AP National Sports

By The Associated Press Justin Verlander looks to become the first 11-game winner in the majors when Houston hosts the last-place Royals in the finale of a four-game series Thursday afternoon. The 39-year-old ace, a two-time Cy Young Award winner, appears a lock to earn his ninth career All-Star selection Sunday as he enjoys a

By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer WORCESTER, Mass. (AP) — Chris Sale struck out five Triple-A batters in what could be his final rehab start before he returns to the Boston Red Sox rotation. Sale left the game for the Worcester Red Sox after he walked in a run with two outs in the fourth

By BRETT MARTEL AP Sports Writer NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Zion Williamson is celebrating his a $193 million, five-year extension with New Orleans by saying he hopes the deal puts negative narratives behind him and allows him to focus on helping the Pelicans win. Williamson says the past season was a “roller-coaster of emotions” as

By BEN ROSS Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Bo Bichette hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied past the Oakland Athletics 2-1 to snap a five-game losing streak. Matt Chapman also homered against his former team for the second straight day. Chapman spent his first

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti (AP) — Authorities in Haiti say a former sports minister accused of rape, sexual abuse and indecent exposure has been repatriated to the country. Haiti’s National Police said Wednesday that Evans Lescouflair was arrested Saturday in Puerto Rico and then deported to the Dominican Republic before arriving in Haiti. He is accused of

MONTREAL (AP) — Montreal Alouettes general manager Danny Maciocia took over as interim head coach Wednesday after firing head coach Khari Jones and defensive coordinator Barron Miles. Maciocia also added Noel Thorpe as defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. The Alouettes (1-3) are off this week. Jones was 18-18 in the regular season over two-plus

ATLANTA (AP) — Atlanta United’s injury woes have continued with the team losing midfielder Emerson Hyndman for about four to six weeks with a quadriceps injury. The team says Hyndman suffered the injury in practice. On June 27, United lost defender Brooks Lennon for six to eight weeks with a knee injury. United has lost

By MARK GONZALES Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Andrew Vaughn tied the game with a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and Leury Garcia hit a game-ending single in the 10th to give the Chicago White Sox a 9-8 victory over the Minnesota Twins. The White Sox trailed five times in the game and tied

By BEN ROSS Associated Press OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Bo Bichette hit a tiebreaking solo home run in the eighth inning and the Toronto Blue Jays rallied past the Oakland Athletics 2-1 to snap a five-game losing streak. Matt Chapman also homered against his former team for the second straight day. Chapman spent his first

By LARRY LAGE AP Sports Writer DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera had three RBIs to help the Detroit Tigers beat the Cleveland Guardians 8-2. It was Detroit’s first four-game sweep of Cleveland since 2013. Cabrera also moved past Dave Winfield into a tie for 17th with Rafael Palmeiro on baseball’s all-time RBI list with 1,835.

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — In Las Vegas, there’s always a big show happening. Welcome to the stage, Paolo Banchero. He’s about to have his opening night. NBA Summer League starts Thursday in Las Vegas, with Banchero — the now-former Duke star forward who was the No. 1 pick in

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer MONTREAL (AP) — Minnesota Wild general manager Bill Guerin says Kirill Kaprizov remains in Russia and is doing fine after state media there reported the star winger’s name was linked to fraudulent military identifications. Guerin denied the Sport-Express report that Kaprizov returned to the U.S. after Flyers goaltending prospect

By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer MILWAUKEE (AP) — P.J. Higgins hit a tiebreaking two-out double off Josh Hader in the ninth inning, and the Chicago Cubs rallied for a 2-1 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. After Brewers starter Corbin Burnes threw seven shutout innings, the Cubs broke through against Milwaukee’s bullpen by scoring in

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer Flag football will be played at an international, multi-sport event for the first time next week during the World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.  The NFL may be the sport’s biggest cheerleader. The NFL partnered with the International Federation of American Football to bring flag football to The World

MANCHESTER, England (AP) — Beth Mead scored the only goal of the game as host England beat Austria 1-0 in front of a tournament-record crowd of 68,871 at Old Trafford in the women’s European Championship opener. Mead skillfully flicked the ball over Austria goalkeeper Manuela Zinsberger in the 16th minute but it needed goal-line technology

By ERICA HUNZINGER AP Sports Writer It’s been a year since college athletes have been able to capitalize on their status with name, image and licensing deals, and some are making thousands of dollars. One NIL platform projects that more than $900 million was spent in the first year and that NIL is only going

FLOWERY BRANCH, Ga. (AP) — The Atlanta Falcons now have run-stopping help for the middle of their defensive line, signing former Chicago Bears defensive tackle Eddie Goldman to a one-year deal. The 28-year-old Goldman started 73 of 81 games in six seasons with the Bears. He was a second-round pick from Florida State in 2015

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Aerial Powers had 22 points and 11 rebounds, Kayla McBride added 15 points and the Minnesota Lynx beat Chicago 81-78, ending the Sky’s five-game winning streak.. Minnesota, which was coming off a 102-71 victory over Las Vegas on Sunday, has beaten the top-two teams in the WNBA standings in consecutive games. Jessica