preview Page 278 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

Pirates' Paul Skenes gets his fourth crack at Cubs
Rookie sensation Paul Skenes faces the Chicago Cubs for the fourth time this season when he takes the mound for the visiting Pittsburgh Pirates on Tuesday night.,Each of the right-hander's first two career starts came against Chicago, including the memorable second one in which he struck out 11 in s...

AFC North: 2024 Outlook, Preview, Predictions
AFC North division preview,2024 predicted order of finish, record,Cincinnati Bengals (11-6),A healthy Joe Burrow should have Cincinnati back in the playoff hunt for the third time in four seasons. The contract dispute with wide receiver Ja'Marr Chase could be a distraction. The Bengals have enough t...

NFC North: 2024 Outlook, Preview, Predictions
NFC North division preview, ,2024 predicted order of finish, record,Detroit Lions (12-5),Playmakers and power in the trenches take the offense to another level. If the young secondary holds up, competing for home-field advantage isn't out of the question.,Green Bay Packers (12-5),Jordan Love and Jos...

A’ja Wilson, Aces out to send Sky to seventh straight loss
A'ja Wilson and the Las Vegas Aces are showing signs of returning to form., ,The Chicago Sky are sliding., ,The two-time defending champion Aces (20-12) host the Sky (11-21) on Tuesday night., ,Wilson has scored more than 40 points in two of the past three games, including 41 in a 97-79 victory in P...

Storm out to split back-to-back against surging Sun
How well can the Seattle Storm adjust?,After Seattle surrendered 56 points in the paint during Sunday's 93-86 loss at Connecticut, Storm coach Noelle Quinn said her squad's physicality needs to intensify when the teams reconvene on Tuesday at Uncasville, Conn.,"It's not just the post-ups," Quinn tol...

Underwhelming pitchers in focus for Nats, Marlins
The Philadelphia Phillies, Atlanta Braves and the New York Mets are locked in amid their respective postseason pushes.,The National League East's remaining two teams, meanwhile, are simply playing out the stretch in the regular season's final month.,All but eliminated from playoff contention, the Wa...

NFC South: 2024 Outlook, Preview, Predictions
NFC South division preview, ,2024 predicted order of finish, record,Tampa Bay Buccaneers (10-7),Baker Mayfield's continued resurgence at quarterback and a stable defense will lead to a fourth consecutive division title.,Atlanta Falcons (9-8),Kirk Cousins is an upgrade at quarterback and adding edge ...

NFC East: 2024 Outlook, Preview, Predictions
NFC East division preview,2024 predicted order of finish, record,Philadelphia Eagles (12-5),If Saquon Barkley stays healthy, Philly avenges last year's collapse to extend the trend of a different division winner every year since 2004., ,Dallas Cowboys (11-6),MVP runner-up Dak Prescott and three-time...

NFC West: 2024 Outlook, Preview, Predictions
NFC West Division preview,2024 predicted order of finish, record,San Francisco 49ers (12-5),The 49ers have plenty of playmakers and signed "hold-in" WR Brandon Aiyuk to an extension. But LT Trent Williams remains a holdout and without him the line might not give Brock Purdy, Christian McCaffrey, Dee...

With wild-card hopes alive, Cubs look to sweep Nationals
The visiting Chicago Cubs will look to complete a three-game sweep of the Washington Nationals on Sunday.,With Saturday's 5-3 win, Chicago (70-66) has won five straight and eight of nine to move into contention for a National League wild-card spot. The Cubs were 18-8 in August and are four games out...

Storm searching for consistency vs. short-rested Sun
While the Connecticut Sun have to make a quick turnaround, the Seattle Storm are shooting for a turnaround of their own from some recent efforts they felt weren't up to par.,The teams meet Sunday afternoon in Uncasville, Conn., to open a two-game series and an East Coast road swing for Seattle (19-1...

Sparks look to ride momentum into matchup with Dream
Following a victory over the WNBA's best team, the Los Angeles Sparks will see if their improved performance has any staying power when they play host to the Atlanta Dream on Sunday., ,The Sparks (7-24) earned a 94-88 victory over the visiting New York Liberty on Wednesday as Dearica Hamby scored 21...

Toronto FC aim to bolster playoff hopes vs. D.C. United
Toronto FC are looking to strengthen their chances at their first MLS playoff appearance since 2020. A win against visiting D.C. United on Saturday would be a big help.,Toronto (10-14-3, 33 points) sits eighth in the Eastern Conference standings thanks to three wins in its past four league matches, ...

Lions out to snap skid, avenge loss to banged-up Redblacks
The BC Lions aim to snap a five-game losing streak on Saturday when they host the Ottawa Redblacks in Victoria.,The Lions (5-6) recorded their fifth win in six games to begin the season on July 13 before the bottom fell out. The team's freefall continued with a 34-27 setback to the Redblacks (7-2-1)...

Dynamo begin late push with home-and-home against LAFC
The Houston Dynamo begin a stretch pivotal to their playoff hopes when they visit Southern California to play the first of back-to-back games against road-weary Los Angeles FC.,The Dynamo (10-8-7, 37 points) are coming off a 1-0 home defeat against Toronto FC, a result that dropped manager Ben Olsen...

Minnesota United eye another victory over last-place Quakes
Minnesota United heads to last-place San Jose on Saturday night one point below the Western Conference playoff line and trying to a snap a nearly four-month road winless streak., ,The Loons (9-11-6, 33 points) are 0-5-2 in their last seven road contests with their last win coming at Atlanta United o...

Pitt, amid QB competition and RB transition, ready for Kent State
Pitt will look for favorable results in two different competitions on Saturday afternoon when it opens its season against visiting Kent State.,In addition to facing the Golden Flashes, the Panthers will continue their quarterback competition between Nate Yarnell and Eli Holstein.,Yarnell, a redshirt...

New Liverpool boss facing first big test at Manchester United
First-year Liverpool manager Arne Slot will get his first big test on Sunday when he takes his side to visit Dutch compatriot Erik ten Hag's Manchester United.,Liverpool (2-0-0, 6 points) have earned comfortable 2-0 wins away to newly promoted Ipswich Town and home to Brentford in their first compet...

Skidding Cincinnati seeks better performance vs. Montreal
FC Cincinnati and CF Montreal are clubs on different ends of the Major League Soccer standings, but both enter Saturday's match in Cincinnati needing a positive result. ,Cincinnati (15-8-3, 48 points) enters with a four-match losing streak. July 6 was the second-place side's last victory, a 6-1 win ...

In NL wild-card hunt, Cubs try to tame Nats' youth movement
The surging Chicago Cubs visit the revived Washington Nationals for an important three-game series beginning on Friday.,The Cubs have won three straight and six of seven to propel themselves into the National League wild-card race while the Nationals, who continue to call up important pieces of thei...