Sports
White Sox's Munetaka Murakami displaying power ahead of Yankees series
Jul 26, 2026; Chicago, Illinois, USA; Chicago White Sox first baseman Munetaka Murakami (5) is douse with gatorade by catcher Drew Romo (L) and second baseman Chase Meidroth (R) after the Sox defeated the Houston Astros at Rate Field. Mandatory Credit: David Banks-Imagn Images First baseman Munetaka Murakami enjoyed a career day Sunday to help the Chicago White Sox salvage a game in their weekend series against the Houston Astros.
The rookie will try to maintain that momentum on Monday night as the first-place White Sox host the banged-up New York Yankees in the opener of a four-game set.
Murakami powered Chicago to a 12-3 rout of Houston, going 3-for-5 with two home runs and a personal-best six RBIs.
The outburst stopped a 14-game homerless streak for Murakami, who continues to progress after missing 35 games with a strained right hamstring.
“It was going to come sooner or later,” Murakami said through an interpreter. “It’s not like I’ve been having bad approaches. I wasn’t hitting home runs, but the approach itself was good. It was all about being patient in the box.”
American League Central-leading Chicago smacked five homers in the game to stop a two-game skid. Miguel Vargas provided a go-ahead, two-run shot in the sixth inning while Chase Meidroth and Junior Perez also connected.
It was a welcome power surge for the White Sox as shortstop Colson Montgomery, the team home run leader with 24, is day-to-day with an injured right shin.
Montgomery missed Sunday’s game after fouling a pitch off that area Saturday night. He was sidelined Tuesday after sustaining a similar injury in a July 20 game.
“It’s not going to be a long-time thing. Just something we have to get ahead of right now so it doesn’t linger,” Montgomery said. “Especially this time of year, too, heading into the dog days of August. You don’t really want to be kind of lingering with little things.”
The Yankees learned of another high-profile injury of their own before losing 11-4 to the host Philadelphia Phillies on Sunday night.
New York placed All-Star left fielder Cody Bellinger on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring. Bellinger is set to undergo further testing on Monday.
Fellow sluggers Giancarlo Stanton (right calf strain) and Aaron Judge (fractured rib) have been out since April 24 and May 31, respectively.
“We’ll have to do it a little bit differently, but we have guys capable of stepping up, coupled with the fact that we’re confident in our ability to hold runs down from the opposition,” Yankees manager Aaron Boone said. “We’re going out there expecting to win.”
The Yankees had won five of six before falling to the Phillies, yielding double-digit runs for the first time since July 4.
Anthony Volpe, Ben Rice and Ali Sanchez had two hits apiece for New York, which fell three games behind the Tampa Bay Rays for the AL East lead. Rice hit his team-best 31st home run.
Monday’s pitching matchup pits a pair of left-handers as Yankees veteran Max Fried (4-3, 2.97 ERA) faces White Sox rookie Noah Schultz (3-7, 6.04).
Fried is coming off Wednesday’s no-decision against Pittsburgh. Pitching for the first time since May 13 after sustaining a bone bruise on his pitching elbow, Fried scattered one hit, one walk and seven strikeouts in five scoreless innings.
Schultz is 1-3 with a 6.50 ERA in four July starts covering 18 innings. He surrendered five runs and 11 hits in 3 2/3 innings during Tuesday’s loss at Texas and has allowed at least one home run in each of his past six starts.
–Field Level Media
Sports
MLB roundup: Marlins blow lead to Padres, lose club-record 12th straight
Jul 26, 2026; Miami, Florida, USA; San Diego Padres third baseman Manny Machado (13) celebrates with center fielder Jackson Merrill (3) after hitting a two-run home run against the Miami Marlins during the eighth inning at loanDepot Park. Mandatory Credit: Sam Navarro-Imagn Images Manny Machado and Jackson Merrill homered in the four-run eighth inning to help the visiting San Diego Padres rally for a 5-3 win on Sunday and extend the Miami Marlins’ losing streak to a franchise-record 12 straight games.
Machado also had an RBI double in the fifth that sparked the comeback after being down 3-0. Jake Cronenworth contributed three hits and scored twice, and Ty France, Luis Rengifo and Merrill had two hits each for San Diego, which swept the three-game series.
Padres starter Walker Buehler surrendered three runs (two earned) and four hits in 5 1/3 innings. The veteran right-hander struck out seven and walked two. Mason Miller pitched the ninth for his 27th save.
