Sports
Must-win situation for Revs against D.C. United
Oct 2, 2024; Houston, Texas, USA; New England Revolution forward Giacomo Vrioni (9) controls the ball against Houston Dynamo FC in the second half at Shell Energy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Maria Lysaker-Imagn Images Two sides looking to keep their playoff hopes alive square off when D.C. United visit the New England Revolution on Saturday in Foxborough, Mass.
With two matches remaining, D.C. (9-13-10, 37 points) sits two spots below the Eastern Conference playoff line in 11th place, albeit tied with Toronto FC on points for the ninth and final spot. D.C. United have stayed in the mix thanks to a 5-2-2 run over their past nine matches, and a 3-2-1 stretch over their past six.
Most recently, the club is coming off a 4-3 victory against Nashville SC, one spurred by a pair of goals in second-half stoppage time by 22-year-old Gabriel Pirani to give D.C. its only lead of the match.
“We want to make playoffs,” defender Lucas Bartlett said. “We deserve it, and I think we’ve fought every moment. You saw the grit the team shows. It’s not the highest quality sometimes, but I promise you, we’re not giving up. I think a lot of teams have; we’re not one of those.”
Pirani’s brace against Nashville gave the Brazilian six goals on the season, second on the team behind Christian Benteke’s 22. Pirani has tallied four times in his past eight matches.
Benteke, meanwhile, can further solidify his hold on the lead in the Golden Boot race. He has a three-goal lead on Los Angeles FC’s Denis Bouanga, who sits second.
The Revolution (9-18-4, 31 points) are further back in the playoff race, sitting 14th in the Eastern Conference, six points shy of the line with three matches remaining.
A win is a must for New England; anything less and the club will be officially eliminated from postseason contention. To avoid that, the Revolution will need to break out of a 1-2-4 funk that dates back to Aug. 31. Their most recent setback came in a 2-1 home loss to the Houston Dynamo.
“Where we fell short is the details, and that’s the area of our team that we have to continue to work on — finishing our chances,” coach Caleb Porter said after the match. “We should have been up easily, 1-0 or 2-0, with the chances that we had and the way we played in that first half. We have to finish our chances there.”
Carles Gil scored the lone goal against Houston, his seventh of the season, placing him two back of team leader Giacomo Vrioni. Gil leads the team with 10 assists.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Drew Rasmussen, Rays blank Guardians to complete series sweep
Jul 26, 2026; St. Petersburg, Florida, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Drew Rasmussen (57) throws a pitch against the Cleveland Guardians in the first inning at Tropicana Field. Mandatory Credit: Nathan Ray Seebeck-Imagn Images Drew Rasmussen allowed one hit over seven shutout innings while Chandler Simpson manufactured the game’s lone run as the Tampa Bay Rays completed a three-game sweep of the Cleveland Guardians with a 1-0 win Sunday in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Rasmussen (9-5) walked one and struck out nine. Garrett Cleavinger pitched a scoreless eighth inning before Bryan Baker worked around a two-out walk in the ninth for his 28th save.
Simpson had two hits for Tampa Bay, which won for the sixth time in its last seven games and has the American League’s best record at 62-43.
Cleveland was held to one hit and lost its fifth straight game. The Guardians were shutout for the second consecutive game and eighth time this season.
Parker Messick (8-6) was a hard-luck loser after giving up one run on six hits over 7 2/3 innings. He struck out six with zero walks.
The Guardians went 0-for-7 with runners in scoring position and have scored a total of four runs in their last four games.
Tampa Bay broke the scoreless tie with a run in the fifth inning. Simpson hit a leadoff single, moved to second on a wild pitch and then to third on Ben Williamson’s groundout before scoring on Cedric Mullins’ bunt single.
Rasmussen settled in quickly after yielding Steven Kwan’s double to begin the game. He struck out four of the next six batters and retired the last 12 batters he faced.
Cleavinger replaced Rasmussen to begin the eighth inning and recorded three outs with a strikeout on 11 pitches.
Messick retired the first seven batters he faced before Nick Fortes doubled with one out in the third inning. Fortes moved to third on Richie Palacios’ groundout, but he was stranded when Yandy Diaz lined out to first.
Tampa Bay put two runners on with one out in the seventh inning, but Messick struck out Mullins and Fortes to escape unscathed.
Baker completed the Rays’ eighth shutout of the season in the ninth by striking out Brayan Rocchio with a runner at first for his second save in as many days.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Lucas Herbert wins LIV Golf United Kingdom with record-setting score
Jul 17, 2026; Southport, ENG; Lucas Herbert lines up a putt on the 18th green during the second round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Lucas Herbert wasn’t about to be denied the LIV Golf United Kingdom championship on Sunday.
Entering the final round at 20-under with a three-stroke lead over Bryson DeChambeau, the Australian holed 10 birdies for a final-round 62 and a 30-under-par 258 for the four-day event. That gave him a six-stroke victory over England’s Tyrrell Hatton, who turned in a 63.
