WORLD CUP
U.S. women’s national team coach Vlatko Andonovski has resigned, a person familiar with the decision told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The move comes less than two weeks after the Americans were knocked out of the Women’s World Cup earlier than ever before. The person spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the move has not been officially announced. The four-time tournament champions struggled throughout this World Cup. The Americans played well in the Round of 16 against Sweden, but ultimately fell on penalties after a scoreless tie. The U.S. scored just four goals over the course of the tournament. The United States had never finished worse than third in the tournament.
England is set to face Spain in the Championship Game Sunday morning at 6.
MLB
DJ Stewart had his first multihomer game in two years, leading the New York Mets to an 8-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Stewart, who also homered as a pinch-hitter in Tuesday’s 7-4 loss, hit a solo shot in the second inning Wednesday off Johan Oviedo (6-13) and delivered a two-run homer in the fifth off Ryan Borucki. The two-homer game was the third of Stewart’s career and his first since Aug. 12, 2021, when he went deep twice for the Baltimore Orioles. Pete Alonso hit his 36th homer, a solo shot that moved him into the Mets’ top 10 list in RBIs with 469, snapping a tie with Keith Hernandez.
Charlie Morton recorded 10 strikeouts in six innings, Eddie Rosario hit a two-run homer and the Atlanta Braves beat New York 2-0 to complete a three-game sweep and give the struggling Yankees their first losing record of the season. New York fell to 60-61 with its fifth straight loss. The Yankees were outscored 18-3 in the sweep, capped by back-to-back shutouts. The Braves have the majors' best record. It is the first time the Yankees have had a losing record at least 120 games into a season since 1995, when they also were 60-61, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Keibert Ruiz hit a tiebreaking three-run homer in the eighth inning, Stone Garrett homered twice for the first time in his career, and the Washington Nationals beat the Boston Red Sox 6-2. After Lane Thomas singled and Joey Meneses was hit by a pitch leading off the eighth, Ruiz drove an 0-1 changeup from Garrett Whitlock to right-center to make it 5-2. Two pitches later, Garrett hit a no-doubt, 442-foot liner to center, his ninth of the season. Garrett also homered leading off the fourth. MacKenzie Gore allowed one hit while pitching into the seventh inning for Washington but departed after 85 pitches.
Bryce Harper hit two solo home runs, Aaron Nola pitched five innings to snap a four-start winless streak and the Philadelphia Phillies won for the first time in four games by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 9-4. Jake Cave added a solo homer and Nick Castellanos had two hits and an RBI as the Phillies avoided a sweep in the two-game series north of the border. Philadelphia had scored only two runs in losing its previous three games, but broke out of that slump with an 11-hit effort against the Blue Jays. Harper went 3 for 4 with a walk in his 25th career multihomer game and first this season.
Angels left-hander Reid Detmers took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and two-way star Shohei Ohtani hit his 42nd home run as Los Angeles beat the AL West-leading Texas Rangers 2-0. The Rangers got their first hit Wednesday when Marcus Semien lined a double into the left-center gap with one out in the eighth on the 108th and final pitch by Detmers. Reynaldo Lopez and Carlos Estevez finished off the Angels’ eighth shutout this season. Ohtani, the designated hitter whose turn in the starting rotation this week was skipped because of arm fatigue, went the opposite way for a 437-foot homer to left-center in the first inning off Jon Gray.
Colonie High graduate Brian O'Keefe has been called back up to the major leagues. The Seattle Mariners recalled the 30-year-old from Triple-A Wednesday after an injury. The catcher made his big-league debut in 2022, appearing in two games late in the season.
NFL
The ranking Democrat on the U.S. House Committee on Oversight and Reform is asking the Republican chair in charge to refer former Washington Commanders owner Dan Snyder to the Department of Justice for lying under oath. Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin wrote a letter Wednesday to Kentucky Rep. James Comer urging him to send Snyder's case to the DOJ to determine if Snyder should be prosecuted for making false statements in his deposition and obstructing a congressional investigation. Raskin pointed to the results of the NFL's independent review that contradicted Snyder's testimony. The league fined Snyder $60 million for sexual harassment and financial improprieties last month as part of his sale of the team.
