San Francisco Giants third baseman Pablo Sandoval will have Tommy John surgery on his right elbow, ending his season, the team announced Saturday.

The decision to have reconstructive surgery was made after Sandoval met with Dr. Neal ElAttrache on Wednesday in Los Angeles. He will have the procedure in early September.

Sandoval, 33, hit .269 with 14 home runs and 41 RBIs in 107 games for the Giants this season.

The Giants had placed him on the 10-day injured list earlier this month with elbow inflammation, a condition manager Bruce Bochy said has bothered Sandoval to varying degrees for several years.

"He is in pain," Bochy said. "This has flared up before, but not quite like this. Sometimes it goes away in two or three days, and other times it's lingered. This time we can't get it to go away."

Although Tommy John surgery is more commonly associated with pitchers, a number of position players have also undergone the procedure in recent years, including Salvador Perez, Didi Gregorius, Corey Seager, Travis d'Arnaud and Gleyber Torres.

A member of the Giants' three World Series championship teams from 2010 to 2014, Sandoval has been a revelation since returning to San Francisco in 2017 after being released by the Boston Red Sox.

He's in the last year of a five-year, $95 million contract he signed with Boston in 2014, the bulk of which is being paid by the Red Sox.

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.

World No.1 at 100m, Christian Coleman, puts out statement proclaiming innocence after allegedly missing three drugs tests

Christian Coleman is confident he will be cleared of any wrongdoing at a hearing on September 4, following reports that the US Anti-Doping Agency has charged him with failing to “properly file his whereabouts information”.

The world No.1 at 100m allegedly missed three out-of-competition doping tests but in a statement given on Saturday to Ato Boldon, the commentator and 1999 world 200m champion, he protested his innocence and believes he will be given the green light to compete at the IAAF World Championships in Doha at the end of next month.

“I’m not a guy who takes any supplements at all, so I’m never concerned about taking drug tests, at any time,” said Coleman. “What has been widely reported concerning filing violations is simply not true.

“I am confident the upcoming hearing on September 4 will clear the matter and I will compete at World Championships in Doha this fall.

“Sometime after the hearing, I will be free to answer questions about the matter, but for now I must reserve and respect the process.”

Coleman, 23, holds the world title and world record at 60m, whereas at 100m he has run 9.82, 9.79 and 9.81 in the last three seasons.

He was due to compete in the Diamond League in Birmingham earlier this month but withdrew during race week citing problems with his preparations.

Triple jumper records 18.06m meeting record, while Lyles wins 200m in 19.65

Arguably, despite some notable efforts on the track, it was the men’s triple jump which produced the top performance of a very good Paris Diamond League meeting.

World leader Will Claye dominated the first two rounds with leaps of 17.36m and 17.39m, though world and Olympic champion Christian Taylor came close with a 17.38m third round and he improved to 17.49m in the fourth but Claye responded with a 17.71m leap.

Taylor went even further in round five with 17.82m to equal his season’s best but Claye’s response was a mighty 18.06m meeting record.

Claye said: “It was a great day. My confidence is very high and I’m in a very good space right now, physically and my mindset. This is the furthest I have ever jumped overseas and it’s hard to talk about a number for Doha but I want to win.”

The track highlight was provided by Noah Lyles who ran a stunning 200m to break Usain Bolt’s meeting record of 19.73.

He won by over three metres in 19.65 (0.2m/sec), a time that only he has bettered this year.

A distant second was world and European champion Ramil Guliyev in 20.01.

“I’m coming off a loaded week in training so that gives me confidence,” Lyles said. “It felt fast and it was the fastest I’ve ever felt coming off the turn.”

? 200 m ♂ (+0.2 m/s)
1⃣ @LylesNoah 19"65 MR ??
2⃣ @ramil_guliyev 20"01 ??
3⃣ @KingsleySC 20"13 ??

?Noah Lyles bat le record du meeting et efface Usain Bolt des tablettes !

?Noah Lyles broke @usainbolt's meeting record!#MeetingParis #ParisDL pic.twitter.com/MqgPbUx7rg

— MEETING de PARIS (@MEETINGPARIS) August 24, 2019

Elaine Thompson was impressive in winning the women’s 100m by almost two metres. Interestingly, though, her time was slightly slower than Dina Asher-Smith managed on the same day in Birmingham, despite a lighter headwind in Paris.

