Sports
Rangers ride positive response into rematch vs. Padres
Jun 9, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Texas Rangers starting pitcher Nathan Eovaldi (17) delivers a pitch against the Kansas City Royals during the first inning at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images After posting their largest comeback win of the season, the Texas Rangers will look to carry that momentum into the second contest of a three-game set with the San Diego Padres on Saturday afternoon in Arlington, Texas.
Texas, which had dropped five of its last six games, trailed 5-0 in the first inning on Friday before answering with six runs in the bottom of the inning en route to a 9-7 win.
With his team in the American League postseason picture as the halfway point of the regular season approaches, Texas manager Skip Schumaker said he hopes his club’s tenacity in the series opener is a sign of things to come.
“It was a much-needed win, and the comeback was what this team needed to show that they can do this and that they’re capable of doing this,” Schumaker said. “Because that’s going to happen again. I promise you there’s going to be a couple runs given up again in the first inning. What are we going to do about it? How are we going to respond? Today was a big day.”
Right-hander Nathan Eovaldi (6-7, 4.23 ERA) will make a rare home start for Texas on Saturday.
Eovaldi, 36, has seen his turn in the rotation come on the road in six of his last seven starts. He’s searching for his first win at Globe Life Field since April 29. The veteran allowed three runs on six hits in seven innings while striking out six in a 6-4 win at the Boston Red Sox on Sunday.
After sporting a 1.73 ERA in 22 starts last year, Eovaldi already has allowed more earned runs this year (41) than in all of 2025 (25). Following a solid performance in Boston, Eovaldi hopes to continue making life easy on his fellow pitchers.
“I always feel like I try to think about that,” Eovaldi said. “I think about the bullpen. I think about where we are in the standings. Everybody says it’s too early, but that’s what I focus on. I feel like I haven’t really been doing my part lately. I haven’t been going deep into games, or if I do, I give up a lot of runs.”
In seven career starts against San Diego, Eovaldi is 2-2 with a 3.35 ERA.
The Padres have dropped three of their past four games and 16 of their last 23. San Diego on Saturday will turn to right-hander Walker Buehler (4-3, 4.14 ERA), who will make his 15th start of the season.
Amid his best stretch of the season, the two-time All-Star is 1-0 with a 1.72 ERA in his last three outings and has seen his ERA drop from 5.05 since May 27.
Buehler earned a win over the Baltimore Orioles on Sunday, allowing just one run on six hits across five innings while striking out five in a 5-2 victory.
“It was a very impressive outing for Walker,” San Diego manager Craig Stammen said. “He keeps impressing us with his competitiveness and his ability to make pitches when he needs to.”
Buehler has faced the Rangers four times (all starts), compiling a 1-2 record and a 3.72 ERA.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Brazil coach: Neymar will be available to play vs. Scotland
June 17, 2026; Morristown, New Jersey, U.S.; Brazil’s Neymar Jr. during training. Mandatory Credit: Caean Couto-Imagn Images PHILADELPHIA — After Brazil defeated Haiti 3-0 in their second World Cup match on Friday night, Selecao coach Carlo Ancelotti said he expects Neymar to be available for the Group C finale.
Neymar, 34, has been rehabbing a right calf ailment. He last played for Santos in Brazil’s top flight on May 17.
The Selecao will oppose Scotland on Wednesday in Miami Gardens, Fla., needing only a win or a draw to advance to the round of 32.
“Neymar will be training tomorrow individually, and on Monday, he’s going to be training with the rest of the team,” Ancelotti said in the post-match press conference via an interpreter. “He will be available for the match against Scotland.”
Injuries limited Neymar during Brazil’s 2026 qualifying campaign. However, he was influential when he played, scoring twice and contributing three assists in four appearances.
Meanwhile, Ancelotti did not commit to continuing with Matheus Cunha at center forward despite the Manchester United player’s first-half brace against Haiti. Cunha started in place of Igor Thiago after coming on in the 61st minute of Brazil’s 1-1 draw with Morocco in their tournament opener.
“He may,” Ancelotti said when asked if Cunha would remain in the center forward role.
“I think that Matheus’ position was a good position for creating problems to the defense,” Ancelotti said. “And he filtered his passes very well, and his position was a good position to be effective at the front.
“It can be an option. We discussed this yesterday. I don’t want a clear identity. Maybe we will change this on the next match.”
Brazil, on four points, currently lead Morocco on goal-difference in Group C after the Atlas Lions defeated Scotland 1-0 earlier Friday.
The Scots could be playing for their tournament lives on Wednesday, but Ancelotti insisted he is focusing on the bigger picture.
“We don’t think about knocking out. We think about playing well and improving, and we analyze the match,” Ancelotti said. “If we can reach the first position of the group, that would be important for the future. So we want to prepare well for that match.
“Scotland has its features. It can create a problem. It created problems to Morocco today. And so we have to focus on the match and be calm and be tranquil and keep on working to improve.”
