Here is the latest Mid-America sports news from The Associated Press
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Adam Wainwright tossed seven effective innings and rookie Edmundo Sosa homered to help the St. Louis Cardinals to a 7-3 win over the Minnesota Twins. Wainwright allowed three runs and six hits in an 85-pitch stint. He struck out five and walked one in his 176th career victory. Sosa went 3 for 3, scoring twice and driving in two runs. Dylan Carlson, who also had three hits, and Tommy Edman each doubled twice for St. Louis, which has won four of six. Jorge Polanco homered for the Twins, who have lost four of five.
TORONTO (AP) — José Berríos pitched six shutout innings in his Toronto debut and the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep in their first series north of the border since 2019, beating the Kansas City Royals 5-1. Marcus Semien and Santiago Espinal homered to back Toronto's big-name newcomer. Acquired from Minnesota at the trade deadline Friday for two minor leaguers, Berríos allowed five hits. The two-time All-Star walked one and struck out seven, including four straight in the third and fourth innings. Kansas City loaded the bases with two out in the sixth, but Berríos ended his outing by striking out Edward Olivares and exited with a 5-0 lead.
BILES RETURNS
American star Simone Biles to return for balance beam finals
TOKYO (AP) — Simone Biles is returning to competition in Tokyo.
The 2016 Olympic champion will compete in the balance beam finals on Tuesday. That's a little over a week after the American superstar stepped away from the meet to focus on her mental health.
The 24-year-old Biles won bronze on beam in Rio de Janeiro five years ago and qualified for the eight-woman final at the Ariake Gymnastics Centre on the first weekend of the Games. She opted out of the finals in the all-around, floor exercise, uneven bars and vault.
Also at the Tokyo Games:
— American gymnast Jade Carey has won the gold medal on floor exercise. The 21-year-old from Arizona bounced back from a frightening stumble during the vault final on Sunday to claim the top spot on floor with a score of 14.366. The medal is the fifth claimed by the U.S. women's gymnastics team in Tokyo.
— Injuries are mounting for the US women's volleyball team at the Tokyo Games. The team lost a second player to a rolled right ankle when setter Jordyn Poulter landed on a teammate's foot in victory against Italy. The injury comes two days after star Jordan Thompson went down with the same injury against the Russian Olympic Committee. Thompson is hopeful of returning before the end of the Olympics. The US is already guaranteed a spot in the quarterfinals.
— A'ja Wilson scored 22 points and Breanna Stewart added 17 to help the U.S. women's basketball team eke out a 93-82 win over France. The win was the 52nd in a row for the U.S. dating back to the bronze medal game of the 1992 Olympics. The Americans haven't lost a game in group play since women's basketball was added to the Olympics in 1976.
— Puerto Rico's Jasmine Camacho-Quinn has won gold in the women's 100-meter hurdles, powering ahead of American Keni Harrison. The result keeps the United States out of the win column at the Olympic track meet for yet another session. Camacho-Quinn finished in 12.37 seconds for a .15 second win over Harrison, the world-record holder.
— April Ross and Alix Klineman have advanced to the quarterfinals of the beach volleyball tournament. The American "A-Team" beat Cuba 21-17, 21-15, a day after two other U.S. teams were ousted in the first knockout round.
— World champion Sifan Hassan made an incredible recovery from a fall at the final bell to win her 1,500-meter heat at the Olympics today. Hassan picked herself up after getting in a tangle with Kenyan runner Edinah Jebitok at the start of the last lap. It kept alive the Dutch runner's bid for a rare distance-running treble at these Olympics.
— The U.S. women's soccer team was hurt early in its semifinal game against Canada when goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher came down awkwardly trying to go up for the ball. Naeher was attended to by trainers for some five minutes while backup Adrianna Franch warmed up. Naeher tried to stay in the game but struggled. She was replaced by Franch, making her Olympic debut, in the 30th minute. Naeher was key for the U.S. against the Netherands in the quarterfinals, with a penalty save during regulation and two more in a shootout. The U.S. advanced 4-2 on penalties after a 2-2 draw. The game was scoreless at the half in Kashima.
— The Chinese women's cycling sprint team of Bao Shanju and Zhong Tianshi beat the German duo of Lea Sophie Friedrich and Emma Hinze in the finals to win the gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics. Bao and Zhong built a lead of .325 seconds by the midway point of the sprint race, but the German team came on strong at the end. The margin was just 85 thousandths of a second with China stopping the clock in 31.895.
