PITTSBURGH -- The memories come flooding back. Ask a major leaguer what he did last week at the plate, and he might need to look at a box score to remind himself. But ask about his Little League experiences, and boy, does he have memories.

"My 12-year-old season, I broke the home run record for our Little League," Chicago Cubs star Kris Bryant said recently. "Before the season started, I told my parents I wanted this drum set. Really bad. They said if you break -- his name was Chuckie Howard -- if you break his record of 18 home runs, we'll get you the drum set. I hit 19, but I changed my mind at the last minute and asked for golf clubs. That was my first set of golf clubs."

Bryant and his teammates will get to experience Little League all over again -- and finally make it to Williamsport, Pennsylvania -- when they and the Pittsburgh Pirates take in a game on Sunday before playing each other later that night in the hometown of the Little League World Series. It's a dream come true -- even if it comes decades later for some.

"To win a district playoff game back then and advance was a pretty big deal," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said. "It was hard to imagine being good enough to get that far."

"That far" wasn't very far at all for Maddon. He grew up in Hazleton, Pennsylvania, just 73 miles from Williamsport, but he has never been there. Not until Sunday, at least.

"As a community, we were more football- and basketball-oriented," Maddon said. "But as baseball players, we really wanted to go."

Across the country, in Las Vegas, Bryant had the same dream. But it was his brother who actually got closer.

"He made it to regionals, in San Bernardino, [California]," Bryant said. "I don't even remember the game. I was busy trading pins. I still have that collection."

Cubs first baseman Anthony Rizzo also dreamed of making it to Williamsport. In Parkland, Florida, he watched every year.

"We never got close," Rizzo said with a bit of a disappointment that still lingers. "But it was always a goal."

What's left are those memories of attempting to get there.

"In my first Little League game [T-ball], I ran the bases backward," Bryant said, laughing. "I didn't know what direction to go. And there were no bathrooms because it was Saturday, and the school was closed. So my grandma had a bucket in her car, and that's where I went to pee.

"You remember the stupid things, but they're great."

"I remember going from my first Communion straight to my Little League game and playing in my suit, just with a jersey over it," Rizzo said.

Like Bryant, Rizzo was coached by his dad. Both profess theirs were the good kind -- the kind who didn't care about anything but making sure the kids had fun.

"My dad's signs were pretty easy," Rizzo said with a laugh. "He would just scream from the third-base coach's box, 'Steal!' or 'Bunt!'

"We had a play, if I was pitching or catching. We had, like, a padded backstop, so if there was a guy on third, we would purposely pitch it back there, and it would bounce back to the catcher, and we would nail the guy trying to steal home. My friend Christian and I would do that."

Ask the players and even Maddon how good they were as Little Leaguers, and they aren't shy -- or forgetful.

"When I was 12, you could only pitch in every other game," Maddon said, smiling. "I was 8-0, and the other guy was 0-7, so we went 8-7 for the year. ... I hit .500 when I was 9. They used to post the stat sheet in the clubhouse."

Said Bryant: "My last year in Little League, I hit .720 with 19 home runs. ... I wanted to go to Williamsport so we could miss some school in August. It was a fairy tale to get there. It didn't happen for us."

But it's happening now -- for them and the fortunate Little League teams still in the tournament. Maddon and his players promised to soak in the game they attend before taking on the Pirates. It's bound to bring back even more memories.

"There was a water tank out in left-center field, and there was a dude by the name of Brown that used to hang out there," Maddon said. "Just an old man by the name of Brown. He would sit there and yell, 'Hit the water tank!' Finally, I hit the water tank, and I knew that if you could hit the water tank, it was a pretty significant development in your Little League career."

Bryant loves all that he has now as a pro ballplayer, but his Little League days can never be replicated.

"I really enjoy watching now, still," he said. "It's very innocent. A batter gets hit, and you go over and shake hands. You miss those days. That's when it really felt like a game. ... Some of my favorite memories are from Little League and my dad coaching me. It didn't matter if you won or lost, you were just happy to be out there playing."

Former world 100m champion Yohan Blake edges out Brit Adam Gemili at the Müller Grand Prix in Birmingham

It took a photo finish to separate Yohan Blake and Adam Gemili in the 100m, but both men left the Alexander Stadium in good spirits and knowing their countdown to Doha is on track. Blake, the 2011 world champion, was given the verdict as each athlete shared the same time of 10.07. Runner-up Gemili was happy, though, as he continues his comeback from hamstring problems.

