MLB
Elias Díaz hit a two-run homer off Félix Bautista in the eighth inning, and the National League snapped a nine-game losing streak in the All-Star Game with a 3-2 win over the American League. The NL won for the first time since an 8-0 victory in 2012 in Kansas City thanks to Díaz, a catcher who became the first Rockies player to win the All-Star MVP award. Díaz, who was non-tendered by the Pirates at the end of 2019, drove a 2-2 pitch from Baltimore’s hard-throwing closer deep to left to put the NL in front. Díaz, who won All-Star MVP for his efforts, was the lone representative for Colorado in his first All-Star Game appearance.
Elias Díaz may be the most unlikely All-Star MVP. Just 3 1/2 years after Pittsburgh failed to offer a contract and allowed him to become a free agent, his go-ahead, two-run homer off Félix Bautista in the eighth inning lifted the National League over the American 3-2. A first-time All-Star at age 32, the Colorado catcher put his name on an award won by Willie Mays, Joe Morgan, Frank and Brooks Robinson, both Ken Griffeys and Mike Trout. Díaz says: “I honestly can’t believe that my name is going to be next to some of those names."
Shohei Ohtani was the biggest star of the All-Star Game even if his appearance was rather uneventful. Ohtani struck out and walked in his two at-bats as the American League saw its nine-game win streak come to an end with a 3-2 loss to the National League. But it was what happened while Ohtani was in the batters’ box that became notable. With the Seattle crowd aware of Ohtani’s pending free agency this offseason, the stadium broke out into loud chants of “Come to Seattle! Come to Seattle!”
Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred has no intention of altering Pete Rose’s lifetime ban from baseball and said the sport’s commercial deals with gambling companies have no impact on the status of the career hits leader. Rose agreed to a lifetime ban in 1989 after an investigation found Rose placed numerous bets on the Cincinnati Reds to win from 1985-87 while playing for and managing the team. Manfred rejected Rose’s application in 2015. Manfred says: “Pete Rose violated what is sort of rule one in baseball, and the consequences of that are clear in the rule.”
There was Barbiecore and suits both serious and spicy at Major League Baseball’s red carpet show on Tuesday. The event came hours before the All-Star Game and featured baseball’s top players strutting through Seattle’s famous Pike Place Market with their spouses, kids and moms in tow, and giving their best looks to the hundreds of adoring fans gathered. Yet what was really on display was MLB’s quest for the crown of cool. The fan-friendly event was yet another indication that MLB is increasingly staking its claim on fashion as an entry to new audiences and pop culture reverence.
Meanwhile, Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred will consider increasing time on the pitch clock for the postseason but is reluctant to adjust an innovation the sport considers a great success. In the first season of the clock, the average time of a nine-inning game is 2:38, on track to be the fastest since 1984. It is down from 3:04 last year and 3:09 in 2021, the last season before PitchCom was introduced. Manfred said "we’re going to continue to talk to the players” and adds: “I think you ought to play the postseason the way you play the regular season. There’s exceptions.”
WIMBLEDON
Elina Svitolina is back in her first Grand Slam semifinal since 2019. She got there at Wimbledon by beating No. 1 Iga Swiatek in three sets Tuesday. Things are much different for Svitolina now than they were the last time she made it to the final four at a major tournament. She is a mother who gave birth to a daughter nine months ago and returned to the tour three months ago. And she is concerned about the war in her native Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February 2022. Svitolina will face Marketa Vondrousova for a berth in Saturday's final.
In the other matches on the women’s side, First up on Centre Court will be defending champion Elena Rybakina and No. 6 Ons Jabeur in a women's quarterfinal. It’s a rematch of last year’s final. No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka will face No. 25 Madison Keys in the day’s other women’s quarterfinal.
On the men’s side, Novak Djokovic will play Jannik Sinner in the men's semifinals. Carlos Alcaraz needs to beat old pal Holger Rune to stay on course for a potential Wimbledon showdown with Novak Djokovic. No. 1 Alcaraz and No. 6 Rune will square off Wednesday today on Centre Court for a spot in the semifinals. No. 3 Daniil Medvedev faces big-serving American Chris Eubanks in the other men’s quarterfinal.
PGA TOUR
A PGA Tour executive has told Congress that Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund agreed to invest more than $1 billion in a new commercial entity controlled by the tour. Ron Price, the tour's chief operating officer, also said at a hearing Tuesday that Greg Norman will be ousted as the CEO of LIV Golf if the business deal between the Saudis and the tour is finalized. The Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations is looking into the negotiations between the tour and the Saudis and the geopolitical implications of Saudi investment in American sports. However, there was no indication that Congress would block the tour from going into business with the Saudi Public Investment Fund.
Tuesday's Senate hearing on the PGA Tour's agreement with the Saudis is a reminder how long this has been going on. All those big controversies from a year ago that seemed like a big scandal now seem petty. In the last year, talk of defections turned into a lawsuit. That led to the big Delaware meeting to reshape the tour. That was supposed to be a watershed moment in PGA Tour history and now seems to be water under the bridge. What hasn't changed is the nature of the questions. What does it all mean? How will it shake out?
© 2023 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
