Sports
Max Fried stymies Royals in Braves' 3-0 win
Sep 27, 2024; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Atlanta Braves starting pitcher Max Fried (54) throws against the Kansas City Royals in the first inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Max Fried scattered three hits over 8 2/3 scoreless innings and Sean Murphy belted a two-run homer to lift the host Atlanta Braves to a 3-0 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Friday.
Fried (11-10) retired the first 10 batters he faced and struck out nine batters overall to highlight his 98-pitch performance.
Marcell Ozuna scored on a throwing error in the eighth inning for the Braves (87-71), who have won four in a row to move within a half-game of both the New York Mets (87-70) and Arizona Diamondbacks (88-71) for one of the final two wild-card spots in the National League. The Mets and Diamondbacks were playing their respective games later Friday night.
Michael Massey had two doubles among the three hits for the Royals (85-75), who saw their three-game winning streak end. Kansas City can still punch its ticket to the postseason should the Minnesota Twins lose to the Baltimore Orioles later on Friday.
Fried got off to a fast start before Bobby Witt Jr. reached on an infield single with one out in the fourth inning. The left-hander induced Massey to hit into a fielder’s choice before picking him off first base to end the inning.
Massey hit a one-out double in the seventh before Fried retired the next two batters on three total pitches. Fried struck out two during the eighth inning and one more in the ninth before exiting after Witt walked and Massey doubled with two outs.
Raisel Iglesias induced a game-ending flyout from Salvador Perez on his only pitch to notch his 33rd save.
Atlanta opened the scoring in the fourth inning.
Jorge Soler had a one-out single to left field before Murphy stepped up two batters later and deposited an 0-2 sweeper from Brady Singer (9-13) over the wall in left field. Murphy’s homer was his 10th of the season.
Ozuna tacked on another run in the eighth inning after stealing third base and coming around to score after catcher Perez’s throw toward third sailed into left field.
Singer fell to 0-5 in his last seven outings after permitting two runs on four hits in six innings. He walked three and fanned five.
–Field Level Media
Sports
St. Louis City aim for 7-game points streak vs. Rapids
Jul 22, 2026; Carson, California, USA; St. Louis CITY SC goalkeeper Roman Burki (1) reacts against LA Galaxy during the second half at Dignity Health Sports Park. Mandatory Credit: Griffin Hooper-Imagn Images St. Louis City SC will try to extend their unbeaten run to seven matches when the Colorado Rapids visit on Saturday.
St. Louis is 5-0-1 over its last six regular-season games, in a streak that began with a 1-0 victory over the Rapids on May 9. After scoring only 13 times in their first 13 games of the season, St. Louis City (6-6-4, 22 points) have tallied three goals in each of their last three matches.
While it took a while for the offensive progress to emerge, midfielder Chris Durkin felt his team has had “a sense of direction and structure” all season.
“We were producing good moments, but we just couldn’t get those over the line,” Durkin said. “And now that the ball is going in the back of the net, there’s a level of expectation when we get on the field that, ‘Hey, we can get something out of this.'”
That “expectation” has spread over the whole roster, as Durkin noted that “a lot of people are chipping in to help” the attack. Marcel Hartel leads St. Louis with five goals, but 13 different players have scored at least one goal.
Midfielder Conrad Wallem is available Saturday after missing the Galaxy match due to concussion protocol.
The Rapids (6-9-1, 19 points) are hoping to emulate St. Louis’ string of consistent results. Colorado hasn’t collected points in consecutive regular-season games since Feb. 28-March 7.
The stirring nature of Wednesday’s 1-0 win over San Diego FC might be the spark Colorado has needed. Playing in his first MLS match, defender Loic Williams scored the deciding goal six minutes into second-half stoppage time.
“To get a clean sheet, a win and to also score a last-second winner … you can’t ask for anything better than that,” goalkeeper Nico Hansen said. “So of course you know the vibes and the morale was very good in the locker room after.”
Wayne Frederick and Miguel Navarro are available Saturday after being suspended for the San Diego match. Frederick returns to action with a new contract, as the midfielder signed an extension Friday that will keep him in Colorado through at least the 2029-30 season.
