WASHINGTON -- President Donald Trump says he is planning to attend the World Series on Sunday if it goes to a Game 5.

The Washington Nationals and the Houston Astros are playing in the World Series, and Game 5 is scheduled for Sunday in Washington.

The Nationals have a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven series and could conceivably wrap it up with wins on Friday and Saturday.

Trump played high school baseball at the New York Military Academy and has thrown out the ceremonial first pitch at major league games. Asked if he would do so this time around, he joked that he would have to dress up with a lot of heavy armor and would look too heavy.

The president is a big New York Yankees fan who would often attend their games and sit near the dugout. He welcomed the Astros to the White House last year after they won the 2017 World Series and said their victory was even more special following the devastation Hurricane Harvey wrought on the Texas city.

Trump would be the first sitting president to attend a World Series game since George W. Bush threw out the ceremonial first pitch at Yankee Stadium before Game 3 in 2001. As the former controlling owner of the Texas Rangers, Bush knew several of the players involved.

Other presidents who attended a World Series game were Woodrow Wilson (1915), Calvin Coolidge (1924), Herbert Hoover (1929, 1930, 1931), Franklin Roosevelt (1933, 1936), Dwight Eisenhower (1956), Jimmy Carter (1979) and Ronald Reagan (1983).

Stan Wawrinka secured a quarter-final with nine-time champion Roger Federer after a 6-3 3-6 7-5 win over American Frances Tiafoe at the Swiss Indoors.

The 34-year-old seventh seed, who lost to Andy Murray in last week's European Open final, won on his fourth match point in two hours 32 minutes in Basel.

Three-time Grand Slam winner Wawrinka has won only three times in 26 previous meetings with fellow Swiss Federer.

Third seed Stefanos Tsitsipas beat Ricardas Berankis 6-7 (4-7) 6-2 6-4.

Greek Tsitsipas, 21, won in two hours one minute and plays either Filip Krajinovic or fifth seed Fabio Fognini in the last eight.

In his first meeting with world number 48 Tiafoe, who beat British number one Dan Evans in the previous round, Wawrinka served 14 aces and claimed the decisive break to win the match after a marathon 12th game containing six deuces.

POMONA, Calif. – With a three-day festival of speed celebrating the American hot rod, the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum’s California Hot Rod Reunion, which takes places this weekend at Auto Club Famoso Raceway in Bakersfield, Calif., is a destination event for car culture lovers worldwide.

The family-friendly event returns to Bakersfield for a 28th year and has something for all fans, including quarter-mile nostalgia drag racing; a huge vendor area with the latest in speed parts and specialty equipment; a swap meet with vintage parts and memorabilia; hot rods, customs & muscle cars of all descriptions on display, and the famous Cacklefest on Saturday night. In all, the memorable weekend is filled with highlights that embody the California hot rod culture.

The California Hot Rod Reunion is also the final event on the NHRA Hot Rod Heritage Series circuit, which starts the year at the famed March Meet and finishes with the annual stop at this highly-anticipated race. Fans can see all the top names in nostalgia racing, including Top Fuel standout Mendy Fry, who has already clinched her second straight championship on the strength of four consecutive wins. She’ll try to add another in the loaded 14-car field that will includes three generations of drivers and four new Nostalgia Top Fuel dragsters.

In Nostalgia Funny Car, the championship will be decided this weekend in Bakersfield. Veteran Jeff Arend is the current points leader, but defending world champ Bobby Cottrell and Dan Horan are both within striking distance, setting up a marquee battle this weekend. Adding to the nitro-fueled excitement will be the title race in A/Fuel, where Kin Bates will look to reclaim his throne against young standout Drew Austin, who claimed his first championship in the class a year ago.

Overall, racers in 17 different categories will be competing for coveted Hot Rod Reunion trophies and for the Heritage Series Championship Wally trophies during the weekend.

The weekend also celebrates those who have dedicated their lives to the sport. The 2019 California Hot Rod Reunion presented by Automobile Club of Southern California Grand Marshal will be the vaunted King of the Northwest, Top Fuel great Jerry Ruth. Other honorees are Harry Burkholder, Mike Cook, Bill Dunlap, Phil Mandella and Gary Southern. The Honoree Reception takes place at the DoubleTree Hotel at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, and admission is free.

The popular exhibition push starts of classic dragsters also returns, and it’s all capped off by the famous Cacklefest on Saturday evening. Dozens of cars take to the track in a mass ignition of flame spewing, nitro burning dragsters. These classic ‘diggers’ are push-started and pass in front of the grandstands before taking their place on the track. The memorable display of historic nitro-burning machines is sure to thrill, and fans can join the drivers and crews up close on the track at the conclusion of the Cacklefest – a major highlight of the Reunion.

