EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- Draymond Green had just told DeMarcus Cousins that he hadn't seen him look this fit and slim since his college days at Kentucky. He was ready to see the big man wreak havoc on the NBA this season.

That was just last week.

On Thursday, Green and the rest of the NBA learned that Cousins had suffered yet another crushing setback with a torn left ACL, leaving Green uncertain of what to say or text to his good friend and former Golden State Warriors teammate.

"One of my goals coming into this season was for DeMarcus to destroy everybody and come back and show how great of a player he is and get what I think he deserves," Green told The Undefeated's Marc Spears. "I'm really at a loss for words about it. It's one that really hurt me for sure."

Green stopped by USA Basketball's practice at the Los Angeles Lakers' facility on Thursday. News of Cousins' latest gut-wrenching setback spread quickly through the team practice.

"I'm devastated for DeMarcus," said Warriors coach Steve Kerr, who is an assistant for Team USA and coached Cousins last season with Golden State. "It's been a couple of years of hell for DeMarcus. ... We are all crushed for him."

"Injuries are a part of the game," Kerr later added. "But when you are talking about a player who has now dealt with the two most feared injuries for NBA players -- the Achilles and the ACL -- each basically knocking you out for an entire season ... to deal with that over a two-and-a-half-, three-year span, it's unheard of. What a blow for him, for the Lakers. He is going to have to process it all, start all over again."

USA forward P.J. Tucker said the Cousins news was "heartbreaking."

Green says that if anyone can overcome this series of injuries, it's Cousins.

"He made it out of Mobile, Alabama," Green said. "The NBA is tough, very tough to get to, very tough to stay in.

"But he made it out of Mobile, Alabama. If he can do that, he can do anything."

MIAMI -- The rout-filled Dodgers-Marlins season series ended Thursday afternoon, and look who's laughing now.

Last-place Miami turned the tables on NL West leader Los Angeles, winning 13-7 despite giving up four home runs, including Cody Bellinger's 40th.

"It wasn't a good day of pitching for us," Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said.

Despite the drubbing, the Dodgers increased their homer total this week at pitcher-friendly Marlins Park to 14, a franchise record for a three-game series. Max Muncy hit his 29th, Corey Seager his 12th and Kyle Garlick his third.

Bellinger, who began the day tied with Christian Yelich and Mike Trout for the major league lead, reached the 40 mark for the first time with a three-run shot into the upper deck in the seventh inning to cut the deficit to 13-7.

Trout hit his 40th homer later Thursday against the Chicago White Sox to match Bellinger.

Los Angeles had won the previous five games against Miami this year by a combined score of 45-9, including a margin of 33-2 in the past three games.

But the Marlins averted a three-game sweep and won the season's final matchup between the teams with the best and worst records in the National League.

"It feels good, man," said center fielder Lewis Brinson, who contributed three RBIs and a pivotal defensive play. "That's a good team over there. Their record and all their numbers show it. We just said we've got to fight every at-bat against these guys, because they're a good squad. That's exactly what we did."

The Marlins won without hitting a home run while totaling 13 hits and six walks.

"Obviously it took a lot of hits to get those runs, but that's who we are right now," manager Don Mattingly said.

Brinson, Brian Anderson, Starlin Castro and Jorge Alfaro each had three RBIs, and Jon Berti scored three times as the game literally became the latest laugher in the series. Castro wore a grin crossing the plate in the fifth to make it 7-1.

The last time Marlins had four players with three or more RBIs was in 2006.

Caleb Smith (8-6) needed 106 pitches to get through five innings but gave up only one hit and one run -- on Garlick's homer in the fifth.

Walker Buehler (10-3) gave up five runs in four-plus innings. It was a rare lapse for a rotation that entered the game with a 1.69 ERA this month.

"A breakdown of everything I do well," Buehler said. "Not a good one. Never fun to put our team in a situation like that."

The longest nine-inning game in the eight-year history of Marlins Park took 4 hours, 7 minutes.

Anderson drove in the game's first run with an RBI bloop single in the first. His two-run double in the fifth made it 4-0 and knocked Buehler out of the game.

The Marlins' first seven batters reached in the fifth, and six scored. Brinson's two-run double made it 8-1.

