Amanda Doherty and South Korea’s Jin Young Ko fired matching 4-under-par 66s on Friday to share the lead at the Kroger Queen City Championship in Cincinnati.

Ko went bogey-free with four birdies, including three over four holes late, while Doherty balanced five birdies against a solitary bogey to keep pace at 7-under 133 through two rounds.

Ko opened on the back nine and carded one birdie before the turn, on the par-5 14th. After seven straight pars, her game warmed up on No. 4 with a birdie, her first of two straight. She added another at the par-5 seventh hole.

A 15-time winner on the LPGA tour, Ko is seeking her first victory since 2023. Her best finish this season has been a tie for 27th at the Aramco Championship in early April.

“I got married two months ago and my husband was there last week, and after the game he told me, ‘Why (are) you so nervous before you hitting the ball?'” Ko said. “And he didn’t like say that before, like last five years, but he said that.

“And then after I heard (that) I tried to think about how did I play like the last two or three years, and I think I had some scared … play because I want to be better than better. I would say I’m perfection person. That’s why I don’t want make (a) mistake on the course.

“But after I heard that, I’m being a human so I can make mistakes on the course and (it’s) just acceptable. Just trying having fun like (when I was 10 years old).”

Doherty, on the other hand, is seeking her first career win following her debut in 2022.

“I think I’ve just been working on the right stuff and everything is kind of going the right direction,” Doherty said.

The pair overtook Ina Yoon and Chella Choi of South Korea and Japan’s Rio Takeda, all of whom had shared the lead at 4 under following the opening round on Thursday.

Choi and Takeda battled for par to remain in contention at 4 under (tied for fifth), while Yoon shot a 1-over 71 to fall into a tie for 10th with five other golfers.

England’s Lottie Woad might have had the round of the tournament with a 6-under 64. Woad collected six birdies over her first 10 holes, endured one bogey (No. 6) and finished her day with one more birdie at No. 8.

That effort left her alone in third place at 6 under.

“I think I hit maybe 15 greens today, so my bogey was a three-putt which was annoying,” Wood said. “Today I hit more fairways and just hit really good approaches.”

New Zealand’s Lydia Ko continued to show consistency on Friday, following her first-day 68 with a 3-under 67. She did make two bogeys, but she rallied with five birdies to remain in contention in fourth place at 5 under.

World No. 1 Nelly Korda and No. 2 Jeeno Thitikul of Thailand are tied with Choi and Takeda at 4 under after their matching 67s. Jennifer Kupcho is right there with them at 4 under after carding a 4-under 66.

Korda is pursuing a third straight tournament win after winning the Chevron Championship and the Riviera Maya Open. Perhaps more impressive, she has failed to finish lower than second in 2026.

Tied with Yoon are Sophia Schubert (second-round 68), South Korea’s Haeran Ryu (66), England’s Jodi Ewart Shadoff (66), China’s Ruoning Yin (67) and Australia’s Cassie Porter (68).

–Field Level Media

Daylen Lile finished a triple short of the cycle, Zack Littell pitched five scoreless innings and the Nationals beat the Baltimore Orioles 3-2 on Friday night in Washington to open a three-game series.

Lile has four homers in his past four games, including two on Tuesday in Cincinnati.

Littell, signed as a free agent in March, allowed two hits while striking out three with two walks in his best start of the season. He improved to 2-4 and lowered his ERA from 6.94 to 6.10.

Andrew Alvarez, recalled from Triple-A Rochester on Friday, relieved Littell and pitched into the ninth, then left after the first two runners reached base. Gus Varland walked pinch hitter Leody Taveras to load the bases, but struck out Colby Mayo and retired Jeremiah Jackson on a sacrifice fly.

Richard Lovelady came on and gave up an RBI single to Gunnar Henderson and walked Taylor Ward before striking out Adley Rutschman for his second save.

Baltimore starter Shane Baz (1-5) went seven solid innings, allowing three runs on six hits. He struck out four and walked three while throwing a season-high 108 pitches.

In the second inning, a two-out walk by Colton Cowser gave the Orioles runners on first and second, but Littell struck out Mayo.

Lile doubled leading off the bottom half and Jorbit Vivas drew a one-out walk, but Baz retired Drew Millas and Jacob Young.

In the fourth, CJ Abrams singled, went to third on Lile’s single and scored on Brady House’s sacrifice fly to short right.

Henderson’s double off the right field wall put runners on second and third with two outs in the fifth, but Littell got Ward to ground out.

In the sixth, Curtis Mead walked, then with one out, Lile homered to right on an 0-1 pitch to make it 3-0.

Mayo singled with two outs in the seventh and Jackson doubled him to third. Alvarez struck out Henderson to end the threat.

James Wood lined a single off shortstop Henderson’s foot with one out in the seventh, but Baz ended his night by retiring Luis Garcia and Mead on fly balls.

–Field Level Media

Cedric Mullins homered among his four hits and scored three times, fueling the Tampa Bay Rays to a 7-2 victory over the Miami Marlins on Friday in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Yandy Diaz belted a two-run homer and Taylor Walls drove in three runs to lift the Rays to their 11th straight win at home and 17th in their last 20 games overall.

Jesse Scholtens (4-2) relieved opener Ian Seymour and allowed one run on five hits in five innings.

Connor Norby launched a solo homer in the second inning and Jakob Marsee did the same in the sixth for the Marlins, who have lost three of their last four games.

Jonathan Aranda worked a two-out walk in the first inning before Diaz deposited a first-pitch sweeper from Janson Junk (2-4) over the wall in left field. Diaz’s homer was his sixth of the season and first since May 1.

Norby halved the deficit in the second after sending a 1-1 fastball from Seymour over the wall in left-center field.

Tampa Bay tacked on two more runs in its half of the second, courtesy of Hunter Feduccia’s sacrifice fly to deep left field and Mullins’ head-first slide to beat the throw from first baseman Christopher Morel.

Walls’ grounder set up that play and his double to right field in the fourth inning plated a pair of runs to extend the Rays’ lead to 6-1.

Marsee chipped into the deficit by sending a 2-1 fastball from Scholtens over the wall in right field before Mullins responded in the bottom of the sixth. He deposited a 1-1 slider from Junk over the wall in right field for his third homer of the season.

Junk fell to 0-2 in his last three outings after permitting seven runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

–Field Level Media