Juan Soto scored on his San Diego Padres debut to rapturous applause as his new side won 9-1 over the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday.
Reigning Home Run Derby winner Soto, who sealed a Deadline Day trade from the Washington Nationals on Tuesday, was given a raucous applause upon his first at-bat by the Petco Park faithful.
Soto's first at-bat ended with a four-pitch walk, before hitting home plate when Jake Cronenworth was walked after being struck by Chad Kuhl's pitch.
However it was another new addition, Brandon Drury, who stole the show with a first-inning grand slam to open up a 5-0 lead with his 21st home run of the season.
Manny Machado and Cronenworth both hit home runs in the fifth inning, while Soto finished with two walks from his two at-bats, with the one run.
Cole aced by Mariners and Castillo
Gerrit Cole allowed six runs in the first inning as his poor form since the All-Star Game continued in the New York Yankees' 7-3 loss to the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.
Cole was on the mound for the first inning, with blasts from Eugenio Suarez, Carlos Santana and Jarred Kelenic opening up a 6-0 lead. The last time Seattle hit three homers in the first inning of a game was in May 2002.
The six runs were the most allowed in any inning of the career of Cole, who became the second pitcher in the modern era to allow three homers in the first inning of a game multiple times in the same season. He has given up five or more earned runs in consecutive outings for the first time since 2017 and has an ERA of 7.00 in three starts since the All-Star Game, having gone at 3.02 prior to that.
Luis Castillo, in his first start for the Mariners, put on a clinic with eight strikeouts, allowing five hits across six-and-two-third innings.
Vogelbach grand slam in Mets triumph
Daniel Vogelbach hit a grand slam as the New York Mets knocked off the Washington Nationals 9-5 to improve their record to 66-38.
Pete Alonso blasted his 28th home run of the season in the second inning, which was also the 21st of his career against the Nats, which is the most of any opponent he has faced.
Vogelbach's moment came in the fifth inning with the Mets 2-0 up and bases loaded, hitting high deep down the right field line.
Second and third seeds Paula Badosa and Ons Jabeur eased into the Silicon Valley Classic quarter-finals on Wednesday, while Simona Halep and Jessica Pegula were bundled out of the Citi Open.
Last month's Wimbledon finalist Jabeur proved too good for American Madison Keys 7-5 6-1, winning in one hour and 22 minutes.
Jabeur, playing for the first time since Wimbledon, converted six of nine break points for the match, dominating the second set where she won 90.9 per cent first serve points.
Second seed Badosa survived a scare to win over qualifier Elizabeth Mandlik 6-2 5-7 7-6 (7-5) in two hours and 31 minutes.
Eighth seed Karolina Pliskova was knocked out by American Amanda Anisimova 3-6 7-5 6-1, while last year's runner-up Daria Kasatkina beat Taylor Townsend 6-4 6-0.
Two-time major winner Halep was forced to retire due to illness and top seed Jessica Pegula was bundled out by Daria Saville at the Citi Open.
In warm conditions, the 30-year-old Romanian battled throughout the match but eventually retired down 7-5 2-0 to Anna Kalinskaya after one hour and six minutes.
Halep had fought back from a 4-0 deficit in the first set to square it up at 5-5, before losing the first set.
However, the former world number one succumbed to illness early in the second set, handing Kalinskaya her passage into the quarter-finals.
On a dramatic day for the Citi Open favourites, world number seven Pegula was eliminated by Saville in straight sets in one hour and 38 minutes, 7-5 6-4.
Pegula was not helped by a first-serve percentage of 44.8 per cent, while she struggled to convert break points, with the Australian saving nine of 10 for the match.
Saville's win means she is 3-3 against top 20 opponents this year, progressing into the last eight where she will face Canadian qualifier Rebecca Marino.
Marino, who beat Venus Williams in her return to singles in the first round on Monday, knocked off Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-3 3-6 6-1.
Estonian sixth seed Kaia Kanepi progressed into the quarters where she will face Kalinskaya after beating China's Zhu Lin 4-6 6-4 6-4.
Second seed Hubert Hurkacz was a shock second-round casualty from the Citi Open on Wednesday after a straight-sets defeat to Emil Ruusuvuori.
World number 46 Ruusuvuori triumphed 6-4 7-6 (7-3) in one hour and 43 minutes to book a quarter-final spot.
Hurkacz, who is ranked 11th in the world and reached last year's Wimbledon semi-finals, fought hard but failed to capitalise on four break points throughout the match.
"He had an early break point, but then I was able to keep that service game and give myself a chance to break him and I was able to use it and then just try to keep my own serve," Ruusuvuori said.
"I just tried to hang in there and tried to stay as tough as [I] can."
Wimbledon runner-up Nick Kyrgios defeated 14th seed Tommy Paul 6-3 6-4 in one hour and 25 minutes.
The Australian hit 29-21 winners, with the majority coming from his serve and forehand, sending down 15 aces, winning 84 per cent on his first serve.
Kyrgios, who broke Paul in his opening service game, converted three of four break points for the match, while the American failed to capitalise on any of his four.
Sixth seed Denis Shapovalov was bundled out in the second round by American wildcard J.J. Wolf 6-2 6-7 (5-7) 6-3 in a major upset.
