BASEBALL
Blaze Jordan’s first Double-A home run – a two-run shot in the top of the ninth inning – lifted the Portland Sea Dogs to a 3-2 win over the Reading Fightin Phils in an Eastern League game Saturday night in Reading, Pennsylvania.
The Sea Dogs nearly wasted a strong outing from Grant Gambrell, who held Reading to three hits and one run through six innings. He struck out seven and walked two. The Fightin Phils grabbed a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the eighth when Matt Kroon scored from second on an infield single by Oliver Dunn.
Pablo Reyes hit an RBI single in the third inning for Portland as he continued his rehab assignment from the Red Sox.
NECBL: Nicholas Roselli hit a three-run homer in the first inning, and Jeremiah Jenkins and Eddie Eisert also homered to lead the Sanford Mainers to a 10-0 win over the Keene Swamp Bats at Goodall Park.
Five Sanford pitchers combined on an eight-hitter. Ryan Dee got the win, allowing five hits and no walks over five innings.
GOLF
PGA: Rory McIlroy made just enough birdie putts for a 3-under 67 in increasingly windy conditions to keep his one-shot lead over Tom Kim in the Scottish Open.
One day after missing nine putts from 10 feet or closer, McIlroy missed an eagle attempt from just over 3 feet and a birdie putt from 5 feet as he was trying to build a cushion at The Renaissance Club.
McIlroy was at 13-under 197 as he bids for his first professional victory in Scotland. He has four top-five finishes in British Opens held in Scotland.
Tommy Fleetwood was in the first group out Saturday and posted a 63 that put him at 11-under 199, tied with Brian Harman (67) for third place.
• PGA Tour rookie Trevor Cone shot a 9-under 63 to take the third-round lead in the Barbasol Championship at Nicholasville, Kentucky.
Cone had a 17-under 199 total for a one-stroke advantage over Lucas Glover and Vincent Norrman in the event co-sanctioned by the PGA and European tours.
Glover, the leader after each of the first two rounds, had a 69 for his 11th straight round in the 60s.
LPGA: Linn Grant of Sweden missed a chance to become the second LPGA Tour player to break 60, but put herself in position for a breakthrough victory in the Dana Open at Sylvania, Ohio.
Grant played the final five holes in even par for a 9-under 62. Seeking her first LPGA Tour victory, the 24-year-old Grant had an 18-under total to take a six-stroke lead over U.S. Women’s Open champion Allisen Corpuz (68), Stephanie Kyriacou (65), Maria Fassi (67), Matilda Castren (67) and Emily Pedersen (67).
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Steve Stricker shot a 5-under 65 in Akron, Ohio, for a share of the lead with Harrison Frazar in the Kaulig Companies Championship, the fourth of the PGA Tour Champions’ five majors.
Frazar had a 70 to match Stricker at 7-under 203 at Firestone, with the third-round tee times moved up in a successful bid to dodge afternoon rain.
Stewart Cink was a stroke back after a 70. Ernie Els (70) and K.J. Choi (69) were 5 under, and Scott Parel (68) was 4 under.
AMERICAN CENTURY CHAMPIONSHIP: Golden State Warriors star Stephen Curry made a hole-in-one, draining his tee shot on the 152-yard par-3 seventh hole at Edgewood Tahoe, and held a three-point lead going into the final round of the celebrity tournament in Stateline, Nevada.
The 54-hole tournament uses a modified Stableford scoring system that awards a point for par, three for birdie and six for eagle and deducts two points for double bogey or worse. An ace or double eagle counts for eight points.
Curry heads into the final round Sunday with 50 points, trailed by NHL player Joe Pavelski and former pro tennis player Mardy Fish, who are tied at 47.
AUTO RACING
XFINITY: John Hunter Nemechek survived a wreck-marred race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway and won for the fourth time this season in the Xfinity Series.
The 26-year-old Nemechek followed last week’s win at Atlanta with another dominant performance for Joe Gibbs Racing. He pulled away after the final caution and rolled in the No. 20 Toyota to the finish line under caution.
The race was slowed by wild wrecks after restarts, and a slew of damaged cars limped to the garage. Cole Custer and Sheldon Creed wrecked to bring out the final caution. Chandler Smith, who started from the pole, finished second. He was followed by Austin Hill, Daniel Hemric and Sammy Smith.
INDYCAR: Christian Lundgaard took the pole for the Honda Indy Toronto on a wet street course at Exhibition Place, finishing 0.3223 seconds ahead of Scott McLaughlin and 0.3933 ahead of Pato O’Ward.
Alex Palou, who has won three consecutive races and four of the last five, will start 15th in Sunday’s race.
SOCCER
MLS: Ian Harkes had the first two-goal match of his career to spark the New England Revolution to a 4-0 victory over D.C. United in Foxborough, Massachusetts.
The Revolution (12-4-7) extended their unbeaten run at home to 13, going 8-0-5 during the streak.
Gustavo Bou also scored, Carles Gil had two assists, and an own-goal rounded out the scoring.
• Lionel Messi finalized his deal to join Inter Miami, as his contract became official a little more than five weeks after he declared that he would be coming to MLS.
The team will introduce him Sunday night at its stadium in Fort Lauderdale, and the first home match of the Messi era could be as early as Friday in the Leagues Cup against Cruz Azul of Mexico.
CYCLING
TOUR DE FRANCE: Defending champion Jonas Vingegaard and two-time winner Tadej Pogacar dueled on a dramatic day in the Alps, but there was little change in the overall standings after a 94-mile stage from Annemasse to the ski station of Morzine.
While the two overall challengers kept a close eye on each other on the final ascent – the daunting Col of Joux Plane – Carlos Rodriguez made up a deficit of more than a minute and pulled away for the stage win. Pogacar and Vingegaard followed in second and third place, with Vingegaard extending his overall lead from nine to 10 seconds because of time bonuses.
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