Sports
Tarik Skubal returns home as Tigers face White Sox, trade questions
Apr 29, 2026; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; Detroit Tigers starting pitcher Tarik Skubal (29) throws against the Atlanta Braves in the second inning at Truist Park. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images Tarik Skubal will make his first home start since April 23 when the Detroit Tigers host the Chicago White Sox on Friday. It could be one of his last appearances at Comerica Park in a Tigers uniform.
The two-time Cy Young Award winner will be an unrestricted free agent after this season. Unless the Tigers make a dramatic turnaround, they may have little choice but to deal Skubal before the Aug. 3 trade deadline.
Detroit is beginning a 10-game homestand after losing four of five on the road. The Tigers are tied with the Kansas City Royals for last place in the American League Central.
Skubal made a surprisingly quick return from non-invasive surgery on his pitching elbow. He had the procedure done during the first week of May and made his first major league start since the operation on Saturday. He lasted 4 2/3 innings and 80 pitches against the Cleveland Guardians, giving up three runs (two earned) and five hits.
He walked one and struck out four in a 3-1 loss.
Skubal wasn’t pleased with his outing.
“I need to be better, plain and simple. ‘Just happy to be there,’ that’s a loser mentality to me,” he said.
Skubal won’t be competing for the Tigers much longer unless the team gets back in the playoff hunt.
“I don’t think about (the trade-deadline implications) a lot,” Skubal told the Detroit News. “I try not to let that consume me because I need to worry about what I’m doing today. That way I can go perform on Friday. Just worry how I stack five really good work days so I can go out there and be ready to compete.
“But there’s also the reality part to it. Everybody, the whole room, needs to focus on winning tonight’s game, winning a series, winning the next series and just let it snowball.”
The Tigers didn’t win either series on their road trip. Their lone victory came on Monday when Colt Keith hit three home runs in a 9-3 victory at Houston.
“The urgency is heightened based on the hole that we’re in and where we are at with our win total,” manager A.J. Hinch said of the homestand.
Skubal (3-3, 2.81 ERA) has an 8-2 record and 3.72 ERA in 11 career starts against the White Sox.
Chicago’s starting pitcher on Friday, Erick Fedde (2-5, 4.50 ERA), is 0-1 with a 4.35 ERA in four career outings (three starts) against the Tigers. He allowed two runs and four hits in four innings during a relief outing against Detroit on May 29.
Fedde had a disastrous May in which he posted a 9.00 ERA in five appearances. He has only given up one earned run in 12 2/3 innings across three June outings, including 2 2/3 innings of scoreless relief against the Los Angeles Dodgers on Sunday.
The White Sox are tied with Cleveland for first place in the AL Central despite the loss of slugger Munetaka Murakami, who had 20 homers before sustaining a hamstring injury against Detroit on May 29. Chicago has won five of its past eight games.
“They haven’t skipped a beat,” White Sox manager Will Venable said of his players. “I think it really speaks to what our offense was when we did have Mune. As good as he is, we’re getting contributions from everywhere. I think that’s evident now. You take him out of it and the guys are still performing well. Obviously, we want him back in that lineup, but the guys are doing a great job without him.”
The latest player to come through for Chicago was Andrew Benintendi. His pinch-hit grand slam in the eighth inning on Thursday lifted the White Sox to a 5-1 win over the host New York Yankees, allowing Chicago to salvage the finale of a three-game series.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Olivia Miles' record-setting night boosts Lynx over Sparks
Jun 17, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Minnesota Lynx guard Olivia Miles (5) drives to the basket against LA Sparks guard Ariel Atkins (7) in the first half at Crypto.com Arena. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images Rookie Olivia Miles scored 24 of her career-high 31 points in the first half, Natasha Howard added 15 points with nine assists and the visiting Minnesota Lynx closed out Commissioner’s Cup play with a 99-83 victory over the Los Angeles Sparks on Wednesday.
Kayla McBride scored 14 points and Courtney Williams added 13 for the WNBA-best Lynx (12-3), who went 6-1 in Commissioner’s Cup play but just missed out on representing the Western Conference in the title game.
The Lynx needed a victory Wednesday to reach the Cup final, as well as a loss from the Las Vegas Aces, who finished off an 86-76 victory over the Phoenix Mercury.
Miles continues to make a case for WNBA Rookie of the Year while helping to fill the void left by Napheesa Collier, who has yet to play this season because of multiple ankle surgeries. Setting a WNBA first-half rookie record with her 24 points, Miles shot 12 of 15 from the floor and 2 of 3 from 3-point range.
Rae Burrell scored 19 points and Dearica Hamby added 12 points with nine rebounds for the short-handed Sparks, who were without leading scorer Kelsey Plum (leg) as well as Cameron Brink (ankle). The Sparks also lost reserve guard Kate Martin after a first-half knee injury.
Jihyun Park scored a career-high 13 points and Nneka Ogwumike added 10 for Los Angeles (7-8), which went 3-4 in Commissioner’s Cup play and has lost consecutive games following a three-game winning streak.
The Sparks’ defensive woes continued with Minnesota shooting 55.6% from the floor, although they did force 20 turnovers, while committing 19 on their end of the floor.
The Sparks were competitive in the early going behind Burrell, who was starting in place of Plum. Burrell scored 10 points in the opening quarter to help Los Angeles to a 19-18 lead before Minnesota led 23-19 at the end of the period and never trailed again.
