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She lit the fire to start the Olympics, but Naomi Osaka‘s Tokyo 2020 dreams were extinguished far too soon on Tuesday in just over an hour by Marketa Vondrousova. With a flurry of unforced errors and growing frustration, Osaka’s Olympics ended with a 6-1, 6-4 loss to Vondrousova, ranked No. 42 in the world.

Osaka looked out of sorts throughout against Vondrousova, her serve failing to produce the goods (winning just 25 of 43 points on her first serve). She made 32 unforced errors compared to Vondrousova’s 10.

When asked afterward what went wrong, she responded: “Everything — if you watch the match then you would probably see. I feel like there’s a lot of things that I counted on that I couldn’t rely on today.”

It wasn’t meant to be like this for Osaka. Chosen to light the Olympic torch at the opening ceremony, Osaka was essentially the face of these Games, which were going to plan for the hosts, who were tied with the United States for most gold medals as a country.

Osaka took an eight-week break before the tournament and had looked so comfortable through the first two rounds with victories over Zheng Saisai and Viktorija Golubic, but then it unraveled on Tuesday as Typhoon Nepartak came hammering down on the roof of Ariake Tennis Court.

It has been a rollercoaster 2021 for the four-time Grand Slam champion. Having won the Australian Open in February, Osaka was the player to beat on the women’s tour. But when the French Open rolled around, she announced she was going to skip the tournament’s press conferences, citing her mental health.

After winning her first-round match at Roland Garros, she withdrew from the tournament and later decided not to participate at Wimbledon, focusing on bringing back the gold medal for Japan.

“I definitely feel like there was a lot of pressure for this,” Osaka said. “I think it’s maybe because I haven’t played in the Olympics before and for the first year (it) was a bit much. I think I’m glad with how I played, with taking that break that I had.”

It looked like it was all laid out perfectly for her when Ash Barty, the world No. 1, went out in the opening round of the Olympics, opening the door for Osaka to continue Japan’s gold medal run at its home Games.

By the time Osaka took the court on Tuesday, Japan was up to eight gold medals: two in skateboarding, four in judoka and one each in swimming and table tennis. Osaka dreamt of adding another.

But that dream did not come to fruition. She dropped the first set in 24 minutes, and though she staved off three match points in the second set, her backhand sailed wide, sending Vondrousova to the quarterfinals.

“How disappointed am I? I mean, I’m disappointed in every loss, but I feel like this one sucks more than the others. I do know that my expectations were a lot higher,” Osaka said. “I feel like my attitude wasn’t that great because I don’t really know how to cope with that pressure, so that’s the best that I could have done in this situation.”

Still, while the loss will surely hurt Osaka, she has already left a strong legacy off the court in her home country. The image of her lighting the torch was a symbol of hope for a country that has gone ahead and put on an Olympic Games amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

She has also made an impact in ending the stigma surrounding mental health. In her self-penned piece in TIME Magazine, which came out before the Games, she spoke of wanting to make Japan’s people “proud,” and that didn’t necessarily need to be accomplished with a medal.

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Dodgers’ Ohtani belts 46th HR in record-tying heat

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Dodgers' Ohtani belts 46th HR in record-tying heat

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani hit his 46th home run of the season to tie his career high, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Cleveland Guardians 4-0 on Sunday in record-tying heat.

With the first-pitch temperature of 103 degrees matching the hottest in Dodger Stadium history, Ohtani hit a 450-foot solo shot down the right-field line off Tanner Bibee in the fifth inning that was reviewed to see if it was fair.

Ohtani has 22 450-foot home runs for his career, all coming since 2021. That’s five more than any other player over that span.

Ohtani also hit 46 home runs in 2021 for the Los Angeles Angels in his unanimous AL MVP season. The Japanese star has 46 stolen bases in a bid to become the first major league player with a 50-50 season.

He’s also one home run shy of tying Cody Bellinger in 2019 for the third-most homers in a season in Dodgers history.

Ohtani finished the day 2-for-4. He was picked off first base in the third inning.

As far as the scorching temperature, it also was 103 for the first pitch of Game 1 of the 2017 World Series against Houston. On Sunday, the Dodgers made a voucher available to all fans for a free bottle of water.

Jack Flaherty went 7⅓ innings, striking out six and allowing four hits. The Southern California native is 5-1 since coming over in a trade with Detroit.

Max Muncy homered for the Dodgers in the eighth, his 12th of an injury-shortened season.

