Hendriks, Hader top 2021 MLB relievers
The Chicago White Sox’s Liam Hendriks earned his second straight Mariano Rivera Award as the American League Reliever of the Year on Wednesday, and Milwaukee’s Josh Hader won his third Trevor Hoffman Award as the National League Reliever of the Year.
Hendriks had an 8-3 record and 38 saves in 44 chances with a 2.54 ERA and 113 strikeouts in 71 innings during his first season with the White Sox.
Hader was 4-2 with a career-best 1.23 ERA and 34 saves in 35 chances. He also won in 2018 and ‘19. He struck out 102 in 58 2/3 innings.
Voting was based on regular season performance and was conducted among seven former relievers: Rivera, Hoffman, Dennis Eckersley, Rollie Fingers, Lee Smith, John Franco and Billy Wagner.
Soccer
EXPANDED WORLD CUPS WILL DILUTE US-MEXICO QUALIFIERS >> Taylor Twellman has played in and watched the U.S.-Mexico rivalry — intense, physical matchups in front of frenzied fans who savor the often bruising battles between the top teams in North and Central America and the Caribbean.
Fervor reaches an apex in World Cup qualifying, but Friday’s game at Cincinnati and the return match at Mexico City in March are likely to be the last of these high-stakes meetings because of FIFA’s never-ending campaign to increase tournament fields and revenue, which dilutes the urgency of the matchup.
“It’s about the bottom line,” Twellman, a former U.S. forward and current ESPN analyst, said Wednesday, blaming FIFA and the European governing body UEFA for constant expansion. “More interest means more dollars. Those two organizations could care less about anything else.”
The U.S beat Mexico 3-2 in the CONCACAF Nations League final at Denver in June on Christian Pulisic’s 114thminute penalty kick and then, with a roster of mostly backups, defeated El Tri 1-0 in the CONCACAF Gold Cup at Las Vegas on Aug. 1 behind Miles Robinson’s 117th minute goal.
Mexico, ranked ninth in the world, leads the eight-nation final round of
World Cup qualifying with 14 points. The 13th-ranked U.S. is second with 11 points going into the match at TQL Stadium, which marks the halfway point of the 14-game schedule.
Tennis
KONTAVEIT UPSETS KREJCIKOVA >> Anett Kontaveit extended her hot streak by defeating second-seeded Barbora Krejcikova 6-3, 6-4, in the opening match at the WTA Finals in Guadalajara, Mexico.
The eighth-seeded Kontaveit beat the French Open champion in just 75 minutes for her 11th consecutive victory. Kontaveit has now won 27 of her last 29 matches, which include her title run at Ostrava where she defeated Paula Badosa and Maria Sakkari, both of whom are competing in the season-ending WTA Finals. MURRAY BEATS TOP SEED >> Andy Murray defeated top-seeded Jannik Sinner 7-6 (4), 6-3 to reach the quarterfinals of the Stockholm Open.
It was Murray’s second victory over a top-10 opponent in the past two weeks after the three-time Grand Slam champion, who has had two hip surgeries, beat Hubert Hurkacz in Vienna.
Murray broke the 20-year-old Italian, who is ranked 10th, twice in the second set on his way to victory. In the opener, he took his first set point after having saved the only break point.
“It’s probably my best win this season,” said the 34-year-old Murray, a former world No. 1.
He next faces Tommy Paul, who upset doubles partner and fifthseeded Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4.