BASEBALL

Josh Breaux hit a two-run home run in the top of the eighth inning and the Somerset Patriots beat the Portland Sea Dogs 3-2 in an Eastern League game Friday night at Hadlock Field.

Portland (22-21) took a 2-1 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning on a solo home run by Hudson Potts.

Somerset (27-15) opened the scoring on an RBI groundout by Blake Perkins in the second inning, and Portland tied it in the bottom of the inning on a bases-loaded walk to Potts.

Luis Medina allowed one run on four hits while striking out seven and walking three for Somerset. Emmanuel Ramirez allowed a run in two innings of relief to earn the win.

Starter Dylan Spacke allowed one run on five hits in 3 2/3 for Portland.

Advertisement

• Former All-Star pitcher Carlos Martinez was suspended for 80 games under baseball’s minor league drug program following a positive test for the performance-enhancing substance Ibutamoren, which increases Human Growth Hormone.

The 30-year-old right-hander, a two-time All-Star with the St. Louis Cardinals, signed a minor league contract with the Boston Red Sox on May 7. He made a pair of starts for Triple-A Worcester, going 0-2 with a 20.77 ERA in 41/3 innings, and was released on May 17.

BASKETBALL

NBA: The Los Angeles Lakers have hired Darvin Ham to be their next head coach, sources told the Los Angeles Times.

Ham, a first-time head coach, has been a longtime NBA assistant following his eight-year NBA playing career, which included a championship in 2004 with the Detroit Pistons against the Lakers.

Ham earned respect around the NBA as a well-rounded communicator on Mike Budenholzer’s staffs in Atlanta and Milwaukee. He won a title with Budenholzer and the Bucks in 2021. He’ll be the 28th coach in Lakers history, replacing Frank Vogel, who won a championship with the Lakers in 2020.

Advertisement

WNBA: Kelsey Mitchell scored 22 points, Danielle Robinson had 10 points and 11 assists and the Indiana Fever held off the Los Angeles Sparks 101-96 in Indianapolis for interim coach Carlos Knox’s first victory.

Indiana (3-7) fired coach Marianne Stanley on Wednesday after her teams won just 14 games in a little more than two seasons. This win snapped a five-game losing skid.

COLLEGES

BASEBALL: Adam Cecere was 4 for 4 with two home runs, Cape Elizabeth graduate Brendan Tinsman added a homer and four RBI, and No. 6 seed Wake Forest matched an ACC Tournament record with seven homers in a 16-3 victory over third-seeded Miami at Charlotte, North Carolina.

Wake Forest (40-17-1) reached the 40-win plateau for the seventh time in program history. Miami (39-18) was outscored 25-9 in two tournament losses. Both teams await the NCAA selections on Monday.

FOOTBALL

Advertisement

NFL: Tight end David Njoku got the long-term commitment he wanted from the Cleveland Browns, agreeing to a four-year contract extension, a person familiar with the negotiations told The Associated Press.

Njoku, who figures to have a more prominent role in Cleveland’s offense this season, will be among the NFL’s highest-paid tight ends, said the person who spoke on condition of anonymity because the sides were still finalizing the package.

first-round pick in 2017, Njoku has had an eventful stay in Cleveland. Two years ago, he asked to be traded but has since become a dependable player and now a core piece for a team with Super Bowl ambitions.

Njoku and the Browns couldn’t come to terms on a long-term deal before free agency in March, so the team used its $10.9 million franchise tag to retain the 25-year-old.

After catching 36 passes for 475 yards and a team-high four touchdowns last season, Njoku said he hoped to play the rest of his career with the Browns.

GOLF

Advertisement

PGA: Scott Stallings shot a 6-under 64 without a bogey on a relatively calm day at the Colonial in Fort Worth, Texas. That put the Massachusetts-born and 206th-ranked player in the world at 9-under 131 along with Dallas-area resident Scottie Scheffler and former University of Texas player Beau Hossler, who both had bogey-free 65s.

Scheffler, in one of the last groups of the day after Stallings and Hossler played in the morning wave, tied them with a 14-foot birdie putt at the par-4 17th and saved par at No. 18 after his final drive went left into the rough.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Tournament housemates Scott McCarron and Stephen Ames each shot 5-under 66 in stormy and cold conditions at Harbor Shores to share the second-round lead in the Senior PGA Championship in Benton Harbor, Michigan.

The round started with rain and wind and it got colder as the day progressed.

The 56-year-old McCarron had eight birdies, five in a back-nine 30 on the Jack Nicklaus-designed layout that sits near Lake Michigan. McCarron has 11 PGA Tour Champions victories, including the 2017 Senior Players.

The 58-year-old Ames, who had a double bogey for the second straight day, made six birdies over the final 11 holes.

Advertisement

EUROPEAN TOUR: Portuguese golfer Ricardo Gouveia shot a 6-under 66 to take a one-stroke lead after the second round of the Dutch Open at Cromvoirt, Netherlands.

Li Haotong of China was alone in second place after shooting a back-nine 29 for a 63, the lowest round of the day.

CYCLING

GIRO D’ITALIA: Koen Bouwman won the penultimate mountain stage and Richard Carapaz kept the pink jersey heading into the final two days.

Bouwman, a Dutchman, edged Mauro Schmid and Alessandro Tonelli in a sprint to the line at the end of the 19th stage. Schmid complained that Bouwman cut him off around the final corner, causing him to force Andrea Vendrame and Attila Valter wide when they were also vying for the stage win.

Carapaz remained three seconds ahead Jai Hindley and 1:05 ahead of Mikel Landa in the overall standings with two stages remaining.

Advertisement

SOCCER

U.S. MEN: Zack Steffen will miss four World Cup prep matches in June for what the team said was family reasons, and he was replaced on the roster by Sean Johnson.

Steffen, 27, was considered the top American goalkeeper going into qualifying last September but was sidelined at times by a back injury and started only 6 of 14 qualifiers. Matt Turner started eight qualifiers.

The U.S. plays exhibitions against Morocco on Wednesday in Cincinnati and against Uruguay on June 5 at Kansas City, Kansas, then has CONCACAF Nations League matches against Grenada on June 10 in Austin, Texas, and at El Salvador four days later.

TENNIS

WIMBLEDON: Chris Evert appreciates that she, Serena Williams and other Wimbledon women’s singles champions will now be listed on the All England Club’s honor boards in a Centre Court hallway simply by their first initial and last name – the way the men’s title winners always have been – instead of preceded by “Miss” or “Mrs.”

Evert won three of her 18 career Grand Slam singles trophies at Wimbledon; until now, the entry for her 1981 championship has shown her name as “Mrs. J.M. Lloyd,” in reference to her husband at that time, John Lloyd. For her earlier titles in 1974 and 1976, before that marriage, she was listed as “Miss C.M. Evert.”

“I am pleased the All England Club has changed the names. It was outdated and women should be treated equally with the men, as we are with equal prize money,” Evert wrote in a text message to The Associated Press on Friday. “I have always used my maiden name in tennis. I began my career, became a champion, and ended my career as Chris Evert! As proud as I was to be married to John at the time, it was my name that deserved to be on the honor board!!!”

The switch to the women’s honor board has been completed, a spokeswoman for the All England Club confirmed to the AP via email on Friday. The intention to alter the way women’s names are displayed was first reported by The Times of London.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.