Sports
Cam Schlittler bids to end Yankees' skid in clash vs. Tarik Skubal, Tigers
Jun 25, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Cam Schlittler (31) throws a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images Cam Schlittler and Tarik Skubal expressed mutual admiration for each other’s pitching prowess on Monday.
A day later, New York’s Schlittler and Detroit’s Skubal will put admiration aside and focus on opposing hitters when the Yankees host the Tigers in the middle contest of a three-game series.
The Tigers are attempting to clinch the series after scoring five unearned runs in the first four innings of Monday’s 7-3 win.
Detroit’s Spencer Torkelson had an RBI single and is hitting .303 in his past 10 games, and rookie Kevin McGonigle had a two-run single on Monday and is batting .309 in his past 15 games.
New York has allowed 14 unearned runs during its past five games after Jose Caballero and Cody Bellinger made errors. The Yankees have lost a season-high-tying five games in a row and eight of 10 overall.
Schlittler (8-4, 1.62 ERA) will start on Tuesday after the Yankees were held to three hits for the fourth straight game. The right-hander is the early favorite to win the American League Cy Young after Skubal won the award in the previous two seasons.
A seventh-round pick by the Yankees in 2022, Schlittler heads into his 32nd career start leading the Tampa Bay’s Drew Rasmussen (2.45) by a wide margin in the AL ERA race.
Schlittler also is second in the AL with 118 strikeouts, 10 behind Toronto’s Dylan Cease, and Schlittler’s .197 opponents’ batting average is second in the AL behind Rasmussen (.191).
Schlittler, 25, has allowed two earned runs or less in 14 of his 17 starts in 2026 after doing so in 10 of 14 outings last season. He allowed one run on five hits in six innings in a 9-3 win over Detroit last season, his lone career appearance against the club.
“He’s the best pitcher in the American League right now,” said Skubal, 29. “To do it at his age, I don’t know how old he is, but he’s young in terms of service in this game and seeing his stuff, it’s pretty dynamic and electric. He throws a lot of strikes. A lot of the high velocity stuff, the three fastballs, the fastball, cutter, sinker, goes right after guys, has a good curveball and has performed in big moments, too. I think he’s a pretty impressive player at this stage of his career.”
Skubal (3-4, 3.32 ERA) will make his fourth start since returning from arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow to remove loose bodies. The left-hander is 0-2 with a 4.96 ERA in three starts since returning and will face the Yankees for the second straight time.
Skubal allowed four runs on four hits in six innings in Wednesday’s 4-2 loss and struggled to retire Paul Goldschmidt, who hit a pair of solo homers and is 7-for-13 with four homers and five RBIs off Skubal.
Last season, Skubal led the AL in ERA (2.21) for the second straight season. The ninth-round pick also was second in the AL with 241 strikeouts and held hitters to a .200 average, third in the AL behind Carlos Rodon and Jacob deGrom.
“I’d say initially you look at it like that,” Schlittler said of opposing Skubal. “I trust the guys behind me that that’s going to be a fun one. Realistically, it’s me versus their lineup, but at the same time you got to realize for the most part it might be a close game, so I just got to have a little bit of an extra edge to that and just be aware that it’s probably at least from last year the best pitcher in the game.”
Skubal is 2-3 with a 3.00 ERA in seven career starts against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
Sports
First-half goals send Mexico to comfortable 2-0 victory over Ecuador
June 30, 2026; Mexico City, Mexico; Mexico’s Raul Jimenez celebrates scoring their second goal with teammates. Mandatory Credit: Eloisa Sanchez-Reuters via Imagn Images Julian Quinones delivered a goal and an assist in the first half for Mexico, who maintained complete control in front of their vocal home fans to earn a 2-0 World Cup victory over Ecuador in a round of 32 match on Tuesday at Mexico City.
Raul Jimenez added a goal as Mexico won a knockout-round match for the first time since 1986 — also on home soil.
Goalkeeper Raul Rangel made one save in Mexico’s fourth consecutive clean sheet.
Mexico advance to a round of 16 matchup against either England or the Democratic Republic of the Congo on Sunday, also in Mexico City.
Ecuador, who rallied to defeat Germany in group play last week and earn a spot in the round of 32, were unable to counter Mexico’s early momentum. Hernan Galindez made one save as Ecuador fell to 0-2-0 all time in knockout-round matches.
Adding to the disappointment was a red card for Ecuador’s Piero Hincapie in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time for covering his mouth in a confrontation with Mexico’s Santiago Gimenez.
Just as he did twice in group play, Quinones found the back of the net to give Mexico a 1-0 lead in the 22nd minute. Roberto Alvarado sent a long pass forward from beyond midfield, and Quinones proceeded unmarked before scoring into the upper left corner from just inside the box.
Jimenez started a scoring sequence less than 10 minutes later when he forced a turnover on Ecuador’s side of the field, sent a pass to Quinones, then received the ball back to score from the top of the box in the 31st minute.
Even as Mexico controlled the run of play from the outset, Ecuador had the best early chance when John Yeboah hit the outside of the left post with a shot in the 18th minute. Mexico took over from there and were never threatened again.
Mexico won with 17-year-old midfielder Gilberto Mora in the starting lineup. Mora became the second youngest starter in a knockout-round match after Brazil’s Pele in 1958.
