Sports
Reality of rough starts to season hitting Bengals, Raiders
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow (9) stands on the sidelines after throwing an interception in the 4th quarter at Paycor Stadium on Sunday, October 27, 2024. The Bengals lost to the Philadelphia Eagles 37-17 and remain winless at home. The Cincinnati Bengals entered the season with Super Bowl aspirations. Now entering November, they are 3-5 and will still be searching for their first home win when they host the Las Vegas Raiders on Sunday afternoon.
The Bengals are coming off an embarrassing 37-17 home loss to the Philadelphia Eagles that had fans leaving in droves with 11 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Cincinnati fell to 0-4 at home.
The Bengals are mired in third place in the AFC North with a suddenly struggling offense that hasn’t reached 20 points in three straight games after a three-game span of scoring at least 33.
“(The urgency is) as high as it can be,” said Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow. “This is a must-win game. We’re 3-5. You go to 3-6, you basically have to win out. We’ve done it before. I know the players we have. You have to treat it week by week. Any game is winnable. You’ve just got to go and do it.”
The Bengals’ running game is ranked 28th in the NFL, averaging just 89.8 yards per game. The run game was particularly poor last Sunday as feature backs Chase Brown and Zack Moss combined to gain 43 yards on 17 carries.
“We’ve put ourselves in a bad spot, but it’s not a spot that we can’t get ourselves out of,” said head coach Zac Taylor. “I know that we believe that. We’re not even yet at the halfway point of the season. There’s going to be a lot of opportunity here. We’ve just got to stick together and keep working, find some wins and string it together.”
The Raiders (2-6) are coming off a 27-20 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs, a game in which they were 2-for-4 in the red zone and just 1-for-3 in goal-to-go situations.
“It’s really frustrating. That’s obviously something we have to be better at,” said quarterback Gardner Minshew II. “We’ve been getting down there a few times, the defense put us down there a couple times.
“We’ve got to be able to get it in the end zone, point blank, period, if we want to be the team we’ve got to be. I have to look at it, figure out what we’ve done well over the last little bit and figure out what’s not working and go from there.”
The Raiders had their chance in the third quarter when they had the ball on the Kansas City 3-yard line, trailing just 17-13. But they were stopped on four straight plays, losing two yards on a run and Minshew getting sacked on fourth down.
The Raiders were flagged for five penalties for 32 yards on Sunday, including a pair which stalled drives.
“You can’t kill yourselves,” Raiders coach Antonio Pierce said. “We’ve got great opportunities like we did twice in the third quarter to get points on the board. We’ve got to do that. I don’t think you ever try to coach or play the game perfect. You do the best you can but, obviously, they were better in a lot of areas than us.”
The Raiders practiced on Wednesday without center Andre James (ankle) and linebacker Robert Spillane (knee). Bengals offensive tackle Orlando Brown Jr. (knee/fibula) and wide receiver Tee Higgins (quadricep) missed their team’s session, while Burrow (right wrist) was a full participant.
The teams are meeting for the first time since Cincinnati’s 26-19 win in the wild-card round in the 2021 playoffs, snapping a 31-year playoff victory drought for the Bengals.
The Raiders lead the all-time series, 21-13, including 2-1 in postseason. The Bengals have won five of the past six meetings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Red Sox tie club mark with 15th straight win in DH opener vs. O's
Jul 22, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Red Sox third baseman Caleb Durbin (5) hits a two run RBI double against the Baltimore Orioles during the first inning at Fenway Park. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images Ceddanne Rafaela homered, Jarren Duran drove in three runs and the Boston Red Sox tied a franchise record for consecutive victories with 15 by beating the visiting Baltimore Orioles 6-3 in the first game of a split doubleheader Wednesday.
The Red Sox, who also won 15 straight during the 1946 season, haven’t lost since a 10-2 home setback against the Washington Nationals on July 1.
Boston starter Jake Bennett (6-3) pitched 5 2/3 innings, allowing three runs on nine hits and struck out five. Aroldis Chapman tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his 23rd save of 2026 and 390th overall, tying him for ninth on the all-time list with former Red Sox pitcher Dennis Eckersley.