The Lynx led by as many as 17 in the second quarter and were up 52-37 at halftime after Miles scored a career high for points in any half.
Minnesota’s advantage reached 20 in the third quarter as the visitors had the game well in hand while leading 74-59 at the start of the fourth. Miles set her career high in points on a layup with 5:25 remaining.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Fire reel off last 10 points, send Storm to ninth consecutive loss
Jun 17, 2026; Portland, Oregon, USA; Seattle Storm center Dominique Malonga (14) is fouled by Portland Fire forward Emily Engstler (21) during the first half at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images Emily Engstler’s basket with 1:17 left snapped a tie and the Portland Fire scored the final 10 points Wednesday night to rally past the visiting Seattle Storm 94-89.
Engstler’s fadeaway jumper put Portland (8-9, 2-5 Commissioner’s Cup) ahead 91-89. Engstler then drove the lane on the Fire’s next possession and fed Bridget Carleton for her seventh 3-pointer of the game with 40.5 seconds remaining for a five-point advantage.
Carleton scored a team-high 24 points and set a career high for made 3-pointers, while teammate Carla Leite added 20 points and 10 assists. Sarah Ashlee Barker contributed 12 points, and Karlie Samuelson came off the bench to net 10.
Dominique Malonga starred in defeat for Seattle (3-13, 0-7) with a career-high 28 points and a season-best 11 rebounds. Natisha Hiedeman added 19 points and tied her season high with five 3-pointers, while rookie Awa Fam matched her season best with 18 points on her 20th birthday.
It wasn’t enough to prevent the Storm’s ninth straight loss, one that saw the visitors get outscored 27-15 in the fourth quarter.
Coming off a 107-74 loss at Minnesota on Monday, Portland got off the mark in a hurry, particularly from 3-point range. The Fire made four in less than two minutes as they started the game with a 16-7 spurt.
Seattle quit turning the ball over and got going behind Hiedeman, who canned a pair of 3-pointers in a 16-5 run that allowed the Storm to take a 23-21 edge to the second quarter.
Neither team led by more than four points in a back-and-forth second period, which ended with Fam making a foul shot with 21.9 seconds remaining to give the Storm a 48-47 lead at the break.
After earning a 20-8 advantage in paint points in the first half, Seattle kept looking inside to Malonga in the third quarter, and she delivered. Malonga’s eight points helped the Storm establish the game’s largest lead at 68-56. While the Fire bounced back, they still trailed 74-67 going to the fourth period.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ryan O'Hearn's 6 RBIs spark Pirates' demolition of Athletics
Jun 17, 2026; West Sacramento, California, USA; Pittsburgh Pirates left fielder Bryan Reynolds (10) celebrates with teammates after scoring against the Athletics during the first inning at Sutter Health Park. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images Ryan O’Hearn homered and drove in a career-best six runs while leading the Pittsburgh Pirates to an easy 12-4 victory over the Athletics on Wednesday in West Sacramento, Calif.
O’Hearn had a two-run double in the first inning, a two-run blast in the fourth and a two-run single in the seventh as Pittsburgh racked up 16 hits while beating the Athletics for the second straight night to end a three-game series.
Marcell Ozuna homered among two hits while Bryan Reynolds (two RBIs), Spencer Horwitz (three runs), Nick Gonzales and Jared Triolo (two runs) also had two-hit games for the Pirates. Brandon Lowe drove in two runs.
Zack Gelof homered in the ninth for the Athletics to extend his career-best hitting streak to 21 games, which is the longest active run in the majors.
Jacob Wilson had a two-run single and Henry Bolte homered for the Athletics.
Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft (6-3) allowed two runs, one earned, and four hits over six innings. He struck out seven and walked three.
The Athletics activated Aaron Civale (shoulder) off the injured list prior to the game. Civale (5-3) gave up six runs and nine hits in three-plus innings, striking out two and walking two.
The Pirates led 3-0 just four batters into the game.
Horwitz doubled and Lowe walked before Reynolds hit a ground-rule RBI double. O’Hearn followed with the two-bagger to left to make it a three-run margin.
Triolo led off the second with a single and Horwitz hit a one-out double. Lowe and Reynolds followed with consecutive run-scoring singles to make it 5-0.
Civale walked Lowe to start the fourth and was removed in favor of left-hander Jose Suarez. Two batters later, the left-handed-hitting O’Hearn sent the ball over the fence in left to make it 7-0.
The Athletics got on the board in the sixth. Nick Kurtz singled and Shea Langeliers walked before both moved up on an infield out. Wilson followed with a two-run single to center.
The Pirates piled on with five runs in the seventh, beginning with Ozuna’s 448-foot homer to center off Scott Barlow.
Jake Mangum followed with a single and Barlow hit both Triolo and Henry Davis to load the bases. Luis Medina walked Horwitz to force in a run, and Lowe hit a sacrifice fly to make it 10-2.
After Reynolds struck out, O’Hearn’s single to left-center boosted the gap to 10 runs.
Bolte hit his second career homer in the seventh for the A’s before Gelof continued his streak in the ninth.
–Field Level Media
Olivia Miles' record-setting night boosts Lynx over Sparks
Is Marvel Playing Us All With Fake Leaks?
