July 17, 2023 4:39 am
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Carlos Alcaraz has ended Novak Djokovic’s 34-match winning streak at Wimbledon by beating him 1-6, 7-6 (6), 6-1, 3-6, 6-4 in an engaging, back-and-forth final to win his first championship at the All England Club. Alcaraz’s victory gave him his second Grand Slam trophy overall. The No. 1-ranked Alcaraz prevented Djokovic from what would have been a record-tying eighth title, and fifth in a row, at the grass-court tournament. Djokovic also was kept from claiming his 24th career major. Alcaraz is a 20-year-old from Spain who became the third-youngest male champion at Wimbledon. The age gap between the two was the widest in any men’s Slam final since 1974.
July 16, 2023 6:55 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Michael Conforto’s tiebreaking RBI single in the eighth inning lifted the San Francisco Giants to a 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates on Saturday night, extending their winning streak to four games. After LaMonte Wade Jr. walked and Joc Pederson singled with one out against rookie Carmen Mlodzinski (1-2), All-Star closer David Bednar entered and struck out J.D. Davis. Conforto then hit a line drive into right field. Wade scored on a play at the plate, beating right fielder Henry Davis’ throw. Pederson also came home when Pirates catcher Jason Delay threw wildly to second in an unsuccessful bid to get Conforto.
July 16, 2023 6:56 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pitching prospect Quinn Priester is to make his major league debut Monday night for the Pittsburgh Pirates. Pirates manager Derek Shelton says the Pirates plan to call up Priester from Triple-A Indianapolis to face Cleveland. Priester was the Pirates’ first-round pick in the 2019 amateur draft. The 22-year-old right-hander is 7-3 with a 4.31 ERA in 18 starts for Indianapolis this season.
July 15, 2023 4:10 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — San Francisco rookies Patrick Bailey and Luis Matos hit RBI singles during a three-run rally in the seventh inning that sent the Giants past the Pittsburgh Pirates 6-4. With the Giants trailing 4-3, Wilmer Flores led off the seventh with a double and J.D. Davis walked with one out. Both runners advanced on Austin Hedges’ passed ball, and Flores scored on Bailey’s single. Davis also came home on the play when right fielder Henry Davis overran the ball for an error. Bailey stole second and then Matos capped the outburst with his two-out single off Ryan Borucki. All three runs were charged to Colin Holderman. Michael Conforto had a two-run single for San Francisco. Ji Man Choi homered for the Pirates.
July 15, 2023 4:15 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Bo and Josh Naylor of the Cleveland Guardians became the first brothers major league history to hit multi-run homers in the same inning for the same team when each hit a two-run shot during the third inning at Texas. Bo Naylor hit a 1-0 changeup from Rangers starter Jon Gray an estimated 435 feet to right field at Globe Life Field with no outs in the third inning. Four batters later, Josh hit a 3-1 slider from Gray down the right-field line and it just barely stayed fair. The Guardians lost 12-4. The last brothers to go deep in the same inning were B.J. and Justin Upton of the Atlanta Braves on April 23, 2013.
July 15, 2023 4:12 am
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Ons Jabeur or Marketa Vondrousova will become a first-time Grand Slam champion when they play each other in the Wimbledon women’s final. They go into Saturday’s title match with a combined record of 0-3 in major finals. The No. 6-seeded Jabeur, a 28-year-old from Tunisia, was the runner-up at the All England Club and at the U.S. Open last season. She is the only Arab woman or North African woman to participate in a Grand Slam singles final. The unseeded Vondrousova, a 24-year-old from the Czech Republic, lost in the 2019 French Open final as a teenager. She is the first unseeded finalist at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King made it that far in 1963.
July 14, 2023 4:26 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry is welcoming the pressure that comes with his new five-year contract. The two-time All-Star says his plan was to always remain in Pittsburgh, one of the reasons he signed the deal just a few hours into free agency. Jarry struggled with injuries at times last season. His inconsistent play was one of the reasons the Penguins missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007. Jarry says he’s 100% healthy now and believes Pittsburgh will be more competitive going forward.
July 14, 2023 4:29 am
ATLANTA (AP) — A woman seriously injured in the Jan. 15 car crash that killed Georgia offensive lineman Devin Willock and an athletics staffer has sued the school’s athletics association and former Bulldogs defensive tackle Jalen Carter for damages. Victoria S. Bowles was riding in the backseat of the rented Ford Expedition driven by fellow UGA recruiting analyst Chandler LeCroy, who died in the crash while racing Carter at more than 104 mph following the Bulldogs’ College Football Playoff championship celebration. Bowles’ lawsuit filed Wednesday in Gwinnett County State Court accuses the UGA Athletics Association of negligent entrustment of LeCroy despite having two “super speeder” violations among four speeding tickets.
July 14, 2023 4:27 am
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) — Ons Jabeur has defeated Aryna Sabalenka 6-7 (5), 6-4, 6-3 to reach the Wimbledon final for the second consecutive year. This will be the third title match for Jabeur in the past five Grand Slam tournaments. She is 0-2 so far after losing to Elena Rybakina at the All England Club last July and to Iga Swiatek at the U.S. Open last September. Sabalenka came into the match with a 17-1 record at majors in 2023. Jabeur’s opponent for the championship will be Marketa Vondrousova. Vondrousova became the first unseeded women’s finalist at Wimbledon since Billie Jean King in 1963 by eliminating Elina Svitolina 6-3, 6-3.
July 13, 2023 4:27 am
LOS ANGELES (AP) — LeBron James plans to play next season for the Los Angeles Lakers. The 38-year-old superstar announced his intentions at The ESPYS. James accepted the record-breaking performance award for becoming the NBA’s career scoring leader. James had said at the end of last season that he wasn’t sure if he would be back. He says the day he can’t give everything to the game he will retire, but he told the crowd, “Lucky for you guys that day is not today.” The audience in Los Angeles greeted his words with a huge cheer.
