Author: Tim Runn

HOUSTON — Justin Verlander pitched one-run ball into the eighth inning and won his MLB-leading 14th game, Aledmys Díaz hit two homers and Yordan Alvarez slugged his 30th home run of the season as the Houston Astros beat the Seattle Mariners 11-1 on Friday night. Verlander (14-3) allowed one run in 7 2/3 innings and allowed five hits with five strikeouts and outdueled Seattle’s Robbie Ray, last year’s AL Cy Young Award winner. Verlander held Seattle scoreless until Jesse Winker and Julio Rodríguez doubled in the seventh inning. Verlander allowed just three earned runs in four starts and 26 2/3…

Phil Mickelson made five bogeys and one birdie in his first round at Bedminster on Friday and is 11 shots behind the leaders.Jonathan Jones/USA TodayBEDMINSTER, N.J. – In many ways he is the face of LIV Golf, the first player to publicly give it legitimacy – with plenty of assaults on his own legacy. Phil Mickelson has endured plenty of criticism throughout a four-month self-imposed exile, his return to golf via a massive guaranteed contract with LIV Golf helping shake the foundations of the game. Mickelson’s golf has not lived up to his Hall of Fame stature, and that continued…

“If you wind the clock back 12 months ago,” Ange Postecoglou said today, “it was pretty chaotic.”That is something of an understatement. The Australian mastermind had been plucked from Japan to take over Scottish giants Celtic. It was a shock move, and one widely slammed by pundits, rivals, and even some fans of the Glasgow club. He arrived with limited experience in European football and therefore a deeply undervalued global reputation. He took over a club in shambles, particularly a hodgepodge squad in need of overhaul. No wonder his first month was ‘pretty chaotic.’Having been handed the reins just days…

India had a rather good opening day of competition at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games on Friday. As the Indian women’s hockey and mixed badminton teams got convincing 5-0 wins in their opening matches, female cricketers suffered a narrow defeat. Then late in the day, swimmer Srihari Nataraj qualified for the final of the men’s 100m backstroke event. Renuka Thakur’s devastating spell of 4/18 went in vain as Ashleigh Gardner’s 52 not out helped Australia defeat India by three wickets in their first Group A match of women’s T20 event. After skipper Harmanpreet Kaur slammed 52 off 34 balls and opener Shafali…

Frazer Clarke is itching to fight. That impatience nearly boiled over after weighing in for Saturday’s fight in Bournemouth.When his opponent, Ariel Esteban Bracamonte drove his head into Clarke’s, the Olympic bronze medallist reacted and shoved him back. It could have been worse, Clarke warned. Clarke’s pro debut was in February. It lasted only a round and a hand injury has kept him out of action since then. But finally, he feels, he’s going to have a real fight on his hands on Saturday.”South American isn’t he? They’re as fiery and as game as they come. But that’s what you…

Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo, 23, admitted he was lef stunned after Novak Djokovic approached him and congratulated him on his run at the Argentina Open in Buenos Aires. In the February of 2021, Cerundolo reached his first ATP final as a qualifier in Buenos Aires. Two months later, Cerundolo went to Belgrade for the Serbia Open, which was highlighted by the appearance of Djokovic. “I had just made the final here in Buenos Aires and went to Belgrade to play the qualies. Djokovic came to me, to say hello to me.I was ranked 110 or 120, and Djokovic came to me,…

As the Nashville Predators arrived for Training Camp ahead of the 2021-22 campaign, many looked to several promising young skaters as the key to a successful season.Few probably predicted the impact from 19-year-old Mississauga, Ontario native Philip Tomasino.In his first NHL season, Tomasino notched 32 points (11g-21a) in 76 games – a noteworthy contribution from any skater, much less the youngest on the Predators roster.”He stuck his nose in there and quietly had 30 points,” Assistant Coach Dan Hinote said. “I kept waiting for the games to get too big for him, or the intimidation factor to settle in or…

This is a Lamar Jackson story, but it’s not about his contract.No, this time around, it’s about Jackson’s arm — specifically, it’s about potential improvements Jackson has made coming into training camp. His offensive coordinator, Greg Roman, believes it could open the door to a whole new world for Baltimore.”I think it’s the best I’ve ever seen him throw it thus far,” Roman said Friday. “What are we, three days in? And he’s probably throwing it better than I’ve ever seen him throw it. He’s really worked hard in the offseason and it’s showing. So we’ve just got to build…

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo!, the Orlando Magic are signing former Oklahoma City Thunder player Zavier Simpson.   Haynes: “Free agent guard Zavier Simpson has reached an agreement with the Orlando Magic, his agent Daniel Hazan of @hazansportsmgmt tells @YahooSports.”Simpson was a star at Michigan for four seasons, and he went undrafted in the 2020 NBA Draft. He originally joined a team in Germany, but left the team before the season. After that, he signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 2020, but was waived shortly after.In 2021, he played in NBA Summer League for the Lakers. This past season, he played in four games for…

CHASE BRISCOE, No. 14 HighPoint.com Ford Mustang — WHAT’S IT LIKE COMING BACK HERE TO INDIANA?  MAYBE GET SOME REVENGE FROM LAST YEAR?  “Yeah, hopefully.  It’s nice to be home.  Every other weekend I feel like I’ve got to get my GPS out just to figure out where I’m going, but this place I obviously know where I’m going.  It’s nice to be home.  I’ve got a lot of family here and a lot of friends here this weekend, so it was definitely close last year.  Hopefully, we can seal the deal this year.  I’m just excited to be home. …