Sports
Kraken rally, hand Utah fourth straight loss
Dec 30, 2024; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Kraken left wing Andre Burakovsky (95) celebrates after scoring a goal against the Utah Hockey Club during the first period at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images Jaden Schwartz tallied a goal and two assists as the Seattle Kraken defeated the visiting Utah Hockey Club 5-2 on Monday night.
Yanni Gourde, Andre Burakovsky, Matty Beniers and Jared McCann also scored and Kaapo Kakko had a pair of helpers for the Kraken, who won their second in a row following a five-game skid. Goaltender Philipp Grubauer made 28 saves.
Logan Cooley and Alexander Kerfoot tallied for Utah, which lost its fourth consecutive game. Karel Vejmelka stopped 28 of 32 shots.
Schwartz, who tallied twice in the final five minutes of regulation Saturday at Vancouver as the Kraken rallied to win 5-4 in overtime, broke a 2-all tie at 7:22 of the third period Monday, sliding the puck between Vejmelka’s pads on a breakaway after taking a stretch pass from Kakko. That came after Schwartz had an earlier goal disallowed as a video review determined the Kraken were offside on the play.
Beniers made it 4-2 at 11:09 on a mini-breakaway after a pass from Kakko. Beniers fanned on his initial shot but picked the puck back up after it hit the end boards and turned and fired the puck off the back of the goalie’s left skate and into the net.
McCann scored an empty netter at 18:12 to clinch the victory.
Utah opened the scoring on the power play at 8:41 of the first as Clayton Keller fed Cooley for a one-timer from just below the right faceoff dot.
The Kraken scored twice in a 51-second span late in the period to take the lead.
Gourde tied it at 18:06, picking up a rebound off Ryker Evans’ initial shot and firing it over Vejmelka from a sharp angle on the right wing as the goaltender did the splits in an attempt to reach across the crease.
Burakovsky, who missed Saturday’s game with an illness, made it 2-1 at 18:57 by tipping Schwartz’s floating shot from the right point into the net.
Seattle maintained the lead until the final minute of the second period, when Kerfoot scored off a rebound of Michael Carcone’s shot at 19:01.
Kraken goaltender Joey Daccord was scratched with an undisclosed injury. Daccord didn’t make the trip to Vancouver last weekend.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dillon Dingler homers twice as Tigers beat Cubs in 10
Jul 20, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Detroit Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler (13) points after he hits a solo home run during the first inning against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: Matt Marton-Imagn Images Dillon Dingler hit two home runs and added the go-ahead RBI single in the 10th inning to help the visiting Detroit Tigers survive a comeback by the Chicago Cubs in an 8-6 extra-innings win on Monday night.
Detroit led for essentially the entire game, scoring four times in the first inning, until Ian Happ’s two-run homer off Kyle Finnegan in the eighth knotted the score at 5-5.
With runners on the corners and no one out in the 10th, Dingler hit a chopper deep into the hole at shortstop and beat the throw to first from Dansby Swanson. Spencer Torkelson added on with a two-run single.
Trent Thornton (3-3) took the loss despite only facing one hitter in the frame. He exited the game after Riley Greene’s liner hit him in the left heel, getting replaced by Javier Assad.
Pedro Ramirez got the Cubs one run back after reaching on an RBI fielder’s choice in the bottom of the inning and Swanson singled to bring the winning run to the plate, but Tyler Holton got Carson Kelly to ground out to close out the game.
Dingler — the Tigers’ starting catcher — shined on both sides of the plate, starting an inning-ending pickoff play to go along with a 4-for-5 night which included three RBIs.
Greene also homered for Detroit, opening the scoring with a three-run blast to right-center. Dingler tacked on with a solo shot to dead center the next at-bat.
In the third, it was Chicago’s turn to hit back-to-back homers. First, Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run shot off Jack Flaherty to cut the deficit in half. Michael Busch followed up with his 13th long ball of the season to make it a one-run game.
A baserunning snafu cost Chicago a chance to tie or take the lead in the fifth. Ian Happ was batting with runners on first and second with two out when Dingler successfully backpicked Suzuki at second.
Dingler took Tyler Ferguson deep to lead off the eighth, notching his third multi-homer game since June 1.
After Happ’s heroics, the Cubs had the bases loaded with a chance to walk it off in the ninth, but Kenley Jansen (2-4) struck out Alex Bregman to escape the jam.
