Mike Gianakos Articles - Page 6

Although the Los Angeles Dodgers’ bullpen has been a weakness this season, Roki Sasaki made another strong impression in relief. After a lengthy injury absence, Sasaki worked out of the bullpen in his return to the team Wednesday. The rookie hurler once again got the ball in the seventh inning during Friday’s series opener against […]

The New York Mets got off to a strong start in their critical three-game series against the Miami Marlins. Francisco Lindor led off with a solo home run against Sandy Alcantara, staking New York an early 1-0 lead. The Mets entered the day in control of their own destiny with a one-game lead over the […]

The Cincinnati Reds are in the thick of a playoff push. The team entered Friday’s series opener against the Milwaukee Brewers one game behind the New York Mets for the final NL Wild Card berth. With the Reds’ first trip to the postseason in five years at stake, every at-bat takes on extra meaning. And […]

The Kansas City Chiefs got their first win of the season with Week 3’s 22-9 victory over the New York Giants. And Kansas City’s 21st-ranked scoring offense will receive a boost from the return of Xavier Worthy in Week 4. The Chiefs expect the second-year wideout to play in Sunday’s pivotal matchup against the 1-2 […]

As the 2025 regular season comes to a close, the Cincinnati Reds are still in the hunt for the NL’s final playoff berth. The Reds got a huge boost with Noelvi Marte’s season-saving catch in Thursday’s series finale against the Pittsburgh Pirates. The third-year pro reached over the wall in right field to rob Bryan […]

After a scorching-hot start to the season, the Chicago Cubs have gone just 32-31 since the All-Star break entering Friday’s series opener against the St. Louis Cardinals. Despite the modest record, the Cubs clinched a playoff berth for the first time in five years. And now Chicago is attempting to secure the NL’s top Wild […]

New York Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor joined the 30-30 club on Thursday. He became the fifth player to reach the 30-30 mark in 2025, setting a new MLB single-season record. Now the club has a new member. Pete Crow-Armstrong belted his 30th home run of the season in the Chicago Cubs’ series opener against the […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitching staff has battled injuries and ineffectiveness this season. But while the rotation is rounding into form in time for a playoff run, Yoshinobu Yamamoto has remained a constant for LA. The Dodgers’ ace is the team’s first pitcher to reach 200 strikeouts since 2021. He hit strikeout No. 201 in […]

The Seattle Seahawks dominated their Week 4 matchup against the Arizona Cardinals for three quarters. Seattle went up 20-6 midway through the fourth quarter. But then the game nearly slipped away. The Cardinals mounted a late comeback, scoring back-to-back touchdowns and tying the game 20-20 with 28 seconds remaining in regulation. But 28 seconds would […]

The Arizona Cardinals looked lifeless, heading into halftime down 14-3 to the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night. The most memorable play of the first half was a gaffe by Marvin Harrison Jr. Midway through the second quarter, the Cardinals wideout bobbled a pass deep in Seahawks territory that led to an interception. The miscue ended […]

The Detroit Lions outlasted the Baltimore Ravens in Monday night’s showdown. The Lions’ offense continued to shine as the team rolled up 426 total yards in the 38-30 win over the Ravens. The impressive showing capped Detroit’s most prolific two-game stretch in 75 years. But despite the onslaught, Jameson Williams was held in check. The […]

The Philadelphia Eagles improved to 3-0 on the season after a dramatic come-from-behind victory over the Los Angeles Rams Sunday. The previous week, Philadelphia took out the Kansas City Chiefs in a rematch of Super Bowl LIX. The Eagles once again appear to be championship contenders. But Peter Schrager believes Philly should be concerned about […]

The Cincinnati Reds are one of four teams still vying for the final NL Wild Card berth. But the Pittsburgh Pirates had a chance to play spoiler. Cincinnati opened the three-game series against its division rival in a tie with the New York Mets for the league’s final playoff berth. But after the Reds’ crushing […]

