Sports
MLB roundup: Cubs sweep Reds for 15th straight home win
May 7, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Cubs right fielder Michael Conforto (20) celebrates the Cubs win against the Cincinnati Reds with left fielder Ian Happ (8) at Wrigley Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images Shota Imanaga struck out 10 across six innings as the Chicago Cubs completed a four-game sweep of the Cincinnati Reds with an 8-3 victory on Thursday for their 15th straight home win.
Unlike the first three games of the series, the Cubs did not need to walk it off. Instead, they used a seven-run fourth inning to turn it into a rout and hand the Reds their seventh straight loss. Chicago has won nine in a row.
Michael Conforto went 3-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. He hit a double, and his second-inning solo home run off Reds starter Rhett Lowder (3-3) gave the Cubs the early lead. It was the veteran’s second homer of the series and season.
Lowder pitched into the fourth but was pulled after allowing back-to-back walks to Alex Bregman and Ian Happ to start the inning and throwing a ball in the dirt to Michael Busch. The right-hander went three-plus innings, allowing three runs on just one hit, but walked four.
Sal Stewart hit his 10th homer of the season and Blake Dunn lasered his first home of the year for the Reds.
Yankees 9, Rangers 2
Trent Grisham laced a bases-clearing double during a six-run sixth inning as host New York cruised past Texas but lost left fielder Jasson Dominguez to a sprained left shoulder.
Dominguez was injured crashing into the auxiliary scoreboard to catch a fly ball by Brandon Nimmo, the first batter of the game. Dominguez sustained a low-grade AC sprain and will be placed on the injured list. The team announced after the game that concussion tests were negative at the time on Dominguez, who is in concussion protocol.
Grisham had three hits and Ryan McMahon had a double and an RBI single as the Yankees totaled 14 hits and went 7-for-18 with runners in scoring position. Ezequiel Duran homered and drove in both for runs as the Rangers lost for the 11th time in 17 games.
Nationals 7, Twins 5
Keibert Ruiz had a home run and two doubles, drove in four runs and scored three times to lead Washington over visiting Minnesota in the rubber game of their three-game series.
Curtis Mead had two RBIs and Jacob Young scored twice for the Nationals. Ruiz hit the go-ahead solo homer to make it 6-5 leading off the seventh inning, and Mead delivered an RBI single later in the inning.
Ryan Jeffers had a home run, two doubles and three runs for the Twins. Brooks Lee had two hits and two RBIs for Minnesota.
Rockies 6, Mets 2
Jake McCarthy hit a grand slam in the eighth inning and drove in five runs, as Colorado defeated New York.
Antonio Senzatela (2-0) tossed two innings of scoreless relief for the victory for the Rockies, ending a six-game skid. Starter Jose Quintana allowed two runs on five hits over 5 2/3 innings. McCarthy added an RBI double.
Colorado rallied from down 2-0 to tie it with runs in the fourth and sixth innings, then won it against reliever Craig Kimbrel (0-2). Austin Slater had two hits for the Mets. Starter Christian Scott struck out six, scattered three hits and left with the lead after 4 2/3 innings.
Guardians 8, Royals 5
Bo Naylor hit a three-run home run and Cleveland held on for a win over host Kansas City to earn a split of the four-game series.
Kyle Manzardo drove in two for the Guardians, who saw Slade Cecconi (2-4) allow two runs in 5 1/3 innings, giving up six hits. Cade Smith delivered a perfect ninth to record his 10th save of the season.
Bobby Witt Jr. was 4-for-4 with a walk and a homer. Vinnie Pasquantino homered for the Royals. Seth Lugo (1-2) needed 102 pitches to last four innings, allowing four runs on seven hits.
Athletics 12, Phillies 1
Brent Rooker and Zack Gelof each homered and drove in three runs and J.T. Ginn tossed eight stellar innings as the visiting Athletics posted a victory over Philadelphia.
Ginn (1-1) allowed just one run on four hits, striking out eight for the A’s, who salvaged the series finale after dropping the first two games. Shea Langeliers and Jacob Wilson also went deep in the win.
Andrew Painter (1-4) surrendered eight runs on seven hits across 3 2/3 frames for the Phillies, whose four-game winning streak ended. Kyle Schwarber went 2-for-4 with a homer as Philadelphia has won eight of 10 games since the firing of manager Rob Thomson.
