Sports
MLB roundup: Rays top rival Yankees to spoil Gerrit Cole's return
May 22, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees starting pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) pitches against the Tampa Bay Rays during the fifth inning at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images Gerrit Cole pitched six strong innings during his return from reconstructive elbow surgery, but the Tampa Bay Rays scored four times in the eighth inning by capitalizing on shaky infield defense and closed out a 4-2 victory over the host New York Yankees on Friday night.
The Rays scored four times in a span of six batters against Tim Hill and Camilo Doval to take a 4-1 lead.
The Rays improved to 4-0 this season against the Yankees and opened a 5 1/2-game lead in the AL East. Tampa Bay also won its fifth straight and for the 22nd time in 26 games.
Cole allowed two hits in his first appearance for the Yankees since Game 5 of the World Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Oct. 30, 2024. The right-hander struck out two and walked three.
Braves 5, Nationals 4 (11 innings)
Chadwick Tromp hit a game-tying single in the 10th inning and a walk-off single in the 11th, propelling Atlanta to a victory over visiting Washington.
Tyler Kinley (4-2) tossed a perfect 11th as the Braves won their fourth game in a row. Austin Riley and Mauricio Dubon each had three hits.
CJ Abrams and Curtis Mead homered for the Nationals, who have lost four of their past six games. Paxton Schultz (0-2) yielded Tromp’s decisive hit.
Blue Jays 6, Pirates 2
Kevin Gausman struck out eight in 6 2/3 effective innings as Toronto defeated visiting Pittsburgh to push its win streak to three.
Gausman (4-3) allowed one run on six hits while earning his first win in five starts. Louis Varland retired the final six batters to earn his seventh save. Yohendrick Pinango and George Springer hit two-run doubles, while Ernie Clement and Jesus Sanchez hit consecutive doubles in the eighth.
The Pirates committed three errors, including two in the third that contributed to Toronto’s three-run frame. Bubba Chandler (1-6) fanned a career-best 11 while allowing three runs (one earned) on two hits in five innings. Brandon Lowe had two hits and two runs.
Astros 4, Cubs 2
Christian Vazquez homered, singled and drove in two runs for visiting Houston in a win against Chicago in the opener of their three-game series.
Houston starter Spencer Arrighetti (6-1) allowed two hits over five shutout innings. The Astros had combined for six runs in their previous four games, losing three.
Cubs right-hander Jameson Taillon (2-4) allowed four runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings. Pete Crow-Armstrong homered for the Cubs, who have lost six in a row and 10 of 12.
Guardians 1, Phillies 0
Pinch hitter Kyle Manzardo hit a ninth-inning home run off Jhoan Duran to lift visiting Cleveland to its seventh straight win over Philadelphia.
Gavin Williams (7-3) struck out 11 without a walk in eight innings, yielding just four hits. Cade Smith recorded his 17th save as the Guardians’ pitching made up for a Cleveland offense that only managed four hits against Cristopher Sanchez.
Sanchez tossed eight scoreless innings to stretch his streak to 37 2/3 consecutive scoreless frames — the longest by a Phillies pitcher since at least 1920. However, Duran (1-2) gave up the game-ending homer to Manzardo.
Rockies 3, Diamondbacks 2
Chad Stevens delivered the tiebreaking single with one out in the top of the ninth to help Colorado notch a victory over Arizona in Phoenix.
Stevens’ first hit of the season and third of his career plated Sterlin Thompson with the decisive run as the Rockies ended a three-game losing streak. Colorado’s TJ Rumfield came through with a tying double in the eighth.
Diamondbacks left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. had two RBIs before he exited in the sixth due to left hamstring tightness. Arizona let a 2-0 lead get away to halt their season-best five-game winning streak.
White Sox 9, Giants 4
Munetaka Murakami highlighted a nine-run fourth inning with a bases-clearing double, Davis Martin coasted to his fifth straight win and Chicago won at San Francisco.
Andrew Benintendi had a two-run double and major league hit-by-pitch leader Sam Antonacci got plunked twice and scored twice in the same inning, helping the White Sox win for the ninth time in their past 12 games. Martin (7-1) permitted four runs in 5 2/3 innings.
Trevor McDonald (2-1) was charged with seven runs in 3 2/3 innings as the Giants lost their fourth straight game. Luis Arraez had an RBI single among his two hits.
Twins 8, Red Sox 6
Byron Buxton and Austin Martin hit two-run home runs in the seventh inning as visiting Minnesota came from behind for a win over Boston to begin a three-game series.
