MILWAUKEE (AP) — Brewers third baseman Oliver Dunn made his way to the plate with a torpedo bat in hand with one out in the second inning and teammate Garrett Mitchell on third base after a triple.
Dunn’s at-bat during Milwaukee’s game against the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday afternoon was significant because he became the first Brewers player to use the model. His first “swing” with the bat, the focus of considerable attention after the New York Yankees belted a team-record nine homers with the specially-designed lumber in the season’s opening days, turned out to be not much of a swing at all.
Instead, Dunn put down a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt that allowed Mitchell to hustle home with the game’s first run in what would turn out to be a 5-1 Milwaukee victory.
“Torpedo bats. What a difference,” Milwaukee manager Pat Murphy said with a smile. “Did you see that bunt that scored the first run?”
Dunn’s decision to bunt caught teammate Sal Frelick off guard.
“It was his first at-bat with the torpedo. We were waiting for him to go hack up there and he dropped a little bunt down,” said Frelick, who homered for the first time this season, a sixth-inning solo shot using a standard bat.
The torpedo bat — a striking design in which wood is moved lower down the barrel after the label and shapes the end a little like a bowling pin — features a design by an MIT-educated physicist.
“In my career, I had hit a lot of balls lower on the barrel and saw that’s what it was for and I thought why not,” Dunn said of his decision to give the torpedo bat a try. “It felt good but I don’t think I’ve gotten enough swings with it on the field to feel a difference. But it swings well. It swings light. The weight’s in a different spot. I liked what I’ve seen of it so far, for sure.”
Dunn grounded out to second in his only other at-bat on the day before Vinny Capra pinch-hit for him in the sixth.
The irony of the situation wasn’t lost on Dunn, who said he was just trying to push across a run any way he could.
“It is funny that the first pitch I see was a bunt,” he said. “But it’s just a bat.”
Dunn said he expects to continue to use the torpedo, at least in the short term.
“I’ll probably roll with it initially and just get enough of a base to see if I like what I’m getting from it and make a decision from there,” Dunn said.
Whether any other Brewers players turn to the torpedo bat remains to be seen, but don’t expect Frelick to be one of them.
“I have no thoughts,” Frelick said when asked about the chatter surrounding the new-fangled bat. “You chop down a tree, you should be able to hit with it.”
AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb
Milwaukee Brewers' Sal Frelick (10) reacts with Rhys Hoskins after Felick's home run against the Detroit Tigers during the sixth inning of a baseball game, Wednesday, April 16, 2025, in Milwaukee. (AP Photo/Jeffrey Phelps)
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Anthony Edwards let it fly from 30 feet just before the halftime buzzer and his 3-pointer provided some much-needed momentum that Minnesota took right into a commanding third quarter.
Edwards also spoke up to his team at halftime and Chris Finch credited that pep talk for setting the tone ahead of an impressive second half.
“At halftime, Coach came in and said we’re playing like we already won the series pretty much, I don’t really like that," Edwards said, adding, “I told them we’ve only got two wins."
Edwards scored 30 points, Julius Randle had 31 and the Timberwolves beat the Golden State Warriors 117-110 on Monday night for a 3-1 lead in their Western Conference playoff series.
Staying close at halftime was key.
“It was huge because it felt like one of those games where we were going to struggle to find a rhythm,” Finch said. “I thought we might be down eight, 10 at halftime with the way that we had played. Fortunately, I thought his shot made it pretty much an even game and if we came out with the type of purpose that we needed to I felt we were going to be OK.”
Now, it's back home to Minneapolis for the Wolves with a chance to clinch the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinal series in Game 5 on Wednesday night.
The Warriors will still be without Stephen Curry, who sat out his third game in a row and is scheduled to have his strained left hamstring re-evaluated that day.
“We’re not going to Superman this thing,” Draymond Green said. “If he’s in a place where he can play, I’m sure he will.”
Edwards made consecutive 3-pointers and scored 11 total points in a decisive 17-0 Minnesota run that put the Timberwolves ahead 85-68 late in the third. They led 97-77 going into the fourth and the Warriors couldn't catch up.
Edwards — coming off a 36-point performance in a Game 3 — hit that big shot that pulled Minnesota within 60-58 at the break. And the Wolves delivered in the second half again after also trailing by two points at halftime in a 102-97 victory in Game 3.
Jonathan Kuminga came off the bench to score 23 points and convert 11 of 12 free throws for the Warriors, following up his 30-point performance in Game 3 with another gem.
Jaden McDaniels added 10 points and 13 rebounds for Minnesota.
Buddy Hield went down briefly 4:17 before halftime after McDaniels grabbed at the guard's neck and pulled the back of his jersey. The play went to replay review as fans chanted “You can't do that!” but was deemed a common foul rather than a flagrant.
Golden State has now dropped three in a row since Curry hurt his leg early in Game 1 last Tuesday night.
The Warriors were slow getting their offense and 3-point shooting going in a 102-97 loss Saturday and it was much of the same this game.
Jimmy Butler and Green scored 14 points apiece and Hield 13.
Even without Curry, Finch's defensive game plan focused on keeping the Warriors from their dangerous 3-point flurries — and Golden State wound up 8 of 27 from deep.
AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/NBA
Golden State Warriors forward Jimmy Butler III (10) goes up to shoot against Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) during the first half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry, center, reacts from the bench during the first half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs against the Minnesota Timberwolves, Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
Minnesota Timberwolves guard Anthony Edwards (5) shoots against Golden State Warriors forward Trayce Jackson-Davis (32) during the first half of Game 4 in the Western Conference semifinals of the NBA basketball playoffs Monday, May 12, 2025, in San Francisco. (AP Photo/Jed Jacobsohn)
