Sports
Cameron Rising set to return for No. 16 Utah vs. Arizona State
Sep 7, 2024; Salt Lake City, Utah, USA; Utah Utes quarterback Cameron Rising (7) drops back to throw the ball against the Baylor Bears during the first quarter at Rice-Eccles Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Rob Gray-Imagn Images Utah’s offense has regressed in quarterback Cameron Rising’s absence, but the veteran signal-caller will return for the 16th-ranked Utes when they visit Arizona State on Friday night for a Big 12 battle in Tempe, Ariz.
Action Network reported Thursday that Rising will start for Utah (4-1, 1-1 Big 12) against the Sun Devils after missing 3 1/2 games with an injured throwing hand.
Rising was hurt during the second quarter of the Utes’ 23-12 home win over Baylor on Sept. 7. He reportedly suffered a dislocated finger and a cut on his right hand after running into a water cooler on a play where he was shoved out of bounds.
The seventh-year senior started the season strong, throwing for 346 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions on 62.1 percent passing across 1 1/2 games.
Rising’s return may rejuvenate a Utah offense that has struggled to finish drives with freshman signal-caller Isaac Wilson filling in.
The Utes are averaging 16 points and 410 yards per game against Big 12 foes, and they have just two touchdowns in their past eight trips to the red zone. Through five games, Utah has 11 touchdowns on 22 drives in which the Utes have reached the red zone.
“We’re about 20 percent off where we need to be,” Utah coach Kyle Whittingham said. “It’s not like we’re absolutely horrible. We’re at 50 percent, which isn’t good by any means, but 70 percent is our target. If we can be 70 percent in the red zone, which we have been for several years … then that’s good production.”
Wilson has struggled to be a consistent passer.
He is averaging 242 yards passing per game in his three starts this season. Still, he has completed only 55.7 percent of his passes and has thrown seven interceptions in five games. His mistakes stalled the Utes’ offense at crucial junctures in a 23-10 loss to Arizona on Sept. 28.
“His entire game just needs to continue to get tighter and better,” Whittingham said. “But there’s not any one glaring area where you can say he’s really lacking in this or that. He’s a freshman — a true freshman. There’s going to be a learning curve, there’s going to be mistakes made that you’re going to have to live with.”
Arizona State (4-1, 1-1) has been trending in a much better direction behind a robust rushing attack. Cam Skattebo ranks second in the Big 12 in rushing with 615 yards and is averaging 5.5 yards per carry.
The Sun Devils also have battled inconsistency from redshirt freshman quarterback Sam Leavitt, who has three 200-yard-plus games in five starts this season. He’s also completed just 59 percent of his passes. Still, Leavitt is showing progress. He threw four touchdown passes in a 35-31 win over Kansas last week after totaling only three TD passes over his first four games.
“The best thing about Sam is he’s a self-corrector,” Arizona State coach Kenny Dillingham said. “He can see things. He can feel what’s wrong. He can feel himself do something right, and then he can correct (mistakes) on his own.”
Arizona State leads the all-time series against Utah 22-12, but the Utes have won four straight games in the set and routed the Sun Devils 55-3 in Salt Lake City last season behind four touchdown passes from Bryson Barnes and a season-best 352 rushing yards by the team.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Guardians' Travis Bazzana strives to heat up in finale vs. A's
Apr 29, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana (37) before the game between the Guardians and the Tampa Bay Rays at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Cleveland Guardians second baseman Travis Bazzana is breathing a sigh of relief after recording his first major league hit in Saturday’s game against the Athletics, snapping an 0-for-12 spell to start his career.
Bazzana will look for more production at the plate on Sunday afternoon when Cleveland vies for a sweep of its three-game series against the Athletics in West Sacramento, Calif.
The Guardians selected Bazzana with the No. 1 overall pick in the 2024 MLB Draft after his standout college career at Oregon State. While his first full season in the organization in 2025 was hampered by an oblique injury, it did not delay his fast track to the majors. The 23-year-old from Australia made his debut on Tuesday.
