Sports
Royals, Padres look to rebound from disappointing first half of season
Jul 12, 2026; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Kansas City Royals pitcher Seth Lugo (67) throws during the first inning against the Baltimore Orioles at Oriole Park at Camden Yards. Mandatory Credit: Daniel Kucin Jr.-Imagn Images Both the San Diego Padres and Kansas City Royals have underachieved thus far in 2026.
Coming out of the All-Star break, the two look for a positive restart when they open a three-game series Friday night at Kansas City.
San Diego was a playoff team each of the past two seasons and has reached the postseason four times since 2020. However, injuries and inconsistency have hampered the Padres at 48-48, third in the NL West and 3 1/2 games out of the final wild-card spot coming out of the break.
They also rank last in the majors in runs (379), batting average (.226) and on-base percentage (.302).
“It’s a long season,” star Manny Machado, who’s batting .203 but is 8-for-16 with a home run and four RBIs in the last four games, told the Padres’ official website.
“A lot of baseball still left to be played. I think our best baseball is still ahead of us.”
Perhaps there’s basis to Machado’s belief after San Diego won two straight and five of eight entering the break.
“We feel like we can reset. … And, when we get back, get back to playing our game,” said first baseman Ty France, batting .348 with three homers and nine RBIs in his last 14 contests.
The Padres return with a 10-game road trip, which includes stops at Atlanta and Miami, teams in playoff position. Before that, though, San Diego has a solid chance to continue its recent success by taking on the Royals, who are tied for the worst record in the majors at 38-59 and will look to avoid a sixth consecutive loss.
While Kansas City did not harbor the same high expectations as the Padres entering this season, it felt there was enough talent to post a third straight winning campaign and potentially contend for a playoff berth.
However, the Royals have been hit hard by injuries, especially to their rotation, plus key offensive contributors like Jonathan India (shoulder), Vinnie Pasquantino (hamate fracture) and Maikel Garcia (hand). Pasquantino was activated July 10 and played two games before the All-Star break.
“It wasn’t what we wanted,” said All-Star shortstop Bobby Witt Jr., the team’s most consistent offensive performer, batting .286 with 13 homers, 39 RBIs and 30 stolen bases.
“We showed up, and we didn’t play the way we thought we were going to. It’s frustrating. But now you put that in the past.
“We’re not just going to roll over.”
Kansas City ranks near the bottom of the majors in ERA (4.95) and opponents’ batting average (.264).
Veteran right-hander and ex-Padre Seth Lugo (3-6, 4.56 ERA) is slated to take the ball Friday for the Royals, looking to solve his own recent struggles. In his last four starts, Lugo has allowed 29 hits, including eight home runs, and is 0-2 with an 8.38 ERA.
While France is 4-for-8 all-time versus Lugo, Machado is 0-for-8 against him. Lugo has 13 career appearances (two starts) against the Padres with a 2-0 record and 2.63 ERA.
San Diego, meanwhile, is scheduled to counter with Michael King (6-7, 3.41), who is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA while recording three quality starts in his last four outings. The right-hander has yielded three runs and seven hits over 12 innings of his last two starts combined.
King is 0-1 with a 3.32 ERA in six career appearances (three starts) vs. the Royals. Witt is 2-for-7 against King.
–Field Level Media
Sports
BetBoom Team, Vici Gaming earn spots in Dota semis at Esports World Cup
Dota 2 competition at the Esports World Cup BetBoom Team and Vici Gaming became the final two teams to advance to the semifinals of the Esports World Cup Dota 2 tournament thanks to their wins Friday in Paris.
Vici opened the day with a 2-0 victory over Team Falcons, and BetBoom added a 2-0 win over Nigma Galaxy in the quarterfinal stage.
BetBoom and Vici will square off in one semifinal match Saturday with Team Yandex and PARIVISION going head to head in the other after both advanced on Thursday. The winners move on to the grand final on Sunday and the losers will compete in the third-place match.
The Dota 2 event at the Esports World Cup is the final championship of the ESL Pro Tour, now in its fourth season. The tournament has a $2 million prize pool, with $750,000 and 1,000 EWC club points going to the first-place team.
The format consists of three phases: a group stage of 24 teams that competed in a round robin, a survival phase (Tuesday-Wednesday) formatted into a single-elimination bracket that saw four teams advance, then a final playoff stage (Thursday-Sunday), which is single elimination.
The four group winners advanced directly to the playoffs. Teams finishing second through fourth in their groups went to the survival stage, a two-round bracket that decided the other four teams to make the playoff field of eight.
All matches in Phase 1 were two games, while the matches in Phases 2 and 3 are best-of-three until the best-of-five grand final.
On Friday, Vici prevailed in 57 on red and 32 minutes on green over Falcons. Guo “Xm” Hongcheng of China led the way for Vici with a kill-death-assist ratio of 29-5-21 across the two maps.
BetBoom took down Nigma in 35 minutes on red and 49 minutes on green. Ilya “Kiritych” Ulyanov of Russia put up a dominant 17-3-28 K-D-A for BetBoom.
The Esports World Cup features competition in 25 titles and a $75 million prize pool. Other upcoming events include League of Legends, PUBG, EA Sports FC, Call of Duty: Warzone, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, Rocket League, Counter-Strike 2 and Fortnite.
