Author: staff

Sports

WNBA star Brittney Griner to remain in custody for at least 18 more days: Russian state media

WNBA star Brittney Griner will remain in custody for at least 18 more days, according to Russian media.A Russian court extended Griner’s detention through at least July 2, ABC News reported citing Russian state media outlet TASS.AdvertisementThe seven-time WNBA All-Star center for the Phoenix Mercury was arrested by Russian authorities in February after hashish oil was allegedly found in her luggage at an airport in Moscow.She was accused of smuggling large quantities of a narcotic substance, an offense that can carry a sentence of up to 10 years behind bars.AdvertisementBrittney Griner (Rick Scuteri/AP)In May, the U.S. State Department determined that Griner was being “wrongfully detained by the Russian government.”On Monday, State Department officials met with Mercury officials to discuss Griner’s detention.“There is a lot involved in getting her back home and safe, they’re working relentlessly,” Mercury star Diana Taurasi said after the meeting, according to The Associated Press.“We’re here to do whatever we can to amplify and keep BG at the forefront, which is more important than any basketball game and anything else that’s going on in our lives. We want BG to come home as soon as possible, it’s number one on our list,” she added.A social media campaign has been pushing the White House to “please free your friend,” as the player’s family, friends, fellow players and fans post messages on Twitter using the hashtags #WeAreBG and #FreeBittneyGriner.Despite all efforts, however, the openly gay athlete will remain in Russia — a notoriously anti-LGBTQ country, where public discussions or positive messages about LGBTQ issues are illegal — until at least early next month.

News

The dark visions of David Hauptschein

Writer and artist David Hauptschein has been working in Chicago since the 80s, curating live performances, writing plays, and working in visual arts, but his work…

Sports

Serena Williams gets a wild-card entry for Wimbledon — she’s won 7 of her Open era-record 23 major singles titles there

Serena Williams is going to play at Wimbledon this year, after all. The All England Club announced via Twitter on Tuesday that Williams was awarded a wild-card entry for singles.Williams has not competed anywhere since getting injured during the first set of her first-round match at the All England Club a year ago. And her name did not appear on the women’s singles entry list released by the grass-court Grand Slam tournament earlier this month.AdvertisementBut Williams was among six women given a spot in the singles draw on Tuesday.Earlier in the day, Williams posted a photo of her white shoes on what appears to be a grass court and the message: “SW and SW19. It’s a date. 2022. See you there. Let’s Go.”Advertisement“SW” are her initials, of course, and “SW19″ is the postal code for Wimbledon.The 40-year-old American has won seven of her Open era-record 23 major singles championships at Wimbledon, most recently in 2016.Williams was the runner-up there in 2018 and 2019 (the tournament was canceled in 2020 because of the coronavirus pandemic).In 2021, Williams lost her footing on the slick grass and then her right leg buckled, leading to just the second mid-match retirement at any Grand Slam tournament of her career and first since 1998.

Sports

A bruised finger doesn’t stop Justin Steele in a much-needed start for the Chicago Cubs: ‘The pain was manageable’

Chicago Cubs left-hander Justin Steele instinctively reached his hand out in attempt to snare a ball up the middle.The ball bounced off it, giving San Diego Padres second baseman Jake Cronenworth an infield single two batters into Monday’s game. After retiring the next batter, Steele’s barehanded attempt prompted a mound visit from a Cubs trainer and manager David RossAdvertisementThe last thing the Cubs needed was another injury to a starting pitcher. Already pitching with a blister on his left middle finger, the ball’s impact bruised Steele’s index finger. When Steele got checked out mid-first inning, the skin was cut off his blister so it wouldn’t tear. But his index finger, which was swollen by the end of his start, was the bigger issue.[ [Don’t miss] How a new slider helped Eric Stout earn a call up to his childhood-favorite Chicago Cubs: ‘It’s a tribute to why he’s up here’ ]“When I tried to catch that thing barehanded, I don’t know what I was thinking,” Steele said. “But I was able to manage the pain a little bit going through the start. After that inning, I went down to the cage and threw some balls into the net. I could feel it a little bit, ripping on the seam, but I thought the pain was manageable so I just kept going.”AdvertisementSteele didn’t let a bruised index finger derail him. Instead, he delivered one of his best, most efficient starts. Steele held the Padres to one run in seven innings, but the offense couldn’t get going against ex-Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish in a 4-1 loss, their seventh straight.Had he not gotten hit by the comebacker, Ross would’ve sent Steele back out for the eighth inning since the pitcher needed only 77 pitches to get through a career-high tying seven innings. Steele pounded the strike zone, throwing 60 strikes.Cubs starting pitcher Justin Steele delivers to the Padres in the first inning on June 13, 2022, at Wrigley Field. (Brian Cassella / Chicago Tribune)“I don’t know if we knew he was going to get through the second inning, he went out to try it and ended up pitching great,” Ross said. “So, credit to him, kind of a gutsy outing from what felt like where we might be in real trouble with the shortness of our staff.“We might need to smash him in the finger a couple of times before he starts because that was impressive.”Steele became the first Cubs starter since August 2020 to pitch consecutive games of at least seven innings with one earned run or less. That previous pitcher? Darvish, who earned the win for San Diego.Chicago Tribune SportsWeekdaysA daily sports newsletter delivered to your inbox for your morning commute.How Steele put together a stellar quality start is as important as the outing itself. He threw mostly four-seam fastballs, getting six whiffs and eight called strikes. The pitch accounted for 70% of his pitches thrown Monday, the second-highest fastball Pitch% in his 21 career starts. His previous start on June 5 (71.3%) is the lone outing to exceed it. Steele also mixed in six sinkers.“When you’re speeding hitters up like that, the secondary stuff always plays up,” Ross said. “You don’t have to be so fine with that. That’s what I saw tonight.”[ [Don’t miss] 3 thoughts on the Chicago Cubs, including being ‘patient’ with Seiya Suzuki’s slow recovery and the Jason Heyward roster conundrum ]The uptick in fastball usage is not a coincidence. Steele believes his fastball directly correlated to his high strike total.Advertisement“Going into my last two starts, I’ve been really honing in on fastball command with my four-seam and my sinker,” Steele said. “I’m just trying to command the four-seam in and sinker to both sides of the plate and I’ve been doing a good job of it in my last two starts.”Steele sounded confident his bruised index finger wouldn’t prevent him from making his next start. The Cubs can’t afford to lose another pitcher with three starters currently on the injured list. The team is expected to get clarity this week on left-hander Wade Miley, who reinjured his shoulder in his start after coming off the IL Friday in New York.Beyond needing healthy starting pitchers, the Cubs must get more consistency . This is an opportunity for Steele to step up. After his awful outing in the Cubs’ 20-5 loss in Cincinnati on May 26, Steele owns a 2.37 ERA in his last three starts.“Regardless of all that stuff that was going on with the rotation and whatnot, I definitely wanted to keep competing,” Steele said. “I felt like I had my stuff coming in from the bullpen so I definitely wanted to go out there and give them my best stuff. I definitely didn’t want to come out of the game.”