Sports
Freddy Fermin, Royals look to capture series against Rays
Apr 29, 2025; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher Carlos Estevez (53), catcher Freddy Fermin (34), first baseman Salvador Perez (13) and shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) celebrate after defeatingt the Tampa Bay Rays at George M. Steinbrenner Field. Mandatory Credit: Kim Klement Neitzel-Imagn Images The Kansas City Royals started their six-game swing through the American League East with a win Tuesday night in Tampa against the Rays, tallying their seventh victory in the past eight games.
After that 3-1 victory, the Royals could capture their third consecutive series on Wednesday in the middle game of the three-game set.
Much of the credit for the club getting back to .500 after an 8-14 start to the season goes to catcher Freddy Fermin, the backup to team captain Salvador Perez, according to Perez himself.
On Tuesday, Fermin went 3-for-4 with an RBI, managed a Royals pitching staff that made just one major mistake all night and did it all while overcoming being hit on the index finger of his throwing hand while attempting to bunt.
“He’s the best,” said Perez, who had an RBI double in the first inning while drawing the start at first base. “He prepares himself every day to compete. He was ready today, and you see what happened.”
The Royals’ offense lacked explosion — Perez’s double was the lone extra-base hit to go with seven singles — but manager Matt Quatraro said he likes what his club is doing and can win in a number of ways.
“The guys in that room care about winning,” Quatraro said. “They don’t care if we win 1-0 or 11-10. We’re going to win some high-scoring games, we know that. This is a crazy game, and at some point we’re going to break out of (the low scoring). But right now, to win games is all we care about.”
With left-hander Cole Ragans hampered by a mild left groin strain, Quatraro will send out lefty Noah Cameron, the organization’s No. 5 overall prospect according to MLB Pipeline, for his major league debut in a spot start.
“There’s a lot to like about him,” said Quatraro of the 25-year-old Cameron. “He’s got good stuff. He’s got good poise. We think he can get righties and lefties out. He’s physical.”
Rays manager Kevin Cash said his squad could get no momentum going Tuesday as its five-game winning streak ended, but he was impressed by cleanup hitter Junior Caminero, who went 3-for-4 with a homer and a double.
“He had a big night,” Cash said of the 21-year-old Caminero, who is batting .266. “Hit a bunch of balls hard, just missed a ball to right, smoked a ball out to center.”
After receiving a seven-inning, two-run outing from Taj Bradley on Tuesday, the Rays will start right-hander Drew Rasmussen (1-1, 2.10).
The reliever-turned-starter has been a mostly reliable performer all season for Tampa Bay, tossing five-inning starts on four occasions and taking one outing two outs into the sixth on April 18 in a 1-0 loss to the New York Yankees.
However, Rasmussen is coming off his worst start so far — five innings in Arizona in which the Diamondbacks scored four runs on five hits, including a solo homer by Tim Tawa.
In four appearances against Kansas City — two starts, two in relief — Rasmussen is 3-0 with a 2.13 ERA, totaling 10 hits, 16 strikeouts and three walks in 12 2/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sharks beat Oilers to halt five-game slide
Feb 28, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; Edmonton Oilers left wing Zach Hyman (18) scores a goal against San Jose Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov (30) during the first period at SAP Center at San Jose. Mandatory Credit: Neville E. Guard-Imagn Images Shakir Mukhamadullin scored the game-winner on a slap shot midway through the third period as the San Jose Sharks defeated the visiting Edmonton Oilers 5-4 on Saturday.
Michael Misa had a goal and an assist, and 12 different players recorded points for the Sharks, who ended a five-game losing streak, their second longest of the season.
Connor McDavid, the NHL’s leading scorer, led Edmonton with three assists, while Evan Bouchard had a goal and two assists.
Macklin Celebrini opened the scoring 8:34 into the first period for San Jose. Oilers goaltender Connor Ingam, who made 28 saves, lost his stick on the previous sequence. He thought the puck had been cleared far enough away from his zone to retrieve it, but the Sharks’ Will Smith retrieved it and sent it over to Celebrini for his team-leading 29th of the season.
Misa and Barclay Goodrow also scored in the first period as the Sharks recorded three goals in the opening 20 minutes for the second straight time against Edmonton this season.
Last time, on Jan. 29th, the Oilers would score four unanswered goals, including an equalizer with 59 seconds left by Bouchard and the winner with 1:06 remaining in overtime by Zach Hyman.
Leon Draisaitl scored off an assist from McDavid on the Oilers’ league-leading power play in the first as Edmonton trailed by two goals heading into the second period.
Bouchard tallied his 17th goal of the season to get Edmonton within one in the second period, scoring off assists from McDavid and Mattias Ekholm.
