Sports
Amid injuries, Guardians eager for jolt on offense vs. Astros
Jun 18, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Cleveland Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana (37) celebrates in the dugout after hitting a solo home run in the seventh inning against the Milwaukee Brewers at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Having looked vulnerable in the aftermath of recently losing seven-time All-Star third baseman Jose Ramirez and standout rookie right fielder Chase DeLauter to injuries, the Cleveland Guardians produced a much-needed win on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
The Guardians snapped a three-game road losing streak with a 4-2 victory that set a positive tone in advance of opening a three-game road series against the Houston Astros on Friday night.
Cleveland scored three or fewer runs seven times while losing eight of 11 games entering Thursday. The Guardians, however, hit three home runs in the win and showed signs of promise without Ramirez (left hamate fracture) and DeLauter (fractured rib), whose injured-list stints began this week.
“We took a big hit over the weekend,” Guardians manager Stephen Vogt said. “It’s going to take this offense some time to get its cadence and get its rhythm. “We’ve got to keep working, we’ve got to keep going and we’re going to get better.”
Right-hander Tanner Bibee (2-7, 3.96 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Guardians on Friday.
It will mark the American League-leading 16th start of 2026 for Bibee, who began the season winless over his first 13 starts (0-7, 4.57 ERA) before recording back-to-back victories over the Texas Rangers and Detroit Tigers, against whom he allowed two runs on two hits with eight strikeouts over seven innings in a 3-2 victory last Friday.
Bibee pitched eight scoreless innings in a 6-0 road win against the Rangers on June 6.
Bibee is 0-1 with a 4.09 ERA across four career starts against the Astros. He allowed two runs on five hits and two walks with three strikeouts over six innings in a 2-0 loss to them on April 22.
Right-hander Tatsuya Imai (3-3, 6.43 ERA) has the starting assignment for the Astros in the series opener. He was unable to escape the first inning in his previous start last Friday against the Kansas City Royals despite being gifted a 9-0 lead. Imai departed after allowing five runs on four hits and one walk while recording only two outs. That concluded a promising three-start stretch in which Imai allowed two runs or fewer and went 2-1 with a 2.12 ERA and 15 strikeouts across 17 innings.
He will make his first career start against the Guardians.
Houston right-hander Mike Burrows (3-8, 5.86 ERA) will have his turn in the rotation skipped this weekend and is set to piggyback Imai on Friday. He is tied for the major league lead in losses, and his 51 earned runs allowed are the most in the American League.
The Astros hope that Burrows, who made four relief appearances with the Pittsburgh Pirates last season, can sort out his issues working out of the bullpen.
The return of ace right-hander Hunter Brown from a two-plus-month stint on the injured list earlier this week, plus the continued reliability from right-hander Peter Lambert, allowed the Astros to tinker with their rotation.
Lambert allowed one run on two hits and recorded five strikeouts across seven innings in a series-clinching 4-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday. That result featured the bottom third of the Houston order — Joey Loperfido, Jake Meyers and Christian Vazquez — finishing 2-for-8 with three walks and two runs.
“We got some production from the bottom of our order,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “We had a really good approach. We used the entire field. Our swing decisions were good.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
FURIA, Team Falcons set to clash for IEM Cologne crown
Nolan Starkey, a senior at Rossville High School, plays Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Monday, April 15, 2019, in Rossville. Starkey signed his letter of intent Wednesday to play esports at Trine University in Angola, Ind.
Rossville High School Senior Signs With Trine University To Play Esports
Team Falcons and FURIA will meet in Sunday’s grand final of the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major after semifinal victories Saturday in Germany.
FURIA swept Aurora Gaming 2-0, while Team Falcons edged Team Spirit 2-1 in the other semifinal playoff. Both first-place Team Spirit and second-place FURIA had gone 3-0 in Stage 3 group play, while third-place Aurora Gaming was 3-1 as was fifth-place Team Falcons.
All four teams had advanced out of the quarterfinals, which were on Thursday and Friday.
The Counter-Strike 2 tournament with 32 entrants competing for their share of a $1.25 million prize pool began June 2 with the start of the first stage.
The field was ultimately trimmed to the final eight playoff teams through a series of three stages, where all matches were best-of-three, as were most of the playoffs. Sunday’s grand final will be best-of-five, with the winner taking home $500,000 while the runner-up settles for $170,000.
On Saturday, Team Falcons opened with a 16-14 win on Anubis before Team Spirit drew even with a 13-8 victory on Mirage. The Falcons captured the deciding map, Dust II, by a 16-12 outcome.
Nikola “NiKo” Kovac of Bosnia and Herzegovina led the Falcons with 59 kills to 52 deaths and a 1.26 rating to earn Player of the Match honors. Russian teammates Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin (60 kills, 1.18 rating) and Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov (68 kills, 1.16) also contributed to the victory.
Russia’s Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov paced Team Spirit with 69 kills to 49 deaths and a 1.24 rating.
FURIA ousted Aurora Gaming, winning 13-9 on Dust II and 13-4 on Nuke.