Helped by a following wind of 2.0m/sec, Mike Rodgers was third in 10.09 with fellow American Christopher Belcher fourth in 10.13. Andre De Grasse, the Olympic 100m bronze medallist from Canada, was fifth followed by Jamaican champion Tyquendo Tracey and Commonwealth gold medallist Akani Simbine of South Africa.

“It was good, it was coming,” said Blake. “The weather wasn’t great but I’m saving the big day for the World Championships and the Diamond League finals in Zurich.”

Gemili said: “It wasn’t my best start but I’m just so happy to be healthy and back up running. It’s good to be in the mix with some of the best sprinters in the world.

“To win my heat and finish second in the Diamond League race, it bodes well for the British Champs and hopefully I can make the team for Doha.  I’ve put a lot of training in this winter and I’m healthy finally.”

The men’s 800m saw a number of top domestic runners going head to head one week before the British Championships. An English man won, but it was Mark English from Ireland who timed his kick to perfection to run 1:45.94 to beat Kenya’s 1:42 man Alfred Kipketer.

Close behind, Elliot Giles won the battle of the Brits as he clocked 1:46.27 ahead of Jamie Webb, Guy Learmonth and Spencer Thomas. In a rare race in the UK, Colorado-based Thomas Staines misjudged his effort and finished eighth, while UK junior record-holder Max Burgin found the early pace of 50.6 at the bell too hot and the 17-year-old will now make a decision over whether to tackle the British Championships back in Birmingham next weekend.

Cheng Chao-tsun, the Asian record-holder from Chinese Taipei, caused a mild upset to take the men’s javelin with 87.75m from Jakub Vadlejch of the Czech Republic as Magnus Kirt, the 2019 world No.1 from Estonia, was third, German duo Andreas Hofmann and Thomas Rohler fourth and seventh, while London Olympics winner Keshorn Walcott of Trinidad & Tobago was last.

Akeem Bloomfield of Jamaica took the men’s 400m in 45.04 as local star Matt Hudson-Smith ran a decent 45.55 in third. It was the European champion’s first race for almost a year due to what he described a ‘career threatening injury’ sustained in the spring. But he is back on track for the British Championships and confident of getting back inside 45 seconds in Doha.

“It’s always good to be home,” said the Florida-based and Birmingham-born athlete. “I put on a good showing and it’s nice to do that. Now it’s on to the trials.”

There was another Jamaican victory in the 110m hurdles as Omar McLeod won in 13.21 (-0.2) – one 10th of a second ahead of Freddie Crittenden as Cameron Fillery finished first Brit in fifth in a PB of 13.54.

At the start of the afternoon the European champion Thomas Young, 19, continued his build up to the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai by winning the T35-38 100m in 11.37 (1.4m/sec).

Elsewhere, Yasmani Copello took the men’s 400m hurdles in 49.08 ahead of South American junior record-holder Alison Santos (49.20) while Britain’s Jacob Paul was seventh in 50.71.

Ronald Musagala of Uganda won the men’s 1500m in 3:35.12 from Stewart McSweyn of Australia and Craig Engels of the US. Chris O’Hare was the best of the Brits but only in 10th as he clocked 3:41.98.

Brandon Starc jumped 2.30m to win the high jump as home hope Chris Baker finished sixth with 2.19m.

Britain's Jamie Murray and Neal Skupski lost their Cincinnati Masters semi-final in straight sets.

Murray and Skupski were defeated 6-1 6-4 by Ivan Dodig and Filip Polasek in the rain-hit match.

A torrential downpour stopped the game for around an hour at 4-3 in the second set, but the delay did not effect the winning duo's dominance.

Murray, 33, and his partner reached the semis by beating his brother Andy and Feliciano Lopez in the previous round.

Bosnia's Dodig and his Slovakian Polasek will play Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah in Sunday's final, after they defeated Bruno Soares and Mate Pavic 6-3 6-2.

Scotland need "big improvements" after being hammered by France in their opening warm-up match for the World Cup, says head coach Gregor Townsend.

Scotland conceded five tries in Nice as France overpowered them to cruise to a 32-3 victory.

