Sports
Rockies' Cole Carrigg eager to make impression vs. Cubs
Jun 9, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies center fielder Cole Carrigg (16) advances in the sixth inning against the Chicago Cubs at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Coors Field usually is packed with Chicago Cubs fans when the team comes to Denver, but Tuesday night there wasn’t much for them to cheer about against the Colorado Rockies.
Colorado jumped ahead early and cruised to a 7-3 win to snap a four-game skid.
The Rockies will go for their second straight win and a series victory when the teams clash again on Wednesday night.
Colorado will send right-hander Michael Lorenzen (2-8, 8.01 ERA) to the mound against left-hander Shota Imanaga (4-6, 4.74) in the second contest of a three-game set.
Lorenzen, 34, has struggled in his first season with the Rockies, posting the highest ERA in the majors with a minimum of 10 starts. He hasn’t fared well against Chicago in his career, going 2-4 with a 7.36 ERA in 42 appearances (three starts).
Wednesday’s game will feature Cole Carrigg, who made his major league debut in the series opener. The 24-year-old popped up on the first big-league pitch he saw, struck out in his second at-bat, but lined a triple down the right-field line in the fifth inning for his first hit.
Carrigg has hit well all season, which prompted his promotion. In 257 plate appearances at Triple-A Albuquerque, he batted .338 with five triples, six homers, 42 RBIs and 30 stolen bases, numbers that were tough to ignore.
“When you are playing well, it’s kind of hard not to look up here,” Carrigg said Tuesday. “It’s hard to stay where your feet are, but that’s the best thing you can do — keep taking advantage of those opportunities at Triple-A and make sure you’re ready when you get here.”
The Cubs have dropped two games in a row and seven of their past 10.
Right-hander Jameson Taillon went on the 15-day injured list with a strained hamstring and is expected to be out until after the All-Star break next month, adding to the string of injured pitchers.
Imanaga has stayed healthy all season and is scheduled to make his 14th start of 2026 and face Colorado for the second time in his career. He made his major league debut against the Rockies on April 1, 2024, allowing only two hits and striking out nine over six scoreless innings to earn his first victory.
He will need to have a similar outing if Chicago’s offense continues to struggle. The Cubs have scored three or fewer runs while losing six of their last eight games and hope getting utility man Matt Shaw back from injury will help, especially in late-game situations.
Shaw missed three weeks with back tightness but was activated from the IL before Tuesday night’s game. He didn’t play but is ready to step in when needed.
“Obviously ready to help in any way you can, you know,” he said earlier Tuesday. “Whatever that kind of looks like, whenever that kind of manifests into whether, again, it could be some of those late-inning pinch running situations, and I look forward to those.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Mariners overcoming obstacles heading into rematch vs. Orioles
May 29, 2026; Seattle, Washington, USA; Seattle Mariners starting pitcher George Kirby (68) pitches to the Arizona Diamondbacks during the third inning at T-Mobile Park. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images The Seattle Mariners have made the best out of some unfortunate situations this week.
They will take the confidence that goes with that into Wednesday night’s game against the host Baltimore Orioles.
Seattle is 11-3 in its last 14 games. The Orioles, in turn, are mired in a four-game losing streak.
The Mariners won the second consecutive contest of the four-game series — 6-5 in 10 innings Tuesday night — despite squandering a ninth-inning lead.
Seattle has won twice against Baltimore with shortstop Colt Emerson sidelined because of an ailing back.
“He seems to be better (Tuesday) than he was (Monday),” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said. “So that’s a really positive thing, and we’ll just keep monitoring as we go.”
The Mariners have survived for both victories in the series despite some adventurous work from the bullpen.
The Orioles, who’ve cranked out late-inning offense, haven’t been able to totally make up for some of their lineup tweaks.
“We have to get better to win those margins, whatever that is,” Baltimore manager Craig Albernaz said. “It’s looking at how we can get better and make adjustments.”
Catcher Adley Rutschman has been out of Baltimore’s lineup for the first two games of the series because of hamstring tightness.
“We just want to make sure that we stay on top of that,” Albernaz said, not revealing a timetable for Rutschman’s return to action.
Sam Huff has been behind the plate for both games, marking his return to the big leagues for the first time since mid-April. Along with Samuel Basallo, the Orioles are carrying three catchers.
