I Dig Sports
CINCINNATI -- Jake Fraley hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning as the Cincinnati Reds extended their majors-best winning streak to 11 games, rallying past the Colorado Rockies 5-3 on Wednesday for a three-game sweep.
Rookie sensation Elly De La Cruz hit a one-out bloop to left that fell for a double against Daniel Bard (3-1), and Fraley hit the next pitch over the wall in right, sending the Reds to their majors-best 12th comeback win of the season and the Rockies to their season-worst eighth straight loss. Cincinnati trailed 3-0 after four innings.
NL Central-leading Cincinnati (40-35), which lost 100 games in 2022, has swept three straight three-game series and won five consecutive series overall. The Reds' winning streak is the club's longest since winning 12 straight in 1957.
It was the 26th time this season that manager David Bell's team came back to win a game and 14th time rallying from a multirun deficit -- both tops in MLB in 2023.
Andrew Abbott -- the first pitcher since the mound was moved to its current spot in 1893 to begin his career with three straight scoreless starts of more than five innings -- allowed the first run of his career when Brenton Doyle led off the game with a homer. But the rookie left-hander was solid from there, striking out a career-high 10 in six innings and giving up three runs, all on solo homers. Abbott struck out the side in the sixth.
Ian Gibaut (8-1) pitched around leadoff single in the eighth for the win. Buck Farmer worked the ninth for his second save in five tries.
Doyle drove Abbott's 0-1 pitch to the right-field seats for his first homer since he hit two against Cincinnati on May 15 at Colorado. Abbott had begun his career with 17⅔ scoreless innings.
Eiehuris Montero made it 2-0 when he connected in the second, his first homer since March 30. Randal Grichuk homered to left in the fourth, his first longball since May 7.
Cincinnati tied it in the fifth on Luke Maile's bases-loaded single and TJ Friedl's run-scoring single.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this story.
Queen's 2023: Cameron Norrie battles back to beat Australia's Jordan Thompson and reach the quarter-finals
Watch the best shots at Great Britain's Cameron Norrie fights back from a set behind to beat Australia's Jordan Thompson and reach the quarter-finals of Queen's.
READ MORE: Norrie fights back to reach Queen's quarter-finals
Watch Queen's live across the BBC.
Available to UK users only.
Birmingham Classic: Harriet Dart beats Anhelina Kalinina to reach quarter-finals
Britain's Harriet Dart reached a second successive grass-court quarter-final as she continued her Wimbledon preparations at the Birmingham Classic.
The 26-year-old secured a comprehensive 6-3 3-6 6-1 win over Ukrainian fifth seed Anhelina Kalinina.
The Briton beat the same opponent last week to reach the last eight of the Nottingham Open.
"I love playing on grass and in front of the home crowd so I enjoy these few weeks the most in the year," said Dart.
"I was expecting a battle - I knew this week she would raise her level and the court is quicker here so I'm really pleased to be through."
Dart will face either Russian fourth seed Anastasia Potapova or American Caty McNally for a place in the semi-finals.
She is one of five Britons to receive a Wimbledon wildcard following success on grass-courts in recent weeks.
Having come out on top in an all-British match against Nottingham runner-up Jodie Burrage on Tuesday, Dart once again needed three sets to get the job done in Birmingham.
Dart led by an early break in the first set but was made to work throughout it, saving seven break points in her first two service games before serving out the set to love.
Kalinina served well in the second set to force a decider but, having established a double-break lead, Dart was on the verge of a third-set 'bagel' before a powerful forehand winner put Kalinina on the board.
World number 26 Kalinina rescued match point to force Dart to serve the match out, which she swiftly did to love.
"I play quite a lot of long matches - not out of choice, but it happens," Dart joked afterwards.
"It's great to be back here, playing in front of a home crowd is pretty awesome."
Earlier, 18-year-old Linda Fruhvirtova beat American sixth seed Bernarda Pera 6-1 7-6 (7-3) to reach her first WTA grass-court quarter-final.
American qualifier Emina Bektas beat Chinese seventh seed Shuai Zhang 6-4 6-3 to progress to the last 16.
She will be joined by the Czech Republic's Barbora Krejcikova after the former French Open champion beat Spain's Cristina Bucsa 6-3 6-3.
On Thursday, former world number one Venus Williams will take on Latvian second seed Jelena Ostapenko for a quarter-final place.
The Buffalo Sabres are working on contract extensions with defensemen Rasmus Dahlin and Owen Power.