Third seed Taylor Fritz avoided an early exit with a 6-4 6-4 win over Australian Alexei Popyrin in one hour and 11 minutes, while fourth seed Reilly Opelka came from a set down to defeat Denis Kudla 6-7 (6-8) 6-4 6-4 in just over two hours. Opelka sent down 28 aces across the match.
Fifth seed Grigor Dimitrov got past Adrian Mannarino 6-1 3-6 7-5 and ninth seed Holger Rune brushed off Benoit Paire 6-3 6-2.
Francis Tiafoe defeated Christopher Eubanks 6-3 7-6 (7-2), while 13th seed Maxime Cressy fought back from an early deficit to get past Jack Sock 4-6 6-4 6-0 to set up a third-round clash with top seed Andrey Rublev.
There were defeats for 11th seed Alex de Minaur to Yoshihito Nishioka 3-6 7-6 (8-6) 6-2, 12th seed Sebastian Baez against Sebastian Korda 6-1 6-4 and 15th seed Aslan Karatsev against Andy Murray's first-round conqueror Mikael Ymer 6-4 3-6 6-4.
At the Los Cabos Open in Mexico, second seed Felix Auger-Aliassime had no troubles against local Juan Alejandro Hernandez Serrano, winning 6-3 7-5.
American sixth seed Brandon Nakashima also progressed into the quarter-finals with a 6-3 6-3 win over Max Purcell, while Miomir Kecmanovic beat Jordan Thompson 6-4 6-2.
All-Star outfielder Juan Soto has offered a dire warning to opposition pitchers following his trade to the San Diego Padres.
Soto along with first baseman Josh Bell moved to Petco Park from the Washington Nationals in a blockbuster trade on Tuesday which has strongly boosted the Padres' world champion credentials.
A two-time All-Star and World Series champion, the 23-year-old Soto is considered one of the best young players in baseball with 119 career home runs, 108 doubles, 358 RBIs, 399 runs and 464 walks in his first 565 games.
Soto and Bell were named in the Padres' starting line-up on Wednesday against the Colorado Rockies and could soon be joined by 2020 and 2021 Silver Slugger Fernando Tatis Jr who is due to return from a left wrist fracture this month.
Upon his unveiling on Wednesday alongside Bell, Soto told reporters: "It's going to be really tough to go through. I wish good luck to the other pitchers."
In the live-ball era, the only other players with 100+ homers, 100+ doubles, 350+ RBIs, 350+ runs and 450+ walks in the first 565 games are Hall of Famers Frank Thomas and Ted Williams.
As a 21-year-old in 2020, Soto became the youngest player in NL history to win a batting title with a .351 average.
Bell, who is batting .301 with 14 home runs and 57 RBIs in 103 games, added: "It's an exciting time. The time is now for the Padres, so let's get after it."
Soto is batting .246 with 21 home runs, 62 runs, 84 hits and 46 RBIs in 101 games this season.
The NFL has formally appealed the six-game suspension that was handed down to Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson by an independent arbiter earlier this week.
The league is seeking a harsher penalty for Watson, who had been facing 24 separate civil lawsuits filed by female massage therapists alleging sexual misconduct between 2020 and 2021 during his time with the Houston Texans.
"The NFL notified the NFLPA (NFL Players' Association) that it will appeal Judge [Sue L] Robinson's disciplinary decision and filed its brief this afternoon," the league announced in a statement on Wednesday. "Commissioner Roger Goodell will determine who will hear the appeal."
Judge Robinson, the appointed disciplinary officer for the case, confirmed in Monday's ruling that the NFL sought to have Watson suspended for the entire 2022 season, but stated that a longer ban would be inconsistent with previous punishments levied for players found in violation of the league's personal conduct policy.
"Although I have found Mr Watson to have violated the Policy, I have done so using the NFL's post-hoc definitions of the prohibited conduct at issue," Robinson wrote. "It is inherently unfair to identify conduct as prohibited only after the conduct has been committed, just as it is inherently unjust to change the penalties for such conduct after the fact.
"The NFL is a private organisation and can operate as it deems fit, but the post-hoc determination of what constitutes the prohibited conduct here cannot genuinely satisfy the 'fairness' prong of the standard of review or justify the imposition of the unprecedented sanction requested by the NFL."
Robinson did note in the ruling that she found Watson's behaviour to be egregious and unremorseful, and said that a sterner punishment would be justifiable had it been outlined in the personal conduct policy.
"While it may be entirely appropriate to more severely discipline players for non-violent sexual conduct, I do not believe it is appropriate to do so without notice of the extraordinary change this position portends for the NFL and its players," she wrote.
The Texans held Watson out of all of their 2021 games during a criminal investigation into the allegations, though he was paid his entire $10.54million salary. A grand jury ultimately dropped all criminal charges in March, and Watson's attorneys have since settled all but one of the 24 civil cases.
Houston traded the three-time Pro Bowler to Cleveland in March, and the Browns promptly signed Watson to a five-year, $230m extension that is entirely guaranteed.