— The U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee says shot putter Raven Saunders' gesture during her medals ceremony "was respectful of her competitors and did not violate our rules related to demonstration." After receiving her silver medal at the Olympics on Sunday, and after the Chinese national anthem played for winner Gong Lijiao, Saunders lifted her arms above her head and formed an "X" with her wrists. Asked by The Associated Press what that meant, she explained: "It's the intersection of where all people who are oppressed meet."
OLYMPICS-BELARUS SPRINTER
Activists: Belarus sprinter plans to seek asylum in Poland
TOKYO (AP) — An activist group says a Belarusian sprinter is applying for a visa at Polish embassy in Tokyo and plans to seek asylum in Poland after alleging that officials tried to send her home from Japan.
The Belarusian Sport Solidarity Foundation says that Krystsina Tsimanouskaya is at the Polish embassy in Tokyo. The foundation says it has bought her a ticket to Warsaw from Tokyo for Aug. 4.
Tsimanouskaya was due to run in the Olympic 200-meter heats today. She criticized Belarus team officials on her Instagram account and then said they tried to force her to leave Japan.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Giants beat Astros, Dodgers keep pace
UNDATED (AP) — The Giants were able to retain their three-game lead over the Los Angeles Dodgers in the National League West, with a little help from one of San Francisco's newest acquisitions.
Kris Bryant homered in his Giants debut as they took the rubber match of their three-game set with the Astros, 5-3. Bryant was greeted by chants of "KB, KB, KB" when he trotted onto the field for pregame warmups and received a standing ovation before his first at-bat. He fanned in his initial at-bat, then went deep in the third inning.
Darin Ruf had three hits including a home run and two RBIs. Brandon Crawford and Donovan Solano both added two hits to help San Francisco improve to a major league-best 66-39.
Houston's lead in the AL West is down to 4 1/2 games over Oakland.
The Dodgers kept pace as Albert Pujols (POO'-hohlz) doubled home three runs to cap a five-run second that highlighted a 13-0 trouncing of the Diamondbacks. Mookie Betts homered in his return from the injured list and finished with two hits.
Jose Urias (oo-REE'-uhs) became the majors' second 13-game winner of the season, allowing nothing but four singles over five innings.
Meanwhile, the Rays have hiked their lead in the AL East to 1 1/2 games over the Red Sox.
Brandon Lowe (low) socked a two-run homer and Manuel Margot (mahn-WEHL' mahr-GOH') added an RBI single as the Rays completed a three-game sweep of Boston, 3-2.
Shane McClanahan allowed one run and four hits over six innings to move to 5-4. He outdueled Nick Pivetta, who was reached for three runs over 4 2/3s.
Hunter Renfroe homered for the Sox, who put runners on first and third in the ninth before Matt Wisler preserved the victory.
The Red Sox have lost a season-high four straight and five of six.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— The Padres coasted to an 8-1 win over the Rockies as Ha-Seong Kim homered and drove in three runs. Kim and Jake Cronenworth delivered two-run doubles in a first inning to give San Diego a 4-0 lead. Cronenworth had three hits as the Padres earned a four-game split.
— Yan Gomes (yahn gohmz) slammed a two-run homer in his Athletics debut and fellow newcomer Starling Marte went 3-for-5 with three stolen bases in an 8-3 thumping of the Angels. Former 37-th-round draft pick Daulton Jefferies earned his first major league victory, allowing three runs and three hits in five innings. Matt Olson smacked his 28th home run, a three-run clout in the third inning.
— The Rangers pulled out a 4-3 win over the Mariners on Jonah Heim's second walk-off homer in as many games. Heim's ninth-inning blast came right after a tying, two-run shot from Andy Ibánez (ih-BAHN'-yehz). According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Heim is the first Texas player with walk-off homers in consecutive games and the first rookie to do it in the majors.
— The White Sox earned a 2-1 win over the Indians on Brian Goodwin's walk-off homer with one out in the ninth. Liam Hendriks allowed one hit in the ninth to complete a scoreless six-inning stint by the Chicago bullpen. The Indians didn't score after Myles Straw's home run leading off the third.
— José Berríos (beh-REE'-ohs) tossed six shutout innings in his Toronto debut and the Blue Jays completed a three-game sweep in their first series north of the border since 2019, 5-1 over the Royals. The two-time All-Star walked one and struck out seven, including four straight in the third and fourth innings. Marcus Semien and Santiago Espinal homered to back Toronto's big-name newcomer.
— Shut out heading into the eighth inning, the Yankees completed a three-game sweep with a 3-1 victory at Miami. New York trailed 1-0 until Anthony Rizzo and Aaron Judge hit RBI singles in the eighth. Marlins starter Sandy Alcantara limited the Yanks to two hits and a walk over seven shutout innings.
