Agyemang and Charlotte FC visit the Houston Dynamo (2024)

MLB

BASEBALL

The Nashville Predators made a big splash on the opening day of NHL free agency by signing Steven Stamkos, Jonathan Marchessault and Brady Skjei. Marchessault, the 2023 playoff MVP got a five-year deal worth $27.5 million. Stamkos leaves Tampa Bay after 16 seasons that included winning the Stanley Cup twice and making two other trips to the final. He signed for $32 million over four years. Jake Guentzel signed with the Lightning as part of them replacing Stamkos. Teams combined to commit a record $1.12 billion in salaries.

Hunter Brown pitched six shutout innings, Jeremy Peña and Yordan Álvarez hit home runs and the Houston Astros beat the Toronto Blue Jays 3-1 on Monday afternoon for their 10th win in 11 games. After going 4-0 with a 1.16 ERA in five June starts, Brown opened July with another solid outing. The right-hander allowed two hits, both singles. He walked three and struck out five. Decked out in special red jerseys and caps, the Blue Jays lost on the Canada Day holiday for a second year in a row.

LOS ANGELES — We should all enjoy a Bobby Bonilla Day. But we don't. Only one 61-year-old former ballplayer receives a payment of $1,193,248.20 from the New York Mets every July 1 through 2035.

International UEFA Euro

GROUP A

All Times EDT

All Times EDT

All Times EDT

All Times EDT

THROUGH JUNE 30

TAMPA, Fla. — For the past 16 years, Steven Stamkos has been seen all over Tampa Bay. From the side of Amalie Arena, on billboards and benches, he’s been the face of the Lightning franchise since he was anointed the savior of the organization as an 18-year-old No. 1 draft pick.

MINNEAPOLIS — With their first move since free agency opened Sunday afternoon, the Minnesota Timberwolves are bringing back center Luka Garza on a two-year deal.

Portugal reaches Euro 2024 quarterfinals after shootout win over Slovenia.

The final score Sunday was Indiana Fever 88, Phoenix Mercury 82.

St. Louis City has fired coach Bradley Carnell amid a disappointing second season for the MLS team. The team announced the move two days after blowing a two-goal lead in a loss to Vancouver. St. Louis is 12th in the 14-team Western Conference a year after becoming the first expansion team to win a conference regular-season title. Technical Director John Hackworth will manage the team on an interim basis. Carnell was hired as the team’s first manager in January 2022 and received a contract extension before this season.

Kenny Atkinson conducted his own coaching search. Before the Cleveland Cavaliers hired the former Golden State assistant last week, Atkinson said he had thoroughly researched the team. He was impressed by its young talent, culture and potential. So when the Cavs approached him, the 57-year-old Atkinson told them he was their man. Atkinson's reputation developing young players made a major impression on the Cavs, who fired J.B. Bickerstaff in May despite a second straight playoff appearance. Atkinson will inherit a roster led by All-Star guard Donovan Mitchell. The Cavs are optimistic that Mitchell will sign a multiyear extension this summer. Atkinson and other members of the organization met with Mitchell over the weekend in Los Angeles.

The NHL has reinstated executives Stan Bowman and Al MacIsaac and coach Joel Quenneville. They are able to seek employment around the league effective immediately. Bowman, MacIsaac and Quenneville were banned from the league in October 2021 for their roles in the Chicago Blackhawks' mishandling of a video coach sexually assaulting a player in 2010. The NHL in a statement said Bowman, MacIsaac and Quenneville have shown remorse for what happened and gained greater awareness for the responsibilities needed in such situations. They cannot sign contracts until July 10.

College Football Hall of Famer C.J. Spiller was selected to Clemson's ring of honor for its Death Valley stadium on Monday. The award is the highest honor given by the school's athletic department. Spiller played running back from 2006 to 2009 and set the Atlantic Coast Conference record with 7,588 all-purpose yards. He was selected to the College Football Hall in 2021. Spiller was picked No. 9 overall by Buffalo in the 2010 draft and spent eight seasons in the pros. He is entering his fourth season as Clemson's running backs coach.

South American soccer’s governing body maintains that the Hard Rock Stadium’s playing surface will be in great shape for the Copa America final on July 14 amid complaints during the group stage about grass at other fields used for the tournament. The grass surface at the stadium of the NFL’s Dolphins in Miami Gardens was removed Sunday for a July 6 concert featuring the Colombian artist Feid. Installation of a new grass surface will begin on July 8 and is expected to be completed four days before the final of South America’s championship.

Sam Reinhart wasn’t at the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup championship parade on Sunday. His best friend’s wedding was that day, so the All-Star forward skipped out on one celebration for another.