General manager Kevyn Adams said Wednesday that both players have expressed a desire to sign long-term deals.
Dahlin, 23, and Power, 20, both have one season remaining on their current contracts.
"We see them as really important people and pieces of our franchise moving forward," Adams said, per TSN.
Dahlin was the No. 1 overall pick in the 2018 draft. He had 73 points (15 goals, 58 assists) in 78 games in 2022-23.
Power was the No. 1 overall pick in 2021 and registered 35 points (four goals, 31 assists) in 79 games in 2022-23.
U.S. Open returning to Riviera in Los Angeles in 2031 after an 83-year absence
LOS ANGELES — Los Angeles had to wait 75 years to get another U.S. Open and now it’s becoming a regular stop. The USGA is bringing the U.S. Open to Riviera Country Club in 2031.
The announcement Wednesday comes three days after Wyndham Clark won the U.S. Open at Los Angeles Country Club, just over 5 miles (8 km) away and across the 405 freeway from Riviera.
The fabled course off Sunset Boulevard is the longtime host of what now is the Genesis Invitational, long considered a favorite by top PGA Tour players. Riviera held the first U.S. Open in California in 1948 when Ben Hogan won with a record score of 276.
Hogan also won the Los Angeles Open in 1947 and 1948, and Riviera soon became known as “Hogan’s Alley.”
The club now takes on a greater profile. It will host the U.S. Women’s Open in 2026 on the centennial anniversary of Riviera, and then it has the golf competition in the 2028 Olympics.
And then, 83 years later, it finally gets another U.S. Open.
“We are so grateful that the USGA will return the U.S. Open to our club in 2031,” said Megan Watanabe, CEO of Riviera. “Over a six-year period, we will showcase our championship course to the world.”
Watanabe, whose family bought Riviera in 1989 and who grew up taking golf and tennis lessons at the club as a young girl, had her eyes on major competition since returning some 12 years ago. Riviera had not held a major since the 1995 PGA Championship and was thought to have too small of a footprint for the modern era.
In a February 2022 interview with The Associated Press, she said would pitch a “smaller, premium-sized U.S. Open” and referenced the U.S. Open going to Merion in 2013.
“Merion is probably about the same size we are,” Watanabe said. “My thinking is they can do it, I think we can do it.”
It is another example of the USGA being willing to take golf’s second-oldest championship to courses that don’t necessarily have the space as Oakmont, Pebble Beach or Pinehurst.
The USGA limited ticket sales to 22,000 for the North course at Los Angeles Country Club, because of the winding barranca on half of the holes that made it difficult for fans to flank both sides of the fairway from tee to green in some spots.
“Riviera Country is a truly spectacular course that holds a special place in the game’s history,” said John Bodenhamer, chief championships officer for the USGA.
Riviera held a PGA Tour stop for the 59th time in February. It has the oldest 72-hole scoring record on the PGA Tour — Lanny Wadkins with a 264 in 1985.
Riviera, designed by George C. Thomas Jr., is known for its kikuya grass, for the reachable par-4 10th hole, the bunker in the middle of the green on the par-3 sixth and the state clubhouse high on a hill.
The club on Tuesday began minor tweaks to the 10th green (slightly lowering the right side because of years of sand accumulation from a bunker) and the 15th green (extending the back right to allow for a pin position).
The fairways are lined by sycamores and eucalyptus trees. The most famous sycamore is left of the 12th green and named “Bogey’s Tree,” because Humphrey Bogart used to sit under it and watch golfers pass.
Unlike Los Angeles Country Club, which eschewed the Hollywood crowd, Riviera was a haven for celebrities like Bogart, Gregory Peck, Walt Disney, Dean Martin and Katherine Hepburn.
Los Angeles Country Club is to host the U.S. Women’s Open in 2032 before the U.S. Open returns in 2039. Riviera now has both Opens in 2026 and 2031, along with the Olympics.
The only two majors Riviera had held since Hogan won in 1948 was the PGA Championship in 1983 won by Hal Sutton and in 1995 won by Steve Elkington. Hale Irwin won the U.S. Senior Open at Riviera in 1998.
Senators request Monahan, Al-Rumayyan and Norman to attend July 11 hearing
Lawmakers have escalated their interest in the “framework” agreement between the PGA Tour and the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia with Sens. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.) and Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) scheduling a hearing on July 11 to review the deal.
Tour commissioner Jay Monahan, PIF governor Yasir Al-Rumayyan and LIV Golf CEO Greg Norman have been requested to attend the hearing.
