BASEBALL
Suzuki sets batting record
Ichiro Suzuki on Thursday notched another milestone in his long career when he became the most prolific foreign-born hitter in the history of Major League Baseball. The 43-year-old Japanese right fielder reached the mark when he had two hits for the Miami Marlins against the Cardinals in St Louis, Missouri. With 3,054 career hits, Suzuki passed the previous record of 3,053 held by Panama-born Rod Carew. Suzuki is now 23rd on the all-time list, Elias Sports Bureau data showed. Suzuki is in his 17th season in the major leagues with his third team after spells with the Seattle Mariners and New York Yankees. He has played 2,572 regular-season games, and has had nearly 10,000 at-bats, for a career batting average of .312.
GOLF
Kim shares lead with rookie
Belgian rookie Laura Gonzalez Escallon on Thursday birdied three of the final four holes for a seven-under 65 and a share of the lead with Kim Sei-young in the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic. Gonzalez Escallon, the 26-year-old former Purdue player who won twice last season on the Symetra Tour, also started fast in the first-year event, making birdies on three of the first four holes. Kim had eight birdies and a bogey at Thornberry Creek, the Oneida Nation-owned resort near Green Bay, Wisconsin. Tour rookies Madeleine Sheils and Kim Min-g shot 66. Kaohsiung-born Candie Kung of the US carded a four-under 68 for a share of 22nd. Taiwan’s Yani Tseng was tied for 36th on three-under 69, while Hsu Wei-ling and Chien Pei-yun were in a group at 88th on even-par. Min Lee carded a one-over 73 for a share of 104th, while Cheng Ssu-chia was tied for 137th on four-over 76.
GOLF
Love chases leader Munoz
Davis Love III on Thursday shot a seven-under 63 in the Greenbrier Classic, leaving the 53-year-old star two strokes behind leader Sebastian Munoz. In his best round of the season, Love birdied four of his first five holes on the Old White TPC, which was reconstructed after deadly floods forced the cancellation of last year’s tournament. Love is to enter the World Golf Hall of Fame in September. His last win came at the 2015 Wyndham Championship, which made him the third-oldest winner in PGA Tour history. Munoz, a 24-year-old Colombian, was boosted by five birdies on the back nine for a 61. Defending champion Danny Lee was at 64 along with David Lingmerth, Ben Martin, rookie Xander Schauffele, Graham DeLaet and Nick Taylor. Taiwan’s Pan Cheng-tsung carded a five-under 65 for a share of ninth.
GOLF
Rahm steals McIlroy’s show
Rising Spanish star Jon Rahm on Thursday upstaged tournament host Rory McIlroy at the Irish Open by shooting a seven-under 65 to move one stroke off the first-round lead. Rahm, ranked No. 11, showed impressive form on the links two weeks out from the Open Championship, rolling in six birdies and an eagle. He was tied for third place with Englishmen Matthew Southgate and Oliver Fisher. Daniel Im of the US, ranked No. 542, and Benjamin Hebert of France, ranked No. 254, held the lead after shooting bogey-free 64s. McIlroy, the defending champion, parred his final 11 holes and was even-par at a tournament that benefits his foundation.
College basketballer Kaitlyn Chen has become the first female player of Taiwanese descent to be drafted by a WNBA team, after the Golden State Valkyries selected her in the third and final round of the league’s draft on Monday. Chen, a point guard who played her first three seasons in college for Princeton University, transferred to the University of Connecticut (UConn) for her final season, which culminated in a national championship earlier this month. While at Princeton, Chen was named the Ivy League tournament’s most outstanding player three times from 2022 to last year. Prior to the draft, ESPN described Chen as
Robinson Cano spent 17 seasons playing in the MLB in front of all kinds of baseball fans, but he said there is something special about his stint with the Mexican Baseball League’s Diablos Rojos. He is not alone. The league last week opened its 100th season, aiming to keep an impressive growth in attendance that began after the national team’s surprise run at the 2023 World Baseball Classic, and is already surpassing some first-division soccer clubs. After finishing third in the 2023 tournament, many casual fans, some of them soccer enthusiasts disappointed after Mexico were eliminated in the first round in the 2022
Arne Slot has denied that Darwin Nunez was dropped from Liverpool’s win against West Ham because of a training-ground row with a member of his coaching staff. The Liverpool head coach on Sunday last week said that Nunez was absent from the 2-1 victory at Anfield, having felt unwell during training the day before, although the striker sat behind the substitutes throughout the game. Speculation has been rife that the Uruguay international, whom Slot criticized for his work rate against Wolves and Aston Villa in February, was left out for disciplinary reasons. Asked on Friday to clarify the situation, Slot said: “He
In-form teenager Mirra Andreeva on Thursday crashed out of the Porsche Tennis Grand Prix in Stuttgart, Germany, after going down in straight sets to fellow Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last 16. World No. 7 Andreeva, who already has two titles under her belt this season, lost 6-3, 6-2 against the 22nd-ranked Alexandrova in just over an hour. The 17-year-old Andreeva had defeated her elder sister Erika in the previous round on Wednesday, but Alexandrova quickly took control as she claimed her fourth win over a top-10 player this season. The 17-year-old Mirra Andreeva in February became the youngest winner of a WTA
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