w Page 6 - Sports News, Headlines & Highlights

With offense struggling, Red Sox brace for opener vs. front-running Braves
The Atlanta Braves own the majors' best record, batting average and ERA in the middle of May and are playing as confidently as they have since their 104-win season in 2023. ,The Boston Red Sox, however, are struggling entering the teams' three-game set in Atlanta beginning Friday night.,Atlanta, whi...

On upswing, Twins set sights on surging Brewers
The Minnesota Twins hope their next-door neighbors fare a lot better than their next-state neighbors on Friday night.,The Twins moved up the starting time of their game Friday evening as a favor to the NBA's Minnesota Timberwolves, whose arena is across the street from the ballpark in Minneapolis. ,...

Rays happy to face Marlins at home sweet dome after tough road loss
The Tampa Bay Rays will look to extend their home winning streak to 11 games on Friday night when they face the in-state rival Miami Marlins in the opener of a three-game series in St. Petersburg, Fla.,The Rays boast a sterling 14-4 record at Tropicana Field. Their most recent loss at home came on A...

Reds visit Guardians, vie to retain the Ohio Cup in weekend series
The Cleveland Guardians are coming off a three-game sweep of the visiting Los Angeles Angels as they host the Cincinnati Reds in the opener of a three-game weekend set on Friday night.,This isn't an ordinary series, however. On Rivalry Weekend, the teams will play for the Ohio Cup. And the Reds cert...

Beltway Series bounce-back? Nationals take aim at Orioles
The Washington Nationals will be glad to start fresh against the Baltimore Orioles on Friday night, one day after a debacle in Cincinnati.,Washington's chance for a series sweep vs. the Reds and a bid to reach .500 for the season ended in a 15-1 loss to the Reds.,The Nationals now will host the Orio...

Kyle Schwarber, Phillies eager to stay hot in opener vs. Pirates
Kyle Schwarber and the Philadelphia Phillies have turned their season around over the last two-plus weeks.,Schwarber will lead the surging Phillies into the opener of a three-game road series against the Pittsburgh Pirates on Friday night.,With seven home runs in his last seven games, Schwarber has ...

Netflix dives into MMA with Ronda Rousey-Gina Carano bout
Most Valuable Promotions is entering a new era.,The Saturday event in Inglewood, Calif., sees the Jake Paul-backed, primarily boxing-based promotion finally try its hand at mixed martial arts. Broadcasting to a global Netflix audience, the card is headlined by a monumental clash between former UFC w...

Blue Jays carry walk-off momentum in series opener vs. Tigers
The defending American League champion Toronto Blue Jays are off to a rough start. They hope their latest swing of the bat is the beginning of better times as they head into Detroit for a three-game series against the Tigers that starts on Friday.,Toronto had lost seven of its previous nine games be...

Defensive-focused Sky bring unbeaten record to Phoenix
Chicago Sky coach Tyler Marsh addressed a lively locker room after his team forced the Golden State Valkyries into 29.3% shooting during a win at San Francisco on Wednesday.,"When we play defense like that," he said, "we can compete with anyone, anywhere.",Chicago (2-0) will aim to channel that inte...

Tempo's first-ever road trip opens with doubleheader at Los Angeles
Fresh off the first victory in Toronto Tempo history, the expansion franchise heads out on its initial road trip, beginning the first of back-to-back games at Los Angeles against the Sparks on Friday.,Marina Mabrey scored 26 points and Brittney Sykes added 18 as the Tempo finished off a victory to r...

NFL Week 1 lines: Seahawks, Rams listed as favorites for 2026 openers
The Seattle Seahawks opened as minor favorites for their season-opening Super Bowl LX rematch against the New England Patriots upon the release of the full schedule for the 2026 NFL season Thursday evening.,The Seahawks, who beat the Patriots 29-13 to win their second championship on Feb. 8, open th...

Brewers unsure if Christian Yelich (back) needs IL stint
The Milwaukee Brewers hope resting Christian Yelich the past two days will be enough to loosen up his tight back, but they won't know for certain until Friday.,Yelich missed 24 games due to a left groin strain before returning to action on Tuesday and going 0-for-4 as Milwaukee beat the visiting San...

Super Bowl rematch and 10 other games to watch in 2026
Not only do the Los Angeles Rams have a reasonable shot at becoming the first team to win the Super Bowl on its homefield twice, the NFC West runner-up is by far the easiest team to find on the NFL's 2026 broadcast schedule.,Seven times the Rams are positioned for a primetime slot -- tying a league ...

Vasiliy Lomachenko ending retirement, eyes big fights
Vasiliy Lomachenko is ending his retirement, his manager announced on Wednesday.,"We are working on his comeback this fall," Egis Klimas told ESPN.,Lomachenko, 18-3 with 12 knockouts when he retired last summer, just became a free agent on Tuesday and will be looking to secure high-profile fights as...

Iron Honor minor favorite for rare full-field Preakness Stakes
For the first time in 15 years, Saturday's Preakness Stakes features a full field of 14 horses. That's the good news for the second leg of thoroughbred racing's Triple Crown, which will take place at Laurel Park.,However, for the second straight year and third time since 2022, the Kentucky Derby win...

Seahawks open title defense with Super Bowl rematch vs. Patriots
For the first time since 2016, the first game of the NFL season will be a Super Bowl rematch.,The Seattle Seahawks will begin their title defense on Wednesday, Sept. 9 when they host the New England Patriots, the team they dominated for a 29-13 Super Bowl LX victory on Feb. 8.,This was one of the ma...

Elina Svitolina defeats Iga Swiatek, will face Coco Gauff in Rome final
Elina Svitolina can now turn her attention toward winning a third Italian Open title after she produced a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 victory over No. 4 seed Iga Swiatek in Thursday's semifinal match in Rome.,The seventh-seeded Svitolina saved 11 of 16 break points and took advantage of 50 unforced errors by Swia...

Caitlin Clark looking for shooting stroke as Fever host Mystics
It's clear a couple of games into the season that Indiana Fever coach Stephanie White is going to be demanding of her team regardless of the situations.,So coming off their first victory of the season, the Fever will look for upgrades when they meet the visiting Washington Mystics on Friday night in...

Chris Wood set to captain New Zealand's World Cup squad
New Zealand announced the 26-man squad for its third World Cup appearance in history on Thursday.,Notably, Nottingham Forest forward Chris Wood and Braintree Town's Tommy Smith will become the first players in New Zealand history to make multiple World Cup squads. Both were also on the 2010 squad, w...

Boston, Philly to welcome World Cup tailgating -- for ticket holders only
The cities of Boston and Philadelphia will be hosting World Cup matches in a few short weeks, but when they do, they'll insist that a certain essential gameday activity, namely tailgating, has a different look.,Officials for both venues revealed on Wednesday that tailgating will be restricted to tic...