The Olympic champion won in 10.98 with Marie-Josee Ta Lou second in 11.13 and Dafne Schippers third in 11.15.

She said: “It was hard but with five weeks to go to Doha, I’m not at 100%      yet because it’s all about the World Championships.”

Daniel Roberts won the men’s 110m hurdles in an impressive 13.08 after his great rival Grant Holloway had led past halfway after a lightning start.

World and European champion Karsten Warholm started the night’s track action with a full one second victory in the 400m hurdles.

The Norwegian won in 47.26 with France’s Ludvy Vaillant second in a PB 48.30 and Kyron McMaster third in a season’s best 48.33.

The men’s 800m, which was not a Diamond League event, saw the pacemaker Abda Haran blast through 400m in 48.90. Canada’s Brandon McBride took it on and went through 600m in a still very fast 75.60 and on for a 1:41 clocking.

The final 200m took him a painful 28 seconds but he held on to win in a season’s best 1:43.78 but only just as Wesley Vasquez was a foot down in a Puerto Rican record 1:43.83.

World champion Pierre-Ambrose Bosse ran a season’s best 1:45.07 in sixth.

There was even greater depth in the 1500m. The pace was perfect with 54.97 at 400m and 1:52.19 at 800m and a big group of over a dozen was in contention at the bell which was reached in just over 2:35.

Ayanleh Souleiman led through 1200m in 2:50.02 and looked like he would hold off everyone but a fast finish from Ronald Musagala gave him victory by a foot.

His time was an Ugandan record-equalling 3:30.58 as he followed up his Birmingham victory one week earlier thanks to a well-timed 55 last lap.

Souleiman ran a season’s best 3:30.66 in second. Third place saw a battle between the Ingebrigtsens with Filip’s 3:31.06 getting the better of younger brother’s Jakob’s 3:31.33.

The first eight broke 3:32 including Australian Stewart McSweyn who equalled his PB of 3:31.81 in eighth while European Team Championships and Dream Mile winner Marcin Lewandowski could only finish 10th but his 3:31.95 was a Polish record.

Seven athletes broke two minutes in the women’s 800m. The opening lap was a far too fast 55.62 by Chanelle Price. Fellow USA athlete Raevyn Rogers led through 600m in an exciting 86.56 and looked good until hitting the straight and she faded to sixth as another American Hanna Green won in 1:58.39 with Natoya Goule second in 1:58.59.

The 1500m specialist Gudaf Tsegay was a distant last for much of the race but came through strongly to run a PB 1:59.52, just two hundredths behind Rogers, who had been three seconds ahead of her on the final bend!

The men’s 3000m steeplechase started promisingly with a 2:40.90 opening kilometre but the 2000m time of 5:28.29 ensured there would be no fast times.

On the last lap world leader Soufiane El Bakkali controlled it superbly and won in 8:06.64 to repel the challenge of Benjamin Kigen who was second in 8:07.09.

In the field the next most notable event to the men’s triple jump was a highly competitive women’s pole vault where Canadian Alysha Newman had the biggest win of her life.

After clearing 4.75m at the first attempt, a third time clearance at 4.82m gave her the win and a national record. Three others cleared 4.75m with Katerina Stefanidi beating Sanid Morris and Anzhelika Sidorova on countback.

A lower quality victory also went the way of Canada in the men’s high jump. There, Michael Mason won with 2.28m to defeat Andriy Protsenko and Ilya Ivanyuk on countback.

Another Commonwealth athlete, the 2015 world champion Tomas Walsh dominated the shot. He won with a meeting record and season’s best 22.44m. Joe Kovacs was runner-up with 22.11m where the top eight threw 21.20m or further.

World leader and world triple jump champion Yulimar Rojas further strengthened her position as favourite for Doha with a clear win in 15.05m.

Denia Caballero won the discus with a 66.91m throw as Sandra Perkovic was second with 65.01m.

World decathlon record-holder Kevin Mayer delighted the French crowd with a 13.55 win in the multi event 110m hurdles.

He also won the long jump with a 7.50m leap and was even more dominant in the shot which he won with another PB of 17.08m.