The Hot Rod Reunions are produced by the NHRA Motorsports Museum and benefit the facility located in Pomona, Calif. The 28th Annual California Hot Rod Reunion is proudly sponsored by Automobile Club of Southern California; Good Vibrations Motorsports; Racepak Data Systems; and Dynamat, who support the Wally Parks NHRA Motorsports Museum’s ongoing programs and events. The NHRA Motorsports Museum is a 501c (3) non-profit institution. The Museum’s mission is to celebrate the impact of motorsports on American culture.

The 28th annual California Hot Rod Reunion presented by Automobile Club of Southern California opens at 8 a.m. on Friday, Oct. 25, with Nostalgia Funny Car and Top Fuel dragster qualifying sessions taking place at 11 a.m. and 3 p.m. The third and final qualifying session takes place at 12 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 26, with the first round of eliminations slated for 3 p.m. The static and push start Cacklefest parade and presentation follows at 6 p.m. Eliminations conclude on Sunday, Oct. 27.

CONCORD, N.C. — When Christian Eckes fell ill and missed the third race of the ARCA Menards Series season, he knew his road to winning a championship was going to be a long one.

But the 18-year-old from Middletown, N.Y., could never have envisioned the roller-coaster ride that he went on to secure the title.

Driving for Venturini Motorsports, Eckes became the first driver since Tim Steele in 1997 to miss a race and still claim ARCA’s national championship trophy, doing so with four wins, 13 top fives and 17 top 10s in the 19 races he started.

The one race he didn’t see the green flag in, however, is part of what makes the New York teenager’s storybook year — and comeback — so fascinating.

Eckes was taken to a local hospital following qualifying for the Kentuckiana Ford Dealers ARCA 200 at Salem (Ind.) Speedway in April, where he was diagnosed with an esophageal tear in his trachea due to complications from food poisoning. He was not medically cleared to start the event and was replaced by Harrison Burton for the 200-lapper.

At that point, Eckes went from leading the ARCA standings to eighth in points and 105 behind leader Travis Braden, beginning a stiff climb get back to the top.

“We could have never expected what happened at Salem; you can’t plan for something like that,” Eckes told SPEED SPORT. “I mean, I felt horrible that night into race day … and it’s a terrible feeling having to sit there and watch a race you’re supposed to be in. It makes for a great story now, but at that point … at that point we didn’t want to think about what it meant at all. We just wanted to get past it.”

With 17 races to go, Eckes didn’t seem to be in a precarious position at the time, but after a crash at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway left him last in a 26-car field and buried even deeper in points, there was cause for concern in the young driver’s mind.

“Really after Salem, I really wasn’t concerned about it. (The gap) was only 80 points then and we still had 17 or 16 races to go. It was really the crash at Talladega,” said Eckes about what put doubt in his mind. “Even after that, the seventh places and stuff where we were losing points on a regular basis to Michael (Self) at … that was big. That was the disheartening thing, was when we wouldn’t have anything stupid happen and we were still finishing seventh or breaking something in those races. Those were the biggest things.

“It’s hard to come back from those, but man, we found a way.”

That way involved a near-perfect run through the final seven races of the season.

Starting at Iowa Speedway in July, Eckes put together seven-straight top-two finishes to close the year, including victories at Pennsylvania’s Pocono Raceway and the DuQuoin (Ill.) State Fairgrounds which vaulted him right back into the hunt as Self faltered with mechanical trouble late in the year.

A third victory in the season finale at Kansas Speedway on Oct. 18, after he came in with a slim 15-point margin over Self, was more than enough to ensure Eckes left the 1.5-mile oval with the big prize.

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BELGRADE, Serbia -- So after 232 days, Manchester United have won an away game again. Since defeating Paris Saint Germain 3-1 in the Parc des Princes last March, Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's team had failed to win any of their subsequent 11 road trips until, finally, the run was ended with a 1-0 Europa League victory against Partizan Belgrade in Serbia on Thursday.

United still have many issues to address -- they could not add to Anthony Martial's 43rd-minute penalty to score more than once in a game for the first time since the opening weekend of the season -- but with the trip to Belgrade, the first of four consecutive away games, the positives of winning away from Old Trafford again cannot be overstated.

Next up, on Sunday, is Norwich City at Carrow Road, where champions Manchester City lost 3-2 last month, and then comes a Carabao Cup trip to Chelsea on Wednesday. A clash with Bournemouth at the Vitality Stadium on Nov. 2 rounds off the quartet of away days, so it was crucial that Solskjaer's team did not make it 12 away games without victory inside the noisy and hostile Partizan Stadium.

