MLB
Jeff McNeil kept up his sudden power surge with a two-run homer that snapped a sixth-inning tie, and the New York Mets held off the New York Yankees 3-2 in their Subway Series opener. Jose Quintana and five relievers combined on a five-hitter before a sellout crowd at Yankee Stadium as the Mets matched their season high of four games over .500. They are 3-0 against their crosstown rivals this season, including a two-game sweep at Citi Field last month. With closer Edwin Díaz unavailable, Jake Diekman worked a hitless ninth for his fourth save. After walking Juan Soto with one out, the veteran lefty struck out Aaron Judge and retired Ben Rice on a grounder to end it.
Tyler O’Neill homered twice, Cooper Criswell tossed seven shutout innings, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Colorado Rockies 6-0 to snap a four-game skid. O’Neill hit a two-run shot in the first inning and then crushed an 89-mph sinker from Ty Blach (3-6) 465 feet to the concourse in left field in the third inning to give the Red Sox a 6-0 lead. Criswell (4-4) struck out four, scattered five hits and threw a career-high 105 pitches. Colorado started the sixth with two singles but Criswell got Brendan Rodgers to hit into a double play and Brenton Doyle to ground out.
Nick Castellanos hit a two-run double to cap a three-run ninth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Minnesota Twins 3-0. After a scoreless duel between Phillies ace Zack Wheeler and Twins rookie Simeon Woods Richardson, Philadelphia took control in the ninth against Minnesota closer Jhoan Duran. Making his first start since July 9, Wheeler threw seven dominant innings for Philadelphia, which has the best record in the majors. Wheeler struck out seven, allowed three hits and walked two. Woods Richardson allowed three hits and one walk and struck out five in six innings. The playoff-contending Twins have lost three of four since the All-Star break.
Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Nick Gordon each drove in two runs, Jesús Sánchez homered and Kyle Tyler and four relievers held Baltimore without a run after the third inning as the Miami Marlins beat the Orioles 6-3. Baltimore, which slipped into a tie with Cleveland for the best record in the American League at 60-40, was slowed after losing second baseman Jorge Mateo and starting pitcher Albert Suárez due to injuries in the third inning.
Jordan Montgomery allowed one run over five innings to win in his return from a layoff of nearly one month caused by a knee injury, and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals 6-2. Ketel Marte hit a two-run homer and scored three runs. Montgomery (7-5) allowed three hits, walked one and struck out two. The 31-year-old left-hander, had been sidelined since June 27 by right knee inflammation. Bryce Jarvis pitched two shutout innings, and Joe Mantiply, Ryan Thompson and Kevin Ginkel finished as Arizona stopped the Royals' four-game winning streak.
José Ramírez homered for the first time in July and drove in two runs as the Cleveland Guardians ended their losing streak at three games with a 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers. Ramírez connected in the fifth inning to help the AL Central-leading Guardians get just their third win in 10 games. Steven Kwan and Jhonkensy Noel added solo homers for Cleveland. The Guardians came in having scored two or fewer runs in six of their past eight games. Cade Smith (5-1) got the win and Emmanuel Clase worked a perfect ninth for his league-leading 30th save. Wenceel Pérez hit a two-run homer for the Tigers.
Brandon Lowe hit a two-run home run and the Tampa Bay Rays won for the third time in four games by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2. Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 17th home run and outfielder Daulton Varsho made an impressive leaping catch for the second game in a row, but Toronto lost for the fifth time in seven games. Right-hander Shawn Armstrong opened for the Rays — who climbed back over .500 at 51-50 — in place of righty Ryan Pepiot, recovering from a knee infection. Tyler Alexander got the win and Pete Fairbanks finished for his 19th save.
Texas right-hander Jon Gray allowed one run pitching into the eighth inning and retiring the last 15 batters he faced and the Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 3-2. After Andrew Vaughn’s RBI single in the third inning, the White Sox didn’t get another batter on base against Gray. He struck out five and walked none while throwing 63 of his 80 pitches for strikes. Andrew Benitendi homered for the 27-76 White Sox, who have lost nine games in a row. Josh Smith stole home and had an RBI double for Texas.