The teams meet again at Murrayfield on Saturday, before Scotland play a double-header with Georgia prior to travelling to Japan.

"We need to see big improvements," the Scotland head coach told BBC Scotland.

"We've got 40 in our squad and the majority of them are going to Japan, so we'll be working with them to improve. Some might not get as many opportunities after tonight, but that might have been the case anyway.

"We all know we have to show a better picture of ourselves next week at Murrayfield," he added.

France dominated from kick-off as Fiji-born wing Alivereti Raka crossed within two minutes, with Maxime Medard and Gregory Alldritt adding further scores to put the hosts 20-3 in front by half-time.

Scotland struggled to cope with their physicality, including in the scrum, where France won numerous penalties.

Townsend was concerned with his side's fitness.

"We've worked hard and we know the players are in really good physical shape but they're obviously not match conditioned yet and we'll look at how we can accelerate that over the next week or two," he said.

"We allowed them into the game by not making enough dominant collisions, dominant tackles and when you give a French team space they can cause you damage, so that's very disappointing."

Scotland begin their World Cup campaign against Ireland on 22 September.

Fly-half Dan Biggar has hit back at former Wales wing JJ Williams following his man-of-the-match display in Saturday's 13-6 win against England.

Williams said Wales "would not win the World Cup" with Biggar lining up at 10 but the Northampton half-back played a starring role in the win in Cardiff.

"Special thanks to JJ Williams for all his comments this week," Biggar told Channel 4.

"It has been really motivating and support for the team."

Biggar has been left as Wales' first choice World Cup fly-half after a serious knee injury suffered by Gareth Anscombe.

Wales coach Warren Gatland also brushed off criticism from former Wales and British and Irish Lions legend Williams.

"Dan needed to play 10 because he has been coming off the bench and doing a great job when we've had Anscombe," said Gatland.

"I thought he was really good.

"I don't know about that former Welsh player. Was he really old? Played in the 70s probably? Did he play over 50-odd years ago? Probably. That does explain a few things."

Wales have also claimed their official place at the top of the world rankings for the first time as they rose above New Zealand.

Gatland's side had the same chance to claim top spot last week but lost 33-19 at Twickenham last Sunday, their first defeat in 14 matches.

"We probably got a little caught up with that last weekend, with the winning run and the world number one tag," said Biggar.

"We want to keep going about our business. We have worked hard for each other today and ground out a win with a huge defensive effort.

"We are looking to get better. It's nice to be where we are but hopefully we can continue the run.

"We played some good stuff and probably could have been a bit more ahead in the first half.

"It was pleasing to get over the line and dig it out as we have done over the years.

"The forwards were brilliant. England's set-piece is their strength and their driving line-out. To front up as we did and keep a world-class team like England try-less is really special.

"We are looking to get better. It's nice to be where we are but hopefully we can continue the run."

No serious injuries

Gatland said there were no serious injuries after the game despite James Davies (head), Jake Ball (dead leg), Aaron Wainwright (dead leg), Biggar (shoulder and groin) and Gareth Davies (hip) all coming off.

The Wales coach also revealed full-back Liam Williams was a precautionary late withdrawal after suffering a hamstring strain in the warm-up when he was replaced by Leigh Halfpenny.

"I spoke to Liam a few minutes before we finished the warm-up and he was gutted," said Gatland.

"I also spoke to him afterwards and said if this had it been a World Cup final or the last game of the Six Nations, you probably strap it up and take the risk.

"The last thing he needed to do was pull his hamstring properly and be out for five or six weeks.

"It was tough on Leigh Halfpenny because he'd done a really tough training session yesterday and he had one this morning as well!"

Halfpenny admitted he was tired as he made his first Test appearance since November 2018 and the Scarlets full-back kicked a late penalty to help seal victory.

"I'm not going to lie, we had a couple of tough sessions in the last couple of days," said Halfpenny.

"Yesterday we had speed endurance training and basically shuttles. The boys put it in yesterday after the Captain's Run.

"Then this morning I had leg weights followed by a watt bike session in the altitude room.

"The boys were coming out of the room in a pretty bad way. I wasn't walking too well, I'll be honest.

"But you get the call and that adrenaline just kicks in and it's an opportunity to put that jersey on."