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The United States' 2-0 victory over Netherlands in Sunday's FIFA Women's World Cup final averaged nearly 15.6 million U.S. viewers on English- and Spanish-language television.
It was the most-viewed match this season, but a decrease from the 2015 final.
The match averaged 14.27 million viewers on Fox, according to the network and Nielsen, and peaked at 19.6 million. It was a 22 percent increase over last year's FIFA World Cup men's final between France and Croatia, which averaged 11.44 million.
The audience was down 43.8 percent from the 2015 final between the U.S. and Japan, which averaged 25.4 million viewers. That match, though, was played in Canada and started at 7 p.m. ET, compared to Sunday's final in France, which kicked off at 11 a.m. ET.
The Telemundo broadcast averaged 1.3 million and peaked at 2 million as the match concluded.
The match averaged 589,000 viewers online -- 289,000 on Fox apps and 300,000 on NBC and Telemundo apps -- which makes it the most-streamed Women's World Cup match ever.
The CONCACAF Gold Cup final between the U.S. and Mexico averaged 2.9 million on Fox Sports 1, making it the most-viewed non-World Cup match in the network's five-year history.
The Copa America final between Brazil and Peru averaged 3.1 viewers on Telemundo. The ESPN-plus streaming service had the English-language rights, but the network did not divulge figures.
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Pooran, Thomas and Allen handed first West Indies contracts
Published in
Cricket
Monday, 08 July 2019 19:42
Nicholas Pooran, Fabian Allen and Oshane Thomas have been handed Cricket West Indies central contracts for the first time and Darren Bravo returns with an all-format deal while the number of women on contracts has increased from 12 to 15.
Among the men's contracts there are now seven players on all-format deals, an increase from four, with Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer and Keemo Paul joining Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph and Kemar Roach.
The CWI deals for the men come in three categories of all-format, red-ball and white-ball contracts.
Pooran, Allen and Thomas were all part of the World Cup squad with Pooran, especially, impressing in the closing stages of the tournament with 118 against Sri Lanka and 58 against Afghanistan. Opening batsman John Campbell, who made his Test debut against England earlier this year, has also been handed his first contract in the red-ball category.
Left-arm spinner Jomel Warrican has been given a red-ball deal while Sheldon Cottrell gets a white-ball offer.
Six players who had deals for 2018-19 have fallen off the lists: Sunil Ambris, Devendra Bishoo, Miguel Cummins, Ashley Nurse, Kieran Powell and Raymon Reifer.
In the women's contracts, Reniece Boyce, Anisa Mohammed, Akeira Peters have not been offered new deals along with the retired Merissa Aguilleira.
"We believe the 2019-20 contract list provides us with a multi-talented group of players who can represent West Indies men and women across all formats over the contract period," interim chairman of the CWI Selection Panel, Robert Haynes, said. "We believe the mix of players selected are important for the development of our teams going forward and we have looked to award contracts to players who have shown commitment and performance during the past year."
CWI allows for up to 22 men's contracts to be offered each year so there is scope to add three more names. Currently, only verbal offers for the deals have been made to the players while negotiations continue on the new four-year Memorandum of Understanding with the West Indies Players Association. Jimmy Adams, the CWI director of cricket, said the contracts are subject to the players reaching minimum fitness standards.
"To assist in our drive towards a new fitness and conditioning culture, the CWI board of directors has approved our recommendation that the award of all new West Indies men's contracts this year will be conditional on each player achieving a minimum standard of fitness," he said. "This new policy will also be introduced to all men's regional franchise contracts and West Indies Women's contracts next year for the 2020-21 season."
CWI men's contracts for 2019-20
All-format Darren Bravo, Shimron Hetmyer, Jason Holder, Shai Hope, Alzarri Joseph, Keemo Paul, Kemar Roach
Red-ball Kraigg Brathwaite, John Campbell, Roston Chase, Shane Dowrich, Shannon Gabriel, Jomel Warrican
White-ball Fabian Allen, Carlos Brathwaite, Sheldon Cottrell, Nicholas Pooran, Rovman Powell, Oshane Thomas
CWI women's contracts 2019-2020
Retained Shemaine Campbelle, Shamilia Connell, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Hayley Matthews, Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman, Stafanie Taylor
New contracts Shabika Gajnabi, Shawnisha Hector, Chinelle Henry, Stacy-Ann King, Kycia Knight, Natasha McLean, Karishma Ramharack
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Michael Yardy, the former Sussex captain and England allrounder, has been named New South Wales batting coach, replacing Beau Casson who has decided to return to Western Australia for family reasons.
