MEN'S COLLEGE HOCKEY
The University of Vermont fired men’s hockey coach Todd Woodcroft Tuesday saying Woodcroft repeatedly sent inappropriate texts to a UVM student. Assistant coach Steve Wiedler was named interim head coach for the upcoming 2023-2024 season.
Woodcroft’s attorney, Andrew Miltenberg, released a statement saying “[w]e vehemently disagree with the process and the findings of a proceeding that lacked fundamental fairness and due process,” Miltenberg told The Athletic. “We strongly believe the University’s decision was contrary to the facts and the law. We intend to pursue justice for Mr. Woodcroft, who has been an outstanding coach and community advocate for over two decades.”
Woodcroft became the coach of UVM on April 15, 2020. Prior to that, Woodcroft was an assistant coach for four seasons with the Winnipeg Jets. He also spent three seasons as a scouting director and professional scout with the Calgary Flames.
MLB
David Robertson retired Tim Anderson on a game-ending flyout that stranded runners on second and third, and the New York Mets beat the Chicago White Sox 11-10 after building a seven-run lead behind a pair of Francisco Álvarez home runs. Álvarez and fellow rookie Brett Baty hit consecutive home runs off Lucas Giolito as the Mets took a 5-0 lead in their highest-scoring first inning this season. Álvarez added another two-run homer in the sixth off Tanner Banks for his third multihomer game, putting the Mets ahead 11-4.
Shohei Ohtani had an RBI triple, Mickey Moniak hit a two-run homer and Patrick Sandoval pitched two-hit ball into the eighth inning of the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-1 victory over the New York Yankees. Moniak had three hits and drove in three runs for the Angels, who have won three of four after a six-game skid. Gleyber Torres’ third-inning homer was New York’s only hit until Anthony Volpe’s one-out single finally chased Sandoval. Ohtani’s career-best streak of three straight games with a homer ended, but the two-way superstar and major league homers leader delivered his major league-leading seventh triple in the fifth.
Ryan Noda and JJ Bleday homered in the second inning and the Oakland Athletics ended an eight-game losing streak with a 3-0 (nothing) victory over the Boston Red Sox last night. The Athletics were much sharper a day after striking out a season-high 18 times while being held to one hit or fewer for the third time this season in a 7-0 loss to the Red Sox. Noda homered off Boston starter Joe Jacques (1-1) leading off the second. After Aledmys Díaz reached on an infield single and advanced to second on a throwing error by shortstop Yu Chang, Bleday hit his sixth homer. Luis Medina (3-7) allowed three hits in 5 2/3 innings for his first win since June 10.
Aaron Nola struck out six in 7 1/3 innings, Kyle Schwarber homered and the Philadelphia Phillies moved a season-best 10 games over .500 with a 4-3 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Tuesday night. Bryson Stott, Trea Turner and Alec Bohm each had two hits to help the defending NL champion Phillies improve to 52-42 with their fourth consecutive victory. Philadelphia began play a half-game out of a playoff spot. All nine Phillies starters had at least one hit. Andruw Monasterio had two hits and drove in a run for the NL Central-leading Brewers. Milwaukee had won four in a row. Nola (9-6) retired the first 14 batters.
Major League Baseball had a night of offense not seen in 129 years, with 12 teams scoring double-digit runs. That tied May 30, 1884, for the second-most with double-digit runs in one day, trailing only 13 on July 4, 1894, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Three games ended 11-10 on the same day for the first time. The Chicago Cubs topped the scoring by routing Washington 17-3 and Arizona outlasted Atlanta 16-13. San Francisco beat Cincinnati, the New York Mets topped the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City edged Detroit, all by 11-10.
Geraldo Perdomo gave Arizona the lead with a two-run double in the ninth inning and the Diamondbacks took advantage of Atlanta’s worst pitching effort of the season to beat the Braves 16-13. It was Arizona’s first game in which each team had at least 13 runs and the first in the majors since the Chicago White Sox beat the Cubs 17-13 on Aug. 27, 2021. The NL East-leading Braves have lost three straight. Arizona snapped a four-game losing streak. Christian Walker homered twice and had three hits and five RBIs for Arizona. Corbin Carroll had two hits, scored three runs and drove in two. Miguel Castro (5-3) pitched a scoreless eighth and Kevin Ginkel struck out the side in the ninth for his first save.
Major League Baseball took over the Arizona Diamondbacks’ game broadcasts after a federal bankruptcy judge granted a motion Tuesday for Diamond Sports to reject its rights agreement. MLB took over production of the broadcasts beginning Tuesday night at Atlanta in a game the Diamondbacks won 16-13. There were some early glitches, which included closed captioning being locked on during the first hour. MLB took over the broadcasts of San Diego Padres games May 31 after Diamond Sports missed a rights fees payment and let the grace period expire.
