The US swimming team was able to grab at least one medal in each event during Sunday's schedule. Monday didn't have the same feel until Caleb Dressel hit the pool. Dressel began his quest for six gold medals by leading off an American victory in the men's 4x100-meter freestyle relay. He gave the U.S. a lead it never relinquished as the quartet finished in 3:08.97, the third-fastest time in history.
Australia's Ariarne Titmus defeated Katie Ledecky in the 400-meter freestyle. Titmus trailed by nearly a full body-length at the halfway mark of the eight-lap race. She turned on the speed to touch in 3 minutes, 56.69 seconds, the second-fastest time in history. The defending-champion Ledecky had to settle for silver after finishing just under 7/10ths of a second behind, the fourth-fastest time ever.
The powerhouse US team won six of 12 medals on Sunday but was shut out of the medals in the first two finals Monday. American teenager Torri Huske had to settle for fourth in the women's 100-meter butterfly after being at or near the lead most of the race. She faded on her final strokes and just missed a spot on the podium, finishing one-hundredth of a second from a bronze medal. Maggie MacNeil won the event to give Canada it's first gold medal at the pool. Like Huske, American Michael Andrew was a fourth-place finisher in the men's 100-meter breaststroke. The race was won by Britain's Adam Peaty, successfully defending his title in the event.
In other Olympic events:
Kelsey Stewart hit a game-ending home run leading off the seventh inning, and the United States rallied late to beat Japan 2-1 and win the Olympic softball group stage. Stewart had been 1 for 12 with no RBIs at the Olympics before she drove the 98th pitch over the wall in right field for the first U.S. home run of the tournament.
American shooter Amber English set an Olympic record to knock off reigning women’s skeet champion Diana Bacosi of Italy. English, ranked No. 1 in the world, hit 56 of 60 targets to bounce back from just missing the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 and 2016 Games. Bacosi matched English by hitting 47 of 50 shots to reach the final, but missed on her third attempt and a chance to repeat as Olympic champion. China’s Wei Meng took bronze after tying a world record in qualifying.
Vincent Hancock became the first skeet shooter to win three Olympic gold medals with a victory Monday. Hancock repeated as gold medalist in 2008 and 2012, but had a disappointing finish at the 2016 Rio Games. The 38-year-old from Fort Worth, Texas, hit his first 26 targets in the Tokyo final and set an Olympic record with 59 of 60 overall. He beat Denmark’s Jesper Hanen by four. Kuwait’s Abdullah Al-Rashidi won bronze after taking bronze at the Rio Games as an Independent Olympic Athlete.
Momiji Nishiya of Japan has won the first ever Olympic skateboard competition for women. The 13-year-old gave the host nation a sweep of golds in the street event a day after after Yuto Horigome won the men’s event. Rayssa Leal, a 13-year-old from Brazil, won the silver. That’s her country’s second in skateboarding after Brazilian Kelvin Hoefler took silver on Sunday in the men’s event. The women’s bronze went to Funa Nakayama, also from Japan.
MLB
It was another comeback victory for the Boston Red Sox and another punch to the gut for the New York Yankees bullpen. The Red Sox broke up Domingo Germán's no-hit bid to spark a five-run eighth in their 32nd comeback win of the season, 5-4 over the Yankees. German's afternoon ended when Alex Verdugo led off the eighth with a double, igniting a string of five straight hits. Hunter Renfroe and Kiké Hernández delivered RBI doubles, Kevin Plawecki drove in the tying run with a grounder and Xander Bogaerts lifted a sacrifice fly. The fly ball allowed the Bosox to take three of four in the weekend series. The rally occurred after the Yanks carried a 4-0 lead into the eighth. Boston regained sole possession of the AL East lead, one game ahead of Tampa Bay.
Elsewhere in the majors:
Pete Alonso smacked his fifth home run since the All-Star break and pinch-hitter Jeff McNeil furnished a tiebreaking, two-run double while the Mets scored four in the sixth to beat the Blue Jays, 5-4 and take the three-game set. Rich Hill looked good in his first start as a Met, leaving with a 1-0 lead and the bases loaded in the sixth before Seth Lugo allowed all three runs to score. The win keeps New York atop the NL East by four games over Philadelphia.
The Phillies gained a split of their four-game set with the Braves as Aaron Nola allowed four hits with nine strikeouts over 8 2/3s to lead Philadelphia past Atlanta, 2-1. Jean Segura and Ronald Torreyes both had solo homers to support Nola, who was lifted after Austin Riley went deep for Atlanta with two out in the ninth.
Ryan McKenna scored on a sharp grounder by Ramon Urías for the winning run to give the Orioles a 5-4 victory and a three-game sweep of the Nationals. Trey Mancini, Maikel Franco and McKenna hit solo homers for Baltimore, which improved to 1-51 when trailing after eight innings.
Lance Lynn worked six strong innings and contributed a two-run single as the White Sox defeated the Brewers, 3-1 to avoid a three-game sweep. Lynn struck out six and allowed a run and six hits in his 10th win, blanking Milwaukee until Jackie Bradley Jr.'s RBI double in the fifth.
The Indians had dropped 11 straight to Tampa Bay before Bobby Bradley's sacrifice fly in the eighth inning capped Cleveland's comeback in a 3-2 win over the Rays. The Indians managed just one run in seven innings against Tampa Bay starter Ryan Yarbrough before rallying in the eighth off reliever Matt Wisler.
Abraham Toro smacked a two-run homer and Zack Greinke allowed five hits over six-plus innings as the Astros handed the Rangers their 12th consecutive loss, 3-1. Greinke left with the bases loaded in the seventh before Cristian Javier got out of the jam without allowing a run.
