SOCCER
Las Palmas fire coach
UD Las Palmas have become the first La Liga club to fire their coach this season after Paco Herrera paid the price for Sunday’s 4-0 thrashing at Getafe, which left the Canary Islands club second from bottom. Herrera, 61, who has also had stints in charge at clubs including Real Zaragoza and RC Celta de Vigo and was an assistant to Rafael Benitez at Liverpool, helped Las Palmas win promotion to Spain’s top flight last term after a 13-year absence. However, they have only five points from eight matches and the club said on their Web site they needed a “boost” after the woeful showing against Getafe. There was no immediate word on a successor. Las Palmas have not had a sustained run in the top flight since the 1980s and were playing in the third tier of Spanish soccer less than a decade ago. The club said they wished Herrera “every professional success in the future, conscious of the fact that he wrote one of the happiest pages in the history of this club.”
SOCCER
Sporting, Granada draw 3-3
Real Sporting de Gjion scored two late goals after Granada had been reduced to nine men to claim a dramatic 3-3 draw in Gijon, Spain, in La Liga on Monday. Sporting trailed by two goals until Nacho Cases gave them hope with a goal in the 88th minute after Granada lost Hugo Miguel to his second booking. That sparked a furious push by the hosts, and after Granada’s Matheus was dismissed for a second bookable offense, substitute Miguel Herrero netted the equalizer six minutes into second-half stoppage-time. Granada squandered a great performance by forward Isaac Success, who netted his side’s second and also played a part in two more goals as the visitors built a two-goal lead.
TENNIS
Karlovic beats Seppi
Ivo Karlovic added 17 aces to his all-time record total while defeating Andreas Seppi of Italy 7-6 (7/5), 6-3 in the first round of the Erste Bank Open on Monday. The seventh-seeded Croat held serve throughout and broke Seppi at 3-2 in the second set for the only break in the match. Karlovic has now hit 10,306 aces in his career. Earlier, Jiri Vesely of Czech Republic defeated Austrian wild-card Gerald Melzer 6-4, 6-3. The 40th-ranked Vesely dropped serve once in the opening set on the only break point he faced. He will next play second seed Kevin Anderson or Andreas Haider-Maurer of Austria. Radek Stepanek won another Czech-Austrian duel, beating Dennis Novak 6-4, 6-3, while Lukas Rosol became the third Czech player to advance after defeating Yuichi Sugita of Japan 6-4, 7-6 (7/2). Also, Ernests Gulbis of Latvia ended his five-match losing streak by defeating Austrian qualifier Lucas Miedler 6-3, 2-6, 6-3. The 522nd-ranked Miedler appeared in his first main-draw match at ATP level. David Ferrer of Spain is the top-seeded player at the 41st edition of the Austrian indoor event.
GOLF
Spieth to headline Singapore
Organizers say PGA Tour Player of the Year Jordan Spieth will headline the Singapore Open in January, when the tournament returns after a three-year absence. Spieth, who won this year’s Masters and US Open, will be looking to join a list of big-name Singapore Open winners, including three-time title holder Adam Scott, Ian Poulter, Angel Cabrera and defending champion Matteo Manassero. Spieth, 22, will play in Singapore for the first time. “I know the SMBC Singapore Open is one of Asia’s leading events and I couldn’t be more excited to add it to my 2016 playing schedule,” he said.
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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