José Soriano allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings, Luis Rengifo delivered a key two-run single in his return from the injured list, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the Seattle Mariners 5-1. Los Angeles won for the sixth time in the past eight games thanks to another strong pitching performance from Soriano (6-7), who pitched more than seven innings and threw 100 pitches for the first time this season. The only run Soriano allowed came after Jason Vosler doubled to lead off the fifth inning and scored on a double play. Logan Gilbert (6-6) took the loss.
Lawrence Butler hit one of the Athletics’ five homers, fell a single short of the cycle and made a tremendous throw from right field to cut down a runner at the plate as Oakland beat the Houston Astros 8-2. Brent Rooker, Seth Brown, Zack Gelof and Shea Langeliers also connected to help the A’s hand the AL West-leading Astros a second consecutive defeat. Butler tripled and scored on Rooker’s two-run drive in the first inning, homered in the third and doubled in a run in the sixth. The homer was his eighth in July, and the A’s leadoff hitter leads the majors with 24 RBIs this month.
Luis Arraez and Jurickson Profar homered on consecutive pitches in the fifth inning, and the San Diego Padres blanked the Washington Nationals 4-0. Randy Vásquez pitched six innings to earn his first victory since June 22 for San Diego, which has won three in a row. Washington, which had won five of six, is 0-4 against the Padres this season. The Nationals were shut out for the 11th time. Nationals starter DJ Herz breezed through three innings, then escaped a bases-loaded jam in the fourth. He retired the first two batters in the fifth before Arraez and Profar went back-to-back.
Rookie Paul Skenes lost for the first time in 12 career major league starts, giving up Alec Burleson’s tiebreaking single in the ninth inning that lifted the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1. Pitching for the first time since starting for the National League in last week’s All-Star Game, the 22-year-old right-hander pitched past the seventh inning for the first time in the major leagues. Nolan Arenado put St. Louis ahead with a fifth-inning home run on a first-pitch curveball, and Nick Gonzales tied the score with an RBI single in the eighth off JoJo Romero.
Brice Turang drove in the only run with a grounder in the eighth inning to spoil a superb start by Chicago’s Jameson Taillon, and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the Cubs 1-0. Trevor Megill worked the ninth for his 20th save and made a winner of Elvis Peguero, the second of four Milwaukee relievers. Taillon (7-5) worked the first 7 1/3 innings for Chicago, but left after giving up a pair of singles. Julian Merryweather, fresh off the injured list, came on to give up Turang’s two-out grounder that scored Jake Bauers. Colin Rea pitched the first five innings for the Brewers.
Shohei Ohtani had two hits and drove in three runs, rookie Landon Knack pitched five solid innings and the Los Angeles Dodgers extended their winning streak to five games by beating the San Francisco Giants 5-2. Tyler Fitzgerald became the first Giants rookie to homer in five consecutive games with a solo shot in the second inning. Fitzgerald had three hits and drove in both runs. Gavin Lux had a two-run double in the first inning to put the Dodgers on top. Knack picked up his first victory since April 23. The right-hander allowed one run on two hits with six strikeouts and two walks.
Los Angeles Angels outfielder Mike Trout lasted just two innings of his first rehab start in the minors due to soreness in his surgically-repaired left knee. The three-time MVP struck out in his only at-bat for Triple-A Salt Lake making his first rehab appearance since tearing the meniscus in his left knee in late April. Trout was pulled after two innings and the Angels said it was due to knee soreness and that he was day-to-day. Angels manager Ron Washington said before their game on Tuesday in Seattle that the plan was for Trout to play five innings in his first game, would be the designated hitter on Wednesday and hopefully be ready to play seven innings in the field on Thursday.
Paul Skenes lost for the first time as a professional. Alec Burleson hit a tiebreaking single in the ninth inning that lifted the St. Louis Cardinals over the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 and sent the 22-year-old rookie to his first defeat since college. Taking the mound for the first time since starting for the National League in last week’s All-Star Game, the 22-year-old right-hander pitched past the seventh inning for the first time in 12 major league starts but lost for the first time in 24 professional appearances. He allowed two runs in 8 1/3 innings.
