Monday Sports Briefs
BASEBALL
CLEVELAND (AP) — Mets rookie Pete Alonso has a million-dollar swing.
New York’s newest slugger outlasted a worn-down Vladimir Guerrero Jr. in the final round of the All-Star Home Run Derby on Monday night to win $1 million — nearly double his 2019 salary.
Alonso somehow had enough to edge Guerrero, who hit 91 homers but ran out of gas in the last round following an epic semifinal matchup against Dodgers outfielder Joc Pederson.
Needing 23 homers to beat Guerrero, Alonso connected for a homer to left-center before flipping his bat high into the air and hugging his pitcher, cousin Derek Morgan. Alonso was then swarmed by the NL All-Stars who were treated to a power display unlike any in the event’s history.
Alonso is the second rookie to win, following Aaron Judge in 2017. He’s also the first Mets player to win the derby outright. Darryl Strawberry shared the title with Wally Joyner in 1986.
TENNIS
WIMBLEDON, England (AP) —Coco Gauff’s Wimbledon run is over.
The 15-year-old American lost to former No. 1 Simona Halep 6-3, 6-3 in the fourth round.
Halep broke Gauff five times and took advantage of 29 unforced errors. Gauff saved two match points when serving at 5-2 but Halep clinched the win when the teenager sent a forehand wide in the next game.
Gauff was playing in her first Grand Slam tournament after becoming the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon’s main draw in the professional era and knocked out five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round.
Halep reached the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the fourth time and will next face Zhang Shuai of China.
BASKETBALL
DALLAS (AP) — The Dallas Mavericks have finalized a deal to acquire guard Delon Wright from Memphis in a sign-and-trade agreement for the restricted free agent.
The Grizzlies get two second-round draft picks and the rights to Satnam Singh in the deal announced Monday. Four years ago, the Mavericks made Singh the first player born in India to be drafted when they took him late in the second round.
The Mavericks and Wright have agreed on a $29 million, three-year contract as part of the trade. Dallas acquired Wright after losing out on free-agent target Danny Green, who chose the Los Angeles Lakers.
DENVER (AP) — Jerami Grant gives Denver another power forward who can do a little bit of everything.
The Oklahoma City Thunder obtained yet another first-round pick, which allows them to do a little bit of anything.
The Nuggets bolstered their front court by acquiring the 25-year-old Grant from the Thunder on Monday for a 2020 first-round pick. ESPN first reported the deal.
It’s an additional first-round selection for the Thunder, who are in line for at least four more assuming the blockbuster deal that sends Paul George to the Los Angeles Clippers goes through. It would also give Oklahoma City the rights to as many as 13 first-round picks over the next seven drafts.
HORSE RACING
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Breeders’ Cup will increase the number of veterinarians on site during its world championships this fall at Santa Anita, where 30 horses died during the racing meet that recently concluded.
That’s according to Craig Fravel, president and chief executive of the Breeders’ Cup. He says reaction to the board of directors’ decision to keep the two-day event at the historic Southern California track has been “very supportive.”
Santa Anita will host for a record 10th time on Nov. 1-2.
Fravel says that besides the 14 vets on-site during Breeders’ Cup week, there will be 20 on hand during the two days of racing.
The event will be run under the house rules adopted by track owner The Stronach Group to improve safety. Those include a reduction in the use of race-day Lasix, an anti-bleeding medication.
SPORTS TELEVISION
NEW YORK (AP) — The United States’ 2-0 victory over the Netherlands in Sunday’s FIFA Women’s World Cup final averaged nearly 15.6 million U.S. viewers on English- and Spanish-language television.
It was the most-viewed match this season, but a decrease from the 2015 final.
The match averaged 14.27 million viewers on Fox, according to the network and Nielsen, and peaked at 19.6 million. It was a 22 percent increase over last year’s FIFA World Cup men’s final between France and Croatia, which averaged 11.44 million.
The audience was down 43.8 percent from the 2015 final between the U.S. and Japan, which averaged 25.4 million viewers.
ICE DANCING
MOSCOW (AP) — Russian ice dancer Ekaterina Bobrova, twice an Olympic medalist in the team event, has retired aged 29 shortly after giving birth to her first child.
A six-time European medalist in ice dance with partner Dmitry Soloviev, Bobrova helped the Russian figure skating team to gold at the 2014 Olympics and silver last year in Pyeongchang.
On Instagram, Bobrova says she’s retiring “with no regrets and happiness in my heart,” and that she plans to keep skating with Soloviev in ice shows.
Bobrova hasn’t competed since last year’s Olympics and became a mother in April with her husband Andrei Deputat, a former pairs skater for Russia.
COURTS
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Sacramento Kings coach Luke Walton says sexual assault allegations against him are not backed up by facts and are designed to attract media attention.
Walton made his comments in a court brief filed Wednesday in response to a lawsuit by former sportscaster Kelli Tennant. The lawsuit is filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, and the Sacramento Kings and the NBA are jointly investigating the accusations.
Walton’s court filing claims Tennant filed a lawsuit nearly five years after the alleged assault, which the brief calls a “pleasant encounter,” after she quit two jobs and needed money.
Tennant has said Walton attacked her in 2014 when he was an assistant coach for the Golden State Warriors, but she was too afraid to file charges though she did confide in others at the time.