A lawyer for a prominent Memphis couple with a longstanding relationship to former NFL player Michael Oher says that they want to end a conservatorship that he’s challenging in court. Lawyer Randall Fishman says Wednesday that Sean and Leigh Anne Tuohy intend to enter into a consent order to end the conservatorship. Oher filed a petition Monday in Tennessee accusing the Tuohys of lying to him by having him sign papers making them his conservators. Oher, now 37, wants a full accounting of assets. He says he received nothing from the Oscar-nominated movie “The Blind Side." The Tuohys have called the allegations ridiculous and part of a shakedown attempt.
Baltimore Ravens cornerback Marlon Humphrey is out with a foot issue. He was set to have foot surgery Wednesday in a potentially significant blow to the team’s defensive backfield. Coach John Harbaugh says it isn’t a long-term injury, but he didn’t give a more specific timeline and the start of the regular season is less than four weeks away. Humphrey made his third Pro Bowl last season. Harbaugh says Humphrey’s injury is an issue that’s lingered. The defensive back spoke to reporters Tuesday and gave no indication anything was amiss.
Meanwhile, in NFL pre-season action, Cleveland is at Philadelphia tonight at 7:30.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
There was some shoving and pushing and hollering at the University of Colorado's football practice on Wednesday, and Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders wasn't at all happy. What irked Coach Prime however wasn't that some of his players got into a fight. It was that some of them walked away from the fight. Sanders upbraided them for not sticking up for their teammate and admonished them not to walk away from a fight ever again. The Buffaloes are coming off a 1-11 season, but are back in the spotlight thanks to the arrival of Sanders and several talented transfers.
WESTERN AND SOUTHERN OPEN
Novak Djokovic had a short night in his first singles match in the U.S. since 2021, beating Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in the Western & Southern Open after the Spaniard retired early in the second set with a lower back injury. The second-ranked Djokovic won the first set 6-4, then two points into the second set, Davidovich Fokina hunched over in pain following his return and ended the match after 46 minutes. Djokovic, 36, lost in doubles on Tuesday in his return to the country after missing events because of COVID-19 vaccine restrictions.
NCAA
Big 12 Commissioner Brett Yormark says his conference is done expanding, shutting down the possibility of adding UConn and Gonzaga after engaging with the basketball powerhouses on potential membership. Less than two weeks after the Big 12 announced Pac-12 schools will switch leagues and join the conference next year, Yormark appeared on the “Marchand and Ourand Sports Media Podcast” and revealed other potential moves. He called landing Arizona, Arizona State, Colorado and Utah a “dream scenario.” Yormark also said he reached out to Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff and had a “collegial” conversation.
BMW CHAMPIONSHIP
The BMW Championship is the final event that decides who reaches the FedEx Cup finale. For the Americans, it has nothing to do with money. The cup on their minds is the Ryder Cup. The BMW Championship starts Thursday at Olympia Fields outside of Chicago. It's the last tournament for Americans to earn six automatic spots on the team that goes to Rome. And then next week after the Tour Championship, the six captain's picks are named. Keegan Bradley says he can't stop thinking about the Ryder Cup. Lucas Glover has been trying to make the team since he turned pro.
LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES
A long way from home and playing in its first Little League World Series game ever, Cuba allowed just one hit Wednesday, but got no-hit in a 1-0 loss to Japan in an opening round game. The Cuban team received a polite reception from the nearly 8,000 people in Volunteer Stadium, typical of the appreciation international teams receive at the LLWS. But the Cubans didn’t have many true fans. As Japanese players embraced their parents after the win, manager Vladimir Vargas said no families of players made the trip directly from Cuba to South Williamsport for the game and the players had only teammates for support.
HORSE RACING
Jerry Moss, a music industry giant who co-founded A&M Records with Herb Alpert and rose from a Los Angeles garage to the heights of success with hits by Alpert, the Police, the Carpenters and hundreds of other performers, has died at age 88. Moss, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2006, died Wednesday at his home in California. His music connections also led to a lucrative horse racing business. His runners included 2005 Kentucky Derby winner Giacomo and 2010 Horse of the Year Zenyatta.
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