OLYMPICS
The U.S. men's basketball team had an easier time with South Sudan in the rematch than it did when the teams first met a couple of weeks ago. Easier. Not easy. The U.S. clinched a trip to the quarterfinals at the Paris Olympics by beating South Sudan 103-86 last night — a game that wasn’t ever really in doubt but was no romp either. Bam Adebayo scored 18 points and Kevin Durant scored 14 for the Americans, who took control with a 25-4 run in the first half.
Coco Gauff has lost in women’s doubles at the Paris Olympics a day after her tearful exit in singles. Gauff and her U.S. teammate, Jessica Pegula, were the top-seeded women’s pair but were eliminated in the second round by the Czech duo of Karolina Muchova and Linda Noskova 2-6, 6-4, 10-5 in a match tiebreaker on Wednesday. Gauff was defeated Tuesday by Donna Vekic of Croatia in straight sets in the third round of singles, where the American was seeded second. Gauff got into an argument with the chair umpire close to the finish of that match over an officiating decision.
Turns out, those comparisons to Michael Phelps weren’t farfetched at all when it comes to Léon Marchand. They certainly weren’t a burden for the 22-year-old Frenchman. Marchand has completed one of the most audacious doubles in swimming history, winning the 200-meter butterfly and the 200 breaststroke about two hours apart at the Paris Games. Two grueling races. Two very different strokes. Two Olympic records. Two gold medals. Take that, Phelps. Thrilling the home fans and claiming the spotlight even on a night when Katie Ledecky romped to another gold medal, Marchand claimed his second and third victories at La Defense Arena and stamped himself as one of the faces of these Games.
Katie Ledecky has tied one of swimming’s most impressive records. Chances are, she’ll have it all to herself by the time she finishes the Paris Olympics. The 27-year-old Ledecky bumped her career total to 12 medals with a dominating victory in the 1,500-meter freestyle. She equaled three fellow Americans for the most ever by a female swimmer. Here's what's next for Ledecky: She is expected to compete in the final of the 4x200 freestyle relay today. The U.S. took silver in that event at the Tokyo Games. She also has the 800 freestyle, where she'll be going for her fourth straight gold medal.
Interest in adult gymnastics across the United States is rising in lockstep with the careers of Olympians like Simone Biles. There are now hundreds of meets a year that offer opportunities for adults to compete. Many of the adults are former gymnasts who stepped away from the sport because they felt opportunities had dried up. Those opportunities are returning, allowing the athletes to reconnect with the sport on their terms. The 27-year-old Biles is a touchstone for the movement. She will have the chance to become the oldest Olympic all-around champion in 72 years when she competes in the all-around finals at the Paris Games.
The United States remained undefeated at the Olympics with a 2-1 victory over Australia and will play Japan on Saturday at Parc des Princes in Paris. Meanwhile, Vanessa Gilles scored in the 62nd minute to give Canada a 1-0 victory over Colombia and send the team into the quarterfinals despite losing six points in the tournament because of a drone spying scandal. Canada will face Germany in a quarterfinals Saturday in Marseille. Earlier in the day, the defending Olympic champions lost their bid to overturn the FIFA-ordered points deduction for filming an opponent’s practice in France.
MLB
DJ LeMahieu had a career-high six RBIs with a grand slam and two-run double, Nestor Cortes got his first road win this year and the New York Yankees extended their winning streak to five with a 6-5 victory that completed a three-game sweep of the slumping Philadelphia Phillies. Giancarlo Stanton added a pair of hits for New York, which rebounded from a 10-23 slide with its best stretch since eight consecutive wins from May 9 to June 6. Weston Wilson homered and Nick Castellanos had three RBIs for the Phillies, who have lost four in a row and 11 of 15.
Matt Wallner hit a two-run homer and came within inches of another round-tripper as the Minnesota Twins finally won a game in New York by beating the Mets 8-3. Byron Buxton also connected and Pablo López pitched six innings of three-hit ball as the Twins prevented a three-game sweep. They were outscored 39-13 while losing their first five games in New York this season against the Yankees and Mets. The victory was Minnesota’s first at Citi Field since April 9, 2019. Wallner’s homer capped a five-run outburst in the third, when Luis Severino gave up five straight hits to begin the inning.
