BREAKING NEWS Caitlin Clark fans brutally mock claims the Indiana Fever are better off without her after team's miserable loss
Clark missed her fifth straight game with a groin injury and watched her teammates blow a fourth-quarter lead in the final minute of the game in the 89-87 loss to the Sparks.
After two dominant wins earlier in the week over the Minnesota Lynx and Las Vegas Aces, some WNBA fans believed the Fever were better off without Clark.
Now, after Indiana lost to the Sparks for the second time in nine days, as Los Angeles is in the penultimate spot in the WNBA standings, those critics have become mute and Clark's fans are brutally mocking those shouts.
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Reuters
43 minutes ago
- Reuters
Trevor Rogers, Jackson Holliday lift Orioles over skidding Braves
July 6 - Trevor Rogers pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings and Jackson Holliday homered to help the visiting Baltimore Orioles beat the Atlanta Braves 2-1 on Sunday to sweep their three-game series. It was the third straight win for the Orioles, who swept a series against Atlanta for the first time since 2015 and in Atlanta for the first time since 1999. It was Baltimore's fourth sweep of the season. The Braves have lost four in a row and dropped nine of their last 11. Atlanta fell to 11 games under .500. Rogers (2-0), who entered the game with a 0-7 career record against the Braves, allowed only four hits and two walks and struck out a season-high six. It was the third scoreless stint in five starts for Rogers, who lowered his ERA to 1.57. Baltimore reliever Seranthony Dominguez allowed a solo homer to Sean Murphy, his 13th, and a single to Ozzie Albies with one out in the ninth inning. Dominguez fanned Drake Baldwin and retired Michael Harris II on a grounder to earn his second save. Holliday went 4-for-4, the second four-hit game of his career, with a double and a home run. He supplied all the offense via a two-run homer in the third inning that just cleared the 16-foot brick wall in right field. It was his 11th of the season. Atlanta starter Grant Holmes (4-8) pitched six innings and allowed two runs on four hits and three walks with five strikeouts. Holmes was helped by the Braves' defense, which turned three double plays behind him. The Orioles placed Gary Sanchez on the injured list with a right knee strain, giving the team four catchers on the IL. They acquired Alex Jackson from the New York Yankees to serve as the backup. Jackson was batting .226 with 10 homers in 44 games for Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre. The Orioles went 4-2 on their road trip and return home to start a three-game series against the New York Mets on Tuesday. The Braves went 2-7 on their homestand and begin a three-game series against the host Athletics on Tuesday. --Field Level Media
Telegraph
an hour ago
- Telegraph
Jamie Smith should now do a job swap with Ollie Pope
If nothing else, Jamie Smith was prepared. In the first innings at Edgbaston, he arrived at 84-5 after 21.4 overs. In the second innings, he entered at 83-5, a mere one ball earlier. On day three, Smith's response to the crisis was to straight-drive his first ball for four. Two days later, Smith had to wait until his third ball for his first boundary, punching Akash Deep through point. While Smith produced one of England's finest modern Test innings on Friday, his encore on day five again blended crisp strokeplay, classical technique and sheer power. In Birmingham, Smith stood out like Horatius at the Bridge. England's top six registered a combined 310 runs, for 12 times out, across the two innings. Smith almost bettered that from his own bat, scoring 272 runs while only being dismissed once. No one at No 7 has ever scored more runs in a single Test than Smith at Edgbaston. It was a phenomenal performance, showing the cocktail of calm judgment, panache and ball-striking that has defined Smith's nascent Test career. In 12 Tests, Smith now averages 58.6 with a strike rate of 76.8. He is scoring almost as quickly as Adam Gilchrist while averaging 11 runs more. Remain where he is, and Smith could usurp Gilchrist as the greatest No 7 in Test match history. Yet there is a salient difference. Where Gilchrist settled in happily below one of the greatest top sixes in history, Smith follows a top order which, for all its pyrotechnics, also has a penchant for collapsing. In World Test Championship fixtures since Smith's debut – all England Tests in this period bar the clash with Zimbabwe – Zak Crawley averages 19.8, Ollie Pope 34 and Ben Stokes 32.6. It seems increasingly incongruous that Smith should bat below all this trio. The most obvious solution is to swap Smith and Stokes. Batting at six would give Smith more opportunity to shape the innings, while also giving him sufficient time to recover from his wicketkeeping exploits. Yet the broader question is altogether greater: whether Smith should retain the gloves at all. At Surrey, where Ben Foakes is the first-choice keeper, Smith plays as a specialist batsman at No 4. In England's recent ODI and T20 series against West Indies, Smith once again eschewed the gloves, opening