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Archives for July 6, 2026

Red Sox vs White Sox

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CHICAGO – (Wire Service Report) – The Chicago White Sox will greet the visiting Boston Red Sox on Tuesday with a one-game lead atop the American League Central.

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While the White Sox realize they are nowhere near the finish line, they can appreciate the perch in the final week before the All Star-break. Especially on the heels of three straight 100-loss seasons.

“We are in a good spot. It’s exciting and it just shows the kind of growth we are at,” right-hander Davis Martin said. “It doesn’t matter if we are playing bad. We still find a way to find ourselves in every game.

“It’s a great time. We love winning. We do a good job celebrating each other’s successes. We are having fun being ourselves and enjoying it.”

Chicago split a four-game series against the Cleveland Guardians, its closest Central competitor, over the weekend.

A power surge propelled the White Sox to a 7-6 victory in Sunday’s finale. Colson Montgomery and Tristan Peters belted home runs among their two hits while Kyle Teel also went deep.

Red Sox starter Payton Tolle (4-6, 3.39 ERA) will aim to limit the White Sox attack and stop a recent penchant for allowing the long ball.

Pitching against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday, Tolle was unable to build upon his previous start — seven one-hit innings during a 6-1 victory on June 26 against the New York Yankees. Washington reached him for six runs and seven hits — including two homers — in three innings in a home loss.

Tolle figured to adjust the mechanics on his four-seam fastball after finding the Nationals “were ready for it.”

“I think I was also probably just being too fine,” he added, “trying to hit spots rather than just trying to execute pitches and just flying through the zone.”

Boston’s loss to Washington marked a rare recent blip for a club that is jelling under interim manager Chad Tracy. Although the Red Sox still occupy the AL East basement, they’ve won eight of 10 after completing a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels to begin a nine-game road trip before the break.

On Sunday, Boston overcame an early injury to All-Star left-hander Ranger Suarez to defeat the host Angels 7-5. Jarren Duran and Willson Contreras homered.

Contreras leads the Red Sox with 20 home runs, a milestone he has reached seven times.

“This year has been good to me,” Contreras said. “Of course, I’ve been doing my homework. I put the work in the cage and my mindset is still there.”

Rookie left-hander Noah Schultz (2-5, 5.86) is set to get the call for the White Sox. Schultz returned from right knee patellar tendinitis on Wednesday at Baltimore but endured the same result as his two previous starts before the injury: he lost.

Schultz has hurt his own cause with control issues and has a WHIP (walks plus hits per inning pitched) of 1.35.

Against the Orioles, Schultz allowed two runs and three hits in 4 1/3 innings with four walks and seven strikeouts. He has walked 26 batters and hit four with a pitch in 43 total innings.

He has yielded a home run in three consecutive starts and four of the past five. He has allowed five total homers.

Tolle is set to face Chicago for the first time in his career. Schultz has not previously opposed Boston.

–Field Level Media

Folarin Balogun Back in Action

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SEATTLE – (Wire Service Report) – After a dream start to the World Cup they are co-hosting, the United States are one win away from their first quarterfinal appearance since 2002.

They’ll have the added benefit of being able to play star forward Folarin Balogun on Monday in the round of 16 against Belgium after FIFA made the unexpected move of overturning his automatic red-card suspension Sunday.

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After Belgium’s football federation released a lengthy statement decrying FIFA’s decision, which concluded with a promise to investigate “all potential options,” national team coach Rudi Garcia said at a press conference that the integrity of the game was top of mind.

“I didn’t know that at the FIFA World Cup, the fifth of July is now first April and that it’s April Fool’s Day. It is news to me,” Garcia said via a translation.

“I am a head coach, I will focus on my team on tomorrow’s game regardless of the 11 starting players from the U.S. I will focus on my team, the pitch tomorrow and for us to get the victory so we can reach the quarterfinals.”

Both Garcia and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said nothing changes in Belgium’s gameplan in reaction to the Balogun decision.

“Of course, it was the day prior to the game so that was a bit of a surprise,” Courtois said via a translation. “Had it been done earlier we would have been able to be more mentally prepared, perhaps.

“They have 11 players too. There’s not only Balogun. We just have to play on the pitch, be on the pitch and do what we do, play football and try and win this game.”

Balogun scored the first goal of the Americans’ 2-0 victory over Bosnia and Herzegovina in the round of 32, but he was sent off in the 64th minute after a VAR review led to his red card — the protocols for which were misapplied. Referees were not supposed to use slow-motion replays and stills to judge the severity of his contact with Tarik Muharemovic.

A team cannot appeal a red card to FIFA, but on Sunday the governing body cited article 27 of its disciplinary code, which says “the judicial body may decide to fully or partially suspend the implementation of a disciplinary measure.”

Balogun is now considered on probation for one year. The suspension of discipline would be revoked if he “commits another infringement of a similar nature and gravity.”

The USMNT was preparing to face Belgium without its leading goal-scorer of the tournament (three). Coach Mauricio Pochettino, who confirmed that U.S. Soccer pleaded its case to FIFA, concentrated on the argument that Balogun’s red card was wrongly applied in the first place.

“We were punished enough against Bosnia to play with 10 men for 30 minutes, in a decision that was unfair,” Pochettino said. “It’s not because I’m the head coach of the USA. … I think 99.9% of people agree it was an unfair red card.”

Amid the potential distraction and the joys of playing well at a home World Cup, the Americans must be ready for a top-flight goalkeeper in Courtois and a balanced Belgium attack. Romelu Lukaku, Youri Tielemans and Leandro Trossard have two goals apiece to pace the team, while five different players have contributed one assist.

After pushing through the group stage in underwhelming fashion (two draws, then a win over New Zealand), Belgium fell behind 2-0 to Senegal, one of Africa’s best teams. But Lukaku and Tielemans broke through Senegal’s defense in the 86th and 89th minutes to force extra time, Tielemans drew a penalty at the 120+5 mark and he completed the improbable comeback by converting from the spot.

Belgium understand that, with or without Balogun, the U.S. will be a dangerous opponent.

“We always prepare for all the possible strikers,” Courtois said. “I think (Balogun) is a very fast striker. Obviously a different profile than maybe (Ricardo) Pepi, but I think they are all good strikers. Also with (Sergino) Dest playing on the right wing, (Christian) Pulisic can play there. A lot of quality up front. They arrive well in the box. They create a lot of 1-v-1’s with the goalkeeper.”

They’ll also be up against a partisan crowd in a soccer-crazed part of the country, at a stadium that seats roughly 67,000.

“We’re very fortunate to have such amazing support as we’ve had. Specifically Seattle has been unbelievable in hosting us,” midfielder Tyler Adams said at training this weekend. “So it’s exciting to come back to a place that feels familiar, that obviously we had the win over Australia, to know that we can expect that same energy again in the biggest moment in our careers is really special.”

-Field Level Media