WASHINGTON — It wasn’t quite the four-day weekend the New York Mets envisioned entering the nation’s capitol on a seven-game winning streak, but the National League East leaders bounced back from two walk-off losses to secure a series split with a blowout win on Monday.

Brandon Nimmo hit two home runs – a three-run shot in the sixth and grand slam in the seventh – and followed with a two-run double in the eighth, tying a Mets record with nine RBIs in the 19-5 defeat of Washington at Nationals Park.

Prior to Monday, the only other Mets player with nine RBIs in a single game was Carlos Delgado, accomplished at Yankee Stadium in 2008. Nimmo’s previous career high was five RBIs and he shattered that mark Monday with his seventh career multi-homer game and second grand slam since his debut in 2016.

‘These days don’t come around that often and you sit back and enjoy it,’ said Nimmo who entered Monday batting .192.

‘Part of you wants to just scream and throw a tantrum (when you struggle), but there’s another part of you that understands that this is just the way baseball works.’

Nimmo nearly had another RBI opportunity in the ninth against infielder Amed Rosario, who had taken the mound, but Mark Vientos hit a three-run homer with Nimmo on deck to clear the bases.

‘I was thinking ‘oh man it would be really cool to get double-digit RBIs in a day’ when I was coming up before Swaggy hit the homer,’ Nimmo admitted after the game. ‘I was like ‘oh man this would be sweet if i could get a couple more out of it.”

Monday’s offensive explosion ended things on a high note, but it was something of a frustrating series split in Washington for the Mets, who still have MLB’s best record at 20-9. New York blew a ninth-inning lead on Friday and a six-run advantage on Sunday in walk-off losses – and was limited to two runs in Saturday’s win.

‘We were very close to taking three, if not trying to sweep the series,’ Nimmo said after Monday’s finale. ‘You try to flush (the losses) and come back today. The guys did an amazing job and that’s what we’re going to have to do this whole season.’

While Nimmo poured it on in the late innings, the team’s first three runs were accounted for by two regulars who just made their 2025 debuts on Friday. Francisco Alvarez opened the scoring with an RBI double in the top of the second, followed by a sacrifice fly from Jeff McNeil, the former batting champion and two-time All-Star. Making his fourth career start in center field, McNeil added a solo home run in the fifth and triple in the seventh.

“It makes our lineup a lot deeper when you got Alvarez hitting seventh and a hitter like Jeff eighth,’ Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said. ‘That says a lot about where your team is at offensively.’

In another oddity on Monday, Mets shortstop Francisco Lindor became just the eighth player in MLB history to be hit by a pitch twice the same inning, getting plunked to lead off the seventh and again later in the frame by Nationals reliever Cole Henry.

Mets starter Griffin Canning got the win by tossing five scoreless innings but had to regularly work his way out of trouble, allowing the Nationals to get a runner into scoring position in each of the first four frames.

The Nationals were held without a run until the eighth but batted around in the frame and scored six times against Mets reliever José Ureña, who was making his team debut, including home runs from James Wood and Nathaniel Lowe.

The Mets return to Citi Field, where they have a 12-1 record, for a three-game set against the Arizona Diamondbacks beginning on Tuesday, while the Nationals head to Philadelphia to face the NL East rival Phillies.

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The Cleveland Cavaliers categorically razed the Miami Heat on Monday, sweeping them in four games that looked — frankly — like the Cavs were on cruise control.

On one hand, it was impressive. Cleveland’s 73 bench points Monday night were just 10 fewer than Miami’s entire team scored in the 138-83 victory.

But, realistically, no one should read too much into this result.

Simply put: the Cavaliers, the wire-to-wire No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, did exactly what they needed to do. Guard Donovan Mitchell shined throughout the series, center Jarrett Allen worked the paint and Ty Jerome and De’Andre Hunter ignited off the bench.

More importantly, Cleveland ramped up its defensive intensity in the first round, with Evan Mobley — the newly-crowned Defensive Player of the Year — and Allen protecting the rim, and with wings closing out and defending the perimeter with tenacity.

So the big question is: will the Cavs be challenged in the conference semis?

Undoubtedly more than they were in the first round against a Heat team that rolled over, that much is clear.

But even the Pacers — Indiana is the likely opponent, with the Bucks in a 3-1 deficit and coping with Damian Lillard’s torn left Achilles tendon — have matchup issues against Cleveland.

The Cavs ranked ninth in the regular season in points in the paint per game (51.3), while the Pacers ranked 26th in opposing points in the paint per game (51.8).

With Allen’s footwork and efficiency and the ability of Mitchell and guard Darius Garland — if he heals from a toe sprain — to attack the paint, Cleveland can exploit Indiana’s weakness down low.

