Sports
After rough week, Braves have to deal with Brewers, Jacob Misiorowski
Jun 12, 2026; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Milwaukee Brewers pitcher Jacob Misiorowski (32) delivers a pitch against the Philadelphia Phillies in the second inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Michael McLoone-Imagn Images The Atlanta Braves picked a bad time to fall into a funk.
After looking like the biggest threat to the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League for much of the season, Atlanta has lost six of seven. And now the Milwaukee Brewers are coming to town, and bringing baseball’s hottest pitcher with them.
The Braves will look to snap their second three-game losing streak in the past 10 days when they host the Brewers for the opener of a three-game set on Friday in a matchup of division leaders.
The NL Central-leading Brewers, despite having their three-game winning streak end with a 4-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on Thursday, have won eight of their past 12.
The Braves lost twice to the San Francisco Giants this week before the scheduled Thursday game was postponed because of bad weather.
“Nothing’s coming easy for us right now — on the mound, at the plate,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “Seemed like everyone was coming through early on, and it’s kind of infectious. This is almost inevitable, and over the course of the season you run into times like this.”
The Friday pitching matchup features Milwaukee flamethrower Jacob Misiorowski (8-2, 1.34 ERA) and Atlanta’s Martin Perez (5-3, 2.90).
Misiorowski, 24, is coming off the best outing of his career — a one-hit shutout of the Philadelphia Phillies on June 12 in which he struck out 15 and needed only 95 pitches while facing the minimum.
“It’s more that it finally clicked,” Misiorowski said. “Everything started settling in and feeling good.”
Misiorowski, who is 7-0 with a 0.17 ERA in his past eight starts, has recorded seven consecutive quality starts and has struck out a major-league-leading 131 batters in 87 innings on the season.
“He’s winning the 0-0 and the 1-1 (counts) a lot,” pitching coach Chris Hook said. “When he doesn’t, it stands out to be like, ‘Oh, God, he didn’t win the 0-0. He didn’t win the 1-1.’ Like that’s weird, for him to go to a two-ball count.”
Misiorowski has never faced the Braves.
Perez was seen as a luxury when he was signed as a free agent earlier this year but has proven to be invaluable in light of Atlanta’s pitching problems. His veteran presence will be especially important since the club placed Spencer Strider, considered the Braves’ second-best arm behind Chris Sale, on the 60-day injured list this week due to right elbow inflammation.
Perez has won three consecutive starts. He beat the New York Mets 3-1 on Saturday, allowing one run on four hits and one walk in 5 1/3 innings. He struck out four.
“Martin is like Picasso,” Atlanta utility man Mauricio Dubon said. “He’s a veteran. He’s out there just grinding and everything. You know, he makes it look easy.”
Perez has not had success against the Brewers, however. In five career appearances (four starts) vs. Milwaukee, he is 0-3 with an 8.54 ERA, having allowed eight home runs in 26 1/3 innings.
Also on Thursday, Milwaukee announced that Quinn Priester would miss the rest of the season. The 25-year-old right-hander was trying to avoid surgery through rehab but will now undergo thoracic outlet decompression surgery.
After going 13-3 with a 3.32 ERA for the Brewers in 2025, Priester was 0-5 with a 15.75 ERA in eight minor league starts this season, allowing 28 runs in 16 innings.
The Brewers and Braves are meeting for the first time this year. Milwaukee took the season series 4-2 in 2025 and has won six straight in Atlanta.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fire reel off last 10 points, send Storm to ninth consecutive loss
Jun 17, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga (14) is fouled by Portland Fire forward Emily Engstler (21) during the first half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images Emily Engstler’s basket with 1:17 left snapped a tie and the Portland Fire scored the final 10 points Wednesday night to rally past the visiting Seattle Storm 94-89.
Engstler’s fadeaway jumper put Portland (8-9, 2-5 Commissioner’s Cup) ahead 91-89. Engstler then drove the lane on the Fire’s next possession and fed Bridget Carleton for her seventh 3-pointer of the game with 40.5 seconds remaining for a five-point advantage.
Carleton scored a team-high 24 points and set a career high for made 3-pointers, while teammate Carla Leite added 20 points and 10 assists. Sarah Ashlee Barker contributed 12 points, and Karlie Samuelson came off the bench to net 10.
Dominique Malonga starred in defeat for Seattle (3-13, 0-7) with a career-high 28 points and a season-best 11 rebounds. Natisha Hiedeman added 19 points and tied her season high with five 3-pointers, while rookie Awa Fam matched her season best with 18 points on her 20th birthday.
It wasn’t enough to prevent the Storm’s ninth straight loss, one that saw the visitors get outscored 27-15 in the fourth quarter.
Coming off a 107-74 loss at Minnesota on Monday, Portland got off the mark in a hurry, particularly from 3-point range. The Fire made four in less than two minutes as they started the game with a 16-7 spurt.
Seattle quit turning the ball over and got going behind Hiedeman, who canned a pair of 3-pointers in a 16-5 run that allowed the Storm to take a 23-21 edge to the second quarter.
