Sports
MLB roundup: Andrew Benintendi slam lifts White Sox over Yankees
Jun 18, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; Chicago White Sox pinch hitter Andrew Benintendi (23) celebrates with his teammates after hitting a grand slam home run in the eighth inning against the New York Yankees at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Wendell Cruz-Imagn Images Pinch hitter Andrew Benintendi belted a tiebreaking grand slam in the eighth inning as the visiting Chicago White Sox beat the New York Yankees 5-1 on Thursday. Chicago earned its first win at Yankee Stadium since June 8, 2023, ending a nine-game road skid vs. New York.
In the finale of a three-game series, the White Sox pieced together the winning rally in the eighth against Fernando Cruz (4-2), Tim Hill and Camilo Doval. Benintendi, who once played for the Yankees, batted for Randal Grichuk and snapped a 1-1 tie by lifting Doval’s first-pitch sinker into the right-center-field seats.
The American League Central-leading White Sox got a double from Sam Antonacci and had two batters hit by pitches to set up Benintendi’s blast. After Chicago opener Bryan Hudson allowed a hit in 1 2/3 scoreless innings, bulk reliever Sean Burke (4-4) struck out eight while giving up one run on five hits in 7 1/3 innings.
Ryan McMahon homered as the Yankees had their four-game winning streak end while losing for just the sixth time in the past 21 games.
Royals 14, Cardinals 6
Bobby Witt Jr. homered and was one of seven Kansas City players with at least two hits — but later exited with right knee discomfort — while Salvador Perez’s solo shot made him the all-time home run leader at Kauffman Stadium as the host Royals beat St. Louis.
The star shortstop injured himself going into the hole to field Jordan Walker’s RBI infield single in the fourth. Witt finished the inning but was pinch-hit for in the bottom of the frame. Witt’s departure overshadowed a potent night for the Royals, who set season highs for runs and hits (17), while posting eight doubles, including a club-record five during their six-run second inning.
Meanwhile, Perez had three hits and his 137th homer at home — a 385-foot shot to left in the sixth inning — broke George Brett’s record to give Kansas City a 12-4 lead. Masyn Winn and JJ Wetherholt each had three hits while Jose Fermin added two with two RBIs for the Cardinals, who recorded 13 hits but stranded 15 runners.
Blue Jays 4, Red Sox 3
Brandon Valenzuela’s two-out double against Aroldis Chapman drove in Ernie Clement with the go-ahead run in the ninth inning and visiting Toronto completed a three-game sweep of Boston.
Valenzuela’s double came after the Red Sox tied the game on back-to-back home runs by Isiah Kiner-Falefa and Caleb Durbin in the eighth. Both home runs came against Blue Jays starter Trey Yesavage, who allowed three runs on four hits in 7 1/3 innings. He struck out six without a walk.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and Nathan Lukes each hit a solo home run against Boston starter Sonny Gray, who gave up three runs on six hits in seven innings. He struck out four and walked one.
Mets 6, Phillies 4
Juan Soto homered twice and Marcus Semien drove in a pair of insurance runs as visiting New York beat Philadelphia in the first matchup of the season between the rivals.
The Mets also received big efforts from Carson Benge (3-for-5) and A.J. Ewing (2-for-3, RBI). Huascar Brazoban (4-1) pitched a scoreless inning in relief for the win, and Devin Williams allowed a two-out run in the ninth before closing out his 11th save.
Alec Bohm finished with two hits and two RBIs for the Phillies. Jose Alvarado (3-2) yielded three runs in his lone inning. Trea Turner (right calf contusion) left after getting hit by a pitch.
Guardians 4, Brewers 2
Cleveland broke a tie in the seventh inning to rally for a win against host Milwaukee, earning a victory for just the third time in the past nine games.
Starting pitcher Parker Messick (7-3) gave up two runs on four hits and three walks, and struck out nine over six innings for the Guardians. Starter Shane Drohan went five innings, allowing one run on three hits and three walks for the Brewers, who had won three straight.
Cleveland took its first lead of the game in the seventh inning off reliever Grant Anderson (1-3). Travis Bazzana ripped a fastball into the seats in right field to put the visitors ahead 3-2.
