Sports
With knack for rebounding from losses, Phils face slumping Royals
May 30, 2026; Los Angeles, California, USA; Philadelphia Phillies pitcher Jesus Luzardo (44) pitches during the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images The Philadelphia Phillies have been particularly resilient in recent weeks.
Jesus Luzardo and his teammates will try to continue that stretch Saturday when they open a three-game interleague road series against the Kansas City Royals.
After both teams had a rare Friday off, Philadelphia aims to forget their sluggish 6-1 home loss to the Pittsburgh Pirates on Thursday. The Phillies had won seven of their previous nine games, but they only managed four hits as the temperature rose above 100 degrees in the series finale.
Philadelphia has won 12 of its last 13 games following a defeat. The team has only dropped consecutive games once since late May.
“It seems like we’re the same team every day,” said Phillies interim manager Don Mattingly, whose team will play its next nine games on the road. “Guys are coming to play. They’re going to work. I think we’ve kind of hit some sort of a stride where we’re pretty even with the way we’re playing. If we lose a game, it doesn’t seem to affect us the next day. And if we win a couple, we still play the same way. I’d like to see us play well through this trip and go from there.”
Luzardo (6-4, 3.88 ERA) has been impressive of late, going 2-0 with a 1.85 ERA over his last four starts. He gave up one run in five innings Sunday against the New York Mets, although he needed 96 pitches to record 15 outs. The Phillies have won each of his last seven starts.
“He kind of battled all day long,” Mattingly said. “Used a lot of pitches to get there, through five, but he did a nice job of hanging in there for me.”
Luzardo has appeared in three previous games against Kansas City — with one start — while going 1-0 with a 5.59 ERA. He has not faced the Royals since 2023.
Kansas City will give the ball to Michael Wacha (5-5, 3.31), who is coming off back-to-back one-run starts. The veteran right-hander struck out seven over 7 2/3 innings in a 2-1 loss to the Chicago White Sox last Saturday.
“Every time his name gets called, or his start comes up, the bullpen is in a tough spot,” reliever Daniel Lynch IV said. “And he has delivered time and time again. He goes out, he’s a pro, he fills up the zone and is giving us seven or eight innings. I don’t know what kind of spot we’d be in without him.”
Wacha, who celebrated his 35th birthday on Wednesday, has made 11 previous appearances (nine starts) against the Phillies, going 4-3 with a 4.89 ERA.
He has been a bright spot for the last-place Royals, who have dropped seven of their last eight, including a three-game home sweep by the Tampa Bay Rays this week. They were not particularly competitive in the series, getting outscored 19-6.
Carter Jensen and Isaac Collins each hit a solo shot in the series finale Thursday as Kansas City managed only five hits.
“We’re just not getting the results that we want,” Jensen said. “We want to win games just as much as everybody else in the league. So we’ve just got to make an adjustment.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Report: Wizards acquire C Deandre Ayton from Lakers
Oct 26, 2025; Sacramento, California, USA; Los Angeles Lakers center Deandre Ayton (5) reacts to a call during the fourth quarter of the game against the Sacramento Kings at Golden 1 Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Szczepanski-Imagn Images The Los Angeles Lakers are trading center Deandre Ayton to the Washington Wizards in exchange for guard Jaden Hardy and two second-round draft picks, ESPN reported Friday.
The picks are in 2031 and 2032, per the report.
Ayton, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NBA Draft, averaged 12.5 points and 8.0 rebounds in 72 games (all starts) in his lone season with the Lakers in 2025-26.
Ayton, who turns 28 on July 23, has averaged 15.8 points and 10.1 rebounds in 470 career games (463 starts) with the Phoenix Suns (2018-23), Portland Trail Blazers (2023-25) and Lakers.
Hardy, who turns 24 on Sunday, split the 2025-26 season with the Dallas Mavericks and Wizards and averaged 9.2 points in 57 games (four starts).
A second-round pick in 2022, Hardy has averaged 8.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists in 235 games (19 starts) with the Mavericks (2022-26) and Wizards. He has canned 38.6% of his career 3-point attempts (324 of 839).
–Field Level Media
Sports
Dream looking to halt slide vs. streaking Valkyries
Jun 26, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Atlanta Dream forward Angel Reese (5) vies for a rebound against Golden State Valkyries center Kiah Stokes (41) during the fourth quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: Robert Edwards-Imagn Images Trending in opposite directions, the Atlanta Dream meet the Golden State Valkyries for the third time in 11 days on Saturday afternoon in College Park, Ga.
