BASEBALL
The Portland Sea Dogs took advantage of two errors to score three runs in the seventh inning to beat the Binghamton Rumble Ponies 4-2 in an Eastern League game Wednesday night at Hadlock Field.
Portland’s David Hamilton tied the franchise record for steals in a season at 64. He had one in the first and one in the sixth when he scored on a sacrifice fly to tie the game at 1. Julio Ramirez had 64 in 1999 when the Sea Dogs were affiliated with the Marlins.
Stephen Scott led off the seventh with a single and advanced to second on an error by left fielder Carlos Cortes. After a walk to Niko Kavadas, Alex Binelas reached on a bunt that scored Scott after an error by pitcher Joey Lucchesi. Izzy Wilson then doubled home Kavadas and Binelas.
The Sea Dogs had just three hits and Binghamton made four errors.
The Sea Dogs lost a half-game in the standings as Somerset swept a doubleheader from Hartford, including a no-hitter in the nightcap. Portland has a two-game lead in the Northeast Division second-half standings. Both teams have 10 games left and meet six times starting Tuesday to end the regular season.
BASKETBALL
WNBA: A’ja Wilson earned WNBA MVP honors for the second time in her young career.
The 26-year-old Las Vegas Aces forward received 31 of 56 first-place votes from a media panel. Seattle forward Breanna Stewart was second, garnering 23 first-place votes and finishing 32 points behind Wilson, who had 478 points.
Wilson also won the award in 2020 and is the seventh player to win it more than once. She averaged 19.5 points and 9.4 rebounds this season while shooting 50% from the field and had 17 double-doubles. She led the league in blocks per game with 1.9.
• Sue Bird’s career came to an end Tuesday night as Chelsea Gray scored 15 of her 31 points in the fourth quarter and the Las Vegas Aces advanced to the WNBA Finals with a 97-92 win over the Seattle Storm in Game 4 of their semifinal series.
It will be the third Finals appearance in franchise history for Las Vegas. The Aces lost to Seattle in 2020 in the WNBA bubble played in Florida, and the franchise reached the Finals in 2008 while still in San Antonio, losing to Detroit.
Breanna Stewart tied the WNBA playoff record with 42 points, just the fifth player to score 40 or more in a postseason game, and Jewell Loyd added 29. .
Bird stayed on the court after the final buzzer, receiving hugs from the entire Aces roster. She wiped away tears while the crowd cheered and cried along with her and chanted “Thank you, Sue.”
SOCCER
TRIAL: Former Manchester United great Ryan Giggs will go on trial for a second time on domestic violence charges.
A judge ruled Giggs should face a retrial, a week after the soccer great was discharged after a jury failed to reach a verdict on charges that he assaulted and used coercive behavior against an ex-girlfriend.
After approving an application by the prosecution for a second trial, Judge Hilary Manley set a date of July 31, 2023, for a trial estimated to last three or four weeks. Giggs will remain on bail.
FIRINGS: Thomas Tuchel was fired by Chelsea only one month into the season and just days after the club concluded a Europe-high spending spree of nearly $300 million in the transfer window.
The decision by Chelsea’s new ownership, fronted by Los Angeles Dodgers part-owner Todd Boehly, came a day after the team surprisingly lost to Dinamo Zagreb 1-0 in its first group match of the Champions League.
Tuchel, who has been a frustrated and prickly figure after matches this season, said “everything is missing” when he summed up Chelsea’s performance against Dinamo and complained that his players “lacked hunger.”
• Leipzig fired Coach Domenico Tedesco, hours after a 4-1 home loss to Shakhtar Donetsk in the Champions League.
Tedesco led Leipzig to a first major title in its 13-year history – the German Cup last season – but a poor start to the Bundesliga season included a 4-0 loss Eintracht Frankfurt on Saturday.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: English forward Marcus Edwards scored one goal and set up another to help Sporting Lisbon defeat host Eintracht Frankfurt 3-0 and spoil the German club’s league debut.
• In the Rangers’ first Champions League match in 12 years, they conceded three goals in the opening 33 minutes and was toyed with in the second half of a 4-0 loss at Ajax .
Edson Alvarez, Steven Berghuis and lively forwards Mohammed Kudus and Steven Bergwijn were the scorers for Ajax at Johan Cruijff Arena.
• Liverpool slumped to a stunning 4-1 defeat at Napoli where the hosts were four goals up in just 47 minutes.
• Robert Lewandowski had three goals as Barcelona beat Viktoria Plzen 5-1.
• Tottenham beat Marseille 2-0 with Brazil forward Richarlison twice scoring with headers late in the game on his debut.
• A remarkable 11-minute period of stoppage time at Atletico Madrid saw the home team open the scoring and be pegged back by a penalty for 10-man Porto before Antoine Griezmann sealed a 2-1 win.
• Bayern Munich eased to a 2-0 win at Inter Milan, where Leroy Sane opened the scoring in the first half.
• Club Brugge beat struggling Bayer Leverkusen 1-0.
PREMIER LEAGUE: The Premier League has postponed Brighton’s home game against Crystal Palace on Sept. 17 because of a planned rail strike.
The league cited the “exceptional circumstances” of the planned walkout of rail workers that would leave no public transportation for fans.
GOLF
PRESIDENTS CUP: Billy Horschel finally made a U.S. team as one of six players added to a stacked American team that will try to win the Presidents Cup for the ninth straight time.
Captain Davis Love III took two other newcomers to team competition with Max Homa, a two-time winner on the PGA Tour last season and Cameron Young, a 25-year-old who nearly won two majors as a rookie.
The other picks went to three-time major champion Jordan Spieth, two-time major champion Collin Morikawa and Kevin Kisner, who thrives in match play and contended at Quail Hollow in the 2017 PGA Championship.
The Presidents Cup is Sept. 22-25 at Quail Hollow in Charlotte, North Carolina
HOCKEY
NHL: Center Tim Stutzle has agreed to an eight-year, $66.8 million contract extension, the Ottawa Senators announced.
The deal, which carries an average annual value of $8.35 million and kicks in following the 2022-23 season, is the latest move by GM Pierre Dorion to solidify Ottawa’s core.
Selected No. 3 overall at the 2020 draft with the pick received in the Erik Karlsson trade with the San Jose Sharks, Stutzle has 34 goals and 87 points in 132 NHL games.
• Kirby Dach has agreed to a four-year, $13.45 million contract with the Montreal Canadiens.
The 21-year-old center, who was a restricted free agent, had 26 points (nine goals, 17 assists) in 70 games with the Chicago Blackhawks last season.
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