Sports
Rays ring up 8th straight win, beat stumbling Royals
Jul 2, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Tampa Bay Rays second baseman Richie Palacios (1) drives in a run with a single in the second inning agains the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images Ian Seymour struck out eight over six strong frames, Cedric Mullins clubbed a two-run homer among his two hits and the visiting Tampa Bay Rays capped a three-game sweep of the Kansas City Royals with a 5-2 win Thursday night, their season-high eighth straight victory.
Chandler Simpson and Hunter Feduccia each had three hits for the American League East-leading Rays, who did all their scoring with two outs.
Seymour (5-1) — who pitched 6 2/3 hitless innings against the Royals in a bulk relief role June 25 — gave up Carter Jensen’s leadoff home run, two other hits and a walk Thursday for Tampa Bay, which won the final five meetings with Kansas City this season.
Isaac Collins added a seventh-inning homer for the Royals, who have lost seven of eight.
One night after his 20-game hitting streak came to an end, Jensen opened the bottom of the first by sending Seymour’s pitch 449 feet into the right field fountains.
However, the Rays took the lead in the second with three runs off Royals starter Stephen Kolek (4-3), who threw 42 of his 51 total pitches during what would be his final inning of the night.
Simpson reached on a one-out infield single, then advanced on a fielder’s choice. He scored on a double just off the glove of Royals right fielder Kameron Misner from Taylor Walls, who came home on a bloop hit by Richie Palacios. Feduccia’s RBI triple, which also glanced off Misner’s glove, made it 3-1.
In the third, recently acquired Randy Dobnak replaced Kolek, who gave up four hits with a walk while facing 11 batters for the game.
Dobnak was solid until the fifth, when Simpson laid down a successful two-out bunt single. He stole second and came home on Mullins’ drive over the right field wall.
Tampa Bay’s 22-year-old star Junior Caminero went 0-for-5, one night after becoming the youngest player in major league history to homer in six straight games.
Bryan Baker pitched a perfect ninth for his 22nd save.
Jensen had two of Kansas City’s five hits.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Trea Turner homers again as Phillies rough up Paul Skenes, Pirates
Jul 1, 2026; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Brandon Marsh (16) hits a home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates during the third inning at Citizens Bank Park. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Trea Turner homered for the third straight game as the Philadelphia Phillies hammered Paul Skenes in a 10-6 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Wednesday.
Brandon Marsh and Alec Bohm also hit home runs for Philadelphia, which tagged Skenes (6-8) for eight runs (seven earned) in four innings. The reigning National League Cy Young Award winner had never allowed more than five runs in any of his first 72 MLB starts.
Jared Triolo drove in three runs, and Nick Gonzales had three hits and an RBI for Pittsburgh, which will try to split the four-game series when the teams return to the field Thursday afternoon. Henry Davis homered for the Pirates in a losing effort.
The Phillies loaded the bases with one out against Skenes in the second inning. Justin Crawford then rolled a grounder to third base, but Gonzales’ throw to the plate hit the runner, allowing two runs to score.
The next hitter was Turner, who launched Skenes’ 0-1 sweeper into the seats in left field to extend the lead to 5-0.
Pittsburgh quickly got two runs back in the third, highlighted by Davis’ solo homer, but Marsh’s blast in the bottom half and Bryce Harper’s two-run double in the fourth pushed the lead to 8-2.
Zack Wheeler got the first two outs of the fifth, but he allowed singles to the next three batters. The final hit in that stretch was Gonzales’ RBI single that ended Wheeler’s night after just 4 2/3 innings.
The veteran right-hander was charged with four runs and nine hits, although he recorded 10 of his 14 outs via strikeout.
Kyle Backhus came on and hit two straight batters to force in a run as the visitors got within 8-4.
Backhus and Seth Johnson got the Phillies through the sixth inning, but Johnson ran into issues in the seventh. He allowed a pair of one-out walks, followed by Triolo’s two-run double as the margin narrowed to 8-6.
Orion Kerkering (6-0) jogged out of the bullpen and got the final two outs of the inning. He then worked a 1-2-3 eighth while throwing just eight pitches.
Bohm’s eighth-inning, two-run blast off Dennis Santana created some breathing room for Philadelphia closer Jhoan Duran, who slammed the door in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
President Trump reports $122k worth of free event tickets in 2025
Jun 14, 2026; Washington, D.C., USA; President Donald Trump waves while returning to the White House at the conclusion of UFC Freedom 250 at the White House South Lawn. Mandatory Credit: Amber Searls-Imagn Images President Donald Trump, a frequent fan at major sporting competitions, was given $122,050 in tickets to 10 events last year, according to his annual filing released by the U.S. Office of Government Ethics on Wednesday.
