AP National Sports

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer FIFA president Gianni Infantino has asked British Prime Minister Boris Johnson to lift quarantine requirements for players to allow them to travel next week to compete in World Cup qualifiers. Infantino himself took advantage of an exemption in place for the European Championship so he could fly into

By RALPH D. RUSSO AP College Football Writer The Atlantic Coast Conference, Big Ten and Pac-12 unveiled what they are calling an alliance of the three Power Five conferences. Is this a big deal? On the latest AP Top 25 College Football Podcast, Brett McMurphy of The Action Network joins the AP’s Ralph Russo to

LEUVEN, Belgium (AP) — Belgium soccer great Wilfried Van Moer has died. He was nicknamed the “Little General,” played in two World Cups and led Belgium to the 1980 European Championship final. He was 76. The Belgian soccer association says the former midfielder suffered a brain hemorrhage and died at a hospital in Leuven. Van

By HOWARD FENDRICH AP Tennis Writer Serena and Venus Williams have added themselves to the list of big-name withdrawals from the U.S. Open. This will be the first time since 2003 that neither of the sisters will appear in the year’s last Grand Slam tournament. Serena cited a torn right hamstring that has kept her

By ROB HARRIS AP Global Soccer Writer LONDON (AP) — Harry Kane has publicly accepted that he won’t be leaving Tottenham in the summer transfer window. The striker had been hoping to secure a transfer away from the London club in the search of a first career trophy but a move to Premier League champion

By STEPHEN WADE AP Sports Writer TOKYO (AP) — Australian cyclist Paige Greco has earned the first gold medal of the Tokyo Paralympics. She won the 3,000-meter pursuit on the track at the velodrome. Wang Xiaomei of China was second and bronze went to Denise Schindler of Germany. It was the first of 24 gold

By The Associated Press Shohei Ohtani has won four straight pitching starts for the Los Angeles Angels and is 7-0 on the mound since his last loss May 28. The woeful Orioles have dropped 19 consecutive games. On paper, their matchup Wednesday night in Baltimore could not be more lopsided. Ohtani, the Angels’ two-way superstar,

By RICHARD J. MARCUS Associated Press SAN DIEGO (AP) — AJ Pollock hit a two-run single and robbed Manny Machado of a two-run homer to lead the Los Angeles Dodgers past the sinking San Diego Padres 5-2 in a series opener between NL West rivals headed in opposite directions. Will Smith homered for Los Angeles,

By RICH ROVITO Associated Press MILWAUKEE (AP) — Omar Narváez hit a tiebreaking double in a four-run seventh inning, Kolten Wong added a two-run homer in the eighth and the Milwaukee Brewers rallied past the Cincinnati Reds 7-4. Milwaukee shortstop Willy Adames exited early with a leg injury, but the first-place Brewers won the opener

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Luis Garcia pitched into the seventh inning and two relievers completed a four-hitter to lead the Houston Astros to a 4-0 win over the Kansas City Royals. Garcia struck out seven and scattered four hits across 6 2/3 sharp innings. Ryne Stanek got the next four

By JIMMY GOLEN AP Sports Writer BOSTON (AP) — Hunter Renfroe homered twice and the Red Sox held onto the lead and their wild-card chances with a 11-9 victory over the last-place Minnesota Twins. Alex Verdugo had three hits, and Renfroe drove in five runs with his 14th career multi-homer game. Boston opened a 9-3

By DAN GREENSPAN Associated Press THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Sean McVay has been as cautious as any NFL coach when making sure players are healthy for the regular season. But the Los Angeles Rams had running back Darrell Henderson Jr. back participating on a limited basis one day after spraining his thumb. While the

By CHARLES ODUM AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Wandy Peralta retired Freddie Freeman with the bases loaded for the final out, and the New York Yankees held off the Atlanta Braves 5-4 in a thriller to extend their longest winning streak in 36 years to 11 games. DJ LeMahieu’s two-run homer in the fifth

By WARREN MAYES Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Miguel Cabrera and Robbie Grossman hit back-to-back home runs to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 4-3 interleague victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. Two days after hitting his 500th homer, Cabrera connected on No. 501. He crushed a 79-mph slider by starter Jack Flaherty into

By DAVID GINSBURG Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — The Baltimore Orioles staggered to their 19th consecutive loss, allowing 19 hits and falling behind the Los Angeles Angels by 11 runs early in a 14-8 rout. Baltimore trailed 5-1 in the second inning, 8-1 in the third and 13-2 in the fourth while limping to another

By AARON BRACY Associated Press PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Nelson Cruz returned from the COVID-19 list, played first base for the first time in his career and hit a tiebreaking two-run double in the eighth inning for the Tampa Bay Rays, who beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-1. The 41-year-old Cruz had never played first in the

By STEVE HERRICK Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — Nathaniel Lowe was 5 for 5 with a three-run homer in the first inning, leading the Texas Rangers to a 7-3 win over the Cleveland Indians. DJ Peters also hit a three-run homer in the ninth and drove in four runs. The Rangers placed catcher Jonah Heim

By JAKE SEINER AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Brandon Belt hit two of San Francisco’s four home runs the same day his grandmother died, rookie Sammy Long pitched into the sixth inning and the Giants trounced the slumping New York Mets 8-0. After using late-game homers to steal consecutive victories from Oakland on

MIAMI (AP) — Tres Barrera homered and the Washington Nationals beat the reeling Miami Marlins 5-1. Yadiel Hernádez singled and tripled, while Ryan Zimmerman also went deep for the Nationals. Erick Fedde (6-8) struck out a career-high 10 in 6 1/3 innings. He allowed one run, six hits and walked one. The Marlins struck out

By IAN HARRISON Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Dylan Cease pitched seven effective innings, José Abreu hit a three-run homer and the Chicago White Sox stopped a three-game slide by topping the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2. Cease retired his first 11 batters, fanning six, before Vladimir Guerrero Jr. lined a single to right in the