BASEBALL
Carlos Rincon drove in six runs, four on a grand slam in the sixth inning, as the Binghamton Rumble Ponies beat the Portland Sea Dogs 8-2 Wednesday for a doubleheader split at Binghamton, New York.
The Sea Dogs won the opener, 5-2.
In the first three games of the seven-game series, the Sea Dogs have been shut out in 20 of the 23 innings.
Rincon hit a two-run double in the fifth and hit his grand slam the following inning.
Devlin Granberg had a two-run homer for the Sea Dogs in the top of the sixth.
In the opener, Portland sent nine batters to the plate in the sixth inning and had five hits. Pedro Castellanos had an RBI double and Hudson Potts and Ronaldo Hernandez had RBI singles. One run scored on a wild pitch, another on a groundout.
Starter Chris Murphy (1-0) pitched six innings, allowed two runs and one walk. He struck out eight.
Joan Martinez pitched a 1-2-3 seventh inning with two strikeouts for his first save.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR is adjusting its health protocols as COVID-19 cases increase across the country.
Beginning with this weekend’s events at Watkins Glen International, all personnel must wear a face mask in enclosed areas at all times, regardless of vaccination status. Enclosed areas include haulers and buildings, restrooms, the infield care center, race control and suites.
NASCAR said the update to its protocols was being implemented on the advice of its consulting physicians and recently issued medical guidance. Masks will not be required outdoors at NASCAR events, provided individuals refrain from sustained close contact.
New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo lifted COVID-19 restrictions in mid-June and Watkins Glen International announced three days later that its grandstands would be fully open to spectators for its NASCAR tripleheader weekend, which also includes the ARCA Menards Series on Friday.
Last year’s Cup race at Watkins Glen was switched to the road course at Daytona International Speedway because of COVID-19.
• Speedway Motorsports named Texas Motor Speedway executive Rob Ramage as the track’s new general manager on Wednesday after Eddie Gossage had overseen the facility through its first 25 seasons of racing.
Ramage had been the track’s general counsel since 2013, also serving as director of governmental affairs and senior vice president of finance and compliance. His responsibilities have included risk management and working with government entities, business leaders, and community advocates.
GOLF
U.S. WOMEN’S AMATEUR: Defending champion Rose Zhang tumbled out in the first-round of match play, with qualifying medalist Rachel Kuehn one of seven of the top eight seeds to fall at Harrison, New York.
Elle Nachmann, a sophomore from Boca Raton, Florida, who carries a 4.0 GPA in the Wharton School of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, beat Zhang 1 up at Westchester Country Club.
The 18-year-old Zhang, from Irvine, California, won the U.S. Girls’ Junior two weeks ago at Columbia Country Club in Chevy Chase, Maryland. She won he Women’s Amateur last year Woodmont Country Club in Rockville, Maryland.
Nachmann will face third-seeded Brooke Matthews of Rogers, Arkansas. Matthews, who plays at Arkansas, beat Brittany Shin of Cape Coral, Florida, 5 and 4.
Kuehn, a Wake Forest player from Asheville, North Carolina, fell 1 up to Kentucky’s Marissa Wenzler of Dayton, Ohio. Wenzler will face Hailey Borja of Lake Forest, California, a 3-and-2 winner of Yilin Liu of Irvine, California.
Wenzler survived a 12-for-2 playoff Tuesday to get into match play.
Wenzler’s Kentucky teammate, Jensen Castle of West Columbia, South Carolina, who earned the other spot in the playoff, beat No. 2 seed Kennedy Pedigo, of Fort Worth, Texas, 3 and 2.
Second-ranked Rachel Heck, the NCAA individual champion at Stanford, had the biggest margin of victory, beating Karen Tsuru, of Carlsbad, California, 7 and 5.
SOCCER
MLS: Joe Willis made six saves for his MLS-leading eighth shutout of the season and Nashville tied the New England Revolution 0-0 at Foxborough, Massachusetts.
Nashville (6-1-10) extended its unbeaten streak to nine matches – including four wins. New England (11-3-4) had a four-game winning streak snapped.
New England goalkeeper Matt Turner, who returned from the Gold Cup, made two saves for his fourth clean sheet of the season.