Neither team led by more than four points in a back-and-forth second period, which ended with Fam making a foul shot with 21.9 seconds remaining to give the Storm a 48-47 lead at the break.
After earning a 20-8 advantage in paint points in the first half, Seattle kept looking inside to Malonga in the third quarter, and she delivered. Malonga’s eight points helped the Storm establish the game’s largest lead at 68-56. While the Fire bounced back, they still trailed 74-67 going to the fourth period.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ryan O'Hearn's 6 RBIs spark Pirates' demolition of Athletics
Jun 17, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds (10) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Athletics during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images Ryan O’Hearn homered and drove in a career-best six runs while leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to an easy 12-4 victory over the Athletics on Wednesday in West Sacramento, Calif.
O’Hearn had a two-run double in the first inning, a two-run blast in the fourth and a two-run single in the seventh as Pittsburgh racked up 16 hits while beating the Athletics for the second straight night to end a three-game series.
Marcell Ozuna homered among two hits while Bryan Reynolds (two RBIs), Spencer Horwitz (three runs), Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo (two runs) also had two-hit games for the Pirates. Brandon Lowe drove in two runs.
Zack Gelof homered in the ninth for the Athletics to extend his career-best hitting streak to 21 games, which is the longest active run in the majors.
Jacob Wilson had a two-run single and Henry Bolte homered for the Athletics.
Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft (6-3) allowed two runs, one earned, and four hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked three.
The Athletics activated Aaron Civale (shoulder) off the injured list prior to the game. Civale (5-3) gave up six runs and nine hits in three-plus innings, striking out two and walking two.
The Pirates led 3-0 just four batters into the game.
Horwitz doubled and Lowe walked before Reynolds hit a ground-rule RBI double. O’Hearn followed with the two-bagger to left to make it a three-run margin.
Triolo led off the second with a single and Horwitz hit a one-out double. Lowe and Reynolds followed with consecutive run-scoring singles to make it 5-0.
Civale walked Lowe to start the fourth and was removed in favor of left-hander Jose Suarez. Two batters later, the left-handed-hitting O’Hearn sent the ball over the fence in left to make it 7-0.
The Athletics got on the board in the sixth. Nick Kurtz singled and Shea Langeliers walked before both moved up on an infield out. Wilson followed with a two-run single to center.
The Pirates piled on with five runs in the seventh, beginning with Ozuna’s 448-foot homer to center off Scott Barlow.
Jake Mangum followed with a single and Barlow hit both Triolo and Henry Davis to load the bases. Luis Medina walked Horwitz to force in a run, and Lowe hit a sacrifice fly to make it 10-2.
After Reynolds struck out, O’Hearn’s single to left-center boosted the gap to 10 runs.
Bolte hit his second career homer in the seventh for the A’s before Gelof continued his streak in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Jesse Marsch on Ismael Kone's injury: 'Could hear the bone snap'
June 18, 2026; Vancouver, Canada; Canada’s Ismael Kone is stretchered off after sustaining an injury. Mandatory Credit: Anne-Marie Sorvin-Imagn Images Canada midfielder Ismael Kone was scheduled to undergo surgery on his injured left leg after sustaining the ugly injury in his national team’s 6-0 win over Qatar on Thursday in Vancouver.
Coach Jesse Marsch said postmatch, according to The Athletic, that he “could hear the bone snap.”
“Your heart goes out to him,” Marsch said. “Everybody’s shaken for him.”
The coach added, “I haven’t spoken to Ismael yet, but he’s at the hospital. He will prepare for a surgery. I’m going to go see him after this press conference. We’ll see exactly what we decide to do for him. His family is with him at the hospital, so his mother’s there and his family.”
In the 51st minute of the Group B match, Qatar midfielder Assim Madibo attempted a tackle on Kone, but his right foot brought Kone to the ground. Trainers were immediately called onto the pitch as Kone was in visible discomfort before being stretchered off moments later.
Sitting up on the stretcher, Kone gave a thumbs-up sign to the fans while taking oxygen.
After a video review, Madibo was shown a red card, Qatar’s second of the afternoon, leaving the team with nine players to finish the match.
Kone was replaced by Nathan Saliba, who scored in the 64th minute. Canada improved to 1-0-1 (4 points) to tie Switzerland for the top of the group standings, while Qatar dropped to 0-1-1 (1 point).
At the end of the match, Marsch and Qatari coach Julen Lopetegui had a tense exchange as they shook hands. In response to Lopetegui’s comments, Marsch gave a dismissive wave.
Kone, who turned 24 on Tuesday, has made 42 international appearances and scored four goals. He came on as a substitute in all three of Canada’s World Cup matches in 2022. On June 12, Kone started and played the full 90 minutes of Canada’s 1-1 draw against Bosnia and Herzegovina.
He started his professional career at CF Montreal in 2021 before stints at Watford, Marseille, Rennes and Sassuolo, his current club in Serie A in Italy.
“It’s a huge loss for us,” Marsch said of Kone. “He’ll be fine. Right, we’ll get him good doctors, we’ll get him back. Obviously, our heart is with him, but that kid’s got a big future, and he’s a big part of everything we do.”
–Field Level Media
