BASEBALL

Sea Dogs split two games against the Yard Goats

Dillon Thomas hit a sharp grounder through the infield and into center field to score Jackson Williams with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning as the Hartford Yard Goats (48-40) edged the Portland Sea Dogs (32-57) 5-4 to split an Eastern League doubleheader at NYSEG Stadium in Binghamton, New York.

The Sea Dogs won the opener 10-7.

Portland, one strike away from losing the second game in the final inning, forced extra innings when Cody Decker nailed a run-scoring double to tie the game 4-4 in the seventh.

In the first game, Aneury Tavarez homered and Mauricio Dubon doubled as Portland scored four times in the top of the fourth to take a 7-4 lead.

The Yard Goats countered with two in the bottom of the inning, but Cole Sturgeon and Nick Lovulla rapped RBI singles in the fifth as Portland regained the lead, 9-6.

Dubon and Sturgeon each had three hits as every member of Portland’s lineup contributed to the Sea Dogs’ 16-hit attack.

SOCCER

U.S. WOMEN: Hope Solo got her 100th international shutout and Crystal Dunn scored in the 35th minute to lead the United States past South Africa 1-0 at Soldier Field in Chicago.

The match was a tuneup before next month’s Olympics. World Cup star Carli Lloyd returned for the first time since suffering a knee injury in April, playing part of the second half after entering as a substitute.

Solo, who also earned her 150th international victory, has been piling up shutouts for the U.S. for over 16 years.

MLS: Lee Nguyen and Kei Kamara scored, and the New England Revolution beat the Columbus Crew 3-1 in Foxborough, Massachusetts, to stop a three-game losing streak.

The Revolution picked up three precious points that lifted them into a playoff position in the Eastern Conference standings.

CYCLING

TOUR DE FRANCE: Defending champion Chris Froome took his rivals by surprise with a daring downhill attack that earned him the race leader’s yellow jersey on the eighth stage at Bagneres-De-Luchon.

Leading at the top of the final climb of the Tour’s second Pyrenean stage, a tough 184-kilometer ride from Pau to Bagneres-de-Luchon, he attacked when least expected on the grueling Col de Peyresourde.

• Before launching his downhill attack, Froome landed a left jab to the face of a spectator who was wearing the yellow shirt of Colombia’s national soccer team and a yellow wig and got too close to the action. Froome said the man was putting him at risk with a flag flying behind him.

“I lashed out and pushed him away,” Froome said.

HOCKEY

NHL: The Carolina Hurricanes signed first-round draft picks Jake Bean and Julien Gauthier to three-year entry-level contracts.

Both deals pay $832,500 on the NHL level or $70,000 on the AHL level, with a signing bonus of $277,500.

COLLEGES

BASKETBALL: Larry Brown is leaving SMU after turning down a contract extension, ending a four-year run during which the Mustangs made the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1993 and then were banned from postseason play last season.

Athletic Director Rick Hart said the 76-year-old Brown, who was signed through next season, had been offered a new deal through 2020.

– From staff and news services