Yardy, 38, has been Sussex batting coach since early 2017 and has been combining that with his role as the 2nd XI coach since the 2018 English season, while also working with the England Young Lions. He will link up with New South Wales next month in preparation for the Australian domestic season which starts in October.
"I would like to thank the club for giving me the opportunity to coach at Sussex, a place which will always be very special to me and my family and which is deeply ingrained within me," Yardy said. "I'm immensely proud to have played a part in the emergence of a number of young batsmen, from players being called up to England to seeing talented young lads start their journey with debuts and achieving landmarks across all formats.
"Alongside my role at Sussex, I have immensely enjoyed my work with England Young Lions as batting coach. I leave both roles knowing the players I've worked with are in a good place to continue to progress. Now I am excited about and looking forward to the opportunity to work at New South Wales, which is an outstanding organisation. It was an opportunity I couldn't afford to let pass by."
Yardy scored more than 10,000 first-class in a 15-year Sussex career alongside captaining the club from 2009 to 2012. He played 28 ODIs and 14 T20Is for England, and was part of the team which won the 2010 World T20 in the Caribbean, before his international career was ended due to clinical depression which curtailed his 2011 World Cup. He has since done much work to raise awareness of mental health.
Casson was appointed batting coach last August amid a backroom restructuring at NSW. He played an important part in the breakthrough season for Kurtis Patterson, who forced his way into Australia's Test team, scoring a century in his second match against Sri Lanka, and is now pushing for an Ashes berth. Casson has also worked with the state at a time when they have a number of emerging young batsmen including Jason Sangha and Jack Edwards.
Cricket NSW general manager of cricket performance, David Moore, said: "We've got seven or eight really good players under the age of 21 at the moment that we think are going to be good players and we think Mike is going to be able to add his experience, not just technically and tactically, but really how he thinks about the game, how he devises his innings.
"He's coached at Premier League level in the UK, he's coached Academy level, he's coached at 2nd XI level and he's also been involved with the Sussex first XI, so we're very lucky that we've got someone of such experience and development. We're obviously looking for Mike to come in and fit into the team beautifully, which we're sure he will and…to assist in the development of players that are going to play for Australia and help us win Shield titles."
Sussex director of cricket Keith Greenfield said: "Yards has been a hugely important and committed part of Sussex's journey for the best part of three decades in his roles as player, captain and latterly as coach.
"We wish him well with his new opportunity in Australia as he strives to become the best coach possible and, one day, a head coach. We're delighted at Sussex to have helped him on his way to those goals."
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It's been a strange year for Peter Handscomb. He started it recalled to the Test side, one game after being dropped, and was then dropped again. He was called into the ODI squad, scored plenty of runs, but was left out of the World Cup squad. Now he's in the World Cup squad after Shaun Marsh's broken wrist and is very close to coming straight in for a semi-final.
Handscomb's omission from the original 15 was the harshest, and toughest, call the selectors made - in the squeeze to include the returning David Warner and Steven Smith - after he tallied 479 runs at 43.54 in 12 innings, including impressive knocks in the away series in India which Australia came from 2-0 down to win. And, despite Australia comfortably making the semi-finals, there have been times in this tournament when the stuttering middle order has made Handscomb not being there look a misstep.
Having seemingly seen the chance of being part of this World Cup slip away, Handscomb now faces coming in when the pressure is at its greatest. "For me, I've played so many World Cup semi-finals and finals in the backyard with my mates and you are trying to be different guys as a kid. To actually come out here, it's cliché, but it's living the dream," he said. "It's about knowing what is required of me and then treating it as any game, go in with the same mindset I have for the last couple of years and hopefully do something towards winning the match."
Handscomb's breakthrough innings came in the fourth ODI of the away series in India when he struck 117 in Australia's record run chase of 359. That, coupled with several other useful innings, has left him confident of being able to step into the breach against England.
