Sports News Roundup: Yanks make homer history in series; Pieters moves into US Open lead and more

Spectators to be allowed to watch Italian Open Up to 1,000 spectators will be allowed to watch each of the final two days of the Italian Open tennis tournament as Italy begins to open up stadiums to fans, sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Friday.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

MLB roundup: Yanks make homer history in series sweep

Brett Gardner, DJ LeMahieu, and Luke Voit homered in a span of three pitches in the fourth inning, and the New York Yankees became the seventh team in baseball history to homer five times in an inning during a 10-7 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays Thursday night. The Yankees hit 19 homers in the series, a major league record over a three-game span, and became the first team to hit five homers in an inning since the Washington Nationals did it against the Milwaukee Brewers on July 27, 2017.

Pieters moves into U.S. Open lead as Winged Foot shows teeth

Belgium's Thomas Pieters was making a morning charge at the U.S. Open on Friday, moving to the top of the second round leaderboard on a cold breezy day at Winged Foot Golf Club. After ideal scoring conditions on Thursday, Winged Foot looked ready to show its teeth with only a handful of early starters playing under par.

Kragh Andersen takes second Tour stage win with late solo attack

Denmark's Soren Kragh Andersen claimed his second audacious solo stage win of the Tour de France on Friday with a perfectly timed attack late in the 19th stage, an undulating 166.5-km ride from Bourg en Bresse to Champagnole. The Sunweb rider, who also won the 14th stage in Lyon with an instinctive move in the finale, jumped away from a group of late breakaway riders to give his team their third stage win this year after Marc Hirschi's victory in the 12th stage.

European Tour to allow 650 spectators per day at Scottish Open

A limited number of fans will be allowed to attend the Scottish Open at the Renaissance Club in East Lothian next month, the European Tour said on Friday. The European Tour gave the green light to the trial with 650 spectators per day for the Rolex Series tournament, which has been rescheduled from its usual July date to Oct. 1-4.

Roglic's bike damaged during official check, say team

Team Jumbo-Visma said on Friday an International Cycling Union (UCI) official had damaged the bike of Tour de France overall leader Primoz Roglic during an inspection, which had prompted an angry response from the team's sports director. Merjin Zeeman was excluded from the race for intimidating and insulting a member of the UCI at the end of Thursday's 17th stage.

Monfils subjected to racist abuse online after early exit in Rome

France's Gael Monfils revealed on Friday that he had been racially abused on Instagram following his early exit at the Italian Open in Rome. Fifth seed Monfils, who had received a bye into the second round, lost 6-2 6-4 to Dominik Koepfer on Thursday after which he received the abusive comments as personal messages, with one fan calling him a "stupid black monkey" and "slave".

Osaka withdraws from French Open with hamstring injury

Japan's Naomi Osaka has withdrawn from the upcoming French Open with a hamstring injury, she said on Thursday. The 22-year-old had her left hamstring taped when she battled back against Victoria Azarenka in the U.S. Open final in New York on Saturday to win her third Grand Slam title.

Heat seize 2-0 series lead over Celtics with second-half surge

Goran Dragic scored a game-high 25 points, Bam Adebayo had 15 of his 21 during a furious third-quarter comeback, and the Miami Heat rallied from an early 17-point deficit to beat the Boston Celtics 106-101 in Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals Thursday night near Orlando. Adebayo, the hero of Game 1 with his critical block in overtime, added 10 rebounds as the Heat improved to 2-0 in the best-of-seven series and 10-1 in the playoffs. Six Miami players scored in double figures, including Duncan Robinson, who had 18 points on six 3-pointers.

Italian teenager Musetti continues dream run in Rome

Teenager Lorenzo Musetti brandished his reputation as a next-generation star by taking down Japan's Kei Nishikori in straight sets at the Italian Open on Thursday for back-to-back wins against former top-five players. The 18-year-old Italian also defeated three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka, a former world number three, in two sets on Tuesday in only his second Tour level match.

Spectators to be allowed to watch Italian Open

Up to 1,000 spectators will be allowed to watch each of the final two days of the Italian Open tennis tournament as Italy begins to open up stadiums to fans, sports minister Vincenzo Spadafora said on Friday. Professional sports events in Italy have been played without fans since March due to the COVID-19 pandemic, although some supporters have been allowed into pre-season soccer friendlies.