BASEBALL
Ceddanne Rafaela went 4 for 4 with a home run and two RBI as the Portland Sea Dogs won their third straight, 7-6 over the Yard Goats in an Eastern League game at Hartford, Connecticut, on Friday night.
Stephen Scott and Wil Dalton also hit home runs for Portland. Scott and Dalton also had two RBI.
Matt Barnes, on a rehab assignment from the Boston Red Sox, pitched one inning and got the win. He allowed one hit and one run with one walk.
NECBL: The Upper Valley Nighthawks scored single runs in the second and seventh innings, then held off the Sanford Mainers for a 2-1 win in White River Junction, Vermont.
Johnny Decker hit an RBI double in the second and Jonathan Hogart made it 2-0 on a single in the seventh for the Nighthawks (19-23).
The Mainers (20-22) had three hits, all doubles, including two by Quinn McDaniel, who scored Sanford’s run in the eighth on an error. Alex Knapp hit a one-out double in the ninth for the Mainers.
HOCKEY
NHL: The Anaheim Ducks are close to signing John Klingberg, the top defenseman on the NHL free-agent market, a person with knowledge of the negotiations said.
The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Ducks and Klingberg haven’t finalized every detail of the deal to bring the offensive-minded Swede from Dallas to Orange County.
Klingberg has spent his entire NHL career with the Stars, racking up 71 goals and 303 assists in eight seasons as one of the league’s better offensive defensemen.
He had six goals and 41 assists for playoff-bound Dallas last season, although he was a career-worst minus-28.
Klingberg’s offensive skills and shot-blocking capability would give a boost to the Ducks, who could also use his right-handed shot and puck movement on the power play. Klingberg scored 20 points with Dallas on the man advantage last season, and he has 148 career points on the power play.
BASKETBALL
WNBA: Atlanta Dream guard AD Durr will miss the remainder of the season to prepare for right hip surgery.
The team announced it was shutting down Durr, who averaged 10.7 points and 1.9 rebounds in 15 games with their hometown team.
• A’ja Wilson and Kelsey Plum each scored 22 points and the visiting Las Vegas Aces handed the Indiana Fever their club-record 13th straight loss, 93-72.
• Courtney Vandersloot had 23 points and nine assists to help the WNBA-leading Chicago Sky beat the visiting New York Liberty, 89-81.
NBA: The Philadelphia 76ers are being investigated by the NBA for possible tampering in offseason free-agency moves involving James Harden, P.J. Tucker and Danuel House, a person familiar with the situation told The Associated Press.
Harden signed a deal worth slightly over $68 million, paying him about $33 million this season with a $35 million player option for the 2023-24 season.
Harden, though, will make about $14.5 million less this coming season than he could have earned under his previous deal. Harden had a $47.4 million option for this coming season that he declined last month, saying he wanted to give the 76ers flexibility to improve their roster and compete for a championship.
ESPN reported Friday there are questions involving Harden and the Sixers having “a handshake agreement in place on a future contract.”
Tucker signed a $30 million, three-year contract and House signed for $8.4 million over two years. The Sixers were able to sign Tucker to the full mid-level exception and sign House to the bi-annual exception because Harden declined his option.
CRICKET
EXPLOSION: A grenade exploded during a cricket game in Kabul, wounding 13 spectators at the stadium, an emergency hospital in the Afghan capital said.
The Italian-run Emergency Hospital in Kabul said on Twitter that 12 of the wounded were hospitalized while one other patient was treated and discharged.
No one claimed responsibility for the explosion at the International Cricket Stadium in Kabul, where several hundred people had gathered to watch the match between Band-e-Amir Dragons and Pamir Zalmi.
TENNIS
POLAND OPEN: Fifth-seeded Caroline Garcia advanced to the semifinals at Warsaw after ending the clay-court winning streak of top-ranked Iga Swiatek at 18 matches.
Garcia won 6-1, 1-6, 6-4, breaking Swiatek in the 10th game of the deciding set for her first win over Swiatek.
Swiatek had not lost on clay since the French Open quarterfinals in 2021.