Twins 9, Rangers 3
Trevor Larnach went 3-for-5 with a home run and three RBIs, and Minnesota cruised to a win over host Texas.
Brooks Lee added a three-run homer for Minnesota, which completed a three-game sweep over the Rangers. Ryan Kreidler hit a two-run homer, and Victor Caratini finished 3-for-4.
Wyatt Langford, Ezequiel Duran and Justin Foscue each hit a solo home run for Texas. Josh Smith doubled for the Rangers’ only other extra-base hit.
Mariners 3, Orioles 0
Bryan Woo (6-5) pitched seven-plus scoreless innings as host Seattle defeated Baltimore. Woo allowed three hits, walked one and fanned nine.
The Mariners did all their damage with a two-out rally in the first inning off Orioles starter Shane Baz (4-7), using a run-scoring double from Cole Young and a two-run single from Colt Emerson to take a 3-0 lead.
Baz overcame the shaky start to last seven innings, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out nine.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Byron Buxton slam in 10-run fifth propels Twins to rout of Diamondbacks
Jun 20, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Minnesota Twins center fielder Byron Buxton (25) hits a grand slam against the Arizona Diamondbacks in the fifth inning at Chase Field. Mandatory Credit: Rick Scuteri-Imagn Images Byron Buxton’s grand slam highlighted a 10-run fifth inning for the Minnesota Twins, allowing them to coast to a 16-8 win against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Saturday night in Phoenix.
Brooks Lee had four hits, three runs scored and two RBIs, Victor Caratini had three hits, three RBIs and three runs scored, Ryan Kreidler had three hits and four RBIs, and Luke Keaschall also had three hits and scored three times for Minnesota, which has won five of six.
Twins starter Taj Bradley (6-3) allowed two runs and three hits over five innings. He struck out four and walked two.
Jorge Barrosa homered and doubled, Pavin Smith had two hits and an RBI, Tommy Troy had two hits and a run scored, and Ildemaro Vargas delivered a three-run double for Arizona, which had won four of five.
Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen (3-6) surrendered career highs of nine runs and 12 hits over four innings. The 2023 NL All Star struck out two and walked two.
Lee’s two-run single in the first gave the Twins an early 2-0 lead.
Gallen retired eight in a row before back-to-back soft-hit singles and a swinging bunt by Keaschall loaded the bases for Kreidler, who rolled a grounder up the middle that second baseman Ketel Marte could only knock down, extending the lead to 3-0.
Trevor Larnach followed with the fifth straight single for the Twins, driving in a pair of runs for a 5-0 lead.
After Gallen got the second out, Kody Clemens dropped a single into left-center field to score Kreidler and make it 6-0.
Lee began the 10-run fifth with a triple into the right-field corner. He scored when Caratini doubled into the right-center field gap to make it 7-0.
A single by Keaschall put runners on the corners, still with no outs, and ended Gallen’s night.
The Twins continued to pad their lead against Yilber Diaz, loading the bases for Buxton, who went the other way for a grand slam over the right-field fence, extending the lead to 12-0.
A two-run single from Caratine and a two-run triple from Kreidler capped off the massive inning,
Barrosa went deep with a runner aboard in the fifth to cut it to 16-2. The D-Backs plated another run when the first four batters of the seventh walked and then scored three on Vargas’ double to make it 16-6.
Smith cut it to 16-7 with a two-out RBI single later in the inning, and Arizona tacked on another run in the eighth on a run-scoring groundout to make it 16-8.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Japan shut out Tunisia, which will not advance from group stage
June 20, 2026; Monterrey, Mexico; Japan’s Ayase Ueda scores their second goal. Mandatory Credit: Eloisa Sanchez-Reuters via Imagn Images Ayase Ueda scored twice and had an assist to help Japan to a 4-0 Group F victory on Saturday night in Monterrey, Mexico, to eliminate Tunisia and spoil the debut of their coach Herve Renard.
Tunisia (0-2-0, 0 points) were eliminated while Japan and Netherlands each have four points (1-0-1) and a plus-4 goal differential.
Sweden (1-1-0) have three points heading into the final group matches on Thursday when Japan plays Sweden and Netherlands faces Tunisia.
