BASEBALL

Portland Sea Dogs pitcher Hunter Dobbins has been promoted to Triple-A Worcester by the Boston Red Sox.

Dobbins, a 24-year-old right-hander, was 7-3 with a 3.17 earned-run average in 21 starts this season. Over his last nine starts, he had a 1.79 ERA and had five scoreless outings, including six shutout innings Tuesday against the Somerset Patriots.

• Jhostynxon Garcia blasted a towering two-run homer over the Green Monster in the bottom of the seventh inning Thursday night, lifting the Sea Dogs to a 3-1 win over Somerset at Hadlock Field.

Portland took the lead in the third inning when Elih Marrero doubled and eventually scored on a sacrifice fly by Allan Castro.

Somerset answered with an unearned run in the fifth against Isaac Coffey, who struck out 11 over five innings. Brendan Cellucci (7-2) struck out five over the final 3 2/3 innings.

COLLEGES

FOOTBALL: Iowa Coach Kirk Ferentz and an assistant coach will be suspended for the No. 25 Hawkeyes’ opener against Illinois State on Aug. 31 because of a violation while recruiting a player.

Iowa Athletic Director Beth Goetz said the suspension of Ferentz and wide receivers coach Jon Budmayr was self-imposed. Seth Wallace, the team’s assistant head coach, will fill Ferentz’s role for the game against the Redbirds.

Ferentz, a former UMaine head coach, did not name the player whose recruitment was at issue. The Athletic, citing an unnamed source, reported it was quarterback Cade McNamara, who transferred from Michigan before the 2023 season.

AUTO RACING

NASCAR CUP SERIES: NASCAR docked Cup Series driver Denny Hamlin 75 points and 10 playoff points, eliminating any shot he had at winning the regular-season title and making his path toward a championship more difficult.

The hefty penalty was handed down because Hamlin’s race-winning engine from Bristol Motor Speedway in March was rebuilt by manufacturer Toyota before NASCAR could tear it down and inspect it. The sanctioning body also fined Hamlin’s crew chief, Chris Gabehart, $100,000.

Toyota Racing Development self-reported the “grievous mistake,” as TRD President David Wilson called it, and NASCAR issued the same penalty that would get handed to any team that alters its engine before being inspected.

TENNIS

U.S. OPEN: Ons Jabeur, the 2022 U.S. Open women’s runner-up, withdrew from this year’s tournament because of a shoulder injury.

Jabeur was to be the No. 17 seed in the tournament that begins Monday.

TENNIS IN THE LAND: Top-seeded Beatriz Haddad Maia of Brazil beat Clara Burel of France, 6-2, 6-2, to reach the semifinals in Cleveland.

McCartney Kessler of the United States will face fifth-seeded Anastasia Potapova of Russia in one semifinal. Kessler defeated Arantxa Rus of the Netherlands, 6-4, 6-2, and Potapova topped Ana Bogdan of Romania, 6-2, 6-1.

HOCKEY

NHL: The Winnipeg Jets and Pittsburgh Penguins swapped forward prospects, with the Jets getting Brayden Yager for the rights to Rutger McGroarty.

Yager was Pittsburgh’s first-round pick, the 14th selection overall, in the 2023 NHL draft. He had 35 goals and 60 assists in 57 regular-season games for Moose Jaw of the Western Hockey League last season.

McGroarty was Winning’s first-round pick in 2022, going 14th overall. He played in college at Michigan and recorded 16 goals and 36 assists in 36 games this past season.

BASKETBALL

NBA: Nick Mileti, who helped found the Cleveland Cavaliers and became a prominent figure in the city’s sports landscape in the 1970s, has died. He was 93.

Mileti died in his sleep Wednesday in Rocky River, Ohio, according to a spokesman for the Cleveland Guardians, one of several teams Mileti once owned.

The son of Sicilian immigrants emerged as one of the city’s true powerbrokers after purchasing a minor league hockey team, the Cleveland Barons, and the Cleveland Arena in 1968.

He became a key figure in ownership groups that started purchasing or founding other franchises. In 1970, they brought the NBA to Cleveland by selling shares of the expansion-team Cavaliers at $5 each to raise $2.25 million and cover the $3.7 million expansion fee.

He purchased controlling interest in 1972 in the city’s Major League Baseball franchise, and also bought a World Hockey Association franchise that year and moved it from Calgary to Cleveland.