Sports
Taj Bradley (11 K's) backed by 3 HRs as Twins top Astros
Jul 1, 2026; Houston, Texas, USA; Minnesota Twins left fielder Trevor Larnach (9) hits an RBI single against the Houston Astros during the fifth inning at Daikin Park. Mandatory Credit: Erik Williams-Imagn Images
Josh Bell, Kody Clemens and Luke Keaschall belted home runs while Taj Bradley matched his career high for strikeouts as the visiting Minnesota Twins claimed the rubber match of their three-game series against the Houston Astros with an 8-3 victory on Wednesday.
Bell extended his career-high 16-game road hitting streak with a two-run blast in the top of the first inning before Clemens socked a three-run homer an inning later.
The Twins wasted little time chasing Astros right-hander Tatsuya Imai (5-4) from the mound.
Imai, who won his third consecutive decision while posting his third scoreless outing in his last start at Detroit, was ragged from the onset. He surrendered a leadoff double to Trevor Larnach and, three batters later, grooved a 2-1 slider that Bell tattooed to straightaway center field.
Bell notched his 11th homer of the season with a seismic 452-foot blast that cleared the batter’s eye. Imai followed by loading the bases with a pair of walks around a Victor Caratini single, but escaped the first inning without any additional damage. He wasn’t as fortunate in the second.
Imai walked three more batters in the second, including Keaschall and Brooks Lee, before Clemens came to the plate with one out. Clemens followed with his 14th home run, a 399-foot drive into the home bullpen in right-center that lifted the Twins to a 5-1 lead.
Imai, who needed 34 pitches to complete the first, departed after walking Bell. He allowed five runs on four hits and five walks over 1? innings, marking his third start of fewer than two innings.
Bradley (7-3) surrendered his lone run in the bottom of the first when Jose Altuve worked a leadoff walk and scored on Isaac Paredes’ double-play grounder. Bradley closed the first with a strikeout of Christian Walker, the first of 10 consecutive batters he retired via the strikeout.
Nick Allen snapped that run with a groundout to open the fifth, but Bradley closed his outing by recording a called third strike on Paredes. He worked five innings and allowed four hits and three walks with 11 strikeouts.
Larnach delivered a two-run single in the top of the fifth. Keaschall answered the Astros’ two-run sixth with a solo homer, his third, in the eighth.
–Field Level Media
Sports
10-man U.S. earn 2-0 win over Bosnia, charge into round of 16
July 1, 2026; Santa Clara, California, U.S.; Folarin Balogun of the U.S. scores their first goal. Mandatory Credit: Pedro Nunes-Reuters via Imagn Images Malik Tillman’s free-kick goal in the 82nd minute gave the short-handed U.S. men’s national team the insurance it craved to hold on for a 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in Santa Clara, Calif., on Wednesday and advance to the World Cup’s round of 16.
The United States earned their first knockout-round victory since 2002, but it wasn’t easy after Folarin Balogun, who scored in the 45th minute, was shown a red card in the 64th.
Matt Freese made three saves for his second shutout of the tournament to the delight of the roaring crowd.
The U.S. will play Belgium in Seattle on Monday. The Belgians pulled out a 3-2 winner over Senegal after extra time earlier Wednesday.
After a potential Christian Pulisic goal was disallowed in the 78th minute because he was offside, Tillman sent an overpowering shot up and over the wall from 21 yards to the upper left corner. The restart was set up when Sergino Dest drew a yellow card as Stjepan Radeljic grabbed his shirt.
Bosnia and Herzegovina played their first-ever World Cup knockout match.
Balogun gave the U.S. a 1-0 halftime lead with a wicked spin and shot from the top of the box. He followed a formula that worked in the first match against Paraguay when he had an early goal reversed because of an offside call before putting one on the scoreboard that stuck.
This time, he was offside in the 31st minute, but he would not be denied 14 minutes later.
The U.S. kept its defensive shape, pinning Bosnia and Herzegovina deep, resulting in a giveaway that led to the ball pinging off Bosnian defender Tarik Muharemovic.
Balogun ran onto the loose ball, stopped, turned to his left and fired in his third goal of the tournament.
A few minutes later in first-half stoppage time, Balogun pounded a shot off the crossbar from a pass by Sergino Dest.
The match took an ominous turn for the U.S. in the 64th minute when Balogun was issued a straight card when challenging for a header, his right foot landed on Muharemovic’s left ankle.
