MLB
The Red Sox completed a four-game sweep by scoring three times in the ninth before Andrew Benintendi's RBI single gave them a 5-4 win over the Yankees. Aroldis Chapman blew a 4-1 lead in the ninth as J.D. Martinez hit a two-run single before a two-out error by second baseman Miguel Andujar brought in the winning run. Mookie Betts homered for the Bosox, who now lead the AL East by 9 1/2 games over the Yanks. New York travels to Chicago to take on the White Sox Monday at 8 p.m.
Boston has the night off, heading to Toronto to take on the Blue Jays Tuesday at 7 p.m.
George Springer and Tony Kemp homered for the Astros, but Springer exited in the third with left thumb discomfort after he was thrown out trying to steal second base.
Losing pitcher Gerrit Cole struck out eight over five innings but fell to 10-4.
The outcome pulled the Dodgers even with the Diamondbacks and cut the Astros' lead in the AL West to four games over Oakland.
Arizona suffered a 3-2 loss to the Giants on Evan Longoria's solo blast in the eighth inning. Longoria also hit an RBI single and scored the Giants' second run on Nick Hundley's single.
Steven Souza Jr. homered for Arizona.
Oakland picked up its sixth straight win and completed a season sweep of the Tigers with a 6-0 shutout. Trevor Cahill struck out 10 over six innings, and Khris Davis and Matt Chapman each homered for the second straight game.
Matt Olson also smacked a round-tripper and Ramon Laureano added three hits and an RBI as the A's beat Detroit for the 12th straight time since last season.
Checking out Sunday's other major league action:
The Los Angeles Dodgers have regained a piece of the NL West lead by avoiding a three-game sweep of the Houston Astros.
Brian Dozier doubled home a pair of first-inning runs and Manny Machado had three hits as the Dodgers topped the Astros, 3-2. Walker Buehler overcame a pair of homers to pick up his fifth win, allowing four hits while fanning eight over 5 1/3 innings.
The Indians' 4-3 win over the Angels keeps Cleveland nine games ahead of second-place Minnesota in the AL Central. Jose Ramirez slammed his 33rd home run of the season, a three-run blast in the first inning. Shane Bieber is 6-2 after limiting Los Angeles to two runs over 5 2/3s.
Rookie Jake Cave hit his first career grand slam to put the Twins ahead to stay in a 6-5 win against the Royals. Ehire Adrianza added an RBI single in the fourth before scoring on Robbie Grossman's double that put Minnesota ahead, 6-2. Fernando Rodney put three runners on base in the ninth and had the tying run at third before notching his 24th save.
Asdrubal Cabrera launched a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the eighth inning to give the Phillies a 5-3 victory and a four-game sweep of the Marlins. Philadelphia took a 3-0 lead on Odubel Herrera's two-run single and Maikel Franco's RBI single in the sixth, but Miami tied it on homers by Derek Dietrich and Justin Bour. The Phils' fifth consecutive win keeps them atop the NL East by 1 1/2 games over the Braves.
Atlanta beat the Mets, 5-4 on a 10th-inning homer by Nick Markakis. New York forced extra innings on Devin Mesoraco's solo blast in the ninth before Markakis collected his fourth hit of the afternoon. Julio Tehran and Ender Inciarte also went deep after Austin Jackson's round-tripper gave the Mets a 3-0 lead in the fourth. The Mets host the Reds Monday at 7:10 p.m.
The Cubs erased a four-run deficit before Hunter Renfroe hit a two-run homer and Travis Jankowski added a two-run single in a four-run ninth that sent the Padres to a 10-6 win at Wrigley Field. Renfroe finished with three RBIs in helping the last-place Padres salvage a split of the four-game series. All-Star Jon Lester was tagged for five runs and eight hits in five innings, leaving him with a 6.81 ERA in seven starts since June 26.
Chicago still leads the NL Central by one game after the second-place Brewers absorbed a 5-4 loss to the Rockies in 11 innings. Nolan Arenado's 29th homer was the difference as the Rockies avoided a sweep after blowing a 4-1 lead. Mike Moustakas homered to spark Milwaukee's comeback, but the Rockies climbed within two games of the NL West lead.
Kyle Seager and Nelson Cruz accounted for three home runs and drove in the Mariners' runs in a 6-3 downing of the Blue Jays. Cruz belted a tiebreaking, two-run homer in the seventh and finished with four RBIs as Seattle halted a five game skid. Seager went deep twice in helping the M's stay 2 ½ games behind Oakland for the final AL wild-card berth.