According to the Associated Press, the NFL also requested Watson receive a minimum fine of $5m. Robinson did not issue any additional financial penalties beyond the $345,000 in salary Watson will forfeit over the course of the suspension.
The NFLPA announced prior to Robinson's ruling that it would abide by the decision regardless of the result.
PGA Tour commissioner Jay Monahan delivered a stern and scathing response to an antitrust lawsuit filed Wednesday by 11 suspended players currently competing in the Saudi-funded LIV Golf league.
The lawsuit, which includes Phil Mickelson and Bryson DeChambeau among the most prominent plaintiffs, was filed just over a week before the FedEx Cup’s first playoff event, the St Jude Championship.
Six LIV players part of the lawsuit – Taylor Gooch, Jason Kokrak, Matt Jones, Hudson Swafford, Abraham Ancer and Carlos Ortiz – would be eligible for the playoffs if not banned by the PGA for joining the rival league. Gooch, Jones and Swafford have additionally filed a temporary restraining order to allow them to compete in the St Jude tournament.
The next LIV event is not scheduled to begin until September 2 at The International outside of Boston.
"We have been preparing to protect our membership and contest this latest attempt to disrupt our Tour, and you should be confident in the legal merits of our position," said Monahan in a memo to PGA players.
"Fundamentally, these suspended players – who are now Saudi Golf League employees – have walked away from the Tour and now want back in. With the Saudi Golf League now on hiatus, they're trying to use lawyers to force their way into competition alongside our members in good standing.
"It's an attempt to use the Tour platform to promote themselves and freeride on your benefits and efforts. To allow re-entry into our events compromises the Tour and the competition, to the detriment of our organisation, our players, our partners and our fans.
"Let me be clear: we will continue to defend the members who abide by the regulations written by and for the players."
The suit, filed in San Francisco’s U.S. District Court, also contends that the PGA suspended Mickelson in March for recruiting Tour members to join the Saudi league. The six-time major winner was later denied reinstatement after participating in the inaugural LIV event near London in June.
The PGA has prohibited players competing in LIV events held the same week as a Tour-sponsored tournament without a release, and will not grant releases for LIV competitions held in North America.
LIV members, a list which also includes such top golfers as Dustin Johnson, Brooks Koepka, Sergio Garcia and Patrick Reed, remain eligible for The Masters, U.S. Open, Open Championship and PGA Championship, as the four majors are not run by the PGA.
Leclerc outlined his process when he costs himself in a race.
"I'm extremely tough with myself," he added. "So it is much more difficult to deal with my own errors than whenever it is the team, even though we are obviously one team and we lose and we win together.
"I'm always harsher whenever it's me who does the mistake, and obviously France was one of those which hurt quite a bit.
"But whenever I go through this tough time, I go through the same process as I was saying before, trying to analyse what was wrong. And it's mostly mentally.
"To speak about it seems quite easy, but it is not always easy to pinpoint exactly what was going on in your head at that moment. But I think this is a strength of mine and helps me to improve as a driver every time I make a mistake."
When asked about his aims for the rest of the season, Leclerc said: "To try and grow from the mistakes of the first half, but try and perform as well as the first half because the performance I've given, I'm extremely happy about. And this I want to keep.
"So there won't be any significant change. We just need to try and work as a team to put a weekend together for the nine remaining races and see where we end up."
Around this time a year ago, the pervasive narrative surrounding Tony Finau was that of a PGA Tour star who just couldn't find a way to close. Time and again, the Utah native would charge up weekend leaderboards only to come up short at the end.
"They say a winner is just a loser that just kept on trying, and that's me to a T," he said. "How many times do I lose?"
The answer? Well, let's put it this way: he hasn't been losing much these days.
After winning just once in his first 188 career starts, Finau now finds himself on the heels of back-to-back wins at the 3M Open and Rocket Mortgage Classic. Add in his breakthrough victory in last season's FedEx Cup opener, and the Salt Lake City resident has found the winner's circle three times in his last 25 starts.
Suffice to say, the narrative has changed.
"I put myself in situations to win before, haven't been able to do it, but I'm very optimistic," Finau said. "I've always been that way. I've always had hope and faith that things will turn out if I just keep working hard and putting myself there.
"I challenge myself every week to just push past what I feel like I'm capable of; by that I mean just my emotions, those hurdles that you face during a tournament. I proved to myself these last couple weeks that I've done that and won some golf tournaments. I'm proud of the way that I fought through adversity through my career and now I'm a back-to-back champion. That's what happens."
At the 3M Open, he erased a five-shot deficit with 11 holes to play after overnight leader Scott Piercy tripled the 14th hole. It was much smoother a week later, as the 32-year-old cruised to a five-shot triumph and a tournament record 26-under 262 total.
Finau hit a career-best 66 greens in regulation in that second victory, which also marked the third-most by a winner on the PGA Tour since 1980. Aaron Wise and Hale Irwin matched that feat at the 2018 Byron Nelson and 1981 Sony Open, respectively, while Peter Jacobsen holds the record with 69 greens in regulation at the 1995 Pebble Beach Pro-Am. Willie Wood hit 67 greens en route to the 1996 Sanderson Farms Championship.
