WIMBLEDON
Jasmine Paolini has reached her second consecutive Grand Slam final with a 2-6, 6-4, 7-6 (10-8) victory over Donna Vekic at Wimbledon. She will face 2021 French Open champion Barbora Krejcikova in Saturday's final. Krejcikova eliminated 2022 Wimbledon champion Elena Rybakina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Thursday's second semifinal. Paolini is the No. 7 seed at the All England Club and her win at Centre Court follows her runner-up showing at Roland Garros last month. The 28-year-old Italian is the first woman to get to the title matches at the French Open and Wimbledon in the same season since Serena Williams did in 2016.
In men’s singles play, semifinals kick off today with Daniil Medvedev and Carlos Alcaraz set to play on Centre Court at 8:30 this morning and Lorenzo Musetti facing Novak Djokovic at 10:30 also on Centre Court.
MLB
Randy Arozarena hit a first-inning home run in a 5-4 victory for the Tampa Bay Rays as they took two of three from the Yankees and extended New York’s streak of winless series to eight. Brandon Lowe’s RBI single put Tampa Bay ahead to stay in a three-run fifth against Nestor Cortes, and the Yankees lost for the 18th time in 25 games. Austin Wells and Juan Soto homered for the Yankees, who have lost four straight series. New York begins a three-game series at AL East-leading Baltimore on Friday night. The Yankees trail the Orioles by two games.
Brandon Nimmo hit a bases-clearing double to ignite a five-run fifth inning, and the New York Mets beat the slumping Washington Nationals 7-0 Thursday to complete a three-game sweep. J.D. Martinez and Pete Alonso added RBI singles as the Mets moved two games over .500 since being 13-11 after a win at San Francisco on April 24. Mark Vientos and Harrison Bader had RBI singles in the eighth as the Mets (47-45) moved one percentage point ahead of San Diego into the NL’s third wild-card spot.
All-Star pitcher Tanner Houck limited Oakland to two hits in six innings and Connor Wong, Wilyer Abreu and Masataka Yoshida homered to help the Boston Red Sox beat the Athletics 7-0 on Thursday night. The Red Sox have won eight of their last 10 to improve to 51-41. They have won five of the six against Oakland this season. Houck (8-6) took a no-hitter into the fifth and struck out six in his first victory since June 13. He threw 64 of 103 pitches for strikes and lowered his ERA from 2.68 to 2.54. Yoshida went 3 for 4 and drove in four runs, Abreu also was 3 for 4, and Wong and David Hamilton each had two hits.
Brandon Marsh hit a home run and an RBI triple, Trea Turner launched his sixth longball in nine games and the Philadelphia Phillies completed a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 5-1 victory. Aaron Nola struck out nine in six innings for his 11th win and Kyle Schwarber also went deep for the Phillies, who swept the Dodgers for the first time since 2011 — and the first time in Philadelphia since 2008. Los Angeles has lost four straight overall. In a matchup between the top two teams in the National League, the Phillies led in every inning of the series except for the first one on Tuesday, which ended with both teams scoreless. They outscored the Dodgers 19-5 in the three games.
Danny Jansen and Spencer Horwitz homered, Kevin Gausman worked seven strong innings against his former team and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3. Gausman (7-8) allowed two runs and six hits with three strikeouts and no walks in his first outing at Oracle Park since pitching for the Giants from 2020-21. Heliot Ramos homered for the Giants. Jordan Hicks (4-6) lost his fifth straight decision, allowing five runs and eight hits with one strikeout and one walk in 4 1/3 innings against his former club. Chad Green earned his fifth save as Toronto took two of three in the series.
Justin Steele pitched seven innings of three-hit ball, Seiya Suzuki had three extra-base hits and three RBIs, and the Chicago Cubs blanked the Baltimore Orioles 8-0 for a three-game sweep. Dansby Swanson homered for the Cubs, who outscored the AL East leaders 21-2 in becoming the first team to sweep the Orioles in Baltimore since Tampa Bay in August 2021. Chicago completed the sweep with a pair of shutouts, marking the first time the Orioles were blanked in successive games since June 23-24, 2021, during a season in which Baltimore finished 52-110.
Jake Meyers hit an RBI double and the surging Houston Astros beat the Miami Marlins 6-3 to complete a three-game sweep with their ninth straight victory at home. Houston has won nine of 12 overall to improve to 49-44. After coming off the injured list, Jake Bloss allowed four hits and two runs over four innings for the Astros in his second major league start. Tayler Scott got the last two outs in the sixth for the win and Josh Hader struck out two in a scoreless ninth for his 17th save. Bryan De La Cruz and Jazz Chisholm Jr. each hit a solo homer for the National League-worst Marlins, who were swept for the eighth time this season.
Riley Greene drove in three runs on three hits and Jack Flaherty pitched six strong innings, helping the Detroit Tigers beat the AL Central-leading Cleveland Guardians 10-1 to win their four-game series. Cleveland’s Bo Naylor homered in the third and Carson Kelly countered with his seventh of the season in the bottom of the inning, restoring Detroit’s three-run lead before the game turned into a rout. Greene’s two-run double in the fourth put the Tigers ahead 6-1, and Gio Urshela’s three-run double gave them a 10-1 lead in the sixth inning.
Cal Raleigh homered from each side of the plate for the second time in three days, and J.P. Crawford had a two-run homer while getting three hits and three RBIs in the Seattle Mariners’ 11-0 thrashing of the Los Angeles Angels. Jorge Polanco had a two-run single in a four-run first inning for the Mariners, who opened a four-game series in Anaheim with their third straight victory. Luis Castillo pitched six innings of four-hit ball with five strikeouts to win consecutive starts for the first time since April. Mickey Moniak had two hits for the Angels, who have lost nine of 11. Los Angeles was shut out for the fourth time in its last nine games.
