BASEBALL

The Portland Sea Dogs squandered an early four-run lead but rallied for four runs in the eighth inning to beat the New Hampshire Fisher Cats 9-7 Tuesday night in an Eastern League game at Manchester, New Hampshire.

Three of the runs in the inning came on a homer by Christian Koss.

The win moved Portland a game ahead in the Northeast Division over Somerset, which had its game at Binghamton, New York, rained out.

Portland, which has won three straight, built a 5-1 lead after 2 1/2 innings before New Hampshire came back.

The Fisher Cats scored single runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings to move within a run and took a 6-5 lead on a two-run homer by Zac Cook in the sixth.

New Hampshire made it 7-5 with a run in the seventh before Portland rallied.

Portland’s first run in the eighth came in on an RBI single by Wilyer Abreu.

Abreu was 3 for 4 with three runs scored. Koss was 2 for 5 with three RBI and Stephen Scott was 2 for 4 with two RBI.

HOCKEY

NHL: Mike Sullivan, the winningest coach in Pittsburgh Penguins history, is in it for the long haul. The two-time Stanley Cup winner agreed to a three-year contract extension on Tuesday that will run through the 2026-27 season.

The 54-year-old Sullivan is 297-156-54 during the regular season and 44-38 in the playoffs since taking over in December 2015. His tenure includes Stanley Cup victories in 2016 and 2017. The Massachusetts native is the first American-born coach to win multiple Cups and is one of two coaches in NHL history to win championships in each of his first two years behind the bench.

The extension comes at the end of a busy offseason for the Penguins, who lost to the New York Rangers in seven games in the opening round of the playoffs. Pittsburgh re-signed veterans Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust over the summer, intent on keeping together most of the core around captain Sidney Crosby.

• The Minnesota Wild signed former Anaheim Ducks center Sam Steel to a one-year, $825,000 contract, adding depth at a vital position.

• Buffalo Sabres center Tage Thompson cashed in on a breakout season by agreeing to a seven-year, $50 million contract extension.

Thompson gets a hefty raise from his current three-year, $4.2 million contract, which runs out after this season. The new deal represents the faith the Sabres have in the 24-year-old, who’s coming off a team-leading 38-goal season.

WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: The United States posted a 5-2 comeback win over Olympic champion Canada in group play at Copenhagen, Denmark.

Megan Keller had a goal and an assist to help the Americans beat their longtime rival and close out group play undefeated. The teams are heavy favorites to meet again in Sunday’s final.

Canada, also the defending world champion, led 2-0 after first-period goals from Sarah Fillier and Ella Shelton. Keller got the U.S. started with a power-play goal early in the second period and Kelly Pannek made it 2-2.

Lacey Eden scored the winning goal early in the third, with assists from Keller and Savannah Harmon, who also had an assist on Kendall Coyne Schofield’s goal to make it 4-2 with 6:32 remaining.

Hilary Knight’s empty-netter moved her within one point of Canadian Hayley Wickenheiser’s all-time world championship total of 86. Knight already holds the record for goals with 50.

The U.S. victory ended a five-game losing streak to Canada, which won the gold medal at the Beijing Olympics by beating the Americans 3-2 in the final.

BASKETBALL

WNBA: Aces All-Star forward A’ja Wilson was named the WNBA’s Defensive Player of the Year.

She is the first Aces player to win the award.

Wilson received 20 votes from a national panel of 56 sports writers and broadcasters. Connecticut Sun forward Alyssa Thomas was second with 14 votes, and Seattle Storm forward Breanna Stewart finished third with 13 votes.

CYCLING

SPANISH VUELTA: Remco Evenepoel came into the Spanish Vuelta with the goal of winning a stage. He accomplished that in style on Tuesday and now also sees himself in position to take the general classification title as well.

The Belgian rider from team Quick-Step Alpha Vinyl pulled off an impressive time-trial victory in the 10th stage in Alicante, increasing his overall lead.