His precision netted Finau a plus-4.65 stroke differential from the field average, his highest difference during an event on the PGA Tour. It barely edged out the career-best he set just a week prior at the 3M Open (plus-4.37) and safely beat his next-best marks of plus-3.70 (2021 St. Jude Championship) and plus-2.73, set at the 2016 Puerto Rico Open, site of his first Tour victory.
Xander does it, too
But Finau wasn't the only player making significant moves in July. Though his triumphs didn't come in consecutive weeks, Xander Schauffele also managed to find the winner's circle in back-to-back appearances.
After winning the Travelers Championship in late June, the former gold medallist travelled across the pond and did it all over again in his next start at the Scottish Open. He became the third player to pick up at least three wins this season (Scottie Scheffler and Sam Burns are the others) and is one of three players to win this year in consecutive starts (Scheffler and Finau).
But how Schauffele did it may be the most impressive aspect. The San Diego native trailed by a whopping 11 strokes after the opening round, marking the largest 18-hole deficit overcome by a PGA Tour winner in a four-round event in the last 39 years. Seven other players rallied from 10-shot deficits – most recently Webb Simpson at the 2020 Phoenix Open – but no one overcame the odds that Schauffele did.
"Overall, I'm playing some of the best golf of my life and capitalising on playing really well," Schauffele said. "There's a lot of times [when] professionals play very well but don't get everything out of it, and I feel like I've been successful in getting the most out of my game."
Together, Schauffele and Finau became the fifth and six players to win back-to-back tournaments on Tour since the start of the 2016-17 season, joining Patrick Cantlay, Brendon Todd, Bryson DeChambeau and Justin Thomas.
Cam double-dips
Being able to call yourself The Players champion is one of the most prestigious honuors in golf. The biggest names in the sport have all done it, from Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods to Rory McIlroy.
But add in a victory at The Open Championship and you're in unprecedented territory.
That's exactly what Australian Cameron Smith did in July at golf's oldest championship, edging out McIlroy at St Andrews to win the Claret Jug. He became just the second player in history to win The Players and Open Championship in the same year, joining none other than Nicklaus. He, too, also won his major at the historic St Andrews after winning The Players earlier in 1978.
It wasn't Smith's only achievement that week. No winner had ever closed with a 64 at St Andrews before he did it, while his finishing score of 20-under 268 set a new Old Course record. It tied the lowest score to par in major championship history – Henrik Stenson shot 20 under at Royal Troon in 2016 – and his back-nine 30 was the lowest ever by an Open Championship winner.
"I got beaten by the better player this week," McIlroy said. "To go out and shoot 64 to win The Open Championship at St Andrews is a hell of a showing. Hats off to Cam."
Smith is the first Australian to win the Claret Jug since 1993 and the first to do it at St Andrews since Kel Nagle staved off Arnold Palmer in 1960.
"Those guys are great players. They weren't going to give it to me. I had to take it," Smith said. "It was a good thing that I was behind. My mindset would have been a touch different coming in, especially on that back nine, if I was ahead."
Bryson DeChambeau says he is "not worried" about the PGA Tour's decision to indefinitely ban players who have defected to the controversial LIV Golf Invitational Series.
The sport is embroiled in a battle between the PGA Tour and the new Saudi-backed LIV Golf, with 2020 US Open champion DeChambeau one of those who has chosen to break away.
Henrik Stenson also chose to defect and was subsequently stripped of Europe's Ryder Cup captaincy before he won the third LIV event in New Jersey last week, while other players such as Phil Mickelson and Sergio Garcia have joined too.
It has since been reported that Tiger Woods was offered up to $800million to join LIV Golf, though he chose to reject the money in order to stay with the PGA Tour.
The Wall Street Journal have reported that Mickelson and DeChambeau, as well as a number of other defectors, are planning to sue the PGA Tour over their suspensions.
But DeChambeau was not concerned about this development and was instead enthused by what LIV Golf could do for players financially, telling Fox News: "It doesn't make sense [the ban].
"I'm not worried about that. I think it will get figured out. I personally know that it will get figured out, whether it's legally or whether they come to the table and work out terms. I definitely think it will all wash itself out in the future, pretty shortly.
"Any time anyone invests over a billion dollars into the game of golf, how is that not going to grow the game and how is that not going to provide more opportunities?
"This is our livelihoods and it was a great economic opportunity for golfers to make a lot of money. That's why we grew up playing golf - also for the history, to go and win majors, PGA Tour events and now I want to win LIV events.
"You can see the passion and competitive aspect of this environment out here and we all want to win every single week."
Alex Albon will keep his Williams seat beyond this season after signing a multi-year deal with the team, it was revealed on Wednesday.
The 26-year-old Thai-British driver joined Williams for 2022 and has secured all three of the team's points so far this season – finishing 10th in Australia and ninth in Miami.
Formerly of Red Bull, Albon's initial deal with Williams was for a single season, but the team confirmed he will return to the grid next year, as well as for future seasons.
"It's really exciting to be staying with Williams Racing for 2023 and I look forward to seeing what we can achieve as a team in the remainder of this season and next year," Albon said.
"The team is pushing hard to progress, and I am really motivated to continue this journey and further develop our learnings together."
