Reuters Sports News Summary

Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agreed to a deal that will cut each game in a doubleheader to seven innings beginning Aug. 1, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Thursday.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs. League ready to launch postseason unlike any in NHL history

When the National Hockey League (NHL) resumes its virus-hit season on Saturday it will be a postseason unlike any other in league history with teams competing in two Canadian cities in a bid to limit travel and minimize COVID-19 risk. While some of the changes, including regular testing of all players, will not be so obvious, many other aspects of the NHL's Return to Play plan will be hard to miss when the puck is dropped for the first time since mid-March. MLB notebook: More delays as Phils staffers test positive

As the number of coronavirus cases associated with last weekend's Philadelphia Phillies-Miami Marlins series continues to climb, the Phillies' series with the Toronto Blue Jays scheduled for this weekend has been postponed. "We're not going to Philadelphia," Jays manager Charlie Montoyo told reporters Thursday afternoon. "Those games have been postponed." NBA notebook: Players, coaches kneel as games return

Every person present at HP Fieldhouse on the ESPN Wide World of Sports campus near Orlando knelt during the national anthem before the first game of the NBA's restarted season on Thursday night. All players, coaches and staff members of the New Orleans Pelicans and Utah Jazz, along with all officials, wore shirts reading "BLACK LIVES MATTER," which was also printed on the court. Many locked arms with those next to them, while some players raised fists in the air. NBA re-evaluating training programme in China after abuse allegations

The National Basketball Association (NBA) said it was re-evaluating its training programme in China following allegations of abuse of young players by local staff and harassment of foreign staffers at a facility in Xinjiang. The comments come after a report by ESPN that quoted unnamed American coaches saying Chinese coaches hit young players. One American coach who worked at a camp in Xinjiang complained of harassment by local police, the sports network said. Golf: Harrington, Molinari withdraw from PGA Championship

Major champions Francesco Molinari and Padraig Harrington have withdrawn from next week's PGA Championship in San Francisco, tournament organisers said on Thursday. Neither player has competed on the PGA Tour since it resumed from the COVID-19 shutdown. Report: MLB, union agree to 7-inning doubleheaders

Doubleheaders apparently are about to get shorter. Major League Baseball and the MLB Players Association agreed to a deal that will cut each game in a doubleheader to seven innings beginning Aug. 1, ESPN's Jeff Passan reported Thursday. Strong ratings boost momentum for women's sport

U.S. women's soccer and basketball earned strong television ratings as they returned after being put on hold due to COVID-19, helping to quell concern that the pandemic would undo progress made in women's sports over the last year. The National Women's Soccer League (NWSL) Challenge Cup final on Sunday averaged 653,000 viewers, up almost 300% from the 2019 final, broadcaster CBS said. Murray predicts more U.S. Open withdrawals after Barty

Britain's Andy Murray expects some of the top male players to follow women's world number one Ash Barty in skipping next month's U.S. Open in New York due to concerns over the coronavirus pandemic. Australian Barty said on Thursday she was not comfortable travelling to the United States amid the pandemic for the hardcourt Grand Slam, which begins on Aug. 31. NBA players protest racial injustice as league returns to action

NBA teams bowed their heads and knelt during the playing of the U.S. national anthem while wearing Black Lives Matter T-shirts on Thursday as the league returned for the first time since the coronavirus halted play in March with two thrilling games. Coaches and game officials joined players from the Utah Jazz, New Orleans Pelicans and Los Angeles Lakers and Clippers in taking a knee to protest against racial injustice and police brutality in the first games in 140 days. Maple Leafs look to drink from Cup and end longest drought

It has been 53 years since the Toronto Maple Leafs hoisted the Stanley Cup but as the National Hockey League prepares to resume on Saturday after the COVID-19 shutdown, there is hope that one of sport's longest title droughts could be about to end. With six-of-seven Canadian franchises still in the postseason chase and all games being played north of the border for the first time since 1925, the stars seem to be aligning for a Canadian club to get their hands on Lord Stanley's famous mug.

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