U.S./World Sports category, Page 244
Some normalcy returns to Preakness; Derby champ Medina Spirit cleared to raceVideo
BALTIMORE — Fans are back at Pimlico Race Course to witness another chance at a Triple Crown. The Preakness will feel somewhat back to normal, even if everything carries a giant asterisk. The limited capacity of 10,000 fans expected Saturday is far less than the crowd of 100,000 that usually...
Getting there: PGA Championship promises improved access
KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — The golf, as it usually is at the Ocean Course, was spectacular. Getting there to see it unfold at the PGA Championship nine years ago was more of a struggle. The major championship returns to the dramatic, sea-swept course next week with organizers promising a different...
Nadal ends losing streak against Zverev with win in Rome
ROME — Rafael Nadal ended a run of three straight losses to Alexander Zverev with a convincing 6-3, 6-4 win over the German on Friday to reach the Italian Open semifinals. Zverev had beaten Nadal in straight sets at the same stage in Madrid a week ago but their latest...
Japan expands virus emergency ahead of Tokyo Olympics
TOKYO — Japan on Friday further expanded a coronavirus state of emergency from six areas, including Tokyo, to nine, as Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga repeated his determination to hold the Olympics in just over two months. Japan has been struggling to slow infections ahead of the games. The three additions...
This Date in Sports History: May 14
1913 — Washington’s Walter Johnson gives up a run in the fourth inning against the St. Louis Browns to end his streak of 56 scoreless innings. The Senators win 10-5. 1919 — Four days after his Kentucky Derby victory, Sir Barton, ridden by Johnny Loftus, wins the Preakness Stakes by...
Jordan Spieth shoots 63, shares lead at low-scoring hometown NelsonVideo
McKINNEY, Texas — Jordan Spieth had his longest stretch all day of mere pars — a whopping four holes — on the besieged new home course of the AT&T Byron Nelson when the local favorite stepped over a 55-foot eagle putt on the par-5 18th. Nothing but the bottom of...
Midnight Bourbon, Concert Tour are top Preakness challengers
BALTIMORE — Midnight Bourbon hopes to take a path to the winner’s circle at the Preakness that has been run before — 30 years ago. Hansel was the horse hyped to win the Kentucky Derby three decades ago but struggled in the first leg of the Triple Crown. He was...
Carlos Vela is MLS’s highest paid player at $6.3 million
WASHINGTON — Los Angeles FC attacker Carlos Vela is Major League Soccer’s highest paid player this season, with $6.3 million in total compensation, including $4.5 million in salary. LA Galaxy forward Javier “Chicharito” Hernández is second at $6 million, all of it salary, according to figures released Thursday by the...
This date in sports history: May 13Video
1891 — Isaac Murphy wins his second straight Kentucky Derby aboard Kingman. In the stretch, Kingman comes from last in the four-horse field to beat Balgownan by one-half length. 1952 — In an Appalachian League game, Ron Necciai of the Bristol Twins strikes out 27 batters while pitching a 7-0...
Horizon League’s Milwaukee lands top recruit Baldwin Jr.Video
MILWAUKEE — Patrick Baldwin Jr., one of the nation’s top recruits in his class, will play college basketball for his father at Milwaukee. The forward is rated as the nation’s No. 4 senior prospect according to composite rankings of recruiting sites compiled by 247Sports. An ankle injury caused him to...
Matsuyama returns at Nelson, 1st event since winning MastersVideo
McKINNEY, Texas — Hideki Matsuyama has the simple goal of getting his game back in shape at the AT&T Byron Nelson, his first tournament since becoming the first Japanese player to win the Masters. Local favorite Jordan Spieth didn’t intend to be away just as long but ended up getting...
Report on sexual assault by campus doctor raises flags about ex-Michigan coach Bo Schembechler
ANN ARBOR, Mich. — A report about the stunning lack of action at the University of Michigan while a rogue doctor was sexually assaulting hundreds of young men has cast an unflattering light at one of the school’s giants, the late football coach Bo Schembechler, whose bronze statue stands on...
This Date in Sports History: May 12
1909 — The Preakness Stakes is held in Maryland after 16 runnings in New York. As part of the celebration marking the return of the Preakness, the colors of the race’s winner were painted onto the ornamental weather vane at Pimlico Racecourse for the first time. 1917 — Omar Khayyam,...
