After severe thunderstorms and heavy rains washed out Monday night’s scheduled opener of a three-game series, the Battle for the Ohio Cup picks back up Tuesday in a day-night doubleheader when the Cincinnati Reds host the Cleveland Guardians.

Cleveland captured the final two games of the three-game set between the clubs in Cleveland on May 15-17. Cleveland can re-capture the Ohio Cup with two wins in Cincinnati this week.

The Reds return home feeling good about their recent play after capturing a 5-3 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals in 10 innings on Sunday. The win capped off a strong 6-3 road trip coming out of the All-Star break, giving the club three consecutive road series victories.

In the first game, right-hander Chase Burns (12-1, 2.42 ERA) takes the hill for Cincinnati for the second time since signing a seven-year, $105 million extension and for the second time since skipping the All-Star Game due to a tweaked groin.

Last Tuesday in Seattle, he earned a 4-2 win, laboring a bit while throwing 91 pitches. But still he held the Mariners scoreless over five innings and earned his 11th consecutive winning decision, the longest such streak by a Reds pitcher since Tom Browning and John Franco each won 11 straight in 1985.

Instead of turning to Brady Singer in the night game on regular rest, the Reds will use a reliever as their opener in the nightcap Tuesday.

Cincinnati’s super utilityman Spencer Steer left Sunday’s game in the fifth inning with right wrist pain after taking an awkward swing. X-rays were negative but Reds manager Terry Francona indicated Monday that Steer suffered a tear in the sheath around the wrist.

“He got an injection,” Francona said. “I think they’ll wait a couple weeks … and then either start to get him back to baseball or fix it (and) if you fixed it, it’s season-ending.”

The Cleveland Guardians are looking to turn things around after a tough weekend in Florida. The Guardians were shut out and held to one hit in a 1-0 loss to the Tampa Bay Rays on Sunday. The setback completed a three-game Tampa Bay sweep and extended Cleveland’s losing streak to five games.

The Guardians were blanked Saturday and Sunday against Tampa Bay and the road doesn’t get any easier with Burns on the mound to start the doubleheader.

“We faced three very good arms,” Cleveland manager Stephen Vogt said. “There’s no denying that the Rays have some really good arms, and we saw three of their best. We’ve shown at times that we can be a really good offense. We just need to find some consistency.”

In the day game, Cleveland will counter Burns with right-hander Slade Cecconi (4-7, 4.60 ERA), making his 21st start and his sixth career start against Cincinnati. Cecconi is 0-3 with a 4.05 ERA lifetime against the Reds, allowing 12 runs and 22 hits in 26 2/3 career innings against Cincinnati.

Cleveland is set to start red-hot right-hander Gavin Williams (10-5, 3.78) in the nightcap. Williams will be making his 22nd start this season.

Williams is coming off back-to-back starts in which he struck out 11 batters without a walk. But the Guardians scored just one run in each game and lost both. Williams has struck out 11 in each of his last three starts while walking just one over 20 innings.

He made his first career start against the Reds on May 17, earning the win after six innings of two-run ball.

–Field Level Media

FIFA president Gianni Infantino rejected scrutiny of his leadership and the organization, accusing critics of “spreading hate and false rumors” while they were “delivering the best show in the world,” minimizing or altogether ignoring issues that arose with the 2026 World Cup.

His message was delivered across 15 slides on his personal Instagram account, cross-posted to the FIFA Instagram account and distributed to media personnel by FIFA’s communications team.

Infantino’s message said, “We experienced no violence, no incidents, 100% safety and security, only joy and happiness!”

The comments came on Monday, a day after U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) accused Infantino of “outright bribery” in his relationship with Donald Trump and the president’s administration and businesses.

There were multiple issues with some teams and fans gaining access to the tournament. Four countries — Iran, Haiti, Senegal and Ivory Coast — played their matches despite many supporters being unable to enter the United States because of travel restrictions imposed by the Trump administration.

Iran’s team captain Mehdi Taremi called the World Cup a “disaster” due to the restrictions on visas and movement for members of its federation.

Infantino’s message also ignored the four people who died of suffocation during celebrations in Mexico City after Mexico’s round-of-32 victory over Ecuador, per The Athletic.

The message from Infantino, who has not held a press conference since before the World Cup began, also made a dismissive apparent reference to the significant controversy when U.S. forward Folarin Balogun had an automatic one-game ban reversed. FIFA’s disciplinary committee suspended the sanction with no explanation, and Trump later said he called Infantino to have the case reviewed, which Infantino denied.

“Your dissatisfaction with a few decisions made by the competent authorities is understandable, but please refer to public records: such decisions are common in some of the most important leagues,” Infantino posted. “Indeed, ‘arguable’ referees’ decisions or ‘strange’ disciplinary rulings such as for instance potentially mistaken red or yellow cards or subsequent decisions not to ban players in certain situations are routine and widely accepted in some of the biggest leagues worldwide.”

