A change in curriculum - ePaper - Stripes

WORLD NATO rejects claim it’s positioning forces near Belarus borders2

NBA Ten things to know as 2020playoffs begin Back page

Afghans halt prisoner release, delaying talks with Taliban » Page 3

FACES Elizabeth Debicki cast as Princess Diana in final 2 seasons of ‘The Crown’Page 14

Volume 79, No. 87 ©SS 2020 TUESDAY, AUGUST 18, 2020 50¢/Free to Deployed Areas

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DONAVAN K. PATUBO/U.S. Navy

Petty Officer 1st Class Tyler Reese moves desks in an effort to safely facilitate in-person learning for the upcoming school year at Naples Middle High School , Naples, on Aug. 10.

Masks in some classrooms, no tag at recess: DODEA schools ready for a very different learning experience

Page 5

VIRUS OUTBREAK

BY QASSIM ABDUL-ZAHRA

Associated Press

BAGHDAD — Iraq’s prime minister said Monday ahead of a much anticipated trip to Washington that his country still needs U.S. as-sistance to counter the threat posed by Islamic State and that his administration is committed to introducing security sector reforms as rogue militia groups stage near-daily attacks against the seat of his government.

“In the end, we will still need cooperation and assistance at levels that might require di-rect and military support, and support on the ground,” Mustafa al-Kadhimi said, but the levels depend on the changing nature of the threats posed by terrorist groups.

Al-Kadhimi is slated to meet with Presi-dent Donald Trump in Washington this week to conclude a strategic dialogue launched in June to reconfigure U.S.-Iraq ties.

In an exclusive interview Monday with The

Associated Press, he said Iraqi forces are capable of fighting ISIS without the need for foreign combat troops on the ground. But, he said, the next stage of coopera-tion with the U.S. would require continued training and weapons support.

Sworn in as premier in May in the wake of historic mass anti-government protests, al-Kadhimi’s administration inherited a myriad of crises. State coffers in the crude-SEE HELP ON PAGE 3

Iraqi prime minister says country still needs US help

A change in curriculum

RELATED US-led site handover to Iraq proceeds after attacks by suspected Iran-allied fightersPage 3

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S •PAGE 2 F3HIJKLM Tuesday, August 18, 2020

T O D A YIN STRIPES

American Roundup ..... 11Classified .................. 13Comics ...................... 15Crossword ................. 15Faces ........................ 14Opinion .................16-17Sports .................. 18-24

BUSINESS/WEATHER

Popular German sauce to change racist name Military ratesEuro costs (Aug. 18) ............................. $1.16Dollar buys (Aug. 18) ........................€0.8225British pound (Aug. 18) ....................... $1.28Japanese yen (Aug. 18) .....................104.00South Korean won (Aug. 18) .........1,156.00

Commercial ratesBahrain (Dinar) ....................................0.3771British pound ..................................... $1.3103Canada (Dollar) ................................... 1.3211China (Yuan) ........................................6.9362Denmark (Krone) ................................6.2702Egypt (Pound) ....................................15.9228Euro ........................................ $1.1875/0.8421Hong Kong (Dollar) ............................. 7.7504Hungary (Forint) .................................293.86Israel (Shekel) .....................................3.4066Japan (Yen) ........................................... 106.16Kuwait (Dinar) .....................................0.3057Norway (Krone) ...................................8.8478Philippines (Peso).................................48.64Poland (Zloty) .......................................... 3.70Saudi Arabia (Riyal) ...........................3.7260Singapore (Dollar) ..............................1.3685South Korea (Won) ..........................1,184.57

Switzerland (Franc)............................0.9062Thailand (Baht) ..................................... 31.18Turkey (Lira) ......................................... 7.3976(Military exchange rates are those available to customers at military banking facilities in the country of issuance for Japan, South Korea, Germany, the Netherlands and the United Kingdom. For nonlocal currency exchange rates (i.e., purchasing British pounds in Germany), check with your local military banking facility. Commercial rates are interbank rates provided for reference when buying currency. All figures are foreign currencies to one dollar, except for the British pound, which is represented in dollars-to-pound, and the euro, which is dollars-to-euro.)

EXCHANGE RATES

INTEREST RATESPrime rate ................................................ 3.25Discount rate .......................................... 0.25Federal funds market rate ................... 0.093-month bill ............................................. 0.1030-year bond ........................................... 1.42

WEATHER OUTLOOK

Bahrain94/91

Baghdad105/75

Doha106/86

KuwaitCity

107/87

Riyadh106/80

Djibouti103/88

Kandahar105/75

Kabul92/59

TUESDAY IN THE MIDDLE EAST WEDNESDAY IN THE PACIFIC

Misawa79/69

Guam84/81

Tokyo86/73

Okinawa85/82

Sasebo88/76

Iwakuni84/79

Seoul87/75

Osan88/74 Busan

91/76

The weather is provided by the American Forces Network Weather Center,

2nd Weather Squadron at Offutt Air Force Base, Neb.

Mildenhall/Lakenheath

70/57

Ramstein72/53

Stuttgart71/61

Lajes,Azores76/73

Rota85/66

Morón98/69 Sigonella

96/73

Naples86/73

Aviano/Vicenza75/65

Pápa76/67

Souda Bay80/73

TUESDAY IN EUROPE

Brussels71/60

Zagan71/64

Drawsko Pomorskie

76/61

Associated Press

BERLIN — One of Germany’s best-known food companies said it will rename a popular spicy dressing because of the racist connotations of its name.

Food company Knorr will change the name of its “Zigeuner-sauce,” or “gypsy sauce” to “Pa-prika Sauce Hungarian Style,” the German weekly Bild am Sonntag reported Sunday.

“Since ‘gypsy sauce’ can be in-terpreted in a negative way, we

have decided to give our Knorr sauce a new name,” said Unilever, the international consumer goods group that owns Knorr. Unile-ver could not independently be reached for comment on Sunday.

The popular spicy sauce, a sta-ple in many German households, will within a few weeks show up with the new name in supermar-kets across the country, Bild am Sonntag reported.

Civil rights groups have for years called for the renaming of the brand, but in 2013, the compa-

ny rejected the demand, the Ger-man news agency dpa reported.

The renaming of the brand follows recent international de-bates over racism, especially in the United States, where big national companies have also renamed traditional brands in response to concerns about racial stereotyping.

“Zigeuner” is a derogative Ger-man expression for the Roma and Sinti minority groups who have lived in many European coun-tries for centuries.

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • F3HIJKLM PAGE 3Tuesday, August 18, 2020

WAR ON TERRORISM

Afghans halt prisoner release, talks delayed

Hours after rocket strike, US hands site over to Iraqis

BY RAHIM FAIEZ AND KATHY GANNON

Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government said Monday it would not re-lease the last 400 Taliban prisoners it is holding until the insurgents free more cap-tured soldiers, defying a traditional council held last week and further delaying intra-Afghan talks sought by the United States.

The talks, which were laid out in a peace deal signed between the United States and the Taliban in February, were expected to begin on Thursday but are now postponed indefinitely.

The ruling by the traditional council, or jirga, which called for the immediate re-lease of the Taliban prisoners, had raised hopes of a breakthrough in the process.

The U.S.-Taliban peace deal called on the Taliban to free 1,000 government and military personnel and for the government to free 5,000 Taliban prisoners. The pris-oner releases were to be a goodwill gesture ahead of intra-Afghan negotiations aimed at devising a postwar roadmap.

“We are going to release them. That’s not an issue. But it has to be two-way,” government spokesman Sediq Sediqqi told The Associated Press. “If we take this bold step, releasing all these guys, all these bad

people, why are the Taliban not releas-ing our captives, which is a very small number?”

Suhail Shaheen, the Taliban’s political spokesman, said the group had fulfilled its obligations and was not aware of any other

security personnel in its custody who were to be released.

“We have released 1,000 prisoners that we had promised to release,” Shaheen said. The Taliban have said they are ready to open talks with the government within one week of the release of the last Taliban prisoners.

The deal with the Taliban is aimed at ending the U.S. war in Afghanistan that began shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks. U.S. troops have already begun leaving, and by November, fewer than 5,000 troops are expected to still be in the country. That’s down from nearly 13,000 when the agreement was signed Feb. 29.

Under the agreement, the withdrawal of U.S. troops does not hinge on the success of intra-Afghan talks but on commitments made by the Taliban to combat terrorist groups and ensure Afghanistan is not used as a staging ground for attacks on the U.S. and its allies.

Since signing the agreement, the Tal-iban have held to a promise not to attack U.S. and NATO troops, but have carried out regular attacks on Afghan security forces.

The government wants an immedi-ate cease-fire, while the Taliban have said the terms should be agreed in the negotiations.

Seddiqi said Australia and France havealso objected to releasing some of the lastTaliban prisoners because they were in-volved in attacks on their forces. He said the government wants to address theirconcerns.

But President Ashraf Ghani set a prec-edent when he reached a peace deal withU.S.-declared terrorist Gulbuddin Hek-matyar in 2016. Hekmatyar’s group wasblamed for an attack on a supermarket inthe capital that killed civilians as well as an attack in 2014 that killed two U.S. con-tractors. The French also argued againsthis delisting as a terrorist because of anattack his group staged against Frenchforces in Afghanistan in 2008 that killed 10French soldiers.

Both the Taliban and the governmenthave accused each other of creating hur-dles in the peace process.

Seddiqi said the government had provenits goodwill by releasing 5,000 Taliban and that it never committed to releasing a par-ticular list of insurgents.

“I think it’s time for the Taliban to re-alize that there will be no concession any-more,” said Seddiqi. “Whatever we havedone so far as the Afghan government andthe peace process, that should be enoughfor the Taliban to come to the negotiation table.”

FROM FRONT PAGE

dependent country were slashedfollowing a severe drop in oilprices, adding to the woes of an economy already struggling withthe aftershocks of the global coro-navirus pandemic.

Despite this, his administra-tion set a lofty agenda including economic reform, battling cor-ruption, avenging protesters andbringing arms under the author-ity of the state.

The latter has pitted his govern-ment against rogue Iran-backed militia groups.

The recent assassination ofprominent Iraqi commentatorHisham al-Hashimi and the kid-napping of German art curatorHella Mewis have lead manyto question the limits of hisleadership.

But al-Kadhimi said these were perpetrated by those with an in-terest in profiting from chaos.

“These criminal acts are the result of many years of conflict,”he said, blaming the poor policiesand improper management of hispredecessors which has under-mined the authority of the state.

“We are committed to reform-ing the security establishment and enhancing its ability to deal with these kinds of challenges and holding accountable thosewho fail to protect civilians and put an end to these outlawedgroups,” he said.

BY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

The U.S.-led coalition in Iraq transferred about 50 ammunition storage bunkers and facilities to Iraqi forces at Camp Taji, part of a continuing force consolidation as the Islamic State fight wanes and conflict with Iran-backed fighters ramps up.

The handover Sunday was long-scheduled, officials said, but it came hours after two small rock-ets struck near the base Saturday night, the latest attack target-ing bases where coalition forces are housed, which the U.S. has blamed on Iranian proxy groups.

The rocket strike at the base north of Baghdad did not impact near coalition forces, Army Col. Myles B. Caggins III, a spokes-man for the coalition, said on Twitter on Saturday.

Also last week, three rockets fell on Balad Air Base, the Iraqi government said Thursday, then on Friday three more fell on Baghdad’s international airport, it said. On Sunday, one landed inside Baghdad’s Green Zone, where diplomatic and military mission headquarters are based. None of the attacks resulted in significant damage, the Iraqi gov-ernment said on Twitter.

The strikes all came after the U.S. seized more than 1 million barrels of Iranian oil from four tankers bound for Venezuela last

week. They also come ahead of ex-

pected U.S.-Iraq talks, which Central Command boss Gen. Frank McKenzie said would like-ly involve the long-term presence of American and allied troops.

“I think that is a grave con-cern to the Iranians because that works against what they want, which is for Iraq to be pretty di-rectly under their control and for us to be out of the theater,” the Marine general said in an online panel hosted by the U.S. Institute of Peace on Wednesday.

McKenzie acknowledged that the rocket attacks have forced the coalition to pull back from the ISIS fight somewhat and di-vert resources to self-protection. He also expected Iran to launch a fresh “response” after failing to expel the U.S. from Iraq earlier this year.

“I do not know what the na-ture of that response will be, but we will certainly be ready for it, should it occur,” he said.

U.S.-Iran tensions have risen steadily over the past two years, as President Donald Trump’s administration has tried to pres-sure Tehran into renegotiating an Obama-era nuclear treaty that Trump withdrew the U.S. from.

Sporadic rocket attacks have become commonplace since last fall, and in January a U.S. drone strike killed a top Iranian general in Baghdad, leading Tehran to re-

spond with a barrage of ballistic missiles that hit U.S.-occupied bases in Iraq and left more than 100 American troops with trau-matic brain injuries.

Meanwhile, the coalition has removed forces from smaller Iraqi bases, a long-planned ef-fort which officials have said was sped up by the increased threat from Iran-backed militias.

Two American troops and a British soldier were killed at Taji in March, but many of the coali-tion troops that were once at the base to train Iraqi forces have since gone elsewhere in Iraq or

been sent home. There remains a small presence of troops who coordinate logistics and security operations, the coalition said.

Some 5,200 American troops remain in Iraq, but as the gov-ernment forces take on more responsibility for fighting ISIS, the number of U.S. and coali-tion troops is expected to shrink, McKenzie said last week.

“We don’t want to maintain a huge number of soldiers forever in Iraq,” McKenzie said.

[email protected]: @chadgarland

Help: Many question PM’s limitations as leader in Iraq

Twitter

The U.S.-backed anti-Islamic State coalition handed over an ammunition storage site at Camp Taji to the Iraqi security forces, Sunday. The coalition has delivered $11 million worth of ammunition to the Iraqis this year, they said in a statement.

RAHMAT GUL/AP

Afghan presidential spokesman Sediq Seddiqi gives an interview to The Associated Press in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Monday .

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S •PAGE 4 F3HIJKLM

BY CHAD GARLAND

Stars and Stripes

A convoy of U.S.-led coalition and partner forces returned fire after coming under attack near a Syrian military checkpoint in the country’s northeast, the alliance said, but it denied reports of an airstrike.

A routine anti-Islamic State pa-trol, which included Syrian Dem-ocratic Forces, had received “safe passage from pro-regime forces” before coming under small-arms fire near the checkpoint, which was near Tal al-Zahab village in northeastern Hasakeh province, the coalition said in a statement.

“Coalition troops returned fire in self-defense,” the statement said. “The coalition did not con-duct an airstrike. No coalition ca-sualties occurred.”

Citing local sources, the Lon-don-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said earlier that Syrian regime forces blocked a U.S. military column at the check-point south of Qamishli, leading to an “altercation between both sides.”

Video posted on Twitter showed an apparent exchange of small-arms fire and grenades. At least one helicopter was visible flying nearby in the video, posted by journalist Mohammad Hassan.

One soldier was killed and two were injured in the incident, the state-owned Syrian Arab News Agency reported, citing an un-named Syrian military source

who said the fighting began around 9:45 a.m. when a U.S. pa-trol tried to enter the area. “War-planes” struck about 30 minutes later, causing the casualties, the source was reported as saying.

U.S. forces routinely patrol the area, where several hundred Americans, mostly special opera-tions troops, are deployed to small bases to train, advise and assist Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces fighting Islamic State .

Syrian military forces loyal to President Bashar Assad, known as the Syrian Arab Army, also pa-trol the area along with their Rus-sian backers in the ongoing civil war that began in 2011.

U.S. forces have near daily con-tact with Russian forces there, officials have said, though they have said tensions are usually

settled nonviolently. Videos posted online in recent

months have shown instances of one side’s convoys escorting the others, or vehicles from Russian and American convoys vying for position on roadways. In one in-stance last February, American troops returned fire after Assad regime loyalists attacked near Qamishli, resulting in one Syrian death.

Last month, Brett McGurk, the former U.S. special envoy to the anti-ISIS coalition, posted a video to Twitter showing Russian vehi-cles converging on a U.S. patrol. Such confrontations occur daily since the U.S. withdrew in Octo-ber from territory near Syria’s border with Turkey ahead of a Turkish incursion, McGurk said. He called on President Donald

Trump to “pick up the phone andtell Putin to stop harassing ourtroops.”

U.S. military officials have declined to say how many U.S. troops are in Syria to assist in the anti-ISIS fight, but earlier this year there were a few hundred at a remote garrison in southeast Syria and several hundred more at bases in the northeastern prov-inces of Hasakeh and Deir al-Zor.

Some 5,200 U.S. troops re-main in Iraq to assist government forces.

The convoy returned to its baseafter the firefight with apparent pro-Assad forces Monday, the co-alition said. The incident is underinvestigation.

[email protected]: @chadgarland

See a video of the altercation involving a U.S. convoy at stripes.com/go/convoy

Tuesday, August 18, 2020

WAR/MILITARY

Coalition denies airstrike on Syrian troops

Tokyo virus cases dip as nearby US base has 12 new infections

5 US troops test positive after going to S. Korea

BY CAITLIN DOORNBOS, MATTHEW M. BURKE

AND AYA ICHIHASHI

Stars and Stripes

YOKOSUKA NAVAL BASE, Japan — New coronavirus cases in Japan’s capital city fell to 161 on Monday, the first working day after a four-day holiday called Obon, while the premier U.S. naval base in Japan reported a dozen infections.

Tokyo reported 161 new cases, according to public broadcaster NHK. It’s the third day below 200 cases since Aug. 11, said the re-port, which cited city officials.

The daily record so far is 472 on Aug. 1, according to the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Previously, the city reported dips in post-holiday case num-bers, only to see them rise again later in the week as more tests were administered. The seven-day moving average of new cases in the city is trending downward, however, according to metro gov-ernment data.

Yokosuka Naval Base, home of the U.S. 7th Fleet, southwest of central Tokyo, on Monday an-nounced 12 new infections, its largest increase since July 21, when it started reporting case numbers.

One of those patients, a new ar-rival to Japan, showed symptoms of COVID-19, the respiratory ill-ness caused by the coronavirus, while in mandatory isolation, according to a post on the base Facebook page. The remaining 11 had close contact with some-one previously infected and were also moved into quarantine.

The base has 35 active cases, according to the post.

On Aug. 10, Yokosuka increased its risk level for further spread of the virus to substantial — Health

Protection Condition-Charlie, in military terms — following a burst of six new cases.

The neighboring city of Yoko-suka reported 14 infections over the weekend, according to the city’s website.

Yokota Air Base, headquarters of U.S. Forces Japan in western Tokyo, reported one new case Monday — a person who tested positive in quarantine Friday after traveling abroad.

On Okinawa, the Marine Corps on Monday reported no new cases after announcing four on Satur-day and Sunday.

More than 200 people infected in cluster outbreaks at two Okinawa Marine bases have been cleared of the virus, a Marine Corps In-stallations Pacific spokesman said via email Monday.

Those clusters emerged at Ma-rine Corps Air Station Futenma and Camp Hansen following the July Fourth weekend. The outbreak infected 114 people at MCAS Futenma and 162 at Hansen.

“All cases from the Futenma cluster have been cleared,” Maj. Ken Kunze wrote in the email. “The cases from the original Hansen cluster have also all recovered.”

He said the Marines’ most re-cent 10 cases were discovered by testing people before they exited the isolation period required of all new arrivals.

In early August, Kunze said that most cases associated with the clusters at MCAS Futenma and Hansen began with new ar-rivals to Okinawa, prior to the start of mandatory exit testing. After the outbreaks began, people in quarantine had to test positive before being released.

“Our enhanced protective measures will remain in place to

help us hold the line on the com-munity spread that is a risk to everyone, both on and off base,” Kunze wrote Monday. “We don’t anticipate easing restrictions until cases off base begin to trend downward.”

Okinawa prefecture an-nounced 38 new coronavirus cases Monday, according to the Ryuku Shimpo newspaper. The prefecture reported 48 new cases Saturday and 60 on Sunday for a total of 146, according to the pre-fecture’s website. It also reported four deaths; a total of 14 have died

on Okinawa of COVID-19. As of noon Sunday, 21 people

are in critical condition with the virus of 337 hospitalized, the pre-fecture reported.

The prefecture Monday added two employees at U.S. military bases to its case tally, one each at Kadena Air Base and an Army refueling facility, for a total of 13 base employees with the virus.

The Japan Ministry of Defense Joint Staff on Monday announced on Twitter that self-defense forc-es will support Okinawa by pro-viding medical teams, doctors and nurses, patient transporta-tion and supplies, along with edu-cating local assembly officials about the coronavirus prevention if Okinawa Gov. Denny Tamaki requests it.

[email protected]: @[email protected]: @[email protected]: @AyaIchihashi

Stars and Stripes

SEOUL, South Korea — Five more American troops tested positive for the coronavirus aftertraveling from the United Statesto South Korea, the military said Monday, raising the total numberof patients affiliated with U.S.Forces Korea to 157.

Three of the service membersarrived at Osan Air Base on gov-ernment-chartered flights that landed on Aug. 1, Aug. 3 and Sat-urday, USFK said. The other twoarrived on commercial flights atIncheon International Airport onAug. 11 and Thursday.

None had contact with the out-side community because of stricttesting and quarantine require-ments for those traveling to South Korea, according to a USFK press release.

Three of the individuals testedpositive on their first mandatory coronavirus test before enteringthe two-week quarantine, whilethe other two received positiveresults in the test required to exit quarantine, USFK said.

All have since been transferredto isolation facilities designatedfor coronavirus patients at CampHumphreys or Osan Air Base, it added. Affected transportation assets and quarantine rooms alsohad been thoroughly cleaned.

Only 24 USFK personnel con-tracted the virus while stationed on the divided peninsula, with thelast case confirmed in mid-April. The others tested positive afterflying to South Korea for newassignments or returning fromtravels abroad.

[email protected]

AKIFUMI ISHIKAWA/Stars and Stripes

Pedestrians wear face coverings to help guard against the coronavirus in the Omotesando district of central Tokyo, on Friday .

‘ We don’t anticipate easing restrictions until cases off base begin to trend downward. ’

Maj. Ken KunzeU.S. Marine Corps


MILITARY

BY SETH ROBSON

Stars and Stripes

Islamic extremists remain a stubborn problem in the Philippines despite a mul-tiyear U.S. military effort to combat the threat, according to a recent report to Congress.

Operation Pacific Eagle-Philippines, an overseas contingency operation led by U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, has been ongo-ing since Sept. 1, 2017. Three years later, there are still 300-500 Islamic State-affili-ated fighters in the Southeast Asian nation, according to the latest assessment by De-fense Department acting inspector general Sean O’Donnell.

“There has been little change in the ca-pabilities, size, financing and operations of [the Islamic State in East Asia],” O’Donnell wrote in the most recent report on the op-eration, which covers April 1 through June 30.

The failure to make progress eliminat-ing the militant group comes despite the U.S. budgeting $72.3 million for the opera-tion in the current fiscal year, according to the report. It cost more than $100 million in each of the previous two years, Voice of America reported Aug. 12.

Extremists continue to carry out spo-radic, mostly small-scale attacks, and the Philippines military, with intelligence and air support from the U.S., continues coun-terterrorism operations to keep Islamic State affiliates from spreading, O’Donnell

wrote.“In general, efforts to reduce extremism

in the Philippines do not appear to have made a substantial difference since the launch of [Operation Pacific Eagle],” he wrote.

