TENNIS
Top-ranked Jannik Sinner and women’s No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka earned straight-set victories in the finals of the Cincinnati Open, the first titles at the tournament for both players. Sabalenka defeated Jessica Pegula 6-3, 7-5 for her first title since the Australian Open in January. Sinner, who turned 23 on Friday, beat American Frances Tiafoe 7-6 (4), 6-2 to become the youngest Cincinnati champion since 21-year-old Andy Murray won in 2008. Sabalenka had reached the semifinals in the tournament three times and lost each time. The players now look toward the US Open which begins on Aug. 26 in New York.
MLB
Francisco Alvarez hit a solo home run with one out in the ninth inning to give the New York Mets a 4-3 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. J.D. Martinez launched an early two-run shot and Tyrone Taylor had an RBI single as the Mets moved within 1 1/2 games of idle Atlanta for the last National League wild card. Ramón Urías hit a tying homer in the seventh for the Orioles, who dropped a half-game behind the New York Yankees for first place in the AL East. The slumping Alvarez connected on a 3-0 fastball from Seranthony Domínguez for his first home run since July 26.
Yainer Diaz’s tiebreaking solo homer with one out in the ninth inning lifted the Houston Astros to a 5-4 win over the Boston Red Sox. The Astros tied it on an RBI single by Mauricio Dubón in the eighth inning. Red Sox closer Kenley Jansen (3-2) struck out Yordan Alvarez on three pitches before Diaz, who also homered Sunday, sent the next pitch to left-center field to give Houston its 11th victory in 12 games.
The Yankees and Phillies were off last night. New York plays the Guardians in the first of a three-game set at 7:05 tonight in the Bronx, and Philadelphia is set to take on the Braves in the first of a three-game series at 7:20 tonight in Atlanta.
Spencer Steer hit a tiebreaking RBI double in Cincinnati’s four-run sixth inning, and the Reds beat the Toronto Blue Jays 6-3 to stop a three-game slide. TJ Friedl hit his 10th homer and finished with three hits for Cincinnati in the opener of a seven-game trip. Ty France had two hits and two RBIs. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 26th homer for Toronto, and Ernie Clement also went deep. Kevin Gausman permitted four runs, three earned, and five hits in five-plus innings in his first loss since July 5.
Corey Seager homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Texas Rangers beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3. Seager’s nine homers in August are tied for the major league lead with Miami’s Jake Burger. He also went deep twice on Aug. 2 against Boston. Rangers right-hander José Ureña pitched four scoreless innings in relief of Dane Dunning. Kirby Yates worked a perfect ninth for his 22nd save. Pittsburgh has dropped 12 of 14. Jared Triolo hit a three-run homer in the fourth for the Pirates.
Jackson Merrill hit a three-run double, Michael King pitched six effective innings and the San Diego Padres beat the Minnesota Twins 5-3 in an interleague matchup of playoff contenders. San Diego bounced back nicely after dropping two of three at Colorado over the weekend. The Padres are 21-5 since July 20. Minnesota had won five of seven going into the three-game set. The Twins did not hit a home run on Monday, ending their streak of eight consecutive games with a homer since Aug. 11.
Matt Chapman hit his 20th home run, Kyle Harrison pitched six strong innings and the San Francisco Giants beat the Chicago White Sox 5-3 on Monday night. Harrison allowed one run and five hits, striking out five and walking two as the Giants limited their opponent to three runs or fewer for the fifth straight game. San Francisco moved within 3 1/2 games of the idle Atlanta Braves for the final NL wild-card spot. The White Sox lost for the 29th time in their last 32 games.
Gavin Stone struck out a career-high 10 over seven innings, Gavin Lux and Max Muncy homered in the seventh, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Seattle Mariners 3-0. The Dodgers have won seven in a row overall and eight straight at home against the Mariners since 2015. Stone recorded eight strikeouts through four innings. He allowed singles to Julio Rodriguez and former Dodger Justin Turner, who returned to Dodger Stadium for the first time since his memorable nine-year run with the team ended in 2022. Evan Phillips retired the side in the ninth to earn his 16th save.
Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer, Seth Lugo allowed four hits over seven innings and the Royals beat the Angels 5-3 on Monday night. That extended Kansas City's streak to five consecutive wins. Salvador Perez had a pair of hits and also drove in three runs for the Royals. Lugo won his 14th game to move into a tie with the Braves’ Chris Sale and the Tigers’ Tarik Skubal for the big league lead. Carson Fulmer took the loss for the Angels, allowing three runs, two earned, on five hits and three walks in just four innings. Zach Neto homered and Jo Adell drove in a pair of runs for Los Angeles.
