MLB
Harrison Bader hit a go-ahead two-run double in the eighth inning and the New York Yankees overcame Gerrit Cole’s shortest start of the season and rallied for a 5-3 victory over the Texas Rangers. The Yankees won for the third time in 30 games when trailing after seven innings after entering the eighth with one hit since the second inning. Rookie Anthony Volpe sparked the comeback with a double off John King and Jose Trevino followed with an infield single before Bader gave the Yankees the lead. Ron Marinaccio got the win in relief and Michael King pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his fifth save.
Luis Robert Jr. had two home runs among his three hits to lead the Chicago White Sox to a 4-1 win over the Boston Red Sox. Andrew Benintendi added two hits and Robert homered for the second straight game, raising his season total to 21 as the White Sox won their first series in four attempts. Chicago had lost nine of its last 13 games. Chicago’s Jesse Scholtens (1-2) threw four scoreless innings to earn the win. Keynan Middleton pitched a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save. Adam Duvall had two doubles for the Red Sox, who had won seven of 10.
Max Scherzer struck out eight over six innings and Starling Marte homered to help the New York Mets beat the Philadelphia Phillies 4-2. The Mets snapped a three-game losing streak. David Robertson earned a five-out save. It was his 11th save of the season. Nick Castellanos went 3 for 3 with a walk and homered for the Phillies. The Mets went ahead for good on Pete Alonso’s RBI forceout and Tommy Pham’s RBI single in the sixth that made it 4-2.
Paul Goldschmidt hit a go-ahead RBI single that chased Chicago starter Marcus Stroman in the fourth inning and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Cubs 7-5 to earn a split of their weekend series at London Stadium. The Cubs missed a chance to get back to .500 after Stroman left the game with a blister on his right index finger, and the Cardinals ended a two-game skid after an error-filled first inning handed the Cubs a 4-0 lead. The Cubs (37-39) won 9-1 in the first game but had their winning streak halted at four games.
Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman got his 2,000th career hit. He reached the milestone in the eighth inning Sunday night with his second double in a 6-5 loss in 11 innings to the Houston Astros. Freeman’s sharp line drive to right field drove in Mookie Betts and made him the 295th player in major league history to reach the mark. Freeman was playing in his 1,801st game, becoming the seventh player to reach 2,000 hits as a member of the Dodgers. The 33-year-old Freeman spent his first 12 seasons with Atlanta. He joined the Dodgers as a free agent before the 2022 season.
NBA
As Victor Wembanyama took the stage for his first news conference inside his new home arena, he couldn’t help but notice an accessory that the San Antonio Spurs commissioned for the occasion. It was a replica of the Eiffel Tower made from Legos. Hundreds of them. Wembanyama loves Legos. He looked down at the 4-foot replica when he saw it and smiled. And then he sat next to Spurs general manager Brian Wright and started to talk business. The scene was a perfect microcosm of Wembanyama’s world right now. The teenager is more than just the player the Spurs are betting on to change their fortunes and help them return to championship contention. He's a global brand before playing his first NBA game.
WNBA
Breanna Stewart’s three-point play with 19.7 seconds left in overtime lifted the New York Liberty to an 89-88 win over the Washington Mystics. Sabrina Ionescu scored 31 points and Stewart added 18 for New York, which trailed by 17 in the first quarter and by eight with 2:28 left in regulation before tying the game with 2 seconds left on a layup by Courtney Vandersloot. Ariel Atkins led Washington with 24 points and Natasha Cloud added 23 and 11 assists.
Alyssa Thomas had a historic triple-double, DeWanna Bonner scored 26 points to move into ninth in WNBA history and Connecticut cruised to a 96-72 win over Chicago. Thomas had 14 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds for her fourth regular-season triple-double, the most in WNBA history. It was her second triple-double this season and she also has two playoff triple doubles. Bonner has 6,454 career points, moving past Katie Smith. The Sun matched its best 15-game start in history (12-3), winning for the sixth time in seven games, heading into a Tuesday showdown with the New York Liberty. Kahleah Copper had a career-high 29 points for Chicago (5-9), which lost its sixth-straight.