The women’s 400m was a close race but a strange one in that no one came remotely close to even a season’s best. Stephenie Ann McPherson finished strongly to win in 51.11.

The 110m hurdles B race was won by France’s Dimitri Bascou in 13.38 and France also won the women’s 4x100m in 43.48. However, the final event of the day, the men’s 4x100m, saw Canada win in a meeting record 38.26 to defeat France’s 38.67.

In the men’s 100m, Hassan Taftian equalled his Iranian record with 10.03 (-0.3m/sec).

Results can be found here.

British number one Johanna Konta says she received more recognition for her exchange with a journalist at Wimbledon last month than she got for reaching the semi-finals at SW19 two years ago.

Konta, 28, was frustrated by questions about her mentality after her quarter-final defeat by Barbora Strycova.

The incident in July sparked fierce debate but Konta says she tried to ignore the reaction.

"It's hard to not notice the traction it got," she said before the US Open.

"I was walking down the street and one woman shouted down from a balcony, 'Good on you'," she said.

Keen to put the exchange with the journalist behind her, a laughing Konta added: "That was a new experience.

"I got a lot of recognition after that. I got more recognition after this Wimbledon than 2017 when I had a massive viewership for my quarter-final so I don't know why."

Konta, speaking before her first-round match against Daria Kasatkina at Flushing Meadows on Monday, has had opening-round defeats in Toronto and Cincinnati since Wimbledon.

The US Open is the only Grand Slam where she has not reached the semi-finals, having gone as far as the last 16 in 2015 and 2016.

"If you take a zoomed in look at it I haven't played many matches since Wimbledon. However, if you take the season as a whole I've played over 50 matches," said Konta, who reached clay-court finals in Rabat and Rome earlier this year.

"So I've played a lot of matches and won quite a lot of them as well, which is a good position to be in."

Ireland were "underdone and heavy-legged" in their humbling 57-15 defeat by England says head coach Joe Schmidt.

The eight-try loss comes less than a month before Ireland begin their World Cup campaign against Scotland in Yokohama.

"What really matters is in four weeks time," said Schmidt.

"You do get some disproportionate scores (in warm-ups), but we weren't good enough today."

Only New Zealand have inflicted a heavier defeat on Ireland, who are seeking to bring some momentum into their World Cup campaign following a lacklustre Six Nations.

At Twickenham, Ireland took the lead through a Jordan Larmour try but were outplayed in every facet of play from the moment Joe Cokanasiga crossed for England.

"There's a litany of things that were most disappointing," said Schmidt.

"We fell off 34 tackles.

"There was a little bit of positive (in the first quarter), but that score before half-time was key."

Healy ankle sprained but not broken

Ireland's misery was compounded by an ankle injury which forced loose-head prop Cian Healy from the field shortly before half-time.

After the game Schmidt confirmed that Healy ankle was sprained but not broken.

There was also concern for Conor Murray who required a Head Injury Assessment (HIA) following a collision with England wing Jonny May.

Having passed the HIA the Munster scrum-half returned to the fray but was replaced by Luke McGrath at half-time.

Ireland are still hopeful that Joey Carbery, who suffered an ankle injury in their opening warm-up game against Italy, will be fully fit for their Pool A opener on 22 September.

Watch highlights as England produce a dominant performance and run in eight tries as they hammer Ireland 57-15 in the World Cup warm-up match at Twickenham.

MATCH REPORT: England thrash Ireland by record margin

Watch extended highlights on iPlayer here

ALTON, Va. – Max Root is no stranger to the front of the Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge USA by Yokohama field at Virginia Int’l Raceway, as he led the race here last year in the No. 7 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machine.

But Root paid his first visit to the top step of the podium Saturday in challenging conditions during the first race of the weekend at the 3.27-mile, 17-turn circuit. As the race was declared wet by IMSA officials, every car in the field was running on Yokohama rain tires, but portions of the track dried throughout the 45-minute race.

Root managed to chase down points leader Roman De Angelis in the No. 79 Kelly-Moss Road and Race Porsche – who started the race from the pole position and held the lead from the drop of the green flag – with just over three minutes remaining. Once the 20-year-old Californian got the lead, he quickly checked out, taking the checkered flag 35.889 seconds ahead of De Angelis to get his first win.

