Sports
'Dirtbag' Pirates pursue road sweep of power-starved Brewers
Apr 21, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates starting pitcher Carmen Mlodzinski (50) comes off the field after he pitches against the Texas Rangers during the first inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images The visiting Pittsburgh Pirates will turn to right-hander Carmen Mlodzinski on Sunday afternoon as they look to complete a sweep of the Milwaukee Brewers.
Mlodzinski (1-1, 3.28 ERA) will oppose Brewers left-hander Kyle Harrison (1-1, 3.06).
The Pirates scored three runs in the 10th inning en route to a 6-3 victory Saturday, fueled by RBI singles from Bryan Reynolds and Nick Gonzales. It was Reynolds’ 51st RBI in 102 career games against Milwaukee, which lost its fourth straight contest.
The Pirates have clinched their third straight series victory against a National League Central rival this season.
“In division, to be able to win series is really important,” Pirates manager Don Kelly said following Saturday’s game. “We need to continue to do that, and I think that continuing that gritty, dirtbag style of baseball is what we need to do.”
Milwaukee is in last place in the division despite its .500 record.
Mlodzinski lost his last start, allowing five runs in 4 1/3 innings in a 5-1 defeat Tuesday at Texas. In the two starts before that, he did not allow a run in 11 1/3 innings.
He has not given up a home run this season in 24 2/3 innings in five games, including four starts.
Mlodzinski will make his first career start against Milwaukee after 12 relief appearances. He is 2-1 with a 3.52 ERA against the Brewers, allowing 11 runs, but only six earned, in 15 1/3 innings.
Gonzales had three hits Saturday to extend his hitting streak to six games. He is batting .458 (11-for-24) over that span, with three RBIs.
“We need to keep earning it. It’s a daily thing,” Kelly said. “We still need to keep grinding it out and getting after it and continue to earn that respect every day.”
Without injured starters Jackson Chourio, Andrew Vaughn and Christian Yelich, the power-starved Brewers have just one home run in their last 10 games, including none in their last six — their longest streak since six games in July 2015.
“When you’re going through a spell where you feel like nothing’s going right, it seems like everything backfires,” manager Pat Murphy said Saturday. “But there’s a lot of great performances I can point out.”
Harrison lasted just three innings in his last start, allowing one run on four hits without a decision in a 12-4 win at Detroit on Tuesday. He struck out three but walked three, hit one batter and had a wild pitch in the 72-pitch outing.
Harrison has faced the Pirates once, when he was with the San Francisco Giants, tossing five scoreless innings without a decision in a 3-0 win in 2024.
“The Pirates are a couple games ahead of us, but you’d think they’re in first place,” Murphy said. “They’re playing with such great confidence. They’ve got a nice team.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
BetBoom Team advances to grand final of PGL Wallachia 8
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. BetBoom Team downed Aurora Gaming 2-1 on Saturday to advance to the grand final of the PGL Wallachia Season 8 event at Bucharest, Romania.
Aurora Gaming could earn a rematch in Sunday’s grand final if they can defeat Team Falcons in the lower-bracket final earlier in the day.
Sixteen teams began the $1 million Dota 2 tournament with the top eight advancing from the Swiss-system group stage. The double-elimination playoffs continue with all matches best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final on Sunday. The winning side will take home $300,000.
On Saturday, BetBoom Team opened the upper-bracket final with a marathon 82-minute victory on red, then Aurora Gaming drew level with a win in 40 minutes on red, before BetBoom emerged with a 37-minute win on green.
Russian Danil “gpk” Skutin paced BetBoom with a 32-7-44 kill-death-assist ratio over three games.
Team Liquid swept the South America Rejects in one lower-bracket quarterfinal, winning in 38 minutes on green and 49 minutes on red.
Poland’s Michal “Nisha” Jankowski led Team Liquid with a 22-6-28 K-D-A ratio.
In the other lower-bracket quarterfinal, Team Falcons swept PARIVISION by winning in 45 minutes on red and 43 minutes on green.
Jordan’s Ammar “ATF” Al-Assaf paced Team Falcons with a 21-11-17 K-D-A ratio.
Team Falcons outlasted Team Liquid 2-1 in the lower-bracket semifinals. The Falcons won the opener in 53 minutes on green, Liquid drew even in 38 minutes on green and Team Falcons won a 74-minute battle on green in the deciding faceoff.
Oliver “skiter” Lepko of Slovakia helped Team Falcons’ cause with a 30-9-35 K-D-A ratio.