The last-place Phoenix Mercury have fired coach Vanessa Nygaard and replaced her with assistant Nikki Blue for the remainder of the season. The Mercury have gotten off to a rough start, dropping 10 of their first 12 games, including a 97-74 loss in Seattle on Saturday night. Nygaard took over the team last season and went 17-31. It wasn’t an easy year-and-a-half for Nygaard, with star center Brittney Griner missing all of last season while she was detained in Russia. Blue joined the Mercury coaching staff last season and has 15 years of coaching experience in the WNBA and college.
Brittney Griner will be starting in the WNBA All-Star Game a year after she was an honorary choice by the league while she was being detained in Russia. The Phoenix Mercury’s center was chosen by fans, media and players Sunday for her ninth All-Star game. Last season all the players wore Griner No. 42 jerseys for the second half of the game that was played in Chicago. A’ja Wilson and Breanna Stewart were the top voter getters among fans and will be the captains of the two teams when the game is played in Las Vegas on July 15. The two players were also captains last year and are each making their fifth All-Star appearances.
NHL
The details of how much time Connor Bedard has devoted to developing his game and imposing shot have become the stuff of lore. Vacations were skipped. Windows were broken. And neighbors awakened by the constant thud of Bedard practicing his shot outside into the night in his driveway. The payoff comes Wednesday, when the 17-year-old from North Vancouver, British Columbia, is expected to be selected by the Chicago Blackhawks with the No. 1 pick in the NHL draft. Bedard is being billed as a generational talent and already is drawing comparisons to Edmonton's Connor McDavid.
NCAA
Florida scored the most runs in the history of the College World Series in a 24-4 rout of LSU that forced a deciding Game 3 of the CWS finals. The Gators hit six home runs on a windy day at Charles Schwab Field and pounded LSU pitching for a CWS record-tying 23 hits a day after Ty Floyd struck out 17 in the Tigers’ 4-3, 11-inning win in Game 1. Florida came in having been involved in four of the CWS record-tying eight one-run games. The Gators had totaled 17 runs in four games here before the offense broke loose.
TRAVELERS CHAMPIONSHIP
Keegan Bradley built a big enough lead in front of adoring New England fans that he broke the tournament record at the Travelers Championship despite a shaky closing stretch. Bradley closed with a 2-under 68 for a three-shot victory. He finished at 23-under 257 at TPC River Highlands, a shot better than Kenny Perry’s previous record from 2009. The 37-year-old Vermont native won on the PGA Tour for the sixth time. Zac Blair closed with a 62 and finished in a tie for second with Brian Harman, who shot 64. It was Blair's best finish on the PGA Tour.
WPGA CHAMPIONSHIP
Ruoning Yin made a birdie putt from about 10 feet on the final hole and became the second woman from China to win a major, beating Yuka Saso by one shot in the Women’s PGA Championship. After Saso made birdie ahead of her on the par-5 18th hole at Baltusrol to move into a tie for the lead, Yin found the rough with her tee shot, then hit her third shot into an ideal spot and curled in the right-to-left breaking putt, pumping her fist after it dropped. The 20-year-old Yin closed with a 4-under 67, finished at 8-under 276. She joined Shanshan Feng as Chinese winners of women's majors.
ALLY 400
Ross Chastain held off Martin Truex Jr. and won the Ally 400 at Nashville Superspeedway. It's the third Cup Series victory for Chastain and his first since Talladega in April of last year. Chastain also gave Trackhouse Racing its first victory of the year at its home track. He led a race-high 100 laps, including the final 34. The 30-year-old had to weave by some slower traffic to hold off Truex by 0.789 seconds. Chastain clinched a playoff berth and celebrated with a burnout before smashing a watermelon. Denny Hamlin finished third, Chase Elliott was fourth and Kyle Larson was fifth.
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