Albon could still have a new team-mate for the 2023 season, with Nicholas Latifi's contract expiring at the end of the season.
Williams' announcement comes in what has been a dramatic seven days in F1, which started with the announcement of Sebastian Vettel's retirement at the end of the season.
Fernando Alonso was then confirmed to be Vettel's replacement at Aston Martin, with Alpine later stating Oscar Piastri would step into the vacancy – though the Australian denied those claims.
It has been suggested Piastri is in negotiations with McLaren for a seat alongside Lando Norris for 2023, which in turn would leave Daniel Ricciardo seeking a new team.
Nick Kyrgios barely broke a sweat on his way to a 6-3 6-2 win against Marcos Giron in the opening round of the Washington Open, finishing the job in an even 60 minutes.
The talented Australian, who won the doubles title at last week's Atlanta Open with compatriot Thanasi Kokkinakis, showed off his imposing serve against Giron. He won the ace count 12-to-four, while converting 82 per cent (28-of-34) of his successful first serves into points.
Earlier in the day, Daniel Evans won an all-English showdown against Kyle Edmund 6-1 6-2, but fellow Englishman Jack Draper was not so lucky against Russia's Andrey Rublev, going down 6-4 6-2.
Winner of the singles title at the Atlanta Open, Jenson Brooksby could not keep his strong form going as he lost 6-4 6-3 to Yoshihito Nishioka. Mackenzie McDonald lost to Brooksby in Atlanta, and he was also bounced in the first round by Finland's Emil Ruusuvuori 1-6 6-4 6-4.
America's Chris Eubanks won a tough three-setter against France's Benjamin Bonzi 3-6 6-3 7-5, and Sebastian Korda passed the test of in-form Ilya Ivashka 6-4 7-6 (7-5).
Veteran Jack Sock got the better of Belgium's David Goffin 7-6 (7-4) 6-4, and the Netherlands' Botic van de Zandschulp fought off frisky Croatian Borna Gojo 7-6 (8-6) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 to narrowly avoid an upset from a player ranked 170 spots lower.
Meanwhile, at the Los Cabos open in Mexico, Kokkinakis continued his march back up the rankings with a 6-3 6-7 (5-7) 6-2 win against Fernando Verdasco.
Kokkinakis will play American Steve Johnson in the second round after he collected a straight sets 7-6 (7-1) 6-4 win against Argentina's Gonzalo Villanueva.
Romania's Radu Albot defeated Spain's Feliciano Lopez 6-3 6-7 (6-8) 6-3 to book his place in the second round against Australian Jason Kubler, who won his 10th match from his past 12 fixtures to beat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (4-7) 6-3 6-1.
The only Mexican in the draw, Alex Hernandez, made the most his wildcard to win his first tour-level match, defeating Nicolas Barrientos 3-6 6-4 6-4 to become the first Mexican player to win at Los Cabos.
Facundo Bagnis was the only of the three Argentines to make it through, with a 6-3 6-1 win over Ernesto Escobado, Brandon Nakashima defeated Kaichi Uchida 7-6 (7-1) 6-2, and Jordan Thompson rounded out the day's action with a comfortable 6-3 6-0 triumph over Yannick Hanfmann.
Davis Love III told LIV Golf defectors "you can be Tiger Woods or you can be banned from the game" and can foresee a situation where "fed up" players boycott the big PGA Tour events to protect their interests.
Golf is engulfed in a war between those remaining loyal to the sport's flagship tour and those who have opted for the riches of the controversial Saudi-backed LIV Series.
Last week saw the third LIV event held in New Jersey, which was won by Henrik Stenson after he had been stripped of Europe's Ryder Cup captaincy over his decision to sign up.
Phil Mickelson, Brooks Koepka, Bryson DeChambeau and Sergio Garcia are among the notable names to have also jumped ship, while Tiger Woods is said to have turned down $800million to remain loyal to the PGA Tour.
Love III, this year's US Presidents Cup captain and a two-time Ryder Cup skipper, said earlier this week players could look to boycott the majors if LIV players are continued to allow to play.
He sought to clarify those comments at a news conference and warned LIV players there should be consequences for their decisions.
He said: "I told the players that I've talked to that have gone or thinking about going, 'it's your decision, you know, and you do what's right for you, but understand consequences'.
"I tried to sound like my dad and I probably wasn't very good at it. I didn't argue. I said, 'look, you can do this or you can do this. You can be Tiger Woods or you can be banned from the game, take your pick. But understanding the consequences, you signed up for these rules'.
"And I keep using it kind of as a joke, but I'm wearing shorts today, but I can't wear shorts on Thursday, that's a rule. I had to commit by last Friday or I don't get to play this week. I have to play 15 tournaments or I don't get to vote and I don't get my retirement money. You have rules that you have to adhere to.
"Jay [Monahan] has been saying it for a year and they either understood it, some of them understood that, some of them said it's not going to happen, and some of them just flat out lied, I'm not doing this, I'm not doing that.
"And you hear it, the talking points or the interviews, they're spinning their decision because they know they've turned their backs on their friends and they know they're taking the money and they know it's not the right thing to do.
