Mikey Varas and this SDFC coaching staff operates. Seniority and payroll goes out the window when making decisions about who plays and who doesn’t. Through three games, Ferree (who only played in the first game because the starter is recovering from an injury and the backup was suspended) has yet to allow a goal. And I would be shocked if he saw the bench again before that changes, so I should get another chance to see him on Wednesday against Toluca.
Now, onto the links…
San Diego Padres
Jake Cronenworth might be redefining who he is as a player - San Diego Union-Tribune
His ongoing focus in the cage now is on a swing path that is more direct to the ball.
And he is driving balls this spring, like the first opposite-field home run he hit as a major leaguer in a game last week and the triple he sent to the gap in right field Sunday. He is batting .364 (8-for-22) with two walks in Cactus League play.
Sheets’ powerful presence leads Padres’ 1B/DH options - MLB.com
Sheets launched a no-doubt three-run homer onto the right-field berm in the Padres’ 14-3 win over the Reds at the Peoria Sports Complex on Sunday. He’s spent most of his spring focused on controlling the strike zone -- to the tune of a team-high seven walks. Sunday marked his first spring home run.
“The big thing for me has been controlling the strike zone, getting walks and being disciplined,” Sheets said. “You get swings like this and you build off the two of those things, you can really put the two of those things together.”
San Diego FC
Anders Dreyer and Duran Ferree lift SDFC past Kansas City on the road - The Sporting Tribune
Anders Dreyer does it again for San Diego FC. Dreyer’s first-half goal proved to be the game-winner in Kansas City, leading SDFC to a record start in the MLS. The Danish star is playing at an MVP-level in 2026 with five goal contributions (two goals and three assists).
Midfielder Onni Valakari assisted Dreyer’s goal in the 39th minute. The 27-year-old right-winger received the pass just outside the middle of the box, and his left-footed strike was out of the reach of goalkeeper John Pulskamp.
San Diego’s plus-eight goal differential over three matches ties them with some of the best starts in league history, joining Chicago (1999), Atlanta (2017), and Austin (2022). Among those teams, SDFC is the only one that has not conceded a goal.
SDFC improves to 3-0 with win over Sporting Kansas City - San Diego Union-Tribune
Goalkeeper Duran Ferree made his third consecutive start in goal for SDFC and made three saves. The San Diego native was mostly unbothered until he made one of the great saves of his young career. SDFC led 1-0 in the 88th minute when Taylor Calheira beat the SDFC defense and poked a shot at SDFC’s goal. Ferree dove and batted Calheira’s shot away with his left hand.
Ferree made another lunging stop with his right hand in injury time, stopping Stephen Afrifa’s shot and preserving the win. Sporting Kansas City falls to 0-2-1.
Ferree, a former member of now-defunct San Diego Loyal SC, has yet to allow a goal this season.
World Baseball Classic
The World Baseball Classic Is Already Producing Some Classic World Baseball - Defector
With so much baseball going on at the same time, it all just kind of washes over you in a pleasant cultural stew. There’s the Emperor of Japan attending an international baseball game for the first time in nearly 60 years. There’s the Italians drinking espresso in the dugout. There’s Luis Arraez inexplicably turning into Barry Bonds, but once again only for a WBC. There is cool and/or weird shit going on at basically any moment; it is, like baseball itself, best consumed in bulk.
And yet, in the five previous editions of the Classic, one not-uncommon thing had somehow never happened even once: a walk-off home run, that purest of baseball joys. On Saturday we got two, and if you’re still a little cynical about this tournament or feel like it’s not taken as seriously as it could be, this is the stuff you’d want to distill and bottle.
Why Tarik Skubal may change his WBC pitching plans: ‘One of the tougher decisions I’ve made in my career’ - CBS Sports
Tarik Skubal is having second thoughts about making just one start in the World Baseball Classic. Following USA’s win over Great Britain on Saturday (USA 9, GB 1), Skubal said he will “make a decision here in the next couple days” about rejoining USA later in the WBC and pitching again at some point.
“This is gonna be one of the tougher decisions I’ve made in my career so far,” Skubal told MLB.com after Saturday’s game. “... It just changes your perspective a little bit, you know? And how proud I am to be an American and go out there and pitch and compete, (thinking about) the people that make real sacrifices for me to play a kids’ game. So we’ll see.”
Skubal added: “I didn’t expect these types of emotions to run through my brain, or my thoughts to differ. I was pretty committed to making a start and getting back to camp. Things have changed, obviously. That’s why I’m gonna have some conversations and try to figure out a plan for me. But yeah, I don’t know either way.”
