Sports
Jays feel sting of defeat as title slips from grasp
TORONTO — Third baseman Ernie Clement‘s eyes welled up as he spoke to reporters on one end of the clubhouse while tears flowed down the left side of pitcher Max Scherzer‘s face on the other side of the room. Meanwhile, closer Jeff Hoffman‘s voice wavered and cracked as he accepted blame for the Toronto Blue Jays‘ devastating, extra-innings defeat in Saturday’s Game 7 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The postgame emotions of the team were raw and unfiltered.
“It sucks,” Hoffman said after the 5-4 loss. “Supposed to end differently. Was just one pitch. I cost everybody here a World Series ring. It feels pretty s—ty.”
Hoffman was two outs from earning the save, which would have sent a whole country into celebration. Instead, Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas took him deep on a 3-2 slider, tying the score. Two innings later, Dodgers catcher Will Smith did the same to starter-turned-reliever Shane Bieber, giving the Dodgers their first lead of the night and the final margin of victory.
“Hung a slider to a great guy who hits sliders well,” Bieber said. “He was looking for it. I didn’t execute. This one stings. It’s going to sting for a while. This game is not for the faint of heart.”
Scherzer said Saturday’s loss was all the more heartbreaking because of the camaraderie within the team.
“I’m 41 years old and I never thought I could love baseball this much,” Scherzer said while wiping away tears. “My love for the game was so strong because of their love for the game.
“That loss is so tough because you’re so close to everybody. This team had that closeness, had that camaraderie. We had that passion not only for the game but for each other.”
Scherzer, 41, pitched 4⅓ innings in Game 7, giving up just one run on four hits before leaving to a standing ovation. He vowed that he hadn’t thrown his last pitch in the big leagues but said he wasn’t in the right state of mind to expand on his future plans.
Scherzer departed the game with a 3-1 lead, thanks to a Bo Bichette three-run homer in the third. Like Scherzer, Bichette is a free agent but afterward maintained his desire to stay in Toronto.
“I want to be here, but I just lost a Game 7,” Bichette said, waving off any further questions about his future. “I hit that homer, but the game wasn’t over at that point.”
The Jays kept their lead all the way until the ninth, when Hoffman gave it up to Rojas. The crowd fell silent, hoping the bottom of the inning would produce a winning play. Vladimir Guerrero Jr.‘s blast to center field gave them a moment of hope, but even the Jays star knew it wasn’t going out.
“People that know me know I stand at home plate and watch them go out,” Guerrero said through the team interpreter. “I knew it wasn’t going anywhere.”
After it was all over, Guerrero went to each locker to deliver a message to his teammates.
“Told them how proud of the job that they did,” he said. “I can’t be any prouder of my teammates and all the things we accomplished this year.”
It was the same message manager John Schneider delivered in what he described as his first team meeting all season. It came after their toughest defeat.
“I said thank you,” Schneider said. “I said thank you probably about 10 times. And that was the main message.”
Perhaps most emotional was Clement. He set a record for most hits in a single postseason with 30, though one more — in the ninth inning with the bases loaded — would have won the series. Instead, he was robbed at the wall by Dodgers center fielder Andy Pages.
Clement said he spent an hour after the game crying and hugging his teammates.
“We gave it everything we had,” Clement said. “When you fall short but you can say you left it all out there, there’s something to be proud of there.
“I would go to war with Jeff Hoffman every day of the week. I want him on the mound. I want Bieber on the mound. Ninety-nine times out of 100 those guys get the job done. Obviously, it just wasn’t our night.”
But it was their season, at least until the very end. After finishing in last place in 2024, the Blue Jays won the AL East and reached Game 7 of the World Series. Although it wasn’t their desired finish, Blue Jays players said the journey was meaningful.
“Everyone in here is pretty devastated,” pitcher Kevin Gausman said. “We’re a really good team. It took them playing perfect and having a great last couple innings to beat us and that’s what happened.”
Said Bieber: “This group is unlike any other I’ve ever been a part of. That’s a sentiment we all kind of feel personally.”
