Sports
Rays ride hot pitching into series vs. Blue Jays
Sep 19, 2024; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays pitcher Zack Littell (52) throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images If pitching is contagious, as many in baseball claim, the Tampa Bay Rays have an epidemic on their hands.
Manager Kevin Cash and his red-hot pitching staff will begin a three-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays with the series opener Friday night in St. Petersburg, Fla.
It’s all about the pitching for the Rays (75-78) right now.
Against a potent Boston offense over three games, Tampa Bay pitchers allowed just five runs on 10 hits while striking out 33.
After strong starts from Shane Baz and Ryan Pepiot in the first two matchups, Zack Littell took it to another level Thursday in a 2-0 shutout.
Using just 75 pitches, Littell improved to 8-9 and lowered his ERA to 3.56 by striking out seven and allowing just a harmless third-inning single to Nick Sogard, the only baserunner Boston had in the game.
“Really remarkable,” Cash said of Littell, who has a 20-inning scoreless streak. “To do it against (Boston’s) offense and just limit damage. Not a lot of hard-hit balls at all. You can tell he kept them off balance.”
Relievers Edwin Uceta and Garrett Cleavinger closed out the Rays’ 11th shutout by not allowing a baserunner in one inning apiece, leaving the Red Sox with 28 batters up, 27 down in a truly dominant performance.
Tyler Alexander (6-5, 5.58 ERA) will start for Tampa Bay on Friday. He is 2-0 in three games against Toronto this season, making him 2-1 with a 3.50 ERA over seven career appearances vs. the Jays.
Behind five hitless innings from starter Kevin Gausman (13-11) in Texas, the Blue Jays (73-80) beat the Rangers 4-0 on Thursday.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. rocketed two mammoth shots – 422 and 441 feet – to reach the 30-homer plateau for the third time in five seasons.
The club is 1-2 on its six-game road trip.
Toronto will play the final nine games without star shortstop Bo Bichette, who was lost for the season’s remainder Wednesday with a fractured right middle finger after two months of rehab for a lingering calf injury.
“He was frustrated,” Toronto manager John Schneider said. “But I do think he’s in a pretty good place in terms of perspective and things like that. He was obviously frustrated, but (he) knows something positive will come out of this. That’s what we’re hoping for.”
Bichette, 26, was fielding ground balls when a ball jumped up on him and popped his fingertip.
His disappointing 2024 concludes with him batting .225 with four homers and 31 RBIs in 81 games.
Toronto pitcher Jose Berrios (16-9, 3.44) will find himself standing on familiar ground in the Gulf Coast domed park when he takes the hill for his 31st start.
The Puerto Rican right-hander got the Opening Day nod and beat the Rays on March 28, an 8-2 win in which he pitched six innings and allowed two runs on six hits, including a homer by Yandy Diaz.
That started Berrios on a 4-0 run to open 2024.
However, the Rays evened the slate on July 23 in Toronto — a 4-2 victory in which Berrios issued a season-worst six walks and surrendered a two-run homer to Brandon Lowe.
Over 12 career starts against Tampa Bay, the 30-year-old hurler, who leads Toronto in wins and has posted three straight seasons with double-digit victories, is 4-5 with a 4.80 ERA.
The Rays have hit .255 with nine homers in 65 2/3 innings against him.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Manchester City look to extend win streak, take on Everton
[Subscription Customers Only] Jun 30, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; Manchester City forward Erling Haaland (9) celebrates scoring their second goal with midfielder Rodri (16) during a round of 16 match of the 2025 FIFA Club World Cup at Camping World Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Lee Smith-Reuters via Imagn Images Manchester City will try to keep pace with Premier League front-runner Arsenal on Monday night when they pay a visit to an Everton side still on the fringes of the European picture.
City (21-5-7, 70 points) will begin the day six points back of Arsenal with two matches in hand after the Gunners dispatched Fulham 3-0 on Saturday. The Cityzens won’t be even on games played until May 13, when they make up a postponed match against Crystal Palace that was delayed because of City’s triumphant League Cup run.
As a result, there continues to be the appearance of a chase, although the teams would finish level on points if they win out.
Manager Pep Guardiola insists it shouldn’t matter.
“It’s normal, so it’s the calendar,” Guardiola said on Friday. “Sometimes you play first. Sometimes behind. It is what it is. So, nothing changes in these stages, and you know exactly what you have to do.”
City have won six in a row in all competitions, the last three by a single goal: A 2-1 home league win over the Gunners on April 19, a 1-0 league victory at Burnley three days later, and a 2-1 FA Cup semifinal triumph over Southampton on April 25.
Erling Haaland scored once in both league fixtures to bring his EPL-leading total to 24. In the FA Cup semifinal, Jeremy Doku and Nico Gonzalez scored inside the final 10 minutes to complete a late rally.
Everton (13-13-8, 47 points) finished Saturday in 11th place, but only four points out of seventh, which currently would earn a berth in the UEFA Europa Conference League. Should City win the FA Cup, it could be the top eight English league finishers who earn a spot in Europe.