The Twins rallied from deficits of 4-0 and 6-3 to win on the strength of the four-run frame, tagging Boston reliever Justin Slaten (0-2) for his first earned runs of the season. Buxton and Martin both went 2-for-5 and combined for five RBIs. Travis Adams (1-0) tossed two innings of relief.
Wilyer Abreu (2-for-5) and Nick Sogard (2-for-3) both had multiple hits for the Red Sox.
Orioles 7, Tigers 4
Jackson Holliday’s first hit in three games since making his season debut this week was a two-run go-ahead home run in the fourth inning, and Baltimore went on to beat visiting Detroit in the first game of a three-game series.
Pete Alonso smashed a three-run homer and finished with four RBIs as the Orioles snapped a three-game skid to open a 10-game homestand. Gunnar Henderson racked up three hits and Holliday, Adley Rutschman and Leody Taveras all had two hits for Baltimore.
Kevin McGonigle homered for the Tigers, who suffered their seventh consecutive defeat. Hao-Yu Lee had two hits and drove in two runs. Jack Flaherty (0-6) gave up six runs (three earned) on eight hits in 3 1/3 innings.
Marlins 2, Mets 1
Owen Caissie collected two RBIs and Jakob Marsee made a pair of impressive catches in center field for host Miami, who edged New York in the opener of a three-game series.
Eury Perez (3-6) and three relievers combined on a three-hitter for the Marlins, who snapped a three-game losing streak. The Mets have lost three of their last four. Perez allowed two hits over 6 1/3 innings.
Juan Soto crushed a 449-foot homer to right-center in the first before singling in the fourth. Mets opener Tobias Myers gave up one hit in his first start of the season.
Padres 7, Athletics 3
Ramon Laureano snapped a tie with a home run in the bottom of the seventh inning as San Diego stopped the visiting Athletics in the opener of a three-game series.
Laureano worked a full count against Jeffrey Springs (3-5) and then hammered a changeup an estimated 401 feet to left field for his sixth homer of the year. The clout made a winner of reliever Adrian Morejon (4-1), who worked 1 1/3 perfect innings and fanned three.
Springs allowed only three hits — all homers — and four runs in 6 1/3 innings. San Diego starter Walker Buehler received a no-decision after yielding five hits and three runs in five innings.
Mariners 2, Royals 0
Mitch Garver clubbed a two-run homer in the seventh inning, after Logan Gilbert was solid while pitching into the sixth, and visiting Seattle edged scuffling Kansas City.
Gilbert allowed two hits and never faced any real danger over 5 2/3 innings. Kansas City starter Noah Cameron was just as stout as Gilbert, allowing four hits and matching a career high with eight strikeouts while throwing 96 pitches over six impressive innings.
Seattle managed just five hits, but Garver and Julio Rodriguez posted two apiece. Gilbert, Eduard Bazardo (3-2), Matt Brash and Andres Munoz (nine saves) combined to allow just four hits and strike out 10 Royals, who have totaled 28 runs while losing 10 of the last 11.
Brewers 5, Dodgers 1
William Contreras set the tone with an early three-run homer and Logan Henderson tossed five innings of two-hit ball to pace Milwaukee to victory over visiting Los Angeles in the opener of the series between division leaders.
Milwaukee, coming off a sweep of the Cubs, has won 12 of its last 14 to climb atop the NL Central. The NL West-leading Dodgers had won five of their previous six on their current road trip. It was the first meeting since the Dodgers swept Milwaukee in the NLCS last season.
Henderson (2-1) allowed two singles in five innings. The Dodgers, who managed just three hits, got on the board with an unearned run in the seventh on Shohei Ohtani’s sacrifice fly. The Brewers jumped on Justin Wrobleski (6-2) for four runs on six hits in a 10-batter, 38-pitch first inning.
Angels 9, Rangers 6
Zach Neto hit two home runs and Anaheim native Wade Meckler hit a three-run homer in his first career Angels at-bat, leading Los Angeles to a victory over Texas in Anaheim, Calif.
Oswald Peraza went 3-for-4 with a homer as the Angels snapped a three-game losing streak. Grayson Rodriguez (1-1) picked up his first win since 2024 after allowing four runs on seven hits over 5 2/3 innings.
Brandon Nimmo homered, doubled and drove in two runs and Danny Jansen also went deep for the Rangers, who had won three of their previous four. Jacob deGrom (3-4) was tagged for six runs on six hits in three innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
BetBoom, 9z, G2 move on to Stage 3 at IEM Cologne
Nov 5, 2022; San Francisco, California, USA; Fans react during the League of Legends World Championships between T1 and DRX at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images BetBoom Team, 9z Team and G2 Esports won their Round 4 high matches in Stage 2 on Monday to move onto Stage 3 at the Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major in Germany.
