The Dallas Wings will be chasing their seventh straight win when they host the slumping New York Liberty on Monday in Arlington, Texas, but they likely will be without the services of star guard Paige Bueckers.

Bueckers spent the final minutes of Sunday’s 90-82 home win over the Los Angeles Spark in the locker room after suffering an apparent head injury late in the fourth quarter.

With 3:33 remaining in the game, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike was dribbling down the court, got tripped up by Dallas rookie Azzi Fudd and lost her balance. She tumbled into the legs of Bueckers and the second-year player fell straight back, landing on her back.

The back of Bueckers’ head appeared to hit the floor when she fell and the 24-year-old immediately grabbed her head.

Bueckers walked off the court on her own but with members of the Wings’ staff flanking her as she continued to hold her head and had a slight limp.

Bueckers had amassed a game-high 25 points before being forced from the game. Arike Ogunbowale scored six of her 20 points in the victory over the final 2:36 while Jessica Shepard totaled 11 points and 14 rebounds.

Fudd also scored 11 points in win.

“We worked hard for this win, and when Paige went down, it was all about the rest of us stepping up,” Ogunbowale said after the victory over Los Angeles.

Wings coach Jose Fernandez had no detailed update on Bueckers’ status in his postgame press conference but said Bueckers was in good spirits. Her availability for Monday’s game is yet to be determined.

“She’s upset at Azzi because she said Azzi tripped her (Ogwumike) and took away P’s charge,” Fernandez said lightheartedly.

Monday’s game was rescheduled from July 16 because of travel difficulties for the Liberty, creating a home back-to-back for Dallas.

The Wings (17-8) enter Monday’s game carrying their longest winning streak in 11 years. Dallas has captured six straight games for the first time since the 2015 campaign when the franchise was in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

In that season, the Wings (then known as the Shock) won eight straight outings early in the year and then six in a row before bowing out against the Phoenix Mercury in the Western Conference semifinals.

The Liberty (13-12) limp into Arlington on the heels of a 108-88 loss in Indianapolis to the Fever on Saturday. Breanna Stewart led the way with 26 points and eight boards for New York, while Jonquel Jones netted 13 points and Marine Johannes and Sabrina Ionescu each added 12.

Johannes suffered a left ankle injury in the game and is questionable to compete on Monday.

The Liberty jumped out to an 11-point, first-quarter lead and were up by four at halftime before succumbing in the second half. New York’s 17 turnovers which led to 30 Fever points had plenty to do with the loss.

“We don’t like where we’re at right now, but (here) we are,” Stewart said after the loss. “(We’re) playing with that, realizing that we’re in it. We’re in the trenches, and we can either keep sinking or we can dig ourselves out.”

New York has dropped six of its past seven games and eight of its last 10. The Liberty have trailed by at least 13 points at some juncture in six of their past eight games and has lost all six of those contests.

“We’re really mature about it,” Ionescu said. “It really hasn’t been too frustrating. Every team goes through it. During the process, kind of when you’re in it, it sucks, but I think everyone has a really good mindset of knowing it’ll pay off for us in the long run.”

Key New York players Satou Sabally (concussion protocol) and Leonie Fiebich (foot) have been ruled out for the game.

It is the teams’ third and final meeting of the season. Dallas took the first two matchups, both in Brooklyn, including an 88-77 decision on July 7 that started the Liberty’s current four-game losing streak.

–Field Level Media

The Minnesota Twins and Guardians will look to play a better brand of baseball when they open their four-game series on Monday in Cleveland.

The Twins were taken to task during the rubber match of their three-game series against the Chicago Cubs on Sunday, dropping a 10-1 decision.

“This game got out of hand early and stayed out of hand, and we weren’t able to do anything,” Minnesota manager Derek Shelton said. “So we just flush it and move on to the next series.”

Luke Keaschall, who was playing his eighth major-league game in center field, misplayed a ball, resulting in three runs crossing the plate. That turned a three-run deficit into a six-run hole.

“I wanted to catch it,” Keaschall said, per the St. Paul Pioneer Press. “I got a good read on it, but then it started to die a little bit. I tried to let up, got caught in between and just tried to get my body in front of it. It bounced to my left and got by me.”

Keaschall and Minnesota will look to atone on Monday against Cleveland. The Twins have won four of the six meetings between the teams this season.

Like Minnesota, Cleveland committed many costly miscues in its 7-1 setback to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Sunday. Gabriel Arias and Patrick Bailey miscommunicated on a pickoff attempt, and the former also failed to retag second base, which resulted in one of five outs on the bases for Cleveland.