–Ian Nicholas Quillen, Field Level Media
Sports
Lynx rally past Valkyries, stay perfect in all-time series
Jun 19, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Minnesota Lynx guard Courtney Williams (10) drives in against Golden State Valkyries guard Kaila Charles (6) during the first quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-Imagn Images Nia Coffey missed her career-high by one with 22 points, Courtney Williams added 21 as part of a double-double and the Minnesota Lynx continued their lifetime winning streak over the Golden State Valkyries with an 81-75 victory Friday night in San Francisco.
Kayla McBride chipped in with 17 points and Natasha Howard added 10 to go with eight rebounds for the Lynx (13-3), who overcame a 1-for-10, seven-point, six-turnover night from rookie star Olivia Miles.
Seeking a fifth straight win, the Valkyries (10-6) led by as many as 12 in the first half, but were held to 29 second-half points in a duel of the league’s top two defensive clubs.
The Lynx took the lead for good at 63-62 on a jumper by Williams with 1:39 remaining in the third quarter, then let their suffocating defense dictate the outcome in the final period, during which they outscored the hosts 18-13.
Golden State got within three with 26.0 seconds left and 77-75 after a Cecilia Zandalasini 3-pointer with 21.8 seconds remaining. But the Lynx kept the hosts at arm’s length thanks to a pair of free throws each by Williams, Miles and Anastasiia Olairi Kosu.
Williams completed her double-double with a game-high 12 rebounds and also found time for a team-high five assists for Minnesota, which has prevailed in all eight meetings with Golden State since the Valkyries joined the league last year.
Miles aided the Minnesota cause with five rebounds, four assists, three steals and three blocks. The Lynx blocked nine shots, including two apiece by Williams and Kosu.
Zandalasini connected on four 3-pointers to account for a majority of her game-high 23 points for the Valkyries, who outscored the Lynx 36-18 from beyond the arc, but needed 27 more attempts (40 to 13) to do it.
Gabby Williams had a team-high eight rebounds to complement 15 points and Janelle Salaun also had 15 for Golden State, which had won four in a row.
Veronica Burton had a team-high five assists and two steals for the Valkyries.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team Spirit, Team Falcons prevail at IEM Cologne playoffs
Nolan Starkey, a senior at Rossville High School, plays Counter Strike: Global Offensive, Monday, April 15, 2019, in Rossville. Starkey signed his letter of intent Wednesday to play esports at Trine University in Angola, Ind.
Rossville High School Senior Signs With Trine University To Play Esports
As the top performing team during Stage 3 group play, it is unsurprising that Team Spirit got off to a strong start during the eight-team playoff on Friday.
Team Falcons, on the other hand, had perhaps more success than expected as the fifth seed.
Both teams earned 2-1 victories in the quarterfinals Friday to advance to face one another in the next round on Saturday.
The Counter-Strike 2 tournament with 32 entrants competing for their share of a $1.25 million prize pool began June 2 with the start of the first stage.
The field was ultimately trimmed to the final eight playoff teams through a series of three stages, where all matches were best-of-three, as is most of the playoffs. Sunday’s grand final will be best-of-five, with the winner taking home $500,000.
Spirit, unblemished in Stage 3, picked up where they left off by handling G2 Esports. Despite absorbing a surprising 13-9 loss on Overpass to open, the Russian esports team showed resilience in rallying for a 16-14 overtime win on Dust II and a 25-22 quadruple-OT victory on Mirage.
As expected for such a closely contested match, multiple players racked up impressive kill numbers. Spirit’s Danil “donk” Kryshkovets paced all players with 81 kills and a 1.32 rating, though teammate Dmitry “sh1ro” Sokolov added 75 kills against just 56 deaths.
G2 was paced by Matus “MATYS” Simko’s 71 kills and 1.19 rating.
The Falcons established an advantage over fourth-seeded Team Vitality with a 13-11 win on Anubis to begin play. When Vitality rallied to win 13-11 on Inferno in Game 2, Team Falcons responded with a 13-11 closeout victory on Dust II.
Ilya “m0NESY” Osipov led all scorers with 63 kills, while his Falcons teammate Maksim “kyousuke” Lukin (52 kills) had the match’s highest rating at 1.43.
Vitality was led by Mathieu “ZywOo” Herbaut’s 54 kills and 1.16 rating.
The semifinals will be contested on Saturday. Previous qualifiers FURIA and Aurora Gaming face off in the first match of the day before Spirit and Falcons match up later in the day.
Intel Extreme Masters Cologne prize pool
1. $500,000
2. $170,000
3-4. $80,000
5-8. $45,000 — BetBoom Team, 9z Team, Team Vitality, G2 Esports
9-11. $15,000 — Natus Vincere, FUT Esports, The MongolZ
12-14. $15,000 — MOUZ, Monte, Legacy
15-16. $15,000 — B8, PARIVISION
17-19. $10,000 — paiN Gaming, TYLOO, BIG
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
Brazil coach: Neymar will be available to play vs. Scotland
Lynx rally past Valkyries, stay perfect in all-time series
