GOLF
Stenson pessimistic
Henrik Stenson is pessimistic about his chances of successfully defending the British Open title at Royal Birkdale this week. The Swedish golfer shot his best round of the week at the Scottish Open at Irvine on Sunday — a 4-under 68 for a score of 4 under overall — but it still wasn’t enough to raise his hopes of lifting the claret jug again. “I know I’m not really where I want to be in my game and maybe nothing else, either,” Stenson said, “but I’ll try to enjoy.” Stenson hasn’t won a title since shooting a final-round 63 at Royal Troon to win his first major.
BASEBALL
Keuchel to pitch
Houston Astros ace Dallas Keuchel (Arkansas Razorbacks) is expected to throw two innings in a rehabilitation start for Class AA Corpus Christi tonight. The lefty, who was on the American League All-Star team, hasn’t pitched since June 2 because of a pinched nerve in his neck. He’s 9-0 with a 1.67 ERA for the AL West leaders, and the former Cy Young Award winner likely will need multiple starts in the minors before he comes off the disabled list.
Broadcaster Wolff dies
Bob Wolff, who called Don Larsen’s perfect game for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series, the New York Giants’ overtime loss in the epic 1958 National Football League championship game and the New York Knicks’ two title runs in a record-setting eight decades as a sports broadcaster, died Saturday in South Nyack, N.Y. He was 96. Wolff was behind the microphone from the radio age to the rise of cable television. He was cited by Guinness World Records in 2012 as having the longest career of any sports broadcaster. He started out in 1939 while a student and former baseball player at Duke University, broadcasting games on a local CBS radio station.
BASKETBALL
Magic add Simmons
The Orlando Magic have signed Jonathon Simmons, the forward who helped the San Antonio Spurs reach the Western Conference finals. Simmons averaged 6.2 points in 78 regular-season games and then appeared in 15 playoff games, averaging 16.8 points in his four starts. The undrafted Simmons was chosen to play in the Rising Stars Challenge at the All-Star break last season. Terms of the deal announced Saturday were not disclosed. Magic President Jeff Weltman said the 6-foot-6 Simmons “is an elite wing defender that will provide toughness and athleticism to our team.”
Lakers, Blazers in final
Lonzo Ball’s bid for a third consecutive triple-double was short-circuited by a calf injury. The lead he helped the Los Angeles Lakers build while he was in the game proved to be just enough to top Dennis Smith Jr. and the Dallas Mavericks. Ball had 16 points and 10 assists in 21 minutes before leaving with a strained right calf, and the Lakers held on for a 108-98 victory in the Las Vegas Summer League semifinals Sunday night. Kyle Kuzma scored 24 points, Matt Thomas had 20 and Vander Blue added 17 to help the Lakers reach the championship game. They will face the Portland Trail Blazers, who beat Memphis 87-82 in the other semifinal, on Monday night. Smith scored 21 points on 7-for-13 shooting for the Mavericks, who trailed by as many as 26 points in the second half.
SOCCER
U.S. adds veterans
Forward Clint Dempsey, midfielder Michael Bradley and goalkeeper Tim Howard are among six additions to the U.S. roster for the knockout phase of the CONCACAF Gold Cup as Coach Bruce Arena opted to add some of his most experienced players. Arena also added forward Jozy Altidore, midfielder Darlington Nagbe and goalkeeper Jesse Gonzalez, the U.S. Soccer Federation said Sunday. Gonzalez’s application to change affiliation from Mexico to the U.S. was approved by FIFA last month, after the deadline for setting the 23-man roster for the group phase.
FOOTBALL
Pats QB Parilli dies
Babe Parilli, the former Boston Patriots quarterback who starred in the team’s American Football League days, died Saturday. He was 87. The New England Patriots announced the death, but a cause wasn’t given. Parilli played for the Patriots from 1961 to 1967. He was voted to three AFL All-Star games and was the AFL’s Comeback Player of the Year in 1966. Parilli was named to the All-AFL 10 Year Anniversary Team in 1971 and his 31 touchdown passes in 1964 were a team record until 2007. Parilli is fourth on the Patriots’ career passing list with 16,747 yards and is in the team’s Hall of Fame. He began his pro career with the Green Bay Packers in 1952 He was the backup to Joe Namath when the Jets won the Super Bowl in 1969.
CYCLING
Froome overcomes misfortune, keeps lead
LE PUY-EN-VELAY, France — If Chris Froome rides into Paris Sunday with the Tour de France’s famed yellow jersey still on his shoulders, it will be impossible to argue that he didn’t earn the victory.
In another day of drama Sunday in a 104th Tour full of twists, Froome broke a back-wheel spoke at the worst possible time on Stage 15 — just as his top rivals were picking up speed in front of him going into yet another punishing climb.
By the time Froome had stopped, taken a wheel off his teammate Michal Kwiatkowski and got going again, they were long gone, already about one minute down the road.
Froome had two choices: pour all his energy into catching them or lose his overall race lead and its yellow jersey that has already changed hands three times since the Tour started in Germany on July 1.
Froome hared off after Romain Bardet, Fabio Aru and Rigoberto Uran — the three riders all within 30 seconds of Froome in the overall standings of the Tour that, after a ho-hum beginning, has become thrillingly close.
Earlier at the Tour, Froome’s rivals had waited for the race leader to catch up when he suffered a grear problem. Not this time.
Cheered on by partisan crowds on the 5-mile slog up the steep Col de Peyra Taillade — scaled for the very first time by the Tour — Bardet’s French team AG2R put the hammer down.
Further back, Froome realized that if he didn’t catch them by the top, he might never do so. The race was on.
Helped first by teammates Mikel Nieve and then by Mikel Landa, and booed by some spectators as he labored past them, Froome worked furiously on the climb to reel in Bardet’s group.
By recovering from the misfortune, Froome now takes the jersey and an 18-second lead over Aru into today’s rest day, the last of two at the Tour, ahead of a crucial last week of racing in the Alps and with a time trial in Marseille.
The stage was won by Bauke Mollema of the Netherlands, with a solo breakaway at the front of the race.