MLB-A-ROD 3,000
A-Rod joins 3,000 Club in big way
NEW YORK (AP) β Alex Rodriguez homered for his 3,000th career hit and smiled all the way around the bases as the New York Yankees beat the Detroit Tigers 7-2. That’s the highlight so far in what’s become a resurgent season for the formerly disgraced slugger.
Rodriguez wasted no time, connecting in the first inning on a first-pitch, 95 mph fastball from Tigers ace Justin Verlander.
Out of baseball last year while serving a drug suspension, Rodriguez became the 29th player in major league history to reach 3,000 hits. He was the first to do it since Yankees great Derek Jeter homered from the very same batter’s box in 2011.
Brett Gardner and Didi (DEE’-dee) Gregorius also homered as the Yankees won their third in a row. Detroit has lost four of six.
MLB-A-ROD-FAN
Fan with milestone ball says no deal
NEW YORK (AP) β The fan at Yankee Stadium who wound up with the ball from the 3,000th hit by Alex Rodriguez doesn’t plan to give it back.
Zack Hample describes himself as a pro at catching home run balls, and is credited with collecting more than 8,000 of them. He tweeted Friday night that he told the Yankees he’s keeping this prize souvenir from A-Rod.
A day earlier, the 37-year-old Hample tweeted that Rodriguez “deserves favors from no one, least of all a fan.”
MLB-HACKING
Manfred says system in place against hacking
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) β Commissioner Rob Manfred says Major League Baseball has a system in place for monitoring attacks on computer systems used by teams and the league’s office.
Speaking before Oakland’s home game against the Los Angeles Angels, Manfred did not delve into the details of the FBI’s investigation into the St. Louis Cardinals for allegedly hacking into a database operated by the Houston Astros.
Manfred says he’s confident no other incidents like this one had taken place before.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Toronto keeps home streak going…Nats end Pirates’ 8-game streak
UNDATED (AP)β Marco Estrada took a no-hitter into the eighth inning, Edwin Encarnacion (ehn-kar-nah-see-OHN’) had two RBIs and the Toronto Blue Jays won their ninth straight home game, 5-4 over the Baltimore Orioles 5-4.
Pinch-hitter Jimmy Paredes broke up Estrada’s no-hit bid with a bloop single to left to begin the eighth, ending a streak of 15 straight outs.
Bench coach DeMarlo Hale, filling in for ejected manager John Gibbons, immediately came out and replaced Estrada with Roberto Osuna. Estrada, who threw a season-high 118 pitches, left to a standing ovation from the crowd of 32.322. He is 5-3.
In other baseball:
β Washington rapped out 14 hits in beating Pittsburgh 4-1 to end the Pirates’ eight-game winning streak. Rookie Joe Ross and two relievers combined on a six-hitter. Ross struck out 11 in his third major league start.
__Matt Wisler allowed only one run in eight innings in his major league debut to outpitch Jacob deGrom, and Jace Peterson hit a two-run double in the eighth to lift the Atlanta Braves to a 2-1 win over the New York Mets.
β Cincinnati blanked Miami 5-0. Mike Leake allowed only two singles through seven innings. Marlon Byrd homered in his return from a broken wrist.
β Randal Grichuk homered and had three hits, and Kolten Wong and Yadier Molina (YAH’-dee-eer moh-LEE’-nah) also went deep as the St. Louis Cardinals set season highs for runs and hits in a 12-4 rout of the Philadelphia Phillies.
β The World Series champion San Francisco Giants worked over the L.A. Dodgers 9-5. That moves the Giants within a game and a half of NL West-leading Los Angeles. Buster Posey had three hits, including a grand slam. __ Arizona doubled up San Diego 4-2, handing Padres starter James Shields his first loss in eight decisions.
β Ryan Braun hit a two-run homer and Taylor Jungmann threw six innings to help the Milwaukee Brewers snap a six-game losing streak with a 9-5 victory over the scuffling Colorado Rockies, who’ve lost five straight.
__ Seattle beat AL West-leading Houston 5-2. Roenis Elias settled down after a first-pitch home run, allowing four hits over seven-plus innings to even his mark at 4-4.
__The L.A. Angels routed Oakland 12-7. Albert Pujols (POO’-hohlz) hit a grand slam and drove in five. That came in the Angels’ eight-run seventh inning rally.
__Ex-Indian Asdrubal Cabrera (ahs-DROO’-buhl kah-BREHR’-uh) hit one of three solo home runs for Tampa Bay in his return to Cleveland, in the Rays’ 4-1 victory over the Indians.
β Eduardo Rodriguez pitched capably into the seventh inning, Mookie Betts had a career-best four hits and the Boston Red Sox beat the Kansas City Royals 7-3.
β Texas nipped the Chicago White Sox 2-1. That’s the eighth straight loss for the White Sox. Colby Lewis struck out seven in his eight innings, outpitching Chris Sale for the victory.
In interleague play, Phil Hughes held the Chicago Cubs to two hits over eight innings, Trevor Plouffe (ploof) doubled twice and drove in four runs and the Minnesota Twins breezed to a 7-2 win.
