MLB
The Boston Red Sox keep improving their major league best record, beating the visiting Texas Rangers 8-4 in and extending their winning streak to eight games. Andrew Benintendi bolstered his All-Star credentials with a pair of doubles and two RBIs in his final game before fan votes are tallied. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a pair of RBI doubles and Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run triple as Boston scored five runs in the third. The series continues Wednesday at 7:00 p.m.
Elsewhere around the majors:
Kole Calhoun and Andrelton Simmons each had three hits and two RBIs to lead the Los Angeles Angels over the Seattle Mariners 9-3. The Angels got 15 hits and overcame an injury to starting pitcher Garrett Richards, who left in the third inning with right forearm irritation.
Victor Caratini hit an RBI double during a decisive seventh inning, helping the Chicago Cubs back Jose Quintana in a close game and beat the San Francisco Giants 2-0. A night after losing 2-1 in 11 innings despite a strong start from Kyle Hendricks, the Cubs had enough offense for Quintana. The left-hander allowed three hits in six scoreless innings to beat the Giants for the first time in his career after going 0-3 with a 5.82 ERA over his first three starts.
Andrew Benintendi bolstered his All-Star credentials with a pair of doubles and two RBIs in his final game before fan votes are tallied, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 8-4 on Tuesday night to extend their winning streak to eight games. Jackie Bradley Jr. hit a pair of RBI doubles and Xander Bogaerts hit a two-run triple as Boston scored five runs in the third and won for the 15th time in 18 games.
Alex Bregman homered twice and his tapper just in front of the plate in the 11th inning led to a bizarre play that ended the game, as catcher Jonathan Lucroy's throwing error handed the Houston Astros a 6-5 victory over the Oakland Athletics. Justin Verlander pitched six sharp innings and the Astros took a 4-0 lead into the ninth before Oakland tied it.
David Peralta and A.J. Pollock homered in Arizona's four-run seventh inning, and the Diamondbacks beat the Colorado Rockies 5-3. Nick Ahmed also went deep as the Diamondbacks won for the fourth straight time at Coors Field. Arizona was held in check by Colorado starter Tyler Anderson but a high pitch count ended his night after six innings. The Diamondbacks pounced on the Rockies' bullpen in the seventh.
Rookie left-hander Eric Lauer came within one out of his first career complete game before allowing Max Muncy's home run, and Wil Myers homered for the sixth time in four games to lead the San Diego Padres over the Los Angeles Dodgers 4-1. Austin Hedges had a three-run shot for the Padres.
Manny Machado hit two home runs, Jonathan Schoop singled in the winning run with two outs in the ninth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles rallied past the New York Yankees 6-5. Greg Bird homered and drove in four runs for the Yankees, who own an inexplicable 4-5 record against the last-place Orioles. The series continues Wednesday at 7:05 p.m.
Enyel De Los Santos won his major league debut and the Philadelphia Phillies got home runs from Maikel Franco and Odubel Herrera in a 7-3 victory over the New York Mets. Franco drove in four runs as the Phillies, who began the day tied with Atlanta atop the NL East, won for the 10th time in 13 games. Nick Williams had three hits and two RBIs, and Rhys Hoskins also got three hits. The series continues Wednesday at 7:10 p.m.
Russell Martin's sharp single in a five-run eighth drove in the go-ahead run for Toronto as the Blue Jays beat Atlanta 6-2. That knocks the Braves out of first place in the NL East. The Braves have lost six of their last seven.
Joey Votto hit a go-ahead three-run double during a seven-run ninth inning and the Cleveland Indians bullpen wasted a gem from Trevor Bauer in a 7-4 loss to the Cincinnati Reds. Indians closer Cody Allen allowed six runs with two outs in the ninth. Cleveland's bullpen entered Tuesday with a 5.13 ERA, better only than the Rockies and Royals.
Christian Yelich had three hits and four RBIs, Travis Shaw homered and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Miami Marlins 8-4. Shaw and Tyler Saladino had two RBIs each, and Milwaukee won for the seventh time in nine games. Jhoulys Chacin allowed four runs and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out three and walked three. Corbin Burnes pitched two perfect innings in his major league debut for the save.
