BASEBALL
Triston Casas hit a home run and drove in another run with a sacrifice fly as the Portland Sea Dogs won their ninth straight game, 5-2 over the Fightin Phils at Reading, Pennsylvania, on Wednesday night.
The franchise record for most consecutive wins is 12, set from April 20 to May 7 in 1997.
Pedro Castellanos broke a 2-2 tie with a sacrifice fly in the sixth inning, scoring Grant Williams, who led off the inning with a double.
Casas then hit his sixth homer.
Portland scored twice in the second to take a 2-0 lead on an RBI double by Ronaldo Hernandez and an RBI groundout by Ryan Fitzgerald.
Portland’s final run scored on Casas’ sacrifice fly in the seventh.
OLYMPICS
MEN’S BASKETBALL: A person with knowledge of the situation says U.S. Olympic guard Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards has entered the health and safety protocols related to the coronavirus, which raises the possibility that he might miss the Tokyo Games.
Beal will be tested multiple times in the coming days, according to the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The results of those tests will likely determine if he remains on the roster, the person said.
USA Basketball could still replace Beal before heading to Tokyo. The Americans picked their 12-man team last month but noted that it may change if necessary.
Players, and their family members, in Las Vegas have been tested daily during their training camp there. Many have family with them now since those loved ones will not be allowed to travel to Tokyo for the Olympics because of virus-related restrictions there. Mask-wearing has been required and many of the same rules and policies that players had to adhere to during the NBA season has carried over to the U.S. camp.
Beal has played in, and started, all three exhibitions for the U.S. in Las Vegas, averaging 10.3 points on 10 for 21 shooting. He has improved with each game, starting with a two-point effort in a loss to Nigeria, a 12-point effort in a loss to Australia, then scored 17 in Monday night’s win over Argentina.
COVID-19: Tokyo reported its highest number of new COVID-19 cases in almost six months on Wednesday, the Tokyo Metropolitan Government said with the Tokyo Olympics opening in just over a week.
The surging numbers came out on the same day that International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach paid a courtesy call in Tokyo on Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga.
Suga and Bach have both pledged that the Tokyo Olympics will be “safe and secure” despite the games opening with Tokyo and neighboring prefectures under a national government-imposed state of emergency.
Tokyo reported 1,149 new cases on Wednesday. This was the highest since 1,184 were reported almost six months ago on Jan. 22. It also marked the 25th straight day that cases were higher than they were a week earlier.
In Hamamatsu, 150 miles southwest of Tokyo, city officials reported a COVID-19 outbreak among staff at a hotel hosting Brazilian Olympic team members for pregames training.
Eight hotel workers have tested positive since Monday, the city said. The Brazilian athletes and coaches, whose rooms are in a separate area from other guests, have all tested negative.
Suga asked Bach to ensure that the Olympics will be safe, particularly for the Japanese public, of which fewer than 20% are fully vaccinated.
SWIMMING: Two Russian swimmers set to compete at the Tokyo Olympics were provisionally suspended for antidoping violations by world governing body FINA.
Alexandr Kudashev and Veronika Popova Andrusenko were suspended based on evidence supplied by the World Anti-Doping Agency, according to FINA. It said the evidence came from WADA’s examination of materials recovered from the former Moscow Anti-Doping Laboratory, including the lab’s management information system.
Kudashev and Andrusenko were set to compete for the nonfederation Russians. The Russian federation is barred from competing as a country in Tokyo because of ongoing doping issues found by WADA.
MEDAL CEREMONIES: Athletes at the Tokyo Olympics will put their medals around their own necks to protect against spreading the coronavirus.
CHINA: China will send 431 athletes to the Tokyo Games as part of a 777-member delegation, its largest at an Olympics outside China, the official Xinhua News Agency said.
The team includes 298 female athletes, more than twice the 133 male competitors. They range in age from 14-year-old female diver Quan Hongchan to 52-year-old male equestrian rider Li Zhenqiang, Xinhua said.
BASKETBALL
WNBA: Arike Ogunbowale scored 26 points and the WNBA All-Star team beat the U.S. Olympic team 93-85 in the league’s All-Star Game at Las Vegas.
