BASEBALL

Two Red Sox pitchers took positive steps toward returning to Boston by helping the Portland Sea Dogs to a 10-5 win over the Yard Goats in an Eastern League game on Thursday in Hartford, Connecticut.

Boston’s Rich Hill, coming back from a knee injury, started for Portland and went three innings, allowing one earned run on four hits while striking out five and walking one. Hill threw 56 pitches, 40 for strikes, and gave up a solo home run to Isaac Collins.

Hill was relieved by Boston teammate Matt Barnes (shoulder inflammation), who threw one inning. He faced just three batters, getting a groundout and two strikeouts. Barnes threw 13 pitches, seven for strikes.

Portland scored five runs in the fourth inning with five singles, including one from Christian Arroyo (groin) who was also on a rehab assignment from the Red Sox.

Christian Koss had three hits and two RBI for Portland. Tyler Dearden had two hits with two RBI.

NECBL: Brandon Anderson’s two-run single in the fifth keyed a four-run fifth inning as the Keene Swamp Bats (16-24) surged to an 8-3 win over the Sanford Mainers (20-21) in the first game of a doubleheader at Goodall Park in Sanford.

The second game was postponed because of rain.

Grant Besser picked up the win, allowing one run on five hits over four innings.

Jake Rainess had an RBI double in the first for Sanford while Adam Dapkewicz and Calvin Hewitt each drove in a run with a sacrifice fly.

SOCCER

The Olympic soccer competition at the 2024 Paris Games will conclude with the women’s final – instead of the men’s – for the first time.

FIFA announced the Olympic soccer competition schedule on Wednesday. The governing body also said there will be no double-headers in France, making each match a standalone event.

The women’s final will take place on Aug. 10 at the Parc des Princes in Paris. The men’s gold-medal match will be played at the same stadium the day before.

The combined tournament will start on July 24 and go to seven cities in France: Paris, Bordeaux, Lyon, Marseille, Nantes, Nice and Saint-Etienne.

As host, France’s men’s team will play in the tournament opener in Marseille, and the women’s team will play on July 25 in Lyon, site of 2019 Women’s World Cup final.

ATLETICO MADRID: Atletico Madrid has secured the transfer of Argentina defender Nahuel Molina from Udinese, the Spanish club said.

Atletico said the 24-year-old Molina has agreed to sign a five-year contract. The right back will help fill a void left by the departure of England’s Kieran Trippier midway through last season.

Molina scored 10 goals in 68 appearances over two seasons for Udinese. Before his move to Italy, he played for clubs in Argentina after coming up through Boca Juniors’ youth teams.

BARCELONA: Xavi Hernandez can scratch the last item off his wish list after Barcelona struck a deal for France defender Jules Kounde.

Barcelona said that Sevilla agreed to transfer the highly touted center back for a still-undisclosed sum. The deal will be complete after the 23-year-old Kounde undergoes a medical exam.

Kounde, who also drew interest from Chelsea, will provide Barcelona’s coach a skilled and versatile defender as the team tries to transition beyond a backline still led by the 35-year-old Gerard Pique.

MEXICO: Former U.S. national team forward Jozy Altidore will be loaned to Mexico’s Puebla for the rest of the year by Major League Soccer’s New England Revolution.

Altidore, 32, was acquired from Toronto in February and has one goal in four starts and 13 substitute appearances.

UEFA: UEFA said it is investigating Turkish club Fenerbahce after its fans chanted the name of Russian President Vladimir Putin during a Champions League qualifying game against Ukraine’s Dynamo Kyiv.

The chants were heard at Fenerbahce’s stadium in Istanbul shortly after Vitaliy Buyalskiy scored the opening goal for Dynamo in a game the Ukrainian team went on to win 2-1 after extra time on Wednesday.

“A UEFA Ethics and Disciplinary Inspector will conduct a disciplinary investigation regarding alleged misbehavior of Fenerbahce supporters,” European soccer’s governing body said in a statement. “Information on this matter will be made available in due course.”

UEFA didn’t respond to a request for comment on whether the chants could count as banned discriminatory language, or could fall under a rule excluding “provocative messages” of a political nature.

HOCKEY

NHL: The New York Rangers agreed to terms with forward Kaapo Kakko on a two-year contract worth $4.2 million.

The deal with the No. 2 pick in the 2019 draft carries an annual salary cap hit of $2.1 million.

Kakko played in 43 games last season, with seven goals and 11 assists with a plus-nine rating. The 21-year-old Finn also had two goals and three assists in 19 games during the Rangers’ unexpected run to the Eastern Conference final.

• The Carolina Hurricanes re-signed defenseman Ethan Bear to a one-year, $2.2 million contract.

The team announced the deal exactly one year since the Hurricanes acquired Bear in a trade with Edmonton.

TENNIS

POLAND OPEN: Top-ranked Iga Swiatek extended her clay-court winning streak to 18 matches by defeating Gabriela Lee 6-3, 6-2 to advance to the quarterfinals at Warsaw.

The 21-year-old Pole has not lost on clay since the 2021 French Open quarterfinals. She improved to 48-4 this season.

The two-time French Open champion produced a dominant display, hitting 25 winners and saving the single break point she faced.

GENERALI OPEN: Yannick Hanfmann stunned former world No. 3 Dominic Thiem 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 to reach the semifinals in Kitzbuhel, Austria.

PRAGUE OPEN: Top-seeded Anett Kontaveit advanced the quarterfinals after a 6-4, 6-3 victory over 17-year-old Lucie Havlickova.

CROATIA OPEN: Top-seeded Carlos Alcaraz eased past Norbert Gombos 6-2, 6-3 to start the defense of his first ATP title in Umag, Croatia.