Sports
With trade deadline approaching, Hunter Goodman and Rockies take on Royals
Jul 28, 2026; San Diego, California, USA; Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman (15) tags out San Diego Padres catcher Luis Campusano (12) attempting to score during the second inning at Petco Park. Mandatory Credit: David Frerker-Imagn Images Hunter Goodman wasn’t picked to compete in the Home Run Derby during All-Star Week, but he has plenty of suitors now.
Goodman, the Colorado Rockies’ power-hitting catcher, is drawing interest from several teams ahead of Monday’s trading deadline. For now he is still with Colorado and is expected to be in the lineup when the Rockies open a three-game home series against the Kansas City Royals on Friday night.
Colorado will send Tomoyuki Sugano (10-4, 4.69 ERA) to the mound against Kansas City’s Michael Wacha (5-7, 3.60).
Sugano, who is 1-1 with a 2.38 ERA in two career starts against the Royals, has helped the Rockies improve on their 119-loss season in 2025. So have Mickey Moniak, Jake McCarthy and Goodman, three of the most rumored Colorado players in trade scenarios.
Goodman, who leads the team with 31 home runs and 60 RBIs, has drawn the most buzz when it comes to possible trade partners. The 26-year-old catcher set the franchise record for home runs by a catcher in 2025 with 31, and he tied it in fewer than 100 games this season. He is poised to break his own record – should he still be on the roster this weekend.
Colorado has not ignored the rumors and talk about players being dealt.
“We talk about it openly,” Rockies manager Warren Schaeffer said. “It’s just a thing that might happen, and everybody knows it. It’s not like you pretend it’s not happening. These are human beings and their lives might change [over the next] couple of days here.”
The Royals are also expected to be sellers before Monday. They are coming off a tough 4-3 loss in Minnesota on Thursday afternoon when Kody Clemens hit a grand slam with two outs in the bottom of the ninth, and one of their movable players is Wacha.
The right-hander, who is 2-2 with a 5.11 ERA in nine career appearances – eight starts – against Colorado, was an All-Star this season and is pitching well. He has just one win since May 9 but has tossed at least six innings in 10 of his 13 starts since beating Detroit 11 weeks ago.
Wacha, along with Seth Lugo, are veterans in their mid-30s and would hold value for a team needing to bolster its staff for a playoff chase. That doesn’t mean Kansas City general manager J.J. Picollo is compelled to move either one.
“We have to be very, very pointed on what we want to get out of any one of those two,” Picollo said recently. “And it’s also, they made a commitment to us, and that’s big. And I think that’s important to the morale of the team.”
Both teams are dealing with injuries to key players ahead of their weekend matchup. The Royals placed shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (low back) on the 10-day injured list on July 22 – retroactive to July 21 – and he is eligible to be activated Friday.
Rockies third baseman Kyle Karros missed the two-game series in San Diego earlier this week with right biceps inflammation but has not required a trip to the IL.
-Field Level Media
Sports
Reports: Warriors bringing back key reserve Gary Payton II
Apr 7, 2026; San Francisco, California, USA; Golden State Warriors guard Gary Payton II (0) makes a layup past Sacramento Kings center Maxime Raynaud (42) in the third quarter at Chase Center. Mandatory Credit: David Gonzales-Imagn Images Gary Payton II is returning to the Golden State Warriors on a one-year contract for the veteran minimum of $3.9 million, according to multiple reports on Saturday.
Payton, 33, is a 6-foot-2 guard with the athleticism to play in the frontcourt. He’s coming off one of his best seasons after dealing with injuries in earlier seasons. Payton averaged a career-high 7.5 points along with 3.6 rebounds, 1.7 assists and 15.6 minutes in a career-best 73 games (one start) last season.
He averages 5.9 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists, 1.0 steals and 15.1 minutes in 343 regular-season games (52 starts) for the Milwaukee Bucks (2016-18), Los Angeles Lakers (2018), Washington Wizards (2019-20), Warriors (2020-22, 2023-present) and Portland Trail Blazers (2022-23).
He won the NBA championship with the Warriors in the 2021-22 season.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Walk-filled 3rd inning helps Pirates beat Reds, snap 4-game skid
Cincinnati Reds second baseman Matt McLain (9) tags out Pittsburgh Pirates right fielder Esmerlyn Valdez (55) on his way to second in the third inning between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Cincinnati Reds at Great American Ball Park in Cincinnati on Saturday, August 1, 2026. Pittsburgh starter Braxton Ashcraft threw five solid innings and Jake Mangum had two hits and a run to lift the visiting Pirates to a 4-1 victory over the Cincinnati Reds on Saturday.