Indiana’s offense pushes the tempo up the court to prevent opposing defenses from getting into their sets. The Cavaliers — though not as quick as the Pacers — operate in a similar mind frame; the Pacers ranked seventh in pace (100.76), while the Cavs ranked 10th (100.31).

But one intangible Cleveland showed against Miami was its relentless intention in finishing. That much was evident from the first play of Game 4, when Heat point guard Davion Mitchell flicked a lazy pass that Allen easily swiped and turned into a breakaway dunk. From Mitchell and Mobley and Cleveland’s other star players down to the reserves that coach Kenny Atkinson played when he emptied the bench, the Cavaliers looked to exert dominance without compromise.

That’s what teams need to do in the playoffs.

And while the Pacers should not be overlooked, Cleveland’s success in the regular season — the Cavs won 64 games, most since they did in 2008-09 (66) — suggests this is a team that should have an Eastern Conference championship in its sights.

That would mean a likely date against the reigning champion Boston Celtics, the team Cleveland split four games with during the regular season.

Boston is one of the few teams in the NBA that can compete offensively against Cleveland; the Cavaliers posted the NBA’s top offensive rating, scoring 121 points per 100 possessions, while the Celtics ranked second (119.5).

Blowout sweeps in the first round are nice. This Cavaliers team is built to compete for far more.

Minnesota Timberwolves forward Jaden McDaniels should’ve been called for a foul on Los Angeles Lakers guard Luka Doncic with 35.5 seconds left in the fourth quarter of the Timberwolves’ 116-113 victory in Game 4 on Sunday, according to the NBA’s Last Two-Minute Report released Monday.

Minnesota had just taken a 114-113 lead, and Doncic dribbled toward half court when McDaniels’ right leg tripped Doncic, who fell to the court. No foul was called, and Doncic called timeout. On the Lakers’ next possession, LeBron James committed a turnover, leading to two made Anthony Edwards free throws.

Doncic and Lakers coach JJ Redick were upset with the no-call, which the NBA labeled an incorrect no-call in its Last Two-Minute Report. Doncic should’ve been awarded two free throws, giving the Lakers a chance to tie or take the lead.

“I got tripped for sure,’ Doncic told reporters.

The league’s Last Two-Minute Report also confirmed that referees were correct in calling a foul on James during a Minnesota challenge, saying James made “illegal contact to Edwards’ left wrist.’ Instead of the Lakers gaining possession, Edwards made two free throws with 10.7 seconds remaining.

The Timberwolves took a 3-1 lead and can win the series in Game 5 on Wednesday in Los Angeles (10 p.m. ET, TNT).

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There has been no shortage of technical fouls in these NBA playoffs, as emotions run high and players grow tired of the same opponents.

There already have been small dust-ups across multiple series — the Warriors-Rockets, Knicks-Pistons, Pacers-Bucks, Nuggets-Clippers and Lakers-Timberwolves have each seen players scrap, to varying degrees.

In particular, Monday night’s Golden State-Houston game saw multiple stoppages during which officials reviewed extracurricular activity; Rockets forward Tari Eason and guard Dillon Brooks and Warriors guard Stephen Curry and forward Draymond Green were each assessed a tech — and that was in the second quarter, alone.

In the third quarter, the Warriors were even called for a delay of game technical foul, though that one was not assessed to any player.

Here’s everything you need to know about how technical fouls work in the NBA playoffs:

How do technical fouls work in the 2025 NBA playoffs?

All technical fouls from the regular season reset at the start of the playoffs, which means that all players participating start with a clean slate. Whereas a 16th technical foul in the regular season would trigger a suspension, the number in the postseason is seven, with multiple suspensions possible with additional infractions.

Nonetheless, there are fines and additional consequences that arise from each technical foul assessed in the postseason.

The NBA, however, has the option to rescind technical fouls on review, as it does in the regular season.

What is the discipline for technical fouls in the 2025 NBA Playoffs?

Technical fouls Nos. 1 and 2 result in a fine of $2,000 per infraction.
Technical fouls Nos. 3 and 4 result in a fine of $3,000 per infraction.
Technical fouls Nos. 5 and 6 result in a fine of $4,000 per infraction; the NBA will send a warning letter to the offending player upon reaching his fifth technical of the playoffs.
Technical foul No. 7 results in a fine of $5,000 and a one-game suspension.
Each additional technical foul results in a fine of $5,000.
Each two additional technical fouls — Nos. 9, 11, 13 and so on — will trigger a suspension in addition to the $5,000 fine.

Five-star high school basketball recruit Alijah Arenas is expected to be released from the hospital soon as he avoided major injuries. following the single-car crash he was involved in last week.

The update on the son of former NBA player Gilbert Arenas came during the elder Arenas’ show ‘Gil’s Arena’ on Monday. Arenas was not present for the episode but co-host Josiah Johnson provided an update after speaking to Gilbert Arenas.

