BASEBALL
The Portland Sea Dogs released their 2024 schedule on Tuesday and will open the season at home at 6 p.m. Friday April 5 against the Hartford Yard Goats.
Single-game tickets go on sale on Saturday, Nov. 4. Ticket prices will remain the same as 2023.
The schedule will largely consist of six-game series beginning on Tuesdays and ending on Sundays, with Mondays serving as an off day.
The season concludes on Sunday, Sept. 15 at home against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies .
The Sea Dogs have five postgame fireworks shows scheduled: May 24, June 21, July 3, July 19 and Aug. 9
The 2024 season will be the Sea Dogs’ 31st season in Portland and 22nd as an affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
HOCKEY
NHL: Matthew Phillips scored with 1:06 left in overtime to give the Washington Capitals a 5-4 exhibition win over the Boston Bruins at TD Garden.
Boston, which is 1-4 in the preseason, ends the exhibition season against the Rangers at New York on Thursday night.
Milan Lucic, James van Riemsdyk, Matthew Poitras and defenseman Mason Lohrei scored for the Bruins.
Goalie Linus Ullmark made 35 saves for Boston.
SOCCER
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Real Sociedad picked up its first win in the group stage of the Champions League in two decades with a 2-0 win at Salzburg.
Mikel Oyarzabal and Brais Méndez scored first-half goals for Sociedad, which took the Group D lead. The Spanish club reached four points after two matches, and Salzburg stayed on three points.
• André Castro scored in the fourth minute of stoppage time for Braga to snatch a 3-2 win at Union Berlin.
Sheraldo Becker scored twice to give dominant Union a two-goal lead, but Sikou Niakaté scored before the break, Bruma equalized soon after it and Braga substitute Castro scored with the last attack of the game for the visitors to leave Union ruing another late defeat.
• Neymar scored his first goal in his fifth appearance for Al-Hilal as the Saudi Arabian club beat Nassaji Mazandaran 3-0 in Tehran.
• Bayern Munich needed a late goal from Mathys Tel to continue its winning streak in league group-stage games with a 2-1 win at Copenhagen.
With the score at 1-1, youth and experience combined for the winning goal as 34-year-old Thomas Müller picked up a pass from Harry Kane, held off two defenders and then played in 18-year-old French forward Tel to blast the ball into the net in the 83rd minute.
• Marcus Thuram made his mark in the Champions League to help Inter Milan get its campaign up-and-running with a 1-0 win over Benfica at Milan.
Thuram scored in the 62nd minute for his first goal in the competition for the Nerazzurri. He has two goals and six assists in Serie A in a fantastic start at Inter for the 26-year-old player, who is the son of former Parma and Juventus defender Lilian Thuram.
• Mauro Icardi struck in the 81st minute as visiting Galatasaray beat 10-man Manchester United 3-2 and increased the pressure on Manager Erik ten Hag..
It was United’s sixth defeat in 10 games this season and its second in its opening two matches in Group A.
• Jude Bellingham’s efforts produced two goals during an eight-minute stretch of the first half in Real Madrid’s 3-2 win at Serie A champion Napoli.
PREMIER LEAGUE: Jacob Bruun Larsen’s dramatic winner snatched Burnley its first win of the season with a 2-1 victory at Luton.
COLLEGES
MEN’S BASKETBALL: South Carolina will host Wofford in a charity exhibition game with proceeds going to those affected by fatal wildfires in Maui.
The contest will take place Nov. 1 with $10 tickets at the Colonial Life Arena. Monies raised will go to the Maui Strong Fund, which helps people and places affected by the devastating wildfires in Maui earlier this year.
• John Calipari of Kentucky will receive the John R. Wooden Award Legends of Coaching honor.
Greg Wooden, grandson of the late UCLA coach, announced his selection.
The honorees are chosen based on character, on-court success, graduation rate of players in their program and coaching philosophy. The award will be presented in April at the Los Angeles Athletic Club.
Calipari led the Wildcats to a national championship in 2012. He guided the program to four Final Four appearances in a five-year span, with Wooden and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski the only other men’s coaches to accomplish that feat.
Calipari was inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame in 2015. He has coached three Wooden Award winners, including Oscar Tshiebwe in 2022.
Off the court, Calipari has his own foundation and has worked with the American Red Cross to raise money to help people affected by disasters.
Previous winners of the award include South Carolina’s Dawn Staley, Bill Self of Kansas, Tom Izzo of Michigan State, Pat Summitt of Tennessee and Denny Crum of Louisville.
FOOTBALL: Iowa quarterback Cade McNamara will miss the rest of the season because of a torn knee ligament and Deacon Hill will be the starter against Purdue this week, Coach Kirk Ferentz announced.
McNamara tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee in the first half of the Hawkeyes’ win over Michigan State. The Michigan transfer will have surgery soon and plans to return next season, Ferentz said.
GYMNASTICS
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: Japan is back on top in men’s gymnastics.
The five-man group led by reigning world and Olympic champion Daiki Hashimoto edged rival China in the team finals at the 2023 world championships at Antwerp, Belgium, to earn Japan’s first major international gold medal since 2015.
The Japanese posted a team total of 255.594 points, nearly two points clear of China at 253.794. China, which finished eighth during a sloppy performance in qualifications to barely make the final, bounced back with a medal on the line but couldn’t quite catch Japan.
The U.S. men’s program took a significant step forward by earning its first bronze at a world championships or Olympics since 2014. The five-man team of Asher Hong, Paul Juda, Khoi Young, Yul Moldauer and Fred Richard finished at 252.428.
BASKETBALL
NBA: LaMelo Ball went through his first NBA practice in more than seven months, returning to the floor with a new look.
Ball wore ankle braces on both legs.
The Charlotte Hornets’ 2022 All-Star point guard has turned to the protective braces after three serious ankle injuries last season that limited him to 36 games.
Ball sprained his right ankle twice, then fractured it on Feb. 27, ending his season prematurely.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR: NASCAR announced it will finally bring its top Cup Series to Iowa for the first time.
Cup Series drivers will race at Iowa Speedway in Newton in June 2024, a weekend that will also include the second-tier Xfinity Series at the track about a forty-minute drive east of Des Moines.
• NASCAR fined Matt Crafton $25,000 for punching fellow driver Nick Sanchez following the Truck Series race at Talladega Superspeedway.
Sanchez was fined $5,000 and his father, Rene, was suspended for the remaining two races of the Truck Series season for getting involved. Rene Sanchez was fined for throwing a punch during the melee.
TENNIS
CHINA OPEN: Sixth-seeded Jannik Sinner will bid for his third title of the year after beating second-ranked Carlos Alcaraz 7-6 (4), 6-1 in the semifinals at Beijing.
Sinner will play third-ranked Daniil Medvedev in Wednesday’s final after the Russian eased to a 6-4, 6-3 victory over eighth-seeded Alexander Zverev.
Top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka and U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff navigated tricky second-round opponents to advance.
Sabalenka, making her debut at No. 1 in Beijing, came from a break down in each set to see off qualifier Katie Boulter 7-5, 7-6 (2).
Second-ranked Iga Swiatek had less trouble finding a way past France’s Varvara Gracheva 6-4, 6-1 in 1 hour, 20 minutes.
The third-ranked Gauff had to rally from a break down in the deciding set to defeat Petra Martic 7-5, 5-7, 7-6 (2).
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