This United team is taking small steps toward improvement, and it would be naive to suggest that beating Partizan -- four days after ending Liverpool's 100 percent winning start to the Premier League season with a 1-1 draw -- is a sign of a corner having been turned. Perhaps they are beginning to turn it, but Martial's goal was United's first away from home since August and it was also a set piece, so another time they have been unable to score from open play.

This was a first win of any kind in seven games, and the opposition were spirited rather than imposing, so bigger tests await. Yet with confidence so low within Solskjaer's squad, the positives of this win must outweigh the negatives that continue to hang over the team. It was a night when eight of the 14 players on duty for United were age 23 or under, and the likes of Brandon Williams, Scott McTominay and James Garner all impressed in a challenging environment of constant noise.

- Ratings: Williams excels in Man United's narrow win
- Europa League group stage: All you need to know
- Kuper: Why Solskjaer's appointment is a warning to other clubs
- Ogden: Man Utd need Kane, but will they go get him?

"They did excellent," Solskjaer said, when asked about the performance of his youngsters. "Jimmy [Garner] just grew in the game and got better and better. But Brandon was man of the match; no fear, brave as a lion, and he got us the win (with his run for the penalty). He has a great attitude and he is going to become a top player."

Williams, 19, has the chance to claim the left-back spot as his own with Luke Shaw still sidelined due to injury. The youngsters continue to show promise, but their development requires senior players to help them improve and learn from their experiences. Reinforcements in January would help, but if United opt against making signings in the coming window, Solskjaer's young players will have to shoulder the burden of performing while also learning the game.

The experience of performing, and winning, in Belgrade will be a big tick in the box, but the kids cannot do it all on their own. Whether Solskjaer is ready to rely on some senior players remains to be seen. While he is prepared to talk up Martial's goal threat, the United manager was also quick to mention the Frenchman's shortcomings.

"We should have stopped [Partizan] more up front," Solskjaer said. "We need to show more intensity in our pressing."

Pressing the opposition defenders is a key aspect of Martial's role as central striker, but he rarely looks like a player prepared to put in the legwork required by Solskjaer. The summer departures of Romelu Lukaku and Alexis Sanchez ensure that United need Martial more than ever, though, so Solskjaer must find a way to get him doing what is expected of him.

Martial will play at Norwich and his return to the starting lineup will give United greater threat, but they once again failed to create a shot on target from open play in this game, and the inability to carve open opponents is why Solskjaer's team continue to find themselves dropping points. If they do not take their chances, they will give the opposition a route back into the game. Partizan had their chances in this fixture and Solskjaer admitted that his players have to start killing games off.

"In games like this, when you are 1-0 up, we need to learn when to get the second, when to get the third," he said. "We had chances to make sure we had a comfortable lead, but we didn't."

United did, however, manage to hold onto the victory, which keeps them top of Group L. But after finally winning one away game, Solskjaer admits that the most important challenge now is to win another.

"We look forward to the next one and we will try to win the next one," he said. "But we need to win away from home in the Premier League. We need to build some momentum."

Next stop: Norwich. A failure to win there will ensure that this victory is quickly forgotten.

CINCINNATI -- Bengals offensive lineman Cordy Glenn downplayed the rift between himself and the team following a tumultuous start to the season.

In his first news conference since August, the left tackle said his absence in the team's first six games was because of a concussion.

"I think the only thing that happened honestly is I got hurt," Glenn said before Thursday's practice. "That's just all that happened. It's not about not wanting to play."

Glenn, who has been out since the second preseason game, was suspended for a Week 7 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars for internal disciplinary reasons. According to a ProFootballTalk report, Glenn and an unidentified Bengals coach got into a verbal altercation that resulted in the team-issued ban. The report came one day after Glenn cleared the concussion protocol and was a full participant at practice for the first time since Cincinnati's second preseason game, against the Washington Redskins.

Glenn mostly did individual drills on Thursday and is not expected to play in Sunday's game against the Los Angeles Rams in London.

"We gotta see some people get through practice before we consider playing him, and that hasn't happened with him," coach Zac Taylor said.

Glenn returned to practice Wednesday and worked with the scout team. He declined to get into any specifics regarding the injury.

Asked about his relationship with Taylor after the suspension, Glenn said it was good. The eight-year veteran said he just wants to help the Bengals (0-7) as much as possible.

"Of course I want to prove myself and do my share around here and help the team win and help out however I can," Glenn said. "It was just an injury, and I'm trying to move forward."

