OLYMPICS
American gymnast Simone Biles didn’t get the golden sendoff she hoped. Biles earned silver in the floor exercise finals on Monday after a routine that included a couple of costly steps out of bounds. Brazil’s Rebeca Andrade became the first gymnast to beat Biles in a floor final in a major international competition, posting a score of 14.166 that finished just ahead of Biles at 14.133. It was Biles' 11th Olympic medal. Jordan Chiles, a longtime friend of Biles, earned the bronze.
The International Boxing Association has raised new questions while struggling to answer others at a shambolic news conference about the opaque gender tests that led the Olympics-banned governing body to abruptly suspend Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting from last year’s world championships. The decision has fueled online abuse against the women during the Paris Games. During the news conference Monday in Paris, IBA CEO Chris Roberts claimed the Olympic committees of Algeria and Taiwan wrote letters to the IBA asking them not to disclose information about the boxers. What information the IBA did reveal about the tests wasn't flattering to the banished governing body.
Olympic triathletes plunged into the Seine River when the mixed relay event got underway after organizers said the bacteria levels in the long-polluted Paris waterway were at acceptable levels. Organizers on Sunday night made the decision to hold the event Monday morning with swimming legs in the Seine. The plan to hold the swimming portion of the triathlons and the marathon swimming events in the Seine was an ambitious one. Swimming in the river has, with some exceptions, been off-limits since 1923 because it has been too toxic.
Armand “Mondo” Duplantis broke his own pole vault world record Monday night at the Olympics, clearing 6.25 meters (20 feet, 6 inches) to cap his second straight gold-medal performance on the sport’s biggest stage. Duplantis cleared the mark on his third and final try. It marked the ninth time the Louisiana-born 24-year-old, who competes for his mother’s native Sweden, has broken the record, but the first time at the Olympics. Duplantis last broke the record April 20 in China. America’s Sam Kendricks won the silver medal and Emmanouil Karralis of Greece took the bronze.
Olympic boxer Imane Khelif says the wave of hateful scrutiny she has faced over misconceptions about her gender “harms human dignity.” She called for an end to bullying athletes after being greatly affected by the international backlash against her. The Algerian athlete spoke about her tumultuous Olympic experience on Sunday night in an interview with SNTV, a sports video partner of The Associated Press. Khelif also expressed gratitude to the International Olympic Committee and its president, Thomas Bach, for standing resolutely behind her while the banned former governing body of Olympic boxing stoked a furor around her participation in Paris.
MLB
Sean Manaea won consecutive starts for the first time this season, Tyrone Taylor hit a three-run double from the No. 2 slot in the batting order and the New York Mets beat the St. Louis Cardinals 6-0 in the makeup of a May 8 rainout. Manaea allowed six hits in seven innings, struck out 10 and walked none. He has pitched 14 scoreless innings in his last two starts, giving up eight hits, striking out 21 and walking one. Ryne Stanek and Edwin Díaz finished with hitless relief in the Mets’ fourth shutout -- all from July 11 on.
James Paxton pitched six solid innings, Masataka Yoshida tied his career high with four of Boston’s 18 hits and the Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 9-5 on Monday night. Boston, which has won four their last five, now trails the Royals by 1 1/2 games for the final American League wild card spot. Paxton allowed two runs on five hits to pick up his first win since being traded to the Red Sox by the Dodgers. Brady Singer allowed four runs on 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings. He allowed at least one hit in every inning.
Teoscar Hernández hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the third inning, Shohei Ohtani went deep in the eighth and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Phillies 5-3. Tyler Glasnow struck out nine and gave up three runs and four hits for the NL West-leading Dodgers in the matchup of NL division leaders. Daniel Hudson pitched the ninth to earn his eighth save. Freddie Freeman returned to the Dodgers' lineup after missing eight games while tending to his ailing 3-year-old son. He was 1 for 4. Aaron Nola took the loss for the Phillies.
Eugenio Suárez singled off All-Star closer Emmanuel Clase in the 10th inning to score automatic runner Corbin Carroll, lifting the Arizona Diamondbacks to a 7-6 victory over the Cleveland Guardians. The Guardians had forced extra innings on Daniel Schneemann’s sacrifice fly in the ninth off Ryan Thompson, which plated Bo Naylor. Ketel Marte and Gabriel Moreno hit back-to-back homers off Logan Allen to start the game, helping the Diamondbacks move within a percentage point of the top National League wild-card spot and win for the 22nd time in 31 games since June 29. The Guardians have the best record in the majors at 67-45.