Islamic extremists have sought to capi-talize on the Philippine government’s de-ployment of military assets to assist with the response to the coronavirus pandemic, the report states.

On April 17, approximately 40 Islamic militants ambushed Filipino soldiers on the island of Jolo, killing 12 and wound-ing 13. The Defense Intelligence Agency described it as the deadliest attack by the extremists since the January 2019 suicide bombing of a cathedral there that killed 23, according to the report.

However, “levels of violence in the Phil-ippines were similar to previous quarters,” the report added.

A previous counterterrorism effort, Op-eration Enduring Freedom–Philippines, ran from 2002-2015. But in May 2017, a force of about 1,000 Islamic State militants seized the southern city of Marawi on the island of Mindanao, the center of Islamic culture in the Philippines.

Philippine troops prevailed in a months long battle to liberate the city but suffered heavy casualties, including more than 160 dead. The fighting devastated Marawi’s infrastructure and displaced 353,000 residents of the city and surround-

ing area. Most of the Islamic State-aligned fighters in the city, including their leader, Isnilon Hapilon, and his top lieutenants, were killed in the fighting.

A Philippines expert at the University of Hawaii said the inspector general’s as-sessment of counterterrorism efforts in the country sounds disingenuous.

“If you compare how much the U.S. has spent in Iraq and Afghanistan, the Philip-pine share is a pittance,” Patricio Abinales told Stars and Stripes via email Friday.

Islamic terrorism will remain an en-demic problem in the Philippines given the fact that the U.S. offers only technical sup-port to local forces, as well as the difficulty of policing the border and limiting military corruption, he said.

The erratic policy of pro-China Philip-pines President Rodrigo Duterte toward the U.S. military doesn’t help, Abinales said.

In February, Duterte’s government an-nounced it would scrap the Visiting Forces Agreement governing U.S. troops in the country within 180 days. Then, in early June, Duterte suspended the termination for six months due to “political and other developments.”

The inspector general report notes: “This action threatens future prospects for U.S. military support to the Philippines.”

To avoid another Marawi, the U.S. mili-tary should continue to maintain close ties with Philippine counterparts, Abinales

said.The U.S. should also reach out to the

Moro Islamic Liberation Front he added.“The MILF is the only reliable deter-

rent to ISIS in Muslim Mindanao,” he said. “As long as the MILF is supported in itsefforts to expand Muslim autonomy, andalso helped in turning itself into an effec-tive governing body, and as long as the U.S.continues to counteract Wahabi influencein Muslim Mindanao by providing alterna-tive sources of funds to Muslim communi-ties and thus neutralize Saudi money, then the MILF will be an effective counterforceto ISIS efforts to establish a lasting foot-hold in the islands.”

Ultimately, there needs to be a politicalsolution to the problems with extremism in the Philippines, said Ian Chong, an assis-tant professor in the National University ofSingapore’s political science department.

“A military role can help facilitate that outcome, but is probably unable to do soalone,” he said in a Friday email.

Finding a solution will require will anddirection from the Philippines government and population that doesn’t seem apparent, Chong added.

“Containment is a next best approach,”he said. “Insofar as such approacheshold, it may be possible to avoid a repeatof Marawi. But I don’t think there’s aguarantee.”[email protected]: @SethRobson1

BY JENNIFER H. SVAN

Stars and Stripes

KAISERSLAUTERN, Germa-ny — From mandatory face masks to one-way traffic in crowded hallways, the coronavirus has en-sured a vastly different back-to-school experience for thousands of children of U.S. military and government workers in Europe when classes begin Monday.

There will be no games of tag at recess at some schools, fewer elective choices at others, maybe a “grab-n-go” lunch in the class-room instead of the cafeteria and no singing in music class, unless it’s outside and face coverings are worn.

In a series of virtual town hall meetings held during the past week, Department of Defense Education Activity-Europe school leaders discussed plans for safely returning to in-person learning for the first time since March, when school buildings abruptly closed as the coronavirus pan-demic took hold.

The most noticeable change in schools will be a requirement for

students and staff members to wear cloth face coverings when they’re unable to maintain a safe distance from others. Safety guidelines to reduce the spread of the coronavirus in schools, drawn up by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, say people should stay at least six feet apart if in-person events are held.

Face coverings will be manda-tory on school buses, at the bus

stop and when students are in transit or moving throughout the school, officials said during the virtual town hall meetings.

“We are going to use the phrase ‘When my feet are moving, my mask is on,’” Ramstein Inter-mediate School principal Caryn Currie said during a virtual town hall last week. “That will help our students understand that in any transition period, their mask is on.”

In classrooms, recommenda-tions for wearing masks or not will depend on class size and space, officials said.

For instance, RIS classrooms can safely accommodate up to 18 desks plus the teacher with-out continuous wearing of a face mask, they said. That’s the class ratio expected for third grade, but in fourth and fifth grades, the av-erage class size is expected to be more than that, meaning students and teachers might have to wear masks in the classroom.

Schools have said they’ll pro-vide two cloth face-coverings to staff members and students, but “they are absolutely free to wear whatever mask they have at home,” said Vogelweh Elemen-tary School principal David Lee during a virtual town hall last week.

At Ramstein Middle School, however, staff and students must wear school-issued face cover-ings, officials said.

Plastic face shields are also permitted, but only with face cov-erings underneath and not dur-ing gym class, officials at several

schools said.Some DODEA middle and

high schools in Europe are alsorevising class schedules to keepstudents in cohorts as much as possible to minimize exposure tothe virus.

At Wiesbaden High School,students will take four classesevery day for a semester, rather than seven classes every other day, school officials said. Therevised schedule would mean ateacher would come into contactwith around 75 students a weekinstead of 150.

Students at some schools will also have fewer electives tochoose from, since some teach-ers have gone over to virtual in-struction, officials said. Music instruction will also be different, with some elementary schools no longer offering recorder lessonsand upper-level band students atRamstein Middle School receiv-ing instruction at school and play-ing their instruments at home.

[email protected]: @stripesktown

DODEA schools ready for virus learning experience

Report: Operation failed to dislodge extremists from Philippines

BRIAN FERGUSON/Stars and Stripes

Parents say goodbye to their children as they arrive for the first day of school at Vogelweh Elementary School last year .


VIRUS OUTBREAK

The Washington Post

Federal health officials are asking four states and one city to draft plans for how they would distribute a coronavirus vaccine when limited doses become avail-able, possibly as early as this fall, officials said.

The Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention and the De-partment of Defense and other agencies recently began working with officials in California, Flor-ida, Minnesota, North Dakota and Philadelphia to develop plans to transport and store vaccine and prioritize which individuals will get the first doses to protect against COVID-19, the disease caused by the virus. The propos-als will consider each location’s racial and ethnic makeup and population density.

Those plans will be shared with other states to help them with vaccine distribution plan-ning. The discussions with states offer some of the first details of the federal government’s plans at a time when information shared by the administration has been limited and often confusing. The United States is planning the largest vaccination campaign ever undertaken .

U.S. officials sa y that OperationWarp Speed, the administration’seffort to expedite development of coronavirus countermeasures, ison track to deliver tens of millionsof vaccine doses by January.

In the planning discussions,one of the hottest topics involvesfreezers. At least one vaccine can-didate is expected to require stor-age at very cold temperatures, about minus-70 degrees Celsius.A top CDC official told state im-munization officials Wednesdaythat states probably won’t be ex-pected to buy special freezers.But if a vaccine is approved by the Food and Drug Administra-tion that requires such cold stor-age, states should prepare sitesfor mass vaccination clinics .

On Friday, the Defense andHealth and Human Servicesdepartments announced thatMcKesson Corp. will be a central distributor of COVID-19 vaccinesand related supplies .

Although President DonaldTrump has said repeatedly themilitary will deliver vaccines, the Defense Department “is not actually going to be distributing or delivering the vaccines itself,”Paul Mango, deputy chief of staff for policy at HHS, said Thursday.

BY DAVID KOENIGAND DAVID MCHUGH

Associated Press

In a bid to survive, airlines are desperately trying to convince a wary public that measures like mandatory face masks and hospi-tal-grade air filters make sitting in a plane safer than many other indoor settings during the coro-navirus pandemic.

It isn’t working.Surveys indicate that instead

of growing comfortable with air travel, more people are be-coming skeptical about it. In the United States, airline bookings have stalled in the past month after slowly rising — a reaction to a new surge of reported virus infections.

Globally, air travel is down more than 85% from a year ago, according to industry figures.

The implications for the airline industry are grave. Several lead-ing carriers already have filed for bankruptcy protection, and if the hoped-for recovery is delayed much longer, the list will grow.

The four largest U.S. airlines lost a combined $10 billion from April through June. Their CEOs say they will survive, but they have lowered their expectations for a rebound.

“We were all hoping that by the fall the virus might run its

course,” said Southwest Airlines CEO Gary Kelly. “Obviously, that has proven to be dead wrong.”

When Consumer Reports sur-veyed more than 1,000 people in

June about their comfort with various activities during the pan-demic, 70% said flying was very or somewhat unsafe. They rated going to a hospital emergency

room or standing in line to vote as safer.

In a survey commissioned by an airline trade group, the big-gest concern of travelers was the

possibility of sitting next to an in-fected person.

John Kontak, a schoolteacher from Phoenix, said that was his fear as soon as he stepped onto acrowded American Airlines flightthis summer to visit his parentsin Ohio.

“I don’t know anything aboutthis person who is sitting a footaway from me,” Kontak said. “They took the bottom line or the dollar over the safety of passen-gers. Next time, I’d rather drive back to Ohio than fly — it’s safer because I can control it.”

The U.S. Centers for DiseaseControl and Prevention says sit-ting within 6 feet of other passen-gers, often for hours, may increasethe risk of getting COVID-19. But CDC also notes that most virusesand other germs don’t spread eas-ily on flights because of how air circulates on planes.

Standard & Poor’s said thisweek that the industry’s pros-pects have gone “from bad toworse,” with global air trafficdropping by up to 70% this year. In May, S&P said a 55% drop wasa worst-case scenario.

An airline trade group, theInternational Air Transport As-sociation, predicts carriers will lose $84 billion this year, makingit the worst year in the industry’shistory. The group says trafficwon’t fully recover until 2024.

The Washington Post

The number and rate of corona-virus cases in children have risen since the pandemic took hold in the spring, the Centers for Dis-ease Control and Prevention said in recently updated guidance, underscoring the risk for young people and their families as the new school year begins.

According to the CDC, the in-fection rate in children 17 and under increased “steadily” from March to July. While the virus is far more prevalent and severe among adults, the true incidence of infection in American children remains unknown because of a lack of widespread testing, the

agency said.The Food and Drug Admin-

istration granted emergency use authorization Saturday for a saliva-based coronavirus test, developed by Yale University re-searchers, that aims to reduce turnaround times in commercial laboratories.

The United States continues to report more than 1,000 corona-virus-related deaths every day. Health officials reported 1,220 new deaths and 57,120 new infec-tions Saturday — roughly even with the 1,117 deaths and 56,555 cases announced on the same day the previous week.

School closures and other pub-lic health measures may have

contributed to initially low rates of coronavirus infections in chil-dren early in the pandemic, ac-cording to the CDC.

“This may explain the low in-cidence in children compared with adults,” the agency said in its guidance. “Comparing trends in pediatric infections before and after the return to in-person school and other activities may provide additional understanding about infections in children.”

Children between 5 and 17 years old also test positive for the coronavirus at higher rates than any other age group, according to CDC data, with positivity rates exceeding 10% in public and pri-vate lab tests.

Associated Press

ROME — Cruise ship pas-sengers had their temperatures checked and took COVID-19 tests Sunday so they could set sail on what is being billed as the first Mediterranean cruise after Ita-ly’s pandemic lockdown.

The cruise ship company MSC has made the procedures, for crew as well as passengers, part of its new health and safety proto-cols. The MSC Grandiosa, which was christened last year, set sail from the northern Italian port of Genoa on Sunday evening for a

seven-night cruise in the western Mediterranean.

Anyone testing positive, or with a fever, or having other COVID-19 symptoms, was denied board-ing, the company said. Guest must wear face masks in eleva-tors and other areas where social distancing is not possible. The crew spent time in quarantine be-fore the start of the cruise.

Earlier this month, the Italian government gave its approval for cruise ships to once again depart from Italy’s ports but limited cruise ships to sailing with 70% capacity.

MSC declined to say how many passengers were sailing on this cruise. Among the port calls for the Grandiosa, MSC’s flagship, are Naples, Palermo, Sicily and Valletta, Malta .

For now, MSC was limiting its guests to the residents of Eu-rope’s 26-nation Schengen visa free travel zone.

MSC said every guest and crew member on board will be given a wristband that “facilitates con-tactless transactions around the ship as well as providing contact and proximity tracing.”

Airlines struggle as flyers unsure on safety

CDC asks 4 states and Philadelphia to draft vaccine plans

CDC: Infections are rising in children

1st Mediterranean cruise in months sets sail

NATHAN ELLGREN/AP

Melaku Gebermariam uses an electrostatic sprayer to disinfect the inside of a Delta airplane between flights July 22, at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport in Arlington, Va. During the coronavirus pandemic, U.S. airlines have scrambled to reassure travelers that planes are safe.


VIRUS OUTBREAK

Returning global vacationers face new constraints

BY LORI HINNANTAND ANDREW MELDRUM

Associated Press

PARIS — Countries that had seen a summer respite from coro-navirus outbreaks tracked swiftly rising numbers of new confirmed cases Monday, prompting fears among government leaders and health officials that months of hard-won progress would be lost in just days as vacationers return home.

New restrictions on leisure activities accompanied the final weeks of summer break in Eu-rope. Hours-long traffic jams formed at the Croatia-Slovenia border over the weekend as Aus-trians trying to beat a midnight quarantine deadline rushed home from a favored coastal vacation spot.

With one goal in mind, the Ital-ian government closed discos, required masks from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. anywhere people might gather and began testing all arriv-ing travelers from Spain, Greece, Malta and Croatia.

“Our priority must be the re-opening of schools in September in full safety,” Italian Health Minister Roberto Speranza said. Italy’s schools have been closed nationwide since early March.

France’s two largest cities, Paris and Marseille, widened the areas where masks are required, and the French government sent riot police to the Marseille region to enforce the requirement.

The country’s labor minister is planning negotiations for Tues-day on making masks mandatory in all workplaces and other em-ployee safety measures. French government studies indicated that at least a quarter of new virus clusters that emerged from May 9 to Aug. 11 were linked to workplaces.

“We need a culture of masks, a culture of protective measures. We failed to deliver this clear message in the first wave,” Dr. Giles Pialoux, the head of infec-tious diseases at Tenon Hospital in Paris, told France Inter radio Monday. “We need strong and coherent messages. I think the strategy of fear does not work.”

In Greece, health officials at-tributed many new infections to wedding receptions and people ignoring social distancing and other public health protective measures while on vacation. Au-thorities began carrying out spot checks on ferry passengers re-turning to the mainland from the Greek islands amid growing con-cern of vacationers transporting the virus back to cities.

Three young Greeks report-edly broke quarantine on Sunday night while waiting for their virus

test results on the island of Pat-mos and boarded a ferry to the port of Piraeus outside of Athens. Two of the three tested positive, and all three were detained.

Despite the rise in cases, of-ficials say schools will reopen as planned in Greece on Sept. 7.

Schools in northern regions of the Netherlands are reopen-ing this week with most pupils expected back in classrooms by Wednesday without social dis-tancing or face masks. Students returning from vacations in high-risk areas must quarantine at home for 14 days.

Education Minister Arie Slob insisted it is safe to return to high schools, but told NOS Radio 1 news that “there is never a 100% guarantee that everything will go well.”

In the far grimmer case of Leb-anon, reported coronavirus cases have surged after the devastating blast at the Beirut port earlier this month, prompting medical officials Monday to call for a two-week lockdown. The blast over-whelmed the city’s hospitals and badly damaged two playing a key role in treating COVID-19 patients.

A new outbreak in New Zea-land’s largest city, Auckland, prompted Prime Minister Jacin-da Ardern to delay the country’s national election by four weeks. She said it would be the only post-ponement in the vote.

In South Korea, a conservative pastor who has been a bitter critic of the country’s president tested positive for the coronavirus, health authorities said Monday, two days after he participated in an anti-government protest in Seoul that drew thousands.

More than 300 virus cases have been linked to the Rev. Jun Kwang-hun’s huge church in northern Seoul, which has emerged as a major cluster of in-fections amid growing fears of a massive outbreak in the greater capital region.

The resurgence of the virus in the Seoul region was a rude awak-ening for a country that had been eager to tout its gains against the virus.

In South Africa, which is five months into one of the world’s longest and strictest lockdowns, those restrictions were finally bringing signs of progress.

With the number of new cases declining and other indicators showing that South Africa has passed its first peak, the coun-try Tuesday will resume sales of liquor and cigarettes, and allow bars, restaurants, gyms, places of worship and other venues to re-open, all with distancing require-ments. Schools are set to reopen gradually beginning next week.

BY MATIAS DELACROIXAND JUAN PABLO ARRAEZ

Associated Press

LA GUAIRA, Venezuela — A small but growing number of peo-ple in the coastal town of La Gu-aira, just a few minutes from the capital of Caracas, have turned to the sea for sustenance since the COVID-19 pandemic has shut down the Caribbean nation’s al-ready miserable economy.

“If we had steady work, we wouldn’t risk our lives out there,”

said Juan Carlos Almeida, who is accompanied by his fishing part-ner Eric Mendez. “We’re bricklay-ers, but there’s no construction.”

Others who paddle out in small groups up to 5 miles from shore lost jobs in restaurants or shops catering to beachgoers.

All the beaches are closed, but the workers still have hungry children at home in their hillside barrios.

“If we don’t help ourselves and don’t go to work, who’s going to feed us?” said Almeida, 35.

“Nobody.”The coronavirus hit Ven-

ezuela in mid-March, and thegovernment ordered most busi-nesses closed. The virus has steadily spread in the five monthssince. Officials have said it’skilled fewer than 300 and sick-ened roughly 31,000.

The nation remains largelyparalyzed, and commercialflights have been grounded at the nation’s main airport in LaGuaira.

Venezuelans brave open sea on tubes, fishing for survival

MATIAS DELACROIX/AP

Edward Murat, 20, carries his inner tube to the beach for open sea fishing at Playa Escondida in La Guaira, Venezuela, on Friday .


VIRUS OUTBREAK ROUNDUP

NY reaches 7M mark in testing

From wire reports

ALBANY, N.Y. — The number of New York coronavirus tests coming back positive remained below 1% for a ninth consecutive day as the total number of tests conducted statewide during the pandemic hit 7 million, Gov. An-drew Cuomo said Sunday.

Six people died Saturday, he said, and more than 520 were in the hospital.

The governor on Monday is ex-pected to released long-awaited reopening guidance for indoor gyms.

Bowling alleys can reopen statewide Monday but must limit occupancy to 50% and establish disinfection protocols for shared and rented equipment. Rules re-leased by Cuomo on Friday also require bowling alley staff to close every other lane and bring food and alcohol to customers.

CaliforniaLOS ANGELES — Coronavirus

cases have surged in California over the last two months, fueled by the reopening of the economy. Although public health officials have said that making workplaces safer is essential to slowing the vi-rus’s spread, fear of retaliation is preventing many employees from voicing safety concerns, workers and labor organizers say.

The toll has been particularly hard on essential workers, a siz-able percentage of whom are people of color toiling in factories, hospitals, retail establishments, hotels and agricultural fields across the state. Many who are re-luctant to speak up are low-wage workers in the country illegally, who don’t qualify for unemploy-ment benefits. They worry that if they are fired, they may not find another job in a hard-hit economy and won’t have a safety net.

California law protects work-ers against retaliation for voic-ing safety concerns or refusing to engage in hazardous work. Those who feel they have been targeted can file a lawsuit or sub-mit a claim with the state labor commissioner’s office.

Since Gov. Gavin Newsom is-sued a stay-at-home order March 19, the office’s Retaliation Com-plaint Investigation Unit has re-ceived more than 300 claims that mentioned the coronavirus. Of those, at least 95 are under in-vestigation for health and safety issues, such as failure to enforce mandates on masks and physical distancing.

Washington OLYMPIA — The Washington

State Department of Health on Sunday reported 576 new con-firmed cases of COVID-19 and 15 deaths.

King County continues to have

the highest numbers in Washing-ton, with 17,623 cases and 694 deaths. Yakima County is sec-ond, with 10,625 cases and 221 deaths. Pierce is third with cases at 6,150.

The Olympian reported that Pierce County reported 55 new cases and no new deaths Satur-day. Pierce County had a total of 132 deaths likely caused by COVID-19 as of Saturday, accord-ing to the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department.

Statewide totals from the ill-ness caused by the coronavirus are at 67,461 cases and 1,781 deaths, up from 66,885 cases and 1,766 deaths on Friday.

Oklahoma TULSA — A top White House

coronavirus adviser continued to press Sunday for people to cover their faces and to social distance to fight the global pandemic dur-ing a stop in Oklahoma, where Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt has resisted imposing a statewide mask order.

Dr. Deborah Birx led the roundtable discussion at the Okla-homa State University Center for Health Sciences in Tulsa. The meeting was closed to journalists, but state and local officials who attended told the Tulsa World that Birx was unwavering on the necessity for masks and distanc-ing in public.

A statement from Stitt’s office said Birx complimented Oklaho-ma’s push to use saliva testing for COVID-19 .

The state Department of Emer-gency Management has begun sending personal protective equipment for schools statewide as classes begin, some in-person and some by distance learning.

North Carolina CHAPEL HILL — Another

cluster of positive COVID-19 cases within student housing was announced Sunday at the Univer-sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

The disclosure of cases within the Hinton James dormitory building marks the fourth such cluster — defined as five or more cases in close proximity — since the semester began Aug. 10 at the state’s flagship public university campus. The other three have oc-curred within an on-campus dor-mitory, private student housing and a fraternity house.

As with the other clusters, the individuals testing positive in the Hinton James cluster are being isolated and receiving medical monitoring. Contact tracing is also happening.

Sunday’s announcement is like-ly to add to the tensions at a special meeting Monday of UNC-Chapel Hill’s Faculty Executive Com-mittee to discuss the coronavirus

ROBERT F. BUKATY/AP

Mark Brauer of Hebron, Conn., center, and Doug Gagnon, right, of Middletown, Conn., check out a moose head displayed in front of the Indian Store on Saturday in Greenville, Maine. The small town on Moosehead Lake is having one of its busiest summers, according to Randy Coulton, co-owner of the Indian Store. Tourists are increasingly complying with Maine’s face-covering regulations to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus, said Coulton.

clusters. The committee of more than a dozen members advises school administrators on univer-sity issues, The News & Observer of Raleigh reported. Students are receiving a mix of in-person and remote instruction.

Florida TALLAHASSEE — Florida

reported about 3,900 new cases of the coronavirus Sunday, the lowest daily total in nearly two months. The number of Florid-ians dying of the disease — 107 — also took a dramatic downward turn from the last few days.

The lower numbers come just days before Florida voters cast ballots Tuesday in primaries across the state for congressional, legislative and other seats. More than 2.3 million people have opted to vote early, instead of braving lines and the risk of infection.

