Today is Saturday, July 13, the 195th day of 2024. There are 171 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On July 13, 1985, the “Live Aid” benefit rock concerts were held simultaneously in London and Philadelphia, raising millions for famine relief in Ethiopia.

Also on this date:

In 1793, French politician, physician and journalist Jean-Paul Marat was assassinated by Charlotte Corday, who stabbed him to death in his bath.

In 1863, deadly rioting against the Civil War military draft erupted in New York City. (The insurrection was put down three days later.)

Related Articles

Today in History: July 12, Disco Demolition Night

Charges may mount for alleged ruby slippers heist accomplice

Today in History: July 11, the fall of Srebrenica

Is 1974 the 3rd-best year ever for great albums? From Bob Marley to Joni Mitchell, it’s a contender

Today in History: July 10, the Battle of Britain begins in World War II

In 1923, a sign consisting of 50-foot-tall letters spelling out “HOLLYWOODLAND” was dedicated in the Hollywood Hills to promote a subdivision (the last four letters were removed in 1949).

In 1930, the first FIFA World Cup began in Uruguay.

In 1960, John F. Kennedy won the Democratic presidential nomination on the first ballot at his party’s convention in Los Angeles.

In 1973, former presidential aide Alexander P. Butterfield revealed to Senate Watergate Committee staff members the existence of President Richard Nixon’s secret White House taping system.

In 1999, Angel Maturino Resendiz, suspected of being the “Railroad Killer,” surrendered in El Paso, Texas.

In 2013, a jury in Florida cleared neighborhood watch volunteer George Zimmerman of all charges in the shooting of Trayvon Martin, the unarmed black teenager whose killing unleashed furious debate over racial profiling, self-defense and equal justice.

In 2018, a grand jury indictment, sought by special counsel Robert Mueller, alleged that the Russian government was behind a sweeping conspiracy to interfere in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In 2020, Washington’s NFL franchise dropped the “Redskins” name and logo amid pressure from sponsors; the move followed decades of criticism that the name and logo were offensive to Native Americans. (The team was eventually renamed the Commanders.)

Today’s Birthdays:

Game show announcer Johnny Gilbert (TV: “Jeopardy!”) is 96.
Author and Nobel laureate Wole Soyinka is 90.
Actor Patrick Stewart is 84.
Actor Harrison Ford is 82.
Singer-guitarist Roger McGuinn (The Byrds) is 82.
Rubik’s Cube inventor Erno Rubik is 80.
Actor-comedian Cheech Marin is 78.
Actor Daphne Maxwell Reid is 76.
Sportswriter and talk show host Tony Kornheiser is 76.
Actor Didi Conn is 73.
Actor Gil Birmingham is 71.
Singer Louise Mandrell is 70.
Former boxing champion Michael Spinks is 68.
Actor-director Cameron Crowe is 67.
Comedian Tom Kenny is 62.
Actor Ken Jeong is 55.
Singer Deborah Cox is 50.
Actor Aya Cash is 42.
Former St. Louis Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina is 42.
Actor Colton Haynes is 36.
Actor Steven R. McQueen is 36.
Soul singer Leon Bridges is 35.
Actor Hayley Erin (TV: “General Hospital”) is 30.

SAN FRANCISCO — Joe Ryan grew up in nearby Marin County, going to games as a kid to root on the San Francisco Giants at Oracle Park.

But his return to the ballpark as a major leaguer didn’t go quite to plan. Ryan gave up five runs — matching a season-high — and was hurt early by his defense in a 7-1 loss on Friday night at Oracle Park to the San Francisco Giants.

“Kind of from the start, we could have done some things differently,” manager Rocco Baldelli said. “I’m not saying that it all would have worked out if we did the opposite of what actually, the way it played out. We could have played better today. Could the game, in the middle of the game, have been a 3-3 game? Based on the way the game went, absolutely.”

It started almost immediately when Matt Wallner dove at a sinking liner off the bat of leadoff man Jorge Soler, but he was unable to catch it. As the ball bounced to the wall, Soler raced to third. He came around to score when the very next batter, former Twin LaMonte Wade Jr., hit a sacrifice fly.

An inning later, Brooks Lee made a low throw that Willi Castro at second base had to lean down to catch. Castro then lost the ball upon the transfer, and the Twins (53-41) were unable to turn what potentially could have been an inning-ending double play. That kept the inning alive, allowing two more runs to score in the inning.

Ryan gave up another run in the fifth and walked two batters to lead off the sixth. One of those inherited runners scored.

“They had a good plan tonight. Put some good swings on it,” Ryan said. “We didn’t play good defense and that’s usually how it shakes out. Got some extra long innings. Don’t get to go as deep into a game because of that and I just gassed out a little quicker.”

After his departure, Josh Staumont gave up a pair of runs in the seventh inning, sinking the Twins into an even larger hole. They were the first earned runs he had given up all season and they came in his 20th outing.

The Twins’ offense, meanwhile, was held to just a run despite plenty of hard contact. It was, notably, not a home run, meaning their bid to put themselves atop the record books fell just short.

Heading into Friday, the Twins had homered in 28 straight games, which had moved them into a tie for second place on Major League Baseball’s all-time list, behind just the 2019 Yankees, who accomplished the feat over 31 straight games.

