Anthony Davis, now firmly in the fold with the purple and gold, is keeping sour grapes at arm's length.

The Los Angeles Lakers' superstar addition says he isn't affected by comments the general manager of his former team made that appeared to be critical of the forward's exit from New Orleans.

"That's fine. I don't care," Davis said Friday in an appearance on ESPN's The Jump during Lakers media day. "I mean like, the past is the past, you know? I didn't hear that. But look, I love the city of New Orleans. I've been there seven years, gave my all -- six and a half -- gave my all. And it was fun times, you know. It was fun times."

David Griffin, the Pelicans' executive vice president and GM, said in a promotional event earlier this week that New Orleans was a unique city for which some NBA players aren't suited.

"Not everyone's made to be a part of this, and that's OK. We're comfortable with that," Griffin said. "If sex appeal is your thing and you need a big market, OK. See you later. If doing something meaningful for people who care about supporting their teams every day is important, this is something you're going to want to be a part of."

The Lakers traded Lonzo Ball, Brandon Ingram, Josh Hart and a bevy of draft picks and pick-swap considerations to New Orleans for Davis.

While the expectations have clearly changed for the Lakers, they are preaching a one-day-at-a-time mentality. But the addition of the former No. 1 pick and six-time All-Star in Davis, acquired in a trade with the Pelicans in July, trumpets a potential pivot to prominence.

For their part, the Pelicans acquired a major building block in Zion Williamson with the overall No. 1 pick in this year's draft after adding Griffin, the architect of the Cleveland Cavaliers' 2016 championship team, in April.

But Davis said he isn't looking back.

"Now I'm in a new chapter in my career," Davis told The Jump. "And you know, look forward to doing something special here."

The Boston Red Sox appear poised for a busy offseason.

Owner John Henry told local reporters Friday that the team's goal is to get under the $208 million competitive balance threshold, which would mean significantly cutting payroll so they can avoid paying a luxury tax for a third straight season.

The Red Sox's payroll this season was about $238 million. Some estimates have their payroll set to be in the range of $218 million to $220 million next season.

"That was something we've known for more than a year now," Henry said of getting under the CBT.

WASHINGTON -- The Nationals don't know which team they'll face in the NL wild-card game or where it will be played, but they do know this: Three-time Cy Young Award winner Max Scherzer will be their starting pitcher.

Scherzer got the nod over Stephen Strasburg for Tuesday night's win-or-go-home game against either the Milwaukee Brewers or St. Louis Cardinals. Any of the three clubs could host the contest, depending how the rest of the regular season goes.

Washington manager Dave Martinez said Friday that the right-handed Strasburg and the left-handed Patrick Corbin will be on the wild-card roster and available to pitch in relief.

"I talked to both of them," Martinez said. "They'll both be out of the pen that day. So all hands will be on deck."

How did Martinez decide to go with Scherzer, who missed most of July and August because of a back muscle issue and finished with 27 starts, his fewest since his debut season in 2008?

"I based it on the bigger picture. Obviously, he feels good. And he's ready. He's going to have like seven, eight days' rest. I told him, 'You should go on regular routine and get ready for Tuesday,'" Martinez said. "With that being said, Strasburg is going to be on his regular rest and regular routine. So that's kind of nice, to have those two guys, plus Corbin, that will be on three days' rest if we need to put him in for an inning or two. He's available to do that, as well."

If Strasburg does not appear Tuesday and the Nationals win, he would start Game 1 or 2 of the NL Division Series against the Los Angeles Dodgers. Scherzer probably wouldn't be available until Game 3 of that potential series.

Washington's top trio formed among the best rotation fronts in the majors all season. All three finished in the NL's top 10 in ERA, strikeouts and hits allowed per nine innings.

Scherzer is 11-7 with a 2.92 ERA and 243 strikeouts in 172⅓ innings.

Strasburg is 18-6 with a 3.32 ERA and 251 strikeouts in 209 innings.

Corbin is 14-7 with a 3.05 ERA and 230 strikeouts in 197⅔ innings.

NEW YORK -- Mets slugger Pete Alonso hit his 52nd homer of the season, tying Yankees star Aaron Judge's total from 2017 for most by a rookie.

Alonso lined an 0-1 fastball from Atlanta left-hander Dallas Keuchel narrowly over the wall in left field in the first inning Friday night. He hurried around the bases after the solo homer, did handshakes with teammates outside the dugout and took a curtain call on the top step to big cheers from the crowd at Citi Field.

Alonso has already set franchise records for homers, total bases (343) and extra-base hits (84). He has 119 RBIs and 100 runs, becoming the first Mets rookie to reach triple digits in both categories. No Mets player had reached those totals in any season since David Wright and Carlos Beltran in 2008.

New York trailed the National League East-champion Braves 2-1 after Alonso's homer.

