SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic -- Authorities in the Dominican Republic have arrested former MLB pitcher Octavio Dotel and and cited ex-infielder Luis Castillo for their alleged links to a drug-trafficking and money-laundering ring, officials said Tuesday.

Dominican Attorney General Jean Alain Rodriguez said police are also actively pursuing the alleged leader of the ring, Cesar Emilio Peralta, also known as "Cesar the Abuser.'' Castillo -- not the current Cincinnati Reds' pitcher -- has not yet been arrested.

"Eighteen other people are linked to this network, including athletes and baseball players Octavio Dotel and Luis Castillo,'' Rodriguez said in a news conference, calling it "the most important drug-trafficking structure in the region.''

He said Peralta created a complicated system of companies to hide the origins of his assets, using members of his family and social circles, "including two sports figures in the Dominican Republic.''

Rodriguez said the U.S. government and police agencies participated in the investigation.

Dominican officials say a 1,050-kilogram shipment of drugs heading from South America to Puerto Rico was one of several seizures attributed to this ring.

On his Instagram account, Castillo denied any ties to drugs.

"The truth is my country no longer works, my God, do you think that after making millions of dollars in Baseball I am going to dirty my hands with drugs?'' the former player wrote.

Castillo was a three-time All-Star, won three Gold Gloves and was a member of the 2003 Florida Marlins team that won the World Series.

There was no immediate comment from Dotel, who set a record at the time for playing on more MLB teams than any other player. The teams were: the Detroit Tigers, St. Louis Cardinals, Toronto Blue Jays, Colorado Rockies, Los Angeles Dodgers, Pittsburgh Pirates, Chicago White Sox, Atlanta Braves, Kansas City Royals, New York Yankees, Oakland Athletics, Houston Astros and New York Mets.

NEW YORK -- Yes, America, Pete Alonso has a supporting cast.

With much of the national attention on the New York Mets focused on the rookie bomber's soaring home run total -- or, even just a few weeks ago, on the latest calamities and dysfunction in an organization that has tripped over itself so many times in recent seasons -- it's easy to forget that Alonso has help in the lineup and that the rotation is deeper than just Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard.

Tuesday's 9-2 win over the Indians kicked off the Mets' most important homestand since 2016 -- nine games against the Indians, Braves and Cubs -- in positive fashion. They beat a Cy Young contender in Shane Bieber, J.D. Davis and Michael Conforto continued their hot hitting with two-run home runs, and Steven Matz had another quality start, his fourth in his past five outings.

"To beat Shane Bieber in the first game to start off this homestand, to energize the fans, to put ourselves in good position to win a series against these guys is what we set out to do today," Conforto said. "We know we have a tough stretch ahead of us, but we take it day by day and try to win each day, so it was a good team win all-around."

When the Mets won 15 out of 16 at the end of July through early August, they did it against a soft spot in the schedule -- two series against the stumbling Pirates, White Sox and Marlins. Their next eight series -- taking the team into the final two weeks of the regular season -- are against teams that began the day .500 or better.

The Mets know this homestand is the biggest test of the season and maybe even a do-or-die nine games for a team that has climbed from the second-worst record in the National League at 46-55 and eight games out of the wild card on July 24 to 65-60 and two games out of the second wild-card spot.

"I think we all knew that even though it's August, the playoffs started today," Davis said. "We have to have that playoff mentality, that playoff atmosphere, that every game counts, especially with the hole we dug ourselves into. I think the elephant in the room is that we have a lot of home games but a lot of games against playoff teams."

It's all those home games that give Mets fans hope that perhaps this can turn into another miracle season -- like the one that happened 50 years ago, when the Mets were 10 games out on Aug. 13 and won the World Series, or the "Ya Gotta Believe" club of 1973 that was 11.5 out on Aug. 5 and won the NL pennant. Heck, given those parameters, don't rule out an NL East title in 2019.

In beating Cleveland, the Mets improved to 35-21 at home compared to 30-39 on the road, but as Davis alluded to, that means 25 of their final 37 games are at Citi Field.

Davis is one reason the Mets have played so much better at home. He's hitting .390/.454/.732 at Citi Field and .258/.316/.376 on the road. Lately, however, he has been hitting everywhere. Since the All-Star break, he leads all NL hitters with at least 100 plate appearances in batting average (.380) and OPS (1.069). Amed Rosario isn't far behind, ranking second in batting average (.371) and in the top 25 in OPS. Conforto, meanwhile, has hit .290 in 33 games with 11 home runs and 31 RBIs.

Davis' production has been huge, especially in the absence of All-Star Jeff McNeil, who has been out for a week with a hamstring injury, and Brandon Nimmo, who has been out since mid-May with a disc issue in his neck. (Nimmo played center field for Triple-A Syracuse on Tuesday, his third rehab game, so he could be back soon.) The Mets acquired Davis from the Astros on Jan. 6 in hopes that he could provide a bat off the bench and fill in a little at third base or first base. Ten days later, however, the club signed Jed Lowrie, and Davis wasn't even assured a spot on the roster. Lowrie's injury in spring training opened a roster slot, and Davis began the season platooning against left-handers, but the various injuries have led to regular playing time for him for the first time in the majors.

