Sports
Reds ask Andrew Abbott to slow surging Yankees, Ben Rice
Jun 19, 2026; Bronx, New York, USA; New York Yankees first baseman Ben Rice (22) hits a three run home run during the second inning against the Cincinnati Reds at Yankee Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images While Cam Schlittler dominates every few games, Ben Rice seemingly is productive every day for the New York Yankees.
Rice is among the reasons the Yankees are off to a good start since losing Aaron Judge to a right rib stress fracture, and the first baseman will attempt to contribute to another victory Saturday in New York against the struggling Cincinnati Reds.
The Yankees are 10-5 since Judge last played on May 31. New York also is 16-6 in its past 22 games.
New York opened the series with a 5-0 victory on Friday. Schlittler struck out 13 batters in six dominant innings for his first career double-digit strikeout game in the regular season.
Schlittler also was supported by another big hit from Rice. The 27-year-old slugger belted a three-run homer and is batting .320 (8-for-25) with three homers and seven RBIs in his past six games.
Since May 26, Rice is hitting .333 (27-for-81) with five home runs and 19 RBIs in 20 games.
“He’s the lead man,” Schlittler said of Rice, who has 21 homers and 52 RBIs. “He’s a front-runner right now, and with Judge being out now, guys have stepped up and he’s been a huge piece of that and you expect that out of him.”
Aside from trying to quiet Rice’s bat, the Reds will attempt to generate more offense. After scoring 17 runs in a pair of wins over the New York Mets earlier this week, the Reds have scored once (an unearned run) and struck out 26 times over their past two games while facing Nolan McLean and Schlittler.
On Friday, the Reds finished with four hits and struck out a season-worst 17 times.
Eugenio Suarez struck out three times and is 11-for-58 (.190) in June. Sal Stewart is 12-for-60 (.200) this month, while Spencer Steer is 6-for-50 (.120) after fanning twice. The trio combined to go 1-for-12 in the opener at Yankee Stadium.
“It’s been a tough stretch for us,” Suarez said. “We have a really good team. At some point, we are going to be where we want to be.”
The Reds are 5-11 since losing Elly De La Cruz to a right hamstring strain. The shortstop may be close to returning after homering in his first rehab game for Triple-A Louisville on Friday.
After Schlittler’s dominant showing, Will Warren (7-1, 3.47 ERA) heads into his first career start against Cincinnati. The right-hander hopes to give the Yankees a longer outing after failing to complete five innings during no-decisions at Cleveland and at Toronto in his latest two appearances.
Warren threw 91 pitches in 4 1/3 innings of three-run ball against the Guardians on June 8. On Sunday, he fired a season-high 98 pitches in four innings while giving up two runs on eight hits against the Blue Jays.
Warren is 3-0 with a 3.48 ERA in his past six starts since allowing six runs in four innings during a 6-1 loss to Texas on May 6.
Left-hander Andrew Abbott (4-4, 3.95), who is 0-2 with a 3.91 ERA in his past four starts, gets the ball for Cincinnati on Saturday. Abbott has allowed three runs or fewer in each of his past nine starts, including a no-decision against the Arizona Diamondbacks on Sunday, when he allowed one run on four hits in five innings.
Abbott earned the win in his only career start against the Yankees. He gave up one run on three hits in 6 1/3 innings during a 3-2 victory on July 3, 2024, in New York.
–Field Level Media
Sports
10-man Paraguay eke out win over 1-0 Turkey, still alive in World Cup
June 19, 2026; Santa Clara, California, U.S.; Paraguay’s Matias Galarza celebrates scoring their first goal with teammates. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images Paraguay’s Matias Galarza scored the fastest goal in any World Cup match this year barely more than a minute in, leading Paraguay to a 1-0 win over Turkey on Friday night in Santa Clara, Calif.
The South American team overcame the loss of veteran Miguel Almiron to a red card just before halftime.
Paraguay (1-1-0, 3 points) kept alive their hopes of qualifying for the knockout stages, after the U.S. defeated Australia 2-0 earlier Friday in Group D. The U.S. (2-0-0, 6 points) clinched first place in the group thanks to the Paraguay-Turkey result.
Australia (1-1-0, 3 points) will face Paraguay on Thursday in Santa Clara, with the Aussies needing only a draw to clinch second place. Turkey (0-2-0, 0 points) were eliminated ahead of their group finale against the U.S. on Thursday in Inglewood, Calif.
Galarza delivered his decisive strike from 25 yards out as three defenders converged on him.
Turkey had shots hit the crossbar and the goalpost, rattling the woodwork but not going in.
Turkey pressed for a tying goal early in the second half but came up short, though they played with a man advantage for the last 45-plus minutes.
Almiron was shown a red card for covering his mouth when talking to an opposing player, a gesture banned under a new FIFA rule.