Pole vaulter eases through to final, although GB team-mates Morgan Lake and Ben Williams go out during field events qualification on the first day of IAAF World Championships

British hope Holly Bradshaw, world and Olympic champion Katerina Stefanidi of Greece and world indoor champion Sandi Morris of the United States were among 17 women’s pole vaulters to achieve the 4.60m automatic qualifying mark for Sunday’s final.

“It couldn’t have gone better,” said Bradshaw, who sat out the opening heights before entering the competition at 4.60m, which she cleared first time.

“That was always plan A,” she continued. “We decided to open at the auto qualification height. I’ve done it a couple of times in training and I felt really good for it, so I went for it and it went really well.

“I usually open at a 4.50-4.55m in a qualification anyway so I had to wait maybe an extra 10-15 minutes. It’s always pretty good practice for me as at the British Champs I have to wait quite a while.

“I knew I was going to have to wait 90mins to two hours – that doesn’t really bother me, I have quite a good strategy for that and I’m ready for the final now.”

Interview with @HollyBradshawPV after she qualified for the pole vault final with just one jump. “I’m ready for the final now.” #WorldAthleticsChamps pic.twitter.com/ON5UZIN9l3

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) September 27, 2019

Katie Nageotte of the United States, Anzhelika Sidorova of Russia, Alysha Newman of Canada and Yarisley Silva of Cuba were also among the qualifiers.

Juan Miguel Echevarria led the men’s long jump qualifiers with an impressive 8.40m (-0.4m/sec) mark in the first round. Last year the 21-year-old from Cuba won the world indoor title and registered the longest jump since 1995 with a slightly wind-assisted 8.83m. He missed the second half of the 2018 season with injury but looked in fine shape in Doha.

Olympic champion Jeff Henderson of the United States was second best in qualifying with a third-round leap of 8.12m into a slight headwind. Also over eight metres were Yuki Hashioka of Japan, Steffin McCarter of the United States, Ruswahl Samaai of South Africa, Eusebio Caceres of Spain and European champion Miltos Tentoglou of Greece, although reigning champion Luvo Manyonga of South Africa only qualified in 10th place with 7.91m (0.5m/sec).

Hammer thrower DeAnna Price threw a mighty 78.24m earlier this season. It was a world lead, North American record and put her No.4 on the world all-time rankings.

The 26-year-old US athlete showed great form in Doha on Friday to lead the qualifiers with 73.77m and looks set for a big improvement on her ninth place at London 2017 in Saturday’s final.

Zalina Petrivskaya of Moldova was next best with 73.40m with Joanna Fiodorow of Poland third best with 73.39m.

If fit, Anita Wlodarczyk would have been going for her fifth successive world title. The Olympic champion and world record-holder was in Doha but working for Polish television after having knee surgery earlier this year.

Mariya Lasitskene led the women’s high jump qualifiers as the Russian, who competes as an authorised neutral athlete, jumped 1.94m along with seven fellow competitors.

Vashti Cunningham of the United States and Mirela Demireva of Bulgaria also cleared 1.94m, whereas Yuliya Levchenko, the Ukrainian who beat Lasitskene at The Match in Minsk recently, also progressed to Monday’s final with a best of 1.92m.

Britain’s Morgan Lake went out, though. After clearing 1.80m and 1.85m first time she failed at 1.89m.

Pedro Pablo Pichardo of Portugal led the men’s triple jump qualifiers with 17.38m (-0.2m/sec) from Hugues Fabrice Zango of Burkino Faso with 17.017 (-0.3m/sec). They were the only athletes over 17 metres but world and Olympic champion Christian Taylor qualified with 16.99 (-0.3m/sec) and US team-mate Will Claye with 16.97m (-0.1m/sec).

For Britain’s Ben Williams his brilliant breakthrough season fizzled out as he failed to make the triple jump final. This season has seen him jump a big PB of 17.27m but he leapt out to 16.77m (0.3m/sec) in Doha for 17the out of 33 athletes. “It just didn’t click today,” he said. “I felt all right going into it. There are no real excuses, I just wasn’t executing right.”

A track events report can be found here.

Check out the dedicated Doha 2019 section on our website here.

The European champion hopes to have cause to unveil his own celebration at the IAAF World Championships

The IAAF World Championships in Doha is the first senior global event since 2003 without sprint star Usain Bolt and while Zharnel Hughes is sorry that fans won’t get to see the Lightning Bolt, he says he is planning his own post-race celebration.

After winning the world youth 200m title in 2003, Jamaica’s Bolt went on to race at the Athens Olympics the following year and he made his senior world championships debut in Helsinki in 2005.

After eight Olympic titles and 11 world gold medals, the 33-year-old hung up his spikes following the 2017 global athletics event in London.

“It’s going to be strange,” said European 100m champion Hughes, who works with Bolt’s former coach Glen Mills in Jamaica and still frequently speaks with the multiple world record-holder.

“Hopefully the crowd is just as excited when we go out there!

“As for the Lightning Bolt at the end of the race, they won’t be seeing that, I’m sorry!” smiled the 24-year-old, whose passions outside of the sport include flying as a pilot. “But hopefully you will see other new gestures come in and hopefully I can be one of those.