Dean Kremer (1-3) gave up six runs on eight hits in six innings. He struck out five and walked one.
Rafaela, Caleb Durbin and Willson Contreras each collected two hits for the Red Sox, who never trailed.
Baltimore received a solo home run from Christian Encarnacion-Strand, who had three hits and two RBIs.
Durbin’s two-run single and a two-run triple from Duran handed Boston a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first.
Baltimore made it 4-1 in the third, when Pete Alonso doubled and scored on Tyler O’Neill’s two-out double that Rafaela lost in the sun.
The Red Sox regained a four-run lead in the bottom of the third. Durbin scored on Duran’s sacrifice fly to make it a 5-1 contest.
Encarnacion-Strand’s home run came against Bennett in the fourth and cut Boston’s lead to 5-2. It was his second home run in as many games since being called up from Triple-A Norfolk on Thursday.
Rafaela’s home run, his ninth of the season, extended Boston’s edge to 6-2 in the bottom of the fourth, but Encarnacion-Strand’s third hit of the game was an RBI single that drove in Coby Mayo and trimmed Boston’s advantage to 6-3 in the sixth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Guardians star 3B Jose Ramirez activated, batting second
Jun 8, 2026; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez (11) celebrates after scoring during the third inning against the New York Yankees at Progressive Field. Mandatory Credit: Ken Blaze-Imagn Images In a virtual tie atop the American League Central, the Cleveland Guardians received a major boost with the activation of star third baseman Jose Ramirez, who is in the starting lineup and batting second Wednesday against the visiting Minnesota Twins.
Ramirez, 33, a seven-time All-Star and six-time Silver Slugger, had been out since June 13 with a left hamate fracture. He underwent surgery three days later and was given a timetable of five to seven weeks. Wednesday marked five weeks and a day since the procedure.
In a corresponding move, outfielder Kahlil WIlson was optioned to Triple-A Columbus.
Without Ramirez, the Guardians went 15-15 but struggled offensively, ranking 28th in the majors in runs (121) and 26th in OPS (.690). In 72 games this season, the 14-year veteran is hitting .239 with 10 home runs and 33 RBIs, along with 18 doubles and 24 stolen bases.
In other injury news, Cleveland outfielder Angel Martinez began a rehab assignment on Friday after suffering a non-displaced left foot fracture the same day of Ramirez’s injury.
Martinez played seven innings in his third rehab game for Triple-A Akron on Tuesday and could be activated by this weekend, MLB.com reported. In 66 games this season for Cleveland, he has hit .239 with 11 home runs and 33 RBIs.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Spain's Gavi: No suspension for Argentina’s Leandro Paredes
July 19, 2026; East Rutherford, New Jersey, U.S.; Argentina’s Leandro Paredes clashes with Spain’s Gavi next to assistant coach Walter Samuel. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images Spain midfielder Gavi doesn’t feel Argentina midfielder Leandro Paredes should be suspended for his postgame tirade following Spain’s 1-0 victory in Sunday’s World Cup final.
Tensions were high after the match and Paredes had a hand in elevating them further. While players were mixing it up, Paredes charged in from behind and crashed into Gavi, eliciting further pushing and shoving and an occasional swing.
FIFA said earlier this week it will have a prosecutor conduct an investigation.
Still, Gavi said Paredes shouldn’t receive a ban.
“I don’t think he should be suspended,” Gavi said after the match. “I understand it’s not a good image for children, but I think there’s also that side to football, which is a bit more physical, more aggressive.
“The most logical thing would have been to send him off during the match, and that’s it. In the end, I think it’s all football, and it has to be that way.”
Gavi became involved in the incident after attempting to intervene in a confrontation that involved teammate Eric Garcia.
At one point, Paredes was listed as receiving a red card for his postgame actions. That was deleted a short time later.
After the match, Paredes was asked about the incident.
“I was just talking to them after the match,” Paredes said. “Things got heated with their teammates being aggressive. … They didn’t need to get physical like that. It was childish.”
Ferran Torres scored the decisive goal in the 106th minute for Spain.
–Field Level Media
Red Sox tie club mark with 15th straight win in DH opener vs. O's
Guardians star 3B Jose Ramirez activated, batting second