Rafael Devers doubled home the winning run in the 10th inning for his third hit of the game, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Seattle Mariners 3-2. Zack Kelly pitched out of a major jam in a scoreless 10th for the win. Danny Jansen hit a tying single in the sixth and Boston took two of three from the Mariners, who are locked in a tight race with Houston atop the AL West. Josh Rojas homered for Seattle, and Dylan Moore had an RBI single.
Xavier Edwards drove in three runs, and Jake Burger and Jonah Bride homered to help Roddery Muñoz beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 for the rookie’s first win in nearly three months. Edwards had a sacrifice fly and two-run single for the Marlins, who overcame a pair of one-run deficits to salvage a two-game split and send Taj Bradley (6-5) to his first loss since June 8. Muñoz (2-5), a 24-year-old right-hander, had been 0-5 in 10 starts since beating Colorado on May 1 for his first major league win.
Tommy Pham started in left field for St. Louis, getting three hits and two RBIs, and Michael McGreevy pitched seven innings in his MLB debut to lift the Cardinals to a 10-1 victory over the Texas Rangers on Wednesday. Brendan Donovan drove in three runs, and Michael Siani and Alec Burleson each had two RBIs. Nolan Arenado and Paul Goldschmidt added two hits apiece, and the Cardinals scattered 14 hits against four pitchers. Marcus Semien had two of the Rangers’ five hits.
Mauricio Dubón hit a two-run homer, Framber Valdez struck out 10 in six innings and the Houston Astros came from behind to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-4. Dubón came in to pinch hit in the sixth inning with the Astros trailing 4-3. He hit a 97 mph sinker from reliever Colin Holderman (3-2) off the signage above the left field seats to give Houston the lead. Valdez (10-5) gave up four runs on six hits in six innings for his fifth win in his last seven starts. Josh Hader pitched the ninth for his 21st save. Joey Bart hit a two-run homer for Pittsburgh.
Logan Webb pitched his second career shutout, leading the San Francisco Giants to a 1-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Wednesday night in a speedy 1 hour, 55 minutes. Webb (8-8) struck out six, limiting the A’s to five singles and a walk in his first complete game of the season and third of his career. His other shutout came July 9, 2023, in a 1-0 victory over Colorado. Webb threw 73 of 106 pitches for strikes, getting 14 groundball outs. The Giants snapped a three-game losing streak against their Bay Bridge rivals to split the two-game series. They will play twice more in Oakland on Aug. 17 and 18. Brett Wisely drove in the run with a sacrifice fly in the fifth inning.
Brenton Doyle capped an impressive July with a towering home run in the eighth inning, Ezequiel Tovar extended his hitting streak to 17 games and the Colorado Rockies beat the Los Angeles Angels 2-1 to snap a five-game losing streak. Logan O’Hoppe hit a solo shot in the fifth inning for the Angels, who are 2-4 on their current homestand. Doyle, who missed Tuesday’s game due to a bruised right index finger, connected on a slider from Hans Crouse (4-2) that went 431 feet into the left-field stands beyond the bullpens to put the Rockies back on top. It was Doyle’s 11th homer in July, tied with Oakland’s Brent Rooker for most in the majors, and it was his 19th extra-base hit, which led MLB.
Jackson Holliday returned to the major leagues with a flourish, hitting a fifth-inning grand slam for his first career home run to help the Baltimore Orioles to a 10-4 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Holliday, the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft and baseball’s top-ranked prospect at the moment per MLB Pipeline, had been sent down after going 2 for 34 with 18 strikeouts for the Orioles earlier this season. In his first game back Wednesday, he grounded out twice before connecting for a 439-foot drive with the bases loaded that gave Baltimore an 8-3 lead. Colton Cowser also went deep for the Orioles, and Addison Barger homered for Toronto.
Freddy Fermin launched a two-run homer among his four hits and the Kansas City Royals pounded the White Sox 10-3, extending Chicago’s franchise-record losing streak to 17 games. Vinnie Pasquantino added a two-run shot and finished with three RBIs. Salvador Perez had three hits and drove in two runs as the Royals won their third straight. Major league batting leader Bobby Witt Jr. lengthened his hitting streak to 13 games with two infield singles, raising his average to .349. The star shortstop walked twice, scored three runs and stole his 24th base. Andrew Benintendi drove in two runs with a double and finished with two hits for the major league-worst White Sox, whose slide is the longest since Arizona dropped 17 straight games in 2021.
