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Partly cloudy skies. Low 56F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph..
Partly cloudy skies. Low 56F. Winds W at 10 to 15 mph.
OAKLAND, Calif. — A trio of Stephens gave A’s fans a reason to cheer on Wednesday afternoon. NBA Finals MVP Stephen Curry threw out the first pitch, then Stephen Vogt and Stephen Piscotty hit back-to-back home runs in the A’s 4-2 win over the Astros, sealing Oakland’s first sweep of the season. Piscotty’s fourth home run of the season came at the expense of starting pitcher Cristian Javier.
“I think that just playing and having fun and trying to be a little bit looser has done really well for us,” Piscotty said. “Everybody is contributing to these wins too, so it feels like a team effort. ”
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Now is the time to tune into American motorsports, on display all weekend at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, where NASCAR and IndyCar intersect with both series embroiled in turmoil. Two-time IndyCar champion Josef Newgarden was medically cleared to race on Friday, while Kurt Busch will miss his second consecutive NASCAR race Sunday because of concussion-like symptoms. The IndyCar title fight begins its homestretch, while NASCAR still has a month remaining before the playoffs. And NASCAR heads into this weekend's race coming off an unprecedented disqualification of Denny Hamlin and Kyle Busch when their cars failed inspection after finishing 1-2 at Pocono.
The Taliban and an Afghan sports official say a grenade exploded during a game of cricket in Kabul, wounding at least four spectators at the stadium. No one claimed responsibility for the explosion on Friday afternoon at the International Cricket Stadium in Kabul, where several hundred people had gathered to watch the match between Band-e-Amir Dragons and Pamir Zalmi. The afternoon game was part of the domestic T20 Shpageza Cricket league games held every year. Cricket is a hugely popular sports in Afghanistan. The Taliban-appointed Kabul police spokesman, Khalid Zadran, said the game was briefly halted due to the grenade explosion but later continued.
American golfer Sean Crocker retained his one-stroke lead at the Hero Open after shooting 6-under 66 in the second round of the European tour event. The star of Day 2 was Ewen Ferguson after the Scot made 11 birdies in a bogey-free 61 at Fairmont St. Andrews. Crocker backed up his opening-round 63 and was 15 under for the tournament as he goes for a wire-to-wire win. Scott Jamieson is playing in his native Scotland and was a stroke behind alone in second place after shooting 64. There was a five-way tie for third place.
Fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia advanced to the semifinals of the Poland Open after ending the clay-court winning streak of top-ranked Iga Swiatek at 18 matches. Garcia won 6-1, 1-6, 6-4. She broke Swiatek in the 10th game of the deciding set for her first win over the Pole. Swiatek had not lost on clay since the French Open quarterfinals in 2021. France’s Garcia next plays 10th-seeded Jasmine Paolini. Lucky loser Kateryna Baindl of Ukraine faces Ana Bogdan of Romania in the other semifinal match.
A person with knowledge of the negotiations says the Anaheim Ducks are closing in on a one-year deal with defenseman John Klingberg. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Ducks and Klingberg haven’t yet finalized every detail of the deal to bring one of the NHL’s top unsigned free agents to Orange County. Klingberg has spent his entire NHL career with the Dallas Stars, racking up 71 goals and 303 assists in eight seasons as one of the league’s better offensive defensemen. The Swede had six goals and 41 assists for Dallas last season, although he was a career-worst minus-28.
Kansas City Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt says the team prefers to renovate Arrowhead Stadium rather than build a new stadium. But that will depend on a number of studies that are examining the structural integrity of a building celebrating its opening 50 years ago this season. The future of Arrowhead will be determined just as the Chicago Bears decide whether to leave Soldier Field, which opened in 1924 and is the NFL's oldest stadium. The franchise signed a purchase agreement last year for the 326-acre site of the old Arlington Park horse racing track, which is about 30 miles northwest of its current stadium.
