MLB:
In baseball, in the American League, Tampa Bay blanked Boston 4-0, the Yankees topped Texas 9-7, the White Sox beat Minnesota 9-6, and it was Houston over the Angels 10-4.
In National League, Washington doubled up the Mets 4-2, Milwaukee shut out the Dodgers 7-0, Philadelphia edged Arizona 9-8 in 10 innings, and it was the Cubs over Cincinnati 9-2.
In interleague play, Toronto bested Colorado 5-3, Detroit bested Miami 10-3, Baltimore doubled up San Diego 12-6, Cleveland blanked Atlanta 3-0, Kansas City edged St. Louis 3-2 in 12 innings, Oakland won against San Francisco 7-1, and it was Pittsburgh over Seattle 8-1.
The Red Sox have today off before they open up a 9-game homestand at Fenway heading into the All-Star break. Right-hander Steven Wright is set to start Friday's opener against the Los Angeles Angels. Jhoulys Chacin will start for the Angels.
Outfielder Blake Rutherford, the 18th overall pick in this month's amateur draft, has agreed to a minor league contract with the New York Yankees that includes a signing bonus of $3,282,000. The deal, announced Wednesday, is well over the slot value of $2,441,600 assigned to the pick. Rutherford hit .577 (45 for 78) with 13 doubles and four homers this year for Chaminade College Preparatory School in West Hills, California. He had a .438 average in 249 at-bats over four seasons. New York said he will be assigned to the Gulf Coast League Yankees. New York's first 10 draft picks have reached agreements.
The Yankees will dedicate a plaque to retired reliever Mariano Rivera in Monument Park during a ceremony before their game against Tampa Bay on August 14th. Rivera helped the Yankees win five World Series titles and set big league records with 652 regular-season saves and 42 postseason saves during a career that spanned 1995-2013. New York retired his Number 42 during his final season — it had been retired throughout Major League Baseball in 1997 on the 50th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the game's color barrier, but players using the number at the time were allowed to wear it for the rest of their careers.
NCAA:
University of Massachusetts hockey will make its return to Frozen Fenway in 2017 as the Minutemen’s January 7 matchup vs. Boston University will be held in Fenway Park, part of a two-week series of hockey and ice skating events taking place at the historic ballpark from Jan. 4-16, 2017. UMass’ meeting with the Terriers will be included in first of two Hockey East doubleheaders, which will also feature a matchup between Boston College and Providence.
Connecticut junior guard Courtney Ekmark is transferring to Arizona State. Ekmark will have two years of eligibility left after sitting out the upcoming season under transfer rules. The 6-foot Ekmark was one of the most highly recruited players out of Arizona after leading St. Mary's High School in Phoenix to three state titles.
There's still no winner in the College World Series after Coastal Carolina and Arizona were postponed by rain and lightning. The third and deciding game of the finals is now slated for Thursday in Omaha.
PGA:
Rich Berberian Junior rallied to win the PGA Professional Championship on Wednesday, holing a 30-foot birdie putt on the final hole for a one-stroke victory. The 28-year-old Berberian, a PGA assistant professional at Windham in Derry, New Hampshire topped the 20 qualifiers for the PGA Championship next month at Baltusrol in New Jersey.
WNBA:
In the WNBA, the Liberty beat Minnesota 95-92, Phoenix won against Connecticut 86-75, Indiana bested Chicago 95-83, and it was Washington over San Antonio 84-67.
Olympics:
Michael Phelps is heading back to the Olympics. Phelps held off a stiff challenge from Tom Shields to win the 200-meter butterfly at the U.S. swimming trials. The most decorated athlete in Olympic history held up all five fingers on his right hand following the event to signify his fifth trip to the Summer Games. Missy Franklin finished second to Katie Ledecky in the 200 free to earn a second individual event at the Rio Games. Franklin's runner-up performance came a day after she was seventh in the 100 backstroke, an event she won four years ago in London.
Tennis:
Novak Djokovic has set an Open Era record by earning his 30th consecutive Grand Slam match victory.
The top-seed has moved into the third round at Wimbledon with a 6-4, 6-3, 7-6 win over Adrian Mannarino. Djokovic is the two-time defending champion at Wimbledon and has won the past four major tournaments, a run that began at the All England Club a year ago.
Roger Federer has ended British qualifier Marcus Willis' feel-good Wimbledon run with a 6-love, 6-3, 6-4 in Round 2. The seven-time Wimbledon champion won the first seven games and was always in control against the 772nd-ranked Willis, who was the lowest ranked qualifier to reach the second round at a Grand Slam since 1988.
Wednesday's first-round winners on the men's side included eighth seed Dominic Thiem and No. 10 Tomas Berdych. Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska beat Kateryna Kozlova 6-2, 6-1 in just over an hour to move into the second round. Also advancing to Round 2 Wednesday were seventh seed Belinda Bencic, 10th seed Petra Kvitova and 2014 finalist Eugenie Bouchard. Radwanska, Bencic and Bouchard are in action on Thursday as officials try to play catch-up following several rain delays. Men's second seed Andy Murray highlights the men's schedule.
NFL:
Indianapolis Colts quarterback Andrew Luck has signed the richest contract in NFL history, a deal worth up to $140 million and covering the next six seasons. Colts owner Jim Irsay revealed the contract's maximum value and said Luck would be guaranteed $47 million even if the Colts were to cut him before this season. NFL.com says the life of Luck's contract includes $87 million guaranteed for injury.
NBA:
The Detroit Pistons have traded guard Jodie Meeks to the Orlando Magic for a 2019 conditional second-round draft pick. The 28-year-old Meeks played in only three games in 2015-16 after fracturing the fifth metatarsal in his right foot in the second game of the season. He averaged 10.9 points for the Pistons in 2014-15.
LeBron James is a free agent after declining his player option for next season with the NBA champion Cavaliers. The move was expected by James, who said last week he intends to remain with Cleveland. The 31-year-old star has been a free agent the past three summers, electing each time to sign one-year contracts with a player option.
NHL:
The Montreal Canadiens and Nashville Predators have swapped All-Star defensemen.
The Habs sent P.K. Subban to the Predators for Shea Weber in one of several moves Wednesday involving blueliners.
Subban won the Norris Trophy as the league's top defenseman three years ago and scored six goals and 51 points in 68 games last season. Weber is a three-time Norris finalist and delivered 20 goals and 51 points for the Predators this past season.
Weber has another 10 years left on his current contract. Subban has six years remaining on his deal, which had a no-trade clause that was set to kick in on Friday.
In other NHL moves:
— Lightning captain Steven Stamkos is staying in Tampa Bay after accepting an eight-year contract worth $68 million. Stamkos had 36 goals and 64 points in 77 games last season before undergoing surgery to treat a blood clot near his right collarbone. The deal was reached two days before Stamkos would have become a free agent.
— The Devils have acquired high-scoring forward Taylor Hall from Edmonton for defenseman Adam Larsson. Hall had 26 goals and 65 points last season, two years after an 80-point campaign.
— Blueliner Seth Jones has accepted a six-year, $32.4 package with Columbus, two days before he was scheduled to become a restricted free agent. Jones was acquired in a January trade with Nashville and led Blue Jackets defensemen with 31 points despite playing just 41 games.
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