Sports Digest: Rumble Ponies stop Sea Dogs’ eight-game winning streak

BASEBALL

Despite home runs from Phillip Sikes and Tyler McDonough, the Portland Sea Dogs had their eight game winning streak snapped Sunday by a 7-3 loss to the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in Binghamton, New York.

Sikes homered for the second straight day – a two-run shot in the fourth inning – and McDonough hit a solo home run in the fifth, but the Sea Dogs were held to three hits.

Portland returns home for a series against the Somerset Patriots starting Tuesday. The Sea Dogs had a 5 1/2 game lead over the Patriots in the Eastern League’s Northeast Division pending Somerset’s game Sunday night.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR: The FireKeepers 400 was postponed until Monday because of rain that forced NASCAR officials to stop the Cup Series race after 51 of 200 laps at Michigan International Speedway.

The race was scheduled to resume at 11 a.m.

• Bowman Gray Stadium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, will host a NASCAR race in 2025 for the first time in more than a half-century, opening next season with The Clash exhibition race on Feb. 2

GOLF

LPGA: Lauren Coughlin pulled away with superb putting and closed with a 3-under 69 to win the Women’s Scottish Open and secure a spot on the U.S. Solheim Cup team.

Coughlin, who won the CPKC Women’s Open in Canada three weeks ago for her first LPGA Tour victory, recovered from a pair of early bogeys to move ahead of Megan Khang on the front nine and Esther Henseleit of Germany on the back nine at Dundonald Links.

The 31-year-old American finished at 15-under 273, four shots ahead of Olympic silver medalist Esther Henseleit of Germany (70).

LIV: Brooks Koepka picked up his second LIV Golf victory of the year when he shot 7-under 73 at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia, and beat Jon Rahm with a par on the first playoff hole.

Rahm closed with a 65. He birdied two of his last three holes to match Koepka at 19-under 191.

EUROPEAN TOUR: David Ravetto of France captured his first European Tour title when he closed with an 8-under 64 for a four-shot victory over Sweden’s Jesper Svensson in the Czech Masters.

Ravetto finished at 24-under 264.

CHAMPIONS TOUR: Ken Tanigawa won the Rogers Charity Classic in Calgary, Alberta, for his third PGA Tour Champions victory, closing with a 6-under 64 to beat Richard Green by two shots.

Tanigawa finished at 17-under 193. The victory was his first since the 2019 Senior PGA Championship.

U.S. AMATEUR: Jose Luis Ballester, a senior-to-be at Arizona State, became the first player from Spain to win the U.S. Amateur, fending off Iowa sophomore Noah Kent 2 up in the 36-hole final at Hazeltine in Chaska, Minnesota, on his 21st birthday.

BASKETBALL

NBA: Guerschon Yabusele agreed to a one-year, $2.1 million minimum salary contract with the Philadelphia 76ers after the 6-foot-8 power forward helped lead France to a silver medal at the Paris Olympics.

Yabusele, 28, played for the Boston Celtics during the 2017-18 and 2018-19 seasons, averaging 2.3 points and 1.4 rebounds and 6.6 minutes in 73 games.

WNBA: Kelsey Mitchell scored 27 points, Caitlin Clark added 23 points and nine assists, and Lexie Hull scored 12 of her career-high 22 points in the fourth quarter to help the Indiana Fever beat the visiting Seattle Storm, 92-75.

Clark broke the WNBA rookie record for assists in one season. She has 232 assists, passing the mark of 224 by Ticha Penicheiro in 1998.

• Tina Charles scored 22 points and grabbed 15 rebounds, Jordin Canada got 13 of her 19 points in the second half, and the Atlanta Dream beat the visiting Connecticut Sun, 82-70.

SOCCER

ENGLAND: Erling Haaland marked his 100th appearance for Manchester City by netting the first goal in a 2-0 win at Chelsea as City began its campaign for a fifth straight Premier League title.

It was Haaland’s 91st goal for City and took his tally to five goals in three league openers since joining the team in 2022.

CYCLING

WOMEN’S TOUR DE FRANCE: Polish rider Kasia Niewiadoma did just enough in a thrilling battle with rival Demi Vollering on the iconic Alpe d’Huez to win the women’s Tour de France by four seconds overall.

It was the smallest margin of victory in any Tour de France edition, including the men’s race.

Vollering, the defending champion, accelerated powerfully in the final stretch to win the stage, but her gap wasn’t quite enough to overtake Niewiadoma in the overall standings.

SPANISH VUELTA: Kaden Groves prevailed in the final sprint to win the second stage – a 194-kilometer ride from Cascais to Ourem in Portugal – and Wout van Aert finished second to take the overall leader’s red jersey.

Van Aert holds a three-second lead over American Brandon McNulty, the winner of Saturday’s first stage.

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