AP National Sports

By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — Prosecutors asked a Russian court Thursday to convict American basketball star Brittney Griner and sentence her to 9 1/2 years in prison at closing arguments in her drug possession trial. The trial neared its end nearly six months after Griner’s arrest at a Moscow airport in

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer Cliff Branch was the epitome of what Al Davis coveted in a receiver during his decades running the Raiders. Branch arrived in Oakland with the game-breaking speed needed to fuel the Raiders’ vertical offense and as soon as he learned to harness that speed and develop reliable hands,

By JIM HEINTZ Associated Press KHIMKI, Russia (AP) — Brittney Griner arrived in court Thursday for closing arguments in her cannabis possession trial, nearly six months after the American basketball star was arrested at a Moscow airport in a case that has reached the highest levels of U.S.-Russia diplomacy. Griner faces up to 10 years

By DAN GREENSPAN Associated Press INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Dejan Joveljic and Jonathan Pérez each scored, and the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated Chivas de Guadalajara 2-0 in a friendly at SoFi Stadium. Joveljic stuck out his left foot to redirect a corner kick by Efrain Alvarez into the top netting in the 28th minute. Perez

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer ANAHEIM, Calif. (AP) — Sean Murphy homered and drove in three runs off Shohei Ohtani, leading the Oakland Athletics to a 3-1 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. James Kaprielian pitched six-hit ball into the sixth as the A’s snapped their three-game losing streak. Ohtani has no victories over

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer SAN DIEGO (AP) — Juan Soto got multiple ovations in his first game with the Padres and Brandon Drury did even better. He hit a grand slam on the first pitch he saw with his new team to lead San Diego to a 9-1 victory against the Colorado Rockies

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Santiago Moreno scored in the 27th minute and the Portland Timbers extended their unbeaten streak to nine games with a 1-1 draw against Nashville. The Timbers’ last loss was on May 28. Teal Bunbury scored for Nashville, which finished with its third straight draw.

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Fourth-ranked Paula Badosa broke serve twice late in the third set before winning a tiebreak to hold off 21-year-old Elizabeth Mandlik 6-2, 5-7, 7-6 (5) at the Mubadala Silicon Valley Classic in San Jose, California. Badosa was twice a game away from losing with Mandlik serving for the match. Badosa

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Former boxing world champion Johnny Famechon has died in Melbourne after a lengthy illness. He was 77. The Sport Australia Hall of Fame announced Famechon’s death in a statement. The Australian boxer was struck by a car while jogging in 1991 in Sydney which caused him to suffer a stroke and

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Joel Waterman scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time and Montreal beat the Columbus Crew 2-1. Montreal tied it at 1 in the 88th minute on a goal from Kei Kamara. Lucas Zelarrayan scored for the Crew in the 14th minute. Sebastian Breza saved two of the three shots he

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Sebastian Lletget’s tenure with the New England Revolution is over after a little more than half a season. Lletget has been traded to Dallas for $300,000 in general allocation money this year and $300,000 in GAM next year. New England acquired the 29-year-old American midfielder from the LA Galaxy on Dec.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — The Tennessee Titans have placed center Daniel Munyer on injured reserve and signed offensive lineman Willie Wright and defensive back Terrell Bonds. The Titans also waived injured defensive back Chris Williamson. The 6-foot-3 Wright was a three-year starter at Tulsa. He spent the 2019 season on Cleveland’s practice squad and 2020

By DAN GREENSPAN Associated Press INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Dejan Joveljic and Jonathan Pérez each scored, and the Los Angeles Galaxy defeated Chivas de Guadalajara 2-0 in a friendly at SoFi Stadium. Joveljic stuck out his left foot to redirect a corner kick by Efrain Alvarez into the top netting in the 28th minute. Perez

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Karol Swiderski and Quinn McNeill scored three minutes apart in the second half and Charlotte beat D.C. United 3-0. Kristijan Kahlina saved the one shot he faced for Charlotte. Rafael Romo saved three of the six shots he faced for United. Both teams play again on Saturday. Charlotte hosts the Chicago

ATLANTA (AP) — Rhyne Howard scored 20 points, Cheyenne Parker added 17 and the Atlanta Dream beat the Indiana Fever 91-81. Atlanta ended a four-game losing streak and moved into a three-way tie for seventh in the standings. Indiana lost its 15th straight game. Atlanta led 64-34 early in the third quarter before Indiana battled

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Sabrina Ionescu scored 20 points, including New York’s final eight, and the Liberty rallied from a 15-point deficit in the third quarter to beat the Los Angeles Sparks 64-61. The Liberty (13-18) earned two wins over the Sparks (12-19) in the span of 24 hours

By STEVE OVERBEY Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Wednesday’s game between the Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals was postponed by rain, allowing the Cardinals to line up their newly fortified starting rotation. St. Louis added four pitchers in deals over the last several days, including left-hander José Quintana. He will make his Cardinals