‘Happy to announce that Alijah is doing much better,’ Josiah Johnson, one of the hosts of ‘Gil’s Arena,’ said during the show Monday. ‘Alijah’s doing better, walking, talking, progressing very well, should be released from the hospital very soon. No major injuries as a result of the car accident.’

Johnson said Arenas, 18, was driving back from the gym Thursday morning in the Los Angeles suburb of Reseda when he lost control of his vehicle. According to the Los Angeles Police Department, a Tesla Cybertruck driven by an 18-year-old driver crashed into a tree and a fire hydrant at 4:55 a.m. The truck caught on fire as heavy smoke came out of it.

Arenas was transported to a local hospital in serious condition following the crash and was placed into an induced coma. Arenas’ family shared an update on Friday that he was out of the induced coma and although he remained intubated, he was able to open his eyes and write on a piece of paper.

A guard from Chatsworth High School in Southern California, Arenas is the 10th ranked overall player in the 2025 recruiting class, according to 247Sports. Arenas committed to Southern California over offers from Alabama, Kansas, Kentucky and Arizona, among other schools. He played in the 2025 McDonald’s All-American Boys Game. He scored 11 points in the contest as he was part of the West team that defeated the East team 105-92.

Florida Panthers defenseman Aaron Ekblad knocked Brandon Hagel out of Game 4 with an unpenalized high hit in the Tampa Bay Lightning forward’s return from a one-game suspension,

Then Ekblad played a key role in the defending champion Panthers’ come-from-behind 4-2 victory on Monday that featured two team records and pushed the Lightning to the brink of elimination.

The defenseman skated toward Hagel and caught him high with his forearm in the second period. Hagel fell backward and hit his head on the ice. He appeared to be woozy when he got up and headed to the dressing room.

Hagel, who had 90 points in the regular season, didn’t return for the game.

He had been suspended for Game 3 of the first-round series for interference after his hard hit knocked Panthers captain Aleksander Barkov out of Game 2. That was followed by a late Matthew Tkachuk hit in Game 3 that drew no disciplinary action.

‘It’s getting tiresome answering questions about a hit every single game,’ Lightning coach Jon Cooper said in his postgame news conference before not answering.

How the Panthers beat Lighting in Game 4

No penalty was called on the Ekblad hit during the game, which left Cooper irate on the bench. But the coach soon was celebrating.

When play resumed after the Hagel injury, Tampa Bay’s Mitchell Chaffee and Erik Cernak scored 11 seconds apart for a 2-1 Lightning lead. That set a Lightning record for fastest two playoff goals.

Ekblad appeared to tie the game in the third period, but the Lightning challenged for offsides, won on review and the goal was oveturned.

Ekblad’s next goal counted. He was left alone in front when he received a pass from Sam Reinhart and beat Vezina Trophy finalist Andrei Vasilevskiy at 16:13.

Seth Jones put Florida ahead with a goal 11 seconds later, setting a Panthers record. The previous mark of 14 seconds had been set in Game 1 by Nate Schmidt and Matthew Tkachuk.

Carter Verhaeghe put the game away with an empty-net goal.

The Panthers lead the series 3-1 and could wrap it up with a victory in Game 5 on Wednesday in Tampa

Niko Mikkola ejected for boarding Zemgus Girgensons

The Ekblad hit wasn’t the only rough one in the game. Florida’s Niko Mikkola was ejected for boarding Zemgus Girgensons in the third period. Girgensons was down on his knees when Mikkola hit him.

Stars rout Avalanche for series lead

Dallas’ Wyatt Johnston scored nine seconds into the game for his first goal of the 2025 playoffs. He finished with two goals and an assist in a 6-2 win that Dallas gave a 3-2 series lead.

Mikko Rantanen also scored his first playoff goal with the Stars.

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Major League Baseball commissioner Rob Manfred confirmed he will make a ruling about the continuation of Pete Rose’s ban from baseball not long after he met with President Donald Trump to discuss the topic.

Manfred spoke Monday at a meeting of the Associated Press Sports Editors, where he confirmed he spoke with Trump at the White House. The meeting, originally reported by the Washington Post, took place April 16.

‘I met with President Trump two weeks ago … and one of the topics was Pete Rose, but I’m not going beyond that,’ Manfred said. ‘He’s said what he said publicly. I’m not going beyond that in terms of what the back and forth was.’

The president said Rose ‘shouldn’t have been gambling on baseball, but only bet on his team winning.’ He has yet to follow through on a pardon of any sort, and it’s unclear if it would cover the player’s legal issues. Rose served five months of prison time for tax evasion in 1990.