The goal gave Bouchard 20 points in his last 10 games. The last defenseman to do that for the Oilers was legendary Paul Coffey in 1986.
Trent Frederic evened the game at 3 at 2:54 into the third on a wrister from Matt Savoie, who drove the puck all the way up the ice past Sharks goaltender Yaroslav Askarov before feeding the former Boston Bruin for the easy finish.
Askarov made 20 saves for San Jose.
The teams then traded goals, with San Jose first retaking the lead as Alexander Wennberg scored on a wrister less than three minutes after Frederic’s equalizer, with Jake Walman evening the game again for the Oilers less than two minutes after that.
The scoring frenzy concluded with Mukhamadullin’s winner at the 9:27 mark of the third period, after William Eklund found him at the point for the powerful slap shot.
The Oilers have scored 17 goals in three games since coming back from the Olympics but have now lost two of those contests.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Minnesota United holds off FC Cincinnati in historically cold matchup
Feb 21, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; Minnesota United forward Kelvin Yeboah (9) stops during the first half against Austin FC at Q2 Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Dustin Safranek-Imagn Images Kelvin Yeboah scored in the 66th minute and Drake Callender made four saves as Minnesota United presented Cameron Knowles his first victory as head coach with a 1-0 shutout of FC Cincinnati on Saturday afternoon in Saint Paul, Minn.
Roman Celentano finished with four saves for FC Cincinnati (1-1-0, 3 points).
Yeboah, who scored the tying goal in the 90th minute in Minnesota’s season opening 2-2 draw at Austin FC, headed in a rebound of a Tomas Chancalay free kick from the top left edge of the box for the game-winner. Chancalay’s shot caromed off the far right post into the middle of the box where Yeboah drilled in a hard header.
The score was set up when a free kick was awarded after Cincinnati’s Gerardo Valenzuela tripped Joaquin Pereyra just inches outside the penalty box.
Cincinnati, which opened the season with a 2-0 victory over Atlanta United, nearly tied it five minutes later on a curling left-footed shot from the middle of the box by Obinna Nwobodo that was heading for the right corner of the goal, but Callender made a diving one-arm save to knock it wide of the post.
Chancalay had a chance to extend the lead in the 83rd minute when he went in on a breakaway, but Celentano made a leaping two-hand deflection of his left-footed shot from the left side of the box that was ticketed for the top right corner of the goal.
Minnesota United (1-1-0, 4 points) moved into first place in the Western Conference with the win. Star striker James Rodriguez, who won the Golden Boot playing for Colombia in the 2014 FIFA World Cup, dressed but did not make his debut for the Loons.
The temperature at kickoff was 20 degrees with a wind-chill of 11 making it the coldest game played in team history for Cincinnati.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Shane van Gisbergen charges to victory in NASCAR O'Reilly Series race at COTA
Feb 28, 2026; Austin, Texas, USA; O’Reilly NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series driver Shane Van Gisbergen (9) with the trophy after winning the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas. Mandatory Credit: Michael C. Johnson-Imagn Images AUSTIN, Texas — With a bold, brilliant move moments after the final restart of Saturday’s Focused Health 250 at Circuit of the Americas, Shane van Gisbergen once again exhibited his road course supremacy.
Taking the inside line into Turn 1 after the restart with five laps left, van Gisbergen made a four-wide pass for the lead from the sixth position and pulled away to win the fifth NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race of his career, this time by 0.780 seconds over runner-up Austin Hill.
In a rough-and-tumble event with more than its share of contact, van Gisbergen led five times for 31 laps, including the last five after the decisive move, as then-leader and Stage 2 winner Sam Mayer ran wide in the first corner, clearing the inside lane for the winning pass.
“I was a bit unsure there, starting sixth on the outside,” van Gisbergen said. “I kind of got to the inside, which was good, and nosed in on the 41 (Mayer), and he reacted. When he reacted, I thought no way he’s stopping that, and he kind of pushed everyone wide, which was awesome, and it worked out for us.”
The win was SVG’s first at COTA in his second O’Reilly Auto Parts Series race at the track. He is winless in two NASCAR Cup Series starts at the Texas road course.
“I’ve always been fast here but never managed to win,” van Gisbergen said. “So I’m pretty stoked to finally get it done–pretty flawless day.”
Van Gisbergen’s victory was the 10th straight on road courses for JR Motorsports and the 106th for the organization overall.
Austin Hill’s runner-up finish was his third in five starts at the 2.4-mile track.
“I made a lot of mistakes out there today, but that’s going to happen on these road courses,” said Hill, the series points leader through three races. “Stage 2, I was struggling a little bit, just trying to figure out what I needed to be better.”
