BASEBALL

The Hartford Yard Goats scored four runs in the first inning and tacked on six in the fifth in beating the Portland Sea Dogs 12-6 Tuesday night in the opener of a six-game Eastern League series at Hadlock Field.

Zac Veen was 3 for 5 with two runs scored and two RBI for the Yard Goats. Kyle Datres had a two-run homer and Grant Lavigne had three RBI.

Christian Koss was 3 for 4 with two RBI for the Sea Dogs, who have lost three straight and fell a half-game behind first-place Somerset in the Northeast Division. Alex Binelas hit a three-run homer.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Candace Parker had 14 points, 13 rebounds and eight assists to lead the visiting Chicago Sky over the New York Liberty 90-72 in the deciding Game 3 to advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs.

The defending champion Sky await the winner of the Connecticut-Dallas series that will have its deciding Game 3 on Wednesday.

Allie Quigley and Kahleah Copper each added 15 points and Courtney Vandersloot had 14 points and 10 assists for the second-seeded Sky. Chicago has now won four consecutive elimination games dating to back-to-back single-elimination games last year en route to the franchise’s first WNBA championship.

GOLF

Fresh off his first PGA Tour victory, Will Zalatoris is out of the Tour Championship and the Presidents Cup because of two herniated disks.

Zalatoris was the No. 3 seed going into the FedEx Cup finale and the chase for the $18 million prize, meaning he would have started three shots out of the lead.

The field was reduced to 29 players with his withdrawal and everyone keeps their seeding and how far behind they start Thursday at East Lake behind Scottie Scheffler.

The injury is serious enough that Zalatoris already has ruled himself out of the Presidents Cup on Sept. 22-25 at Quail Hollow in North Carolina. Zalatoris finished seventh in the standings, one outside the automatic qualifiers, but was a shoo-in to be a captain’s pick.

HOCKEY

NHL: The Carolina Hurricanes signed veteran Paul Stastny to a $1.5 million contract, a move that shores up their forward depth.

Stastny’s addition could fill a void with winger Max Pacioretty expected to miss several months after undergoing surgery to repair a torn Achilles tendon. The Hurricanes are trying to improve their scoring after averaging fewer than three goals a game in the playoffs this past season.

SOCCER

WOMEN’S EUROPEAN CHAMPIONSHIP: England midfielder Jill Scott announced her retirement from soccer, the second member of the Euro 2022-winning team to do so in two days.

The 35-year-old Scott’s decision comes after Ellen White, the team’s record scorer, said Monday she was retiring. Both Scott and White played in the final of the Women’s European Championship on July 31, when England beat Germany 2-1 after extra time.

Scott made her England debut in 2006 and had a total of 161 international appearances – second only to Fara Williams with 172 – and scored 27 goals for the national side.

NWSL: The National Women’s Soccer League title game will be aired nationally in prime time for the first time in the 10-year-old league’s history.

The game is scheduled for 8 p.m. Eastern at Audi Field in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 29 and will be aired nationally by CBS.

“As we continue to advance the women’s sports landscape in the U.S. and around the world, this is a particularly significant moment for the league and an opportunity our players wholly deserve,” NWSL Commissioner Jessica Berman said. “We look forward to celebrating the end of a fantastic 10th anniversary season in person and on the air with what will surely be an exciting final.”

The top six teams in the league advance to the playoffs, which are scheduled to begin Oct. 15. The top two finishers in the regular season get a bye to the semifinals.

SWITZERLAND: A soccer player judged to have used the word “gay” as an insult in a post-game interview was fined 2,000 Swiss francs ($2,070) by the Swiss Football League.

The league said its tribunal declined to suspend Lucerne goalkeeper Marius Muller and judged that his words had been thoughtless but not homophobic.

Muller, a 29-year-old German, criticized the play of his teammates in a television interview after a 4-1 loss against St. Gallen on Aug. 13.

He and his club later apologized on social media and the league opened a disciplinary case.

Muller’s statement had not targeted a player, referee or spectator at the stadium, the league said, “but rather expressed frustration” at his teammates’ inadequate defensive work.

MLS: Seattle Sounders midfielder Cristian Roldan underwent surgery to repair a groin injury and will be sidelined at least a month.

Roldan had been diagnosed with a sports hernia and the injury was not improving. Seattle Coach Brian Schmetzer said Roldan saw a couple of specialists in Los Angeles and determined surgery was the best decision.

Schmetzer said the timeline is a recovery of 4 to 6 weeks.

CYLING

SPANISH VUELTA: Defending champion Primoz Roglic showed he is in great form and in position to retain his Vuelta title with a dominant win in the fourth stage as the Grand Tour race returned to Spanish territory after three opening stages in the Netherlands.

Trying to win an unprecedented fourth straight Vuelta title, Roglic took the leader’s red jersey after launching his attack in the final meters of the uphill climb into Laguardia in the Basque Country.

The Jumbo-Visma rider opened a 13-second gap in the general classification to American teammate Sepp Kuss. Roglic was 26 seconds in front of Ethan Hayter of Ineos Grenadiers.

TENNIS

JURISPRUDENCE: A tennis fan who was temporarily removed from Centre Court during the men’s Wimbledon final following a complaint by Nick Kyrgios is taking legal action against the Australian tennis player for what she describes as a “reckless and entirely baseless allegation.”

During a changeover in his match against Novak Djokovic, Kyrgios complained to the umpire that a spectator was distracting him while he was serving, saying she was intoxicated and that she should be removed from the stands.

The spectator, Anna Palus, said in a statement released by her lawyers that she was bringing defamation proceedings against Kyrgios in a bid to clear her name.

“During the course of the final, Nick Kyrgios made a reckless and entirely baseless allegation against me,” Palus said in the statement. “Not only did this cause considerable harm on the day, resulting in my temporary removal from the arena, but Mr. Kyrgios’ false allegation was broadcast to, and read by, millions around the world, causing me and my family very substantial damage and distress.”

Palus said she was taking action “to obtain vindication and to prevent repetition of the allegation.”

She said any damages recovered will be donated to charity.

“I hope that Mr. Kyrgios will reflect on the harm he has caused me and my family and offer a prompt resolution to this matter,” Palus said in the statement from her law firm, Brett Wilson LLP. “However, if he is unwilling to do this, I am committed to obtaining vindication in the High Court.”

The incident took place during the third set of the match that Djokovic went on to win 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, 7-6 (3). It was Kyrgios’ first final at a grand slam tournament.

U.S. OPEN: NCAA tennis champion Ben Shelton is leaving the University of Florida to turn pro.

The 19-year-old Shelton, who was born in Atlanta, announced his decision on Twitter.

He received a wild-card invitation for the U.S. Open, which begins in New York on Monday.

Shelton won the 2022 college singles championship as a sophomore for Florida. His father, former professional tennis player Bryan, coaches the Gators.

Shelton is ranked 171st this week. He is a left-hander who is listed at 6-foot-4 and 195 pounds on the ATP website.

Shelton made his ATP debut at Atlanta last month and won his first match there, before losing to 2018 Wimbledon semifinalist John Isner in a third-set tiebreaker.

Last week at Cincinnati, Shelton beat No. 5 Casper Ruud, this year’s French Open runner-up, by a 6-3, 6-3 score, making Shelton the youngest U.S. man to defeat an opponent ranked in the top five since Andy Roddick in 2001.

Roddick was the last American man to win a Grand Slam title, doing so at the 2003 U.S. Open.