Day 4 at the Olympics

RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — The United States Olympic swimming team continues to demonstrate that it's more than just Katie Ledecky and Michael Phelps.

Swimming - Olympics: Day 3
Getty Images
loading...

Ryan Murphy provided the U.S. with its fourth gold medal of the Games by winning the men's 100-meter backstroke. Murphy was fourth at the turn before giving the Americans their sixth straight gold medal in the event.

Thirty-year-old David Plummer of Minneapolis took the bronze in the event.

Lilly King held off a late-charging Yulia Efimova to win the 100-meter breaststroke. King finished more than a half-second ahead of Efimova, who was booed before the final. American Catherine Meili earned the bronze.

It was an especially sweet victory for King after Efimova taunted her following Sunday's semifinals. Efimova has been banned in the past for doping but was cleared to compete in Rio just last Saturday in the wake of state-sponsored doping in Russia. When Efimova waved a finger after her semifinal in the backstroke, King returned the favor and said, "if that's what she feels she needs to be able to compete, whatever, I am here to compete clean for the U.S."

American Kathleen Baker claimed silver in the water. Baker was second to Katinka Hosszu of Hungary in the women's 100-meter backstroke.

Conor Dwyer came away with bronze in the men's 200 freestyle, an event won by China's Sun Yang. It's the first Olympic medal for Dwyer.

Also in the pool, Ledecky has reached the final of the 200 free, winning her preliminary heat and finishing second to Sarah Sjostrom (SHOH'-struhm) of Sweden in the semifinals. Ledecky and Sjostrom were coming off world record-setting victories on Sunday. Ledecky shattered her own world record in the 400 free last night, winning the race by almost five seconds. Sjostrom turned in a world-record performance in the 100 butterfly, touching in 55.48.

Missy Franklin has failed to qualify for the final of the women's 200-meter freestyle, finishing last in her semifinal heat and 13th of 16 overall.

King's victory gives the U.S. five gold medals, tying China for first. The Americans lead the medal count with 19, six more than the Chinese.

In other Olympic action:

— The American men's basketball team has followed Saturday's 57-point win over China with a 113-69 rout of Venezuela. Kevin Durant scored 16 points and Carmelo Anthony 14 as the U.S. improved to 2-0 heading into Wednesday's game against Australia. The game was tied until the United States outscored the Venezuelans 30-8 in the second quarter.

— The U.S. women's basketball team is 2-0 after Diana Taurasi scored 13 points and Elena Delle (DEH'-leh) Donne added 12 in a 103-63 pounding of Spain. The victory was the 43rd consecutive for the five-time defending champions, who trailed 8-6 before closing the first quarter on a 23-6 run. The U.S. has scored 100 or more points in consecutive games for the first time since the 2004 Olympics.

— Serena Williams is on to the third round in women's tennis as she seeks a second consecutive singles gold medal. The top-ranked Williams committed 36 unforced errors, was broken four times and showed fits of anger before pulling out a 7-6, 6-2 victory over Alize Cornet (kohr-NAY') of France. Williams fought off a pair of set points at 4-5 against Cornet, who had won four of their previous seven matches.

— American tennis player Madison Keys won her second-round match by downing Kristina Mladenovic of France, 7-5, 6-7, 7-6. Other second-round winners include Germany's Angelique Kerber, Spaniard Garbine Muguruza (gahr-BEEN'-yuh muh-guh-ROO'-thuh) and Svetlana Kuznetsova (kooz-NET'-soh-vah) of Russia.

— China's Chen Aisen and Lin Yue totaled 496.98 points in claiming diving gold in the men's 10-meter synchronized event. American teammates David Boudia (boh-DY'-ah) and Steele Johnson took silver at 457.11, almost 40 points behind the Chinese duo.

— The top-ranked U.S. women's volleyball team had to work hard before knocking off the Netherlands 18-25, 25-18, 21-25, 25-20, 15-8. The Americans were able to improve to 2-0 by rallying from their two-sets-to-one deficit after the Dutch captain had to be helped off midway through the fourth set with a right ankle injury.