Daichi Kamada opened the scoring in the 4th minute, the fastest goal ever for the Japanese in a World Cup match. The previous mark was Shinji Kagawa’s score against Colombia in the sixth minute of their 2018 match.
Ueda made it 2-0 in the 31st minute, Junya Ito scored in the 69th and Ueda’s header in the 83rd made Japan the first Asian team to score four goals in the World Cup.
This was the 1,000th World Cup match since the inaugural tournament in Uruguay in 1930.
Tunisia were embarrassed after their 5-1 loss to Sweden in the opener on June 14, resulting in the firing of Sabri Lamouchi. Renard coached Saudia Arabia in the 2022 World Cup when they upset eventual champion Argentina 2-1 in their opener.
The change didn’t help.
Kamada, scoring in a second straight match, made a run toward the near post when Keito Nakamura from the left side sent a cross from the end line that Kamada was able to redirect for his 14th goal in 51 matches.
Renard made several changes with the most obvious being the return of veteran goalkeeper Aymen Dahmen after Lamouchi made the questionable decision to start the inexperienced Mouhib Chamakh, who played poorly against Sweden.
Dahmen was in goal for the 2022 World Cup, including a 0-0 tie with Denmark.
He made a spectacular save in the 10th minute on Saturday to keep it a one-goal deficit when he got his left arm on the ball and prevented it from going completely over the goal line by inches on a shot by Takehiro Tomiyasu.
But Dahmen could do nothing on the brilliant strike from the edge of the box by Ueda, who dribbled toward the goal as Montassar Talbi backed off. Ueda’s strike went between the defender’s legs and tucked into the lower left corner.
Ito took a pass in stride from Ueda, held off Mohamed Amine, and slipped a shot past Dahmen for the 3-0 lead.
Japan goalie Zion Suzuki did not have to make a save as Tunisia totaled two shots and none on target.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spacestation Gaming move atop OWCS Stage 2 standings
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. Spacestation Gaming moved atop the standings with another convincing victory on Sunday in Stage 2 of North American qualifying for the Overwatch Champions Series.
Spacestation, which played just one match in the opening week, beat The Kafe 3-1 in its first of two Week 2 matches. They hold a narrow edge in match differential over Team Liquid (plus-five to plus-four) as the lone unbeaten teams left.
LuneX Gaming swept Disguised 3-0 in the day’s other match to move into third place. Saturday’s two winning teams will face off on Sunday.
The six teams in contention will engage in round-robin matches during the regular season, with the top four qualifying for the regional playoffs, which will be double elimination on July 3-5. All matches are best-of-five until the grand final, which will be best-of-seven.
In addition to the $75,000 prize pool, the top four Stage 2 finishers will advance to Stage 3. The three finishers will also qualify for the Midseason Championship.
Spacestation Gaming was even with The Kafe through two matches after they opened with a 2-0 win on Ilios and The Kafe responded with a 3-2 triumph on Circuit Royal. Spacestation closed out the match with a pair of 3-1 wins on King’s Row and New Junk City.
LuneX Gaming had an easier time on Saturday, completing the sweep with a 2-0 win on Oasis, 119.7m-108.96m victory on New Queen Street and a 3-2 clincher on New Junk City.
Week 2 concludes with three more matches Sunday.
Sunday schedule
–Spacestation Gaming vs. LuneX Gaming
–The Kafe vs. Disguised
–Dallas Fuel vs. Team Liquid
Standings (team, record, match differential)
1. Spacestation Gaming, 2-0, +5
2. Team Liquid, 2-0, +4
3. LuneX Gaming, 2-1, +4
4. Dallas Fuel, 1-1, 0
5. Disguised, 0-2, -5
6. The Kafe, 0-3, -8
Prize pool:
1. $30,000, qualifies for Midseason Invitational, qualifies for NA Stage 3
2. $15,000, qualifies for Midseason Invitational, qualifies for NA Stage 3
3. $12,000, qualifies for Midseason Invitational, qualifies for NA Stage 3
4. $8,000, qualifies for NA Stage 3
5-6. $5,000, qualifies for NA Stage 2 promotion/relegation
–Field Level Media
Byron Buxton slam in 10-run fifth propels Twins to rout of Diamondbacks
Japan shut out Tunisia, which will not advance from group stage
