Sports
D-backs, Nats open set with eyes on wild-card race, trade deadline
Jul 23, 2026; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Arizona Diamondbacks first baseman Tyler Locklear (31) hits a one run single against the St. Louis Cardinals during the eighth inning at Busch Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images The National League wild-card race takes center stage when the Arizona Diamondbacks visit the Washington Nationals for a three-game series beginning Friday night.
Though the calendar still reads July, both teams are in the wild-card mix and trying to determine whether to be buyers or sellers ahead of the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Arizona has won three straight and five of six after winning a makeup game in St. Louis on Thursday, 10-6. The Diamondbacks hold the final NL wild-card spot with five teams within four games of them.
One of those teams is the Nationals, who are two back and return home after a 4-2 road trip.
“People are talking about the playoffs, trade deadline, buyers and sellers,” Washington manager Blake Butera said Wednesday. “And I know this is the first time a lot of these guys have played meaningful baseball in late July, and hopefully into August. So we’re having fun with this.”
Arizona will send All-Star left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez (8-3, 2.62 ERA) to face left-hander Carson Palmquist (0-1, 8.74) on Friday. Palmquist will serve as the opener ahead of right-hander Zack Littell (7-7, 5.34).
After a string of five starts in which he went at least six innings and gave up two runs or fewer, Rodriguez was roughed up by the Cardinals his last time out. He gave up five runs on seven hits in 2 2/3 innings on Sunday, but Arizona rallied from a 7-0 deficit for an 8-7, 10-inning win.
“I feel like I missed a lot of spots with the changeup,” Rodriguez said after that contest. “The four-seam (fastball) wasn’t working great today. I had a good plan, they had a good plan. They executed, and they took advantage of it.”
Rodriguez is 3-2 with a 3.09 ERA in five career games (four starts) against Washington. He lost to the Nationals on June 6 after yielding four runs on six hits in 6 1/3 innings.
After two solid efforts working behind an opener, Littell started against the Athletics on Saturday and gave up eight runs on eight hits (two home runs) over six innings in a 15-1 loss.
Palmquist opened against the Rockies on Tuesday and gave up four runs on four hits in 1 2/3 innings.
Littell is 2-1 with a 4.84 ERA in 11 games (five starts) against the Diamondbacks in his career. He earned a victory over Rodriguez in Phoenix on June 6, when he permitted one run on two hits in five innings.
On Thursday in St. Louis, Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte was scratched because of back stiffness. Amid an infield shuffle, Tyler Locklear got the start and went 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs in a 10-6 Diamondbacks victory. It was his first long ball of the season.
“Not easy to do what he did,” manager Torey Lovullo said of Locklear. “He comes to the ballpark, he’s always preparing to play. I know that. … I think he’s got the right mindset. He’s always ready.”
Washington completed its road trip with an 8-0 win over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday in Denver. Cade Cavalli tossed six scoreless innings and the Nationals broke the game open with a six-run seventh inning keyed by Luis Garcia Jr.’s two-run homer.
“It’s like a ticking time bomb. We’re sitting in the dugout like, we know it’s going to happen. There’s no doubt,” Cavalli said. “Their pitchers did a great job, and give them credit. But our offense got to them. It’s just kind of what they do.”
The Nationals lead the majors in runs (567), stolen bases (113), home runs (150) and slugging percentage (.443).
–Field Level Media
Sports
WNBA All-Star Game tickets soar to $340
May 9, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; Indiana Fever guard Caitlin Clark (22) passes the ball while Dallas Wings guard Paige Bueckers (5) defends in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images Ticket prices for the WNBA All-Star Game continue to rise leading up to the tipoff on Saturday night in Chicago.
The get-in price at United Center escalated from $74 on June 19 to $118 on July 19 to $233 by Friday, according to ticket-tracking service TicketData.com. At 12:20 p.m. ET on Saturday, the price stood at $343.
The game is sold out, TicketData.com reported.
Chicago last hosted the WNBA All-Star Game in 2022 at Wintrust Arena, the 10,387-seat home of the Sky.
Per Front Office Sports, last year’s WNBA All-Star Game at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis had a gameday get-in price of $71. And that was in a smaller venue than the United Center.
Gainbridge Fieldhouse fits about 17,200 fans. The United Center, home of the NBA’s Bulls and NHL’s Blackhawks, can seat more than 20,000 people.
The All-Star teams will be headlined by Paige Bueckers of the Dallas Wings and Caitlin Clark of the Indiana Fever, the leading vote-getters.
