WIMBLEDON
Heading into the fourth day of Wimbledon, some first-round matches are yet to even start after more rain showers interrupted play. There’s quite a backlog of postponed and suspended matches at the grass-court Grand Slam tournament, causing a headache for scheduling officials and players alike. While some select players like Novak Djokovic and women’s No. 1 Iga Swiatek have made it into the third round, seven first-round matches have yet to even start after three straight days of rain interruptions. Many others have yet to finish. Former U.S. Open finalist Alexander Zverev is among the players yet to step onto the court. He will be first up on No. 1 Court on today.
Americans Taylor Fritz, the No. 9 seed, and Frances Tiafoe, who is No. 10. Won their matches. Fritz’s first-round match against Yannick Hanfmann of Germany was suspended midway through the fifth set all the way back on Monday and never resumed Tuesday. Fritz finally was able to get back on the No. 2 Court to wrap up his 6-4, 2-6, 6-4, 7-5, 6-3 triumph Wednesday.
Tiafoe and Wu Yibing of China were originally due to play Tuesday, but began Wednesday. Tiafoe won 7-6 (4), 6-3, 6-4.
Meanwhile, three environmental activists were arrested for interrupting matches by making their way onto court to toss orange confetti — hidden in boxes for 1,000-piece Centre Court puzzles sold at the tournament merchandise shops — and attract attention to an anti-oil organization.
MLB
Francisco Alvarez homered to tie it with two outs in the ninth, Mark Canha tripled in the go-ahead run and the New York Mets beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 2-1 on Wednesday night. The Mets won their fourth in a row, but they waited until they were down to their last strike, when Alvarez homered to right field off Andrew Chafin (2-2). Brett Baty followed with a ground single to right and, after a mound visit, Canha tripled to the 413-foot sign in right-center to score Baty. Kodai Senga (7-5) matched his season high with 12 strikeouts over eight innings. Christian Walker led off the seventh with a home run for Arizona.
Touted prospect Colton Cowser hit an RBI single in his major league debut and scored the go-ahead run when fellow rookie Jordan Westburg followed with a two-run triple, sending Dean Kremer and the Baltimore Orioles past the New York Yankees 6-3. Kremer struck out a career-high 10 in seven innings of four-hit ball. Ryan O’Hearn lined a two-run homer in the ninth, and All-Star relievers Yennier Cano and Félix Bautista combined to get the final six outs as the second-place Orioles won for only the second time in eight games. Josh Donaldson and Anthony Volpe homered for the Yankees. Kyle Higashioka had an RBI single.
Brayan Bello took a shutout into the sixth inning, Justin Turner had two hits and a pair of RBIs and the Boston Red Sox beat the slumping Texas Rangers 4-2 on Wednesday night. Corey Seager had three hits for the Rangers, and Adolis Garcia celebrated being selected for the Home Run Derby by hitting one that counted, a two-run shot in the sixth that made it 3-2. But those were the only runs against Bello (6-5), who allowed two runs on eight hits in seven innings, striking out three and walking none. Kenley Jansen, Boston’s only All-Star selection, pitched the ninth for his 18th save. The Red Sox won for the fourth time in five games. Jon Gray (6-5) was the loser.
New York Yankees pitcher Jimmy Cordero has been suspended for the rest of the season by baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred for violating the sport’s domestic violence policy. Major League Baseball says the 31-year-old Dominican right-hander accepted the suspension and will miss the season’s final 76 games and the postseason. He loses $309,677 in pay. Cordero was 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA in one start and 30 relief appearances and has a $720,000 salary, the major league minimum. He missed the 2021 season after Tommy John surgery while with the Chicago White Sox organization and spent 2022 with the Yankees’ Triple-A team at Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Yankees said in a statement they supported MLB’s discipline and “there is no justification for domestic violence.”
All-Star center fielder Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels had surgery on his fractured left wrist, two days after he was injured while fouling off a pitch. Manager Phil Nevin said the surgery went well and that Trout felt great. Meanwhile, two-way All-Star Shohei Ohtani was in the lineup as the designated hitter a day after coming out the game in the sixth inning due to a blister on the middle finger of his pitching hand. Ohtani says he’s not planning on pitching in the All-Star game next week and it remains to be seen whether he’ll DH for the American League.