Bill James, the famed statistician who's been an adviser and consultant for the Boston Red Sox since 2002, announced Thursday that he's leaving the organization.

"I leave the Red Sox on the best possible terms," the 70-year-old James wrote on his website. "I am still friendly with everyone that I have worked with there, from the owners to the security guards. I still intend to ... watch every Red Sox game. Well, maybe not EVERY game; retirement means I don't have to stay up to watch them play a four-hour game in Seattle ending at 1:30. In exchange for that, next time we win the World Series, I won't get a ring."

James was a pioneer of baseball analytics, gaining fame with his annual "Baseball Abstract" from 1977 through 1987, and then "The Bill James Handbook," which projects statistics for every major league player each year.

He joined the Red Sox as their senior baseball operations adviser in November 2002. Two years later, they won their first World Series since 1918. The Red Sox went on to win three more titles with James on staff.

A consultant in recent years, the club described his position as working "with senior management and the baseball operations department to provide research and analysis of special projects, and on-going concerns."

In his statement, James said he's just retiring from the Red Sox and not baseball projects overall.

"I have two books written that I need to get published; I have more books that I am writing and more books that I want to write," James wrote on his website. "The annual Handbook will be out in a week or so. I have a TV project in the works; I have big dreams. I'm going to get a dog, and a bicycle, and my wife and I will travel, as we always have. "... To the Red Sox: it's been a blast. Thank you all."

The Houston Astros fired assistant general manager Brandon Taubman on Thursday, admitting in a statement that his "inappropriate comments" about the acquisition of closer Roberto Osuna was directed at a group of female reporters.

A report published earlier this week by Sports Illustrated's Stephanie Apstein said that during the celebration in the Astros clubhouse after clinching the American League Championship Series on Saturday, Taubman turned to a group of female reporters -- including one wearing a purple domestic violence awareness bracelet -- and repeatedly yelled, "Thank God we got Osuna! I'm so f---ing glad we got Osuna!"

Last season, Osuna, 24, served a 75-game suspension for violating MLB's domestic violence policy stemming from an incident that happened while he was a member of the Blue Jays.

"Our initial investigation led us to believe that Brandon Taubman's inappropriate comments were not directed toward any reporter," the Astros said in Thursday's statement. "We were wrong. We sincerely apologize to Stephanie Apstein, Sports Illustrated and to all individuals who witnessed this incident or were offended by the inappropriate conduct," the statement read. "The Astros in no way intended to minimize the issues related to domestic violence. Our initial belief was based on witness statements about the incident.

"Subsequent interviews have revealed that Taubman's inappropriate comments were, in fact, directed toward one or more reporters. Accordingly we have terminated Brandon Taubman's employment with the Houston Astros. His conduct does not reflect the values of our organization and we believe this is the most appropriate course of action. We are thankful to Major League Baseball and to everyone that cooperated in the investigation. As previously stated, the Astros are very committed to using our voice to create awareness and support on the issue of domestic violence. We fully support MLB and baseball's stance and values regarding domestic violence. We will continue to make this cause a priority for our organization."

The Astros initially called the report "misleading and completely irresponsible." Taubman later apologized for his language but said his comments were misinterpreted. Astros manager AJ Hinch told reporters Tuesday that the incident was "unfortunate" and "uncalled for," while general manager Jeff Luhnow told Sports Talk 790 on Wednesday that "from my perspective, clearly something happened that [Taubman] regrets."

Major League Baseball is investigating the incident. On Wednesday, commissioner Rob Manfred said he was "really concerned" about the allegations.

Information from ESPN's Bradford Doolittle was used in this report.

TULSA, Okla. – New for the 2020 racing season, the Sooner Region of the American Sprint Car Series and the Oil Capital Racing Series will work together when scheduling events, in order to support the growth and betterment of sprint car racing in the region.

The goal of the two series working together is to reduce the number of events scheduled on top of one another.

“Kerry and I have been figuring out a way to make this happen over the course of 2019,” said ASCS Sooner Region director Terry Mattox. “The series, the fans, and the promoters all suffer when both sanctions are fighting for cars all the time so by doing this, we’re hoping to eliminate a lot of unnecessary frustration.”

An added bonus will be that there is a separate point fund in the works to reward the teams that support both series.

“I for one think this is a move in the right direction for sprint car racing in our area,” said OCRS owner Kerry Gorby. “This has needed to happen for a while now. I am glad Terry and I are on the same page.”

No changes in rules will take place with either series. Both series will release their 2020 rule books during the offseason.