— The U.S. women's field hockey team beat Australia 2-1 to improve to 2-0. The fifth-ranked Americans lead Pool B with six points and moved closer to qualifying for the quarterfinals. The top four teams in each six-team pool advance.

— The American water polo team lost to Spain 10-9, and the U.S. women's rugby squad beat France 19-5 in the fifth-place game

— The U.S. women's rowers made a strong debut in Rio and qualified for Saturday's final in 6 minutes, 6.34 seconds, a whopping eight seconds ahead of the Netherlands.

MLB-SCHEDULE

Crawford's 7 hits lead Giants

UNDATED (AP) — The San Francisco Giants endured 14 innings and almost six hours of baseball to avoid falling into a first-place tie with Los Angeles in the National League West. They also needed every one of Brandon Crawford's team-record seven hits.

San Francisco Giants v Miami Marlins
Getty Images
loading...

Crawford delivered the tying and game-winning hits as the Giants downed the Marlins 8-7 at Miami. The Giants trailed 5-1 and 7-6 before Crawford singled home Denard Span in the eighth inning. Crawford came through again with two out in the 14th, allowing San Francisco to win for just the seventh time in their last 22 games.

Crawford is the fifth player in modern major league history with at least seven hits in a game, and the first since Pittsburgh's Rennie Stennett (STEH'-net) did it in a nine-inning game against the Cubs in 1975. Crawford went 7-for-8 for the Giants, who continue to own a one-game division lead over the Dodgers.

L.A. kept pace as Corey Seager hit a solo shot to ignite the Dodgers' five-run first in a 9-4 romp over Philadelphia. Chase Utley and Yasmani Grandal (yahs-MAH'-nee grahn-DAHL') also went deep, and Joc Pederson collected three RBIs to support Julio Urias' second win. Urias limited the Phillies to one earned run over five innings.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Toronto stopped a two game skid as Jose Bautista and Edwin Encarnacion (ehn-kahr-nah-see-OHN') each had three RBIs in the Jays' 7-5 win over Tampa Bay. The game was tied 4-4 in the seventh until Devon Travis hit an RBI single and Bautista followed with a two-run double. Encarnacion delivered a solo homer and a two-run single in the Blue Jays' fifth victory in seven games.

— The Jays now own a share of first place in the AL East following Baltimore's 3-2 setback at Oakland. Stephen Vogt (voht) hit a solo homer and an RBI single to counter Manny Machado's two ribbies. Machado smacked his 26th home run of the season.

— Texas scored three times in the ninth to beat Colorado 4-3. Elvis Andrus (AN'-droos) tied it with a two-run single and scored the winning run on a double by Mitch Moreland. Adrian Beltre (BEHL'-tray) homered in the Rangers' third straight victory. The Rangers' lead in the AL West is seven games over Seattle and 8 ½ games over Houston.

— The Mariners earned a 3-0 win over Detroit, which gives Cleveland a 2 ½-game lead over the Tigers in the AL Central. Hisashi Iwakuma (hih-SAH'-shee ee-wah-KOO'-muh) struck out eight and scattered five hits over seven innings to win for the seventh time in his last eight starts. The Tigers wasted a fine outing by Michael Fulmer, who gave up just two runs and five hits over seven frames.

— St. Louis staged a huge rally by scoring five times with two out in the bottom of the ninth to beat Cincinnati 5-4. The Cardinals didn't even need a hit for their last two runs as Brandon Moss tied it with a bases-loaded walk before Yadier (YAH'-dee-ehr) Molina was hit by a pitch to bring in Stephen Piscotty. Matt Carpenter kept the comeback alive with a two-run single to help the Redbirds move into a tie with Miami for the second NL wild-card spot.