Austin FC says Argentine forward Emiliano Rigoni will join the Major League Soccer team under a designated player contract on a transfer from Brazilian club Sao Paolo. Financial terms were not disclosed. Austin FC said Rigoni gets a guaranteed contract through 2024 with options for the next two seasons. The club said he will join the team in the coming weeks once he receives his visa. Austin is second in the MLS Western Conference in its second season. Rigoni has scored 55 career goals.
IndyCar officials have cleared two-time series champion Josef Newgarden to qualify for Saturday's race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Newgarden had the second-fastest car in practice, completing his lap in 1 minute, 10.1121 seconds. Alexander Rossi had the top time at 1:10.0919. Newgarden collapsed after a hard crash in last weekend's race in Iowa — despite being cleared by doctors at the infield track care center. Series officials announced Thursday that he would be allowed to practice and then would be re-evaluated. Newgarden is tied for third with Scott Dixon, 34 points behind Indianapolis 500 champion Marcus Ericsson.
Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff says his conference is far from finished, despite the defections of Southern California and UCLA. Kliavkoff confirmed the Pac-12 is actively exploring expansion during an eventful, occasionally feisty opening speech at his conference’s football media day in the nation’s second-largest media market. While painting a promising picture of the league’s future even after USC and UCLA leave for the Big Ten in 2024, Kliavkoff also threw several jabs at the Big 12. The commissioner said he had spent the past month “trying to defend against grenades being lobbed in from every corner of the Big 12 trying to destabilize our conference.”
Major League Baseball told a Senate committee that the sport’s antitrust exemption prevents teams from moving without approval and allows the sport to maintain the minor leagues at a wide level. In addition, baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred said many terms of minor leaguers’ employment are determined by the Major League Baseball Players Association’s collective bargaining agreement with MLB. Leaders of the Senate Judiciary Committee asked Manfred on July 18 to explain the impact of potential legislation stripping the sport’s antitrust exemption from the sport’s relationship with minor league players.
Julianna Peña pulled off one of the biggest upsets in UFC history when she took the bantamweight title from two-division champion Amanda Nunes. They fight again Saturday night at UFC 277 in Dallas. It's Peña's first defense of the title in the 135-pound division. Nunes had won 12 fights in a row before that December upset. In another rematch at UFC 277, top flyweight contenders Brandon Moreno and Kai Kara-France fight for an interim title in the division. Moreno won a unanimous decision over Kara-France in December 2019.
Logan Ryan won a pair of Super Bowls in New England playing with Tom Brady, picked off his final pass with the Patriots for a touchdown and has reunited with him in Tampa Bay. Getting another ring together with the Buccaneers is a clear goal. Ryan is one of three former teammates who joined Brady in Tampa during the offseason, along with right guard Shaq Mason and defensive end Akiem Hicks. Of course, Brady lost his pal Rob Gronkowski, who retired. Ryan played both safety spots for the New York Giants the past two seasons and also took more than 200 snaps as a nickel cornerback.
Roger Penske added another major event to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for 2023 with the return of the IMSA sports car championship. The “IMSA Battle on the Bricks” will bring the NASCAR-owned series to Indy’s 14-turn road course for a 160-minute race. The event scheduled for Sept. 17 returns IMSA to Indy for the first time since 2014. IMSA returns as the series transitions into a new era of cars in its top prototype category. The weekend will include the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge on Sept. 16, followed by a four-hour, bumper-to-bumper traffic jam of production-based race cars.
Max Verstappen understood why Charles Leclerc was so hard on himself after crashing last weekend, and the reigning Formula One champion feels it’s healthy for Leclerc to let his emotions out. Leclerc will be looking to bounce back this weekend at the Hungarian Grand Prix after putting his Ferrari into the barriers while leading the French GP. The error gifted Verstappen a win to open up a huge 63-point lead in the overall standings. Sergio Perez is also feeling optimistic and the Red Bull driver has Leclerc in his sights, considering he is only seven points behind him in the standings.
