Sports
Guardians slip past Twins in 10 to clinch playoff spots
Sep 19, 2024; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians designated hitter Kyle Manzardo (9) rounds the bases after hitting a home run during the first inning against the Minnesota Twins at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images Andres Gimenez had three hits, including a game-ending RBI single in the 10th inning, as the Cleveland Guardians clinched a playoff spot by rallying to defeat the visiting Minnesota Twins 3-2 on Thursday.
With Minnesota’s Caleb Thielbar (2-4) on the mound and Cleveland’s Jose Ramirez as the automatic runner at second base in the 10th, Josh Naylor struck out, before Lane Thomas was intentionally walked. Gimenez then laced a hit to right field to end it.
Kyle Manzardo had three hits, including a solo home run for Cleveland (89-65) which won for the fifth time in six games to earn at least a wild-card spot in the upcoming playoffs.
Joey Cantillo gave up two runs (one earned) on three hits over 4 1/3 innings for the Guardians, while six relievers did not give up a hit over the final 5 2/3 innings. Eli Morgan (3-0) pitched a scoreless 10th inning to earn the win.
Simeon Woods Richardson gave up one run on five hits over 4 2/3 innings for Minnesota (80-73) with six strikeouts. Manuel Margot drove in a run as the Twins lost for the fifth time in seven games.
The loss dropped the Twins into a tie with the Detroit Tigers for the final American League wild-card spot.
Cleveland took a 1-0 lead in the first inning on Manzardo’s fourth homer of the season.
After the Twins’ Kyle Farmer doubled in the fifth, Matt Wallner struck out before Willi Castro walked. Margot then doubled to center, leading to Lane Thomas’ two-run fielding error and giving Minnesota a 2-1 lead.
With Minnesota’s Cole Irvin on the mound in the bottom of the sixth, three singles loaded the bases before Rocchio hit a sacrifice fly to center for a 2-2 tie.
In the 10th, Morgan (3-0) hit Wallner with a pitch to put Twins runners on first and second with nobody out. After Castro’s sacrifice bunt advanced both runners, Margot walked to load the bases. Morgan retired Carlos Correa on a pop up and Byron Buxton on a line out to escape the jam.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mariners' pitching blanks Blue Jays for second straight game
Jul 5, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners designated hitter Cal Raleigh (29) hits an RBI-sacrifice fly against the Toronto Blue Jays during the third inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images Emerson Hancock pitched seven innings of two-hit ball and Mitch Garver homered as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Toronto Blue Jays 4-0 Sunday afternoon to take two-of-three in their weekend series.
Mariners’ pitching held the Blue Jays without a run for the final 24 innings of the set. Toronto scored twice in the third inning of a 2-0 victory Friday before being routed 11-0 Saturday.
Hancock (6-4) was originally set to follow Logan Gilbert in a piggyback start Saturday, but the Mariners scrapped that plan. The move worked out as Gilbert retired 22 of the 23 batters he faced before Hancock nearly matched him.
The only hits Hancock allowed were to a pair of All-Stars — a one-out double to left by Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the first inning and a one-out single by Ernie Clement in the second.
After Clement’s hit, Hancock retired the next 11 batters before walking Yohendrick Pinango leading off the sixth. Hancock induced the next batter, Nathan Lukes, to ground into a double play. Guerrero drew a walk before Hancock got Kazuma Okamoto to pop out to short to end the inning.
Hancock retired the side in the seventh. The right-hander finished with five strikeouts in a 92-pitch effort.
Mariners reliever Gabe Speier pitched a 1-2-3 eighth and closer Andres Munoz worked the ninth, allowing a leadoff single to Lukes, to wrap up the three-hitter.
The Mariners took the lead in the third inning as No. 9 hitter Victor Robles led off with a line-drive single to center off Toronto starter Trey Yesavage (4-4). J.P. Crawford walked and both runners advanced as Randy Arozarena grounded out to third. Cal Raleigh followed with a sacrifice fly to right to start the scoring.
Seattle added to its lead in the fourth as, with one out, Cole Young reached on a throwing error by shortstop Clement. Garver lined a 2-2 fastball over the left-field fence to make it 3-0.
The Mariners tacked on an insurance run in the eighth off reliever Mason Fluharty. With one out, Arozarena reached on an infield single and advanced to third on Raleigh’s single to right. Josh Naylor hit a grounder off the third-base bag to score Arozarena.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Eury Perez tosses 7 perfect innings, Marlins hold off Athletics
Jul 5, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Miami Marlins starting pitcher Eury Perez (39) throws a pitch against the Athletics during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Dennis Lee-Imagn Images Eury Perez dominated with seven perfect innings and the Miami Marlins smacked four homers before holding on for a wild 9-8 victory over the Athletics on Sunday at West Sacramento, Calif., to complete a three-game sweep.
The Marlins immediately lost the perfect game and no-hitter in the eighth inning once Perez was pulled as Lake Bachar walked Lawrence Butler and gave up a single to Joshua Kuroda-Grauer. Still, Miami won for the 13th time in its past 17 games to move to a season-best seven games above .500.
