Sports
Braves, Cardinals ready to put disappointing June behind them
Jun 28, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley (27) leaves his feet to attempt to throw out San Francisco Giants first baseman Rafael Devers at first base during the sixth inning at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: D. Ross Cameron-Imagn Images Two teams who have struggled throughout June will try to change their trajectory when the St. Louis Cardinals visit the Atlanta Braves for a three-game series that begins on Tuesday.
Both teams are 3-7 over their last 10 games and will be happy to turn the calendar. The Braves are 9-13 in June and the Cardinals are 12-12 over the same time.
Atlanta has seen its lead in the National League East, which was 10.5 games on May 22, dwindle to three games over the Philadelphia Phillies.
St. Louis was 4.5 games behind the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers on May 31 but now trail by seven games and is just a half-game ahead of the San Diego Padres and Miami Marlins in the race for the final wild-card spot.
The series opener features a pair of left-handers, as St. Louis’ Matthew Liberatore (3-5, 5.56 ERA) faces Atlanta’s Martin Perez (6-4, 3.00).
Atlanta has been in an offensive funk. During their current 4-12 skid, the Braves have been shut out twice and scored three or fewer runs 10 times.
“Our sport is different than every other sport,” Atlanta manager Walt Weiss said. “We play virtually every day for seven months, so you’ve got to get past all that stuff. You’ve got to keep your head down and keep doing the work. These guys are doing the work, they’re doing all that stuff. We’ve just got to fight through it.”
The strugglers are led by Austin Riley, who went 4-for-21 on the six-game West Coast road trip, saw his average fall to .209, and hasn’t homered since May 20. Ha-Seong Kim is on an 0-for-24 skid and is hitting .068. Drake Baldwin hit a home run in his first at-bat after coming off the injured list, but is 2-for-43 since his return and has seen his average fall from .303 to .255.
The Cardinals have been equally puny at the plate. St. Louis scored only three runs in its three-game weekend series against Miami.
“You look at the games, we’re successful, we come up with that key hit, that big hit and kind of keep it rolling,” Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol said. “We haven’t been able to do that recently and that’s a big part of how we’ve gotten to this point.”
Two Cardinals will try to rekindle their offense. Ivan Herrera (22 games) and Alec Burleson (career-long 25-games) had their on-base streaks end in Sunday’s 2-1 win which snapped a four-game losing streak.
Rookie second baseman JJ Wetherholt is coming off back-to-back multi-hit games, giving him 23 on the season.
The Atlanta staff has been stabilized by the veteran Perez. With No. 2 starter Spencer Strider out for the foreseeable future, Perez has been a dependable arm. Since rejoining the rotation in mid-May, he is 4-2. He had a four-game winning streak end on Wednesday against San Diego when he gave up three runs in four innings, his shortest start of the season.
Liberatore has struggled over his last four starts, going 0-2 with a 10.34 ERA in June. He was rocked by Arizona on Wednesday for six runs in 5 1/3 innings.
This is the first meeting between the Braves and Cardinals this season. The Braves won the series 4-2 in 2025.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Nationals' Cade Cavalli, Red Sox's Willson Contreras suspended 7 games for fracas
Jun 30, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras (40) gets into an altercation in the fourth inning against the Washington Nationals at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Jaiden Tripi-Imagn Images Major League Baseball suspended Washington Nationals starting pitcher Cade Cavalli and Boston Red Sox first baseman Willson Contreras seven games apiece on Thursday for their roles in a benches-clearing incident on Tuesday in Boston.
MLB also suspended Nationals right-hander Miles Mikolas for five games and Red Sox outfielder Nate Eaton for three for their actions during the incident at Fenway Park.
The four players each were fined an undisclosed amount as part of the discipline.
The suspensions are scheduled to begin Friday, when the Red Sox visit the Los Angeles Angels, and the Nationals host the Pittsburgh Pirates. The players can appeal the discipline, which will be held in abeyance until the process is complete.
Cavalli, 27, apologized Wednesday for his comment toward Contreras that ignited a benches-clearing fracas in the fourth inning of Washington’s 8-1 win. After the right-hander struck out Contreras, Red Sox interim manager Chad Tracy said he heard Cavalli yell, “Sit down, boy,” although the pitcher told reporters, “I don’t know. I just lose my head in it. I’m competitive. I just told him to sit down.”
Contreras, 34, had to be restrained as both benches emptied. He later tossed his batting helmet toward Cavalli during the melee and was ejected. Eaton and Mikolas, neither of whom was playing in the game, and Tracy also were tossed out by crew chief and second base umpire Vic Carapazza.
