CYCLING
Boom tightens grip on tour
Lars Boom of the Netherlands tightened his grip on the Tour of Britain on Friday after winning the sixth stage to increase his overall lead in the standings. The Rabobank rider came home ahead of France’s Alexandre Pichot and Germany’s Leopold Koenig in a sprint finish after a demanding 146km stage from Taunton to Wells, England. It was the second stage win of the race for Boom, who is now well placed with only this weekend’s final two stages remaining. Boom leads Koenig by 28 seconds in the general classification with Britain’s Daniel Lloyd a further second behind.
BASKETBALL
Crittenton waives right
Former professional basketball player Javaris Crittenton waived his right on Friday to appear before a magistrate judge in Atlanta, Georgia, on a murder charge in the drive-by shooting death of a young mother of four. Crittenton, 23, was arrested at a Southern California airport last month as he prepared to check in for a flight to Atlanta to turn himself in to authorities. He is accused of the Aug. 19 slaying of 22-year-old Julian Jones, who witnesses said was gunned down in Atlanta with an assault rifle by someone driving a dark-colored sport utility vehicle, the FBI said. Atlanta police have said they do not believe Jones was Crittenton’s intended victim, but would not elaborate on the case.
MOTOGP
Outage delays qualifier
A power outage at a nearby electricity station forced the cancelation of the afternoon practice session for the Aragon motorcycling Grand Prix in Alcaniz, Spain, on Friday, organizers said. Repsol Honda rider Dani Pedrosa had been quickest in the morning session, with his Spanish compatriot and reigning champion Jorge Lorenzo of Yamaha second and Australian series leader Casey Stoner, also of Repsol Honda, third. An extended final practice session was scheduled for yesterday and qualifying was to go ahead in the afternoon as originally scheduled, according to the MotoGP Web site. The race is today.
BASEBALL
Choo disabled again
Cleveland Indians outfielder Choo Shin-soo will miss the rest of the season after aggravating a left rib cage injury. The South Korean came off the disabled list before Cleveland’s game in Texas on Thursday, but left the game in the second inning. “Same injury, he just re-aggravated it,” Cleveland manager Manny Acta said in Minneapolis on Friday before the Indians’ game at Minnesota. Choo hit .259 with eight homers and 36 RBIs, while being limited by injuries to 84 games. He had 22 homers and 90 RBIs last season. “The guy was healthy,” Acta said. “He went through the rehab period. The last five days he was feeling good.”
ICE HOCKEY
Crosby cleared to practice
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby, fighting back from a concussion, said on Friday he has been cleared to practice without contact and was to skate yesterday with his NHL teammates. The 24-year-old Canadian center said he was not sure when he might be allowed to participate in full-contact drills with the Penguins as they begin their pre-season training camp with the season opener only three weeks away. Crosby led the Penguins to the NHL Stanley Cup crown in 2009 and scored the title-winning over-time goal for Canada at last year’s Vancouver Winter Olympics in the gold medal final against the US.
Jesper Boqvist on Tuesday scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period as the Florida Panthers, after raising their second straight NHL Stanley Cup banner, opened the defense of the title by beating the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Mackie Samoskevich — getting his second assist, the fifth two-point game of his career — chipped the puck toward the goal and Boqvist knocked it out of the air for the lead with 10 minutes, 20 seconds left. A.J. Greer and Carter Verhaeghe also had goals for Florida, who got 17 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky. Frank Nazar had a goal and an assist and Teuvo
HOMETOWN ZERO: Fans relished the fall of former Brewer-turned-Cubs manager Craig Counsell, as Milwaukee braces to face the Dodgers, who in 2018 denied them a pennant Milwaukee Brewers manager Pat Murphy has referred to his team as the “Average Joes,” a nod to their small-market status and lack of big names, but after they beat rivals the Chicago Cubs 3-1 in the decisive fifth game of their National League Division Series (NLDS) on Saturday night, Murphy decided it was time for an upgrade. “You can call them the average Joes, but I say they’re the above-average Joes,” he said. The Brewers relied on contributions from just about every player to get past the Cubs. Andrew Vaughn hit a tiebreaking homer in the fourth inning, and William Contreras and Brice
Mexico’s teenage playmaker Gilberto Mora has lit up the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Chile as he basks in the limelight afforded by the absences of Barcelona and Real Madrid stars Lamine Yamal and Franco Mastantuono. “I don’t know if I’m the biggest star, and I’m not really interested in that. I think you can always give more,” 16-year-old Mora said before Mexico’s 4-1 win against host nation Chile in the round-of-16 on Tuesday, in which he provided the assist for the opening goal. Next on Mora’s schedule is a quarter-final clash against Argentina this morning Taiwan time, but after
‘SOMETHING SPECIAL’: Nathan Lukes hit a two-run single and Addison Barger had three of Toronto’s 12 hits as the Blue Jays bounced back After taking down the storied New York Yankees in their own ballpark in their American League Division Series on Wednesday, Toronto Blue Jays manager John Schneider was ready to revel in the triumph. “Start spreading the news,” Schneider said while popping a bottle of bubbly to set off the Blue Jays’ jubilant celebration inside their Yankee Stadium clubhouse. With the party under way, the familiar lyrics from Frank Sinatra’s version of New York, New York — the Yankees’ long-time victory anthem — sounded in the background as roaring Toronto players sprayed each other with booze in the Bronx. This time, it was their
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