Sports
Brayan Rocchio's walk-off HR powers Guardians past White Sox
Jul 1, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians shortstop Brayan Rocchio (4) celebrates after scoring during the second inning against the Texas Rangers at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Brayan Rocchio hit a two-run, walk-off homer with one out in the ninth inning to lift the host Cleveland Guardians a 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night.
Rocchio’s towering, 380-foot drive off Grant Taylor (4-2) hit the foul pole in right, also scoring pinch runner Daniel Schneemann as Cleveland’s entire team mobbed both players at the plate. It was Rocchio’s second career walk-off home run.
Tim Herrin (1-3) retired all three hitters in the top of the ninth for the victory, while Taylor gave up two runs in 1 1/3 innings as Chicago manager Will Venable was using the right-hander in a six-out save situation.
Rocchio drove in three runs for the Guardians, who pulled into a virtual tie with the White Sox atop the American League Central. Cleveland has played two more games and has one more win and loss.
Chicago had taken a 5-2 lead after Kyle Teel’s two-RBI double in the fifth and Chase Meidroth’s two-run homer in the sixth, both off Cleveland starter Slade Cecconi.
The Guardians pulled within 5-3 in the sixth on Chase DeLauter’s RBI groundout that plated Gabriel Arias, then sliced their deficit in half in the seventh on David Fry’s second career pinch-hit homer off Brandon Eisert.
Cecconi gave up five runs on nine hits in five-plus innings, walking one with three strikeouts. The right-hander was chased in the sixth on Meidroth’s 349-foot blast to right that scored Braden Montgomery and made it 5-2.
Teel’s two-run double was one of four two-baggers for Chicago in the fifth, when it scored three times to pull ahead 3-2. Tristan Peters, Sam Antonacci and Miguel Vargas all doubled and later scored.
Cleveland took a 2-0 lead in the third on Travis Bazzana’s one-out double and Rocchio’s bases-loaded walk, both against White Sox starter Davis Martin. Patrick Bailey led off with a double and scored, while Bazzana came home on the free pass.
Martin — tied for the AL lead with nine wins — worked a season-low-tying 3 1/3 innings and allowed two runs on six hits. The right-hander walked five without a strikeout in his final start before the All-Star teams are announced.
Antonacci of Chicago and DeLauter were both caught stealing in the first by the opposing starting pitchers after singling.
Guardians rookie left fielder Cooper Ingle dropped a routine fly ball in the second, allowing Colson Montgomery to reach base.
Two nights earlier, Ingle threw the ball into the stands with two outs against the Texas Rangers, allowing the go-ahead run to score in a 4-2 home loss.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: McLaren signing Scott Dixon, Felix Rosenqvist for 2027 season
May 24, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; IndyCar Series driver Scott Dixon (9) during the 110th running of the Indianapolis 500 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Mandatory Credit: Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images Arrow McLaren is adding proven drivers Scott Dixon and Felix Rosenqvist to its IndyCar team for the 2027 season, ESPN reported on Wednesday.
Dixon, who turns 46 on July 22, is a six-time IndyCar Series champion who has been with Chip Ganassi Racing since 2002. The New Zealander has won at least one race in each IndyCar season from 2005-25, including the 2008 Indianapolis 500.
He collected series overall titles in 2003, 2008, 2013, 2015, 2018 and 2020.
Dixon ranks 10th in the drivers’ standings with 211 points, trailing leader Alex Palou (374) of Spain by 163 points. He has one top-five finish and five top-10 finishes but no victories in 10 starts. His 59 career wins are the most among active drivers in the series.
Rosenqvist, 34, and his team since 2024, Meyer Shank Racing, announced last week that he was leaving at the end of the season without identifying the rival team.
The Swedish driver previously raced for Arrow McLaren from 2021-23.
Rosenqvist is sixth in the standings with 248 points, 126 behind Palou. Rosenqvist has one victory — the Indy 500 in the closest finish in its history — one pole, two top-five and four top-10 finishes this year.
The McLaren team’s current three drivers are Pato O’Ward, Christian Lundgaard and Nolan Siegel.
Denmark’s Lundgaard is fourth in the standings (297 points), Mexico’s O’Ward is fifth (257) and American Siegel is 21st (125). Lundgaard has two victories and seven top-10 finishes in 10 starts.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Storm travel to Mercury carrying rare 2-game win streak
Jun 20, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Seattle Storm guard Flau’jae Johnson (4) drives between Phoenix Mercury forward Natasha Mack (4) and forward Alyssa Thomas (25)in the second half at Mortgage Matchup Center. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Less than two weeks ago, the Seattle Storm visited Phoenix in the throes of the WNBA’s longest losing streak of the year.