In a race billed as a matchup between van Gisbergen and pole winner Connor Zilisch, Sammy Smith finished third, followed by Jesse Love and Corey Day, as Zilisch suffered a litany of issues that dropped him to 21st at the end.
After Zilisch led 12 laps during the first stage, the left-rear brake rotor on his No. 1 Chevrolet sheared, and the 19-year-old prodigy quickly dropped through the field. After stopping for repairs to the rear brakes, Zilisch started the final stage in 29th but just as rapidly worked his way forward.
With fewer than three laps left, he had just cleared Day’s No. 17 Chevrolet for fourth, when contact from Day’s car sent Zilisch spinning and damaged his Camaro.
Seventeen-year-old Brent Crews finished sixth in his series debut after taking the lead on the Stage 2 restart. Crews is the first driver under 18 to lead laps in the series since Casey Atwood accomplished the feat in 1998.
William Sawalich, Justin Allgaier, Ross Chastain and Brennan Poole completed the top 10.
NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series Race — Focused Health 250
Circuit of The Americas
Austin, Texas
Saturday, February 28, 2026
1. (2) Shane van Gisbergen(i), Chevrolet, 65.
2. (3) Austin Hill, Chevrolet, 65.
3. (10) Sammy Smith, Chevrolet, 65.
4. (11) Jesse Love, Chevrolet, 65.
5. (12) Corey Day, Chevrolet, 65.
6. (7) Brent Crews, Toyota, 65.
7. (15) William Sawalich, Toyota, 65.
8. (5) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 65.
9. (21) Ross Chastain(i), Chevrolet, 65.
10. (26) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 65.
11. (9) Sheldon Creed, Chevrolet, 65.
12. (14) Taylor Gray, Toyota, 65.
13. (28) Alex Labbe, Chevrolet, 65.
14. (8) Sam Mayer, Chevrolet, 65.
15. (4) Brandon Jones, Toyota, 65.
16. (18) Ryan Sieg, Chevrolet, 65.
17. (24) Blaine Perkins, Chevrolet, 65.
18. (34) Jeb Burton, Chevrolet, 65.
19. (6) Carson Kvapil, Chevrolet, 65.
20. (32) Patrick Staropoli, Chevrolet, 65.
21. (1) Connor Zilisch(i), Chevrolet, 65.
22. (31) Lavar Scott #, Chevrolet, 65.
23. (16) Anthony Alfredo, Chevrolet, 65.
24. (35) Kyle Sieg, Chevrolet, 65.
25. (20) Nick Sanchez, Ford, 65.
26. (27) Dean Thompson, Toyota, 65.
27. (17) Preston Pardus, Chevrolet, 65.
28. (36) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 65.
29. (23) Harrison Burton, Toyota, 65.
30. (29) Parker Retzlaff, Chevrolet, 65.
31. (19) Rajah Caruth, Chevrolet, 65.
32. (30) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 65.
33. (13) Austin Green, Chevrolet, 65.
34. (33) Ryan Ellis, Chevrolet, 64.
35. (22) Sage Karam, Toyota, Suspension, 53.
36. (25) Josh Bilicki, Chevrolet, Suspension, 35.
37. (37) Baltazar Leguizamon, Chevrolet, Accident, 33.
38. (38) Austin J Hill, Chevrolet, Suspension, 7.
Average Speed of Race Winner: 70.411 mph.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 12 Mins, 56 Secs. Margin of Victory: .780 Seconds.
Caution Flags: 4 for 12 laps.
Lead Changes: 16 among 8 drivers.
Lap Leaders: S. Gisbergen(i) 1-5;C. Zilisch(i) 6-17;A. Hill 18-21;S. Mayer 22;S. Gisbergen(i) 23;C. Zilisch(i) 24;B. Crews 25-28;S. Gisbergen(i) 29-35;S. Mayer 36;C. Kvapil 37-38;S. Mayer 39-44;S. Gisbergen(i) 45-57;B. Crews 58;N. Sanchez 59;J. Allgaier 60;S. Gisbergen(i) 61-65.
Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Lead, Laps Led): Shane Van Gisbergen(i) 5 times for 31 laps; Connor Zilisch(i) 2 times for 13 laps; Sam Mayer 3 times for 8 laps; Brent Crews 2 times for 5 laps; Austin Hill 1 time for 4 laps; Carson Kvapil 1 time for 2 laps; Justin Allgaier 1 time for 1 lap; Nick Sanchez 1 time for 1 lap.
Stage #1 Top Ten: 21,41,7,20,2,91,17,87,88,9
Stage #2 Top Ten: 41,7,91,2,9,21,8,20,32,39
–By Reid Spencer, NASCAR Wire Service. Special to Field Level Media.
Sharks beat Oilers to halt five-game slide
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