MLB:
In baseball, in interleague play, the Mets bested the Yankees 4-1.
In the American League, Boston slid past Seattle 3-2 in 11 innings, Toronto won against Houston 4-1, Texas topped Baltimore 5-3, Oakland beat the Angels 8-6 in 10 innnings, the White Sox doubled up Detroit 6-3, Tampa Bay slid past Kansas City 3-2, and it was Cleveland over Minnesota 9-2.
In the National League, Cincinnati blanked St. Louis 7-0, San Francisco beat Philadelphia 3-2 in 10 innings, Atlanta topped Pittsburgh 5-2, and it was the Dodgers over Colorado 4-2.
Mets slugger Yoenis Cespedes has been put on the 15-day disabled list because of a sore right quadriceps, and a feisty manager Terry Collins has teed off on those wondering whether the outfielder aggravated his injury playing golf. The Mets recalled outfielder Brandon Nimmo from Triple-A Las Vegas before Thursday night's Subway Series game at Yankee Stadium.
Olympics:
The 2016 Summer Olympic Games in Rio will get underway tonight. The opening ceremony will take place at 7:30 pm on NBC.
The IOC has approved the entry of 271 Russian athletes for the Rio Olympics. Russia's number of entries was originally 389 before the IOC asked international sports federations to decide which Russian athletes should be cleared to compete after a review of their doping records. The final decision on entries was up to a three-member IOC panel, which received advice from an independent sports arbitrator. The IOC asked international sports federations to decide which Russian athletes should be cleared to compete after a review of their doping records. That followed an investigation for the World Anti-Doping Agency that detailed state-sponsored cheating in Russia. Earlier in the day, the International Boxing Association has cleared all 11 of Russia's boxers who qualified for the Rio Games to compete after a doping review. The International Judo Federation has cleared all 11 Russian judo athletes to compete as well.
An investigation into USA Gymnastics finds the organization collected complaints of improper conduct by more than 50 coaches over 10 years and regularly declined to forward them to the authorities unless asked. That opened the door for further abuse in some cases. The Indianapolis Star found four separates instances when USA Gymnastics didn't take action about potential misconduct by a coach, with each of the four coaches later being charged or convicted of abuse. The report's release comes as the U.S. women's team heads to Rio as the heavy favorites to defend the gold medal.
NFL:
And on the seventh day of training camp, the Jets' veterans rested. New York quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, running back Matt Forte, linebacker David Harris and wide receivers Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker all sat out team drills as coach Todd Bowles appeared to give several of the older and established players Thursday off.
The New York Giants have signed cornerback Leon Hall, giving them a veteran who knows how to play in the slot in passing situations. The Giants announced the signing Thursday, a week after players reported to training camp. A first-round draft pick of Cincinnati in 2007, Hall played all nine of his seasons with the Bengals.
Defensive end Rob Ninkovich said the New England Patriots defense has a long way to go to get ready for September 11th opener at Arizona. While much of the camp focus has been on the offense, which will be missing quarterback Tom Brady for the first four games because of his "Deflategate" suspension, the defense is getting used to life without traded pass rusher Chandler Jones.
A federal appeals court has ruled that the NFL was within its rights when it suspended Minnesota Vikings star Adrian Peterson in 2014 after he was charged with child abuse. The three-judge panel wrote that the players' union and the league both agreed to be bound by the arbitrator's decision and that Commissioner Roger Goodell had acted within his authority. U.S. District Judge David Doty tossed out an arbitrator's ruling last year, saying the arbitrator overreached his authority. Peterson was suspended under the league's personal conduct policy following a charge of child abuse after he disciplined his son with a wooden switch. He wound up playing only one game that season.
PGA:
Jerry Kelly played off the emotion of what he considers a home crowd Thursday in the Travelers Championship, shooting a 6-under 64 for a share of the lead with Vaughn Taylor and Andrew Loupe. The 49-year-old Kelly played at the nearby University of Hartford.
MLS:
The New York Red Bulls have added forward Omer Damari to their roster. Sporting Director Ali Curtis says the Red Bulls got the 27-year-old native of Israel on loan from RB Leipzig of the German Bundesliga. He will join the team for the rest of the season and occupy a designated player spot on the roster. Damari joined RB Leipzig in January 2014. He spent a half-season with the club before going on loan to Red Bull Salzburg in the Austrian Bundesliga, where had four goals and four assists in 16 appearances in 2015 to 2016. Damari has nine goals in 20 appearances for Israel. Before moving to Leipzig, Damari spent the 2014 to 2015 season with Austria Wien, where he was teammates with Daniel Royer, who was signed by New York on Wednesday.
NBA:
The New York Knicks have signed former Stanford guard Chasson Randle. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed Thursday. The 6-foot-2 Randle played for CEZ Nymburk in the Czech Republic last season, averaging 12.8 points and 20.6 minutes. He appeared in three games for New York's entry in the Orlando summer league, averaging 18.3 points, 5.0 assists, 4.3 rebounds, 3.0 steals and 29.7 minutes. At Stanford, Randle scored a school-record 2,375 points, averaging 16.5 points, 3.3 rebounds and 2.5 assists. He was the most valuable player in the 2015 National Invitation Tournament after leading the Cardinal to the championship at Madison Square Garden.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have retained half of their dynamic duo. A person with direct knowledge of the deal says Russell Westbrook and the Thunder have agreed to a three-year, $85.7 million contract extension that runs through 2020-21. The five-time All-Star averaged 23.5 points, 7.8 rebounds and 10.4 assists last season as Oklahoma City reached the Western Conference finals before blowing a three-games-to-one lead against Golden State. Westbrook also piled up 18 triple-doubles last season, tying Magic Johnson for the most in the last 30 years. The signing comes one month after All-Star Kevin Durant left the Thunder for a free-agent contract with the Warriors. The Thunder made it a top priority to keep Westbrook.
Saratoga Race Course:
At the Saratoga Race Course this weekend, the Grade 1 Whitney Stakes start at 6:18 p.m. on Saturday and the Grade 1 Test Stakes will take place at 5 p.m.
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