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Rays hit three homers in fifth to roll past Red Sox

MLB: Boston Red Sox at Tampa Bay RaysSep 17, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays third baseman Junior Caminero (13) celebrates after hitting a home run against the Boston Red Sox during the fourth inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images

Brandon Lowe hit a two-run shot — one of three Tampa Bay homers in the fifth inning — as the Rays rolled to an 8-3 win over the Boston Red Sox on Tuesday night to open the Rays’ final homestand of the regular season in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Josh Lowe and Jose Siri also homered in the Rays’ four-run fifth. Siri finished 2-for-4, including a double, and drove in four runs.

Junior Caminero went 2-for-4 with a home run and double as Tampa Bay (74-77) broke a three-game home losing streak against its American League East foe.

Rays starting pitcher Shane Baz (3-3) gave up two runs on two hits in seven innings. The right-hander struck out six with a walk to win for the third time in four decisions.

Triston Casas slugged a two-run homer and Romy Gonzalez went deep for the Red Sox (75-76), who lost for the fifth time in seven games.

Boston starter Nick Pivetta (5-11) cruised through three innings but eventually surrendered three solo homers in 4 2/3 innings. The righty allowed four runs on five hits and struck out six.

The Red Sox led 2-0 in the second inning after Casas hit an 83 mph curveball from Baz to right for his ninth homer after Wilyer Abreu drew a two-out walk.

Meanwhile, Pivetta rolled through three frames, facing only 10 batters and allowing just a single to Jonathan Aranda for the first of his two hits.

However, Caminero got to Pivetta in the fourth when he ripped a letter-high, 94 mph fastball to left-center for his fourth long ball, cutting the Rays’ deficit to 2-1.

The homers kept coming in the fifth when the Rays went deep three times to take a 5-2 lead.

Josh Lowe hit a 92 mph fastball to left-center for a leadoff homer to tie the score at 2-all. With two outs, Siri hit his 18th homer to give Tampa Bay a one-run lead.

With Pivetta out after a two-out double by Yandy Diaz, Brandon Lowe crushed his team-high 19th homer to right off reliever Bailey Horn to push the lead to 5-2.

Gonzalez hit a pinch-hit homer to center, his fifth, in the eighth, but Siri looped a two-out, three-run insurance double for the final margin.

–Field Level Media

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Wings rally from 15 down in fourth quarter to stun Sky

Jun 20, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) and Chicago Sky guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) battle for the loose ball during the first half at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn ImagesJun 20, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) and Chicago Sky guard Gabriela Jaquez (11) battle for the loose ball during the first half at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images

Li Yueru converted the deciding free throws with 12.5 seconds left as the Dallas Wings put everything together in the fourth quarter to produce a wild, come-from-behind 93-92 win over the Chicago Sky on Saturday in Arlington, Texas.

Dallas’ 36 points in the fourth quarter resulted in its highest-scoring period of the season, and the Wings (10-6) needed every one of them to beat Chicago, which dropped its fifth straight game.

Chicago led by 17 points late in the third quarter but the Wings rallied in the fourth, drawing to within 81-80 on a pair of Jessica Shepard free throws with 3:21 to play. Paige Bueckers’ layup with 1:35 left tied the game at 86 before Sydney Taylor poured in a 3-pointer with 1:26 remaining to put Chicago up 89-86.

Skylar Diggins had a steal that resulted in her two free throws with 35.7 seconds left to push the Sky’s advantage to six points. A free throw by Azzi Fudd and then a four-point play from Bueckers got Dallas to within one, and Chicago turned over the ball with 29.8 seconds to play.

Kamilla Cardoso then fouled Yueru, who made both free throws to give the Wings their first lead of the game. Chicago’s Jacy Sheldon then missed a short jumper with three seconds left, and Azura Stevens’ putback layup just before the buzzer glanced off the rim and away, allowing Dallas to walk off with the unlikely victory.