Election officials have urged voters to avoid the trip to pre-cincts on Election Day by casting ballots early, including mailing in their completed ballots. Officials, however, have assured voters who decide to show up a the polls on Tuesday that doing so will be safe.

The new cases announced Sunday by the Florida Health Department continued a steady decline from last month, when the one-day total of newly report-ed cases surged to 15,300 cases on July 12.

IllinoisCHICAGO — Chicago Mayor

Lori Lightfoot again warned Sun-day of rising COVID-19 rates, saying young people are behind the recent uptick.

The first-term Democrat spoke Sunday to CBS’ “Face the Nation,” as the state reported 1,562 new confirmed cases and 18 deaths.

Lightfoot said that there has also been an increase among La-tinos, which city officials are try-ing to address by working with community groups.

Overall, Illinois has reported 206,081 confirmed cases and 7,744 deaths since the pandemic began.

Nebraska WAYNE — Two Wayne State

College professors said they are frustrated that their requests to teach remotely this fall were denied.

Longtime history professor Don Hickey, 76, said he hired an attorney after college officials re-jected his request.

After Hickey told administra-tors he would teach his classes re-motely whether they approved or not, he was told his classes would be taught on campus by other fac-ulty members. Hickey has taught at the school since 1978.

Another Wayne State history faculty member, Joseph Weix-elman, 63, also had his request

rejected. Weixelman said he has multiple

sclerosis and that medications forthe disease suppress the immune system, which could make himmore susceptible to severe illnessfrom the COVID-19 virus.

Michigan DETROIT — Michigan quietly

surpassed 100,000 coronavirus cases when both confirmed andprobable cases totaled 100,724on Friday, five months into thepandemic.

Using that metric, at least 6,500 people have died of COVID-19,the Michigan Department ofHealth and Human Services re-ported — a number higher thanthose who died in the 9/11 terrorattacks and the attack on PearlHarbor combined.

Still, by most measures, Michi-gan has managed to contain the spread better than many other states in a country that leads the world with 5.3 million cases and more than 168,000 deaths, ac-cording to the Johns HopkinsCOVID-19 Global Case Tracker.

But it’s nowhere near over yet.The state should prepare to seeanother 100,000 new cases in thenext five months, said Dr. PeterGulick, an infectious diseasespecialist and associate profes-sor of medicine at Michigan State University.


NATION

BY BILL BARROW

Associated Press

ATLANTA — For the second time in four years, the Democrat-ic presidential primary pitted the expanding progressive movement against an eventually victorious establishment. But as the party gathers virtually this week to nominate Joe Biden for the presi-dency, the possibility of President Donald Trump’s reelection has become Democrats’ unifying and energizing force.

“Nobody fits neatly and tightly into any one bucket,” said Georgia Democratic Chairwoman Nikema Williams. “What we all fit into is knowing that right now we don’t have leadership in our country, and it’s hurting all of us.”

That’s an important shift from 2016, when Hillary Clinton strug-gled to build a coalition between her supporters and those who backed Sen. Bernie Sanders, who again finished as runner-up this year. It reflects both the work Biden has done to court the left

and the urgency among Demo-crats to defeat Trump, which has only intensified amid the corona-virus pandemic, economic tur-moil and a national reckoning on racism.

Still, the party’s ideological splits haven’t vanished. There are disagreements over how to achieve universal health care, make higher education afford-able, overhaul law enforcement practices and reengage with countries that are questioning America’s role in the world.

Leaders on the left warn that Biden must still keep their inter-ests in mind, offering a reminder that even a November victory won’t guarantee a united front during a Biden presidency.

“Progressives are going to vote against Trump,” said Stephanie Taylor, co-founder of the Progres-sive Change Campaign Commit-tee, but she called it “demoralizing and wrong” for Biden and the Democratic National Committee to give convention airtime to fig-

ures like billionaire Mike Bloom-berg, the former New York City mayor who spent more than $500 million of his own money running for the nomination.

Taylor nodded at Biden’s pick of Kamala Harris as his running mate, the first Black woman on a major party’s ticket. But she cast the California senator, who is also of Asian descent, as an establish-ment politician alongside Biden, a former vice president first elect-ed to the Senate in 1972.

“If Biden and Harris want to energize progressives to donate and volunteer,” Taylor said, “they need to elevate leaders like Alex-andria Ocasio-Cortez and Julian Castro, and policies like cancel-ing student debt and Medicare for All. Progressive energy matters, and voter energy matters. We’re fighting Trump as hard as we can right now — just don’t take that for granted.”

Despite Biden’s five decades at the core of the Democratic Party, he’s not a natural fit for every fac-

tion in 2020.As younger activists gain clout

in shaping the party’s priorities,Biden will be 78 on Inaugura-tion Day, making him the oldestperson to assume the presidencyif he’s elected. As a white man, his core constituencies are white moderates and Black women,who revived his campaign in partbecause of their appreciation of Biden’s service as vice president to Barack Obama, the first Blackpresident. And his reverence forinstitutions such as Congress is at odds with the most intense voices of both political parties, whereactivists often put a premium on outsiders and aren’t eager tocompromise.

To a large degree, Biden iscomfortable with the challenges. From its start, his campaign hasbeen as much a moral argumentagainst Trump as about settlingan absolute identity for his party.He’s said plainly he wouldn’t haverun if Trump weren’t president.

BY LISA MASCAROAND MATTHEW DALY

Associated Press

WASHINGTON — Speaker Nancy Pelosi is calling the House back into session over the crisis at the U.S. Postal Service, set-ting up a political showdown amid growing concerns that the Trump White House is trying to undermine the agency ahead of the election.

Pelosi is cutting short lawmak-ers’ summer recess with a vote expected Saturday on legislation that would prohibit changes at the agency as tensions mount. Presi-dent Donald Trump’s new post-master general, Louis DeJoy, has sparked nationwide outcry over delays, new prices and cutbacks just as millions of Americans will be trying to vote by mail to avoid polling places during the corona-virus outbreak.

Trump on Monday defended the agency’s embattled new lead-er, a major Republican donor, but also criticized postal operations

and claimed that universal mail-in ballots would be “a disaster.”

“I want to make the post office great again,” Trump said on “Fox & Friends.” Later at the White House he denied asking for a mail-delivery slow down.

The decision to recall the House, made after a weekend of high-level leadership discussions, carries a political punch. Voting in the House will highlight the issue after the weeklong Demo-cratic National Convention nomi-nating Joe Biden as the party’s presidential pick and pressure the Republican-held Senate to respond. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell sent senators home for a summer recess.

“In a time of a pandemic, the Postal Service is Election Cen-tral,” Pelosi wrote Sunday in a letter to colleagues, who had been expected to be out of session until September. “Lives, livelihoods and the life of our American De-mocracy are under threat from the president.“

At an event in Kentucky on

Monday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell distanced him-self from Trump’s complaints about mail operations. But he also declined to recall senators to Washington, vowing the Postal Service “is going to be just fine.”

“We’re going to make sure that the ability to function going into the election is not adversely af-fected,” McConnell said in Horse Cave, Ky. “And I don’t share the president’s concerns.”

Trump said last week that he was blocking a $25 billion emergency injection sought by

the Postal Service, as well as aDemocratic proposal to provide $3.6 billion in additional electionmoney to the states. The money for the post office is intended tohelp with processing an expect-ed surge of mail-in ballots. Both funding requests have been tied up in congressional negotiations over a new coronavirus relief package.

The president’s critics contendthat Trump has made the calcu-lation that a lower voter turnout would improve his chances ofwinning a second term.

Associated Press

LOIZA, Puerto Rico — Puerto Rican Gov. Wanda Vazquez on Sunday acknowledged losing the primary of her pro-statehood party to Pedro Pierluisi, who briefly served as the U.S. territo-ry’s governor last year amid po-litical turmoil.

With more than 78% of elector-al colleges reporting late Sunday, Pierluisi received more than 57% of the vote compared with more than 42% for Vazquez.

“We have to abide by the de-cision of the majority,” Vazquez said in a brief speech where she warned Pierluisi that he should “aspire” to have the support of those who voted for her. She will remain as governor until the win-ner of Puerto Rico’s Nov. 3 gen-eral elections takes office.

Pierluisi spoke shortly after Vazquez and said the governor can count on him: “We all have to be united to push Puerto Rico forward.”

Meanwhile, Carlos Delgado, mayor of the northwest town of Isabela for 20 years, was poised to win by a landslide the nomina-tion of the main opposition Popu-lar Democratic Party. Conceding defeat was Puerto Rico Sen. Edu-ardo Bhatia and San Juan Mayor Carmen Yulin Cruz, known for her public spats with U.S. Presi-dent Donald Trump.

With more than 68% of elec-toral colleges reporting, Delgado had received more than 60% of the vote.

The results come one week after delayed and missing ballots led to a chaotic primary that forced a second round of voting on Sunday in which thousands of Puerto Ri-cans got a second chance to vote for the first time.

Voting centers in nearly 50 of the island’s 78 municipalities opened following a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision that stated a second round of voting would take place at centers that never opened on Aug. 9 or did not remain open the required eight hours.

Puerto Rico’s general elections will see a record six candidates running for governor. Among them is Pierluisi, who served for governor less than a week after former Gov. Ricardo Rossello re-signed last year .

Oust Trump just the ticket for Dem s

Pelosi calls House back from vacation to vote on USPS bill

Puerto Rico governor loses party primary

PATRICK SEMANSKY/AP

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is calling the House back into session over the crisis at the U.S. Postal Service.


NATION

4 killed, 20 hurt in Cincinnati shootings Hostage situation in Texas ends peacefully

CEDAR PARK, Texas — A hostage situation ended peaceful-ly Monday morning when a manand his mother exited a home near Austin where a day earlierthree police officers had beenshot and wounded.

Cedar Park Police said on Twit-ter that the man and his mother“had come out of the house peace-fully“ about 9 a.m. An hour earli-er, police held a press conference and announced that the man had released his brother, sister and afamily pet.

Police had been in negotia-tions with the man for more than16 hours since the officers werewounded Sunday afternoon at thehome in Cedar Park, interim po-lice chief Mike Harmon said.

The man’s name wasn’t imme-diately released by police.

Man beaten blocks away from Portland protest

PORTLAND, Ore. — A manappeared to have been punched and kicked unconscious by dem-onstrators just blocks away froma peaceful protest in Portland as unrest continued in Oregon’s big-gest city.

Multiple videos posted onlineapparently showed the man sitting in the street next to a truck that he had been driving, which had crashed Sunday night, news out-lets reported. People were crowd-ed around him and he appeared tohave been punched at least onceand later kicked in the head .

Separately, a protest that beganSunday evening was led by LethaWinston, whose son Patrick Kim-mons, 27, was fatally shot by Port-land police in 2018.

5 hurt in shooting at San Antonio flea market

SAN ANTONIO — At least five people were wounded, including one critically, in a shooting at a flea market in San Antonio onSunday, police officials said.

The gunfire erupted about11:30 a.m. at Mission Market dur-ing a dispute on the grounds, ac-cording to Police Chief WilliamMcManus.

“This is the result of some typeof argument. I don’t know if theargument was between gangmembers or just people who kneweach other or didn’t know each other,” McManus said.

Chief: Protester kicks biker during Sturgis rally

STURGIS, S.D. — A protester was arrested after kicking at a biker during the annual Sturgis motorcycle rally in western South Dakota, the police chief said .

Chief Geody Vandewater said a small group of protesters wasgathered on Sturgis’ Main Streeton Saturday when one of the dem-onstrators kicked the motorcycleas it passed by. The crowd beganswarming toward the protest-ers, and Vandewater said policeescorted the demonstrators to asafe spot.

“It was a little chaotic for abit,” the chief told The AssociatedPress. From The Associated Press

Associated Press

CINCINNATI — Police in Cin-cinnati say three more people suf-fered gunshot wounds as a violent weekend that saw four killings and at least 20 injuries came to a close.

Police said the three Sunday evening shootings were unrelated, and none of the three victims had life-threatening wounds. .

Those shootings followed four gunfire outbursts early Sunday in which 18 people where shot, four fatally. In one case, 10 people were shot. Police said they’re trying to

determine why there was such a string of shootings in one week-end. Mayor John Cranley called it “senseless gun violence.“

Police said the department would shift officers from other assignments to increase the num-ber of uniformed officers in the affected communities and would call on federal prosecutors and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives for help.

Cranley said the city was facing “unprecedented circumstances and challenges“ in fighting crime during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Officers responded just after

12:30 a.m. Sunday to the Avondale neighborhood and found Antonio Blair, 21, with gunshot wounds, police said in a statement. He was taken to University Hospital and died there, they said. Three other gunshot victims were also taken to the hospital.

At about 2:15 a.m., officers re-sponded to a report of gunfire in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood where 10 people were shot, police said. One died at the scene and another at the University of Cin-cinnati Medical Center; they were identified in a statement as Robert Rogers, 34, and Jaquiez Grant, 30.

Three people were shot at about midnight Saturday in the Walnut Hills neighborhood, about a block away from the Harriet Beecher Stowe house, police said.

Assistant Police Chief Paul Neudigate told reporters that the shootings “seem to be separate independent incidents but horrific and tragic.”

Police didn’t immediately pro-vide details about the fourth fatal shooting but confirmed that it oc-curred on the city’s West End .

No suspect information was im-mediately available in any of the cases.

Mayor defends Chicago police after skirmish with protesters

Associated Press

CHICAGO — Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot praised city police Sunday for “fairly quickly” settling weekend protests that devolved into violent skirmishes while activists and other elected officials blasted police for unneces-sary aggressive tactics.

The day of demonstrations against police brutality started peacefully Saturday with a march around noon. Later, a separate demon-stration near downtown resulted in two dozen arrests, 17 injured officers and at least two injured protesters. None of the injuries were believed to be life-threatening.

Lightfoot told CBS’ “Face the Nation” on Sunday that agitators “have embedded them-selves in these seemingly peaceful protests and come for a fight” though the clashes were “over very fairly quickly because our police department is resolved to make sure that we protect peaceful protests.”

Chicago Police Department Superintendent David Brown said that some in the group used black umbrellas to make it harder for police to see them, pushed officers and assaulted them. In one video released by Chicago police, a per-son swinging a skateboard strikes an officer.

At the same time, activist groups and some elected officials called out police for using ag-gressive tactics, including spraying the crowd with a chemical irritant and striking protest-ers with batons.

“The march was peaceful until CPD and other law enforcement agencies began an all-out assault on protesters,” said a Sunday state-ment from youth activist group Increase The Peace.

Several Chicago Democrats, including state Sen. Robert Peters, state Rep. Lakesia Collins and Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez, ques-tioned using department money on such a re-sponse to protesters in a city that has had a lower homicide case clearance rate than other big cities.

“We once again condemn Mayor Lightfoot and Superintendent Brown for their use of police force against these demonstrators on Saturday night, and for the continued escala-tion of surveillance, violence, and detention of protesters,” said a Sunday statement from the group.

The march came about a week after a po-lice shooting of a black man in the Englewood neighborhood on the city’s South Side.

Rare lightning storm sparks more wildfires across Calif.

Associated Press

LOS ANGELES — A rare summer thunder-storm brought lightning that sparked several small blazes in Northern California on Sun-day and stoked a huge wildfire that has forced hundreds of people from their homes north of Los Angeles.

More than 4,500 buildings remained threat-ened by the fire burning toward thick, dry brush in the Angeles National Forest. Fire-fighters already battling the blaze in steep, rugged terrain with scorching heat faced more hurdles when hundreds of lightning strikes and winds up to 15 mph pushed the flames uphill.

“We set up a containment line at the top of the hills so the fire doesn’t spill over to the other side and cause it to spread, but it was obviously difficult given the erratic wind and some other conditions,” said fire spokesman Jake Miller.

The Lake Fire was just 12% contained Sun-day and has burned nearly 28 square miles of brush and trees. Fire officials said 33 build-ings had been destroyed, including at least a dozen homes.

Temperatures reached more than 110 de-grees and a pyrocumulus created erratic fire behavior, fire spokesman Tom Ewald said.

Thunderstorm and excessive heat were also a concern for firefighters battling a blaze that blackened almost 4 square miles in the foot-

hills above the Los Angeles suburb of Azusa. The fire, believed to be started Thursday by a homeless man, is only 3% contained.

Many areas of the state saw triple-digit temperatures through the weekend and the combination of prolonged heat and smoke from wildfires sent ozone pollution to levels not seen in a decade in some areas. Air quality may reach unhealthy to very unhealthy levels in several regions of Southern California on Sunday and Monday afternoons, the South Coast Air Quality Management District said.

In Northern California, moisture from an offshore tropical storm fueled a thunderstorm that brought nonstop lightning strikes early Sunday, some of which ignited small fires and knocked out power across the San Francisco Bay Area.

Wind gusts reached 75 mph , according to the National Weather Service, which said an-other round of lightning may develop early Monday.

“This is probably the most widespread and violent summer thunderstorm event in mem-ory for Bay Area, & it’s also one of the hottest nights in years,” tweeted Daniel Swain, a cli-mate scientist at the University of California, Los Angeles.

Unsettling weather triggered an unusual warning by the weather service of a fire-in-duced tornado at an out-of-control forest fire that broke out north of Lake Tahoe on Satur-day afternoon.

SHMUEL THALER, THE SANTA CRUZ (CALIF.) SENTINEL/AP

A rare lightning storm crackles over Mitchell’s Cove in Santa Cruz, Calif., around 3 a.m. Sunday morning .


agency’s investigation found.Citations issued on Kildare

Road over a two-year period by police in the city of Oliver brought in more than $40,000 in fines to its municipal court, WTOC-TV reported.

The television station deter-mined the average ticket was around $342. One driver paid as much as $875 and another agreed to serve 30 hours of community service. That stopped this year when one driver who got pulled over wrote a complaint to the Georgia Department of Public Safety.

The agency’s investigating found that Oliver police didn’t have the required state permis-sion to use speed-detection de-vices on that road.

Man arrested after stolen ambulance chase

OH TOLEDO — A man is in custody after lead-

ing troopers on a chase through three Ohio counties in a stolen ambulance, the Ohio State High-way Patrol said.

Troopers were dispatched to check on an ambulance that had been reported stolen from Mercy Health St. Vincent’s Medical Cen-ter in Toledo and was parked on Route 24 in Lucas County, police said.

When troopers arrived to check on the ambulance, the driver fled west into Henry County, police said. Troopers tried unsuccess-fully to halt the vehicle using stop sticks, and it continued into Defiance County, where troopers were able to deflate the two front

tires with stop sticks.The driver, a Texas man, was

taken into custody .

Suspect arrested after barricading inside bus

MD LUTHERVILLE-TI-MONIUM — A man

barricaded himself inside a public transit bus in a Baltimore suburb after he woke up and began mak-ing threats with a weapon, author-ities said.

Police received a call about the situation inside the bus, said Kevin Gay, a public information specialist with the Baltimore County Police Department. Officers and a SWAT team responded to the scene near a light rail station and shopping center in Lutherville-Timonium.

Gay said the suspect was the only person inside the bus dur-ing the barricade incident. A loud bang was heard at the scene and seconds later, officers and SWAT team members went inside the bus and took the man into custody.

They did not immediately iden-tify the suspect.

Ex-employee accused of smashing work vehicles

RI PROVIDENCE . — A former public works em-

ployee was accused of smashing vehicles at his former workplace in Providence with an ax.

WPRI-TV reported Raymond Fratus, 46, of Coventry, was charged with two counts of mali-cious damage .

Police said Fratus showed up at a Providence Department of Pub-lic Works building and smashed the windows of someone’s per-sonal car. He’s also accused of smashing a DPW truck used by his former supervisor at another DPW location.

A city spokesperson said Fra-tus resigned in June after four years as a highway department mechanic.

Sea turtle rescued after snared, circled by sharks

NJ CAPE MAY — Authori-ties said a sea turtle en-

tangled in a fishing trap line and

being circled by sharks off NewJersey was rescued by a CoastGuard cutter.

The Coast Guard said the stricken animal was reported 11 miles southeast of Cape May by the Marine Mammal Strand-ing Center, which works to freestranded animals along the coastof the Garden State.

The cutter Shearwater, an 87-foot patrol boat, headed to thescene and saw sharks encirclingthe turtle, so a team in a smallboat was sent to circle the ailinganimal until the sharks dispersed.Officials said crew members thencautiously approached the turtle and cut it free.

Billboard promoting town was stolen

NC MARION — Officials touting their North Car-

olina town as “simply unexpected” on a billboard soon found some-thing they weren’t expecting.

The town of Marion is lookingfor the billboard posted along Interstate 40 to attract travelersand tourists after it disappeared .The 12-by-30-foot sign showed a colorful photo of downtownMarion and bears the message“Marion North Carolina SimplyUnexpected.”

It was erected July 30, but Aug.9, Marion Business Association director Freddie Killough saidthe sign was gone. The sign is valued at $875. It was paid forby the Marion Business Associa-tion in partnership with the city,Killough said.

AMERICAN ROUNDUPBoat explosion forces 6 to jump into water

CT NORWALK — Con-necticut officials are

investigating the cause of a boat explosion that forced six people to jump to safety into Norwalk Harbor.

Multiple people called 911 to re-port the explosion . All six people aboard were rescued, including two who were taken to a hospi-tal but were expected to recover, Norwalk police said.

The operator of the 33-foot Egg Harbor yacht told authorities en-gine trouble developed as they were leaving the harbor, and the explosion happened about 100 yards from shore after they had turned around and were heading back toward the dock.

The boat became engulfed in flames and everyone aboard jumped off, police said. Firefight-ers towed it back to shore and put out the fire.

July to be ‘National Blueberry Month’

ME PORTLAND, — The U.S. Senate approved

a request to designate July as “National Blueberry Month” at the urging of senators from one of the country’s most important blueberry growing states.

Maine Sens. Susan Collins, a Republican, and Angus King, an independent, called for the des-ignation. Their state is America’s top producer of wild blueberries.

The senators said in a joint statement the resolution recog-nizes the importance of the indus-try as it faces “tremendous strain due to the ongoing trade retalia-tion and disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.”

The resolution also pays trib-ute to indigenous people who first cultivated the fruit long before the arrival of Europeans.

2 arrested after stolen vehicle pursuit

IA DES MOINES — Two people were arrested in

Des Moines after fleeing from police in a stolen car and taking refuge in a house with one of their children inside, authorities said.

Des Moines Police Department spokesman Sgt. Paul Parizek said the owner of the car spotted the vehicle, leading to a chase on Interstate 235, The Des Moines Register reported.

Police called off the pursuit due to reckless driving. But Parizek said someone spotted the vehicle coming back into the city and fol-lowed it until it was abandoned. The two suspects then ran into a nearby home, where the 13-year-old child of one of the suspects wasn’t allowed to leave for about an hour.

The two suspects were taken into custody .

Police wrote tickets outside jurisdiction

GA OLIVER — A small Georgia city’s police

department wrote more than 130 speeding tickets on a road where it had no jurisdiction, a state

Cast away your troubles

The approximate amount in gallons of fuel that leaked from a generator at a Charleston, S.C., wastewater treatment plant. Wastewater workers noticed the leak and called in contractors to help clean up the spill, Charleston Water System spokesman Mike Saia told The Post and Courier newspaper. More than 3,000 gallons of diesel fuel have been documented as miss-

ing from the backup generator where the pump control failed at the Plum Island Wastewater Treatment Plant, but they aren’t sure how much of it got into the water, Saia said. Andrew Wunderley of Charleston Waterkeeper said that flood-water and high tides could quickly wash any fuel that remained on land into the marshes. That could affect the wildlife in the marshes.

