CORONAVIRUS UPDATES… The number of confirmed coronavirus cases in the U.S. has reached 33,651,272 and the nation’s death toll stands at 604,436, according to figures released last night by Johns Hopkins University… The pharmaceutical company Moderna said yesterday that a recent lab study showed that its COVID-19 vaccine showed promise against the Delta variant. The study, which has yet to be peer-reviewed, was conducted on blood serum from eight participants obtained one week after they received the second dose of the vaccine. According to Moderna, the vaccine was far more effective in producing antibodies against the Delta variant than it was against the Beta variant.
SEARCH CONTINUES FOLLOWING CONDO COLLAPSE… International crews have joined the search for 149 people who remain unaccounted for following last Thursday’s condo building collapse in Surfside, Florida. Mayor Daniella Levine Cava of Miami-Dade County said a body discovered yesterday raised the death toll to 12. The cause of the collapse has yet to be determined but Miami’s top prosecutor has vowed to have a grand jury examine the collapse. President Joe Biden is scheduled to visit the site of the collapse tomorrow and meet with first responders and families of some of the victims.
BORDER ENTRANTS CAN BE DETAINED INDEFINITELY… The Supreme Court ruled along partisan lines yesterday in deciding that the federal government can detain certain immigrants and refugees for an indefinite period of time while they await possible entry to the U.S. The high court ruled in its 6-3 vote that certain undocumented immigrants have no right to a bond hearing for release while the government weighs claims that they face torture or persecution if they return to their native land. The detention could last for months, experts say.
AFGHAN PULLOUT HALFWAY COMPLETED… U.S. Central Command announced yesterday that more than 50 percent of the U.S. pullout from Afghanistan, including departure of American troops, has been completed. According to a CentCom press release, the Department of Defense has withdrawn about 896 C-17 loads of material and turned over six facilities to the Afghan Ministry of Defense. The Biden administration announced in April that it expected the withdrawal to end by September 11.
HOUSE VOTES TO REMOVE CONFEDERATE FIGURES FROM CAPITOL… The House of Representatives yesterday approved a measure to move statues of Confederate figures from the U.S. Capitol. The vote was 285 to 120, with only Republicans opposing. The proposal also would replace a bust of former Supreme Court Justice Robert Taney with a bust of Thurgood Marshall. Taney issued the High Court’s decision that defended the enslavement of African Americans in the 1856 Dred Scott case. Marshall was the court’s first Black justice.
ENTERTAINMENT
KYLE MASSEY HIT WITH FELONY… Actor Kyle Massey, who was best known or playing Cory Baxter on “That’s So Raven” and “Cory in the House,” has been charged with one felony count of communication with a minor for immoral purposes. The 29-year-old Massey allegedly sent inappropriate videos and messages to an underage girl between December 2018 and January 2019. Police were given a thumb drive by the girl’s mother containing the sexual material Massey allegedly sent over Snapchat. Massey failed to appear for arraignment in King County Criminal Court in Washington on Monday and has yet to release a statement.
INDIANA JONES’ FEDORA SELLS OR $300K… A fedora worn by Harrison Ford in “Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom” sold for $300,000 to an unidentified bidder yesterday during a Prop Store auction in Los Angeles. The hat had been expected to sell for between $150,000 and $250,000. A separate fedora that Ford wore in “Raiders of the Lost Ark” sold for more than $500,000 at auction in 2015.
SPORTS
MLB SCOREBOARD
NATIONAL LEAGUE
PHILADELPHIA 4 – Miami 3… The Phillies took a 4-0 lead into the eighth inning and hung on to edge the Marlins. Rhys Hoskins smacked a solo homer. Vince Velasquez (3-2) pitched two-hit ball over seven scoreless innings.
San Diego 5 – CINCINNATI 4… Tommy Pham went 3-for-5 with a homer and a sacrifice fly as the Padres held off the Reds. Jake Cronenworth tripled home a run and scored twice.
N.Y. Mets 4 – ATLANTA 3… The Mets scored all four runs in the top of the seventh inning to overtake the Braves. James McCann belted a three-run homer and Francisco Lindor lined an RBI single.
MILWAUKEE 2 – Chi. Cubs 1… Brandon Woodruff (7-3) held the Cubs to a run on four hits over six innings and four Brewers relievers blanked them the rest of the way. Jace Peterson singled home a tie-breaking run in the bottom of the fourth inning.
ST. LOUIS 3 – Arizona 2… Carlos Martinez (4-9) allowed just a run on four hits over six innings and got help from four Cardinals relievers in the win over the Diamondbacks. Nolan Arenado hit a two-run homer and Tommy Edman singled home a run for St. Louis.
COLORADO 8 – Pittsburgh 0… German Marquez (7-6) allowed only a Ka’ai Tom leadoff single in the top of the ninth inning and got plenty of support in the one-hit shutout of the Pirates. Charlie Blackmon went 3-for-4 with a RBI single to lead a 15-hit attack. Trevor Story knocked in two runs with a double and a single.