Sunday’s schedule
Lower-bracket final — Team Falcons vs. Aurora Gaming
Grand final — BetBoom Team vs. lower-bracket final winner
PGL Wallachia Season 8 prize pool
1. $300,000 — TBD
2. $175,000 — TBD
3. $120,000 — TBD
4. $80,000 — Team Liquid
5-6. $60,000 — South America Rejects, PARIVISION
7-8. $40,000 — HEROIC, Team Spirit
9-11. $20,000 — GamerLegion, Xtreme Gaming, MOUZ
12-14. $15,000 — Vici Gaming, Virtus.pro, Natus Vincere
15-16. $10,000 — Team Yandex, Tundra Esports
–Field Level Media
Sports
OpTic Texas, Los Angeles Thieves in semifinals at CDL Stage 3 Minor
OpTic Texas, the Los Angeles Thieves, FaZe Vegas and the Miami Heretics won their quarterfinal matches on Saturday at the Call of Duty League Stage 3 Minor.
The semifinals on Sunday will pit Texas against Los Angeles, then Vegas against Miami with the winners in the grand final later in the day.
All 12 CDL teams are competing in the tournament, which will reward $20,000 and 30 CDL points to the champion. The single-elimination bracket is seeded based on teams’ standing following Major 2. All matches are best-of-five.
On Saturday, OpTic Texas started fast, then took a loss before eliminating Toronto KOI. Texas won 250-219 on Den Hardpoint and 6-3 on Gridlock Search and Destroy. Toronto stayed alive with a 5-1 victory on Scar Overload before OpTic secured the match with a 250-81 triumph on Scar Hardpoint.
The Los Angeles Thieves swept G2 Minnesota 3-0, winning 250-229 on Sake Hardpoint, 6-3 on Scar Search and Destroy and 6-0 on Scar Overload.
FaZe Vegas ousted the Riyadh Falcons 3-1, opening with a 250-146 win on Den Hardpoint and 6-2 decision on Fringe Search and Destroy. The Falcons forced a fourth map by taking Scar Overload 5-3, but Vegas emerged with a 250-187 triumph on Sake Hardpoint to finish the match.
The Miami Heretics dropped the opener to the Paris Gentle Mates, 250-236 on Sake Hardpoint. Then it was all Heretics, winning 6-3 on Fringe Search and Destroy, 4-3 on Scar Overload and 250-203 on Colossus Hardpoint.
Call of Duty League’s Stage 3 Minor prize pool
1. $20,000, 30 CDL points
2. no money, 20 CDL points
3-4. no money, 10 CDL points
5-8. no money, no CDL points — Toronto KOI, G2 Minnesota, Riyadh Falcons, Paris Gentle Mates
9-12. no money, no CDL points — Carolina Royal Ravens, Cloud9 New York, Vancouver Surge, Boston Breach
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cloud9 remains unbeaten at LCS Spring
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Cloud9 and FlyQuest each swept their Week 4 matches Saturday to remain in playoff position at the LCS Spring event.
Cloud9, one of two remaining unbeatens, became the first team to reach 4-0 in the regular season with a 2-0 defeat of Shopify Rebellion. FlyQuest held firm at fourth in the standings with its 2-0 win over Dignitas, which remains the only team still searching for its first win.
Eight teams will compete in best-of-three matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs of the League of Legends event, which 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 won in 36 minutes on red and 24 minutes on blue. Jesper “Zven” Svenningsen of Denmark led the victory with a 13-2-19 kill-death-assist ratio. South Korea’s Yoo “Zinie” Baek-jin was Shopify Rebellion’s most effective player with a 5-5-5 K-D-A.
FlyQuest completed its sweep with a 26-minute win on red and a 43-minute triumph on blue. Turkey’s Ibrahim “GaKGoS” Samet Bulut and Song “Quad” Soo-hyung of South Korea earned MVP honors in FlyQuest’s wins, posting K-D-As of 11-2-15 and 11-4-20, respectively. Australia’s Ian Victor “FBI” Huang led Dignitas with an 8-7-9 K-D-A ratio.
Week 4 schedule
Sunday
LYON vs. Disguised
Team Liquid vs. Sentinels
Regular-season standings (Win-loss total, map differential)
T1. Cloud9, 4-0, 8-2
2. Team Liquid, 3-0, 6-2
3. LYON, 2-1, 5-3
4. FlyQuest, 2-2, 6-4
5. Sentinels, 1-2, 4-5
6. Disguised, 1-2, 2-5
7. Shopify Rebellion, 1-3, 2-6
8. Dignitas, 0-4, 2-8
–Field Level Media
Creative Assembly drops first look at the Alien: Isolation sequel
BetBoom Team advances to grand final of PGL Wallachia 8