"Every time you take the next step up you try and get that self-belief that you actually belong there and that little period against India and Pakistan really helped me believe in myself," he said. "Now I can back my skills and know I have done it so can continue to make runs if required."
Although Handscomb is currently Australia's lone official replacement in the squad there are various permutations that potentially see him not lining up at Edgbaston with Matthew Wade and Mitchell Marsh currently acting as cover. If either are elevated to the squad they could leapfrog Handscomb depending on the type of player Australia want. Usman Khawaja has been ruled out of the remainder of the tournament, but Marcus Stoinis was doing all he could during training on Monday to try and keep himself in contention despite a second side strain in the space of a few weeks.
"He's pretty tough, Stoin," bowling coach Adam Griffith said. "He's played with the left side [strain] through the tournament and he bowled seven overs against England in a row and got through it okay. Scans show things, but it will be more around his ability to perform. We'll have a good look at that tomorrow when he bowls. It's pretty uncommon [to injure both sides], so I'm looking forward to seeing how he goes tomorrow. That's the best indication we'll have that he's not just fit to play, but fit to perform."
What the last week has shown is the benefits of the planning that Cricket Australia put into this World Cup - and the Ashes that follows - by having the Australia A team playing concurrently in the UK. Handscomb, Wade and Mitchell Marsh are all fresh off the one-day series which concluded last week rather than having to be flown in long distances at the crunch stage of the tournament.
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Raiders' Brown says he settled balcony incident
Published in
Breaking News
Monday, 08 July 2019 22:29
ALAMEDA, Calif. -- Oakland Raiders receiver Antonio Brown announced Monday night that he reached a settlement in an incident from April 2018 in which he allegedly yelled at security and threw items off a South Florida apartment balcony.
"The legal dispute between Ophir Sternberg and me has been resolved, with a confidential sum of funds being donated to charity," Brown wrote on Twitter. "I am sorry that an incident occurred. I apologize for any statements we made in court filings or otherwise to Mr. Sternberg and family. I wish Mr. Sternberg my best with regard to future endeavors and through this settlement, seek to make amends with Mr. Sternberg and family."
Brown faced a pair if lawsuits for "damages in excess of $15,000, exclusive of" attorney fees and interest, according to documents obtained by ESPN in October.
The documents said a 2-year-old boy's guardian sued Brown for "intentional infliction of emotional distress and assault" after items flung from the 14th floor of The Mansions at Acqualina nearly hit the child, per Miami-Dade County court filings. The child, per the report, was with his grandfather near the pool area of the complex when items that included two vases, an ottoman and other pieces of furniture fell close to them. The child, the court filing claimed, had experienced anxiety and trouble sleeping since the incident.
"Mr. Brown's out of control and inexcusable behavior could have killed my son," Sternberg said in a statement in October. "His reckless tantrum displayed complete disregard for the safety of others. We intend to hold Mr. Brown accountable, to hopefully ensure that something like this never happens again."
Brown, who was with the Pittsburgh Steelers at the time, also faced a case filed by the owner of the condo Brown leased for damages and breaching the lease.
NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy told ESPN at the time that the league was closely monitoring the situation.
Brown was acquired by the Raiders in a trade for a third- and a fifth-round draft pick on March 13 and has been lauded for his work ethic and leadership in Oakland's offseason program.
"It's a sad day for seeing me leave," Brown told ESPN upon arriving in Oakland. "To all the kids, man, live your dreams. Continue to work hard. Hopefully, I can continue to encourage you."
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LAS VEGAS -- Zion Williamson took in the New Orleans Pelicans' Monday night game from the sideline, having been shut down after playing for just nine minutes on Friday night. The team said he knocked knees with another player in Friday's game and suffered a bruised left knee.
"It was more precautionary," Williamson said of sitting out of the remainder of Las Vegas Summer League.
Even without Williamson, the Pelicans defeated the Chicago Bulls 109-72 on Monday night.
Now that he isn't playing any more games in Las Vegas, Williamson said his goal is to "hone his craft" and "get ready for the season." Williamson said it is "frustrating" to not be playing any more Summer League games.
"I'm a competitor," Williamson said. "Whenever I can play, I just want to play."
Williamson came into summer league hovering around 284 lbs. When asked whether or not he has any specific goals regarding his weight and getting into game shape, Williamson refrained from providing specific goals.
