BASKETBALL

Danielle Robinson tied her career high with 19 points, Teaira McCowan had 13 points, 12 rebounds and two blocks, and the Indiana Fever beat the Connecticut Sun 73-67 in Indianapolis on Saturday to snap a franchise single-season record 12-game losing streak.

Kelsey Mitchell added 14 points for Indiana (2-16), which won for the first time since beating the Washington Mystics 89-77 on May 23.

• Betnijah Laney scored 19 points and Jazmine Jones had 12 of her 17 points in the second half to help the New York Liberty rally from an 18-point deficit and beat the Washington Mystics 82-79 in New York, spoiling the homecoming of Tina Charles.

The former Liberty star and native New Yorker was traded to Washington as part of a three-team deal before the 2020 season. The Liberty used the picks they got from the Mystics to draft Jones and Leaonna Odom.

BASEBALL

MINOR LEAGUES: Maximo Castillo pitched five scoreless innings as the New Hampshire Fisher Cats beat the Portland Sea Dogs 3-0 in a rain-shortened game in Manchester, New Hampshire. The game, part of a doubleheader, was called with two outs in the bottom of the sixth. The game was postponed and will be made up as part of a doubleheader on Sunday. This is the fourth straight day, the Sea Dogs series with the Fisher Cats has been impacted by rain.

SOCCER

MLS: Gyasi Zardes scored and the Columbus Crew rallied to tie the New England Revolution 2-2 in the first game at new Lower.com Field in Columbus, Ohio.

Zardes, near the top of the penalty area, took a pass from Harrison Afful, turned inside and then slipped a roller between two defenders and inside the post to cut the Crew’s deficit to 2-1 in the 39th minute. It snapped Columbus’ scoreless streak of nearly 270 minutes following back-to-back shutouts — a 1-0 loss the Philadelphia Union on June 23 and a tie with Austin FC on June 27.

An own goal by the Revolution’s Andrew Farrell capped the scoring in the 69th.

Tajon Buchanan opened the scoring in the 13th minute when he flicked home a header off a cross by DeJuan Jones. Gustavo Bou’s sliding finish of an entry by Buchanan to give New England (7-2-3) a 2-0 lead in the 30th.

CYCLING

TOUR de FRANCE: Tadej Pogacar dealt a demoralizing blow to his remaining Tour de France rivals on the first day in the Alps, where the defending champion claimed the yellow jersey in the grueling eighth stage.

Pogacar strengthened his bid to retain his Tour title after proving once again to be a step above the rest on the most-demanding ascents. The 22-year-old Slovenian set off on his own on the fourth of five categorized climbs, shedding Richard Carapaz, the last man – and possible contender – to have kept on his wheel.

Pogacar finished the 93.7-mile trek over five mountain passes from Oyonnax to Le Grand-Bornand in fourth place, seconds behind stage winner Dylan Teuns. Teuns, a Belgian rider for the Bahrain team, managed to conserve a slim lead over the hard-pushing Pogacar over the final peak before negotiating the tricky descent to the finish line.

Mathieu van der Poel relinquished the lead he had held for six days when he faded fast midway through the brutal stage that also inflicted even heavier losses on last year’s runner-up Primoz Roglic and 2018 winner Geraint Thomas. The two pre-race title hopefuls, who had both taken tumbles in the first week, completely disconnected even before the serious ascents started.

Wout van Aert remained in second place but fell from 30 seconds behind at the start of the stage to 1 minute, 48 seconds behind Pogacar. Carapaz finished over three minutes behind Pogacar and is now five minutes back overall in fifth.

GIRO d’ITALIA DONNE: World champion Anna van der Breggen rode away from the rest of the field, winning the first summit finish of the marquee women’s stage race to take the overall lead.

Van der Breggen attacked inside the final 10 kilometers on the brutal climb to the ski resort of Prato Nevoso and finished 1 minute, 22 seconds ahead of teammate Ashleigh Moolman-Pasio. That put van der Breggen 1:26 ahead of Moolman-Pasio and 1:57 ahead of another teammate, Demi Vollering, in the overall race heading into the third of 10 stages.

