BASEBALL
Top Boston Red Sox prospect Marcelo Mayer won’t play again this season for the Portland Sea Dogs because of shoulder inflammation.
Mayer, a shortstop rated as Boston’s No. 1 prospect, has been on the injured list since Aug. 5. Red Sox director of player development Brian Abraham told MLB.com’s Ian Browne that Mayer will report to the team’s complex in Fort Myers, Florida, to continue his rehab.
Mayer struggled after being promoted to Double-A in late May, hitting .189 with six homers, 20 RBI and a .609 OPS with the Sea Dogs. Before his promotion, Mayer hit .290 with seven homers and an .890 OPS in 35 games for Class A Greenville.
• Sea Dogs closer Luis Guerrero was promoted to Triple-A Worcester.
Guerrero was 3-2 with a 1.81 ERA and an Eastern League-leading 18 saves for Portland.
• Ethan Wilson doubled home the go-ahead run in the bottom of the eighth inning, lifting the Reading Fightin Phils to a 3-2 win over the Sea Dogs in Reading, Pennsylvania.
Portland allowed only three hits, but one was a two-run homer by Marcus Lee Sang in the fifth inning off Sea Dogs starter Angel Bastardo.
The Sea Dogs tied the game in the seventh on an RBI single by Kyle Teel and a sacrifice fly by Phillip Sikes.
SOCCER
SPAIN: Spanish soccer player Jenni Hermoso has accused Luis Rubiales, the suspended president of Spain’s soccer federation, of sexual assault for kissing her on the lips without her consent after the Women’s World Cup final, the country’s prosecutors’ office said.
Rubiales kissed Hermoso on the lips during the awards ceremony after Spain beat England to win the title on Aug. 20 in Sydney, Australia.
Rubiales has insisted the kiss was consensual. Hermoso has denied that in statements issued by her and her players’ union. She also said she and her family were pressured by the federation to show her support for Rubiales in the immediate aftermath of the scandal caused by the kiss that tarnished her team’s victory.
BALLON D’OR: Seven-time Ballon d’Or winner Lionel Messi is back in contention for the prestigious award a year being omitted from the nomination list, which this time doesn’t include longtime rival Cristiano Ronaldo.
Messi, who led Argentina to the World Cup title in December, was named on to the 30-man list of nominees along with Erling Haaland and Kylian Mbappé.
The winner will be announced in Paris on Oct. 30.
OLYMPICS: Marko Mitrović was hired to coach the U.S. under-23 men’s team at next year’s Paris Games – the first Olympics for the Americans since 2008.
BASKETBALL
WORLD CUP: Germany will play the United States in the semifinals on Friday after beating Latvia in the quarterfinals, 81-79, in Manila, Philippines.
Franz Wagner scored 16 points to help Germany – the last unbeaten team left in the World Cup – hold off Latvia.
HOCKEY
NHL: The Arizona Coyotes signed General Manager Bill Armstrong to a multiyear extension as the franchise continues its rebuild.
Terms of the deal were not released.
CYCLING
SPANISH VUELTA: Spain’s Jesús Herrada pulled away on an uphill climb to win the 11th stage, while American rider Sepp Kuss kept the overall lead for a fourth straight day.
Kuss was not challenged for the overall lead in a mostly flat 101.5-mile ride starting in Lerma in Spain’s north-central woodlands and ending atop Laguna Negra in Vinuesa.
Kuss stayed 26 seconds ahead of Marc Soler in the overall standings.
AUTO RACING
NASCAR: John Hunter Nemechek will return to NASCAR’s Cup Series next season when he joins Legacy Motor Club, which will become a Toyota team and promote its development driver.
Nemechek will drive the No. 42 that was initially driven by Noah Gragson, but he abruptly quit the team last month while under NASCAR suspension. Nemechek will be teammates with Erik Jones and co-owner Jimmie Johnson, who again plans to race a limited Cup schedule.
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