THE CENSUS

3K

KEITH SRAKOCIC/AP

From wire reports

A fisherman in a kayak makes a cast as two other kayakers paddle past on Lake Arthur at Moraine State Park in Portersville, Pa.


WORLD

NATO denies claim of forces near Belarus

Hourslong siege of Somalian hotel ended; 15 killed

Lebanese president calls blast probe ‘very complex’

BY SLOBODAN LEKIC

Stars and Stripes

NATO has rejected accusations by em-battled Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko that it was deploying forces to that country’s western frontiers but said it was keeping a close eye on events there.

“NATO does not pose a threat to Belar-us and has no military buildup in the re-gion,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said in a statement Monday as huge public protests continued to roil Belarus follow-ing Lukashenko’s claim that he soundly won reelection in the Aug. 9 presidential elections.

“We remain vigilant, strictly defen-sive, and ready to deter any aggression against NATO allies,” Stoltenberg said. “We support a sovereign and independent Belarus.”

Lukashenko claimed Sunday that NATO forces were 15 minutes from Belarus’ west-ern borders with Poland and Lithuania.

“NATO troops are at our gates. Lithu-ania, Latvia, Poland and … Ukraine are ordering us to hold new elections,” he told supporters at a rally in the capital city of

Minsk, according to Reuters news agency. He warned Belarusians that their coun-

try would “die as a state” if new polls were held, Reuters also reported.

Official results show Lukashenko won 80.1% of the vote while opposition candi-date Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya garnered just 10.1%.

Tsikhanouskaya was detained for seven hours after lodging a complaint about the election result and left for Lithuania as part of a deal to secure the release of her campaign manager, BBC News reported.

Large groups of protesters took to the streets throughout Belarus on Sunday, in-cluding in Minsk, calling for the country’s leader of 26 years to leave. Opposition lead-ers have called for a wave of strikes follow-ing reports that security forces tortured detained demonstrators and videos of po-lice violence shared on social media.

Lukashenko, who has been in power since 1994 and has been dubbed Europe’s last dictator, told factory workers in Minsk on Monday he is “ready to share presi-dential authority” through constitutional reforms but would not bow to pressure from protesters, the Belarusian state in-

formation agency Belta reported. Many of the factory workers shouted “Leave” and heckled him at the event, videos posted on social media showed.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo denounced the elections as “not free and fair” in a statement released a day after the polls.

Citing intimidation tactics, ballot restric-tions against opposition candidates, deten-tions of peaceful protesters and journalists, and independent observers being banned from polling stations, Pompeo said, “Free and fair elections, genuinely contested, are the basis for the authority and legitimacy of all governments.”

Stoltenberg also called for the rights of Belarusians to be respected, “including freedom of speech and the right to peace-ful protest.”

“NATO Allies are watching develop-ments in Belarus closely,” he said.

Lukashenko began accusing the U.S. and NATO of interference even before the election, as opposition to his decades of rule grew.

“Mass media are keeping us on our toes speculating that the Americans, NATO

want to invade us,” Belta quoted Lukash-enko as saying. “Some people with Ameri-can passports were detained; they were married to American women working in the Department of State.”

Belarus’ historically close ties to Mos-cow have been strained in recent years, as Lukashenko has at times sought greater co-operation with the West. Belarus’ top mili-tary official told the Nasha Niva newspaper at the beginning of the year that it was open to joint exercises with NATO.

The alliance has four battalion-size mul-tinational battlegroups deployed to Estonia,Latvia, Lithuania and Poland as part of itsforward presence in eastern Europe. The battlegroups, led by the United Kingdom,Canada, Germany and the United States,were formed in response to the Kremlin’sannexation of Ukraine’s Crimean Penin-sula in 2014 and the ongoing conflict in Ukraine’s eastern provinces.

Belarus’ armed forces comprise around45,000 active troops — 29,000 in the army and 16,000 in the air force and air defense units, according to the 2020 CIA [email protected]

BY ABDI GULED

Associated Press

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s security forces on Sunday ended a nearly five-hour siege by Islamic extremists at a beachside hotel in Somalia’s capital, said police and a government spokesman.

At least 15 people were killed when the attackers invaded the Elite Hotel, a new establishment popu-lar with Mogadishu’s young people, said Col. Ahmed Aden, a police officer.

Security forces later killed all four attackers and rescued dozens of people who were trapped inside the hotel, Ismail Mukhtar, spokesman of Somalia’s information ministry told The Associated Press.

The attack started in the afternoon with a power-ful car bomb blast which blew off the security gates to the hotel. Then gunmen ran inside and took hos-

tages, mostly young men and women who were din-ing there, he said.

Somalia’s homegrown Islamic extremist rebels, al-Shabab, who are allied to al-Qaida, have claimed responsibility for the attack via its radio arm, Andalus.

BY SARAH EL DEEB

Associated Press

BEIRUT — Lebanese Presi-dent Michel Aoun said the probe into this month’s devastating blast in Beirut is “very complex” and would not be finished quickly.

Responding to calls that he step down, Aoun told French TV sta-tion BFMTV that it would be “im-possible” because it would create a power vacuum. The interview, his first with foreign media since the Aug. 4 blast, aired late Saturday.

The cause of the fire that ig-nited nearly 3,000 tons of am-monium nitrate stored at Beirut’s port remains unclear. Documents have emerged showing that the

country’s top leadership, includ-ing Aoun, and security officials were aware of the chemicals thathad been stored there for years.

The blast killed 180 people andwounded more than 6,000. Atleast 30 people are still missing.

Aoun said the probe is divided into three parts. The first aimsto determine the circumstances surrounding the cargo, the sec-ond where it came from and whoshipped it and the third to find who was responsible for handlingand securing it.

“We had the determination toreach conclusions quickly, but we found out that the issues are verycomplex and require time,” saidAoun.

FARAH ABDI WARSAMEH/AP

Medical workers and other Somalis help a civilian woman, who was wounded when a powerful car bomb blew off the security gates to the Elite Hotel, as she arrives at a hospital in Mogadishu, Somalia on Sunday .


WORLD

Israel shuts Gaza fishing zone after overnight fighting

Associated Press

JERUSALEM — Israel closed the Gaza Strip’s offshore fishing zone Sunday following a night of cross-border fighting with Pales-tinian militants, the most intense escalation of hostilities in recent months.

Palestinian militants in Gaza fired two rockets into southern Israel after Israeli airstrikes targeted sites which belong to the territory’s militant Hamas rulers.

The military said the Iron Dome aerial defense system in-tercepted the two rockets that militants in Gaza launched at southern Israel. But police said rocket fallout caused damage to a house in the town of Sderot, and paramedics treated a 58-year-old man for minor wounds from the

exploding glass.The Israeli army said the strikes

were a response to explosive bal-loons launched by a Hamas-af-filiated group over the border,and attempts by Palestinian pro-testers to throw explosives at theIsrael-Gaza perimeter fence andsoldiers stationed along it.

Dozens of Palestinians par-ticipated in the protests. The military said that the protesters“burned tires, hurled explosivedevices and grenades toward thesecurity fence and attempted toapproach it.”

Gaza’s Health Ministry said Is-raeli gunfire at protesters wound-ed two Palestinians.

Israel holds Hamas, the Is-lamist militant group ruling theGaza Strip, responsible for all at-tacks emanating from the Pales-tinian territory.

Thai student-led protests extend beyond campus

BY JERRY HARMER

Associated Press

BANGKOK — Anti-government protesters gath-ered in large numbers in Thailand’s capital on Sunday for a rally that suggested their movement’s strength may extend beyond the college campuses where it had blossomed.

Thousands of people assembled at Bangkok’s De-mocracy Monument, a traditional venue for political activities, where they heard speeches, watched skits and listened to music. Hundreds of police were also present, as well as a small contingent of royalists op-posed to the protesters. There was no reliable esti-mate of the crowd size, though it appeared to be one of the biggest demonstrations in several years.

The rally ended after almost eight hours with about two dozen students who are facing arrest join-ing together on stage to repeat their demands and renew their commitment to the cause of democracy. They issued a call for the government to take action by next month or face another major protest rally.

The student-led movement had already declared three core demands: holding new elections, amend-ing the constitution and ending the intimidation of critics of the government.

At the finale of Sunday’s rally, they spelled out three more points, which were also written on ban-ners behind them: no coup d’etat, no national unity government and upholding Thailand as a democracy with the king as head of state under the constitution.

The reference to a national unity government was apparently a warning to all political parties against making a backroom deal instead of holding elections, and the reference to the king seemed to be meant as reassurance that they did not want to abolish the monarchy.

“It is clear that students from several generations are the driving force of change in Thai society,” said Narin Isariyasith, 20, a student at Thammasat University.

“We have done this in the past, but Thailand still has no full democracy,” he said. “Dictatorship keeps coming back. And I think it is our duty to end this vicious cycle.”

GEMUNU AMARASINGHE/AP

Pro-democracy activist and student leaders greet supporters after a protest rally at Democracy Monument in Bangkok on Sunday .


FACES

BY MARK KENNEDY

Associated Press

It’s the sound of silence that Josh Groban finds hardest to hear during the pandemic.

Quarantine hasn’t stilled his voice or songwriting, but the give-and-get Gro-ban usually enjoys from interacting with his audience is gone. He sings into a ma-chine and hears nothing back.

“When the song is over, to have silence is so weird,” he said. “The back and forth that I love so much, chatting with the au-dience, going into the crowd — I’ve had to fill in that gap in my head.”

Groban is doing his best to fill the void with a new album due in November and three themed live streaming concerts, starting with a set featuring Broadway tunes in October.

“This has been a time to get creative in ways we never were expecting,” he said. “One of my goals throughout all of this is to really not push away what I’m feeling but take it out from under the rug and use it for inspiration.”

The album will be called “Harmony,” which was half-finished when quarantine started. Though he hasn’t frozen the song list yet, most will be covers of classics that fans have long asked for — like “The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” and “She” — with a few originals throw in.

“For me, the songs evoke a feeling of hope, a feeling of togetherness, songs that just make me feel so good to sing,” he said. “It’s an album that for me was very therapeutic to sing.”

The album will form the backbone for the second of Groban’s concerts on Nov. 26. The third will be a Dec. 19 Christmas concert, a first for Groban.

“I think what people are missing right now is the connectivity in real time. It’s the feeling that we’re all going to com-mune and be part of something together,” he said.

The concerts will piggyback on what he’s learned about performing remotely. Post-virus, Groban eschews doing it pre-taped and has found a perfect space in Los Angeles to broadcast that has tremendous bandwidth. Tickets to individual concerts go on sale Aug. 25 and start at $30.

He promises intimate concerts “as if we were in someone’s living room” with surprises. “We are going to try and one-up ourselves every time we do one of these.”

He jokes that he prepares the same as for any other concert and has the same butterflies, even if some of the audience might be folding laundry while watching.

Groban has been nominated for a Gram-my, Emmy and Tony. His last album was 2018’s “Bridges,” with original music, and he was on Broadway in 2017 for a run in “Natasha, Pierre & The Great Comet of 1812.” The pandemic hit after Groban’s tour and interrupted his planned string of concerts at Radio City Music Hall.

Making an album of originals and tour-ing with it “refilled my tank to be an in-terpreter. My tank kind of ebbs and flows. There are times where I really want to craft from scratch,” he said. “And then there are times when I am reminded just how much I love just simply interpreting and how universal these classic songs can be.”

Groban is pushing himself to work, even though the pandemic has taken away some of his discipline. He does his scales daily and sings regularly, though video games are a constant temptation.

The virus has forced Groban to work differently. Before the pandemic, he’d bring a bunch of ideas to a co-writer or a producer he had recorded on his iPhone and the two would flesh out a tune. Now he’s alone.

“It’s made me much more self-reliant and it’s actually forced me to flex my muscles and my songwriting in my song production skills,” he said. “The quar-antine has made me much more open, vulnerable and playful in my writing approach.”

One new song, “Your Face,” Groban created on GarageBand software, then, from his bedroom in Los Angeles, sent it to producer Tommee Profitt in Nashville. The two have never met in real life .

Groban hadn’t expected to be sparked creatively during a time of loss and isola-tion, but he has been. “A lot of things have been pouring out during a time frame where I actually wasn’t expecting to do much writing,” he said.

From wire reports

“The Crown” has found its Princess Diana.

Elizabeth Debicki will play the Prin-cess of Wales in seasons five and six of “The Crown,” the Netflix series an-nounced Sunday.

Debicki will join a new cast for the series that includes Imelda Staunton as Queen Elizabeth and Lesley Manville as Princess Margaret.

Emma Corrin is playing Diana on the drama’s upcoming fourth season, but Debicki will take on the part for what’s sure to be the character’s most dramatic chapters. Seasons five and six are expected to be the show’s final sea-sons. No premiere date of season four has yet been announced.

“Princess Diana’s spirit, her words and her actions live in the hearts of so many,” Debicki said on Twitter. “It is my true privilege and honor to be join-ing this masterful series, which has had me absolutely hooked from episode one.”

Debicki, a 29-year-old Australian

actress, is a rising star after a break-out performance in Steve McQueen’s “Widows.” She also stars in Christopher Nolan’s upcoming thriller “Tenet.”

Notaro replaces D’Elia in Snyder’s ‘Army of the Dead’

Comic Tig Notaro will replace dis-graced comedian Chris D’Elia in Zach Snyder’s Netflix movie “Army of the Dead.”

The zombie movie, which follows a group of Las Vegas mercenaries tasked with pulling off a major heist in a quar-antine zone, had already completed shooting and was scheduled for a 2021 release. But following accusations of sexual harassment against under-age girls that surfaced in June, Net-flix severed ties with D’Elia, pulling his upcoming unscripted prank show and removing him from “Army of the Dead.”

The film will mix full reshoots of No-taro acting opposite a partner and solo shoots of her using a green screen and CGI .

Civil rights activist Bridges writes children’s book

Civil rights activist Ruby Bridges has written a children’s book with a candid telling of the past and positive message for the future, inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests.

Delacorte Press, an imprint of Ran-dom House Children’s Books, an-nounced Aug. 14 that Bridges’ “This Is Your Time” will come out Nov. 10. It arrives 60 years after she made histo-ry at age 6 by becoming the first Black student at an all-white elementaryschool in New Orleans . She was later honored by Nor-man Rockwell in the paint-ing “The Problem We All Live With.”

The book is an open letter from Bridges to young readers and includes images from the 1960s and from re-cent events.

Elizabeth DebickiAP

Debicki to play Princess Diana in ‘The Crown’

Singer Josh Groban is filling his quarantine time by preparing live streamed concerts and completing his latest album, “Harmony,” to be released in November.Brian Bowen Smith

Singer Groban picking up new skills out of necessity while completing latest album, ‘Harmony,’ at home

Creation in isolation

Tuesday, August 18, 2020PAGE 16 F3HIJKLM • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S •

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BY KATHLEEN PARKER

Washington Post Writers Group

After months of carefully-choreo-graphed suspense-building that produced more ennui than curi-osity, Joe Biden finally made a

decision: In November, voters will choose between Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

Biden, the presumptive Democratic nominee, all but handed the presidency to his significantly younger and battle-ready running mate, at one time even saying the California senator is ready to lead the country.

Never mind that his own party found her insufficiently nominate-able when she was running against Biden and a throng of other candidates during the Demo-cratic primary. Biden is painfully familiar with her courage — or at least her audac-ity — having served as her target during a debate last year when she came close to accusing him of once being a racist. Like millions of Americans in the 1970s, Biden had opposed government-mandated bus-ing as a young senator from Delaware.

Harris, one of those children who was bused to school, took a big chance in attack-ing Biden, who throughout his public-ser-vice career has worked alongside African Americans, as well as women, in securing equal rights. It was a low blow that Biden has clearly forgiven. Or, perhaps, one that he has embraced in a gesture of restitu-tion, if partly in the service of political advantage.

Or maybe it was just smart politics on both their parts. How, after all, can two old white guys, aka Republicans, compete with a stentorian senator holding hands

with a tough, smart, telegenic woman who represents a full-house of firsts? Not only is Harris the first woman of Indian and Ja-maican descent to take her place at the top of the ballot, but she’s also the first Black woman to be tapped for vice president.

And, therefore, president, or at least a better-than-even shot at the big job. If he wins, Biden, at 78, would be older than Ronald Reagan was when he left the presi-dency. You can do the math. If 78 seems old for a grueling job known to turn younger men gray, imagine what it will feel like at the end of the first term, when he will be 82.

This is not a welcome exercise. Need-less to say, no one wishes Biden ill. Nor is it satisfying to examine a candidate’s age when being sensitive to age seems kinder. Besides, Biden deserves respect for his long service, whatever his missteps along the way, including his abysmal handling of the Clarence Thomas Supreme Court confirmation hearings in 1991, when he was chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

But, of course, age matters a great deal when the presidency is at stake. Even if Biden serves out his full term, it is unlikely that he will run again, which means Harris will run for president in 2024 and, though it is impossible to know for sure, likely emerge in that circumstance as the front-runner for the Democrats.

That prospect tees up a second, even more-interesting prospect — the first Black and Indian-American vice president would be running against another Indian-American woman, Nikki Haley.

Two women running against each other for president? Can’t you just feel the excite-ment from the National Organization for

Women?Although some have speculated that

Trump would ditch Mike Pence and grabHaley’s comet if things become desper-ate enough, the clock is winding down forthat drama. Haley’s too smart to risk her own presidential ambitions by involving herself any further with the Trump brand.Instead, she’ll continue making speeches— and money — and cast her own lot in2024.

It’s almost worth electing Biden to ensure that we get the Kamala-Nikki showdown.

But not quite. Biden tapped Harris be-cause she was the least risky choice. Indoing so, he may have written the script forhis party for the next decade, though noth-ing is assured. Polls indicating that Trumptrails Biden, er, Harris may not be tellingus much. Fence-sitters who watched theprimary debates and came away disliking Harris’ attack on Biden — and recallingher attacks on now-Justice Brett Kavana-ugh during his confirmation hearing —may be more comfortable with a knownquantity than with Harris, whose policieswould offend anyone to the right of Bernie Sanders.

Biden, though he has made some ad-justments to accommodate the more-pro-gressive wing of his party, isn’t a natural radical in the way Harris appears to be.If he wants to win with Harris by his side,he’ll need to bring her with him toward a less-radical, more-centrist position. And, if Harris wants to secure her presiden-tial future, she would do well to pick her battles carefully going forward. Like ordislike Mike Pence as vice president, he’s a decent man who won’t enjoy fighting a woman. And even these days, most Ameri-cans won’t like watching it.

BY HENRY OLSEN Special to The Washington Post

I’ve been dismissive of the idea that President Donald Trump has a “si-lent majority” of voters that the polls aren’t picking up. The results from

Washington state’s Aug. 4 all-party prima-ry are making me wonder whether I was wrong.

Washington’s primary has a long record of forecasting the state’s general election results. All candidates appear on one bal-lot regardless of party, but each can iden-tify which party he or she prefers. (The top two finishers in the primary, regardless of party, face off in the general election.) Po-litical pros add up the votes for candidates by party preference to come up with the district’s overall partisan lean.

In the past decade, the difference be-tween Democrats and Republicans in Washington’s congressional primaries has been within five points or fewer of the par-tisan gap in the general election in 26 of 37 opportunities. Moreover, the party that led in the primary also won the seat in the gen-eral every time.

That track record is why the state’s re-cent primary results are so important. With more than 99% of the votes counted, Republicans have a higher share of the total vote than they did in 2018 in eight of the state’s 10 congressional districts. (Both seats where they have declined are in ul-traprogressive Seattle.) That alone would suggest that Republicans in the state will fare better in November than they did in the midterms two years ago, even though the national polls suggest that they will not.

A deeper dive yields even more positive

news for the GOP. Republican candidates exceeded their 2018 vote share by 5 points or more in the five seats that don’t include parts of Seattle’s King County or its major suburb Snohomish County. That indicates that the GOP is gaining a lot of support over 2018 in the same kind of rural and small metro areas across the country that helped elect Trump in 2016 and allowed the party to flip Senate seats in Indiana, Missouri and North Dakota in 2018. If Washington’s pattern applied nationwide, it would mean Trump would be much more competitive in swing states such as Wisconsin and North Carolina than the polls currently show.

This positive trend even applies to the state’s potentially marginal seats. The Democratic Congressional Committee includes Carolyn Long, their nominee in Washington’s 3rd District, on its “Red to Blue” list, which features the party’s best candidates with a chance to flip a seat. But the Republican incumbent, Jaime Herrera Beutler, smashed Long in the primary, 56% to 40%.

The trend is even scarier for first-term Democratic Rep. Kim Schrier. In 2018, she flipped the historically Republican 8th District, which combines upper-income Seattle suburbs with rural counties on the other side of the Cascade Mountains. Her win was forecast by the Democrats’ 50-to-47 lead in the 2018 primary. This year, the Republican candidates combined lead her and two other minor Democrats by 49 to 47. Recall that no party in the past decade has won a House seat in November that it lost in the primary. Schrier is listed as either safe or likely to win by the leading political prognosticators, but those ratings should surely change based on Washington’s clear historical patterns.

Democrats cannot claim that the re-sults are skewed by GOP-friendly turnout.About 2.5 million people voted in the Aug.4 primary, shattering records for previ-ous primaries. That represents more than75% of the 3.3 million Washingtonians who voted in the 2016 presidential election, a record high. Even with a high turnout inNovember, a big majority of general-elec-tion voters will have already indicated their partisan preference.

These results do confirm some of the electoral news that has depressed nationalRepublican leaders. GOP support in Se-attle and its suburbs remains mired at the already low 2018 levels. That does not bodewell for GOP efforts to regain many of the House seats they lost across the countryin the midterms and further suggests that Democratic efforts to flip more suburbanseats might succeed. Trump’s reelectionefforts also would be benefited by even aslight upturn in his suburban fortunes.

The Republican surge in rural and small-metro Washington, however, suggests thatTrump and GOP House and Senate candi-dates across the country could surprise the pundits again. Nine of the House GOP’stop Democratic target seats have at leastsubstantial portions of voters who live in rural and small-town areas. Key Senatetargets in Maine, Montana, North Carolinaand Georgia have similar profiles. Trumpcould also be saved by an uptick in supportin these areas.

One should never draw sweeping con-clusions from a single data point. But theWashington primary results hint that something may be happening below the radar and the polls aren’t picking it up.Henry Olsen is a senior fellow at the Ethics and Public Policy Center.

2020 vote is a choice between Trump – and Harris

Do Washington State results buoy Trump’s prospects?

Tuesday, August 18, 2020 • S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • F3HIJKLM PAGE 17

Looking at the newsA weekly sampling of U.S. editorial cartoons

LISA BENSON/Washington Post Writers Group

TIM CAMPBELL/Washington Post Writers Group

TIM CAMPBELL/Washington Post Writers Group

JACK OHMAN/Washington Post Writers Group

WALT HANDELSMAN/Tribune Content Agency


SCOREBOARD/SPORTS BRIEFS

Associated Press

The NCAA’s chief medical offi-cer says there is a narrow path toplaying college sports during thecoronavirus pandemic and if test-ing nationwide does not improve,it cannot be done.