Shepard led the Wings with 21 points, with Bueckers adding 19, Fudd scoring 13 and Arike Ogunbowale hitting for 12 points.

Cardoso’s season-high 26 points led all scorers. Taylor added 18 for the Sky (4-11), while Diggins had 14 and Natasha Cloud tallied 10. Stevens led all players with 11 rebounds.

The Sky dominated the first quarter, going up 25-13 after a running jumper by Gabriela Jaquez at the 2:24 mark before carrying a 28-16 lead after 10 minutes of play. Dallas eventually pulled to within a point and missed on multiple chances to take the lead before the Sky swung back as Cloud’s left-handed layup with 5.7 seconds left allowed Chicago to take a 43-38 advantage into the break.

Cardoso led all scorers with 14 points at halftime, while Maddy Siegrist paced Dallas with eight points off the bench in the first half.

–Field Level Media

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Flyweight Manel Kape continues successful run at UFC Fight Night

Dec 14, 2024; Tampa, Florida, UNITED STATES;  Manel Kape (red gloves) reacts during he fight against Bruno Silva (blue gloves) at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn ImagesDec 14, 2024; Tampa, Florida, UNITED STATES; Manel Kape (red gloves) reacts during he fight against Bruno Silva (blue gloves) at Amalie Arena. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images

Flyweight Manel Kape stopped Kyoji Horiguchi in the third round for his fourth straight victory on Saturday night in the UFC Fight Night main event in Las Vegas.

Kape’s TKO at 2:42 in the third of five scheduled rounds marked a transition period in a division whose champion, Joshua Van, successfully defended his title for the first time last month at UFC 328.

Kape (23-7 MMA, 8-3 UFC), a native of Angola fighting out of Portugal, exacted revenge against Japan’s Horiguchi (36-6, 1 NC MMA) from their 2017 bout in RIZIN, when Kape suffered one of only two submission losses in his career.

Kape paid respects to Horiguchi, recognizing that without him, his path to a potential title shot would look a little different, as he faced adversity in both fights.

Kape did make one thing clear, though.

“I knew he was going to touch me at some point,” Kape said after the fight about Horiguchi. “Because I felt his hand (speed) before. But, if I touch you one time — believe me — you’re gonna be dead.”

Kape, who has won seven of his last eight bouts, said he doesn’t know if he’ll get a title shot against Van immediately but was gracious toward UFC brass, including CEO Dana White.

The co-main event featured a pair of surging light heavyweights in New Zealand’s Navajo Stirling and Ion Cutelaba of Moldova.

After surviving five takedowns and a few potentially fight-ending submission sequences, including a standing guillotine, Stirling railed to secure a brutal TKO against Cutelaba at 3:23 of Round 2.

Since making his promotional debut in 2024, Stirling (10-0 MMA) is 5-0 in the UFC with back-to-back finishes and 10 straight victories.

Cutelaba (20-12-1), on the contrary, is 3-3 in his last six UFC fights, having been a fringe top-15 contender in the division and remaining part of the promotion since 2016.

The finishes kept coming in a trio of featherweight bouts, as Christian Rodriguez’s first-round head-kick marked the beginning of the end for Hyder Amil of the Philippines.

At 3:43 of the round, Rodriguez (13-4) successfully found an opening to secure a guillotine choke following the kick, after much of the fight was spent on the feet. The American has won four of his last seven, while Amil (11-3) fell to 3-3 in the promotion after three straight losses.

Featherweight Murtazali Magomedov added his name to the UFC history books with a modified twister submission 1:17 into the opening round against the usually durable Melsik Baghdasaryan.

Since the UFC’s inception in November 1993, only three other fighters have successfully executed the combined version of a neck crank and a spinal lock: Chan Sung Jung (2011), Bryce Mitchell (2019) and Da’Mon Blackshear (2023).

Magomedov (11-0 MMA) of Kyrgyzstan was making his UFC debut, while Armenia’s Baghdasaryan (8-4 MMA) has dropped two in a row and three of his last four.

