Sports
Corey Seager provides the offense as Rangers defeat the Dodgers
The first time Dodgers fans saw Corey Seager in the dugout this week, they cheered.
The first time they saw the former Dodger shortstop on the field, however, Seager gave them no choice but to boo.
In his first game as a visiting player at Dodger Stadium — three years since he left the franchise that drafted him, where he first became an All-Star and World Series champion — Seager led the Texas Rangers to a 3-2 win, providing the decisive blow in his first game back from a hamstring injury with a three-run home run off Walker Buehler in the fifth inning.
“We missed him,” Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said, after Seager missed the previous five games. “It’s good to have him back.”
His old club couldn’t say the same.
The Dodgers almost salvaged the game in the ninth inning, when Jason Heyward nearly tied the score on a double with two runners aboard. But the trail runner, Andy Pages, was thrown out at home on a bang-bang play at the plate after running through a stop sign from third base coach Dino Ebel.
The Dodgers requested a challenge to see if Rangers catcher Jonah Heim was blocking the plate. But after a video review, the call was confirmed.
Game over.
Another night at Dodger Stadium, decided by the swing of Seager.
“It sucks that he’s my buddy and he clipped me,” Buehler said of Seager, his former Dodgers teammate before the Rangers signed him for $325 million two winters ago. “But at the end of the day, people don’t just give out 300 million for no reason. He’s as good as there is in this game.”
Twenty-four hours earlier, Seager was welcomed back to Chavez Ravine with a warm reception Tuesday, getting a video tribute and extended ovation from his former fan base before the start of this week’s three-game series.
Because of a hamstring injury, however, Seager didn’t play in that game.
Only on Wednesday did Seager actually return to the lineup. And in his second at-bat, he reminded his old club of exactly what it let get away.
With the Dodgers leading by one in the fifth inning, thanks to Shohei Ohtani’s 17th home run in the first inning, Seager came to the plate with two on — one via an error by newly acquired Cavan Biggio, who started at third base — and got into a full-count battle with Buehler.
The first payoff pitch: a slider that Seager fouled off.
The next: a dead-red, down-the-middle fastball.
Andy Pages, representing the tying run, is tagged out at the plate by Rangers catcher Jonah Heim to end the game.
(Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times)
Seager didn’t miss.
With an explosive swing and two-handed finish — the same silhouette that defined Seager’s decorated Dodgers career — the slugger belted his go-ahead, three-run blast deep into the right-field pavilion.
“I tried to go in,” said Buehler, who gave up no other runs in a five-inning, seven-hit, two-strikeout start, “and kind of left it over the plate.”
The blast was Seager’s 13th home run of the season. It marked the 60th long ball of his career at Dodger Stadium. And, in what almost certainly was a first for the 30-year-old veteran, it triggered a reaction he’d never before received at Dodger Stadium.
Boos. Lots of them.
“I guess it kind of comes with the territory,” Seager said postgame with a shy grin. “I mean, I don’t blame them. I get it.”
The Rangers’ 3-1 lead stood until the ninth, when the Dodgers fell just short of a last-gasp comeback on Pages’ close call at the plate.
With two on and two out, Heyward lined a double into center field that easily scored Will Smith from second, and was bobbled by the Rangers’ Leody Taveras in center field.
Having started the play on first base, Pages saw the bobble, then decided to go for the tying run.
What Pages didn’t see: Ebel holding up a one-handed stop sign at third base, running right past the base coach en route to being thrown out on an impressive relay play by Rangers infielder Marcus Semien.
“As soon as I saw the center fielder misplay it a little bit, I just thought about scoring that tying run,” Pages said in Spanish. “You learn from those things. Unfortunately, those things have to happen for you to get better.”
Manager Dave Roberts said that Dodgers coaches weren’t upset with Pages, the 22-year-old rookie outfielder who has given the club much-needed production at the bottom of the lineup.
After all, it was Pages’ two-out walk that even allowed Heyward to come to the plate.
“It’s one thing to be defiant and to run through a stop sign when you see it, and there’s another thing of trying to make a play and try to be aggressive, seeing the ball in the outfield, and that’s what he did,” Roberts said, noting the Rangers still had to perfectly execute their relay play to get him. “It’s certainly not a reprimand situation. It’s just a teaching moment.”
One that also ensured Seager’s boo-inducing blast remained the decisive blow in the game.