"I'll let the trainers help me with that," Williamson said.
Even though Williamson was on the bench, fans swarmed to him as he exited the court. He spent 10 minutes signing miniature basketballs and posters for attendees.
On Friday, when Williamson made his debut, the atmosphere in the building was even more raucous. The Thomas & Mack Center was sold out for the game.
"The energy was high, and it was actually my first taste of actually playing against NBA players," Williamson said of his debut. "so it was great."
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Russell 'excited' to join Dubs, even for short term
Published in
Basketball
Monday, 08 July 2019 22:48
LAS VEGAS -- New Warriors guard D'Angelo Russell understands he might get traded in the future as Golden State looks to reshape its roster, but he is excited about the chance to pair with Stephen Curry and the defending Western Conference champions after being acquired in a sign-and-trade from the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Durant.
"That's the business of it," Russell said when asked if he has been given any indication from the Warriors that they want to keep him long term. "It is what it is. You put yourself in a position to go somewhere for a long period of time, and it may not be what it is a year later. And that's the business. I've come to a realization of that, and I understand that, so whatever situation I'm in, I know the business side of it, so we'll just see. I can't predict it."
Russell is now the proud owner of his own max contract worth $117 million over four years in the wake of the deal that surprised many in the league.
"It was a lot of surprises," Russell said. "Just all around throughout the free-agency [period]. So I think it was just one to add to it, honestly."
Russell said he knew he could land with the Warriors as free agency opened but was waiting to see where the other big pieces landed first. Once Durant committed to sign with the Nets, the Warriors did not want to lose their former star forward for nothing, so they engineered the move to bring Russell in.
"I knew it was an opportunity," Russell said. "I knew it was something that could possibly be true. And we had to wait 'til a few other pieces kind of did what it did, and then it kind of came to the light."
Russell said that as he entered into the free-agency process, he wasn't sure if he would be back in Brooklyn or not.
"I had no idea," he said. "I know I understand the business of the league, so when things like that come to the light, it's more of a 'let's go' [attitude]. So I understood."
Russell, the No. 2 pick in the 2015 draft, appreciated his time with the Nets but understood his future might not be with the team he helped lead to the postseason last year. The Nets landed both Durant and point guard Kyrie Irving, making the 23-year-old guard expendable.
"I mean, you knew what it could be," Russell said. "Every situation was kinda like looking in the mirror if it's real. All of it could possibly happen -- you saw the moves that have been made this summer. I thought it was good. They definitely got better by adding a good group of guys. It's all about opportunity in this league, so taking advantage of it is what it was."
The Warriors are hoping Russell can help them bridge the gap as Klay Thompson recovers from a torn left ACL that is expected to keep him out for most of the regular season. While Russell noted he has been given no indication about a potential long-term future with the organization, the widespread speculation throughout the league is that Russell will ultimately be dealt down the line for a different package of players.
"You just got to go through it," he said of blocking out trade speculation. "I think you go through it once, you [see] what it is and what it can be and then go from there."
In the short term, Russell is confident that a pairing with Curry and Thompson, when he's healthy, can work for a team that has always loved getting up and down the floor.
"Honestly, I'm excited," Russell said. "I'm excited more than anything. I think it's a huge opportunity just to take another step and learn from a good group of guys that have done -- and marked their way in this league, so I'm super excited."
Russell said Thompson's injury had no bearing on his decision to land with the Warriors. Like many around the league, Russell was intrigued by the opportunity to play with Curry, on top of being able to sign for max money.
"You got guys that can shoot, dribble and play make for others," Russell said. "That's a dangerous combo. And then a guy like him that gets hot anytime throughout the game, it's something that gives you an advantage throughout a game, I would say. So to add another guy that could possibly do that consistently -- I think it's just an extra piece."
Curry's presence is also what helped free-agent center Willie Cauley-Stein decide to sign with the Warriors. Cauley-Stein said he has followed the Warriors for years and has been thinking a lot about playing in the organization's offensive system alongside great shooters such as Curry and Thompson.
"I've been imagining it for a while," Cauley-Stein said of the spacing that comes with playing with Curry and Thompson. "It's crazy that it's actually happening. Me and my friends talk about it all the time. Just how guys can damn near not guard me now because they have to guard Klay, Steph, DLo. Like, how are you going to guard the big? 'Cause you got to tag; if you don't tag, then it's a lob. If you tag, then it's a 3, so it's pick your poison."
