BASEBALL

Jhailyn Ortiz drove in Wendell Rijo with a bloop single in the fifth inning to break a 2-2 tie, and the Reading Fightin Phils held on for a 3-2 win Wednesday night against the Portland Sea Dogs in Reading, Pennsylvania.

The Sea Dogs were held to four hits. Nick Northcut tied the game with a two-run double in the top of the fifth, but Portland dropped a half game behind Somerset for first place in the Eastern League’s Northeast Division second-half standings.

Reading’s Carlos De La Cruz blasted a two-run homer in the fourth inning.

SOCCER

MLS: Thomas McNamara and Justin Rennicks scored for the New England Revolution in a 2-2 tie at Toronto FC.

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Toronto’s Federico Bernardeschi converted a penalty kick for the game’s first goal, and Domenico Criscito volleyed a cross from Michael Bradley to tie it in the 75th minute.

Both teams have five-game unbeaten streaks.

TENNIS

U.S. OPEN: Venus Williams was given a wild card into what could be younger sister Serena’s final tournament.

Venus Williams won back-to-back U.S. Opens in 2000 and 2001, and this year marks 25 years since she reached the 1997 final in Flushing Meadows as a 17-year-old in her first full season on tour.

Now 42, Williams did not play in the U.S. Open last year because of injury, but the seven-time Grand Slam singles champion recently returned to tour after missing nearly a year.

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Serena Williams, 40, recently said she is preparing to leave tennis, though she did not specify whether her retirement would come after the U.S. Open, which begins Aug. 29.

Dominic Thiem, the 2020 U.S. Open men’s champion who has since dealt with injuries and fallen to No. 228 in the world rankings, also was granted a wild card by the U.S. Tennis Association.

WESTERN & SOUTHERN OPEN: U.S. Open champion Emma Raducanu routed Victoria Azarenka 6-0, 6-2 in the second round in Mason, Ohio.

Seeded 13th, the 19-year-old Raducanu set up a match against No. 8 Jessica Pegula.

Sixth-seeded Simona Halep withdrew because of a right thigh injury. Halep won last week in Toronto.

In a men’s second-round match, Taylor Fritz beat Wimbledon finalist Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 6-2.

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AUTO RACING

NASCAR CUP SERIES: Team Penske signed Ryan Blaney to a multiyear contract extension ahead of his final push to make the Cup Series playoffs.

The seven-time winner has made the playoffs every season since 2017 but finds himself on the bubble with two regular-season races remaining.

Blaney is ranked second in the standings – which in any other year would easily be good enough for one of the 16 spots in the playoff field. But drivers who win a race qualify for the playoffs, and there have been 15 different winners so far, not counting Blaney’s victory in the non-points All-Star race. Assuming there’s no new winner in the next two races, Blaney is locked in a battle with 2017 NASCAR champion Martin Truex Jr. for the final spot in the playoff field. Truex is ranked fourth.

HOCKEY

NHL: The Chicago Blackhawks agreed to a one-year contract with Jack Johnson, a veteran defenseman who helped Colorado win the Stanley Cup last season.

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Johnson’s contract carries a $950,000 hit to the salary cap.

The 35-year-old Johnson broke into the NHL with the Los Angeles Kings in 2007. He has 72 goals and 240 assists in 1,024 games, also playing for Columbus, Pittsburgh and the New York Rangers.

CYCLING

TOUR DE FRANCE: Two-time Tour de France runner-up Nairo Quintana was disqualified retroactively from the 2022 edition for misuse of an opioid banned during races.

Quintana will lose the sixth-place finish he achieved last month but is not banned from other races, the International Cycling Union said when announcing the decision. The UCI said it was not a doping violation.


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