They will await three more teams to join them in Stage 3, as the Swiss System format concludes Tuesday to determine the last of the 16 participants in Stage 3.
Eight teams were seeded directly into Stage 3: Team Vitality, Natus Vincere, Team Falcons, The MongolZ, PARIVISION, Aurora Gaming, FURIA and MOUZ. FUT Esports and Team Spirit joined them by going 3-0 in Stage 2.
Teams are competing for their share of the Counter-Strike 2 tournament’s $1.25 million prize pool with the grand final scheduled for June 21. The champion receives $500,000.
Advancement and elimination matches in Stage 2 are best-of-three. All other Stage 2 matches were a single map.
In the first Monday high match (between teams with 2-1 records), BetBoom opened with a 13-7 win over Monte on Nuke. Monte followed with a 13-6 victory on Mirage before BetBoom registered a 13-8 triumph on Dust II. Kirill “Magnojez” Rodnov paced all-Russian BetBoom with 58 kills and a plus-26 kills-deaths differential. Bulgaria’s Aleks “Rainwaker” Petrov led Monte with 47 kills and a plus-5 K-D differential.
In the second high match, 9z made quick work of TYLOO, posting a sweep with wins on Overpass (13-10) and Inferno (13-6). Franco “dgt” Garcia of Uruguay led the way for 9z, posting 40 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential. Qianhao “Moseyuh” Chen of all-Chinese TYLOO notched a team-high 29 kills and an even K-D differential.
In the third high match, G2 also picked up a sweep, taking out BIG on Inferno (13-3) and Mirage (13-8). For G2, Guy “NertZ” Iluz of Israel delivered 39 kills and a plus-21 K-D differential. Gleb “gr1ks” Gazin of Belarus led BIG with 23 kills and a minus-2 K-D differential.
In the first of three elimination matches, B8 recovered from a 13-7 loss on Mirage against MIBR, posting back-to-back wins on Nuke (13-10) and Ancient (13-8). Legacy swept M80 with wins on Dust II (13-8) and Inferno (16-13 in overtime). paiN Gaming topped Astralis 2-0, prevailing 13-11 on Nuke and a 13-4 on Overpass.
Stage 3 finishes Tuesday with three matches featuring teams with 2-2 records:
–Monte vs. paiN Gaming
–TYLOO vs. Legacy
–BIG vs. B8
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne Major prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000
5-8. $45,000
9-11. $15,000
12-14. $15,000
15-16. $15,000
17-19. $10,000
20-22. $10,000 — MIBR, M80, Astralis
23-24. $10,000 — GamerLegion, FlyQuest
25-27. $5,000 — Lynn Vision Gaming, NRG, Team Liquid
28-30. $5,000 — THUNDERdOWNUNDER, Sharks Esports, HEROIC
31-32. $5,000 — Gaimin Gladiators, SINNERS Esports
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mariners dealing with injuries ahead of rematch vs. Orioles
Jun 8, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Seattle Mariners first baseman Josh Naylor (12) celebrates with his teammates after scoring a run during the eighth inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images Making adjustments is bound to be a key for the Seattle Mariners and Baltimore Orioles as they face off in a four-game series this week.
The teams will meet in Baltimore for the second time Tuesday night, a day after some roster adjustments.
The Mariners will be without shortstop J.P. Crawford for the series after he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a contusion on his right hand. He was hit by a pitch in Friday’s game at Detroit.
“We think it’s probably the smart thing to do at this point,” Seattle manager Dan Wilson said of the IL move.
The Orioles already altered their rotation to begin the series with Seattle. The teams will meet seven times in an 11-day period.
The Mariners, largely courtesy of Josh Naylor’s grand slam, won 6-3 in Monday night’s series opener. They’re 2-3 since winning eight games in a row.
Seattle played its most recent game without rookie infielder Colt Emerson, who had been plugged in at shortstop during the weekend. He had back tightness and was scratched from Monday’s lineup.
Crawford’s roster replacement is infielder Ryan Bliss, who supplied a sacrifice fly in the series opener. Bliss played as the second baseman, and Cole Young, who has had a heavy workload all spring, shifted to shortstop.
“He seems to be maintaining his strength and stamina,” Wilson said of Young. “It has been outstanding.”
The Orioles will try to snap a three-game skid Tuesday after blown chances in the series opener.