“He certainly deserves all the applause from Dodgers fans, he helped us win a championship,” Roberts said of his former shortstop. “But he also deserved those boos after the three-run homer.”
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For the first time at a FIFA World Cup, finishing third in your group does not necessarily mean going home.
With 48 teams competing in 2026, FIFA expanded the field to include the eight best third-place finishers across all 12 groups. The top two teams in each group advance automatically, and the remaining eight spots in the 32-team knockout bracket go to the highest-ranked third-place teams, determined by points, goal difference, goals scored and other tiebreakers.
That means 12 teams will be competing for eight spots, and the race to stay in the top eight is one of the most compelling subplots of the final days of the group stage.
Here’s where the third-place standings sit heading into the final round of group stage matches on June 24.
Third-Place World Cup Standings
| Rank | GP | Points | Goal Diff. | |
| 1 | Bosnia & Herz. | 3 | 4 | -1 |
| 2 | Sweden | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 3 | Scotland | 2 | 3 | 0 |
| 4 | Croatia | 2 | 3 | -1 |
| 5 | Algeria | 2 | 3 | -2 |
| 6 | Paraguay | 2 | 3 | -2 |
| 7 | Cape Verde | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| 8 | Belgium | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Cutline | ||||
| 9 | Czechia | 2 | 1 | -1 |
| 10 | DR Congo | 2 | 1 | -1 |
| 11 | Ecuador | 2 | 1 | -1 |
| 12 | Senegal | 2 | 0 | -3 |
The third-place standings will shift considerably over the next two days as the final round of group stage matches is played. Follow the live standings at FOXSports.com and watch every match on FOX and FS1, streaming live on FOX One.
Standings as of the end of Bosnia and Herzegovina vs. Qatar and Canada vs. Switzerland on Wednesday.
2026 FIFA World Cup Standings Rules
How Do Points Work? How Do Tiebreakers Work?
In a group, a team will earn three points for a win, one point for a draw, and no points for a loss. That could mean some teams are equal on points at the end of the three-game group stage. That leads us to tiebreakers.
If two or more teams finish equal on group-stage points, here is the order of who finishes on top:
1. Most points obtained in the head-to-head matches played between the tied teams;
2. Superior goal difference in the head-to-head matches played between the tied teams;
3. Most goals scored in the head-to-head matches played between the tied teams;
There are even more tiebreakers if any teams remained locked after all that. From there, ties are broken by these rules:
4. Superior goal difference in all group matches
5. Most goals scored in all group matches
6. Highest team conduct score in all group matches (taking into account yellow cards and red cards)
7. FIFA World Ranking
Which Third-Place Teams Will Advance?
To fill out the World Cup knockout bracket, the best eight third-place teams out of the possible 12 in the tournament will advance. The criteria for those teams are based on:
1. Points
2. Goal difference
3. Goals scored
4. Highest team conduct score in all group matches (taking into account yellow cards and red cards)
5. FIFA World Ranking
Until Tuesday night, only one Mexican-born player had been an NBA draft pick. Eduardo Nájera was selected 38th overall in the second round by the Houston Rockets in 2000 and enjoyed a 12-year career as a backup forward with five teams.
Karim López joined him when the Detroit Pistons snapped him up at No. 21, making him the first Mexican-born first-round draft selection.
Lopez donned the Pistons’ cap handed to him by NBA commissioner Adam Silver, then was immediately traded to the Memphis Grizzlies.
López, a 19-year-old 6-foot-9 forward, became emotional when Silver announced the pick. He sobbed beneath the cap.
“It’s just super special,” he said. “I’m blessed. I mean, I have no words.”
Born in Hermosillo in the Mexican state of Sonora, López joined the prestigious Joventut Badalona youth academy in Badalona, Spain, at age 14 to accelerate his development. The academy counts former NBA players Ricky Rubio, Rudy Fernández and Raül López among its alumni.
During his post-draft television interview, he displayed a custom design inside his suit jacket: Mexico’s tricolor flag.
“I just wanted to represent my culture, represent where I’m from, represent my faith, and just represent myself, basically,” López said. “Show who I am.”
Memphis clearly targeted López while adroitly obtaining five second-round picks in the process. They received three picks from the Pistons and two from the Oklahoma City Thunder in return for moving back from the No. 16 draft position.
Whether López fulfills his potential and becomes the fifth Mexican-born player to take the court with an NBA team remains to be seen. Reviews are mixed.