“To assist the subcommittee’s review, please be prepared to discuss the circumstances and terms of the planned agreement between PGA Tour and the PIF, how any new entities formed through the planned agreement will be structured, the expected impact on PGA Tour and LIV Golf players, and the anticipated role of the PIF in U.S. professional golf,” the letter to Monahan read.
The agreement ended the ongoing legal battle between the Tour and the PIF, which owns 93 percent of LIV Golf, and will create an entity that will include the for-profit assets of the Tour, LIV Golf and the DP World Tour. Al-Rumayyan will be chairman of the entity, tentatively dubbed NewCo internally, and Monahan will serve as CEO.
“Our goal is to uncover the facts about what went into the PGA Tour’s deal with the Saudi Public Investment Fund and what the Saudi takeover means for the future of this cherished American institution and our national interest,” said Blumenthal, the chairman of the Senate's Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. “Americans deserve to know what the structure and governance of this new entity will be. Major actors in the deal are best positioned to provide this information, and they owe Congress – and the American people – answers in a public setting.”
Monahan, who is recovering from a “medical situation,” did not attend a player meeting held Tuesday at the Travelers Championship and it’s unknown if he will be healthy enough to attend the hearing in Washington, D.C.
According to Jodi S. Balsam, a professor of clinical law at Brooklyn Law School, the request from Blumenthal and Johnson is not legally binding like a subpoena “but the optics strongly recommend that he does [attend].” The Tour could also negotiate the time and place for Monahan to testify to accommodate his medical situation.
The Justice Department expanded an ongoing review of the Tour and possible antitrust concerns following the announcement of the “framework” agreement.
Full letter below:
Sergio Garcia wonders if playing for LIV Golf will affect his Hall of Fame chances
LOS ANGELES — The next ballot for the World Golf Hall of Fame will include three players born in 1980, all major champions with remarkably similar records in global golf. One of them is Sergio Garcia, who suspects he will be looked upon differently from Adam Scott and Justin Rose.
Garcia was asked who among those three would be considered the leading candidate to be elected for the 2026 class of inductees.
“I went to LIV, so I’m probably a little behind,” Garcia said with a laugh. “Even though things are settling down.”
He thought for a few minutes about the trio and settled on Scott before adding, “If I didn’t go to LIV and everything that happened, probably me.”
That’s hard to dispute, and a case could be made for each.
Garcia has 31 wins around the world, including the 2017 Masters in a playoff over Rose and The Players Championship. He also holds the Ryder Cup record for most points at 28.5, going 3-1 in the last Ryder Cup — his final Ryder Cup — at Whistling Straits.
Scott has 29 worldwide wins including a playoff win at the Masters. He also won The Players and two World Golf Championships, and he reached No. 1 in the world ranking for 11 weeks. Rose won his major in the U.S. Open at Merion, won a pair of World Golf Championships and was No. 1 for 13 weeks.
The Hall of Fame committee that votes on finalists includes PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan and European tour CEO Keith Pelley, along with the leadership from Augusta National, PGA of America, the USGA and the R&A.
This won’t be on the table until 2025, and there’s no telling what golf will look like then.
Scott was asked who he thought would be most appealing of the three and said, “The next one to win a major.” For Garcia, who made it through 36-hole qualifying and then made the cut at the U.S. Open, that might be what it takes.
Roma head coach Jose Mourinho has been banned for the team's next four European games by UEFA for verbally abusing the referee after the Italian club lost in the Europa League final to Sevilla on May 31.
Footage circulated of the Roma coach approaching English referee Anthony Taylor in the stadium garage after the game in Budapest, Hungary, and calling him a "disgrace" with an expletive.
Roma lost a penalty shootout to Sevilla after a 1-1 draw that was the Italian club's last chance to qualify for the Champions League next season.
Mourinho is set to serve the ban in next season's Europa League group stage after being found guilty of "directing abusive language at a match official," UEFA said in a statement announcing its disciplinary panel's verdict.
The ban is double the minimum two-game ban required by UEFA disciplinary rules.
One day after the final, Taylor and his family were harassed by Roma fans at the airport in Budapest.
UEFA also fined Roma €50,000 (about $55,000) and will block the club from selling tickets for its next away game in the Europa League. The charges included "lighting of fireworks, throwing of objects, acts of damage and crowd disturbances," UEFA said.
Roma must also contact the Hungarian football federation to settle damages caused by its fans at Puskas Arena.
