BASEBALL
The Portland Sea Dogs ended a three-game losing streak by beating the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 12-6 Tuesday night at Manchester, New Hampshire.
The Sea Dogs, who squandered a four-run lead, broke a tie game by scoring five runs in the eighth inning, all with two outs.
Joey Meneses hit a three-run homer in the inning and Ryan Fitzgerald added a two-run shot.
The top two hitters in the order, Jeisson Rosario and Pedro Castellanos, each went 3 for 6 for Portland.
TENNIS
Roger Federer lost his comeback match after two months away, falling to Pablo Andujar 6-4, 4-6, 6-4 Tuesday in the second round of the Geneva Open.
Federer’s first match on clay in almost two years kept him on court for almost two hours in only his second tournament since the 2020 Australian Open. The past 15 months have included two surgeries on his right knee. In the decisive set, the top-seeded Federer forced a service break and led 4-2 before Andujar rallied.
Federer saved two match points on his own serve, but the third ended with a wayward forehand under pressure on the baseline. Andujar put his hands to his head after clinching victory and exchanged an almost apologetic smile with Federer at the net. The 39-year-old Federer and 35-year-old Andujar were playing each other on tour for the first time.
Before going on court, Federer was a spectator for part of the ATP Tour debut of perhaps the best prospect in Swiss men’s tennis since his own rise in the 1990s. With Federer watching some of the match, 18-year-old Dominic Stephan Stricker beat former U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic 7-6 (5), 6-1 in the first round. Stricker, last year’s French Open junior champion, is ranked 419th. Cilic, who won his only Grand Slam singles title in 2014, is ranked 46th.
The Swiss left-hander had nine aces and no double-faults. He broke Cilic’s serve four times and was broken only twice. Stricker has practiced previously with Federer. His next opponent will be 40th-ranked Marton Fucsovics, who beat Swiss qualifier Henri Laaksonen 7-5, 7-5.
EMILIA-ROMAGNA OPEN: Serena Williams’ disappointing return to tennis continued when she lost in straight sets to 68th-ranked Katerina Siniakova in the second round on Tuesday in Parma, Italy. The top-seeded Williams, who accepted a wild-card invitation for the Parma tournament after losing her opening match at the Italian Open last week, was beaten 7-6 (4), 6-2.
She had beaten teenage qualifier Lisa Pigato 6-3, 6-2 in the previous round for her first victory since defeating Simona Halep in the Australian Open quarterfinals in February. After some time off, Williams then lost in straight sets in Rome to Nadia Podoroska. Williams is preparing for the French Open in Paris which starts on Monday.
Third-seeded Coco Gauff eliminated Kaia Kanepi 7-6 (6), 7-6 (7) in a first-round match.
LYON OPEN: Gael Monfils ended a 15-month victory drought by defeating lucky loser Thiago Seyboth Wild of Brazil 7-5, 6-4 Tuesday at the Lyon Open.
Less than two weeks before the French Open starts in Paris, the fifth-seeded Frenchman got a welcome boost after being slowed by injuries recently. Monfils, who withdrew from the Monte Carlo Open with a calf injury and lost in the first round in Rome, finally kick-started his clay-court season in Lyon. He hit seven aces and saved the seven break points he faced to reach the second round. His previous win was in February 2020 in Dubai, before the coronavirus pandemic brought tennis to a halt.
Also, Lorenzo Musetti of Italy upset seventh-seeded Felix Auger-Aliassime of Canada 7-6 (3), 3-6, 7-5.
BASKETBALL
WNBA: Sabrina Ionescu had the first triple-double of her WNBA career to lead New York to an 86-75 win over the visiting Minnesota Lynx, giving the Liberty their first 3-0 start in 14 years.
CYCLING
ROAD RACE CHAMP DIES: Gwen Inglis, the reigning national road race champion in her age group and a member of the Colorado cycling community who was praised as “a magical spirit,” was on a training ride Sunday on familiar roads near her home when she was struck and killed by a car. Inglis, who won the national title in the 45-49 age group in 2019, and her husband Mike, who won a national title in the 50-and over category that same year, were riding in the Denver suburb of Lakewood at roughly 10 a.m. when a car driven by 29-year-old Ryan Montoya drifted into the bike lane and struck her.
Montoya remained at the scene and was facing possible charges of vehicular homicide involving driving under the influence or driving under the influence of drugs, police told KDVR. Inglis, 47, died at a local hospital.
“She was a wonderful human being who epitomized everything that is good in sports and humanity, a true advocate of inclusion and the type of person any parent would want their young athlete to look up to,” Shawn Farrell, executive director of Colorado Cycling, told the Denver Post.
Inglis, who stood 6 feet tall, rode with the Black Swift/Cycleton Cycling Team and the Stages Cycling Team. She literally and figuratively towered over other cyclists at races. Teammate Barry Lee praised her as a “magical spirit in this elitist and ego dominated sport,” adding that “she represented the pure joy and love of the bike and the sport that I so dearly cherish and appreciate. She was the calm and gentle champion with the inner strength grace and beauty I so respected and was always inspired by.”
SWIMMING
WORLD RECORD: For the second consecutive day, Russian swimmer Kliment Kolesnikov improved his own world record in the 50-meter backstroke. The 20-year-old Kolesnikov clocked 23.80 seconds to win the gold medal at the European Championships on Tuesday in Budapest, Hungary.
That was 0.13 faster than his previous record set in the semifinals a day earlier, when he became the first man to break the 24-second mark. He first set the record of 24.00 at the last Euros in Glasgow three years ago. The 50 back is not an Olympic event.
