BASEBALL
Devlin Granberg was 3 for 4 with three RBI and three runs scored, finishing a single short of a cycle, and the Portland Sea Dogs extended their winning streak to four games with an 8-3 win Thursday night against the Hartford Yard Goats at Hadlock Field.
Granberg erased an early 1-0 deficit with a two-run triple in the second inning, then scored on a double steal. He hit a double and scored again in the sixth, then added his second home run of the season in the eighth.
Andrew Politi got the win, allowing three hits and two runs in five innings. He struck out six and walked none.
CYCLING
TOUR DE FRANCE: Nils Politt dropped his last remaining rivals on the road into Nimes and won a windy Stage 12 for his first Tour de France stage victory.
Imanol Erviti and Harry Sweeny finished second and third in the 99-mile stage, 31 seconds behind.
Overall leader Tadej Pogacar rode with all other main contenders well behind the breakaway and crossed nearly 16 minutes behind the winner. With none of the breakaway riders a threat in the general classification, the defending champion enjoyed a quiet day in the peloton after strong crosswinds created splits in the early stages.
There was no significant change in the overall standings. Pogacar kept his 5:18 lead over second-placed Rigoberto Uran, with Jonas Vingegaard in third, 5:33 off the pace.
GOLF
PGA: Sebastian Munoz closed with five straight birdies for an 8-under 63 and a share of the lead with Chesson Hadley at the John Deere Classic in Silvis, Illinois.
Hank Lebioda, who finished one shot out of a playoff last week at the Rocket Mortgage Classic, bogeyed his final hole to settle for a 64. He was tied for third with Chez Reavie and Camilo Villegas.
LPGA: Nasa Hataoka parred the final two holes to miss a chance for the second 59 in LPGA Tour history, finishing with a 10-under 61 and a four-stroke lead in the Marathon LPGA Classic at Sylvania, Ohio.
Annika Sorenstam is the only player to shoot 59 on the LPGA Tour, accomplishing the feat in her 2001 Standard Register PING victory at Moon Valley in Arizona.
Hataoka was a stroke off the Highland Meadows record of 60 set by Paula Creamer in 2008.
Lauren Stephenson was second after a 65.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Billy Andrade and Stephen Ames shot 5-under 65s to share the first-round lead in the U.S. Senior Open in Omaha, Nebraska.
Andrade had five birdies and no bogeys on an Omaha Country Club course that dried out after the sun broke through and the wind came up in the afternoon. Ames had seven birdies and two bogeys in the morning session.
Wes Short Jr. shot 66. Alex Cejka, looking for his third major title this year, and Robert Karlsson followed at 67.
EUROPEAN TOUR: In his first event as a major champion, Jon Rahm shot a 5-under 66 and was two strokes off the lead held by Jack Senior at the Scottish Open in North Berwick, Scotland.
No. 3-ranked Justin Thomas holed a 90-foot eagle putt and also birdied the last hole to wind up in a tie for second place with Lee Westwood, with both players shooting bogey-free 65s.
HOCKEY
NHL: Vladimir Tarasenko has asked the St. Louis Blues for a trade, a person with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press.
Tarasenko is a five-time 30-goal scorer, but injuries have limited him to just seven goals in 34 games the past two seasons. He has undergone three shoulder surgeries in three years, most recently a second operation on his left shoulder last fall.
The 29-year-old Russian winger who helped the Blues win the Stanley Cup in 2019 has two years left on his contract at a salary-cap hit of $7.5 million.
TENNIS
CITI OPEN: Rafael Nadal will return to competition by making his debut at the hard-court tournament in Washington.
The Citi Open announced the 20-time Grand Slam champion is in the field for the July 31 to Aug. 8 event that serves as a U.S. Open tuneup.
Nadal has not played since his loss to Novak Djokovic in the semifinals of the French Open last month.
The 35-year-old Spaniard decided to sit out Wimbledon, which ends Sunday, and the Tokyo Olympics, which open July 23, saying his body needed time to rest and recover after the clay-court season.
OLYMPICS: Nick Kyrgios pulled out of Australia’s tennis team for the Olympics, hours after Tokyo’s governor confirmed a ban on fans in the city’s stadiums during the games.
Kyrgios posted a statement on social media early Friday local time to announce his withdrawal, citing a need to get healthy and the ban on fans at Tokyo Olympics venues as reasons.
The 26-year-old Australian also said he “wouldn’t want to take an opportunity away from a healthy Aussie athlete ready to represent the country.”
FOOTBALL
NFL: The NFL and Twitter extended their partnership to include expanded engagement formats and exclusive content on Twitter Spaces.
The deal means Twitter will also continue to be home for the top highlights soon after they occur in games. The NFL is the first sports league to partner with the social media platform to offer sponsored Twitter Spaces.
COLLEGES
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Dawson Garcia, who led Marquette in scoring and rebounding as a freshman last season, has indicated on social media he is transferring to North Carolina.
Garcia released an Instagram post that showed him in a North Carolina uniform. He included the message, “Chapel Hill! Let’s Rock! (hash)committed.”
SOCCER
SPAIN: Atletico Madrid extended the contracts of Coach Diego Simeone and his staff until the end of the 2024 season, the club said.
The extensions come after Atletico won its first Spanish league title since 2014. The contracts had been set to expire next June.
RUSSIA: Russia fired Coach Stanislav Cherchesov two weeks after the national team was eliminated from the group stage of the European Championship.
Russia resumes World Cup qualifying at home against Croatia on Sept. 1.
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