David Festa struck out a career-high nine over five innings, and the Minnesota Twins beat the Chicago Cubs 3-0. Minnesota drew within 3 1/2 games of AL Central-leading Cleveland, the closest the Twins have been to first place since before play on May 18. Making his fifth big league start since his debut on June 27, Festa allowed two hits and two walks while throwing 82 pitches, one more than the previous high for the 24-year-old right-hander.
Josh Smith hit a game-ending two-run homer in the 10th inning to give the Texas Rangers a 4-3 win over the Houston Astros. It was the opener of the final series this season between the AL West rivals and last two World Series champions. Smith pulled a 410-foot homer into right-center on a 94-mile-per-hour fastball from Caleb Ferguson with two outs. That made a winner out of All-Star closer Kirby Yates, who in the top of the 10th hit consecutive batters with pitches, the first a disputed play, to force in a go-ahead run.
The Chicago White Sox lost their 21st straight game, tying the American League record with a 5-1 defeat to the Oakland Athletics as Max Schuemann hit a tiebreaking, two-run single in the fourth inning. Chicago is on the longest losing streak since the 1988 Baltimore Orioles lost 21 in a row. The NL record since 1900 is held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies, who lost 23 straight. The major league low belongs to the 1889 Louisville Colonels, an American Association team that lost 26 consecutive games during a 27-111 season.
Matt Chapman homered in his third straight game, Logan Webb pitched into the sixth inning and the San Francisco Giants beat the Washington Nationals 4-1. The Giants have won nine of their past 12 games and reached the .500 mark (57-57) for the first time since they entered play on June 1 at 29-29 before an eventual loss to the Yankees. Tyler Fitzgerald had two hits and went deep for the second straight game. He has homered in 10 of his past 17 games, with 11 homers total. Webb (9-8) allowed a run on four hits over 5 2/3 innings.
Elly De La Cruz became the youngest Cincinnati player with four extra-base hits in a game since at least 1901 and the Reds overcame Jesús Sánchez’s 480-foot home run, the longest in the major league this season, in a 10-3 win over the Miami Marlins. Nick Martinez pitched five scoreless innings to win on his 34th birthday in his first start since May 22. De La Cruz put Cincinnati ahead with a two-run homer off Roddery Muñoz in the first inning, doubled in the fourth and sixth and hit a solo homer in the eighth against Shaun Anderson for his 20th home run this season.
Freddie Freeman singled and got a hug from Phillies star Bryce Harper in his return to the Los Angeles Dodgers’ lineup after missing eight games to be with his ailing 3-year-old son who is out of danger after a serious medical diagnosis. After an initial diagnosis proved incorrect, Maximus Freeman was found to have Guillain-Barre syndrome. It's a rare neurological disorder in which the body's immune system attacks the nervous system. Freeman says his son is back home and learning to walk again. The All-Star first baseman cried at times in describing what he called a “heartbreaking” ordeal. He says his son is expected to fully recover over time.
NFL
The passage of time has allowed Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin to gain perspective and grow in confidence a year after he resumed playing football following a near-death experience. Hamlin tells The Associated Press that his mind, spirit and soul are free in no longer feeling hindered by fears of going into cardiac arrest and having to be resuscitated on the field, as happened to him during a game at Cincinnati on Jan. 2, 2023. The 26-year-old's focus is now on making the Bills' roster for a fourth season since being selected by Buffalo in the sixth round of the 2021 draft.
Chiefs kicker Harrison Butker, who made the game-winning field goal in Kansas City’s Super Bowl victory two years ago, has agreed on a four-year contract extension that makes him the highest-paid kicker in the NFL. Butker announced the deal on X, saying: “There’s no place I’d rather be than with the Chiefs, excited to finalize a 4-year extension. To the Heights!” ESPN reported that Butker is receiving a $25.6 million extension that includes $17.75 million guaranteed.
Chargers coach Jim Harbaugh says he has no reason to apologize. The former Michigan coach continued to deny having any knowledge of an impermissible-scouting operation that triggered an NCAA investigation into his program last year. Harbaugh left Michigan two weeks after he led the Wolverines to their first national title since 1997. Michigan is expected to soon receive a notice of allegations from the NCAA related to the sign-stealing scheme. Harbaugh could face a Level 1 violation. He says he believes in owning up to mistakes, but did nothing wrong in this case.
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