WOMEN'S WORLD CUP

Team USA blanks Germany to reach finals

MONTREAL (AP) — Team USA is going to the Women's World Cup championship -- and seems to be peaking at the right time.

Carli Lloyd converted a penalty kick in the 69th minute and assisted on Kelley O'Hara's first international goal late in the Americans' 2-0 victory over Germany in the semifinal in Montreal. Goalkeeper Hope Solo recorded her fifth straight shutout before a crowd of 51,176 at Montreal's Olympic Stadium.

England and the defending Women's World Cup champion Japan play tonight for the right to play the Americans in Sunday's championship in Vancouver.

WOMEN's WORLD CUP-BLATTER

No Sepp for women's final weekend

MONTREAL (AP) — FIFA President Sepp Blatter will skip the Women's World Cup final in Canada. He is avoiding a visit to North America at a time when U.S. officials are pursuing a criminal investigation into the game's ruling body.

According to FIFA, Blatter's second-in-command, secretary general Jerome Valcke, will also be absent from the biggest event in women's soccer "due to their current commitments in Zurich."

NASCAR-CONFEDERATE FLAGS

Daytona to offer Stars and Stripes in exchange program

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (AP) — Daytona International Speedway will not ban the Confederate flag from track property this weekend. But the track will offer the American flag to those who wish to fly it on property.

Daytona President Joie Chitwood says the speedway will offer an exchange program in which fans can trade a flag for the American flag. Daytona hosts NASCAR races on Saturday and Sunday nights this weekend.

Chitwood said there's not enough time to plan and enforce a ban on the Confederate flag, which NASCAR chairman Brian France does not want flying at NASCAR events.

NASCAR has taken a strong stance against the flag since nine black churchgoers were slain in Charleston, South Carolina on June 17. The suspect, Dylann Roof, embraced Confederate symbols before the attack.

MLB-SCHEDULE

Rangers welcome back Hamilton...1-hitter in San Diego...Keuchel wins 10th...Sale continues strikeout roll

UNDATED (AP) — Mitch Moreland likes Camden Yards' friendly fences. The Texas first baseman hit two home runs in a second straight game, and the Rangers celebrated the return of Josh Hamilton by defeating the Baltimore Orioles 8-6. Hamilton hit two singles and made a nice running catch of a sinking liner to left field in his eighth game of the season. The free-swinging slugger was sidelined since May 31 with a strained left hamstring.

Shin-Soo Choo and Robinson Chirinos also went deep for the Rangers, who've hit eight home runs in the first two games of the series.

In other baseball:

— Seattle Mariners rookie Mike Montgomery tossed a one-hitter in the Mariners' 5-1 win over the Padres. Montgomery lost his no-hit bid when Yangervis Solarte doubled with one out in the seventh inning. It's the second straight shutout for the rookie left-hander, who turns 25 today.

__Houston beat Kansas City for the second straight night in that battle of AL division leaders. Dallas Keuchel improved to 10-3 as the Astros blanked the Royals 4-0. Keuchel struck out seven in eight innings. George Springer walloped his 13th homer, a two-run shot.

— Tyler Flowers homered in the top of the 11th to give the Chicago White Sox a 2-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals. White Sox starter Chris Sale struck out 12 in eight innings, the seventh, the eighth straight time he has struck out at least 10 batters, which ties a major league record held by Pedro Martinez.

— Andrew Heaney pitched seven innings of two-hit ball, Albert Pujols and Erick Aybar  hit back-to-back homers in the sixth, and the Los Angeles Angels beat the New York Yankees 2-1 for their fourth straight victory.

— Neil Walker's RBI double in the 14th inning gave the Pittsburgh Pirates a 5-4 win over the Detroit Tigers.

— Major league batting leader Dee Gordon hit the first inside-the-park homer in the four-year history of Marlins Park, and the three-run shot helped Miami beat the San Francisco Giants 5-3.

— The Washington Nationals beat Atlanta for the ninth straight time, 6-1. Clint Robinson hit a two-run home runs in a four-run first inning and Jordan Zimmermann pitched seven and two-thirds strong innings to improve to 6-5.

— Kyle Hendricks outpitched Jonathon Niese as the Chicago Cubs snapped a five-game skid with a 1-0 victory over the New York Mets. Hendricks pitched three-hit ball for six innings.

— Danny Salazar pitched two-hit ball for 7 2-3 innings and the Cleveland Indians backed him with three home runs to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 6-2.

— Torii Hunter homered again after a long rain delay at the start of the game, and Phil Hughes got his third straight victory, leading the Twins to an 8-5 victory over the Cincinnati Reds.

__ Howie Kendrick homered to key a three-run 10th inning to give the L.A. Dodgers a 6-4 win at Arizona. Yasmani Grandal's two-run double gave the Dodgers some insurance. That came in handy after the D-Backs scored a run in the bottom of the 10th.