The Los Angeles Dodgers lost Roki Sasaki to a shoulder injury in May. The rookie starter was one of more than a dozen Los Angeles pitchers to land on the IL over the first half of the season. Yet while many of the Dodgers’ hurlers had since rejoined the team, Sasaki remained out. That is, […]

The Houston Astros are slumping at the worst possible time. Less than three weeks ago, Houston had a 3.5-game lead in the AL West and appeared certain to reach the playoffs for the ninth-straight season. But after getting shut out by the Athletics Wednesday, the Astros have lost five-straight games, including a sweep by the […]

The New York Yankees’ Captain joined extremely exclusive company with two history-making swings of the bat in Tuesday’s win over the Chicago White Sox. Aaron Judge’s 50th and 51st home runs of the season placed him alongside Babe Ruth and Mickey Mantle. The All-Star slugger is authoring yet another MVP-caliber season. But Judge won’t allow […]

The Seattle Mariners rallied to a 4-3 win over the Colorado Rockies in the series opener Tuesday. The comeback victory earned the Mariners a postseason berth for the first time since 2022. And Seattle is now just one win away from clinching the AL West for the first time in 24 years. Cal Raleigh was […]

Jerry Jones and Micah Parsons remained locked in a stalemate for months. As the start of the regular season neared without any progress on a contract extension, the relationship turned acrimonious. Still, it seemed unthinkable that the team would allow Parsons to leave just as he was entering his prime. But Dallas Cowboys fans were […]

The New York Giants signed Russell Wilson to a one-year deal over the offseason. Then, after landing Jaxson Dart in the first-round of the 2025 draft, the Giants devised a plan. New York would take the Patrick Mahomes approach with Dart, giving the rookie QB a redshirt year to learn behind a veteran before being […]

The Chicago Bears got their first win of the Ben Johnson era in Sunday’s decisive 31-14 victory over the Dallas Cowboys. The Week 3 rout helped quiet critics, as some insiders had gone so far as to float the idea of a possible Caleb Williams benching after back-to-back poor showings at the start of the […]

An ugly loss in the season opener predictably led fans and analysts to wonder if the Detroit Lions could continue winning without Ben Johnson and Aaron Glenn. Detroit lost its prominent coordinators over the offseason. And a poor Week 1 showing raised questions about the team’s future. Two weeks and two wins later and those […]

The Baltimore Ravens came up short in an offensive slugfest against the Detroit Lions in Week 3. The 38-30 Monday Night Football loss dropped the Ravens to 1-2 on the season. Baltimore entered the matchup with the NFL’s 32nd-ranked defense, allowing a league-high 409.5 yards per game. And that trend continued Monday as Detroit racked […]

The Baltimore Ravens respond to their heartbreaking 41-40 season-opening loss to the Buffalo Bills with a 41-17 rout of the Cleveland Browns in Week 2. And the Ravens’ offense once again pulled out all the stops in a Monday Night Football showdown against the Detroit Lions. Despite the team scoring 81 points and racking up […]

The Chicago Bears limped into their Week 3 game against the Dallas Cowboys with an 0-2 record under new head coach Ben Johnson. But Dallas proved a get-right matchup for Chicago. The Bears took advantage of the Cowboys’ 31st ranked passing defense as Caleb Williams threw for 298 yards and four touchdowns, leading Chicago to […]

The Detroit Lions bounced back from an ugly loss to the Green Bay Packers in the season opener. Detroit’s 52-21 demolition of the Chicago Bears sent a message; The loss of the Lions’ top assistant coaches over the offseason was not going to lead to the team’s downfall. But despite the convincing Week 2 win, […]

After a shaky performance in the season opener against the Green Bay Packers, the Detroit Lions got back on track in Week 2. The Lions spoiled Ben Johnson’s homecoming, wrecking the Chicago Bears 52-21. Now Detroit will look to build on that momentum in Monday’s matchup against the Baltimore Ravens. But the team will be […]

