At Marlins Park in Miami they may not have been playing for home field advantage ion the World Series but the American and National League all stars nevertheless gave fans a competitive game that went to extra innings last night, and ended with a 2-1 American League win thanks to a home run by Robinson Cano of the Seattle Mariners in the top of the tenth.
Cano's eventual gamer winner was a solo shot off Chicago Cubs closer Wade Davis, and the win went to Craig Kimbrel of the Boston Red Sox, who worked his way out of a jam in the 9th. Cleveland's Andrew Miller picked up the save and Cano earned the game's MVP honors.
The Vermont Lake Monsters split a double header in New York against the Staten Island Yankees yesterday. The Monsters dropped game one 3-1, which snapped the team's six-game winning streak, but they bounced back with a 6-1 win in the nightcap.
Kevin Merrell had a good day at the plate in the game one loss, going for 3 for 3 with an RBI single for Vermont's only run of the game.
In game two Greg Deichmann got his first professional hit, good for an RBI single to open the scoring for Vermont in a four-run first inning. Payton Squier lined a two-run double and a sac fly off the bat of Jarrett Costa rounded out the big first inning rally. Brian Howard tossed three scoreless innings with three strike-outs to get the win for Vermont.
In the NECBL, the Vermont Mountaineers got great starting pitching from Grady Miller, who went six innings, allowing just two runs on five hits, and he got plenty of run support in Vermont's 9-3 win over the Valley Blue Sox at Recreational Field in Montpelier last night.
Ryan Hoogerwerf had an RBI double as part of a three-run fourth inning, and the Mountaineers tacked on three more runs in the fifth with Davis Mikell showing he can hit as well as pitch, producing an RBI double out of the designated hitter spot. The win was the twelfth of the season for the Mountaineers.
The Upper Valley Nighthawks took both ends of a double header against the Mystic Schooners in Connecticut last night, winning 2-0 despite in game one despite getting just three hits in the contest. Ryan Jeffers opened the scoring in the first inning with an RBI single and a Luke Reynolds home run in the second were all the runs Upper Valley would need, with Joe DeRosa and Cory Gill combining on a five-hit shut-out. DeRosa scattered those five hits over five innings while Gill didn't yield a hit in the final two.
In the nightcap the Nighthawks built up a 4-1 lead and held off a late Mystic rally when the Schooners scored twice in the seventh but could not get the equalizer in Upper Valley's 4-3 win.
The leader heading into day two of the Vermont Amateur Golf tournament is Jared Nelson of Rutland. The 17-year old shot a 4-under 66 Tuesday at the Dorset Field Club, the oldest golf course in the United States. Nelson has the lead to himself but not far behind, just one shot off the pace, is St. Johnsbury’s Alex Rainville, who won the championship in 2015, and Rutland's Drake Hull.
At Wimbledon, a big upset for the hometown favorite. Sixth seeded Johanna Konta of Britain defeated the number two ranked player in the world, Romania's Simona Halep in a three set thriller at the All-England Club yesterday, winning 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. Konta is vying to become the first British female champ at Wimbledon since Virginia Wade in 1977, and her win yesterday sets up what will be a fascinating semi-final on Thursday against American Venus Williams, who moved into the semis yesterday with a win over Latvia's Jelena Ostapenko.
The men's singles are a tad more predictable. Rafael Nadal's ouster has been the biggest upset so far, and today three of the biggest names are in action, with Andy Murray, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic all hoping to make the semi-finals after their matches later this morning, eastern standard time.
One week is in the books for the world's most demanding cycling race. After nine days of competition at the Tour de France, Chris Froome leads the field with Team Sky, with crashes and disqualifications early on still the buzz of the race. Froome's Geraint Thomas crashed out of the race and Peter Sagan was disqualified early on after a controversial collision with Mark Cavendish that also knocked him out of the tour with an injury. Sagan was disqualified for causing the crash even though Cavendish was behind him at the time and many observers saw the contact with Cavendish by Sagan as unintentional.