Rays 8, Red Sox 4
Chandler Simpson went 2-for-2 with three RBIs off the bench, leading visiting Tampa Bay to a win over Boston in the opener of their four-game series.
Simpson entered the game in the sixth inning and immediately knocked a go-ahead, two-run single. He then provided a key insurance run on an RBI triple in his next at-bat in the eighth. Tampa Bay pounded out 13 hits and Hunter Bigge (1-0) worked two no-hit innings in relief of fellow right-hander Griffin Jax en route to the Rays’ seventh straight win.
The Rays had their streak of allowing three runs or fewer snapped after 13 consecutive games when Jarren Duran doubled and scored on a Wilyer Abreu sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Marlins 4, Orioles 3
Joe Mack doubled with two outs in the ninth inning and scored the winning run on a walk-off throwing error as Miami claimed a victory against Baltimore, dodging a sweep of the three-game series.
Liam Hicks hit a two-run home run in the first inning for the Marlins. Calvin Faucher (3-2) threw a scoreless ninth inning as the Marlins ended a four-game skid.
Mayo and Dylan Beavers each provided two hits, but the Orioles had a two-game win streak. Andrew Kittredge (0-1) gave up the unearned run in the ninth.
Pirates 4, Diamondbacks 2
Brandon Lowe went 3-for-5 with a home run and scored twice to help Pittsburgh win the rubber match of a three-game set against Arizona in Phoenix.
Joey Bart also homered for the Pirates, who have won five of their past six games, and starter Mitch Keller (4-1) allowed two runs on four hits over six innings.
Diamondbacks starter Zac Gallen (1-3) gave up four runs on six hits in six innings. Corbin Carroll went deep for Arizona.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Miami host committee assured ICE will not be at World Cup games
Jun 16, 2022; New York, New York, USA; A detail view of The FIFA World Cup Trophy sits on a stand outside of 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Mandatory Credit: Jessica Alcheh-Imagn Images U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement will not be seen at World Cup matches this summer, according to the co-chair of the Miami host committee.
Rodney Barreto told The Athletic on Thursday that he received reassurances from Secretary of State Marco Rubio that ICE would steer clear of the world soccer showcase.
“ICE is not going to be at the stadium,” Barreto told The Athletic. “This is not going to turn into some ‘round them up’ type of thing. That’s not the purpose of this.
“It’ll be a great experience for everybody. I think that we’re lucky that we do have a president who loves sports and has given us the resources to reimburse the cities for their police protection.”
Barreto added, “I spoke to Marco and, first of all, he’s going to make sure that the passports get processed and people can get here and there is an orderly process so people won’t be held up. It’s going to be a major undertaking by the federal government to do that. We feel very comfortable that we’re going to be in good hands.”
The deployment of ICE for immigration-enforcement raids has increased since Donald Trump began his second stint as president last year, igniting a significant political debate in the U.S.
South Florida’s role as a World Cup host market also comes against the backdrop of scenes from the 2024 Copa America championship game, when fans stormed the gates at Hard Rock Stadium in Miami Gardens, Fla., causing a number of injuries and delaying the start of the Argentina-Colombia match.
“(The Miami World Cup organizing committee) took the position that we didn’t want to be critical of the planners of that event,” Barreto told The Athletic. “It wasn’t our event. But now that time has passed, I would tell you that where the failure was, which was that there were no perimeters.
“People without tickets should have been nowhere near the entrance ways of that stadium. It didn’t take much to overrun an entrance. But listen, you learn from all these events, and you learn to do it better and come up with different scenarios which mitigate this from happening in the future. So that’s where we’re at.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Cade Cunningham propels Pistons past Cavs for 2-0 edge
May 7, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Pistons guard Ausar Thompson (9) dunks in the first half against the Cleveland Cavaliers during game two of the second round of the 2026 NBA Playoffs at Little Caesars Arena. Mandatory Credit: Rick Osentoski-Imagn Images Cade Cunningham scored 25 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter, and had 10 assists on Thursday, leading the Detroit Pistons to a 107-97 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers and a 2-0 lead in their Eastern Conference semifinal series.
