Kyle Schwarber went 3 for 3 in the first All-Star Game home run swing-off to put the National League ahead 4-3 following a 6-6 tie in which the American League rallied from a six-run deficit. In baseball’s equivalent of soccer’s penalty-kicks shootout, the game was decided by having three batters from each league take three swings each off coaches. The change was agreed to in 2022 to alleviate the concern of teams running out of pitchers. Schwarber was named All-Star MVP after going 0 for 2 with a walk in the game.
Seattle catcher Cal Raleigh successfully used the robot umpire to gain a strikeout for pitcher Tarik Skubal in the first inning of the All-Star Game. He changed an 0-2 pitch to a strike on San Diego’s Manny Machado. Four of five challenges of plate umpire Dan Iassogna’s calls were successful in the first All-Star use of the ABS system, which could make its regular-season debut next year. The players’ association is unsure whether the Automated Ball-Strike System is accurate enough. A decision for 2026 use likely will be considered by sport’s 11-man competition committee.
Major League Baseball honored late Hall of Famer Hank Aaron by recreating his record-breaking 715th career home run through the use of projection mapping and custom pyrotechnics. The lights went down at Truist Park and fans stood holding their cell phone lights following the sixth inning of Tuesday night’s All-Star Game. The scene from April 8, 1974 at old Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium was projected on the infield and also shown on the video board. Aaron’s widow, Billye Aaron, was cheered as she stood and waved following the tribute.
Major League Baseball faces a potential lockout in December 2026. Players and management have long clashed over salary cap proposals, a format that union head Tony Clark criticizes as harmful to competition and player salary guarantees. Commissioner Rob Manfred argues the cap could address payroll disparities as MLB also tries to deal with declining revenue from regional sports networks. Teams like the Dodgers and Mets have pushed payrolls to record levels, highlighting disparity. Baseball’s collective bargaining agreement expires in December 2026, and past negotiations have led to nine work stoppages.
NBA
The NBA may finally be one step closer on the long road to expansion. Commissioner Adam Silver said Tuesday that the league has been tasked by team owners to study the issue more formally, which would be the first official move in a long process toward adding franchises. The decision to take a harder look at expansion wasn’t totally unexpected, since the notion of adding clubs has been a talking point for several years. Cities like Las Vegas and Seattle, the long perceived front-runners should the NBA decide to expand past its current 30-team footprint, will surely continue to push to be the eventual picks.
WNBA
Final Indiana 85 Connecticut 77
Indiana Fever star Caitlin Clark left Tuesday night’s game in the final minute holding back tears after grabbing at her leg — an apparent injury that would be her third this season. Clark walked back downcourt holding her right groin after assisting on the Fever’s final basket of an 85-77 victory over the Connecticut Sun in front of a sold-out crowd at the TD Garden in Boston. As teammate Aliyah Boston tried to console her, Clark walked to the basket stanchion and banged her head against it before heading to the bench. During the timeout, she covered her head with a towel and appeared to be holding back tears.
Caitlin Clark will be in a 3-point contest for the first time in her pro career as the Indiana Fever guard will compete Friday night in the WNBA All-Star competition. She’ll be joined by contest record holder Sabrina Ionescu, who is back in the 3-point contest after a one-year hiatus. Ionescu last entered the contest in 2023 and set a record hitting 25 of her 27 shots in the final round, scoring 37 points. It was the most shots made in a 3-point contest in either the WNBA or NBA. The Liberty’s star guard wanted to make sure she was completely healthy before officially entering the contest. She said she’ll be trying to break her own mark.
Final Los Angeles 99 Washington 80
Dearica Hamby scored 26 points, Rickea Jackson had 22 and the Los Angeles Sparks used a big first-half run to beat the Washington Mystics 99-80. Shakira Austin had 16 points and eight rebounds for Washington. Sug Sutton added 14 points and Aaliyah Edwards scored 13. The Sparks closed the first half on a 17-2 run over the final four minutes to reach their most points scored in any half this season at 59. Hamby scored 18 in the first half, including a 3-pointer just before the buzzer for a 25-point lead.
NFL
The New York Jets are making Sauce Gardner the highest-paid cornerback in the NFL. The Jets and Gardner agreed on a four-year, $120.4 million extension through the 2030 season, a person familiar with the deal tells The Associated Press. The contract paying the two-time All-Pro more than $30 million a year comes a day after the Jets agreed to another lucrative extension with top wide receiver Garrett Wilson. Gardner is going into his fourth professional season after New York took him fourth in the 2022 draft.
The Kansas City Chiefs beat the deadline to sign franchise-tagged guard Trey Smith to a multiyear contract by agreeing to terms on a $94 million deal, according to a person with knowledge of the move. The person tells The Associated Press that the four-year contract includes $70 million guaranteed. His average salary of $23.5 million annually makes Smith the highest-paid player at the position in the NFL. The Chiefs had until 4 p.m. Eastern Tuesday to work out a deal beyond this season after giving Smith the franchise tag in March.
REVENUE SHARING
Saint Peter’s, Fairleigh Dickinson and Maryland-Baltimore County. You might remember those three schools from their March Madness upsets in recent years. Now they’ve declined to opt in to college sports’ new revenue sharing model. The newly formed College Sports Commission, which oversees revenue sharing following the House settlement, posted a list of schools that have opted into revenue sharing. All members of the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and Southeastern Conference are participating. Other Division I schools had to opt in or out by June 30.
Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
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