JJ Bleday hit a two-run homer, Joe Boyle pitched six effective innings and the Oakland A’s beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-0. Bleday got his 16th home run in the first inning and Lawrence Butler added a sacrifice fly in the fifth to account for all of the offense. Boyle (3-5) limited the Rays to just two hits and three walks while striking out six. Grant Holman, Tyler Ferguson and Mason Miller each followed with hitless innings while combining for five more strikeouts, with Miller getting his 19th save. The A’s jumped out to an early lead in the first that they never relinquished. Butler singled to open the inning and, after Brent Rooker struck out, Bleday smashed a fastball to the right field bleachers.
Rookie Adrian Del Castillo hit his first career grand slam and drove in six runs to help the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Miami Marlins 9-6. The Miami native homered for the third time since he was brought up from the minors on Aug. 6. Del Castillo, who played collegiately at the University of Miami, also hit a two-run single and had his first career stolen base. He is hitting .333 with 14 RBIs in nine games with Arizona. Joc Pederson and Jake McCarthy also went deep for the Diamondbacks, who are a major league-best 29-13 since July 1.
Atlanta Braves third baseman Austin Riley will miss at least the rest of the regular season after breaking his right hand. Riley was struck Sunday by a 97 mph fastball from Los Angeles Angels starter Jack Kochanowicz in the first inning of Atlanta’s 3-1 victory. An MRI confirmed the fracture. The Braves said Monday that Riley will miss six to eight weeks, which knocks him out through the regular season and likely into the playoffs should the Braves qualify. The Braves have won six straight NL East titles, but that streak is in jeopardy after a rash of injuries. They trail Philadelphia by seven games.
NFL
Tua Tagovailoa left no doubt he likes playing for Mike McDaniel a lot more than he did Brian Flores. Fresh off signing a four-year contract extension last month, Tagovailoa said he appreciates McDaniel’s positive coaching style after dealing with Flores’ negativity during his first two seasons in the NFL. Tagovailoa made his remarks during an interview on "The Dan LeBatard Show." Tagovailoa said Flores told him repeatedly he didn't belong while McDaniel built him up by saying his skills fit what the Dolphins want to do. Tagovailoa threw for 29 touchdowns and a league-best 4,624 yards last season.
The NFL’s new dynamic kickoff is achieving its goals in the preseason of raising the rate of return and the threat of big plays after years of increasing touchbacks. Whether that will carry over to the regular season when coaches might be more concerned with avoiding risk than testing out the new rule remains an open question. With the average start after kickoffs nearly reaching the 30, teams might opt to kick it deep and give up touchbacks to the 30 instead of risking giving up a long return. The NFL says it is “not likely” that the touchback will be moved to the 35 this season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Ohio State safety Caleb Downs is one of the second-ranked Buckeyes’ high-profile transfers. He and three of his new teammates have been selected to The Associated Press preseason All-America team. Downs was joined by guard Donovan Jackson, receiver Emeka Egbuka and cornerback Denzel Burke to give Ohio State the most first-team selections. No. 1 Georgia and No. 9 Michigan each had three players picked for the first team, including Bulldogs quarterback Carson Beck.
Conference realignment has brought Oklahoma and Texas into the SEC, Oregon, Washington, UCLA and USC into the Big Ten and Utah, Arizona, Arizona State and Colorado into the Big 12. Because the conferences at the top are so loaded now, there will be more big games in league play. And with the new 12-team playoff, more late-season games will affect the national championship race than ever. No. 1 Georgia has three games against top six opponents and two more against the top 15. Defending champ Michigan plays Texas in the first truly huge matchup of the season.
SOCCER
Jamie Vardy still knows how to score in the Premier League. The 37-year-old veteran striker rescued a point for Leicester in its return to the Premier League on Monday by heading home a second-half equalizer in a 1-1 draw against Tottenham, which had largely dominated the first half. Tottenham had plenty of opportunities to build a bigger lead but new signing Dominic Solanke was among those guilty of missing chances.
NHL
The Columbus Blue Jackets traded forward Patrik Laine to the Montreal Canadiens in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris and a second-round draft pick in 2026. The Blue Jackets were without the 26-year-old Laine for much of the 2023-24 season. He sought help from the NHL’s player assistance program in January and made it known that his issues were mental-health related. Laine was drafted second overall by the Winnipeg Jets in 2016. He has two seasons remaining on a four-year, $34.8 million contract. In four seasons with the Blue Jackets, Laine had 64 goals and 74 assists.
NASCAR
Tyler Reddick took the lead on a restart in the second overtime to win at Michigan International Speedway, opening up another spot for a driver in NASCAR’s playoffs. Reddick is one of 12 drivers with a place secured in the postseason, leaving four spots available with races remaining at Daytona and Darlington. He also won at Talladega four months ago in his No. 45 Toyota for 23XI, the team owned by Denny Hamlin and Michael Jordan. The race at Michigan was suspended on Sunday after 51 laps because of rain and concluded Monday.
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