Flaherty allowed three runs on four hits over four innings, striking out four and walking two. Cubs starter Jameson Taillon lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up five hits and four runs with two walks and six strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Another big night from Kayla McBride carries Lynx past Storm
Jul 20, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Minnesota Lynx guard Kayla McBride (21) shoots the ball while guarded by Seattle Storm forward Katie Lou Samuelson (33) during the first half at Climate Pledge Arena. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images Kayla McBride scored a game-high 33 points Monday night and Courtney Williams made two late foul shots that enabled the visiting Minnesota Lynx to outgun the Seattle Storm 105-102.
Williams’ free throws with 4.0 seconds left put Minnesota (21-6) ahead by three and forced Seattle to hunt a 3-pointer that could force overtime. But Flau’Jae Johnson missed from the right wing just before time expired.
Rookie Olivia Miles added 32 points, plus eight rebounds and eight assists, to augment McBride’s seventh straight game of at least 20 points. Williams finished with 21 as the Lynx connected on 37 of 76 field goals and made 21 of 22 foul shots.
Johnson scored 26 points to pace the Storm (6-22), who fell to 0-11 in games decided by five points or less. Zia Cooke came off the bench to add 18 points, while Dominique Malonga chipped in 14 points and Natisha Hiedeman hit for 12.
Seattle led 90-86 when Malonga hit a floater with 4:41 remaining, but McBride and Miles combined for eight points in a 10-2 spurt that gave Minnesota the lead for good at 96-92.
The teams play again on Wednesday in their last game before All-Star weekend.
Minnesota entered the game with the WNBA’s best record but was looking to make improvements on defense after coach Cheryl Reeve criticized its performance on that end in Saturday night’s 101-93 win over Portland.
Instead, she got another game where the Lynx had to outscore the opponent. They led 23-13 at the 2:56 mark of the first quarter as Miles converted a layup but Seattle closed within 27-23 behind eight points from its bench.
The Storm erupted for 31 points in the second quarter, including six on the same possession by Johnson. She made three foul shots after a flagrant foul on Miles, then drained a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession that helped Seattle take a 54-53 edge to halftime.
Minnesota led 77-70 late in the third quarter before a four-point play from Katie Lou Samuelson got the Storm within 79-77 going to the fourth period.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cal Raleigh's grand slam more than enough for Mariners vs. Reds
Jul 20, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh (29) hits a grand-slam home run against the Cincinnati Reds during the seventh inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-Imagn Images Cal Raleigh hit a grand slam and George Kirby pitched six scoreless innings as the Seattle Mariners defeated the visiting Cincinnati Reds 8-0 Monday night in the opener of a three-game interleague series.
Victor Robles went 4-for-4 and scored twice for the Mariners, who won their third consecutive game and moved into first place in the American League West by a half-game over Texas.
Kirby (8-8) allowed three hits — back-to-back singles by Edwin Arroyo and Ke’Bryan Hayes leading off the third and a one-out infield single by Dane Myers in the fifth. Kirby, a right-hander, walked one batter and struck out six.
The Mariners broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth. Robles led off with a single off Andrew Abbott (5-6) on a soft liner to center field. With two outs, Robles stole second and advanced to third on catcher Tyler Stephenson’s errant throw.
Following a walk to Randy Arozarena, Julio Rodriguez hit a chopper to the left side of the infield. Reds shortstop Elly De La Cruz backhanded the ball but double-clutched before making a throw that eluded first baseman Sal Stewart and struck Rodriguez in the left hamstring. The Mariners’ star was credited with a run-scoring single.
Rodriguez left the game after that inning and team officials didn’t provide an update before the end of the game. Rodriguez returned to the lineup Saturday after being on the 7-day concussion list since July 2 when he was hit in the back of the helmet by a throw while sliding into second base.
The Mariners extended their lead with a six-run seventh. Robles and pinch hitter Luke Raley led off with singles to right off reliever Pierce Johnson, with Robles taking third on the latter. Rookie Colt Emerson’s sacrifice fly to left scored Robles.
Arozarena singled and Weston Wilson hit an RBI double into the right field corner. The Reds brought in lefty Caleb Ferguson, whom the Mariners acquired at last season’s trade deadline, and intentionally walked the left-handed-hitting Dominic Canzone to load the bases. The switch-hitting Raleigh crushed Ferguson’s first pitch deep to left-center to make it 7-0.
Raleigh came up with the bases loaded again in the eighth and got a run-scoring groundout for the final margin.
Abbott took the loss despite allowing just one unearned run on four hits over six innings. The lefty walked two and fanned six.
Mariners third baseman J.P. Crawford was a late scratch from the starting lineup. The team offered no immediate reason why.
–Field Level Media
