Sports
Braves enjoying hot bat of Michael Harris II against Reds
May 20, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Harris II (23) grounds out to the catcher in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Jim Rassol-Imagn Images In search of their major league-leading 40th win, the visiting Atlanta Braves will look to post another series win on Saturday against the Cincinnati Reds.
Since being shut out 8-0 by the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday, Atlanta has combined to score 18 runs across its past two games, including an 8-3 victory over the Reds in the series opener on Friday. They are 16-2-1 in series on the season.
Spearheading the charge has been a resurgent Michael Harris II. Following an inconsistent 2025 campaign, the Braves’ center fielder is batting .308 with 13 home runs and 36 RBIs. Harris is 9-for-18 with two homers and seven runs driven in across the past four games.
“He’s just maturing as a player,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “He’s still only 25 years old. I just think you’re seeing that process happen before our eyes. He’s becoming a more mature baseball player. There’s a lot of wisdom that you gain playing in this league every day for several years like he has already. He’s just having a great year for us.”
Veteran left-hander Martin Perez (2-3, 2.70 ERA) will make his 12th appearance (eighth start) of the season for Atlanta on Saturday. The 35-year-old tossed 5 2/3 innings of one-run, five-hit ball on Sunday in a 2-1 home loss to the Washington Nationals.
In his 15th season in the majors, Perez has filled in any role asked of him by Weiss. Perez, who was designated for assignment by the club on April 12 and re-signed three days later, has a 2.89 ERA in seven starts for the Braves.
“I can’t talk about him enough,” Weiss said of Perez. “He’s performed well in a variety of roles. He’s been a great pro for us.”
In two career appearances against the Reds, Perez is 1-0, combining to throw 13 scoreless innings across a pair of starts.
Cincinnati, meanwhile, has lost back-to-back games to see its struggles in May prolonged. The Reds are 9-16 this month after finishing April nine games above .500.
Brady Singer (2-4, 6.26) will try to snap a woeful stretch on the mound as he returns to the fray for Cincinnati. Singer is 0-3 with an 8.47 ERA in four starts in May. On May 17, he allowed five runs on seven hits across four innings in a 10-3 loss to the Cleveland Guardians. The struggling right-hander will return to the rotation after seeing his start skipped last time through.
“It’s baseball. It’ll punch you right in the gut more times than not,” Singer said of his disappointing month. “It’s obviously tough, but there’s a lot of season left. I’m excited for the next one and the rest of the season.”
The former first round pick is 16-16 with a 4.51 ERA in 42 starts since being traded to Cincinnati by the Kansas City Royals in November 2024 for infielder Jonathan India and outfielder Joey Wiemer.
Singer has posted a 1-3 record and a 5.48 ERA in four career starts against the Braves.
The Reds will host Singer’s former team, the Royals, for three games beginning Monday before traveling to St. Louis for a three-game series with the Cardinals, a National League Central division rival.
–Field Level Media
Sports
OpTic, Royal Ravens sweep CDL Stage 3 Major qualifying openers
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 OpTic Texas, coming off a runner-up finish at the Call of Duty League Stage 3 Major, began Stage 4 qualifying with a 3-0 sweep of the Vancouver Surge on Friday.
In the day’s other results, the Carolina Royal Ravens trounced the Toronto KOI 3-0, and G2 Minnesota dumped Cloud9 New York 3-1.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing five qualifying matches apiece to determine seeding for the fourth major of the season, to be held June 25-28 at Nanterre, France. Each team receives 10 CDL points for every win.
On Friday, Texas toppled Vancouver 250-98 on Sake Hardpoint, 6-5 on Hacienda Search and Destroy and 4-3 on Den Overload.
Carolina beat Toronto 250-178 on Sake Hardpoint, 6-4 on Fringe Search and Destroy and 3-2 on Gridlock Overload.
Minnesota opened with a 250-140 victory on Den Hardpoint and a 6-3 triumph on Fringe Search and Destroy before New York captured Den Overload 6-2. G2 sealed the series by taking Scar Hardpoint 250-109.
The weekend schedule:
Saturday
–Los Angeles Thieves vs. FaZe Vegas
–Paris Gentle Mates vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
–Vancouver Surge vs. Boston Breach
–Riyadh Falcons vs. Miami Heretics
Sunday
–Riyadh Falcons vs. Paris Gentle Mates
–OpTic Texas vs. Miami Heretics
–Cloud9 New York vs. Boston Breach
Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major qualifying, with match record and map differential
T1. Carolina Royal Ravens, 1-0, +3
T1. OpTic Texas, 1-0, +3
3. G2 Minnesota, 1-0, +2
T4. Boston Breach, 0-0, 0
T4. FaZe Vegas, 0-0, 0
T4. Los Angeles Thieves, 0-0, 0
T4. Miami Heretics, 0-0, 0
T4. Paris Gentle Mates, 0-0, 0
T4. Riyadh Falcons, 0-0, 0
10. Cloud9 New York, 0-1, -2
T11. Toronto KOI, 0-1, -3
T11. Vancouver Surge, 0-1, -3
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hot at home: White Sox chase series win vs. tumbling Tigers
May 29, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox third baseman Miguel Vargas (20) is dunked by second baseman Chase Meidroth (10) and shortstop Colson Montgomery (12) after hitting a walk-off home run against the Detroit Tigers during the tenth inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Patrick Gorski-Imagn Images One victory shy of securing their sixth straight home series win, the Chicago White Sox applauded the fans who have backed them through the early stages of what’s shaping up as a turnaround season.
