Sports
President Trump plans to award Medal of Freedom to Connor Hellebuyck
Feb 22, 2026; Milan, Italy; Connor Hellebuyck #37 of Team United States celebrates after winning the goal medal game against Team Canada during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Santagiulia Ice Hockey Arena. Mandatory Credit: Geoff Burke-Imagn Images Connor Hellebuyck transformed himself from an NHL star into a mainstream American hero while leading the U.S. men’s hockey team to the gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics.
The performance by the Winnipeg Jets goalie caught the eye of President Donald Trump, who announced Tuesday in his State of the Union address that Hellebuyck would receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Twenty players from the men’s Olympic team visited the White House on Tuesday, according to multiple media reports, ahead of being honored guests at the Capitol for the State of the Union.
Trump polled the players if Hellebuyck should get the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
“I said, ‘I’m not giving it if anyone goes no,'” the president said. “And every single one of them rapidly put up their hand. So I want to thank you all. What a special job you did. What special champions you are.”
Trump added, “I’ve never seen a goaltender play as well as goalie Connor Hellebuyck.”
Hellebuyck, among the Olympic contingent in attendance, tapped his heart and waved.
Trump said during his speech, “Our country is winning again. In fact, we’re winning so much that we really don’t know what to do about it. People are asking me — please, please, please Mr. President, we’re winning too much. We can’t take it anymore. We’re not used to winning in our country. Until you came along, we’re just always losing, but now, we’re winning too much.
“And I say, no no no. You’re going to win again. You’re going to win big. You’re gonna win bigger than ever, and to prove that point — to prove that point — here with us tonight is a group of winners who just made the entire nation proud: the men’s gold medal Olympic hockey team.”
Two upper doors in the House of Representatives then opened, and the U.S. players entered and were greeted with bipartisan cheering.
Hellebuyck made 41 saves in the United States’ 2-1 overtime win against Canada in the gold-medal match at Milan. A three-time winner of the NHL’s Vezina Trophy (best goaltender), the 32-year-old Michigan native is also the reigning winner of the Hart Trophy (league MVP).
Trump invited the gold-medal-winning U.S. women’s Olympic team to the White House and the State of the Union, but that squad declined the offer, citing “timing and previously scheduled academic and professional commitments.”
During his speech, Trump said the U.S. women’s team “will soon be coming to the White House.”
Recent athletes to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom include Simone Biles (2022), Megan Rapinoe (2022), Katie Ledecky (2024), Jim Thorpe (posthumously in 2024), Magic Johnson (2025) and Lionel Messi (2025).
Past winners include Tiger Woods, Babe Ruth, Michael Jordan, Billie Jean King, Muhammad Ali, Arnold Palmer, Arthur Ashe and Jackie Robinson.
–Field Level Media
Sports
CJ Abrams, Foster Griffin spark Nationals over D-backs
Jul 25, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Washington Nationals shortstop CJ Abrams (5) hits a two RBI double against the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Brad Mills-Imagn Images CJ Abrams had three hits including a home run, Foster Griffin pitched into the seventh inning and the Nationals beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 5-3 on Saturday in Washington.
Abrams tied the game with a two-run double in the third and hit his 25th home run in the fifth, giving him a major-league-leading 79 RBIs. He also singled and stole his 17th base.
Griffin (12-2), a free agent at the end of the season, may have been making his final start for Washington with the trade deadline approaching. Griffin, who struck out two and walked one, allowed three runs on six hits after giving up one or zero earned runs in eight straight starts.
Clayton Beeter pitched 1-2-3 ninth for his ninth save.
Gabriel Moreno had a two-run single for Arizona, which had won four straight, and Tim Tawa had two hits and a run.
Rookie Mitch Bratt (0-1) gave up five runs on seven hits over five innings in his fourth start. He struck out three and walked five.
An error by second baseman Ketel Marte gave the Nationals runners on first and second with one out in the second, but Bratt retired Nasim Nunez and Keibert Ruiz.
The D-backs struck for two runs in the third. Ryan Waldschmidt led off with a single and Corbin Carroll was hit by a pitch. Geraldo Perdomo bunted the runners over and Moreno followed with a two-run single.
Washington answered with a four-run rally in the bottom half. Curtis Mead walked with one out and Andres Chaparro doubled him to third. Abrams lined a double to center and the game was tied. After Abrams was out trying to steal third, Dylan Crews walked. Jacob Young singled and Daylen Lile tripled into the right field corner and the Nationals led 4-2.