Former NFL coach Jon Gruden has lost a bid for the Nevada Supreme Court to reconsider whether a contract interference and conspiracy lawsuit he filed against the league after he resigned from the Las Vegas Raiders in 2021 should be heard in courts or in private arbitration. Notice was posted Monday on a court website, but the written ruling wasn't immediately available online. Attorneys for Gruden, the league and an NFL spokesman didn't respond to messages about the ruling. Gruden’s lawyers sought a rehearing after a three-justice panel split in a May decision that said the league can force the civil case out of state court and into arbitration that might be overseen by NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell.

The Utah Hockey Club will play its first game Oct. 8 against the Chicago Blackhawks. That same night the Florida Panthers will raise their Stanley Cup banner to the rafters in Sunrise before facing off against the Boston Bruins. The NHL released the list of home openers for each of its 32 teams. The full 1,312-game regular-season schedule is expected later this week.

The Boston Bruins did most of what they wanted to do – if not everything they needed to do – on Monday, nabbing a top-six centerman and a physical defenseman.

DETROIT — It looks to be a welcome back for Tobias Harris.

Turkey defender Mert Muldur says there was never any question of him playing for Austria ahead of the countries’ European Championship clash on Tuesday. The 25-year-old Muldur was born in Vienna to Turkish parents and made his way through the youth ranks of Rapid Vienna before making his league debut with the club in 2018. Muldur says “I grew up in Austria. I went to school in Austria. I learned to play football there and of course there’s a specific connection to Austria. But in Turkey I went through the U17, U19 national teams and then the senior national team. And basically, you don’t have another chance to say yes. So for me, it wasn’t an option to go to Austria.”

CHICAGO — The Chicago Blackhawks made one of their biggest splashes since the current rebuild began, agreeing to terms Monday with Tyler Bertuzzi and bringing back Teuvo Teräväinen on the opening day of NHL free agency.

Klay Thompson is moving on from the Golden State Warriors, with the four-time league champion agreeing to join the Western Conference champion Dallas Mavericks and change franchises for the first time in his 13-year NBA career, according to two people with knowledge of the decision. ESPN and The Athletic first reported the multiteam deal, which as currently constructed will be executed as the sign-and-trade of a three-year, $50 million contract involving the Warriors, Mavericks and Charlotte Hornets, according to people who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the agreement has not been publicly announced. Thompson is sixth on the NBA’s all-time 3-pointers made list with 2,481.

NHL lifts employment ban on Stan Bowman, Al MacIsaac and Joel Quenneville two years after Blackhawks assault scandal.

France soccer player Jules Koundé says he is “disappointed to see the direction our country is taking." Speaking to reporters at Euro 2024 on Monday, Koundé was referring to the first round of legislative elections in France, which left a far-right party closer than ever of getting into power. Marine Le Pen’s National Rally had about 33% of the vote and the decisive final voting is on Sunday. Koundé noted that the vote “it isn’t over yet” and said “it is very important so that the extreme right-wing party … doesn’t come in.” France’s players have been asked regularly about the political situation back home in news conferences at Euro 2024.

Monday

The Canadian women’s soccer team’s roster for the Paris Olympics includes 13 players from the team that won the gold medal at the Tokyo Games. Coach Bev Priestman selected three players who have struggled recently with injuries, including Seattle Reign midfielder Quinn, Kansas City Current forward Nichelle Prince and North Carolina Courage defender Sydney Collins. Left off the 18-player roster was Desiree Scott, a veteran defender who won the gold medal in in Tokyo and bronze medals at the London and Brazil Olympics.

Russian prospect and 2023 NHL first-round draft pick Matvei Michkov has signed a three-year, entry-level with the Philadelphia Flyers. SKA Saint Petersburg let Michkov out of his contract last week, paving the way for the playmaking forward to arrive in Philadelphia ahead of schedule. The Flyers selected Michkov with the seventh pick in the 2023 draft knowing he had three years left on his KHL contract. The Flyers believe the 19-year-old has the potential to help change the fortunes of a franchise that has missed the playoffs each of the past four seasons.

Sunday

Sunday

The U.S. Olympic track trials ended on a high note. Or, make that a low note. Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone lowered the world record once more in her signature event, the 400-meter hurdles. With her run of 50.65 seconds, she put herself up there with Noah Lyles and Sha’Carri Richardson as a fantastic bet to bring home a medal or two for the U.S. from the Paris Olympics. Now that the U.S. team is largely locked in, it's easier to predict where its medals might come from. The U.S. won 26 at the last Olympics, but could reach into the low 30s in Paris.

Cristiano Ronaldo was not dropped by the Portugal coach for the round of 16 game this time. Ronaldo is captaining Portugal on Monday and will lead the attack picked by Roberto Martinez to face Slovenia in Frankfurt in the first knockout round of Euro 2024. At the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, Ronaldo was benched by then-coach Fernando Santos for the round of 16 game against Switzerland. His replacement Gonçalo Ramos scored three in a 6-1 win. Ramos is on the bench and Ronaldo is supported in attack by Rafael Leão and Bernardo Silva