DeChambeau closed with a 68 to finish 21-under par and in third place at JCB Golf & Country Club in Rocester, England.
Herbert’s dominance this week — his 62 was preceded by rounds of 61, 66 and 69 — led Rippers GC to a 52-under finish, four strokes ahead of captain Jon Rahm’s Legion XIII.
The 30-under finish by Herbert marked the lowest in LIV history. This was his second individual victory of the season — he also won LIV Golf Virginia in May — and he also set the league record for most birdies in a tournament with 30. His combination of 32 birdies and eagles in a tournament also broke a LIV record.
Herbert said confidence in his game grew after his strong finish at the Open Championship last week at Royal Birkdale, where he finished four shots behind winner Ryan Fox and tied for sixth.
“Just wanted to really carry that into this week the best I could,” Herbert said. “I think I got out of my own way the first two rounds and I started thinking about it yesterday. It was just good to play like that today when I was being pushed by two of the best players in the world.”
Hatton pushed as hard as he could with nine birdies, but it wasn’t enough given Herbert’s unprecedented four rounds.
“Obviously Lucas played amazing today, Hatton said. “I wanted to get off to a fast start, which is what I did, but unfortunately Lucas did as well. Yeah, I’m very proud of how I played. It would have been amazing to win in front of home fans, but I tried my best. But actually Lucas was incredible this week.”
Herbert said he did a good job at something else — hiding his nerves.
“I was definitely feeling it out there. I can only do what I can do,” Herbert said. “I was able to take care of what I needed to do today pretty well to get me over the line. I knew it wasn’t going to be a day where even par, 1-under, was going to get it done for me. I knew I had to go out there and get it. Just kept pushing myself the whole way, and here we are.”
Australian Cameron Smith shot a 69 on Sunday to finish in fourth at 17-under. Mexico’s Abraham Ancer (71) and Caleb Surratt (67) shared fifth at 14-under.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tadej Pogacar rides away with record-tying fifth Tour de France title
Tadej Pogacar of Slovenia celebrates winning his fifth Tour de France on Sunday in Paris. With a record-tying fifth Tour de France title already in hand, Tadej Pogacar did his best to put on another show on Sunday before relenting near the finish of the shortened final stage in Paris.
The cycling star from Slovenia was overtaken on the final straightaway of Stage 21, but still won the overall title in a time of 73 hours, 56 minutes, 26 seconds over the three-week event. He finished 6:26 ahead of Belgium’s Remco Evenepoel.
Pogacar’s UAE Team Emirates teammate Isaac del Toro of Mexico finished third overall, which also clinched the title for top rider 25-years-old and under.
Mathieu van der Poel of Belgium won the final stage in a sprint to the finish line along Paris’ Champs-Elysees.
Pogacar and van der Poel were locked in a duel on the final circuit before van der Poel used his famed sprinter’s speed to pull away. It was a 1-2 finish for the Alpecin-Premier Tech team with Jasper Philipsen of Belgium coming in second. Mads Pedersen of Denmark, and the Lidl-Trek team, finished third.
Stage 21 was adjusted this year to include the hilly Montmartre circuit, which has gained popularity since being used during the 2024 Paris Olympics. The route was adjusted further Saturday when it was reduced to 88.7 kilometers due to wildfires outside of Paris.
Richard Carapaz of Ecuador won the overall title for top climber while wearing the polka-dot jersey while Pedersen clinched the sprinter’s title in the green jersey. Lidl-Trek, which includes Quinn Simmons of the United States, won the team title.
Simmons, the reigning United States road race champion, was awarded “Best Teammate” for the second consecutive year.
Pogacar ended up in 30th on the final stage, but the overall title had long been in hand as he won the Tour de France for the third consecutive year. He also won titles in 2020 and 2021.
“It’s an incredible day and an incredible atmosphere,” Pogacar said. “I’m happy that it’s over and we won for a fifth time.”
Pogacar and Jonas Vingegaard of Denmark are the only riders to win the Tour de France since 2000. Vingegaard was forced to abandon this year’s race on Stage 15 when he crashed in a turn and came away with a right arm injury. Vingegaard was second overall when he crashed.
Miguel Indurain of Spain was the last to win five Tour de France titles, clinching the last of those in 1995. Bernard Hinault of France, Eddy Merckx of Belgium and Jacques Anquetil of France also won five titles.
“Every victory is really special and seven Tours already, seven times on the podium, with five wins, it’s something that you wouldn’t even write in a storybook,” Pogacar said. “It’s unbelievable for me.”
Pogacar stamped himself as one of the top road racers of all-time by winning Stages 3, 6, 10, 14 and 19 this year. The five wins this year give him 26 Tour de France stage wins.
“It’s a lot of factors,” Pogacar said when asked how he was able to secure title No. 5. “You enjoy what you’re doing, and you have the people around you that you trust and they help you. They’re there for you when you’re at your lowest and you can be yourself and chase your dreams.”
–Field Level Media