Brinson also charged to making a diving, inning-ending catch in center field to rob Seager of an RBI single in the fourth.

"Any runs you can take away from that team definitely feels good," Brinson said. "I don't know how I caught that ball, but it stayed in the glove."

MILESTONE

Bellinger became the first player in the majors to reach 40 homers this season. He hit 39 as a rookie in 2017.

"It's pretty cool," he said. "There's still a lot of baseball left to be played, so I'm going to keep doing what I'm doing, and hopefully more to come."

PUZZLING SPLITS

Buehler is 5-0 with a 2.33 ERA at home. On the road he's 5-3 with a 4.37 ERA.

"I'm trying to figure out what the difference is," Buehler said. "I felt good today. I just didn't put the ball where I wanted it."

TRAINER'S ROOM

Dodgers RF Kristopher Negron (nose and forehead bruises and abrasions) left the game when he did a face plant in a failed attempt to catch Brinson's double. Concussion tests and X-rays were negative.

UP NEXT

Dodgers: RHP Kenta Maeda (8-8, 4.12) is scheduled to start the opener of a three-game series at Atlanta on Friday. Maeda last faced the Braves in 2017 but has won both of his starts against them.

Marlins: A six-game trip begins Friday with All-Star RHP Sandy Alcantara (4-10, 4.44) scheduled to start at Colorado. In his past eight starts, Alcantara is 0-4 with a 7.29 ERA.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

ATLANTA -- Pete Alonso and Amed Rosario helped the New York Mets pile up huge totals of hits and runs Thursday.

The Mets needed almost all of them to hold off the homer-happy Atlanta Braves.

Alonso drove in six runs with five hits, including a three-run homer that helped lead to Julio Teheran's shortest career start, and the Mets held on in the ninth inning to beat the Braves 10-8.

"It's incredible. It's hard to put in words, five knocks as a rookie," Mets starter Marcus Stroman said of Alonso. "It seems like he's on everything, barreling everything."

Alonso's first-inning homer carried 451 feet before making a splash landing in the pool behind the center-field wall.

Alonso's 39th homer tied Cody Bellinger for the National League rookie record. Bellinger hit 39 homers for the Dodgers in 2017, the same year the Yankees' Aaron Judge set the major league rookie mark with 52.

"I don't stand alone," Alonso said. "I'm tied. Hopefully I keep on going and keep pushing forward. Hopefully I can stand alone in that category."

Alonso set career single-game highs for hits and RBIs.

The Mets had a season-best 23 hits. Rosario's career-high five hits included two doubles, two singles and a triple. It was the first time in franchise history the Mets had more than one player with five hits.

"That's nuts. That's crazy," Alonso said when told about the duo making history. "I think all of us kind of fed off Amed today."

Wilson Ramos added four hits.

New York won despite giving up six homers, including three in the ninth. Freddie Freeman and Josh Donaldson each hit his second homer of the game in the inning and Ronald Acuna Jr. hit a two-run shot -- all against Drew Gagnon.

Edwin Diaz walked Brian McCann before striking out Ender Inciarte for his 25th save.

Stroman (7-11) allowed three runs, two earned, on four hits in 5⅓ innings. The right-hander earned his first win in three starts since being traded to New York from Toronto on July 28.

Stroman gave up homers to Matt Joyce in the fourth and Donaldson in the sixth.

New York, trying to stay close in the NL wild-card race, snapped a three-game losing streak that included the first two games of the series.

Teheran (7-8) walked three consecutive batters to force in a run in the second. He left the game after giving up a run-scoring single to Ramos. Teheran recorded only four outs while giving up eight hits and six runs.

"My command wasn't there," Teheran said, adding he'll try to quickly move past the ugly outing. "I'm just going to put it in a bag and concentrate on the next one."

Todd Frazier's third-inning homer off Josh Tomlin increased New York's lead to 7-0.

Alonso drove in two runs with a fifth-inning single off Tomlin and added a run-scoring single off Anthony Swarzak in the seventh.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Mets: Only one day after he was placed on the 10-day injured list with a mild left hamstring strain, 2B Jeff McNeil jogged in the outfield before batting practice. McNeil said he hopes he won't miss more than 10 days with his second IL stint this season with the same injury.