“Having the third catcher is a great safety valve for us,” Albernaz said. “So it’s something that for right now it makes the most sense, but also moving forward it could be or it could not be. So there’s a lot of factors that go into that. But right now, it’s definitely a benefit for us.”
Right-hander George Kirby (5-5, 4.04 ERA) will start for the Mariners on Wednesday, seeking his first victory in nearly a month. In his last four starts, he’s 0-3. He’s coming off a season-low four innings in last Wednesday’s 7-1 loss to the New York Mets. Kirby gave up five runs (four earned) and nine hits.
Matchups against the Orioles generally haven’t gone Kirby’s way, as he’s 2-5 with a 3.26 ERA in eight starts vs. Baltimore. That’s the most losses to any opponent in Kirby’s career.
The Mariners lost bullpen regular Cooper Criswell, who was placed on the 15-day injury list Tuesday because of a shoulder strain. In his place, Nick Davila was called up from Triple-A Tacoma and recorded his first career save Tuesday.
The Orioles’ starting pitcher on Wednesday will be right-hander Brandon Young (4-1, 3.47 ERA), who’ll face Seattle for the first time in his career.
Baltimore has won six consecutive outings with Young on the mound, though he’s 2-0 during that stretch. He picked up the victory Friday at Toronto, where the Blue Jays managed three runs in 6 1/3 innings off Young. The Orioles won 13-3.
In his last three starts, Young has gone 19 2/3 innings, issuing three walks and logging 15 strikeouts.
–Field Level Media
Sports
After homer-filled night, Tigers turn to Framber Valdez vs. Twins
Jun 5, 2026; Detroit, Michigan, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Framber Valdez (59) throws a pitch against the Seattle Mariners in the first inning at Comerica Park. Mandatory Credit: Lon Horwedel-Imagn Images The first game of the Minnesota-Detroit series turned into Home Run Derby on Tuesday night.
The American League Central rivals combined for eight long balls — four by each team — but the host Tigers made better use of their homers in a 10-4 victory in the opener of a three-game series.
The teams will match up again on Wednesday night, with Minnesota looking to cool off a Detroit team that has won six of its last seven games.
Left-hander Framber Valdez (3-4, 4.21 ERA) will start for the Tigers in Game 2 of the series. He posted a win in his most recent start, but it didn’t come easily.
Valdez labored through five innings against Seattle on Friday, throwing 102 pitches in a 7-3 victory. He allowed five hits, two walks and also hit a batter, but the Mariners scored only once against him.
“I wasn’t putting my head down,” Valdez said through an interpreter. “I was trying to go as deep as I could, and it was in my mind, ‘I’m not going to let them score. I am not going to let them score.’ I am grateful for my teammates for scoring the runs and for making plays behind me to save runs.”
Familiarity between Valdez — who spent his career with Houston before signing with Detroit this past offseason — and the former American League West rival Mariners played a role in the long at-bats on Friday.
“He’s played them a lot through his whole career,” Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. “He’s got a lot of history with that lineup, especially at the top. He had to battle and he did.”
Valdez will face Minnesota for the 10th time in his career. He has a 4-2 record and a 3.61 ERA in his previous nine outings.
Valdez endured one of his worst outings of the season against the Twins on April 8. He was pounded for eight runs and 10 hits in five innings.
The Twins, who have lost five of their past six games, have not announced a starter for Wednesday’s game. Minnesota’s staff will look to cool off Tigers catcher Dillon Dingler, who homered twice during a four-hit outburst on Tuesday.
Hinch has played mix-and-match with his roster in recent seasons, utilizing the versatility of players such as Matt Vierling, Zach McKinstry and Colt Keith.
Minnesota manager Derek Shelton is doing the same with his players. He notes that only Byron Buxton, an outstanding center fielder, is locked into a certain spot on the field.
“We have the ability to be more matchup-based,” Shelton told MLB.com. “Very similar to where we were earlier in the year. We had the ability to do that, and there’s a chance that we could definitely see that.
“Now, some of that’s also going to come with performance. You still have to perform to be able to get that. But we could definitely be more matchup-based with the way our roster’s constructed right now.”