Kyle Stowers doubled and homered for the Marlins, who had lost 11 in a row three other times in team history, most recently in June 2011. Miami starter Janson Junk went 4 2/3 innings, allowing one run and scattering seven hits before Lake Bachar (1-2) allowed two homers in the first four at-bats of the eighth.
Rays 1, Guardians 0
Drew Rasmussen allowed one hit over seven shutout innings while Chandler Simpson manufactured the game’s lone run as Tampa Bay completed a three-game sweep of Cleveland in St. Petersburg, Fla.
Rasmussen (9-5) walked one and struck out nine after allowing Steven Kwan’s double to begin the game. Simpson (two hits) led off the Rays’ fifth with a single, moved to second on a wild pitch and then to third on Ben Williamson’s groundout before scoring on Cedric Mullins’ bunt single.
Parker Messick (8-6) was a hard-luck loser for the Guardians after giving up one run on six hits over 7 2/3 innings. He struck out six with zero walks.
Braves 3, Orioles 2 (11 innings)
Austin Riley doubled in the go-ahead run, Tyler Kinley protected the lead and Atlanta beat host Baltimore in the rubber game of the three-game series.
Dominic Smith drove in two runs with a pair of singles and finished with three hits while starting pitcher Reynaldo Lopez threw 5 2/3 shutout innings for the Braves, who won for the eighth time in their last 11 games. Kinley delivered 1 1/3 scoreless innings, leaving the bases loaded in both the 10th and 11th innings.
Pete Alonso homered for the Orioles, who tied the game in the bottom of the ninth thanks to a costly Ozzie Albies error but then wasted game-winning opportunities in the next two innings. Andrew Kittredge (1-3) took the loss after Shane Baz allowed two runs (one earned) on six hits over 4 1/3 innings.
Pirates 8, Cubs 7
Ryan O’Hearn celebrated his 33rd birthday by belting his second grand slam of the season and fourth of his career as host Pittsburgh held on to beat Chicago.
The Pirates’ Shawn Ross launched a two-run homer in his second MLB game while rookie Esmerlyn Valdez also went deep and added an RBI single. Brandon Lowe collected three hits and two runs as Pittsburgh snapped a three-game losing streak.
Seiya Suzuki hit a two-run homer in the ninth for the Cubs. Pete Crow-Armstrong ripped an RBI triple and Dansby Swanson, Nico Hoerner and Pedro Ramirez each added an RBI single.
Nationals 10, Diamondbacks 7
CJ Abrams and James Wood each homered twice as Washington beat visiting Arizona to take the rubber game in the series between National League wild-card contenders.
Abrams finished 3-for-5 with three RBIs to boost his numbers to seven homers and 14 RBIs in his last seven games. Wood became the fifth MLB player to reach the 30-homer mark this season, while Dylan Crews added three hits.
Geraldo Perdomo and Ketel Marte homered for the Diamondbacks and Gabriel Moreno had two doubles and a sacrifice fly.
Red Sox 6, Blue Jays 1
Boston starter Ranger Suarez and four relievers combined to shut down visiting Toronto to clinch the team’s sixth straight series win.
Suarez, pitching for the first time since July 5 due to a groin strain, was taken out after four scoreless innings and 64 pitches, allowing four hits. Jarren Duran and Jahmai Jones each delivered two-run hits to give the Red Sox pitching staff plenty of run support. Boston has won 17 of its last 19 games.
Blue Jays starter Kevin Gausman (4-10) allowed three runs and five hits in six innings. Toronto has lost eight straight Gausman starts, and the 35-year-old has not won since May 22. Andres Gimenez prevented the shutout with an RBI single which plated Daulton Varsho with two outs in the ninth.
Royals 5, Tigers 4
Michael Massey hit a two-out, two-run homer in the eighth inning and visiting Kansas City hung on for a win over Detroit.
Massey’s eighth homer made a winner of Nate Pearson (2-0), who was making his Royals debut after being acquired in a trade with Houston. Lane Thomas had a solo homer and Luke Maile added an RBI double as the Royals salvaged a split of the four-game series.
Dillon Dingler had two hits and drove in two runs for the Tigers.
Mets 8, Dodgers 3
Tyrone Taylor’s go-ahead three-run homer in the sixth inning propelled New York to the victory over visiting Los Angeles.
The veteran outfielder greeted reliever Evan Phillips with a 405-foot blast into the left field seats for his eighth homer of the season and fifth since July 4. Marcus Semien added another three-run shot for the Mets as they snapped a three-game skid.