Among other issues faced before, during and since the 2026 World Cup, the Attorneys General of New York, New Jersey, Texas and California are investigating FIFA over its ticketing prices for the tournament.

Raskin is seeking an appearance from Infantino in front of the House Judiciary Committee, though he does not have subpoena power as the Democrats are the minority power in the House.

Raskin requested that Infantino reveal to Congress “a list of anything of value (including transfer of money, gifts, prizes, awards, or public appearances) given to President Trump, members of his Administration, or their family members, or any entity associated with them, such as The Trump Organization.”

Trump and Infantino maintained a close relationship throughout the leadup to the tournament, with the soccer organization giving Trump the first FIFA Peace Prize last year. Raskin called that award “hilariously fake.”

Raskin also wrote to Infantino, “You leased an office space on the 17th floor of Trump Tower — a space that might retail for $600,000 a year — even though it would only be used during the 39-day period of the World Cup. That comes to more than $15,000 a day. These actions appear designed to induce President Trump and his Administration to make decisions in FIFA’s favor. …

“The most recent quid pro quo that FIFA and President Trump orchestrated is not a victimless crime. It hurts Americans. FIFA has taken its newfound favored status in the Trump Administration as a sign that it may rip off its consumers, most notably, by employing illegal price gouging and fraudulent sales tactics for the World Cup.”

White House spokesman Davis Ingle responded to Raskin’s letter in a statement published by The Athletic: “Lightweight Jamie Raskin (is) a stupid person’s idea of a smart person. No other president in history could have pulled off the historic feat that President Trump delivered for the American people and the world.

“Thanks to his bold vision and decisive leadership, the 2026 FIFA World Cup generated billions of dollars in revenue, created a massive economic boost across host cities, and delivered a safe, secure, and seamless experience for millions of fans and athletes from around the globe. It will undoubtedly go down as one of the greatest and most successful sporting events in history.”

–Field Level Media

After a slow start out of the All-Star break, the Tampa Bay Rays regrouped to have an outstanding week and will look to start another one Tuesday night when they host the Texas Rangers in St. Petersburg, Fla.

Following a four-game sweep by the Boston Red Sox right after the break, the Rays won six of seven, taking three of four in Toronto before shutting down the Cleveland Guardians in a three-game weekend sweep to start a nine-game homestand.

However, the American League East leaders are the top team in the Junior Circuit for a reason, mainly relying on excellent starting pitching with a punchy top of the order, featuring standout hitter Yandy Diaz leading off and slugger Junior Caminero two batters later.

Pitching loomed large against the Guardians as starters Shane McClanahan, Nick Martinez and Drew Rasmussen completely dominated the visitors.

Over 18 innings, the trio allowed just one run (an ERA of 0.50), seven hits and three walks, totaling 17 strikeouts as the Rays outscored Cleveland 15-3, including shutouts in the final two games.

“Just a well-executed, masterful performance,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said of Rasmussen’s seven scoreless innings of one-hit ball in Sunday’s 1-0 win. “We’re definitely built around our pitching, no doubt. Most of the year, (our starters) have been spot on, quality outing after quality outing, 1 through 5, probably highlighted by Ras and Nick.”

Rays starter Griffin Jax (6-7, 3.89 ERA) has won five of his past seven starts, and holds a 5-5 record and a 3.38 ERA with an opposing batting average of .236 since moving from the bullpen to the rotation.

Like the Rays, manager Skip Schumaker and his Rangers enter the matchup in first place in their division, leading the AL West over the Houston Astros and Seattle Mariners, though they will travel to Houston after facing Tampa Bay.

Texas homered its way to victory Monday afternoon to claim the series over Seattle, going deep four times in the first three innings off nemesis George Kirby in a 7-3 bashing.

Leadoff hitter Joc Pederson homered in his first two at-bats off the right-hander. The lefty-swinging Pederson went 2-for-4 with four RBIs and pushed his long-ball total to 19.

“It just shows the mentality we’ve had lately,” Pederson said of beating Kirby, who entered the contest 9-1 with a 1.33 ERA in 12 career starts versus Texas. “We were able to get (to) a really good pitcher. That’s one of the best pitching staffs in baseball.”

Texas did not announce Tuesday’s starter, but its radio network said the options are Jordan Montgomery, who had Tommy John surgery in March 2025, or Nathan Eovaldi on four days’ rest.

Rangers shortstop Corey Seager (back) has taken two live batting practice sessions and looked sharp. The team is expected to announce a rehab assignment for him soon.

Seager hit the 15-day injured list on July 1 and has only appeared in 51 games.

“I would love to tell you ‘Yes,'” Seager said when asked if he understood his back injury, which started with lower back inflammation. “Well, as you know, backs are not … what you want. Honestly, just getting back is kind of the priority.”

He is batting just .182 with 10 homers and 25 RBIs this season.

–Field Level Media