The tournament continues Saturday with the semifinal matches:
— BetBoom Team vs. Vici Gaming
–Team Yandex vs. PARIVISION
Dota 2 Esports World Cup payouts (prize money, club points)
1. $750,000, 1,000 — TBD
2. $340,000, 750 — TBD
3. $200,000, 500 — TBD
4. $120,000, 300 — TBD
5-8. $70,000, 200 — Team Spirit, Rune Eaters, Nigma Galaxy, Team Falcons
9-12. $40,000, 0 — LGD Gaming, 1w, Team Liquid, Aurora Gaming
13-16. $20,000, 0 — MOUZ, Xtreme Gaming, Virtus.pro, PlayTime
17-20. $10,000, 0 — GamerLegion, Level UP, REKONIX, OG
21-24. $7,500, 0 — Poor Rangers, L1 Team, Team Nemesis, Inner Circle x Insanity
–Field Level Media
Sports
Flyers sign D Jamie Drysdale to 4-year deal
Apr 27, 2026; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Jamie Drysdale (9) skates with the puck against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the first period in game five of the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Flyers secured a key piece of their blue line Friday, signing defenseman Jamie Drysdale to a four-year, $26 million contract, the team announced.
The deal allows the two sides to avoid arbitration, carries an average annual value of $6.5 million and keeps the 24-year-old under contract through the 2029-30 season.
Drysdale secured a long-term deal after his best NHL season. He scored a career-high eight goals (three game-winners) and tied his personal best with 32 points over 78 games in 2025-26, ranking second among Philadelphia defensemen in scoring.
“Since we acquired him, Jamie has worked extremely hard and taken big steps in his development,” general manager Daniel Briere said. “We believe his best hockey is still ahead of him, and he’s going to play an important role in strengthening our blue line as we continue to build.”
Drysdale’s teammates selected him as the recipient of the Pelle Lindbergh Memorial Trophy, awarded annually to Philadelphia’s most improved player.
Philadelphia acquired Drysdale and a 2025 second-round draft pick from the Anaheim Ducks in January 2024 in exchange for forward Cutter Gauthier. The Toronto native was originally selected sixth overall by Anaheim in the 2020 NHL Draft.
Drysdale has registered 25 goals and 77 assists in 295 career games with the Ducks and Flyers. He reached 100 career points during the past season, becoming the third-fastest defenseman from his draft class to hit the milestone.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Bryson DeChambeau: 'Onto the weekend' after 2-stroke penalty
Jul 17, 2026; Southport, ENG; Bryson DeChambeau reacts after making a birdie putt on the ninth green during the second round of The Open Championship golf tournament at Royal Birkdale. Mandatory Credit: Bill Streicher-Imagn Images Bryson DeChambeau was handed a two-stroke penalty following his second round at the Open Championship on Friday in Southport, England, after R&A rules officials determined he had taken actions to improve “the area of his intended swing” on a shot 13 holes earlier.
For a few hours, there was a legitimate question as to whether DeChambeau would continue playing the final major championship of the year. He declined to speak to reporters about his penalty, and his agent, Brett Falkoff, claimed he was “100 percent” serious when he appeared to tell rules officials he won’t be back for the third round.
At 12:02 a.m. local time, DeChambeau posted to social media and left no doubt about where he’d be Saturday.
“Obviously disappointed with the ruling,” he wrote. “I don’t agree with it, but it is what it is. This fires me up. Onto the weekend. Let’s get it.”
A popular but divisive figure in the world of golf, the LIV Golf star originally posted a 4-under 66 to move to 7 under, one shot behind Australia’s Lucas Herbert. Now, rather than waking up Saturday in second place and the final pairing for the third round, DeChambeau will enter the weekend three behind Herbert instead of one, his bogey 5 at the fifth hole changed to a triple-bogey 7.
The downgrade for DeChambeau altered Saturday pairings, pushing Jackson Suber to the final group with Herbert. DeChambeau and Sam Burns, who shot 62 on Friday, are scheduled to tee off at 10:30 a.m. ET followed by Cameron Young and Ryan Gerard, then Suber and Herbert.
DeChambeau hit his drive at the par-4 fifth hole far right and eventually found the ball in a native area. Replays showed the two-time major winner stamping down on different patches of tall grass near his ball. It may have affected not the lie of the ball, but the path for his eventual swing.
DeChambeau vehemently disagreed with the ruling as officials shuttled him back to the scene of the alleged misdeed before he could enter the scoring trailer to sign his second-round scorecard.
U.S. TV cameras captured a discussion several minutes long, and at points DeChambeau could be seen gesticulating and getting animated.
“He’s a lot of things. He’s not a cheater,” Falkoff later told reporters. “He’s a big boy. He’ll see how he feels. But he certainly feels he was unfairly penalized.”
More than an hour after his round ended, the R&A, who organize The Open, cemented their decision. A new score was reflected on the massive leaderboard between the 18th green and where DeChambeau stood ripping golf balls on the driving range.
Following that session on the range, which commenced immediately after DeChambeau and his team left scoring, the narrative was less about the infraction and more about what comes next.
TV cameras had shown DeChambeau appear to tell rules officials “I just won’t play tomorrow” before they boarded multiple carts to return to the scoring trailer and the R&A released its decision.
DeChambeau didn’t have a choice whether he would play the weekend at the first three majors of the year, as he missed the cut at the Masters, the PGA Championship and the U.S. Open.
The R&A, which organizes The Open, confirmed DeChambeau’s penalty was not for improving the lie of his ball, but rather the path for his eventual swing.
“An improvement means to alter one or more of the conditions affecting the stroke so that the player gains a potential advantage for the stroke,” Grant Moir, the R&A’s executive director for governance, told reporters. “Now, I’ll stress that this applies even when the action is accidental, as it was in Bryson’s case.”
–Field Level Media
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