In Dodgers injury news, pitcher Gavin Stone (right shoulder inflammation) will not throw for 10 days and then build back up and see where he’s at, according to manager Dave Roberts. His status for the postseason is certainly in question with 19 games remaining.

ESPN Research and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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HOFer Boggs announces he has prostate cancer

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HOFer Boggs announces he has prostate cancer

Baseball Hall of Fame member Wade Boggs has prostate cancer.

The former third baseman made the announcement Saturday night on social media and sounded optimistic, saying he will be ready to take part in the ritual cancer patients have of ringing a bell when they have concluded their treatment.

“With the strength and support of my family and my faith in God I’m going to ring that damn bell,” Boggs wrote, adding a photo of a prostate cancer patient guide.

Boggs, 66, played 18 MLB seasons with the Boston Red Sox (1982-92), New York Yankees (1993-97) and the then-Tampa Bay Devil Rays (1998-99).

A five-time batting champion and 12-time All-Star, Boggs was elected to the Hall of Fame in 2005 on the first ballot, garnering votes on 91.9% of ballots.

The Hall of Fame sent good wishes, posting to social media, “We’re with you every step of the way, Wade!”

In his career, Boggs hit .328 and joined the 3,000-hit club, finishing with 3,010 to go with 1,513 runs, 118 homers and 1,014 RBIs.

Boggs’ contemporary and fellow 2005 enshrinee Ryne Sandberg said in mid-August that he was cancer-free following treatment for metastatic prostate cancer.

“Rang the Bell this morning!” Sandberg wrote. “WE did it, WE won! What a Dream Team, family, doctors, friends, nurses, fans who supported myself and [wife] Margaret through the last 8 months! We feel so blessed from all the love, prayers and thoughts and positive words that have come our way!”

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In MLB clubhouses, September hype is building … for fantasy football

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In MLB clubhouses, September hype is building ... for fantasy football

The energy in the clubhouses for Friday night’s game between the Tampa Bay Rays and Baltimore Orioles at Camden Yards was unmistakable.

It was the same intensity that existed in every baseball clubhouse in the major leagues that day — at Fenway, Wrigley, Dodger Stadium. Yes, it’s September, it’s the stretch run, with great pennant races, but this excitement was different because Thursday night, the NFL season opened with the Kansas City Chiefs‘ 27-20 win over the Baltimore Ravens. That means fantasy football is back.

“Guys came in the clubhouse today and they were already running their mouths about last night … and there was only one game — one game,” Orioles catcher James McCann said. “After the first weekend of fantasy, every baseball clubhouse will be bedlam.”

“Monday will be unreal,” said Orioles pitcher Zach Eflin. “Unreal.”

Rays infielder Taylor Walls, who Eflin, a former teammate, lovingly calls “a lunatic” about fantasy football, says it is “an event. I love it because it allows me to — sorry for my language — to talk s—, which I love to do. It allows you to look at a teammate and say, ‘How can you be such an idiot?’ Motor [Rays hitting coach Chad Mottola] had three playmakers from the Ravens on his team last night, and we were all over him today, like, ‘How could you play a running back, wide receiver and a tight end on the same team?’ But fantasy football is all about camaraderie, it’s about bringing a spark to the end of the season. It’s an escape. It’s about staying in the loop with guys even after the season ends.”

This goes on in most clubhouses around the major leagues. The Arizona Diamondbacks determined the order of their fantasy draft by placing each team’s fantasy league name on 12 different baseballs: Whichever manager Torey Lovullo hit the farthest in batting practice got the No. 1 pick, second farthest got No. 2, etc. The Oakland A’s put baseballs with team names on the top of the Coliseum, and players from each fantasy team threw the balls from the roof to targets on the field — closest to the target got the No. 1 pick. The Boston Red Sox hit golf balls off the top of the Green Monster: closest to the pin picked first.

“We just picked out of the hat,” Walls said. “And it was still so much fun.”

Every major league team holds its fantasy league draft as a group, which they note is great for team building approaching a stretch run.

“Ours was so good,” Eflin said. “Pizza, beer and lots of trash talk. Lots of ‘What a reach!'”

The Rays held their 12-team draft when they were in Los Angeles at the end of August.

“It was very relaxed; I spent most of the time looking quietly at my phone,” Rays outfielder Josh Lowe said. “Then there was Motor. He had his pen and paper out, he had his spreadsheets laid out on all the tables as he prepared to take players who were five or six years past their prime.”

“We had 20 guys at ours, it was so good for team chemistry,” Orioles pitcher Danny Coulombe said. “We had guys trying to talk trades as soon as the draft finished. I looked at a few of them and said, ‘I guess you’re not happy with who you drafted, I’m happy with mine.'”

