Sports
D-backs' Zac Gallen looks to halt slide in finale vs. Reds
Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen (23) warms up before pitching against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Chase Field in Phoenix, on June 2, 2026. Two pitchers who are hoping to rediscover their All-Star forms will go head-to-head on Sunday in the decisive contest of the three-game series between the Cincinnati Reds and visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
Right-hander Zac Gallen is set to start the series finale for the Diamondbacks, while left-hander Andrew Abbott will take the mound for the Reds.
Gallen (3-5, 5.43 ERA) made the 2023 National League All-Star team and finished third in Cy Young Award voting after posting a 17-9 record and a 3.47 ERA.
After putting up solid numbers again in 2024, Gallen went 6-5 with a 3.97 ERA during the second half of last season. He owned a 3.14 mark through six outings this season but went 2-3 in six starts in May with a 7.04 ERA.
That rut has carried over to June, where he owns a 6.97 ERA through two starts. He received a no-decision after allowing four runs and nine hits in 5 1/3 innings of a 10-6 loss at the Miami Marlins on Tuesday.
“We need him,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said. “We need him to go out there. We’ll continue to evaluate him as we do with every other player on this ball club.”
Gallen has made six starts against the Reds in his career, posting a 1-2 record with a 3.16 ERA.
Abbott (4-4, 4.10) also is trying to rediscover his All-Star form from last season, when he posted a 2.87 ERA in 29 starts.
He most recently took the loss against the host San Diego Padres on Monday after allowing three runs and four hits in six innings of the 6-2 defeat.
Cincinnati’s 2-1 win on Saturday was just its second victory overall in the past nine games.
“We haven’t been playing our best ball, but we’re all showing up,” Abbott said. “I think it’s going to take maybe one extra play, one extra effort, one extra thing to get us over the hump. Once we get over that, then we’ll just start going back to how we were playing.”
Abbott has made two starts against the Diamondbacks in his career, posting a 0-1 record with a 5.73.
The Diamondbacks let a terrific start by Michael Soroka go to waste on Saturday after he held the Reds to one run and two hits over seven innings. The bullpen, however, surrendered a tie-breaking solo home run to Noelvi Marte in the eighth inning.
The Diamondbacks went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and stranded 12 runners on Saturday, but Gallen expressed confidence in the offense after his latest outing.
“Our offense is great, I don’t think anyone doubts that,” Gallen said. “For us as pitchers, you’re just trying to keep it within striking distance for those guys. Just try to give those guys a chance.”
Gallen will need to be careful against Marte, who has homered in each of the first two games of the series.
Since he was recalled from Triple-A Louisville on June 3 after fellow outfielder TJ Friedl was optioned, Marte has been getting hitting advice from former Cincinnati shortstop Barry Larkin, a Hall of Famer and 12-time All Star.
“The last two nights I’ve been concentrating on the same thing I did when I was down in Triple-A,” Marte said. “Stay focused on what I want.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
LA Thieves fight to stay perfect in Call of Duty Stage 4 qualifying
The hands of an esport gamer clutching the controler at Encore Esports Gaming Lounge in New Rochelle on Thursday, December 20, 2018.
E Sports
The Los Angeles Thieves remained unbeaten, but it wasn’t easy as they had to rally to defeat G2 Minnesota 3-2 on Saturday at Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major qualifying.
Boston Breach, the Carolina Royal Ravens and the Miami Heretics also won on Day 2 of the Week 2 matches.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing five qualifying matches apiece to determine seeding for the fourth major of the season to be held June 25-28 at Nanterre, France. Each team receives 10 CDL points for each win. Qualifying resumed Friday after last week’s Stage 4 Minor won by the Thieves.
Boston Breach downed last-place Toronto KOI 3-1, starting quickly with close wins on Gridlock Hardpoint (250-233) and Raid Search and Destroy (6-5). Toronto stayed alive with a 2-1 win on Den Overload, then the Breach closed it out with a 250-129 victory on Den Hardpoint.
Boston’s Marcus “Afro” Reid of the United Kingdom was selected Match MVP with 107 kills and a plus-16 kills-deaths differential.
The Carolina Royal Ravens outlasted OpTic Texas 3-2. Texas took the first map, 250-147 on Den Hardpoint. Carolina stormed back with narrow wins on Raid Search and Destroy (6-5) and Den Overload (4-3). Texas again won, 250-207 on Sake Hardpoint, before the Royal Ravens had a final 6-5 edge on Den Search and Destroy.
Carolina’s Logan “Lurqxx” Brown of the United States was the Match MVP with a match-high 107 kills and a plus-24 K-D differential.
The Miami Heretics started strong in downing Faze Vegas 3-1. The Heretics won 250-149 on Sake Hardpoint and 6-4 on Raid Search & Destroy. Vegas rallied with a 7-1 victory on Gridlock Overload, but Miami closed with a 250-205 decision on Gridlock Hardpoint.
Miami’s David “RenKor” Isern of Spain was Match MVP with a match-high 78 kills and a plus-19 K-D differential.
The Los Angeles Thieves won a battle with G2 Minnesota, 3-2, with two must-win maps. The Thieves opened with a 250-214 victory on Den Hardpoint, then Minnesota had the edge after wins on Fringe Search and Destroy (6-4) and Gridlock Overload (6-5). Los Angeles responded with a 250-222 decision on Scar Hardpoint, and a match-deciding 6-4 win on Hacienda Search and Destroy.
