Pera stuns Kontaveit in Hamburg for 2nd title in seven days
“He’s a guy that we’ve seen in [spring training] for a few years now. I think what I like about him is that everything he does, he does well. He’s a good base runner. He plays defense. He knows what he’s doing on the field. He handles at-bats. Now, it’s going to be a matter of making adjustments at this level.”
Bleday is the second first-round pick the Marlins have called up in as many weeks. Miami called up right-handed pitcher Max Meyer, the No. 3 overall pick in the 2020 draft, to make his debut on July 16. Meyer made his second MLB start Saturday.
THIS AND THAT
Garrett Cooper, who is hitting .076 (4 for 51) with 22 strikeouts over his past 15 games, was not in the starting lineup on Saturday. Jesus Aguilar played first base, while Nick Fortes was the designated hitter.
“It’s just a matter of getting him off his feet,” Mattingly said, “getting him a breather.”
With a scoreless ninth inning on Friday, righthanded pitcher Anthony
AABass has worked 17 consecutive scoreless relief outings. He has allowed just one earned run since the start of June.
Through four July starts, left-handed pitcher
Braxton Garrett is 1-0 with a 1.80 ERA (five earned runs over 25 innings), with 25 strikeouts against just five walks. The Marlins are 3-1 in those starts. His ERA and 0.64 WHIP in July lead all rookie pitchers and his 25 strikeouts are second behind only the Atlanta Braves’ Spencer Strider (35).
Mattingly on infielder
Joey Wendle, who is hitting .310 over 17 games since returning from a hamstring injury and has been Miami’s primary leadoff hitter and second baseman with both Jazz Chisholm Jr. and Jon Berti on the injured list: “I like everything about Joey, honestly. The way he prepares, his at-bats — wherever they are [in the lineup] — it’s all good. Joey has been a nice addition to our club this year.”
AAJordan McPherson: 305-376-2129, @J_McPherson1126
American player Bernarda Pera stunned topseeded Anett Kontaveit 6-2, 6-4 to win the Hamburg European Open on Saturday for her second title in seven days.
The 81st-ranked Pera, who won her first WTA title in Budapest last week, saved three of the four break points she faced and took four of the six she created to beat Kontaveit, the world No. 2.
It was Pera’s 12th straight victory going back to the Budapest qualifiers after losing her previous five matches. The 27-yearold Pera defeated Aleksandra Krunic of Serbia in the Budapest final last Sunday.
Kontaveit was playing in her 16th career final and her first since February when she lost to Iga Swiatek in Doha. She had been going for her seventh singles title in the final.
ETC.
College football: Tennessee hopes its “exemplary cooperation” with the NCAA helps the Volunteers avoid serious punishment from 18 major rules violations as easily as they dodged paying former coach Jeremy Pruitt’s multi-million dollar buyout. The NCAA notified Tennessee on Friday of the Level 1 violations, the NCAA’s most serious, for allegations of providing impermissible cash, gifts and benefits worth about $60,000 to football recruits and their families under Pruitt. The notice of allegations says at least a
Adozen members of Pruitt’s staff were involved in more than 200 individual violations over a two-year period.
NFL: Jim Lynch, the hard-hitting linebacker who helped the Kansas City Chiefs beat the Minnesota Vikings in the 1970 Super Bowl following a standout career at Notre Dame, has died. He was 76. Lynch’s family announced that he died Thursday but did not provide a cause.
Soccer: Oleksandr Zinchenko became the second player to leave Manchester City to join Arsenal in this offseason after signing for a reported fee of $36 million on Friday. Arsenal manager
Mikel Arteta, who was assistant coach at City from 2016-19, has already signed Gabriel Jesus from his former club . ... Left-back Nicolas Tagliafico joined ambitious French club Lyon from Ajax on a three-year deal. Lyon said it paid $4.3 million to sign the 29year-old Tagliafico, who has made 40 international appearances for Argentina. He’s also shown an eye for goal, having scored 16 goals in 169 games for the Dutch club . ... Sweden broke down Belgium’s dogged resistance with a goal in the second minute of stoppage time to win
1-0 on Friday and set up a semifinal against host nation England in the Women’s European Championship. Linda Sembrant smashed home a loose ball from inside the six-yard box following a corner past Belgium goalkeeper Nicky Evrard.
AA