Sports
Dynamo chasing home-field advantage in clash vs. St. Louis City
Oct 2, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; Houston Dynamo FC defender Erik Sviatchenko (28) celebrates after scoring a goal against the New England Revolution in the second half at Shell Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images The Houston Dynamo are vying for a top-four playoff spot in the Western Conference with two matches to go, but they still have work to do starting with Saturday’s visit to St. Louis City.
Houston (14-9-9, 51 points) enters the weekend fifth in the conference, but only two points behind both the Seattle Sounders and Real Salt Lake. Nabbing a top-four seed means getting home-field advantage for the best-of-three series in Round 1.
The Dynamo have won two of their last three matches and four of their last seven following a 2-1 triumph over the New England Revolution on Wednesday. Defender Erik Sviatchenko broke a tie when he delivered a beautiful curling goal off Adalberto “Coco” Carrasquilla’s free kick.
“It was the best goal I’ve scored in my career,” Sviatchenko said. “Normally I’m over on the other side, but then it just happened that I decided to take it down, and it was perfect for a volley.”
Coach Ben Olsen, who has guided the Dynamo to playoff berths in his first two seasons on the job, called the match “a wild one.”
“New England entered the match with real desperation and fire, and we were lucky to have kept it scoreless in the first half,” said Olsen, who praised Steve Clark’s three-save performance. “… Now we have to patch ourselves up for another difficult task in St. Louis, but this win is massive as we try to move up the table.”
St. Louis (7-12-13, 34 points) is not heading to the playoffs following its surprise first-place Western Conference finish as an expansion club in 2023. But interim coach John Hackworth helped stabilize the team, which went 3-1-1 in September before falling 1-0 to Los Angeles FC on Wednesday.
It was St. Louis’ first shutout loss since July 17.
“Look, I want to make sure everybody knows that I don’t think we played a great game,” Hackworth said. “… But we also came on short rests across the country and played one of the better, best teams in the league, and we had a chance to be successful until the very end.”
Cedric Teuchert has scored five goals in eight regular-season matches since joining St. Louis, enough to tie the team lead with Eduard Lowen and Joao Klauss, who hasn’t scored since May. Ibrahim Aliyu has a team-high six goals for the Dynamo.
These clubs played to a scoreless draw May 4 in Houston.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Astros put RHP Spencer Arrighetti (foot) on 15-day IL
Jul 8, 2026; Washington, District of Columbia, USA; Houston Astros pitcher Spencer Arrighetti (41) throws a pitch against the Washington Nationals during the second inning at Nationals Park. Mandatory Credit: Rafael Suanes-Imagn Images In the thick of the American League West and AL wild-card races, the Houston Astros placed right-handed starter Spencer Arrighetti on the 15-day injured list Saturday with nerve irritation in his foot.
Arrighetti, 26, left Friday’s start against the Chicago White Sox after one inning and 33 pitches due to the foot issue.
In a corresponding move, Houston recalled left-handed reliever Bryan King from Triple-A Sugar Land.
In 17 starts this season, Arrighetti is 7-5 with a 4.60 ERA, allowing six or more earned runs in three of his final four starts before the All-Star break. The 2021 sixth-round pick, who debuted with Houston in 2024, is 15-23 with a 4.66 ERA in 53 games (52 starts).
The 29-year-old King has made 42 relief appearances with the Astros in 2026, posting a 2-3 record with a 3.40 ERA. Across his three MLB seasons, all with Houston, he is 8-7 with a 2.91 ERA in 138 relief outings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Athletics activate star Nick Kurtz (thumb) from IL
![Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (13) takes first base as Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) misses a catch during the first inning] at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, July 8, 2026.](https://dailyfacthub.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/29355296.jpg)
Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (13) takes first base as Athletics first baseman Nick Kurtz (16) misses a catch during the first inning] at Comerica Park in Detroit on Wednesday, July 8, 2026. The Athletics activated All-Star first baseman Nick Kurtz from the 10-day injured list prior to Saturday’s road game against the Minnesota Twins.
Kurtz sustained a right thumb capsule sprain and was placed on the IL on July 10 and the injury forced him to miss the All-Star Game. He had been elevated to American League starter when Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (back) of the Toronto Blue Jays backed out.
Kurtz is batting second and serving as the designated hitter on Saturday.
Kurtz exited a 6-1 loss at Detroit on July 8 after 1 1/2 innings after he appeared to hurt the hand while trying to field a throw in the bottom of the first. The following day, he was the designated hitter and went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in a 4-1 loss to the Tigers.
Kurtz, 23, is batting .266 with 20 homers and 66 RBIs in 92 games. He was the unanimous 2025 AL Rookie of the Year with a .290 batting average, 36 home runs and 86 RBIs in just 117 games.
Third baseman Max Muncy was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas in a corresponding move. He was recalled by the A’s earlier this week and went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in two games.
Muncy, 23, is batting .223 with five homers and 20 RBIs over 48 games. He has a .218 average in 111 big league games over the past two campaigns.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Davis Alexander, Alouettes look to extend East cushion vs. Tiger-Cats
Nov 16, 2025; Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada; Montreal Alouettes quarterback Davis Alexander (10) looks to pass during the fourth quarter against the Saskatchewan Roughriders during the 112th Grey Cup Championship at Princess Auto Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-Imagn Images With a healthy Davis Alexander at the controls, the Montreal Alouettes have a chance to run away with the East Division pretty quickly.
When Montreal hosts the Hamilton Tiger-Cats on Sunday night, it has a chance to take a three-game lead and earn the tiebreaker with a victory.
Most of that is because Alexander has – to this point – stayed off the injured list after playing just eight games last year due to a hamstring injury. Alexander has rolled up huge numbers for the Als (5-1), passing for 2,181 yards and 11 touchdowns while setting a new CFL record by throwing 336 straight passes without an interception.
Head coach Jason Maas said he and Alexander came to an understanding that he had to curb his scrambling style to be of maximum use to the club.
“He’s very smart about how he plays and what he decides to do,” Maas said. “There’s a reason he has played (six) straight games. These things, after you’ve had one, they can reoccur and it takes a lot of time to get over them.”
While Montreal is soaring with its quarterback at 100 percent, Hamilton (3-3) got back into the win column last week when its third starting quarterback in three weeks gave the offense a big lift in a 24-23 win over Toronto.
Tre Ford hit on 21 of 27 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown while rushing for 109 yards on 10 attempts. The Tiger-Cats struggled mightily on offense in back-to-back losses to Winnipeg and Saskatchewan, largely because star QB Bo Levi Mitchell broke his ankle in the third quarter against Winnipeg.
“Using my legs is going to be an asset for my team,” said Ford, a former starter in Edmonton before being benched last year for Cody Fajardo. “Having legs definitely helps … being able to extend plays, run around and get first downs.”
It was really helpful last week when tackles Trevor Reid and Quinton Barrow left with injuries, forcing rookie tight end Max Mang into emergency duty as a guard.
–Field Level Media
Astros put RHP Spencer Arrighetti (foot) on 15-day IL
Athletics activate star Nick Kurtz (thumb) from IL
