Lance Lynn attempts to trace the footsteps of fellow veteran righty Sonny Gray and break into the win column as the visiting St. Louis Cardinals go for a second straight victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night. Pitching at the site of his early career success, Gray dominated the series opener for six innings, shutting out his former team on four hits in a 3-1 Cardinals win. Lynn (0-0, 2.63 ERA) is coming off a strong effort, having held the Philadelphia Phillies to one hit over five innings of what turned into a 4-3 loss last Wednesday. He has allowed earned runs in just one of his three starts, including opening his season with four shutout innings against the Los Angeles Dodgers. With Lynn following Gray, who missed the opening of the season with a hamstring injury, in…

Adam Idah struck late as Norwich started life back in the Championship with a 1-0 win at Huddersfield. Idah scored nine minutes from time after Teemu Pukki pounced on a poor back-pass by Richard Stearman.

It meant defeat for Carlos Corberán in his first league match as Huddersfield manager, but the goal left his opposite number, Daniel Farke, “feeling good again” after last season’s gruelling run to relegation.

Bournemouth’s Arnaut Danjuma finally sees off battling BlackburnRead more

“It’s just the first game out of 46,” he said, “so I’m not over-interpreting it. But if I could have painted the game I’d have painted it exactly like today – a tough away game, difficult conditions, highly motivated…

West Ham are confident of beating Crystal Palace to the signing of the Swansea City midfielder Flynn Downes. Palace had been leading the race to sign the 23-year-old, but West Ham are making encouraging progress in negotiations after acting on their interest.

Swansea have been looking to receive a fee of £12m for Downes, who joined Russell Martin’s side from Ipswich Town last year. With Palace yet to reach an agreement with the Welsh club, West Ham have moved in and are expected to make a suitable offer for Downes.

David Moyes, West Ham’s manager, needs cover in midfield for Declan Rice and Tomas Soucek. He has seen a £20m bid for Amadou Onana rejected by Lille, who are understood to have demanded £60m for th…

On the day Chelsea were drawn to play the Eredivisie champions, Ajax, in the quarter-finals of the Women’s Champions League, Emma Hayes has revealed how her love of Star Wars is helping her navigate her final season at the club.

Chelsea’s manager, who will become head coach of the US ­women’s national team at the end of the season, was asked on Tuesday if her impending departure was giving her extra energy. “The Force ­Awakens, that gave me a lot of inspiration last night,” she said, smiling.

“And I’m certain the resistance continue to inspire and we can keep at bay that evil empire. For now, all I’m thinking about is I need to get on to The Mandalorian.”

Hayes, who has …

We’re checking in on the biggest busts in baseball through the All-Star break.1B Paul Goldschmidt (.230, 13 HRs, 37 RBIs) and 3B Nolan Arenado (.270, 8 HRs, 40 RBIs), St. Louis CardinalsThe cornerstones and future Hall of Famers, with 15 All-Star appearances and 14 Gold Gloves between them, have been overtaken by a youth movement that’s helped catapult the Redbirds into the playoff race.In his age-36 season, Goldschmidt—two seasons removed from NL MVP honors—has seen his offensive numbers tumble across the board for the second consecutive year. Has Father Time finally caught up with Goldy, a free agent after 2024? Most players don’t improve after their mid-30s.As for Arenado, one of the best third basemen of his or any era, he’s on pace for his lowest full-season homer and RBI…

Count me out on the Olympics. Again. Can’t watch. Don’t care. Sure, I will miss great performances from fine athletes who have put their heart and soul into training for the once-in-a-lifetime world stage. The Games were supposed to rally nations, give people pride about the countries they are from. For sure, on paper, it sounds like it would be a great event, something you could wrap your arms around and you would honestly look forward to every four years. Then, Thursday happened. The International Olympics Committee announced very loudly and clearly what won’t be allowed at this Summer Games in Tokyo. It said specifically that the slogan “Black Lives Matter” will be banned from athlete apparel at the Olympics. It’s part of the IOC’s ridiculous, long-standing ban o…

Alabama forward Grant Nelson hit two big 3-pointers down the stretch Wednesday night to help the 24th-ranked Crimson Tide rally for an 85-76 Southeastern Conference win at Georgia. And in the eyes of coach Nate Oats, whose team hosts Mississippi State on Saturday night in Tuscaloosa, the best is yet to come for the North Dakota State transfer. "He's showed he's got some toughness to him," Oats said. "He's struggled to shoot the ball. We trust him to make shots and those two he hit late in the game were big. I mean, they sealed the game for us. So he showed he's a winner. He showed the moment doesn't get too big for him." The 6-11 Nelson, who averaged 17.9 points and 9.3 rebounds last season for the Bison, is down to 12.6 points and 5.9 rebou…

Through their eight-year run of dominance, the Houston Astros have had a kryptonite of sorts. The Cincinnati Reds have defeated the Astros seven straight times. Houston hasn't beaten Cincinnati since 2016, the year before the first of its two World Series titles. That includes Monday's 5-3 Cincinnati victory in the opener of a three-game series in Cincinnati. Following an unusual scheduled off-day Tuesday, the series resumes Wednesday. Cincinnati swept the Astros in 2019 at Great American Ball Park and then again last season in Houston. The Reds are 11-2 in the last 13 meetings with the Astros. Before Monday's win, the Reds hadn't pulled off consecutive victories this season since Aug. 11-14, when they won four straight. Leading the way for the Reds has been Santi…