Sacramento is making its pitch for an expansion franchise in Major League Baseball.

Regional leaders near California’s capital city formally unveiled a bid on Thursday. The group tossed out “The Sacramento Pitch” in a release from the Greater Sacramento Economic Council that boasted about a “fully entitled 50-acre stadium site” and nearly $2 billion in public and private funds, as well as land.

“When MLB moves forward on expansion, Sacramento will be impossible to ignore,” said Mark Friedman, founder and chairman of Fulcrum Property and board chair of the Greater Sacramento Economic Council.

“We have the market, the site, the capital, and the community. Sacramento is ready to compete — and Sacramento is ready to win,” Friedman said.

Sacramento is the No. 20 media market in the United States. Of the markets ahead of it, only one — Orlando-Daytona Beach — does not have an MLB team.

The Athletics are playing their home games for a second straight season in West Sacramento, Calif. Their temporary home is Sutter Health Park, a minor-league stadium that effectively holds the fort until the A’s state-of-the-art ballpark in Las Vegas is completed in 2028.

“This is a defining moment for West Sacramento, and we’re ready,” West Sacramento Mayor Martha Guerrero said in a news release. “Major League Baseball is already seeing firsthand the passion, energy, and civic pride that exists here. This region offers a practical and achievable path for long-term MLB success, and we have the financial capacity, community support, and clear vision needed to bring Major League Baseball permanently to West Sacramento. We’re built for this. We’re ready. Bring it on.”

Preliminary plans call for a stadium to be constructed near, or at, the site of Sutter Health Park.

In addition to politicians, “The Sacramento Pitch” features former San Francisco Giants manager Dusty Baker and former MLB player and Sacramento native Derrek Lee.

“I have always believed Sacramento is a major league city. Throughout my career, I’ve traveled across the country, and there’s something different about the people here. This community truly loves baseball,” Baker said in a news release. “For more than a century, this region has built a proud baseball legacy and developed generations of Major League Baseball players. I could not be more excited for the prospect of bringing a permanent MLB team here.”

The Arizona Diamondbacks and Tampa Bay (then-Devil) Rays were MLB’s last expansion teams. They debuted in 1998.

Commissioner Rob Manfred has said he would like to have two expansion cities chosen by 2029, one in the West and one in the East.

–Field Level Media

Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, who has not lost on the clay courts this season, advanced to the fourth round of the French Open on Friday — with four-time champion Iga Swiatek her next opponent.

The 15th-seeded Kostyuk won titles on the clay courts in Madrid and Rouen leading up to the French Open. She advanced with a 6-4, 6-3 defeat of Viktorija Golubic of Switzerland.

Swiatek, the third seed, most recently won the title at Roland Garros in Paris in 2024. She defeated Magda Linette 6-4, 6-4 in an all-Polish match on Friday to advance. With the win, she avenged her three-set loss to Linette earlier this year in Miami.

Swiatek has yet to win a tournament on clay this season and has a record of 9-3. Her most recent title, on any surface, came last August in Cincinnati.

Kostyuk had an optimistic tone in her post-match news conference, even though she has lost all three career matchups against Swiatek and hasn’t won a set from her.

“I definitely have a different feeling going into this match,” she said. “Because I feel like last time that I played her in Cincinnati, I lost this match way before it even started, and I don’t feel the same this time.”

Swiatek also won the tournament in 2020 before three straight victories from 2022-24 and is 43-3 overall at Roland Garros. Only Chris Evert (seven) and Stefanie Graf (six) have more singles wins in Paris during the Open Era.

Kostyuk knows that history, too.

“She’s won this tournament four times. I would love to be the one who is a favorite in this match, but I still don’t think it’s the case, even though I have this really long streak,” the Ukrainian said. “But it’s not going to ruin my day or ruin my game. I still want to go out and try my best and enjoy. Like, I have never taken a set off her. Even if I win one set in the next match, I’m going to be very happy. That’s how I look at it, and I’m excited for this match.”

Other winners Friday were eighth-seeded Mirra Andreeva of Russia, who defeated Czech Marie Bouzkova, the 27th seed, 6-4, 6-2. In the fourth round, she will face Jil Teichmann of Switzerland, who upset 10th-seeded Karolina Muchova of Czechia 6-1, 7-5.

Sorana Cirstea of Romania, the 18th seed, shut out Solana Sierra of Argentina 6-0, 6-0 to set up a fourth-round meeting with Xiyu Wang of China.

Seventh-seeded Elina Svitolina of Ukraine ousted Tamara Korpatsch of Germany 6-2, 6-3. She will play the winner of the late Friday match between 11th-seeded Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and Peyton Stearns.

–Field Level Media

The Toronto Tempo will be out for a repeat win against the visiting Seattle Storm on Saturday afternoon.

The expansion Tempo defeated the visiting Storm 86-73 on May 13 for the first victory in franchise history.

Toronto (4-4) is coming off Wednesday’s 111-104 road win over the Chicago Sky that snapped a two-game skid.

Seattle (3-5) had a two-game winning streak halted Wednesday with a 78-64 loss to the Washington Mystics.

In their win at Chicago, the Tempo had a career-best 29 points from Nyara Sabally, who also had six rebounds, two steals and two blocked shots.

“This is really not surprising to me,” said teammate Marina Mabrey, who had 24 points and seven assists. “(Sabally) is a really good player and can read the game really well and is super smart.”

“She is an important player for us,” coach Sandy Brondello said about Sabally.

Brittney Sykes added 20 points for the Tempo, who shot 56.1% (37 of 66), including 46.2% (12 of 26) from 3-point range.

The Storm trailed 48-29 by halftime against the Mystics and could not recover despite a 19-12 fourth-quarter edge.

Jade Melbourne led Seattle scorers with 15 points.

The Storm shot only 34.9% (22 of 63) from the field and 21.7% (5 of 23) from beyond the arc.

“We won’t turn the page,” Storm coach Sonia Raman said. “We’re never going to turn the page on any game. We want to make sure that, win or lose, we learn and we grow. We’ll go back. We’ll watch film. We’ll process it and then make the adjustments we need to make because some of the things that happened today are things that we want to be better at going forward, no matter who we play.”

In the first meeting against the Storm, the Tempo were led by Mabrey’s 26 points on 6-for-11 shooting from 3-point distance. She also had four rebounds, three assists and four steals.

“(Mabrey) makes all these 3s, but it’s how she creates for her teammates, too,” Brondello said.

Sykes added 18 points and eight rebounds against Seattle.

Dominique Malonga scored 21 points to lead the Storm in their first visit to Toronto. She did not play because of concussion protocol on Wednesday.

–Field Level Media