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San Diego closed out April with a franchise-record 19 wins, sweeping the Giants to snap a four-game skid and reaffirm its contender status. Luis Arraez and Jason Heyward returned to the lineup, and Jackson Merrill and Jake Cronenworth loom close to rejoining, giving the club hope that its offense can sustain the torrid pace that powered March into April. Veteran right-hander Dylan Cease (1-2, 5.76 ERA) meets the Pirates seeking smoother command after walking four batters in his last outing. In three career starts against Pittsburgh, he owns a 2.31 ERA and has shown the ability to dominate when in synch. Opposing him is Mitch Keller (1-2, 3.97 ERA), who has allowed just three runs over six innings in his

After a lopsided Game 5 loss on the road, the Golden State Warriors return to San Francisco on Friday with another chance to close out the Houston Rockets in their first-round Western Conference playoff series. Down by 29 points with under six minutes left in the third quarter on Wednesday, Warriors head coach Steve Kerr benched his entire starting lineup. None of the starters played more than 26 minutes as Golden State essentially conceded the game and turned its attention to Game 6. Golden State’s reserves rallied late but couldn’t close the gap, falling 131-116. Now, the Warriors aim to finish the series at home, drawing confidence from past playoff comebacks and elimination-game experience. Houston, meanwhile, extended the series with

The Los Angeles Dodgers will look to extend their five-game winning streak when they begin a 10-game road trip Friday night with a high-profile showdown against the Atlanta Braves. Fresh off a three-game sweep of the Miami Marlins, the Dodgers are tied with the New York Mets for the most wins (21) in MLB. Their early dominance has included a three-game sweep of the Braves in early April — a series that helped drop Atlanta to an 0-7 start. Now, the Dodgers aim to continue their success against a much-improved Braves squad. The pitching matchup features one of the National League’s best arms in Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (3-2, 1.06 ERA) against Braves starter Grant Holmes (2-1, 4.50 ERA). Yamamoto

The Winnipeg Jets have a chance to eliminate the St. Louis Blues in Game 6 of their Western Conference first-round series on Friday night — but they’ll have to do it without one of their key offensive weapons. Top-line center Mark Scheifele is considered day-to-day after taking a heavy hit from Brayden Schenn in the first period of Game 5. While Scheifele finished the period, he did not return for the second and has not been confirmed for Friday’s tilt. Scheifele, who was second on the team in both goals (39) and points (87) in the regular season, has contributed six points in five playoff games. Jets coach Scott Arniel declined to comment when asked whether Scheifele is in concussion