The Chicago Cubs have been getting instant offense off the bench from Michael Conforto, who hit his MLB-leading fourth pinch-hit home run of the season in an 11-2 win over the Detroit Tigers on Tuesday night.

Conforto is an outfielder by trade but has had to carve out a bench role because Ian Happ, Pete Crow-Armstrong and Seiya Suzuki are entrenched as starters.

Conforto already has tied the franchise single-season record for pinch-hit homers, set by Glenallen Hill in 1999, and hopes to be involved in the decisive contest of a three-game series against visiting Detroit on Wednesday night.

“All year, it feels like (Michael’s) biggest hits have been pinch hits,” Chicago manager Craig Counsell said. “I don’t know if there’s any blueprint for it, but Michael has done a fabulous job at it. You feel like it’s a real weapon to have somebody like that.”

Wednesday’s matchup will be the rubber game of the series after Detroit won 8-6 in 10 innings on Monday and the Cubs took Tuesday’s game.

Colin Rea (7-6, 4.74 ERA) will start for Chicago on Wednesday. The right-hander snapped a two-start winning streak in his last appearance on Friday, allowing four runs (three earned) in six innings as the Cubs lost 5-2 to Minnesota.

Rea is 0-1 with a lifetime 6.43 ERA vs. Detroit in three appearances (one start).

Right-hander Keider Montero (6-5, 3.22 ERA) will start for Detroit on Wednesday. He has been used as a reliever throughout July after making starts in 15 of his first 16 appearances this season, but Montero is moving back into the rotation.

He got a win in his most recent outing, tossing 3 1/3 scoreless innings in relief as the Tigers beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 on Friday.

Montero has faced the Cubs once, on June 7, 2025. Serving as the bulk reliever on a bullpen day, he gave up four runs in 5 2/3 innings and didn’t figure into the decision.

Montero has gone an inning-plus in every relief appearance he’s made this month. A versatile pitcher such as Montero gives Detroit manager A.J. Hinch extra flexibility as the team is in a stretch of playing 13 games in 13 days.

“I’ve always said when I pitch (Montero), I’m going to pitch him a lot,” Hinch told the Detroit Free Press.

“When you see him go out for a second inning or a third inning or a fourth inning, part of that is competitive and strategic. The other part of it is to keep him stretched out to where it doesn’t disrupt his volume.”

Montero’s ability to ease back into the rotation quickly took on even greater importance after the Tigers were forced to place Jack Flaherty (right flexor inflammation) on the 15-day injured list on Tuesday. Flaherty reported discomfort after throwing four innings in the series opener the day before.

Hinch explained the decision to put Flaherty on the IL after Tuesday’s game.

“It wasn’t a clear-cut IL (decision) when we woke up this morning,” Hinch told reporters. “And then as the day went on and the more opinion we got, the more we realized he wasn’t going to pitch in five or six days.”

Flaherty has made 19 starts for Detroit this season, going 3-8 with a 4.59 ERA.

–Field Level Media

The Miami Heat said a live-stream link titled “LeBron James Introductory Press Conference” was posted by mistake to the team’s YouTube channel.

The post, which included the date July 27, was later deleted. A team spokesperson told ESPN on Tuesday night that the club’s social media department had been preparing for the possibility of the superstar forward rejoining the Heat and errantly published the link.

James, 41, who won two NBA championships in four seasons with Miami from 2010-14, is a free agent for the first time since 2018 after announcing last month that he would not re-sign with the Los Angeles Lakers.

Potential landing spots for the league’s all-time leading scorer other than Miami reportedly include the Philadelphia 76ers, Cleveland Cavaliers (another former team) and the Golden State Warriors.

James averaged 20.9 points, 7.2 assists and 6.1 rebounds in 60 games with the Lakers in 2025-26. The four-time NBA champion owns career averages of 26.8 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.4 assists in a record 1,622 games over 23 seasons.

–Field Level Media

Spurs star Victor Wembanyama will grace the cover of the NBA 2K27 video game, ESPN reported on Wednesday.

The 7-foot-4 center powered San Antonio to the 2026 NBA Finals, with the Spurs falling to the New York Knicks in five games last month.

In his third NBA season, Wembanyama averaged 25.0 points, 11.5 rebounds and a league-leading 3.1 blocks.

Previous cover athletes in the NBA 2K series have included Carmelo Anthony, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Durant, Allen Iverson, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Shaquille O’Neal and Jayson Tatum.

Wembanyama, 22, is the third Spurs player to make the cover of at least one version of the game, joining Tony Parker (NBA 2K16, French version) and Pau Gasol (NBA 2K17, Spanish version).

–Field Level Media