Meanwhile, one of college foot-ball’s biggest stars sent out a pe-tition Sunday, calling on the BigTen to play football this fall.

Dr. Brian Hainline told CNN late Saturday that “everything would have to line up perfectly”for college sports to be playedthis fall. Much of the fall college sports season has been canceled,with conferences hoping to makeup competitions, including foot-ball, in the spring.

But not everyone has acceptedthose decisions.

On Sunday, Big Ten football players continued to push theconference to overturn its can-cellation of the fall season. OhioState quarterback Justin Fields,a Heisman Trophy finalist last season, Penn State tight end PatFreiermuth and other playersposted on Twitter an online peti-tion requesting the Big Ten rein-state the schedule the conference released six days before it pulledthe plug.

The NCAA has no jurisdictionover major college football, sothe conferences have been left to make their own calls. At thehighest level of college football,four conferences — including the Big Ten and Pac-12 — have post-poned fall sports and are hopingto make them up in some fashionin the spring.

Six leagues, including the At-lantic Coast Conference, South-eastern Conference and Big 12, are moving forward with plans toplay in the fall.

Olympic champion skier found with cocaine

OSLO, Norway — Two-timeOlympic cross-country skiing champion Petter Northug has admitted to possessing cocaine,speeding and driving under the influence. The Norwegian great,who won two gold medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics and is a 13-time world champion, re-tired from the sport in 2018.

Halep says she will skip U.S. Open tennis

NEW YORK — Wimbledonchampion Simona Halep will skipthe U.S. Open, saying Mondayshe is putting her health first and prefers to stay in Europe amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Halep, a former top-rankedplayer, is currently No. 2.

Hainline: Small pathfor NCAA

Briefl y

Pro soccer

Pro basketball

Golf

Go to the American Forces Network website for the most up-to-date TV schedules.myafn.net

Sports on AFN

MLSEASTERN CONFERENCE

W L T Pts GF GAColumbus 4 0 1 13 9 1Toronto FC 2 0 3 9 9 7Orlando City 2 1 2 8 7 5Philadelphia 2 1 2 8 7 7Montreal 2 2 1 7 8 8New York 2 2 1 7 5 7Atlanta 2 3 0 6 4 5New England 1 1 3 6 4 4Cincinnati 2 3 0 6 6 9D.C. United 1 2 2 5 6 7Nashville SC 1 2 1 4 2 3Chicago 1 3 1 4 4 8New York City FC 1 4 0 3 2 6Inter Miami CF 0 5 0 0 3 8

Western Conference W L T Pts GF GASporting KC 4 1 0 12 13 5Minnesota United 3 0 2 11 12 6Portland 3 1 1 10 8 7Los Angeles FC 2 0 3 9 15 10Seattle 2 1 2 8 7 4San Jose 2 1 2 8 10 10Colorado 2 2 1 7 8 9Vancouver 2 3 0 6 7 10Real Salt Lake 1 1 3 6 3 3FC Dallas 1 1 2 5 4 3Houston 0 2 3 3 6 11LA Galaxy 0 3 2 2 5 11

Note: Three points for victory, one point for tie.

Wednesday, August 12Nashville 1, FC Dallas 0

Monday’s gameNashville 0, FC Dallas 0, tie

Tuesday’s gameVancouver at Toronto FC

Thursday’s gamesNew York City FC at New YorkChicago at ColumbusPhiladelphia at New England

Friday’s gamesD.C. United at CincinnatiSporting Kansas City at MinnesotaFC Dallas at HoustonVancouver at Toronto FC

Saturday’s gamesLA Galaxy at Los Angeles FCNashville at AtlantaOrlando City at MiamiReal Salt Lake at Colorado

Sunday, Aug. 23Seattle at Portland Monday, August 24Columbus at New York City FC

Tuesday, August 25New England at D.C. UnitedNew York at PhiladelphiaCincinnati at ChicagoVancouver at MontrealHouston at Sporting Kansas City

SundayNashville 0, FC Dallas 0

Nashville 0 0—0FC Dallas 0 0—0

Goalies—Nashville, Joe Willis, Elliot Panicco; FC Dallas, Jimmy Maurer, Kyle Zobeck.

Yellow Cards—Jara, FC Dallas, 40th; McCarty, Nashville, 70th.

WNBAEASTERN CONFERENCE

W L Pct GB Chicago 7 4 .636 — Indiana 4 6 .400 2AConnecticut 4 7 .364 3 Washington 3 7 .300 3AAtlanta 2 9 .182 5 New York 1 9 .100 5A

WESTERN CONFERENCE W L Pct GB Seattle 10 1 .909 — Las Vegas 8 2 .800 1AMinnesota 7 3 .700 2ALos Angeles 7 3 .700 2APhoenix 6 5 .545 4Dallas 4 7 .364 6

Saturday’s gamesLas Vegas 88, Washington 73Los Angeles 90, Indiana 76Minnesota 94, New York 64

Sunday’s gamesDallas 95, Phoenix 89Seattle 95, Connecticut 72Chicago 92, Atlanta 67

Monday’s gamesNo games scheduled.

Tuesday’s gamesIndiana at ConnecticutLas Vegas at ChicagoNew York at Seattle

Wednesday’s gamesAtlanta at WashingtonDallas at MinnesotaPhoenix at Los Angeles

Thursday’s gamesChicago at New YorkSeattle at IndianaConnecticut at Las Vegas

Wyndham ChampionshipPGA TourSunday

At Sedgefield Country ClubGreensboro, N.C.

Yardage: 7,131; Par: 70Purse: $6.4 Million

Final RoundJim Herman, $1,152,000 66-69-61-63—259 -21Billy Horschel, $697,600 66-64-65-65—260 -20Si Woo Kim, $312,400 65-65-62-70—262 -18Kevin Kisner, $312,400 69-64-65-64—262 -18Doc Redman, $312,400 67-64-63-68—262 -18W. Simpson, $312,400 66-66-65-65—262 -18Zach Johnson, $208,000 70-67-61-65—263 -17H. Varner III, $208,000 62-69-67-65—263 -17Russell Henley, $168,000 68-68-63-65—264 -16Sungjae Im, $168,000 69-64-66-65—264 -16D. McCarthy, $168,000 67-68-66-63—264 -16Patrick Reed, $168,000 65-68-67-64—264 -16Sam Burns, $129,600 67-68-65-65—265 -15Tyler Duncan, $129,600 68-64-66-67—265 -15Bud Cauley, $104,000 66-68-67-65—266 -14Cameron Davis, $104,000 71-65-65-65—266 -14Mark Hubbard, $104,000 67-65-64-70—266 -14Jason Kokrak, $104,000 69-63-67-67—266 -14R. Oppenheim, $104,000 66-66-62-72—266 -14Chris Baker, $78,400 71-63-68-65—267 -13Dylan Frittelli, $78,400 69-65-66-67—267 -13Peter Malnati, $78,400 68-65-64-70—267 -13Harris English, $64,320 64-67-68-69—268 -12Shane Lowry, $64,320 68-63-70-67—268 -12Ryan Armour, $54,080 73-64-65-67—269 -11Talor Gooch, $54,080 65-65-68-71—269 -11Will Gordon, $46,720 68-69-64-69—270 -10Brian Harman, $46,720 65-71-67-67—270 -10Tom Hoge, $46,720 62-68-72-68—270 -10Seamus Power, $46,720 68-69-67-66—270 -10Ryan Brehm, $37,440 64-69-72-66—271 -9Wesley Bryan, $37,440 65-70-70-66—271 -9Paul Casey, $37,440 67-66-69-69—271 -9Jason Dufner, $37,440 69-65-67-70—271 -9Adam Long, $37,440 68-65-71-67—271 -9Roger Sloan, $37,440 62-70-68-71—271 -9C. Bzuidenhout, $29,120 71-64-69-68—272 -8R. abrera Bello, $29,120 67-67-67-71—272 -8Matt Jones, $29,120 68-67-72-65—272 -8K. Ventura, $29,120 69-68-63-72—272 -8V.t Whaley, $29,120 71-66-66-69—272 -8Scott Brown, $20,416 66-71-68-68—273 -7Bo Hoag, $20,416 66-68-67-72—273 -7Andrew Landry, $20,416 66-65-71-71—273 -7Hank Lebioda, $20,416 65-71-68-69—273 -7M. NeSmith, $20,416 69-67-70-67—273 -7J. Niemann, $20,416 70-66-65-72—273 -7M. Schwab, $20,416 67-69-68-69—273 -7B. Snedeker, $20,416 70-67-65-71—273 -7Scott Stallings, $20,416 70-66-70-67—273 -7C. Hadley, $15,216 65-69-70-70—274 -6Kramer Hickok, $15,216 69-67-65-73—274 -6Chris Kirk, $15,216 66-69-68-71—274 -6Patton Kizzire, $15,216 66-67-73-68—274 -6Tom Lewis, $15,216 67-68-70-69—274 -6Davis Love III, $15,216 69-67-71-67—274 -6Adam Schenk, $15,216 67-67-67-73—274 -6Brian Stuard, $15,216 70-66-69-69—274 -6Matt Every, $14,144 68-67-70-70—275 -5T. Fleetwood), $14,144 69-64-68-74—275 -5Michael Gligic, $14,144 67-69-67-72—275 -5Ben Martin, $14,144 71-66-70-68—275 -5Troy Merritt, $14,144 67-69-71-68—275 -5H. Norlander, $14,144 67-68-71-69—275 -5Josh Teater, $14,144 67-70-67-71—275 -5Sergio Garcia, $13,504 67-70-72-67—276 -4Luke List, $13,504 68-67-66-75—276 -4

Bridgestone Senior Players Championship

Champions TourSunday

At Firestone CCAkron, Ohio

Purse: $3.0 MillionYardage: 7,400; Par: 70

Final RoundJerry Kelly, $450,000 68-70-70-69—277 -3Scott Parel, $264,000 71-71-67-70—279 -1M. Angl Jienez, $197,250 68-74-69-69—280 EC. Mntgmerie, $197,250 72-69-68-71—280 EWoody Austin, $123,500 73-69-67-73—282 +2Ernie Els, $123,500 71-73-68-70—282 +2Rod Pampling, $123,500 68-73-75-66—282 +2Fred Couples, $90,000 70-75-68-70—283 +3K. Sutherland, $90,000 74-72-69-68—283 +3Tom Gillis, $69,000 71-71-72-71—285 +5Dudley Hart, $69,000 75-69-74-67—285 +5B. Langer, $69,000 70-73-71-71—285 +5Mike Weir, $69,000 72-70-71-72—285 +5Joe Durant, $55,500 76-69-71-70—286 +6R. Karlsson, $55,500 70-71-72-73—286 +6P. Broadhurst, $48,000 69-76-74-68—287 +7S. Leaney, $48,000 76-76-66-69—287 +7Gene Sauers, $48,000 74-73-70-70—287 +7Scott Dunlap, $38,250 72-71-69-76—288 +8Kenny Perry, $38,250 70-74-68-76—288 +8Dicky Pride, $38,250 71-71-72-74—288 +8Willie Wood, $38,250 73-70-71-74—288 +8Doug Barron, $30,750 76-71-72-70—289 +9Darren Clarke, $30,750 75-70-72-72—289 +9Steve Stricker, $30,750 68-73-73-75—289 +9Duffy Waldorf, $30,750 70-74-72-73—289 +9Jay Haas, $27,300 73-75-71-71—290 +10Tom Byrum, $23,760 75-72-73-71—291 +11Marco Dawson, $23,760 72-73-74-72—291 +11Retief Goosen, $23,760 75-75-70-71—291 +11Scott McCarron, $23,760 71-75-78-67—291 +11Brett Quigley, $23,760 73-72-72-74—291 +11

ASILSO Scottish OpenLPGA Tour

SundayAt Renaissance Club

North Berwick, ScotlandPurse: $1.5 million

Yardage: 6,313; Par: 71Final Round

Stacy Lewis, $225,000, 71-66-70-72—279 -5E.K. Pdrsen, $83,827, 68-74-69-68—279 -5C. Knight, $83,827, 72-68-69-70—279 -5A. Munoz, $83,827, 68-69-69-73—279 -5N. Madsen, $43,203, 69-71-75-65—280 -4Danielle Kang, $43,203, 71-71-69-69—280 -4Xiyu Lin, $32,241, 72-71-69-69—281 -3In Gee Chun, $32,241, 71-71-70-69—281 -3Amy Olson, $32,241, 68-71-71-71—281 -3Jennifer Song, $32,241, 68-70-70-73—281 -3Andrea Lee, $28,372, 69-71-73-69—282 -2Kylie Henry, $25,148, 71-75-69-68—283 -1Haru Nomura, $25,148, 72-70-72-69—283 -1Nasa Hataoka, $25,148, 73-69-70-71—283 -1Lydia Ko, $25,148, 70-72-67-74—283 -1Hannah Green, $22,246, 72-72-70-70—284 EMinjee Lee, $22,246, 68-73-70-73—284 ECeline Boutier, $20,247, 70-73-74-68—285 +1M. Jutanugarn, $20,247, 74-69-73-69—285 +1Leona Maguire, $20,247, 72-72-71-70—285 +1M. De Roey, $20,247, 73-70-70-72—285 +1Charley Hull, $15,752, 74-72-72-68—286 +2Brittany Lang, $15,752, 73-73-71-69—286 +2B. Altomare, $15,752, 70-73-73-70—286 +2

Deals

Sunday’s TransactionsBASEBALL

Major League BaseballAmerican League

BALTIMORE ORIOLES — Activated LHP John Means from the IL. Designated RHP Chandler Shepherd for assignment.

BOSTON RED SOX — Recalled RHP Chris Mazza from alternate training site. Optioned RHP Dylan Covey to alternate training site.

CHICAGO WHITE SOX — Optioned LHP Bernardo Flores Jr. to alternate training site.

HOUSTON ASTROS — Recalled INF Jack Mayfield from alternate training site.

KANSAS CITY ROYALS — Optioned RHP Scott Blewett to alternate training site. Placed RHP Jakob Junis on the 10-day IL.

MINNESOTA TWINS — Optioned RHP Sean Poppen to alternate training site.

NEW YORK YANKEES — Placed INF DJ LeMahieu on the 10-day IL. Recalled INF/OF Miguel Andujar from alternate train-ing site.

OAKLAND ATHLETICS — Placed RHP Burch Smith on the 10-day IL. Recalled RHP James Kaprielian from alternate training site.

TAMPA BAY RAYS — Activated RHP Yonny Chirinos from the 10-day IL.

TEXAS RANGERS — Activated INF/OF Danny Santana from the 10-day IL. Placed LHP Brett Martin on the 10-day IL retroactive to Aug. 13.

TORONTO BLUE JAYS — Placed SS Bo Bichette on the 10-day IL. Recalled INF Santiago Espinal from the taxi squad. Recalled RHP Sam Gaviglio as the teams 29th man.

National LeagueARIZONA DIAMONDBACKS — Recalled

RHP Joel Payamps from alternate train-ing site. Placed RHP Jeremy Beasley on the 10-day IL.

CHICAGO CUBS — Placed RHP Tyler Chatwood on the 10-day IL retroactive to Aug. 13. Selected the contract of RHP Jason Adam from alternate training site. Designated RHP Jharel Cotton for assign-ment.

NEW YORK METS — Recalled RHP Franklyn Kilome from alternate training site. Designated INF Brian Dozier for as-signment.

PHILADELPHIA PHILLIES — Recalled RF

Kyle Garlick from alternate training site.SAN FRANCISCO GIANTS — Announced

IF Abiatal Avelino cleared waivers and was outrighted to the alternate training site.

ST. LOUIS CARDINALS — Optioned RHP Jake Woodford to alternate training site.

SAN DIEGO PADRES — Optioned RHP David Bednar to alternate training site. Recalled OF Josh Naylor from alternate training site.

BASKETBALLWomen’s National Basketball Association

WASHINGTON MYSTICS — Signed G Alecia Sutton. Waived G Essence Carson.

FOOTBALLNational Football League

BALTIMORE RAVENS — Activated C Matt Skura from the PUP list.

BUFFALO BILLS — Signed DT’s Tanzel Smart and Justin Zimmer. Waived WR Nick Easley and DT Niles Scott.

CAROLINA PANTHERS — Signed WR Tommylee Lewis, WR Marken Michel and TE Andrew Vollert. Waived LB Kyahva Tezino, WR DeAndrew White and TE Cam Sutton.

CLEVELAND BROWNS — Signed C Casey Dunn. Waived G Jovahn Fair.

DALLAS COWBOYS — Waived DE Jalen Jelks.

HOUSTON TEXANS — Activated WR Kenny Stills from the non-football injury list.

JACKSONVILLE JAGUARS — Announced the retirement of DL Rodney Gunter due to health conditions.

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS — Activated WR Deonte Harris from the reserve/CO-VID-19 list.

NEW YORK GIANTS — Waived WR Cody White.

SAN FRANCISCO 49ERS — Placed C Spencer Long on the reserve/retired list. Placed WR Chris Thompson on the IL af-ter clearing waivers.

TAMPA BAY BUCCANEERS — Signed DT Kyle Love.

TENNESSEE TITANS — Agreed to terms with OLB Jamal Davis.

WASHINGTON FOOTBALL TEAM — Ac-tivated QB Alex Smith from the PUP list.

SOCCERNational Women’s Soccer League

WASHINGTON SPIRIT — Acquired OL Reign’s natural 2022 first-round draft pick and $100,000 in allocation money in exchange for M Rose Lavelle.

Go Bowling 235NASCAR Cup Series

SundayAt Daytona Road Course

Daytona Beach, Fla.Lap length: 3.81 miles

(Start position in parentheses)1. (7) Chase Elliott, Chevrolet, 65 laps,

54 points.2. (2) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 65, 45.3. (3) Martin Truex Jr, Toyota, 65, 37.4. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 65,

41.5. (21) Chris Buescher, Ford, 65, 32.6. (12) Clint Bowyer, Ford, 65, 47.7. (10) Kaz Grala, Chevrolet, 65, 0.8. (13) William Byron, Chevrolet, 65,

40.9. (5) Joey Logano, Ford, 65, 37.10. (30) Michael McDowell, Ford, 65,

27.11. (20) Erik Jones, Toyota, 65, 31.12. (27) Alex Bowman, Chevrolet, 65,

25.13. (17) Brad Keselowski, Ford, 65, 24.14. (8) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 65, 25.15. (9) Matt DiBenedetto, Ford, 65, 28.16. (25) Ricky Stenhouse Jr, Chevrolet,

65, 27.17. (1) Kevin Harvick, Ford, 65, 23.18. (18) Tyler Reddick, Chevrolet, 65,

19.19. (14) Ryan Newman, Ford, 65, 18.20. (23) Ty Dillon, Chevrolet, 65, 17.21. (15) Christopher Bell, Toyota, 65,

16.22. (26) Cole Custer, Ford, 65, 17.23. (22) Ryan Preece, Chevrolet, 65, 20.24. (6) Aric Almirola, Ford, 65, 13.25. (19) Bubba Wallace, Chevrolet, 65,

12.26. (16) M. Kenseth, Chevrolet, 65, 11.27. (31) Daniel Suarez, Toyota, 65, 10.28. (33) Brennan Poole, Chevrolet, 65,

9.29. (37) Timmy Hill, Toyota, 65, 0.30. (38) J. Davison, Chevrolet, 65, 7.31. (24) Ryan Blaney, Ford, 65, 14.32. (29) Corey Lajoie, Ford, 65, 6.33. (35) Quin Houff, Chevrolet, 64, 4.34. (32) JJ Yeley, Ford, 64, 0.35. (28) John H. Nemechek, Ford, ac-

cident, 62, 2.36. (36) Garrett Smithley, Chevrolet,

garage, 60, 0.37. (4) Kyle Busch, Toyota, accident,

53, 1.38. (34) Stanton Barrett, Chevrolet, 49,

1.39. (39) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet,

transmission, 46, 1.Race Statistics

Average Speed of Race Winner: 89.389 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 37 minutes, 30 seconds.

Margin of Victory: 0.202 seconds.Caution Flags: 4 for 7 laps.Lead Changes: 13 among 7 drivers.Lap Leaders: K.Harvick 0; D.Hamlin

1; Ky.Busch 2; D.Hamlin 3-9; M.Truex 10-12; C.Elliott 13-16; J.Logano 17; D.Hamlin 18-21; M.Truex 22-27; D.Hamlin 28-31; C.Elliott 32-48; M.Truex 49; K.Grala 50-52; C.Elliott 53-65

Leaders Summary (Driver, Times Led, Laps Led): C.Elliott, 3 times for 34 laps; D.Hamlin, 4 times for 16 laps; M.Truex, 3 times for 10 laps; K.Grala, 1 time for 3 laps; J.Logano, 1 time for 1 lap; Ky.Busch, 1 time for 1 lap; K.Harvick, 1 time for 0 laps.

NASCAR Driver Rating FormulaA maximum of 150 points can be at-

tained in a race.The formula combines the following

categories: Wins, Finishes, Top-15 Fin-ishes, Average Running Position While on Lead Lap, Average Speed Under Green, Fastest Lap, Led Most Laps, Lead-Lap Finish.

F1 Spanish Grand PrixSunday

At Catalunya CircuitBarcelona, Spain

Lap length: 4.00 kilometers(Start position in parentheses)

1. (1) Lewis Hamilton, Great Britain, Mercedes, 66 laps, 1:31:45.279.

2. (3) Max Verstappen, Netherlands, Red Bull Racing Honda, 66, +24.177 sec-onds.

3. (2) Valtteri Bottas, Finland, Mer-cedes, 66, +44.752.

4. (5) Lance Stroll, Canada, Racing Point BWT Mercedes, 65, +1 lap.

5. (4) Sergio Perez, Mexico, Racing Point BWT Mercedes, 65, +1 lap.

6. (7) Carlos Sainz Jr, Spain, McLaren Renault, 65, +1 lap.

7. (11) Sebastian Vettel, Germany, Fer-rari, 65, +1 lap.

8. (6) Alexander Albon, Thailand, Red Bull Racing Honda, 65, +1 lap.

9. (10) Pierre Gasly, France, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 65, +1 lap.

10. (8) Lando Norris, Great Britain, McLaren Renault, 65, +1 lap.

11. (13) Daniel Ricciardo, Australia, Renault, 65, +1 lap.

12. (12) Daniil Kvyat, Russia, Scuderia Toro Rosso Honda, 65, +1 lap.

13. (15) Esteban Ocon, France, Renault, 65, +1 lap.

14. (14) Kimi Raikkonen, Finland, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 65, +1 lap.

15. (16) Kevin Magnussen, Denmark, Haas Ferrari, 65, +1 lap.

16. (20) Antonio Giovinazzi, Italy, Alfa Romeo Racing Ferrari, 65, +1 lap.

17. (18) George Russell, Great Britain, Williams Mercedes, 65, +1 lap.

18. (19) Nicholas Latifi, Canada, Wil-liams Mercedes, 64, +2 laps.

19. (17) Romain Grosjean, France, Haas Ferrari, 64, +2 laps.

20. (9) Charles Leclerc, Monaco, Fer-rari, did not finish, 38.

