BASEBALL

Phillip Sikes belted a two-run homer in the first inning and went 3 for 5, and the Portland Sea Dogs stretched their winning streak to eight games with a 10-2 victory Saturday night over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in an Eastern League game at Binghamton, New York.

Jhostynxon Garcia and Corey Rosier also homered, and Allan Castro and Elie Marrero both had two hits and an RBI. Garcia’s three-run homer in the ninth was his first since his promotion to Double-A.

GOLF

LPGA: Lauren Coughlin rolled in a bending, 20-foot putt as part of three birdies on the closing stretch to cap a 6-under 66 in the Women’s Scottish Open, giving her a one-shot lead over Megan Khang in Irvine, Scotland.

Coughlin picked up her first LPGA Tour title three weeks ago in Canada and put herself in position to lock up a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team. She was at 12-under 204.

LIV: Jon Rahm finished eagle-birdie-birdie for an 8-under 62 and a two-shot lead over Brooks Koepka and three others in LIV Golf Greenbrier at White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia.

Rahm was at 14-under 126.

Koepka (64) was tied for second with Talor Gooch (66), 51-year-old Richard Bland (64) and Lucas Herbert (63).

SOCCER

ENGLAND: Mohamed Salah broke a Premier League scoring record with his ninth opening day goal, and Liverpool’s new era under Manager Arne Slot began with a 2-0 victory over Ipswich.

Salah previously shared the record of eight goals with Frank Lampard, Wayne Rooney and Alan Shearer.

• Arsenal, the Premier League runner-up each of the past two seasons, won 2-0 at home against Wolverhampton, thanks to goals from Kai Havertz and Bukayo Saka.

• James Milner started his league record 23rd season as Brighton opened with a 3-0 win at Everton.

Milner, 38, is seven years older than his manager, Fabian Hurzeler, who had a winning start to English soccer after moving from German team St. Pauli.

• Newcastle overcame a 28th-minute red card to Fabian Schar for a headbutt, beating Southampton, 1-0.

• Nottingham Forest midfielder Danilo broke his left ankle in the team’s opening game against Bournemouth, which ended in a 1-1 draw.

SPAIN: Robert Lewandowski scored late in the first half and early in the second to give Barcelona a 2-1 win over Valencia in Coach Hansi Flick’s Spanish league debut.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Sabrina Ionescu had 23 points, Breanna Stewart scored 18 and Jonquel Jones added a double-double as the visiting New York Liberty clinched a playoff berth with their sixth straight win – 79-67 over the Las Vegas Aces.

• Napheesa Collier scored 30 points to lead the visiting Minnesota Lynx to a 99-83 victory over the Washington Mystics.

Collier, a member of the gold medal-winning U.S. team at the Paris Olympics, shot 13 of 16 from the floor with a pair of 3-pointers.

• Lindsay Allen scored 16 points, Kamilla Cardoso and rookie Angel Reese posted double-doubles, and the Chicago Sky rallied in the fourth quarter to hand the Los Angeles Sparks their fifth straight home loss, 90-86.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR: Haas Factory Team, an offshoot of Stewart-Haas Racing, completed its roster for next season by signing Sheldon Creed and Sam Mayer to drive for the team in NASCAR’s second-tier Xfinity Series in 2025.

The team announced last month that Cole Custer would return to the Cup Series next season as its driver. Custer lost his Cup ride at SHR after the 2022 season and has spent the last two years driving for its Xfinity program.

• Justin Allgaier raced to his second Xfinity Series victory of the year and the 25th of his career, pulling away from the pack in an overtime finish at Michigan International Speedway.

Sheldon Creed, the pole sitter, finished second. John Hunter Nemechek, last year’s winner at Michigan, was third.

TENNIS

CINCINNATI OPEN: Carlos Alcaraz apologized for his behavior Friday during a loss to Gael Monfils.

The reigning French Open and Wimbledon champion destroyed his racket by repeatedly smashing it on the court in a rare show of frustration for the four-time Grand Slam winner. He lost 4-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 to the 37-year-old Monfils.

CYCLING

SPANISH VUELTA: American Brandon McNulty won the opening stage individual time trial in Portugal.

McNulty, who rides for UAE Team Emirates, finished the 12-kilometer ride from Lisbon to Oeiras with a time of 12 minutes, 35 seconds – two seconds faster than Czech rider Mathias Vacek. Wout van Art finished third, three seconds off the winning time.

Defending Vuelta champion Sepp Kuss of the U.S. was 53 seconds slower than McNulty.