Paco “HyDra” Rusiewiez of France was Match MVP with a match-high 109 kills and a plus-8 K-D differential.
Qualifying continues Sunday with three matches:
–Toronto KOI vs. Cloud9 New York
–Vancouver Surge vs. Paris Gentle Mates
–Riyadh Falcons vs. Carolina Royal Ravens
Call of Duty League Stage 4 Major qualifying standings, with match record and map differential:
1. Los Angeles Thieves, 3-0, +3
2. Boston Breach, 3-1, +4
3. Riyadh Falcons, 2-0, +4
4. G2 Minnesota, 2-1, +2
5. Carolina Royal Ravens, 2-1, +1
6. OpTic Texas, 2-2, +4
7. Miami Heretics, 1-2, -2
8. FaZe Vegas, 1-2, -2
9. Paris Gentle Mates, 1-2, -1
T10. Cloud9 New York, 0-2, -4
T10. Vancouver Surge, 0-2, -4
12. Toronto KOI, 0-2, -5
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team Liquid work way back to rematch with LYON in LCS Spring grand final
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. Team Liquid swept Cloud9 in the lower-bracket final on Saturday to advance to the grand final in the LCS Spring playoffs in Los Angeles.
LYON await Team Liquid in Sunday’s best-of-five championship round. LYON had pushed Cloud9 to the lower bracket with a 3-0 win on June 7 in the upper-bracket final.
Team Liquid lost to LYON 3-2 in the upper-bracket semifinals on May 24 to open the playoffs. Liquid fought their way back with lower-bracket victories over Shopify Rebellion (3-0), FlyQuest (3-1) and Cloud9 (3-0).
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 double-elimination playoffs are all best-of-five matches in a double-elimination format.
The top two teams will qualify for this summer’s Mid-Season Invitational in Daejeon, South Korea, while the winner also gets a trip to the Esports World Cup in Paris in July.
On Saturday, Team Liquid won 32, 24 and 29 minutes on the three maps.
Lim “Quid” Hyeon-seung led Team Liquid with an 11-2-24 kills-deaths-assists ratio, while fellow South Korean Park “Morgan” Ru-han posted a 10-0-14 K-D-A. Jo “CoreJJ” Yong-in, also of South Korea, had a 6-2-28. None of the Cloud9 players had a positive K-D ratio.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Pirates' Paul Skenes aims to end winless stretch vs. Marlins
Jun 9, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Paul Skenes (30) pitches against the Los Angeles Dodgers during the fifth inning at PNC Park. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images A tantalizing pitching matchup headlines the series finale between Miami and host Pittsburgh, as right-handers Max Meyer of the Marlins and Paul Skenes of the Pirates will face off on Sunday afternoon.
Both Meyer and Skenes have six wins for their squads, with Meyer sharing top honors on his club with teammate Sandy Alcantara.
It’s good timing for Meyer’s turn in the rotation for the Marlins as they look to start anew after their six-game winning streak was snapped on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Meyer hasn’t lost a game so far in 2026, going 6-0 with a 2.85 ERA through his first 14 starts this season. He is 0-0 against the Pirates in his career, posting a 1.42 ERA over 6 1/3 innings in two starts.
Although the team came away with a 10-6 win over Arizona in his last start on Tuesday, Meyer received a no-decision after throwing 5 1/3 innings of two-run ball against the Diamondbacks.
Marlins manager Clayton McCullough singled out Meyer’s execution of pitches in two-strike counts in that start as a possible point of improvement but admitted after the game, “We’re nitpicking Max’s outings now — getting into the sixth, a couple runs — because he’s just so good.
“He’s pitched that way this year that we just expect him to mow through people, but he can find ways to win games now and get through games in a lot of different ways and make pitches when he needs to.”
The Pirates are looking to end a worrying streak themselves, as they have lost each of the last five starts made by their ace Skenes (6-5, 2.84 ERA), the reigning National League Cy Young Award winner and a two-time All-Star in his third season.
Skenes, 24, didn’t factor into the decision in his most recent game, a 12-3 loss to the Los Angeles Dodgers on Tuesday when he gave up two runs in six innings.
He has a 1-0 record and 2.38 ERA in two previous starts against the Marlins.
The Pittsburgh lineup is having to weather the injury bug as center fielder Oneil Cruz (hand) and rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin (elbow) are both on the injured list. The Pirates are looking for contributions to fill the gap from throughout the order.
In their win over the Marlins on Saturday, Tyler Callihan and Jake Mangum each recorded two-hit games from the No. 7 and 8 spots, sparking the key eighth-inning rally with back-to-back two-out singles.
It hasn’t gone unnoticed by Pirates manager Don Kelly.
“Nobody’s going to replace Oneil Cruz’s power or Konnor Griffin’s speed, but they’ve gone out there and been themselves and stayed within themselves to do that — to go the other way, have good at-bats,” Kelly said.
“When we’ve been good, we’re able to stack those together and score some runs — and that’ll lead to wins.”
The weekend series is up for grabs heading into Sunday’s rubber match.
Miami took Friday’s opener 8-3, spreading six runs between the seventh and eighth innings to break a 2-2 deadlock. Pittsburgh then leveled the series with a 3-2 win on Saturday thanks to a go-ahead RBI when Spencer Horwitz was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
LA Thieves fight to stay perfect in Call of Duty Stage 4 qualifying
Team Liquid work way back to rematch with LYON in LCS Spring grand final