The UFC Vegas 119 main card kicked off with Brazilian featherweight Vinicius Oliveira securing a second-round TKO (4:56) against Andre Fili of the United States to secure his fifth win in his last six outings.

Oliveira (24-4 MMA) now has two UFC wins by KO/TKO, marking the 19th finish of his career. Meanwhile, Fili (25-14, 1 NC MMA) fell to .500 in the UFC (13-13) since 2013.

The UFC caps off June with a trip to Baku, Azerbaijan, next Saturday for the second straight year.

–Field Level Media

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Austin Hill captures emotional win at Naval Base Coronado

Jun 20, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Nascar OReilly Auto Parts Series driver Austin Hill (21) celebrates his victory of the United Rentals Driven To Serve 250 at San Diego Street Course. Mandatory Credit:
Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn ImagesJun 20, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Nascar OReilly Auto Parts Series driver Austin Hill (21) celebrates his victory of the United Rentals Driven To Serve 250 at San Diego Street Course. Mandatory Credit: Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

SAN DIEGO – Austin Hill’s thrilling last-lap pass earned the veteran his first career road course NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series victory Saturday on a dramatic and ultimately emotional afternoon for his Richard Childress Racing team – capping a long and competitive day of racing in the inaugural United Rentals Driven to Serve 250 on Naval Base Coronado.

It marked the first win for the legendary RCR team since unexpectedly losing its NASCAR Cup Series driver Kyle Busch four weeks ago after the two-time series champion passed away unexpectedly due to complications from pneumonia. The emotion in Victory Lane Saturday was palpable – the celebration both a nod to Hill’s achievement and an ode to Busch and what he meant to the team and to the sport.

“It’s extremely special, just to finally check that box of getting that road course win, we’ve been so close so many times,” said Hill, whose No. 21 RCR Chevrolet had to be towed to Victory Lane after the rear wheels of the car were flattened after he performed a long burnout around Busch’s No. 8 logo painted on the track.

Hill, who now also drives the car Busch once drove in the NASCAR Cup Series, claimed Saturday’s win may have included a little divine intervention from his former teammate.

“I’m not gonna lie, I started talking to this guy a little bit down the straightaways,” Hill said, pointing to his hat, which carries the number eight Busch carried for the team. “I was like ‘Man, Kyle, if you’re here, give me something, let me find another gear.’

“And for whatever reason, the car started coming to life and the two leaders got together and when there was blood in the water behind the 54 (runner-up Taylor Gray), I knew it was going to be tough to get around him, that it was going to be a battle. And when I got clear of him, I was very surprised to see how much of a gap I got on him.

“I can’t thank these guys enough, everyone on this 21-team, at RCR. We’ve been through a lot these last several weeks. … Man, this is awesome, so cool.”

His Hall of Famer owner Childress was openly emotional as he greeted Hill in Victory Lane.

“It’s great to win here, and we all have Kyle in our hearts,” said Childress, his voice cracking in the poignant scene.

“You may not show it on the outside, but you do here,” he added, pointing to his heart.

Hill consistently showed Saturday he had a strong car – winning the opening stage — throughout an eventful day that included two red flags totaling more than an hour of race stoppage, an enthusiastic fan who jumped a fence and greeted driver Sheldon Creed during that red flag break, and lots of daring passes on the 3.4-mile 16-turn circuit around the famous Naval Base.

With five laps remaining in the 60-lap event, JR Motorsports’ Carson Kvapil led Gray and looked to claim his first career win and extend an already record 11-race road course winning streak for the JRM team.

However, with three laps to go, Gray pulled his No. 54 Toyota alongside Kvapil’s No. 1 Chevy and the contact bounced Kvapil’s car off a tire barrier and out of the lead.

Two laps later, Hill was able to get around Gray as they took the white flag signaling the last lap of the race. The 32-year-old Georgia-native went on to win by a convincing 1.127 seconds over Gray, who led the most laps (16) on the day and won Stage 2.