Freddie Freeman had an RBI while going 2-for-4 for his fourth straight multi-hit game. Tommy Edman and Teoscar Hernandez also went 2-for-4.
White Sox 12, Astros 3
Miguel Vargas hit a go-ahead, two-run home run in the sixth inning and Munetaka Murakami added a pair of homers as host Chicago routed Houston to avoid a series sweep.
Murakami went 3-for-5 with a career-high six RBIs. Sean Newcomb (1-2) worked around a hit and walk to get the final two outs in the sixth to notch the victory.
Jeremy Pena cracked solo homers in his first two at-bats and Taylor Trammell added a solo homer for the Astros, whose five-game winning streak came to a close. In his second start since returning from Tommy John surgery, Ronel Blanco (0-1) scattered five runs and four hits in 5 1/3 innings with three walks and four strikeouts.
Twins 11, Athletics 8
Ryan Jeffers went 3-for-5 with three RBIs, and Minnesota held on to beat the Athletics in Minneapolis.
Ryan Kreidler finished 3-for-4 with two doubles and an RBI for the Twins, who won the rubber match of the three-game series. Kody Clemens went 3-for-5 with two triples and an RBI.
Nick Kurtz hit a three-run home run to lead the Athletics. Jeff McNeil was 2-for-4 with two RBIs.
Brewers 11, Rockies 2
Jacob Misiorowski retired the first 14 batters he faced and finished with 12 strikeouts, Andrew Vaughn homered and host Milwaukee beat Colorado to take the rubber match in the series.
Misiorowski (11-4) struck out seven in a row to start the game and 12 of the first 13 batters he faced with pitches consistently above 100 mph. Cole Carrigg ended the bid for a perfect game with an opposite-field homer to left in the fifth inning.
Carrigg’s home run was his fifth of the season and Willi Castro hit a solo home run in the seventh for the Rockies, who finished with five hits and fanned 15 times.
Reds 5, Cardinals 3 (10 innings)
Cincinnati scored three times in the top of the 10th inning to take the rubber match over host St. Louis.
Nathaniel Lowe went 3-for-5, including a two-run RBI single in the 10th. Elly De La Cruz added a home run for the Reds. Starter Andrew Abbott allowed two runs on three hits and fanned four in six innings. Brock Burke (4-4) retired all four batters he faced in the eighth and ninth, and Julian Garcia picked up his first career save.
Cardinals starter Kyle Leahy struck out a career-high nine batters while holding Cincinnati to two runs on six hits in six innings. Reliever Matt Svanson (2-3) allowed all three runs (two earned) in the 10th. Alec Burleson went 3-for-5 for St. Louis, scoring once and driving in a run.
Mariners 6, Rangers 4
Dominic Canzone and Randy Arozarena hit back-to-back homers in the seventh inning as Seattle rallied to defeat Texas in an American League West showdown at Arlington, Texas.
Reliever Gabe Speier (2-2) pitched 1 1/3 hitless innings with three strikeouts to earn the victory, and Andres Munoz struck out the side in the ninth for his 18th save of the season. The Mariners snapped a four-game skid and moved past Houston to regain second place in the division, 1 1/2 games behind the Rangers.
Ezequiel Duran went deep for Texas, which had won the first two games in the four-game series that concludes Monday.
Angels 4, Giants 3
Jorge Soler and Jo Adell hit fourth-inning home runs, Jose Soriano threw five sharp innings and Los Angeles salvaged one game in their road interleague series against San Francisco.
Mike Trout went 4-for-4 for the Angels, who snapped a three-game losing streak. The four-hit game was Trout’s first since April 2021 and 21st of his career. His other three hits were singles.
Both starters went five innings. Soriano (9-6) allowed just the unearned run and three hits, with three walks and five strikeouts. The Giants’ Carson Whisenhunt (2-1) was charged with all four Los Angeles runs on five hits. He walked two and struck out seven.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Liquid, Shopify post wins to wrap LCS Summer Split Week 1
A backlit keyboard is part of the gear online video game streamer Jordan Woodruff uses in his Gilbert home.
Jordan Woodruff
Team Liquid and Shopify Rebellion got on the board with wins to conclude Week 1 of the League Championship Series Summer Split on Sunday.
Liquid swept Cloud9 2-0, and Shopify Rebellion did the same to Disguised. The regular season kicked off Saturday with victories by LYON and Sentinels.