Yuri “yuurih” Santos of Brazil was Player of the Match, pacing FURIA with a 34-19 K-D differential and 1.62 rating. Teammate Kaike “KSCERATO” Cerato of Brazil posted a 29-20 K-D and 1.38 rating, while Mareks “Yekindar” Galinskis of Latvia recorded a 32-28 K-D and 1.30 rating. No Aurora Gaming players had a positive rating.
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000 — Team Spirit, Aurora Gaming
5-8. $45,000 — BetBoom Team, 9z Team, Team Vitality, G2 Esports
9-11. $15,000 — Natus Vincere, FUT Esports, The MongolZ
12-14. $15,000 — MOUZ, Monte, Legacy
15-16. $15,000 — B8, PARIVISION
17-19. $10,000 — paiN Gaming, TYLOO, BIG
20-22. $10,000 — MIBR, M80, Astralis
23-24. $10,000 — GamerLegion, FlyQuest
25-27. $5,000 — Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG, Team Liquid
28-30. $5,000 — THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC
31-32. $5,000 — Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports
–Field Level Media
Sports
Curacao keeper Eloy Room delivers 'unbelievable' performance vs. Ecuador
Soccer Football – FIFA World Cup 2026 – Group E – Ecuador v Curacao – Kansas City Stadium, Kansas City, Missouri, U.S. – June 20, 2026 Curacao’s Eloy Room celebrates after the match Tim Howard, a United States men’s national team legend, stands alone in World Cup history with his 16-save performance in the Americans’ 2-1 Round of 16 loss to Belgium in the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
But he may have been a bit worried on Saturday night, when Curacao goalkeeper Eloy Room made 15 saves in a scoreless draw against Ecuador Saturday night in Kansas City to earn Curacao’s first-ever World Cup point.
At least Room hopes so.
“A little bit annoyed that I don’t have the record from Tim Howard, but I think he was sweating in front of the TV because I was close,” Room quipped in his press conference after the match.
In some ways, Room made history in the match. His 15 saves are the most in a World Cup match by a goalkeeper who kept a clean sheet. It’s also a record for a 90-minute match, with Howard’s performance coming in a 120-minute extra-time match.
The fact that it came just one match after Room made four saves on 12 shots on net in Curacao’s 7-1 opening loss to Germany in Houston makes it that much more unbelievable.
“I think I need a statue in Curacao now,” Room said.
According to some statkeeping websites, Room actually tied the record. FIFA’s total of 16 saves by Howard is not a consensus tally.
That discrepancy doesn’t seem to be affecting how Room views the game whatsoever.
“It’s going to be an insane memory,” Room said. “You don’t think about it when you do it but of course it’s going to be something you look back to. For me as a goalkeeper, this is almost a perfect game.
” … It’s unbelievable. And I cannot do it alone. I did it with the team and my defenders and the midfielders, strikers. We did it as a team.”
While Howard played for Everton in the Premier League when he delivered his historic performance, Room has never reached those heights. The 37-year-old Netherlands native came up through a few Dutch academies and squads before settling with the Columbus Crew, with whom he won the 2020 MLS Cup.
Now, though, he’s not even in the top-level American league, playing for Miami FC in the USL Championship.
Up next, a chance for Curacao, the smallest nation in population and size to ever qualify for the World Cup, to punch a ticket to the knockout stage if they can beat Ivory Coast in Philadelphia on June 25.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Trevor Rogers yields 1 hit in 7 innings, Orioles edge Dodgers
Jun 20, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Baltimore Orioles center fielder Leody Taveras (30) runs to third during the second inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Navarro-Imagn Images Left-hander Trevor Rogers gave up one hit over seven scoreless innings and Blaze Alexander had a two-run double as the visiting Baltimore Orioles escaped with a 3-2 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Saturday.
Rogers (4-7) took a no-hitter into the fifth inning and finished with two walks and six strikeouts.
The Orioles improved to 2-3 on a West Coast road trip that started in Seattle and concludes against the Los Angeles Angels this coming week.
Los Angeles right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-5) went six innings as he was unable to reprise his near no-hitter at Baltimore last season. He allowed three runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts.
After missing one game for the birth of his second child, the Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani returned to the leadoff spot and hit a home run in the ninth inning. Tommy Edman had a pair of singles for Los Angeles, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.
The Orioles jumped in front 1-0 in the second when Leody Taveras and Colton Cowser led off the inning with consecutive singles to put runners on the corners. Coby Mayo’s groundout scored Taveras.
Baltimore increased the advantage in the fourth inning. Again they opened an inning with consecutive singles, this time from Samuel Basallo and Taveras. After Mayo walked with one out to load the bases, Alexander hit a two-out double down the third base line to score a pair of runs for a 3-0 lead.
Rogers cruised into the fifth inning where he gave up his first hit of the game on a two-out single to center from Edman.
Rogers’ only scare came in the seventh inning when he walked Mookie Betts with two outs before Miguel Rojas hit a ball to the base of the center field wall that was caught by Cowser.
The Dodgers pulled within a run in the ninth when Ohtani hit a home run, his 16th of the season, and Edman’s line drive was dropped by Taveras with two outs, allowing a second run to score. Right-hander Yennier Cano finished off his first save by striking out Kyle Tucker to strand runners on the corners.
–Field Level Media
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FURIA, Team Falcons set to clash for IEM Cologne crown