Abrams made it 5-2 when he homered to right-center leading off the fifth.
In the seventh, Tawa doubled with two outs and scored on a single by James McCann. Eddy Yean came on and retired pinch hitter Max Kepler to end the inning.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dylan Cease tosses dominant 1-hitter as Blue Jays blank Red Sox
Jul 25, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Dylan Cease (84) pitches during the first inning against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images Dylan Cease threw a one-hitter and George Springer hit a three-run home run as the visiting Toronto Blue Jays beat the Boston Red Sox 6-0 Saturday.
The teams will play the rubber match of the series on Sunday. Boston is 11-2 in its last 13 games against the American League East and has won 16 of its last 18.
Cease (7-5), who took a no-hitter into the ninth against the San Francisco Giants on July 8, only allowed four Red Sox hitters to reach base.
He was perfect until walking Caleb Durbin with two outs in the fifth and didn’t allow a hit through five innings.
The complete game was the first for Toronto this season and the 12th in the majors. Seven of the complete games have been shutouts.
It was Cease’s fourth career complete game and his fourth career shutout. The right-hander walked three and struck out 12 on a career-high 120 pitches.
Boston starter Sonny Gray (12-2) gave up five runs on 10 hits in five innings. The right-hander didn’t walk anyone and struck out three on 75 pitches.
The Blue Jays took control in the third when they used six straight hits to score five runs with two outs.
Nathan Lukes started the rally with a double into the left-field corner and scored when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined a single to left.
Kazuma Okamoto kept it going by singling off the glove of third baseman Durbin and Springer made the Red Sox pay by homering just over the Green Monster in left to make it 4-0.
Varsho continued the inning with a single to center and he scored when Ernie Clement doubled off the base of the left-field wall to go up 5-0.
Gray had been 10-0 since coming off the injured list in mid-May. This was his worst outing since giving up five earned runs in four innings in a 6-0 loss to Minnesota on April 14.
Cease, pitching on the second anniversary of his no-hitter for the Padres, didn’t give up a hit until Andruw Monasterio doubled to lead off the sixth.
Monasterio did not advance, however, as Cease induced Connor Wong to ground out, struck out Anthony Seigler and retired Ceddanne Rafaela with a pop out to shallow center.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jung Hoo Lee, Rafael Devers shine as Giants torch Angels
Jul 25, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; San Francisco Giants first baseman Rafael Devers (16) celebrates with second baseman Luis Arraez (1) after batting him in on a three run home run against the Los Angeles Angels during the fourth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images Jung Hoo Lee lifted a three-run home run as part of a five-run third inning, Rafael Devers homered for the second consecutive day and the San Francisco Giants made it two straight over the visiting Los Angeles Angels with a 9-2 shellacking Saturday afternoon.
Robbie Ray (9-6) threw six shutout innings for the Giants, who followed up on a walk-off win by scoring nine runs in the rematch’s first four innings.
Lee’s homer, his sixth of the season, capped a lead-creating third that began with one-out hits by Luis Arraez and Heliot Ramos, followed by two-out RBI singles from Devers and Casey Schmitt.
Arraez also singled in the fourth, an RBI hit that plated Drew Gilbert, before Devers launched his 22nd homer, another three-run shot, that made it 9-0.
Angels starter Ryan Johnson (2-5) was pulled one out into the fourth, eventually charged with eight runs on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings. He walked one and struck out four.
Ray retained the nine-run margin through his six innings, during which he allowed six hits and two walks. He struck out five.
In becoming the team’s first nine-game winner, the left-hander ran his career record against the Angels to 4-1, equalling his best career winning percentage against any opponent.
The Angels avoided a shutout in the seventh when Mike Trout, who had two earlier singles, grounded into a bases-loaded double play, scoring Jose Siri.
The visitors completed the scoring in the ninth when Vaughn Grissom drew a two-out, bases-loaded walk.
Backup catcher Tyler Heineman finished the game on the mound for the Angels, throwing a 1-2-3 bottom of the eighth.
Devers, who had a fourth RBI taken away in Friday’s opener when what was originally scored as a two-run, ground-rule double was changed to a walk-off, RBI single, got his four RBIs a day later along with three hits and two runs scored. Arraez had two hits and scored twice for the Giants, while Lee added a double to his home run.
Siri and Logan O’Hoppe joined Trout with two hits each for the Angels, who dropped their third straight. The Angels were out-hit 11-9.
-Field Level Media
