Sports
Regrouping No. 17 Kentucky tries to avenge loss to Vanderbilt
Feb 11, 2025; Lexington, Kentucky, USA; Kentucky Wildcats guard Travis Perry (11) drives to the basket against Tennessee Volunteers forward Felix Okpara (34) during the second half at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. Mandatory Credit: Jordan Prather-Imagn Images Down to its fourth option at point guard, No. 17 Kentucky is searching for some consistency overall when it hosts Vanderbilt on Tuesday night in Lexington, Ky.
In his first start of the season, an 82-78 loss at Texas on Saturday, freshman Travis Perry finished with six points and three assists in 28 minutes, and coach Mark Pope’s updates on the first three options Monday were not optimistic.
Lamont Butler is averaging 12.5 points, 4.6 assists and 2.8 rebounds per game but gave way to ongoing shoulder pain on Feb. 11. He has not returned to live practices, Pope said.
Jaxson Robinson (13.3 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.7 apg) is not even using his injured right hand/wrist yet, the coach said.
Finally, Arizona transfer Kerr Kriisa was initially expected to return by now after foot surgery, but Pope acknowledged the possibility of Kriisa taking a medical redshirt season.
“Right now, he’s anxiously trying to get back into this thing, and the recovery has probably been a little slower than any of us would like,” Pope said.
The Wildcats knocked off then-No. 5 Tennessee before falling to Texas. They have lost five of their last eight games in the rough-and-tumble Southeastern Conference.
Kentucky (17-8, 6-6 SEC) held a five-point lead over Texas with less than four minutes to play but allowed a 14-1 run. Leading scorer Otega Oweh had 20 points and forward Amari Williams added 18 points and 12 boards, but a lack of backcourt depth and focus wore down the Wildcats.
“One of the things that’s been really special about our team is we’ve done a great job of kind of being in the moment, being onto the next play,” Pope said.
“It’s been a really good characteristic of our team. We just weren’t our normal selves in that aspect of the game in the last three minutes and 45 seconds.”
Vanderbilt (17-8, 5-7) comes in after its own frustrating loss. The Commodores led host Tennessee 44-31 at halftime but stumbled late in an 81-76 defeat.
Junior Jason Edwards had 24 points to pace the Commodores, including 6-for-10 shooting on 3-point attempts, but Vanderbilt allowed the Volunteers to shoot 55.8 percent from the floor, and 65.4 percent in the second half. On its home floor, Vanderbilt had beaten Tennessee 76-75 on Jan. 18.
“We’ve got some things to fix, but at the same time, I want to make sure that people know how good Tennessee is,” Vanderbilt coach Mark Byington said. “You can play really well and lose in this league. … We’re trying to get every one of them, but a lot of our losses this year, we haven’t played poorly.”
Edwards has been particularly impressive. The North Texas transfer is averaging 17.6 points per game and has scored in double digits in all but one of his 25 games this season.
Vanderbilt defeated visiting Kentucky 74-69 on Jan. 25. The Wildcats lost despite controlling the boards 43-30 and seeing the Commodores shoot just 4-for-11 from the foul line.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Munetaka Murakami strokes 2 of White Sox's 5 homers in rout of Astros
Jul 26, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami (5) is greeted in the dugout after hitting a two-run home run against the Houston Astros during the first inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images Miguel Vargas hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the sixth inning and Munetaka Murakami added a pair of homers as the host Chicago White Sox routed the Houston Astros 12-3 on Sunday to avoid a series sweep.
Chicago clubbed a season high-tying five home runs compared to three from Houston to extend its lead atop the American League Central to 2 1/2 games over Cleveland.
With his parents throwing out first pitches on his bobblehead day, Murakami went 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBIs. He drilled an opposite-field two-run homer in the first, drove in a run with a third-inning groundout, added a two-run single in a four-run seventh and finished with a solo clout to right in the eighth.
Jeremy Pena cracked solo homers in his first two at-bats and Taylor Trammell added a solo homer for the Astros, whose five-game winning streak came to a close.
The White Sox’s breakout against Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco in the sixth turned the tide. Sam Antonacci, who collected two hits, led off with a double and advanced to third on a Murakami groundout. Vargas followed with a two-run blast to left field, his 21st homer this season, to put the White Sox ahead 5-3.
Blanco (0-1) scattered five runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings with three walks and four strikeouts. It marked his second start since rejoining the rotation last week following Tommy John surgery in June 2025.
After Pena opened the game with a home run, Murakami reached Blanco for a two-run home run in the first to stop a 13-game homerless streak.
Houston’s own penchant for the long ball kept the club afloat in the early innings. Jeremy Pena stretched his hitting streak to eight games with a pair of home runs.
White Sox starter Erick Fedde yielded three solo home runs among his five hits over 4 1/3 innings. Pena homered against Fedde with one out in the third, then Taylor Trammell sent Fedde’s first delivery of the fifth over the wall in right center.
Fedde walked one and struck out two. Sean Newcomb (1-2) worked around a hit and walk to get the final two outs in the sixth to notch the victory.