Perez (5-6) struck out eight while throwing 92 pitches. It’s the third time the 23-year-old has pitched seven innings in his career.
Heriberto Hernandez reached base five times on three hits and two walks, including two homers, and Otto Lopez had three hits, one homer and three RBIs to raise his major league-best average to .346.
Leo Jimenez also went deep for the Marlins, who set a franchise record with 12 homers for a three-game series.
Xavier Edwards, Liam Hicks and Brian Navarreto added two hits apiece for the Marlins.
Jonah Heim belted a grand slam and had a career-high six RBIs for the Athletics, who lost for the 11th time in 14 games.
Gage Jump (3-3) of the Athletics was roughed up for six runs and eight hits over three innings.
Amazingly, the A’s had the winning run up at the plate in the bottom of the ninth.
Trailing 9-5, Zack Gelof singled off Pete Fairbanks to start the ninth and Butler followed with a double. Gelof scored on a passed ball by Joe Mack before Fairbanks retired the next two batters.
Fairbanks then walked Max Muncy, who moved to second on defensive indifference, and Heim delivered a two-run single. Brian Serven then grounded out to end the contest.
After an afternoon of futile at-bats against Perez, the Athletics quickly rallied against Bachar.
Butler walked for the first A’s baserunner and Kuroda-Grauer followed with a high shallow pop that fell in right field for the first hit. Carlos Cortes followed with a RBI double that one-hopped the right-field wall.
After Muncy walked to load the bases, Heim unloaded them with his blast to right to make it five runs in five batters since Perez exited.
Serven followed with a bloop single to end Bachar’s outing. Michael Peterson entered and used a fielder’s choice, a caught stealing and a strikeout of Nick Kurtz to halt the uprising.
In the top of the ninth, Lopez reached on an infield hit and eventually scored on Hicks’ infield tap out.
Hernandez was the second batter of the game against Jump when he launched a 437-foot blast to center.
The Marlins tacked on two runs in the second on Lopez’s ground-rule double and Hicks’ sacrifice fly.
Jimenez’s two-run homer in the third made it 5-0. Lopez added a sacrifice fly later in the inning.
Lopez and Hernandez hit back-to-back homers off Mason Barnett in the sixth to make it 8-0.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Olivia Miles, Natasha Howard guide Lynx into 2-game set with Sun
Jun 28, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles (5) and forward Natasha Howard (1) celebrate during the second half against the Dallas Wings at College Park Center. Mandatory Credit: Jerome Miron-Imagn Images Olivia Miles’ eyes lit up when she was asked to describe the components of a great pick-and-roll play.
Minnesota’s rookie point guard stood a couple feet from her teammate, Natasha Howard, who has thrived as the Lynx’s paint presence in pick-and-roll actions.
“Ooh, that’s a great question,” Miles said. “I think one is synergy: It’s knowing where she wants to be. And two: It’s on her and her getting me open first.
“So she gets me open first and then I get her open, if that makes sense. It’s like a one-two punch.”
The Lynx (15-5) will look to keep the punches coming when they tip off against the Connecticut Sun (4-16) on Monday evening in Minneapolis. It is the first game of a home-and-home series between the teams, who will travel to Connecticut for a follow-up game Wednesday evening.
Minnesota aims to bounce back from a 99-86 loss against the New York Liberty on Friday. Despite the setback, the Lynx have won five of their past seven games.
Napheesa Collier remained sidelined Friday as she recovers from offseason surgery on her ankle. She returned to practice last week, and her return is imminent.
Howard said she and her teammates cannot wait to welcome back Collier, who averaged 22.9 points and 7.3 rebounds last season. It is uncertain whether Collier will return Monday, but either way she is close to coming back to the court.
“We’re all excited that Phee is coming back pretty soon,” Howard said. “The things that she’s capable of doing, it’s going to be extremely fun out there with me and her on the floor, with (Miles) — how the rotation is going to be, it’s going to be really fun.”
Meanwhile, Connecticut would like to have more fun after a rough start to the season.
The Sun lost seven straight games before winning back-to-back contests against the Chicago Sky and Washington Mystics to end their June schedule. But they could not make it three wins in a row as they lost 86-83 to the Dallas Wings on Thursday.
“It’s a quick turnaround for us,” Sun forward Aaliyah Edwards said. “We’re playing Minnesota, so we’re going to have a ‘next game’ mentality and mindset. Going into that game — our biggest lead was 14 (against Dallas) — we can’t give that up.
“And that started from coming out of the half flat and letting them be the aggressor and then just closing out the game at the end.”
Leila Lacan leads Connecticut with 12.5 points per game to go along with a team-high 4.5 assists. Miles tops Minnesota with 18.5 points and 5.7 assists per contest while Howard scores 17.2 ppg, Courtney Williams is third with 15.9 ppg and Kayla McBride adds 14.8 ppg.
–Field Level Media