“It’s super nice to win this time trial in the red jersey,” the 22-year-old Evenepoel said. “It’s an amazing feeling. I think I achieved my dream.”

Evenepoel was 48 seconds faster than second-place Primoz Roglic, taking his general classification lead over the three-time defending champion to 2 minutes, 41 seconds with 11 stages left. Evenepoel is the first rider to beat Roglic in an individual time trial in the Vuelta. He is also the first Belgian to win an individual time trial in the Vuelta since Fons De Wolf in Valladolid in 1979.

GOLF

RYDER CUP: Europe captain Luke Donald will have six picks for next year’s Ryder Cup in Italy.

That’s three more picks than Padraig Harrington had for Europe’s record 19-9 loss to the United States at Whistling Straits last year.

Ryder Cup Europe announced the qualification process for the 2023 event, with three automatic qualifiers coming from the leading players on the European points list and then the top three on the world points list.

The qualification period begins at the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth from Sept. 8-11 and runs to Sept. 3 next year, three weeks before the Ryder Cup.

Donald said having six picks gives him “flexibility to ensure we have the strongest lineup at Marco Simone in terms of in-form players, players with Ryder Cup experience, and potential pairings.”

SOCCER

PREMIER LEAGUE:  A 9-0 thrashing by Liverpool proved to be the end for Scott Parker.

The former England midfielder was fired as Bournemouth manager, three days after the team’s heavy beating at Anfield in the English Premier League.

Parker was hired by Bournemouth in the offseason of 2021 and guided the south-coast team to promotion.

Bournemouth started life back in the league with a win over Aston Villa but has since had three straight losses – to Manchester City, Arsenal and Liverpool – without scoring a goal.

•  Aleksandar Mitrovic scored his fifth goal of the campaign to set Fulham on its way to a 2-1 win over Brighton, whose unbeaten start came to end.

TRANSFERS: Argentina defender Cristian Romero has signed a permanent contract to remain with Tottenham until 2027, the English Premier League club said.

Romero joined on a season-long loan from Italian team Atalanta in August last year and has established himself as a key member of Tottenham’s defense as well as a popular player among the London club’s fan base.

MANCHESTER UNITED: Brazil winger Antony looks set to complete a move to Manchester United for $95 million, joining Lisandro Martinez in making a big-money switch from Dutch club Ajax to the English giant in the transfer window.

The clubs said they have reached agreement on Antony’s transfer, subject to a medical examination, his contract being finalized, and international clearance.

INVESTIGATION: World Cup winner Paul Pogba paid 100,000 euros ($100,000) to an organized group including his brother that was trying to extort him for millions, French officials said.

French prosecutors are investigating allegations that Pogba was the target of extortion by his brother, Mathias Pogba, and childhood friends. They demanded 13 million euros from the France midfielder, and repeatedly intimidated him, claiming he didn’t support them after he became an international soccer star.

An official close to the investigation confirmed to the Associated Press that Pogba told investigators he had already paid 100,000 euros. The official spoke on condition of anonymity in line with official practice during an ongoing investigation.

AC MILAN: The New York Yankees and the Los Angeles-based fund that includes LeBron James are investing in AC Milan alongside RedBird Capital Partners, which is nearing a deal to purchase the Italian soccer champion for 1.2 billion euros ($1.2 billion), the Financial Times reported.

Gerry Cardinale, the founder and managing partner of RedBird, announced a preliminary agreement in June to purchase Milan from fellow American firm Elliott Management, with the closing scheduled by September.

Milan, a seven-time European champion, is coming off its first Italian title in 11 years.

The Yankees, the 27-time World Series champions, are already involved in soccer as co-owners with Manchester City of New York City FC in Major League Soccer. New York City FC plays some of its home games at Yankee Stadium.

BASKETBALL

FIBA: Google is increasing its investment in basketball, becoming the first women’s-only global partner with FIBA.

The internet company entered a multiyear partnership with the WNBA in 2021 and now is working with basketball’s world governing body, which has nine global partners for men’s and women’s basketball.