Sports
Pirates' Paul Skenes, facing Cubs, pursues fourth straight win
Jul 13, 2026; Philadelphia, PA, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates Paul Skenes (30) speaks before the home run derby at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Hartline-Imagn Images Paul Skenes has won each of his past three trips to the mound following a nine-start winless skid.
The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner will look to continue his hot streak on Saturday when the Pittsburgh Pirates aim to even their three-game series against the visiting Chicago Cubs.
Dansby Swanson had an RBI single in the 10th inning and Seiya Suzuki drew a four-pitch walk with the bases loaded two batters later to fuel the Cubs to a 3-2 victory over the Pirates on Friday. Chicago has won four of its past six games while Pittsburgh has lost four of its past six.
Skenes (9-8, 3.43 ERA) won his third straight start on Sunday after allowing one run and striking out eight batters over seven innings in a 7-1 victory over the Cleveland Guardians. That marked the right-hander’s longest outing since he pitched eight scoreless innings in a 3-1 win over the Colorado Rockies on May 12.
“Got some early outs, that helps,” Skenes said following the outing at Cleveland. “Not a ton of long at-bats. It’s just that’s pretty much what it adds up to. If you can get early outs and avoid the nine- or 10-pitch at-bats, it’s a pretty good equation (to) get outs when you need to. It’s a pretty good equation for going deep into games.”
Skenes has permitted just five runs while striking out 19 batters in 18 1/3 innings during his winning streak.
That run of good fortune for Skenes came on the heels of a stunning 0-6 stretch over nine starts during which the Pirates lost all nine games.
Skenes, 24, yielded three runs (one earned) on four hits in 5 1/3 innings in a 7-2 home setback to Chicago on May 28. He fell to 2-3 with a 2.77 ERA in eight career appearances (all starts) versus the Cubs.
He would be wise to pitch carefully to Pete Crow-Armstrong, who belted his team-leading 22nd homer in the series opener.
Chicago left-hander Shota Imanaga (6-8, 3.91 ERA) will provide the opposition on Saturday.
Imanaga scattered six hits over seven scoreless innings in a 10-1 victory over the visiting Minnesota Twins on Sunday. He kept the ball in the park after being taken deep five times in his previous four games and 22 times in his first 19 starts this season.
“Shota is going to give up home runs,” Cubs manager Craig Counsell said. “That’s the nature of his arsenal. But when they come and how they come has to be a part of it. He is limiting the home run right now. The walk limitation I’m also a big fan of. He’s done a really good job of that.”
Imanaga saw his no-hit bid against Pittsburgh come to an unceremonious end on April 10 after he was removed from the game following six innings. The Japanese hurler threw 68 of 100 pitches for strikes in that contest.
Imanaga, 32, is 2-0 with a 0.28 ERA over 32 innings in five career appearances (all starts) versus the Pirates.
Pittsburgh’s Bryan Reynolds went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts in the series opener, leaving him 1-for-22 with 12 strikeouts in his past five games. He hit safely in his previous seven games against Chicago this season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jacob Lopez, four relievers shut down Twins in Athletics' win
Jul 24, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Athletics pitcher Jacob Lopez (57) throws a pitch during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Johnson-Imagn Images Left-hander Jacob Lopez and four relievers combined to toss a two-hit shutout as the Athletics held on for a 2-0 win over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night in Minneapolis.
Lawrence Butler and Tyler Soderstrom drove in one run apiece for the Athletics, who won the opener of a three-game series. The Athletics snapped a two-game skid.
Austin Martin doubled and Ryan Jeffers singled for Minnesota’s only hits.
Lopez (5-4) was dominant from the start. He allowed one hit, walked four and struck out four in five scoreless innings.
Right-hander Geoff Hartlieb, left-hander Jose Suarez and right-hander Elvis Alvarado teamed up to keep the Twins scoreless in the sixth, seventh and eighth innings.
Athletics left-hander Hogan Harris finished the job with a scoreless ninth inning to collect his eighth save of the season.
Twins right-hander Zebby Matthews (4-8) took the loss despite registering a quality start. He allowed two runs on three hits in six innings, walking three and striking out one.
The Athletics broke a scoreless tie in the top of the fifth.
Donovan Walton drew a one-out walk and advanced to third base on a double by Tommy White. Two batters later, Butler hit a sacrifice fly to center to drive in Walton and make it 1-0.
The Athletics added another run in the sixth.
Henry Bolte started the action this time with a leadoff infield single. Jacob Wilson grounded out in the next at-bat but Bolte advanced safely to second. Soderstrom then gave the Athletics a 2-0 lead with an RBI single to left to drive in Bolte.
