Blue Jays and Rays meet with series tied 1-1 (2024)

There is a chance of rain during the grandiose opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics on the Seine River. Meteo-France, the French weather service, is forecasting overcast skies over the city from midday onward, with light rain expected in the morning. The weather should improve in the afternoon, but the weather service warned Thursday that showers could hit the Paris region in the evening, when the cermony takes place. Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 10,500 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River for 6 kilometers (3.7 miles). This will start the ceremony, not mark the end of it, another break from tradition.

Palestinian Olympic athletes have been greeted with a roar of a crowd and gifts of food and roses as they arrived in Paris. The chants of “free Palestine” echoing through the Paris Charles de Gaulle airport upon their arrival Thursday show how conflict and the political tension are rippling through the Olympic Games. The world is coming together in Paris at a moment of global political upheaval, multiple wars, historic migration and a deepening climate crisis, all issues that have risen to the forefront of conversation in the Olympics. A 24-year-old Palestinian swimmer born in Saudi Arabia says that "when we come play sports, people realize we are equal to them.”

The head of Argentina’s soccer federation said the chaotic ending to its Olympic soccer match against Morocco on Wednesday “makes no sense,” and Argentina’s coach called the scene “a scandal.” The opening match of the men’s soccer tournament was suspended for nearly two hours during added time after Morocco fans invaded the field and threw bottles in protest of a late goal by Argentina. The goal was later overturned by the video assistant referee (VAR), and Argentina lost 2-1. Paris organizers said they were trying to “understand the causes and identify appropriate actions” after the match in Saint-Etienne. Argentina’s soccer federation said it had issued a formal protest Wednesday to world governing body FIFA and would do “what is necessary” to guarantee the safety of players.

Three-time Grand Slam champion Angelique Kerber has announced that she will retire after the Paris Olympics. The 36-year-old German player won majors at every tournament except for the French Open. She will bid farewell to tennis after the Paris Games, where she faces four-time major winner Naomi Osaka of Japan in the first round. Kerber posted on Instagram "I will never forget Paris 2024, because it will be my last professional tournament as a tennis player.” Kerber later confirmed her impending retirement when speaking briefly on stage after the Olympic tennis draw.

Top-seeded Novak Djokovic could meet his longtime rival Rafael Nadal in the second round of the Paris Olympic tennis tournament. Djokovic was drawn Thursday against Australian Matthew Ebden and Nadal faces Hungaraian Marton Fucsovics, with the winners of those matches meeting in Round 2. The 38-year-old Nadal won a record 14 of his 22 major trophies at the French Open. He won gold in singles at Beijing in 2008. French Open champion Carlos Alcaraz takes on Lebanese player Hady Habib. Top-ranked Iga Swiatek of Poland faces Irina-Camelia Begu of Romania in the first round of the women’s draw with second-seeded American Coco Gauff taking on Australian Ajla Tomljanović.

The Subway Series turned into two teams passing in different directions. After the Mets completed a four-game sweep with a 12-3 rout in the Bronx on Wednesday night, Yankees manager Aaron Boone sounded his most frustrated in two years. Francisco Lindor homered twice, and Pete Alonso, Tyrone Taylor and Mark Vientos once each. The Mets finished 4-0 against the Yankees this year, matching their sweep in 2013, and outscored them 36-14. The Mets improved to 29-13 after a 24-35 start. The Yankees are 10-22 following a 50-22 start and 1-8-2 in their last 11 series after opening 17-3-2.

Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley says he was portrayed fairly in the HBO show “Hard Knocks.” Barkley did say he had no idea his side of the conversation with New York Giants management in the midst of free agency would be recorded and aired on the documentary television series. Barkley’s ill-fated conversations with Giants general manager Joe Schoen, along with a pained reaction from team owner John Mara, and input from agent Ed Berry were all part of the series that detailed the running back’s departure after six seasons with New York. Barkley signed a three-year deal for $26 million guaranteed and $37.75 million overall to join the Eagles. They made him the highest-paid running back in franchise history.

ORLANDO, Fla. — In the oncoming mad rush to pay the college football players who bring in the green, it’s starting to look more and more like NCAA universities will soon sideline the very athletes who bring home the gold.

