AP National Sports

LONDON (AP) — The United States has been drawn in a group with Poland and the Czech Republic for the Billie Jean King Cup Finals in November. Friday’s draw put host nation Britain in a group with Kazakhstan and Spain as part of the 12-team tournament in Glasgow, Scotland from Nov. 8-13. Australia was drawn

MADRID (AP) — Atlético Madrid says that Brazilian midfielder Samuel Lino is joining its squad. It says that Lino has agreed to a five-year contract after it secured his transfer from Portuguese club Gil Vicente. The 22-year-old Lino scored 26 goals in 99 appearances in his three seasons with Gil Vicente. He is the second

By JEROME PUGMIRE AP Auto Racing Writer Lewis Hamilton believes he is close to winning again while Carlos Sainz Jr. is hungry for another Formula One victory heading into this weekend’s Austrian Prix. It took Sainz 150 races to finally win at a crash-marred Silverstone last Sunday when Hamilton collected a second straight podium to

MADRID (AP) — Villarreal says that veteran goalkeeper Pepe Reina is returning to the Spanish league after agreeing to a one-year contract. Reina originally played for Villarreal before making the leap to Liverpool in 2005 and establishing himself as a top player at his position. He will turn 40 in August. On joining Unai Emery’s

LONDON (AP) — Tottenham has sold Netherlands winger Steven Bergwijn to Ajax for a fee of 31.25 million euros ($32 million) as the London club funds its offseason makeover under manager Antonio Conte. The 24-year-old Bergwijn scored only four Premier League goals in his two seasons since joining from Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, although two

By DANIELLA MATAR AP Sports Writer BELLINZONA, Switzerland (AP) — Sepp Blatter and Michel Platini were acquitted on charges of defrauding FIFA by a Swiss criminal court on Friday, a rare positive outcome for the pair who were among soccer’s most powerful figures before being embroiled in corruption investigations. The case was centered around a

NEW YORK (AP) — It took four seasons for Shohei Ohtani to join the biggest major league stars of the last eight decades. To commemorate Baseball Digest’s 80th anniversary, the publication selected 80 iconic players essential to telling the story of the game from 1942-2021. Even though he didn’t arrive in the big leagues from

By JOHN WAWROW AP Hockey Writer Three Russian prospects were selected in the first round of the NHL draft despite increasing fears of their availability to play in North America due to travel restrictions stemming from the war in Ukraine. Anaheim Ducks general manager Pat Verbeek said he focused on selecting the best player available

By BERNIE WILSON AP Sports Writer SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar collapsed as he was trying to walk off the field after a scary collision with rookie shortstop C.J. Abrams during a 2-1, 10-inning victory against the San Francisco Giants. Profar was eventually strapped onto a stretcher, his neck

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Justin Verlander got his 11th win, Yordan Alvarez hit his 26th homer and the Houston Astros beat the Kansas City Royals 5-2 to take the series 3-1. Jose Altuve added a homer and three RBIs for the Astros. They bounced back after a 7-4 loss Wednesday

By BETH HARRIS AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Tony Gonsolin pitched seven strong innings for his 11th victory in the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 5-3 win over the Chicago Cubs. Mookie Betts hit a pair of leadoff homers and the Dodgers got a two-run blast from Gavin Lux and a solo shot by Justin

By DAIMON EKLUND Associated Press SEATTLE (AP) — Dylan Moore homered — with an assist from left fielder Lourdes Gurriel Jr. — and Marco Gonzales gave up two earned runs and pitched into the seventh inning, leading the Seattle Mariners to an 8-3 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Cal Raleigh and Eugenio Suarez also

By The Associated Press Paolo Banchero, the No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, scored 13 of his 17 points in the first half, Caleb Houstan had 20 and the Orlando Magic breezed to a 91-77 victory over the Houston Rockets on Thursday night to open play in the Las Vegas Summer League. Banchero hit

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Breanna Stewart scored 19 of her 23 points in the first half and the Seattle Storm routed the Los Angeles Sparks 106-69 on Thursday night. Tina Charles added 18 points for Seattle (15-8). Jewell Loyd had 16 points and seven assists, and Ezi Magbegor finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

By JACK THOMPSON Associated Press PHOENIX (AP) — Randal Grichuk doubled to score Jose Iglesias with the go-ahead run in the ninth inning, and the Colorado Rockies defeated the Arizona Diamondbacks 4-3. Iglesias led off the ninth with a sharp single to left against Mark Melancon (3-7). Grichuk’s drive into the gap was missed by

PHOENIX (AP) — Diana Taurasi and Sophie Cunningham each scored 23 points and the Phoenix Mercury beat the New York Liberty 84-81 on Thursday night. Skylar Diggins-Smith hit four free throws in the final 22.6 seconds for Phoenix (10-14). Diggins-Smith finished with 13 points and nine assists, and Shey Peddy had 13 points and four

By DENIS P. GORMAN Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York Mets pitcher Chris Bassitt says he “probably won’t” inform team and Major League Baseball officials if he feels COVID-19 symptoms in the future. Bassitt was placed on the COVID-19 list on July 1 after complaining about sluggishness to team officials. The right-hander missed

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Paolo Banchero’s debut was a smashing success and that had nothing to do with the Orlando Magic winning their Summer League opener against the Houston Rockets in Las Vegas on Thursday night. The No. 1 pick in this year’s draft showed that the moment wasn’t

SAN DIEGO (AP) — San Diego Padres left fielder Jurickson Profar collapsed as he was trying to walk off the field after a scary collision with rookie shortstop C.J. Abrams. Profar was then placed on a stretcher and driven away on a cart. Profar and Abrams both went after a flyball hit by Joey Bart

By ANDREW SELIGMAN AP Sports Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Rookie Beau Brieske tossed two-hit ball into the seventh inning while outpitching Dylan Cease, Javier Báez homered and the Detroit Tigers hung on beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1. The Tigers won their fifth straight. They began this four-game series against the reigning AL Central champs