“It’s probably one of the harder places to homer in,” Baldelli said of Oracle Park. ” … The streak was going to end at some point along the way. There’s no way to keep that going for an entire season. It was pretty impressive while it lasted though.”

Carlos Santana’s sixth-inning double brought home Carlos Correa for the Twins’ only run of the night against Giants (46-49) pitching.

“It was a game where we didn’t play our cleanest baseball today, we didn’t have good enough at-bats, we didn’t do enough,” Baldelli said. “Joe has been sharper previously, more so than he was today, we’ll have to get over it and just kind of move on from this one.”

Kayla McBride and her Minnesota Lynx teammates had momentum on their side during the first few minutes of Friday night’s road matchup with the Seattle Storm.

After that, though, they never really regained it.

Nneka Ogwumike finished with 26 points and seven rebounds to lead her team as Seattle pulled in front of the Lynx by as much as 18 in the first half and never looked back, winning 91-63 at Climate Pledge Arena.

McBride finished with 27 to lead Minnesota (16-7) on a night when the Lynx finished 19 for 62 (30.6 percent) from the field and just 7 for 30 (23.3 percent) from 3-point range.

Minnesota was playing without star Napheesa Collier for the third straight game as she continues to deal with plantar fasciitis in her left foot.

“It’s not a three-minute game, it’s a 40-minute game,” McBride said. “The first three minutes don’t mean anything really. Collectively, we didn’t really get set in our defense and get done what we wanted to do consistently. That trickled into our offense because we were putting so much pressure on our defense.

“We understood that. We felt that. I think it was more so just the energy that we had as a group … we weren’t happy with that.”

The Storm’s Jewell Loyd had the game’s first basket, but the Lynx then scored the next nine points to jump on top 9-2.

Following a timeout, though, the Storm (15-8) – playing the eighth game of a WNBA-record nine-game homestand – embarked on a 15-5 run, taking a 17-14 lead on a three-pointer from Ogwumike with 2:49 to play.

Minnesota managed to tie the score three times before a three-pointer by Sami Whitcomb put Seattle in front 25-22 at the quarter break. The Storm scored eight points off the fast break in the first quarter.

“We had no resilience about us defensively,” Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve said. “We were awful. We were awful on both ends of the floor to be honest with you.”

Whitcomb’s three-pointer was actually the start of a 16-0 Storm run that gave Seattle a 38-22 lead with 5:20 to go before halftime. Minnesota didn’t score its first second-quarter points until a layup by Diamond Miller with 4:58 remaining.

Led by five points from McBride, the Lynx did mount a 7-0 run late in the first half that cut the gap to 11, but a jump shot by Ezi Magbegor put Seattle in front 50-37 at the half.

Minnesota finished the first half just 13 for 37 (35.1 percent) from the field and were outrebounded 22-12. The Storm finished 19 for 34 (55.9 percent), led by 19 points from Ogwumike. McBride finished with 16 to lead the Lynx.

“We couldn’t string together multiple possessions of playing Lynx basketball,” Reeve said. “It was very, very sporadic.”

McBride – who finished the night as the only Minnesota player in double figures – scored 11 points in the third quarter, but her team still trailed 72-56 entering the fourth. Whitcomb then hit three-straight three-pointers as Seattle closed the door for good.

“We can’t have a game like this again,” said Minnesota guard Courtney Williams, who finished with six points.

“All the way around, we understand that this is not the team we want to be.”

The Lynx now return home for a matchup against Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever at 3 p.m. Sunday, then play host to the Atlanta Dream at noon Wednesday before heading into the month-long Olympic break.

“We want to (go into the break) feeling good and having momentum,” McBride said. “We’ve had such a great first part of the season, and yeah, this moment sucks. This is trash.

“But being able to go into these last two games at home, we’re really excited about it. It gives us the chance to really get our mojo back.”

related_articles location=”left” show_article_date=”false” article_type=”automatic-primary-section”]

This week’s trip to Louisville, Ky. has not gone well for the St. Paul Saints.

After losing 5-1 on Friday night, St. Paul has lost all four games of the six-game series, being outscored 22-9 in total.

David Festa, making his first start for the Saints since being optioned to Triple-A by the Twins, couldn’t get out of the first inning on Friday. The right-hander (3-3) allowed two runs on three hits and two walks while getting just two outs.

Each of the three relievers allowed a run but Adam Plutko settled things down by giving up one run on two hits in five innings for St. Paul

Offensively, the Saints’ lone run came in the eighth inning as newcomer Wynton Bernard reached on an error that allowed Eduoard Julien to score. Julien was on base three times with a single and two walks.

The series continues Saturday with an evening contest before a Sunday afternoon game. The Saints are off Monday through Thursday before a weekend series in Toledo.

Related Articles

Louisville Bats snuff out St. Paul Saints’ late rally in 3-2 win

Saints surrender 4-0 lead over final three innings, lose to Louisville Bats on walkoff homer

Saints fall after three rain delays shorten game

Saints’ Jair Camargo keeps showing his pop with homer in 4-3 win against Gwinnett

Matt Bowman’s winding baseball journey brings him back to Saints