U.S. OPEN-DAY 2
Spieth and Reed tie for lead…Tiger takes weekend off
UNIVERSITY PLACE, Wash. (AP) β Masters’ champ Jordan Spieth (SPEETH) and Patrick Reed are the 36-hole co-leaders at the 115th U.S. Open. They are five under par at the quirky Chambers Bay course. That’s one shot better than Dustin Johnson and Branden Grace.
Spieth’s round was marred by a double bogey 6 on the 18th hole, which was his ninth hole of the day.
Jason Day finished with a 70, but had a scare on his last hole. He needed medical attention after feeling dizzy and falling to the ground. He’s 2-under for the tournament. Day says he hopes to play this weekend.
While Day will probably be around for the weekend play, Tiger Woods will not.
The three-time U.S. Open champ continues to struggle with his game, shooting a 6-over 76 for a 16-over total.
The 14-time major champion has some company taking the weekend off– notables defending U.S. Open champ Martin Kaymer (KY’-mur), Bubba Watson, Sergio Garcia, Bill Haas, Lucas Glover and two-time U.S. Open champion Retief (reh-TEEF’) Goosen also missed the cut.
COLLEGE WORLD SERIES
Vandy returning to finals…Will play winner of Saturday’s Virginia-Florida game
OMAHA, Neb. (AP) β Defending national champion Vanderbilt returned to the College World Series finals after Walker Buehler and John Kilichowski combined on a five-hitter and Rhett Wiseman homered in a 7-1 victory over TCU.
The Commodores (50-19) move to the best-of-three finals starting Monday against the winner of tonight’s game between 2014 runner-up Virginia and Florida.
Richie Martin doubled twice and reached four times, leading Florida to a 10-5 victory over Virginia to force Saturday’s second Bracket 1 final in the College World Series.
NBA-BULLS
Surgery for Gibson
CHICAGO (AP) β Chicago Bulls forward Taj (tahj) Gibson has had arthroscopic surgery on his left ankle. The Bulls report he will need about four months to resume full basketball activities. That puts in question his status for training camp and even the start of the season.
The 29-year old Gibson played in 62 games and averaged 10.3 points and 6.4 rebounds last season.
NBA-HAWKS/FERRY
AP source: Hawks buy out Ferry’s contract
ATLANTA (AP) β A person with knowledge of the deal tells The Associated Press the Atlanta Hawks have agreed to a buyout of the final two years of general manager Danny Ferry’s contract.
The person says the buyout will be paid by the current ownership group, which has reached a deal to sell the team for $850 million to a group led by billionaire businessman Antony Ressler. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been announced.
The Hawks won a franchise-record 60 games and lost to Cleveland in the Eastern Conference final. Ferry spent the season on an indefinite leave of absence following racially derogatory comments he made last year.
NBA-PARADE
Warriors celebrate first title in 40 years
OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) β The streets of Oakland were awash in yellow and blue as hundreds of thousands of fans watched and cheered the Golden State Warriors victory parade, which has been 40 years in the making.
In a rare moment of glory, Oakland β a city that usually makes news for crime, corruption, protests and violenceβ shined in the national spotlight.
On Friday, blue-and-gold-clad fans flooded downtown to see the NBA championship players, MC Hammer, six floats and, of course, the championship trophy, won after the team bested LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers.
People started lining up as early as 3 a.m., and city officials estimated at least 500,000 fans packed the streets when the parade started about 10 in the morning.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
New deal for Williams
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) β The University of North Carolina and men’s basketball coach Roy Williams have agreed to a two-year contract extension. The deal keeps the Hall of Fame coach with the Tar Heels through the 2019-20 season.
The extension comes amid UNC’s long-running academic fraud scandal involving a school department popular with athletes across numerous sports, including men’s basketball. Williams wasn’t charged with wrongdoing in an independent investigation nor in the NCAA’s probe that resulted in five charges against the school.
TENNIS
Tsonga questionable for Wimbledon
PARIS (AP) β Jo-Wilfried Tsonga (SAHNG’-guh), the 12th-ranked player in men’s tennis, has pulled out of the Nottingham Open with an abdominal injury, casting doubts on his participation at Wimbledon. Tsonga, who has not played since his semifinal loss to Stan Wawrinka (vah-VRINK’-ah) at the French Open, picked up the injury in Paris. He already withdrew from grass-court tournaments in Germany and the Netherlands in previous weeks.
NFL-PR
Steelers lauded for PR work
UNDATED (AP)β The Pittsburgh Steelers have won the Pete Rozelle Award from the Professional Football Writers of America for having the most efficient public relations staff in the NFL.
The award is named for the NFL commissioner from 1960-89. It is given to the club public relations staff that consistently strives for excellence in its dealings and relationships with the media. Rozelle was a publicist for three years with the then-L.A..Rams before becoming NFL commissioner.
OBIT-DANNY VILLANUEVA
LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) β Danny Villanueva, a former NFL kicker and a pioneer of Spanish-language television, has died. He was 77.
After graduating New Mexico State in 1961, he went on to play for the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys. He was one of the NFL’s first Latino kickers.
Villanueva started his broadcasting career with KNBC in Los Angeles and later became the president of KMEX. He was a part-owner in a Spanish-language chain that would later become Univision.
