Update on the latest sports
APMLB-SCHEDULE
Skidding Orioles face Ohtani
UNDATED (AP) — Shohei Ohtani (SHOH’-hay oh-TAH’-nee) has won four straight pitching starts for the Los Angeles Angels and is 7-0 on the mound since his last loss May 28. The woeful Orioles have dropped 19 consecutive games.
On paper, their matchup Wednesday night in Baltimore could not be more lopsided.
Ohtani, the Angels’ two-way superstar, is coming off his best mound start of the season, an eight-inning, 90-pitch gem at Detroit last Wednesday. He also leads the majors with 40 home runs.
Baltimore has the longest losing streak in the majors since Kansas City dropped 19 straight in 2005.
The Orioles have yielded at least eight runs 12 times during the skid and been outscored 163-55. Winless since Aug. 2, Baltimore is two losses short of matching the franchise record for successive defeats, set in 1988, and is within striking distance of the modern-day record of 23 in a row, held by the 1961 Philadelphia Phillies.
The last major league team to lose 20 consecutive games was that 1988 Orioles squad that dropped 21 straight to begin the season.
In other highlights of Wednesday’s schedule:
— Houston Astros third baseman Alex Bregman is set to come off the injured list for the American League West leaders when they host Kansas City. Bregman has been out with a left quadriceps strain. He worked out yesterday at Minute Maid Park after playing a rehab game Monday night for Triple-A Sugar Land. Royals left-hander Mike Minor faces Lance McCullers Jr. in the series finale.
— Edward Cabrera makes his major league debut for Miami tonight against Washington rookie Josiah Gray in a matchup between two of baseball’s top pitching prospects. The 23-year-old Cabrera is 3-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 13 starts at three minor league levels this year. He was sidelined early in the season by a biceps injury. The right-hander is 19-25 with a 3.54 ERA in five seasons in the minors with 361 strikeouts in 341 innings. Gray, who is also 23, is set to make his sixth career start and seventh appearance. He is still looking for his first major league win after going 0-1 with a 2.86 ERA in four starts since being acquired by the Nationals from the Dodgers in the blockbuster deal that sent Max Scherzer and Trea Turner to Los Angeles at the July 30 trade deadline.
NFL-NEWS
Only vaccinated personnel in locker rooms on NFL game days
UNDATED (AP) — The NFL is mandating that only fully vaccinated personnel, with a maximum of 50 people, will have access to locker rooms while players are present on game days.
In a memo sent to the 32 teams and obtained by The Associated Press, the policy becomes effective immediately. The personnel covered by the policy includes coaches, athletic trainers, equipment staffers, one general manager, one team security representative, three club communications media workers and one clubhouse support staffer.
Players are not required to be vaccinated against COVID-19, but the NFL has reported that more than 90% of them are.
Teams conclude the three-game preseason this weekend. The regular season begins Sept. 9 with Super Bowl champion Tampa Bay hosting Dallas. The first full slate of games is Sept. 12.
In other NFL news:
— The Los Angeles Rams have acquired running back Sony Michel from the New England Patriots for undisclosed 2022 draft picks. Michel brings some help to a Rams offense that was running low on healthy options with the regular season fast approaching. He was drafted by the Patriots in the first round in 2018 and entered the preseason at a pivotal point of his injury-plagued career. New England declined to pick up his fifth-year option in May. That cleared the way for him to become a free agent at the conclusion of the season.
— Veteran tight end Kyle Rudolph is finally getting on the field with the New York Giants. The Giants have announced that Rudolph has passed his physical and was taken off the physically unable to perform/active list. He will practice on a limited basis this week. Rudolph had offseason foot surgery and had been unable to practice since training camp started. One of the team’s biggest acquisitions in free agency, it is uncertain whether the former Minnesota Viking will be ready for the season opener on Sept. 12 at home against Denver.
— The Buffalo Bills have signed receiver Steven Sims to address an injury- and coronavirus-depleted position. Sims spent his first two NFL seasons in Washington. He had 61 catches for 575 yards and scored seven touchdowns in 28 career games. Cole Beasley and Gabriel Davis must spend five days in self-quarantine after being placed on the COVID-19/Reserve list on Tuesday. Sims’ special teams experience is also considered valuable due to the uncertain status of Buffalo’s top two returners, Isaiah McKenzie and Marquez Stevenson. The Bills close their preseason schedule by hosting the Green Bay Packers on Saturday.
TENNIS-US OPEN-SERENA WILLIAMS OUT
Serena Williams pulls out of US Open, citing torn hamstring
UNDATED (AP) — Serena Williams has added herself to the list of big-name withdrawals from the U.S. Open. She pulled out of the year’s last Grand Slam tournament because of a torn hamstring.
Williams announced her decision in a social media post. She hasn’t competed since injuring her right leg during her first-round match at Wimbledon in late June.
The American joins Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal in sitting out the competition in Flushing Meadows. Williams owns 23 Grand Slam titles. The American turns 40 next month. The draw for the U.S. Open is Thursday. Play begins next Monday.
PARALYMPICS-FIRST MEDAL
1st Paralympic gold medal goes to Paige Greco of Australia
TOKYO (AP) — Australian cyclist Paige Greco earned the first gold medal of the Tokyo Paralympics, winning the 3,000-meter pursuit on Wednesday on the track at the velodrome.
It was the first of 24 gold medals up for grabs on Wednesday as the Paralympics got underway in the middle of a pandemic that has seen new cases in Tokyo soar since the Olympics opened just over a month ago. Medals were also contested in swimming and wheelchair fencing on Wednesday.
Greco was born with cerebral palsy, which mostly affects the right side of her body. It was her first Paralympic Games medal, winning her race in 3 minutes, 50.815 seconds.