PHILADELPHIA — Paul George isn’t a doctor. Doesn’t play one on a podcast, either. But the 34-year-old superstar offered an interesting medical opinion during his introductory news conference on Tuesday afternoon. Asked whether there were any key precautions the Philadelphia Sixers could take…

Los Angeles Rams coach Sean McVay flashed his trademark smile when reporting Tuesday that quarterback Matthew Stafford was in camp, but this wasn't a celebratory moment.

ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — There’s a play that circulated through social media during the first few days of Chiefs training camp, so maybe it’s fitting that I’d like to talk about the player who threw it and the player who caught it.

It's an exercise that most elementary school kids go through at some point.

CORAL GABLES, Fla. — Julius Peppers, a fearsome pass-rushing defensive end, would be on the Carolina Panthers’ Mount Rushmore.

PITTSBURGH — With players set to report Wednesday, I kept seeing "Steelers training camp storylines." It makes for wonderful reading, mind you, but let's be crystal clear here: There is one story, and his name is Russell Wilson.

French President Emmanuel Macron pledged to make France shine during the Olympics. Macron hopes the Paris Games will help make his own star glitter again through sports topics rather than through politics. Macron said the Olympics are the best way to convince the world to “choose France,” in reference to one of his mottos meant to boost foreign investments in the country. Macron’s decision last month to call early elections plunged the country into a political turmoil. The vote left France’s influential lower house of parliament with no dominant political bloc in power. Macron is to have lunch with about 40 foreign CEOs of some of the biggest companies in the world with the aim to reassure them about the political situation in France.

UNDATED (AP) — A federal judged has denied the first objection to a $2.77 billion settlement of antitrust lawuits facing the NCAA and five power conferences, ruling against Houston Christian University’s motion to intervene. The small private school that has been a member of NCAA’s Division …

Two-time Olympic tennis gold medalist Andy Murray pulled out of singles at the Paris Games on Thursday and only will compete in doubles with Dan Evans. Murray, a 37-year-old from Britain, has said these Olympics will be the final event of his career. He’s dealt with a series of injuries, including a hip replacement in 2019, and most recently needed surgery last month to remove a cyst from his spine.

Andy Murray withdraws from Olympic tennis singles, will only play doubles.

Frenchman Esteban Ocon will drive for Haas from next season as a replacement for Kevin Magnussen. The American Formula 1 team said Thursday that the 27-year-old driver committed to a “multi-year contract starting with the 2025 FIA Formula 1 World Championship.” Ocon, the only driver to win a race for Alpine since it rebranded from Renault at the end of 2020, has picked up just three points this season and had already announced he was leaving the French-owned team. Ocon made his F1 debut in 2016 with Manor and joined the then-Renault team for 2020. Haas announced last week that Magnussen would leave at the end of the season when his contract expires. Ocon will partner 19-year-old Oliver Bearman.

The Baltimore Orioles travel to the Miami Marlins looking to stop a three-game road slide.

The Atlanta Braves enter the matchup against the New York Mets as losers of four in a row.

The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays meet on Thursday with the winner claiming the three-game series.

The Texas Rangers play the Chicago White Sox after Corey Seager's four-hit game on Wednesday.

The Cleveland Guardians lead 2-1 in a four-game series with the Detroit Tigers.

The Los Angeles Angels host the Oakland Athletics aiming to continue a three-game home winning streak.

The San Diego Padres take on the Washington Nationals after Jackson Merrill had four hits on Wednesday in a 12-3 win over the Nationals.

The Los Angeles Dodgers host the San Francisco Giants, leading the series 2-1.

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) — Boston College's Bill O'Brien and Duke's Manny Diaz join Syracuse's Fran Brown as the coaches leading new programs in the Atlantic Coast Conference this season. O'Brien and Diaz faced the challenge of quickly connecting with new players after their arrival in a time of…

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A new era of Big Ten football kicked off Wednesday when first-year UCLA coach DeShaun Foster and Southern California coach Lincoln Riley took the podium inside Lucas Oil Stadium. Both stepped up to the microphone as their school fight songs played. They were joined by new…

LUBBOCK, Texas (AP) — USA Softball Collegiate Player of the Year NiJaree Canady will be pitching for Texas Tech after two seasons at Stanford. Canady announced her commitment on social media Wednesday. ESPN, citing unnamed sources, reported that Canady will receive a name, image and likeness…

GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida coach Billy Napier and two co-defendants have filed motions to dismiss quarterback Jaden Rashada’s lawsuit regarding a failed name, image and likeness deal worth nearly $14 million. Napier, Florida booster/automotive technology businessman Hugh Hathcock and M…

