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Sports In Brief For Monday, August 8, 2022

NBA

NEW YORK (AP) — Kevin Durant has again told Brooklyn Nets owner Joe Tsai that he wants to be traded, reiterating a request he first made nearly six weeks ago, a person with knowledge of the matter confirmed.

Durant also told Tsai that he has concerns about the Nets’ direction under coach Steve Nash and general manager Sean Marks, said the person who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because neither the perennial All-Star nor the team confirmed details of the talks publicly.

The Athletic first reported details of the latest Durant-Tsai meeting.

This is the latest phase of a saga that began June 30, when Durant told the Nets he wanted a trade just as this summer’s free agent period was beginning. Durant isn’t a free agent; he has four years and $198 million remaining on his contract with the Nets, who will undoubtedly demand a haul of players and draft picks in any trade agreement for the 12-time All-Star, four-time scoring champion, three-time Olympic gold medalist and two-time NBA champion.

Durant has spent three seasons with Brooklyn, not playing in the first of those years while he recovered from a torn Achilles. He averaged 29.9 points in 55 games last season, after leading the U.S. to Olympic gold at the Tokyo Games last summer.

GOLF

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The PGA Tour asked a federal judge to deny the appeal of three suspended players who joined Saudi-backed LIV Golf and now want to compete in the tour’s lucrative postseason, arguing the players knew the consequences two months ago.

Talor Gooch, Matt Jones and Hudson Swafford are seeking a temporary restraining order. They are among 10 players who filed an antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour last week.

The hearing is scheduled for 1 p.m. PDT Tuesday in San Jose, California, two days before the first of three FedEx Cup playoff events in the chase for the $18 million top prize.

The FedEx St. Jude Championship in Memphis, Tennessee, has a $15 million purse, and the top 70 players advance to the second postseason event in Wilmington, Delaware.

Gooch (No. 20), Jones (No. 65) and Swafford (No. 67) are among nine players who have joined LIV Golf and finished the regular season among the top 125 in the FedEx Cup standings. The other six who joined LIV Golf are not asking to play in the tour’s postseason.

In a court filing Monday to oppose the temporary restraining order, the tour argued antitrust laws do not allow the three players “to have their cake and eat it, too.”

BASEBALL

SEATTLE (AP) — Aaron Judge hit his 44th homer, Josh Donaldson also went deep and drove in three runs, and the New York Yankees snapped a five-game losing streak by beating the Seattle Mariners 9-4.

Donaldson doubled twice and Andrew Benintendi also had two doubles and three RBIs as the Yankees hammered Seattle pitching. But it wasn’t a perfect night — Matt Carpenter broke his left foot when he fouled off a pitch in the first inning.

Donaldson and Benintendi got it started as New York knocked around starter Logan Gilbert for seven earned runs and 10 hits — six for extra bases. That was plenty for Jameson Taillon (11-2), who scattered three hits over seven innings.

New York manager Aaron Boone held a team meeting ahead of the series opener in Seattle after the Yankees were swept in St. Louis last weekend. His message was mostly a reminder the Bronx Bombers are arguably the most talented team in the American League and following the trade deadline have the pieces to make this a special season.

SAN DIEGO (AP) — Alex Wood held San Diego to three singles in 6 1/3 innings and the San Francisco Giants benefited from an overturned call at the plate to beat the sputtering Padres 1-0.

San Francisco reliever Camino Doval retired the heart of San Diego’s order in the ninth — Juan Soto, Manny Machado and Josh Bell — to earn his 15th save.

It was the fifth straight loss and second consecutive shutout for the Padres, who fell to 1-5 since obtaining Soto and Bell in a blockbuster trade last Tuesday. They were coming off a three-game sweep at Dodger Stadium in which they were outscored 20-4. Their streak of scoreless innings reached 23 dating to Saturday.

San Diego’s lead over Milwaukee for the NL’s third wild card is down to one game.

The Padres appeared to have tied it at 1 when Brandon Drury was called safe at home as catcher Joey Bart applied the tag on a headfirst slide after Kim Ha-seong’s double into the left field corner with one out in the seventh. But the Giants challenged and the call was overturned, to thunderous boos from the sellout crowd of 40,686.

There was a slight delay as a few fans threw trash onto the field, prompting a warning from the PA announcer.

NEW YORK (AP) — Chris Bassitt scattered eight hits over eight innings and Starling Marte hit a two-run homer in the first, leading the New York Mets to a 5-1 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

With their 13th victory in 15 games, the Mets extended their NL East lead to seven games over idle Atlanta. New York just took four of five from the defending World Series champions at Citi Field last weekend.

Bassitt (9-7) allowed an unearned run and walked one while striking out eight in his second eight-inning outing this season and fifth in 114 career starts. He threw 114 pitches before getting pulled by manager Buck Showalter, most by a Mets starter this year and two shy of his career high set in August 2019.tt said before grinning. “But Buck don’t let me.”

Bassitt has thrown at least 100 pitches in a start 25 times since the beginning of 2019.

NFL

BALTIMORE (AP) — Jason Tucker and the Baltimore Ravens agreed to a four-year extension worth $24 million. The agreement includes $17.5 million guaranteed for the star kicker, whose previous deal was through 2023.

The contract was part of a feel-good day for the Ravens, who also welcomed running back J.K. Dobbins back from the physically-unable-to-perform list.

A five-time All-Pro, Tucker has been a game-changer for the Ravens in his 10 years with the team. He’s made a record 91.1% of his field goal attempts, and his 1,360 points are the most ever by a player through his first 10 seasons.

Tucker set another record last year with a 66-yard kick at Detroit that won the game. He is 16 of 16 on field goal attempts in the final minute of regulation and has converted 58 straight in the fourth quarter and overtime, the longest active streak in the league.

TENNIS

TORONTO (AP) — Serena Serena picked up her first victory since the 2021 French Open, beating Nuria Parrizas-Diaz 6-3, 6-4 at the women’s National Bank Open.

It’s just the second tournament of the season for the 40-year-old Williams, who returned to competition at Wimbledon just over a month ago. The 23-time Grand Slam champion fell in the first round to Harmony Tan in three sets at the All England Club.

Before then, she last competed at the 2021 Wimbledon tournament, where she retired in the middle of her first match due to a torn hamstring suffered after slipping on the grass surface.

Williams, who will turn 41 at the end of September, will next face either 12th-ranked Belinda Bencic or Tereza Martincova.

Williams has won this tournament three times and reached the final in her last appearance at the hardcourt event in 2019, losing to Bianca Andreescu when she was forced to stop because of injury.

The Associated Press

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