Red Sox fire Roenicke after 1 year
Ron Roenicke was told Sunday he will not return as manager of the Red Sox, ending a one-year, shotgun stopgap on the final day of a pandemicshortened season that resulted in a last-place finish in the AL East.
Hired on the eve of spring training after Alex Cora was implicated in Houston’s sign-stealing scandal, Roenicke took over a roster that would soon shed 2018 AL MVP Mookie Betts, who was traded to the Dodgers along with 2012 AL Cy Young winner David Price. Ace Chris Sale never threw a pitch for the team this year.
VENUS OUT AT FRENCH OPEN
Top-seeded Simona Halep won 10 straight games in beating Sara Sorribes Tormo, 6-4, 6-0, to reach the second round of the French Open on Sunday and extend her winning streak to 15 matches.
Meanwhile, Anna Karolina Schmiedlova notched a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Venus Williams.
“Even on my really good shots she had a lot of amazing replies that just kind of came out of nowhere,” Williams said. “Give her credit to playing an amazing match.”
The 40-year-old Williams exited in the first round at Roland Garros for the third straight year and is 0-3 in Grand Slam tournaments this year following the Australian Open and the U.S. Open. Since the start of 2018, the seven-time Grand Slam champion has lost in the first round in seven of the past 11 major tournaments.
BIG TEN ENTERS POLL
Sixth-ranked Ohio State, No. 10 Penn State and No. 14 Oregon returned to The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday, weeks before they start playing, creating a Top 25 as unusual as this season.
At the top of the rankings this week, Clemson remained No. 1 with 55 first-place votes, followed by Alabama at No. 2 with three first-place votes.
The rest of the rankings was rattled by the Big Ten, Pac-12, Mountain West and Mid-American conferences reversing course and deciding to play fall football after initially postponing because of COVID-19 concerns. None will kick off until late October at the earliest, but the AP decided all FBS teams planning to play in the fall would be eligible for inclusion in the Top 25.