— Colorado edged Oakland 2-1. Troy Tulowitzki singled and has hit in 14 straight for the Rockies, who snapped a three-game skid.

— David Ortiz and Jackie Bradley Jr. hit solo home runs, Eduardo Rodriguez pitched six solid innings and the Boston Red Sox beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-3 for their third straight win.

— In a battle of last-place teams, Aramis Ramirez drove in three runs and Ryan Braun had four hits to lead the Milwaukee Brewers past Philadelphia 4-3.

MLB-GIANTS ROTATION

Cain, Peavy coming back

MIAMI (AP) — Matt Cain and Jake Peavy are headed back to work for the San Francisco Giants after lengthy stays on the disabled list.

Cain is scheduled to start Thursday against Miami. Cain hasn't pitched since July 2014 due to elbow surgery and a strained flexor tendon.

Peavy is to start Friday at Washington after being sidelined since April 17 with a strained back.

Cain will replace right-hander Tim Lincecum, who will be placed on the disabled list with a bruised right forearm after being hit by a line drive Saturday.

MLB-PHILLIES-MACKANIN

Mackanin to manage through end of seaosn

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — The Philadelphia Phillies say Pete Mackanin will stay as their manager for the rest of the season. He took over on an interim basis last Friday after manager Ryne Sandberg resigned.

This is Mackanin's third stint as an interim manager after working in a similar role previously with the Reds and Pirates.

WIMBLEDON

Day 2

LONDON (AP) — The defending women's champion has won her first match of the year at Wimbledon as have former men's champions Roger Federer, Andy Murray and Rafael Nadal.

Second-seed Petra Kvitova rolled to a straight sets win. The two-time Wimbledon champ pulled out of a warmup event last week at Eastbourne, England, citing a viral illness.

Federer, Murray and Nadal all advanced with straight sets wins as well.

There were two upsets on the women's side of things as Eugenie Bouchard, who was runner-up at Wimbledon last year, fell in the opening round to a qualifier, while third seed Simona Halep became the highest seeded player eliminated so far, losing to the 106th ranked player in the world.

The Williams sisters, Serena and Venus, have pulled out of women's doubles at Wimbledon. The duo has won 13 Grand Slam doubles titles as a pair, most recently at Wimbledon in 2012.

NBA-MOVES

New home for a well-traveled player...Trail Blazers get Aminu

UNDATED (AP) — The Oklahoma City Thunder have sent Luke Ridnour and cash to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for a trade exception and the rights to forward Tomislav Zubcic. That makes four NBA teams in the last week for Ridnour. He was sent to Charlotte in a deal involving Memphis on Wednesday, then almost immediately dealt to the Thunder.

Ridnour has played for five NBA teams in 12 years and has a career scoring average of 9.3 points per game.

In other NBA news:

__The Portland Trail Blazers have agreed to a four-year, $30 million deal with veteran Al-Farouq Aminu, the defensive-minded forward acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers in 2011.

— Tristan Thompson, Matthew Dellavedova and Iman Shumpert all received qualifying offers from Cleveland. That means the Cavaliers can match any offers those players get from other clubs this summer. The Cavs have also announced that forward Mike Miller exercised his $2.85-million option for next season.

NHL-TRANSACTIONS

Chicago ships Saad to Columbus

UNDATED (AP) — The Blackhawks have traded forward Brandon Saad to Columbus in a seven-player deal.

The 22-year-old Saad set career highs with 23 goals and 29 assists in 82 games this past season, while helping Chicago to its third Stanley Cup title in six seasons.

The Blackhawks also sent forward Alex Broadhurst and defenseman Michael Paliotta to the Blue Jackets for forwards Artem Anisimov, Marko Dano, Jeremy Morin and Corey Tropp and a fourth-round selection in the 2016 draft.

In other news:

— The Calgary Flames have signed Dougie Hamilton to a six-year contract reportedly worth $34.5 million/ The Flames acquired Hamilton from the Boston Bruins on Friday for the 15th, 42nd and 57th picks in the draft.

— The New York Islanders have signed forward Anders Lee to a four-year contract. Lee scored 25 goals in 76 games as a rookie last season, finishing second on the Islanders in goals and fourth among NHL rookies.

— The San Jose Sharks have picked up goalie Martin Jones from Boston. The Sharks sent a 2016 first-round pick and unsigned forward prospect Sean Kuraly to the Bruins for Jones who was acquired from the Kings in a draft day trade Friday.

— Alexander Semin's time with the Carolina Hurricanes is over. The Hurricanes placed the forward on unconditional waivers with the intent to buy out his hefty contract. Semin must clear waivers at noon Wednesday before his deal can be bought out. Under the league's collective bargaining agreement, he will be owed $14 million, two-thirds of the amount remaining on his deal, over six years.

—The Arizona Coyotes have acquired center Boyd Gordon from the Edmonton Oilers for forward Lauri Korpikoski. The 31-year-old Gordon had six goals and seven assists in 68 games with the Oilers last season.

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