Sports
Cubs eager to apply brakes on skid in finale vs. Astros
May 22, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs manager Craig Counsell (11) looks on from the dugout before a baseball game against the Houston Astros at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images The Chicago Cubs know their losing streak won’t go on forever, but the long string of defeats definitely is getting uncomfortable.
The Cubs will attempt to end their seven-game skid when they host the Houston Astros in the finale of a three-game series on Sunday afternoon.
The losing streak is Chicago’s longest since a nine-game slide from July 7-16, 2022.
“You stick to things that have gotten you out of (losing streaks). You stick to things that have made you good, and you keep trying to reinforce that the challenge is to stay with that stuff when you’re not getting results,” manager Craig Counsell said. “We’ve struggled as a team for two weeks here.”
The Cubs were shut out for the second time in three games on Saturday, wasting a solid seven-inning effort by Colin Rea in a 3-0 defeat to the Astros. Counsell tried shuffling his batting order, but the Cubs still managed just three singles.
Houston starter Kai-Wei Teng confounded the Cubs with his breaking ball for six innings before three relievers blanked them the rest of the way.
“We’re trying to square balls up, and we’re just not having much success,” Counsell said after the game. “The breaking ball today was good from (Teng). He just threw a lot of breaking balls at kind of varying shapes, and we struggled with it. We couldn’t square it up, essentially ended up being a bunch of pop-ups and some swing-and-miss.”
Teng’s six shutout innings marked the third time in the past four games that Houston’s starter went at least five innings without allowing a run.
“Just like hitting, pitching can be contagious too,” Astros manager Joe Espada said. “Everybody’s starting to do their part. The level of confidence is starting to rise. The guys are starting to believe in one another. ‘It’s my turn. I want to pass the baton to the next guy,’ and we’re starting to get quality start after quality start.”
The Astros, who have won three of their past four games, plan to start right-hander Peter Lambert in the series finale.
Lambert (2-4, 3.57 ERA) has lost his past two outings, but the Cubs combined for one run in those games. The right-hander most recently gave up five runs and three hits in six innings of an 8-0 loss to the Texas Rangers last Sunday.
Lambert has made three appearances against the Cubs in his career, including two starts, and is 2-0 with a 2.57 ERA.
“Our offense continued to produce some good at-bats (Saturday) again, but for us to get going and create consistency in how we win games, we need both sides of the ball, and it starts with our pitching,” Espada said.
Left-hander Shota Imanaga (4-4, 3.38 ERA) is scheduled to start for the Cubs on Sunday.
Imanaga is coming off his worst outing of the season, surrendering eight runs and nine hits in 4 1/3 innings of a 9-3 loss to the Milwaukee Brewers on Monday to end a streak of three quality starts.
“Shota just didn’t have a good night,” Counsell said. “He just didn’t have real good command, the command that he usually has. … It was, frankly, not being able to put the ball where he wanted to put it.”
Imanaga has never faced the Astros.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fire take down Tempo in first battle of expansion franchises
May 23, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Portland Fire forward Bridget Carleton (6) dribbles against Toronto Tempo guard Brittney Sykes (20) during the first half at Coca-Cola Coliseum. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Sousa-Imagn Images The Portland Fire used an 11-point run in the fourth quarter to pull away for a 99-80 victory over the host Toronto Tempo on Saturday in the first meeting between the WNBA’s new expansion teams.
Emily Engstler posted 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks to pace a balanced effort for the Fire (3-3), who continued their pattern of following a loss with a win. Bridget Carleton, who went 4-for-8 on 3-point attempts, and Carla Leite added 15 points apiece.
Kiki Rice and Marina Mabrey scored 19 points each for the Tempo (3-4), who shot just 24% (6 of 25) from 3-point range. Top scorer Brittney Sykes was held well below her 22.3 points per game as she finished with 10 points on 3-for-9 shooting. Sykes also committed seven turnovers.
The teams were tied after the first and second quarters, but Portland opened a five-point lead after three and seized control early in the fourth quarter.
Toronto pulled within 66-63 on a Rice layup 21 seconds into the fourth. Portland responded with the decisive 11-0 run in just 81 seconds. Leite converted an old-fashioned 3-point play and Engstler followed in kind. After a Luisa Geiselsoder layup, Nyadiew Puoch drilled a 3-point shot to push the edge to 77-63 with 8:07 to play. Toronto never pulled within 12 points again.
Leite returned to a starting role in her second game back from an ankle injury and added a game-high nine assists. Megan Gustafson added 14 points and made 6 of 8 shots off the bench. Fellow reserve Sarah Ashlee Barker provided points on 5-for-6 shooting.
Portland shot 10-for-15 (66.7%) in the fourth quarter and made 10 of 11 free throws en route to 33 points in the frame.