Jack Flaherty cruised through six innings and Matt Carpenter hit another homer as the Cardinals nipped the Pirates, 2-1. Flaherty allowed three hits with seven strikeouts and one walk in his longest outing since July 3. Carpenter hit a solo shot in the fifth and Jedd Gyorko (JUR'-koh) singled to drive in a run later that inning to give the Cardinals a 2-0 lead.
Tanner Roark won his third consecutive start by allowing one run on seven hits over seven innings of the Nationals' 2-1 decision over the Reds. Bryce Harper doubled home a run and had two hits, leaving him with a .367 average since the All-Star break. Matt Wieters (WEE'-turz) homered in Washington's eighth victory in 11 games.
The White Sox capped their first three-game sweep of the season by beating the Rays, 8-7 on Daniel Palka's two-run homer in the ninth. Avisail Garcia crushed a solo homer in a two-run fifth and made it 6-4 and added a solo shot during the seventh for his eighth career multi-homer game. Tampa Bay leads the majors with 26 one-run losses.
The Orioles were 9-6 winners at Texas behind Mark Trumbo's two home runs and five RBIs. Austin Wynns and Jonathan Villar also homered for Baltimore.
Elsewhere in the Majors:
The Astros have placed starting pitcher Lance McCullers Jr. on the 10-day disabled list with right elbow discomfort and activated right-handed reliever Roberto Osuna.
McCullers left Saturday's game after four shutout innings and returned to Houston to get a more detailed examination from team doctors.
Osuna was acquired from the Toronto Blue Jays in a trade-deadline deal last week and is coming off a 75-day MLB-imposed suspension for violation of the league's domestic violence policy.
In other baseball news:
Angels’ manager Mike Scioscia dismissed a report that he's stepping down after this season. Scioscia has managed the Angels since 2000 and said Sunday that he won't talk about his future with the club until the season ends.
The Angels were missing outfielder Mike Trout Sunday for the fourth straight game with a lingering right wrist injury. He hasn't played since injuring his wrist while sliding on a steal attempt Wednesday in Tampa.
Right-handers Tyson Ross and Jordan Lyles have been claimed off waivers from the San Diego Padres. The Cardinals picked up Ross and the Brewers took Lyles. San Diego promoted right-hander Trey Wingenter from Triple-A El Paso.
Giants’ catcher Buster Posey returned to the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Diamondbacks. Posey missed Saturday's game while in concussion protocol after being hit in the mask with a foul ball during Friday's game.
NBA
President Donald Trump insulted NBA star LeBron James from afar but passed up an opportunity to criticize him on his own turf, sticking to Democrats, the news media and other familiar targets during a campaign rally Saturday night in James' home state of Ohio.
When Trump took the stage in a sweltering high school gymnasium north of Columbus, his late-night tweet deriding James' intellect had already generated hours of online buzz in defense of the all-star from Akron who had just opened a school for at-risk children in his hometown.
Even first lady Melania Trump provided an assist to James, her spokeswoman saying it appeared to the president's wife that James was "working to do good things on behalf of our next generation" and that Mrs. Trump would be open to visiting his "I Promise" school. The statement didn't criticize Trump.
CNN's Don Lemon spoke to James at the school and the interview included a negative assessment of the president, whom James said has "kind of used sports to kind of divide us."
Just before midnight Friday, Trump tweeted: "Lebron James was just interviewed by the dumbest man on television, Don Lemon. He made Lebron look smart, which isn't easy to do. I like Mike!"
Among the current and former professional athletes jumping to James' support in support of James on Saturday was "Mike," also known as NBA legend Michael Jordan, who said in a statement: "I support LeBron James. He's doing an amazing job for his community."
James' publicist declined to respond to Trump's tweet, but early Saturday afternoon, James retweeted a post from the "I Promise" school and said: "Let's get it kids!! Love you guys."
Trump rarely allows a slight to pass unanswered, but James appeared off limits by the time the president crossed the Ohio border to campaign for state Sen. Troy Balderson, the Republican in a special U.S. House election on Tuesday. His opponent, Democrat Danny O'Connor, tweeted, "I don't have to tell anyone what LeBron James means to Ohio."
In remarks lasting more than an hour, Trump assailed many other critics while arguing that Republicans needed to control Congress and casting the midterms as a referendum on himself.
He defiantly questioned the idea that, historically, the party that controls the White House suffers in the midterms, declaring "but I say why?"
"Why would there be a blue wave? I think it could be a red wave," Trump said of his party's prospects in November. "They want to take away what we've given. And we're doing a lot of things people don't even know about."
He blasted the media as "fake news," saying journalists "were terrible people," and went on a screed against illegal immigration. The crowd cheered and chanted the campaign staple rallying cry, "Build the wall, build the wall."
Trump touted Balderson's record on crime and immigration and claimed that O'Connor, if he won, would be a "puppet" of Nancy Pelosi, who stands to reclaim the title of speaker of the House if Democrats seize control of the body this fall.