the batting. One of the most remarkable aspects of Smith's performance at Edgbaston was his stamina. Keeping wicket for 234 overs in the match, across both innings, had no detrimental effect on his batting. Until succumbing to Deep's well-telegraphed short-ball tactic, and top-edging a slower bouncer on 88, Smith's batting had been virtually without fault; he only gave a solitary chance during his undefeated 184 in the first innings. Smith's performance showed that he is a cricketer of remarkable fitness. But he will need to summon even greater reserves if he is to maintain his standards in both disciplines over elongated series; this will be his first contest of longer than three Tests. Gilchrist, who was content to remain at seven, showed how some batsmen are liberated to play with more freedom when they have the gloves too. When he briefly played as a batsman alone in first-class cricket, he said: 'I felt like half a cricketer – and I put too much pressure on my batting. I needed to be a bit more technically correct and a bit more responsible.' Yet, for all the mystique of Gilchrist, England should also consider a trio of players who broke into Test cricket as keepers and then flourished as specialist batsmen. Clyde Walcott averaged 40.4 while keeping wicket in his first 15 Tests; then, as a batsman alone, he averaged 64.7. Kumar Sangakkara averaged 40.5 in 48 Tests as a keeper-batsman, which soared to 66.8 in 86 Tests as a specialist batsman. Smith's ball-striking and athleticism have often been compared to AB de Villiers, who was rare in averaging more with the bat when he was keeping. Yet he did not believe it was sustainable to combine keeping with batting in his favoured position of No 5. 'To play very long innings makes it quite hard to stand behind the stumps for 100 overs at a time,' he said. 'It can be quite intense.' De Villiers only wore the gloves in 24 of his 114 Tests. The batting feats so far in Smith's Test career invite the question of whether – as it was in the cases of Walcott, Sangakkara and De Villiers – his team's needs are best served by him giving up the gloves. Smith has the technique and prowess against pace to offer England the stability at No 3 that they have lacked since Jonathan Trott's last Test in the role in 2013. Surrey, where Smith and Pope both play, have long believed that Smith's batting potential is greater than that of Pope's. England's incumbent No 3 has already taken the gloves in six Tests; he averages 11 runs more than when he plays as a specialist batsman. A job swap would allow Pope to play in the middle order, an ideal fit for his expansive strokeplay. It would also allow Smith to explore his full possibilities as a Test cricketer – and empower him to build a case to being one of the standout batsmen, not just keeper-batsmen, of his generation. Possible England top seven: Crawley, Duckett, Smith, Root, Brook, Pope (wk), Stokes (c).
The Sun
an hour ago
- The Sun
Wimbledon 2025 LIVE RESULTS: Norrie WINS epic fifth-setter, Alcaraz on NOW, Kartal crashes OUT, Fritz through
WIMBLEDON is heading towards the business end at the All England Club - and one of the Brits has sadly been dumped OUT of the competition. Sonay Kartal kicked off the action on Centre Court against Pavlyuchenkova in the last-16, but went crashing out after losing by straight sets. However, in the men's, Cameron Norrie edged past Chilean Nicolas Jarry in a thrilling five-setter to book his spot in the quarters. Reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz wraps up action on Centre Court as he takes on Andrey Rublev. And he'll be hoping to join Taylor Fritz who secured his spot in the final eight after Jordan Thompson retired due to a leg injury. 30th Jun 2025, 08:14 By Connor Greaves Brit watch Here are all the timings for the key British names in action on opening day: Centre Court: Katie Boulter vs Paula Badosa - from 3.30pm Court One: Jacob Fearnley vs Joao Fonseca - from 3pm and Emma Raducanu vs Mimi Xu - from 4pm Court 3: Sonay Kartal vs Jelena Ostapenko - from 11am Court 4: Oliver Tarvet vs Leandro Riedi - from 11am and Henry Searle vs Ethan Quinn - from 3.30pm Court 12: Hannah Klugman vs Leylah Fernandez - from 3.30pm Court 15: Arthur Fery vs Alexei Popyrin and Billy Harris vs Dusan Lajovic - from 1pm Court 16: Oliver Crawford vs Mattia Bellucci - from 11am Court 17: Harriet Dart vs Dalma Galfi and Mika Stojsavljevic vs Ashlyn Krueger - from 3.30pm Court 18: Cameron Norrie vs Roberto Bautista Agut - from 12.30pm By Connor Greaves Good morning and welcome to SunSport's live blog of Wimbledon! The iconic British tennis tournament gets underway today at the All England Club, and some huge names are in action! A whopping FOURTEEN Brits will begin their campaigns with the likes of Emma Raducanu, Katie Boulter, Jacob Fearnley and Cameron Norrie all competing in SW19 on opening day. Carlos Alcaraz headlines on Centre Court as he starts his bid for a third title against Italian Fabio Fognini. The likes of Jack Draper and Novak Djokovic will have to wait until Tuesday to get their tournaments underway. SunSport will bring you all the action from SW19 over the next 14 days right here.