“It was an amazing race,” Root said. “Those were interesting conditions, something we could have never predicted, but we made those Yokohamas go as far as they could. Driving on a dry/wet track with wet tires was interesting. I couldn’t have done it without the Wright Motorsports guys and all my sponsors.”

With the runner-up result, De Angelis still holds a comfortable 65-point lead, 379-314, over Root in the season championship standings in the Platinum Cup class for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup Cars built between 2017 and 2019. De Angelis now has finished either first or second in all 11 races to date this year.

Fred Poordad made it two Wright Motorsports entries on the overall podium in the No. 20 Porsche and took the class victory in the Platinum Masters class for drivers 45 years of age or over. Poordad – who also won a race here at VIR last year – also earned the race’s Yokohama Hard Charger Award as the Platinum Cup driver who improved the most positions from start to finish. He started 15th on the overall grid.

“We had a disappointing qualifying, at least I did,” Poordad said. “I thought, ‘Wow, from where we’re starting there’s not a lot I can do but keep it clean.’ But we plugged away one car at a time. Wright Motorsports gave me an incredible car today. It felt very planted. It didn’t even feel like it was wet out there. Hats off to Yokohama Tires as well, because those tires lasted me the entire race. I felt like I could have gone another 20 minutes on them.

“I’m happy today. Happy for Wright Motorsports with a couple of podiums and happy for my teammates as well.”

Jeff Mosing finished second in Platinum Masters and fourth overall in the No. 68 Topp Racing Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machine. Alan Metni finished third in the Platinum Masters class in the No. 99 AM Motorsports/Kelly-Moss Porsche and now leads the class point standings by 21 points, 348-327, over Poordad.

Rob Ferriol drove the No. 5 Moorespeed entry to his second career victory in the Gold Cup class for Porsche 911 GT3 Cup machines built between 2014 and 2016. Ferriol took the lead when class points leader Sebastian Carazo spun in the Oak Tree Turn with less than 17 minutes remaining in the race.

Ferriol then held off Carazo – especially through an intense final lap – to win by 0.365 seconds.

“My plan for the day was conservative,” Ferriol said. “Bring the car home. Make it to the checkered. These rain races, things happen. So, I figured I’d keep it close to the front and stay consistent and smart, and maybe the race would come to me. And it did.”

Carazo ended up second and continues to lead the Gold Cup standings by 38 points, 371-333, over Ferriol. Efrin Castro finished third in Gold Cup aboard the No. 65 ACI Motorsports Porsche.

ROUGEMONT, N.C. – The CARS Tour has released tentative 2020 schedules for its late model stock and super late model divisions.

Both divisions will open the season at Southern National Motorsports Park in Kenly, N.C., with $10,000-to-win features for both classes on March 7.

Hickory Motor Speedway will host the CARS Tour twice, with both divisions visiting the historic North Carolina venue on March 21 and again on Aug. 1 for the fourth edition of the Throwback 276.

Orange County Speedway is back on the CARS Tour schedule with two events. The first will take place April 4-5 and feature the late model stock division battling for a $30,000 payday during the Old North State Nationals. Both division will head back to Orange County on Aug. 22 for a pair of $10,000-to-win features.

The late model stock division will have three standalone events in the months of May and June, with Ace Speedway (May 1), Langley Speedway (June 6) and Dominion Raceway (June 20) hosting the tour.

The super late model division will tentatively take the months of May and June off before returning for the tours inaugural trip to Pennsylvania’s Jennerstown Speedway for a $20,000-to-win show on July 4.

Another standalone event for the late model stock tour is scheduled for July 11 at Carteret County Speedway before the previously mentioned events at Hickory on Aug. 1 and Orange County on Aug. 22.

The season will conclude for both divisions on Sept. 12 at Virginia’s South Boston Speedway.

The only track that appeared on the schedule this season that is absent from the 2020 schedule is Virginia’s Motor Mile Speedway.

CARS Tour officials indicated that additional events for both classes could be added at a later date.

ALTON, Va. – How close was the 15-minute qualifying session for Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia Int’l Raceway?

