Strasburg hits and pitches Nationals to 13-4 win over Braves
ATLANTA (AP) — Washington Nationals manager Dave Martinez may have found a new pinch-hitter in his team’s latest win.
Stephen Strasburg showed he can shine in the batter’s box as well as on the mound.
Strasburg had a three-run homer among his three hits and set a franchise-record for a pitcher with five RBIs, as the surging Nationals beat the Atlanta Braves 13-4 on Thursday night.
Strasburg’s hitting made up for a so-so night on the mound, as he allowed three runs and eight hits in 5 1/3 innings.
“Stephen wasn’t as sharp as he could be but man he swung the bat really well,” Martinez said. “He might be a pinch-hitter coming up here for the rest of these games.”
‘Savages’ sweep: Boone’s rant sparks Yanks over Rays in DH
NEW YORK (AP) — The Savages of The Stadium. That’s what the New York Yankees are in the mind of manager of Aaron Boone.
Boone got fired up at rookie umpire Brennan Miller in a profane second-inning rant,and New York awoke from a sleepy start to rally past the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2 in the opener of a doubleheader sweep Thursday.
New York rallied to win the second game 5-1 and reopen an eight-game AL East lead over the second-place Rays. Luke Voit tied the score in the fifth with his first home run since June 14, and catcher Mike Zunino caused Charlie Morton to balk home the tiebreaking run in a four-run sixth that included Didi Gregorius’ two-run single. The Yankees won three straight after wasting a ninth-inning lead in the series opener and improved to 34-11 against the AL East, including 12-5 against Tampa Bay.
Spieth scoring binge puts him on Open board
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — Jordan Spieth announced his presence on the British Open leaderboard with a front nine run where he played four holes in a combined 5 under.
Spieth briefly moved into a tie for the lead after going birdie-birdie-eagle-birdie beginning at the fifth hole. He would bogey the ninth to finish the front nine in 4-under 32, making him 5 under for the tournament.
The 2017 Open champion was three shots behind J.B. Holmes, who had another strong start to his day. The first day leader was 3 under for the day through six holes and 8 under for the tournament, two shots ahead of Tyrell Hatton and Tommy Fleetwood.
British Open back at Royal Portrush and puts on quite a show
PORTRUSH, Northern Ireland (AP) — An emotional opening shot by Darren Clarke. A shocking one by Rory McIlroy.
Tiger Woods had his worst score to start a British Open. Brooks Koepka quickly got into contention again.
Emiliano Grillo made a 1. David Duval made a 14.
The Open returned to Royal Portrush after a 68-year absence and made up for lost time with an unusual amount of theater Thursday. When more than 15 hours of golf before a robust, sellout crowd finally ended, J.B. Holmes was atop the leaderboard at a major for the first time in 11 years.
Pressel, Creamer tied for lead in LPGA Tour team event
MIDLAND, Mich. (AP) — Morgan Pressel and Paula Creamer shot a best-ball 6-under 64 on Thursday for a share of the second-round lead in the Dow Great Lakes Bay Invitational, the LPGA Tour’s first-year team event.
Stephanie Meadowand Giulia Molinaro had a 61, and Frenchwomen Celine Boutier and Karine Icher shot 62 to match Pressel and Creamer at 10-under 130 at Midland Country Club. The teams will play alternate shot Friday and close Saturday with a best-ball round.
“You have two balls in play, you can play much more aggressively,” Pressel said. “I know I certainly could play aggressively knowing my partner had my back the whole way around.”
Trying to get into the U.S. Solheim Cup mix, Pressel and Creamer birdied six of the last eight holes on their opening nine — the course’s back nine — then parred the last nine.
“Morgan played awesome on the back nine, which was our front nine,” Creamer said. “I couldn’t really get anything going on this side. But we’ve got two more days left so we’re not in bad position by any means. It wasn’t our ‘A’-game today, but still very pleased with where we’re sitting.”
2 horses killed at Del Mar in collision during training
DEL MAR, Calif. (AP) — Two horses were killed in a freak collision at Del Mar during training on the second day of its season.
The accident occurred Thursday morning when Charge A Bunch, trained by Carla Gaines, threw rider Geovanni Franco, turned sharply and collided with Carson Valley, who was trained by Bob Baffert.
Carson Valley’s rider, jockey Assael Espinoza, was taken to a hospital for evaluation, and Franco was not injured. Franco rode as scheduled in the day’s first race.
Baffert said it was a freak accident beyond anyone’s control and that both horses were killed on impact.