Latest news with #MattCain
Yahoo
3 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
BASE Q1 Earnings Call: Capella Migrations Drive Growth, Near-Term Revenue Lags Expectations
Database as a service company Couchbase (NASDAQ: BASE) fell short of the market's revenue expectations in Q1 CY2025, but sales rose 10.1% year on year to $56.52 million. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.06 per share was 1.9 cents above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy BASE? Find out in our full research report (it's free). Revenue: $56.52 million (10.1% year-on-year growth) Adjusted EPS: -$0.06 vs analyst estimates of -$0.08 ($0.02 beat) Adjusted Operating Income: -$4.18 million vs analyst estimates of -$4.72 million (-7.4% margin, relatively in line) Revenue Guidance for Q2 CY2025 is $54.8 million at the midpoint, below analyst estimates of $56.46 million Operating Margin: -33.3%, up from -43.9% in the same quarter last year Annual Recurring Revenue: $252.1 million at quarter end, up 21.4% year on year Billings: $55 million at quarter end, down 6.8% year on year Market Capitalization: $1.00 billion Couchbase's first quarter results reflected the company's ongoing shift toward its Capella database-as-a-service platform and deeper penetration within large strategic accounts. Management pointed to accelerated annual recurring revenue (ARR) growth, with CEO Matt Cain highlighting strong upsell and expansion activity: 'Our pipeline of large strategic opportunities continues to grow, which in combination with our strong Q1 results reinforces my confidence in our strategy and our ability to maintain our momentum this fiscal year and beyond.' The quarter also saw continued momentum in Capella adoption, driven by customer migrations and increased credit consumption as more applications moved into production. Looking ahead, Couchbase's guidance reflects expectations for further Capella migrations, ongoing investment in product capabilities, and disciplined cost management. Management acknowledged that revenue growth will likely remain modest in the near term as customers transition from traditional enterprise licenses to the consumption-based Capella model, which changes how revenue is recognized. CFO Bill Carey noted, 'We expect migrations as well as grown consumption to be significant drivers for us this fiscal year, along with ongoing investments in product capabilities and strengthening our partner ecosystem.' The company remains focused on achieving operating income positivity next year, while maintaining its commitment to innovation, particularly in AI and edge computing use cases. Couchbase's management attributed first quarter results to growth in large strategic accounts, increased Capella adoption, and ongoing product enhancements tailored for developer needs. Strategic account expansion: The company reported notable growth within large enterprise customers, with multiple accounts deploying Couchbase solutions across tens or even hundreds of applications. Management emphasized that success is increasingly defined by becoming a core platform provider for these organizations, enabling long-term expansion opportunities. Capella adoption and migration: Capella, Couchbase's cloud-based database offering, saw continued traction as more customers migrated from legacy enterprise licenses. This transition fueled higher credit consumption, especially as new and existing clients moved applications into production. Management highlighted Capella's performance, ease of use, and scalability as key differentiators. Go-to-market improvements: Couchbase introduced enhancements such as a free Capella tier, credit card transactions for onboarding, and dedicated strategic account teams. These efforts were designed to lower barriers for developers and increase top-of-funnel demand, with trial volumes up significantly year over year. Product innovation in edge and AI: The launch of Couchbase Edge Server—an offline-first, lightweight database for edge environments—aims to support applications requiring reliable, local data access. Management also underscored ongoing investments in AI capabilities, including high-performance vector database features to power agent-based AI applications. Starter pack cohort dynamics: While customer count declined due to churn in the starter pack segment, management described successful ARR expansion among a subset of these customers, with some converting from small initial engagements to large, high-value accounts. Couchbase expects future performance to be shaped by continued Capella migrations, strategic account growth, and investments in AI and edge solutions. Capella migration and consumption: Management believes the transition of existing enterprise customers to Capella will remain a primary growth driver, though it creates short-term revenue recognition delays. As more applications reach steady-state usage, revenue and ARR are expected to converge, supporting longer-term growth. AI and edge computing initiatives: The company is investing in AI-related features, such as integrated vector search and agent-based workflows, and expanding its offerings for edge environments. Management views these capabilities as essential for addressing the evolving needs of application developers and differentiating Couchbase in a competitive market. Efficiency and profitability focus: Couchbase is prioritizing sales and marketing efficiency, operating leverage, and disciplined cost management. The company reaffirmed its aim to reach operating income positivity next year, while balancing growth investments with margin improvement. In upcoming quarters, the StockStory team will be monitoring (1) the pace and scale of migrations to Capella and whether usage growth offsets short-term revenue headwinds, (2) customer adoption of new AI-related and edge database features, and (3) progress in expanding strategic accounts into larger multi-application deployments. The company's ability to improve sales efficiency and profitability will also be important signposts. Couchbase currently trades at a forward price-to-sales ratio of 4.2×. In the wake of earnings, is it a buy or sell? See for yourself in our full research report (it's free). Market indices reached historic highs following Donald Trump's presidential victory in November 2024, but the outlook for 2025 is clouded by new trade policies that could impact business confidence and growth. While this has caused many investors to adopt a "fearful" wait-and-see approach, we're leaning into our best ideas that can grow regardless of the political or macroeconomic climate. Take advantage of Mr. Market by checking out our Top 6 Stocks for this week. This is a curated list of our High Quality stocks that have generated a market-beating return of 183% over the last five years (as of March 31st 2025). Stocks that made our list in 2020 include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,545% between March 2020 and March 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Exlservice (+354% five-year return). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE) Posts Better-Than-Expected Sales In Q1 But Quarterly Revenue Guidance Misses Expectations
Database as a service company Couchbase (NASDAQ: BASE) beat Wall Street's revenue expectations in Q1 CY2025, with sales up 10.1% year on year to $56.52 million. On the other hand, next quarter's revenue guidance of $54.8 million was less impressive, coming in 2.9% below analysts' estimates. Its non-GAAP loss of $0.06 per share was $0.02 above analysts' consensus estimates. Is now the time to buy Couchbase? Find out in our full research report. Revenue: $56.52 million vs analyst estimates of $55.56 million (10.1% year-on-year growth, 1.7% beat) Adjusted EPS: -$0.06 vs analyst estimates of -$0.08 ($0.02 beat) Adjusted Operating Income: -$4.18 million vs analyst estimates of -$4.72 million (-7.4% margin, relatively in line) The company slightly lifted its revenue guidance for the full year to $230.3 million at the midpoint from $230 million Operating Margin: -33.3%, up from -43.9% in the same quarter last year Free Cash Flow was -$8.64 million, down from $4.16 million in the previous quarter Annual Recurring Revenue: $252.1 million at quarter end, up 21.4% year on year Market Capitalization: $990.6 million "We had a great start to fiscal 2026, delivering the highest first quarter net new ARR in company history," said Matt Cain, Chair, President and CEO of Couchbase. Formed in 2011 with the merger of Membase and CouchOne, Couchbase (NASDAQ:BASE) is a database-as-a-service platform that allows enterprises to store large volumes of semi-structured data. Examining a company's long-term performance can provide clues about its quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Over the last three years, Couchbase grew its sales at a 18.1% annual rate. Although this growth is acceptable on an absolute basis, it fell slightly short of our standards for the software sector, which enjoys a number of secular tailwinds. This quarter, Couchbase reported year-on-year revenue growth of 10.1%, and its $56.52 million of revenue exceeded Wall Street's estimates by 1.7%. Company management is currently guiding for a 6.2% year-on-year increase in sales next quarter. Looking further ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 10.4% over the next 12 months, a deceleration versus the last three years. Despite the slowdown, this projection is above the sector average and suggests the market is forecasting some success for its newer products and services. Here at StockStory, we certainly understand the potential of thematic investing. Diverse winners from Microsoft (MSFT) to Alphabet (GOOG), Coca-Cola (KO) to Monster Beverage (MNST) could all have been identified as promising growth stories with a megatrend driving the growth. So, in that spirit, we've identified a relatively under-the-radar profitable growth stock benefiting from the rise of AI, available to you FREE via this link. While reported revenue for a software company can include low-margin items like implementation fees, annual recurring revenue (ARR) is a sum of the next 12 months of contracted revenue purely from software subscriptions, or the high-margin, predictable revenue streams that make SaaS businesses so valuable. Couchbase's ARR punched in at $252.1 million in Q1, and over the last four quarters, its growth was impressive as it averaged 18.3% year-on-year increases. This alternate topline metric grew faster than total sales, which likely means that the recurring portions of the business are growing faster than less predictable, choppier ones such as implementation fees. That could be a good sign for future revenue growth. The customer acquisition cost (CAC) payback period represents the months required to recover the cost of acquiring a new customer. Essentially, it's the break-even point for sales and marketing investments. A shorter CAC payback period is ideal, as it implies better returns on investment and business scalability. It's very expensive for Couchbase to acquire new customers as its CAC payback period checked in at 947.1 months this quarter. The company's slow recovery of its sales and marketing expenses indicates it operates in a highly competitive market and must invest to stand out, even if the return on that investment is low. We enjoyed seeing Couchbase beat analysts' annual recurring revenue expectations this quarter. We were also happy its EPS outperformed Wall Street's estimates. On the other hand, its revenue guidance for next quarter missed despite the company upgrading it. Overall, this was a mixed quarter. The stock remained flat at $18.39 immediately following the results. So should you invest in Couchbase right now? The latest quarter does matter, but not nearly as much as longer-term fundamentals and valuation, when deciding if the stock is a buy. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it's free. 擷取數據時發生錯誤 登入存取你的投資組合 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤 擷取數據時發生錯誤
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Couchbase Announces First Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Results
SAN JOSE, Calif., June 3, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Couchbase, Inc. (NASDAQ: BASE), the developer data platform for critical applications in our AI world, today announced financial results for its first quarter ended April 30, 2025. "We had a great start to fiscal 2026, delivering the highest first quarter net new ARR in company history," said Matt Cain, Chair, President and CEO of Couchbase. "We continue to enjoy momentum with our large strategic accounts while benefiting from strong growth in Capella consumption. I remain confident in our outlook and ability to achieve our full year objectives." First Quarter Fiscal 2026 Financial Highlights Revenue: Total revenue for the quarter was $56.5 million, an increase of 10% year-over-year. Subscription revenue for the quarter was $54.8 million, an increase of 12% year-over-year. Annual recurring revenue (ARR): Total ARR as of April 30, 2025 was $252.1 million, an increase of 21% year-over-year as reported, or 20% on a constant currency basis. Gross margin: Gross margin for the quarter was 87.9%, compared to 88.9% for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Non-GAAP gross margin for the quarter was 88.7%, compared to 89.9% for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. See the section titled "Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures" and the tables titled "Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Results" below for details. Loss from operations: Loss from operations for the quarter was $18.8 million, compared to $22.5 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Non-GAAP operating loss for the quarter was $4.2 million, compared to $6.7 million for the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Cash flow: Cash flow used in operating activities for the quarter was $6.8 million, compared to cash flow provided by operating activities of $1.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Capital expenditures were $1.9 million during the quarter, leading to negative free cash flow of $8.6 million, compared to free cash flow of $0.6 million in the first quarter of fiscal 2025. Remaining performance obligations (RPO): RPO as of April 30, 2025 was $239.6 million, an increase of 9% year-over-year. Recent Business Highlights Launched Couchbase Edge Server, an offline-first, lightweight database server and sync solution designed to provide low latency data access, consolidation, storage and processing for applications in resource-constrained edge environments. From airplanes to retail stores, organizations need fast, reliable local applications that work offline and on affordable, constrained hardware in these environments. Couchbase Edge Server addresses both challenges, enabling customers to access their data at any time while delivering performance regardless of internet connectivity. Continued to invest in and rapidly innovate the company's AI capabilities. The company's high-performance vector database powers AI agent-based applications by enabling the seamless integration of advanced AI workflows. With features like the Model Context Protocol Server, Couchbase allows AI agents to autonomously perform actions on Couchbase data, simplifying the development of complex GenAI applications. This open-source protocol standard enhances the ability for AI agents to securely and efficiently interact with enterprise data, supporting scalability, reliability and compliance. Continued to garner prominent industry recognition with placements on CRN's 15 Hottest AI Data and Analytics Companies of 2025 and The Coolest Database System Companies Of The 2025 Big Data 100 lists. Couchbase was also honored as Data Management Platform of the Year by the Data Breakthrough Awards. Relocated to a new global corporate headquarters in San Jose, which will support Couchbase's strategy while enhancing collaboration and driving the company's world class talent strategy. Financial Outlook For the second quarter and full year of fiscal 2026, Couchbase expects: Q2 FY2026 OutlookFY2026 Outlook Total Revenue$54.4-55.2 million$228.3-232.3 million Total ARR$255.8-258.8 million$279.3-284.3 million Non-GAAP Operating Loss$5.1-4.1 million$15.5-10.5 millionThe guidance provided above is based on several assumptions that are subject to change and many of which are outside our control. If actual results vary from these assumptions, our expectations may change. There can be no assurance that we will achieve these results. Couchbase is not able, at this time, to provide GAAP targets for operating loss for the second quarter or full year of fiscal 2026 because of the difficulty of estimating certain items excluded from non-GAAP operating loss that cannot be reasonably predicted, such as charges related to stock-based compensation expense. The effect of these excluded items may be significant. Conference Call Information Couchbase will host a live webcast at 1:30 p.m. Pacific Time (or 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time) on Tuesday, June 3, 2025, to discuss its financial results and business highlights. The conference call can be accessed by dialing 877-407-8029 from the United States, or +1 201-689-8029 from international locations. The live webcast and a webcast replay can be accessed from the investor relations page of Couchbase's website at About Couchbase As industries race to embrace AI, traditional database solutions fall short of rising demands for versatility, performance and affordability. Couchbase is seizing the opportunity to lead with Capella, the developer data platform architected for critical applications in our AI world. By uniting transactional, analytical, mobile and AI workloads into a seamless, fully managed solution, Couchbase empowers developers and enterprises to build and scale applications and AI agents with complete flexibility – delivering exceptional performance, scalability and cost-efficiency from cloud to edge and everything in between. Couchbase enables organizations to unlock innovation, accelerate AI transformation and redefine customer experiences wherever they happen. Discover why Couchbase is the foundation of critical everyday applications by visiting and following us on LinkedIn and X. Couchbase has used, and intends to continue using, its investor relations website and the corporate blog at to disclose material non-public information and to comply with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, you should monitor our investor relations website and the corporate blog in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings and public conference calls and webcasts. Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures In addition to our financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, we believe certain non-GAAP financial measures are useful to investors in evaluating our operating performance. We use certain non-GAAP financial measures, collectively, to evaluate our ongoing operations and for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe that non-GAAP financial measures, when taken together with the corresponding GAAP financial measures, may be helpful to investors because they provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance and meaningful supplemental information regarding our performance by excluding certain items that may not be indicative of our business, results of operations or outlook. Non-GAAP financial measures are presented for supplemental informational purposes only, have limitations as analytical tools and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for financial information presented in accordance with GAAP, and may be different from similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies. In addition, other companies, including companies in our industry, may calculate similarly-titled non-GAAP financial measures differently or may use other measures to evaluate their performance, all of which could reduce the usefulness of our non-GAAP financial measures as tools for comparison. Investors are encouraged to review the related GAAP financial measures and the reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures (provided in the financial statement tables included in this press release), and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business. Non-GAAP gross profit, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating loss, non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income (loss) and non-GAAP net income (loss) per share: We define these non-GAAP financial measures as their respective GAAP measures, excluding expenses related to stock-based compensation expense, employer payroll taxes on employee stock transactions, restructuring charges, impairment of capitalized internal-use software, and business development activities. We use these non-GAAP financial measures in conjunction with GAAP measures to assess our performance, including in the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our financial performance. Free cash flow: We define free cash flow as cash provided by or used in operating activities less additions to property and equipment, which includes capitalized internal-use software costs. We believe free cash flow is a useful indicator of liquidity that provides our management, board of directors and investors with information about our future ability to generate or use cash to enhance the strength of our balance sheet and further invest in our business and pursue potential strategic initiatives. Please see the reconciliation tables at the end of this press release for the reconciliation of GAAP and non-GAAP results. Key Business Metrics We review a number of operating and financial metrics, including ARR, to evaluate our business, measure our performance, identify trends affecting our business, formulate business plans and make strategic decisions. We define ARR as of a given date as the annualized recurring revenue that we would contractually receive from our customers in the month ending 12 months following such date. Based on historical experience with customers, we assume all contracts will be renewed at the same levels unless we receive notification of non-renewal and are no longer in negotiations prior to the measurement date. For Capella products, ARR in a customer's initial year is calculated as the greater of: (i) initial year contract revenue as described above or (ii) annualized prior 90 days of actual consumption; and ARR for subsequent years is calculated with method (ii). ARR excludes services revenue. ARR should be viewed independently of revenue, and does not represent our revenue under GAAP on an annualized basis, as it is an operating metric that can be impacted by contract start and end dates and renewal dates. ARR is not intended to be a replacement for forecasts of revenue. Although we seek to increase ARR as part of our strategy of targeting large enterprise customers, this metric may fluctuate from period to period based on our ability to acquire new customers, expand within our existing customers and consumption dynamics. We believe that ARR is an important indicator of the growth and performance of our business. We also attempt to represent the changes in the underlying business operations by eliminating fluctuations caused by changes in foreign currency exchange rates within the current period. We calculate constant currency growth rates by applying the applicable prior period exchange rates to current period results. Forward-Looking Statements This press release contains "forward-looking" statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that are based on management's beliefs and assumptions and on information currently available to management. Forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, quotations of management, the section titled "Financial Outlook" above and statements about the expected client demand for and benefits of our offerings, the impact of our recently-released and planned products and services and our market position, strategies and potential market opportunities. Forward-looking statements generally relate to future events or our future financial or operating performance. Forward-looking statements include all statements that are not historical facts and, in some cases, can be identified by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "could," "would," "intend," "target," "project," "forecast," "contemplate," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "seek," "pursue," "potential," "ready," or "continue" or similar expressions and the negatives of those terms. However, not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. Forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors, including factors beyond our control, which may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. These risks include, but are not limited to: our history of net losses and ability to achieve or maintain profitability in the future; our ability to continue to grow on pace with historical rates; our ability to manage our growth effectively; intense competition and our ability to compete effectively; cost-effectively acquiring new customers or obtaining renewals, upgrades or expansions from our existing customers; the market for our products and services being highly competitive and evolving, and our future success depending on the growth and expansion of this market; our ability to innovate in response to changing customer needs, new technologies or other market requirements, including new capabilities, programs and partnerships and their impact on our customers and our business; our limited operating history, which makes it difficult to predict our future results of operations; the significant fluctuation of our future results of operations and ability to meet the expectations of analysts or investors; our significant reliance on revenue from subscriptions, which may decline and, the recognition of a significant portion of revenue from subscriptions over the term of the relevant subscription period, which means downturns or