Auto racing

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • F3HIJKLM PAGE 19

BY JENNA FRYER

Associated Press

INDIANAPOLIS — Marco An-dretti was 2 months old the last time his venerable racing family led the field to green at the India-napolis 500. In this strange pan-demic-plagued season, he ended a 33-year Andretti drought by winning the pole.

That darned “Andretti Curse” has haunted three generations of racers at Indianapolis Motor Speedway since 1969, when Mario Andretti won his only Indy 500. Now his grandson, with a lightning-fast and fearful four laps around the speedway, has cleared the first hurdle toward an elusive victory.

Mario Andretti was 1-for-29 in “The Greatest Spectacle in Rac-ing,” with just three career poles, his last in 1987. His son, Michael, never won a pole and his best fin-ish in 16 tries was second in 1991. Jeff Andretti went 0-for-3. John Andretti was 0-for-12 and Marco currently is 0-for-14.

In his 15th attempt, he will at-tempt to end that stupid family curse once and for all.

The last of nine drivers Sunday to make a qualifying run, Marco Andretti logged a four-lap average of 231.068 mph to bump five-time IndyCar champion Scott Dixon from the pole. Andretti worried about the wind all morning and relied on advice his grandfather has long given the racers of the family to find the courage to hold it wide open for four laps around one of the most famous tracks in motorsports.

“The wind will scare you, but it will never crash you,” Marco Andretti said, quoting his grand-father after his run.

He seemed to have tears in his eyes and his hands appeared to briefly shake as driver after driv-er congratulated him on pit lane. Then came a strong embrace with his father, owner of the six Andretti entries in the resched-uled Aug. 23 race.

“Obviously I was emotional. We put so much into it. This place means so much to us as a family,” Marco Andretti said. “We’ve just been through so many ups and downs at this place. Obviously my

(late) cousin John is riding with me, my grandfather from home. ”

At his home in Pennsylvania, 80-year-old Mario Andretti said he was “never so nervous in my life” as he watched his grandson’s run on television.

“I’m happier now than I’ve ever been,“ Andretti said on NBC Sports. “I jumped so high I hit my head on the ceiling and it’s a 9-foot ceiling. He knows what he needs to do to get the best out of the car and minimize mistakes. He’s seriously focused on win-ning the 500.”

In a normal year, Marco An-dretti would have received a thunderous ovation after his run. But the coronavirus pandemic forced new track owner Roger Penske to keep the gates closed for the first time in the 104-year history of the race.

“An Andretti on the pole at In-dianapolis — too bad we couldn’t hear the crowd explode,” team-mate Ryan Hunter-Reay said.

Team Penske’s drivers, watch-ing from inside the garage, wereamong the rivals who celebratedAndretti’s moment.

The Andretti organization had four of the nine spots in Sunday’sshootout for the pole and a shot at sweeping the front row. But thespeed the team showed Satur-day dropped off for Hunter-Reay,James Hinchcliffe and AlexanderRossi, and it was Dixon at 231.051mph who jumped to the top of theboard.

“Man, I didn’t think we had achance,” Michael Andretti said.

Marco Andretti, meanwhile,has a full week to absorb his pole-winning run; the pressure will undoubtedly mount as he’s nowthe favorite to win the Indy 500.His family had suffered tremen-dous heartbreak at this track, thecurse unable to be broken in 51years.

“I’m hoping the Andretti cursedoesn’t exist in August,” he said.


Three in a row on the road for Elliott

Andretti on pole at Indy 500 for first time in 33 years

Associated Press

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. — Chase Elliott was already NAS-CAR royalty. Now he’s also the sport’s road king.

Elliott won the Cup Series’ first road course race at Daytona In-ternational Speedway on Sunday, holding off hard-charging Denny Hamlin following a late restart and notching his third consecu-tive victory away from ovals.

“I had a phenomenal car. I don’t think I did anything special today,” Elliott said.

NASCAR’s most popular driv-er, the son of Hall of Famer Bill Elliott, also won on road courses at Charlotte and at Watkins Glen last year. He got a tougher chal-lenge than many expected down the stretch in his latest roadie.

The 24-year-old driver had a 10-second lead with 10 laps to go and was pulling away when Kyle Busch blew a tire and brought out a caution that gave his Joe Gibbs Racing teammates, Hamlin and Martin Truex Jr., a chance.

But Elliott stayed out front on the final restart. Hamlin got to his rear bumper on the last lap, but couldn’t do enough to mount any significant pressure.

“I kept him honest there,” Hamlin said. “He had such good drive off (the corners) I couldn’t

do anything with him.”Hamlin finished second, fol-

lowed by Truex and seven-time se-ries champion Jimmie Johnson.

Elliott, Hamlin and Truex had the cars to beat all afternoon. Truex’s chances took a huge hit near the end of the second seg-ment. He was caught speeding on pit road and forced to start the last stanza at the back of the pack. Hamlin also got stuck be-hind slower cars early in the final stage.

Making up that kind of ground on a 14-turn, 3.61-mile road course was a nearly impossible task, especially considering El-liott was turning mistake-free laps at the front of the field.

But that late caution gave both a shot, albeit an unlikely one given Elliott’s road repertoire.

Another top contender, points leader Kevin Harvick, got turned around while braking into the “international horseshoe” and never recovered. Harvick fin-ished 17th.

Kaz Grala was seventh in his Cup debut. Grala stepped into the No. 3 Chevrolet for Richard Chil-dress Racing after Austin Dillon tested positive for COVID-19. Dillon needs two negative tests 24 hours apart before being cleared to return.

TERRY RENNA/AP

Chase Elliott celebrates after winning Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series road race in Daytona Beach, Fla.

MICHAEL CONROY/AP

Marco Andretti won the pole for Sunday’s Indianapolis 500, clearing the first hurdle toward an elusive victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, something that has eluded three generations of racers since family patriarch Mario Andretti’s win there in 1969.

AUTO RACING


MLB SCOREBOARD American League

East Division W L Pct GBNew York 15 6 .714 —Tampa Bay 14 9 .609 2Baltimore 12 9 .571 3Toronto 7 11 .389 6½Boston 6 16 .273 9½

Central DivisionMinnesota 14 8 .636 —Cleveland 13 9 .591 1Chicago 11 11 .500 3Detroit 9 10 .474 3½Kansas City 9 13 .409 5

West DivisionOakland 16 6 .727 —Houston 11 10 .524 4½Texas 10 10 .500 5Los Angeles 7 15 .318 9Seattle 7 16 .304 9½

National LeagueEast Division

W L Pct GBMiami 9 6 .600 —Atlanta 13 10 .565 —Philadelphia 8 9 .471 2Washington 8 11 .421 3New York 9 14 .391 4

Central DivisionChicago 13 6 .684 —Milwaukee 10 10 .500 3½St. Louis 4 4 .500 3½Cincinnati 9 11 .450 4½Pittsburgh 4 14 .222 8½

West DivisionLos Angeles 16 7 .696 —Colorado 13 8 .619 2Arizona 11 11 .500 4½San Diego 11 12 .478 5San Francisco 8 15 .348 8

Sunday’s gamesCleveland 8, Detroit 5Washington 6, Baltimore 5Tampa Bay 3, at Toronto 2, completion

of suspended gameMinnesota 4, Kansas City 2Chicago White Sox 7, St. Louis 2Houston 3, Seattle 2Colorado 10, Texas 6Tampa Bay 7, Toronto 5, 8 innings, 2nd

gameL.A. Dodgers 8, L.A. Angels 3Oakland 15, San Francisco 3N.Y. Yankees 4, Boston 2Philadelphia 6, N.Y. Mets 2Atlanta 4, Miami 0Milwaukee 6, Chicago Cubs 5Arizona 5, San Diego 4Pittsburgh at Cincinnati, ppd.

Monday’s gamesBoston at N.Y. Yankees Toronto at Baltimore Detroit at Chicago White Sox Kansas City at Minnesota San Diego at Texas Colorado at Houston Oakland at Arizona San Francisco at L.A. Angels Seattle at L.A. DodgersSt. Louis at Chicago Cubs N.Y. Mets at Miami Washington at AtlantaChicago Cubs at St. Louis

Tuesday’s gamesColorado (Senzatela 3-0) at Houston

(Greinke 1-0)San Diego (Paddack 2-2) at Texas (Mi-

nor 0-3) San Francisco (Cahill 0-0) at L.A. An-

gels (Bundy 3-1)Oakland (Montas 2-1) at Arizona

(Weaver 0-3)Cleveland (Carrasoco 2-2) at Pitts-

burgh (Brubaker 0-0)Tampa Bay (Snell 1-0) at N.Y. Yankees

(Tanaka 0-0)Seattle (Gonzales 2-2) at L.A. Dodgers

(Gonsolin 0-0)Philadelphia (Elfin 0-1) at Boston

(Godley 0-2)Toronto (TBD) at Baltimore (LeBlanc

1-0)Cincinnati (TBD) at Kansas City (TBD)Detroit (TBD) at Chicago White Sox

(Cease 3-1)Milwaukee (Burnes 0-0) at Minnesota

(Maeda 3-0)N.Y. Mets (Peterson 3-1) at Miami

(TBD)Washington (Voth 0-2) at Atlanta

(Tomlin 1-0)St. Louis (Ponce de Leon 0-1) at Chi-

cago Cubs (TBD)

SundayAstros 3, Mariners 2

Seattle Houston ab r h bi ab r h biCrawford ss 4 0 0 0 Springer cf 3 0 1 1Moore rf 2 0 1 0 Reddick rf 4 0 0 0Lewis cf 4 0 2 1 Brgman 3b 4 0 1 0Seager 3b 4 0 0 0 Gurriel 1b 4 0 1 0Voglbch dh 2 0 0 0 Correa ss 4 0 0 0Lopes lf 4 0 0 0 Altuve 2b 4 0 1 0White 1b 2 1 0 0 Tucker lf 4 2 1 1Gordon 2b 4 0 0 0 Toro dh 3 1 0 0Odom c 2 1 1 1 Mldnado c 3 0 2 1Nola ph-c 1 0 0 0 Totals 29 2 4 2 Totals 33 3 7 3Seattle 002 000 000—2Houston 010 100 001—3

E—Gordon (1). LOB—Seattle 7, Hous-ton 6. 2B—Moore (5). HR—Tucker (2). SB—White (1), Maldonado (1). IP H R ER BB SOSeattleSheffield 6 6 2 1 1 4Altavilla 1 0 0 0 0 3Gerber 1 0 0 0 0 1Swanson L,0-2 1⁄3 1 1 1 0 1HoustonMcCullers Jr. 52⁄3 3 2 2 3 7Scrubb 1 0 0 0 2 1Paredes 2⁄3 1 0 0 0 1Taylor 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 2Pressly W,1-1 1 0 0 0 0 1

Scrubb pitched to 3 batters in the 7th. HBP—McCullers Jr. (White). T—2:56.

Yankees 4, Red Sox 2Boston New York ab r h bi ab r h biPillar cf 3 1 1 1 Hicks cf 3 0 1 1Devers 3b 3 0 0 0 Urshela 3b 4 1 1 0Martinez rf 3 0 1 0 Tchman rf 4 0 2 0Bogaerts ss 4 0 0 0 Torres ss 3 1 2 0Vazquez dh 4 1 1 0 Ford 1b 4 1 2 3Verdugo lf 4 0 2 0 Sanchez c 4 0 1 0Chavis 1b 2 0 0 0 Gardner lf 3 1 0 0Mrlnd ph-1b 0 0 0 0 Frazier dh 4 0 1 0Peraza ph 1 0 0 0 Wade 2b 4 0 0 0Plawecki c 4 0 0 0 Arauz 2b 3 0 0 0 Totals 31 2 5 1 Totals 33 4 10 4Boston 001 000 001—2New York 112 000 00x—4

E—Arauz (2), Britton (1). DP—Boston 1, New York 2. LOB—Boston 6, New York 8. 2B—Verdugo (2), Vazquez (3), Hicks (5). HR—Pillar (2), Ford (2). SB—Verdugo (1). IP H R ER BB SOBostonMazza L,0-1 3 8 4 4 1 4Weber 3 2 0 0 0 1Brasier 1 0 0 0 2 2Walden 1 0 0 0 0 0New YorkHapp W,1-1 52⁄3 3 1 1 2 3Ottavino H,2 2⁄3 0 0 0 1 0Green H,5 12⁄3 1 0 0 1 2Britton S,8-8 1 1 1 0 0 3

WP—Britton. T—3:06.

Diamondbacks 5, Padres 4San Diego Arizona ab r h bi ab r h biGrisham cf 4 0 0 0 Calhoun dh 4 1 1 2Machado 3b 2 1 0 0 K.Marte 2b 4 0 2 0Tatis Jr. ss 3 1 0 0 S.Marte cf 4 1 1 0Hosmer 1b 4 1 1 2 Peralta lf 4 0 0 0Pham dh 4 1 1 0 Walker 1b 3 0 0 0Garcia ph 0 0 0 0 Locastro pr 0 1 0 0Crnworth 2b 4 0 1 0 Lamb 1b 0 0 0 0Olivares rf 2 0 0 0 Escobar 3b 4 1 3 3Naylor ph-rf 2 0 1 1 Vogt c 3 1 1 0Hedges c 2 0 0 0 Ahmed ss 3 0 0 0Mateo lf 3 0 0 0 Jay rf 2 0 0 0Profar lf 0 0 0 0 Totals 30 4 4 3 Totals 31 5 8 5San Diego 000 003 100—4Arizona 002 000 03x—5

E—Ahmed (3). DP—San Diego 1, Ari-zona 1. LOB—San Diego 10, Arizona 5. HR—Hosmer (4), Calhoun (6), Escobar (2). SB—Pham (6), K.Marte (1). S—Mateo (1). IP H R ER BB SOSan DiegoRichards 7 6 2 2 2 2Pagan L,0-1 BS,0-3 1 2 3 3 1 2ArizonaRay 5 0 1 1 6 4Ju.Guerra BS,0-1 1 4 2 2 0 0Clarke W,1-0 2 0 1 0 2 4Bradley S,6-7 1 0 0 0 1 1

Ray pitched to 1 batter in the 6th. HBP—Ray (Tatis Jr.). WP—Ray(2). T—3:13.

White Sox 7, Cardinals 2St. Louis Chicago ab r h bi ab r h biWong 2b 3 0 1 0 Anderson ss 3 2 1 0Schrock 2b 0 0 0 0 Moncada 3b 4 1 1 3Edman ss 4 1 0 0 Grandal c 4 1 1 1Bader cf 0 0 0 0 Abreu 1b 3 1 1 1Gldchmdt dh 3 1 1 0 Jimenez lf 4 1 2 2O’Neill lf 3 0 0 0 Encrncn dh 4 0 0 0Crpenter 3b 4 0 1 2 Robert cf 2 0 0 0Crlson cf-rf 4 0 1 0 Mazara rf 3 1 1 0Knizner c 4 0 0 0 Mendick 2b 3 0 1 0Fowler rf 3 0 1 0 B.Miller ss 1 0 0 0 Nogowski 1b 4 0 1 0 Totals 33 2 6 2 Totals 30 7 8 7St. Louis 000 002 000—2Chicago 100 060 00x—7

E—Knizner (0). LOB—St. Louis 7, Chi-cago 2. HR—Moncada (4), Grandal (1), Abreu (4), Jimenez (7). SB—Anderson (1). IP H R ER BB SOSt. LouisHudson L,0-2 4 2 1 1 1 3Ramirez 2⁄3 6 6 6 1 1Elledge 21⁄3 0 0 0 0 5Kaminsky 1 0 0 0 0 1ChicagoKeuchel W,3-2 52⁄3 4 2 2 2 1Cordero 11⁄3 1 0 0 1 2Foster 1 1 0 0 0 0Detwiler 1 0 0 0 0 2

WP—Ramirez. T—2:52.

Dodgers 8, Angels 3Los Angeles Los Angeles ab r h bi ab r h biBetts rf 5 2 2 1 Fletcher ss 5 0 1 0Seager dh 4 1 2 3 La Stella 1b 4 0 0 0Muncy 2b-3b 4 1 1 2 Trout cf 4 0 1 0Bellinger cf 4 0 0 0 Rendon 3b 3 1 1 1Taylor ss 4 0 0 0 Ohtani dh 4 1 1 0Pederson lf 4 0 0 0 Goodwin lf 3 1 2 1Rios 3b 1 0 1 0 Adell rf 4 0 2 0Hrnndez 2b 2 1 0 0 Stassi c 3 0 1 1Beaty 1b 4 2 3 1 Rengifo 2b 4 0 1 0Ruiz c 4 1 1 1 Totals 36 8 10 8 Totals 34 3 10 3Los Angeles (N) 003 401 000—8Los Angeles (A) 010 101 000—3

E—Teheran (1). DP—Los Angeles (N) 3, Los Angeles (A) 0. LOB—Los Angeles (N) 2, Los Angeles (A) 7. 2B—Rios (3). HR—Ruiz (1), Muncy (5), Seager (5), Beaty (2), Rendon (6), Goodwin (4). SB—Betts (2). IP H R ER BB SOLos Angeles (N)May 41⁄3 7 2 2 0 2Graterol 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0Alexander W,1-0 2 3 1 1 0 0Santana 2 0 0 0 3 1Los Angeles (A)Teheran L,0-2 31⁄3 6 4 4 1 3Andriese 22⁄3 4 4 4 0 5Milner 1 0 0 0 0 2J.Barnes 1 0 0 0 0 0Middleton 1 0 0 0 0 1

WP—Santana. T—3:10.

Brewers 6, Cubs 5Milwaukee Chicago ab r h bi ab r h biBraun rf 5 0 1 1 Bryant dh 4 0 0 0Gamel rf 0 0 0 0 Rizzo 1b 2 1 0 0Hiura 2b 4 1 2 3 Contreras c 2 2 0 0Yelich lf 4 0 2 0 Schwrbr lf 3 2 1 1Gyorko 1b 4 0 0 0 Souza Jr. rf 4 0 1 2Garcia cf 4 0 0 0 Happ cf 3 0 1 0Smoak dh 4 0 0 0 Bote 3b 4 0 0 0Pina c 4 0 1 0 Kipnis 2b 3 0 1 2Urias 3b 4 2 3 0 Baez ph 1 0 0 0Arcia ss 4 3 3 2 Hoerner ss 4 0 0 0Totals 37 6 12 6 Totals 30 5 4 5Milwaukee 003 020 100—6Chicago 300 002 000—5

E—Gyorko (1). DP—Milwaukee 1, Chi-cago 1. LOB—Milwaukee 4, Chicago 4. 2B—Yelich (3), Souza Jr. (2). 3B—Urias (1), Arcia (1). HR—Hiura (5), Arcia (1). IP H R ER BB SOMilwaukeeLindblom 5 3 5 5 4 8Yardley W,1-0 1 1 0 0 0 2Williams H,3 1 0 0 0 0 2Phelps H,3 1 0 0 0 0 3Hader S,5-5 1 0 0 0 0 1ChicagoLester 6 9 5 5 0 5Adam L,0-1 1 2 1 1 0 2Kimbrel 1 0 0 0 0 2Sadler 1 1 0 0 0 0

Lindblom pitched to 2 batters in the 6th. HBP—Lindblom (Contreras), Yardley (Happ). T—3:11.

Braves 4, Marlins 0Atlanta Miami ab r h bi ab r h biSwanson ss 5 2 2 0 Villar ss 4 0 0 0Freeman 1b 4 1 1 0 Aguilar dh 3 0 0 0Ozuna dh 2 0 1 1 Andrson 3b 2 0 0 0Markakis rf 4 0 2 3 Diaz 1b 3 0 0 0Duvall lf 4 0 0 0 Brinson lf 2 0 0 0Camargo 2b 4 0 0 0 Joyce ph-lf 1 0 0 0Flowers c 4 0 1 0 Berti rf 3 0 1 0Riley 3b 4 0 0 0 Forsythe 2b 3 0 0 0Inciarte cf 4 1 1 0 Lvrnway c 3 0 1 0 Harrison cf 3 0 0 0Totals 35 4 8 4 Totals 27 0 2 0Atlanta 000 001 300—4Miami 000 000 000—0

DP—Atlanta 2, Miami 0. LOB—Atlanta 7, Miami 1. 2B—Swanson (6), Markakis (4). SB—Berti (5). IP H R ER BB SOAtlantaErlin 4 1 0 0 0 5O’Day, W, 2-0 11⁄3 1 0 0 0 2Minter, H, 3 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0Greene 2 0 0 0 1 2Matzek 1 0 0 0 0 2MiamiHernandez 5 3 0 0 0 9Vincent, L, 1-1 1 2 1 1 1 1Shafer 2⁄3 2 2 2 0 1Moran 0 1 1 1 2 0Hoyt 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 1Venditte 2 0 0 0 0 4

Moran pitched to 3 batters in the 7th. T—2:58.

Phillies 6, Mets 2New York Philadelphia ab r h bi ab r h biNimmo lf 4 0 0 0 Segura 2b 4 1 1 0Cnforto rf 4 0 0 0 Wlkr pr-2b 1 1 1 0Davis 3b 4 1 2 0 Hoskins 1b 5 0 1 1Smith 1b 4 0 1 0 Harper rf 3 1 2 0Cano dh 4 1 2 0 Rlmuto dh 4 1 3 0Gimenez ss 3 0 0 0 Grgrius ss 4 0 1 1Rosario ph 1 0 0 0 Bohm 3b 4 1 2 1Ramos c 2 0 1 0 Bruce lf 2 0 0 0McNeil ph 1 0 0 0 McCtchn lf 2 1 1 2Gllorme 2b 2 0 1 2 Knapp c 4 0 0 0Hamilton cf 2 0 0 0 Kingery cf 4 0 2 0Totals 31 2 7 2 Totals 37 6 14 5New York 000 200 000—2Philadelphia 100 003 20x—6

E—Davis (3), Smith (0). DP—New York 1, Philadelphia 0. LOB—New York 5, Philadelphia 8. 2B—Cano (3), Davis (2), Realmuto (1), Bohm (2). 3B—Segura (1). HR—McCutchen (1). S—Hamilton (1). IP H R ER BB SONew YorkPorcello, L, 1-3 6 10 4 4 0 6Hughes 1 2 2 1 1 1Lugo 1 2 0 0 0 1PhiladelphiaWheeler, W, 3-0 7 6 2 2 1 4Morgan 11⁄3 1 0 0 0 2Neris 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0

HBP—Wheeler (Ramos). T—2:57.

Twins 4, Royals 2Kansas City Minnesota ab r h bi ab r h biMerrifield cf 4 0 1 0 Kepler rf 4 1 2 2Lopez 2b 3 0 0 0 Polanco ss 3 0 0 2Dozier rf 4 1 1 1 Cruz dh 3 0 1 0Soler dh 4 0 1 0 Rosario lf 4 0 0 0O’Hearn 1b 3 0 0 0 Gnzlz 3b-1b 4 0 0 0Franco 3b 3 0 0 0 Arraez 2b 4 0 2 0Gordon lf 3 1 1 1 Sano 1b 1 0 0 0Mondesi ss 3 0 0 0 Garver c 1 0 0 0Viloria c 2 0 0 0 Buxton cf 4 0 0 0McBrm ph 1 0 1 0 Avila c 1 2 1 0Gallagher c 0 0 0 0 Vargs pr-3b 0 1 0 0Totals 30 2 5 2 Totals 29 4 6 4Kansas City 110 000 000—2Minnesota 001 020 10x—4

DP—Kansas City 0, Minnesota 2. LOB—Kansas City 2, Minnesota 7. 2B—Avila (1). HR—Dozier (1), Gordon (2), Kepler (6). S—Polanco (1). IP H R ER BB SOKansas CitySinger, L, 1-2 52⁄3 4 3 3 4 2Holland 11⁄3 2 1 1 1 1Barlow 1 0 0 0 0 1MinnesotaDobnak, W, 4-1 51

3 3 2 2 1 3Clippard, H, 4 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 0May, H, 4 1 1 0 0 0 1Rogers, H, 1 1 1 0 0 0 1Romo, S, 3-3 1 0 0 0 0 3

WP—Singer. T—2:37.

