Yankees' Juan Soto sits out loss to Blue Jays because of bruised right hand

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Yankees' Juan Soto sits out loss to Blue Jays because of bruised right hand

2024-06-30 06:55 Last Updated At：07:00

TORONTO (AP) — Yankees outfielder Juan Soto was scratched from the lineup because of a bruised right hand about 20 minutes before Saturday’s game against the Toronto Blue Jays, but manager Aaron Boone said afterward that X-rays did not reveal a fracture.

“He took some swings pregame and it just wasn’t good enough to go today,” Boone said. “Obviously a lot of treatment today and into the night. We’ll see what we have tomorrow.”

Oswaldo Cabrera started in right field for Soto, who is batting .302 with 20 home runs and 60 RBIs.

Soto was injured sliding into home plate in the fourth inning of Friday’s 16-5 win, one of three runs he scored in New York’s highest-scoring game of the season. He rolled over after touching home plate with his left hand and his right hand slammed into the dirt.

Soto hit a three-run home run and a single after injuring his hand.

“It wasn't much of an issue for him the rest of the game last night,” Boone said. “He went home fine and woke up this morning with some swelling in there."

If Soto's hand does not improve, Boone said there was a chance the three-time All-Star and 2020 NL batting champion could undergo further tests once the team returns to New York following Sunday's series finale in Toronto.

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/hub/mlb

Eritrea's Biniam Girmay becomes the first Black rider to win a Tour de France stage

2024-07-02 01:14 Last Updated At：01:20

TURIN, Italy (AP) — Eritrea's Biniam Girmay became the first Black rider to win a Tour de France stage on Monday.

Girmay said his sprint win in the mostly flat third leg was “for all Africans.”

“We must be proud now. We are really part of the big races,” he said. “Now it’s our moment. It’s our time.”

Before the podium celebration, Girmay went over and greeted Eritrean fans waving their country’s green, red and blue flag.

“There is a whole continent that has been waiting for this," said Aike Visbeek, the performance director for Girmay’s Intermarche-Wanty team. "It’s been done now, and I hope it will open the floodgates for more riders from Africa. He’s an ambassador in every way.”

Meanwhile, Mark Cavendish’s pursuit of a record-breaking 35th stage win was postponed by a crash ahead of him in the finale, and Olympic champion Richard Carapaz took the yellow jersey from Tadej Pogacar, making him the first Ecuadorean to lead cycling's biggest race.

Girmay also made history in Italy two years ago when he won a stage at the Giro d’Italia to become the first Black African to take a victory in a Grand Tour. But Girmay’s Giro victory was marred when he was rushed to a hospital after getting h it in the left eye by a prosecco cork he popped open during the podium celebration — forcing him to abandon the race.

Also in 2022, Girmay became the first rider from a sub-Saharan country to win a single-day classic at the Gent-Wevelgem race.

Cavendish has been tied with Eddy Merckx on 34 wins for three years and put off retirement to try again this year to break the record.

The 231-kilometer (144-mile) leg from Piacenza to Turin — the longest stage of this Tour — provided the first chance for a mass sprint. There will be at least a handful of other opportunities for sprinters as the race prepares to cross back into France following the first four stages in Italy.

With time to start raising his arms before he crossed the line, Girmay finished just ahead of Fernando Gaviria and Arnaud De Lie.

Members of the Israel-Premier Tech team fell ahead of Cavendish, who crossed 113th but was given the same finishing time as Girmay as per rules that neutralize the times in case of crashes in the final five kilometers.

“I was just looking to stay up. I’m too little to see what’s going on but I could hear it,” Cavendish said. "Someone skidded and I was just waiting for someone to hit from behind. Luckily they didn’t and we kind of got through, but we were way off it and with 2.5K to go we were out of it. I don’t think anybody was seriously hurt and that’s the main thing.”

Cavendish complimented Girmay, who won a reduced sprint.

“That’s just massive. Cycling is massive in Eritrea. It’s super good for him and for African cycling," Cavendish said. "He’s a legend, isn’t he?”

Pogacar dropped to second overall, with the same time as Carapaz.

Remco Evenepoel — the 2022 world champion and Spanish Vuelta winner — is third overall; and two-time defending champion Jonas Vingegaard is fourth, both also with the same time as Carapaz.

Danish rider Casper Pedersen had to abandon the race after falling with 15 kilometers to go and breaking his collarbone.

The race crosses back into France on Tuesday during Stage 4, the first big mountain leg going up to Sestriere and over the Col du Galibier — one of the Tour’s classic climbs — in the 140-kilometer (87-mile) route from Pinerolo to Valloire.

Pogacar, who won the Tour in 2020 and 2021, and Vingegaard will be favored to take the yellow jersey from Carapaz, who won the Giro in 2019 before taking gold in Tokyo three years ago.

"Tomorrow will be a big day,” Carapaz said. “It will be complicated. I’m going to try and give everything. I’m going to try and enjoy every single moment in the yellow jersey.”

AP cycling: https://apnews.com/hub/cycling