Mabrey shot 7-for-15, including 3-for-8 from 3-point range, and dished eight assists while claiming five rebounds. Rice connected on 8-for-11 shooting from the field and also pulled down five boards.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cloud9 escapes with win over FlyQuest in LCS Spring playoff opener
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. After an unbeaten regular season, Cloud9 opened the playoffs of the LCS Spring event in Los Angeles with a narrow win over FlyQuest in the first upper-bracket semifinal on Saturday.
Cloud9 jumped out to a 2-0 lead before losing the next two games. It all came down to the fifth and final game, which Cloud9 won to advance to the upper-bracket final while FlyQuest fell into the lower-bracket quarterfinals, where it will next face Sentinels on May 30.
Eight teams competed in the best-of-three matches in the round-robin regular season with the top six advancing to the playoffs of the League of Legends event. The playoffs will be contested in best-of-five matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Cloud9 leapt ahead with a 25-minute win on red followed by a 32-minute victory on blue. FlyQuest leveled the match at 2 behind a 30-minute red triumph and a 31-minute win on blue. The deciding game was the longest of the match, with Cloud9 prevailing on red in 35 minutes.
Robert “Blaber” Huang was the MVP of the match for Cloud9, finishing with a combined kill-death-assist ratio of 10-15-35. Su-hyeong “Quad” Song of South Korea led FlyQuest with a 12-5-30 K-D-A ratio.
No. 2 seed LYON faces No. 3 seed Team Liquid in the other upper-bracket semifinal on Sunday. Both teams finished the regular season with a 5-2 record.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Suddenly surging Jays look to finish off sweep of Pirates
Apr 27, 2026; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Blue Jays starting pitcher Dylan Cease (84) delivers a pitch against the Boston Red Sox in the first inning at Rogers Centre. Mandatory Credit: Dan Hamilton-Imagn Images The host Toronto Blue Jays will send out Dylan Cease Sunday afternoon as they go for a three-game sweep of the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates.
The Blue Jays have won a season-best four straight, including the first two of a three-game series with the Pirates after a 5-2 victory on Saturday. Toronto left-hander Patrick Corbin allowed one run in six innings and struck out a season-best seven.
The Pirates have lost six of eight and their ace, Paul Skenes, allowed four runs and a career-high nine hits in taking the loss on Saturday. Skenes has allowed nine runs (five against the Philadelphia Phillies on May 17) over his past two starts and his ERA has jumped from 1.98 to 3.00.
“I wasn’t super unhappy with some of the execution on some of the pitches, but could have executed a number of them better,” Skenes said. “I’ll have to re-watch it again, but yeah, I think, probably similar to last week, probably not as bad as the line would suggest.”
Cease (3-2, 2.98 ERA) is coming off a May 19 road loss to the New York Yankees, who tagged him for five runs in five innings. He struck out nine but walked four.
“You walk guys, you fall behind, you’re probably not going to win,” Cease said. “When I’m in the zone, I like where I’m at. Didn’t do a good job of it today.”
Cease is 1-1 with a 3.54 ERA in five career starts against the Pirates. In two starts against them last season, he was 0-1 with a 5.19 ERA.
The Pirates are scheduled to start right-hander Mitch Keller (4-2, 3.86), who is 1-1 with a 5.79 ERA in two career starts against the Blue Jays.
Toronto designated hitter George Springer appears to have overcome his early-season struggles. He led off the bottom of the first with his fifth homer of the season and his third of the week on Saturday. He has 65 career leadoff homers. He also had a double on Saturday.
Springer is on a six-game hit streak, batting .320 (8-for-25) with two doubles, three homers and five RBIs.
“He’s trending in the right direction,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said. “He’s taking some good swings this past week. It’s good to get him rolling a little bit.”
The Blue Jays have won seven of their past 10.
“I think our last 15, 16 games have been great,” Springer said. “Guys are starting to settle in and play to their strengths.”
Ernie Clement is one of those surging players. He was 1-for-4 with an RBI single on Saturday. In his past 14 games, he is hitting .362/.400/.574 with four doubles, two homers and seven RBIs.
Pirates outfielder Bryan Reynolds was 2-for-3 with a walk Saturday, becoming the 34th player to reach the 1,000-game plateau as a Pirate.
Former Blue Jay Spencer Horwitz was 1-for-3 and was hit by a pitch Saturday. The Pirates first baseman has played 18 games in May, and is batting .310 (18-for-58) with five doubles, one triple, one homer and 12 RBIs.
Pirates manager Don Kelly was ejected during the sixth inning of the loss. The Pirates felt that Jesus Sanchez had struck out on a checked swing before eventually hitting an RBI double in the three-run inning.
“We’re in a big moment right there,” Kelly said. “I thought Sanchez had check swung and went, for sure, at that ball. I just felt like it was a big moment. Obviously, I didn’t agree with the call.”
–Field Level Media
Fire take down Tempo in first battle of expansion franchises
Cloud9 escapes with win over FlyQuest in LCS Spring playoff opener