Against Bieber, he came up in the bottom of the second with Cleveland up 1-0 and crushed an 0-1 slider into the black hitting background in center field, a 109.9 mph rocket that traveled 447 feet.

"The scouting report was to attack him early," Davis said. "He threw strikes early in the count, and in that at-bat, I was aggressive with the 0-0 fastball. Then he went to the off-speed pitch, and we got him. I think that was his first time out of the stretch, and he left one over the plate."

That was one of the few mistakes Bieber made, as catcher Roberto Perez set up outside, but the All-Star righty hung the pitch. Conforto's home run came in the sixth inning with two outs and the game tied 2-2. He shouldn't have been batting in the first place, as Indians left fielder Oscar Mercado had dropped Joe Panik's routine pop fly in shallow left field. The Mets took advantage of the extra out, and Conforto golfed a low slider 388 feet to right-center.

Yeah, that felt good. "Especially in that situation against a good starter who got me a couple times earlier in the game," Conforto said. He just missed a home run with a long foul ball earlier in the at-bat. "I felt like a pretty good swing on that fastball. I was actually on time on that fastball, so I felt more comfortable that at-bat after seeing him twice and the action on his pitches."

The defensive miscue is the kind of mistake good teams use to win games.

"We've had a feeling over this run that we've been on that we might not get them the first time through the order," Conforto said, "but our lineup has been so good, our hitters have been able to figure out ways to get on base, figure out ways to get runs in. We just feel that regardless of who is pitching, we're going to put a lot of runs on the board. Any time the defense gives us an opportunity like that, we have to take advantage of it, so that was huge."

Indeed, while going 19-5 since July 25, the Mets are hitting .283/.351/.481 and averaging 5.75 runs per game. The pitching has also been terrific, with a 3.24 ERA -- best in the majors in that span. Matz allowed just one earned run -- a Jason Kipnis home run -- in 6⅓ innings, and six of his seven strikeouts were looking. He's 3-1 with a 2.56 ERA in his past five starts, with a 30-6 strikeout-walk ratio and just one home run allowed.

The two biggest strikeouts of the game, however, came from Justin Wilson, who relieved Matz in the seventh with two on, one out and a 4-2 lead and fanned Francisco Lindor on three cutters and Mercado on a 1-2 swinging slider.

The offense is swinging some big bats, the rotation is on a roll, the bullpen has settled down a bit, and McNeil and Nimmo will eventually return. A month ago, the Mets were a joke. Now it's no joke that they're in playoff contention.

As the Mets fans who started doing the wave late in Tuesday's game would attest, ya just gotta believe.

The British sprinter ran a sub-20 200m in London and now hopes to book his place on the plane to Doha

While much attention will understandably be on the likes of Zharnel Hughes and Adam Gemili at this weekend’s Müller British Athletics Championships, there is another athlete who is flying under the radar towards securing a sprint place in Doha.

Miguel Francis believes he made a statement with his 19.97 200m at last month’s Müller Anniversary Games as he continued his comeback after injury struggles and he’ll be looking to build on that in Birmingham on Sunday.

The Montserrat-born sprinter transferred his allegiance to Britain in 2017 and hopes to represent the nation at the IAAF World Championships in Qatar later this year in both the half-lap event and relay.

His UK-leading time clocked when finishing runner up behind Xie Zhenye of China’s 19.88 Asian record in London ranks him equal third on the British all-time list alongside Gemili, behind only John Regis and Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, though he has a faster PB of 19.88 – just 0.01 off the British record – which he ran in 2016.

“After what I have been through, to come back and run 19 seconds, that should be a statement, definitely,” said Francis, who works with Glen Mills, coach of sprints great Usain Bolt, in Jamaica as part of the Racers Track Club.

“My training over the past six weeks, I’ve been feeling really good, really strong,” added the 24-year-old, speaking with AW last month after his sub-20 second run in London.

“I knew the type of shape I was in but I wasn’t 100 per cent confident in myself because I was coming off a few injuries. To run sub-20, I’m really pleased with that.”

Francis represented Antigua & Barbuda at the 2014 Commonwealth Games and 2015 world championships having moved there with his family when he was a few months old after a volcanic eruption on his home Caribbean island.

But the Wolverhampton & Bilston athlete, who has family in the West Midlands of England, was eligible for a transfer to GB with his birthplace being a British overseas territory and his focus is now on the British Championships and securing a place on the team bound for Doha.

“I’m feeling really good,” said Francis, who has had surgeries on his right ankle and knee in the past couple of years. “My confidence level was just not here because I’ve hardly been competing. This is my first race since May, my first 200m since April.

“I’ve been seeing everybody else running their fast times and to come out here and run fast, it’s a confidence boost and I’m just looking forward to the rest of the season.”

Sport England team up with medical profession to launch Active Charter
By ALAN THATCHER – Squash Mad Editor

Squash clubs have an amazing opportunity to play a leading role in delivering community health benefits .