A .407 hitter in his final college season, Bazzana got his first major league hit when he singled off Hogan Harris in the seventh inning of Cleveland’s 14-6 win over the A’s on Saturday. Bazzana even accomplished two goals in one swing — the single also gave him his first two RBIs.
“It was a competitive at-bat, and I was confident he was going to go at me with the fastball right there — I got a good one,” Bazzana said.
With his first hit out of the way, Bazzana hopes to catch the slipstream of his teammate Chase DeLauter, who’s been on a tear at the plate. DeLauter extended his hitting streak to seven games and has reached base in 11 straight after recording a single in the second inning on Saturday.
With 8-5 and 14-6 victories secured on Friday and Saturday, the Guardians already have snapped a stretch of three straight lost series. Now they will turn to left-hander Parker Messick (3-0, 1.73 ERA) to try and complete the series sweep.
The 25-year-old out of Florida State has instantly made a name for himself since debuting in August 2025, allowing two or fewer runs in 10 of his first 13 career starts.
On April 16, Messick took a no-hitter into the ninth inning against Baltimore but was removed after giving up two runs and two hits over eight innings. Sunday will mark his first-ever appearance vs. the Athletics.
Messick will oppose A’s right-hander Aaron Civale (2-1, 3.23 ERA), who spent the first four full seasons of his career in Cleveland before being traded to Tampa Bay in 2023. He then split time between the Rays, Milwaukee and both Chicago teams before joining the Athletics on a one-year deal this past offseason.
Civale, 30, is 1-1 with a 6.75 ERA in four career starts against the Guardians. He was a late addition to the A’s roster in February but has emerged as one of their most consistent starters.
“Overall, he keeps us in games right now, and that’s a good sign,” Athletics manager Mark Kotsay said after Civale’s last start on Tuesday.
The A’s lost to Kansas City 4-1 in 10 innings, but Civale threw five shutout innings in a no-decision.
–Field Level Media
Sports
After late rally, Royals bid for rare road sweep of Mariners
May 2, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher Lucas Erceg (60) shakes hands with catcher Carter Jensen (22) following a victory against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images As Emerson Hancock was warming up Saturday, he caught himself watching some of the video tributes on the scoreboard at T-Mobile Park for Randy Johnson, whose No. 51 jersey was retired by the Seattle Mariners in a pregame ceremony.
Hancock then went out did his best impression of the “Big Unit.”
The former first-round pick struck out a career-high 14 batters over seven innings but didn’t get a decision as the Kansas City Royals rallied for a 3-2 victory in 10 innings.
The Royals, who came to Seattle with a 3-12 road record, will try for a sweep of the three-game series Sunday afternoon. They’ve already clinched their first road series victory of the season.
“You know a lot of these games are going to be close when you’re playing good teams,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “Today the pitching really held up and the offense came through. (Friday) it was more the opposite. When things are going well for you, you’re winning games no matter which way you have to do it.”
Hancock, whose previous best was nine strikeouts set March 29 against Cleveland in his first start of the season, allowed one run on six hits and didn’t walk a batter.
“Congrats to Randy on an incredible career,” Hancock said. “It was an honor for me to pitch on a night like this. You just want to go out and execute the best you can.”
Catcher Cal Raleigh was a late scratch for undisclosed reasons, so Hancock worked with veteran backup Mitch Garver instead.
“He and Garve had an incredible game plan, mixing hard and soft,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
Wilson described Raleigh, coming off a record-breaking season with 60 home runs, as having “just a little soreness.” He said the catcher would undergo additional testing Sunday but refused to disclose what part of Raleigh’s body was ailing.
The Royals tied the score in the ninth inning.
Salvador Perez led off with a single and was replaced by pinch-runner Lane Thomas, who advanced to second on a balk by Mariners closer Andres Munoz. With one out, Jac Caglianone lined a single to left-center, with the ball bouncing between the legs of outfielder Julio Rodriguez and rolling all the way to the wall, allowing Thomas to score and Caglianone to take third.