Buxton returned to the lineup with a bang on Tuesday. He hit Troy Melton’s first pitch of the contest for his 19th homer of the season.
Buxton had been out of the lineup the previous two games. He sustained a right shoulder contusion while crashing into the wall against Kansas City on Friday.
Buxton remains hopeful the team can make a playoff run.
“We have to push each other day-in and day-out to make sure we get where we want to get to,” Buxton told The Minnesota Star Tribune.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Kawhi Leonard Era Drifting Toward Uncertain End With Clippers
Like a sailboat on the water without any wind, the Los Angeles Clippers are afloat, although seemingly unable to go anywhere.
Kawhi Leonard had been paired with Paul George on the roster to no avail and another partnership between Leonard and James Harden proved fruitless. The 2019 George deal, in particular, is putting heavy stress on the franchise to this day.
George is long gone, having already played two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers.
It’s easy to see now that trading four first round draft picks, as well as Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, to the Oklahoma City Thunder to acquire George was about as foolish as it can get. It didn’t seem all that bright at the time, either.
But the Clippers were desperate to get Kawhi Leonard a wing man and in theory, it actually should have come closer to bringing a title to their side of Los Angeles than it did.
The Clippers were the No. 2 seed in the 2020 Western Conference playoffs but the squad hardly looked comfortable in the sequestered setting of that year’s postseason, held exclusively in the Orlando, Fla., area because of the pandemic.
Among the betting favorites when the playoffs began, the Clippers failed to win the franchise’s first title when they couldn’t even get out of the second round. Making the collapse even worse was that the title did come back to Los Angeles, only with the LeBron James-led Lakers.
Signing Leonard in 2019 was supposed to be the Clippers’ counter move to the Lakers bringing aboard James in 2018. But injuries and disappointments have kept the Clippers adrift in the Leonard era, and issues continue to mount.
At 34, Leonard had the best offensive season of his career in 2025-26, was one of the highlights of the revamped All-Star Game in his own arena this past February, and yet not much of that production is being remembered now.
Leonard and the Clippers are embroiled in controversy, with the NBA about to decide soon if punishments will be handed out for possibly circumventing the salary cap through alleged payments Leonard received from a now shuttered banking company.
A $28 million endorsement deal Leonard had with the company Aspiration, is nearing the end of a league-wide investigation.
The harshest of punishments could see the league void Leonard’s Clippers’ contract that runs through next season and is set to pay the shooting forward just over $50 million.
It would be an awkward end to a rocky era, that so far has included Leonard playing 331 of a possible 574 regular-season games with the team. He missed the entire 2021-22 season with a chronic knee injury.
The Clippers have reached the playoffs a respectable five times since Leonard has joined the organization, but the two-time NBA champion has been limited in the postseason as well.
These were supposed to be better days for the Clippers and billionaire owner Steve Ballmer. Two seasons ago, the team moved into a new $2 billion arena south of L.A. in Inglewood. The state-of-the art venue makes the Lakers’ former arena, sitting nearby, look like a relic.
Yet, it figures to be a long time before the Clippers can even come close to replicating what the Lakers accomplished in the city during the 1980s when they won five titles in nine seasons.
The first four games the Clippers ever played in the building two seasons ago they lost. This past season, they opened with a 6-21 overall record as Leonard missed 10 of those games with yet another injury.
Once Leonard was shed of his minutes restriction upon his return, he leaned into the role as offensive leader as never before. He averaged 32.7 points over a 13-game stretch from Dec. 20- Jan. 14, including a career-best 55-point game. He finished the campaign scoring 27.9 points.
The team surged just enough to earn a spot in the play-in tournament but lost to the Golden State Warriors. Along the way, Harden and longtime big man Ivica Zubac were traded.
Is an influx of trade talent in Bennedict Mathurin and Darius Garland, not to mention 2006 and 2009 first-round draft picks, enough to put a winner around Leonard? The pick in the upcoming draft is No. 5 overall.
Those odds, as well as the chances that the NBA forces the Clippers to split from Leonard this offseason, seem slim. But maybe the parties eventually part in a trade.
At this point, setting sail on the partnership seems as if it would be in the best interest of all.
Mariners overcoming obstacles heading into rematch vs. Orioles
After homer-filled night, Tigers turn to Framber Valdez vs. Twins