Rockies 10, Rangers 6Texas Colorado ab r h bi ab r h biChoo dh 2 0 0 0 Hampson cf 5 2 2 0Sntna ph-dh 1 0 1 2 Story ss 5 1 2 2Solak cf 3 0 0 0 Blackmn rf 3 0 2 2Hinmn ph-cf 1 0 0 0 Arenado 3b 5 0 1 0Calhoun lf 4 0 0 0 Murphy 1b 4 0 0 0Gallo rf 3 1 1 1 Kemp dh 4 3 2 0Refsnyder rf 1 0 0 0 Tapia lf 4 2 3 1Frazier 3b 3 2 2 0 McMhon 2b 4 1 1 3Odor 2b 3 2 1 2 Butera c 3 1 1 2Dietrich 1b 4 0 0 0 Andrus ss 4 1 1 0 Mathis c 3 0 0 0 Kner-Flfa ph 0 0 0 1 Totals 32 6 6 6 Totals 37 10 14 10Texas 020 100 012—6Colorado 051 220 00x—10

E—Odor (3), McMahon (4). DP—Texas 0, Colorado 2. LOB—Texas 5, Colorado 6. 2B—Frazier 2 (7), Andrus (5), Story (5), Blackmon (7), Butera (1). 3B—Tapia (1). HR—Odor (2), Gallo (5), McMahon (3). IP H R ER BB SOTexasAllard, L, 0-1 3 8 6 6 1 4Nicasio 1 3 2 2 0 1Benjamin 1 3 2 2 0 2Hearn 1 0 0 0 1 0Chavez 1 0 0 0 0 0Herget 1 0 0 0 1 0ColoradoGray, W, (1-2) 7 3 3 3 2 7Bard 1 2 1 1 1 1J.Diaz 2⁄3 1 2 0 3 1Estevez, S, 1-1 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0

T—3:00.

Nationals 6, Orioles 5Washington Baltimore ab r h bi ab r h biTurner ss 4 2 1 0 Alberto 2b 5 0 0 0Soto lf 3 3 2 0 Sntnder rf 4 2 2 2Cabrera 1b 4 1 1 1 Ruiz 3b 3 1 0 0Suzuki c 3 0 1 1 Nunez 1b 3 0 1 0Kboom 3b 3 0 1 2 Vlzqz pr-ss 0 0 0 0Harrison dh 2 0 1 0 Sisco c 4 1 1 0Thms ph-dh 1 0 0 0 Severino dh 4 1 3 3Robles cf 3 0 1 1 Smith Jr. lf 4 0 0 0Taylor rf 5 0 0 0 Vlka ss-1b 4 0 0 0Difo 2b 5 0 0 0 Mullins cf 3 0 1 0 Davis ph 1 0 0 0Totals 33 6 8 5 Totals 35 5 8 5Washington 300 020 010—6Baltimore 100 003 100—5

E—Ruiz (1). LOB—Washington 12, Bal-timore 5. HR—Santander 2 (7), Severino (5). SB—Velazquez (2). SF—Kieboom (1), Suzuki (2). IP H R ER BB SOWashingtonScherzer, W, 2-1 7 8 5 5 1 10Rainey, H, 5 1 0 0 0 0 3Hudson, S, 4-5 1 0 0 0 0 2BaltimoreMeans 2⁄3 4 3 3 1 0Lopez 4 3 2 2 0 5Phillips 1 1 0 0 4 2Armstrong 11⁄3 0 0 0 0 1Lakins Sr., L, 2-1 2⁄3 0 1 0 2 0Fry 11⁄3 0 0 0 0 2

Lopez pitched to 4 batters in the 5th, Phillips pitched to 5 batters in the 6th. HBP—Lopez (Robles), Phillips (Suzuki), Armstrong (Harrison), Rainey (Nunez). WP—Scherzer, Rainey, Lopez, Phillips. T—3:38.

Indians 8, Tigers 5Cleveland Detroit ab r h bi ab r h biHernndz 2b 5 1 1 0 Gdrum ss 3 1 1 1Ramirez 3b 4 2 1 2 V.Ryes rf-lf 2 0 1 1Lndor ss 5 1 3 3 H.Cstr rf-3b 4 2 3 0C.Santana 1b 5 0 1 0 Cabrera dh 4 0 2 3F.Reyes dh 4 2 3 2 Schoop 2b 4 0 0 0Mrcdo pr-dh 0 0 0 0 Cndlario 1b 4 0 2 0Naquin rf 5 0 1 0 Stewart lf 2 0 0 0D.Santana lf 4 0 0 0 Maybin ph 1 0 0 0Zimmer lf 1 0 0 0 Lugo 3b 1 0 0 0Lon c 2 1 1 1 W.Cstr 3b-ss 4 0 0 0DeShields cf 4 1 2 0 Greiner c 4 1 1 0 Jones cf 3 1 1 0Totals 39 8 13 8 Totals 36 5 11 5Cleveland 012 013 100—8Detroit 003 010 001—5

E—Hernandez (2). DP—Cleveland 2, Detroit 1. LOB—Cleveland 8, Detroit 8. 2B—Lindor 2 (5), Hernandez (6), Greiner (2), H.Castro (2), Candelario (3), Jones (7). HR—F.Reyes 2 (5), Lindor (4), Ramirez (5), Leon (1). SB—Mercado (1). IP H R ER BB SOClevelandPlutko 22⁄3 6 3 3 0 1Maton 11⁄3 0 0 0 0 2Leone BS,0-1 0 2 1 1 1 0Perez W,1-0 1 1 0 0 0 0Hill H,2 11⁄3 0 0 0 1 1Karinchak 12⁄3 0 0 0 0 3Wittgren 1 2 1 1 1 1DetroitM.Fulmer 22⁄3 5 3 3 2 2Alexander 21⁄3 3 1 1 0 1Schreiber L,0-1 2⁄3 3 3 3 0 0Soto 1⁄3 1 0 0 0 0C.Fulmer 1 1 1 1 1 1Burrows 1 0 0 0 0 0Jimenez 1 0 0 0 0 1

Leone pitched to 3 batters in the 5th. HBP—Maton (Jones), Jimenez (F.Reyes). WP—Leone. T—3:26.

Athletics 15, Giants 3Oakland San Francisco ab r h bi ab r h biSemien ss 5 1 1 2 Yazmski rf 3 0 1 1Barreto ss 1 0 0 0 Ruf ph-rf 2 0 0 0Kemp 2b 2 1 1 0 Dickerson lf 4 0 0 0Pnder ph-2b 4 1 3 2 Solano 2b 5 0 0 0Chpman 3b 5 1 2 1 Belt 1b 4 1 3 1Machin 3b 1 0 0 0 Longoria 3b 1 0 0 0Olson 1b 5 3 3 0 Sndvl ph-3b 2 0 1 0Canha cf 4 2 2 2 Flores dh 4 0 0 0Grossman lf 3 2 1 1 Tromp c 0 0 0 0Davis dh 4 1 1 1 Hnemn c-p 4 0 0 0Piscotty rf 4 1 2 5 Crwford ss 3 2 2 1Murphy c 3 2 1 0 Dubon cf 3 0 2 0Totals 41 15 17 14 Totals 35 3 9 3Oakland 011 092 020—15San Francisco 011 000 100—3

E—Dubon (3). DP—Oakland 0, San Francisco 3. LOB—Oakland 6, San Fran-cisco 9. 2B—Chapman (6), Murphy (1),Piscotty (4), Pinder (1), Crawford (1).3B—Canha (1), Grossman (2). HR—Pin-der (2), Piscotty (4), Semien (3), Belt (2), Crawford (1). IP H R ER BB SOOaklandFiers W,2-1 6 7 2 2 1 4Kaprielian 2 1 1 1 1 1Mengden 1 1 0 0 2 1San FranciscoWebb L,1-2 41⁄3 3 3 3 5 5Heineman 1 1 0 0 0 0Peralta 0 4 5 5 1 0Rodriguez 12⁄3 7 5 5 1 1Baragar 1 0 0 0 0 1Selman 1 2 2 2 0 1

Peralta pitched to 5 batters in the 5th. T—3:31.

Rays 3, Blue Jays 2(Completion of suspended game)

Tampa Bay Toronto ab r h bi ab r h biMeadows lf 5 1 1 1 Biggio 2b 5 0 1 0Lowe dh 5 1 3 1 Bichette ss 2 0 1 0Diaz 3b 4 1 2 0 Panik ss 3 1 1 0Choi 1b 3 0 1 0 Grriel Jr. lf 4 0 0 0Mrtz ph-1b 1 0 1 0 Hernndz rf 4 0 2 1Brssau 2b 2 0 1 0 Guerrro 1b 4 0 0 0Wendle ph-2b 2 0 0 0 Grichuk cf 3 1 2 0Adames ss 4 0 0 0 Tellez dh 4 0 2 1Kiermaier cf 4 0 0 0 McGuire c 2 0 0 0Margot rf 4 0 2 0 Jnsen ph-c 1 0 0 0Zunino c 4 0 0 0 Drury 3b 3 0 1 0 Shaw ph 1 0 0 0Totals 38 3 11 2 Totals 36 2 10 2Tampa Bay 001 010 001—3Toronto 000 110 000—2

E—McGuire (1), Biggio (2). LOB—Tam-pa Bay 13, Toronto 9. 2B—Choi (6), Lowe (7), Grichuk (1), Hernandez (5). HR—Meadows (2), Lowe (7). SB—Kiermaier (4). S—McGuire (1). IP H R ER BB SOTampa BayYarbrough 3 4 0 0 0 2Beeks 21⁄3 6 2 1 0 2Fairbanks 1 0 0 0 0 1Castillo 1 0 0 0 1 1Loup W,3-0 2⁄3 0 0 0 0 1N.Anderson S,3-3 1 0 0 0 0 1TorontoC.Anderson 3 5 1 1 0 3Font 1 1 0 0 0 2Hatch 2 2 1 0 1 4Borucki 1⁄3 1 0 0 2 1Dolis 11

3 0 0 0 1 3Romano L,1-1 1 2 1 1 1 0Yamaguchi 1⁄3 0 0 0 0 0

T—3:37.

Rays 7, Blue Jays 5(Second game)

Tampa Bay Toronto ab r h bi ab r h biMeadows dh 3 1 1 1 Biggio 2b 4 1 1 0Lowe 2b 3 1 1 0 Grichuk cf 4 1 2 2Wendle 3b 1 1 0 0 Shaw 3b 4 0 1 0Diaz ph-3b 1 0 1 0 Hernndz rf 4 0 1 0Brssu pr-3b 0 0 0 0 Tellez 1b 4 0 0 0Choi 1b 4 1 0 0 Guerrro dh 3 1 2 1Tsutsugo lf 3 1 2 3 Jansen c 2 1 1 0Margot pr-lf 1 0 0 0 Drury ss 3 0 0 0Adames ss 3 1 1 2 Alford lf 3 1 1 2Kiermaier cf 4 1 2 0 Gurriel Jr. lf 0 0 0 0Renfroe rf 4 0 1 0 Perez c 3 0 0 0 Totals 30 7 9 6 Totals 31 5 9 5Tampa Bay 000 310 12—7Toronto 200 300 00—5

E—Hernandez (1). DP—Tampa Bay 2, Toronto 1. LOB—Tampa Bay 5, Toronto 5. 2B—Tsutsugo (2), Biggio (2). HR—Tsutsu-go (3), Adames (2), Grichuk (2), GuerreroJr. (3), Alford (1). SF—Meadows (1). IP H R ER BB SOTampa BayChirinos 22⁄3 5 2 2 0 3Thompson 2⁄3 1 2 2 1 1Curtiss 12⁄3 1 1 1 0 2Roe 1 1 0 0 0 2Loup W,3-0 1 1 0 0 0 0Slegers S,1-1 1 0 0 0 0 1TorontoShoemaker 4 3 3 3 1 7Waguespack 1⁄3 2 1 1 0 1Kay H,1 1 1 0 0 3 1Cole BS,0-1 12⁄3 2 1 0 0 0Font L,1-2 1 1 2 1 0 0

HBP—Chirinos (Guerrero Jr.). T—2:54.

LeadersNATIONAL LEAGUE

BATTING—Blackmon, Colorado, .446; Solano, San Francisco, .403; Winker,Cincinnati, .365; B.Harper, Philadelphia,.364 .

PITCHING—S.Gray, Cincinnati, 4-1; Fried, Atlanta, 3-0; Wheeler, Philadel-phia, 3-0; Senzatela, Colorado, 3-0 .

AMERICAN LEAGUE BATTING—LeMahieu, New York, .411;

Bichette, Toronto, .361; Cruz, Minnesota, .342; Lowe, Tampa Bay, .338 .

PITCHING—Bieber, Cleveland, 4-0; G.Cole, New York, 4-0; Dobnak, Minne-sota, 4-1 .

• S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S • F3HIJKLM PAGE 21

Associated Press

CHICAGO — St. Louis Cardinals reliever Roel Ramirez set a record in his debut — just not the kind any pitcher wants.

The Chicago White Sox tied a major league mark with four consecutive home runs, all against Ramirez, and went on to beat the Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday.

Ramirez is the first pitcher to allow four straight homers in his debut. Yoan Moncada, Yasmani Gran-dal, Jose Abreu and Eloy Jimenez connected during a six-run fifth inning.

“Clearly, it gets you on your heels,” Cardinals manager Mike Shildt said. “One of the reasons we liked Roel in spring training ... was the fact that he was not afraid to go after guys. He’d get after it.”

Ramirez took the mound in the fifth with Chica-go leading 1-0. He struck out Luis Robert to start, but things went south quickly. After two singles, a caught stealing and a walk, Moncada smacked a three-run homer to right.

Grandal followed with another drive into the right-field seats, and then Abreu and Jimenez each homered to left.

“It feels good every time that you hit a home run,” Moncada said through an interpreter. “But it feels better when you’re a part of history. ... It’s definitely something special for all of us. I am very happy for it.”

Shildt replaced Ramirez with the debuting Seth Elledge, and he struck out Edwin Encarnacion on three straight pitches to end the inning.

Ramirez is among the players promoted by the Cardinals following a COVID-19 outbreak that stalled St. Louis’ season for 2 ½ weeks. The club returned to action Saturday with a doubleheader sweep over Chicago.

Ramirez, a 25-year-old right-hander, split last season between Double-A and Triple-A.

“He got his first punchout today in the big leagues, which is pretty cool,” Shildt said. “I have every con-fidence he’s gonna go out and be aggressive when he gets an opportunity again.”

It was the 10th time in major league history a team hit four straight homers. The only other time the White Sox did it was on Aug. 14, 2008 against Kansas City, when Jim Thome, Paul Konerko, Alex-

ei Ramirez and Juan Uribe connected.For Chicago, it was a big improvement after com-

bining for just six hits in the doubleheader.“It was a big inning, a huge inning,” White Sox

manager Rick Renteria said. “We needed somethinglike that to kind of spark us. Albeit just one game, but certainly signs of the things that are capable ofbeing done.”

Keuchel sharp: The White Sox got another solidstart from Dallas Keuchel (3-2) and won for just thethird time in 11 home games.

Keuchel gave up two runs and four hits in 5 2/3 in-nings. The 2015 AL Cy Young Award winner exitedafter Matt Carpenter hit a two-run single.

St. Louis’ Dakota Hudson (0-2) held the White Soxto a run and two hits over four innings in his firststart since July 26.


Chicago hits 4 straight home runs against debuting St. Louis reliever

White Sox blast Ramirez, Cards

Happ wins in return to Yankees rotation

MLBRoundup

Associated Press

NEW YORK — J.A. Happ won in his return to New York’s rota-tion after being skipped a turn, and the Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-2 for their ninth straight win over Boston in their best spurt against their rival in nearly 70 years.

Hours after second baseman DJ LeMahieu joined Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton on the injured list, Mike Ford drove in three runs for New York. Happ (1-1) allowed one run in 5 2⁄3 in-nings in his first home start this year, giving up Kevin Pillar’s homer in the third.

Boston has been outscored 67-31 during a seven-game skid, dropping to an AL-worst 6-16.

Indians 8, Tigers 5: Franmil Reyes homered twice, and the Indians beat the host Tigers for the 20th straight time, nearing the major league record for most consecutive wins by a team over a single opponent.

Baltimore holds the mark with 23 straight wins over Kansas City in 1969-70. The Indians can match the record when they host Detroit in a three-game series next weekend.

Athletics 15, Giants 3: Ste-phen Piscotty, Chad Pinder and Marcus Semien homered during visiting Oakland’s nine-run fifth inning, powering the A’s to their fourth straight win.

Piscotty matched his career high with five RBIs as Oak-land, with the best record in the AL, won for the 13th time in 15 games.

Dodgers 8, Angels 3: Keibert Ruiz homered in his first major league at-bat, Corey Seager hit a three-run homer and the visit-ing Dodgers swept the Freeway Series.

The Dodgers swept a three-game series at Angel Stadium for the first time since interleague play began in 1997, although the Angels still hold a 70-57 overall

lead in the rivalry. Nationals 6, Orioles 5: Max

Scherzer struck out 10 over seven innings, and visiting Washington went ahead to stay with an un-earned run in the eighth.

With the victory, the defending World Series champion Nationals won the three-game series and climbed out of last place in the NL East at 8-11.

Rays 3-7, Blue Jays 2-5: At Buffalo, N.Y., Willy Adames hit a two-run homer in the eighth in-ning, and Tampa Bay, helped by a huge Toronto error, earned their second win of the day against the Blue Jays.

Earlier, in the finish of a game suspended Saturday night be-cause of rain, Brandon Lowe hit a solo shot off Jordan Romano (1-1) in the ninth to lift the Rays to the victory. Aaron Loup (3-0) got the win in both games.

Braves 4, Marlins 0: Nick Markakis drove in three runs for visiting Atlanta, and five pitchers combined on a two-hitter.

Phillies 6, Mets 2: Andrew McCutchen entered as a mid game replacement and hit a two-run homer to help host Philadelphia complete a three-game sweep.

Brewers 6, Cubs 5: Keston Hiura and Orlando Arcia hom-ered, and visiting Milwaukee earned its third straight win against the NL Central leaders.

Astros 3, Mariners 2: Kyle Tucker hit a game-ending homer in the ninth inning, lifting host Houston to its fourth straight win.

Rockies 10, Rangers 6: At Denver, Colorado’s Jon Gray struck out seven over a season-high seven solid innings and was backed by a 14-hit attack.

Twins 4, Royals 2: Max Ke-pler hit a two-run homer to sup-port another strong start by host Minnesota’s Randy Dobnak.

Diamondbacks 5, Padres 4: At Phoenix, Eduardo Escobar hit a three-run homer in the eighth inning, and Arizona completed the three-game sweep.

CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/AP

St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Roel Ramirez, bottom, returns to the mound after giving up a home run to Chicago White Sox’s Jose Abreu, top. It was the third of a record four consecutive homers given up by Ramierez in his debut.

CHARLES REX ARBOGAST/AP

The White Sox’s Yoan Moncada watches his three-run home run off St. Louis Cardinals relief pitcher Roel Ramirez during the fifth inning Sunday in Chicago. The White Sox won 7-2.

KATHY WILLENS/AP

New York starting pitcher J.A. Happ allowed one run in 5 2⁄3 innings in his first home start this year, and the host Yankees beat the Red Sox 4-2 Sunday for their ninth straight win over Boston.


NBA PLAYOFFS/NFL

BY STEPHEN WHYNO

Associated Press

The Washington Football Team on Mon-day hired Jason Wright as team president,making him the first Black person to holdthat position in NFL history.

At 38, he becomes the NFL’s youngest team president and will run the organiza-tion’s business operations with coach Ron

Rivera maintaining control over football decisions.

Washington’s hir-ing of Wright drew acommendation fromthe Fritz Pollard Al-liance, which seeksto promote diversityin NFL. ChairmanHarry Carson andexecutive director Rod Graves called it a“historic event.”

“The selection is the result of an inclu-sive process that recognizes the talentsthat people of color can offer,” they said. “We hope that it signifies a true change forthe manner in which leadership is chosenin the NFL.”

Wright, a running back for seven years with Atlanta, Cleveland and Arizona, was a captain for the Cardinals and their NFLPArepresentative during labor negotiations in2010-11.

“If I could custom design a leader for thisimportant time in our history, it would be Jason,” owner Dan Snyder said. “His expe-rience as a former player, coupled with his business acumen, gives him a perspectivethat is unrivaled in the league.”

In other NFL news:� Quarterback Alex Smith was activat-

ed off the physically unable to perform list by Washington’s NFL team Sunday, the lat-est step in a remarkable recovery after hisright leg was broken in two places during a game nearly two years ago.

It could make for an interesting dynamicat QB, where Washington also has Dwayne Haskins, its 2019 first-round draft pick,and free-agent addition Kyle Allen.

The 36-year-old Smith is signed through 2022. He hasn’t played since November2018, when his right fibula and tibia brokewhen Smith was hit during a loss to theHouston Texans.� Jacksonville Jaguars defensive line-

man Rodney Gunter is stepping away from football because of an enlarged aorta.

Gunter, who had been placed on theteam’s non-football injury list at the startof training camp, dropped the news in astatement Sunday.

Gunter signed a three-year, $18 millioncontract with Jacksonville in free agency, giving the team a potential replacementfor five-time Pro Bowler Calais Campbell.

The 6-foot-5, 305-pound Gunter totaled126 tackles, 11 sacks and two forced fum-bles in five years with Arizona. He played in 13 games last season, all starts, and fin-ished with 31 tackles and three sacks. Heplayed on a one-year deal worth $1.75 mil-lion in 2019.

Washington hires Wright as president

FROM BACK PAGE

the Toronto Raptors split $5.6 million from the playoff pool.

3Six-pack? Division championships in the NBA don’t seem to mean much anymore.

Well, maybe they do.If history holds, one of these six teams — To-

ronto, Milwaukee, Miami, Denver, Houston or the Los Angeles Lakers — will win the NBA title this season.

Every finals team since 2012 has done so after winning a division title. The last team not to win its division but make the finals was Dallas, which won the title in 2011. And the last time an NBA Finals had two non-division-win-ning teams was 2007, when San Antonio topped Cleveland.

4Stat watch: A few numbers to watch during the playoffs:� LeBron James is 89 points away

from 7,000 career postseason points. Nobody else has even reached 6,000; Michael Jordan had 5,987. James nearly has more play-off points than any other three players entering these playoffs do in their postseason careers combined. James Harden (2,654), Russell Westbrook (2,489) and Kawhi Leonard (2,164) have 7,307 between them.� If the Lakers make a deep run, James

could also take over the No. 1 spot on the post-season games played list. He’s been in 239, behind Derek Fisher (259), Tim Duncan (251) and Robert Horry (244). James is already the NBA career playoff leader in minutes, field goals made and attempted, free throws made and steals.� Boston’s Gordon Hayward has made 95.5%

of his playoff free throws (106-for-111). Nobody with at least 100 career postseason makes from the line has ever been better; Mark Price is No. 2 at 94.4%.

