Sports
Brewers host Phillies, look to clinch NL Central
Sep 17, 2024; Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA; Philadelphia Phillies second baseman Bryson Stott (5) turns a double play as Milwaukee Brewers left fielder Jackson Chourio (11) slides into second base during the sixth inning at American Family Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Hanisch-Imagn Images The Milwaukee Brewers will turn to right-hander Freddy Peralta with a chance to clinch the National League Central when they host the Philadelphia Phillies on Wednesday in the finale of the three-game series between division leaders.
Peralta (11-8, 3.75 ERA) will be opposed by right-hander Aaron Nola (12-8, 3.62).
Despite losing 5-1 to the Phillies on Tuesday night, the Brewers’ magic number dropped to one with the Chicago Cubs’ 4-3 loss to the Oakland Athletics. Bryce Harper and Nick Castellanos each homered and Zack Wheeler allowed one run over seven dominant innings as the Phillies evened the series.
With the Cubs playing a day game Wednesday, there’s a chance the Brewers (87-64) could clinch before their game gets underway. Milwaukee leads Chicago by 10 games.
Brewers first baseman Rhys Hoskins played in the postseason in 2022, the last of his six seasons with Philadelphia, and acknowledged it’s an unusual situation.
“It’s weird. Actually, I’ve never been in that position,” Hoskins said of the possibility of coming to the ballpark as division champions. “The team that I was on that made the playoffs, we were kind of in control of our own destiny, and … got to clinch because we won a game.
“Obviously tomorrow with the schedule, that’s a little bit out of our control,” he said. “In our eyes, we still have to win games here.”
The Phillies (91-60) lowered their magic number to clinch the NL East to four, and to one to secure a postseason berth. Philadelphia leads the Dodgers by two games for best overall record in the NL. Milwaukee is two games back of Los Angeles. The top two teams get a first-round bye in the playoffs.
Philadelphia also secured the tiebreaker against Milwaukee, thanks to a three-game sweep in June.
“We needed a win here for sure,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. “We’ll try and win the series (Wednesday), but getting the tiebreaker over these guys, I think it’s going to be huge coming down the stretch.”
Peralta picked up the win his last time out, allowing one run in five innings in a 2-1 victory at Arizona last Friday.
Peralta is 4-2 with a 2.84 ERA over his past seven starts. After pitching six innings in three of his five starts in August, his longest outing in three starts this month is 5 1/3 innings.
Peralta is 0-2 with a 4.01 ERA in six career games, including five starts, against Philadelphia.
Nola has won just once over his past 11 starts, going 1-4 since July 11. In his most recent start, he allowed six runs in 4 1/3 innings in an 11-3 loss to the Mets. He has given up five homers in 15 innings in his three starts this month.
Nola is 7-2 with a 2.76 ERA in 13 career starts vs. the Brewers. He has faced Milwaukee once this season, tossing seven scoreless innings in a 2-0 Phillies victory on June 5.
Harper has three homers in his past four games after a 30-game homerless stretch.
With their win Tuesday, the Phillies improved to 34-1 this season when a starting pitcher goes at least seven innings, including 34 straight. That’s the longest streak in Phillies history and second-longest in major league history behind the 1942 Cardinals (42 straight).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Heat: Link for LeBron James presser posted by mistake
Nov 5, 2013; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) reacts after making a basket against the Toronto Raptors at Air Canada Centre. The Heat beat the Raptors 104-95. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images The Miami Heat said a live-stream link titled “LeBron James Introductory Press Conference” was posted by mistake to the team’s YouTube channel.
The post, which included the date July 27, was later deleted. A team spokesperson told ESPN on Tuesday night that the club’s social media department had been preparing for the possibility of the superstar forward rejoining the Heat and errantly published the link.
James, 41, who won two NBA championships in four seasons with Miami from 2010-14, is a free agent for the first time since 2018 after announcing last month that he would not re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.
Potential landing spots for the league’s all-time leading scorer other than Miami reportedly include the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers (another former team) and the Golden State Warriors.
James averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds in 60 games with the Lakers in 2025-26. The four-time NBA champion owns career averages of 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in a record 1,622 games over 23 seasons.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spurs C Victor Wembanyama to grace NBA 2K27 cover
Dec 27, 2025; San Antonio, Texas, USA; San Antonio Spurs forward Victor Wembanyama (1) reacts after scoring during the first half against the Utah Jazz at Frost Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Scott Wachter-Imagn Images Spurs star Victor Wembanyama will grace the cover of the NBA 2K27 video game, ESPN reported on Wednesday.
The 7-foot-4 center powered San Antonio to the 2026 NBA Finals, with the Spurs falling to the New York Knicks in five games last month.
In his third NBA season, Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and a league-leading 3.1 blocks.
Previous cover athletes in the NBA 2K series have included Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Jayson Tatum.
Wembanyama, 22, is the third Spurs player to make the cover of at least one version of the game, joining Tony Parker (NBA 2K16, French version) and Pau Gasol (NBA 2K17, Spanish version).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Astros turn to Peter Lambert in bid for sweep of reeling Marlins
Jul 11, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Houston Astros starting pitcher Peter Lambert (38) comes off the field after he pitches against the Texas Rangers during the third inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images A spate of unrelenting injuries to the rotation resulted in 14 different pitchers making starts for the Houston Astros this season, with Ronel Blanco joining that group on Monday when he made his season debut after undergoing Tommy John surgery.
Hayden Wesneski, slated to make a rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Thursday, should be next to return for Houston.
The Astros claimed their three-game interleague series against the Miami Marlins with a 5-3 victory on Tuesday behind Tatsuya Imai.
Five Astros have made at least 10 starts, a collection that doesn’t include ace Hunter Brown, who returned from an extended stint on the injured list in mid-June.
“Some of those guys that we’re getting back have pitched out of the bullpen, so as we continue to map out the next couple of weeks and consider adding some pitching at the deadline, with all those pieces, would they fit,” Astros manager Joe Espada said.
“We’re going to move some things around so we can make this work.”
Right-hander Peter Lambert (8-5, 3.03 ERA) is scheduled to start on Wednesday as the Astros pursue the series sweep.
Lambert is 2-0 with a 1.02 ERA in three starts this month and has allowed one run or fewer in each start, including on June 17 against the Baltimore Orioles. He worked six innings in that game and surrendered one run on three hits and three walks with a season-high 10 strikeouts over six innings.
Lambert is 1-0 with a 6.35 ERA in four career appearances (three starts) against the Marlins. In his previous start against Miami on May 2, 2024, he allowed four runs on five hits and three walks with three strikeouts over 3 1/3 innings and did not factor into a 5-4 loss with the Colorado Rockies.
Right-hander Sandy Alcantara (10-5, 3.89) has the starting assignment for Miami.
Alcantara has produced a quality start in all three starts this month, going 1-1 with a 2.14 ERA. He went 7-0 with a 2.98 ERA during a seven-start stretch before a 3-2 loss to the Cleveland Guardians on July 10.
He did not factor into the decision of a 2-1 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers last Friday after allowing one run on three hits and four walks with seven strikeouts over six innings.
Alcantara has faced the Astros once previously. He surrendered six runs on nine hits and one walk with five strikeouts over seven innings in an 8-2 home loss on Aug. 4, 2025.
All-Star shortstop Otto Lopez returned from a two-game injury hiatus (finger) for the Marlins, which allowed Miami manager Clayton McCullough to tinker with his lineup.
Lopez batted leadoff for the ninth time this season and finished 0-for-3 with two walks. McCullough is aiming to build protection around left-handed hitting Kyle Stowers with the right-handed hitting Lopez and Heriberto Hernandez, plus switch-hitting Xavier Edwards.
“Just trying to have Stowers be shielded as best I can from left(-handed pitching), and if they are going to throw left on Stowers, then at least you have Otto and (Hernandez) around him, X (Edwards) behind him,” McCullough said.
“Before Otto got hurt, I was thinking about potentially going this route with hitting him (leadoff), hitting Bert (third). If people still want to bring in left on Stowers to try to mitigate some of his slug, at least they’re going to have to go through Bert and X before they get to (lefty Liam) Hicks.”
–Field Level Media
Heat: Link for LeBron James presser posted by mistake
Spurs C Victor Wembanyama to grace NBA 2K27 cover