 As part of the advice given to clubs who take part in World Squash Day, I have been encouraging the leaders in our sport to think about how best to market the health benefits of playing squash and racketball.

These benefits are well documented on an international level, and therefore fit perfectly with the global target of attracting one million new players to the sport over the next decade (or sooner).

Most nations experience similar health issues, with one third of all children now reaching the age of 11 showing signs of obesity.

This is clearly reaching epidemic proportions, as is the problem of adults failing to take any exercise at all when they reach their 40s and 50s and become prone to diabetes, heart disease and all the other issues associated with obesity.

This is where racketball comes in. I recently assisted in a project at Canterbury Squash Club in Kent designed to encourage people of 70-plus years (now known as U3A) to enjoy regular forays on to the squash court. They clearly found racketball easier to engage with than squash and all enjoyed the experience.

All squash clubs need to provide fun sessions aimed at that mid-life age bracket and encourage them to become more active before the rot sets in.

I know of several squash coaches who offer fitness classes for individuals who are recovering from strokes. Again, this is fantastic, groundbreaking stuff.

What the game needs to do is cement partnerships with the medical profession and begin dialogues with hospital and medical centres to find funding for delivering community health projects.

On a similar theme, Sport England have teamed up with the Royal College of GPs (RCGP) to launch the Active Practice Charter.

The charter inspires and celebrates GP practices that are taking steps to increase activity in their patients and staff.

Sport England claim that one in four people surveyed have confirmed that they would be more active if such a policy was recommended by a GP or nurse, and the charter includes a toolkit that will support GPs to raise the subject of activity with patients and achieve Active Practice status.

Sport England chief executive, Tim Hollingsworth, welcomed the charter’s introduction, saying: “Physical activity has a key role to play in helping people manage and improve their health and wellbeing.

“As trusted sources of information, GPs and practice teams have a real opportunity to start discussions that help it become the new normal in their community – for prevention as well as treatment.”

KANNAPOLIS, N.C. – Henry Repeating Arms, an American manufacturer of classic rifles and shotguns, will sponsor NASCAR Xfinity Series competitor Cole Custer this weekend at Road America.

Named after Benjamin Tyler Henry, who invented and patented the Henry rifle in 1860, Henry Repeating Arms has two manufacturing facilities – one in Bayonne, N.J., and the other in Rice Lake, Wis., located approximately 290 miles northwest of Road America.

“Road America is a home race for us and we partnered with Cole Custer because of his success this season and because of the strong relationship we have with Haas Automation,” said Anthony Imperato, president and owner, Henry Repeating Arms. “We use made-in-America Haas CNC machine tools to manufacture our products, all of which come with a lifetime guarantee backed by our award-winning customer service.”

Custer is having a career year, leading the Xfinity Series with five wins and five poles. The victories have placed the 21-year-old from Ladera Ranch, Calif., into the NASCAR playoffs for the third straight season.

“We’re enjoying a lot of success on the track and moments like this are how we win off the track,” Custer said. “Henry Repeating Arms is a great customer of Haas Automation and we’re extremely proud to be representing them at Road America.”

Custer has made two career Xfinity Series starts at Road America, finishing in the top-10 each time. His best result at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn road course is fourth, earned in last year’s race.

“In road-course racing, the competition is more on the driver’s shoulders compared to your traditional oval-styled track,” Custer said. “You’re on the edge of your seat for the entire race, and even the smallest mistake can take you out of the race. I enjoy road-course racing and challenging my skills as a driver. I learned a lot in last year’s race at Road America and I’m looking forward to getting back there in my Henry Repeating Arms Ford Mustang.”

MOORESVILLE, N.C. – The No. 34 Front Row Motorsports Ford Mustang will feature a special paint scheme for the Bojangles’ Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway, honoring Jimmy Means’ No. 52 Alka-Seltzer Pontiac.

Means drove the iconic powder blue car in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

In its early days, Front Row Motorsports was originally known as Means-Jenkins Motorsports, stemming from a partnership between Means and current Front Row Motorsports team owner Bob Jenkins. Their relationship began with Jenkins sponsoring Means at Bristol with his local Taco Bell franchise, which led Jenkins to a partial ownership of Means’ race team. The team was active for one year before Jenkins separated and founded Front Row Motorsports.

McDowell’s No. 34 Ford will feature the famous light blue body with red and dark blue accents. Front Row Motorsports partner Dockside Logistics will serve as the primary sponsor for the race.

“Throwback weekend at Darlington is one of my favorites of the whole year,” McDowell said. “It’s fun to recreate some of the most well-known paint schemes throughout the history of our sport. Our owner, Bob Jenkins, has always admired Jimmy Means, and the Alka-Seltzer car is definitely a favorite of his. I’m really excited that we can honor their friendship with our No. 34 Dockside Logistics Ford.”

It’s a new week, which means it’s time for another edition of the SPEED SPORT Power Rankings. There is a new name at the top of the Rankings again this week! Who is it? Click below to find out.