Braves: SS Dansby Swanson (right foot contusion) hasn't been cleared to run but took fielding practice from his knees before the game. It's the same drill regularly used by third-base coach Ron Washington with infielders. Swanson, who also played catch in the outfield, has been out since July 24.

TEHERAN'S NEMESIS

Teheran fell to 1-2 in four starts against the Mets this season, including three straight in which he failed to last longer than four innings.

CATCH OF THE DAY

Acuna robbed J.D. Davis of a homer in the sixth by leaping and reaching above the yellow line atop the left-field wall for a catch. Acuna landed in a sitting position on the warning track before pausing and throwing the ball back to the infield as fans cheered.

"Kind of dramatic," Braves manager Brian Snitker said of the brief uncertainty about the catch. "Good for him. It's entertainment."

UP NEXT

Mets: RHP Noah Syndergaard (8-5, 3.89 ERA) will make his first start against the Royals since 2016 when the Mets open a three-game series at Kansas City on Friday night. Syndergaard gave up three runs in six innings in a 4-3 win in the 2016 start.

Braves: RHP Mike Soroka (10-2, 2.32) will make his first start against Los Angeles when Atlanta opens a three-game series against Kenta Maeda and the Dodgers on Friday night. The matchup of division leaders is a rematch of the 2018 NL Division Series won by the Dodgers.

PHILADELPHIA -- The Chicago Cubs wasted a near record-setting outing by right-hander Yu Darvish on Thursday as he became only the second pitcher to go four consecutive starts with eight-plus strikeouts and no walks.

"He's been doing that for a while," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said after a 7-5 loss to the Philadelphia Phillies. "He's been one of the best pitchers in the National League and he showed it again tonight."

Darvish shut out the Phillies over seven innings, striking out 10, before a ninth-inning bullpen implosion led to a Bryce Harper walk-off grand slam. The Cubs led 5-1 entering the ninth before Harper's blast off lefty Derek Holland ended the night and series with a three-game Phillies sweep.

First baseman Anthony Rizzo was asked where the loss ranked among many bad ones on the road this season.

"It's No. 1, for sure," he said. "With the road struggles, being able to win a game here would have been nice. But we didn't. It's definitely tough at this part of the season, as opposed to April and May when this happens."

The loss dropped the Cubs to 23-38 on the road, while they are 41-19 at home. Darvish, though, has now gone 26 innings without issuing a walk, the longest active streak in the majors and sixth-longest this season. It comes after a horrendous opening stretch during which he walked 22 batters in his first six starts. He's walked one in his past six.

"I have more routine now, doing the same thing every day," Darvish said of his success. "That makes me feel better."

Could he have gone longer than seven innings Thursday? After 92 pitches, he and Maddon said he was done, despite an easy final inning.

"Pretty much," Darvish said. "After the fourth inning I started losing my mechanics. I think it was a good decision. ... The numbers show good, but I don't feel that good."

The decision led to a series of events which eventually led to Holland facing Harper with the game on the line. It didn't help that the Cubs have three top relievers on the injured list and shortstop Javier Baez was scratched due to an illness. His replacement, David Bote, made a key error in the ninth inning, opening the door for the Phillies.

"That one is going to leave a mark," Maddon said of the loss.

Holland weighed in on Twitter that the blame should be his and his alone.

Don't blame them. Blame me. And the pitch was not down the middle. It was inside off the plate. And we lost because of me not because of them. I gave up the homer. Not them. Hold me accountable for the actions that Happened.

— Derek Holland (@Dutch_Oven45) August 16, 2019

As for the fateful 2-2 pitch to Harper, Holland didn't think it was a bad one. It was on the inside corner of the plate, but Harper turned on it for a no-doubter.

"I looked at the pitch," Holland said. "It was a great pitch. You have to give credit to where it's due. Tip your hat to him."

Introductory news conferences to announce a free-agent signing can get crazy quickly, and -- given how unpredictable baseball performance is -- it often takes no more than a year before the most grandiose claims look desperate. But when the Philadelphia Phillies signed Bryce Harper -- the rare star to hit free agency while still in his mid-20s -- the news conference, on a spring training field in Clearwater, Florida, was relatively subdued.

