Sports
Orioles, humbled in series opener, seek payback vs. Giants
Sep 17, 2024; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; San Francisco Giants outfielder Mike Yastrzemski (5) swings throws a second inning rbi single against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Tommy Gilligan-Imagn Images There was no quick fix for the Baltimore Orioles when they began this week’s homestand.
Maybe they can get it right on the second try against the San Francisco Giants.
The teams meet Wednesday night in the middle game of a three-game series after San Francisco cruised to a 10-0 win on Tuesday behind left-hander Blake Snell.
“I thought the energy was great in our clubhouse, like it normally is,” Orioles manager Brandon Hyde said postgame. “Thought our guys were prepared. We had a really good hitters’ meeting. We just faced one of the better pitchers in the game, and we didn’t swing the bat well against him. We had a tough time.”
The Orioles (84-67) struck out 12 times during Snell’s sterling six innings. The Giants subsequently used four relievers en route to a five-hit shutout.
“That was six unbelievable innings, I thought,” Hyde said of Snell’s outing, in which Baltimore managed one hit and two walks. “He had multiple pitches going on the corners. … We’ve been scuffling offensively.”
The Giants (73-78) have won just two of their past seven games, but they began their nine-game road trip with an impressive performance.
“It was nice, and then keep adding on,” Giants manager Bob Melvin said of his team’s offense. “We haven’t done that a ton, either.”
Giants right fielder Mike Yastrzemski, who spent six seasons in the Baltimore farm system, had a game-opening home run, an RBI single and a walk Tuesday night.
“You’ve just got to find something right now to lean on,” Yastrzemski said of the team’s various motivations to get through the rest of the season. “When you look at tonight, we see that we still have a lot of good baseball left in us.”
Melvin said he felt “confidence for guys to knock in some runs and get some hits and keep the line moving. Hopefully, there’s some carryover.”
The Orioles’ offensive woes have been a topic for at least a couple of weeks. In the past 11 games, Baltimore is averaging less than two runs per outing and has lost eight times.
Several of Baltimore’s batters changed their walk-up songs to try to alter their fortunes in the batter’s box.
“They’re trying; they know they’re grinding,” Hyde said. “They’re trying to snap out of it a little bit.”
Shortstop Gunnar Henderson believes the Orioles will eventually break free from their skid.
“We’ve been talking about it for a while,” he said. “Just trying to figure out a way to get through it.”
The result left the Orioles four games behind the first-place New York Yankees in the American League East, though Baltimore is still 2 1/2 games up on the Kansas City Royals in the chase for the top AL wild card.
Baltimore will give the ball to Dean Kremer (7-9, 4.10 ERA) on Wednesday. The right-hander is 3-0 with a 2.62 ERA in his past six starts. He matched his season high by logging seven innings on Sept. 11 in a no-decision at Boston, where he gave up two runs (one earned) on five hits.
Kremer picked up a victory on June 2, 2023, after allowing two runs in six innings at San Francisco in his only previous encounter with the Giants.
Right-hander Hayden Birdsong (3-5, 4.74) is slated to be San Francisco’s starting pitcher. The rookie is 0-5 with a 6.75 ERA across seven starts since posting his last win on July 27, though he tossed five shutout innings while allowing two hits Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers.
Because of the margin Tuesday night, Melvin said he was glad he could save some bullpen arms, particularly with Baltimore’s big left-handed bats in the lineup.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spirit, MOUZ reach BLAST Bounty Summer grand final
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Spirit and MOUZ will meet in Sunday’s best-of-five grand final at the BLAST Bounty Summer 2026 tournament in Attard, Malta.
Team Spirit outlasted FaZe Clan 2-1 and MOUZ rallied past Astralis to win by the same score in Saturday’s semifinals of the Counter-Strike 2 competition.
The eight teams reached the bracket-style finals advanced from a pool of 32 clubs in a closed qualifier. Of the $740,000 prize pool, $410,000 was awarded to participants in the closed qualifier. The champion will also earn three BLAST Frequent Flyer Tokens, while the other seven teams will collect one.