• Mexican stars Carlos Vela and Chicharito Hernandez, Gold Cup goalkeeping standout Matt Turner and 17-year-old Cade Cowell are among the 28 players on the Major League Soccer All-Star Game roster announced Wednesday. The MLS All-Stars will face a team of all-stars from LigaMX on Aug. 25 in Los Angeles.
The 28-man roster includes 13 players selected through voting by fans, players and the media; 13 players selected by All-Star Game head coach Bob Bradley; and two selected by MLS Commissioner Don Garber. Fifteen MLS teams are represented on the All-Star roster, led by six selections from the Western Conference-leading Seattle Sounders. The six include brothers Alex and Cristian Roldan, and striker Raúl Ruidíaz, who leads the league with 11 goals.
Turner is one of four selections from the New England Revolution. He’s coming off a Gold Cup performance during which he allowed just one goal in six matches and was named the top goalkeeper in the tournament. New England midfielder Carles Gil was also selected after leading the league with 15 assists, more than double any other player.
SPANISH LEAGUE: The Spanish government said Wednesday it will allow stadiums to have crowds of up to 40% capacity for the start of the Spanish league on Aug. 13. Only a limited number of fans had been allowed into first-division soccer games at the end of last season in parts of the country where the coronavirus pandemic was more under control.
Health Minister Carolina Darias said some restrictions will remain in place, including social distancing, use of protective masks and a ban on eating or smoking inside stadiums.
Darias said the Spanish basketball league will be allowed to have indoor crowds of up to 30%. She said the limits on attendance will be reassessed at the end of the month.
The loss of ticket revenue created huge financial problems for many soccer clubs in Spain.
TENNIS
CITI OPEN: British tennis player Dan Evans lost his first match on tour since testing positive for COVID-19 last month and missing the Tokyo Olympics.
Evans, who is ranked 27th and was seeded No. 6 at the Citi Open, was beaten 7-6 (1), 6-0 by Brandon Nakashima at Washington.
Evans, who received a first-round bye in Washington, said he had received one vaccination shot before getting the virus; he said his second shot has been delayed because he got sick.
In another upset, Steve Johnson came back to top No. 3 Alex de Minaur 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-2.
Like Evans, de Minaur sat out the Olympics after testing positive for COVID-19.
HOCKEY
NHL: The New Jersey Devils signed forwards Marian Studenic and A.J. Greer to one-year, two-way contracts.
The 22-year-old Studenic will earn $750,000 at the NHL level and $100,000 at the AHL level with $125,000 guaranteed.
Studenic appeared in eight games for the Devils, making his NHL debut in April. The Slovakian scored his first career NHL goal against the New York Rangers. He also spent parts of three seasons with Binghamton (AHL), collecting 25 goals and 27 assists in 123 games.
Greer will earn $750,000 at the NHL level and $130,000 at the AHL level. He was acquired from the New York Islanders in the Travis Zajac and Kyle Palmieri trade in April, and played in one game for New Jersey.
The 24-year-old has spent parts of three seasons with the Colorado Avalanche, from 2016-17 to 2018-19. He played in 38 NHL contests with a goal and five assists.
• The San Jose Sharks signed goalie Adin Hill to a two-year contract that avoids salary arbitration.
The Sharks acquired Hill last month in a trade from Arizona and are counting on him to team with James Reimer as their goaltending duo next season.
The 25-year-old Hill appeared in 19 games last season for Arizona, going 9-9-1 record with a .913 save percentage, 2.74 goals-against average and two shutouts.
Hill has appeared in 49 career games with a 19-21-4 record, 2.79 goals-against average and .909 save percentage.
COLLEGES
BASKETBALL: Tennessee will face Texas Tech and Syracuse will meet former Big East Conference rival Villanova in pairings for the Jimmy V Classic fundraiser for cancer research and awareness.
The men’s doubleheader is Dec. 7 at Madison Square Garden. Women’s matchups five days later pit Kentucky at rival Louisville and South Carolina hosting Maryland.
The Jimmy V Classic is named for former coach and ESPN commentator Jim Valvano, who died of cancer on April 28, 1993.
COVID-19: Unvaccinated college athletes should be tested weekly for COVID-19, wear masks in most situations and be quarantined if exposed to the virus, while vaccinated individuals should not be tested routinely, according to the NCAA’s latest health and safety recommendations.
The updated guidance mostly follow CDC recommendations and come as football practice starts across the country. They also come at a time when the highly transmissible delta variant has led to some regional spikes in COVID infections.
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