Contreras said after the game Tuesday that he didn’t know if there were any racial overtones to Cavalli calling him “boy.”
“I’m Venezuelan. I don’t know if he’s racist or not,” Contreras said. “I’ll let MLB handle that.”
On Wednesday, Cavalli said he did not mean to use the term in a disparaging way.
“I’m extremely torn up about the way that things were perceived,” Cavalli said. “Obviously, there was no ill intention behind that.”
Cavalli, however, said he understands the racist meaning behind the word he used, even if it wasn’t his intention.
“There’s a history behind that word, and that’s just something that as a competitor, like in football or basketball, playing wiffle ball with my brother, you don’t understand it,” Cavalli said. “And then it gets perceived in a way that was not my intention, and then you learn from that. It’ll never happen again.”
Cavalli, who stayed in the game and earned the victory, is 5-4 with a 3.69 ERA in 90 1/3 innings over 18 starts.
Contreras is batting .283 with 18 home runs and 53 RBIs in 83 games.
Eaton, 29, is batting .174 (4-for-23) with one homer and five RBIs in 11 games.
Mikolas, 37, is 2-7 with a 5.44 ERA, 17 walks and 47 strikeouts in 84 1/3 innings over 18 games (seven starts) in his first season with Washington.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Canadiens sign G Jakub Dobes to 3-year, $16.07M extension
May 29, 2026; Raleigh, North Carolina, USA; Montreal Canadiens goaltender Jakub Dobes (75) walks to the ice for warmups before game five of the Eastern Conference Final of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Carolina Hurricanes at Lenovo Center. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-Imagn Images The Montreal Canadiens’ Jakub Dobes, who led all rookie goaltenders with 29 wins this past season, signed a three-year, $16.07 million contract extension on Thursday.
Dobes, 25, who could have become a restricted free agent after this coming season, now is signed through the 2029-30 campaign. The new terms have an average annual value of $5.357 million beginning in 2027-28. He signed a two-year, $1.93 million contract in July 2025.
Dobes went 29-10-4 with a 2.78 goals-against average and a .901 save percentage in 43 games (42 starts) this season. He also went 9-10 with a 2.66 GAA and a .908 save percentage in the playoffs as the Canadiens advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.
He made the NHL All-Rookie Team for 2025-26.
For his career, Dobes is 36-14-7 with a 2.77 GAA and a .904 save percentage in 59 regular-season games (57 starts) over two seasons.
Montreal selected Dobes in the fifth round of the 2020 NHL Draft.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lucas Glover, Zac Blair share early lead at John Deere Classic
Jul 2, 2026; Silvis, Illinois, USA; Lucas Glover lines up his putt on the 18th hole during the first round of the John Deere Classic golf tournament. Mandatory Credit: Marc Lebryk-Imagn Images Lucas Glover and Zac Blair share the first-round lead at the John Deere Classic after posting bogey-free, 8-under 63s on Thursday in Silvis, Ill.
Zach Johnson, Lee Hodges and German Stephan Jaeger are one stroke behind the co-leaders after one trip around TPC Deere Run. Davis Riley used a hole-in-one and an eagle on consecutive holes to shoot a 6-under 65, where he’s tied with Ben Kohles and Patrick Fishburn.
Glover, 46, birdied seven of his first 11 holes before cooling down the rest of the way. The 2009 U.S. Open champion won the John Deere in 2021 and has collected three of his six PGA Tour titles in this decade.
Blair, meanwhile, is searching for his first PGA Tour victory. The 35-year-old started his day on the back nine, then went birdie-eagle at Nos. 1-2 for a boost. He led the field in strokes gained on approach.
Johnson’s eagle-birdie finish pushed him near the top of the leaderboard and all but ensured he will make the cut at the John Deere for an incredible 18th year in a row. The native of nearby Cedar Rapids, Iowa, has played the event every year since 2002 and skipped the U.S. Senior Open this week to keep that streak going.
Riley stood at 2 under for his round before sinking the first hole-in-one of his PGA Tour career at the par-3, 150-yard 16th hole. His shot landed just behind the pin and slowly spun back to the cup. He followed that up with an 18 1/2-foot eagle putt at the par-5 17th.
Defending champion Brian Campbell and two-time John Deere winner Jordan Spieth opened with 1-under 70s.
–Field Level Media
Nationals' Cade Cavalli, Red Sox's Willson Contreras suspended 7 games for fracas
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