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The New York Mets' Pete Alonso won a battle of rookies to outslug the Toronto Blue Jays' Vladimir Guerrero Jr. and win the Home Run Derby at Progressive Field in Cleveland on Monday night.
Guerrero broke the Derby's single-round record in each of the first two rounds, but after surviving an exhausting duel with Joc Pederson of the Los Angeles Dodgers in the semifinal round, Guerrero didn't have enough to beat Alonso in the final.
The 20-year-old Blue Jays rookie, trying to follow in the footsteps of his Hall of Fame father, who won the event in San Francisco in 2007, went first in the final, and after initially struggling to duplicate his earlier pace, he picked it up after calling a second timeout and finished with 22 home runs.
Alonso, unique in the competition in sending most of his hits toward center field, then followed with 23 to spare to end it with plenty of time. He became the first Met to win the event since Darryl Strawberry was a co-champion in 1986.
"That was a blast. Oh my god, that was a blast," Alonso said after his win. "I'm gonna remember that for the rest of my life."
With the win came a cool $1 million bonus to supplement Alonso's base salary of $555,000. He said he would donate 10% of his winnings between two charities, the Wounded Warriors Project and the Stephen Siller Tunnel to Towers Foundation.
"I have the utmost respect for the people that put their lives on the line every single day -- and I just wanna show my gratitude, because a bad day for me is a lot different than a bad day for the servicemen and women that serve this country," Alonso said.
Alonso shows off his HR Derby champ chain
After winning the 2019 Home Run Derby, Pete Alonso reveals his championship chain bestowed upon him by Daddy Yankee.
Guerrero has eight major league home runs in his rookie year, and he hit 44 total homers in the minors. But at the Derby, he hit 91.
The biggest drama of the night came in the semifinal round, when he needed three tiebreakers to eliminate Pederson 40-39.
With Guerrero going first and Pederson following, both sluggers finished with a round-record 29 home runs in the four-minute time limit, plus the 30-second bonus time for sending two balls more than 440 feet. Both then hit eight more in a one-minute tiebreaker round.
Still even at 37, they then moved on to a three-swing playoff -- and both hit one each, with Pederson pulling his last hit just foul. They went at it one more time, with Guerrero finally moving on after hitting two homers to Pederson's one.
Before this year's Derby, only six players had hit 40 home runs in an entire event, much less a single round.
"I feel bad for him," an exhausted Pederson said after his final swing. "He's gotta keep hitting; I'm toast."
Pederson, who lost in the final as a rookie in 2015, now has the most combined home runs at the Derby all time, with 99, while Guerrero -- in his first appearance -- tied the previous record of 91 held by Todd Frazier, who also competed twice.
Guerrero had first broken the single-round record in his opening round, blasting 29 to surpass the 28 Josh Hamilton hit in 2008. Hamilton did it during the old "10 outs" format, so he had 38 swings compared to the 48 Guerrero took.
Guerrero easily moved on to the next round after Oakland Athletics' slugger Matt Chapman, a late replacement for the Milwaukee Brewers' Christian Yelich, managed 13 homers while getting fewer good pitches to hit from his father.
Pederson had a slow start to the first round but found a rhythm and advanced by hitting 21 homers to the 16 of the Houston Astros' Alex Bregman, who hit a number of balls to the left-field wall that might have gone out in Houston but came up short in Cleveland.
The Atlanta Braves' Ronald Acuna Jr. did his best Ken Griffey Jr. impression by blowing bubbles in his gum while using all fields to open with 24 homers. That was enough to overcome a respectable output of 18 from the Pittsburgh Pirates' Josh Bell.
In the final quarterfinal matchup, the Cleveland Indians' Carlos Santana had the hometown crowd behind him but found his groove too late in the round and finished with 13. That fell just short of Alonso, who needed 45 seconds to hit his first homer and labored his way to hit his 14th with one second left before his 30-second bonus would have kicked in.
Alonso hit another walk-off homer in the semifinals, launching his 20th of the round over the trees behind the center-field fence as the four-minute clock expired to give him one more than Acuna's 19.
