soccer

Klingenberg would retire if traded — Meghan Klingenberg said she would retire if the Portland Thorns traded her. “I love being here so much and I feel like my home is here now,” Klingenberg said. “I actually feel like if I ever got traded or if I was picked up in an expansion draft, I would just retire from soccer. I wouldn’t consider going abroad. I wouldn’t consider going anywhere else. I would just be done with soccer.” Klingenberg joined the Thorns ahead of the 2016 season after being selected with the first pick in the NWSL Expansion Draft. She played two seasons with the Houston Dash.  Portland  fell 3-0 to the North Carolina Courage in the 2018 NWSL Championship Game Saturday.

USL name change to mirror England — The United Soccer League is changing the names of its divisions to match England’s three-tier Football League. The top division, the second tier of U.S. soccer below Major League Soccer, will change its name to the USL Championship next season in a rebrand announced Tuesday. Its new circuit launching next year will be known as USL League One and launch with 11 teams and plans to expand to 25-30 teams later. . Its amateur Player Development League will be rebranded USL League Two, which will have more than 80 teams in conferences with three divisions playing 14 games. The USL Championship plans to operate with 33 teams. The USL is completing its eighth season, its second with Division II sanctioning by the U.S. Soccer Federation. The USL has applied for Division II and Division III sanctioning for 2019.

basketball

U.S. advances in FIBA Women’s World Cup — Brittney Griner scored 15 points in her first game of the FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cup to lead the U.S. to a 102-76 victory over Latvia. Griner missed the first two games with a mildly sprained right ankle and came in midway through the first quarter in this one. She scored six straight during a stretch in the second quarter, including an impressive post move where she faked out her defender. With Latvia hanging around in the second half only down 11, Griner took over. She scored the first seven points during a 17-0 run to close the third quarter, including a 3-point play with 2:16 left. A’ja Wilson then scored the next seven points and Latvia was finished. The U.S. team will play the winner of Wednesday’s game between Greece and Nigeria on Friday. In Australia’s 90-64 win over Turkey, Liz Cambage scored 25 points and hit her first 11 shots. Cayla George scored 12 points. Sami Whitcomb had 11 for Australia (3-0), which clinched first place in its pool.

baseball

Assault charges dropped against Osuna — Canadian prosecutors dropped a domestic assault charge Tuesday against Houston Astros closer Roberto Osuna, who agreed to stay away from the alleged victim for one year and continue counseling. Osuna, formerly with the Toronto Blue Jays, was charged with assault in May. The 23-year-old player was suspended without pay for 75 games for violating Major League Baseball’s domestic violence policy, and the Blue Jays dealt him to Houston on July 30. Prosecutor Catherine Mullaly said the complainant, who lives in Mexico, made clear she would not travel to testify against Osuna, who declined to comment. He was met with boos when the Astros beat the Blue Jays in Toronto on Monday. The Astros said they would not tolerate another incident involving their closer and the organization is committed to supporting victims of domestic violence.

Rain and eliminations change MLB schedule — A full day of rain in the forecast means the Orioles and Boston Red Sox will play a day-night doubleheader beginning at 1:05 p.m. Wednesday instead of trying to play Tuesday night. Though the Red Sox have already clinched the best record in the majors and the Orioles the worst, meaning the games won’t impact the standings, the doubleheader will try to allow them to get their full 19 scheduled games in this year. The makeup game the Miami Marlins were supposed to play at the Pittsburgh Pirates on the day after the regular season ends has been canceled. Both teams have been eliminated from playoff contention.