"But it is their decision and they can do that, they just can't come back and play The Players Championship. That's just not fair. If I grind it out, make the 125 and get in The Players Championship, I don't want those guys, that being the only PGA Tour event they play that year, that's not right."
Love III, the 1997 US PGA Championship victor, concedes he is surprised by the number of players turning their backs on the Tour.
He also suggested how PGA regulars may respond if LIV players attempt to take their ambition to play on both tours to the courts.
"Nobody saw the extent of LIV coming. It's hard to not be reactionary to something that when you're blindsided, you are being reactionary," he added.
"I told Jay a year ago, and you can ask him, I said, 'don't worry about it, it's not going to happen'. I was completely dead wrong. Six months ago I told my own tournament, 'oh, don't worry about it, not going to happen. Mickelson's going down, but nobody else will jump ship'.
"So, I was wrong. I don't know what's going to happen from here on out, but I know it's going to be a fight and the players are getting more and more unified against it.
"Now, some guys said that they don't like the new schedule and some guys don't like the old schedule. I might not like the fall schedule right now, but it's going to work out because I'm on board with whatever the Tour wants to do.
"It will work out because I know the staff doesn't work for Jay exclusively, they work for the players and so does Jay.
"The whole situation is unfortunate. I didn't try to single out the U.S. Open as the players striking or threatening not to play. I was saying that if the LIV guys sue and are allowed to play on the PGA Tour, that the players are enough fed up with it, we understand that we make the rules on the PGA Tour and the commissioner's enforcing our rules and we don't want those guys playing, come and cherry-picking our tournaments, that we hold all the cards, not Jay or not Seth Waugh or Mike Whan.
"They don't hold all the cards, we hold all the cards. If we say to the FTC and to Washington, no, we support the rules, we don't want those guys playing, we don't care what the courts say, our only option really, the nuclear option is to say, well, fine, if they have to play in our events, we just won't play. I think the Tour players, the Max Homas and Rory McIlroys have done a good job.
"I think the undercurrent of guys are getting more and more fed up with it, that these guys are threatening our way of life, they're trying to take money out of our pockets and cherry-pick our best tournaments. The majors have to make their own decisions. I loved what Martin Slumbers said, I think they're all going in the right direction, but the PGA Tour players, we support the PGA Tour and we support the rules and we need to stand up for them."
The Seattle Mariners rode a hot start to a strong 8-6 win on the road against the New York Yankees, despite missing rookie All-Star Julio Rodriguez.
With their 21-year-old superstar out of the lineup temporarily as he battles through a minor injury, Adam Frazier did a good impression in the lead-off spot, collecting two hits and two walks from his five plate appearances.
Early on, it was Eugenio Suarez coming through as he blasted a 432-foot, two-run homer in the opening frame, and Cal Raleigh made it 3-0 with his own solo shot an inning later.
A Carlos Santana sacrifice-fly made it 4-0 before the Yankees started to fight back, with Josh Donaldson's RBI double and Jose Trevino's two-run shot over the left-field wall trimming the margin to 4-3 in the fourth inning.
Santana drove in his second and third runs of the day with a clutch double in the fifth frame, but a pair of sixth-inning home runs to Yankees Donaldson and Anthony Rizzo had things tied at 6-6.
As was the theme on the day, every time the Yankees tried to make it a game again, the Mariners had the answers, again jumping straight back out in front through Sam Haggerty's pinch-hit home run in the seventh.
Frazier finished off the scoring with an RBI single in the top of the ninth, giving Mariners closer Andres Munoz an extra run of breathing room, and he finished off the save despite allowing a hit and two walks to load the bases.
Pirates win after a three-run Cruz missile
The Pittsburgh Pirates pulled off an upset win against Milwaukee Brewers ace Corbin Burnes, with rookie Oneil Cruz delivering the decisive blow.
After the Brewers hit three consecutive home runs in the sixth inning – courtesy of Willy Adames (355 feet), Rowdy Tellez (412 feet) and Kolten Wong (394 feet) – Cruz brought things back to square with his own three-run, 408-foot home run to get Burnes pulled from the game.
The Pirates ended up piling on another two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning, with Wil Crowe coming in to strike out the side for the save.
Jacob deGrom returns in Mets loss
Arguably the best pitcher in all of baseball returned to action on Tuesday as Jacob deGrom started on the mound in the New York Mets' 5-1 loss to the Washington Nationals.
In his first start of the season after a series of injuries, deGrom looked like his devastating self, striking out four of the first six batters he faced, and going on to finish with figures of one earned run from three hits and no walks in five innings, striking out six.
As soon as deGrom was withdrawn from the game, the floodgates opened for the Nationals, connecting on three home runs across the next two innings to pull away for the win.
Naomi Osaka delivered a terrific third set to defeat China's Qinweng Zheng 6-4 3-6 6-1 in the opening round of the Silicon Valley Classic.
Osaka's serve was sharp and it carried her through the match, with 11 aces to Zheng's three, while giving up one break of serve and securing three breaks herself.
After Zheng fought back to win the second set, Osaka was the steady head in the decider, allowing her opponent to implode with three double-faults in crucial points to collect her first win since April.