“We’re a young team and we’re going to make mistakes,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “We’ve talked about it the whole year. That’s where our coaches and I need to step up and teach more. We need to get our players better.”

Steven Kwan had two singles, giving him 11 hits during his six-game hitting streak. He is just 3-for-18 in six games this season against Minnesota

The series opener features a battle of right-handers, as All-Star Joe Ryan (6-5, 2.85 ERA) of the Twins will square off against Tanner Bibee (3-9, 3.90) of the Guardians.

Ryan struck out a pair of batters during one scoreless inning of work in the All-Star Game on Tuesday.

He also was dominant leading into that game, going 2-2 with a 1.93 ERA after allowing six earned runs with 36 strikeouts over his previous five outings (28 innings).

Ryan, 30, allowed one run on two hits with five strikeouts in six innings in his one appearance against Cleveland this season. He received a no-decision in that contest on May 9, however he is 3-5 with a 2.83 ERA in 13 career appearances (12 starts) versus the Guardians.

Bibee enjoyed a rare positive moment in his last outing, yielding one run on five hits in 6 2/3 innings of a 4-1 victory over the Miami Marlins on July 11. That victory was his first in nearly one month.

He pitched well in his lone appearance against both Ryan and Minnesota this season. He permitted one run on one hit and struck out nine in six innings of a no-decision.

Bibee, 27, is 2-0 with a 2.83 ERA in 10 career appearances (all starts) versus the Twins.

–Field Level Media

The Boston Red Sox started their 13-game win streak on the road before the All-Star break, but home cooking has helped to fuel it.

After completing a four-game sweep of the American League East-leading Tampa Bay Rays, the Red Sox look to keep the good times rolling when they welcome the Baltimore Orioles — who have won seven in a row themselves — into Boston for the start of a three-game series on Monday night.

“I feel like we’ve flipped the script,” Boston third baseman Caleb Durbin said.

The current heater has Boston two games above the .500 mark for the first time since a win on Opening Day. Now the team is two games short of the club record of 15 straight set in 1946.

“You’re winning games against clubs that have a chance to be in the playoffs. That’s important,” Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said. “It’s important that we’re playing this way out of the All-Star break. It’s important that we’re doing it at home. All those things matter.”

Another thing that matters? The return of Willson Contreras.

Contreras’ two-run homer in the fifth inning on Sunday gave the Red Sox a 6-1 lead, which proved to be the final score, in support of another quality start from Sonny Gray. It was the first baseman’s second round-tripper in three games since returning from a suspension and his fourth in seven games since July 4.

The Red Sox hand the ball to Payton Tolle (5-6, 3.11 ERA) for his first start since the All-Star break after being limited to 3 2/3 innings last Sunday against the New York Mets in an effort to manage his workload. The 23-year-old was still effective, striking out seven and allowing just one run on three hits in 3 2/3 innings.

Tolle has allowed just one run or fewer in three of his last four starts, while one of his three shutout performances this season came in his first career start against Baltimore on June 3, as he limited the Orioles to seven hits over six innings and struck out five.

Though the Orioles remain two games below .500 (49-51) on the season, they continued their winning ways with a 5-2 Sunday triumph and a three-game road sweep over the Houston Astros.

Baltimore managed just six hits, including a pair from Dylan Beavers, but seven walks and four hit batters helped set its offense in motion. Gunnar Henderson’s steal of home on a double steal also highlighted the effort.

“(Our offense just wants to) continue to put pressure on defenses,” Henderson said. “If you do that over the course of nine innings, you’re bound to break through.”

The Orioles did just that in the fifth, thanks to a two-run single by Leody Taveras.

As his team arrives in Boston, Orioles manager Craig Albernaz will be watching the status of catcher Samuel Basallo, who exited Sunday’s game with right shoulder discomfort during an at-bat in the second inning.

“It’s been a lingering thing, and obviously, he just aggravated it,” said Albernaz, who also noted that All-Star Adley Rutschman was experiencing left discomfort before the game.

Baltimore looks to continue its recent momentum with Shane Baz (4-9, 4.19) on the mound, searching for his first win since June 12. The righty has fanned nine batters in two of his five outings since then, including a 4 2/3-inning start last Sunday against the Kansas City Royals.

The rotation initially had Kyle Bradish scheduled to make the Monday start before he was pushed back a day. Bradish signed a five-year contract extension on Saturday, becoming the highest-paid pitcher in Orioles history.

Baz is 4-1 with a 2.63 ERA in six career starts against the Red Sox. He was a winner in Boston in that June 2 outing, pitching seven innings of two-run ball with six strikeouts.

–Field Level Media