Gray blamed “wheel hop” for his contact with Kvapil.

“Pretty disappointed in myself, really proud of everyone at Joe Gibbs Racing, Toyota Racing. … Obviously would love to be in victory lane right now, that’s where my guys deserve to be,” Gray said.

“Got really bad wheel hop, that’s what it boils down to,” he added. “He raced me tight like he should and I wheel-hopped underneath him.”

Kvapil and Gray spoke briefly after the race.

“It’s really hard to make peace with that, obviously I feel like that robbed me and everyone at this Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet,” Kvapil said. “They brought us a really fast car and gave us position to win a race and obviously we didn’t. That one really hurts.”

Haas Factory Team’s Creed finished third, followed by Kvapil and JR Motorsports’ Sammy Smith – who turned in an impressive rally forward after an eventful, full-contact day of his own.

Hill’s RCR teammate Jesse Love also rallied on the day, finishing sixth after starting from the last row of the 37-car field. Viking Motorsports’ Parker Retzlaff, who led five laps, finished seventh with Austin Green, Harrison Burton and Corey Day rounded out the top-10.

Two red flag periods – combining for more than an hour in time – slowed the action. The first coming out on the second lap and the later one coming out to properly repair the wall and fencing following a 23-car incident that eliminated many of the day’s strong cars.

While racing up front, Haas Factory Team’s Sam Mayer nicked the inside wall at Turn 1 and careened hard into the other wall collecting Anthony Alfredo’s No. 96 Chevrolet and starting a chain reaction among the mid-pack behind. The impact was enough to bring out a 43-minute red flag.

Almost immediately after the race start, there was an hour-long delay to repair a sewer vent cover in Turn 5 that came off in traffic and impaled into Day’s No. 17 Hendrick Motorsports Chevrolet.

The series championship leader, JR Motorsports’ Justin Allgaier had an eventful day, and retired 17 laps early after being collected in multiple incidents on the day. Despite the DNF, the series-best five-race winner continues to hold an amazing 224-point advantage over reigning series champion Love atop the championship standings.

The NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series returns to action in next Saturday’s Pit Boss/FoodMaxx 250 at the renowned Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway a couple hours North on the California coast. Connor Zilisch is the defending race winner.

NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race – United Rentals Driven to Serve 250

San Diego Street Course

San Diego, California

Saturday, June 20, 2026

1. (4) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 60.

2. (11) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 60.

3. (7) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 60.

4. (5) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 60.

5. (10) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 60.

6. (37) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 60.

7. (2) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 60.

8. (8) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 60.

9. (15) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 60.

10. (31) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 60.

11. (24) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 60.

12. (33) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 60.

13. (20) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 60.

14. (30) Andrew Patterson, Chevrolet, 60.

15. (27) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 60.

16. (17) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, 60.

17. (22) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 60.

18. (13) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, 60.

19. (26) Brad Perez, Toyota, 60.

20. (28) Patrick Staropoli, Chevrolet, 60.

21. (34) Dawson Cram, Chevrolet, 60.

22. (21) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 60.

23. (36) Joey Gase, Chevrolet, 60.

24. (18) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 60.

25. (35) Jesse Iwuji, Chevrolet, 60.

26. (25) Leland Honeyman Jr(i), Chevrolet, 59.

27. (12) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, Electrical, 52.

28. (23) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 52.

29. (14) Lavar Scott, Chevrolet, 48.

30. (19) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 47.

31. (1) Brent Crews, Toyota, Engine, 44.

32. (16) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, Engine, 43.

33. (32) Baltazar Leguizamon, Chevrolet, Engine, 41.

34. (6) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, Accident, 34.

35. (3) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, Accident, 34.

36. (9) William Sawalich, Toyota, Accident, 34.

37. (29) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, Engine, 28.

–Holly Cain, NASCAR Wire Service

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