Osaka will meet Cori Gauff in a star-studded second-round matchup after Gauff dominated Anhelina Kalinina 6-1 6-0.
She was simply too powerful for her Ukrainian opponent, winning 89 per cent (25-of-28) of her first serves to never give Kalinina a chance.
Canada's Bianca Andreescu was eliminated by American Shelby Rogers 6-4 6-2, while Russia's Veronika Kudermetova won a hard-fought battle against Italy's Camila Giorgi 7-6 (7-2) 4-6 7-5.
Meanwhile, in Washington at the Citi Open, Emma Raducanu looked in good touch as she handled the challenge of Louisa Chirico 6-4 6-2 to advance to the second round.
Raducanu will meet Colombia's Camila Osorio after she beat American Sofia Kenin 7-6 (7-2) 6-1, and top-20 talent Victoria Azarenka had no issues against Dayana Yastremska to win 6-4 6-0.
Australian Ajla Tomljanovic continued her strong run of form with a convincing 6-1 6-4 win against American Sloane Stephens, and the Czech Republic's Tereza Martincova recovered from a horrible first set to defeat Xinyu Wang 0-6 6-4 6-4.
Germany's Andrea Petkovic cruised to a 6-2 6-2 win against Denmark's Clara Tauson, and Russia's Anna Kalinskaya defeated American Madison Brengle 6-3 6-0.
Seeking to end the longest active postseason drought of any National League team, the Philadelphia Phillies acquired a pair of former All-Star pitchers in Noah Syndergaard and David Robertson at Tuesday’s MLB trade deadline.
Syndergaard’s acquisition was one of two separate trades the Phillies struck with the Los Angeles Angels, as the teams agreed to a swap earlier in the day that sent young outfielder Brandon Marsh to Philadelphia.
The Phillies were among the most aggressive teams at the deadline as they attempt to reach the playoffs for the first time since 2011. Only the Seattle Mariners, whose last postseason appearance came in 2001, have a longer active streak of missing the playoffs.
Philadelphia entered the day a game ahead of the St. Louis Cardinals for the NL’s third and final wild card spot, and are 33-18 since Rob Thomson replaced Joe Girardi as manager on June 3, the third-highest winning percentage in MLB over that period.
"I think we’re a lot better ballclub," Phillies president of baseball operations Dave Dombrowski told MLB.com. "We’ve got a tough division and tough people who are in the race, but I think we’re better.
"We tried to address certain areas, knowing that we’re getting [second baseman Jean] Segura back soon. And [2021 NL MVP Bryce] Harper is making progress, which is very encouraging."
Dombrowski sent outfielder Mickey Moniak – the number-one overall pick of the 2016 draft – and minor league outfielder Jadiel Sanchez to the Angels for Syndergaard, an All-Star with the New York Mets in 2016 who has had a bounce-back year after missing nearly the entire 2020 and 2021 seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery.
The hard-throwing right-hander has remained healthy this season and has posted a solid 3.83 ERA and 1.21 WHIP in 15 starts. Syndergaard signed a one-year, $21 million contract with the Angels in November.
Robertson, obtained from the Chicago Cubs for Double-A pitcher Ben Brown, has put together a strong comeback season of his own at age 37. The veteran reliever has held opposing hitters to a .162 average while going 3-0 with a 2.23 ERA and 14 saves in 36 appearances.
The 2011 AL All-Star previously pitched in seven games for the Phillies in 2019 before undergoing Tommy John surgery and missing all of the following season. Robertson began the 2021 campaign out of the majors before signing with the Tampa Bay Rays last August.
Philadelphia traded catcher Logan O’Hoppe – the organisation’s No. 3 overall prospect according to MLB.com – to the Angels in exchange for Marsh, who could take over as the Phillies’ center fielder.
The 24-year-old has hit just .226 with eight home runs and eight stolen bases in 93 games this season, but has received high marks for his defensive abilities.
"He is one of the best defenders in baseball in center field," Thomson said. "Obviously, that’s an upgrade. He can run. He’s just a grinder, gamer type of guy. He’s hit in the past. He hasn’t hit lately, but I think there’s some stuff that [hitting coach] Kevin [Long] can do to help him out."
Odubel Herrera, who has started a team-high 43 games in center field, was designated for assignment following Marsh’s addition. Herrera was hitting just .215 with a .550 OPS since June 1.
The Minnesota Twins signalled their win-now mindset with a trio of pitching moves, while the Los Angeles Dodgers took on a big-name reclamation project on Tuesday's MLB trade deadline day.
Minnesota lead their division by one game from the Cleveland Guardians, so the decision to push their chips into the middle and make a run at the playoffs is one that makes sense, and to make any noise, they needed pitching reinforcements.
A strong hitting side, the Twins are sixth in the majors in both on-base percentage (.321) and slugging percentage (.419) – but sit in the bottom half of the league in key pitching stats ERA (19th, giving up 4.03 runs per nine innings), strikeouts (21st) and walks allowed (19th).
Out of all 30 teams in the majors, only the Washington Nationals have had fewer 'quality starts' than the Twins – defined by the starting pitcher conceding three or fewer runs in six complete innings. The Nationals are also the only team to have less 'saves' collected by closing pitchers than the Twins.