5Losing records: For the first time since 2015, teams with a losing record made the playoffs.

And for the first time since 1997, three teams below the .500 mark found their way into the postseason. Portland, Brooklyn and Orlan-do all finished the regular season with losing records — yet are still alive in the race for the NBA title.

Boston and Brooklyn were the last teams to get to the playoffs with losing marks, both get-ting there in 2015. Minnesota, Phoenix and the Los Angeles Clippers were the three teams that did it in 1987.

The last time there were more than three sub-.500 teams in the playoffs was 1986, when six made the field.

No team with a losing record has won a play-off series since 1987, when the Seattle Super-Sonics won two rounds to reach the West finals. Since that season, sub-.500 teams are 0-26 in first-round matchups.

6The refs: Aaron Smith and Dedric Tay-lor will be part of the playoff referee staff for the first time, the lone postsea-son rookies on the 40-person roster for

the first round. Smith is one of four alternates, and Taylor is one of the 36 referees chosen to call games.

Smith is in his fourth NBA season and worked the G League finals in 2016 and 2017. Taylor is in his sixth NBA season, eventually getting there after spending 13 years driving for UPS and working for the parks and recreation de-partment in North Miami Beach, Fl a.

Scott Foster will be the most experienced ref-eree in the playoffs, working the postseason for the 21st time. He’s one of six referees on this season’s postseason roster with more than 100 games worked, with 188 — the others being Tony Brothers (140), James Capers (135), Marc Davis (132), Ed Malloy (111) and Bill Kennedy (104).

7Power of 23: If the Toronto Raptors win this NBA title, there can be no doubt that the team’s magic number this season would be 23.

Or maybe 23-9, to be more specific.

When the season was stopped on March 11 because of the pandemic, the Raptors were ex-actly 23-9 at home and 23-9 on the road.

At Disney in the seeding games, they went 7-1. They went 16-8 last season in the playoffs, and if they do exactly that this year — yes, they would have gone exactly 23-9 at Disney this year as well.

8Game 1 success: Inevitably, some ver-sion of the stat that says Game 1 winners almost always go on to win a best-of-seven series will come up after the open-

ing game of every matchup. And it is true: Since the 16-team playoff format was adopted, teams with a 1-0 series lead ultimately win 78.3% of the time.

But last year showed that 1-0 deficits don’t doom a club, either.

There were six teams last season that lost Game 1 but went on to win a series — matching the most of any year in the 16-team format.

The six teams that rallied were Toronto (East finals vs. Milwaukee and first round vs. Orlan-do), Milwaukee (East semifinals vs. Boston), Portland (West semifinals vs. Denver), Phila-delphia (East first round vs. Brooklyn) and Denver (West first round vs. San Antonio).

9No home edge: Since 1984, home teams have won 411 of 540 playoff games played — 76.1%. Of course, much of that can be attributed to having 20,000 or so scream-

ing fans cheering teams on in those games.Will it matter without fans in the bubble?

Time will tell.During the restart, teams went 49-39 in

matchups designated as “home” games — a 55.7% clip in those contests where they got to see their logos on the video boards and hear their usual pregame music. And that is close to what teams were doing outside the bubble this season, when home teams prevailed 55.1% of the time.

10Family matters: Callie Rivers Curry cannot lose in the first round of the Western Conference playoffs. Either her father is going

to the second round, or her busband is.The Los Angeles Clippers play Dallas in the

first round. Callie’s father is Clippers coach Doc Rivers. Her husband is Mavericks guard Seth Curry.

“I don’t think she’s rooting for me,” Doc Riv-ers said, “but I’m not so sure.”

Scoreboard

NBA PlayoffsAll games in Orlando, Fla.

FIRST ROUND(Best-of-7); x-if necessary)

Eastern ConferenceMilwaukee vs. Orlando

Tuesday: Milwaukee vs. OrlandoThursday: Milwaukee vs. OrlandoSaturday: Milwaukee vs. OrlandoMonday: Milwaukee vs. Orlandox-Wednesday: Milwaukee vs. Orlandox-Friday: Milwaukee vs. Orlandox-Sunday: Milwaukee vs. Orlando

Toronto vs. BrooklynMonday: Toronto vs. BrooklynWednesday: Toronto vs. BrooklynFriday: Toronto vs. BrooklynSunday: Toronto vs. Brooklynx-Tuesday: Toronto vs. Brooklynx-Thursday: Toronto vs. Brooklynx-Saturday: Toronto vs. Brooklyn

Boston vs. PhiladelphiaMonday: Boston vs. PhiladelphiaWednesday: Boston vs. PhiladelphiaFriday: Boston vs. PhiladelphiaSunday: Boston vs. Philadelphiax-Tuesday: Boston vs. Philadelphiax-Thursday: Boston vs. Philadelphiax-Saturday: Boston vs. Philadelphia

Miami vs. IndianaTuesday: Miami vs. IndianaThursday: Miami vs. IndianaSaturday: Miami vs. IndianaMonday: Miami vs. Indianax-Wednesday: Miami vs. Indianax-Friday: Miami vs. Indianax-Sunday: Miami vs. Indiana

Western ConferenceL.A. Lakers vs. Portland

Tuesday: L.A. Lakers vs. PortlandThursday: L.A. Lakers vs. PortlandSaturday: L.A. Lakers vs. PortlandMonday: L.A. Lakers vs. Portlandx-Wednesday: L.A. Lakers vs. Port-

landx-Friday: L.A. Lakers vs. Portlandx-Sunday: L.A. Lakers vs. Portland

L.A. Clippers vs. DallasMonday: L.A. Clippers vs. DallasWednesday: L.A. Clippers vs. DallasFriday: L.A. Clippers vs. Dallasx-Sunday: L.A. Clippers vs. Dallasx-Tuesday: L.A. Clippers vs. Dallasx-Thursday: L.A. Clippers vs. Dallasx-Saturday: L.A. Clippers vs. Dallas

Denver vs. UtahMonday: Denver vs UtahWednesday: Denver vs UtahFriday: Denver vs UtahSunday: Denver vs Utahx-Tuesday: Denver vs Utahx-Thursday: Denver vs Utahx-Saturday: Denver vs Utah

Oklahoma City vs. HoustonTuesday: Oklahoma City vs. HoustonThursday: Oklahoma City vs. HoustonSaturday: Oklahoma City vs. HoustonMonday: Oklahoma City vs. Houstonx-Wednesday: Oklahoma City vs.

Houstonx-Friday: Oklahoma City vs. Houstonx-Sunday: Oklahoma City vs. Houston

Regular season leadersScoring

G FG FT PTS AVGHarden, HOU 61 603 619 2096 34.4Beal, WAS 57 593 385 1741 30.5Antetokounmpo, MIL 57 623 361 1690 29.6Young, ATL 60 546 481 1778 29.6Lillard, POR 58 531 389 1677 28.9Doncic, DAL 54 512 369 1549 28.7Westbrook, HOU 53 568 269 1456 27.5Leonard, LAC 51 476 311 1370 26.9Davis, LAL 55 508 386 1467 26.7Booker, PHX 62 544 405 1619 26.1James, LAL 60 586 239 1544 25.7LaVine, CHI 60 539 268 1530 25.5Ingram, NOP 56 469 283 1358 24.3Mitchell, UTA 63 560 249 1525 24.2Siakam, TOR 53 459 220 1253 23.6Tatum, BOS 59 499 225 1390 23.6McCollum, POR 62 549 123 1395 22.5DeRozan, SAS 61 503 338 1352 22.2Wiggins, GSW 54 437 190 1175 21.8Walker, BOS 50 350 195 1060 21.2

Rebounds G OFF DEF TOT AVGDrummond, CLE 57 250 614 864 15.2Whiteside, POR 61 244 625 869 14.2Antetokounmpo, MIL 57 130 653 783 13.7Gobert, UTA 62 211 639 850 13.7Sabonis, IND 62 189 582 771 12.4Valanciunas, MEM 62 190 506 696 11.2Vucevic, ORL 54 130 466 596 11.0Adebayo, MIA 65 165 518 683 10.5Jokic, DEN 65 155 508 663 10.2Thompson, CLE 57 226 351 577 10.1

Assists G AST AVGJames, LAL 60 636 10.6Young, ATL 60 560 9.3Rubio, PHX 57 507 8.9Doncic, DAL 54 470 8.7Simmons, PHI 54 442 8.2Lillard, POR 58 453 7.8Lowry, TOR 52 399 7.7Graham, CHA 63 471 7.5Harden, HOU 61 450 7.4Brogdon, IND 48 343 7.1

Pursuit: Postseason storylines to watch

ASHLEY LANDIS/AP

The Los Angeles Lakers’ LeBron James is 89 points away from 7,000 career postseason points, by far the most in league history.

Wright

First Black person to hold position in league history


Stanley Cup playoffsFIRST ROUND

Best-of-seven; x-if necessary EASTERN CONFERENCE

At Toronto(1)Philadelphia 2, (8)Montreal 1

Philadelphia 2, Montreal 1Montreal 5, Philadelphia 0Sunday: Philadelphia 1, Montreal 0Tuesday, Aug. 18: Game 4 (AFN-

Sports2, 9 p.m. Tuesday CET; 4 a.m. Wednesday JKT)

Wednesday, Aug. 19: Game 5x-Friday, Aug. 21: Game 6x-Sunday, Aug. 23: Game 7

(2)Tampa Bay 2, (7)Columbus 1Tampa Bay 3, Columbus 2, 5OTColumbus 3, Tampa Bay 1Saturday: Tampa Bay 3, Columbus 2Monday: Game 4x-Wednesday, Aug. 19: Game 5x-Friday, Aug. 21: Game 6x-Saturday, Aug. 22: Game 7

(6)N.Y. Islanders 3, (3)Washington 0N.Y. Islanders 4, Washington 2N.Y. Islanders 5, Washington 2Sunday: N.Y. Islanders 2, Washington

1, OTTuesday, Aug. 18: Game 4 (AFN-

Sports2, 2 a.m. Wednesday CET; 9 a.m. Wednesday JKT)

x-Thursday, Aug. 20: Game 5x-Saturday, Aug. 22: Game 6x-Sunday, Aug. 23: Game 7

(4)Boston 2, (5)Carolina 1Boston 4, Carolina 3, 2OTCarolina 3, Boston 2Saturday: Boston 3, Carolina 2Monday: Game 4x-Wednesday, Aug. 19: Game 5x-Thursday, Aug. 20: Game 6x-Sunday, Aug. 23: Game 7

WESTERN CONFERENCEFIRST ROUND

At Edmonton, Alberta(1)Las Vegas 3, (8)Chicago 1

Vegas 4, Chicago 1Vegas 4, Chicago 3, OTVegas 2, Chicago 1Sunday: Chicago 3, Las Vegas 1x-Tuesday, Aug. 18: Game 5 (AFN-

Sports2, 4:30 a.m. Wedesday CET; 11:30 a.m. Wednesday JKT)

x-Thursday, Aug. 20: Game 6x-Saturday, Aug. 22: Game 7

(2)Colorado 2, (7)Arizona 1Colorado 3, Arizona 0Colorado 3, Arizona 2Arizona 4, Colorado 2Monday: Game 4Wednesday, Aug. 19: Game 5x-Friday, Aug. 21: Game 6x-Sunday, Aug. 23: Game 7

(3)Dallas 2, (6)Calgary 2Calgary 3, Dallas 2Dallas 5, Calgary 4Calgary 2, Dallas 0Sunday: Dallas 5, Calgary 4, OTTuesday, Aug. 18: Game 5 (AFN-

Sports2, 11:30 p.m. Tuesday CET; 6:30 a.m. Wednesday JKT)

Thursday, Aug. 20: Game 6x-Saturday, Aug. 22: Game 7

(5)Vancouver 2, (4)St. Louis 1Vancouver 5, St. Louis 2Vancouver 4, St. Louis 3, OTSunday: St. Louis 3, Vancouver 2, OTMonday: Game 4Wednesday, Aug. 19: Game 5x-Friday, Aug. 21: Game 6x-Sunday, Aug. 23: Game 7

SundayFlyers 1, Canadiens 0

Philadelphia 1 0 0—1Montreal 0 0 0—0

First Period—1, Philadelphia, Voracek 2 (Hagg, Giroux), 5:21.

Shots on Goal—Philadelphia 8-6-6—20. Montreal 5-8-10—23.

Power-play opportunities—Philadel-phia 0 of 6; Montreal 0 of 3.

Goalies—Philadelphia, Hart 4-1-0 (23 shots-23 saves). Montreal, Price 4-3-0 (20-19).

T—2:35.

Blues 3, Canucks 2 (OT)St. Louis 0 2 0 1—3Vancouver 0 2 0 0—2

Second Period—1, Vancouver, Miller 3 (Hughes, Pettersson), 1:19 (pp). 2, St. Louis, Faulk 1 (Thomas, Blais), 8:16. 3, St. Louis, Perron 4 (Sanford, O’Reilly), 18:02. 4, Vancouver, Pettersson 4 (Roussel), 18:39.

Overtime—5, St. Louis, Schenn 1 (O’Reilly), 15:06.

Shots on Goal—St. Louis 11-14-12-12—49. Vancouver 8-14-9-10—41.

Power-play opportunities—St. Louis 0 of 2; Vancouver 1 of 2.

Goalies—St. Louis, Allen 1-0-1 (41 shots-39 saves). Vancouver, Markstrom 5-1-1 (49-46).

T—3:10.

Blackhawks 3, Vegas 1Vegas 1 0 0—1Chicago 2 0 1—3

First Period—1, Chicago, Caggiula 1 (Maatta, Dach), 4:08. 2, Chicago, High-more 3 (Keith), 13:40. 3, Vegas, Theodore 4 (Martinez, Reaves), 13:58.

Third Period—4, Chicago, DeBrincat 1 (Murphy), 19:49 (en).

Shots on Goal—Vegas 20-16-11—47. Chicago 8-7-10—25.

Power-play opportunities—Vegas 0 of 3; Chicago 0 of 3.

Goalies—Vegas, Lehner 4-1-0 (24 shots-22 saves). Chicago, Crawford 4-3-1 (47-46).

T—2:22.

Stars 5, Flames 4 (OT)Dallas 1 2 1 1—5Calgary 0 3 1 0—4

First Period—1, Dallas, Pavelski 3 (Klingberg, Seguin), 18:11 (pp).

Second Period—2, Calgary, Gaudreau 3 (Bennett, Monahan), 1:54 (pp). 3, Dal-las, Pavelski 4 (Comeau, Lindell), 3:14. 4, Calgary, Bennett 4 (Monahan, Gaudreau), 3:57 (pp). 5, Calgary, Bennett 5 (Lucic), 14:50. 6, Dallas, Gurianov 2 (Hintz, Heis-kanen), 19:23 (pp).

Third Period—7, Calgary, Rieder 3 (Ryan, Andersson), 3:11 (sh). 8, Dallas, Pavelski 5 (Klingberg, Seguin), 19:48.

Overtime—9, Dallas, Klingberg 1, 16:05.

Shots on Goal—Dallas 11-18-21-12—62. Calgary 14-15-6-5—40.

Power-play opportunities—Dallas 2 of 7; Calgary 2 of 4.

Goalies—Dallas, Khudobin 2-3-0 (40 shots-36 saves). Calgary, Talbot 5-2-1 (62-57).

T—3:21.

Islanders 2, Capitals 1 (OT)Washington 0 1 0 0—1N.Y. Islanders 1 0 0 1—2

First Period—1, N.Y. Islanders, Lee 3 (Pulock, Pelech), 14:50.

Second Period—2, Washington, Kuznetsov 2 (Ovechkin, Carlson), 5:50 (pp).

Overtime—3, N.Y. Islanders, Barzal 2 (Eberle, Brassard), 4:28.

Shots on Goal—Washington 6-10-4-3—23. N.Y. Islanders 14-10-8-2—34.

Power-play opportunities—Washing-ton 1 of 2; N.Y. Islanders 0 of 5.

Goalies—Washington, Holtby 1-3-2 (34 shots-32 saves). N.Y. Islanders, Var-lamov 6-1-0 (23-22).

T—2:47.

NHLScoreboard

Barzal’s goal lifts New York in overtime, Washington trails series 0-3

Isles have Caps on the brinkRoundup

Associated Press

TORONTO — Mathew Barzal scored 4:28 into overtime, lifting the New York Islanders to a 2-1 win over the Washington Capi-tals in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference first-round series Sunday.

The 23-year-old Barzal was thankful the play wasn’t called offside.

“We knew it was tight,” he said. “I run that play a little bit in prac-tice and even in games, try to sneak behind the D, and time it perfectly on the blue line .”

The Islanders are up 3-0 in the series, putting the Capitals on the brink of being eliminated in the first round for the second straight year after hoisting the Stanley Cup in 2018.

“Obviously, for us right now it’s nothing to lose, right? So we just have to go out there and play,” Washington star Alex Ovechkin said. “Don’t think about the score in the series.”

Anders Lee broke a scoreless tie late in the first period. Evgeny Kuznetsov pulled the Capitals into a tie with a power-play goal early in the second.

Semyon Varlamov stopped 22 shots for sixth-seeded New York. Braden Holtby had 32 saves for third-seeded Washington.

Stars 5, Flames 4 (OT): Dallas scored 16:05 into overtime after Joe Pavelski forced the extra pe-riod by completing a hat trick in the final seconds of regulation and the Stars evened their West-ern Conference playoff series at two games apiece in Edmonton, Alberta.

John Klingberg’s hard shot grazed Alexander Radulov’s stick and went in to give Dallas the win. The shot that got past Cam Talbot was the 62nd for the Stars, their most since 63 in a five-overtime loss in the 2003 playoffs. The goal was initially given to Klingberg, but NHL announced the scoring change about three hours after the game.

Klingberg finished with three assists.

Pavelski recorded the first playoff hat trick since the Stars franchise moved from Minnesota in 1993, and the first of his career on his 53rd career postseason goal.

Tobias Rieder tied an NHL re-cord with his third short-handed goal of the playoffs, and Calgary got one in a third straight game against Dallas, for a 4-3 lead early in the third period.

Blues 3, Canucks 2 (OT): Brayden Schenn scored 15:06 into overtime to lift St. Louis.

Schenn, circling in the neutral zone, took a stretch pass, raced in and fired a shot high past Vancou-ver goalie Jacob Markstrom for the defending champion Blues’ first win this postseason.

David Perron and Justin Faulk also scored, and Jake Allen stopped 39 shots as St. Louis pulled to 2-1 in the best-of-seven series in Edmonton.

Elias Pettersson and J.T. Miller scored for the Canucks, and Mark-strom finished with 46 saves.

Flyers 1, Canadiens 0: Jake Voracek scored and Carter Hart stopped 23 shots to help Philadel-phia grab a 2-1 lead in the East-ern Conference playoff series in

Toronto. The top-seeded Flyers got an-

other sensational performancefrom the 22-year-old Hart, whomade a slew of big saves and ben-efited from Montreal shots thatclanged off the post.

Hart was stout in the final min-ute when the Canadiens pulledthe goalie and he became theyoungest Flyers goalie to record a shutout at 22 years, 3 days. Hehad been pulled late in the secondperiod of a Game 2 loss.

Carey Price had 19 saves forMontreal.

Blackhawks 3, Golden Knights1: Corey Crawford made 48 savesin a stellar performance, and Chi-cago avoided a sweep in the first-round playoff series.

Drake Caggiula and Matthew Highmore scored first-periodgoals for the Blackhawks, andAlex DeBrincat added an empty-netter with 10 seconds left. Chi-cago handed Robin Lehner hisfirst loss in a Vegas uniform since the goaltender was acquired in a trade with the Blackhawks in February.

The Golden Knights sufferedtheir first loss since arriving inEdmonton for the NHL restart.Vegas will have another chance to close out Chicago in Game 5 onTuesday.

Shea Theodore scored his fourth playoff goal for the GoldenKnights in the first period. Leh-ner had 22 saves.

Crawford, who was in net whenthe Blackhawks won the Stanley Cup in 2013 and 2015, set a play-off career high for saves in a game that didn’t go to overtime.

NATHAN DENETTE/AP

New York Islanders center Mathew Barzal (13) reacts after scoring the winning goal Sunday in Toronto as Washington Capitals right wing T.J. Oshie (77) looks on during the Islanders’ 2-1 overtime victory. New York leads the teams’ Eastern Conference Stanley Cup playoff series 3-0.

JASON FRANSON, THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP

Vancouver Canucks left wing Tanner Pearson, center, is checked against St. Louis goalie Jake Allen by Blues left wing Jaden Schwartz during overtime. The Blues won 3-2 Sunday in Edmonton, Alberta.

S T A R S A N D S T R I P E S Tuesday, August 18, 2020 F3HIJKLM

SPORTS

Elliott makes it three in a row on road » Auto Racing, Page 19

NBA PLAYOFFS: 10 THINGS TO KNOW

Total controlIslanders up 3-0 on Capitals after OT win » NHL, Page 23

BY TIM REYNOLDSAssociated Press

1If Kawhi Leonard wins an NBA Finals MVP award with the Los Angeles Clippers this season, he’d do something that nobody has ever done — three finals MVPs with three different teams.

Leonard was finals MVP for San Antonio in 2014 and for Toronto last year. Besides Leonard, only LeBron James (with Miami in 2012 and 2013, then Cleveland in 2016) and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (with Milwaukee in 1971 and the Los Angeles Lakers in 1985) have won finals MVPs with two different franchises.

If the Lakers or Clippers win the title, it’ll be another rarity. If the Lakers win, James

and Danny Green (San Antonio, Toronto) would have championships with three dif-ferent teams; if the Clippers win, Leonard would be on that list.

The only players in NBA history to win ti-tles with three different teams, to this point, are John Salley and Robert Horry.

2Sharing the wealth: The NBA playoff pool is deeper than ever this season.

Playoff teams will split a record $23,287,266, a figure up about $1.6 million from last year.

And the Milwaukee Bucks stand to grab the biggest share of a pool ever, if they win the NBA title. The Bucks would split $6,827,848 if they won the NBA championship, based on the formula worked out by the NBA.

Milwaukee already secured $1,606,897 from the pool by having the best record in the NBA, the best record in the Eastern Con-ference and making the first round. The top six teams in each conference get a bonus for their finish in the regular season.

From there, the breakdown is this:� First-round qualifiers make $347,545.� Conference semifinalists get another

$413,534.� Conference finalists get another

$683,363.The biggest slices, of course, go to the

teams that make the NBA Finals. The los-ing team receives another $2,732,699, while the NBA champions get another $4,124,054.

For winning the NBA title last season,

SEE PURSUIT ON PAGE 22

Leonard’s pursuit of unprecedented 3rd Finals MVP leads postseason storylines

Above: Kawhi Leonard joined the Los Angeles Clippers in the offseason after a one-year championship stint in Toronto where he was named Finals MVP for a second time. If he can add a third this season — Leonard won his first with San Antonio in 2014 — he will become the first player to do so with three franchises.

KEVIN C. COX / AP

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