A banged up Minnesota Vikings team missing starting quarterback J.J. McCarthy took on an equally battered Cincinnati Bengals squad playing without star passer Joe Burrow. With both teams relying on backup quarterbacks, the Vikings’ defense stole the show. Isaiah Rodgers’ historic performance took the pressure off of Minnesota’s passing game in the team’s 48-10 blowout […]

The Tampa Bay Buccaneers began the 2025 season with back-to-back nail biters. The Bucs pulled off last-second wins against the Atlanta Falcons and the Houston Texans to improve to 2-0 heading into Week 3’s matchup against the New York Jets. And, while Tampa Bay won’t be at full strength, Baker Mayfield avoided an injury designation […]

The Minnesota Vikings got off to a promising start this season. After three shaky quarters, J.J. McCarthy came alive in Week 1, leading Minnesota to a comeback win over the Chicago Bears. But Week 2 was difficult for Vikings fans to stomach. In addition to getting blown out by the Atlanta Falcons, Minnesota suffered a […]

The Seattle Mariners took a 6-0 lead into the seventh inning against the Houston Astros Saturday. The Mariners’ offensive outburst was highlighted by Cal Raleigh’s 57th home run of the season, as he surpassed Ken Griffey Jr. for the franchise record. But Houston battled back in Game 2 of the pivotal three-game divisional clash. Jeremy […]

The Chicago White Sox have long been out of the playoff picture. The team was officially eliminated from postseason contention on September 6. But Chicago has improved significantly in 2025. Last season the White Sox set a record for the earliest elimination from the playoffs in the division era, getting bounced on August 17. And […]

Cal Raleigh reached yet another remarkable milestone on Saturday as the Seattle Mariners faced the Houston Astros in a pivotal three-game series. Earlier this week, Raleigh broke Mickey Mantle’s single-season record for home runs by a switch-hitter. But Big Dumper wasn’t finished. One inning later, Raleigh launched his major-league leading 56th homer of the season, […]

Following the Toronto Blue Jays’ embarrassing 20-1 blowout loss to the Kansas City Royals Friday, the team made a change. Manager John Schneider moved José Berríos to the bullpen in an effort to bolster Toronto’s relief pitching. The Blue Jays are making a final push to secure their first division title in 10 years and […]

With New York Giants starting left tackle Andrew Thomas sidelined once again in Week 2, the team turned to James Hudson to fill in for the former first-round pick. And Hudson quickly left his mark on the game, committing four costly penalties on the Giants’ opening drive. Hudson was called for unnecessary roughness twice as […]

The Dallas Cowboys allowed over 500 yards of offense to the Russell Wilson-led New York Giants in their narrow Week 2 win. Ultimately, the Cowboys came up with a big defensive stop, intercepting Wilson in overtime. Brandon Aubrey then converted a game-winning 46-yard field goal as time expired. But the 40-37 nail biter in Dallas […]

The crowd waited in anticipation as Clayton Kershaw delivered a 2-2 pitch to Rafael Devers in the top of the fifth inning Friday. The Los Angeles Dodgers’ star was making the last home start of his remarkable career after announcing his retirement. And his final regular season pitch at Dodger Stadium was a called strike […]

Legendary Los Angeles Dodgers starting pitcher Clayton Kershaw announced he would retire after the 2025 season. The 18th-year veteran took the mound Friday, facing the San Francisco Giants in his last-ever regular season home start. Kershaw spent his entire remarkable career with the Dodgers. His Hall of Fame resume includes an NL MVP Award, the […]

The New York Giants are still searching for their first win of the season after a heartbreaking overtime loss to the Dallas Cowboys in Week 2. But the Giants offered fans some hope by rebounding from a blowout in the season opener with an offensive eruption in Dallas. Rookie running back Cam Skattebo led New […]

Rookie wideout Emeka Egbuka burst onto the scene, catching the game-winning touchdown against the Atlanta Falcons in his NFL debut. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers’ first-round draft pick has impressed in his first two games as a pro. But an injury could jeopardize his availability for Week 3. Egbuka missed practice on Wednesday as the Buccaneers […]