upturns in sales are not immediately reflected in full in our results of operations; and the impact of geopolitical and macroeconomic factors. Further information on risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from forecasted results are included in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission that we may file from time to time, including those more fully described in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended April 30, 2025. Additional information will be made available in our Annual Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter year ended April 30, 2025 that will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which should be read in conjunction with this press release and the financial results included herein. Any forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based on assumptions that we believe to be reasonable as of this date. Except as required by law, we assume no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, or to update the reasons if actual results differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Couchbase, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations (in thousands, except share data) (unaudited) Three Months Ended April 30,20252024 Revenue:License $ 9,008$ 6,859 Support and other 45,83542,179 Total subscription revenue 54,84349,038 Services 1,6802,289 Total revenue 56,52351,327 Cost of revenue:Subscription(1) 5,4623,957 Services(1) 1,3941,725 Total cost of revenue 6,8565,682 Gross profit 49,66745,645 Operating expenses:Research and development(1) 18,49017,847 Sales and marketing(1) 38,16037,755 General and administrative(1) 11,16312,583 Business development activities 697— Total operating expenses 68,51068,185 Loss from operations (18,843)(22,540) Interest expense (15)— Other income, net 2,0501,531 Loss before income taxes (16,808)(21,009) Provision (benefit) for income taxes 871(14) Net loss $ (17,679)$ (20,995) Net loss per share, basic and diluted $ (0.33)$ (0.42) Weighted-average shares used in computing net loss per share, basic and diluted 53,64549,788(1) Includes stock-based compensation expense as follows: Three Months Ended April 30,20252024 Cost of revenue - subscription $ 343$ 266 Cost of revenue - services 109141 Research and development 4,4153,993 Sales and marketing 5,2735,223 General and administrative 3,2445,004 Total stock-based compensation expense $ 13,384$ 14,627 Couchbase, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets (in thousands) (unaudited) As of April 30, 2025As of January 31, 2025 Assets:Current assetsCash and cash equivalents $ 28,046$ 30,536 Short-term investments 113,779116,635 Accounts receivable, net 43,78149,242 Deferred commissions 16,92116,774 Prepaid expenses and other current assets 11,77215,206 Total current assets 214,299228,393 Property and equipment, net 10,1677,214 Operating lease right-of-use assets 3,3123,935 Deferred commissions, noncurrent 17,70219,602 Other assets 1,4791,454 Total assets $ 246,959$ 260,598 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity:Current liabilitiesAccounts payable $ 4,565$ 2,186 Accrued compensation and benefits 9,76421,091 Other accrued expenses 7,3118,443 Operating lease liabilities 8001,356 Deferred revenue 92,17894,252 Total current liabilities 114,618127,328 Operating lease liabilities, noncurrent 2,9432,960 Deferred revenue, noncurrent 3,2482,694 Total liabilities 120,809132,982 Stockholders' equityPreferred stock —— Common stock —— Additional paid-in capital 708,941692,812 Accumulated other comprehensive income 200116 Accumulated deficit (582,991)(565,312) Total stockholders' equity 126,150127,616 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $ 246,959$ 260,598 Couchbase, Inc. Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (in thousands) (unaudited) Three Months Ended April 30,20252024 Cash flows from operating activitiesNet loss $ (17,679)$ (20,995) Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities:Depreciation and amortization 851400 Stock-based compensation, net of amounts capitalized 13,38414,627 Amortization of deferred commissions 5,0964,096 Non-cash lease expense 720765 Net accretion of discounts on short-term investments (302)(900) Foreign currency transaction losses (554)283 Other (50)76 Changes in operating assets and liabilities:Accounts receivable 6,11110,165 Deferred commissions (3,343)(3,070) Prepaid expenses and other assets 3,33231 Accounts payable 1,360(792) Accrued compensation and benefits (11,647)(9,179) Other Accrued Expenses (1,872)(813) Operating lease liabilities (670)(843) Deferred revenue (1,520)7,708 Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities (6,783)1,559 Cash flows from investing activitiesPurchases of short-term investments (12,758)(19,454) Maturities of short-term investments 16,00024,144 Purchases of property and equipment (1,860)(995) Net cash provided by investing activities 1,3823,695 Cash flows from financing activitiesProceeds from exercise of stock options 1,2193,294 Proceeds from issuance of common stock under ESPP 1,4241,795 Net cash provided by financing activities 2,6435,089 Effect of exchange rate changes on cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash 268(262) Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash (2,490)10,081 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period 30,53641,894 Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period $ 28,046$ 51,975 Reconciliation of cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash within the consolidated balance sheets to the amounts shown above:Cash and cash equivalents $ 28,046$ 51,975 Restricted cash included in other assets —— Total cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash $ 28,046$ 51,975 Couchbase, Inc. Reconciliation of GAAP to Non-GAAP Results (in thousands, except percentages, share and per share data) (unaudited) Three Months Ended April 30,20252024 Reconciliation of GAAP gross profit to non-GAAP gross profit:Total revenue $ 56,523$ 51,327 Gross profit $ 49,667$ 45,645 Add: Stock-based compensation expense 452407 Add: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions 2370 Non-GAAP gross profit $ 50,142$ 46,122 Gross margin 87.9 %88.9 % Non-GAAP gross margin 88.7 %89.9 %Three Months Ended April 30,20252024 Reconciliation of GAAP operating expenses to non-GAAP operating expenses:GAAP research and development $ 18,490$ 17,847 Less: Stock-based compensation expense (4,415)(3,993) Less: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions (170)(309) Non-GAAP research and development $ 13,905$ 13,545 GAAP sales and marketing $ 38,160$ 37,755 Less: Stock-based compensation expense (5,273)(5,223) Less: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions (303)(682) Non-GAAP sales and marketing $ 32,584$ 31,850 GAAP general and administrative $ 11,163$ 12,583 Less: Stock-based compensation expense (3,244)(5,004) Less: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions (85)(155) Non-GAAP general and administrative $ 7,834$ 7,424Three Months Ended April 30,20252024 Reconciliation of GAAP loss from operations to non-GAAP loss from operations:Total revenue $ 56,523$ 51,327 Loss from operations $ (18,843)$ (22,540) Add: Stock-based compensation expense 13,38414,627 Add: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions 5811,216 Add: Business development activities 697— Non-GAAP loss from operations $ (4,181)$ (6,697) Operating margin (33) %(44) % Non-GAAP operating margin (7) %(13) %Three Months Ended April 30,20252024 Reconciliation of GAAP net loss to non-GAAP net loss:Net loss $ (17,679)$ (20,995) Add: Stock-based compensation expense 13,38414,627 Add: Employer taxes on employee stock transactions 5811,216 Add: Business development activities 697— Non-GAAP net loss $ (3,017)$ (5,152) GAAP net loss per share $ (0.33)$ (0.42) Non-GAAP net loss per share $ (0.06)$ (0.10) Weighted average shares outstanding, basic and diluted 53,64549,788 The following table presents a reconciliation of free cash flow to net cash (used in) provided by operating activities, the most directly comparable GAAP measure (in thousands, unaudited):Three Months Ended April 30,20252024 Net cash (used in) provided by operating activities $ (6,783)$ 1,559 Less: Additions to property and equipment (1,860)(995) Free cash flow $ (8,643)$ 564 Net cash provided by investing activities $ 1,382$ 3,695 Net cash provided by financing activities $ 2,643$ 5,089 Couchbase, Inc. Key Business Metrics (in millions) (unaudited) As of: July 31,October 31,January 31,April 30,July 31,October 31,January 31,April 30, 20232023202420242024202420252025 ARR$ 180.7$ 188.7$ 204.2$ 207.7$ 214.0$ 220.3$ 237.9$ 252.1 View original content to download multimedia: SOURCE Couchbase, Inc.
