Spacestation Gaming moved atop the standings with another convincing victory on Sunday in Stage 2 of North American qualifying for the Overwatch Champions Series.

Spacestation, which played just one match in the opening week, beat The Kafe 3-1 in its first of two Week 2 matches. They hold a narrow edge in match differential over Team Liquid (plus-five to plus-four) as the lone unbeaten teams left.

LuneX Gaming swept Disguised 3-0 in the day’s other match to move into third place. Saturday’s two winning teams will face off on Sunday.

The six teams in contention will engage in round-robin matches during the regular season, with the top four qualifying for the regional playoffs, which will be double elimination on July 3-5. All matches are best-of-five until the grand final, which will be best-of-seven.

In addition to the $75,000 prize pool, the top four Stage 2 finishers will advance to Stage 3. The three finishers will also qualify for the Midseason Championship.

Spacestation Gaming was even with The Kafe through two matches after they opened with a 2-0 win on Ilios and The Kafe responded with a 3-2 triumph on Circuit Royal. Spacestation closed out the match with a pair of 3-1 wins on King’s Row and New Junk City.

LuneX Gaming had an easier time on Saturday, completing the sweep with a 2-0 win on Oasis, 119.7m-108.96m victory on New Queen Street and a 3-2 clincher on New Junk City.

Week 2 concludes with three more matches Sunday.

Sunday schedule

–Spacestation Gaming vs. LuneX Gaming

–The Kafe vs. Disguised

–Dallas Fuel vs. Team Liquid

Standings (team, record, match differential)

1. Spacestation Gaming, 2-0, +5

2. Team Liquid, 2-0, +4

3. LuneX Gaming, 2-1, +4

4. Dallas Fuel, 1-1, 0

5. Disguised, 0-2, -5

6. The Kafe, 0-3, -8

Prize pool:

1. $30,000, qualifies for Midseason Invitational, qualifies for NA Stage 3

2. $15,000, qualifies for Midseason Invitational, qualifies for NA Stage 3

3. $12,000, qualifies for Midseason Invitational, qualifies for NA Stage 3

4. $8,000, qualifies for NA Stage 3

5-6. $5,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2 promotion/relegation

–Field Level Media

Kyle Schwarber had three home runs, including two in one inning, for the Philadelphia Phillies in a 15-3 rout of the visiting New York Mets on Saturday.

Bryce Harper hit for the cycle while going 4-for-5 for the Phillies, who had lost two in a row. Starting pitcher Cristopher Sanchez (9-3) held New York to one run on five hits in six innings.

Schwarber homered twice in a third inning which saw Philadelphia bring 12 batters to the plate and score eight runs, chasing Mets starter Freddy Peralta (5-6), who allowed 10 runs on 10 hits over 2 2/3 innings. With his final homer in the seventh inning, Schwarber is up to 28 homers, four more than anyone else in the majors this season.

Mark Vientos and Carson Benge accounted for New York’s offense with a homer apiece, but the team still saw its two-game win streak snapped.

Tigers 4, White Sox 1

Dillon Dingler had two hits, including his team-high 17th homer, and drove in two runs as host Detroit downed Chicago to clinch a series victory.

James Outman and Jake Rogers drove in the Tigers’ other runs in support of Troy Melton (4-0), who allowed a leadoff homer before surrendering no more hits or runs over six innings of work. Kenley Jansen secured his second save in as many days and his ninth of the season.

Sam Antonacci reached base four times, including the White Sox’s only RBI on the leadoff homer. Opener Sean Newcomb retired all nine batters he faced before Joe Rock (0-1) gave up the lead in Detroit’s two-run sixth inning.

Reds 10, Yankees 2

Rookie Sal Stewart drove in six runs, Spencer Steer hit a three-run home run and Cincinnati rolled to a rout of host New York.

Stewart tied his career high in RBIs. Rookie Edwin Arroyo had four of the Reds’ 15 hits, supporting Andrew Abbott (5-4) to his first win in five starts. The left-hander allowed one run on five hits over five innings.

Paul Goldschmidt gave the Yankees an early lead with his first-inning solo homer. But New York finished 0-for-13 with runners in scoring position, taking its most lopsided loss of the season after Will Warren (7-2) allowed six runs (two earned) on eight hits over 5 2/3 innings.

Braves 4, Brewers 3

Ozzie Albies hit a pair of home runs, including a game-ending two-run shot in the ninth inning, as Atlanta earned a victory over visiting Milwaukee.

The Braves have won the first two games between the National League division leaders and handed Milwaukee its third straight loss. It was Atlanta’s fifth walk-off win.

