Pulisic helps U.S. boot Trinidad in Cup qualifier

Christian Pulisic rescued the United States with a pair of second-half goals, and the Americans beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0 on Thursday night in Commerce City, Colo., to move into third place at the halfway point in the final round of World Cup qualifying.

Pulisic, an 18-year-old phenom from Hershey, Penn., ended a frustrating start for the U.S. offense with a goal in the 52nd minute, then added another in the 62nd. He has seven goals and five assists in 15 international appearances, including four goals and three assists in his last four contests.

After crashing to an 0-2 start the U.S. is back among the top three, which earn berths at next year’s tournament in Russia.

Mexico leads with 10 points, followed by Costa Rica, which has seven and is ahead of the U.S. on goal difference.

LATVIAN TO FRENCH FINAL

On the day she turned 20, Jelena Ostapenko became the first unseeded French Open finalist since 1983, using big and bold groundstrokes to end points lickety-split on the way to beating 30th-seeded Timea Bacsinszky of Switzerland 7-6 (4), 3-6, 6-3.

Ostapenko is the first tennis player from Latvia to reach a Grand Slam final and she did it in just her eighth major tournament. She has yet to win a tour-level title of any sort.

In Saturday’s championship match, the 47th-ranked Ostapenko will face Simona Halep of Romania, who got past 2016 U.S. Open runner-up Karolina Pliskova of the Czech Republic 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 in the second semifinal.

MLB PROSPECT A SEX OFFENDER

Luke Heimlich, a standout pitcher for Oregon State’s top-ranked baseball team, pleaded guilty to a single count of molesting a 6-year-old girl when he was a teenager.

Heimlich’s criminal history was reported by The Oregonian/OregonLive on Thursday, a day or two before he’s slated to pitch in this weekend’s regional final against Vanderbilt. The winner advances to the College World Series.

The left-hander from Puyallup, Washington, is projected to be an early round pick in next week’s Major League Baseball draft.

EVERY LEADS ST. JUDE

Matt Every, Scott Brown, Stuart Cink and Sebastian Munoz each shot 6-under 64s to share the lead after one round at the St. Jude Classic.

Charl Schwartzel and Matt Jones were each one stroke back at the final tuneup before the U.S. Open.