Kyle Seager hit a two-out, two-run single as part of the Mariners' four-run third that carried them to a 4-3 victory over the Athletics. Gonzales allowed two runs and five hits in 5 2/3 innings to help Seattle get within 1 1/2 games of Oakland for the second AL wild card.
The Angels posted a 6-2 win over the Twins behind Shohei Ohtani's major league-leading 35th home run, a tiebreaking blast in the sixth inning. Max Stassi had three hits and drove in three runs to help Los Angeles overcome back-to-back homers by Max Kepler and Brent Rooker.
Daniel Lynch pitched eight scoreless innings for his first major league win as the Royals downed the Tigers, 6-1. Jorge Soler homered twice and Salvador Perez added a three-run blast in Kansas City's fifth consecutive victory.
The Cardinals avoided a three-game sweep by erupting for seven runs in the fourth inning of a 10-6 win at Cincinnati. The big rally was highlighted by Harrison Bader's three-run homer and Dylan Carlson's two-run blast. Tyler O'Neill slammed a first-inning, two-run homer off Sonny Gray, who was torched for a career-high eight runs over 3 1/3 innings.
Kris Bryant and David Bote blasted two-run homers and Anthony Rizzo supplied a solo shot as the Cubs topped the Diamondbacks, 5-1. Trevor Williams struck out six and allowed five hits with no walks over 6 1/3 innings, his first scoreless outing this season.
LaMonte Wade Jr. homered twice and the Giants avoided a three-game sweep by defeating the Pirates, 6-1. Wilmer Flores and Thairo Estrada also went deep for San Francisco, which owns the majors' best record at 62-37.
Chris Taylor added a pair of home runs before Will Smith provided a tiebreaking blast in the eighth inning to send the Dodgers past the Rockies, 3-2. The Los Angeles bullpen worked five scoreless innings as the Dodgers stayed two games behind the NL West-leading Giants.
Deven Marrero and Brian Anderson homered off Yu Darvish as the Marlins battered the Padres, 9-3 to gain a four-game split. Darvish was reached for four runs over five innings, leaving him 0-3 with a 7.32 ERA in his last four starts.
In MLB news:
The Padres just bolstered their middle infield while trying to stay in the NL West race. San Diego has acquired All-Star second baseman Adam Frazier from the Pirates for three prospects. That's according to a person with knowledge of the deal who also says Pittsburgh is sending approximately $1.4 million to the Padres in the deal. The trade is pending a physical. Frazier was the National League starter in the All-Star Game. He leads the majors with 125 hits and is batting .324. Pittsburgh is receiving infielder Tucupita Marcano, outfielder Jack Suwinski and right-hander Michell Miliano in the trade.
The Dodgers have placed All-Star right fielder Mookie Betts on the 10-day injured list with right hip inflammation. Betts last started on July 17 at Colorado and last appeared in a game Monday when he made a pinch-hit appearance against the Giants.
Jake Reed switched teams while his wife, Janie, is with the U.S. softball team at the Olympics. The 28-year-old reliever was claimed off waivers by the Rays from the Dodgers and optioned to Triple-A Durham.
SOCCER
Jesús Medina scored in the 40th minute and New York City FC added four second-half goals to rout Orlando City 5-0 on Sunday night. Medina ran onto a ball tapped to him by Valentín Castellanos and ripped a rising left-footer into the top of the net. Ismael Tajouri-Shradi, Maximiliano Moralez, Malte Amundsen and Castellanos added goals.
Elsewhere in soccer:
Ola Kamara scored for the second consecutive game to help D.C. United beat the New York Red Bulls 1-0. D.C. United did not concede a goal for the first time since a 0-0 tie with Montreal on June 23 — the last of three consecutive shutouts. The Red Bulls had their four-game unbeaten streak snapped.
Gustavo Bou scored twice for his second multi-goal game and the New England Revolution beat Montreal 2-1 on Sunday night for their third straight victory. Bou ripped a right-footer from well outside the area that bounced off the crossbar — twice — and into the net to open the scoring in the 29th minute. The 31-year old scored again, his eighth goal in the last nine games, to make it 2-0 in the 73rd. Djordje Mihailovic scored for Montreal.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Texas and Oklahoma could move closer to membership in the Southeastern Conference within 24 hours. According to multiple reports, the first and very significant formal step of the process could come as soon as Monday. That's when the two schools are expected to inform the Big 12 they will not renew the contractual agreement that binds conference members until 2025. The schools would likely negotiate an early exit that could cost the schools more than $100 million. But with the rich SEC on the horizon, the schools could leave the Big 12 early and change conferences in time for the 2022 college football season.
GOLF
Cameron Champ fended off dehydration and crisply putted his way to a 5-under 66, winning the 3M Open by two strokes for his third career victory. The 26-year-old Champ had five birdies in a bogey-free round to finish at 15-under 269 at TPC Twin Cities. Louis Oosthuizen, Jhonattan Vegas and Charl Schwartzel tied for second.
Elsewhere in golf:
Stephen Dodd birdied the final hole to win the Senior British Open by one stroke. The 55-year-old Welshman held off challenges from Miguel Angel Jimenez and Darren Clarke to secure his first major title on Sunday. Dodd closed with a 2-under 68 at Sunningdale for a four-day total of 13-under 267.
Australian golfer Minjee Lee has won a sudden death playoff against overnight leader Jeongeun Lee6 to clinch the Evian Championship for her first major title. Lee6 had to take a drop shot when her second shot on the first extra playoff hole flew into a pond, while Lee's superb second attempt landed near the flag. Lee6 ended with a bogey to give the 25-year-old Lee three putts for victory and a sixth LPGA title. Teenage American Yealimi Noh finished third at 17 under when she missed a birdie chance on the 18th. The day's best round went to Ireland's Leona Maguire. Her 10-under 61 tied the lowest round ever by a female or male in a major.
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