Nobody promised a World Series this year, or even a division title. Nobody promised an MVP award. The theme of the event, from Harper especially, was, simply, that he was going to be a Phillie for a long time, and that the length of the contract was itself the message. We're family now. That was the theme.

In his final answers, though, Harper let loose a little bit. He was asked this: "You're a big student of baseball history. Wonder how important it is for you to make history?"

"You're always remembered for winning," he said. "For me, it's all about winning. That's what you're remembered for, that's what it's all about. Personal accolades, they're great. But for me if our team plays well and our team plays together -- I find joy in my teammates' success. It's about what we can do to get that extra run to win the game, and to win for a long period of time. I'm excited to try [to] make that run."

And then, in his final answer, he expanded:

"Being able to be part of an organization for 13 years, and to be able to put all my faith and trust into everybody in this organization, I'm very excited about it. I'm not going to tell you I'm going to win MVP every single year. Is that my goal? Absolutely, I want to do that every single year. But there's going to be down years, there's going to be big years, there's going to be years that are just OK. We're gonna go in, we're gonna try to do everything we can to win and play hard and play well -- that's what it's all about."

One year into "the longest contract possible" is, of course, too early to judge anything, and the standard Harper set for success in Philadelphia is far broader than a year of stats or one season's record. But in those two answers, Harper gave us a little bit of a road map -- a very nuanced one -- for what standards he set for on-field success.

"You're always remembered for winning." This is explicitly the philosophy of the mid-decade Astros and Cubs, who figured out that losing doesn't matter if it's followed by winning. Absurdly low spending and multiple years of artificial awfulness would be forgiven, that philosophy went, if the team was ultimately building to something big and successful. The Cubs and Astros were; each team won the World Series. That cycle looked so foolproof, many teams since have tried, with varying degrees of success, to repeat it. But to be forgiven for on-purpose losing seasons -- the Phillies cut their payroll in half and lost at least 90 games three seasons in a row -- requires the payoff. Last year's team went 80-82 in what was supposed to be a bridge year. But this year, the prospects had matriculated, trades had been made, money had been spent -- Harper had been signed. The Phillies are still hovering around .500, slipping slowly out of the wild-card race, trailing two teams (the Brewers in the wild-card race, the Braves in the NL East) who more successfully pulled off the teardown-and-rebuild cycle.

"I'm not going to tell you I'm going to win MVP every single year. ... There's going to be down years, there's going to be big years, there's going to be years that are just OK." Harper is incredible at baseball, so a big year for him is an MVP award and a historically significant batting line; a year that's just OK still gets some down-ballot MVP support; and his down year is usually still an All-Star appearance.

But this year was his first healthy season in which he didn't make the All-Star team, and he might not be named on an MVP ballot, either. He's 55th in the majors (among qualified hitters) in OPS+, and he's 104th (among all hitters) in WAR.

Originally, we wrote that last sentence with "just" before each ranking, but "just" stacks the deck against him. He undoubtedly makes the Phillies better by his presence. For that matter, most teams would probably happily pay him $25 million for exactly this performance. But it's also probably fair to say that, in the first of 13 years, the Phillies would have expected and hoped for more than this. His projections going forward will get worse because of this year. The 2015 MVP season is further in the distance; so, for that matter, is the 2017 season.

"If I'm 0-for-4 or 4-for-4, that doesn't really matter. It's about what we can do to get that extra run to win the game." But here's where things shift strongly to Harper's favor. Harper's overall numbers are down, near career lows in some categories (and career highs in strikeout rate). But Harper has been extraordinarily clutch this year -- literally the clutchest hitter in baseball, according to FanGraphs' measures.

Statistically, "clutch" means a player hits better in the highest-leverage moments than he does in lower-leverage ones. It means his impact on his team's win probability is greater than his overall numbers alone would suggest. So, for example, here's Harper by various game states:

• High leverage: .322/.385/.655

• Medium leverage: .261/.372/.444

• Low leverage: .208/.367/.411

Since "clutch" is basically a ratio of two splits, a player can measure out as clutch because he has been really incredible in one, or because he has been really terrible in another, or -- as in Harper's case -- a little bit of each. His low-leverage stats are dragging his overall performance down, making his WAR look mediocre and his career path look less encouraging. But his high-leverage stats are doing what he's trying really hard to do, which is help the Phillies win. By Win Probability Added, Harper ranks fifth in all of baseball, behind only Christian Yelich, Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger and Freddie Freeman (in case you're worried that WPA is a junk stat with a junk leaderboard). He has driven in a higher percentage of his baserunners than Trout, Bellinger or Yelich.