The Storm fell 93-73 on June 20 against the Mercury, marking their 10th straight defeat in what became an 11-game losing streak.
But look at Seattle now. The Storm visit Phoenix again Thursday night, riding two straight wins.
Seattle (5-15) upset the New York Liberty 99-88 on June 25, then handled the Atlanta Dream 105-90 on Saturday.
“There’s gonna be ups and downs, but I think we’ve had our downs and now we’re trying to grow,” said Seattle rookie Flau’jae Johnson. “As long as we keep coming out like this, we’re gonna be OK.”
During their victory over Atlanta, the Storm shot 60.3% overall and 60.9% (14 of 23) from 3-point range.
Johnson (24 points, 11 rebounds) and fellow rookie Awa Fam (21 points) led the Storm. Johnson made 9 of 12 shots with a pair of 3-pointers, and Fam shot 8-for-9, including 5 of 6 from beyond the arc.
Fellow starters Natisha Hiedeman (20 points, six assists), Dominique Malonga (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Jade Melbourne (10 points, five assists) also scored in double figures.
The Mercury also carry a two-game winning streak into Thursday, though theirs came on the road against the Indiana Fever (111-109) and Toronto Tempo (89-80).
The victory over Toronto on Saturday happened without Alyssa Thomas, who was suspended by the WNBA for one game after deeming Thomas’ hand to Caitlin Clark’s throat to be excessive during the win over the Fever.
“Our circle got smaller, but we have enough,” Phoenix coach Nate Tibbetts said. “Everybody contributed and we got the win, which is most important.”
Kahleah Copper finished with a game-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting against Toronto. Valeriane Ayayi had 20 points and six rebounds off the bench, while DeWanna Bonner added a double-double (13 points, 11 rebounds).
Seattle is in search of its first victory over a Western Conference opponent. The Storm have lost their first 10 games within the conference, including two against Phoenix.
The Storm also carry an eight-game road losing streak into the matchup.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mickey Moniak falls single shy of cycle as Rockies top Marlins
Jul 1, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies outfielder Mickey Moniak (22) celebrates after a home run in the first inning against the Miami Marlins at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-Imagn Images Mickey Moniak doubled, tripled and homered for the Colorado Rockies in a 6-3 win over the Miami Marlins in the third game of the four-game series on Wednesday evening in Denver.
Hunter Goodman and Kyle Karros also homered for Colorado, which had lost three in a row.
Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland (2-7) earned his first win since April 7 by limiting Miami to two runs and six hits over five innings. He struck out seven and walked one.
Juan Mejia and Jimmy Herget held the lead for Brennan Bernardino, who pitched the ninth for his first save of the season and second of his career.
Joe Mack hit an inside-the-park home run and Liam Hicks had two hits and scored a run for Miami, which had won two in a row and six of seven.
The Marlins also went 20-6 in June, the second time in franchise history that they won at least 20 games in a month.
Max Meyer’s bid to win his first 10 decisions for Miami this season was derailed by four unearned runs in the fourth. Meyer (9-1) allowed five runs (one earned) and six hits over six innings. He struck out five and didn’t walk a batter.
Moniak was the second batter in the bottom of the first and hit the second pitch he saw over the fence in center for a 1-0 lead.
Hicks singled with one out in the fourth and Heriberto Hernandez doubled down the left-field line to put runners on second and third. Javier Sanoja then lined a 3-2 pitch into the gap in right-center field for a two-run triple that gave the Marlins a 2-1 lead.
Freeland bounced back to strike out Kyle Stowers and got Leo Jimenez to line out to center to strand Sanoja at third.
Freeland also pitched out of trouble in the fifth after surrendering back-to-back one-out singles.
Colorado put its first two runners on base in its half of the fifth, the second on an error by Sanoja at second, before Moniak came up with two outs and tripled into the right-center field gap to move Colorado back ahead 3-2.
Goodman then hit a towering fly ball over the fence in left for a two-run homer that made it 5-2.
Mack pinch hit for Brian Navarreto to start the seventh and hit the ball off the wall in center. It took an odd bounce, allowing him to circle the bases for an inside-the-park home run that cut the lead to 5-3.
Karros got the run back when he homered to center to lead off the seventh to make it 6-3.
–Field Level Media