Cincinnati Reds rookie Elly De La Cruz pointed at the knob of his bat after hitting a 455-foot homer at Washington in a reference to the removal of a plastic covering earlier in the game. The 21-year-old De La Cruz, a key engine behind Cincinnati’s rise to the top of the NL Central, had an empty sensor cover on the knob of his bat. But it was removed after Nationals manager Dave Martinez questioned its use before the infielder batted in the second. Major League Baseball said “the housing” is permissible, and that was communicated to the Nationals. De La Cruz then led off the fifth with a massive drive to right-center.
A cameraman has been injured at Yankee Stadium and taken to the hospital after he was hit in the head by a wild throw from Baltimore Orioles rookie shortstop Gunnar Henderson. Positioned next to New York's dugout on the first-base side, Pete Stendel of YES Network was struck by a hurried throw from Henderson, who fired high to first as he tried to complete a double play. After the game, YES said Stendel was conscious and undergoing tests in the hospital. Play was delayed about 17 minutes as Stendel received medical attention in the camera well. Yankees and Orioles players, including Henderson, watched in obvious concern at a hushed ballpark. Stendel was strapped onto a stretcher and carted off the field, raising and wagging two fingers to loud applause.
Chicago White Sox All-Star Luis Robert Jr. and two-time champion Pete Alonso of the New York Mets are set to participate in baseball’s Home Run Derby in Seattle. Robert earned the top seed in an eight-player field announced Wednesday that includes Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez, 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena, Texas’ Adolis García and Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman. Alonso will try to join Ken Griffey Jr. as the only three-time champions. Robert will go against Rutschman in the first round, with Alonso facing Rodriguez. Betts meets Guerrero, and García goes against Arozarena. The seeding was determined by home run totals through Tuesday. Tiebreakers went to the player with the most homers since June 15.
NBA
Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo had surgery on his left knee during the offseason. But Milwaukee coach Adrian Griffin said Wednesday the two-time MVP should be ready for training camp. Griffin said after a practice with the Bucks’ summer league team that Antetokounmpo had a “routine” procedure and “it went great.” Antetokounmpo finished third in MVP balloting this past season, during which he missed 11 games for what the team called left knee soreness. It’s unclear whether the surgery will prevent Antetokounmpo from playing for Greece in the World Cup, which begins Aug. 25.
WNBA
Breanna Stewart scored 43 points and the New York Liberty recovered from blowing a 20-point lead to beat the Phoenix Mercury 99-95. Stewart helped the Liberty build a 73-53 lead with 4 minutes left in the third quarter before Phoenix rallied to tie it at 92 all and then Michaela Onyenwere scored to give the Mercury their first lead since the opening minutes. Jonquel Jones answered with a layup and then Courtney Vandersloot stole a pass and fed Stewart for a layup with 1:19 left to give New York the 94-92 advantage. The Liberty (12-4) would never relinquish the lead. Brittney Griner had 21 points. Diana Taurasi finished with 23 points as she continued on her path to 10,000 career points. The WNBA’s all-time scoring leader has 9,881 now.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Braian Cufré scored in the 81st minute to help New York City FC tie Charlotte 1-1. Cufré was left alone along the left side for a pass from Keaton Parks and sent a deflected shot into the back of the net. NYCFC (5-7-10) is unbeaten in seven straight matches, tying New England for the longest active run. Six of the seven games have ended in draws. Charlotte (6-8-7) has finished in a tie in four straight, including going scoreless against Montreal in its last game on June 24. Charlotte was looking for consecutive clean sheets for the first time in club history. McKinze Gaines scored for Charlotte in the 17th minute by curling in a failed clearance.
US OPEN
Pebble Beach is holding another U.S. Open. And this time the best female golfers get their chance to add to all the lore. The 2023 U.S. Women's Open comes to the most famous U.S. Open course for the first time. Television coverage will be in prime time on the East Coast. Karrie Webb believes even casual viewers will be watching because so many fans know Pebble Beach. Some of the memories from past U.S. Opens include Jack Nicklaus hitting the 17th pin with a 1-iron and Tiger Woods winning by 15 shots. Now it's the women's turn. The tournament tees off at 4 p.m. this afternoon and will be played through Sunday, when the championship round takes place.
FORMULA ONE
The president of the FIA tells The Associated Press the governing body has no interest in signing an early renewal of its contract with Liberty Media and the 10 Formula One teams. The Concorde Agreement sets the rules and regulations for F1 as well as how television revenue and prize money is distributed. The current contract began in 2021 and runs through the 2025 season. Liberty Media said in May it wants an early new agreement. FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem says he sees no reason to renegotiate early and the sides have 18 months to hammer out a new deal.
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