Tobias Harris added 21 points, Duncan Robinson put up 17 points and Daniss Jenkins contributed 14 for the Pistons, who also won the opener of the best-of-seven set by 10 points on Tuesday.
Donovan Mitchell poured in 31 points and Jarrett Allen added 22 points and seven rebounds for the Cavaliers, who hit only 7 of 32 3-point attempts (21.9%).
Game 3 is Saturday afternoon in Cleveland.
The Cavaliers made three of their first five shots at the start of the fourth quarter to go up 81-79, their first lead since they scored the first basket of the game. The Pistons responded with a 10-2 run, capped by a Robinson 3-pointer, to regain control.
Cleveland, which missed all 11 of its 3-point attempts in the final period, could get no closer than three points as Cunningham helped Detroit pulled away.
The Cavaliers committed 20 turnovers in Game 1, and the problem persisted early in Game 2, when Cleveland struggled to handle Detroit’s physical defense. The Pistons used an 11-3 run late in the period to push their lead to 11 points on a Jenkins hoop. Detroit controlled the tempo and energy on both ends to take a 25-18 lead after one.
Mitchell opened the second quarter with a basket that pulled Cleveland within five, but the Cavaliers never could fully capitalize against Detroit’s physical defense. The Cavaliers also missed several open 3-point looks that could have shifted momentum. Detroit pushed its lead to as many as 14 points on a Robinson trey with 1:21 left in the quarter and carried a 54-43 advantage into halftime.
Cleveland seized control in the third quarter by ramping up its defensive pressure and finally finding a rhythm offensively. Mitchell sparked the turnaround with 11 points. The Cavaliers steadily chipped away at the deficit and pulled within 76-75 on James Harden’s pull-up jumper with 17.5 seconds remaining, but Jenkins’ 30-foot 3-pointer ended the period and put Detroit up by four.
Veteran Cleveland guard Sam Merrill missed the game because of a left hamstring injury. Detroit’s Kevin Huerter missed his fifth consecutive game due to a left adductor strain.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Chandler Simpson, Rays surge past Red Sox, run win streak to 7
May 7, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Tampa Bay Rays left fielder Chandler Simpson (14) hits an RBI triple against the Boston Red Sox during the eighth inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Gregory Fisher-Imagn Images Chandler Simpson went 2-for-2 with three RBIs off the bench, leading the visiting Tampa Bay Rays to an 8-4 win over the Boston Red Sox in the opener of their four-game series on Thursday night.
Simpson entered the game in the sixth inning and immediately knocked a go-ahead, two-run single. He then provided a key insurance run on an RBI triple in his next at-bat in the eighth.
Tampa Bay pounded out 13 hits and Hunter Bigge (1-0) worked two no-hit innings in relief of fellow right-hander Griffin Jax en route to the Rays’ seventh straight win.
Five Rays finished with multiple knocks, including Yandy Diaz (1,000th career hit) and Junior Caminero (two-run home run), who joined the list in the final inning.
However, the Rays had their streak of allowing three runs or fewer snapped after 13 consecutive games when Jarren Duran doubled and scored on a Wilyer Abreu sacrifice fly in the eighth.
The Rays blitzed Boston left-hander Jake Bennett (1-1) for three second-inning runs, as five straight baserunners reached with one out with Ben Williamson and Cedric Mullins providing RBI singles before Diaz’s sacrifice fly made it 3-0.
The Red Sox responded quickly to tie the game in the bottom of the inning, which began with Trevor Story beating out an infield single. Story then swiped second, and Ceddanne Rafaela stung an RBI single into left two batters later.
A misplay on Connor Wong’s potential double-play ball plated another run, and Caleb Durbin knocked in the tying run on a single to right.
Bennett faced the minimum across the next three innings, but after he exited, Simpson’s two-run single off Greg Weissert put the Rays back ahead.
In the eighth, Williamson’s one-out bunt single set the table for Simpson’s RBI triple into deep right.
Abreu’s sac fly cut the Boston deficit to 6-4, but the inning was limited with Willson Contreras being thrown out attempting to advance on a relay.
After Diaz’s milestone ground-rule double, Caminero crushed his 10th homer into the center-field bleachers to conclude the scoring.
–Field Level Media
Miami host committee assured ICE will not be at World Cup games
Cade Cunningham propels Pistons past Cavs for 2-0 edge