Wilson Ramos hit a three-run homer, five Tampa Bay pitchers combined on a five-hitter and the Rays beat the Detroit Tigers 5-2. The Rays moved three games above .500 for the first time since Aug. 6 last year after posting their 13th win in the last 14 home games.
Anthony Rendon hit a two-run homer, Daniel Murphy doubled twice and had four hits, and the Washington Nationals beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1. Rendon hit his 13th homer off Pirates' starter Joe Musgrove in the fifth inning, and Washington added three more runs in the sixth against the bullpen. Jeremy Hellickson pitched five strong innings, and the bullpen closed it out from there.
Adalberto Mondesi had a three-run homer and a career-high four RBIs, and the Kansas City Royals snapped a 10-game skid with a 9-4 win over the Minnesota Twins. The Royals scored more than five runs for the first time since June 4 and improved to 26-65 overall, percentage points ahead of Baltimore to avoid owning baseball's worst record. Mondesi went deep in the second inning and added an RBI single in the sixth.
Slumping outfielder Dexter Fowler hit his fourth career grand slam, All-Star Miles Mikolas tossed six innings of three-hit ball and the St. Louis Cardinals routed the Chicago White Sox 14-2. Kolten Wong had four hits, including a two-run homer and a double, as every St. Louis starter except catcher Yadier Molina got at least one hit.
Elsewhere in the MLB:
The Washington Nationals have placed All-Star closer Sean Doolittle on the 10-day disabled list with left toe inflammation. Doolittle hasn't pitched since July 6. The following day, he tripped over a pitching mound and first experienced discomfort in his left toe. The left-hander has a 1.45 ERA and has converted 22 of 23 save opportunities this season. He will not pitch in the 2018 MLB All-Star Game, which is being held at Nationals Park on July 17.
The Nationals also optioned right-handed pitcher Jefry Rodriguez to Triple-A Syracuse and recalled right-handed pitchers Wander Suero and Austin Voth from Syracuse.
The Boston Red Sox say infielder Marco Hernandez and catcher Christian Vazquez each had surgery. Hernandez had surgery on his left shoulder and will miss the rest of the season. Vazquez had surgery on his right pinky finger and will miss 6 to 8 weeks.
Indians right fielder Lonnie Chisenhall will miss 8 to 10 weeks with a strained left calf muscle. Chisenhall suffered a Grade 3 strain while warming up before a July 2 game in Kansas City.
The Chicago White Sox have placed outfielder Avisail (ah-vee-SY'-eel) Garcia on the 10-day disabled list with a Grade 1 right hamstring strain. Garcia missed two months earlier this season with a more serious strain to the same hamstring muscle.
SOCCER
France advanced to the World Cup final for the first time since 2006 with a 1-0 win over Belgium on Tuesday.
Samuel Umtiti scored the only goal with a header in the 51st minute.
France, the 1998 champion and 2006 runner-up, will play either Croatia or England in Sunday's final in Moscow. England and Croatia will meet Wednesday in Moscow in the second semifinal.
France President Emmanuel Macron and King Philippe of Belgium shook hands in the VIP section before the match. Mick Jagger was also on the official list of guests.
Paris erupted in firecrackers, flares and shouts and tears of joy after France advanced. Red smoke rose up from flares fired by fans on the Right Bank esplanade outside City Hall, where crowds watched a broadcast of the match on huge screens.
Fans poured onto streets around the city, from the Champs-Elysees to working-class neighborhoods on the edge of town, with chants of "On est en finale!" or "we're in the final!"
Croatia goes against England Wednesday at 2:00 p.m. ET
TENNIS
Seven-time champion Serena Williams advanced to the Wimbledon semifinals with a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 victory over Camila Giorgi of Italy. Williams dropped her first set at this tournament as the 52nd-ranked Giorgi produced an impressive display of power and accuracy in the opener. However, Williams lifted her intensity to level, before closing out the match to move a step closer to reclaiming the title she won in 2016.
Williams will next face Julia Goerges of Germany, who advanced to her first Wimbledon semifinal with a 3-6, 7-5, 6-1 victory over 20th-seeded Kiki Bertens. With Angelique Kerber also having made the last four, it is the first time two German women will play in the Wimbledon semifinals since 1931.