Bueckers’ team features three former UConn players — Bueckers, Breanna Stewart of the New York Liberty and Gabby Williams of the Golden State Valkyries — in the starting lineup, along with Kelsey Mitchell of the Fever and Natasha Howard of the Minnesota Lynx.
Joining Clark in the starting lineup are her teammate, Aliyah Boston, rookie Olivia Miles of the Lynx, Jessica Sheapard of the Wings and Las Vegas Aces superstar A’ja Wilson.
A four-time WNBA MVP, Wilson is leading the WNBA in scoring (25.5 points) and blocks (2.0) per game.
ABC will televise the game, which has an 8:30 p.m. ET tipoff.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Richard Carapaz, Tadej Pogacar stand tall at Stage 20 of Tour de France
Richard Carapaz of Ecuador is in action during Stage 20 of the Tour de France on Saturday. The race ends Sunday. Richard Carapaz of Ecuador won the stage and Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia all but wrapped up his fifth general classification title in seven years during a wild penultimate day at the Tour de France on Saturday.
The 33-year-old Carapaz capped a monumental week with his second victory in three stages, and third of his career, while also taking over the polka-dot jersey for top climber of the three-week stage race. He also finished third in Friday’s Stage 19.
Stage 20 unfolded in dramatic fashion as Sepp Kuss of the United States held a comfortable lead with just over 7 kilometers remaining in the 170.9-kilometer stage as it approached the finish at the resort town of Alpe d’Huez.
Kuss then crashed against a curb on the right side of the road while exiting a tunnel but got back on his bike and continued with the lead. Misfortune struck again when Kuss crashed against a left-side curb with 5.8 kilometers remaining.
Carapaz passed Kuss after his second solo crash and went on to the stage victory for the U.S.-based EF Education-EasyPost team. Remco Evenepoel of Belgium passed Kuss near the finish line to take second place, while Kuss made his way to the podium with a disappointing third-place finish.
Kuss was trying for his second career stage and stands as the last American man to win a Tour de France Stage when he reached the finish line first in 2021.
Race leader Pogacar finished fourth in the stage, while his UAE Team Emirates teammate Isaac del Toro of Mexico was fifth. The finish kept del Toro in the white jersey given to the top rider under 26 years old.
All that remains is Sunday’s mostly ceremonial final Stage 21. Barring major disaster, Pogacar will wrap up his third consecutive Tour de France title as he takes a 6-minute, 26-second lead over Evenepoel into the final day.
In third place overall is del Toro, who is 9:42 off his teammate’s pace. Paul Seixas, the 19-year-old sensation from France, is fourth overall and nearly two minutes behind del Toro for the white jersey. Seixas finished 10th in Stage 20.
The final stage into Paris on Sunday was cut from 133 kilometers to 89 kilometers because of nearby wildfires, with fans now treated to two extra circuits along the Champs-Elysees before a climbing finish on the nearby Montmartre loop.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tour de France final stage rerouted due to wildfires
A firefighter works to battle wildfire near the A9 motorway near Beziers, France, July 3, 2026. Wildfires in southwest France have forced organizers of the Tour de France to reconfigure the final stage, set for Sunday.
The change is necessary because multiple first responders have been diverted to the fires. The new route will leave a smaller race footprint for local officials to secure.
“As numerous wildfires are currently affecting France, particularly the Gironde region, emergency services are fully mobilized to combat the blazes, while internal security forces are working to secure the affected areas and protect the population,” the Amaury Sport Organisation said in a statement.
“In light of this, the Ministry of Interior has decided to redeploy a portion of the internal security forces initially mobilized to ensure security for the final stage of the Tour de France, in order to reinforce the response efforts in the areas affected by the wildfires.”
The wildfires have led to the evacuations of about 200,000 people.
Stage 21 had been set as a 132.5-kilometer ride from Thoiry down the Champs-Elysees in Paris.
The re-imagined Stage 21 still will end along the famed road, just after a circuit on the Montmartre. But the run now will occur solely within the Paris boundaries and travel just 89 km. Cyclists will take two extra circuits along the Champs-Elysees before heading out for the Montmartre climb.
The Montmartre circuit has proven to be popular after it was used in the 2024 Paris Olympics and then added to the 2025 Tour de France. The area can accommodate large gatherings of fans, who turn the area into a party atmosphere.
Earlier in the Tour de France, fans were asked to stay away from the final 40 kilometers of Stage 3 because of wildfires and the need to deploy first responders to the area.
–Field Level Media
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WNBA All-Star Game tickets soar to $340
