Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Josef Newgarden led nearly wire-to-wire Saturday night to win the IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway, giving team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the double-header and his fourth victory across three series this weekend. Will Power finished second after wrecking out of the doubleheader opener. Graham Rahal finished third for his first podium in more than a year, while Pagenaud again came from the back to finish fourth and series leader Scott Dixon was fifth.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The Kansas City Royals had the entire offseason, all of spring training and, thanks to the coronavirus pandemic putting sports on hold, much of the summer to consider ways to tweak and improve their roster going forward. They were still making moves a week before their abbreviated 60-game schedule was set to begin, trading left-handed reliever Tim Hill to the Padres late Thursday for a pair of prospects that they believe will help them well into the future.
UNDATED (AP) — An Olympic Channel documentary chronicles the highs and lows of Rulon Gardner in the 20 years since his stunning gold-medal victory in the 2000 Olympics. Gardner was a 2,000-to-1 shot when he beat wrestling great Aleksandr Karelin in the heavyweight final at the Sydney games. Gardner became an instant celebrity. Bad decisions and bad luck followed, starting with a snowmobiling misadventure ending with frostbite and loss of a toe. The film begins with his upbringing on a Wyoming dairy farm. Now 48, Gardner is in the insurance business and coaches high school wrestling in Utah.
Update on the latest sports
MLB-NEWS
Canada won't give Blue Jays exemption to play in Toronto
UNDATED (AP) — There will be no Major League Baseball action in Canada this year.
The Canadian government has turned down the Blue Jays' request for an exemption that would have allowed them to play regular-season games in Toronto amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Major League Baseball needed an exemption to a requirement that anyone entering Canada for nonessential reasons must self-isolate for 14 days. The team had previously been given clearance by city and provincial governments to play regular-season games at Toronto's Rogers Centre but needed approval from Canada's federal government.
In a statement, Canada's immigration minister said the government determined that the cross-border travel required for regular-season play "would not adequately protect Canadians' health and safety."
The team's alternate sites for home games include its training facility in Dunedin, Florida, which is among the states that are virus hotspots. They also could use Sahlen Field in Buffalo, New York, which is home to Toronto's Triple-A affiliate and just across the Niagara River from Canada.
In other MLB news:
— Braves first baseman Freddie Freeman doesn't know if he has time to be ready for their season opener following a scary journey in his battle with COVID-19. The four-time All-Star revealed Saturday that he had a high temperature of 104.5 degrees early in his battle with the disease and prayed for his life. He said Saturday was his ninth consecutive day without symptoms, which also included body aches, chills and a temporary loss of his senses of taste and smell.
— Yankees pitcher Domingo Germán (hehr-MAHN') says he is not retiring from baseball and apologized for suggesting as much in an Instagram post on Friday. Germán is serving an 81-game ban for violating Major League Baseball's domestic violence policy last summer. He posted Friday night words in Spanish that translated to, "I've left baseball. Thanks everyone." But he wrote Saturday in Spanish and English that he was "very sorry for the unsettling post."
— Yankees second baseman DJ LeMahieu (leh-MAY'-hyoo) isn't sure if he'll be ready for Thursday's season opener after missing much of preseason camp because of a positive coronavirus test. LeMahieu finally reported to camp this week after testing positive at his home in Michigan last month. The three-time Gold Glove winner participated in his first practice Friday.
— Outfielder Dwight Smith Jr. has rejoined the Orioles after missing the start of summer camp following a positive test for the coronavirus. Smith hopes to be ready to play in Baltimore's opener at Boston on July 24. He tested positive when camp opened early this month.
— Tigers pitcher Jordan Zimmermann is going on the 45-day injured list because of a strained right forearm. Manager Ron Gardenhire said the right-hander doesn't need surgery and could return at the end of this abbreviated season. He went 1-13 with a 6.91 ERA last year and has struggled to stay healthy while with the Tigers.
— Former major league umpire Rick Reed died Saturday at 70. Reed first worked a handful of American League games in 1979 before eventually becoming a full-time ump in the big leagues four years later. He worked the classic seven-game World Series between Minnesota and Atlanta in 1991 and also received All-Star assignments in 1986 and 1998.
PGA-MEMORIAL
Rahm shines while co-leaders struggle at Memorial
DUBLIN, Ohio (AP) — The fast greens were to Jon Rahm's liking Saturday as he took over the Memorial lead at Muirfield Village.
Rahm began play one shot back before carding a 68, while previous co-leaders Ryan Palmer and Tony Finau (FEE'-now) shot 73.
Rahm now enjoys a four-shot edge heading into Sunday's final round. He took control with four straight birdies on the back nine before closing with consecutive pars.
Danny Willett is alone in fourth place, six shots back and one ahead of Jason Day and Henrik Norlander.
Tiger Woods shot a 71 after barely making Friday's cut. He's 10 strokes back.
VIRUS OUTBREAK-SPORTS
NFL tells teams training camps will open on time
UNDATED (AP) — The NFL has informed teams their training camps will open on time.
League executive Troy Vincent sent a memo to general managers and head coaches on Saturday informing them rookies are to report by Tuesday, quarterbacks and injured players by Thursday and all other players should arrive by July 28.
The league and the NFL Players Association are still discussing testing for the coronavirus and other health and safety protocols. Union leadership expressed several concerns in a 90-minute conference call with reporters Friday.