When a Team Dominican Republic player hits a home run, a party ensues - The Athletic
No moment thus far has pulsed with more spirit than Junior Caminero’s two-run home run in Team D.R.’s first WBC game against Nicaragua. The score was 3-3 in the sixth inning, tensions rising, when Caminero hit a 414-foot laser onto the right-center field berm at loanDepot Park.
With Nicaragua’s upset bid all but spoiled, Caminero’s ensuing celebration went viral. He ran and screamed between first and second, jolting his head back and knocking off his batting helmet. Caminero slowed before he reached third base. He flexed, roared and pumped his arms toward the crowd. He galloped between third and home, finally stomping on the plate to punctuate his mighty feat.
In the Dominican Republic dugout, some players jolted up the steps. Others vaulted themselves over the top rail to cheer. The whole team greeted Caminero at the plate, dancing and finally freezing in poses for a mock selfie.
Odds & Ends
Aztecs hold off UNLV on Senior Night, keep conference title hopes alive - San Diego Union-Tribune
The Aztecs won 89-86 before an electric home crowd on a night that had 12 ties and 11 lead changes and seemed like five against six sometimes with the way UNLV coach Josh Pastner was prancing around the floor in a suit and tie while the ball was in play.
It sends them to the Mountain West tournament in a better frame of mind than they started the day, following four losses in five games that senior Reese Dixon-Waters admitted had “definitely been rough.”
Dolphins to release Tua Tagovailoa, take on record cap hit - ESPN
The Dolphins will release quarterback Tua Tagovailoa after the start of the new league year in a move that will leave Miami with an NFL-record $99.2 million in dead money against the salary cap.
The Dolphins announced their intention to release Tagovailoa in a statement Monday. A source told ESPN’s Adam Schefter that Tagovailoa’s release will be designated post-June 1, allowing the Dolphins to split the dead money over two years.
Jayson Tatum Might Redefine Basketball’s Worst Injury, Or Might Not - Defector
Whatever Tatum imagined about his own recovery, back in the miserable aftermath of the injury, he certainly did not expect to be joining a Celtics team actively contending for the top seed in the Eastern Conference. Not only because Boston would be missing his own services: The Celtics dismantled their roster last summer, shipping out three of their top five players by games started and four of their top nine by total minutes, in addition to the loss of Tatum. Anyone might reasonably have expected this season to be devoted to an entirely forgivable tanking operation. Instead, Joe Mazzulla has hit upon a perfectly respectable rotation, Jaylen Brown has emerged as a frontrunner for MVP, and the Celtics are just a couple games back of the sagging Detroit Pistons in an otherwise not-super-impressive conference. Tatum isn’t easing back into the relaxed home-stretch of a one-year retooling project; he’s dropping into a starter’s role in the early crescendo of a title hunt.
Jayson Tatum’s Return Was a Celtics Dream—and a Nightmare for Everyone Else - The Ringer
Tatum did endure some understandable hiccups as he readjusted to the velocity of NBA action. He finished 6-for-16 from the floor in his debut and missed his first six shots. There were moments of indecision and some embarrassment: Tatum got hung on a wide-open dunk early in the second quarter, airballed a pull-up 3, and was called for a moving screen—uncharacteristic stuff. But every mistake, tentative half step, and arrhythmic decision fell in line with the tempered expectations rightfully reserved for someone who ruptured their Achilles tendon just 10 months ago.
Francis Ngannou joins Netflix’s Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano card for fight against UFC veteran - Yahoo Sports
Francis Ngannou is joining one of the biggest events of the summer. The former UFC heavyweight champion is set to make his MMA return on May 16 at Los Angeles’ Intuit Dome, fighting in the five-round co-main event of MVP’s historic Ronda Rousey vs. Gina Carano event on Netflix.
Ngannou’s first MMA bout since October 2024 will come against Philipe Lins (18-5), a 40-year-old former PFL heavyweight tournament champion and UFC veteran who has been out of action since exiting the latter promotion on a four-fight win streak in March 2024.
White House posts bombing videos interspersed with MLB, NFL highlights - The Athletic
The White House posted the two videos — one dedicated to baseball and the other to football — at a time when the U.S. is engaged in armed conflict in the Middle East. In the videos, sports highlights set to music cut away to what appears to be aerial footage of airstrikes reaching ground targets. MLB and the NFL have not commented on whether the leagues received advance notice of the posts, or whether they granted the White House permission to use their highlights.
The 27-second-long baseball reel, posted to X with the caption “Pure American dominance,” features in-game clips of former stars Barry Bonds, Cecil Fielder, Ken Griffey Jr., Mark McGwire, Alex Rodriguez and Sammy Sosa. When the sluggers take their home run swings, the reel cuts to explosions at unspecified sites. The word “Unclassified” flashes on the screen when the blasts go off, suggesting the videos could be sourced from the U.S. military. No date or locale is specified, and no individuals are visible during the blasts.