Sports
Reeling Royals seek to halt slide in rematch vs. Giants
Sep 20, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals right fielder Adam Frazier (26) makes a diving catch during the sixth inning against the San Francisco Giants at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images The Kansas City Royals have endured their two worst losing streaks of the season over the past three-plus weeks.
The dismal closing performance is hampering their bid to end a playoff drought that began after their 2015 World Series title.
The Royals will try to at least temporarily halt their struggles when they host the San Francisco Giants again on Saturday.
Kansas City (82-72) lost 2-1 in Friday’s opener of the three-game set to run its losing streak to five games. The Royals lost seven in a row to begin the stretch in which they have dropped 14 of their past 21 games.
Kansas City was in great shape for a playoff berth in late August before the swoon began. The Royals since have fallen out of the American League Central chase and are one of four teams battling for the final two wild-card spots.
The Royals will arrive at the ballpark Saturday with a one-game lead over the Minnesota Twins, a two-game edge over the Detroit Tigers, and a three-game cushion over the Seattle Mariners.
Kansas City is now four games behind the Baltimore Orioles for the top wild-card spot.
Royals star Bobby Witt Jr. was the bright spot Friday with three hits to increase his major-league-leading batting average to .334.
San Francisco’s Heliot Ramos also had three hits and drove in one run and scored one. Ramos fell a homer short of the cycle.
In his last at-bat in the eighth inning, Ramos hit a liner to right field that Kansas City’s Adam Frazier made a diving catch on to rob him of another extra-base hit.
“Honestly, I had it in my head and I was thinking, ‘OK, let’s get a good pitch to hit and a good at-bat,'” Ramos said of a possible cycle. “I didn’t want to try to do too much. I felt the last three weeks, I was hitting the ball hard and there was something that wasn’t clicking.”
Ramos is batting .270 with 21 homers and 70 RBIs during his breakout season in which he was named an All-Star.
The Royals have just four runs over their last three losses. On Friday, Kansas City was 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position and pushed across only one run in the ninth after loading the bases with one out.
Garrett Hampson hit a sacrifice fly for the team’s lone run. He narrowly missed an extra-base hit that would have at least tied the game when his liner down the third-base line was just inches foul.
“You got to make your own breaks,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said afterward. “We’ve had every opportunity to hit the ball in the gap or hit a line drive through the middle. You don’t control any of it once the ball leaves the bat.
“We’ve got to just keep putting ourselves in the opportunities to get guys on base and force the action, and hopefully we break through.”
All five Kansas City hits were singles.
“We hit the ball hard but didn’t have anything to show for it,” Frazier said. “We just need a timely hit or two.”
Right-hander Brady Singer (9-11, 3.53 ERA) will start Saturday in search of his first win since Aug. 18. He is 0-3 with a 5.40 ERA over his last five outings.
Singer lost to the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 on Sunday when he gave up four runs and six hits over five innings.
Singer is 0-0 with a 5.73 ERA in two career starts against the Giants. LaMonte Wade Jr. is 2-for-5 with a homer off Singer.
The Giants (75-79) will send right-hander Landen Roupp (0-1, 3.02 ERA) to the mound on Saturday. It will be the rookie’s third start and 22nd appearance of the season.
Roupp received a no-decision against the San Diego Padres on Sunday when he allowed just two hits over five scoreless innings. The Giants lost 4-3 in 10 innings.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Astros place OF Joey Loperfido (quad) on injured list
Apr 11, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Houston Astros left fielder Joey Loperfido (10) is congratulated by teammates in the dugout after scoring a run during the second inning against the Seattle Mariners at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Stephen Brashear-Imagn Images The Houston Astros placed outfielder Joey Loperfido on the injured list with a right quad strain on Sunday and recalled right-hander Jayden Murray from Triple-A Sugar Land.
Loperfido, 26, was batting .259 with six RBIs in 20 games this season. He started at least one game in all three outfield positions.
Traded to the Toronto Blue Jays in 2024 and then re-acquired via trade in February, Loperfido is a career .249 major league hitter with eight home runs and 45 RBIs in 142 games over three seasons.
Murray, 29, had one appearance earlier this season and has a 2.63 ERA in 10 games over the past two seasons for the Astros. His addition increases Houston’s staff to 13 pitchers.
Also on Sunday, the Astros traded minor league right-hander Wilmy Sanchez to the New York Yankees for infielder Braden Shewmake, a former first-round draft pick of the Atlanta Braves in 2019.
In 31 major league games for the Braves and Chicago White Sox, Shewmake, 28, is batting .118 with a home run and four RBIs.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Bryson DeChambeau (wrist) WDs from LIV Golf Mexico City
Apr 10, 2026; Augusta, Georgia, USA; Bryson DeChambeau reacts after his ball rolled down the slope on the 18th green during the second round of the Masters Tournament at Augusta National Golf Club. Mandatory Credit: Grace Smith-Imagn Images Bryson DeChambeau cited a wrist injury on Sunday for the reason he withdrew prior to the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City on Sunday in Naucalpan, Mexico.
“I experienced some discomfort in my wrist during (Saturday’s round) and have decided to withdraw from the final round of LIV Golf Mexico City to prevent further injury,” DeChambeau wrote on X. “Not how I wanted this week to go, but wishing the Crushers a strong finish. I’m going to take a few days to get evaluated and hope to be ready for LIV Golf Virginia.”
DeChambeau entered the final round at 2-over-par 215 at Club De Golf Chapultepec, 16 strokes behind leader Jon Rahm of Spain. DeChambeau hasn’t been too shy about complaining about the course conditions of the event, doing so on Friday for the second straight year.
DeChambeau, 32, prevailed in a playoff in consecutive weeks in March by winning at both LIV Golf Singapore and LIV Golf South Africa. The two-time U.S. Open champion has won five LIV Golf titles.
–Field Level Media
Sports
ATP roundup: Ben Shelton shows love of clay, wins BMW title
Ben Shelton connects with the ball during his second-round match at the BNP Paribas Open in Indian Wells, Calif., Friday, March 6, 2026. Ben Shelton rolled to his second title of the year, winning the BMW Open with a 6-2, 7-5 victory over Italy’s Flavio Cobolli at Munich, Germany.
Shelton won 85% of his first-serve points on the clay surface and saved all six break points he faced to win his fifth career title and first since Dallas earlier this year. Shelton showed his form early when he broke Cobolli’s serve twice in the first three games of the match.
With the second set tied 5-5, Shelton broke Cobolli again and won on serve on his first match point. Shelton became the first American man since 2009 to win three ATP 500 titles.
“I have big ambitions for the clay courts,” Shelton said in his post-match interview. “It is a surface I want to get better on each year. It is slowly becoming one of my favorite surfaces to play on.”
Barcelona Open
Arthur Fils of France held off a late charge from Russia’s Andrey Rublev to record a 6-2, 7-6 (2) victory in the final of the tournament.
Fils won his first title since returning in February after missing eight months because of a back injury.
Fils was well on his way to victory after cruising in the first set and leading 5-2 in the second before Rublev dug in his heels. Rublev broke Fils’ serve to pull within 5-4 in the second set, then staved off one match point to make it 5-5.
Rublev broke serve again to lead 6-5 in the second set before Fils finally regained control and finished off the match in a tiebreak.
“The end of the second set was just about the mental (pressure),” Fils said. “The whole match was a bit tough because I was a bit tight. I played well for a set and a half, but when I had to close, I started to think a little. But I’m very happy with the way I played the tiebreak.”
–Field Level Media
Astros place OF Joey Loperfido (quad) on injured list
Bryson DeChambeau (wrist) WDs from LIV Golf Mexico City