Dylan Lee (3-0), who pitched a scoreless ninth, earned the win. Aaron Ashby (10-1) took the loss. Milwaukee starter Kyle Harrison gave up two runs on four hits over 6 1/3 innings. Atlanta starter Chris Sale was working for the first time in 10 days. He pitched 5 2/3 innings and allowed two runs, both unearned, on five hits.

Rockies 2, Pirates 1

Jake McCarthy hit an inside-the-park home run and also doubled, Tomoyuki Sugano tossed six strong innings to outduel Pittsburgh ace Paul Skenes and Colorado survived a chaotic ninth inning to beat the Pirates in Denver.

Sugano (8-4) scattered four hits over six innings and Jaden Hill got the final two outs for his second save.

Spencer Horwitz homered and singled for Pittsburgh, which started the game with back-to-back hits and had just four more the rest of the way. Skenes (6-7) allowed just two runs on four hits and fanned eight over six innings.

Red Sox 5, Mariners 1

Wilyer Abreu homered and Connelly Early overcame a shaky first inning to make a quality start as Boston defeated host Seattle.

The Red Sox have won the first two games of the series and will go for a sweep Sunday afternoon. Early (6-5), who had lost his previous three starts, went six innings and allowed one run on two hits.

Mariners starter Emerson Hancock (5-4) was charged with five runs on four hits over 5 1/3 innings.

Twins 16, Diamondbacks 8

Byron Buxton’s grand slam highlighted a 10-run fifth inning for Minnesota, allowing it to coast to a big win against Arizona in Phoenix.

Brooks Lee had four hits, three runs scored and two RBIs, Victor Caratini had three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored, Ryan Kreidler had three hits and four RBIs, and Luke Keaschall also had three hits and scored three times for Minnesota, which has won five of six. Taj Bradley (6-3) allowed two runs and three hits over five innings.

Jorge Barrosa homered and doubled, Pavin Smith had two hits and an RBI, Tommy Troy had two hits and a run scored, and Ildemaro Vargas delivered a three-run double for Arizona. Zac Gallen (3-6) surrendered career highs of nine runs and 12 hits over four-plus innings.

Nationals 4, Rays 3

Andres Chaparro dribbled in the tiebreaking run, Washington’s bullpen finished with 6 1/3 strong innings and the Nationals beat Tampa Bay to even their series with the Rays.

CJ Abrams and Dylan Crews (two hits) each had a solo homer. Nasim Nunez was 2-for-4 with a double and RBI as the Nats won for the first time in six games against the Rays. Winner Mitchell Parker (3-3), Brad Lord and Clayton Beeter (fifth save) combined to allow just one run and four hits over 6 1/3 innings while fanning nine and walking three.

For the Rays, Junior Caminero went 3-for-3 with a run, RBI and intentional walk but made a baserunning blunder in the seventh with the tying runner on third. Yandy Diaz had two hits. Taylor Walls doubled, scored, walked twice and stole two bases.

Padres 6, Rangers 4

Manny Machado hit a tiebreaking three-run home run in the 10th inning to lift San Diego over Texas in Arlington, Texas.

Joe Ross (0-1) threw the 10th for Texas, walking Samad Taylor to place runners on first and second. Machado then crushed a 408-foot blast to give the Padres a 6-3 lead. In the bottom of the inning, Mason Miller allowed Wyatt Langford’s two-out RBI single, but struck out Brandon Nimmo to secure his National League-leading 20th save.

Walker Buehler threw 5 1/3 innings of one-run, five-hit ball, striking out seven and walking one for the Padres.

Blue Jays 8, Cubs 6

Daulton Varsho and Kazuma Okamoto each hit three-run home runs as Toronto scored eight straight runs to top host Chicago.

Jeff Hoffman (5-4) picked up the win for the Blue Jays by pitching a scoreless seventh inning. Louis Varland earned his 15th save by shutting down the Cubs in the eighth and the ninth.

Chicago jumped out to a 5-0 lead when Matt Shaw hit a three-run homer in the second inning and Pete Crow-Armstrong added a two-run shot in the sixth. Jacob Webb (1-2) allowed three runs on three hits, including Vladimir Guerrero Jr.’s RBI single that tied the game and Okamoto’s homer that gave Toronto the lead in the eighth.

Marlins 6, Giants 3

Heriberto Hernandez slugged a two-out, two-strike, two-run homer during a crucial four-run fourth inning as host Miami defeated San Francisco to climb above .500 for the first time since April 13.

Max Meyer improved to 8-0 with a 2.80 ERA. He allowed seven hits and two runs over five innings for the Marlins, who benefitted greatly from four San Francisco errors in the first four innings which created two unearned runs.

