July 22, 2019 3:50 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – A fan casually walked to home plate and approached Philadelphia hitter Brad Miller for a handshake before being apprehended (pictured), and the Phillies later beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 2-1 Sunday on Rhys Hoskins’ home run in the 11th inning. Moments after Bryce Harper argued a called third strike and Hoskins spiked his bat after being hit by a pitch, things turned bizarre in the sixth inning at PNC Park. That’s when a man carrying a cellphone came out of the crowd and strolled toward Miller in the batter’s box. Miller backed away and the man kept walking, leisurely getting near the Phillies’ dugout on the first base side, where he was handcuffed by security personnel and led away. Miller then grounded into an inning-ending double play. Hoskins hit his 21st home run, connecting off Chris Stratton (1-3). The drive came right after Harper again seemed displeased with plate umpire Ben May when striking out looking to start the inning. Phillies reliever Ranger Suarez (3-0) got Starling Marte to ground out to end the 10th, stranding Adam Frazier at third, and worked around a hit in the 11th. Drew Smyly made his first start with the Phillies, allowing one run and four hits in six innings. He also struck out. The 30-year-old lefty was 1-5 with an 8.42 ERA in nine starts and four relief appearances this year for Texas, which released him on June 25. Smyly signed a minor league contract with Milwaukee on July 1, went 1-0 with a 4.97 ERA in three starts for Triple-A San Antonio, then on Thursday exercised his right to be released. Pirates starter Dario Agrazal allowed one run on three hits with five strikeouts in six innings. The 24-year-old rookie has given up a combined eight runs (seven earned) in 28 innings through his first five starts. Melky Cabrera put the Pirates ahead 1-0 in the first with an RBI single. The Phillies tied it in the fourth when Cesar Hernandez came out of a 25-minute rain delay and singled home Harper.
July 21, 2019 7:45 am
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) -Ashton Turner is the first player to complete 72 holes of the British Open, not necessarily a badge of honor because he was in last place going into Sunday. He made the most of it and beat the bad weather with a 3-under 68. There already have been periods of light rain as weather figures to be a big part of the final round. The forecast was for heavy rain at times and gusts approaching 40 mph. It was severe enough for the R&A to move forward the starting times by one hour. Shane Lowry, with a four-shot lead, won the Irish Open as an amateur 10 years ago in nasty weather. He doesn’t figure to have a big advantage, though. He is playing with Tommy Fleetwood of Southport, England, which gets its share of bad weather.
July 19, 2019 3:55 am
SARATOGA SPRINGS, N.Y. (AP) – The New York Racing Association is canceling Saturday’s card of racing at Saratoga Race Course due to excessive heat forecast for eastern New York. The National Weather Service is predicting a heat index that could reach as high as 110 degrees. Training will be permitted Saturday on both the main track and Oklahoma training track in the normally cooler temperatures in the morning.
July 19, 2019 3:55 am
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) – Tiger Woods arrived at Royal Portrush on Sunday morning. Now he tries to avoid leaving Friday afternoon from the British Open. Woods, Rory McIlroy and others who got off to a rugged start faced a daunting task trying to make the cut on a links course with ever-changing conditions and a steady challenge. Woods didn’t make a birdie until the 15th hole in his opening round of 78, his worst start in a British Open and third-highest score in a major championship. McIlroy played reasonably well except the start (quadruple bogey) and finish (triple bogey) in his round of 79. J.B. Holmes set the pace with a 5-under 66 and played Friday morning under a mostly blue sky and mild wind. That could change without notice.
July 18, 2019 3:42 am
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) – Darren Clarke never hit a tee shot at Royal Portrush quite like this. The silver claret jug on display next to him, Clarke hit the opening tee shot Thursday as the British Open returned to Irish soil for the first time in 68 years. And then it got even better for Clarke, the 50-year-old from Northern Ireland who now calls Portrush home. He holed a 15-foot putt for birdie to start his round. Clarke won the Open in 2011 at Royal St. George’s and did not hesitate when the R&A asked if he would be willing to be the first to play. He hasn’t received such a hearty reception on the opening tee since The K Club in Ireland in 2006 for the Ryder Cup.
July 16, 2019 3:49 am
VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (AP) – Former boxing champion Pernell Whitaker has died at age 55 after he was hit by a car in Virginia. Police in Virginia Beach say Whitaker was a pedestrian when struck by the car Sunday night. Whitaker was an Olympic gold medalist and welterweight champion. He was regarded as one of the greatest defensive fighters. He won a gold medal at the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles and made his pro debut on national television. He was fighting for a major title by his 17th fight, a loss to Jose Luis Ramirez that he would avenge the next year.
July 15, 2019 3:50 am
SILVIS, Illinois (AP) – Dylan Frittelli picked up his first PGA victory by taking the John Deere Classic by two strokes over Russell Henley. The South African closed with a bogey-free 7-under 64. He finished 21 under for the tournament and earned a spot in this week’s British Open. Frittelli opened with rounds of 66, 68 and 65 to begin Sunday two strokes back. Henley shot a tournament-best 61. Andrew Landry was 18 under after a 69.
July 14, 2019 7:49 am
WIMBELDON, England (AP) – Simona Halep figures her past problems in Grand Slam finals allowed her to come through against Serena Williams at Wimbledon. Halep lost the first three times she appeared in a major final, twice at the French Open and once at the Australian Open. But now the 27-year-old Romanian has won two in a row – last year at Roland Garros, and Saturday at the All England Club, where she made only three unforced errors while beating Williams 6-2, 6-2 in 56 minutes. Halep made only three unforced errors, a remarkably low total and 23 fewer than Williams. Halep says her losses “helped me for sure to be different” on this occasion. This is the third consecutive Grand Slam final lost by Williams as she tries to equal the all-time record with 24 major trophies.
July 13, 2019 10:22 am
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) – Simona Halep was not focused on trying to prevent Serena Williams from winning a 24th Grand Slam title. All Halep cared about was winning Wimbledon for the first time. Pretty much perfect from start to finish, Halep beat Williams 6-2, 6-2 in stunning fashion in the final at the All England Club on Saturday. The whole thing took only 56 minutes.
Halep made only three unforced errors, a remarkably low total and 23 fewer than Williams.This is the third consecutive Grand Slam final lost by Williams as she tries to equal the all-time record with 24 major trophies. She was the runner-up to Angelique Kerber at Wimbledon a year ago.
July 12, 2019 3:42 am
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) – Simona Halep stands between Serena Williams and her 24th Grand Slam championship. Williams has reached Saturday’s Wimbledon women’s singles final for the 11th time by mowing down Barbora Strycova, 6-1, 6-2 in Thursday’s semifinal. The 37-year-old Williams needed just 59 minutes to move one match victory closer to her eighth championship at the All England Club. Williams was limited to just 12 matches this year before reaching Wimbledon. Her game has gotten better with each round of the tournament, and she converted four of her five break points to make quick work of the unseeded Czech. Halep is in the Wimbledon final for the first time following a 6-1, 6-3 rout of Elina Svitolina on Centre Court. Halep broke Svitolina three times in the first set, and then again to take a 4-3 lead in the second. She won the match with another break in the final game. Williams has won nine of her 10 meetings with Halep, including a victory at the Australian Open this year. The men’s semifinals are Friday as second seed Roger Federer takes on No. 3 Rafael Nadal (nah-DAHL’) after top-ranked Novak Djokovic faces No. 23 Roberto Bautista Agut.