Golf notes: Thanks to covid-19, Jordan Spieth gets longer break
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Jordan Spieth returns to competition after four weeks off following the Masters. That wasn’t the plan. Covid-19 wasn’t part of the plan, either. Spieth revealed Tuesday that he tested positive for the coronavirus the second week after the Masters, which is what kept him from playing the...
Preakness allows Medina Spirit to enter with extra testingVideo
BALTIMORE— Medina Spirit is set to run in the Preakness on Saturday to go for the second leg of the Triple Crown, as long as the Kentucky Derby winner passes a series of additional drug tests. Maryland racing officials reached an agreement with trainer Bob Baffert on Tuesday to allow...
Column: It’s hard to keep score when paying for popularityVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The PGA Tour is giving away $40 million to the leading 10 players who move the needle, a term that’s been around for some 60 years because it’s a simple way to define popularity. It’s part of the “Player Impact Program,” a title that doesn’t necessarily move...
Famed Hawaii quarterback Colt Brennan dead at age 37Video
HONOLULU — Colt Brennan, a star quarterback at Hawaii who finished third in the 2007 Heisman Trophy balloting, died early Tuesday, his father said. He was 37. Brennan, who has had public struggles with alcohol, died at a hospital in California, his father, Terry Brennan, told the Associated Press. “He...
Russell Westbrook breaks Oscar Robinson’s triple-double record
ATLANTA — Russell Westbrook set the NBA record Monday with his 182nd triple-double, surpassing the mark set by Oscar Robertson in 1974. The 32-year-old Westbrook, in his 13th season overall and his first with the Washington Wizards, reached the milestone when he grabbed his 10th rebound with 8 minutes, 29...
Medina Spirit heads to Preakness, minus trainer Bob Baffert
LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Kentucky Derby winner Medina Spirit is headed to Baltimore for the Preakness Stakes while trainer Bob Baffert said Monday that he won’t attend the race to avoid being a distraction in the wake of scrutiny following the colt’s failed postrace drug test. Medina Spirit’s Derby win by...
Access, fans returning to NASCAR after quiet yearVideo
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Kevin Harvick crossed the finish line at Darlington Raceway a year ago and was struck by the stillness and silence of the empty grandstands. NASCAR was one of the first major sports to resume competition early in the pandemic, setting its own path in a strange new...
Optimism rising about future of Pimlico with rebuild looming
Frankie Brothers walked into the grandstand at Pimlico Race Course in the late 1980s and early ’90s with his head on a swivel. “I always made sure I knew where the exit was because if somebody dropped a cigarette or something like that, that place would’ve went up in flames,”...
Martin Truex Jr. dominates at Darlington to 3rd win of year
DARLINGTON, S.C. — Martin Truex Jr. powered his way around Darlington Raceway, sweeping both stages and leading the final 105 laps Sunday. Kyle Larson cut into Truex’s often large lead over the final 30 laps, coming as close as two car-lengths down the stretch. But the Joe Gibbs Racing driver...
DK Metcalf turns in respectable 100 time, finishes last in heatVideo
WALNUT, Calif. — Seattle Seahawks receiver DK Metcalf couldn’t catch the field in his heat of a 100-meter race at the USA Track and Field Golden Games on Sunday, finishing ninth out of nine but in a respectable time of 10.37 seconds. Although Metcalf didn’t earn a spot in the...
Rory McIlroy ends 18-month streak without a victory
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Rory McIlroy found his comfort zone at Quail Hollow and left with a trophy he badly needed. McIlroy closed with a 3-under-par 68 and made it tough on himself at the end Sunday, driving into the hazard left of the 18th fairway and needing two putts from...
Alexander Zverev beats Matteo Berrettini to win his 2nd Madrid Open titleVideo
MADRID — Alexander Zverev continued his impressive form going into the French Open by winning his second Madrid Open title on Sunday. After beating top-seeded Rafael Nadal in the quarterfinals and fourth-ranked Dominic Thiem in the semifinals, Zverev rallied to defeat Matteo Berrettini 6-7 (8), 6-4, 6-3 for his second...
