
WNBA commissioner opens up on Caitlin Clark... as league is rocked by protests and bullying claims
They are only midway through their inaugural season, but next year Golden State is expected to be the WNBA's most valuable team, surpassing even the $400 million New York Liberty.
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The Guardian
22 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Backstroke queen Kaylee McKeown pulls off another golden double
World record holder Kaylee McKeown underlined her status as the undisputed queen of backstroke swimming as she added the 200 metres gold to her triumph in the 100m at the world championships in Singapore on Saturday. Once again it was American Regan Smith looking to take down McKeown, only to be reeled in on the last lap as the Australian dominator clocked 2:03.33, the third fastest swim of all time. It was nearly a second better than Smith (2:04.29), who had taken silver behind McKeown in the 100m and 200m at the Paris Olympics, and was runner-up to her again in the 100 in Singapore. Just like in Paris, McKeown's win came straight after compatriot Cameron McEvoy stormed to his second 50m freestyle title in 21.14 seconds, becoming the oldest Australian swimming world champion at the age of 31. Fastest off the blocks, McEvoy once again denied Ben Proud (21.26) gold, having beaten the Briton to the Olympic title by a fingertip in Paris exactly a year ago. A new dad since Paris, McEvoy thanked his wife Maddi and gave a shout-out to his baby boy Hartley. 'It's a very different life,' he said. 'I've got to navigate it, I'll figure it out. But it's cool to have that at home and still be here doing what I love.' Sign up to Australia Sport Get a daily roundup of the latest sports news, features and comment from our Australian sports desk after newsletter promotion This story will update


Reuters
22 minutes ago
- Reuters
William Contreras, Brewers aim to keep hits coming against Nationals
August 2 - William Contreras will look to continue his torrid week when the visiting Milwaukee Brewers play the middle game of their series against the Washington Nationals on Saturday afternoon. Contreras had a career-high five hits, including his third home run in two games, to lead the Brewers to a 16-9 victory in the opener on Friday. Since Monday, Contreras is 12-for-19 (.632) with three home runs, five RBIs and nine runs. The Brewers are 3-1 in that span. Milwaukee's Brandon Woodruff (2-0, 2.01 ERA) will oppose fellow right-hander Jake Irvin (8-5, 4.69) on Saturday. Woodruff, who missed all of 2024 and the beginning of this season as he recovered from shoulder surgery, will make his fifth start. He has allowed two earned runs or less in each outing, going six innings in three of four starts. Last time out, he gave up two runs on four hits in six innings of a no-decision against the Miami Marlins, a 3-2 Milwaukee win on Sunday. Woodruff is 4-0 with a 1.29 ERA in eight games (six starts) against the Nationals. On July 12, he allowed two runs in 4 1/3 innings of a no-decision against them. Irvin is coming off a strong outing. Last Sunday, he defeated the Minnesota Twins, allowing two runs on five hits over seven innings in a 7-2 game. The 28-year-old, who grew up a Twins fan in Bloomington, was making his first start at Minnesota and had several family and friends in the park. "[There were] a whole lot of emotions," Irvin said. "I think the coolest thing was probably warming up, trying to stay locked in but seeing a bunch of familiar faces and people trying to say hello. At the end of the day, it was just awesome to have that support, have that backing here." Irvin will try to overcome his history against Milwaukee. He is 0-4 with a 5.84 ERA in five starts against the team. Friday night, the Brewers pounded out a season-high 25 hits. Blake Perkins homered twice, Andrew Vaughn had three hits, including a home run, and Andruw Monasterio had his first four-hit game for Milwaukee. The Brewers, who have the best record in the major leagues, have won four of their past five games and are 21 games over .500. Paul DeJong homered Friday, and CJ Abrams had three hits for Washington, which has lost three straight. The 25 hits allowed by the Nationals were the most in franchise history. The Nationals, who traded six players for prospects this week, did not go quietly, as they scored five runs in the ninth. "There's plenty of opportunity," said rookie right fielder Daylen Lile, who tripled and doubled. "We've got two months left. All we've got to do is stay behind each other, keep competing and give our best every day, 110 percent. Then we can look ourselves in the mirror and say we gave it our all." Before the game, the Brewers placed outfielder Jackson Chourio on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain. "It won't be anytime soon," manager Pat Murphy said of Chourio's return, which he noted could be more than a month away. "It was diagnosed a little more severe than we initially thought, but to what extent I'm not exactly sure." --Field Level Media


Reuters
24 minutes ago
- Reuters
Aces wild: Tigers' Tarik Skubal to square off vs. Phillies' Zack Wheeler
August 2 - It's not often a regular-season game carries the weight of history, but Saturday afternoon's matchup between Philadelphia Phillies ace Zack Wheeler and Detroit Tigers star Tarik Skubal just might. The two current Cy Young Award front-runners are set to face off in Philadelphia in a battle of division leaders. Only once in MLB history have the eventual winners of the award pitched against each other during the regular season. That occurred on June 13, 2012, when Tampa Bay's David Price shared the mound against the New York Mets' R.A. Dickey at Tropicana Field. Skubal (10-3), who leads the American League with a 2.09 ERA and an average of 11.51 strikeouts per nine innings, is aiming to become the first repeat winner of the AL's Cy Young Award since Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez in 1999 and 2000. Wheeler (9-4, 2.56 ERA), a right-hander, leads the National League with 172 strikeouts and an 0.890 WHIP. He is second with 11.58 strikeouts per nine innings. The Tigers are counting on Skubal to help them recover from squandering a 3-0 lead and losing 5-4 to the Phillies on Friday. The left-hander's last loss was July 11 to Seattle, and he's struck out 18 and allowed only one run in the two games since. Skubal has not allowed any runs on three hits with one walk and seven strikeouts over seven innings in his one career appearance against the Phillies. Detroit hopes Skubal will be able to pitch deep in the game so that the Tigers won't have to rely as much on their struggling bullpen. Four Tigers relievers gave up four of the Phillies' five runs on Friday as Detroit had its four-game winning streak snapped. "We didn't retire the first batter of the guys that came out of the (bullpen), except for (Brenan) Hanifee, when he punched out (J.T) Realmuto," Tigers manager A.J. Hinch said. "Just too many mistakes at the end, whether it's pitches or not. ... They capitalized." With Detroit struggling against right-handed pitching, Wheeler likely will keep Tigers hitters guessing with his six-pitch mix. He has a 1-0 record against Detroit with an ERA of 2.45 and 16 strikeouts in two career appearances. While the game will showcase Skubal and Wheeler, the Phillies hope newly acquired closer Jhoan Duran continues to pay dividends, as he did Friday. The former Twin came on in the ninth inning and picked up his 17th save of the season by shutting down the Tigers on four pitches. "First pitch was a 98 mile-per-hour split," Phillies manager Rob Thomson said. "I don't know if I've seen that before." Duran's former Minnesota teammate, Harrison Bader, also had a hand in the victory by scoring a run in his debut. The Phillies believe he can stabilize their outfield and give them more offensive production. "I've been injected into a playoff race," Bader said. "All the notions of ego, or 'me, me, and my playing time,' that'll go out the window. I'm here to win. I'm here to help this team to win. And I want a shot at the World Series. ... I'm excited to dive into it and see how it shakes out." --Field Level Media