In a bid to remedy both of those issues, the Twins acquired starting pitcher Tyler Mahle from the Cincinnati Reds, and All-Star closing pitcher Jorge Lopez from the Baltimore Orioles.
The nature of a starting pitcher is that they will throw more innings, and accumulate more overall value, but Lopez is arguably the more significant addition.
One of the best closers in all of baseball this season, 29-year-old Lopez boasts a terrific 1.68 ERA and is 10th in the league in saves with 19. He has allowed 47 total baserunners in 48 innings of work for an impressive WHIP (walks and hits per innings pitched) of 0.97.
Mahle, 27, does not have spectacular numbers this season (4.40 ERA), but that was mainly due to a rocky start.
He has since rebounded with a run of nine starts of at least five innings pitched with no more than four runs conceded, including back-to-back showings against the Arizona Diamondbacks where he totalled 22 strikeouts and one earned run from 15 innings.
Completing their haul, the Twins also traded pitching prospect Sawyer Gipson-Long for established reliever Michael Fulmer from the Detroit Tigers in another win-now move.
Meanwhile, the Dodgers acquired Joey Gallo from the New York Yankees in the midst of the power-hitting outfielder's worst season of his career.
Gallo, who has a pair of 40 home run seasons on his resume, and is still only 28 years old, has been a disaster since being traded to the Yankees last season, batting .159 with just 37 hits compared to 106 strikeouts.
One of the best teams in baseball, the Dodgers are hoping a change of scenery is all that is needed to re-energise the hard-hitting lefty, and they were able to acquire him as a depth piece for only minor league pitcher Clayton Beeter, who did not figure to contribute in any way to the major league side this eason.
Denver Broncos pair Tim Patrick and Damarea Crockett are both set to miss the entire 2022 season after suffering torn ACL injuries during Tuesday's practice.
Patrick made a leaping grab on a pass from Russell Wilson, but upon landing and planting his foot to make a move, his knee buckled and he went down to the ground.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported earlier on Tuesday that the Broncos were concerned he had suffered a significant injury.
It was later reported by Mike Klis of 9NEWS that the diagnosis was not good, with an MRI apparently revealing it to be a torn ACL, meaning Patrick will miss the whole of next season.
Second-year running back Crockett also revealed he had suffered a torn ACL and will miss the season after hobbling off the practice field.
Losing Patrick will be a big blow for Denver as he was expected to see an increased role in first-year coach Nathaniel Hackett's offense with Wilson at quarterback.
The 28-year-old Patrick led the Broncos with five touchdown catches last season, while ranking third on the team in receiving yards (734) and receptions (53). It was his second straight season with 50+ catches, 700+ receiving yards and 5+ TD receptions.
Undrafted out of Utah, Patrick is entering his fifth season after signing a three-year, $34million contract extension with Denver last November.
Denver Broncos wide receivers Tim Patrick and Damarea Crockett are both set to miss the entire 2022 season after suffering torn ACL injuries during Tuesday's practice.
Patrick made a leaping grab on a pass from Russell Wilson, but upon landing and planting his foot to make a move, his knee buckled and he went down to the ground.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported earlier on Tuesday that the Broncos were concerned he had suffered a significant injury.
It was later reported by Mike Klis of 9NEWS that the diagnosis was not good, with an MRI apparently revealing it to be a torn ACL, meaning Patrick will miss the whole of next season.
Second-year running back Crockett also revealed he had suffered a torn ACL and will miss the season after hobbling off the practice field.
Losing Patrick will be a big blow for Denver as he was expected to see an increased role in first-year coach Nathaniel Hackett's offense with Wilson at quarterback.
The 28-year-old Patrick led the Broncos with five touchdown catches last season, while ranking third on the team in receiving yards (734) and receptions (53). It was his second straight season with 50+ catches, 700+ receiving yards and 5+ TD receptions.
Undrafted out of Utah, Patrick is entering his fifth season after signing a three-year, $34million contract extension with Denver last November.
Denver Broncos wide receiver Tim Patrick is set to miss the entire 2022 season after being carted off the field with a right knee injury sustained during Tuesday's practice.
Patrick made a leaping grab on a pass from Russell Wilson, but upon landing and planting his foot to make a move, his knee buckled and he went down to the ground.
NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported earlier on Tuesday that the Broncos were concerned he had suffered a significant injury.
It was later reported by Mike Klis of 9NEWS that the diagnosis was not good, according to sources, with an MRI apparently revealing it to be a torn ACL, meaning Patrick will miss the whole of next season.
Second-year running back Damarea Crockett was also getting an MRI after hobbling off the practice field and it is believed he also suffered a significant knee injury.
Losing Patrick will be a big blow for Denver as he was expected to see an increased role in first-year coach Nathaniel Hackett's offense with Wilson at quarterback.
The 28-year-old Patrick led the Broncos with five touchdown catches last season, while ranking third on the team in receiving yards (734) and receptions (53). It was his second straight season with 50+ catches, 700+ receiving yards and 5+ TD receptions.
Undrafted out of Utah, Patrick is entering his fifth season after signing a three-year, $34million contract extension with Denver last November.
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