Atlanta (12-8) dropped all four games on a road trip that began with defeats on June 24 and 26 at Golden State. It marks the longest skid for the Dream since a four-game stretch in August 2024.
“I think we’re playing hard,” Atlanta coach Karl Smesko said after Thursday’s 81-76 loss to the Washington Mystics. “But we have to make some shots. We’ve got to find a way to win even when we don’t shoot it well and the other team does.”
The Dream have averaged 76.8 points during the losing streak, which pales in comparison to their 90.4 points per game during their first 16 contests.
Rhyne Howard leads Atlanta with 18.9 points per game, followed by Allisha Gray at 18.3. Newcomer Angel Reese has amassed 14.8 points and 11.7 rebounds per contest.
None of the three, however, were named Thursday as All-Star Game starters for the July 25 contest. Reese was offended on behalf of her teammates.
“I think they work so hard and they put a lot of work in, and the way that they’re guarded every game and they have to adjust. The reason why we’re where we are is because of those two,” Reese said. “For us not to have anyone (in the starting lineup) was just a slap in the face, but they’re not going to say anything. I am.”
Golden State (13-7), meanwhile, has won three straight games and saw leading scorer Gabby Williams (15.8 ppg) named as a starter for the All-Star contest in Chicago.
Williams has helped push the Valkyries to the No. 3 spot in the Western Conference standings heading into the start of a five-game road swing.
“What’s most important is our next game and that’s it,” Golden State coach Natalie Nakase said. “We don’t look too far ahead. I think that’s what keeps our players really level-headed and focused on each team.”
Janelle Salaun adds 12.5 points per game for the Valkyries and Veronica Burton chips in 12.2 points with 5.4 assists.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Canada hope healthy captain Alphonso Davies can help shock Morocco
June 18, 2026; Vancouver, Canada; Canada’s Luc de Fougerolles and Alphonso Davies before the match. Mandatory Credit: Simon Fearn-Imagn Images Canada coach Jesse Marsch knows his side will need every advantage it can get against Morocco in a round of 16 match in Houston on Saturday.
That includes figuring out how best to use captain Alphonso Davies coming off an injury.
The Bayern Munich left-back played the final 15 minutes of Sunday’s 1-0 win over South Africa in his first appearance since sustaining a hamstring injury in early May. He immediately set up Promise David for a shot just outside the left post and provided a boost to the Canadians.
“I thought he had a good impact on the game and, more than anything, what you saw is that South Africa really respected him when he came in,” Marsch said. “So, we will be thinking about how to use Alphonso again in this game, whether from the start or off the bench.”
Davies has 15 career goals for Canada and has reached a status that he is featured on a collection of McDonald’s World Cup cups with the likes of David Beckham, Thierry Henry, Lamine Yamal and Christian Pulisic.
Canada claimed their first knockout victory when Stephen Eustaquio scored in the second minute of second-half stoppage time against South Africa.
But Marsch knows Morocco are on another level — and not just because Morocco rank sixth in the updated (but unofficial) FIFA world rankings compared to No. 54 South Africa. (Canada are 30th.)
“Preparing for Morocco is like a gory, horrible nightmare,” Marsch said. “It’s like, I don’t want to watch them play. They’re too good.”
His sleeplessness likely relates to trying to stop attacking midfielder Ismael Saibari, who scored in all three group stage matches. On Wednesday, it was announced he will move to Bayern Munich, joining Davies, from PSV Eindhoven.
After Morocco beat the Netherlands 3-2 on penalties following a 1-1 tie in the round of 32, Morocco coach Mohamed Ouahbi said it’s time the world take notice.
“Morocco has gained everybody’s respect now,” he said. “It’s not because of what we’ve said. We’ve now shown it.
“(The players) know that behind them there are millions and millions of people. We played when it was 2 in the morning in Morocco and we’re certain that most people stayed awake. That gives you the energy not to give up, to keep going and to believe in yourself.”
The teams met in the final group stage match at the 2022 World Cup with Morocco prevailing 2-1. The Moroccans then downed Spain and Portugal to become the first African nation to reach the final four.
Ouahbi knows anything can happen in a knockout match.
“Nobody can stop us if we play the football we know how to play,” he said. “But nobody is unbeatable. If we get things wrong, we’ll go home.”
The winner will play France or Paraguay — who meet Saturday in Philadelphia — in the quarterfinals in Foxborough, Mass., on July 9.
–Field Level Media
Report: Wizards acquire C Deandre Ayton from Lakers
Dream looking to halt slide vs. streaking Valkyries
