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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) BASEBALL
Luke Weaver flirted with perfection, had to overcome a little frustration, and settled for domination. The St. Louis Cardinals' offense was pretty good, too.
Weaver pitched two-hit ball over eight innings and St. Louis beat the San Francisco Giants 11-2.
Weaver faced two over the minimum and had seven strikeouts. The 24-year-old right-hander carried a perfect game into the sixth inning before giving up a single and Alen Hanson's two-run homer. Weaver then bounced back to retire the final seven batters he faced.
Jedd Gyorko had three hits including a home run and drove in five runs to spoil the return of Johnny Cueto after two months on the disabled list.
WASHINGTON (AP) - Trea Turner hit two homers, including his first career grand slam, and drove in eight runs to help the Washington Nationals rally from a nine-run deficit and defeat the Miami Marlins 14-12 to end a five-game losing streak.
The Nationals, who dropped 17 of their previous 22, have won 12 consecutive games against Miami dating to last season - their longest winning streak against any team since the franchise moved to Washington in 2005.
The victory came a day after the Nationals called a players-only meeting after Washington was swept by Boston and slipped under .500 for the first time since May 2.
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - The Minnesota Twins signed first-round draft pick Trevor Larnach just one day before Major League Baseball's deadline.
For both sides, the delay was well worth the wait. There were no contentious contract negotiations in the way, only a College World Series championship for Larnach with Oregon State.
Larnach's standard minor league deal came with a $2.55 million signing bonus. The slot value set by MLB for the 20th overall selection was $3.12 million, so the Twins put some of that savings toward signing other players in their draft class.
Larnach, a corner outfielder who hit .327 with 17 home runs and 65 RBIs this season for the Beavers, batted .417 with five doubles, nine RBIs and 10 runs scored in eight games at the College World Series.
NBA
BOSTON (AP) - The Boston Celtics have signed first-round draft pick Robert Williams.
Terms were not disclosed. Williams, a forward-center out of Texas A&M, was selected 27th overall last month with the Celtics' lone draft pick.
Williams' signing comes days after he received a lecture from the team about accountability following a pair of off-the-court incidents. The 20-year-old slept through a scheduled conference call with reporters the day after the draft and then failed to catch a flight from his native Louisiana to Boston in time for a summer league practice.
Williams will wear jersey No. 44.
NHL
NEW YORK (AP) - Vegas forward William Karlsson is among 43 NHL players seeking salary arbitration after he finished third in the NHL in scoring with the expansion Golden Knights last season.
Two more Golden Knights, defenseman Colin Miller and forward Tomas Nosek, also are on the list of players electing to have an arbitrator determine their contracts, the NHL Players' Association announced.
The number was 44 before the Carolina Hurricanes agreed to a $4.6 million, two-year contract with defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk, a restricted free agent. Van Riemsdyk will make $2.1 million next season and $2.5 million in the final year of the deal.
Winnipeg has five players on the list, including goalie Connor Hellebuyck and defenseman Jacob Trouba.
Players are allowed to negotiate and sign contracts before appearing at their arbitration hearings, which will be held in Toronto from July 20 to Aug. 4.
COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) - The Columbus Blue Jackets re-signed forward Boone Jenner to a four-year, $15 million contract, locking up a player who has been a stalwart presence in the team's emergence as a playoff contender.
The contract pays the 25-year-old Jenner $3.75 million annually through the 2021-22 season, according to a person with direct knowledge of the contract who spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the Blue Jackets didn't reveal the value of the deal.
Jenner was a restricted free agent who made $2.9 million in 2017-18, a season in which he missed all of training camp and the first seven games of the season with a back injury.
EAST MEADOW, N.Y. (AP) - Barry Trotz has added former Washington Capitals assistant Lane Lambert to his New York Islanders coaching staff.
The Islanders announced the hiring, saying Lambert would be the associate coach. The 53-year-old had served the past four seasons as the assistant coach with the recently crowned Stanley Cup champions.
Before joining the Capitals, Lambert spent three seasons as an assistant coach with the Nashville Predators. He also served as head coach of the AHL's Milwaukee Admirals from 2007-11.
MONTREAL (AP) - Montreal Canadiens defenseman Shea Weber will be out for an extended period after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery to repair a torn meniscus in his right knee.
The Canadiens said Weber's recovery time is expected to be five to six months, meaning he won't be suiting up until December at the earliest.
It's the second surgery this year for Weber, who had a torn tendon in his left foot repaired in March.
Team surgeon Dr. David Mulder said the damage to Weber's knee was discovered last month as part of his rehabilitation from foot surgery.
GOLF
WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) - Webb Simpson ran out of sensational shots in the end to keep him from joining an elite group.
Simpson shot a 9-under-par 61 for a one-stroke lead over Whee Kim after the first round of A Military Tribute at The Greenbrier in West Virginia on Thursday.
Simpson posted his best career score after shaking off a two-hour weather delay with six holes left in his round. He came up short in his bid to shoot the eighth sub-60 round on the PGA Tour. Needing birdies on the par-5 17th and the par-3 18th for a 59, he parred both.
Kim had back-to-back bogeys on the front nine on the Old White TPC, and then ran off five birdies over a seven-hole stretch. The South Korean had 10 birdies overall and shot 62. Teenager Joaquin Niemann of Chile was another stroke back at 7-under 63.
Kelly Kraft shot 64 while Jason Kokrak, Keegan Bradley and J.J. Henry were at 65.
ONEIDA, Wis. (AP) - Defending champion Katherine Kirk shot a 10-under-par 62 to take the first-round lead at the Thornberry Creek LPGA Classic.
Kirk wasted no time in picking up from where she left off last year, when she snapped a seven-year, 152-tournament victory drought in the inaugural edition of the Classic. Starting on the back nine, Kirk opened with three consecutive birdies and ended her day with a perfect wedge into the par-5 ninth for a tap-in birdie.
Kirk needed to keep her foot on the gas because 21 players shot 6-under or better. Sei Young Kim was a stroke behind at 63, and Brittany Marchand and Megan Khang were tied at 64.
Emma Talley made a run at Kirk late in the afternoon. After an opening bogey, she made nine birdies in a stretch of 10 holes to get to 8 under through 11 before cooling off. She finished with a bogey and was one of seven players at 7 under.