Tyler Stephenson homered twice and drove in five runs, helping Hunter Greene and the Cincinnati Reds beat the Colorado Rockies 8-1. Greene struck out a season-high 10 in six innings. The All-Star right-hander allowed one run and two hits. Jonathan India and Spencer Steer each had three hits and scored two runs as the Reds improved to 3-4 on their 10-game homestand leading up to the break. They won three of four against the Rockies to finish their season series with a 6-1 record.
Paul Skenes struck out 11 in seven no-hit innings in another dominant performance, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Milwaukee Brewers 1-0. Skenes threw 99 pitches in his 11th major league start, 65 for strikes. The All-Star right-hander walked one while lowering his ERA to 1.90. Colin Holderman replaced Skenes and surrendered a leadoff single to Jake Bauers for Milwaukee’s first hit. The Brewers loaded the bases with two down in the eighth, but Holderman escaped the jam when he struck out William Contreras swinging. Aroldis Chapman handled the ninth for his fourth save, finishing a two-hitter for Pittsburgh.
Brandon Pfaadt outpitched Max Fried in six strong innings, Jake McCarthy made a leaping grab at the wall in the ninth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves 1-0. Pfaadt was sharp for the fourth straight start, scattering three hits while striking out four to win after three consecutive no-decisions. Fried allowed a run on five hits in six innings with seven strikeouts and three walks. The lone run off the right-hander came in the fifth inning by Eugenio Suarez, a 437-foot shot after he hit a 452-foot homer in Arizona’s 7-5 win the night before. Paul Sewald worked around a single in the ninth for his 13th save.
WNBA
Sabrina Ionescu scored 21 points and Jonquel Jones added 18 points and 13 rebounds to help the New York Liberty pull away to beat the Chicago Sky 91-76. Angel Reese extended her WNBA record double-double streak to 15 straight games finishing with 10 points and 10 rebounds. New York (19-4) led 68-66 early in the fourth quarter before going on a 7-2 run to create some space. Reese’s 10th point got the Sky (9-13) within 78-72 with 3:51 left. But after a timeout, Ionescu hit a 3-pointer. Chennedy Carter scored 22 points to lead the Sky.
NCAA
A U.S. appeals court in Philadelphia has ruled that some college athletes may qualify as employees under federal wage-and-hour laws. The court says a test should be developed to differentiate students who play college sports for fun from those whose effort “crosses the legal line into work” that benefits the school. The NCAA had hoped to have the case dismissed. It now goes back to a trial judge for fact finding. The ruling follows a Supreme Court case that led the NCAA to allow athletes to profit from their name, image and likeness.
COPA AMERICA
Uruguay striker Luis Suárez defended his teammates’ decision to enter the stands following a 1-0 loss to Colombia in the Copa America semifinals, saying the action was necessary to defend families and supporters. After a physical and emotional game that included seven yellow cards and one red card, players exchanged words and shoves at midfield of Bank of America Stadium on Wednesday night. Uruguay players, including Darwin Núñez, noticed an altercation behind the team’s bench and about a dozen or so players then climbed into the stands as the melee continued.
SOCCER
Philadelphia coach Jim Curtin thinks the search for Gregg Berhalter’s successor as U.S. coach doesn’t need to be complicated. Curtin says that if Jürgen Klopp is available, he's the guy. Thierry Henry, Patrick Vieira and Marcelo Bielsa also are among those being speculated about as candidates to lead the Americans into the 2026 World Cup, along with Curtin, Steve Cherundolo, Jesse Marsch, Hugo Pérez, Pellegrino Matarazzo, David Wagner, Massimiliano Allegri and Mauricio Pochettino.
ESPYS
Led by host Serena Williams, The ESPYS celebrated a landmark year for women’s sports, with Simone Biles, A’ja Wilson, Caitlin Clark, Dawn Staley and JuJu Watkins among the honorees on Thursday night at the Dolby Theatre in Hollywood. The three-hour show on ABC was delayed when President Joe Biden's nationally televised news conference started late. Host Serena Williams told jokes during her monologue and later sang.
FOOTBALL
The CW Network announced Thursday that Bill Belichick will be one of the analysts on “Inside the NFL” this season. Belichick coached the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles during his 24 years at the helm. He will also appear this season on the Manningcast during “Monday Night Football.” Belichick joins Ryan Clark, Chad Johnson and Chris Long. Johnson and Long each played one season for Belichick in New England.
Monte Kiffin, the longtime NFL and college assistant coach whose Tampa Bay defenses routinely ranked among the league’s best, died Thursday. He was 84. One of the architects of the ultra successful Tampa 2 defensive scheme, Kiffin spent 13 seasons as defensive coordinator of the Bucs under former coaches Tony Dungy and Jon Gruden from 1996 to 2008 and helped the franchise win the first of its two Super Bowl titles. The University of Mississippi football program announced on the social media platform X that Kiffin passed away surrounded by family and friends in Oxford, Mississippi, where Kiffin’s son, Lane, is coach of the Rebels.
NBA
The NBA might not be happy with the NFL making Christmas Day a regular part of its schedule. However, its new set of media rights deals nearly puts them in the same economic arena. The NBA’s 11-year, $76 billion contract package will begin with the 2025-26 season. It is the same number of years as the NFL’s most recent deal, which began with the 2023 season. The deals with ESPN/ABC, NBC and Amazon Prime Video will average $6.9 billion per season. The NFL averages $10 billion per year, but that is with five networks.
© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
