BASEBALL
The Somerset Patriots broke open a close game Thursday night, scoring three runs in the seventh inning and eight in the eighth to defeat the Portland Sea Dogs 15-3 at Bridgewater Township, New Jersey.
Derek Dietrich hit a grand slam after Chad Bell had a two-run homer for Somerset in the eighth.
The Sea Dogs had taken a 3-0 lead in the fourth on Tyler Dearden’s three-run homer.
The six-game series resumes Friday night. Somerset has taken two of the first three.
FOOTBALL
NFL: Daniel Jones has one more season at most – and only one – to prove he’s the quarterback of the future for the New York Giants.
GM Joe Schoen decided on Thursday that he will not pick up the fifth-year option on Jones’ rookie contract as a former first-round pick, a source confirmed. Leaking that decision only hours before the first round of the NFL draft served as a reminder that the Giants are far from set at QB.
Picking up Jones’ option would have guaranteed him a $22.384 million salary for the 2023 season, per sources.
If Jones plays well and proves his worth, the Giants still have the franchise tag (projected at $31.497 million by overthecap.com) and transition tag ($28.337 million) available to keep him under contract in 2023.
• The Giants picked up the fifth-year option on defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence for 2023 on Thursday, a source confirmed. That guarantees Lawrence a salary of $10.753 million for that season. And Lawrence, 24, still has a chance to earn an extension and fold that money into it, too.
• The Jaguars exercised the fifth-year option in pass rusher Josh Allen’s rookie contract. The move keeps Allen under contract for two more seasons and fully guarantees his 2023 salary at $11.5 million.
The former Kentucky standout and seventh overall pick in the 2019 NFL draft has 20 1/2 sacks in three years, including 10 1/2 as a rookie in 2019. He made the Pro Bowl as an alternate that season and looked like a budding star.
COLLEGES
MEN’S BASKETBALL: Gonzaga guard Rasir Bolton has become the fifth starter to declare for the NBA draft.
Four other Gonzaga players have submitted their names to the draft, including projected first-round pick Chet Holmgren, forward Drew Timme, wing Julian Strawther and point guard Andrew Nembhard. It was unclear whether Bolton has signed with an NCAA-certified agent, which would leave the door open for a return to Gonzaga next season.
• UCLA guard David Singleton is returning for a fifth year with the Bruins, while center Myles Johnson is leaving the team to finish his graduate degree in electrical engineering.
BASEBALL: Kyle Cortese and Ryan Noone each hit a two-run home run and Jimmy Evans launched a solo homer as Tufts (21-10, 6-6 NESCAC) rolled to an 18-2 win over Bates (6-23, 1-8) in Lewiston.
Noone and Miles Reid led Tufts with three RBI a piece. Michael Volgende went the distance, allowing six hits and striking out nine.
Drew Fallon hit a solo home run for Bates and Bryan Gotti had an RBI groundout. Teddie Nelson took the pitching loss.
• St. Joseph’s (25-11) used strong pitching and defense, allowing just two runs in a doubleheader sweep of UMaine-Farmington (8-20), by scores of 4-1 and 6-1 in Standish.
St. Joseph’s scored three unearned runs in the first game with Matt Thibault adding an RBI single. Matt Haines drove in UMF’s lone run. Thibault and Drew Heaney each had two RBI apiece in the second game. Zach Miles and Michael Wearne each had one RBI.
TENNIS
BMW OPEN: Casper Ruud beat Alex Molcan 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarterfinals at the BMW Open in Munich.
It was Ruud’s opening match in Munich after getting a first-round bye. At a career-high No. 7, the Norwegian is the highest-ranked player left in the draw after Alexander Zverev’s surprise loss to 18-year-old Holger Rune on Wednesday. Ruud will face eighth-seeded Botic van de Zandschulp in the quarterfinals after the Dutch player defeated Egor Gerasimov 6-2, 6-3.
Germany’s Oscar Otte managed the surprise of the day by beating Reilly Opelka of the United States 7-6 (4), 6-2. Opelka had two set points in the first set but Otte saved them both before taking the set to a tiebreaker.
Otte’s quarterfinal opponent is Alejandro Tabilo, who was leading 6-2, 2-6, 4-1 when Hugo Gaston retired from their second-round match. Otte cruised past Tabilo 6-0, 6-3 when they played last week at the Serbia Open.
MADRID OPEN: Two-time champion Simona Halep and second-ranked Paula Badosa will meet in the second round after opening with victories on Thursday.
Halep beat Zhang Shuai 6-2, 6-3 and Badosa defeated Veronika Kudermetova 6-3, 6-0.
Halep won consecutive Madrid titles in 2016 and 2017 and was runner-up in 2014 and 2019.
Top-ranked Iga Swiatek withdrew from the clay-court tournament on Wednesday because of a sore arm. Also, Amanda Anisimova upset third-seeded Aryna Sabalenka 6-2, 3-6, 6-4, while fifth-seeded Karolina Pliskova lost to Marie Bouzkova 6-4, 7-5. Coco Gauff defeated Anna Karolina Schmiedlova 6-0, 6-2, Victoria Azarenka beat Viktorija Golubic 7-6 (5), 6-3, and Varvara Gracheva rallied past Alizé Cornet 1-6, 7-5, 7-5.
The men’s first round begins next week, with both Rafael Nadal and top-ranked Novak Djokovic participating.
RUGBY
WORLD CUP: Spain will not play at the 2023 Rugby World Cup in France because it used an ineligible player in qualifying, World Rugby and the Spanish rugby federation said Thursday.
The federation said World Rugby has decided to sanction Spain with a fine and the loss of five points for each match it played with South Africa-born front-rower Gavin van der Berg on the team.
Spain had qualified for its second Rugby World Cup – and first since 1999 – in March, but it will drop out of the qualifying places. Romania will take its place and Portugal will advance to the world repechage tournament in November.
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