AUTO RACING

FORMULA ONE: Relentless Max Verstappen clinched his third straight pole position with a commanding drive for Red Bull at the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg, Austria, while title rival Lewis Hamilton could only manage fourth place for flagging Mercedes.

Hamilton was under pressure in his final lap and went too wide on the last two turns. On the day he announced a two-year contract extension, the seven-time F1 champion was even upstaged by 21-year-old countryman Lando Norris, who qualified second for McLaren ahead of Verstappen’s teammate Sergio Perez.

Norris almost caught Verstappen, too, placing just .05 seconds behind him.

• By the time his new contract runs out at the end of 2023, Lewis Hamilton could be standing apart as Formula One’s greatest driver with 10 world titles.

Mercedes announced that the seven-time F1 champion signed a two-year contract extension. His current deal was up at the end of this year, when he hopes to clinch an eighth title to move one clear of co-record holder Michael Schumacher.

The 36-year-old British driver is in his ninth season with Mercedes after joining from McLaren eight years ago.

XFINITY: Kyle Busch continued his perfect NASCAR Xfinity Series season at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

After spinning off course twice, Busch rallied in the final stage and led the final five laps in the No. 18 Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota for his fourth victory in four starts this year and 101st in the series.

NASCAR only allows Cup Series drivers to compete in five Xfinity and five Truck Series races a year. Busch is scheduled to enter his final Xfinity event of the season next week at Atlanta.

Busch edged teammate Daniel Hemric by 3.522 seconds, with Michael Annett third, AJ Allmendinger fourth and Gibbs driver and Harrison Burton fifth. Road America has had a different winner in each of its 12 Xfinity events.

GOLF

PGA TOUR: Troy Merritt aced the 219-yard 11th hole at Detroit Golf Club and shot a 5-under 67  for a share of the lead with Joaquin Niemann in the Rocket Mortgage Classic in Detroit.

Niemann, who shared the 36-hole lead with Tom Lewis, pulled into a tie by two-putting from 46 feet at 17. He parred the final hole, the toughest one on the course, for a 68.

Hank Lebioda (66) and Cam Davis (67) were a stroke back, and Brandon Hagy (68) was another shot behind. Lewis (71) was among six players three shots back with a legitimate shot on the relatively short course with receptive greens.

First-rounder leader Davis Thompson (72) was six shots back. After opening with a course-record tying 63, he has played the last 36 holes in 1 over with rounds of 73 and 72.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Ernie Els opened a three-stroke lead in the Dick’s Sporting Goods Open in Endicott, New York, reeling off five straight birdies on the front nine in a 7-under 65.

Els birdied Nos. 2-6 at windy and rainy En-Joie Golf Club, added another on the par-4 ninth, made eight straight pars and closed the bogey-free round with a 15-foot birdie putt on the par-4 18th to get to 11-under 133.

EUROPEAN TOUR: Australian golfer Lucas Herbert stayed on course for a wire-to-wire victory at the Irish Open after shooting 2-under 70 in the third round for a one-stroke lead.

Herbert led by three shots after making four birdies in his opening 10 holes, but bogeys at Nos. 11 and 14 brought the field back into contention at Mount Juliet.

Johannes Veerman was the nearest challenger, the No. 350-ranked American shooting 67 to move onto 14 under par for the event.

LPGA TOUR: Jin Young Ko chipped in for eagle on the par-4 15th and finished a bogey-free 32-hole in near darkness with a one-stroke lead in the Volunteers of America Classic in The Colony, Texas.

Ko returned to overcast and breezy Old American early Saturday, playing the final 14 holes for a 1-under 70 in the suspended second round. After a rest break at her nearby home in Frisco, the 25-year-old South Korean star shot 66 in the third round. She got up-and-down for par on the par-4 18th, chipping close after hitting over the green.

Germany’s Esther Henseleit and Finland’s Matilda Castren were tied for second. Henseleit also eagled the 15th in her 64. Castren shot 68. They both finished their second rounds Friday.

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