Sports
Stars Bobby Witt Jr., Tarik Skubal collide as Royals clash with Tigers
Sep 17, 2024; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) is congratulated by teammates after scoring a run during the third inning against the Detroit Tigers at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jay Biggerstaff-Imagn Images The Kansas City Royals look to their “special” talent — Bobby Witt Jr. — as they hope to avoid a sweep by the visiting Detroit Tigers.
The Royals (82-70) are clinging to the second wild card in the American League. The Tigers (79-73) trail Kansas City by three games and the Minnesota Twins by 1 1/2 for the final wild-card spot.
During his strong season, Witt’s baserunning is sometimes overlooked. While he leads the majors with a .331 average and ranks among the leaders in home runs (32), extra-base hits (86), runs (123) and RBIs (108), he also ranks high in stolen bases (30).
“Just trying to get an extra 90 feet,” Witt said. “I want to get into better scoring position for the guys behind me. Just trying to get to the next base, trying to score, by whatever way.”
Witt stole his 30th base of the season in the first inning on Tuesday, becoming the first shortstop in major league history with two seasons of 30 homers and 30 steals. He hit 30 home runs and stole 49 bases last year.
“He’s the best player in baseball,” left-hander Cole Ragans said of Witt. “He’s incredible, a special talent, a special human being. It’s a joy to get to watch every single day.”
Following Tuesday’s 3-1 loss, a somber Witt acknowledged the milestone but was ready to move on.
“It’s pretty special anytime you get to be the first, but that’s over now,” he said. “On to tomorrow. Anytime you lose it’s frustrating. We didn’t come this far just to come this far.”
“Anytime you’re doing something in the history of the game for the first time ever, is remarkable,” Royals manager Matt Quatraro said. “I would guarantee he would trade that 30-30 for a win tonight and that’s another reason he’s so special.”
The Royals got some good news ahead of Tuesday’s 3-1 loss in 10 innings regarding right-handers James McArthur and Michael Lorenzen.
McArthur suffered a right elbow sprain in Monday’s 7-6 setback to Detroit, exiting in the middle of a seventh-inning at-bat.
“He’s got a grade one UCL sprain, which is probably the best news we could have hoped for,” Quatraro said. “We’re going to shut him down five to seven days, just depending on how he feels. We’re very hopeful that it’s not a season-ending injury.”
Lorenzen, who has been sidelined with a left hamstring strain, had a throwing session Tuesday.
“Assuming everything goes smoothly today with him playing catch, we have him scheduled for a live BP on Saturday,” Quatraro said.
Kansas City right-hander Alec Marsh (8-8, 4.52 ERA) will oppose Detroit lefty Tarik Skubal (16-4, 2.50) in Wednesday’s series finale.
Marsh won his only previous start against Detroit, allowing three runs on five hits in six innings on May 21.
AL Cy Young candidate Skubal is 2-9 with a 5.05 ERA in 14 appearances (12 starts) against Kansas City. His latest loss of the season came at the hands of the Royals on Aug. 2, allowing five runs on seven hits in 6 1/3 innings.
Detroit’s bullpen was stellar in the two series wins, shutting out Kansas City after the fifth inning on Monday and holding the Royals hitless after Tommy Pham’s one-out single in the fifth.
Pitching in his third straight game, Jason Foley recorded his 25th save Tuesday. He has converted 10 straight save opportunities.
“Everyone’s done a hell of a job lately, especially with how much (everyone is) having to throw,” Foley said. “They’ve relied on us a lot. We’ve done a great job.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Tundra Esports advances to grand final of DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs
Tundra Esports swept Team Liquid in the upper-bracket final on Saturday to advance to the grand final of the DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs.
The grand final on Sunday will pit Tundra Esports against the winner of the lower-bracket final earlier in the day between Team Liquid and Aurora Gaming in the double-elimination format.
The $1 million Dota 2 event began with 16 teams competing in a round-robin stage split into two groups of eight teams. All series consisted of two games, and the top four teams from each group advanced to Group Stage 2, a single round robin featuring best-of-three matches that ran through Friday.
The playoffs feature best-of-three matches until the grand final, which will be best-of-five.
The championship team will receive $250,000 in prize money and a $40,000 club reward. The runner-up side will get $100,000 and a $30,000 club reward.
Aurora Gaming opened play on Saturday with a 2-1 win over Xtreme Gaming in the lower-bracket semifinal. Xtreme Gaming opened with a win in 40 minutes on red before Aurora Gaming rallied to wins in 47 and 29 minutes, both on red.
Russia’s Egor “Nightfall” Grigorenko logged a 21-4-28 kill-death-assist ratio for Aurora Gaming, while teammate Artem “Lorenof” Melnyk of Ukraine post a 23-8-30 K-D-A over three games. Wang “Ame” Chunyu of China had a 23-9-13 K-D-A ratio for Xtreme Gaming, which finished fourth in the tournament.
Tundra Esports dispatched Team Liquid 2-0 in the upper-bracket final, winning in 46 minutes on red and 39 minutes on green.
Ivan “Pure” Moskalenko of Russia posted a 32-2-19 K-D-A ratio for Tundra Esports and teammate Neta “33” Shapira of Israel had a 24-5-30. Michael “MiCKe” Vu of Sweden posted a 13-10-6 ratio for Team Liquid.
