Sports
Falcons, HEROIC advance in DreamLeague Season 25
Nov 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Fans react during the League of Legends World Championships between T1 and DRX at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images Team Falcons and HEROIC won matches Wednesday to clinch advancement to Group Stage 2 at the DreamLeague Season 25.
Falcons (4-1-2) earned a 2-0 victory over 9Pandas (0-5-2) to wind up in third place in Group A after round-robin play in Group Stage 1. HEROIC (4-3-0) took fourth place in Group A following a 2-0 win over Xtreme Gaming (0-5-2).
The event’s 16 teams were divided into two round-robin groups of eight for Group Stage 1, with each match consisting of two maps. The top four squads from Group A and the top four from Group B will move on to Group Stage 2, while the rest of the teams will be eliminated.
Tundra Esports (6-0-1) and BetBoom Team (5-1-1) had already wrapped up the top two places in Group A, and they each recorded a 2-0 win on Wednesday. Tundra dumped Moodeng Warriors (2-5-0), and BetBoom bested Shopify Rebellion (2-3-2).
In Group B, Chimera Esports (3-1-3) and PARIVISION (2-1-4) played to a 1-1 draw on Wednesday, a result that sealed a playoff berth for both teams. First-place Team Spirit (5-0-2) wrapped up an unbeaten run with a 1-1 draw against Yakult Brothers (1-1-5).
Gaimin Gladiators (2-2-3) posted a 2-0 win over AVULUS (0-5-2), and Team Liquid (1-1-5) drew 1-1 against BOOM Esports (0-3-4). Those results created a three-way tie for the fourth and final qualifying spot for Group B.
Tiebreaker matches will be held Thursday, with Yakult Brothers opposing Team Liquid, and the winner of that contest facing Gaimin Gladiators for the right to move forward.
The eight teams that reach Group Stage 2 will be put into one single round-robin group, where they will face off in best-of-three matches beginning on Friday.
The top two teams from Group Stage 2 will head to the upper bracket of the playoffs, the third- and fourth-place teams will land in the lower bracket, and the remaining teams will be eliminated.
The playoffs begin March 1 and feature a double-elimination bracket. All matches are best-of-three aside from the grand final on March 2, which is best-of-five. The winning team gets $250,000 and a club reward of $40,000. There will also be 20,440 ESL Pro Tour points distributed to the participants.
In Wednesday action, Team Falcons handled 9Pandas in 34 minutes and 31 minutes, both on green. Slovakia’s Oliver “skiter” Lepko paced Falcons with an average 8.5/2.0/13.5 kill-death-assist ratio.
HEROIC opened with a 42-minute victory on red before closing out Xtreme Gaming with a 42-minute win on green. Nicaragua’s Yuma “Yuma” Langlet wound up at 9.5/2.5/16.0 for HEROIC.
DreamLeague Season 25 Group Stage 1 standings (match record W-L-T, map record)
Group A
1. Tundra Esports, 6-0-1, 13-1
2. BetBoom Team, 5-1-1, 11-3
3. Team Falcons, 4-1-2, 10-4
4. HEROIC, 4-3-0, 8-6
5. Shopify Rebellion, 2-3-2, 6-8
6. Moodeng Warriors, 2-5-0, 4-10
7. Xtreme Gaming, 0-5-2, 2-12
8. 9Pandas, 0-5-2, 2-12
Group B
1. Team Spirit, 5-0-2, 12-2
2. Chimera Esports, 3-1-3, 9-5
3. PARIVISION, 2-1-4, 8-6
T4. Gaimin Gladiators, 2-2-3, 7-7
T4. Team Liquid, 1-1-5, 7-7
T4. Yakult Brothers, 1-1-5, 7-7
7. BOOM Esports, 0-3-4, 4-10
8. AVULUS, 0-5-2, 2-12
DreamLeague Season 25 prize pool (cash winning, EPT points, club reward)
1. $250,000, TBD, $40,000
2. $100,000, TBD, $30,000
3. $80,000, TBD, $25,000
4. $60,000, TBD, $20,000
5. $40,000, TBD, $15,000
6. $35,000, TBD, $15,000
7. $30,000, TBD, $12,500
8. $25,000, TBD, $12,500
9-10. $20,000, 350 points, $10,000
11-12. $17,500, 175 points, $10,000
13-14. $15,000, 98 points, $10,000
15-16. $10,000, 42 points, $10,000
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hunter Brown in control, Astros down White Sox for 5th straight
Jul 25, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Hunter Brown (58) throws the ball against the Chicago White Sox at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images Hunter Brown allowed two hits over seven shutout innings and Isaac Paredes drove in three runs to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-1 win over the host Chicago White Sox on Saturday night.
Jeremy Pena was 3-for-4 with two runs scored and Paredes 2-for 4 for the Astros, who have won five straight, including the first two of the three-game weekend series.
The White Sox, who managed five hits, have lost three of their last four.
They threatened in the eighth with runners on second and third and two out, but reliever Bennett Sousa replaced Bryan Abreu and got pinch hitter Randall Grichuk on a pop up to first.