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Ryan Kennedy, a Michigan resident and self-described Detroit Lions fan, is taking legal action following a December altercation with Pittsburgh Steelers wide receiver DK Metcalf at Ford Field.
Kennedy and his legal team held a news conference in Farmington Hills, Michigan, on Dec. 26. On Tuesday, attorneys representing Kennedy announced that a lawsuit had been filed in Wayne County Court. The lawsuit seeks $100 million in damages stemming from the Dec. 21 incident and names DK Metcalf, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Ford Field, the Lions’ longtime home stadium.
Former NFL player Chad Johnson, Ford Field management and multiple media platforms were also listed in the lawsuit, alleging that they played a role in making “defamatory and life-altering statements” against Kennedy in the aftermath of the incident.
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Detroit Lions fan Ryan Kennedy, center, seated next to attorney Sean Murphy, left, and attorney Shawn Head, right, while discussing the fan-involved altercation with Pittsburgh Steelers player DK Metcalf at the Head Murphy Law office in Farmington Hills, Michigan on Dec. 26, 2025. (Ryan Garza/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)
The filing outlines nine counts, including negligence against Ford Field and multiple defamation claims against Metcalf, Johnson and former NFL tight end Shannon Sharpe’s Shay Shay Media.
During the first half of the Lions–Steelers game on Dec. 21, Metcalf appeared to take a swing at Kennedy, who was seated in the Ford Field stands. The NFL later disciplined Metcalf with a two-game suspension to close the regular season.
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On an episode of Shay Shay Media’s “Nightcap” podcast released the day after the incident, co-host Chad Johnson said Metcalf told him Kennedy directed a racial slur at the Steelers receiver and used a derogatory term toward Metcalf’s mother.
Kennedy denied using any slurs at a December press conference, a claim reiterated in the lawsuit.
A general overall aerial view of Ford Field on Dec. 7, 2023 in Detroit, Michigan. (Kirby Lee/Getty Images)
“The statements were false and reckless,” the lawsuit states. “Plaintiff Kennedy did not call Defendant Metcalf the ‘N-word’; did not call Defendant Metcalf’s mother a ‘c—‘; and did not ever use any racial slurs or hate speech whatsoever … Defendant Metcalf provided false information to Defendant Johnson about what Plaintiff Kennedy allegedly said, thereby instigating and authorizing the publication of the defamatory and reckless statements, which were intended to harm Plaintiff Kennedy.”
DK Metcalf of the Pittsburgh Steelers looks on prior to an NFL Preseason 2025 game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Acrisure Stadium on Aug. 16, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Joe Sargent/Getty Images)
Kennedy is also taking legal action against the Steelers for the team’s alleged liability in the incident, while Metcalf is accused of committing assault and battery in the lawsuit. The claims against Ford Field management are also based on liability.
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“Defendant Ford Field Management, LLC breached its duty by failing to establish or enforce adequate barriers, protocols, or security measures to prevent players from reaching into the stands and making physical contact with patrons,” the lawsuit reads.
Fox News Digital contacted the Lions requesting comment, but did not immediately receive a response.
Metcalf recorded 850 receiving yards in his first season with the Steelers.
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In what might be the biggest deal before Thursday’s NBA trade deadline, the Cleveland Cavaliers and the LA Clippers agreed Tuesday to swap point guards Darius Garland and James Harden in a one-for-one deal that also sends a 2026 second-round pick to the Clips, per ESPN’s Shams Charania.
Both teams are hoping this trade of 2025 All-Stars with nearly identical salaries will produce better results during disappointing campaigns. The Cavaliers are battling for positioning in the middle of the Eastern Conference playoff race after finishing atop the standings a season ago, while the Clippers’ recent hot streak has lifted them only into the play-in tournament after a dreadful start.
Let’s break down the implications of Cleveland and Los Angeles exchanging point guards and what it means for the rest of the 2025-26 season and beyond.
Cleveland Cavaliers get:
G James Harden
LA Clippers get:
G Darius Garland
2026 second-round pick
Grades
Cleveland Cavaliers: B
What this deal means for the Cavaliers: The more I think about it, the more I like Cleveland adding Harden to jolt a team that ranks eighth in offensive rating this season after leading the league in 2024-25 en route to 64 wins.