England set to show faith with Jonny Bairstow behind stumps
Ashes series can turn on moments like these. Three balls into Usman Khawaja's second innings at Edgbaston, James Anderson angled a ball into him from around the wicket which squared him up and took his outside edge - only for it to trickle harmlessly down to the boundary between wicketkeeper and first slip.
He could have been out for 5 off 3 balls. Instead, Khawaja settled in for the long haul once more, repelling everything England threw at him. He eventually fell to Ben Stokes' legcutter with Australia still 72 runs short of their target, but only after grinding out 65 off 197. As it proved, his contribution was enough to set up Pat Cummins and Nathan Lyon's clinching partnership.
It was one of several chances that Bairstow missed behind the stumps. He took five catches - one in the first innings, four in the second - but also dropped Alex Carey twice, once off Moeen Ali and once off Anderson. He also missed a stumping chance when Cameron Green skipped down the pitch to Moeen and was beaten in the flight.
And despite suggestions that Bairstow's missed chances might prompt England to reconsider their choice of wicketkeeper, they will not budge from their current balance either at Lord's next week or, barring injury, across the series; Brendon McCullum made that much clear after the first Test at Edgbaston.
"I thought they were pretty tough mistakes, to be honest," McCullum, England's Test coach, said. "I've kept over here before: it's not the easiest place to keep, and when the ball is spitting and bouncing out of the rough, it can be quite difficult - and when you've got to stand a little bit closer on a wicket which is a bit slower and can hurry [you] a little bit, there is a risk that… those sharp edges can be a little bit more difficult."
The Edgbaston Test was only Bairstow's fourth first-class match behind the stumps since recovering from his leg-break and he improved as the game progressed, delivering a near-faultless performance with the gloves on the final day.
"I actually thought Jonny kept really well, right throughout," McCullum added. "If you look at the way he progressed throughout the game as well, I think he found a natural rhythm, especially today [Tuesday], and I thought he did a really good job. And we know what he offers with the bat. Him coming in at No. 7 is a real weapon for us as well, so I think he'll be better for the run."
Bairstow's first innings of the match was evidence of that edge: walking out at 176 for 5, he crashed 78 off 78 balls, the third-highest score of the match. It was the sort of innings that Foakes, for all his admirable qualities, simply could not have played: he is, by his own admission, a more restrained batter, as shown by strike rate under McCullum and Stokes of 51.81.
When he was coaching Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, McCullum used to say: "If you can't change a man, change the man." For all Foakes' qualities with the bat, he was the odd man out in England's ultra-attacking batting line-up: "I'm not, as you'd say, Bazball," he admitted earlier this year.
Once England decided that they were sticking with their established top order, rather than promoting a middle-order batter to open, their choice came down to Foakes versus Brook, with Bairstow's return a non-negotiable on the back of his stunning summer with the back last year. Nobody who has watched England closely over the past 12 months was surprised that they opted for Brook.
And unless injury strikes, they will continue to back the same top seven over the next five-and-a-half weeks. Even if Bairstow puts down the occasional catch that Foakes might have taken, selecting any other batting line-up would amount to an abandonment of the principles that have informed England's success under this regime.
Matt Roller is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo. @mroller98
Leask 91* trumps Campher 120 to give Scotland an improbable win
Scotland 289 for 9 (Leask 91*, McBride 56, Adair 3-57) beat Ireland 286 for 8 (Campher 120, Dockrell 69, McMullen 5-34) by one wicket
The penultimate over, bowled by Josh Little, went for eight runs. With eight needed from the final over, Leask - helped by Harry Tector's misfield at the long-on - hit a boundary off Mark Adair on the first ball. However, Safyaan Sharif was dismissed off the third ball and then Chris Sole played out a dot, before Leask scampered through for a bye on the fifth. With two needed off the final ball, Leask swung hard and got a thick inside edge that beat the wicketkeeper and sent the Scotland players into an absolute frenzy.
From over 11 to 40, Ireland not only scored 145 but lost just one more wicket. That foundation enabled them to ransack 107 in the last ten to get to 286, a total that looked sufficient until Leask and Watt got together.
This was not a spotless Scotland display, however. Their decision-making, at times, was questionable. McMullen, who picked up three wickets in the powerplay, did not bowl in the middle overs at all. When he returned, he bagged two more to complete his five-wicket haul. He was then taken out of the attack for the last over of the innings, in which Scotland ended up conceding 18. Their bowlers gave away 18 wides, and their fielders put down three chances - the most expensive being of Dockrell when he was on 4.
Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: 
Email: 
