Tennessee Volunteers

Wednesday's Sports Briefs

Published Sep. 6, 2018 3:00 a.m. ET

TENNIS

NEW YORK (AP) — Madison Keys was one of four American women in the U.S. Open semifinals a year ago, when she was the runner-up.

She's the only member of that quartet who made it back to that round.

Still in search of her first Grand Slam title, the 14th-seeded Keys reached her third semifinal in the past five majors by using her big-strike game built on serves and forehands to overpower No. 30 Carla Suarez Navarro of Spain 6-4, 6-3 at Flushing Meadows on Wednesday night.

Keys, who is 23, thinks she is more equipped than ever to deal with important moments on important stages.

Keys won all 10 of her service games, saving the only two break points she faced. One came in the last game as she served for the victory, but she erased it with a forehand winner, part of a 22-10 edge in that category.

It all took less than 1 1/2 hours against Suarez Navarro, who eliminated five-time major champion Maria Sharapova in straight sets in her previous match but has never made it to the semifinals at a major.

Keys is that far for the fourth time in her career.

BASEBALL

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Los Angeles Angels two-way star Shohei Ohtani has new damage in his pitching elbow and the team says Tommy John surgery has been recommended.

A couple of hours before Ohtani hit two home runs against Texas on Wednesday, the Angels said he had an MRI earlier in the day that revealed the problem in his right ulnar collateral ligament.

The 24-year-old rookie was the Angels' designated hitter for their series finale against the Rangers. He went 4 for 4 with three RBIs, four runs and a stolen base in a 9-3 victory over Texas.

Ohtani didn't speak with reporters after the announcement about his injury — or following the game.

Asked whether Ohtani would stay in the lineup as a DH beyond Wednesday, Scioscia said: "We'll see. That's going to be determined from our medical department."

Angels general manager Billy Eppler said Ohtani hasn't formally decided to have Tommy John surgery. Eppler and Ohtani plan to have an in-depth conversation about his future Monday after the Angels return from their road trip.

DENVER (AP) — Trevor Story homered in his first three at-bats, including one projected at more than 500 feet, for the Colorado Rockies on Wednesday night.

Story's first home run, a 459-foot shot to left, according to Statcast, gave the Rockies a 2-1 lead in the first inning. He topped that with another solo homer in the fourth that traveled an estimated 505 feet. It is the longest homer in franchise history and the longest since Statcast began tracking distances in 2015.

His last home run — and 31st of the season — went 416 feet and gave Colorado a 4-3 lead.

He came up in the eighth with a chance for his fourth of the night. He had a chance to tie the major league record with his fourth homer, but struck out leading off the bottom of the eighth.

The baseball players' association made the second high-profile addition to its staff in a less than a month, hiring Gary Sheffield business lawyer Xavier James as deputy chief operating officer.

James will report to Kevin McGuiness, the union's chief operating officer since January 2014. James has worked as a special adviser to the union and received $215,168 from it in 2017, according to the union's financial disclosure statement.

Last week, the union announced Bruce Meyer as its new senior director of collective bargaining and legal. Meyer will report directly to union head Tony Clark, who appears to be reforming his senior management ahead of bargaining for a labor contract to replace the deal that expires after the 2021 season. Some players have criticized the free-agent markets under the current five-year agreement.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Tennessee center Brandon Kennedy will miss the remainder of the season after injuring his anterior cruciate ligament in practice.

Volunteers coach Jeremy Pruitt said Wednesday night that the Alabama graduate transfer hurt his knee during Tuesday's practice.

Pruitt said Ryan Johnson will take over as the starting center Saturday when the Vols host Football Championship Subdivision program East Tennessee State . Pruitt mentioned that Riley Locklear and Jerome Carvin also have worked out at center.

Johnson had been Tennessee's first-team right guard last week in a season-opening 40-14 loss to No. 14 West Virginia.