— Willy Adames (ah-DAH'-mehs) hit a first-inning homer and Brett Anderson pitched into the sixth inning as the Brewers took the rubber match of their three-game set in Atlanta, 2-1. Anderson gave up four hits and a run over 5 2/3s, leaving him 2-0 with a 1.72 ERA in his last four starts. Lorenzo Cain singled and scored in the fifth to make it 2-0, helping Milwaukee maintain its seven-game lead over Cincinnati in the NL Central.
— Rookie Max Schrock was terrific as Joey Votto's replacement at first base, going 5-for-5 with a homer, two RBIs and three runs scored in the Reds' 7-1 downing of the Mets. Vladimir Gutierrez allowed just three hits over seven innings, blanking the Mets until Jeff McNeil's home run in the sixth inning. New York is 3-5 on its homestand and 8-9 since the All-Star break, leaving the Mets with a 3 1/2-game lead over the Phillies atop the NL East.
— Kyle Gibson made his Phillies debut and worked into the seventh inning of a 15-4 dismantling of the Pirates. J.T. Realmuto (ree-al-MOO'-toh) furnished five of the Phillies' 20 hits, with two doubles and four RBIs. Bryce Harper hit three of Philadelphia's nine doubles and Jean Segura drove in three runs as the Phils avoided a three-game sweep.
— Rookie Edmundo Sosa was 3-for-3 with a homer and two RBIs for the Cardinals in a 7-3 downing of the Twins. Adam Wainwright gave up three runs over seven innings of his 176th career win. Dylan Carlson also had three hits and Tommy Edman doubled twice as St. Louis won for the fourth time in six games.
— The Nationals earned a 6-5 win over the Cubs behind Yadiel Hernandez, whose second homer of the afternoon was a solo shot that won the game in the bottom of the ninth. Hernandez's four-hit day helped the Nationals overcome three home runs by Rafael Ortega of the Cubs. Ortega tied a franchise record for homers in a game, leading off with a shot to right-center before adding two-run blasts in the sixth and eighth.
— Eric Haase doubled home a pair in a three-run first that kickstarted the Tigers' 6-2 win over the Orioles. Erasmo Ramirez pitched two scoreless innings to pick up his first major league win since Sept. 3, 2018. The Tigers are 30-24 in Detroit after losing a major league-leading 59 home games in 2019.
MLB-NEWS
Mets off their Rocker
UNDATED (AP) — The Mets have failed to sign their top pick from last month's amateur draft. The team was concerned about medical scans on Vanderbilt pitcher Kumar Rocker, who was taken with the 10th selection. New York will receive an extra selection in next year's amateur draft, the pick after the 10th choice, because of their failure to sign the 21-year-old right-hander.
Also, the Mets have placed infielder Luis Guillorme (gee-OHR'-may) on the 10-day injured list with a left hamstring strain. Guillorme was injured while scoring the tying run as a pinch-runner in a comeback victory over the Reds on Saturday.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Red Sox left-hander Chris Sale will make a fifth minor league rehab start later this week for Triple-A Worcester as he moves closer to pitching in the majors for the first time since August 2019. Recently acquired slugger Kyle Schwarber, currently sidelined by a hamstring injury, will take part in an off-day workout Monday in Detroit and is nearing a rehab assignment.
SOCCER-GOLD CUP
US stuns Mexico to win Gold Cup
LAS VEGAS (AP) — Miles Robinson scored on a header in the 117th minute to give the United States a 1-0 victory in the CONCACAF Gold Cup final against Mexico.
Kellyn Acosta took a free kick and Robinson outjumped Edson Álvarez and headed the ball in on one hop to the right of goalkeeper Alfredo Talavera. It was Robinson's third international goal in nine international appearances and his second goal of the tournament.
It was a shocking win considering the Americans went with a junior varsity lineup against a mostly front-line Mexico team.
NHL-NEWS
Fleury commits to playing for Blackhawks
UNDATED (AP) — Goalie Marc-Andre Fleury has committed to playing for the Blackhawks this season, setting aside his reservations about leaving Vegas. The Blackhawks posted a video on their Twitter account of Fleury standing in front of a small jet, saying he's ready to get to work.
Fleury spent a few days contemplating his future after being traded to Chicago by the Golden Knights last week. The 36-year-old Fleury had hoped to finish his career with Vegas, where he played the past four seasons.
Elsewhere in the NHL:
— Sharks forward Evander Kane has denied allegations his wife made on social media that he bet on NHL games, including against his own team. Kane says he has never bet on hockey games and never thrown a game. The NHL is investigating the allegations and Kane says he will cooperate. Kane says he is getting a divorce and called Anna Kane "mentally unwell."
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