Paris has long been a city of dreamers: Just look at the Eiffel Tower, for decades the world’s loftiest structure. But France’s capital is aiming higher still with its first Olympic Games in a century, which open Friday. The most audacious Olympic opening ceremony ever — a gala spectacular on the River Seine that even French President Emmanuel Macron says initially felt like “a crazy and not very serious idea” — kicks off 16 days of competition that promise to be ground-breaking. Expect a heady blend of Olympic sports, iconic Paris monuments and France’s famous “savoir faire” in its world-renowned capital of fashion, gastronomy and culture could help secure the Games’ longer-term future. But Paris’ challenges are huge, too.

NBA says it has signed new 11-year media rights deal with Disney, NBC and Amazon

The opening ceremony for the Paris Olympics is set for Friday. Instead of a traditional march into a stadium, about 10,500 athletes will parade on more than 90 boats on the Seine River. This will start the ceremony, not mark the end of it, another break from tradition. The ceremony will air on NBC and stream on Peacock and NBC Olympic platforms. It starts at 1:30 p.m. Eastern and is expected to last more than three hours. There will be a prime-time encore at 7:30 p.m.

Robbie Ray pitched five hitless innings in his San Francisco debut, Matt Chapman homered and the Giants beat the Los Angeles Dodgers 8-3. The Giants held the Dodgers without a hit until Chris Taylor doubled to right off reliever Tyler Rogers with two outs in the seventh inning. Ray had his first outing since Tommy John surgery in May 2023. He was electric after the first inning, allowing just one earned run on a bases-loaded walk. He struck out eight and was taken out after 86 pitches. The Giants pulled away in the eighth inning when they got to the fatigued Dodgers bullpen. They scored six runs on five hits, with five earned runs charged to reliever Yohan Ramirez.

Lesley Ugochukwu scored in the 82nd minute to help Chelsea salvage a 2-2 tie with Wrexham in a friendly match Wednesday night at Levi’s Stadium. Ugochukwu rolled a shot from the middle of the box through traffic into the right corner. Wrexham took a 2-1 lead when Jack Marriot scored on a counterattack in the 72nd minute. Luke Bolton also scored for Wrexham, the Welsh team co-owned by actor Ryan Reynolds that was promoted this year to the third tier of English soccer. Christopher Nkunku scored first for Chelsea in the perennial Premier League power’s first preseason match and its first under manager, Enzo Maresca, the former Leicester City manager.

Adolis García snapped out of a long slump with three hits and scored the go-ahead run, Nathan Eovaldi struck out 10 without any walks in seven innings and the Texas Rangers beat the Chicago White Sox 10-2. Corey Seager and Robbie Grossman had solo homers for the Rangers before Nathaniel Lowe hit a three-run shot. The 22-77 White Sox lost their 10th game in a row to fall 50 games under .500 for the first time since finishing 56-106 in 1970. They are the first team since the expansion Mets in 1962 to lose 77 of their first 104 games. Luis Robert Jr. homered for Chicago.

Corey Seager went 4 for 5. Adolis García drove in two runs and scored two more. Nathan Eovaldi allowed four hits through seven innings and struck out 10.

The Chicago White Sox haven’t had a record this bad in more than a half-century. They are now on pace to match the most losses in baseball’s modern era. With their 10-2 loss at Texas, the 27-77 White Sox have dropped 10 in a row and are now 50 games under .500 for the first time since finishing 56-106 in 1970. They are the first team since the expansion Mets in 1962 to lose 77 of their first 104 games. New York that year went on to a record 120 losses. After one-run losses each of the previous two nights against Texas, the White Sox were still close Wednesday until the reigning World Series champions had a six-run eighth inning.

Gabriel Moreno gave Arizona the lead in the ninth inning with a two-run double, Ketel Marte added a three-run homer and the Diamondbacks beat the Kansas City Royals 8-6 on Wednesday night. Eugenio Saurez homered for Arizona in the second and Joc Pederson and Christian Walker hit back-to-back shots in the fourth to make it 3-1. Pederson has 200 career homers. With Arizona down 4-3 in the ninth against closer James McArthur (4-4), Lourdes Gurriel Jr singled with one out, Geraldo Perdomo walked and Moreno slashed the double that rolled to the wall in the right-center gap. After Corbin Carroll’s single, Marte blasted a three-run homer to center. The All-Star homered in all three games in the series.