Garland’s toe injuries have been a key factor in that decline. He has been dealing with toe issues since April, and offseason surgery hasn’t solved them. Garland suffered a contusion to his troublesome left toe shortly after returning in November, and he is now sidelined by a big toe sprain on the right foot.
When he has been available, Garland is shooting just 36% on 3s, down from 40% a season ago. His usage rate has declined too, while Garland’s steal rate would be the lowest since his rookie season. Those struggles are reflected in team performance. The Cavaliers have been outscored by 3.0 points per 100 possessions with Garland on the court, according to NBA Advanced Stats, which is the worst of any player on the team who has logged more than 500 minutes.
To stay afloat, Cleveland has relied heavily on Donovan Mitchell, who is averaging 33.9 minutes per game and has his highest usage rate since playing for the Utah Jazz. An extended absence for Mitchell could be devastating for the Cavaliers, who are within two games of second place in the East but only three games from falling into the play-in tournament.
Beyond that, Cleveland would ideally like to lighten Mitchell’s load the rest of the way. He dealt with a calf strain and an ankle sprain during last year’s playoffs, shooting just 24.5% from 3-point range in the Cavaliers’ conference semifinals upset against the Indiana Pacers.
Enter Harden, who is still playing at an All-Star level at age 36. He ranks 11th in my wins above replacement player (WARP) metric this season, tops among players who weren’t chosen for the game now that former Clippers teammate Kawhi Leonard was picked Tuesday as an injury replacement. Harden had played 44 of a possible 47 games before sitting out the last two due to personal reasons and is averaging 35.4 minutes per game.
Yes, Harden and Mitchell both like to have the ball in their hands. However, I think Cleveland coach Kenny Atkinson can draw on Harden’s past experiences to keep both players healthy and fresh.
When Harden played with Chris Paul for the Houston Rockets, getting within a game of the 2018 NBA Finals, coach Mike D’Antoni strictly staggered their minutes to keep one on the floor whenever the score was competitive. Harden and Paul played together about 20 minutes per game, giving Harden 15 or so minutes per game as the lone playmaker and Paul around 12.
The current playing time for Harden and Mitchell translates to a similar stagger, so we’re talking about less than half the game they’ll likely be playing together. When that’s the case, I think Brooklyn Nets-era Harden should be the model.
Playing alongside Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving, Harden finished 28% of the Nets’ plays with a shot, trip to the free throw line or turnover — similar to Garland’s 27% usage rate last season — but averaged 10-plus assists per 36 minutes. Given Mitchell’s history playing off the ball alongside true point guards and the finishing ability of bigs Jarrett Allen and Evan Mobley out of pick-and-rolls, Harden should be able to do the same with the Cavaliers.
Defensively, Harden’s size provides more options for hiding than the undersized backcourt of the 6-foot-1 Garland and the 6-foot-2 Mitchell did. Given Mobley’s defensive versatility, it’s possible Harden could end up checking power forwards at times, taking advantage of his uncanny ability as a post defender.
Certainly, I understand the concern about adding Harden to a team with NBA Finals aspirations given his track record of playoff underperformance. Still, this isn’t breaking up a Cleveland team that was rolling like last year. The most likely outcome for the Cavaliers barring a trade was a loss within the first two rounds of the playoffs, same as the previous three postseasons.
Nobody knows Garland’s health better than Cleveland, and if the Cavaliers were convinced that he wasn’t likely to return to last season’s All-Star level of play regularly, moving on now made sense.
Harden was the best player that Cleveland could likely acquire in a one-for-one swap. The Cavaliers will have to navigate Harden’s player option for 2026-27, but they’ll surely be happy to pay up if they reach the conference finals for the first time since LeBron James‘ departure in 2018.
LA Clippers: B-
What this deal means for the Clippers: A drastic change of course from their current path, which was built around contending now while keeping cap space available for the star-studded crop of potential 2027 free agents — a group that includes Mitchell.