That set up a final between the contestant with the most homers this season -- Alonso had 30 -- and the least.
"I'm happy I didn't face him in the early rounds because he would've knocked me out," Alonso said. "I gotta tip my cap. He's a hell of a hitter, and he's gonna have a really long career. It's unbelievable."
Guerrero did have the honor of hitting the longest homer of the night, 488 feet, in the second round. That netted him a $100,000 bonus to go with his $500,000 for finishing second, which more than equals his season's salary of $468,468.
"I gave all I had. I'm proud I hit 91 home runs," he said.
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Pete Alonso stole the show in a Home Run Derby for the ages
Published in
Baseball
Monday, 08 July 2019 23:12
CLEVELAND -- Pete Alonso had a pretty good night. A fun evening in the middle of what he called a fantasy season so far. After all, the rookie first baseman for the New York Mets hit three walk-off homers to win the 2019 Home Run Derby.
In the first round, matched up against hometown hero Carlos Santana of the Indians, Alonso hit his 14th home run with one second left on the clock, eliminating Santana, earning a chest-bump from his cousin Derek Morgan, his pitcher for the evening, and receiving a chorus of boos from Cleveland fans who were disappointed in Santana's early exit.
"I didn't think I'd ever be booed at a Home Run Derby, to be honest with you," Alonso said. "But I guess that's the hometown home cooking. Dealt with some adversity but we overcame, and pretty much just survive and advance. That was it."
Alonso's task in the second round was a little more difficult. His opponent, Atlanta Braves sophomore sensation Ronald Acuna Jr., blasted 19 home runs, a total that would have won all but one matchup in last season's Home Run Derby. More than halfway through the four-minute round, Alonso had just seven home runs. He called a timeout at the 1:49 mark. Then he heated up. With 30 seconds remaining, Alonso was up to 15 home runs. And as the clock dwindled down to zero, he homered on his final two swings, with No. 20 a towering 453-foot blast that landed in the trees beyond the center-field fence.
Alonso beats buzzer for second straight round
For the second consecutive round, Pete Alonso doesn't need bonus time and knocks off Ronald Acuna Jr. to advance to the finals.
Alonso celebrated with what could be best described as a double-shoulder downward fist-bump and a couple of "Yeah!" shouts that might have been heard all the way back in Queens. He was into the finals, facing Vladimir Guerrero Jr., who had prevailed over Joc Pederson in the most epic single-round showdown in Home Run Derby history, a battle that required three tie-breaker rounds before Guerrero held on to win 40 to 39 when Pederson hit a ground ball on his final swing.
Yes, everyone will remember the Guerrero-Pederson matchup for the ages. But like Justin Morneau in 2008, when he beat Josh Hamilton after Hamilton's then-record 28-homer round at Yankee Stadium, it was Alonso who walked away with the double-bat silver trophy -- and the new $1 million award for the champion.
It took Alonso's third walk-off home run of the competition to do it, after Guerrero had slammed an impressive 22 home runs. Alonso started the final round off better than his first two rounds, with seven home runs at the 2:47 mark, when he used his first timeout. (Players get two in the final round.) Morgan would say that they found their groove as the contest went on. He had practiced three times recently with Alonso, the latest last week during the Subway Series at Citi Field.
That session earned Morgan final approval from Alonso's Mets teammates.
"We put on a show for early work. And he really got the stamp of approval, because you've got veterans like Robbie Cano, Todd Frazier and Wilson Ramos making sure he's throwing money BP, and he was putting it right there for me," Alonso said. "He impressed a lot of the guys, and especially all the coaching staff too. They were really impressed and everyone thought, 'Look, y'all are going to win this thing,' and they're right."
At the timeout, All-Star teammate Jeff McNeil -- Alonso's designated water man during timeouts -- gave the big slugger a little advice.
"I told him that he didn't need to try to pull the ball. Just stay middle," McNeil said. "We kind of talked about that before the semifinal round. Those balls are going out. He got a little pull-happy maybe, so stay up the middle of the field and hit some bombs."