He also gave an onstage hug to Rep. Jim Jordan, who is under siege after allegations that, as an assistant wrestling coach at Ohio State University, he knew of alleged sexual abuse by a team doctor but did not report it. Jordan, who has denied the charge, has announced his plan to run for speaker of the House.
"Jim Jordan, how great is he?" Trump said. "What a great defender he's been, what courage. He's a brave, tough cookie."
Trump brought up another regular target of scorn, calling Rep. Maxine Waters, a California Democrat who has lashed out at the president, "an extremely low IQ person." In calling three prominent African-Americans all but stupid, Trump once again left himself open to accusations of racism.
Trump also blamed the news media for incorrectly reporting that he was backing Rep. Steve Stivers in the special election — even though Trump himself in recent days had inadvertently tweeted his support for Stivers, who is in a different race, before correcting himself.
He defended his trade policies and, at one point, seemed to suggest that the markets would be up another 40 percent without his tariffs — but said the measures were needed or the nation would eventually have to "pay the piper."
The Ohio rally was Trump's third of the week and he has pledged to accelerate his pace further as the midterms approach. He traveled to the Columbus area from his golf course in Bedminster, New Jersey, where he is in the early stages of an 11-day vacation.
Elsewhere in the NBA:
A person familiar with the negotiations says the Cleveland Cavaliers will acquire forward Sam Dekker in a trade from the Los Angeles Clippers.
The 6-foot-7 Dekker averaged 4.2 points, 2.4 rebounds and just 12.1 minutes last season. The Rockets selected the former Wisconsin standout with the No. 18 overall pick in 2015.
The Cavs are expected to use the $5.8 trade exception they received last season in the Kyrie Irving trade to Boston for Dekker
COLLEGE ATHLETICS
An outside firm has been hired to conduct the investigation into Ohio State coach Urban Meyer's handling of a domestic abuse complaint against a former assistant. The university, in a release, also says the investigation is expected to be completed within two weeks. Meyer is on paid leave while Ohio State determines what he knew and when he knew about abuse allegations against fired assistant Zach Smith.
PGA
Justin Thomas earned his third PGA title of the year by capturing the Bridgestone Invitational by four strokes over Kyle Stanley.
Thomas closed with a 1-under 69 for a 15-under total at Firestone Country Club in Akron. He captured his first World Golf Championship and heads to his title defense at the PGA Championship with plenty of momentum.
Thomas is the third player with three PGA wins this season.
Dustin Johnson and Thorbjorn Olesen finished five shots back.
Tiger Woods fired a 73 to end up 15 shots back after beginning the third round just five off the pace.
Tour Champions:
Kenny Perry captured his third and final 3M Championship, a PGA Tour Champions event that is being replaced by the PGA Tour's 3M Open.
Perry shot a 3-under 69 for a three-stroke victory over Wes Short Jr., who closed with a 63. Short got within two shots with three holes to go, but Perry made a birdie putt at 16 before finishing 21 under for the tournament.
LPGA
Hall has earned her first major title by rallying to win the Women's British Open at Royal Lytham and St. Annes.
The 22-year-old Englishwoman took the lead for the first time after a 20-foot putt for birdie on the 16th hole, and stayed steady to post 5-under 67. She won by two strokes over Pornanong Phatlum of Thailand, who started the final round with a one-stroke lead over Hall.
NASCAR
Chase Elliott has won the NASCAR Cup race at Watkins Glen, holding off Martin Truex Jr in a scintillating finish.
Truex ran second to Elliott for the entire final stage before beginning a steady close. It was a two-car race as the rest of the field was more than 11 seconds back.
It was Elliott's first career win in his 99th Cup start and 250th for Hendrick Motorsports.
Kyle Busch finished third, followed by Daniel Suarez and Erik Jones, a triumvirate of Joe Gibbs Racing Toyotas.
HORSE RACING
Diversify won the $1.2 million Whitney by 3 1/2 lengths over Mind Your Biscuits in the slop Saturday at Saratoga Race Track.
Ridden by Irad Ortiz Jr., Diversify ran 1 1/8 miles in 1:49.62 and paid $5.20 to win as the 8-5 favorite in the eight-horse field.
The Grade 1 victory gave Diversify, trained by Rick Violette Jr., an automatic berth in the $5 million Breeders' Cup Classic at Churchill Downs in November.
Discreet Lover was another half-length back in third at 38-1 odds. Tapwrit was fourth, followed by Good Samaritan, McCraken, Backyard Heaven and Dalmore.
Diversify earned his third straight victory. He has 10 wins in 15 career starts and earnings of $1,959,425.
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