Consider the four-game series the Phillies just played against the Giants: Harper went 3-for-14. But the three were a three-run homer, while trailing by one run in the seventh; a two-out, bases-loaded single that turned a one-run deficit into a one-run lead; and a homer that turned a one-run lead into a two-run lead.

"To be able to put all my faith and trust into everybody in this organization, I'm very excited about it." The Phillies have about a 1-in-16 chance of making the playoffs at the moment. It's not Bryce Harper's fault. They're an average team with an average pitching staff and an average defense and (Harper and a couple of others aside) a below-average offense. Harper's Win Probability Added is more than double the second-best Phillies hitter, more than triple their third best. The organization, as a collection of hundreds of personnel on and off the field, hasn't been very successful this year. The Phillies might still rally and get there, but, at the moment, they're not. They've let Harper down.

Well, maybe. Earlier in that news conference, Harper said this, which seemed merely modest at the time but perhaps prescient now:

"The thing about the East is it's a juggernaut. I'm not going to tell you that we're going to come in this year and win the World Series or win the division this year. That's the goal. But good things take time, as well."

That's what makes all of this especially complicated: Harper emphasized time, over and over and over again. In a measured, almost wistful tone, he talked about the power of time to build relationships, among players and also between players and the city. He reframed the extraordinary length of his contract -- which is so often treated as a liability in a megadeal -- as the main benefit. Time would ease the pressure, remove uncertainty and free both sides up to build something patiently and permanent.

But time is also what causes degradation and demise. The actuarial tables would tell us Harper will never be as certain as he was supposed to be this year, and might soon start to get worse -- subtly at first, but then again maybe not.

And so, in this year, when there was tremendous hope that Harper would be a dominant offensive force -- he was. But he was dominant in a way that is usually fleeting -- clutchness -- and for a team that probably wasn't good enough to make it really count.

You could take, from all of this, that Harper's first year as a Phillie has been a bit disappointing. But he was pretty clear when he introduced himself: He's not working on our timetable. He's still got time.

Will this be the moment? Can one swing, one 413-foot home run launched at 113 mph and 40 degrees into the night sky in Philadelphia turn around a season? Maybe turn around the trajectory of the next 13 years?

That, no doubt, is an overly dramatic reading of the events that unfolded Thursday night in the bottom of the ninth in the Phillies' 7-5 win over the Cubs, but Bryce Harper's walk-off grand slam to cap a six-run rally was one of the signature moments of the season. Harper admired his towering fly ball that landed in the second deck, then sprinted around the bases in 19.27 seconds, smiling and laughing and screaming as if running for a gold medal, Phillies announcer John Kruk exclaiming "OH MY GOD," the fans going bonkers, Harper's teammates mobbing him at home plate.

Is this a great game or what? The highs and the lows, the joy and the despair, or as Chicago radio host Julie DiCaro tweeted, "#cubs group therapy tonight":

That. Was. Amazing. #GoPhillies

— Eric Karabell (@karabelleric) August 16, 2019

Oh, no, #Cubs. Oh, no.

— Joe Sheehan (@joe_sheehan) August 16, 2019

Once Bryce Harper made contact, the Cubs right fielder knew this one was over. pic.twitter.com/uVbHwiBJZg

— Cut4 (@Cut4) August 16, 2019

When Jean Segura flied out to begin the bottom of the ninth with the Phillies trailing 5-1, their win expectancy fell to 0.6%. Then, insanity. Cubs shortstop David Bote booted a ground ball. Scott Kingery singled. Brad Miller singled on an 0-2 pitch. Joe Maddon brought in Pedro Strop. Roman Quinn singled to make it 5-3. Strop hit Rhys Hoskins with a 1-2 fastball. Maddon brought in lefty Derek Holland to face Harper with the bases juiced and the crowd on its feet.