Indeed, the ability to spray home runs -- and drive the ball to center field -- is Alonso's strength during real games, and it proved beneficial during the Derby, as well:
Here's @mets Pete Alonso's final home run spray chart. Absolutely beautiful ??? pic.twitter.com/qpkAB00Rq8
— Daren Willman (@darenw) July 9, 2019
With 1:30 left in the final round, he was up to 14 home runs. His 16th homer was a low screamer that just cleared the fence in left field. He used his second timeout with 1:02 remaining, sitting on 18 home runs. While Guerrero had burned up a month's worth of calories in twice breaking Hamilton's record, Alonso was more rested. He admitted this played to his advantage.
"I'm just happy that I didn't need the extra time [in the earlier rounds], because that's extra swings," Alonso said. "That could have possibly carried over into the next round. So I'm happy that I was able to conserve as much energy throughout the event, and that was huge. Without being where I was in the seeding, I put myself in a good position with the regular season. Without that, it may have been a different story. I'm really fortunate with how the brackets worked out. But survive and advance."
Alonso shows off his HR Derby champ chain
After winning the 2019 Home Run Derby, Pete Alonso reveals his championship chain bestowed upon him by Daddy Yankee.
Because he was the higher seed and hit after Guerrero in the finals, Alonso knew the number he had to beat. He had a minute left -- plus the bonus time earned for hitting two 440-foot home runs -- to hit five home runs. No. 19 was a low liner to straightaway center, but Alonso is so strong it kept carrying, just inching over the wall by a few feet.
Then came walk-off No. 3. With 18 seconds left, Alonso hit a patented high-arcing fly ball into left-center, four or five rows, a shot measured at 429 feet. Not his longest blast of the night -- that one went 467 feet -- but it made him the 2019 Home Run Derby champion. He raised his arms in triumph, and Morgan leapt into his arms:
TAKE. IT. HOME. #HomeRunDerby ? pic.twitter.com/Sr5WenLWG7
— New York Mets (@Mets) July 9, 2019
Alonso received hugs from McNeil and Guerrero. He said he would donate 5% of his winner's check to the Wounded Warrior Project -- both his grandfathers served in the military -- and 5% to Tunnel to Towers, a foundation that benefits first responders. Maybe he'll give a little tip to his cousin. The musician Daddy Yankee gave Alonso a big silver medallion that he wore around his neck.
"It's sweet. It even spins," Alonso said. "This is cool. I think I might play the game tomorrow with this on."
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Harris and Burns dominate with unbroken double-century stand
Published in
Cricket
Monday, 08 July 2019 16:13
Australia A 203 for 0 (Harris 100*, Burns 88) trail Sussex 263 (Rawlins 69, Pattinson 4-60) by 60 runs
Marcus Harris and Joe Burns, who could be playing off for one spot in the Ashes squad, dominated the second day of Australia A's match against Sussex with an unbroken double-century opening stand.
Harris finished unbeaten on 100 with Burns on 88 as they added 203 in 49 overs in reply to Sussex's 263 all out in which James Pattinson finished with 4 for 60 and Jon Holland 3 for 49.
Against a Sussex attack missing a number of first-team regulars, Harris and Burns made largely serene progress with Harris bringing up his century from 142 balls in the penultimate over of the day.
Before the tour, Harris had spoken about hoping to be able to pick up his form from the Australian domestic season when he scored more than 1000 Sheffield Shield runs in a summer where he made his Test debut and produced some promising performances. He looked in good touch throughout his stay to enhance his claims to be David Warner's opening partner for the first Test at Edgbaston.
However, for Burns this was also a very significant day as he aims to restate his Ashes credentials. It was his first innings since withdrawing from his Lancashire deal due to chronic fatigue syndrome. He was only cleared to return to action last week then immediately drafted into the Australia A squad and his game looked in good order as he struck 13 boundaries. Along with Harris he is an incumbent Test player and scored 180 in his last outing against Sri Lanka in February.
Earlier in the day Sussex had put up some stubborn resistance to extend their first innings from the overnight 118 for 5. Abi Sakande fell early to Michael Neser but Delray Rawlins and Adam Rouse added 58 for the seventh wicket. Rawlins struck ten fours and a six in his 69 off 103 balls before being trapped lbw for Holland's first wicket.
The Sussex lower order continued to chip in before Holland wrapped the innings up with a brace of wickets. Josh Hazlewood finished wicketless from 19 overs in his first red-ball bowl since the stress fracture of his back in early January which has kept him out of action until this tour.
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