And if Everton could return to continental competition for the first time since 2017-18, it would conclude a much-improved first season at their new Hill Dickson Stadium, after bringing the curtain down on historic Goodison Park last May.
“We still believe there could be something out there for us. And we’ll keep pushing,” manager David Moyes said. “Building Everton back up is a process which I think is going to take quite a bit of time, but I think the first year or so here, we’ve certainly put decent foundations down. And hopefully we can continue to build on it.”
The Toffees are looking to avoid a third consecutive league defeat for the first time this season after a 2-1 home loss to derby rivals Liverpool on April 19 and a 2-1 away defeat at West Ham last weekend.
Beto, one of two Everton players with eight goals, departed the former contest late with a head injury and missed the latter fixture working through the league’s concussion protocol. He should be available Monday night, Moyes said.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Yankees tee off on Orioles to win third straight in 4-game series
May 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees right fielder Aaron Judge (99) hits a two run home run in the third inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Jasson Dominguez scored the tiebreaking run in the sixth inning before hitting a two-run homer and an RBI double during a seven-run eighth as the New York Yankees pulled away for an 11-3 victory over the visiting Baltimore Orioles on Sunday afternoon.
The Yankees won for the 13th time in 15 games and beat the Orioles for the 11th time in the past 12 meetings.
Aaron Judge hit a two-run homer off Baltimore rookie Trey Gibson. Ben Rice hit his 12th home run of the season in the first and doubled ahead of Judge’s 13th homer in the third.
Rice exited after the Yankees batted in the third because of a bruised left hand. The Yankees announced X-rays were negative and the first baseman is day-to-day. Rice appeared to get injured fielding a low pickoff throw from Max Fried and was replaced by Paul Goldschmidt.
Dominguez started the tiebreaking rally with a double to left field against Grant Wolfram (1-1) and advanced to third on a groundout by Austin Wells. Ryan McMahon, facing a drawn-in infield, followed with a single that first baseman Coby Mayo couldn’t handle after diving to stop it.
Dominguez started New York’s big inning with a two-run drive into the right field seats off Andrew Kittredge for a 6-3 lead. After an RBI sacrifice fly by Trent Grisham, Goldschmidt ripped a two-run single after the Yankees executed a double steal.
Following a sacrifice fly by Jazz Chisholm Jr., Dominguez added a double to left field for an 11-3 lead.
The Orioles tied it twice before losing their fourth straight and for the 12th time in 18 games.
Blaze Alexander had an RBI single in the third before getting thrown out trying to stretch the hit into a double. After Judge’s 413-foot drive bounced into Baltimore’s bullpen in left field, Leody Taveras hit an RBI infield single and Tyler O’Neill scored on a double play grounder by Jeremiah Jackson in the fourth.
Fried allowed three runs on six hits in 5 1/3 innings. The left-hander struck out six and walked three.
Fernando Cruz (3-0) got the final two outs of the sixth and the first out of the seventh. Brent Headrick ended the eighth by getting a double play grounder against Mayo.
Gibson allowed three runs on four hits in 4 2/3 innings during his major league debut.
The four-game series concludes Monday.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cam Smith drives in 2 in 10th, Astros edge Red Sox
May 3, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Houston Astros right fielder Cam Smith (11) hits a two run RBI against the Boston Red Sox during the tenth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Cam Smith had three hits, including a two-run single in the top of the 10th inning, to help the visiting Houston Astros earn a 3-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
Smith’s two-out single came against Zack Kelly (0-2) and drove in Braden Shewmake and Jose Altuve.
Boston had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the 10th, but Bryan Abreu got Ceddanne Rafaela to ground into a double play to end the game.
Jarren Duran hit a solo home run for the Red Sox, who stranded 13 runners and were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Duran’s home run was his third of the season and his second of the series. He hit a three-run homer in Boston’s 3-1 victory Friday night.
Abreu (1-2) pitched two scoreless innings to get the win. He gave up one hit, walked one and struck out one.
Willson Contreras collected three of Boston’s nine hits in the loss.
Christian Walker and Christian Vazquez each had two-hit games for the Astros, who won two games in the three-game set.
Boston starting pitcher Ranger Suarez was pulled after four scoreless innings because of hamstring tightness. He gave up three hits, walked one and struck out three. Suarez threw 70 pitches.
Duran’s home run off Houston reliever AJ Blubaugh opened the scoring in the fifth. Houston tied the game in the sixth, when Walker reached on an infield single, took third on Altuve’s double and scored on a sacrifice fly by Brice Matthews.
The Red Sox had a chance to win the game in the bottom of the ninth. An error on Abreu allowed Contreras to reach second with two outs in the inning, but Roman Anthony grounded out to first to end the inning.
Houston had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th, but Altuve grounded into a 6-2-5 double play. Following a walk to Matthews, Smith delivered his two-run single.
–Field Level Media
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