Sports
After complete-game shutout, Royals pursue another win vs. Mariners
May 23, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) slides at home plate to score a run in the third inning against Seattle Mariners catcher Jhonny Pereda (5) at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images After Stephen Kolek gave the Kansas City Royals’ bullpen a day off, Seth Lugo will try to help claim a series win against the visiting Seattle Mariners on Sunday afternoon.
Kolek delivered a complete-game, four-hit shutout in the Royals’ 5-0 victory on Saturday. He walked one, struck out two and needed 108 pitches to notch Kansas City’s first complete-game shutout since Sept. 13, 2020.
As the Royals’ scheduled starter on Sunday, Lugo (1-4, 3.68 ERA), will have a tough act to follow.
In his last start, Lugo gave up two runs on five hits with two walks and five strikeouts over six innings in a 3-1 home defeat to the Boston Red Sox on Monday. He has four career appearances (three starts) against the Mariners, going 1-1 with a 5.00 ERA.
On Saturday, Royals manager Matt Quatraro praised the ground balls Kolek induced, something he wants as part of the pitching staff’s game plan.
“I kept an unofficial tally; I think (he threw) 10 or 11 ground balls,” Quatraro said of Kolek. “That’s one thing we want: Attack, keep them on their heels and induce soft contact.”
Bobby Witt Jr. helped spark the offense Saturday with two hits, two runs and a stolen base. His first hit was an infield single, and he later scored on a sacrifice fly to shallow left field.
“He’s got game-changing speed; that’s why this game is unfair,” Quatraro said. “He can maximize the contact he makes.”
For Witt, who is batting .298 with seven home runs, 23 RBIs and 16 stolen bases this season, the approach starts with being ready for his preferred pitches.
“I want to attack in my zones,” he said. “I want to be ready for the fastball at all times and go from there.”
Witt said the Royals want aggressiveness on the basepaths to be part of their identity.
“That’s who we are,” he said. “We want to keep attacking and try to get that extra 90 (feet).”
The Royals on Sunday will face right-hander Bryan Woo (4-2, 3.51 ERA), who most recently led the Mariners to a 6-1 win over the Chicago White Sox on Monday.
The 26-year-old limited Chicago to three hits and two walks while striking out eight over six shutout innings. He said he’s better when sticking to the basics.
Monday marked Woo’s third consecutive quality start, third win in a row and third straight outing with eight or more strikeouts.
“The simpler I am, the simpler my thought process is, the better I am,” Woo said.
Woo is 1-0 with a 5.56 ERA in two career starts against the Royals. On May 1, he gave up six runs on seven hits and struck out two in a 7-6 home loss to Kansas City in which he didn’t factor into the decision.
Mariners manager Dan Wilson said his club needs to flush Saturday’s loss quickly. Luke Raley collected three of Seattle’s four hits and leads the team with 10 homers and 27 RBIs this season.
“It was a tough afternoon,” Wilson said, “… but we need to come back tomorrow and be ready to go and win the series.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cloud9 escapes with win over FlyQuest in LCS Spring playoff opener
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. After an unbeaten regular season, Cloud9 opened the playoffs of the LCS Spring event in Los Angeles with a narrow win over FlyQuest in the first upper-bracket semifinal on Saturday.
Cloud9 jumped out to a 2-0 lead before losing the next two games. It all came down to the fifth and final game, which Cloud9 won to advance to the upper-bracket final while FlyQuest fell into the lower-bracket quarterfinals, where it will next face Sentinels on May 30.
Eight teams competed in the best-of-three matches in the round-robin regular season with the top six advancing to the playoffs of the League of Legends event. The playoffs will be contested in best-of-five matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Cloud9 leapt ahead with a 25-minute win on red followed by a 32-minute victory on blue. FlyQuest leveled the match at 2 behind a 30-minute red triumph and a 31-minute win on blue. The deciding game was the longest of the match, with Cloud9 prevailing on red in 35 minutes.
Robert “Blaber” Huang was the MVP of the match for Cloud9, finishing with a combined kill-death-assist ratio of 10-15-35. Su-hyeong “Quad” Song of South Korea led FlyQuest with a 12-5-30 K-D-A ratio.
No. 2 seed LYON faces No. 3 seed Team Liquid in the other upper-bracket semifinal on Sunday. Both teams finished the regular season with a 5-2 record.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Suddenly surging Jays look to finish off sweep of Pirates
Apr 27, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease (84) delivers a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images The host Toronto Blue Jays will send out Dylan Cease Sunday afternoon as they go for a three-game sweep of the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Blue Jays have won a season-best four straight, including the first two of a three-game series with the Pirates after a 5-2 victory on Saturday. Toronto left-hander Patrick Corbin allowed one run in six innings and struck out a season-best seven.