Draft experts John Hollinger and Sam Vecenie of the Athletic differed in their evaluation, with Hollinger giving the pick a thumbs-up while Vecenie expressed reservations.
“I had Karim López rated quite a bit higher than [the No. 21 pick] and was surprised to see him slide this far,” Hollinger wrote, giving the pick an “A” grade partially because the Grizzlies also collected the five second-round picks.
Vecenie pointed out that López doesn’t shoot well and has defensive deficiencies, saying that his game might be better suited for European leagues than the NBA.
“I’m not sure how he gets on an NBA court early in his career,” he wrote. “I love his frame and physicality. I love that he rebounds and attacks with aggression. But I’m not sure he’s good enough without the ball to make an early impact in the NBA.”
Should López make the Grizzlies’ roster, he would join Horacio Llamas, Gustavo Ayón, Jorge Gutiérrez and Nájera as the only NBA players born in Mexico.
“It means a lot to me,” Lopez said. “It’s just a great opportunity for me and my country to have this platform and have this opportunity. So super blessed and definitely take it with a lot of pride.”
Noteworthy NBA players of Mexican descent born in the United States include former UCLA standout Jaime Jaquez Jr. and former Lakers reserve Juan Toscano-Anderson.
Jaquez averaged 15.4 points a game in 2025-2026, his third season with the Miami Heat. Toscano-Anderson played five seasons in the NBA — including winning a championship with the Golden State Warriors in 2022 — and now is with Pallacanestro Trieste of the top Italian league.
López is already a veteran of international basketball, having spent the last two seasons with the New Zealand Breakers in Australia’s top pro league. He averaged 11.9 points and 6.1 rebounds last season.
He will join No. 3 overall pick Cameron Boozer with the Grizzlies, who are rebuilding after finishing 25-57 and 13th in the Western Conference last season.
“A goal of mine is to hopefully reach young people in Mexico,” Lopez told ESPN in March when he declared for the draft. “Trying to grow the sport and inspire athletes and people in general to follow their dreams. Show people that it doesn’t matter where you’re from.”
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The 2026 NBA Draft finally saw the top college prospects get chosen along with some friendly fire among ESPN and basketball analysts on Tuesday night.
Jay Williams, Richard Jefferson and Kenny Smith were among those covering the draft and offering their analysis during the event. One exchange among the three former NBA players went awry and led to an awkward moment.
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Jay Williams of the Chicago Bulls and Tony Parker of the San Antonio Spurs share a laugh during the 2003 got milk? Rookie Challenge Game at Phillips Arena in Atlanta, Georgia, on Feb. 8, 2003. (Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE)
ESPN recalled the moments each former player was drafted. Smith went No. 6 overall in 1987 to the Sacramento Kings, Richard Jefferson was selected at No. 13 by the Houston Rockets before being traded to the New Jersey Nets in 2001 and Williams was chosen No. 2 overall by the Chicago Bulls in 2001. Williams’ career was cut short due to a motorcycle crash.
ESPN’s Kevin Negandhi asked why Williams received a big ovation. Williams explained that most people who had gone to Duke were from the New York or New Jersey area.
“They also didn’t see the future coming, so they were cheering,” Jefferson said.
Williams responded, “Wow.”
TNT basketball analyst Kenny Smith appears on air before the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament Final Four semifinal game between the Purdue Boilermakers and the North Carolina State Wolfpack at State Farm Stadium in Glendale, Ariz., on April 6, 2024. (Mitchell Layton/Getty Images)
Smith admitted that Williams was an “unbelievable talent” but “his career trajectory would’ve been a lot different if he didn’t like motorcycles.”
Williams tried to brush it off, saying all of what Smith was saying was “on record” and that he “wrote a book about it.”
“I guess everybody that goes to Duke isn’t that smart,” Jefferson quipped. “What? He wrote a book about it. I’m agreeing with him.”
The awkwardness filled the air after that as the Toronto Raptors were getting ready to make a selection.
Williams’ incident occurred in June 2003. He suffered a fractured pelvis, three torn ligaments in his knee and he severed a nerve in his leg. Williams violated the terms of his contract by riding the motorcycle in the first place.
Referee Richard Jefferson watches the game between the New York Knicks and Portland Trail Blazers during the 2022 Las Vegas Summer League at the Thomas & Mack Center in Las Vegas, Nev., on July 11, 2022. (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)
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He tried to make his way back into the NBA through the G League but never got there. He played 75 games for the Bulls in his rookie season and averaged 9.5 points per game.
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