Quick Hitters
Tannehill leaves practice after knee appears to buckle
DAVIE, Fla. — Miami Dolphins quarterback Ryan Tannehill has left practice after his left knee appeared to buckle on a scramble and he fell without being hit.
He was accompanied off the field by trainers Thursday. There was no immediate word on his status after practice.
Tannehill missed last season’s final four games, including a playoff loss at Pittsburgh, after spraining two ligaments in his left knee. He decided against surgery and took part in all offseason drills with a brace.
Tannehill’s knee seemed to give out near the right sideline during drills after he was running full speed to escape tackle Ndamukong Suh. He stayed on the ground at least 15 seconds before rising and slowly walking off the field.
Rapinoe leads U.S.’ rout of Japan in tournament finale
CARSON, Calif. — Although Australia wrapped up the inaugural Tournament of Nations title before the U.S. women stepped on the field, Megan Rapinoe and her teammates still finished strong.
Rapinoe scored a splendid goal in the 12th minute, and the Americans beat Japan 3-0 on Thursday night in the final match of the fourteam round robin event.
Mallory Pugh and Alex Morgan scored in the second half as the U.S. entertained a crowd of 23,161 that didn’t seem to mind finishing second in this friendly tournament.
Australia rendered the Americans’ final result irrelevant to the standings by routing Brazil 6-1 in the early game at StubHub Center south of downtown Los Angeles. The U.S. needed Australia to lose to have any chance to make up a three-goal aggregate deficit.
The top-ranked Americans’ 1-0 loss to the Matildas in Portland last week turned out to be the decisive match in the Tournament of Nations, which was created to give more opportunities to the U.S. team to face top opposition. But the U.S. still followed up its incredible late comeback against Brazil last Sunday with a solid performance against Japan in a rematch of the 2015 World Cup final.
The U.S. improved to 27-1-7 against Japan.
Rapinoe’s goal was a stunner: She took a clever pass from Christen Press in stride and stutterstepped her way through the penalty area, dropping defender Aya Sameshima to the turf with a fake before firing a low shot past goalkeeper Ayaka Yamashita.
The goal was Rapinoe’s 33rd for the U.S., capping a tournament in which she was easily the best American.
Japan pressed the attack for much of the first half, but U.S. goalkeeper Alyssa Naeher made a diving stop to keep the lead. Midfielder Julie Ertz also cleared a ball off the goal line in the 34th minute and then crashed into the post.
The Americans scored again in the 60th minute after Taylor Smith pounced on a giveaway and fed a pass to the speedy Pugh.
CHICAGO — The shortest of Paul Goldschmidt’s three home runs on Thursday — the one that went only about halfway up the left-center bleachers at Wrigley Field — turned out to be his biggest.
Goldschmidt snapped a tie in the ninth inning with his third long drive of the game, and the Arizona Diamondbacks pulled out a rain-delayed 10-8 victory over the Chicago Cubs on Thursday.
The Diamondbacks first baseman hit a 3-2 pitch from Wade Davis (2-1) deep into the right-center bleachers with one out. J.D. Martinez followed with another solo blast off the Cubs closer.
“Crazy. I’ve never had