First pitch: 94 mph sinker, chopped foul

Second pitch: 95 mph sinker, fouled off

Third pitch: Changeup just outside

Fourth pitch: Changeup in the dirt

Fifth pitch: 95 mph sinker, chopped foul

Sixth pitch: 95 mph sinker, crushed to right field

After the game, Harper explained his home run to MLB Network: "Knowing his sinker was his best pitch, kind of cheated the best I could on the inside part of the plate and was able to keep it fair."

Indeed, this was Harper at his best. Hanging in there on a couple of tough pitches, laying off the offspeed stuff out of the strike zone, and then anticipating a particular pitch and guessing right. Beautiful.

The win probability graph from tonight's Cubs at Phillies game is a pretty fun look...

(unless you're a Cubs fan, I suppose) pic.twitter.com/D7H95x9gzs

— Sarah Langs (@SlangsOnSports) August 16, 2019

Is this the start of something for Harper? He went 3-for-3 with two home runs Wednesday, the middle game of the Phillies' three-game sweep of the Cubs. He's hitting .259/.385/.648 in August with seven home runs and 15 RBIs in 14 games. Even though his overall numbers can be viewed as a disappointment, Harper actually has been pretty clutch all season, entering the evening ranked fifth among hitters in win probability added, behind Christian Yelich, Mike Trout, Cody Bellinger and Freddie Freeman.

We know Harper is capable of going on a tear for weeks at a time, even if he has struggled to maintain consistent power while also hitting for average over the past two seasons. It would certainly be good for the sport to have Harper doing exciting things down the stretch. A Harper walk-off grand slam is going to get a lot more attention than your typical walk-off grand slam, and given the state of Philadelphia's bullpen and with Jake Arrieta likely to have season-ending elbow surgery, the Phillies need Harper to step up the final month and a half.

I hope it happens.

As for the Cubs, it was an absolutely crushing defeat as they fell to 23-38 on the road. Anthony Rizzo said it was their toughest loss of the season:

Cubs have had some tough losses, Rizzo said this one stings most. "It's no. 1, for sure. With the road struggles & being able to win a game here would have been nice going to Pittsburgh. But we didn't & it's definitely tougher this part of the season as opposed to April or May."

— Sahadev Sharma (@sahadevsharma) August 16, 2019

On the bright side: The Cubs are still tied for first place in the NL Central. It just doesn't feel like it after a night like Thursday.

Alonso ties rookie record: The Mets turned a blowout win over the Braves into a nail-biter, holding on for a 10-8 victory after the Braves scored four runs in the bottom of the ninth and brought the tying run to the plate. The Mets pounded 23 hits, hit two home runs, had two players (Pete Alonso and Amed Rosario) get five hits in the same game for the first time in franchise history ... and still nearly blew the game. Does anybody have a good bullpen right now?

Alonso went 5-for-5 with six RBIs, including his 39th home run, tying Bellinger's National League rookie record set in 2017. Alonso is only two away from tying the Mets' club record, shared by Todd Hundley and Carlos Beltran. He remains one behind Bellinger, who hit his 40th home run, for the league lead, so he has a chance of becoming only the fourth rookie to lead his league in home runs (Aaron Judge in 2017, Mark McGwire in 1987 and Ralph Kiner in 1947).

The play of the game, however, was Ronald Acuna Jr. robbing J.D. Davis of a home run ... and then pretending he didn't make the catch:

Crooked numbers everywhere: It was one of those nights. In fact, there were 48 home runs in 10 games. That 4.8 HR per game average is the most all time in a day with at least 10 games played, according to Elias Sports research. Some of the highlights:

-- Indians 19, Yankees 5. The Indians scored seven in the top of the first, knocking out opener Chad Green after one out and five runs. They pounded seven home runs -- tying the record for most against the Yankees in a game. (The only other time the Yankees gave up seven homers was July 4, 2003, against the Red Sox.) Maybe nobody sums up baseball in 2019 better than Cleveland catcher Roberto Perez. He hit .168 with two home runs last year and entered the season with 21 career home runs in 818 at-bats. He hit his 20th of the season, in 296 at-bats.

