AP National Sports

LONDON (AP) — Chelsea ownership group BlueCo has agreed to buy a stake in French top-tier club Strasbourg in a significant step forward in its plans for multi-club ownership. The consortium, which purchased the Premier League club in May last year, are to become new shareholders “subject to a consultation process with the relevant employee

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writer The rules have changed since Bob Melvin and Bruce Bochy were big league catchers when big collisions with runners trying to score were just part of the game. The rules are intended to protect catchers. But runners are now sometimes safe even after being tagged out and without any

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay Rays ace Shane McClanahan left Thursday night against the Kansas City Royals because of mid-back tightness. Soon after reliever Kevin Kelly started warming up in the bullpen, Tampa Bay manager Kevin Cash and a trainer went to the mound with two outs in the fourth and the game

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer Chris Paul’s pursuit of an NBA championship is taking him to the Golden State Warriors, after they agreed to the framework of a trade Thursday that will send Jordan Poole to the Washington Wizards, according to a person with knowledge of the matter. The trade also includes a package

NEW YORK (AP) — The New York Liberty will host the Minnesota Lynx on July 28 as a make-up game for the one that was postponed by smoke from the Canada wildfires that blanketed the area earlier this month. The game was originally scheduled to be played on June 7, but was called off a

By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge is getting closer to resuming baseball activities, and Giancarlo Stanton is moving back into the outfield on occasion for the New York Yankees. On the same day Willie Calhoun became the latest Yankees outfielder to land on the injured list, the slumping Stanton

By PAT GRAHAM AP Sports Writer Deion Sanders is scheduled to undergo surgery Friday for a blood clot in each leg, the University of Colorado football coach revealed in a video he posted. The news of Coach Prime’s impending procedure began to spread after Pat McAfee discussed on his podcast with longtime NFL defensive back

By STEPHEN WHYNO AP Hockey Writer NHL teams won’t have players wear themed jerseys during pregame warmups next season. That decision was made after the league’s Board of Governors agreed with Commissioner Gary Bettman that a handful of players refusing to wear Pride jerseys distracted from teams’ efforts. Seven players citing various reasons declined to

NEW YORK (AP) — Keyontae Johnson fought for his chance. Oklahoma City is giving him one. Johnson was taken in the second round of Thursday’s NBA draft, going to the Thunder with the 50th overall pick. That was one of the last of the draft; the final one was Chris Livingston, going to Milwaukee. Johnson

By BEN ROSS Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — Manny Machado and Gary Sánchez hit three-run homers and the San Diego Padres beat San Francisco 10-0 to end the Giants’ 10-game winning streak. Blake Snell won his third straight decision, striking out 11 and allowing three singles in six innings as the Padres avoided getting

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — The game between No. 1 national seed Wake Forest and No. 5 LSU to determine a spot in the College World Series finals will feature a matchup of pitchers projected to be taken early in the first round of next month’s amateur draft. LSU’s Paul Skenes is 13-2 and the No.

By DAVE SKRETTA AP Sports Writer Cyclist Chloe Dygert continued her remarkable return from a devastating injury by winning her second U.S. time trial title on Thursday near Knoxville, Tennessee, while Brandon McNulty won the men’s event. Dygert has come back from numerous injuries and illnesses to regain her form as one of the best

NEW YORK (AP) — Two-way star Shohei Ohtani of the Los Angeles Angels and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuña Jr. were elected Thursday to start in the July 11 All-Star Game at Seattle’s Safeco Field. Ohtani led the AL with 2,646,307 votes and make his third straight All-Star start at designated hitter. He also was

KUTAISI, Georgia (AP) — German soccer player Youssoufa Moukoko has condemned online racist abuse directed at him and teammate Jessic Ngankam as they played at the European Under-21 Championships. The 18-year-old Moukoko and 22-year-old Ngankam, who are both Black, each missed penalties in Germany’s opening 1-1 draw with Israel on Thursday at the tournament in

By MICHAEL MAROT AP Sports Writer INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Two Buffalo Bills trainers say they stuck to their pre-planned treatment when Damar Hamlin suffered cardiac arrest during an NFL game in January. Now they’re encouraging schools and youth leagues to also make their own potentially life-saving plans. Nate Breske and Denny Kellington described their experience

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) — The New Jersey Devils have added former Vancouver Canucks coach Travis Green to Lindy Ruff’s staff. General manager Tom Fitzgerald announced the move on Thursday, filling the spot that opened when Andrew Brunette was hired as the head coach of the Nashville Predators. Green had a 133-147-34 record with the Canucks

HALLE, Germany (AP) — Andrey Rublev and Jannik Sinner have reached the quarterfinals of the Halle Open as defending champion Hubert Hurkacz was eliminated after a dramatic final-set tiebreaker. Rublev won his second-round match with German wild card Yannick Hanfmann 7-6 (6), 6-3 after turning around a 5-3 deficit in the first-set tiebreaker. He goes

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. (AP) — Tampa Bay shortstop Wander Franco has been benched and will not play in Thursday and Friday’s games at least by Rays manager Kevin Cash for the way he has handled frustrating situations this year. Cash said there’s been probably multiple times that the way he has handled his frustrations have