The LCS Summer Split is an eight-team event that began Saturday and will run through the finals in October. The seven-week round-robin regular season — in which all teams play each other once in a best-of-three match — will set the field for the six-team playoffs.
The top two teams in the regular season will advance to the playoff semifinals, while the third- through sixth-place teams will advance to the quarters. The bottom two teams in the standings are eliminated.
The playoffs, which run Sept. 12 through Oct. 4, are best-of-five and double elimination. The top three teams will advance to the World Championships, played in New York, Los Angeles and Allen, Texas, from Oct. 15 through Nov. 14.
On Sunday, Liquid ran through Cloud9 in 38 minutes and 29 minutes on blue. Sean “Yeon” Sung averaged a kills-deaths-assists ratio of 6.5-0.5-6.5 across the two maps for Liquid.
Shopify turned back Disguised in 40 minutes and 29 minutes, also playing on blue. Ibrahim “Fudge” Allami of Australia averaged a 6.5-0.5-7.0 K-D-A to guide Shopify.
The LCS 2026 Summer Split continues Saturday with two matches:
–Cloud9 vs. Dignitas
–FlyQuest vs. Disguised
LCS 2026 Summer Split Standings
Place, Team (Match Record, Map Record)
T1. LYON (1-0, 2-0)
T1. Shopify Rebellion (1-0, 2-0)
T1. Team Liquid (1-0, 2-0)
4. Sentinels (1-0, 2-1)
5. Dignitas (0-1, 1-2)
T6. Cloud9 (0-1, 0-2)
T6. Disguised (0-1, 0-2)
T6. FlyQuest (0-1, 0-2)
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dominic Canzone, Mariners seek series split against Rangers
Jul 26, 2026; Arlington, Texas, USA; Seattle Mariners designated hitter Dominic Canzone (8) singles against the Texas Rangers during the sixth inning at Globe Life Field. Mandatory Credit: Jim Cowsert-Imagn Images Dominic Canzone was closer to assistant hitting coach Bobby Magallanes than just about anyone on the Seattle Mariners’ roster.
The two spent hours working on making Canzone more than just a platoon player.
So Canzone took it pretty hard when Magallanes was fired Thursday, the fall guy for the Mariners’ anemic offense.
Canzone responded by hitting his team-leading 16th home run, a three-run shot in the seventh inning, and added an RBI double in the ninth as the visiting Mariners rallied for a 6-4 victory against the Texas Rangers on Sunday in Arlington, Texas.
The four-game series between the top two teams in the American League West concludes Monday afternoon.
“Offense can be contagious, and that’s the hope, that this sparks a fire,” Mariners manager Dan Wilson said.
The reigning division champion Mariners snapped a four-game skid and moved past the Houston Astros into second place in the division, 1 1/2 games behind the first-place Rangers.
Canzone’s homer gave the Mariners the lead and Randy Arozarena went deep on the next pitch, both off Rangers reliever Cole Winn.
“I just left a pitch over the middle and (Canzone) took advantage of it. Same thing with Randy,” said Winn, who hadn’t allowed a run in his previous seven appearances. “There’s really nothing to that aside from making bad pitches and them capitalizing.”
The Mariners, who rely on the long ball more than just about any other team in baseball, had gone deep just 28 times in their previous 34 games.
“It was obviously a big moment,” Canzone said. “It was nice to just get the team in front and get a win.
“Especially coming from behind and struggling a little bit offensively, obviously, this is a step in the right direction. We need to come out tomorrow and do the exact same thing.”
The Rangers won the first two games of the series 5-4 and 7-1.
They took a 3-1 lead into the seventh Saturday.
“I think the bullpen, we have different guys in different lanes that have done really good, and we’ve had some hiccups along the way that have cost us just like everybody else,” Rangers manager Skip Schumaker said. “Today the home run cost us.”
Monday’s series finale is set to feature a pair of right-handers in Seattle’s George Kirby (8-8, 3.57 ERA) and Texas’ Kumar Rocker (3-8, 4.13).
Kirby pitched six innings last Monday in an 8-0 victory against visiting Cincinnati, giving up three hits and striking out six. Kirby is 9-1 with a 1.33 ERA in 12 career starts against the Rangers. He suffered the lone loss by a 3-2 margin April 7 in Arlington despite pitching eight strong innings. He rebounded to beat them 7-3 on April 18 in Seattle.
Rocker beat the visiting Chicago White Sox 10-0 on Tuesday with six innings of one-hit ball. He’s 0-2 with a 4.50 ERA in four career starts against Seattle.
–Field Level Media