PRAGUE OPEN: Anastasia Potapova upset top-seeded Anett Kontaveit 6-1, 6-1 to reach her third straight WTA semifinal.
Seventh-seeded Potapova beat Kontaveit for the first time after two losses, including last week’s semifinal match at Hamburg. Potapova also reached the last four at Lausanne.
GENERALI OPEN: Third-seeded Roberto Bautista Agut will have to wait to find out who he will play in the final as rain delayed play for the second straight day at Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Bautista Agut advanced Friday after beating fifth-seeded Albert Ramos-Vinolas 6-3, 7-6 (3).
In the final, Bautista Agut will play either Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann, who eliminated local hot favorite Dominic Thiem in the quarterfinals, or Austrian wild card Filip Misolic.
Their semifinal match was suspended due to rain with Misolic leading Hanfmann 1-0 in the decisive third-set tiebreaker after the two split the previous two sets 6-2.
CROATIA OPEN: Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz raced past Facundo Bagnis 6-0, 6-4 at Umag, Croatia, to reach his seventh semifinal of the year.
The 19-year-old Spaniard is defending the first ATP title he won last year.
Fifth-ranked Alcaraz saved the only break point he faced as he improved his 2022 record on clay to 26-3.
He next plays Italian qualifier Giulio Zeppieri who beat Bernabe Zapata Miralles of Spain 7-5, 6-4.
Second-seeded Jannik Sinner reached his first semifinal this year after a 6-4, 7-6 (5) victory over Roberto Carballes Baena.
Sinner will face Franco Agamenone who surged past 2018 Umag champion Marco Cecchinato 6-2, 6-1 in a match between Italian qualifiers.
SOCCER
MLS: Austin FC announced an agreement with Argentine forward Emiliano Rigoni to join the team under a designated player contract.
Financial terms of Rigoni’s transfer from Brazilian club Sao Paolo were not disclosed. Austin FC said Rigoni received a guaranteed contract through 2024 with options for the next two seasons. The club said the 29-year-old will arrive in Austin in the “coming weeks” once he receives his visa.
• Goalkeeper David Ochoa was traded to D.C. United from Salt Lake for $75,000 in general allocation money.
MANCHESTER UNITED: Cristiano Ronaldo was missing from the 21-man squad that flew to Norway for a friendly match against Atletico Madrid.
Ronaldo hasn’t played any preseason matches for United and is reportedly looking for a move to a team that has qualified for the Champions League this season. He held talks with United Manager Erik ten Hag at the club’s training base on Tuesday.
MANCHESTER CITY: Defender Aymeric Laporte underwent knee surgery during the offseason and will not return before September, Manager Pep Guardiola said.
The Spain international, who was a mainstay at center back for City last season, hurt his knee in the 5-1 win over Wolverhampton in the third-to-last Premier League game of last season. He managed to play through pain in the team’s final two games.
Laporte has since had an operation and will miss the start of City’s season.
AUTO RACING
INDYCAR: Josef Newgarden has been cleared to qualify for Saturday’s IndyCar race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway after being re-evaluated by doctors following a morning’s practice session. He qualified fifth.
The two-time series champ collapsed in his motorhome, striking the back of his head after crashing during last weekend’s race at Iowa and was airlifted to a hospital.
Newgarden was leading the race and in position to sweep the two Iowa races when his suspension apparently broke, sending him spinning hard into the wall.
He was initially cleared at the infield care center.
INDYCAR: Felix Rosenqvist continued to fight for his seat with a pole-winning run on the road course at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
The Swede earned his second pole of the season with a run of 1 minute, 10.2265 seconds in qualifying. It’s the second pole of the season for Rosenqvist, who is making the case for keeping his ride in IndyCar with Arrow McLaren SP.
The contract extension he recently signed with McLaren Racing gives boss Zak Brown the ability to shift Rosenqvist to Formula E next season – but Rosenqvist doesn’t want to leave IndyCar. Brown has four current IndyCar drivers signed – Rosenqvist, Pato O’Ward, Alexander Rossi and reigning champion Alex Palou – for three seats.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