Rafael Navarro leads the Rapids with eight goals. Frederick, Paxten Aaronson and Dante Sealy share the team lead with five assists apiece.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Top goal scorer Petar Musa, Dallas seek first win over San Diego
Jul 22, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; FC Dallas offense Petar Musa (9) and Portland Timbers defense Brandon Bye (5) battle for the ball in the second half at Providence Park. Mandatory Credit: Jaime Valdez-Imagn Images FC Dallas will attempt to defeat San Diego FC for the first time when the teams match up Saturday night in Southern California.
Dallas’ trip to San Diego last season was highly forgettable as it was drubbed 5-0 by the then-expansion franchise.
San Diego posted a 3-2 road win over Dallas last season and the two teams played to a 3-3 tie in Frisco, Texas, earlier this season.
In this year’s match, Dallas star Petar Musa scored the tying goal in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to complete a hat trick.
Musa scored a second-half goal in Wednesday’s 2-2 draw against the host Portland Timbers, in the team’s first match after the two-month break for the World Cup. He is officially tied for the league lead with 13 goals but now stands alone as the leader after Chicago transferred Hugo Cuypers (also with 13) to Monterrey of Liga MX on Thursday.
Patrickson Delgado scored in first-half stoppage time for the other goal for Dallas (7-4-5, 26 points), which is tied for fourth place in the Western Conference.
“We know from the first half of the season we can beat anybody,” Dallas head coach Eric Quill told reporters earlier this week. “There’s no question about who we are.”
San Diego (4-7-5, 17 points) has struggled most of the campaign after surprisingly winning the West in its first season. The club is tied for 13th in the 15-team conference entering Saturday’s play.
The resumption of play after the break continued their issues. Colorado’s Loic Williams scored in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time to give the Rapids a 1-0 home win over San Diego.
San Diego head coach Mikey Varas wore a brave face after the match.
“We got a game in three days,” Varas said to reporters, “so we have to get our legs and minds and our body right and then turn this around really quick.”
Marcus Ingvartsen leads San Diego with 11 goals.
San Diego made a move to spruce up the attack Friday by signing Tunisia World Cup starter Elias Achouri through the 2028-29 season.
The 27-year-old forward still needs to get a visa before he can play for San Diego. He started all three of Tunisia’s group play matches in the World Cup.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Elite at home, Real Salt Lake go for elusive road win vs. Timbers
May 9, 2026; Frisco, Texas, USA; Real Salt Lake midfielder Diego Luna (10) dribbles the ball against FC Dallas midfielder Kaick (55) during the first half at Toyota Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Chris Jones-Imagn Images Real Salt Lake returned from the World Cup break hoping to prove they could win on the road.
After a 3-1 loss Wednesday at Los Angeles FC, they’ll get another chance Saturday night at Portland.
RSL (8-5-2, 26 points) is just 1-4-2 in away matches, the lone win coming 3-2 at Atlanta United on March 7.
“I don’t think it’s a secret,” RSL coach Pablo Mastroeni said. “Obviously there’s a huge advantage to playing at home in this league and it’s very difficult to win on the road. Given that we’re going to have a lot of road games coming up, it’ll really stress us in that department, challenge us.”
After Saturday’s stop, RSL will wrap up a three-game trip next Saturday in St. Louis.
“Three games away in a row is a good chance for us to turn a narrative around,” said 19-year-old midfielder Zavier Gozo, whose six goals are tied with Sergi Solans for the team lead. “We struggle to win away, so I think it’s a good opportunity to show we can win away.”
Gozo scored in the previous meeting with Portland this season, May 2 in Sandy, Utah. He and Diego Luna scored first-half goals, Juan Manuel Sanabria had a pair of assists and goalkeeper Rafael Cabral kept a clean sheet with two saves. The hosts outshot Portland 25-11, with a 15-2 edge in attempts on target. Timbers goalie James Pantemis made a franchise-record 13 saves.
The Timbers (5-8-3, 18 points) are coming off a 2-2 draw with visiting FC Dallas on Wednesday, as Felipe Mora scored the equalizer in second-half stoppage time. Kevin Kelsy also tallied for Portland, his team-high eighth of the season.
“I think when you have this many games in tight in a week … you just focus on the next game,” said Timbers interim coach Jack Cassidy, who is 1-0-1 — including a 5-1 victory at Seattle — as the club waits for new coach Marti Cifuentes to sort out his visa.
–Field Level Media
St. Louis City aim for 7-game points streak vs. Rapids
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