Dansby Swanson hit a two-run homer and Matt Shaw had a two-run triple as the host Chicago Cubs scored seven runs in the second inning to beat the Colorado Rockies 8-6 on Wednesday.

The Cubs took two out of three in the series, the first home series win for Chicago since a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds the first week of May.

Cubs starter Javier Assad (5-1) gave up five hits and two runs in 5 2/3 innings. The right-hander didn’t walk anyone and struck out one in a 92-pitch outing.

With Cubs closer Daniel Palencia going on the injured list on Tuesday, Jacob Webb pitched the ninth to get his second save despite giving up a solo home run to Kyle Karros.

Rockies starter Sean Sullivan (0-1) was roughed up in his second career start, surrendering eight runs and nine hits in four innings. The southpaw walked two and struck out two while throwing 82 pitches.

The first five Cubs hitters scored in the second inning and Chicago recorded a team cycle.

Alex Bregman led off with a walk, and Ian Happ dropped a single down the right field line. Shaw drove them both in with a triple to center.

Carson Kelly made it 3-0 with a double off the right field wall. Swanson extended the lead to five with a two-run blast just over the left field wall.

Nico Hoerner kept the inning going with a one-out single, and Seiya Suzuki drove him in with a double into the left field corner. Michael Busch moved Suzuki to third with a single, and Bregman made it 7-0 with a sacrifice fly to left.

Sterlin Thompson put the Rockies on the board in the third with the first of his two solo home runs, the first two long balls of his career.

Pete Crow-Armstrong got the run back in the fourth with a home run off the foul pole in right, giving Chicago an 8-1 lead. It was his fourth homer in five games.

Thompson’s second home run made it 8-2 in the fifth. Hunter Goodman highlighted a three-run eighth for the Rockies with his 21st home run, cutting the deficit to 8-5.

Thompson finished 3-for-4 for Colorado, which has lost five of its past seven games. The Cubs, who have won five of the past seven, got two hits apiece from Suzuki, Happ, Shaw and Kelly.

–Field Level Media

Trae Young appears headed for the open market, though his short stay with the Washington Wizards may not be over.

Young plans to decline his $48.97 million player option for the 2026-27 season and will become an unrestricted free agent on Monday, according to a report from Andscape on Wednesday. Washington is the favorite to retain the four-time All-Star guard, but multiple teams are expected to show interest once he enters free agency, per the report.

The decision was expected to be one of the first major moves of Washington’s offseason. The Wizards acquired Young from the Atlanta Hawks in January, sending CJ McCollum and Corey Kispert to Atlanta in a move aimed at giving their rebuild a solid offensive leader.

Young’s first season in Washington never really got started. He suffered a sprained right medial collateral ligament while with Atlanta in late October, returned in December, then played only five games for the Wizards after the trade before his season was cut short by back and quad issues.

Across 15 games with Atlanta and Washington, Young averaged 17.9 points and 8.0 assists. In his five appearances with the Wizards, he averaged 15.2 points and 6.2 assists.

Washington’s interest in retaining Young is connected to a broader effort to move beyond the bottom of the standings. The Wizards finished 17-65 last season and have lost at least 64 games in three consecutive seasons, but they now have Young, Anthony Davis and a young core.

The Wizards also hold the No. 1 pick in next week’s draft, giving the franchise another major piece to add around their veteran pairing.

Young, 27, has averaged 25.1 points and 9.8 assists over 498 career games and remains one of the league’s most accomplished playmakers. Now the question is whether Washington can turn its head start into a long-term deal.

–Field Level Media

Royce Lewis is feeling great at the plate.

It has been a long time coming.

The Minnesota infielder will try to maintain his hot streak when the Twins play the Texas Rangers on Thursday afternoon in Arlington, Texas. The Twins have won the first two games of the three-game series and three in a row overall.

Lewis could be a factor in the Twins’ efforts to finish off the sweep.

The former No. 1 overall draft pick has been back in the big leagues for 10 games, and he has rediscovered his comfort level on offense. He is hitting .324 (12-for-37) with three home runs and seven RBIs since he returned from Triple-A Saint Paul.

A month ago, nobody knew what Lewis’ future with the Twins might be. The team demoted him to the minors after a brutal start to the season, and it seemed like he could have been traded to another organization for a fresh start.

Instead, Lewis hit well in Triple-A and forced his way back into the majors. He added a toe tap and a leg kick to his routine in the batter’s box, and he said the mechanical adjustments helped him get past one of the worst slumps of his career.

“I feel like my confidence was always there,” Lewis said. “I feel like people say, ‘It was a confidence thing, and you’ve got to mentally reset.’ I’m like, ‘Dude, I was mentally fine.’ I just wanted to know what was the thing to get me back to actually doing it in a game.”

Rangers right-hander Jack Leiter (3-6, 4.97 ERA) will try to help his team salvage a victory in the series. Leiter is looking to rebound from back-to-back losses, including a bumpy outing Friday in which he gave up six runs (four earned) on seven hits in five innings against the Boston Red Sox.

Leiter has faced the Twins once in his career. He took a loss on June 11, 2025, after giving up four runs on five hits in four-plus innings. He walked four and struck out three.

Minnesota will counter with right-hander Joe Ryan (4-3, 3.17 ERA). He is coming off a no-decision in his outing on Friday against the St. Louis Cardinals, who scored three runs on six hits in six innings against him. Ryan walked none and fanned eight.

In three career starts against Texas, Ryan is 1-1 with a 2.08 ERA. He walked five batters and struck out 20 in 17 1/3 innings during those outings.

After playing games against each other Monday and Tuesday, the Twins and Rangers had the day off Wednesday because of a World Cup match at AT&T Stadium, which is part of the same sports and entertainment complex as the Rangers’ ballpark.

Rangers manager Skip Schumaker is hopeful that the break can help his players move past a rocky performance Tuesday. Texas lost 12-2 while allowing 17 hits to the Twins, and Brandon Nimmo made a pair of errors in the outfield.

“I’ve said it before: Ugly losses like this, when you don’t do well in all facets of the game, it starts with me,” Schumaker said. “We made some fundamental mistakes throughout the game that we have to clean up.”

–Field Level Media