Update on the latest sports
APMLB-TWINS-GANT
Gant leaves early against Yankees
NEW YORK (AP) — Minnesota Twins pitcher John Gant lasted just 12 pitches against the New York Yankees, leaving the game with what appeared to be an injury.
A 29-year-old right-hander, Gant retired DJ LeMahieu and Brett Gardner on groundouts starting the bottom of the first and walked Aaron Judge on four pitches. Manager Rocco Baldelli and head athletic trainer Michael Salazar went to the mound, spoke briefly and Gant was removed.
Gant is 1-3 with a 3.76 ERA in five starts and seven relief appearances.
MLB-YANKEES-TORRES
Torres moved back to 2nd base
NEW YORK (AP) — Gleyber Torres is being moved back to second base from shortstop by the New York Yankees.
The 24-year-old Torres was primarily a second baseman during his first two seasons with the Yankees in 2018 and 2019. He filled in at shortstop when Didi Gregorius got hurt and was moved there for 2020 after Gregorius left as a free agent to sign with the Philadelphia Phillies.
Torres made nine errors last year and has 18 this season, the second most in the American League behind Toronto’s Bo Bichette. Torres had a pair of errors in a weekend series at the New York Mets.
NFL-LIONS-OKUDAH
Lions CB Okudah has season-ending Achilles tendon injury
DETROIT (AP) — Detroit Lions cornerback Jeff Okudah has a season-ending Achilles tendon injury. The team made the announcement Monday.
Okudah was hurt in the fourth quarter Sunday as the San Francisco 49ers held on to win 41-33 against the Lions.
Detroit drafted the Ohio State star with the No. 3 overall pick last year and injuries limited him to nine games as a rookie. Okudah appeared to make improvements during training camp, but he had a rough game in Week 1.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
— Browns starting left tackle Jedrick Wills Jr. may have avoided a serious ankle injury in Sunday’s loss at Kansas City. Wills was carted off the field after he got hurt while blocking on wide receiver Jarvis Landry’s 5-yard touchdown run in the first quarter. The 10th overall pick in the 2020 draft did not return and was replaced by versatile veteran backup Chris Hubbard. Browns coach Kevin Stefanski did not provide a specific timeline on Wills’ return, but said he’s day to day.
NHL-BLUE JACKETS COACH
Blue Jackets drop assistant coach who won’t get vaccinated
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — The Columbus Blue Jackets say the team has replaced an assistant coach who declined to get a COVID-19 vaccination.
Sylvain Lefebvre was replaced on coach Brad Larsen’s staff by Steve McCarthy. A team statement says, “Lefebvre has decided not to receive a COVID-19 vaccine and thus will not be able to perform the duties required of him given current NHL protocols.” NHL coaches and other team staff who closely interact with players are required to be fully vaccinated.
Blue Jackets general manager Jarmo Kekalainen says the team respects Lefebvre’s decision and wishes him well. His replacement, McCarthy, has been an assistant with the AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, for the past five seasons.
GOLF-PGA TOUR-ROOKIE AWARD
Zalatoris wins PGA Tour award as rookie of the year
PONTE VEDRA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Will Zalatoris is the PGA Tour rookie of the year. Zalatoris was on the ballot with Garrick Higgo of South Africa.
Zalatoris is the first player in 20 years to win the rookie award without being a full PGA Tour member. The 25-year-old from Dallas had special temporary membership all year because he did everything but win. His break came when the U.S. Open was moved to September and became part of the 2020-21 season. Zalatoris tied for sixth. That helped him get special temporary membership and he took it from there.
His eight top-10 finishes included a runner-up at the Masters.
TENNIS-MEDVEDEV-RUSSIA
Putin hails Medvedev’s win over Djokovic in US Open final
MOSCOW (AP) — Daniil Medvedev (DAN’-ihl MEHD’-veh-dehv) has received congratulations from the Kremlin after ending Russia’s 16-year wait for a men’s Grand Slam title with victory over Novak Djokovic (NOH’-vak JOH’-kuh-vich) at the U.S. Open.
President Vladimir Putin hailed a “brilliant victory” in an official message of congratulations. Putin says the win shows “how real champions play.”
The last Russian to win a tennis major was Maria Sharapova in 2014. The last Russian man to achieve the feat was Marat Safin in 2005. Medvedev tells Russian TV he wants to tennis to continue to improve in his home country.
TENNIS-RANKINGS
Raducanu’s US Open title moves her up 127 spots to No. 23
NEW YORK (AP) — Emma Raducanu’s (ra-doo-KA’-nooz) qualifier-to-champion run at the U.S. Open has vaulted her 127 spots in the WTA rankings to a career-high No. 23.
The 18-year-old from Britain began the year ranked 345th, rose to 179th in July by reaching Wimbledon’s fourth round in her Grand Slam debut and arrived at Flushing Meadows at 150th. Then Raducanu won all 20 sets she played across 10 victories in qualifying and the main draw to become the youngest woman to win a major championship since Maria Sharapova was 17 at Wimbledon in 2004.
U.S. Open runner-up Leylah Fernandez of Canada also made a big jump in Monday’s rankings, from 73rd to a career-best 28th.
SPORTS-BETTING-TECH
Tech verifications show big jump in bets as football begins
ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. (AP) — A company that most of the legal U.S. sports betting industry uses to verify that its customers are where they say they are reports a record number of transactions over the first weekend of the NFL season. That indicates a big increase in the level of online betting as football season got under way in a nation with many more places to bet.
GeoComply Solutions, the Vancouver, Canada-based tech company, recorded over 58 million geolocation transactions across 18 states and Washington, D.C. from Thursday night, when the NFL season began, through Sunday evening. That represents a 126% increase from the same period of the 2020 NFL season.