Matt Olson and Travis d’Arnaud hit back-to-back homers twice, and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Milwaukee Brewers 6-2. Olson and d’Arnaud went deep on consecutive pitches from Freddy Peralta in the fourth inning to tie the game as the Braves erased an early 2-0 deficit. Olson hit a 416-foot drive to center field and d’Arnaud added a 412-foot shot to left-center off Nick Mears in the eighth to help the Braves leave Milwaukee with a series victory. Austin Riley put Atlanta ahead for good on a tiebreaking single with two outs in the seventh.
Zac Gallen won his third straight start, Ryan Thompson got out of a one-out, bases-loaded jam in the ninth inning, and the Arizona Diamondbacks earned a three-game sweep by beating the Washington Nationals 5-4. Arizona has won five straight series, but this was the Diamondbacks’ first sweep in that stretch. Washington took an 8-2 lead in the series opener Monday before Arizona rallied to win 9-8 and outscored the Nats 29-3 over the rest of the series. The Nationals have lost four straight and seven of nine.
Ian Happ launched a two-run homer and the Chicago Cubs banged out nine doubles among their 17 hits in routing the Cincinnati Reds 13-4 to avoid a series sweep. Seiya Suzuki, Patrick Wisdom and Pete Crow-Armstrong each had a two-run double as the Cubs set season highs for runs and hits. They struck early and never really let the Reds climb back into the game. Chicago hammered one of Cincinnati’s best pitchers, left-hander Nick Lodolo, who exited with two outs in the sixth inning. He tied a career high by allowing eight runs and 11 hits in his worst outing of the season. The Cubs hit nine doubles for the sixth time and first since Aug. 30, 2010. They finished one shy of the franchise record.
San Diego’s Dylan Cease held the NL West-leading Los Angeles Dodgers in check in his first start after throwing his first career no-hitter and Clayton Kershaw lasted only 3 2/3 innings in his second start of the season as the Padres won 8-1 for a two-game sweep. All-Star Jurickson Profar had two RBI singles and Luis Campusano had a homer and RBI single for the Padres, who won for the ninth time in 11 games since the All-Star break. Cease (11-8) won his fourth straight start by holding the Dodgers to one run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings while striking out six.
Top-ranked prospect Jackson Holliday hit a grand slam in his first game back from the minors. The Baltimore Orioles recalled Holliday from Triple-A Norfolk, giving the infielder his second shot at the major leagues. Holliday was the No. 1 pick in the 2022 draft. After grounding out his first two times up against Toronto, Holliday hit a 439-foot drive to right field that was so obviously gone he paused a bit before starting his trot. Holliday then waved to the crowd from the dugout. It was his first career home run.
Travis Bazzana, the top pick in this month’s amateur draft, hit a grand slam for his first professional home run in High-A Lake County’s 17-5 rout of Beloit in the Midwest League. The 21-year-old Australian, selected by Cleveland on July 14, homered on a drive to right-center in the fifth inning against left-hander Caleb Wurster, a 25-year-old left-hander on the Miami Marlins farm team. Batting leadoff, Bazzana also singled, walked twice and scored three runs. Bazzana is hitting .364 with a home, five RBIs, five runs and a stolen base in three games.
NFL
The judge who presided over the class-action lawsuit filed by “Sunday Ticket” subscribers against the NFL said the jury did not follow his instructions in determining damages. U.S. District Judge Philip Gutierrez made the remark as he heard the NFL’s post-trial motion asking that Gutierrez rule for the league if he finds the plaintiffs did not prove their case. Gutierrez could also order a new trial because the eight-person jury came up with its own calculations for damages. The NFL has said it would appeal the verdict. That appeal would go to the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals and then possibly the Supreme Court.
NBA
A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Cavaliers center Jarrett Allen has agreed to a three-year, $91 million contract extension with Cleveland. Allen has become indispensable for the Cavs as well as one of the Eastern Conference’s top big men. He will be guaranteed $131 million over the next five seasons, said the person who spoke to the AP on condition of anonymity because the deal has not been signed. The affable Allen is part of Cleveland’s “Core 4” of players along with All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell, guard Darius Garland and forward Evan Mobley.
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