Sports
Small-ball White Sox strive for repeat win against Blue Jays
Apr 3, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox right fielder Tristan Peters (29) celebrates with teammates after hitting a walk-off single against the Toronto Blue Jays during the 10th inning at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: Kamil Krzaczynski-Imagn Images The Chicago White Sox hope going small will bring big results.
The approach has given them a chance to clinch their three-game series with the visiting Toronto Blue Jays on Saturday afternoon. The White Sox used small ball as they defeated the Jays 5-4 in their home opener Friday afternoon after a 1-5 road trip.
A double steal in the third inning set up Austin Hays’ two-run single.
In a two-run 10th for Chicago, Derek Hill’s bunt single and an errant throw to first by Blue Jays catcher Tyler Heineman — who had just entered the game after Alejandro Kirk departed with a left-thumb injury — allowed him to reach second as the tying run. Tristan Peters won the game with a single to right.
“That bunt was incredible,” Peters said. “Just to keep us in the game like that. And then I’m just thinking, I know Derek is very fast, so a single scores him. I’m just trying to make contact and get it on the grass in the outfield somewhere.”
Chicago manager Will Venable said the win was crucial.
“We’ve got to find any way we can, especially in the AL Central in April,” he said. “We know there’s going to be wind, weather. Slug is maybe not part of our offensive package, and we’ve got to find any way we can.”
“That’s just the way we kind of have to play the game,” Hill said. “We’re not like a huge slugging team like the Dodgers, where you have four guys that can hit 30 (homers). So we’ve got to play that small ball, we’ve got to play clean.”
For the Blue Jays, Kirk’s situation is troublesome. He left the game after taking a foul ball off his glove hand and was diagnosed with a fractured left thumb.
“It’s more the thumb,” Blue Jays manager John Schneider said, before the results of the X-rays. “It hurts, especially on a cold day. We’re hoping that it’s nothing serious. He’s about as tough as they come, so for him to come out, you don’t love it.”
Brandon Valenzuela, who spent training camp with the Blue Jays, was called up Saturday morning from Triple-A Buffalo. He has yet to make his major league debut.
The Blue Jays opened the season by sweeping a three-game series against the Athletics. Toronto has dropped three of four since, including losing two of three to the Colorado Rockies. The game in Chicago was the Jays’ first on the road this season.
They have scored a total of five runs in their past two games — both 10-inning losses — as their offense has yet to click consistently.
Former Blue Jays left-hander Anthony Kay (0-0, 3.86 ERA) is scheduled to be the bulk pitcher for the White Sox on Saturday. He has never faced his former team.
He pitched for the Yokohama BayStars in the Japan Central League in 2025, going 9-6 with a 1.74 ERA in 24 games.
In 28 games (seven starts) for Toronto from 2019-22, he posted a 4-2 record with a 5.48 ERA.
Grant Taylor (0-0, 3.00), who pitched a perfect first inning on Friday as the opener for Sean Burke, is expected to open again on Saturday. Taylor threw only nine pitches on Friday.
Toronto left-hander Eric Lauer will miss his scheduled start on Saturday because of illness and is scheduled to pitch Sunday instead. Toronto will go with an opener on Saturday, with left-handed reliever Mason Fluharty (0-0, 10.80 ERA) expected to lead a parade from the bullpen.
Fluharty’s one career outing against the White Sox came on June 20, 2025. He allowed three runs in one relief inning in a 7-1 loss.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Team Liquid 1st team to 2-0 at LCS Spring
YMCA member Austin Manengu works the keyboard as he plays a game of Fortnite during the unveiling of the new gaming lab at the Maplewood Family YMCA in Rochester Thursday, June 20, 2024. YMCA of Greater Rochester in partnership with Metro Sports & Entertainment Group will open two gaming labs for youth and teens this year. Team Liquid moved to the top of the standings with a win over Shopify Rebellion as Week 2 of the regular season of the LCS Spring event began Saturday.
Team Liquid won 2-0 in a battle of 1-0 teams, while LYON beat Dignitas 2-1 in the other match of the day.
Eight teams will compete in best-of-three matches in the round-robin regular season before advancing to the playoffs of the League of Legends event, which will be contested in best-of-five matches in a double-elimination format. The top two teams will qualify for the Mid-Season Invitational.
Liquid completed its sweep with a pair of wins on blue in 25 and 38 minutes. Brandon “Josedeodo” Villegas of Argentina and Ru-han “Morgan” Park of South Korea took home MVP honors in the triumph.
Dignitas won the opener of its match in 33 minutes before LYON roared back with a 36-minute victory on red followed by a 30-minute clincher on blue. American/Indian competitor Niship “Dhokla” Doshi and Jonah “Isles” Rosario of Australia were MVPs for the two LYON victories, and American Lawrence “Exyu” Xu was MVP of Dignitas’ opening victory.
Week 2 concludes Sunday with FlyQuest facing Disguised and Sentinels taking on Cloud9.