Manchester City manager Pep Guardiola says defender Aymeric Laporte underwent knee surgery during the offseason and will not return before September. The Spain international was a mainstay at center back for City last season. He hurt his knee in the 5-1 win over Wolverhampton in the third-to-last Premier League game of last season. He managed to play through pain in the team’s final two games. Laporte has since had an operation and will miss the start of City’s season. Guardiola would not be drawn on any potential move for Brighton left back Marc Cucurella. He has been linked with City.
A judge has issued a ruling in a legal dispute between two soccer spouses that captivated Britain, Judge Karen Steyn cleared Coleen Rooney of libeling Rebekah Vardy when she alleged that Vardy had leaked her private social media posts to the tabloid press. The judge concluded that Rooney's allegation was “substantially true.” Vardy sued after Rooney accused her in 2019 of sharing the Instagram content with The Sun. Vardy denied being the leaker, but the judge ruled that it was likely that Vardy’s agent, Caroline Watt, had passed private information to The Sun newspaper with Vardy's knowledge. Vardy is married to Leicester City and England striker Jamie Vardy, and Rooney to former Manchester United and England star Wayne Rooney.
CHICAGO — Jonathan Toews had an apt description of the Chicago Blackhawks rebuild during a recent interview with The Athletic.
MIAMI — The Miami Marlins should trade for Juan Soto.
SPARTANBURG, S.C. — Matt Rhule enters his third season as the Carolina Panthers head coach appearing quite confident for a man who Las Vegas oddsmakers have deemed the heavy favorite to be the next NFL coach to be fired.
INDIANAPOLIS — Having devoured In-N-Out burgers, strolled the Santa Monica beach and enjoyed a visit to Little Ethiopia, Keeanu Benton gets the allure.
RENTON, Wash. — Things a good running back should read: 1) The playbook, 2) scouting reports, 3) the defense.
Russia's top diplomat says he’s open to a call with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken to discuss a possible prisoner swap involving American basketball star Brittney Griner. Blinken said this week that Washington had offered Russia a deal that would bring home Griner and another jailed American, Paul Whelan. Speaking Friday on a visit to Uzbekistan, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said his ministry had received an official U.S. request for a call. He said he would be ready once he returns to Moscow and the timing of the call was being worked out. Griner has been detained in Russia since mid-February, when baggage inspectors found vape cartridges with cannabis oil in her luggage.
PHILADELPHIA — Kyler Murray and Jalen Hurts didn’t overlap at the University of Oklahoma, the two poles of the NFL’s latest, hottest quarterback debate never touching, the two young men barely talking to each other. Murray transferred to OU from Texas A&M, spent a year backing up Heisman…
UNDATED (AP) — The commissioner of the American Athletic Conference says athlete compensation, the transfer portal and conference realignment have created a perfect storm for an unsettled situation. Mike Aresco believes all the FBS conferences need to have a coordinated approach to stabilize…
UNDATED (AP) — The commissioner of the American Athletic Conference says athlete compensation, the transfer portal and conference realignment have created a perfect storm for an unsettled situation. Mike Aresco believes all the FBS conferences need to have a coordinated approach to stabilize…
UNDATED (AP) — The commissioner of the American Athletic Conference says athlete compensation, the transfer portal and conference realignment have created a perfect storm for an unsettled situation. Mike Aresco believes all the FBS conferences need to have a coordinated approach to stabilize…
UNDATED (AP) — The commissioner of the American Athletic Conference says athlete compensation, the transfer portal and conference realignment have created a perfect storm for an unsettled situation. Mike Aresco believes all the FBS conferences need to have a coordinated approach to stabilize…
UNDATED (AP) — The commissioner of the American Athletic Conference says athlete compensation, the transfer portal and conference realignment have created a perfect storm for an unsettled situation. Mike Aresco believes all the FBS conferences need to have a coordinated approach to stabilize…
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Attention Please read 2nd Timothy, Chapter 3 in the Bible.