However, under the collective bargaining agreement, the NFL can impose report dates.
In other developments related to the COVID-19 pandemic:
— Milwaukee Bucks coach Mike Budenholzer has confirmed that Eric Bledsoe tested positive for COVID-19, and remains cautiously optimistic the veteran point guard will be ready for the restart of the season. The coach's comments came one day after multiple reports indicated that Bledsoe said he had tested positive but was asymptomatic.
— The first exhibition games of the NBA restart will go a little more quickly than usual as players become acclimated to competition following the suspension of the season. The NBA is tweaking the rules for those initial matchups, going with 10-minute quarters instead of the usual 12 minutes.
— Edmonton Oilers defenseman Caleb Jones says he tested positive for the coronavirus before training camp. Jones said he completed his 14 days of isolation before camp started, but was held out of main sessions for the first three days as he tried to get himself back up to speed. Toronto's Auston Matthews is the only other NHL player to acknowledge a positive test in a media interview.
— Arizona has three positive coronavirus tests among 83 football players still on campus for voluntary offseason workouts. Two were asymptomatic and all three entered department protocols for self-isolation. Arizona has performed 366 test encounters including PCR, antigen and antibody testing among the players already on campus before the school paused bringing additional student-athletes to campus earlier this month.
— There will be fans in the massive grandstands at Texas Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Cup Series race this weekend. Sunday's race will be the first major sporting event in Texas in more than four months to allow spectators. It could be one of the largest gatherings of any kind in the state since the start of the pandemic. A state-approved plan would allow 50% capacity Sunday at the track with about 135,000 seats, but the crowd is expected to be closer to the 20,000 that attended this week's All-Star race at Bristol.
INDYCAR-IOWA
Newgarden salvages weekend at Iowa
NEWTON, Iowa (AP) — Josef Newgarden led nearly wire-to-wire to win the IndyCar race at Iowa Speedway and give team owner Roger Penske a sweep of the weekend doubleheader.
Newgarden thought he had the best car in the opener Friday night, and he was irate when a series of misfortunes left him fifth and well back of winning teammate Simon Pagenaud (PA'-zheh-noh). But the two-time series champ left little to chance in Race 2, leading just about all of the 250 laps for his 15th career victory and first since last year's race at Iowa.
Will Power finished second after wrecking out of the doubleheader opener. Graham Rahal (RAY'-hahl) was third for his first podium in more than a year, while Pagenaud again came from the back to finish fourth.
F1-HUNGARIAN GP
Hamilton takes Hungarian GP pole position ahead of Bottas
BUDAPEST, Hungary (AP) — Lewis Hamilton beat Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas to take pole position for the Hungarian Grand Prix. It's Hamilton's second straight pole this season and record-extending 90th of his Formula One career.
He was 0.107 seconds quicker than Bottas and 0.93 faster than Racing Point driver Lance Stroll.
Hamilton has won seven times at the Hungaroring. The veteran British driver needs one more to equal F1 great Michael Schumacher's single-track record of eight wins, when the French GP was held at Magny-Cours.
HORSE RACING-HASKELL
Authentic wins Haskell States
OCEANPORT, N.J. (AP) — Authentic gave Hall of Fame trainer Bob Baffert his record-extending ninth win in the $1 million Haskell Stakes, holding off Ny Traffic at the wire at Monmouth Park on Saturday.
Jockey Mike Smith put the Santa Anita Derby runner-up on the lead at the start and they covered the 1 1/8-mile Grade 1 stakes in 1:50.46. The win was the third in four starts this year for the colt.
Belmont runner-up Dr. Post finished third under jockey Joe Bravo.
RUSSIA-FIGURE SKATER DEATH
Former world junior skating champion Alexandrovskaya dies
SYDNEY (AP) — Former world junior pairs figure skating champion Ekaterina Alexandrovskaya has died. The Australian Olympic Committee says the 20-year-old died Friday in Moscow. The cause of death wasn't disclosed.
Alexandrovskaya obtained Australian citizenship and competed for her adopted country in the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics with skating partner Harley Windsor. The pair won the 2017 world junior title.
NASCAR-WALLACE-BUMPER
Wallace bumper auctioned off by rival driver
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) — A charity will become the benefactor of a wreck during NASCAR's qualifying race for Wednesday's All-Star event at Bristol.
Bubba Wallace wrecked out of the race after he was turned from behind by Michael McDowell as they raced nose to tail with William Byron. An irritated Wallace was later seen walking away after the damaged bumper was deposited at McDowell's team hauler.
McDowell's team retrieved the bumper and the driver put it in an on-line auction to raise money for Motor Racing Outreach, a Christian ministry. The bid price was over $15,000 by Saturday afternoon.
ENGLAND-RACISM
Diedhiou racially abused over penalty miss in English soccer
BRISTOL, England (AP) — Police in England have launched an investigation after Bristol City striker Famara Diedhiou was targeted with racism online after missing a penalty in the second-tier Championship on Saturday.
The Senegal international hit the post from the spot in a 1-0 loss at Swansea that ended his team's chances of reaching the playoffs to make the Premier League.
Diedhiou later tweeted "Why??" alongside a screenshot of a Twitter user who sent him a message consisting of three banana emojis. The police force covering Bristol in southwest England said he had received a formal report about the racist social media message.