From the Diamond to the Pitch: A Big Week Across the Sports World
The Cardinals pick up two more series wins, St. Louis CITY returns with a victory, Manchester City and Barcelona prepare for their seasons, and tennis, Little League, beach volleyball and NFL preseason action keep the summer sports calendar packed. Here’s what caught my attention this week.
Cardinals Keep Winning Series
The St. Louis Cardinals had a strong week at the plate, taking two of three from both the Phillies and the Cubs.
At home against Philadelphia, the Cardinals dropped the opener 6-5 but bounced right back, winning the final two games of the series 2-0 and 7-1. Alec Burleson was outstanding all series, finishing 5-for-10 with two doubles and five RBI.
St. Louis then hit the road for Wrigley Field, where the story repeated itself. The Cardinals fell in the opener 3-0 but came storming back with an 8-4 win and an 11-4 blowout to close it out.
Now St. Louis heads to Cincinnati for a rare five-game series against the Reds, kicked off by a day-night doubleheader. After that, the Cardinals travel to Philadelphia for a rematch before returning home to close out August with back-to-back series against the Orioles and Pirates.
Kansas City Current Look to Regroup at Home
The Kansas City Current's road trip to face Gotham FC didn't go the way they wanted, falling 2-1 despite forward Amelia White scoring just seconds into the match.
The Current will look to regroup back home, where they'll host the Seattle Reign and the North Carolina Courage.
St. Louis CITY Returns With a Win
St. Louis CITY SC returned from its two-week break and made the trip to San Jose look easy, beating the Earthquakes 3-1 on the road.
The win came just days after the club transferred midfielder Marcel Hartel to Hannover 96 in Germany: a tough pill to swallow for CITY fans. Hartel was the team's top scorer, and according to Joey Zanaboni, the play-by-play voice of St. Louis CITY, he was the best player in the club's short history.
Losing a player of that caliber midseason is never easy, but Saturday's performance in San Jose showed this team still has plenty of fight left.
A New Era Begins at Manchester City
Manchester City didn't have the start to the season it was hoping for. The Blues were dominated 3-0 by Arsenal in the FA Community Shield, the traditional curtain-raiser that pits the reigning Premier League champion against the FA Cup winner.
It also marked the competitive debut of new manager Enzo Maresca, who is stepping in to fill the void left by Pep Guardiola. It wasn't the afternoon Maresca was hoping for, but there's a full week to regroup before City officially opens its Premier League season at home against Bournemouth.
On the women's side, Manchester City turned in a much more encouraging result, coming back from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Barcelona.
Considering Barcelona is fresh off winning the Women's Champions League in May and is arguably the best team in the world right now, that comeback is a real statement. The Women's Super League doesn't kick off until September 6, so City has some time before officially opening the season at home against Birmingham.
Barcelona Prepares to Defend Its Title
Barcelona closed out its preseason the way a defending La Liga champion should, cruising to a 5-2 win over Swiss side Basel.
Next up is the Joan Gamper Trophy, Barcelona's traditional season-opening exhibition, against Egyptian side Al Ahly.
After that, it's the real thing. Barcelona opens its La Liga title defense on the road against Elche before returning home to face Athletic Bilbao.
The women's team has been building nicely of its own this preseason, opening with a dominant 3-1 win over French side Montpellier before that entertaining 2-2 draw with Manchester City.
Barcelona's final tune-up comes against English side Brighton before the club officially opens its Liga F season against Costa Adeje Tenerife.
Gauff, Shelton and Fritz Take the Court
Coco Gauff had a strong showing at the WTA event in Toronto. She advanced to the semifinals by walkover after Belinda Bencic withdrew ahead of their quarterfinal, but she couldn't keep the momentum going against Elena Rybakina, one of the top players in the world.
Rybakina rallied from a set down to beat Gauff 5-7, 6-2, 6-2 and reach the final.
On the men's side, Ben Shelton put together an outstanding run at the ATP event in Montreal, and he didn't drop a set the entire tournament. He handled Joao Fonseca in the round of 16 and Jakub Mensik in the quarterfinals, both in straight sets, then beat Learner Tien in the semifinals to reach the final.
To cap it off, Shelton beat fellow American Brandon Nakashima in straight sets to win the title — winning that many matches in straight sets to get there is seriously impressive.
Shelton also jumped into the Cincinnati Open, but his momentum didn't carry over. He fell in the round of 64 to Portugal's Jaime Faria in straight sets.
Taylor Fritz has also been competing in Cincinnati. He opened with a straight-sets win over fellow American Alex Michelsen in the round of 64 and will face Daniel Merida in the round of 32.
Elite16 Beach Volleyball Heads to Montreal
Beach volleyball's Elite16 tour rolls into Montreal, Canada, from August 19-23, and Team USA will have a big presence in both the men's and women's draws.
It's one of the more competitive stops of the year, and with several American pairs among the favorites, there should be plenty to root for as the tournament plays out.
Check back for a full medal recap once the gold, silver and bronze are decided.
The Little League World Series Field Is Set
The 2026 Little League Baseball World Series field is officially complete, and every team had to survive a gauntlet of regional tournaments to get there.
On the U.S. side: Ohio won the Great Lakes region, New Jersey took the Metro title, Pennsylvania claimed the Mid-Atlantic, Iowa won a wild extra-innings thriller for the Midwest crown, Nevada rolled through the Mountain region, Massachusetts topped New England, Washington won the Northwest, Alabama took the Southeast, Texas West captured the Southwest, and Southern California powered through the West.
Internationally, South Korea won the Asia-Pacific region, the Czech Republic took Europe and Africa for the fourth straight year, Nicaragua won Latin America, the Dominican Republic claimed the Caribbean, and Mexico, Australia, Canada, Curaçao and Panama round out the international field.
All 20 teams begin play August 19 in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania, with the tournament running through August 30.
Chiefs Football Is Back
Kansas City Chiefs football is officially underway, even if the preseason opener didn't go as planned. The Chiefs fell 20-12 to the Rams to open the exhibition slate.
The preseason continues with games against Tampa Bay and the Seattle Seahawks, the reigning Super Bowl champions.
Once the real games begin, the Chiefs open the regular season at home against the Broncos on September 14 — and it's the first Monday Night Football game of the year.
It should be a fun one to watch, with the game airing on ESPN and St. Louis native Joe Buck on the call.