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CLARK EARNS ALL-STAR SPOT
NEW YORK (AP) -- Caitlin Clark was voted to start her third straight All-Star Game and will be joined by Indiana Fever teammates Kelsey Mitchell and Aliyah Boston, the WNBA announced Thursday.
It’s the second time in four years that three players from the same team were chosen to start the game, with Las Vegas doing it in 2023. Clark wasn’t able to play in last year’s game that the Fever hosted because she was injured right before the All-Star break.
Clark and Mitchell will be joined this year in the backcourt by Dallas’ Paige Bueckers and Minnesota rookie Olivia Miles. It’s the fourth consecutive year that a rookie was chosen as an All-Star starter. Bueckers played last season.
A’ja Wilson, Breanna Stewart, Jessica Shepard, Natasha Howard and Gabby Williams were selected for the frontcourt for the game that will be played in Chicago on July 25. It will be Wilson’s and Stewart’s eighth All-Star appearance while Shepard will be making her first.
Starters were chosen by a mixture of fan, player and media votes. The fan vote counted for 50% while media and player votes were 25% each. Each player’s score was calculated by averaging their weighted rank from all three areas.
ROCCHIO’S HOMER SAVES GUARDS
CLEVELAND (AP) -- Brayan Rocchio hit a two-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning that gave the Cleveland Guardians a 6-5 victory over the Chicago White Sox on Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series between the top two teams in the AL Central.
Cleveland (46-42) rallied from a three-run deficit and trails Chicago (45-41) by less than a full percentage point atop the division standings.
Pinch-hitter David Fry launched a solo homer in the seventh that trimmed the Guardians’ deficit to 5-4.
White Sox reliever Grant Taylor (4-2) walked Rhys Hoskins leading off the ninth. Kahlil Watson flied out to center before Rocchio pulled a 99 mph fastball down the right-field line for his sixth home run this season.
Tim Herrin (1-3) pitched a perfect inning for the win.
CINK OFF TO A GREAT START
COLUMBUS (AP) -- Stewart Cink got off to a great start in a bid to win his third straight senior major.
Cink was the only player to make five birdies on the back nine at Scioto Country Club on Thursday, shooting a 3-under 67 for a share of the first-round lead in the U.S. Senior Open with Charlie Wi.
Cink struggled on the front nine, shooting a 2-over 37, but found momentum once he made the turn.
“I’ve been off for a little while, and I started like I’ve been off for a little while. I had to prove it to myself again that I could play decent golf a certain way,” Cink said. “The back nine was really nice. I actually could have shot quite a bit lower on the back nine. I missed three very reasonably like inside -- right around 10 feet or less birdie putts.”
The 53-year-old Cink has four wins in nine PGA Tour Champions starts this year, including the Senior PGA Championship and the Tradition. The last player to win the Senior PGA, Tradition and U.S. Senior Open in the same year was Jack Nicklaus in 1991. Scioto, the Donald Ross course hosting its third U.S. Senior Open, is where Nicklaus learned to play the game.
Simon Griffiths, Freddie Jacobson and George McNeill were tied for third at 68. Defending champion Padraig Harrington was among a group of 10 players at 69.