L.A. DODGERS 3 – San Francisco 1… The Dodgers made it five straight wins with the defeat of the Giants. Walker Buehler (8-1) allowed just an unearned run on three hits over 6-2/3 innings. Chris Taylor doubled home two runs in the bottom of the first inning and Max Muncy homered in the third.
AMERICAN LEAGUE
N.Y. YANKEES 11 – L.A. Angels 5… The Yankees got home runs from Gary Sanchez, Aaron Judge and Miguel Andújar in their pounding of the Angels. Andújar also doubled home a run. L.A.’s Shohei Ohtani homered twice in the loss and leads the major leagues with 28 roundtrippers.
TORONTO 9 – Seattle 3… Marcus Semien opened the scoring with a two-run double in the bottom of the second inning and added a three-run homer in the seventh to lead the Blue Jays in their romp over the Mariners. Bo Bichette also connected for a three-run blast.
BOSTON 7 – Kansas City 6… J.D. Martinez’ two-run double in the bottom of the sixth inning gave the Red Sox the lead for good in a hard-fought win over the Royals. Martinez also singled home a run and lifted a sacrifice fly. Kiké Hernandez had a couple of hits, including a run-scoring single.
Baltimore 13 – HOUSTON 3… Austin Hays and Maikel Franco drove in three runs apiece as the Orioles thrashed the Astros. Ramón Urías and Austin Wynns hit two-run homers. Cedric Mullins and Anthony Santander added solo shots.
CHI. WHITE SOX 7 – Minnesota 6… Gavin Sheets singled, doubled and knocked in two runs in his major-league debut and the White Sox fought off the Twins. Leury Garcia also had two RBIs.
Texas 5 – OAKLAND 4… Nick Solak’s two-run homer in the top of the ninth inning gave the Rangers a three-run lead and they escaped with a win over the Athletics. Joey Gallo smacked a pair of solo homers for Texas. Mike Foltynewicz (2-7) gave up two runs on four hits over seven innings.
Detroit – CLEVELAND (ppd)… Rain in Cleveland forced postponement of last night’s Tigers-Indians game. It will be made up as part of a doubleheader tomorrow.
INTERLEAGUE
WASHINGTON 4 – Tampa Bay 3… Kyle Schwarber hit a lead-of homer and Juan Soto added a two-run shot in the bottom of the first inning to stake the Nationals to an early lead and they held off the Rays. Victor Robles also went deep for Washington. Joe Ross (5-7) allowed two runs on six hits over 6-1/3 innings.
TODAY’S MLB SCHEDULE…
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Arizona (Corbin Martin, 0-3) is at St. Louis (Kwang Hyun Kim, 1-5)…
Milwaukee (Corbin Burnes, 3-4) hosts the Chi. Cubs (Jake Arrieta, 5-8)…
Pittsburgh (Chad Kuhl, 2-4) is at Colorado (Jon Gray, 4-6)…
Philadelphia (Aaron Nola, 5-4) hosts Miami (Cody Poteet, 2-3)…
San Diego (Joe Musgrove, 4-6) is at Cincinnati (Vladimir Gutierrez, 3-2)…
Atlanta (Max Fried, 4-4) hosts the N.Y. Mets (David Peterson, 2-5)
AMERICAN LEAGUE
the L.A. Angels (Shohei Ohtani, 3-1) are at the N.Y. Yankees (Domingo German, 4-5)…
Toronto (Steven Matz, 7-3) hosts Seattle (Justus Sheffield, 5-7) in Buffalo…
Detroit (Wily Peralta, 0-1) is at Cleveland (Cal Quantrill, 0-2)…
Boston (Martin Perez, 5-4) hosts Kansas City (Mike Minor, 6-5)…
Baltimore (Matt Harvey, 3-9) is at Houston (Luis Garcia, 6-4)…
the Chi. White Sox (Dylan Crease, 6-3) host Minnesota (Bailey Ober 0-0)…
Texas (Kolby Allard, 2-3) is at Oakland (Chris Bassitt, 8-2)
INTERLEAGUE
Tampa Bay (Michael Wacha, 1-2) is at Washington (Jon Lester, 1-3)
NBA PLAYOFF SCOREBOARD…
ATLANTA 110 – Milwaukee 88… The Hawks rolled past the Bucks and tied the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece despite playing without the injured Trae Young. Lou Williams got the start and scored 21 points to lead a balanced scoring attack. Bogdan Bogdanovic added 20 points. Milwaukee lost Giannis Antetokounmpo in the third quarter after he suffered a knee injury that appeared serious. The series returns to Milwaukee for Game 5 tomorrow.
TONIGHT’S NBA PLAYOFF SCHEDULE…
Phoenix is at the L.A. Clippers for Game 6 of the Western Conference finals with the Suns leading 3-2
TONIGHT’S STANLEY CUP FINALS SCHEDULE…
Montreal is at Tampa Bay for Game 2 with the Lightning leading 1-0
Bob Sarber 