From that standpoint, trading Harden would have made more sense in December, when the Clippers were as many as 15 games below .500. They subsequently ripped off 16 wins in a 19-game stretch to get back in the play-in spots in the West and suggest they might be capable of a playoff upset.
Nonetheless, I can get the Clippers pulling the plug on their win-now strategy. Projections using ESPN’s Basketball Power Index gave them just a 5% chance of reaching the top six and ducking not only the play-in tournament but also any chance of a first-round matchup against the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. The Clippers would have to climb to at least eighth in the standings to have a chance at avoiding the Thunder in the first round, and BPI has that happening less than 40% of the time.
More surprising is the Clippers’ willingness to take on Garland’s contract, which runs through 2027-28 at $44.9 million. Before this trade, starting center Ivica Zubac was the only Clippers player under a guaranteed contract beyond 2027 at a more manageable $21 million.
With Garland and Zubac on the books, the Clippers still have a path to max-level cap space in the summer of 2027 but won’t be able to offer two max players the chance to team up in L.A. without future moves.
It’s certainly possible that Garland is back to playing at a star level by then. We’ve seen him bounce back from a down season before. Garland’s performance to date is eerily similar to 2023-24, when his mouth was wired shut for a month following a jaw fracture. Back then, Cleveland resisted calls to break up the Garland-Mitchell backcourt and he responded with the best season of his career in 2024-25. As the lower-spending team in this trade — an unfamiliar position — the Clippers don’t face the same urgency to win now as the Cavaliers.
If Garland returns to the level he played at last season, this deal could be a huge win for the Clippers. They’re swapping a 36-year-old who was in pursuit of a new contract — surely the reasoning behind the willingness of the Clippers and Harden to work together on finding a trade — for a player who’s more than a decade younger. In the Dunc’d On Daily Duncs newsletter, Dan Feldman couldn’t find a historical analogue where two past All-Stars so different in age were traded primarily for each other.
Getting younger could be especially important if the NBA strips multiple draft picks from the Clippers as punishment for possible salary-cap circumvention relating to the league’s investigation of Leonard’s sponsorship deal with Aspiration. We’ve seen this season how important the energy provided by late second-round picks Jordan Miller and Kobe Sanders has been to the Clippers’ turnaround.
The Clippers’ pursuit of 2027 cap space also ran counter to recent NBA trades. Stars have been more likely to change teams via trade-and-sign extensions than hit free agency since the Clippers signed Leonard in the summer of 2019, ancient history in front office terms. If Giannis Antetokounmpo and other stars find new homes this summer, the Clippers might want to forego hoarding cap space either way.
My biggest concern is ultimately that Garland’s toe problems might prove more difficult to shake than a fluke injury to his jaw. Given his small stature, any decline in Garland’s quickness would be challenging to overcome. Consider the upcoming Clippers medical exam one of the highest-stakes physicals in recent NBA memory.
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The Los Angeles Clippers are trading veteran guard James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers, per ESPN.
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James Harden (1) of the LA Clippers in action against the New York Knicks during a game at Madison Square Garden on November 6, 2023, in New York City. The Knicks defeated the Clippers 111-97. (Rich Schultz/Getty Images)
In return, the Clippers are getting Darius Garland and a second-round pick.
Harden, 36, is averaging 25.4 points, 4.8 rebounds and 8.1 assists this season.
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James Harden (1) of the LA Clippers handles the ball during the game against the Detroit Pistons on March 5, 2025 at Intuit Dome in Inglewood, Calif. (Juan Ocampo/NBAE via Getty Images)
Garland, 26, is putting up 18.0 points and 6.9 assists this year, but a right foot injury has kept him off the court since Jan. 14.
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Los Angeles Clippers guard James Harden (1) warms up prior to game four of round one of the 2024 NBA Playoffs against the Denver Nuggets at Intuit Dome on Apr 26, 2025, in Inglewood, Calif. (Jayne Kamin/Oncea-Imagn Images)
Harden sat out the Clippers last game against the Phoenix Suns on Monday.
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