BASEBALL
Portland Sea Dogs pitcher Chris Murphy was named the Double-A Northeast League Pitcher of the Week.
Murphy made one start for Portland last week, striking out 11 and walking none in six scoreless against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies.
Murphy has made six starts for Portland since being promoted on July 31. He is 3-2 with a 3.86 ERA and 47 strikeouts in 32 2/3 innings.
SOCCER
PREMIER LEAGUE: Everton produced a remarkable comeback with three goals inside seven minutes to beat Burnley 3-1 at Liverpool, England.
Everton looked battered and beaten after Ben Mee marked his 200th Premier League appearance with the opening goal in the 53rd minute.
However, within the space of 379 seconds – which included a tactical substitution and formation change – the hosts turned the match on its head via a Michael Keane header against his former club, a stunner from Andros Townsend, and a clinical one-on-one from fellow new arrival Demarai Gray.
And all this was achieved without last season’s leading scorer Dominic Calvert-Lewin, who is likely to be out for at least 2 to 3 weeks with a broken toe and thigh injury.
BASKETBALL
WNBA: Kelsey Plum scored 26 of her 30 points in the second half, A’ja Wilson had 21 points and 12 rebounds and the Las Vegas Aces beat the visiting Dallas Wings 85-75.
The Aces trailed 51-41 midway through the third quarter before closing on a 20-6 run for a 61-57 advantage. Wilson made a hook shot in the lane with 1:13 remaining in the third for Las Vegas’ first lead, 57-55, since 4-2.
Plum made a 3-pointer on back-to-back possession to extend the lead to 75-64 with 5:27 left in the fourth. Plum finished 9 of 12 from the field, including 5 of 7 from distance. She also have five assists.
Riquna Williams added 16 points for Las Vegas (22-8), which was without Liz Cambage. Las Vegas can clinch a double-bye in the playoffs with one win in its final two games.
Arike Ogunbowale scored 16 of her 23 points in the first half for Dallas (13-18).
HOCKEY
NHL: The NHL’s Nashville Predators’ home arena will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test at least through Nov. 15.
That makes the Predators the 14th NHL team using similar requirements. The Bridgestone Arena policy announced applies to all events being held inside the facility, which includes the Country Music Association awards show Nov. 10.
Children 12 and under who cannot be vaccinated yet will either have to wear a mask at all times or provide proof of a negative test within 72 hours of the event they’re attending. Arena officials will announce at the start of each month whether that policy remains in place or is altered.
• The Columbus Blue Jackets said they 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 because “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,” according to a team statement.
NHL coaches and other team staff who closely interact with players are required to be fully vaccinated.
GOLF
PGA: Will Zalatoris was voted PGA Tour rookie of the year, the first player in 20 years to receive the award without being a full PGA Tour member.
Zalatoris played well enough on the Korn Ferry Tour in 2020 to earn a spot in the U.S. Open at Winged Foot, which did not have qualifying and was pushed back to September because of the COVID-19 pandemic. That meant it was part of the 2020-21 season.
Zalatoris tied for sixth, and with two other top-10 finishes, he was able to join the PGA Tour as a special temporary member in November, meaning unlimited sponsor exemptions.
The 25-year-old from Dallas finished the season with eight top 10s, including a runner-up finish at the Masters. Without a win, Zalatoris was ineligible for the PGA Tour postseason. He still earned enough points to be equal to No. 25 in the FedEx Cup standings when the regular season ended.
Zalatoris won the award over the only other rookie on the ballot, Garrick Higgo of South Africa, who won the Palmetto Championship at Congaree in May.
The last player to win rookie of the year as a special temporary member was Charles Howell III in 2001.
TENNIS
RANKINGS: Emma Raducanu’s qualifier-to-champion run at the U.S. Open 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 – three in qualifying and seven in the main draw – to become the youngest woman to win a major championship since Maria Sharapova was 17 at Wimbledon in 2004.
Raducanu is the first qualifier to win a Grand Slam title.
The player she beat 6-4, 6-3 in the final Saturday, 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada, also made a big jump in the rankings, going from 73rd to a career-best 28th.
Ash Barty and Aryna Sabalenka stayed at Nos. 1 and 2, while 2018 and 2020 U.S. Open champion Naomi Osaka slid from No. 3 to No. 5 after losing in the third round to Fernandez.
Karolina Pliskova is now No. 3, and Elina Svitolina is No. 4 after each moved up a spot by getting to the quarterfinals in New York.
No. 1 Novak Djokovic is still comfortably ahead of No. 2 Daniil Medvedev in the ATP rankings after Medvedev beat Djokovic 6-4, 6-4, 6-4 in the U.S. Open men’s final Sunday.
Two players who made their major quarterfinal debuts at the U.S. Open made substantial jumps: South Africa’s Lloyd Harris rose 15 spots to No. 31, and Spain’s 18-year-old Carlos Alcaraz went up 17 spots to No. 38.
Two Americans moved into the Top 20 for the first time: Coco Gauff, 17, is No. 19 in the WTA rankings; Reilly Opelka, 24, is No. 19 in the ATP rankings.
WTA FINALS: The season-ending WTA Finals have been moved from China to the Mexican city of Guadalajara, the WTA said.
The tournament was supposed to be held in the Chinese city of Shenzhen in November. The WTA didn’t give a reason for the switch but said the event would be back in Shenzhen next year. Shenzhen first hosted the WTA Finals in 2019 – there was no event last year – and is due to remain host through 2030.
Numerous other sports events have been relocated from Chinese venues because of travel restrictions related to the coronavirus pandemic.
Send questions/comments to the editors.
Success. Please wait for the page to reload. If the page does not reload within 5 seconds, please refresh the page.
Enter your email and password to access comments.
Hi, to comment on stories you must . This profile is in addition to your subscription and website login.
Already have a commenting profile? .
Invalid username/password.
Please check your email to confirm and complete your registration.
Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.
Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.