BASEBALL
MLB stars to play Taiwan
Major League Baseball will send a team of All-Stars to Taiwan in November for a series of exhibition games. The MLB All-Stars will play five games against Taiwan’s national team starting on Nov. 2, MLB announced on Thursday. Games will take place in Taipei (Nov, 2), Greater Taichung (Nov. 3 and Nov. 4) and Greater Kaohsiung (Nov. 5 and Nov. 6). MLB and the players are also in talks to have Oakland and Seattle play regular-season games in Japan next season.
TENNIS
Tsonga, Gasquet advance
France’s Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet won in straight sets to reach the quarter-finals of the Moselle Open on Thursday, while Philipp Kohlschreiber of Germany lost to a qualifier. The top-seeded Tsonga beat French qualifier Mathieu Rodrigues 6-3, 6-4 to line up a match with Nicolas Mahut, who outlasted 2003 champion Arnaud Clement 3-6, 7-5, 6-3 in an all-French encounter. The second-seeded Gasquet cruised past Olivier Rochus of Belgium 6-2, 6-1 and next plays Gilles Muller of Luxembourg. However, there was an upset for seventh-seeded Kohlschreiber, who lost to Dutch qualifier Igor Sijsling 6-4, 7-5. Sijsling now meets fourth-seeded Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia.
RUGBY WORLD CUP
Fiji coach defends hakas
Fiji coach Sam Domoni said critics of the famous haka could break-dance before games if they like, but they could not stand in the way of Pacific tradition. Domoni was speaking after South Africa coach Peter de Villiers said the pre-match war dances were becoming over-exposed during the World Cup and were in danger of losing their impact. Fiji captain Deacon Manu dismissed de Villiers as a “bit of a spin doctor” and said the hakas would give important pointers about both teams.
GOLF
Solheim Cup matchups set
US captain Rosie Jones has put her faith in big hitters Cristie Kerr and Michelle Wie in the opening series of foursomes as the US begin their title defense of the Solheim Cup against Europe at Killeen Castle in Ireland. Jones picked world No. 3 Kerr and Wie, unbeaten on her debut two years ago, as her top pairing and they face the Swedish duo of Maria Hjorth and Anna Nordqvist. Paula Creamer and Brittany Lincicome, who hurt her right wrist landing a huge fish a couple of weeks ago, are in match two against England’s Melissa Reid and Karen Stupples. European captain Alison Nicholas opted for a blend of youth and experience as she paired up Catriona Matthew, a veteran of six Solheims, and rookie Azahara Munoz. They take on Stacy Lewis and Angela Stanford.
GOLF
Liam Bond leads in Australia
Welsh 41-year-old rookie Liam Bond, who only escaped qualifying school at the 16th attempt last year, took a one-shot lead at the Austrian Open on Thursday. He enjoyed seven birdies, with four coming in the final five holes, against one bogey, for a six-under 66 to lead by one from Denmark’s Thomas Norret, Australian Daniel Gaunt, Dutchman Joost Luiten and Steve Webster of England. It was a timely round for Bond, who has yet to record a top 20 finish this season and who came into the tournament on a run of five successive missed cuts. At 193 on The Race to Dubai order of merit, Bond still faces a huge struggle to keep his card for next year. Of the three Walker Cup players making their professional debuts in the event, Andy Sullivan had the best day with a level-par 72.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
From a commemorative jersey to a stadium in his name, Argentine soccer organizers are planning a slew of tributes to their late “Captain” Pope Francis, eulogized as the ultimate team player. Tributes to the Argentine pontiff, a lifelong lover of the game, who died on Monday at the age of 88, have been peppered with soccer metaphors in his homeland. “Francisco. What a player,” the Argentine Football Federation (AFA) said, describing the first pope from Latin America and the southern hemisphere as a generational talent who “never hogged the ball” and who showed the world “the importance of having an Argentine captain,
Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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