HOCKEY
U.S. WOMEN: Kacey Bellamey, a three-time Olympian who helped the United States end a 20-year gold medal drought at the 2018 Winter Games, announced her retirement Tuesday. Bellamy, who turned 34 in April, was a 15-year veteran with the U.S. women’s national team.
“Hockey has given me the most incredible memories, and as tough of a decision that this is, I know in my heart it is right,” Bellamy said. “So I’ve decided to step away from the game and start the next chapter in my life.”
The Massachusetts native also won silver at the 2010 and 2014 Olympics. The defenseman also played in nine International Ice Hockey Federation Women’s World Championships, one of only two players to win eight gold medals. The 2020 worlds were pushed to this year and were rescheduled for May 6-16 in Nova Scotia, Canada, before local health officials scrapped plans to hold the tournament.
BOXING
FURY-JOSHUA HITS SNAG: The all-British fight between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury to become undisputed world heavyweight champion has hit a snag. Joshua’s promoter, Eddie Hearn, on Tuesday confirmed reports an arbitrator in the United States has ruled that Fury is contractually bound to fulfill a third fight with Deontay Wilder.
That throws into doubt the proposed Aug. 14 fight between Joshua, the WBA, IBF and WBO champion, and Fury, the WBC champion, that was expected to take place in Saudi Arabia. Hearn said he has given Fury’s team until the end of the week to come up with a solution, or he’ll turn to a “Plan B.”
“We had a deal in place with Tyson Fury and we were told the arbitration wouldn’t be an issue, that we could move on with this fight,” Hearn said on Matchroom’s social media channels. “They (Fury’s promoters) were wrong and that’s on them, that’s their responsibility and their problem. We hope they can solve that problem, but we have to look after ourselves and Anthony Joshua. We have to maintain the position of unified world champion, and those talks will continue and we want to be in a position by the end of this week to know are we fighting Tyson Fury or are we moving forward with another option.”
Hearn said Joshua could instead fight the mandatory challenger for the WBO belt, undefeated Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk.
Fury and Wilder fought a split decision draw in December 2018, before Fury won their second fight by seventh-round stoppage last February. Fury moved on from plans for a potential third fight with Wilder, which were complicated by an injury to the American and an absence of available television dates. Fury announced the date and location of the fight with Joshua in a video on his Twitter account on Sunday.
AUTO RACING
INDIANAPOLIS 500: Chart-topping, platinum-selling country recording artist Jimmie Allen will perform the national anthem at this year’s Indianapolis 500.
Allen will sing “The Star-Spangled Banner” before drivers are called to their cars May 30 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. NBC will telecast “The Greatest Spectacle in Racing” for the third consecutive year.
Allen made history in 2018 as the first Black artist to launch a career with two consecutive No. 1 hits on country radio, with “Best Shot” and “Make Me Want To.” Allen last month won New Male Artist of the Year at the Academy of Country Music Awards.
FOOTBALL
NFL: The Patriots have signed safety and 2021 sixth-round draft pick Joshuah Bledsoe and re-signed free-agent quarterback Brian Hoyer.
New England also has released offensive lineman Najee Toran.
Bledsoe is the fourth member of the Patriots’ 2021 draft class to sign. He joins fifth-round linebacker Cameron McGrone, sixth-round offensive lineman Will Sherman, along with receiver Tre’ Nixon, who was taken in the seventh round.
Hoyer continues his third stint in New England after spending last season as one of Cam Newton’s backups. He appeared in two games last season, starting one after Newton tested positive for COVID-19.
He becomes the fourth quarterback on the roster along with Newton, Jarrett Stidham and first-round pick Mac Jones.
• The Jacksonville Jaguars traded cornerback Josiah Scott, a fourth-round draft pick in 2020, to the Philadelphia Eagles for cornerback Jameson Houston and a sixth-round selection in 2023.
Scott became expendable after Jacksonville signed Shaquill Griffin in free agency and used a second-round pick (No. 33 overall) on Tyson Campbell. The Jaguars also have 2020 first-rounder CJ Henderson as well as experienced backups Tre Herndon and Sidney Jones at the position.
• The New York Giants added their second running back in three days when they claimed Ryquell Armstead off waivers.
Armstead, who was released Monday by the Jacksonville Jaguars, joins Corey Clement as a contender to back up Saquon Barkley next season.
Clement, who played the previous four seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles, was signed Sunday after attending the Giants’ rookie minicamp on a tryout basis.
Armstead spent all of last season on the COVID-19 list. A fifth-round pick from Temple in 2019, Armstead was hospitalized twice and dealt with respiratory issues. The Jaguars said last season he was expected to make a full recovery.
He played in all 16 games as a rookie with one start. He finished with 35 carries for 108 yards and caught 14 passes for 144 yards and two touchdowns.
The Giants also terminated the contract of quarterback Joe Webb, who played in two games last season on special teams.
SOCCER
WORLD CUP: Playing the World Cup every two years instead of four is back on soccer’s agenda.
Saudi Arabia’s soccer federation has formally asked FIFA to look at staging biennial World Cups for men and women, soccer’s world body said.
The proposal “requesting a feasibility study to be carried out on the impact” of playing both tournaments every two years will be put to the FIFA annual meeting of 211 member federations. The congress is being held as a remote meeting on Friday.
A biennial men’s World Cup was floated by FIFA’s then-president Sepp Blatter more than 20 years ago.
MLS: New York Red Bulls defender Aaron Long will miss the rest of the season following surgery to repair his torn right Achilles tendon.
The 28-year-old from Oak Hills, California, was injured during an aerial challenge in second-half stoppage time of Saturday’s 1-0 loss to the Philadelphia Union.
The team said Long had surgery Monday at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York.
Long is in his sixth season with the Red Bulls. He has three goals in 21 international appearances and was on the U.S. roster for the 2019 CONCACAF Gold Cup.
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