The match was delayed one hour at the start because of lightning.
After they were one of three teams with a perfect 3-0-0 record in group play, Mexico became the second team to win for a fourth time in the tournament, joining France. Argentina will have a chance to join them when they oppose Cape Verde on Friday in Miami Gardens, Fla.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dodgers demolish A's as Dave Roberts reaches 1,000 career wins
Jun 30, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers second baseman Miguel Rojas (72) celebrates with Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) after hitting a solo home run during the sixth inning against the Athletics at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Scott Marshall-Imagn Images Tommy Edman had four hits, including a homer, and had four RBIs and manager Dave Roberts recorded his 1,000th career regular-season victory as the Los Angeles Dodgers routed the Athletics 9-3 on Tuesday at West Sacramento, Calif.
Miguel Rojas also went deep and drove in two runs and Mookie Betts had three hits as the Dodgers won for the seventh time in the past eight games. Los Angeles had 14 hits for a total of 31 over two nights while dominating the A’s both times.
Roberts, who is in his 11th season, became the fourth manager in Dodgers history to reach the 1,000-victory mark. Walter Alston (1954-76) won a franchise-best 2,040 games while managing both in Brooklyn and Los Angeles. The list also includes Tommy Lasorda (1,599 from 1976-96) and Wilbert Robinson (1,375 from 1914-31).
Roberts (1,000-606) has a career winning percentage of .623, counting one game as interim manager for the San Diego Padres in 2015.
Justin Wrobleski (10-2) struck out a career-high 11 in seven innings for Los Angeles. He allowed three runs and seven hits and didn’t walk anyone while winning his fourth consecutive decision.
Colby Thomas had two hits, including a two-run homer, for the Athletics, who have dropped four straight games and eight of their past 10.
Jeffrey Springs (3-8) was roughed up for six runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings while losing his eighth straight decision and seeing his winless stretch reach 14 starts. He walked four, struck out two and served up two homers to raise his season output to 24 blasts, tied for the most allowed in the majors.
Freddie Freeman doubled to lead off the Los Angeles third inning and Kyle Tucker walked with two outs. Edman then unloaded on a first-pitch slider for a three-run shot to center off Springs, giving the Dodgers a 5-1 lead.
Rojas led off the sixth by sending a 1-1 slider over the wall in left-center to make it a five-run margin.
Los Angeles tacked on three more runs in the seventh. Edman singled in the first run, Rojas hit a sacrifice fly to plate the second, and Dalton Rushing singled in the last to make it 9-1.
Joey Meneses singled with one out in the bottom of the seventh for the A’s, and Thomas followed with a two-run blast to left-center.
The Dodgers scored twice in the first, on Betts’ RBI single and Teoscar Hernandez’s sacrifice fly.
The Athletics struck in the bottom of the first when Jonah Heim drilled a long single over the head of Tucker and it one-hopped into the right field wall. Shea Langeliers scored from first on the two-out hit.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Diamondbacks pound Giants, remain unbeaten vs. San Francisco
Jun 30, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte celebrates after hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images The Arizona Diamondbacks ran their season-long winning streak against the San Francisco Giants to eight games Tuesday night, riding home runs from Lourdes Gurriel Jr. and Ketel Marte to an 8-2 victory in Phoenix.
Recalled earlier in the day from Triple-A and making his first big-league start since April 11, Brandon Pfaadt (1-1) combined with four relievers on a four-hitter, propelling the Diamondbacks to a second consecutive victory in the three-game set.
Gurriel delivered the big blow of the game, a two-out, three-run homer in the bottom of the first after Giants starter Landen Roupp (5-8) had put Geraldo Perdomo and Gabriel Moreno aboard with walks.
Hurting his own cause with six walks, Roupp was unable to finish the third inning, an inning in which he forced in a run by issuing a free pass to Jorge Barrosa with two outs. Marte followed with a two-run single, making it 6-0 and sending the Giants’ young right-hander to the showers.
The six-run cushion made a return to a starter’s role more comfortable for Pfaadt, who carried a shutout one out into the sixth before serving up Luis Arraez’s fourth home run of the season.
The right-hander limited the Giants to just two other hits in his 5 1/3 innings, walking one and striking out two.
San Francisco’s only other run came on Rafael Devers’ 15th homer in the seventh.
In between the Giants’ big blows, Marte capped a two-hit, three-RBI game with his 17th homer of the season.
The Diamondbacks added the game’s final run in the eighth on an RBI single by Moreno.
Gurriel, Marte, Moreno and Max Kepler had two hits apiece for Arizona, which out-hit San Francisco 10-4 en route to a fifth straight home win over the Giants this season. Moreno scored twice.
After singling in the first and tripling in the third before his home run in the sixth, Arraez took a crack at a cycle in the eighth but flied out to left field. He finished with three of San Francisco’s four hits.
In extending his winless streak to 11 games after a 5-1 start to the season, Roupp was charged with six runs on five hits in his 2 2/3 innings. He struck out four.
–Field Level Media
First-half goals send Mexico to comfortable 2-0 victory over Ecuador
Dodgers demolish A's as Dave Roberts reaches 1,000 career wins