Regular season standings (Win-loss total, map differential)
1. Team Liquid, 2-0, 4-1
T2 Cloud9, 1-0, 2-1
T2. Disguised, 1-0, 2-1
T4. Shopify Rebellion, 1-1, 2-2
T4. Lyon, 1-1, 3-3
T6. FlyQuest, 0-1, 1-2
T6. Sentinels, 0-1, 1-2
8. Dignitas, 0-2, 1-4
–Field Level Media
Sports
Rose Lavelle records goal, assist in USWNT's victory over Japan
Apr 11, 2026; San Jose, California, USA; United States midfielder Rose Lavelle (16) reacts after scoring a goal against Japan during the first half at PayPal Park. Mandatory Credit: Darren Yamashita-Imagn Images Rose Lavelle celebrated her 100th start with a goal and an assist to help the U.S. women’s national team to a 2-1 win in San Jose, Calif., on Saturday to open a three-match series against Japan.
Lavelle, in her 119th match, scored in the 9th minute off a set piece then set up Lindsey Heaps in the 48th for the 2-0 lead.
Riko Ueki stunned the Americans in the 61st minute to cut the deficit in half on their first goal allowed in nine matches.
The friendlies continue Tuesday in Seattle and Friday in Commerce City, Colo.
The Americans got the early advantage after Sophia Wilson drew a foul. She played her first USWNT match since Oct. 27, 2024, and made her first start since the gold medal match in the 2024 Paris Olympics. Wilson gave birth to a daughter in September 2025.
On the ensuing restart, Trinity Rodman was to the left of the goal when she sent a flighted ball to the middle of the box. Lavelle used her left foot to flick it past goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita for her 28th goal with the national team.
The U.S. failed to double the lead 14 minutes later when an unmarked Alyssa Thompson at the left post couldn’t convert a cross from Wilson.
Alyssa and Gisele Thompson broke the USWNT record for sisters starting in the same match with four. Samantha and Kristie Mewis started in the same match three times.
It didn’t take long after the break to gain some breathing room thanks to the high pressure from Gisele Thompson which created a turnover. She sent Lavelle down the left channel but Lavelle’s service to the box was blocked.
Fortunately for the U.S., the ball deflected to Lavelle and she found Heaps on the run for a left-footed shot and her 40th goal.
The USWNT’s scoreless streak ended at 865 minutes as Ueki, who entered at the start of the second half, took a headed pass from Honoka Hayashi to score with a header from the center of the box.
Ueki almost tied it in the 78th minute with an 8-yard shot that forced a reactionary save by Claudia Dickey, who made four saves; Yamashita had one.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Phillies continue search for offense in series against Diamondbacks
Apr 8, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies left fielder Kyle Schwarber (12) celebrates a single in the top of the first inning against the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park. Mandatory Credit: Justine Willard-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Phillies’ bats have been scuffling in recent days, but Kyle Schwarber knows that a relaxed, focused approach is still the way to go.
Schwarber and the Phillies hope to escape with a series victory Sunday afternoon when they conclude their weekend set with the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks.
Philadelphia has scored in only two of its last 37 innings. The team came into this series with a 20-inning scoreless drought and has put up a zero in 15 of its 17 frames against Arizona.
In Friday’s series opener, the Phillies scored four first-inning runs and then got blanked the rest of the way en route to a 5-4 defeat. On Saturday, a four-run third proved to be enough in a 4-3 triumph.
“Everyone wants to get a hit, everyone wants to make the sick play, everyone wants to do something,” Schwarber said. “But that moment you start trying to go out and you start reaching for it might just create something that shouldn’t be there.”
Schwarber’s three-run homer highlighted the Phillies’ only offensive surge on Saturday night. Bryce Harper followed with a blast of his own, giving Philadelphia starter Taijuan Walker enough of a cushion to earn his first victory of 2026.
For Schwarber, the home run was his fourth of the season and snapped a six-game homer drought. Harper’s blast — his third of the campaign — also snapped a six-game stretch without going deep.
“He’s doing what he does really well,” Schwarber said of his fellow slugger. “He’s staying within himself. He’s controlling the zone, obviously. He’s getting a lot of really good contact and … that’s what he does.”
The Diamondbacks lost despite a leadoff homer from Ketel Marte and three hits from Adrian Del Castillo. The visitors scored two early runs against Walker but didn’t muster much offense thereafter.
“Two runs in this ballpark against this team doesn’t mean much,” Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said, “because they can turn things around in a hurry.”
Lovullo hopes his team can rebound behind Zac Gallen (1-1, 3.00 ERA), who has allowed just one earned run in 11 innings over his last two starts. The right-hander worked around five hits and four walks against the New York Mets in his last outing, yielding a respectable two runs (one earned) in five innings of the team’s 4-3 loss in 10 innings last Tuesday.
“I know Zac got a little nicked up early but then got super stubborn and started to pound the zone,” said Lovullo.
Gallen is 4-1 with a 2.52 ERA in seven career starts against Philadelphia.
The Phillies will counter with rookie Andrew Painter (1-0, 4.82), who has been uneven in his first two career starts.
The right-hander, who turned 23 on Friday, gave up one run in 5 1/3 innings against the Washington Nationals in his MLB debut on March 31. However, the San Francisco Giants reached him for four runs on nine hits in four innings on Monday.
Painter struck out just one against San Francisco after recording eight punchouts against Washington.
“The difference between this game and the last game is that once he got behind in the count, it didn’t seem like he was landing his secondary pitches as well,” Phillies manager Rob Thomson said after Painter’s stint against the Giants. “But he battled.”
–Field Level Media
Team Liquid 1st team to 2-0 at LCS Spring
Rose Lavelle records goal, assist in USWNT's victory over Japan
