Sports briefs
By NewsPress Now
Texans’ Denico Autry suspended six games for violating NFL’s policy
HOUSTON | Houston Texans defensive lineman Denico Autry was suspended for the first six games of the regular season on Monday for violating the NFL’s policy on performance-enhancers.
Autry denied he knowingly ingested a banned substance but said he would accept the suspension. Autry said he discovered the pharmacy that filled a prescription for him had “intentionally, recklessly, or negligently” included a banned substance.
Autry is allowed to participate in preseason practices and games. His first regular-season availability will be Oct. 20 at Green Bay. Autry apologized to the Texans organization, teammates and fans for any distraction his positive test causes.
Autry, 34, has 59 sacks in 10 NFL seasons. He had a career-high 11 1/2 last season for the Tennessee Titans and signed a two-year, $20 million free-agent contract with the Texans in March.
“Over the course of my 10-year NFL career, I have never engaged in the use of performance-enhancing drugs,” Autry said in a statement. “Over that period, I have been subject to countless tests, none of which have ever returned a positive result. I was, therefore, stunned this offseason when I learned that one of my tests returned a positive result.”
Autry said his attorney provided the NFL with documentation from his physicians establishing he neither asked for nor was prescribed any banned substances.
“It was important to me that the NFL know that I did not intentionally or even knowingly ingest a banned substance,” Autry said. “I understand, however, that under the NFL’s policies, ultimate responsibility for what enters my body rests with me. To that end, while I intend to explore legal options pertaining to the circumstances that resulted in my positive test, I have accepted the NFL’s punishment of a six-game suspension.”
Bally Sports
networks will return
to Comcast subscribers
SOUTHPORT, Conn. | Most Comcast subscribers will be able to watch their favorite sports teams again after it reached an agreement with their distributor.
Comcast and Diamond Sports announced Monday that 15 regional sports networks will be available on Thursday after being blacked out for three months. The Bally Sports networks were no longer available to Comcast subscribers on May 1 due to a contract dispute.
Under the agreement, subscribers to Comcast’s Xfinity Ultimate TV package will gain access to the Bally RSNs. Additionally, Xfinity Ultimate TV customers will be able to stream Bally’s content on the Bally Sports app.
Comcast is Diamond Sports’ third-largest distributor. Diamond Sports has been in Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings in Texas since it filed for protection last March. It has a reorganization plan before the court, but details are still being worked out.
“With certainty on our distribution, we are focused on finalizing an agreement with the NHL and resolving our ongoing negotiations with the NBA,” said David Preschlack, CEO of Diamond Sports. “We are mindful that time is of the essence with basketball and hockey seasons fast approaching.”
Baseball teams affected by the blackout were the Atlanta Braves, Miami Marlins, Tampa Bay Rays, Detroit Tigers, Cleveland Guardians, Minnesota Twins, Kansas City Royals, St. Louis Cardinals, Cincinnati Reds, Milwaukee Brewers, Texas Rangers and Los Angeles Angels.
“We appreciate Diamond Sports working with us to reach a solution that returns the Bally Sports RSNs to our Ultimate TV customers in a way that reflects the changing video marketplace for local sports,” Greg Rigdon, president of content acquisition for Comcast, said in a statement. “We look forward to making these networks available on August 1, so customers can enjoy watching their favorite teams again.”
Financial terms of the agreement with Comcast were not disclosed.
Cardinals add starter
in a three-team,
seven-player trade
The St. Louis Cardinals added starting pitcher Erick Fedde and the Kansas City Royals acquired veteran right-hander Michael Lorenzen as playoff contenders made deals Monday, the day before MLB’s trade deadline.
Fedde and outfielder Tommy Pham went from the lowly White Sox to the Cardinals as part of a three-team deal involving seven players. Chicago also sent hard-throwing reliever Michael Kopech to the NL West-leading Dodgers.
Los Angeles also acquired utilityman Tommy Edman from the Cardinals, and the Dodgers sent infield prospects Miguel Vargas, Alexander Albertus and Jeral Perez to Chicago.
Reigning World Series champion Texas, which went into Monday four games under .500 and in third place in the AL West, traded Lorenzen to the Royals for minor league left-handed reliever Walter Pennington.
Seattle made its third significant move ahead of the deadline acquiring veteran Justin Turner from Toronto in exchange for minor league outfielder RJ Schreck.
Fedde should provide a boost for the Cards’ rotation as they try to rally into a playoff spot after they missed the postseason last year.
The 31-year-old Fedde is 7-4 with a 3.11 ERA in 21 starts in a successful return to the majors. He finalized a $15 million, two-year deal with the White Sox in December after he pitched for the NC Dinos in South Korea in 2023. He was selected by Washington in the first round of the 2014 amateur draft and is 28-37 with a 4.92 ERA in 123 big league games (109 starts).
Lorenzen went 5-6 with a 3.81 ERA in 19 games (18 starts) for the Rangers after signing late in spring training and making his season debut April 15. In his final start for Texas on Saturday, Lorenzen allowed four runs and five hits while recording only two outs at Toronto. He then pitched again Sunday, and gave up one run over four innings in relief.
