teen ace Mayer ScoreS upSet truck SerieS victory
BRISTOL, TENN. » Sam Mayer celebrated his recent promotion to JR Motorsports by scoring his first NASCAR national series victory with a Truck Series win Thursday night at Bristol Motor Speedway.
The 17- year- old Mayer was hired this week to race in the Xfinity Series next season for JR Motorsports. His win in his seventh career Truck Series start — fourth this year — was an upset in the opening race of the playoffs.
Mayer passed title contender and teammate Brett Moffitt to score the victory for GMS Racing. He’s the second youngest Truck Series winner behind Cole Custer, who was 16 when he won at New Hampshire in 2014.
Yankees hit 5 home runs in inning for 1st time. NEW YORK » The Yankees hit five home runs in an inning for the first time in their history.
Brett Gardner, DJ LeMehieu and Luke Voit homered on consecutive pitches in the fourth inning from Toronto’s Chase Anderson on Thursday night. Voit’s home run was his major league- leading 20th.
Aaron Hicks struck out, and Giancarlo Stanton and Gleyber Torres followed with home runs that gave the Yankees a 9- 2 lead and chased Anderson.
Mariners- Padres series moved to San Diego due to air quality.
SEATTLE » The Mariners’ upcoming series against the Padres has been relocated to San Diego due to air quality concerns in the Seattle area.
Seattle will be the home team for all three games of the series that begins Friday night, meaning the Padres could be in position to clinch their first playoff berth since 2006 while playing as visitors in their home ballpark.
Pole vaulter Duplantis breaks Bubka’s outdoor world record.
ROME »
Swedish pole vaulter Armand Duplantis broke Sergey Bubka’s 26- yearold outdoor world record.
Duplantis cleared 6 meters, 15 centimeters ( 20 feet, 2 inches) at the Golden Gala Pietro Mennea meet in Rome with his second attempt, besting Bubka’s mark of 6.14 meters ( 20 feet, 1 ½ inches) set in Sestriere in July 1994.
Lynx edge Mercury 80- 79 to advance to WNBA semifinals.
BRADENTON, FLA. » Rookie of the year Crystal Dangerfield scored 15 of her 17 points in the second half and Minnesota beat Phoenix 80- 79 on Thursday night to advance to the semifinals of the WNBA playoffs. Damiris Dantas led Minnesota with 22 points although she missed a pair of free throws with 6.1 seconds left giving Phoenix the chance to pull off another last- second postseason victory. With no timeouts left, the Mercury got the ball up the court bur Skylar Diggins- Smith’s shot was off the mark at the buzzer.
Rangers TV broadcaster Nitkowski tests positive for COVID- 19.
ARLINGTON, TEXAS » Texas Rangers television broadcaster C. J. Nitkowski tested positive for COVID- 19, and the team used a simulcast of its radio network’s call on the regional cable telecast for Thursday night’s series finale in Houston. The Rangers said they received notification Thursday of the positive test for Nitkowski, who has been a color analyst for the team’s TV broadcasts since 2017.
Fed Cup changes name to honor tennis great Billie Jean King.
The Fed Cup is changing its name to honor tennis great Billie Jean King, the woman whose lifelong battle for equality and social justice laid the foundation for generations that followed.
The Billie Jean King Cup will become the first major global team competition to be named after a woman, the International Tennis Federation said Thursday.
“I’m still in shock,” the 76- year- old King said of the tribute. “It’s really a privilege, and it’s also a responsibility. It’s wild, it’s great, it’s wonderful.”