“Having all of them (a crowd of 30,019) here in the stadium, showing all the love for us, and seeing them support the team the whole year, that brings all the energy for us in the clubhouse,” third baseman Miguel Vargas said.
After Vargas delivered his first career walk-off home run Friday in the 10th inning, the White Sox will try to win the three-game series from the Detroit Tigers on Saturday afternoon. But they will play without slugging first baseman Munetaka Murakami, who left in the third inning of Friday’s 4-3 win with right hamstring tightness.
Chicago manager Will Venable said Murakami — the American League co-leader with 20 home runs — will undergo further evaluation Saturday but is facing a recovery of “probably a couple of weeks.”
Colson Montgomery and Vargas are next for the White Sox with 13 homers apiece. Murakami shares the AL home-run lead with Yordan Alvarez of the Houston Astros.
“Home run” is a four-base hit for every club but arguably is a four-letter word to the Tigers. Detroit has surrendered four walk-off homers this season and has lost two straight games and 19 of its last 23.
“It’s not numb,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “It still hurts. Obviously, we want to win every game.
“We want to win as many games as we can, and we’re having a hard time. … There’s no good way to walk off the field. When you’re the visiting team and you’re walking off the field, the emotion is pretty deep. It’s not a great feeling, and we’ve got to go home with it, come back tomorrow and play another game.”
White Sox pitching limited the Tigers to four hits in the series opener, including a pair of Riley Greene singles. Greene is 4-for-12 in his past three games on the heels of an 0-for-11 slump.
Dillon Dingler’s two-run blast in the third inning extended his team lead to 11 homers for the season.
Saturday’s pitching matchup will pit a pair of left-handers in Chicago’s Anthony Kay (4-1, 3.96 ERA) and Detroit’s Framber Valdez (2-3, 4.28).
Kay will aim for his second victory of the homestand and fourth in six May starts. He defeated the Minnesota Twins 3-1 on Monday behind six innings of one-run, five-hit ball with one walk and five strikeouts.
After three straight starts without allowing a home run, Kay gave up a solo shot to Minnesota’s Brooks Lee. He has yet to face the Tigers in his career.
Valdez boasts plenty of experience and success against Chicago. He is 5-3 with a 3.00 ERA in 10 appearances, including nine starts, with 60 strikeouts in 57 innings.
While Valdez is 0-2 with a 6.10 ERA in four starts this month — which started with a five-game suspension for intentionally throwing at Boston’s Trevor Story in a May 5 loss — Valdez has shown more consistency lately.
He has delivered two quality starts in his past three turns in the rotation. The latest came Sunday, when Valdez scattered one run, two hits, two walks and five strikeouts in six innings in a no-decision at Baltimore. The Tigers lost 5-3.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fresh off late rally, Blue Jays bid to fluster Orioles again
May 29, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Toronto Blue Jays pitcher Braydon Fisher (63) celebrates with Toronto Blue Jays catcher Brandon Valenzuela (59) after a game against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images The Toronto Blue Jays have found answers even with an evolving lineup, and that might be one of the biggest parts of their emerging confidence midway through their series with the Baltimore Orioles.
The teams will meet Saturday afternoon in the third contest of a four-game series in Baltimore.
The Blue Jays have a pair of one-run victories to start the series, including rallying from a five-run hole for Friday night’s 6-5 victory.
Toronto is 8-2 in its last 10 games. Manager John Schneider has found the right combinations, including from second baseman Charles McAdoo, who homered in his first big-league game Friday.
“Just really honing in on where I want to swing the bat and where I want the ball to start,” McAdoo said before the series about his approach upon his promotion to the major leagues.
There was lots for the Orioles to dissect after the late-inning struggles. But manager Craig Albernaz said he remains confident in reliever Yennier Cano even though he had troubles in the eighth inning and suffered the loss.
“We love the matchups with Cano, and he has been throwing the ball extremely well,” Albernaz said. “We were more than comfortable bringing him in there.”
The Orioles weren’t able to generate offense in the late innings, however.
“Thought we swung the bat really well the first half of the game, and sometimes that happens,” infielder Jackson Holliday said. “Sometimes they make good pitches and hitting is really hard.”
There were encouraging parts of the performance for the Orioles. Holliday hit his second home run of the week.
“I feel good,” he said. “I feel like I’m seeing the ball good. I’ve enjoyed working with the hitting guys and trying to keep simple thoughts up there. I’m happy with where I’m at.”
Right-hander Trey Yesavage (2-2, 2.25 ERA) will start for Toronto on Saturday and will try to maintain a clean slate of keeping the ball in the park. He hasn’t given up a home run in 32 innings this season.
Since starting the season on the injury list, Yesavage expanded his durability to a season-high 98 pitches in Monday’s 6 2/3-inning stint in an 8-2 home loss to the Miami Marlins. He’s a key part to what at times has been a patchwork rotation.
In Yesavage’s six starts this season, the Blue Jays have alternated wins and losses, so based on that trend they’re due to win Saturday. He has never faced the Orioles.
Schneider said Yesavage has been more deserving than what some of the results have produced this season.
Right-hander Brandon Young (3-1, 3.47 ERA) will start for the Orioles on Saturday. He will look to build off Sunday’s outing vs. the Detroit Tigers, who he held to two unearned runs in a season-high 6 2/3 innings of Baltimore’s 5-3 win.
The Orioles are 6-1 in games in which Young has pitched. Last July, in his only career matchup against Toronto, he had a no-decision while tossing six innings and allowing two runs.
–Field Level Media
OpTic, Royal Ravens sweep CDL Stage 3 Major qualifying openers
Hot at home: White Sox chase series win vs. tumbling Tigers