New York Times
30-05-2025
- Entertainment
- New York Times
Ranking MLB's 25 best games of the 2000s, from October no-hitters to gripping Game 7s
At the dawn of this century, the designated hitter was confined to the American League, the Astros played in a six-team National League Central, there was one wild card per league and home-field advantage for the World Series was determined on an alternating basis. Baseball has evolved plenty over the past 25 years, through offensive booms and busts, questions about the composition of its athletes and its playing equipment, financial scandals around tentpole franchises and a pandemic-shortened season. The postseason has expanded twice, creating a larger pool of memorable games and moments. Advertisement Which ones stand out the most? With other writers diving into the best players of the last quarter-century, I was drawn to the best games. Which are the wildest, the most memorable, the most thrilling, the best of this century? There have been more than 60,000 major-league games played since the turn of the century, and to do this piece justice, I have gone back and watched them all, you can be assured. There have been eight perfect games this century, including ones with 14 strikeouts (by Matt Cain) and 13 strikeouts (Randy Johnson). And yes, Roy Halladay himself threw one earlier in the 2010 season. But Halladay's no-hitter in his first postseason start stands as the most memorable individual starting performance this century. A lot of the time, it isn't until the sixth or seventh inning that you take note of a potential no-hitter; you assume something will get in the way before then. But at Citizens Bank Park that night, it was clear from the first inning that Halladay had everything working. Halladay retired the first 14 Reds batters, walked Jay Bruce on a full count in the fifth, then retired the next 13. The only hard-hit ball came from reliever Travis Wood in the third. Halladay threw a first-pitch strike to 25 of 28 hitters. Afterward, Cincinnati cleanup hitter Scott Rolen mused about how many more at-bats he would have needed just to make contact: 'I think words would ruin that performance.' The final four-run margin belies how remarkable this game's pivot felt in the seventh inning. Washington had already staged a pair of comebacks in winner-take-all games — you might see one later here — but Zack Greinke was in command in a potential career-defining start. Houston even had Gerrit Cole available out of the bullpen, making its 2-0 lead feel safe. Advertisement Anthony Rendon's one-out homer off Greinke cut that margin in half, and Howie Kendrick somehow lined Will Harris' actually-very-good cutter off the foul pole in right for the lead. The Nationals added on in the eighth and ninth to finish off the biggest World Series upset (by Vegas odds) since 1990 and claim their first championship. It takes a lot for a regular-season game to make the cut, as we're about to explore more thoroughly, and this is the only one that made it without significant postseason ramifications. A major-league game played in an Iowa cornfield was destined to be memorable, though it risked coming off as too cheesy or campy. And while the Field of Dreams Game flirted with that all night, its ninth inning packed as much punch as a Hollywood script. Down three, the Yankees rallied with a pair of two-out two-run homers into the corn from Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton. That served as a prelude to Tim Anderson smashing his own two-run shot off Zack Britton in the bottom of the inning to send the White Sox home winners. One thing that can set regular-season games apart is, say, if a hurricane in the final week of the season caused two postponements between two long-time rivals fighting for a postseason berth with the ensuing make-up doubleheader played the day after the rest of the league finished its regular-season schedule. That would be interesting, right? With the entire sport watching on a Monday afternoon, the Mets and Braves played an absolute classic. Atlanta was cruising, taking a 3-0 lead into the eighth, before the Mets launched the kind of late-inning rally that characterized their postseason run in 2024. New York scored six times in the eighth, with Brandon Nimmo's two-run homer feeling like a nail in the coffin. But the Braves are no stranger to Lazarus acts — especially against the Mets — and responded with four runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, thanks to Edwin Díaz forgetting to cover first base and Ozzie Albies clearing the bases. Francisco Lindor had one more twist up his sleeve: a two-run homer in the top of the ninth for one more lead change. Díaz closed it out in the ninth to clinch a trip to the postseason for New York. GO DEEPER In an instant classic, Mets clinch playoff berth with win over Braves Baseball is all about timing, and perhaps no night in the sport's history has showcased better timing than Sept. 28, 2011. The Rays and Red Sox entered the evening tied for the final playoff spot in the American League, the product of an already remarkable September collapse by Boston. But facing a Yankees team with its postseason berth clinched, Tampa Bay ace David Price was rocked and a series of New York relievers preserved a 7-0 lead through seven innings. In Baltimore, the Red Sox held a 3-2 lead over the last-place Orioles when an 86-minute rain delay interrupted the proceedings during the seventh-inning stretch. Advertisement While waiting out the weather, the Sox watched the Rays apply pressure. Tampa Bay scored six runs in the eighth inning, capped off by Evan Longoria's three-run homer. With two outs and nobody on in the ninth, pinch-hitter Dan Johnson — who hadn't had a major-league hit in five months — took Cory Wade deep to right to tie the game. Boston and Baltimore restarted play just as extras started at the Trop. Handed the lead in the ninth, Jonathan Papelbon struck out the first two Orioles. But one out away from ensuring the Red Sox would live to play another day, the closer allowed back-to-back doubles to Chris Davis and Nolan Reimold to tie the game. Robert Andino won it with a sinking line drive to left that Carl Crawford just couldn't snag. Four minutes later, Longoria homered off Scott Proctor to send the Rays to the postseason. Four years later, MLB started scheduling every game on the last day of the season at the same time, hoping to recreate the same magic. The 2013 Red Sox led the AL East wire to wire. They didn't face an elimination game in their postseason march to a championship. And yet, it's hard to be more out of a series than they were in Game 2 of the ALCS. Over the first 14 innings of this ALCS, the Red Sox went 1-for-43 with 26 strikeouts. They were also down 5-0 in Game 2, staring at a 2-0 deficit heading to Detroit to face Justin Verlander. In the eighth, though, Boston broke through. A double, walk and base hit loaded the bases for David Ortiz. Before you even registered that Ortiz was all of a sudden the tying run, he was ripping Joaquin Benoit's changeup away to right field, just beyond the reach of Torii Hunter and into an ecstatic home bullpen. In a career full of big hits, this might have been Ortiz's biggest. The Red Sox walked it off on a hit by Jarrod Saltalamacchia in the ninth. Brandon Backe and Woody Williams were an unlikely duo to produce one of the great pitchers' duels of the century. Backe had started nine games all season for Houston, Williams was a league-average pitcher who'd been shelled in his last start of the regular-season — in Houston. But in the pivotal Game 5, Williams threw seven one-hit innings. Backe threw eight one-hit innings. That's right: When Carlos Beltrán led off the bottom of the ninth with a solid single to right