Can Uzun shot just wide in the 82nd minute, one of several attempts for Turkey as they desperately tried to salvage a point to stay alive for possible advancement.
An 85th-minute cross filtered through the box in front of the goal, another late missed Turkey chance. Three more attempts in the closing minutes didn’t hit the target, and Turkey players crumpled to the ground at the final whistle in disbelief over their elimination from advancement in the World Cup.
Turkey had five shots on target and 31 shots overall, while Paraguay had just two and seven, respectively. Turkey also had 11 corner kicks to zero for Paraguay, but Paraguay goalkeeper Orlando Gill made five saves for the clean-sheet win.
–Field Level Media
Sports
A's storm back from 7-run deficit to edge Angels in 10th
Jun 19, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Angels shortstop Zach Neto (9) celebrates with first baseman Nolan Schanuel (18) after hitting a home run against the Athletics during the fourth inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images Jonah Heim drilled a pinch-hit, tying two-run homer in the ninth inning and Nick Kurtz drew a bases-loaded walk in the 10th as the Athletics rallied from seven runs down to post a wild 12-11 victory over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday night at West Sacramento, Calif.
Heim’s homer came off Sam Bachman with two outs in the bottom of the ninth. Jacob Wilson homered and drove in three runs and Lawrence Butler and Max Muncy also went deep for the Athletics.
Jose Siri and Logan O’Hoppe each slammed three-run homers as the Angels tied their season best with five blasts. Denzer Guzman added a two-run homer and Zach Neto and Nolan Schanuel hit solo shots as the Angels lost for the fifth time in six games.
Butler started the 10th as the runner on second and Henry Bolte walked off Kirby Yates (0-3). Butler and Bolte then executed a double steal. One out later, Yates hit Gelof in the helmet to load the bases.
Samy Natera Jr. entered to face Kurtz and walked him on five pitches.
Elvis Alvarado (3-1) gave up one hit in two scoreless frames for the A’s.
O’Hoppe and Oswald Peraza each had three hits for Los Angeles. The Angels also hit five homers during a 7-1 road victory over the New York Yankees on April 14.
The Angels fell to 7-for-23 in save opportunities.
Zack Gelof had one hit to extend his career-best hitting streak to 23, the top active run in the majors.
Tyler Soderstrom had three hits, including a one-out double in the ninth. Bachman then retired Wilson before Heim drilled the tying homer.
The Angels recovered from a four-run deficit and scored the next 11 runs, including seven in the fourth inning.
Christian Moore hit a sacrifice fly to get Los Angeles on the board in the fourth before Guzman delivered a two-run homer. Siri later slugged a three-run shot to make it 6-4.
Justin Sterner entered and Neto ripped his second pitch over the wall.
O’Hoppe came up with two on and two outs in the fifth and homered to make it 10-4.
Schanuel delivered a one-out homer in the sixth for a seven-run advantage.
The A’s tallied in the sixth when Gelof hit a broken-bat single off Mitch Farris to score Butler.
Wilson hit a two-run blast in the seventh to pull the A’s within 11-7.
One inning later, Muncy hit a two-run blast off Chase Silseth.
Jose Soriano gave up four runs and six hits over five innings for Los Angeles.
Springs gave up six runs and four hits in 3 2/3 innings.
Earlier, Butler sent a fastball over the fence in the second inning to put the A’s ahead.
In the third, Shea Langeliers and Wilson had RBI doubles and Carlos Cortes’ infield out plated another to make it 4-0.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Shohei Ohtani misses game, away from Dodgers awaiting birth of child
May 31, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Los Angeles Dodgers designated hitter Shohei Ohtani (17) swings for a single during the eighth inning against the Philadelphia Phillies at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Liang-Imagn Images For the second Friday in a row, the Dodgers held Shohei Ohtani out of the lineup.
But it wasn’t knee inflammation sidelining him this time.
Prior to their game against Baltimore in Los Angeles — a game the Dodgers won on a walk-off 6-5 — the Dodgers announced their star is away from the team on paternity leave as he and his wife expect the birth of their second child.
However, the Dodgers announced Ohtani “is expected to be back at some point this weekend” and he was not placed on the paternity list. (Being placed on the paternity list requires a player to miss at least one game but no more than three before being taken off the list.)
Ohtani was the starting pitcher in the Dodgers’ previous game, getting the win in a 5-4 victory over Tampa Bay on Wednesday. He is not expected to be back on the mound until the middle of next week.
Kyle Tucker took Ohtani’s usual leadoff spot in the lineup while rookie Ryan Ward served as the designated hitter. Tucker went 1-for-4 with a run scored while Ward was 0-for-3 with a pair of walks and scored the winning run.
–Field Level Media
10-man Paraguay eke out win over 1-0 Turkey, still alive in World Cup
A's storm back from 7-run deficit to edge Angels in 10th