After Colson Montgomery’s RBI single in the ninth, Josh Hader came in to get the last two outs for his 12th save.
Brown (2-1) finished strong, setting down 12 consecutive batters from the fourth through seventh innings. The right-hander did not walk a batter and struck out seven as he fired 60 strikes in 90 pitches.
Chicago starter Sean Burke (7-5) surrendered three runs (two earned) on four hits in six innings with a walk and 10 strikeouts.
It was a 0-0 pitcher’s duel through five with Burke also retiring 12 in a row, from the second through the fifth, but heading for trouble.
The streak was broken when Burke hit Cam Smith leading off the sixth. Pena’s single and a walk to Yordan Alvarez loaded the bases. Paredes then grounded a single to right that got past right fielder Braden Montgomery for an error that also allowed Alvarez to score, for a 3-0 Houston lead, and Paredes to reach third.
Burke then limited the damage by getting Jose Altuve on a groundout and striking out LaMonte Wade Jr. and Christian Walker.
Paredes added an RBI single in the eighth to make it 4-0.
White Sox left fielder Sam Antonnaci robbed Paredes, who was leading off the fourth, of a likely home run with a leaping catch of Paredes’ long drive by pulling the ball in just above the fence.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Robert Gasser holds Rockies in check as Brewers win
Jul 25, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Robert Gasser (54) delivers a pitch against the Colorado Rockies in the fourth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images Cooper Pratt homered and drove in three runs, Robert Gasser tossed six solid innings, and the host Milwaukee Brewers beat the Colorado Rockies 8-5 on Saturday night.
Luis Lara had two hits and also drove in three runs, Jake Bauers contributed two hits and scored three times and Brice Turang added two hits for Milwaukee.
The Brewers have won four of five games from Colorado this season, with the teams wrapping up the 2026 schedule Sunday.
Gasser (3-4), in his first career start against the Rockies, allowed two runs on five hits, struck out four and didn’t walk a batter.
Jake McCarthy extended his on-base streak to 19 games with a single and Kyle Karros had two hits for Colorado.
The Brewers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second inning. Bauers led off with a walk, stole second and went to third on a groundout. Lara drove him in with a sacrifice fly and Pratt hit a solo home run, his second of the season.
Colorado rallied to tie it in the fourth.
Karros led off with a single, Cole Carrigg doubled and Hunter Goodman followed with a two-run single.
Milwaukee went back in front in the bottom of the inning when Pratt drove in Bauers with a single, and then broke it open in the sixth inning.
William Contreras and Bauers started the rally with singles, chasing starter Ryan Feltner (3-5), who allowed five runs on nine hits in five-plus innings. Juan Mejia walked Garrett Mitchell to load the bases and Lara drove in two with a double to left.
Pratt’s sacrifice fly made it 6-2 and Rockies catcher Braxton Fulford’s throwing error on a pickoff attempt at third allowed Lara to come home. The Brewers tacked on a run in the eighth on Christian Yelich’s sacrifice fly.
But Colorado mounted a rally in the ninth. The Rockies loaded the bases on two walks and a fielder’s choice, and McCarthy drove in two with a single. Trevor Megill gave up an RBI single to Karros before striking out Carrigg to earn his 17th save.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nathan Eovaldi leads Rangers to another win over Mariners
Jul 25, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Texas Rangers pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) delivers a pitch to the Seattle Mariners during the first inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images Nathan Eovaldi pitched seven strong innings as the Texas Rangers defeated the visiting Seattle Mariners 7-1 Saturday night in Arlington, Texas. to increase their lead over the defending American League West champions to 2 1/2 games.
The top three batters in Texas’ order — Joc Pederson, Wyatt Langford and Ezequiel Duran — went a combined 8-for-13 with three doubles, a triple, three RBIs and four runs. The Rangers have won the first two games of the four-game series.
Eovaldi allowed one run on three hits — a one-out single by J.P. Crawford in the third then a two-out single by Luke Raley followed by a double to right by Crawford to score Seattle’s lone run in the fifth. The veteran right-hander walked one and struck out eight.
The Rangers scored three runs in the first inning and two more in the second against Seattle’s Bryan Woo (7-7), whose road woes continued.
In the first, Langford lined a one-out double to right field and Duran followed with a liner that eluded a diving center fielder Raley and rolled all the way to the wall for a run-scoring triple. Following a walk to Brandon Nimmo, Evan Carter doubled down the left field line to score Duran. Nicky Lopez’s groundout to short scored the third run.
Woo retired the first two batters in the second on a total of three pitchers before Pederson grounded a single to right and stole second. Langford hit a run-scoring double to left and Duran lined an RBI single to center to make it 5-0.
Woo gave up five runs on nine hits over five innings, with two walks and five strikeouts. The right-hander dropped to 1-7 in away games this season with a 6.52 ERA.
The Rangers added two runs in the seventh. Carter drew a two-out walk off Cole Wilcox, who was replaced by Nick Davila. Carter advanced to second on a balk and Lopez walked. Alejandro Osuna doubled to center, scoring both runners.
–Field Level Media