It wasn’t a typical All-Star Game, with the two teams playing hard on both ends of the court for the entire game. Usually there isn’t much defense played until late in the fourth quarter.
The WNBA team led 75-73 midway through the fourth quarter before Ogunbowale had a four-point play to extend the advantage to six. The Olympic squad closed within 83-78 before Ogunbowale, who earned MVP honors for the game, hit another 3-pointer and posed to the crowd, which included many current and former WNBA players and team owners.
The Olympic team cut its deficit to 91-85 and had a chance to get closer, but Courtney Williams blocked A’ja Wilson’s shot with 1:15 left and they could get no closer.
The Olympic team is a heavy favorite to win a seventh straight gold medal at the Tokyo Games. No team they will face has nearly as much talent as the WNBA All-Star team they faced.
GOLF
LPGA: Nelly and Jessica Korda teamed to shoot a 5-under 65 in alternate-shot play for a share of the first-round lead in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational at Midland, Michigan.
Defending champions Cydney Clanton and Jasmine Suwannapura joined “Team Jelly” and Pajaree Anannarukarn-Aditi Ashok and Jillian Hollis-Lauren Stephenson atop the leaderboard at Midland Country Club. The teams will play best ball Thursday, alternate shot Friday and close with best ball Saturday.
Carlota Ciganda and Mel Reid were a stroke back with Wichanee Meechai and Pavarisa Yoktuan.
Inbee Park and So Yeon Ryu were at 67 with sisters Ariya and Moriya Jutanugarn and Mi Jung Hur and Jeongeun Lee6.
SOCCER
NWSL: Casey Stoney, who has led Manchester United in the Women’s Super League for three seasons, has been hired as the new head coach of the National Women’s Soccer League’s expansion team in San Diego.
The former standout for England’s national team led Manchester United to a 52-19-6 record during her tenure as coach. The team won the FA Women’s Championship her first season and gained promotion.
FRANCE: Italy’s European Championship-winning goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma signed a five-year contract with Paris Saint-Germain.
The 22-year-old Donnarumma starred at Euro 2020 and made decisive saves in the penalty shootout as Italy beat England in the final.
PSG said that Donnarumma has signed a deal until the end of June 2026.
PHILIPPINES: Goalkeeper Neil Etheridge has been hospitalized with COVID-19, his second-division English club Birmingham said.
The 31-year-old Etheridge “is currently receiving treatment in hospital for COVID-19,” Birmingham said on its Twitter account.
Etheridge had recently reported back to the Championship squad for preseason training. He made 43 appearances for the Blues last year after three seasons with Cardiff.
COLLEGES
FOOTBALL: Ohio Coach Frank Solich had one of the great second acts in college football history.
After a six-year stint as Tom Osborne’s replacement at Nebraska was deemed good but not good enough, Solich returned to his home state and led a downtrodden Ohio football program to 16 years of unprecedented success.
Solich announced his retirement, stepping away from coaching after a 55-year career because of a health issue he initially thought he could work through.
Solich, 76, called his condition a “rare cardiovascular situation.”
Solich retires as the winningest head coach in the history of the Mid-American Conference with 115 victories. Including his time at Nebraska, his alma mater, Solich is 173-101 as a college coach.
TENNIS
PRAGUE OPEN: Grace Min came from a set down to eliminate seventh-seeded Nina Stojanovic 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and advance to the quarterfinals at Prague.
CYCLING
TOUR DE FRANCE: Race leader Tadej Pogacar finished ahead of his rivals and took a major step toward defending his title with a perfectly executed 17th-stage win in the Pyrenees.
The 22-year-old Pogacar made his move with 8.5 kilometers to go on Col de Portet when he powered past previous leader Anthony Perez on his way to victory at 2,215 meters above sea level – the highest stage finish this year.
Jonas Vingegaard stayed on Pogacar’s wheel, with Richard Carapaz close behind but Rigoberto Uran, who was previously second in the general classification, was unable to keep pace and dropped back to fourth overall.
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