Rose, baseball’s all-time hit leader with 4,256, died Sept. 30 of last year at 83 years old. His death reignited calls for him to be reinstated by the league so that he might someday be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Jeffrey Lenkov, a lawyer who represented Rose, filed a petition to the league in January that aimed for Rose to be posthumously removed the ineligible list.

Manfred didn’t offer a timeline for his decision.

‘I’m not going to give this the pocket veto,’ Manfred said. ‘I will in fact issue a ruling.’

Should Rose be reinstated, he would still need to be nominated by the Hall of Fame’s Historical Overview Committee to be eligible to appear on the Classic Baseball Era ballot.

Manfred addresses Trump policies’ impact on foreign MLB players

Manfred also said he is concerned with Trump’s immigration policies affecting MLB’s scores of foreign-born players from countries like Cuba, Venezuela and the Dominican Republic.

‘Given the number of foreign-born players we have, we’re always concerned about ingress and egress,’ Manfred said. ‘We have had dialogue with the administration about this topic. And, you know, they’re very interested in sports. They understand the unique need to be able to go back and forth, and I’m going to leave it at that.’

President Donald Trump has threatened university funding over a range of issues.
Trump administration suspended $175 million in funding for UPenn in March.
UPenn’s women’s swim team included transgender athlete in 2022.

The U.S. Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights ruled Monday that the University of Pennsylvania violated Title IX guarantees against sex discrimination when it allowed a transgender woman to compete on its women’s swimming team.

The university was found to have denied ‘women equal opportunities by permitting males to compete in women’s intercollegiate athletics and to occupy women-only intimate facilities.’

Lia Thomas, a transgender woman, won the 2022 NCAA championship in the women’s 500-yard freestyle. The government’s Monday edict did not mention Thomas by name.

The Department of Education gave Penn 10 days to wipe out Thomas’ records. The school also was ordered to ban transgender athletes from women’s teams and issue apology letters to female athletes whose ‘educational experience in athletics (was) marred by sex discrimination.’

Penn has stated that it complied with all applicable Ivy League and NCAA rules regarding participation in women’s sports.

President Donald Trump issued an executive order titled ‘Keeping Men Out of Women’s Sports’ on Feb. 5, stating that the administration would halt federal funding to elementary, secondary and post-secondary institutions that permitted transgender girls or women to compete on girls or women’s teams.

The administration also launched Title IX investigations into Penn, San Jose State (which reportedly had a transgender player on its women’s volleyball team last season) and the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association. A number of other related actions have followed, including the Justice Department suing the state of Maine in an effort to stop transgender participation in girls and women’s sports.

In March, the White House cut off $175 million in federal funds for Penn related to the transgender athlete issue.

The person requested anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly until the Bucks made an announcement.

An MRI on Monday confirmed the injury that was sustained Sunday in Game 4 against Indiana.

Lillard just returned to the lineup after missing more than a month with deep vein thrombosis. In late March, Lillard was diagnosed with a blood clot in his right calf. The issue was resolved and he returned on April 22 to play in Game 2 of the NBA first-round series against the Indiana Pacers.

The Bucks, who trail the best-of-seven series 3-1, must now rally without their nine-time All-Star guard, who also missed two games in the first-round series against the Pacers last season with an Achilles injury.

The Bucks traded for Lillard in 2023 in hopes of keeping Giannis Antetokounmpo and giving the Cream City a strong chance for a second NBA title while Antetokounmpo is in his prime. The Bucks won the NBA championship in 2021.

It was quickly obvious Lillard’s injury may be serious after he went down during Game 4.

Lillard appeared to try and control a loose ball coming his way with 6:11 left in the first quarter of the Bucks’ 129-103 loss Sunday.

Lillard fell on the floor holding his left ankle and needed help walking off the court. It appeared Lillard couldn’t put weight on his left leg.

He was taken back to the locker room and the Bucks announced that Lillard was not expected to return to the game due to a ‘left lower leg injury.’

‘Obviously it’s lower leg and just being honest, it’s not very promising,’ Bucks coach Doc Rivers said during the postgame news conference. ‘I knew it right away. I felt bad for him. The guy tried to come back for his team, and I just felt bad for him. This one is a tough one.’

Damian Lillard injured vs. Pacers

Assistant coach Darvin Ham and another member of the Bucks’ staff initially helped Lillard off the court before a teammate helped the star guard back to the locker room.

Once in the tunnel on the way to the locker room, the television broadcast showed Lillard grab at the back of his left calf, just above his shoe, in the area where the Achilles tendon is located.

Lillard did not score any points but did collect two rebounds and one assist during his six minutes of play Sunday.

On the same date in 2024, Lillard suffered an injury in a first-round playoff series against the Pacers. The injury was considered a strained Achilles. He missed Games 4 and 5 but returned for Game 6. The Pacers won that game and the series.