Kerber converted her seventh match point to finally get past Daria Kasatkina 6-3, 7-5 and reach the Wimbledon semifinals for the third time. The No. 11 Kerber was the highest women's seed to reach the quarterfinals; it's the first time since Wimbledon began seeding players in the 1920s that none of the top 10 made it to this round.
She will face No. 12 Jelena Ostapenko on Thursday for a berth in the final. Ostapenko became the first Latvian woman to reach a Wimbledon semifinal with a 7-5, 6-4 victory over Dominika Cibulkova.
In men's action today, Juan Martin del Potro advanced to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time since 2013 by beating Gilles Simon. The fifth-seeded del Potro failed to convert four match points when serving at 5-4 in the fourth set, but maintained his composure to close out the contest with his first opportunity in the tiebreaker that followed.
NFL
The NFL Players Association has filed a grievance with the league challenging its national anthem policy.
The union says that the new policy, which the league imposed without consultation with the NFLPA, is inconsistent with the collective bargaining agreement and infringes on players' rights.
In May, the NFL approved its national anthem policy at its owners meetings in Atlanta. The policy allows players to protest during the national anthem by staying in the locker room, but forbids them from sitting or taking a knee if they're on the field or the sidelines.
NHL
The Tampa Bay Lightning have signed forward Nikita Kucherov to an eight-year contract extension worth an average of $9.5 million in salary and annual bonuses.
The team announced the deal Tuesday. The 25-year-old would have been a restricted free agent next summer with one year left on a deal that will pay him nearly $4.8 million for the 2018-19 season. Now he is set to stay with the Lightning through the 2026-27 season.
The two-time All-Star had 39 goals and 100 points with a plus-15 rating last season. That was third in the NHL in points, sixth in assists and tied for ninth in goals. He averaged 19:49 in ice time to lead all forwards for the Lightning, who lost in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference finals.
NBA
The Los Angeles Lakers have signed veteran Lance Stephenson and second-round pick Svi Mykhailiuk.
The Lakers announced the deals Tuesday.
Stephenson agreed to a one-year, $4.5 million deal to join LeBron James, Rajon Rondo and JaVale McGee in the Lakers' influx of veteran talent.
Stephenson appeared in all 82 games for Indiana last season, averaging 9.2 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.9 assists per game. The Lakers are his seventh NBA franchise entering his ninth season.
The Lakers chose Mykhailiuk with the 47th overall pick in last month's draft. The Ukrainian shooter averaged 14.6 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game for Kansas last season while setting the Jayhawks' single-season record with 115 3-pointers.
Elsewhere in the NBA:
Former NBA player Kermit Washington has been sentenced to six years in federal prison for spending hundreds of thousands of dollars in charity donations on vacations, shopping sprees and plastic surgery for his girlfriend.
The U.S. attorney's office says the 66-year-old Las Vegas man also was ordered Monday to pay nearly $970,000 in restitution. Washington pleaded guilty in November in federal court in Kansas City, Missouri, to making a false statement in a tax return and aggravated identity theft.
Washington played for several NBA teams in the 1970s and 1980s and is best known for throwing a punch that fractured Houston Rockets player Rudy Tomjanovich's face and left him unconscious during a 1977 game. Washington was playing for the Los Angeles Lakers at the time.
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
Authorities say former UCLA basketball player Billy Knight has died in Phoenix.
The Maricopa County Medical Examiner's Office hasn't released a cause of death.
Phoenix police say Knight's body was found on a roadway early Sunday near downtown and there was no evidence of foul play.
The 39-year-old Knight was a guard/forward at UCLA from 1998-2002, averaging 14.1 points and 3.5 rebounds per game as a senior.
He wasn't picked in the 2002 NBA draft and played professionally in France and Japan.
Knight was a basketball operations assistant for the Northern Arizona Suns of the developmental G League in the 2016-17 season. The team is affiliated with the NBA's Phoenix Suns.
Northern Arizona Suns officials issued a statement Tuesday evening saying they were "deeply saddened by the passing."
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