MLB-SCHEDULE
Lucky 13?
UNDATED (AP) β Baseball could have two 13-game winners by the end of the night. In St. Louis this evening, the Cardinals are facing Tampa Bay, which has won its last five games, and toeing the rubber for the Cards is Adam Wainwright. He has won 12 of 16 decisions this season with an amazing 1.83 earned run average. Tonight’s start is Wainwright’s first since starting the All-Star game last Tuesday in Minneapolis. The Cardinals are percentage points back of Milwaukee for first-place in the National League Central with a record of 54-45. The Brewers are home this evening to Cincinnati.
The other 12-game winner in action tonight is Detroit’s Rick Porcello. He is 12-5 with a 3.39 ERA and tonight is facing the Diamondbacks in Arizona. The 54-41 Tigers top the American League Central by 6 Β½ games over Cleveland.
Along with the Rays the Red Sox have won five straight as well and tonight they are playing the Jays in Toronto. The longest current losing streak is six as held by Colorado. The Rockies will attempt to snap the skid with a home game against Washington.
TOUR DE FRANCE
Tour resumes
CARCASSONNE, France (AP) β The 16th-stage of the Tour de France is taking place. It’s the longest stage of the long competition as it covers 147 miles. Italy’s Vincenzo Nibali starts the day with the yellow jersey, symbolic of being the overall leader. He is more than 4Β½ minutes in front of Spain’s Alejandro Valverde.
Before the stage, it was announced that world champion Rui Costa would not start due to pneumonia. The Portuguese rider had been in 13th place, about 13 minutes behind Nibali.
NBA-CLIPPERS
Clippers case continues
LOS ANGELES (AP) β Testimony continues today in the case of Sterling vs. Sterling and the Los Angeles Clippers. Among those slated to testify today are Richard Parsons, the interim CEO of the team. Parsons, once known as the “Mr. Fixit” of the business world during his tenure as CEO of Time Warner and Citigroup, will be called as a witness to support Shelly Sterling’s bid to sell the team for $2 billion to former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer. Donald Sterling, who owns the team along with estranged wife Shelly, is resisting the sale.
Shelly Sterling also is on the witness list along with Dean Bonham, an expert on sponsorship and marketing issues who is also the president of an NBA franchise. He is a leading negotiator of business and sports sponsorship contracts.
The high-stakes financial fight centers on whether Shelly Sterling was authorized to make a deal with Ballmer for the team’s ownership on behalf of the Sterling Family Trust.