Try 0.078 seconds between first and second and 0.156 seconds between first and third.

WeatherTech Championship GT Le Mans points leader Laurens Vanthoor picked up his second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole, driving the No. 912 Porsche GT Team 911 RSR to the best lap of one minute, 40.630 seconds (116.982 mph). Vanthoor did that lap with just over two minutes remaining in the session and brought the car into the pits instead of taking the checkered flag on the racetrack.

That’s when Jan Magnussen sped by in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C7.R with a lap of 1:40.708 (116.892 mph), just barely missing Vanthoor’s pole time. A few seconds later, here came Ryan Briscoe in the No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT with a lap of 1:40.786 (116.801 mph) also just missing the pole.

Was Vanthoor concerned that he pitted early?

“I was, but my engineer wasn’t,” Vanthoor laughed. “I made a mistake in Corner 1, and he directly saw I was down, but I made it up a little bit afterward. The time was going to be close to where I was and I knew I could maybe improve, but he was confident that I should box. We’re starting on these tires tomorrow and it’s going to be a long race and a long first stint, probably, so he opted that it was enough and wanted to save the tires. So, I trusted him and luckily he was right.”

Vanthoor’s previous pole also came in a GT-only WeatherTech Championship race, at Lime Rock Park earlier this year for the Northeast Grand Prix. He and co-driver Earl Bamber go into Sunday’s race leading the GTLM championship standings by 14 points, 248-234, over their teammates, Nick Tandy and Patrick Pilet in the No. 911 Porsche.

“It’s our second pole and we’re leading the championship with three races to go,” Vanthoor said. “We have a bit of a points lead, but that can go away quickly. We need to maximize every weekend and be safe and get on the podium. Starting from the pole is the best way to defend.”

Magnussen and his No. 3 co-driver, Antonio Garcia, who won back-to-back races here at VIR in 2016 and 2017, are looking for their first WeatherTech Championship GTLM win since then. Briscoe and his No. 67 co-driver, Richard Westbrook, have won the last two GTLM races – at Lime Rock and Road America – and look for their third straight on Sunday.

Joey Hand qualified fourth in the No. 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT at 1:40.956 (116.604 mph) and Oliver Gavin completed the top five with a lap of 1:41.578 (115.890 mph) in the No. 4 Corvette Racing C7.R.

Zacharie Robichon proved that every lap counts during his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying performance in the GT Daytona division.

Driving the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, Robichon earned the GT Daytona class Motul Pole Award on the final lap of the 15-minute session. His time of one minute, 45.826 seconds (111.238 mph) bumped Frankie Montecalvo from the top spot by just .324 seconds, which Montecalvo posted only one lap prior.

Tomorrow will be the second time Robichon leads the WeatherTech Championship GT Daytona class to green this season. He was awarded the top spot at the Detroit Grand Prix in June following a disqualification of the initial pole winner.

“I mean credit goes out to the team on this one,” said Robichon, who will be co-driving with Scott Hargrove in Sunday’s Michelin GT Challenge. “They made the right call. They got the timing right. I think we got the extra lap on everybody else. I was just a tenth behind before that, but I think because of that last lap we were able to put it in. It was a little bit exciting.”

Robichon and the Pfaff Motorsports team are currently riding a winning streak. They scored back-to-back victories at Lime Rock Park last month and Road America three weeks ago. Robichon and Hargrove will be seeking their first victory as co-drivers, with Robichon winning alongside Dennis Olsen at Lime Rock and with Matt Campbell at Road America.

“It was a new team at the beginning of the year, and we’ve been able to come together as a team,” said Robichon. “We’ve been working together now as a crew at this level, and everybody knows their task, everybody is executing perfectly. The potential has been there all along, but we’ve finally been able to start hitting our stride.”

Montecalvo’s time in the No. 12 AIM Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3, ultimately held on for the outside front row starting spot. His teammate Richard Heistand in the No. 14 Lexus will start third.

A pair of Acura NSX GT3s swept the fourth and fifth positions, with Trent Hindman in the No. 86 Acura for Meyer Shank Racing posting the fourth quick time and Alice Powell, in her IMSA debut, earning the fifth spot in the No. 57 Heinricher Racing with Meyer Shank Racing Acura.