-- Twins 13, Rangers 6. The Twins hit three more home runs to remain a half-game ahead of Cleveland in the AL Central.

-- Marlins 13, Dodgers 7. You wouldn't expect the Marlins to score 13 runs in a game started by Walker Buehler, but they scored five runs off him in four innings and tacked on a bunch more against the bullpen. Amazingly, they didn't hit a home run -- and the Dodgers hit four.

-- A's 7, Astros 6. Four players had multihomer games (Houston's Carlos Correa and Michael Brantley, Oakland's Matt Olson and Matt Chapman), something that has been done only four times before.

-- Reds 2, Cardinals 1. Wait, a low-scoring game! Sonny Gray fanned 10 in five scoreless innings.

Researchers believe U.S. Montmorency tart cherries may provide a number of cardiovascular benefits due to the intensity of anthocyanins inside these ruby-red fruits

Cardiovascular disease remains one of the largest causes of death in both men and women in the world. Changes in diet and exercise can go a long way in helping to keep your heart healthy.

A good place to start is eating more fruits and vegetables, especially deeply hued produce that’s packed with heart-healthy compounds. Typically, the darker the colour, the better.

A great source of this fruit is U.S. Montmorency tart cherries. Researchers believe U.S. Montmorency tart cherries may provide a number of cardiovascular benefits due to the intensity of anthocyanins inside these ruby-red fruits and studies indicate that U.S. Montmorency tart cherries may help lower levels of cholesterol and triglycerides, reduce inflammation and improve belly fat – all factors that are specifically linked to heart disease risk.

A look at the evidence:

• Provide benefits for conditions associated with metabolic syndrome. Researchers found that U.S. Montmorency tart cherries reduced systolic blood pressure, insulin levels and insulin concentrations in adults with metabolic syndrome.
• Lowers blood pressure and “bad” cholesterol. A University of Delaware study found that American-grown U.S. Montmorency tart cherry juice lowered systolic blood pressure and LDL or “bad” cholesterol in older adults by reducing inflammation and oxidative stress.
• Reduces stroke risk. The University of Michigan Cardio Protection Research Laboratory suggests U.S. Montmorency tart cherries may help reduce the risk of stroke. They found that U.S. Montmorency tart cherries acted similar to prescribed drugs used to help regulate fat and glucose in patients with metabolic syndrome.

What you can do:

• Look for ways to add U.S. Montmorency tart cherries to your heart-healthy eating plan, such as the salmon with cherry chipotle pictured above.
• Start off the day with a glass of U.S. Montmorency tart cherry juice or top your breakfast oats with dried U.S. Montmorency tart cherries and walnuts.
• Add dried U.S. Montmorency tart cherries to your whole-grain dishes, and mix them into your fresh fruit salads.

We highlight some of the stacked fields set to compete at the Diamond League meeting

One week before the British Championships, many of the leading domestic athletes face some of the world’s best as the Diamond League hits the UK for the second time this summer.

Highlights of Sunday’s Müller Grand Prix Birmingham at the Alexander Stadium include a sparkling women’s 200m where Dina Asher-Smith is facing several of the world’s best, a high-quality men’s javelin, intriguing women’s pole vault and sizzling women’s sprint hurdles.

For our full event-by-event preview, see the August 15 edition of AW magazine, which is available to order in print here or download digitally here.

Ones to watch

12:50 Women’s T35-38 100m

Britain’s Sophie Hahn, Kadeena Cox, Olivia Breen and Maria Lyle are ready to take to their marks.

13:02 Women’s 100m hurdles heats (final at 15:22)

World record-holder Keni Harrison is joined by Olympic champion and fellow American Brianna McNeal plus Nia Ali and Queen Claye. Danielle Williams, the Jamaican who impressed at the London Diamond League, is among the opposition, together with Dutch athlete Nadine Visser, while British challengers include Cindy Ofili and Alicia Barrett.

13:07 Women’s pole vault

Holly Bradshaw takes on a world-class field led by Olympic and world champion Katerina Stefanidi of Greece, Yarisley Silva of Cuba, 2012 Olympic champion Jenn Suhr and Katie Nageotte of the United States, Angelica Bengtsson of Sweden and Alysha Newman of Canada.