field, it was the third hit of the game for either team. Advertisement After a one-out intentional walk to Lance Berkman, Jeff Kent teed off on Jason Isringhausen's first pitch, sending it to the train tracks in left field. It was the first walk-off homer in the NLCS since Lenny Dykstra and the Mets had beaten the Astros in 1986. It would be joined two days later by Jim Edmonds' shot to force a Game 7. While baseball provided a diverse experience throughout the 2010s, its favorite trend was dishing out heartbreaking Division Series losses to the Nationals, often in Game 5. The Nats had blown a ninth-inning lead to the Cardinals in 2012 and lost one-run thrillers to the Dodgers in 2016 and the Cubs in 2017. So 2019 felt like more of the same, with Washington trailing Los Angeles 3-1 when Clayton Kershaw — who'd closed out that 2016 series — came on in relief. Vengeance would be swift: Anthony Rendon and Juan Soto mashed stunning back-to-back homers off Kershaw to tie the game. Kendrick followed with the first of his enormous postseason hits with a 10th-inning grand slam off Joe Kelly. It ended Washington's postseason hex, propelling the Nationals to a championship. This was the first of four 18-inning postseason games this century, and the one that packed the most action. Atlanta took a comfortable early lead thanks to a grand slam from Adam LaRoche. Down five in the eighth, Houston's comeback was sparked by Lance Berkman's grand slam — the first and still only time that both teams have hit a grand slam in a postseason game. Still down one in the ninth and with Jeff Bagwell on the bench, the Astros stuck with light-hitting Brad Ausmus, whose two-out solo homer off Kyle Farnsworth tied the game. And then the teams traded zeroes deep into extra innings. Roger Clemens first came off the bench for the Astros (to bunt as a pinch hitter) and then out of the bullpen (for the first time in 21 years) to toss the final three scoreless innings for Houston. Chris Burke, who'd run for Berkman in the 10th, delivered the long-awaited knockout blow with a line-drive homer into the Crawford Boxes off Joey Devine in the 18th. Before he cut his hair and emerged as an overpowering two-time Cy Young Award winner, this was the night that Jacob deGrom established himself as one of the game's best pitchers. Without anything resembling his best stuff, deGrom danced through trouble all night. He allowed two Dodgers runs on four straight hits in the first inning, and Los Angeles put a runner on second base with less than two outs in the second, third, fourth and fifth frames. DeGrom stranded the runner(s) each time, proving even low-scoring games could be full of action. Advertisement On the other side, Daniel Murphy was just starting his run as an October hero. Murphy drove home the Mets' first run, scored their second (after advancing two bases on a walk) and hit the go-ahead homer off Zack Greinke in the sixth. Noah Syndergaard and Jeurys Familia finished what deGrom started. Nearly a quarter-century later, it's hard to overstate how difficult it felt to beat this version of the Yankees, especially in the Bronx. New York had won three straight World Series and four of the previous five. The roster was deep, buoyed by established October heroes and the much-ballyhooed 'mystique and aura' of the old Yankee Stadium — which never felt more resonant than in this Game 5. One night earlier, as October turned to November, Tino Martinez had cracked a game-tying, two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning off Byung-Hyun Kim, who then allowed Derek Jeter's walk-off shot in the 10th. And so when Scott Brosius lofted another game-tying, two-out, two-run homer in the ninth inning off Kim, Joe Buck's call — 'It borders on the surreal' — felt entirely appropriate. Alfonso Soriano won it with a single three innings later. The Yankees felt unkillable. Roy Halladay may have had the most memorable pitching performance in a start this century; the most memorable pitching performance, period, belongs to Madison Bumgarner here. Supposed to be available briefly for this Game 7, three days after he shut out the Royals on four hits to win Game 5, Bumgarner entered earlier than expected: in the fifth inning of a 3-2 game. He didn't give the ball back. Bumgarner mowed through Kansas City the way he had twice previously in the series. (The Royals would finish the series 9-for-71 off Bumgarner, a .127 average.) He had retired 14 in a row when Alex Gordon came to the plate with two outs in the ninth to propel this game beyond just Bumgarner's performance. Rationally, Mike Jirschele was right to hold Gordon at third. Irrationally, was it better to bet on the Giants messing up a relay than on Bumgarner allowing another hit? Advertisement Salvador Perez popped up, and San Francisco won its third title of the decade. In the New Yorker, the late Roger Angell described Bumgarner, 'his expression mournful, almost apologetic, even while delivering his wide-wing, slinging stuff. Sorry, guys: this is how it goes. Over soon.' Every 2020 postseason contest looks and feels weird in retrospect. This game between Tampa Bay and Los Angeles was played in Arlington, Texas, in front of a crowd the same size as the 2024 Oakland Athletics averaged. Watching it back on YouTube, you can't tell if the crowd noise is real or manufactured. And yet, the Rays and Dodgers conspired to create a classic. The first three games of the series had not contained a lead change; Game 4 made up for it. Tampa Bay took the lead in the bottom of the sixth, L.A. took it back in the top of the seventh. The Rays tied it in the bottom of the inning, and the Dodgers grabbed it again in the eighth. With two outs in the ninth, down one, the Rays sent little-used Brett Phillips to the plate to face Kenley Jansen. Phillips stared at a near-perfect pitch on the outside corner for strike two, then looped a single into right-center. As Kevin Kiermaier scored the tying run, Chris Taylor booted the ball, prompting Randy Arozarena to try to score from first. But Arozarena face-planted halfway down the line, and the Dodgers had him stuck in a rundown — except that catcher Will Smith had forgotten to catch the relay throw. Arozarena crawled home and banged on the plate as the winning run. In The Washington Post, Dave Sheinin wrote, 'If you couldn't necessarily hear the tapping — thump, thump, thump — you could at least feel it. It was your heart.' Leading into the later stages of this World Series, the 2002 postseason hadn't been especially memorable. Admit it: Your main memory of it outside of this game is either J.T. Snow saving Darren Baker or Barry Bonds' home run off Troy Percival. But that was before the Angels stormed back from five runs down in the final three innings of Game 6, denying the Giants the title. The series felt so over that Dusty Baker let Russ Ortiz walk off the mound with the baseball as a memento, moments before Scott Spiezio's three-run homer made it a game again. Anaheim surged into the lead on Series MVP Troy Glaus' two-run double in the eighth. The Angels closed it out in Game 7 a night later. You think there were a lot of games this century? How about innings, how about more than one million innings this century? And none of them were as wild, as insane, as dramatic as the seventh inning of this deciding game of the Division Series between Texas and Toronto. Advertisement The Blue Jays had rebounded from a 2-0 deficit in the series, and they'd just tied the game at two on Edwin Encarnación's sixth-inning homer. In the top of the seventh, with two outs and Rougned Odor on third, Russell Martin's throw back to pitcher Aaron Sanchez hit Shin-Soo Choo's bat, caroming away and allowing Odor to score. The game was delayed 18 minutes, first for the