Maikel Garcia’s sacrifice fly in the 10th produced the winning run after ghost runner Michael Massey stole third base on a pickoff attempt by Garver.
“Not exactly how we drew it up,” Quatraro said.
The Mariners took the lead in the fifth as Leo Rivas scored on a wild pitch with the bases loaded. They blew a chance at a big inning when Randy Arozarena forgot the count and was picked off first base.
“It was kind of a crazy game with the balk and Randy losing track …” Wilson said. “You don’t play this game without embarrassing things happening at times.”
Sunday’s series finale is set to feature Royals left-hander Kris Bubic (2-1, 3.74 ERA) against Mariners right-hander Luis Castillo (0-2, 6.35).
Bubic took a no-decision Tuesday against the Athletics in a game the Royals won 4-1 in West Sacramento, Calif. He went five innings and allowed one run on four hits, with four walks and six strikeouts. Bubic is 1-0 with a 7.27 ERA in four career starts against Seattle.
Castillo is coming off an 11-4 loss at Minnesota in which he gave up seven runs over five innings. He’s 3-2 with a 3.47 ERA in eight previous starts versus the Royals.
–Field Level Media
Sports
White Sox pursue sixth straight victory, sweep of Padres
May 1, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami (5), right is congratulated by center fielder Tristan Peters (29), left, and catcher Drew Romo (36) after hitting a three-run home run during the second inning against the San Diego Padres at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: Denis Poroy-Imagn Images While the Chicago White Sox’s power duo of Munetaka Murakami and Colson Montgomery didn’t homer on Saturday night, their ability to hit the long ball has fueled the team’s longest winning streak in four years.
Chicago beat the host San Diego Padres 4-0 on Saturday night for its fifth straight victory and will go for a series sweep on Sunday afternoon.
Murakami leads the majors with 13 homers, and Montgomery is tied for 13th with nine. They’ve homered in the same game seven times in the team’s first 33 contests, the most by any teammate duo within the first 35 games of a season in MLB history.
“When you have guys in the middle of the order that are able to change the score with one swing, obviously it’s going to make a big difference,” White Sox manager Will Venable said.
Add Miguel Vargas’ six homers to the mix and you have three players teaming for 28 of the club’s 40 homers, which are good for a ninth-place tie in MLB.
Murakami, in his first season in the majors after playing in Japan, only figures to be more dangerous as he learns more about the pitchers, most of whom he’s facing for the first time.
“There’s still a lot of learning curve of the game,” he said through an interpreter.
Murakami and his teammates will try to provide plenty of run support Sunday for left-hander Anthony Kay (1-1, 6.12 ERA), who’s coming off a no-decision Monday in his team’s 8-7 home win over the Los Angeles Angels.
Kay permitted seven hits and four runs in four innings, walking two and striking out two. This will be his first career start against San Diego.
The Padres announced a change to their rotation after Saturday night’s game. Manager Craig Stammen said right-hander Griffin Canning would be activated from the injured list to make his first start of the season.
Canning, who was 7-3 with a 3.77 ERA last year for the New York Mets before suffering a season-ending ruptured Achilles, is 3-1 with a 2.86 ERA in four career starts against the White Sox.
Stammen said that the plan to start Canning on Sunday actually came to fruition earlier in the week.
“We just wanted to split Michael (King) and Randy (Vasquez) up a bit,” Stammen said.
Besides adding depth to a rotation that has battled injuries to start the season, Stammen also is looking for better, more consistent approaches from his hitters. San Diego has just nine runs in a four-game losing streak and was blanked at home Saturday for the first time this year.
“While there are some good at-bats in there, there are also some not-so-good at-bats in there,” Stammen said. “We have to figure out a way to stick nine good ones together through the entire lineup.”
The Padres are batting just .235 with a .307 on-base percentage this season, ranking 21st and 25th, respectively, in the majors. Their 29 homers are tied for 24th.
–Field Level Media