Chase Meidroth homered in the seventh for Chicago and Junior Perez added a two-run blast in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Braves win in 11 innings as Orioles squander opportunities
Jul 26, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Baltimore Orioles shortstop Gunnar Henderson (2) attempting to make a tag on Atlanta Braves center fielder Michael Harris II (23) and is safe in the second inning at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Lexi Thompson-Imagn Images Austin Riley doubled in the go-ahead run in the 11th inning and the Atlanta Braves beat the host Baltimore Orioles 3-2 on Sunday afternoon in the rubber game of the three-game series.
Dominic Smith drove in two runs with a pair of singles and finished with three hits while starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez threw 5 2/3 shutout innings for the Braves, who won for the eighth time in their last 11 games. Tyler Kinley (6-4) was the winning pitcher by going 1 1/3 scoreless innings.
Pete Alonso homered for the Orioles, who tied the game in the bottom of the ninth but then wasted game-winning opportunities in the next two innings. Andrew Kittredge (1-3) took the loss.
After a wild pitch and two walks, the Orioles had the bases loaded with no outs in the 10th. But Gunnar Henderson lined into a double play and Taylor Ward was retired on a flyout. They reloaded the bases with two outs in the 11th but didn’t score.
The Orioles tied the game with an unearned run on Jackson Holliday’s groundout, which accounted for the second out of the ninth inning. The Braves stranded two runners in the top of the 10th.
Lopez allowed five hits and one walk with six strikeouts before Dylan Dodd, Dylan Lee and Raisel Iglesias followed him in relief.
Orioles starter Shane Baz lasted 4 1/3 innings, giving up two runs (one earned) on six hits and two walks. Alonso and Ward each had two of Baltimore’s six hits.
The Braves struck first on Smith’s run-scoring single in the second inning. That gave Smith his first 40-RBI season since 2023 when he was with the Washington Nationals.
Smith singled in another run in the fourth.
Alonso’s 22nd long ball of the season came off Lee in the eighth inning to cut the gap to 2-1.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand walked to lead off the bottom of the ninth and Coby Mayo ran for him. Mayo took third on a fielding error by Ozzie Albies at second base before Holliday drove him in, but Iglesias retired Jeremiah Jackson to force extras.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Twins roll up big lead, hold on to beat Athletics
Jul 26, 2026; Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA; Minnesota Twins right fielder Kody Clemens (2) slides into third base for a run scoring triple as Athletics third baseman Tommy White (47) looks to catch the ball. White would be unable to gather the ball and Clemens would score on the play during the first inning at Target Field. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-Imagn Images Ryan Jeffers went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and the Minnesota Twins held on for an 11-8 win over the Athletics on Sunday afternoon in Minneapolis.
Ryan Kreidler finished 3-for-4 with three doubles and an RBI for Minnesota, which won the rubber match of the three-game series. Kody Clemens went 3-for-5 with two triples and an RBI.
Nick Kurtz hit a three-run home run to lead the Athletics. Jeff McNeil was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Twins left-hander Connor Prielipp (3-5) held the Athletics to one run on two hits in 5 2/3 innings. He walked one and struck out five.
Athletics left-hander Jeffrey Springs (3-10) gave up five runs (four earned) on four hits in 1 1/3 innings.
Minnesota started the scoring with three runs in the first.
Royce Lewis drove in the first run on a fielder’s choice groundout. Clemens delivered in the next at-bat with a triple to right-center field, and he trotted home to score after Athletics shortstop Alika Williams fired an errant cutoff throw toward third that bounced out of play.
The Twins doubled their lead to 6-0 with three more runs in the second.
Minnesota loaded the bases for two outs for Jeffers, and the Twins made it 4-0 before he made contact. Athletics right-hander Luis Morales committed a bases-loaded walk to allow Alex Jackson to score from third.
Moments later, Jeffers ripped a two-run single to right.
Another miscue by the Athletics allowed the Twins to push their lead to 7-0 in the fourth. Catcher Jonah Heim committed a throwing error that allowed Ryan Kreidler to score.
The Athletics got on the scoreboard in the sixth. Kurtz belted a three-run, 412-foot shot to center for his 21st homer of the season.
Minnesota made it 8-3 on a sacrifice fly by Austin Martin in the sixth.
The Athletics cut the deficit to 8-6 with three runs in the seventh. Donovan Walton drew a bases-loaded walk, McNeil notched an RBI groundout and Carlos Cortes hit a sacrifice fly.
The Twins responded with a run in the bottom of the seventh to make it 9-6. Clemens tripled off the right-field wall, and he scored on a sacrifice fly by Luke Keaschall.
Kreidler and Jeffers drove in one run apiece in the eighth to give the Twins an 11-6 lead.
McNeil and Cortes each drove in a run in the ninth to finish the scoring for the Athletics.
-Field Level Media
Munetaka Murakami strokes 2 of White Sox's 5 homers in rout of Astros
Braves win in 11 innings as Orioles squander opportunities
