Show notes
MLB – Major League Baseball Yesterday Chicago Cubs 6, Washington Nationals 3 White Sox and Tigers were off Cubs 6, Nationals 3 – Thompson, Velázquez, Morel power Cubs past Nationals 6-3 Keegan Thompson pitched six effective innings, rookies Nelson Velázquez and Christopher Morel homered in the third inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Washington Nationals 6-3. Thompson (9-5) didn’t walk a batter for the second time in three starts while scattering five hits over six innings. Luke Voit hit a homer off Thompson with one out in the sixth to end Thompson’s shutout bid. Velázquez’s homer highlighted the first three-hit game of his career. Anibal Sanchez (0-5) took the loss. The Cubs won for the third time in four games. The Nationals dropped their sixth straight game and have been outscored 51-20 in that span. Today Chicago White Sox (Lynn 2-4) at Kansas City (TBD), 4:10 p.m. – Game 1 Chicago White Sox (TBD) at Kansas City (TBD), 7:40 p.m. – Game 2 Cleveland (Bieber 6-6) at Detroit (Alexander 2-5), 7:10 p.m. WSJM/WCSY 6:50 Washington (Espino 0-4) at Chicago Cubs (Stroman 3-5), 8:05 p.m. MLB – Cubs to cut OF Jason Heyward after the season The Chicago Cubs will cut ties with right fielder Jason Heyward after this season, ending one of baseball’s most expensive and unproductive free-agent signings with a year left on his contract. Heyward, who turns 33 on Tuesday, signed an eight-year, $184 million contract before the 2016 season but has batted only .245 with 62 home runs in seven seasons with the Cubs. He is batting .204 with one home run and 10 RBIs in 137 at-bats this year and has been on the 10-day injured list since June 27 because of right knee inflammation. Heyward was a regular on the 2016 Cubs team that won the World Series and famously rallied teammates with an inspirational pep talk during a rain delay late in Game 7 at Cleveland. WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association Tonight Seattle Storm at Chicago Sky, 8:00 p.m. NFL – Lions lose 4th player to retirement this summer Detroit Lions rookie offensive tackle Zein Obeid has retired, the fourth player to end his career with the team in two months. Lions coach Dan Campbell said Monday that Kendall Lamm was signed to fill Obeid’s roster spot. Obeid, who played at Ferris State, was an undrafted rookie as were recent retirees Jermaine Waller, a defensive back from Virginia Tech, and Corey Sutton, a former Appalachian State receiver. Defensive tackle John Penisini retired in late July after starting 12 games as a sixth-round pick in 2020 and playing in 16 games as a reserve last year. NFL – NFL: Rodgers’ use of ayahuasca didn’t violate drug policy Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers’ use of the hallucinogenic drink ayahuasca during an offseason retreat isn’t considered a violation of the NFL’s drug policy. Rodgers discussed on “The Aubrey Marcus Podcast” last week how he went on an ayahuasca retreat to Peru in 2020. Ayahuasca is defined as a psychoactive beverage native to South America and is often used for religious, ritualistic or medicinal purposes. NFL spokesman Brian McCarthy says it wouldn’t have triggered a positive test result on either the substance abuse or performance-enhancing substance policies collectively bargained by the NFL and its players’ association. NBA – AP source: Durant reiterates desire to be traded by Brooklyn Kevin Durant has again told Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai that he wants to be traded. He’s reiterating a request he first made nearly six weeks ago. That’s according to a person with knowledge of the matter who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity on Monday night. That person says Durant also told Tsai that he has concerns about the Nets’ direction under coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks. The Athletic first reported the details of the latest meeting between Tsai and Durant. Tsai tweeted Monday night that he supports the team’s front office and coaching staff. Golf – PGA/LIV – PGA Tour says players knew consequences of joining LIV Golf The PGA Tour is asking a federal judge not to allow three suspended players from LIV Golf to take part in the FedEx Cup playoffs, the tour’s lucrative postseason. Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford are seeking a temporary restraining order in federal court in California. A hearing is set for Tuesday. The first FedEx Cup playoff event starts Thursday in Tennessee. The tour says in an opposition filing that the LIV players knew they were ineligible for the postseason two months ago and are just now filing for an emergency stay. Tennis – Serena Williams earns first win of season in Toronto Serena Williams earned her first win in more than a year by beating Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-3, 6-4 at the women’s National Bank Open. It’s just the second tournament of the season for the 40-year-old Williams, who returned to competition at Wimbledon just over a month ago. The 23-time Grand Slam champion fell in the first round to Harmony Tan in three sets at the All England Club. Before then, she last competed at the 2021 Wimbledon tournament, where she retired in the middle of her first match due to a torn hamstring. It was Williams’ first victory since the 2021 French Open. Tennis – Russian tennis players collect 3 titles at US Open tuneups It’s been quite a week for Russia’s professional tennis players. There were four WTA and ATP tournaments — and Russians earned three of those titles. One of them, Liudmila Samsonova, thinks it might not be merely a coincidence that this recent run of success for her, Daria Kasatkina and Daniil Medvedev comes shortly after they were banned from competing at Wimbledon because of their country’s invasion of, and ongoing war in, Ukraine. Samsonova beat Estonia’s Kaia Kanepi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the Citi Open in Washington on Sunday. That came a day after Medvedev won the championship at Los Cabos, Mexico, and several hours before Kasatkina won a title in California. All three are hard-court tuneups for the U.S. Open. NCAAFB – Oklahoma’s Gundy out after saying ‘racially charged’ word A day after Oklahoma assistant head football coach Cale Gundy announced his resignation, the school said Gundy uttered what it called a racially charged word multiple times during a film session last week. Gundy had been with the program as an assistant since 1999. He announced his resignation Sunday in a social media post, and the school confirmed it with a statement shortly thereafter. Oklahoma sent out another statement on Monday giving more details about the incident. NCAAFB – Bama gets top spot in preseason coaches’ poll Alabama is No. 1 in the preseason USA Today coaches’ poll, with Ohio State second and defending national champion Georgia third. The Associated Press preseason Top 25 will be released Aug. 15. The Crimson Tide received 54 first-place votes from a panel of 66 major college football coaches. The Buckeyes received five first-place votes and the Bulldogs got six. No. 18 Texas also received a first-place vote. NCAABKB – Equal pay for officials at men’s and women’s tournaments The NCAA earned praise last year when it agreed to pay referees at its men’s and women’s basketball tournaments equally. The gesture only cost about $100,000, a tiny fraction of the roughly $900 million networks pay annually to broadcast March Madness. Now, as the NCAA examines various disparities across men’s and women’s sports, pressure is rising to also pay referees equally during the regular season. Two Division I conferences told The Associated Press they plan to equalize pay, and another is considering it. Others are resisting change, even though the impact on their budgets would be negligible. MILB – Midwest League Baseball Last Night No games last night Tonight Peoria Chiefs at Great Lakes Loons, 7:05 p.m. Lansing Lugnuts at Dayton Dragons, 7:05 p.m. West Michigan Whitecaps at Beloit Sky Carp, 7:35 p.m. South Bend Cubs at Wisconsin Timber Rattlers, 7:40 p.m.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.