As reported by Front Office Sports, the Secret Service spent almost $800,000 guarding Trump at four events. Trump’s trip to the 2025 Daytona 500 resulted in $561,842.63 of Secret Service expenses, with $335,000-plus of that amount spent on hotels.
The highest value of tickets Trump received in 2025 was $50,000 for 10 tickets to Super Bowl LIX, won by the Philadelphia Eagles over the Kansas City Chiefs in New Orleans. The tickets were a gift from New Orleans Saints owner Gayle Benson.
Among the other 2025 sporting events for which Trump reported ticket gifts:
–The U.S. Open tennis tournament, 10 tickets worth $25,000, given by tournament sponsor Rolex
–The FIFA Club World Cup, 10 tickets worth $15,000, given by FIFA president Gianni Infantino
–The Ryder Cup, 15 tickets worth $11,250, given by the PGA of America
–UFC events in Miami and Newark, N.J., 30 total tickets worth $6,750, given by UFC CEO Dana White
–New York Yankees vs. Detroit Tigers, 15 tickets worth $3,000, given by Yankees chairman Hal Steinbrenner
–Washington Commanders vs. Detroit Lions, 15 tickets worth $2,250, given by Commanders owner Josh Harris
This year, Trump attended a UFC card on the South Lawn of the White House. Trump, a close ally of Infantino, is expected to give out the trophy to the FIFA World Cup champion after the final on July 19 in East Rutherford, N.J.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Harry Kane's Leadership Could Finally End England's World Cup Drought
For the first time in a very long time, England have a World Cup star in Harry Kane who enjoys embracing the moment.
And sometimes, the World’s biggest sporting event is as simple as that.
Kane’s second-half brace to lead the Three Lions back from the brink of early elimination shouldn’t ease all the skepticism surrounding Thomas Tuchel’s squad.
This was a team that was significantly troubled by DR Congo during 90 minutes of climate-controlled football in Atlanta. The test will get much more acute in the next round at altitude against Mexico on Sunday night, a turnaround that provides too little time to truly acclimatize.
But in the modern mega event the World Cup has become, Kane’s comfort in the spotlight is irreplaceable and unlike nearly every other Great English hope before him.
Afterward, he even implored his team to follow his example.
“I think it’s easy when you’re one of the bigger nations to just let these moments slip by,” Kane said postmatch. “And no matter who you are, you have to enjoy going through in knockout football. So enjoy this moment.”
Curiously, the game’s inventors haven’t produced more attackers of Kane’s international prolificness.
Kane’s fourth and fifth goals of this tournament put him even with Brazilian legend Pele at 13 for his career. But they also put him three clear of Gary Lineker, England’s second all-time leading World Cup scorer, and eight above Geoff Hurst, the next-highest Three Lions striker and 1966 World Cup winner.
Germany have 11 players who have scored at least six World Cup goals. Brazil have 10. Argentina have five. Even famously defensive (and currently absent) Italy have four.
And for all those who want to wax poetic about tactics and systems, the game is often as simple as having players who can find the net when it matters. So what makes Lineker and Kane different? It might be their willingness to embrace environments outside the pinnacle of the English game.
Both Lineker and Kane played club football at teams outside England’s established perennial winners during their domestic careers. (Lineker eventually had a brief spell at Everton, who are nine-time league champions but also the second-most decorated club in Liverpool.) When they finally moved to blue bloods, they did so beyond their national borders, Lineker at FC Barcelona and Kane to Bayern Munich.
That willingness to embrace outsider environments has to make the atmosphere of a World Cup — in which the surroundings of the stadiums, the officials and the opponents are unfamiliar — easier to deal with. Because it’s a skill you’ve acquired. The problem is that leaving England means leaving arguably the best club league in the world. But this particular squad appears to get the advantage, at least relative to Three Lions squads of the past. Kane is one of four players who ply their club trade abroad, which, believe it or not, is an England World Cup record.
Lineker and Kane also possessed unusual openness to a media corps whose rift with its national team can be particularly fractious.
Lineker went on to be a long-time TV presenter after his playing career. The equally affable Kane could have a lengthy future there also, on the other side of the mixed zone velvet ropes.
The Three Lions won’t win the World Cup at a press conference. But embracing the spotlight sure as hell doesn’t hurt. Kane’s leadership makes this a group more resolved to at least try that, even if it doesn’t come naturally to all.
If they go on to end the world’s most famous 60-year title drought, don’t discount the role that will play.
Trea Turner homers again as Phillies rough up Paul Skenes, Pirates
President Trump reports $122k worth of free event tickets in 2025