13:46 Men’s 100m heats (final at 15:32)

Can anyone beat world indoor champion Christian Coleman? British athletes Adam Gemili, Harry Aikines-Aryeetey and Oliver Bromby are in the line-up plus Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse from Canada, former world champion Yohan Blake of Jamaica, Su Bingtian of China, Commonwealth champion Akani Simbini of South Africa and Mike Rodgers of the United States.

14:10 Women’s long jump

Olympic and world heptathlon champion Nafi Thiam of Belgium goes up against fellow combined eventer Katarina Johnson- Thompson in a taste of what might be to come in Doha. It is far from a two-horse contest, though, as specialist long jumpers Ivana Spanovic of Serbia and Brits Lorraine Ugen and Abigail Irozuru will be aiming to get in the mix.

14:38 Men’s javelin

Some of the big guns of German javelin throwing are going head to head with Olympic gold medallist Thomas Rohler and in-form Andreas Hofmann in the field. World No.1 in 2019, Magnus Kirt of Estonia, adds to a quality line-up.

15:52 Women’s 200m

The tastiest event of the day is last on the programme. Dina Asher-Smith, the multiple European champion and UK record-holder, represents British hopes but is up against a fearsome field that includes Shaunae Miller-Uibo of Bahamas, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce of Jamaica, Blessing Okagbare of Nigeria and Dafne Schippers of the Netherlands. Britain’s world under-18 record-holder Amy Hunt also has a lane and will hope to make a mark.

The full timetable and entry lists can be found here.

Times above correct at time of publication.

TV guide

Fans in the UK can watch live coverage on BBC Two from 13:30-16:30, repeated 19:00-22:00 on the BBC Red Button.

There will also be updates on our social media channels and website plus in-depth coverage in next week’s magazine.

Prop Owen Franks and wings Ben Smith and Rieko Ioane have been dropped by New Zealand in the wake of the All Blacks' 47-26 defeat by Australia.

The trio fail to even make the bench for Saturday's return at Eden Park.

"They're not playing, you can say they are dropped," coach Steve Hansen said.

Franks, Smith and Ioane have a combined total of 213 Test caps. Their replacements Nepo Laulala, George Bridge and Sevu Reece have just 22 between them.

"Obviously, we'd like to see Ben, Owen and Rieko playing better but we've made the decision because we've got to find out more about these other people in pressure-cooker situations and you don't get much bigger than this," Hansen added.

New Zealand came close to losing their near decade-long reign at the top of the world rankings after last weekend's loss, with Wales failing to get the draw or win against England that was necessary to move them ahead of the All Blacks.

Another 15-point plus victory for the Wallabies on Saturday could send New Zealand down to sixth in the world rankings, an all-time low for the three-time world champions with just over a month to go before the World Cup starts.

In addition to his three tactical switches, Hansen was forced into another two changes to his starting XV.

Sonny Bill Williams returns in midfield after an injury to Jack Goodhue, while Patrick Tuipulotu is included in place of suspended second row Scott Barrett, whose red card just before half-time in Perth last weekend precipitated the visitors' heavy defeat.

A Wallabies victory would earn them their first Bledisloe Cup since 2002. However, Michael Cheika's side will have to end a losing streak in New Zealand that stretches back 22 Tests and 17 years.

Cheika has been forced into one change to his line-up with Adam Coleman coming in for the injured Rory Arnold in the second row.

"We wouldn't be doing it if we didn't think that the guys we put in aren't good enough to do the job on Saturday if we play well. I don't think it's a risk and there's lots of reward in it."

New Zealand: B Barrett, Reece, Lienert-Brown, Williams, Bridge; Mo'unga, Smith, Moody, Coles, Laulala, Tuipulotu, Whitelock, A Savea, Cane, Read.

Replacements: Taylor, Tuungafasi, Ta'avao, Hemopo, Todd, Perenara, Laumape, J Barrett.

Australia: Beale; Hodge, O'Connor, Kerevi, Koroibete; Lealiifano, White; Sio, Latu, Alaalatoa, Rodda, Coleman, Salakaia-Loto, Hooper, Naisarani.

Replacements: Fainga'a, Slipper, Tupou, Simmons, Wright, Genia, Toomua, Ashley-Cooper.