The Giants were led by Casey Schmitt, who hit his 16th homer of the season along with two doubles and a pair of RBIs. Jung Hoo Lee went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and two runs. Starter Trevor McDonald (2-5) contributed to the issues as he hit three batters and walked three in three innings, allowing five runs (three earned).

Guardians 8, Astros 1

Travis Bazzana recorded his first career four-hit game and first multi-homer game while Joey Cantillo worked a career-high-tying eight innings as Cleveland cruised past host Houston.

Bazzana finished 4-for-4 with three runs and five RBIs — also a single-game best. Teammate Kyle Manzardo finished 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs. Cantillo (6-3) logged more than six innings for the first time this season en route to his third quality start. The left-hander allowed one run on four hits and struck out a season-high-tying nine batters.

Astros starter Spencer Arrighetti (7-3), the American League Pitcher of the Month in May, continued his June swoon. The right-hander allowed a season-worst six runs on six hits while posting eight strikeouts over six innings. Arrighetti is 0-2 with a 6.95 ERA across four starts this month.

Orioles 3, Dodgers 2

Left-hander Trevor Rogers gave up one hit over seven scoreless innings and Blaze Alexander had a two-run double as Baltimore escaped with a win over host Los Angeles.

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.

Dodgers right-hander Yoshinobu Yamamoto (7-5) went six innings, allowing three runs on six hits with two walks and six strikeouts. After missing one game for the birth of his second child, Shohei Ohtani returned to the leadoff spot and hit a home run in the ninth inning for Los Angeles, which saw its four-game winning streak come to an end.

Angels 7, Athletics 0

Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel delivered consecutive two-run doubles in a four-run sixth inning to help Los Angeles record a shutout over the host Athletics at West Sacramento, Calif.

Denzer Guzman homered and Jo Adell and Donovan Walton had three apiece hits as the Angels ended a streak of five consecutive losses against the Athletics while winning for just the second time in the past seven contests. Walbert Urena (5-5) gave up four hits over five scoreless innings.

J.T. Ginn (5-4) of the Athletics was charged with four runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings.

–Field Level Media

Both Germany and Ivory Coast could wrap up Group E with a match to spare if they win Saturday’s clash in Toronto.

While victory by itself cannot guarantee the group title, it would move the winner at worst a point away. The right result in the other group match between Ecuador and Curacao later Saturday could seal the top spot.

Germany eased into the tournament with a 7-1 victory over debutante Curacao on Sunday in Houston.

Kai Havertz scored his third and fourth World Cup goals and five teammates also found the net for the four-time world champions.

After uncharacteristically failing to reach the knockout stage in 2018 and 2022, another positive result would all but assure the Germans a return to the knockout phase.

For German center back Jonathan Tah, it’s also an opportunity to play for the first time against his father’s birth country.

“This is going to be something special, that is true, to play against the (Ivory Coast) team,” Tah said. “Of course I’m excited about the (opportunity), and it’s definitely going to be more extraordinary than against any other team.”

Ivory Coast should pose a far more formidable test for Germany after their impressive 1-0 win over Ecuador in Les Elephants’ first World Cup match since 2014.

The 19-year-old Yan Diomande was exceptional on both flanks in a Man of the Match performance, while substitute Amad Diallo scored a clinical 90th-minute winner.

Manager Emerse Fae embraces the rising expectations for his squad, the youngest of 48 at this tournament.

“We’re not coming to watch the Germans play. We’re coming to beat them, we’re coming to get that qualification for the second round,” Fae said. “But above all, we want to go home after the game tomorrow to our base camp in Philadelphia not only with our six points, but also the certainty that we’ll finish top of the pack.”

A draw would make the matter of topping the group go to the final game on June 25, when Ivory Coast faces Curacao in Philadelphia and Germany plays Ecuador in East Rutherford, N.J.

Group F, Netherlands vs. Sweden in Houston: The Netherlands will be trying to shake the disappointment of a 2-2 draw against Japan in their opener after leading twice. Meanwhile, Sweden will try to build on the second-highest scoring performance of the group-stage openers in their 5-1 win over Tunisia.

Group E, Ecuador vs. Curacao in Kansas City: La Tri will be looking to bounce back from their first defeat in 20 fixtures across all competitions. Curacao will try to follow their first World Cup goal in history against Germany with the country’s first point.

Group F, Tunisia vs. Japan in Guadalupe, Mexico: Herve Renard takes charge of his first game for Tunisia after their embarrassing defeat to Sweden led to Sabri Lamouchi’s firing. Japan will look to take another step toward advancing to their third consecutive knockout phase.

–Field Level Media