The Pitcher Who Broke a Record That Survived Sandy Koufax

Photo: Sue Ogrocki

Jalen Brunson scored 13 of his 30 points in the fourth quarter of Game 1, the Knicks outscored the Spurs 34-18 after trailing by 14, and New York won 105-95 — ending the Spurs' perfect record across six previous Finals Game 1s. The Knicks are now 12-0 this postseason, outscoring opponents by a combined 262 points. That margin is the largest by any team in a single NBA postseason in history.

The context behind that 12-0 run makes it heavier. Every team in NBA history to win 11 or more consecutive games in a single postseason has gone on to win the championship. The Knicks haven't been in the Finals since 1999 — when these same Spurs beat them in five games, Patrick Ewing's last playoff run. Victor Wembanyama scored 27 points in Game 1 despite the loss, a reminder that San Antonio is not simply a foil. Game 2 is Friday in San Antonio, and going 0-2 on their home floor would put this series effectively out of reach for the Spurs.

Twelve wins. Zero losses. New York is playing like the 27-year wait never happened.

Photo: Karl B Deblaker

Carolina entered Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final with the best home record in the Eastern Conference — 35-5-2 over the regular season — and a 2-0 lead deep into the second period. Vegas erased it. Tomáš Hertl scored the go-ahead goal with 3:24 remaining off a give-and-go with Colton Sissons, and the Golden Knights won 5-4 — becoming the first road team in NHL history to come back from multiple goals down in the opening game of a Stanley Cup Final.

The result fits a pattern Vegas has been building for nine years. This is the Golden Knights' third Cup Final since entering the league in 2017 — a pace that belongs alongside the great dynasties of the sport, not a franchise that didn't exist a decade ago. Shea Theodore and Brayden McNabb each recorded three points, the first defensive pair to do that in any Cup Final opener. Carolina built all season for home-ice advantage and still holds it. But Game 2 is tonight in Raleigh, and going 0-2 at home against a team that already proved it can win in your building is a different pressure entirely.

The best home record in the Eastern Conference. Zero wins in this Cup Final so far. Game 2 is tonight.

Photo: AP News

From April 30 through June 3, Cristopher Sánchez did not allow a run. The streak reached 50⅔ innings, breaking a 115-year-old Phillies franchise record held by Grover Cleveland Alexander and surpassing Carl Hubbell's mark for the longest scoreless run by any left-handed pitcher in the modern era. Hubbell set his record in 1933. It survived 87 years — and every dominant left-hander who came after him, from Sandy Koufax to Randy Johnson — without anyone coming close. Sánchez didn't inch past it. He reached 50⅔ and was still going when Jackson Merrill singled in a run for the Padres on Wednesday night.

The all-time scoreless innings list is one of the most exclusive in baseball. Only four pitchers have ever gone longer: Orel Hershiser (59⅓ innings in 1988), Don Drysdale (58⅔ in 1968), Walter Johnson, and Jack Coombs. Every name belongs to a different era of the sport. Sánchez is now fifth on that list. He stayed in after the streak ended and Philadelphia won 3-2. He is 28 years old. The Phillies are in first place. The streak is over. The season has not.

Carl Hubbell held that record for 87 years. Sánchez needed one month of May to take it.

Photo: Sportsnet

Myles Garrett waived his no-trade clause and left Cleveland for Los Angeles. Over nine seasons with the Browns, he built one of the most decorated defensive résumés of his generation: two Defensive Player of the Year awards, five first-team All-Pro selections, and last season 33 tackles for loss — the second-most in modern NFL history, trailing only J.J. Watt's 39 in 2012. The trade sends Jared Verse and three draft picks to Cleveland. It is an enormous haul for a franchise in rebuild. It is also exactly what a player of Garrett's caliber commands.

At 30, Garrett joins a Rams team that missed the playoffs in the final week of 2025. Los Angeles already had the structure: a rebuilt offensive line, Cooper Kupp healthy, Puka Nacua emerging as a genuine weapon. What it lacked was a player who forces opposing offenses to restructure their entire approach. Elite pass rushers don't just accumulate sacks — they limit what the offense is permitted to run, which changes every game. The NFC West is built on offensive firepower. Very few defenses in that division have ever been able to disrupt that equation. Garrett can.

Los Angeles was one week from the playoffs last year. That was before Myles Garrett.

Which story hit hardest this week — Sánchez's 50 innings or the Knicks erasing 27 years in one fourth quarter? Hit reply and tell us.