Kansas City went into Monday in the American League’s third wild card spot, one game ahead Boston. The Cardinals were one game behind the New York Mets for the NL’s third wild card.
The 32-year-old Lorenzen was a first-time All-Star last season with Detroit, and threw a no-hitter for Philadelphia after being traded. He signed a $4.5 million, one-year contract with Texas on March 23. Primarily a starter the past three seasons, Lorenzen is 45-44 with a 4.08 ERA over 361 career games (87 starts) with Cincinnati, Philadelphia, Texas, the Los Angeles Angels and Detroit.
Royals manager Matt Quatraro wasn’t sure when Lorenzen would join the team, but looked forward to the “depth and versatility” the right-hander would provide.
“He’s relieved, he’s started,” Quatraro said. “We don’t know exactly how he’s going to be used. We’re going to have see how the rest of this trade deadline plays out. Who’s here, who’s not and see how the injuries play out as well.”
Kansas City had two relievers exit Sunday’s 7-3 loss to the Chicago Cubs after getting hurt. Right-hander John Schreiber tweaked his knee when covering first base and right-hander Hunter Harvey, who they got in a trade with Washington two weeks ago, later left with a back spasm.
The Cincinnati Reds picked up veteran first baseman Ty France and cash from Seattle in exchange for minor league catcher Andruw Salcedo. The 30-year-old France, a 2022 AL All-Star, was designated for assignment last week by the Mariners after hitting .223 with eight homers and 31 RBIs in 88 games.
Turner is expected for now to get the bulk of playing time at first base for Seattle, but can also play third base and was the designated hitter for 71 of the 89 games he appeared in for Toronto. The 39-year-old is hitting .254 with six homers and 31 RBIs in 89 games this season for the Blue Jays, but since June 1 has batted .301 with an .800 OPS.
“This guy’s been around a long time, has gone through a lot in his career and he’s been on winning teams, he’s been on a lot of winning teams. Knows certain ways winning teams go about things,” Seattle manager Scott Servais said. “I just think no matter what he can do on the field, I think he has plenty to give there, hopefully he can give in other areas as well in helping out some of our young guys.”
Seattle added Randy Arozarena and Yimi Garcia in a pair of trades last week.
Turner started at first base in the opener of a doubleheader against Baltimore on Monday and singled in the first inning before being removed from the game in the bottom of the second.
Boston acquired right-handed pitcher Quinn Priester from the Pittsburgh Pirates for minor league infielder/outfielder Nick Yorke in an exchange of former first-round draft picks. The Red Sox then optioned Priester (2-6, 5.04 ERA) to Triple-A Worcester.
Coco Gauff’s record at the Paris Olympics is perfect
PARIS | Coco Gauff is making it look easy at the Paris Olympics so far, adding a 6-1, 6-1 victory over Maria Lourdes Carle of Argentina in the second round of singles Monday to her growing collection of lopsided results.
So what if Gauff had more than twice as many unforced errors, 26, as winners, 11? So what if she only put 55% of her first serves in play? So what if she wound up with six double-faults and zero aces?
So what if it took nearly 1 1/2 hours for the reigning U.S. Open champion and No. 2-ranked Gauff to finish off an opponent who is ranked 85th, has never won a tour-level singles title and owns an 0-2 career record at Grand Slam tournaments?
“You can’t argue with the scoreline, to be honest,” the 20-year-old American said.
Sure can’t.
Look at what she’s managed to do so far at her first Olympics: Not only is Gauff 3-0 across singles and women’s doubles, where her partner is Jessica Pegula, but she has dropped a combined total of only nine games across six sets in those three matches.
“I knew that she was just going to probably try to out-rally me, which I feel like is one of my strengths. But also I had the ability to be aggressive,” Gauff said about the matchup with Carle, someone she was familiar with from their days as junior players. “So I think I was just trying to balance the mistakes and not let her win a lot of points off my racket.”
Her match was played at Court Suzanne Lenglen at the same time that, across the way at Court Philippe Chatrier, Novak Djokovic was beating Rafael Nadal 6-1, 6-4 in the 60th head-to-head matchup between two rivals with 46 Grand Slam titles between them.
Gauff said she was “kind of sad” that she missed the chance to watch a contest between two players who “mean a lot” to their sport.
Men moving into the third round included Carlos Alcaraz, who defeated Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands 6-1, 7-6 (3) on Monday night. Alcaraz needed a medical timeout for treatment from a trainer for a groin muscle issue in the second set, then was a point from getting pushed to a third, but finished the job.
“It’s a pain that I’ve been dealing with,” Alcaraz said, mentioning that it bothered him during his run to the Wimbledon championship this month. “I know what I have to do … to deal with this pain.”
Alcaraz, a 21-year-old who also won the French Open in June for one of his four Grand Slam titles, is scheduled to team with Nadal in doubles for Spain on Tuesday against Griekspoor and Wesley Koolhof.
“I will try to recover as soon and as (best) as I can tonight,” Alcaraz said, “to be … 100% tomorrow in my doubles.”