umpires to deliberate on what the proper ruling would be, then to clear the field of debris thrown from the Rogers Centre stands. Toronto surged back in the bottom of the frame, assisted by a nightmarish defensive inning for shortstop Elvis Andrus. Andrus bobbled Martin's leadoff grounder, couldn't corral Mitch Moreland's errant throw for a forceout at second, and dropped Adrián Beltré's throw to third on an otherwise fantastically run wheel play. After Josh Donaldson tied the game with a bloop forceout — I mean, the inning was just making stuff up at this point — José Bautista untied it with one of the century's most memorable home runs. The benches cleared when Sam Dyson had words with Encarnación — and then again as the inning ended when Dyson and Troy Tulowitzki chatted at the plate. The inning took 53 minutes. It was one in a million. Hobbled all postseason by a bad ankle, Freddie Freeman had hardly looked himself. He sat out three games in the first two rounds and had yet to collect an extra-base hit until a first-inning triple off Gerrit Cole. So when he strode to the plate in the 10th inning, the bases loaded, two outs, and the Dodgers down one, the connection to that other limping Los Angeles star who came through in this spot was easy to make. Wouldn't it be crazy, you might have thought, if he did that, too? And then Freeman absolutely unloaded on Nestor Cortes' first pitch, holding his bat up high as Joe Davis copped a little Scully: 'She is gone!' Gibby meet Freddie, indeed. GO DEEPER Freddie Freeman wallops his way into World Series history with walk-off slam that'll float forever This was less Game 5 of a single series than it was Game 167 (168 for Los Angeles) of a season-long war in the NL West. The Giants and Dodgers had waged one of the great pennant races you'll ever see, San Francisco surprisingly holding off L.A. by winning 107 games in the regular season. Its reward? Home-field advantage for this winner-take-all contest. Advertisement That seemed crucial: The Giants hadn't lost a Logan Webb start at Oracle Park all season, and for the second time in the series, Webb shoved. The two teams traded runs in the sixth — a Corey Seager double, a Darin Ruf homer — before Cody Bellinger's single in the ninth off Camilo Doval broke the tie. Since there's nothing Dave Roberts likes more than a starter on two days' rest as his closer, the Dodgers turned to Max Scherzer for the ninth. With a runner on first, Scherzer struck out LaMonte Wade looking and Wilmer Flores on what every Giants fan will tell you was ball one. In one sense, Boston's four consecutive wins to come back from a 3-0 series deficit and shock the Yankees happened in an anticlimactic order. Game 7, the culmination of that comeback, was not an especially compelling game on its own. In another sense, there's value to Game 4 being the best game of the series, and the one that required the biggest in-game comeback of the series. It's hard to be down more in a seven-game series than the Red Sox were in that ninth inning: Down 3-0 in the series, down by a run, down to the bottom of their order, down to facing Mariano Rivera. But Kevin Millar worked a walk, Dave Roberts worked his magic, and Bill Mueller came through with the oft-overlooked game-tying single. One game after a disastrous 19-8 loss, the Boston bullpen held the Yankees scoreless for six innings, setting the stage for David Ortiz's walk-off home run. With apologies to Backe and Williams (and to Curt Schilling, Matt Morris and Game 5 of the 2001 NLDS), this is the pitchers' duel of the century so far: a winner-take-all matchup between aces and old friends Roy Halladay and Chris Carpenter that exceeded its promise. The Cardinals scored two batters into the game on consecutive extra-base hits from Rafael Furcal and Skip Schumaker. (Schumaker's at-bat, in particular, was terrific.) Halladay was lights-out the rest of the way, allowing only four more hits in finishing eight innings. Problem was, Carpenter didn't stumble for even two hitters. The former Cy Young Award winner, in the last great game of his career, tossed a three-hit shutout. He survived a pair of drives to the warning track from Raul Ibañez and Chase Utley and elicited 16 ground-ball outs — about as dominant a three-strikeout performance as a starter could have. Advertisement Carpenter's heroics knocked out a juggernaut Phillies team whose 102 wins were the most by a National League team in seven years. Thanks in part to the torn Achilles Ryan Howard suffered at the end of this game, Philadelphia's five-year run atop the NL East would end the next year, and Citizens Bank Park wouldn't host another playoff game until 2022 — earned by a series win over the Cardinals. Theoretically, minimizing a grueling 162-game regular season into a single contest to determine who advances is abhorrent. Practically, the single-game wild-card format, used for nine seasons and 18 games, delivered classic after classic. None were better than this one, which marked Kansas City's return to the postseason stage after a 29-year absence. A team built on contact, speed and outfield defense, those 2014-2015 Royals were an outlier in their own time. A decade later, it's mind-boggling to watch Kansas City's trademark late-inning rallies, constructed from single after single, with excellent base running thrown in. This late comeback against Jon Lester and an Athletics team that had looked like a powerhouse through the first half of the season foreshadowed the next two Octobers in K.C. The Royals compiled three singles, two walks and four stolen bases to cut a 7-3 lead to 7-6 in the eighth, then turned a leadoff single into a run thanks to a sac bunt, a brazen steal of third by Jarrod Dyson and a sac fly off Sean Doolittle to tie it in the ninth. Down again in the 12th — extra-inning games where the home team comes back to win in the bottom of the inning are a personal favorite of Matt Holliday and me — the Royals tied it on Christian Colon's chopper and won it on Salvador Perez's line drive to left. Not only were the Red Sox going to stun their archrivals in the Bronx in a Game 7, but they were also going to do it with Pedro Martínez on the mound to beat Roger Clemens. But just when it looked like Boston could really finish it off, the Yankees roared back. Aided by a pair of Jason Giambi homers and long relief from Mike Mussina, New York entered the eighth down 5-2, with Martínez still on the mound. With one out, a Derek Jeter double and Bernie Williams single scored one run and brought Grady Little to the mound. Martínez was at 115 pitches and lefty Alan Embree was ready in the pen. Little stuck with his ace — a move so bold it would have gotten 'First Take' to talk about baseball, had the show existed at the time — only for Martínez to allow consecutive doubles to Hideki Matsui and Jorge Posada to tie the score. Rivera tossed three scoreless innings — his longest outing since he'd been a set-up man seven years earlier — to get the Yankees to the 11th. That's when Aaron Boone took Tim Wakefield, a hero earlier in the series for the Sox, deep to left to win the pennant. Advertisement Canvass the baseball establishment about great games, and this back-and-forth (-and-back-and-forth-and-back, etc.) affair is never overlooked. If you were to steal the format of Daniel Okrent's classic 'Nine Innings' to dive into modern baseball, this would be the game you'd choose, and not just because it went 10. The Astros and Dodgers have been the sport's preeminent powers over the past decade, and their only postseason meeting was the sport's first in almost 40 years between teams that each won 100-plus regular-season games. The constitution of the baseball had become a paramount topic in the sport as home runs kept flying out