The Twins squandered an opportunity to generate some runs in the bottom of the sixth. Minnesota loaded the bases with one out for Brooks Lee, but Suarez escaped the jam by getting Lee to ground into an inning-ending double play.
The Twins swiped three bases in the loss. Royce Lewis stole two bases and Luke Keaschall stole one.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Anthony Seigler (4 hits) helps Red Sox keep rolling vs. Blue Jays
Jul 24, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox second baseman Anthony Seigler (48) and fans react as Boston Red Sox left fielder Jarren Duran (16) dives across home plate to score a run against the Toronto Blue Jays during the eighth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Romy Gonzalez’s pinch-hit RBI double sparked a two-run eighth inning, leading the Boston Red Sox to a 6-4 win over the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Friday night.
The shot into the left-field corner brought Jarren Duran home from first base with the go-ahead run before Anthony Seigler capped his 4-for-5 day with a wall-ball double to plate another off Toronto reliever CJ Van Eyk (0-1).
Seigler, who batted leadoff, scored two runs, drove in two more, hit a leadoff homer, and added two doubles while falling just a triple short of a cycle.
The Red Sox have won 16 of their last 17 games.
Garrett Whitlock (6-1) earned the victory in relief, and Aroldis Chapman recorded his 391st career save to take sole possession of ninth on the all-time list.
The Blue Jays clawed back from 4-0 down to tie the game. Starter Trey Yesavage struck out nine across four innings of three-run ball.
Kazuma Okamoto, who entered the night 0-for-22 since the All-Star break, went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer in the seventh. It was his 23rd, which moved him past Shohei Ohtani for the most by a Japanese rookie in a single MLB season.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Daulton Varsho also had multi-hit games for Toronto.
After Patrick Sandoval danced out of a bases-loaded jam in the first, Seigler immediately staked the Red Sox to a 1-0 lead by depositing Yesavage’s fourth pitch into the right-field stands.
The Toronto righty’s frustrating outing continued two innings later, as he fanned the side in the second before allowing another home run in the third. Seigler knocked an opposite-field single before crossing the plate on Ceddanne Rafaela’s two-run shot just over the top of the Green Monster.
Yesavage retired six of the final seven batters he faced to keep it 3-0, but the offense could not take advantage of back-to-back innings with two aboard. In the fifth, Guerrero singled and Okamoto doubled to put two Blue Jays in scoring position with one out, but Tyron Guerrero relieved Sandoval and escaped the threat.
The Red Sox added to their lead when Masataka Yoshida scored on Andruw Monasterio’s sacrifice fly in the sixth. It could have been more, but Toronto left fielder Nathan Lukes gunned out Caleb Durbin trying to score from second on Connor Wong’s single to end the inning.
In the seventh, Okamoto brought Toronto right back into the game with one big swing, taking Greg Weissert deep to center field for a three-run shot. Ernie Clement (hit by pitch) and Guerrero (single) set the table.
After Jeff Hoffman’s bases-loaded escape in the seventh, the Blue Jays manufactured the tying run off Whitlock — the first he allowed in 13 appearances — in the eighth. Lukes hit a leadoff double to left and Varsho dunked a single into right, setting up pinch hitter Andres Gimenez’s sacrifice fly.
–Field Level Media
Sports
President Trump says of LeBron James: 'Maybe he's a racist'
U.S. President Donald Trump in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., July 24, 2026. REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein President Donald Trump, asked to weigh in on the basketball careers of Michael Jordan and LeBron James, said Friday that James might be a racist.
In a White House press conference, Fox News’ Peter Doocy mentioned the Friday news that James intends to sign with the Philadelphia 76ers, then asked the president whether Jordan or James is the “best ever.”
Trump replied, “Michael Jordan is a guy that’s a friend of mine. I play golf with him. He’s a really good guy. I think LeBron is — maybe he’s a racist, but maybe he doesn’t like Trump. I don’t know. I only like people that like me, so I would say Michael Jordan all the way.”
James endorsed the three candidates that ran against Trump in the past three presidential elections: Hillary Clinton in 2016, Joe Biden in 2020 and Kamala Harris in 2024.
James also criticized Trump following the president’s withdrawal of the Warriors’ invitation to the White House in 2017, after Golden State star Stephen Curry stated that he would have declined the visit.
Jordan, 63, won six NBA titles for the Chicago Bulls in the 1990s and was a five-time league MVP.
James, 41, owns four NBA championship rings and has been selected MVP four times during his career with the Cleveland Cavaliers, Miami Heat and Los Angeles Lakers. He is the NBA’s all-time leader in points and games played.
–Field Level Media
Jacob Lopez, four relievers shut down Twins in Athletics' win
Anthony Seigler (4 hits) helps Red Sox keep rolling vs. Blue Jays