Other winners were Casper Ruud of Norway and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who both have reached French Open finals.
In other action around the same facility used for the French Open, where Nadal won 14 of his 22 major championships, three-time major champion Angelique Kerber was a 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 winner against Jaqueline Adina Cristian of Romania, and Wimbledon champ Barbora Krejcikova of the Czech Republic and Wimbledon runner-up Jasmine Paolini of Italy advanced in straight sets.
Gauff’s American teammates Danielle Collins and Emma Navarro both won, but the fifth-seeded Pegula was eliminated from singles 4-6, 6-1, 6-3 by Tokyo Games bronze medalist Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the day’s last match. Collins eliminated 2018 Australian Open title winner Caroline Wozniacki 6-3, 3-6, 6-3.
Gauff, Collins and Navarro give the United States three women in the third round of Olympics singles for the first time since 2004, when Venus Williams, Lisa Raymond and Chanda Rubin did it at the Athens Games.
The next opponent for Gauff will be Donna Vekic, a Croatian who was a semifinalist at Wimbledon a little more than two weeks ago and got past 2019 U.S. Open champion Bianca Andreescu of Canada 6-3, 6-4 on Monday.
Gauff vs. Vekic was scheduled for Tuesday, as was the first-round match for Gauff and Taylor Fritz in mixed doubles.
Gauff is hoping to win three medals at these Games — in singles, doubles and mixed doubles. Since tennis returned to the Olympics in 1988, no player has ever left a single Games with medals from three events.
On Monday, Gauff was not at all concerned by the heat, which rose into the 80s Fahrenheit for the first time during the Paris Olympics.
Being from Florida means that sort of thing is not a big deal to Gauff, although she made some concessions, wearing ice-filled towels to cool off during changeovers and taking an ice bath after the match.
“I’m just trying my best to be preventative before maybe I feel fatigue and everything,” Gauff said. “Obviously, my last two matches, I went quick. So I’m just trying to think for the future, towards the end of the tournament.”
American swimmers grabbed plenty of hardware Monday at the Olympics
NANTERRE, France | American swimmers added plenty to the U.S. medal count Monday night, just not the ones they most wanted.
Katie Grimes and Emma Weyant stood side by side on the Paris podium. Ryan Murphy picked up the seventh medal of his illustrious career. And Luke Hobson earned his first in a stirring race.
But none of them were gold.
In a way, it felt like a changing of the guard, especially when Murphy could only manage a bronze and longtime breaststroke stalwart Lilly King was edged out of a medal by a mere hundredth of a second.
“We have a lot of people who have been doing this for a long time, the absolute legends of the sport,” Murphy said. “All the young people that are winning would say they look up to them.”
Grimes and Weyant could celebrate knowing nobody was going to catch 17-year-old Canadian Summer McIntosh in her dominant 400-meter individual medley victory.
“Just so happy to be back on the podium, it’s been kind of a long three years for me,” Weyant said. “So just getting back up there with a teammate means the world.”
McIntosh touched in 4 minutes, 27.71 seconds to capture Olympic gold in commanding fashion. Grimes finished second in 4:33.40 for silver and Weyant earned bronze with a 4:33.93.
For Weyant, this was a comeback of sorts on the biggest stage. She was disqualified in the prelims at the U.S. national championships last summer for doing a dolphin kick during the breaststroke leg.
“This is kind of like a redemption year, that’s been my mindset the whole year,” Weyant said. “Getting that out of my head definitely was not at the forefront but definitely putting in the work to get back to where I need to be.”
Murphy and Hobson each take home bronze medals
Former world record-holder Murphy won his bronze in the 100 backstroke, while Hobson earned one of his own in the 200 freestyle.
“I feel great. I couldn’t be happier,” said Hobson, a University of Texas swimmer competing in his first Olympics. “It was a really close race and I gave it everything I had in the last 50 meters.”
Murphy, who owns the Olympic record of 51.85 in the 100 back set in Rio de Janeiro eight years ago, touched in 52.39 in a thrilling duel among the medalists. World record-holder Thomas Ceccon of Italy won gold in 52.00, ahead of China’s Xu Jiayu (52.32).
For Murphy, any sting from finishing third was eased during the medal ceremony when he looked up to see his wife Bridget holding a sign that read, “It’s a girl, “ revealing the gender of the couple’s baby due in January.
Lilly King barely misses out on bronze medal
Lilly King just missed the podium in 100 breaststroke in yet another close finish at these Games.
Only one-hundredth of a second separated bronze medalist Mona McSharry of Ireland — she earned her country’s first medal in Paris and first in swimming since 1996 — and the fourth-place tie between King and Italy’s Benedetta Pilato in 1:05.60.
South Africa’s Tatjana Smith claimed the gold.
King has been one of the biggest U.S. stars at the last two Olympics, claiming two golds and five medals overall, and she’s nearly as well known for her outspoken views on swimmers who test positive for banned substances.
After getting engaged at the U.S. trials, she already announced this will be her final Olympics.
—From AP reports