Team Spirit sandwiched a 13-6 win on Dust II and a 13-11 victory on Anubis around a 13-9 loss to FaZe Clan on Cache. Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov of Russia led Team Spirit with 49 kills and a 1.24 match rating.
After Astralis opened with a 13-6 win on Ancient, MOUZ responded with back-to-back 13-9 triumphs on Mirage and Dust II. Adam “torzsi” Torzsas of Hungary paced MOUZ with 54 kills and a 1.29 match rating.
BLAST Bounty Summer 2026 prize pool (player prize, team share)
1. TBD
2. TBD
3-4. FaZe Clan ($28,125, $40,000), Astralis ($28,125, $40,000)
5-8. Team Liquid ($41,250, $40,000); 3DMAX ($21,250, $40,000); The MongolZ ($11,250, $40,000); paiN Gaming ($11,250, $40,000)
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mariners place OF Luke Raley (forearm) on 10-day IL
Jul 3, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners right fielder Luke Raley (20) takes a swing during an at-bat against the Toronto Blue Jays at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images The Seattle Mariners placed outfielder Luke Raley on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a left forearm strain, while outfielder Stuart Fairchild was recalled from Triple-A Tacoma.
Raley’s move was retroactive to Friday, when he was out of the lineup with continued discomfort from a forearm flexor tendon injury.
Raley, 31, is batting .225 with 15 home runs and 39 RBIs in 95 games this season. He is a career .230 hitter with 63 home runs and 173 RBIs in 478 games for the Los Angeles Dodgers (2021), Tampa Bay Rays (2022-23) and Mariners.
Fairchild, 30, was batting .158 over 14 games with the Cleveland Guardians this season before he was designated for assignment in June. He signed a minor league deal with the Mariners on July 5.
Fairchild is a career .221 hitter with 18 home runs and 69 RBIs in 291 games for six different clubs, including three games for the Mariners in 2022.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sydney Taylor's trey in final second lifts Sky past Aces
Aug 1, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago Sky guard Sydney Taylor (12) celebrates with guard Natasha Cloud (9) after scoring a game winning three-pointer against the Las Vegas Aces during the second half of a WNBA game at Wintrust Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images Rookie Sydney Taylor drained a 3-pointer Saturday with 0.9 seconds left and the Chicago Sky rallied to nip the visiting Las Vegas Aces 84-83.
A’ja Wilson drove for a layup with 3.2 seconds remaining that gave Las Vegas (20-9) a two-point lead. After a timeout, Taylor slipped around a screen and got off a clean look from the left wing for the last three of her team-high 29 points.
Natasha Cloud added 11 points for Chicago (11-18), which improved to 6-1 in its last seven home games and won for the first time in five games decided by three or fewer points. DiJonai Carrington came off the bench for 10, including a pair of foul shots that tied the game at 81 with 43.9 seconds on the clock.
Wilson starred in defeat for the Aces with a game-high 36 points and 12 rebounds. Jackie Young added 18 points and 11 boards, while NaLyssa Smith contributed 17 points.
The Sky, who outscored Las Vegas 29-18 in the fourth quarter, won despite making only 40.3% of their field goals.
The pregame storylines centered around the beginning of a five-game road trip for Las Vegas, while Chicago was hoping to carry over some momentum from a fourth-quarter comeback in its Thursday night home win over Connecticut.
Young got the Aces off the mark early with 10 first quarter points, helping them establish an 18-11 lead after draining a 3-pointer at the 2:15 mark. They took a 20-16 edge to the second period.
The Sky fought back in the second quarter to tie the game at 24 on Cloud’s 3-pointer with 6:26 remaining. However, Las Vegas was able to restore a five-point lead before Taylor’s floater with 1.5 seconds left sliced its lead to 40-37 at halftime.
Young’s 3-point play at the 1:58 mark of the third quarter gave the Aces their largest lead at 61-48. Even after Courtney Vandersloot played beat the buzzer with a jumper, Las Vegas still owned a 65-55 margin going to the fourth period.
Chicago’s Kamilla Cardoso tied Wilson for game-high rebounding honors with a dozen.
Las Vegas’ Chelsea Gray led all players with nine assists.
–Field Level Media
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Spirit, MOUZ reach BLAST Bounty Summer grand final