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Sophie Cunningham scored 17 points, hitting five 3-pointers, Diana Taurasi added 15 and the Phoenix Mercury beat the Connecticut Sun 72-66 to snap a six-game losing streak in the series. Phoenix (5-15) beat a team with a winning record for the first time this season. It was the Mercury’s first home win against the Sun since the 2018 season. Cunningham made her fourth 3-pointer to extend the lead to 53-43 with 2:45 left in the third quarter. Her fifth 3-pointer made it 58-48 entering the fourth. Brittney Griner sank a baseline jumper to give Phoenix a 68-61 lead with 4:18 left in the fourth. Moriah Jefferson added a step-back jumper for an eight-point lead with 2:40 remaining. Griner finished with 12 points and Jefferson scored 11 for Phoenix.
GOLF
Jay Monahan is back to work as PGA Tour commissioner. And the clock is ticking. Along with working toward a definitive agreement with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf, he has to look his players in the eye and do some explaining. Monahan stepped away from the tour for five weeks with a medical situation. He had said he expected to be called a hypocrite for doing a deal with the Saudis. It's tougher to overcome the label as a traitor. The question is whether he can survive this. That depends on whether top players accept answers and accept them coming from Monahan.
Rory McIlroy is laying low in his quest to end nine years without winning a major. He canceled his news conference for the second straight major. Everything is lining up for him at Royal Liverpool for the British Open. He's coming off a win at the Scottish Open. He won the British Open the last time it was on these Hoylake links. Still to be determined is whether he fits that model of players who win all their majors in a short period of time. Padraig Harrington is one of those players. He says McIlroy needs to be patient.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Lionel Messi jogged a lap with his new teammates, took part in a warmup drill of players making short passes in a tight circle and before long tapped his left foot at a ball that wound up in the back of an open net. Inter Miami’s new star wasted no time fitting right in. The World Cup winner and seven-time Ballon d’Or recipient took part in a training session yesterday with his new Major League Soccer club for the first time. It came three days after he signed a 2 1/2 year contract that’ll pay him between $50 million and $60 million a year. Messi’s first match is expected to be Friday, a Leagues Cup contest at home against Cruz Azul.
WOMENS WORLD CUP
New Zealand’s Football Ferns are aiming to win fans as well as matches at the Women's World Cup. New Zealand kicks off the Women’s World Cup on Thursday night local time with a game against Norway. The Ferns got the nod for the tournament opener just an hour ahead of co-host Australia’s match against Ireland in Sydney. New Zealand Football announced that the opener at Auckland’s Eden Park will have the biggest crowd for a soccer match in the country’s history, some 50,000. That's a big crowd for a country known more for its love of rugby.
FIFA President Gianni Infantino says he is engaging with member federations to make sure that the $30,000 payments designated for every player at the Women’s World Cup reach the athletes. The payments will go to the national federations, which are in turn expected to pay the players. But there is no mechanism to directly pay the players the sum. FIFA had previously confirmed that the 732 players participating in the World Cup will be paid at least $30,000 each. The paycheck rises if teams do well, with each player for the winning team earning $270,000.
NFL
NFL teams are refusing to give running backs lucrative long-term contracts, leaving the best players at the position feeling angry and underappreciated. It’s no surprise the league has reached this point considering recent trends. The days of three yards and a cloud of dust are long gone. The NFL has become a pass-first, quarterback-driven league built around explosive offenses. League rules have changed over the past two decades to enhance scoring. QBs have more protection. Wide receivers have more freedom to roam the field. Defensive players have to be concerned about getting penalized for illegal hits. They can’t go too low. They can’t hit the helmet. They can’t hold. They can’t tug jerseys.
NCAA
Northwestern has been added to a long list of American universities to face a scandal in athletics and may eventually join the trend of making large payouts following allegations of sexual abuse. A former Wildcats football player filed the first lawsuit against Pat Fitzgerald and members of the school’s leadership on Tuesday, seeking damages stemming from a hazing scandal that cost the former football coach his job. More lawsuits are expected to follow from former football and baseball players as well as from student-athletes who played other sports for the private school.
Kirby Smart says complacency is the biggest challenge his Georgia Bulldogs face while trying to add a third straight national football championship. Smart and his Bulldogs also don’t have history on their side. Winning back-to-back national championships is tough enough. No Division I program has strung together three consecutive college football titles since Minnesota between 1934 and 1936. Smart said Tuesday at Southeastern Conference Media Days that he and his staff have not talked with the Bulldogs about having a chance to do something not done in nearly 90 years. He says they have looked at how the Chicago Bulls strung together three straight NBA titles and other teams his Bulldogs may have heard about.
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