COPA:
The top-ranked Argentine soccer team schooled Team USA 4-0 to reach the finals of the Copa America tournament. Superstar Lionel Messi scored a goal and two assists. He became Argentina's all-time leading scorer in international play with his goal in the 32nd minute.
The US is 3-16-1 all-time in competitive matches against Argentina. Argentina next plays the Colombia-Chile winner in the Copa America final Sunday. Team USA plays the Colombia-Chile loser in the third place game Saturday.
MLB:
In baseball, in the American League, Chris Sale became the majors' first 12-game winner while tying his season high with nine strikeouts as the Chicago White Sox beat the Boston Red Sox 3-1, Detroit doubled up Seattle 4-2, Cleveland blanked Tampa Bay 6-0, and it was Houston over the Angels 3-2.
In the National League, San Francisco blasted Pittsburgh 15-4, Atlanta edged Miami 3-2 in 10 innings, ST. Louis slid past the Cubs 4-3, and it was the Dodgers over Washington 3-2.
In interleague play, Colorado doubled up the Yankees 8-4, the Mets edged Kansas City 2-1, Cincinnati bested Texas 8-2, Minnesota won against Philadelphia 14-10, Oakland topped Milwaukee 5-3, Arizona doubled up Toronto 4-2, and it was San Diego over Baltimore 10-7.
WNBA:
In the WNBA, Minnesota beat the Sparks 72-69, Dallas won against Phoenix 100-90, and it was Chicago over San Antonio 81-75.
NHL:
The NHL has released the 2016-17 schedule that features a late start to the season because of the hockey World Cup. The scheduled also features a bye week for each team. Players on every team will have at least five full days off from games and practices sometime in January or February. Because of the changes, back-to-backs and stretches of three games in four days are more common. The schedule will be almost a week shorter than last season.
The salary cap for the 2016-17 NHL season will be $73 million, up from $71.4 million. The cap floor, or the minimum amount a team can spend, is $54 million. It was $52.8 million last season.
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Ryan Callahan has undergone surgery to repair a labral tear in his right hip and will be sidelined about five months, which means he will not play for Team USA in the World Cup of Hockey.
Los Angeles Kings forward Vincent Lecavalier has retired after 17 NHL seasons. The 36-year-old spent his first 14 NHL seasons with the Tampa Bay Lightning, winning the Stanley Cup in 2004. He had a disappointing tenure in Philadelphia before joining the Kings in January and declaring that the 2015-16 season would be his last. Lecavalier scored 949 points in 1,212 regular-season games, including 421 goals.
NBA:
The city of Cleveland is saluting its newly crowned NBA champion Cavaliers with a parade Wednesday and an all-day celebration planned for Cleveland. The Cavalier faithful are expected line the streets of downtown Cleveland as the parade starts by Quicken Loans Arena before moving past the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
New York Knicks Arron Afflalo and Derrick Williams have declined their options for the second year of their contracts and will become free agents July first, according to a person with knowledge of the moves. Both signed two-year deals with the Knicks last summer.
The Milwaukee Bucks have signed coach Jason Kidd to a three-year contract extension. Kidd is 74-90 over his first two seasons in Milwaukee, including a 41-win season and playoff appearance in 2014-15.
NCAA:
Brown men's lacrosse coach Lars Tiffany has been hired away by Virginia to take over the Cavaliers' program. Tiffany has been at Brown 10 season and this past season led the Bears to a program-record 16 wins as well as the national semifinals. At Virginia he will replace hall of fame coach Dom Starsia, who coached the Cavaliers to four national titles and 13 Final Fours.
UConn's Breanna Stewart is among 12 Honda Award recipients in the running for the Collegiate Female Athlete of the Year award. The award recognizing leadership, academics and community service will be handed out on Monday evening on the campus of USC in Los Angeles.
Eric Gutierrez hit a two-run homer, Texas Tech picked up a huge insurance run by way of two errors on the same play in the ninth, and the Red Raiders eliminated Florida 3-2 at the College World Series. It was a stunning early exit for the No. 1 national seed, which made things interesting in the bottom of the ninth after Peter Alonso's two-run homer made it a one-run game. The game ended when Jonathan India tried to stretch a single into a double and was thrown out by left fielder Tyler Neslony. The fifth-seeded Red Raiders are 47-19. Texas Tech will play Thursday against Coastal Carolina, which lost to TCU 6-1.
NFL:
Former New England and current Texans player Vince Wilfork is among the sports starts who will be baring their bodies for ESPN the Magazine's annual "Body Issue" next month. The issue will also include Cy Young winner Jake Arrieta, retired diver Greg Louganis and duathlete Chris Mosier, who will be the first transgender athlete to appear in the issue.
Olympics:
International Olympic Committee president Thomas Bach has opened the door to having some Russian track athletes compete under the Russian flag at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro. Speaking after an Olympic summit, Bach said the sports leaders agree that the ban on the Russian track federation by the International Association of Athletics Federations for wide-spread doping should be upheld. He went on to say that Russians who are exempted by the IAAF to compete in Rio will do so as a member of the Russian Olympic Committee. The IAAF had said any Russians competing in Rio would be under a neutral flag.
PGA:
Rory McIlroy says he will not be competing in the golf tournament at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics because of concerns over the Zika virus. In a statement released by his management company on Wednesday, the four-time major winner says "I've come to realize that my health and my family's health comes before anything else." The Northern Irishman says "even though the risk of infection from the Zika virus is considered low, it is a risk nonetheless and a risk I am unwilling to take." McIlroy is one of the most high-profile sports stars to pull out of the Rio Games because of Zika, the mosquito-borne virus linked to severe birth defects and possible neurological problems in adults.
Obit:
Champion show jumper Frank Chapot has died. A daughter says Chapot was 84 and passed away on Monday at a nursing home in Bound Brook, New Jersey. He went to six Olympics games, winning silver twice and he coached the U.S. to its first team equestrian gold at the 1984 games in Los Angeles.
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