Ashcraft (11-4) allowed one run on two hits with one walk and five strikeouts before a 106-minute weather delay preceded the bottom of the sixth inning.
Bryan Reynolds, Esmerlyn Valdez, Nick Gonzales and Henry Davis finished with an RBI apiece for the Pirates, who snapped a four-game losing streak.
Gregory Soto pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to earn his 14th save. Three Pittsburgh pitchers combined to hold Cincinnati to three hits. The Pirates recorded six hits.
Pittsburgh took a 3-0 lead in the third despite collecting only one hit. Davis drew a leadoff walk, Mangum singled and Brandon Lowe coaxed a walk to load the bases. Reynolds and Valdez drew consecutive bases-loaded walks to make it 2-0.
Gonzales followed with a fielder’s choice to plate Brandon Lowe and give the Pirates a three-run lead. As a steady rain fell throughout the inning, the grounds crew briefly tended to the mound.
Cincinnati got on the board in the fifth when Jose Trevino opened the frame with an opposite-field homer to right.
The Pirates extended their advantage to 4-1 in the sixth when Davis feathered an RBI single into shallow center, just beyond the reach of a diving TJ Friedl.
The Reds, who were 0-for-6 with runners in scoring position, threatened in the fourth. Sal Stewart was hit by a pitch before being forced out at second on JJ Bleday’s fielder’s choice. Nathaniel Lowe singled to center and, after Noelvi Marte popped out, Bleday advanced to third when no one covered second on Ashcraft’s pickoff attempt. But Eugenio Suarez struck out to end the inning.
Elly De La Cruz lined a rocket to center to open the eighth, but Mangum chased it down and made a leaping catch.
Reds starter Andrew Abbott (5-7) allowed three runs on three hits while matching a season high with five walks over five innings. He struck out one.
–Field Level Media
Sports
Hunter Goodman (2 HRs, 5 RBIs), Rockies rough up Royals
Aug 1, 2026; Denver, Colorado, USA; Colorado Rockies catcher Hunter Goodman (15) celebrates with center fielder Brenton Doyle (9) in the dugout after hitting a three run home run during the third inning against the Kansas City Royals at Coors Field. Mandatory Credit: Ron Chenoy-Imagn Images Hunter Goodman homered twice and drove in five, Willi Castro also went deep and the Colorado Rockies beat the Kansas City Royals 12-6 in Denver on Saturday night.
TJ Rumfield finished with three hits and three RBIs, Kyle Karros had two hits and two RBIs and Jake McCarthy also had two hits for Colorado, which won its 44th game of the season, eclipsing last year’s victory total with 51 games remaining.
Jac Caglianone, Salvador Perez homered and John Rave all went deep and Tyler Tolbert and Nick Loftin had two hits each for Kansas City, which pulled outfielder Lane Thomas from the game in the middle of the fourth inning. Multiple outlets reported Thomas had been traded to Atlanta along with left-hander Bailey Falter.
Rockies starter Ryan Feltner worked out of a jam in the first inning but couldn’t escape trouble in the second. Isaac Collins led off with a triple to the gap in right-center and one out later scored on Michael Massey’s sacrifice fly to left.
Tolbert started the third with a double to right and stole second, and two outs later Caglianone hit his 18th home run of the season. Perez followed with his 16th homer to give the Royals a 4-0 lead.
Feltner (4-5) allowed four runs on eight hits over six innings.
Kansas City starter Luinder Avila faltered in the third when Colorado sent 11 batters to the plate. The Rockies loaded the bases with two walks and a single, then Karros drove in the first two with a double and Rumfield made it 4-3 with a single.
Goodman capped the scoring with his 32nd home run of the season, breaking his franchise mark for homers by a catcher in a season that he set last year, and gave Colorado a 6-4 lead.
Avila (5-4) was charged with six runs on four hits in 2 2/3 innings.
Colorado added to the lead in the fourth on Rumfield’s RBI single. Castro hit a solo homer in the fifth, his 12th, to make it 8-4.
Goodman extended his franchise record with a leadoff homer in the seventh and drove in another run in the Rockies’ three-run eighth. The Royals scored twice in the ninth.
-Field Level Media
Reports: Warriors bringing back key reserve Gary Payton II
Moon phase today: What the Moon will look like on August 2
