FOOTBALL
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) - Andrew Luck will likely miss the rest of the preseason with an injury near the front of his left ankle.
Colts general manager Chris Ballard says he isn’t sure if the injury will keep Luck out of the Sept. 8 season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers.
Indy’s starting quarterback has been dealing with lower leg pain since straining his left calf in March. Luck missed all of the team’s offseason workouts and has not participated in any full team drills at training camp.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. (AP) - New York Giants wide receiver Golden Tate has had the appeal of his four-game suspension for a violation of the NFL’s policy on performance enhancers turned down.
The decision by an independent arbiter was announced Tuesday and means the 10-year-veteran will miss the first four games of the regular season, starting with Dallas on Sept. 8.
Tate, who signed a $37.5 million contract as a free agent with the Giants in March, announced the suspension in a Twitter post on July 27. He said he intended to appeal it and felt his case had merit because he was using a fertility drug prescribed by a doctor.
NEW YORK (AP) - The NFL and Jay-Z’s entertainment and sports representation company are teaming up for events and social activism.
The league not only will use Jay-Z’s Roc Nation to consult on its entertainment presentations, including the Super Bowl halftime show, but will work with the rapper and entrepreneur’s company to “strengthen community through music and the NFL’s Inspire Change initiative.”
Inspire Change was created by the league after an agreement with a coalition of players who demonstrated during the national anthem to protest social and racial injustice in this country. Those demonstrations were sparked by former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick kneeling during the national anthem in 2016.
BASEBALL
CLEVELAND (AP) - Boston Red Sox lefty Chris Sale has reached 2,000 career strikeouts faster than any pitcher in history.
Sale entered Tuesday’s game against the Indians with 1,995 strikeouts. He struck out the side in the first and reached the milestone in the third when he fanned rookie Oscar Mercado.
According to information provided by the Red Sox, Sale broke Hall of Famer Pedro Martinez’s mark by getting to 2,000 in 1,626 innings. Martinez did it in 1,711 1/3 innings. Randy Johnson reached the plateau in 1,733 1/3 innings, and Max Scherzer got there in 1,784.
Sale has struggled this season. He entered his 25th start at just 6-11 with a 4.41 ERA. Still, he has the best strikeout-to-walk ratio in the majors since 1920.
PHILADELPHIA (AP) - The Phillies have hired former manager Charlie Manuel to replace John Mallee as hitting coach.
Manuel was working as senior adviser to the general manager. The Phillies announced Tuesday that he would assume his new position for the remainder of the season.
Manuel led the Phillies to five straight division titles, two NL pennants and the franchise’s second World Series championship, in 2008.
The 75-year-old Manuel previously served as hitting coach for the Cleveland Indians from 1988-89 and 1994-99.
COLLEGE BASKEBTALL
HARTFORD, Conn. (AP) - The arbitrator in the dispute between UConn and Kevin Ollie says the former basketball coach is protected by a union contract when it comes to the standard the school must meet in proving his ouster was justified.
The union agreement requires a showing of serious misconduct.
UConn had argued that Ollie’s personal contract superseded union protections, allowing it to fire him for a broader range of offenses.
The arbitrator, in a decision dated July 31, found that Ollie did not give up his union protections when signing his contract.
The arbitrator plans hearings to determine whether UConn fired Ollie in March 2018 for just cause, or if he is owed more than $10 million that was left on his contract.
TENNIS
Coco Gauff has received a wild-card entry for the U.S. Open’s main draw.
It will be the second Grand Slam tournament for the 15-year-old from Florida.
She made a magical run to the fourth round at Wimbledon last month after getting a wild card into the qualifying rounds there.
Gauff became the youngest player to qualify for Wimbledon, upset five-time champion Venus Williams in the first round and wound up losing to eventual title winner Simona Halep.
The U.S. Tennis Association announced its wild cards Tuesday.
WNBA
NEW YORK (AP) - The WNBA has suspended Mercury center Brittney Griner three games for her role in a fight in the Dallas-Phoenix game Saturday that resulted in six players getting ejected.
The league punished Griner on Tuesday for throwing punches, escalating the incident and pushing Wings forward Kayla Thornton’s face with an open hand.
Dallas’ Kristine Anigwe was suspended two games for instigating the initial altercation with Griner and taking an open-handed swing at her. Thornton also was suspended two games for her role in the scuffle.
Phoenix’s Diana Taurasi and Dallas’ Kaela Davis were suspended a game apiece for leaving the bench area during the altercation.
SOCCER
SEATTLE (AP) - The Seattle Sounders are adding Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson and wife Ciara, hip-hop artist Macklemore and Microsoft CEO Sataya Nadella to the MLS club’s ownership group.
Other investors are also coming aboard while current majority owner Adrian Hanauer is increasing his investment stake in the club. Hollywood producer Joe Roth, who helped bring the MLS to Seattle, is leaving the franchise.
Wilson has been attempting to get into sports ownership. He was previously a partner in an effort to build a new basketball arena in Seattle and has also been part of the project in Portland, Oregon, to build a baseball stadium in the hopes of luring an MLB team to the city.
HOUSTON (AP) - The Houston Dynamo say they have fired coach Wilmer Cabrera after 2½ seasons.
Assistant coach Davy Arnaud on Tuesday was named interim coach for the remainder of the season.
The Dynamo are 9-13-3, good for ninth place in the MLS Western Conference.
Houston opened the season 7-2-2, the best start in team history. In their last 14 MLS games, the Dynamo are 2-11-1. In all matches, they are 3-12-2 since their fast start.
In a statement, Dynamo general manager Matt Jordan thanked Cabrera for his hard work and dedication and said the team would benefit from a “fresh perspective” as it makes a push to qualify for the playoffs.
Cabrera was the third head coach in club history and had a 32-39-22 record in the MLS regular season since taking over before the 2017 season. He led the Dynamo to the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup championship last year.
WINTER SPORTS
USA Bobsled and Skeleton has fired CEO Darrin Steele, who oversaw teams that won nine Olympic medals and 12 world championship medals.
Steele will remain in place for about another month. The federation’s board of directors did not cite a specific reason for the change. Athletes were told in a conference call Tuesday night, and John Rosen will assume the CEO role on an interim basis until a permanent hire is made.
“This was a very difficult decision,” USABS board chair Bob Bergbauer said. “We are grateful for Darrin’s guidance, but the board feels it’s time for a fresh perspective as we head into the future.”
The news comes less than two months before the federation begins work for the coming season.
OBITUARY
OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) - Former University of Oklahoma running back Mike Gaddis, who former coach Barry Switzer called the best running back from the state of Oklahoma he ever signed, has died. He was 50.
Switzer told The Associated Press Tuesday that Gaddis’ father-in-law told him Gaddis died Monday at his home in Oklahoma City. A cause of death was not released.
Gaddis signed with OU out of Carl Albert High School in Midwest City, and as a sophomore in 1989 rushed for 829 yards in six games before suffering a severe knee injury against Texas.
Gaddis returned in 1991 to rush for more than 1,300 yards and was a sixth-round draft pick by the Minnesota Vikings, but never played in the NFL.
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