NFL
Three-time Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes was a unanimous choice by The Associated Press for No. 1 quarterback in the NFL in a preseason survey. A panel of eight AP Pro Football Writers ranked the top five players at QB, basing selections on current status entering the 2024 season. Despite a subpar regular season — by his lofty standards — Mahomes had another exceptional postseason, leading the Kansas City Chiefs to a repeat Super Bowl victory and their third title in five seasons. Josh Allen, reigning NFL MVP Lamar Jackson, C.J. Stroud and Brock Purdy each received second-place votes.
An 18-game NFL season seems inevitable. NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has already stated he favors expanding the regular season by another game. Now, NFLPA executive director Lloyd Howell says the players’ union is open to an agreement before the current labor deal expires after the 2030 season. It’s going to take a lot of convincing to get most of the league’s players on board with another game. But the NFL usually gets what the NFL wants. The league persuaded the union to allow a 17th game in the last round of CBA discussions and the schedule was expanded in 2021.
The San Francisco 49ers have no intention of granting star receiver Brandon Aiyuk his trade request and remain committed to getting a long-term extension done with one of their most important offensive players. General manager John Lynch says there are no absolutes but that the 49ers expect Aiyuk to be an “integral part of our team.” The 49ers arrived at training camp on Tuesday, with Aiyuk showing up with the rest of his teammates, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the team didn’t make an announcement. Aiyuk had skipped the entire offseason program, including a mandatory minicamp. Aiyuk would have been subject to potential fines if he didn’t show up.
OLYMPICS
The French Alps bid has been named as the 2030 Winter Games host by the International Olympic Committee though with conditions attached. French President Emmanuel Macron helped present the bid to IOC members and gave assurances that the national government being formed in office after the 2024 Summer Games in Paris will underwrite all the organizational guarantees that must still be signed. IOC members accepted his guarantees and voted their approval. The French bid was the only candidate and is a project centered on ski resorts in the French Alps and ice sports venues in the coastal city Nice.
The Paris Olympics are set to open this week. The United States goes in as the favorite to win the most overall medals. China is unlikely to overtake the U.S. in the overall medal haul but has a chance to win more gold medals than the Americans. The Games highlight great individual athletes but are also a surrogate for geopolitcal influence and national pride. The United States is projected to win 112 medals overall — 39 gold, 32 silver, and 41 bronze. China is forecast to win 86 overall — 34 gold, 27 silver, and 25 bronze.
WNBA
The WNBA All-Star Game drew a record number of viewers with 3.44 million people watching the contest in Phoenix on Saturday night. The game, which saw the WNBA All-Stars beat the U.S. Olympic team 117-109, easily topped the 1.44 million that viewed the 2003 contest. Saturday’s game peaked with more than 4 million viewers. It was the third most viewed WNBA event ever and the largest audience for the league since its first two nationally televised games in 1997. Last year’s game, which was also on prime-time TV, drew 850,000 viewers.
GOLF
Tiger Woods watched his son, Charlie, shoot a 10-over 80 on Tuesday and miss the cut at 22 over through two rounds at the U.S. Junior Amateur. The 15-year-old Woods, who earned a spot in the 264-player field last month, finished near the bottom of the pack. The top 64 players advance to match play, which begins Wednesday. The 36-hole championship match is Saturday. Woods did fare better on the Oakland Hills South Course, which Ben Hogan dubbed “The Monster,” than he did with an opening 12-over 82 on the North Course.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ohio State coach Ryan Day sounds confident and comfortable discussing this year’s football team. Never mind the three Michigan banners hanging over his head and slightly behind the podium where he’s speaking in Indianapolis. It’s also a not-so-subtle reminder about the looming stakes when he heads home to Columbus, Ohio. Three straight losses to Michigan have put Day squarely on the hot seat despite being 39-3 in conference play since taking over the Buckeyes program in 2018. Whether it's fair or not, Day understands that wining every game is the expectation at one of college football's most storied programs — and beating Michigan is the No. 1 goal every season.
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