Rays pitcher Ryan Pepiot, during his rookie season with the Dodgers last year, didn’t have a fantasy team but still played a role on draft day.

“I didn’t participate, but they had me read the first-round picks, but they said I took too long, so they replaced me,” he said. “They had me start the proceedings by singing the national anthem. I can’t sing at all. It was more like I just spoke the national anthem. But I participated this year. My teammate is one of our clubhouse guys. I gave him the reins. He was up at 11 o’clock in the East on his computer while we were out West. He put in more effort than me.”

No one puts in more effort than Walls, say his teammates.

“He is a lunatic in a good way; he carries around a fantasy football notebook with him, and I’m sure he has a big white board at his house to track transactions,” said Rays second baseman Brandon Lowe. “He’s really good at his because he really does his homework.”

“That’s not true!” Walls said, laughing. “Guys came to the draft with notebooks and IPads. I winged it!”

Walls was Josh Lowe’s fantasy teammate last year, but each forgot to make a key transaction late during the playoffs, and they lost in the semifinals. So they went out on their own this year. Lowe got the No. 1 pick this year; Walls had it but traded down to No. 3.

“I had inside information on what he was going to do,” Walls said, smiling. “I fleeced him a little bit.”

Lowe said: “When we were general manager and assistant general manager last year, we fleeced a lot of guys. There were times that I had to talk him off the ledge from making another trade. Finally, I told him, ‘Dude, just let the players play.'”

This year, the Orioles also paired up players, instead of each player having his own team.

“I am the owner of the team this year because the last few years haven’t gone very well,” Eflin said, smiling. “I’m with Mitch [Plassmeyer, a pitching instructor] and [pitching coach Drew French]. They make all the player decisions. We have a club president and general manager. I am now just a special assistant.”

According to Coulombe, teammate and fellow reliever Craig Kimbrel has more of a hands-off approach to fantasy.

“Craig said he doesn’t know the players, he’ll just be a silent partner who offers moral support,” Coulombe said. “I asked [Orioles general manager] Mike Elias if he wanted to be our GM, and he said he had a real major league team to run.”

McCann is teammates with outfielder Austin Slater.

“With the Mets, Mark Canha and I won our fantasy league,” McCann said. “But last year didn’t go well. I drafted the All-Injured Team.”

Among the top names of fantasy teams among the Rays and Orioles this year:

“We wanted to play off the [clear] mask that I wear when I catch,” McCann said. “So we’re The Masked Bandits. But if we lose for a couple of weeks, I’m sure we will change.”

“We are The Ef Shack,” Eflin said. “I don’t know what that means.”

“I am ‘The Real Slim Shady’ because I have Joe Burrow, and he has gray hair,” Walls said.

“I am JLowe,” Lowe said. “If I start to lose, I’m sure I will change it.”

“Our team is Love Thy Nabers because we drafted [Giants wide receiver Malik Nabers],” Pepiot said.

Each MLB team has a commissioner; the Rays’ is pitcher Kevin Kelly.

“[Teammate] Pete Fairbanks gave me the job last year because I was a rookie, he just gave me some pens and paper and asked me to go around the room and see who wants to play,” Kelly said, smiling. “I don’t do much. I just collect the money. Technically, all transactions have to go through me. I don’t have a team in the league. That would be a conflict of interest. That’s another reason they made me commissioner.”

The Orioles’ commissioner is Ryan Klimek, a statistical analyst.

“His team won last year,” Coulombe said, adding with a laugh: “We’re not happy that he is still the commissioner.”

And though a lot of players monitor fantasy football very closely — “a lot of the guys come to me during a game and say, ‘Go check the score, go check the score,'” said Pepiot of days when he’s not playing — the fantasy football craze is all for fun.

“We play 162 games in 180-some days, sometimes you have to get outside of the game and enjoy something else,” Lowe said.

“It really brings the clubhouse together,” McCann said. “We are heading toward playoff time, we need to take our minds off the things that are really important. I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes, you have to make it about something different. It’s like binge watching a new show, sometimes you have to just open a new head space. That’s what it does.”

Though the Rays have money at stake — between $200 and $1,000 — Walls said, “It’s not about the money, it’s about the competition, it’s about bragging rights.”

The competition in baseball clubhouses just got more intense. Football is here.

“I had dinner with my mom the other night and I told her right now is the best time of year,” McCann said. “It’s September baseball. The playoffs are ahead. And football has started.”

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