“We knew we had to grind and really force them to work, and we did that,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said. “We just couldn’t come through with the big blow. But it’s one of those games where you’re proud of how they fought.”
The Orioles have had some recent baserunning snafus, a glaring one when Blaze Alexander tagged up from first base and was thrown out at second on a play that cost them a run on what would have been a sacrifice fly.
“It’s one of those things; I love the aggressiveness,” Albernaz said. “It’s just smart aggressiveness (we need).”
Right-hander Logan Gilbert (4-4, 3.79 ERA) will start on Tuesday for the Mariners, aiming for his third consecutive win.
Gilbert hasn’t given up a run in his last three road outings, blanking the Athletics, Kansas City Royals and Chicago White Sox in a total of 17 2/3 innings. In those three games, he has struck out 21 and walked four.
Gilbert has made three career starts vs. the Orioles, going 1-1 with a 3.38 ERA in 18 2/3 innings. The victory came in 2023 in Baltimore.
The Orioles had a disruption before the series when starter Chris Bassitt went on the 15-day injury list Monday due to low back discomfort, but that move shouldn’t directly impact the rotation for the rest of the series.
Left-hander Trevor Rogers (3-6, 6.29 ERA) is Baltimore’s projected starter on Tuesday. He won for the first time since April 1 after allowing one run on five hits in 5 2/3 innings on Thursday in an 8-2 victory at Boston.
Rogers has made two career starts against Seattle without a decision. His ERA in those games is 2.03 over 13 1/3 innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Surging Yankees continue 'gritty' series vs. Guardians
Jun 3, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees pitcher Gerrit Cole (45) reacts after giving up a hit during the third inning against the Cleveland Guardians at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images It’s still early June, but this week’s series between the visiting New York Yankees and the Cleveland Guardians has the feel of a postseason matchup.
The Guardians will look to even the three-game set at one win apiece on Tuesday night after New York emerged with a 7-5 victory in 10 innings on Monday.
Both managers turned to their bullpens early and often in a game that featured 12 relievers.
Paul Goldschmidt and Ryan McMahon each homered for New York, which won for the ninth time in its last 13 games and is in a virtual tie with Tampa Bay for first place in the American League East.
Goldschmidt is batting .314 with three homers and 13 RBIs over his last 12 games. Cody Bellinger has 11 RBIs in his last 12 games for the Yankees, who are playing without Aaron Judge (fractured right rib), designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton (calf strain) and catcher Austin Wells (cervical headaches).
“It wasn’t pretty, but very gritty,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said after Monday’s win. “A lot of really winning things that guys did, and everyone obviously involved. A really tough team over there. … A lot of winning plays there to get us to the finish line.”
The word “gritty” also was used in the Cleveland clubhouse after the Guardians lost for the fourth time in their last five games.
Cleveland, which leads the AL Central, went 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position and stranded 11 runners on Monday. Manager Stephen Vogt turned to Cade Smith in a tie game in the eighth inning and saw his closer allow one hit with three strikeouts across 1 2/3 scoreless innings.
“Every game we’ve played with them has been gritty,” Smith said. “They’re a good team over there, and we’re a good team here. It’s going to be a war of attrition to go out there and win, but that’s what we all work for.”
Tuesday’s pitching matchup will feature a pair of right-handers as New York’s Gerrit Cole (1-1, 2.00 ERA) faces Cleveland’s Slade Cecconi (3-5, 4.92).
Cole allowed four runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings in a 5-4 home loss to the Guardians last Wednesday.
After tossing 12 2/3 scoreless innings in his first two starts since returning from Tommy John surgery, Cole allowed three homers in Wednesday’s loss.
“I thought he threw the ball well,” Boone said. “I thought he located pretty well. They pressured him. They were aggressive with him, put the ball in play on him. But obviously, the long ball was the difference.”
Jose Ramirez is 14-for-39 (.359) with three homers against Cole, who is 7-3 with a 3.09 ERA in 12 career starts vs. Cleveland.
The Guardians will counter with Cecconi, who pitched six innings of one-run ball in a no-decision against the Yankees on Thursday. Cleveland lost 2-1.
Cecconi walked one and struck out four while throwing 53 of his 82 pitches for strikes.
“Slade was phenomenal,” Vogt said. “He did a great job keeping us in that game. We knew going into it that it needed to be a low-scoring affair. I thought Slade threw the ball excellently.”
Cecconi is 0-1 with a 2.63 ERA in three career games (two starts) against the Yankees.
–Field Level Media
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