AP National Sports

By ANNE M. PETERSON AP Sports Writer NORTH PLAINS, Ore. (AP) — The Saudi Arabia-backed LIV Golf tour’s second event teed off Thursday, angering a group of families who lost loved ones on Sept. 11 and want the Saudi government held to account for the terrorist attacks. About 10 family members and survivors spoke at

By DOUG FEINBERG AP Basketball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Tiffany Hayes, playing in her first game of the season, scored nine of her 21 points in overtime to lift the Atlanta Dream to a 92-81 win over the New York Liberty. Hayes, who missed the first 19 games with a right knee injury, scored

By AARON BRACY Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Kyle Schwarber finished off the month with another June homer, Darick Hall went deep twice and the Philadelphia Phillies avoided a three-game sweep with a 14-4 rout of the Atlanta Braves. Rhys Hoskins and Nick Castellanos also homered for the Phillies, who reached a season high in

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Alex Bregman hit a two RBI double early and the Houston Astros held on for a 2-1 win over the New York Yankees Thursday night. The Yankees were in town for just one game to make up part of a series that was scrapped because of

SILVIS, Ill. (AP) — J.T. Poston shot a 9-under 62 on Thursday to take a two-stroke lead in the PGA Tour’s John Deere Classic. Coming off a second-place tie last week in Connecticut after also opening with a 62, Poston eagled the par-5 second and had seven birdies in a bogey-free round at TPC Deere

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Adrian Houser left a game against Pittsburgh with right elbow tightness in the third inning. After walking Daniel Vogelbach with one out, Houser was visited on the mound by manager Craig Counsell and an athletic trainer. Houser then left following a brief conversation and was relieved by Brent Suter.

MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Memphis Grizzlies forward-center Jaren Jackson Jr. will be sidelined up to six months after having surgery to repair a stress fracture in his right foot. The Grizzlies announced Thursday that Jackson had the procedure Wednesday and is expected to make a full recovery. The fourth overall pick in the 2018 draft

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer The NBA generated more basketball-related income than ever this past season, the total number coming up just short of $9 billion. Business is good. The first night of free agency underscored how good. Nikola Jokic and Bradley Beal both quickly agreed to deals that will be worth more than

By RALPH D. RUSSO and ERIC OLSON AP College Sports Writers In a surprising and seismic shift in college athletics, the Big Ten voted Thursday to add Southern California and UCLA as conference members beginning in 2024. The expansion to 16 teams will happen after the Pac-12’s current media rights contracts with Fox and ESPN

SEATTLE (AP) — Mariners shortstop J.P. Crawford had his suspension stemming from last weekend’s brawl with the Los Angeles Angels reduced from five to four games, and he was set to serve the ban Thursday. Crawford appealed his five-game ban for his involvement in the melee at Angel Stadium on Sunday. He was at the

NEW YORK (AP) — Fordham has parted ways with women’s basketball coach Stephanie Gaitley the school announced. Gaitley took over the program in 2011 and in her 11 seasons at the school became the program’s winningest coach. She had nine postseason berths and won two Atlantic-10 championships. She has coached for 36 years and was

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer Deshaun Watson’s disciplinary hearing concluded Thursday with the NFL adamant about an indefinite suspension of at least one year and the quarterback’s legal team arguing there’s no basis for that punishment, two people with knowledge of the case told The Associated Press. Both sides presented their arguments over

NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. were elected Thursday to start in the July 19 All-Star Game at Dodger Stadium. The pair were chosen under new rules that give starting spots to the top vote-getter in each league in the first phase of online voting, which

NEW YORK (AP) — The Brooklyn Nets have acquired forward Royce O’Neale from the Utah Jazz in exchange for a conditional 2023 first-round draft pick. The Nets announced the deal Thursday, noting the Jazz will receive the least favorable of the Brooklyn/Houston first-round pick swap and Philadelphia’s first-round pick that was previously acquired by Brooklyn.

By OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — A California agency has cleared the way for the Oakland Athletics to move forward with a $12 billion waterfront ballpark project. The San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission voted Thursday to reclassify a terminal at the Port of Oakland as a mixed-use area where

DETROIT (AP) — The Detroit Red Wings have hired two-time Stanley Cup-winning assistant Derek Lalonde as coach after a lengthy search process. Lalonde was on Jon Cooper’s Tampa Bay Lightning staff the past four years in which they won the Cup twice and most recently reached the final. Lalonde is now in charge of a

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP) — The parade through the streets of Denver to celebrate the Colorado Avalanche’s Stanley Cup title offered a little bit of everything. That included dogs wearing Avalanche sweaters, Nathan MacKinnon jumping off the fire truck to shake hands with the swarm of fans and defenseman Bowen Byram

PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer DENVER (AP) — Nikola Jokic has gone from draft pick No. 41, to two-time MVP, and now the holder of the largest contract in NBA history. Jokic and the Denver Nuggets agreed Thursday to a $264 supermax extension, according to a person with direct knowledge of the negotiations who spoke

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer Bradley Beal and the Washington Wizards have agreed on a five-year contract that could pay him as much as $251 million — one of the largest contracts in NBA history. Beal’s announcement was made by his agent, Mark Bartelstein of Priority Sports. The decision came almost immediately after this