The Pirates have lost six of eight and their ace, Paul Skenes, allowed four runs and a career-high nine hits in taking the loss on Saturday. Skenes has allowed nine runs (five against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 17) over his past two starts and his ERA has jumped from 1.98 to 3.00.
“I wasn’t super unhappy with some of the execution on some of the pitches, but could have executed a number of them better,” Skenes said. “I’ll have to re-watch it again, but yeah, I think, probably similar to last week, probably not as bad as the line would suggest.”
Cease (3-2, 2.98 ERA) is coming off a May 19 road loss to the New York Yankees, who tagged him for five runs in five innings. He struck out nine but walked four.
“You walk guys, you fall behind, you’re probably not going to win,” Cease said. “When I’m in the zone, I like where I’m at. Didn’t do a good job of it today.”
Cease is 1-1 with a 3.54 ERA in five career starts against the Pirates. In two starts against them last season, he was 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA.
The Pirates are scheduled to start right-hander Mitch Keller (4-2, 3.86), who is 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in two career starts against the Blue Jays.
Toronto designated hitter George Springer appears to have overcome his early-season struggles. He led off the bottom of the first with his fifth homer of the season and his third of the week on Saturday. He has 65 career leadoff homers. He also had a double on Saturday.
Springer is on a six-game hit streak, batting .320 (8-for-25) with two doubles, three homers and five RBIs.
“He’s trending in the right direction,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s taking some good swings this past week. It’s good to get him rolling a little bit.”
The Blue Jays have won seven of their past 10.
“I think our last 15, 16 games have been great,” Springer said. “Guys are starting to settle in and play to their strengths.”
Ernie Clement is one of those surging players. He was 1-for-4 with an RBI single on Saturday. In his past 14 games, he is hitting .362/.400/.574 with four doubles, two homers and seven RBIs.
Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds was 2-for-3 with a walk Saturday, becoming the 34th player to reach the 1,000-game plateau as a Pirate.
Former Blue Jay Spencer Horwitz was 1-for-3 and was hit by a pitch Saturday. The Pirates first baseman has played 18 games in May, and is batting .310 (18-for-58) with five doubles, one triple, one homer and 12 RBIs.
Pirates manager Don Kelly was ejected during the sixth inning of the loss. The Pirates felt that Jesus Sanchez had struck out on a checked swing before eventually hitting an RBI double in the three-run inning.
“We’re in a big moment right there,” Kelly said. “I thought Sanchez had check swung and went, for sure, at that ball. I just felt like it was a big moment. Obviously, I didn’t agree with the call.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Johnny Manziel delivers quick TKO win in 1-and-done MMA debut
Nov 30, 2024; College Station, Texas, USA; Former Texas A&M and Cleveland Browns quarterback Johnny Manziel looks on prior to the game against the Texas Longhorns. The Longhorns defeated the Aggies 17-7 at Kyle Field. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images Johnny Manziel made his amateur MMA debut Saturday at Brand Risk 14, making quick work of social media influencer Bob Menery in a 205-pound bout at the UFC Apex in Las Vegas.
In the opening minute, a lackadaisical Menery ran directly into a takedown. Manziel, a former NFL quarterback and the 2012 Heisman Trophy winner easily secured the mount, raining down elbows and punches until the bout was stopped at 2:15 of Round 1.
“Respected you for getting in here. Much love, brother,” Manziel said after being awarded an honorary “W U” belt for his victory.
Both men immediately indicated they have no intentions of fighting again, with Menery adding, “Not after that display,” when asked about a second fight.
The influencer-driven spectacle — pivoted from Miami to Vegas after promoter Adin Ross secured the blessing of UFC CEO Dana White — drew an exclusive crowd including music icon Chris Brown, Las Vegas Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby and UFC middleweight champion Sean Strickland.
White previously helped generate buzz by publicly doubting the fight would even happen, stating he placed a $10,000 bet that the notoriously unpredictable Menery would no-show.
Saturday’s 11-fight card — with an MMA main card after a boxing prelim card — was the first Brand Risk event held outside Miami or Nashville since its inception.
Brand Risk 14 main card (MMA)
Johnny Manziel def. Bob Menery by TKO (Round 1, 2:16)
Lance Stephenson def. Michael Beasley by submission (rear-naked choke) (Round 1, 1:26)
DeWayne “Supah Hot Fire” Stevenson def. William “Ray J” Norwood Jr. by TKO (Round 2, 0:26)
Johnathan “No Neck Jay” Webb def. Shane Chance by KO (Round 2, 1:10)
Jeremy Smith def. Ryder Warbrick by unanimous decision
Dominick “Dom the Troll” Giannetto def. Tommy Tough Knuckles by submission (rear-naked choke) (Round 1, 0:29)
–Field Level Media
Cloud9 escapes with win over FlyQuest in LCS Spring playoff opener
Suddenly surging Jays look to finish off sweep of Pirates