of stadiums all October. Three years after the Royals and Giants combined for five homers in a seven-game World Series, this contest alone featured seven long balls. Three times in this game, a team came back from three runs down. At one point, three-run homers were hit in three consecutive half-innings. At another, stalwart L.A. reliever Brandon Morrow allowed four runs in six pitches. (The Astros, as we'd find out later, had a little help in home games at the time.) The last of those big comebacks came in the ninth, when the Dodgers scored three on Yasiel Puig's homer and Chris Taylor's two-out base hit. In the 10th, Houston built a two-out rally on a hit batter and a walk, with Alex Bregman delivering the walk-off hit to give the Astros a 3-2 series lead. Baseball's oft-stated promise is that, every night, you might see something you'd never seen before. Game 6 of the 2011 World Series tried to change that by packing everything you could possibly see into four hours and 33 minutes. In an elimination game they ultimately won, the Cardinals dropped popups in consecutive innings and had a runner picked off third with the bases loaded. Texas was on the verge of its first championship twice: It led by two in the ninth thanks to back-to-back seventh-inning homers by Adrián Beltré and Nelson Cruz. It led in the 10th thanks to Josh Hamilton's go-ahead homer. However, with apologies to Lance Berkman's two-out hit to tie it in the 10th, this game is about David Freese. Advertisement Think about this: Kirby Puckett hit a walk-off home run leading off the 11th inning of Game 6 of the 1991 World Series — which Joe Buck referenced when he mirrored his father's call for Freese's own leadoff homer in the 11th inning of Game 6 of this World Series. It is undoubtedly Puckett's most famous hit as a Hall of Fame major leaguer — the one they literally bronzed outside Target Field. Freese's walk-off homer, though, was only his second-biggest hit of this game, following his game-tying triple in the bottom of the ninth, just over the reach of Cruz. He'd hit a key double the next night, too, when the Cardinals completed their comeback with a Game 7 victory. GO DEEPER 60 Moments: No. 17, David Freese lives the dream in Game 6 It's hard to say where this game would have ranked if we stripped away some of its context — if it had been a Game 3 instead of a Game 7, if it had not been played between the teams with the longest championship droughts in the sport. But a Game 7 of the World Series is a rarer gift than it felt for a few years there in the middle of last decade. A Game 7 of the World Series that lives up to and exceeds its hype is more precious still. Having fought back from an unexpected 3-1 series deficit, the Cubs had built a 5-1 lead in the middle innings — up until two Cleveland runs scored on one Jon Lester wild pitch. Chicago's lead was 6-3 entering the eighth, which is when this game joined the all-time greats. Facing Aroldis Chapman, Brandon Guyer sliced a two-out RBI double to right, and Rajai Davis followed with a gob-smacking, game-tying home run. (Using championship win probability, Davis' home run is the second-biggest hit of the century and the fourth-biggest in baseball history. Unfortunately for him, it's the biggest to ever come in a loss.) And then the rain came. The Cubs gathered themselves, Jason Heyward made a speech, and Ben Zobrist lined an opposite-field go-ahead double off Bryan Shaw in the 10th. Chicago added an insurance run, which it would need when Davis drove home a run with a two-out single in the bottom of the inning. But Cleveland was down to the last man on its bench in the biggest spot, and Mike Montgomery induced a groundout from Michael Martínez to end the Cubs' 108-year drought. I'm not sure how you beat this. You start with the pitching matchup. Roger Clemens won the AL Cy Young Award that season, one of seven he'd win in his career. Curt Schilling finished second in the NL Cy Young voting that year and was arguably the best big-game pitcher of his generation. Oh, and the pitchers who finished the night on the mound? That would be Randy Johnson, who bested Schilling for one of his five career Cy Young awards and had thrown more than 100 pitches the night before, and Mariano Rivera, the first and only unanimous Hall of Famer. Advertisement The Diamondbacks broke the ice with Danny Bautista's sixth-inning RBI double. Tino Martinez answered with a seventh-inning RBI single, and Alfonso Soriano put the Yankees ahead with a solo shot off Schilling in the eighth. And then we get to the bottom of the ninth — to Mark Grace's leadoff single, to Rivera's error on one bunt and gutsy play to secure the lead out on the next one, to Tony Womack delivering the biggest hit of the century by championship win probability to tie it. (Don't overlook Womack; he'd also delivered the walk-off series-winning hit in the NLDS.) It's part of baseball's beauty that the big at-bat often goes to Gene Larkin or Francisco Cabrera or Rajai Davis. There's no Golden At-Bat rule. Which is what makes it especially memorable when you get a matchup like Rivera against Luis Gonzalez, the NL's best hitter not named Barry Bonds. Rivera's cutter was as good as ever, sawing Gonzalez off at the handle. But Gonzo got just enough of it to flutter over the drawn-in infield and into baseball history. (Illustration: Kelsea Petersen/ The Athletic; Photos: Joe Cavaretta / Associated Press, Matt Slocum / Associated Press, Ezra Shaw / Getty Images)
Yahoo
20-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Little ships gather ahead of Dunkirk commemoration
Dozens of little ships have gathered in a Kent harbour for an event marking the 85th anniversary of one of the most important episodes of World War Two. A total of 66 boats from across Europe will set off from Ramsgate on Wednesday morning for Dunkirk as part of the commemorations of Operation Dynamo. More than 338,000 soldiers were rescued from the French coast between 26 May and 4 June 1940 with almost 100,000 troops picked up off from the beaches by the little ships and ferried to larger vessels. A spokesperson for the organiser, The Association of Dunkirk Little Ships, (ADLS), said the Ramsgate gathering was "a chance for the public to view the fleet, speak to the owners and learn about their vessels". In May 1940 the call went out for the owners of pleasure craft to join the effort led by the Royal Navy to help bring soldiers back to Kent by donating their ships. The allied forces had been driven into a small pocket around Dunkirk by the advancing German army. Without a swift evacuation they faced capture or death. Matt Cain now owns Lady of Mann, one of the little ships that was part of the operation that rescued his grandfather, George. He said: "My grandfather used to talk to me about Dunkirk a lot. "It was always a huge ambition to be able to do this." The journey to Dunkirk is expected to take around 10 hours. Bryan Cox will be sailing in Bou Saada, which is now owned by the ice skater Jayne Torvill. He said: "For me it's about the sacrifice which a lot of people made. "Even with the little ships, 200 of the 800 that went across didn't survive. "It's like a pilgrimage, really." Ramsgate Lifeboat will also be part of Wednesday's fleet. Ian Cannon, its coxswain, has family links to the events of 1940. "My great, great, great uncle Alf was second coxon when the call came in for Dunkirk," he said. "My father, brother, myself and now my children have all been involved with the Ramsgate crew." Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@ or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250. The little ship crews returning to the miracle of Dunkirk 'These little ships are our last link to the war' Association of Dunkirk Little Ships