— Juan Centeno tripled home a run while the Twins scored three times in the fifth inning of a 3-1 win against Houston. Winning pitcher Tyler Duffey limited the Astros to a run and four hits while striking out eight over six innings. George Springer poked an RBI double in the Astros' sixth loss in seven games.

— Atlanta pulled out a 4-3 win at Milwaukee on Gordon Beckham's sacrifice fly in the top of the 12th. Nick Markakis (mahr-KAY'-kihs) hit a solo homer and added a double that set up Beckham's sac-fly.

MLB-GIANTS-BOCHY

Bochy hospitalized

MIAMI (AP) — Giants manager Bruce Bochy (BOH'-chee) has been admitted to a Miami hospital after falling ill, leaving the team in the hands of bench coach Ron Wotus (WOH'-tuhs) Monday.

The Giants issued a statement saying Bochy is "resting comfortably" and will be monitored overnight. Bochy underwent a heart procedure in February 2015 to insert two stents.

MLB-BLUE JAYS-PILLAR

Pillar sidelined for 2 weeks

TORONTO (AP) — Blue Jays outfielder Kevin Pillar has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left thumb.

Pillar sat out yesterday's loss at Kansas City after damaging a ligament in his thumb when he slid into second base Saturday night.

Pillar is batting .261 with 27 doubles, 45 RBIs and 45 runs scored in 109 games this season.

MLB-ICHIRO NUMBER-3,000 DONATIONS

Ichiro batting 1.000 with Hall of Fame

MIAMI (AP) — Ichiro Suzuki (EE'-cheer-oh soo-ZOO'-kee) has a gift for the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The 42-year-old has donated some of the gear he wore when he collected his 3,000th career hit Sunday. The gifts include his jersey, a pair of cleats, his arm guard and batting gloves. Hall president Jeff Idelson received the items before Monday's game between Ichiro's Miami Marlins and the San Francisco Giants.

Ichiro is a baseball history buff and has visited Cooperstown six times.

NFL-BROWNS

RG3 gets another shot

UNDATED (AP) — The Cleveland Browns have named Robert Griffin III as their starting quarterback, ending a competition that included incumbent Josh McCown.

Griffin was expected to be under center for the season opener after signing a two-year, $15 million contract with the Browns. Griffin was the Redskins' starting quarterback from 2012 until the middle of the 2014 season before losing his starting job for good last year, leading to his release.

In other NFL news:

— Veteran wide receiver Lance Moore has retired just three days after signing as a free agent with the Falcons. Moore played eight seasons with the Saints before spending the last two with Pittsburgh and Detroit. The 32-year-old had 389 career receptions for 4,816 yards and 44 touchdowns with New Orleans.

— The New York Jets have activated running back Khiry Robinson from the active/physically-unable-to-perform list after he missed the start of training camp rehabilitating from a broken leg. Robinson was signed by the Jets in March as a free agent after running for 766 yards on 186 carries in three seasons with the New Orleans Saints. He broke his right tibia during a game against the Giants last November and was placed on season-ending injured reserve after needing surgery.

HOCKEY-U.S. HALL INDUCTEES

Janney, '96 World Cup team, Belisle to be enshrined

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) — Former NHL forward Craig Janney, longtime high school coach Bill Belisle and the 1996 American World Cup of Hockey team have been elected to the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame.

Janney is the leader in assists per game among U.S.-born NHL players, collecting 563 while scoring 751 points in 760 games. The '96 U.S. team beat Canada to win the World Cup of Hockey. And the 86-year-old Belisle has won 32 state championships in 41 seasons at Mount St. Charles Academy in Woonsocket, Rhode Island.

OBIT-CLAUSEN

Dirt track race dies after crash

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Dirt track racer and four-time US Auto Club national champion Bryan Clauson has died at age 27 from injuries suffered in an accident Saturday night.

Clauson was leading the race when he crashed passing lapped traffic. His car rolled and was hit by another competitor. Clauson had 27 victories in 116 starts this year and led three laps in the Indianapolis 500 in May.

 

More From KROC-AM