Dream League Season 28 prize pool, with prize money and club reward
1. $250,000, $40,000
2. $125,000, $30,000
3. $80,000, $25,000
4. $60,000, $20,000 — Xtreme Gaming
5. $45,000, $15,000 — Team Falcons
6. $35,000, $15,000 — PARIVISION
7. $30,000, $12,500 — BetBoom Team
8. $25,000, $12,500 — MOUZ
9-10. $20,000, $10,000 — OG, Natus Vincere
11-12. $17,500, $10,000 — Team Yandex, Team Spirit
13-14. $15,000, $10,000 — paiN Gaming, GamerLegion
15-16. $10,000, $10,000 — Yakult Brothers, Execration
–Field Level Media
Sports
LYON, Cloud9 in LCS Lock-In grand final
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
LYON knocked out Sentinels to earn a meeting on Sunday with Cloud9 in the grand final of the League Championship Series 2026 Lock-In at Los Angeles.
LYON won 3-1 on Saturday in the lower-bracket final, taking the first map in 31 minutes as Kim “Berserker” Min-cheol of South Korea posted a 7-0-1 kill-death-assist ratio. LYON won again in 37 minutes as Niship “Dhokla” Doshi, an American/Indian player, had a 7-3-6 K-D-A and Berserker a 5-0-6.
Sentinels stayed alive with a victory in 34 minutes in the third game as Ham “HamBak” Yoo-jin of South Korea recorded a 5-0-8 K-D-A.
But LYON wrapped up the match by winning the fourth game in 39 minutes on red. Berserker contributed a 6-3-7 K-D-A.
Following the eight-team Swiss stage in the League of Legends event, six teams competed in the double-elimination playoffs, with all matches best-of-five. The overall winner qualifies for the First Stand Tournament, while the second- and third-place teams will head to the Americas Cup.
Both of the latter two events will be contested in Sao Paulo.
Cloud9, which finished atop the Swiss stage standings with a 3-0 record, has moved through the playoffs by beating FlyQuest 3-0 in the upper-bracket semifinal and Sentinels 3-0 in the upper-bracket final.
LYON, who finished fifth in the Swiss stage, eliminated FlyQuest with a 3-0 victory in the lower-bracket quarterfinals, then a 3-1 triumph over Team Liquid in the bracket’s semifinal before Saturday’s victory.
2026 League Championship Series Lock-In at Los Angeles prize pool
1. TBD, qualifies for First Stand Tournament
2. TBD, qualifies for America’s Cup
3. Sentinels, qualifies for America’s Cup
4. Team Liquid
5-6. FlyQuest, Disguised
7. Dignitas
8. Shopify Rebellion
–Field Level Media
Sports
OpTic Texas moves into first place in CDL Major 2 qualifying
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. OpTic Texas defeated Los Angeles Thieves in a battle of 4-0 teams to move to the top of the standings in qualifying for the Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major on Saturday.
In other second-day action of Week 3 competition, G2 Minnesota edged Riyadh Falcons, Toronto KOI beat Miami Heretics and Carolina Royal Ravens defeated Vancouver Surge.
The 12 Call of Duty League teams are playing a full qualifying round robin to determine seeding for the second major of the season, to be held March 27-29 in Marston Green, England, as part of the DreamHack Birmingham event.
The top six teams in qualifying head straight into the Stage 2 Major playoffs, while the teams in seventh through 10th place will compete in a play-in round.
The Stage 2 Major champion will receive $150,000 and 100 Call of Duty League points, while the runner-up will get $90,000 and 75 CDL points.
After Los Angeles Thieves claimed an opening 250-238 Den Hardpoint victory, OpTic Texas won the next three to claim a 3-1 victory. A 6-2 Exposure Search and Destroy triumph was followed by a 4-2 Den Overload win before the result was clinched with a 250-173 Colossus Hardpoint triumph.
In Saturday’s first match, G2 Minnesota won the final two games to come away with a 3-2 win. Riyadh opened with a 250-229 Scar Hardpoint victory and took a 2-1 lead with a 5-0 Scar Overload win. G2 leveled it at 1 with a 6-1 Raid Search and Destroy win, tied it at 2 with a convincing 250-134 Colossus Hardpoint victory and won the deciding Colossus Search and Destroy game 6-3.
Toronto finished a sweep of Miami with 250-182 Hardpoint, 6-4 Search and Destroy and 4-2 Overload victories, all on the Den map.
Carolina also swept Vancouver for its second victory in as many days after a 1-3 start. After opening with a 250-186 Blackheart Hardpoint win and following with a 6-2 Den Search and Destroy victory, the team closed out the win with an 8-2 Exposure Overload win.
The weekend schedule:
Sunday
–Toronto KOI vs. Paris Gentle Mates
–FaZe Vegas vs. Boston Breach
–Miami Heretics vs. Cloud9 New York
–Vancouver Surge vs. OpTic Texas
Call of Duty League Stage 2 Major qualifiers standings (match record, map differential)
1. OpTic Texas, 5-0, +11
2. Los Angeles Thieves, 4-1, +8
3. Paris Gentle Mates, 3-1, +5
4. G2 Minnesota, 3-2, +1
5. Riyadh Falcons, 3-3, +2
6. Carolina Royal Ravens, 3-3, -1
7. FaZe Vegas, 2-3, 0
8. Toronto KOI, 2-3, -2
9. Miami Heretics, 1-3, -4
10.. Vancouver Surge, 1-3, -6
11. Cloud9 New York, 1-3, -7
12. Boston Breach, 1-4, -7
–Field Level Media
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Tundra Esports advances to grand final of DreamLeague Season 28 playoffs
