June 23, 2020 8:41 am
BELGRADE, Serbia (AP) – Novak Djokovic has tested positive for the coronavirus after taking part in a tennis exhibition series he organized in Serbia and Croatia. The top-ranked Serb is the fourth player to test positive for the virus after first playing in Belgrade and then again last weekend in Zadar, Croatia. His wife also tested positive. Djokovic says “the moment we arrived in Belgrade we went to be tested. My result is positive.” Djokovic has been criticized for organizing the tournament and bringing in players from other countries amid the coronavirus pandemic. There were no social distancing measures observed at the matches in either country.
June 23, 2020 3:51 am
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) – Ryan Blaney held onto the lead after a restart with two laps to go, earning his second straight win at Talladega Superspeedway on a day that began with NASCAR drivers throwing their support behind Bubba Wallace. Blaney nipped Ricky Stenhouse Jr. at the finish line for his fourth win and first since Talladega in October, albeit this time before a mostly empty venue. It was a race marked by support for Wallace instead of another Big One at Talladega, though there was mayhem behind Blaney on the final lap and he also pushed Erik Jones into the wall near the finish.
June 23, 2020 3:49 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Major League Baseball plans to unilaterally issue a 60-game schedule for its shortest season since 1878 after the players’ association rejected a negotiated deal of the same length, putting the sport on track for a combative and possibly unhappy return to the field amid the coronavirus pandemic. Six days after baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred and union head Tony Clark negotiated to expand the playoffs from 10 teams to 16, widen use of the designated hitter to National League games and introduce an experiment to start extra innings with a runner on second base, the deal was rejected by the union. MLB asked the union to respond by 5 p.m. EDT Tuesday as to whether players can report to training by July 1 and whether the players’ association will agree on the operating manual of health and safety protocols. The schedule would be the shortest since the National League’s third season. Given the need for three days of virus testing and 21 days of workouts, opening day would likely be during the final week of July.
June 22, 2020 3:45 am
NEW YORK (AP) – An email from Major League Baseball Commissioner Rob Manfred to union head Tony Clark led to a balk in the drawn-out talks to start the pandemic-delayed season, which now won’t begin by July 19. The executive committee of the players’ association was set to vote and reject MLB’s latest offer for a 60-game season on Sunday. Manfred says in an email obtained by The Associated Press that he really believes they are fighting over an impossibility on games. Manfred says the earliest they’ll be ready for players to report is a week from Monday, given the need to relocate teams from Florida. That leaves 66 days to play 60 games. Manfred says, “Realistically, that is the outside of the envelope now.” Players want 70 games and $275 million more than teams are offering. They are worried that if a resurgence of the new coronavirus causes the 2020 season to be cut short, the deal being negotiated would lock in innovations for 2021 and lessen the union’s bargaining power.
June 22, 2020 3:48 am
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – Webb Simpson celebrated another victory on Father’s Day, this time with a tartan jacket instead of a U.S. Open trophy. In a wild sprint to the finish after a three-hour storm delay, Simpson ran off five birdies in a six-hole stretch on the back nine at Harbour Town and closed with a 7-under 64 for a one-shot victory over Abraham Ancer. Simpson won the U.S. Open at Olympic Club in 2012. The U.S. Open has been scheduled to end on Father’s Day every year since 1976, but it was moved to September this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The RBC Heritage filled the spot on the schedule and Simpson, now a father of five, became a winner for the second time this year with a record score at Harbour Town. He didn’t have much of a choice with so many low scores on a soft course with little wind. He finished at 22-under 262, breaking by two the tournament record set by Brian Gay in 2009.
June 22, 2020 3:49 am
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) – Thunderstorms Sunday forced NASCAR to postpone the Cup Series race at Talladega Superspeedway that was to mark the return of more fans to the track. The race, which was pushed back to 2 p.m. CDT on Monday, is the first amid the coronavirus pandemic in which NASCAR opened the gates for up to 5,000 fans. The event was stopped several times for more than three hours of total delays. The race is the ninth for the elite Cup Series since the May 17 resumption, and restrictions are gradually being lifted. It was hardly an ordinary race day at Talladega Superspeedway, even before the lousy weather. The normal hordes of partying fans were nowhere to be seen.
June 22, 2020 3:50 am
TALLADEGA, Ala. (AP) – NASCAR says a noose was found in the garage stall of Bubba Wallace on Sunday at the NASCAR race in Talladega, Alabama. Wallace is the only full-time Black driver in NASCAR’s elite Cup Series. Two weeks ago, he successfully pushed for NASCAR to ban the Confederate flag at its tracks and properties. NASCAR says it has launched an immediate investigation into the noose. The series says it is “outraged” and says there is no place for racism in NASCAR.
June 21, 2020 7:28 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Tiz the Law has won an unprecedented Belmont Stakes, claiming victory Saturday at the first race of a rejiggered Triple Crown schedule and crossing the finish line in front of eerily empty grandstands. The 3-year-old colt from upstate New York charged to the lead turning to the front stretch and now can set his sights on the Sept. 5 Kentucky Derby and Oct. 3 Preakness. All three legs of this year’s Triple Crown schedule were postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic. Belmont, usually the series capper, was initially scheduled for June 6. Tiz the Law gave New York a hometown champion in its first major sporting event since the coronavirus pandemic seized the area. He’s the first New York-bred horse to win the Belmont since Forrester in 1882. This Belmont States was unlike any of the 151 that preceded it. The Long Island track can pack in nearly 100,000, but this race only had about 100 on hand, including jockeys, media and park staff. Masks were mandated for all but the horses – even the jockeys wore face coverings.
June 21, 2020 7:29 am
HILTON HEAD ISLAND, S.C. (AP) – Buckle up for another wild finish on the PGA Tour. Webb Simpson made one birdie on the back nine at Harbour Town. That was just enough for a 68 that allowed him to join a four-way tie for the lead in the RBC Heritage. He was at 15-under 198. Also sharing the lead were Tyrrell Hatton of England, Abraham Ancer of Mexico and Ryan Palmer. Hatton had one of the six rounds of 63 on Saturday. The change to June because of three-month shutdown appears to be making all the difference. This is a soft course for a strong field. Meanwhile, packed restaurants and a lack of social distancing on Hilton Head Island are leading to concerns that the PGA Tour might have more players test positive for the coronavirus. Nick Watney became the first player to test positive on Friday and withdrew from the RBC Heritage. The tournament is the second since the tour resumed play after a three-month break because of the COVID-19 pandemic. The tour has tested 11 people who came into close contact with Watney and all initial tests came back negative. Justin Thomas is one of several players to note how busy the island has been. He says, “It’s an absolute zoo around here.”
June 21, 2020 7:31 am
NASCAR heads to Talladega Superspeedway Sunday with new rules and more fans. The Alabama track will admit up to 5,000 fans, just 48 hours after Stewart-Haas Racing confirmed two of its employees tested positive for the new coronavirus. The new rules are in response to Ryan Newman’s crash in the Daytona 500, but there is no practice or qualifying scheduled, so drivers won’t have a feel for the adjustments until the race begins. NASCAR also will be on the lookout for the newly banned Confederate flag.
