Manneh scores in 58th, Crew beat Minnesota

Manneh scores in 58th, Crew beat Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS

Kekuta Manneh scored in the 58th minute and the Columbus Crew beat Minnesota United 1-0 on Tuesday night in the first meeting between the teams.

Columbus (9-10-1) won for just the third time in eight matches. Minnesota (5-11-3) lost its second straight.

Manneh scored his second goal since being traded from Vancouver on March 30. He spun his defender near the midfield circle, dribbled in space and sent in a shot from distance.

In other MLS games Tuesday, Atlanta United FC beat San Jose 4-2, FC Dallas beat D.C. United 4-2 and Seattle 3 beat Colorado 3-1.

Minor-league player injured in robbery

LAS VEGAS

A reliever with the minor league baseball team Las Vegas 51s was attacked by a homeless man in an attempted robbery in Utah, authorities said, forcing the team to place him on the disabled list.

Logan Taylor was hit in the head with a tire iron after the man approached him and demanded his wallet while he was walking down a street in Salt Lake City on Saturday, police Detective Greg Wilking told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. The man had also been carrying a sock full of rocks.

Manager Pedro Lopez said Taylor suffered a concussion and had to have staples put in the back of his head.

The 51s played against the Salt Lake Bees Friday through Monday in Salt Lake City. Lopez said Taylor felt well enough that he was able to join the team at the ballpark.

Joshua Cruz, 33, was arrested in connection with the attack. The Salt Lake City man is in custody on charges of aggravated robbery and failure to stop at command of law enforcement.

Player charged with punching guest at hotel

ST. PAUL, Minn.

A minor league baseball player from Indiana has been charged with assault for allegedly punching a wedding guest in the face at a hotel where his team was staying for a series against the St. Paul Saints.

Anthony Craig Cheky, 24, of Portage, Indiana, was charged Monday with third-degree felony assault, the St. Paul Pioneer Press reported Tuesday. He was an outfielder with the Gary SouthShore RailCats, who were in St. Paul for a three-game weekend series.

The complaint says the victim was at a wedding reception at the InterContinental Hotel in downtown St. Paul early Sunday when a man he didn’t know walked up and punched him in the face. He suffered a broken nose. He told police his “next memory was of waking up on the floor with a very bloody nose and painful headache,” the complaint says.

Surveillance video shows a man identified as Cheky approach the victim and punch him in the face “without provocation,” the complaint says. It says Cheky is then shown kneeling over the victim, who appears to be unconscious, and punching him several more times in the head before walking off with a group of his teammates.

The RailCats released Cheky after benching him for Sunday’s game between the two American Association teams, the Times of Northwest Indiana reported. RailCats manager Greg Tagert called Cheky “the face of the franchise” and the best player on the team.

“Tony put himself in a position where he gave the club no other choice,” Tagert told the Times. ”He will no longer wear a RailCats uniform as long as I am here.”

Poulter makes it back to Royal Birkdale

SOUTHPORT, England

Ian Poulter has made it through the final stage of qualifying to earn a spot at Royal Birkdale for the British Open.

Poulter shot rounds of 68-70 at Woburn Golf Club, his home club and one of five regional final qualifying sites in Britain. Three spots were available from each site. Shiv Kapur of India, who played his college golf at Purdue, was the medalist at Woburn with a 65 in the second round Tuesday.

Poulter was the runner-up to Padraig Harrington when the Open was last played at Royal Birkdale in 2008.

Associated Press