Luis Severino’s return was worth the wait. The Yankees right-hander, making his first start in more than two months, looked sharp across five innings Wednesday night in a 14-2 win over the Pirates.

Still building up his workload after making three rehab starts, Severino, who had been on the injured list with a strained right lat, threw an efficient 64 pitches while giving up one run on two hits and one walk, with six strikeouts.

“I was just happy to be back with the team, finally come back and help in any way that I can,” Severino said. “I feel really good. I feel confident and ready to get another start.”

The schedule will allow Severino to make two more starts in the regular season, against the Blue Jays and Orioles, after which he should be close to fully built up for the playoffs.

The Yankees need Severino to deliver more of what he flashed Wednesday night to give them a better shot of making a deep playoff run. The 28-year-old likely would serve as their Game 2 or 3 starter in a series.

Popeyes adds an all-new single serve dessert to its menu with the introduction of the new Banana Cream Cake.

The Banana Cream Cake features a moist vanilla cake topped with whipped banana cream and wafer crumbs.

In addition to the new dessert, Popeyes is also welcoming back Chocolate Beignets.

First introduced in 2020, Chocolate Beignets are a classic New Orleans-style pastry filled with Hershey’s chocolate and covered in powdered sugar.

You can find the new Banana Cream Cake and fan-favorite Chocolate Beignets at participating Popeyes locations nationwide.

New York Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge hit his 60th home run during his team’s 9-8 walk-off win against the Pittsburgh Pirates at Yankee Stadium on Tuesday night, which was historic for several reasons.

Judge tied Babe Ruth for the second most home runs hit in American League history — which had previously stood as the MLB home run record for 34 years — and is now just three shy of Roger Maris‘ AL record of 63 home runs.

The 30-year-old also reached 60 home runs in fewer games than both Maris and Ruth, which has long been a debate over the validity of the record.

Ruth had initially set the record in 154 games, while Maris broke the  record in 162 games after the league had previously extended the total amount of games in a season.

Judge hit his 60th homer in 147 games and is poised to hit at least four more with the Yankees scheduled to play 15 games before the conclusion of the 2022 MLB regular season.

Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer are the Mets star pitchers. But Chris Bassitt, the right-hander, whose fastball merely lives in the low-to-mid-90s, has been the most reliable Mets starter throughout this season.

The overlooked and quietly overpowering No. 3 starter silenced the Pirates for six solid innings in the Mets’ 5-1 victory in front of 40,111 at Citi Field on Saturday night. Bassitt has set a career high in starts, with 28, and only appears to be gaining strength.

With the victory, the Mets (92-55) remained one game clear of the Braves, who beat the Phillies.

Since being swept by the Cubs, the Mets have won three straight against the Pirates going into the series finale Sunday, which will end a streak of 16 straight games against sub-.500 opponents. The Mets, who have gone a disappointing 8-7 in the stretch, will visit Milwaukee beginning Monday.

They can thank their pitching staff for the rebound in this series, in which they have held the Pirates to five runs in three games. Bassitt, an encouraging David Peterson and Adam Ottavino combined for 12 strikeouts Saturday.

The New York Giants won a back-and-forth game with the Carolina Panthers on Sunday, 19-16. The Giants are now 2-0 for the first time since 2016. 

Graham Gano provided the winning points with a 56-yard field goal to snap a 16-16 tie with 3:34 to play. The kick ended an 11-play, 37-yard, 7:12 drive. Gano went 4 of 4 on field goals, including 56 and 51-yard kicks.

“I’m happy for the guys,” said head coach Brian Daboll. “Graham made all his kicks, some big kicks there at the end for us. DJ led the team down to get some extra points there, is a huge difference.  Our defense played well, started out fast. Wish we could have gotten more points on the board early on after those two turnovers. But all in all, good team win.”

Carolina (0-2) had a chance to tie or go ahead, but a blitzing Julian Love sacked Carolina quarterback Baker Mayfield on third-and-5 to force a punt with 2:06 to play. The Giants were able to run out the clock, keyed by an 11-yard run by quarterback Daniel Jones on a third-and-2 that sealed the victory.

Daniel Jones completed 22 of 34 passes for 176 yards and one touchdown. Saquon Barkley ran 20 times for 68 yards.

The Jets pulled off a stunning 31-30 win over the Browns when Joe Flacco hit Garrett Wilson for a 15-yard touchdown with 22 seconds left in the game and Greg Zuerlein hit the extra-point attempt to give the Jets the one-point win.

The Jets were down 30-17 with 1:55 left in the game — and no timeouts — seemingly on their way to an 0-2 start. Instead, they got out of Cleveland with a dramatic win and are 1-1 for the first time since 2018.

It was an incredible sequence in the final two minutes that gave the Jets the win.

Nick Chubb scored his third touchdown of the game with 1:55 remaining, but Browns kicker Cade York missed the extra point.

The Jets got the ball back and the Browns somehow left Corey Davis wide open and Flacco found him for a 66-yard touchdown to cut it to 30-24 with 1:22 left. Braden Mann then delivered a perfect onside kick that was recovered by Justin Hardee. The Jets drove down the field in the final minute and Flacco found Wilson on third down for the 15-yard touchdown, the rookie’s second score of the game.

Arby’s welcomes back the Double Stack Reuben as the brand’s latest limited-time sandwich offering.

The Double Stack Reuben consists of 7 ounces of thinly sliced corned beef topped with natural Swiss cheese, Thousand Island dressing and sauerkraut on toasted marble rye bread.

The returning fan-favorite sandwich can be enjoyed on its own or as part of a Double Stack Reuben Sandwich Meal served with a side of curly fries and drink.

The Double Stack Reuben can be found at participating Arby’s locations nationwide for a limited time.

The Mets, who are supposed to be trampling weaker opponents, instead were swept in a three-game series for the first time this season, the final indignity a 6-3 loss to the Cubs at Citi Field on Wednesday night in front of 28,522.

The Mets scored a total of six runs in the three games against a Chicago club that has been out of contention for months. Buck Showalter’s crew next will host the Pirates for four games that seemed easier a few weeks ago.

The Mets are amid a stretch of 16 straight games against sub-.500 opponents, and they have dropped seven of the first 12.

“It was a great opportunity,” Francisco Lindor said about the wasted  games. “But at the end of the day, they’re big-league teams. They’re professionals.”

The only positive development around the club is that its nemesis has begun losing, too.

The Mets (89-55) remained a half-game ahead of the Braves, who lost to the Giants and have dropped consecutive series in Seattle and San Francisco.

Sesame Street is introducing a new friend to its long-running program.

Ji-Young will make history as the first Asian American muppet in the 52-year-old show’s history.

The character is a 7-year-old Korean American who is passionate about the electric guitar and skateboarding.

“So, in Korean traditionally the two syllables they each mean something different and Ji means, like, smart or wise. And Young means, like, brave or courageous and strong,” Ji-Young explained during a recent interview alongside longtime Sesame Street mainstay Ernie.