There was no foul called initially by referee Raphael Claus, but he reviewed the play and issued the red card.
Bosnian captain Edin Dzeko, 40, left in the 51st minute with a possible leg injury. At the same time, Esmir Bajraktarevic, who was born in Appleton, Wis., and played one match for the USMNT in 2024 before joining Bosnia and Herzegovina, entered.
U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino used the same lineup that defeated Paraguay 4-1 in the opener. That meant Christian Pulisic started after a left calf injury kept him out of the second match vs. Australia and limited him to a second-half substitute appearance vs. Turkey in the Group D finale.
The U.S. did not score in the first 11 minutes for the first time in the tournament. Instead, Freese had to make back-to-back saves on Ermedin Demirovic and then Kerim Alajbegovic from a corner kick.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Sony Open moving Waialae sponsorship to Champions event
Jan 18, 2026; Honolulu, Hawaii, USA; Chris Gotterup holds the championship trophy after winning the Sony Open in Hawaii. Mandatory Credit: Marco Garcia-Imagn Images Waialae Country Club in Honolulu has hosted a PGA Tour event since 1965, but on Wednesday, the Tour and Sony Group Corporation announced that the event will switch over to a PGA Tour Champions event starting in January 2027.
The Sony Championship Hawaii, to be held on Jan. 11-16, will feature a $3 million purse.
“We are excited to welcome the Sony Championship Hawaii to PGA Tour Champions,” PGA Tour Champions president Miller Brady said in a statement. “Sony has been an incredible PGA Tour partner since 1999, and we are looking forward to beginning this new era with the legends of the game competing on a truly iconic venue in Waialae Country Club.”
Among the past winners at Waialae Country Club are Hall of Famers Jack Nicklaus and Lee Trevino, along with current Champions Tour standouts Ernie Els, Jim Furyk, Vijay Singh, Zach Johnson and K.J. Choi. Chris Gotterup won the Sony Open in Hawaii at 16 under in January.
The Sony Championship Hawaii, which will mark the sixth PGA Tour Champions event to be held on a course that formerly hosted a PGA Tour event, will feature a field of 78 PGA Tour Champions players. Pro-Ams are scheduled for Jan. 12 and 13, with three competition rounds slated for Jan. 14-16.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Junior Caminero hits historic HR, red-hot Rays blank Royals
Jul 1, 2026; Kansas City, Missouri, USA; Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Shane McClanahan (18) throws a pitch in the first inning against the Kansas City Royals at Kauffman Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Aiken-Imagn Images Junior Caminero became the youngest player in major league history to homer in six consecutive games, with a two-run shot in the first, and Shane McClanahan allowed three hits over six strong innings, as the visiting Tampa Bay Rays won their seventh straight, 4-0 over the Kansas City Royals on Wednesday night.
At 22 years, 361 days old, Caminero topped a mark set by then-23-year-old Ken Griffey Jr. (23 years, 246 days) with his ninth home run in the last eight games. The historic shot came just three batters into the game.
After Jonathan Aranda (two hits) roped a one-out single to center field, Caminero drove the first pitch he saw from Seth Lugo (3-6) well into the left field seats to give Tampa Bay a 2-0 lead. Caminero has hit six of his 24 home runs in six games versus Kansas City this season.
Cedric Mullins added a solo shot in the sixth and an RBI single in the eighth, while Taylor Walls had three hits for the Rays, who matched their longest winning streak of 2026, and secured their first road series win since May 11-13, when they took two of three at Toronto.
McClanahan (7-5), meanwhile, yielded three singles, did not walk a batter and struck out four. The left-hander, who missed the past two seasons due to injuries, was given extra rest after he allowed six runs (two earned) and three homers over six innings of Tampa Bay’s 12-5 loss at Kansas City on June 23.
Cole Sulser, Garrett Cleavinger and Kevin Kelly (four saves) combined to allow three hits to the Royals, who have lost six of seven, including four straight against the Rays. Jac Caglianone had two of the Royals’ six hits.
Lugo threw 23 pitches during the first inning, then settled down and stymied the Rays until the sixth. That’s when he yielded a two-out shot to Mullins that found the right field bullpen.
The veteran right-hander gave up nine hits and struck out seven without a walk in six innings.
Kansas City put runners on first and second with less than two outs in both the eighth and ninth, but Kelly thwarted both potential rallies.
–Field Level Media
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10-man U.S. earn 2-0 win over Bosnia, charge into round of 16