“I’ve been working on a new gesture, which is the aeroplane. Hopefully once I cross the finish line and I get from the race what I hope to get from it, that you can see a new gesture.”

Hughes is taking on both the 100m and 200m in Doha as well as forming part of the British 4x100m relay squad and he first took to the track for the 100m heats on Friday evening.

The Shaftesbury Barnet sprinter won his heat in 10.08 and, after what he describes as an up and down season, he is hoping all the hard work will come together as he continues his campaign.

“Track and field is a sport where you have to learn to be patient. I’ve learned that over the years,” said Hughes, who has clocked 9.95 for 100m and 20.25 for 200m so far this season.

“My coach has a plan so I just have to stick with it.

“I’ve even spoken to Usain Bolt about it as well,” he added, “and he mentioned that you have to learn to lose in order to win, and that makes you a champion. I listen to him. This is the world’s fastest man speaking to me about taking losses and stuff like that.

“That was this season, after the London Diamond League (where he ran 9.95 behind Akani Simbine). He got in contact with me. We speak a lot, he is quite cool, he’s like an older brother to me so I look up to him. He is one of those mentors you’d wish to have in your corner and I’m just grateful to have him there.”

British 200m champion successfully starts his campaign in Doha where he has a triple target

Despite athletes including a certain Usain Bolt having been among his competition in the past, Adam Gemili has never gone into a race thinking that he’s not going to win.

“If you do that,” he says, “you’re already defeated.”

His mindset for the IAAF World Championships in Doha is no different and, following a couple of years of injury struggles, the sprinter says that being back running fit and healthy “feels like a second coming”.

Gemili has a triple target in Doha as he races the 100m, 200m and forms part of GB’s reigning world 4x100m relay squad. The Olympic fourth-placer got his campaign under way on Friday evening by securing his spot in the 100m semi-finals after clocking 10.19 to finish third in a strong heat featuring defending champion Justin Gatlin and three-time Olympic medallist Andre De Grasse.

“I’m really happy to be back running healthy and fit and that shows I think. It feels like a second coming for me,” Gemili told AW as he made his final preparations for the championships at the British holding camp in Dubai.

“I’m excited for the challenge. It might go really well, it might not, but I’m going to give it my best shot and leave it all on the track.”

The 25-year-old has endured hamstring problems in the past and last winter he was put on Lottery funding for the sprint relay but not as an individual sprinter.

However, he made a statement at the British Championships in Birmingham by winning the 200m in a championship record and claiming silver in the shorter event to secure spots for both sprints at the global event and is confident in the training he has been doing under coach Rana Reider.

“We train so hard all year, we’re fit enough to do it. It’s just about managing our bodies,” he said.

“I’m prepared and I know what to expect. Once I’m in the race, I love it. It’s a championship environment and for me, every man for himself.

“I’ve raced against Usain Bolt, I’ve raced against some of the best sprinters of all time, and I have never gone into a race thinking I’m not going to win, because if you do that, you’re already defeated.

“Obviously you’ve got favourites in the 100m and 200m because of what people have run outside of the champs but championship running is so different,” added the Blackheath & Bromley sprinter, who faces the likes of USA’s Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles in the 100m and 200m respectively.

“I have never gone into a championships as a favourite or even probably in the top eight, I’m never expected to make the final. On the day, it doesn’t matter what you’ve done outside of it, it’s a clean slate for everyone.

“For me, I go out there and give it my best shot. I believe I’m in good shape and hopefully that’s enough to be pushing for the medals and ultimately the gold medal.”

Opening night of IAAF World Championships features disqualifications, a reinstatement, sportsmanship, smooth progress and mixed fortunes

It was an eventful opening night on the track as the IAAF World Championships got under way in Doha.

Much of the attention fell on the men’s 5000m heats, from which Norwegian star Jakob Ingebrigtsen was disqualified, then reinstated, in a race which also featured a moment of sportsmanship to remember involving two previously unknown athletes who finished the night as internet stars.

Across the Friday night programme, many of the biggest track stars on the planet underlined their strength during a session where qualifying was the main aim and there were mixed fortunes for Britain’s athletes.

Ingebrigtsen out, then back in again 

The most incident-packed event of the session was undoubtedly the men’s 5000m.

Ethiopian Selemon Barega won the opening heat in 13:24.69 from Kenyan Jacob Krop and fellow countryman Muktar Edris but it was the events taking place behind them which ultimately created the biggest stir.

European champion Jakob Ingebrigtsen appeared to have finished fourth in the crowded sprint for the line and secured one of the five automatic qualifying spots. However, he stepped off the track in the process of attempting to pass Birhanu Balew of Bahrain with around 200m to go and was subsequently disqualified. The main beneficiary of that decision was Britain’s Andrew Butchart, who had finished in seventh after his run of 13:26.46 and just outside of a qualifying berth.

The Scot was then placed into Monday’s final but, following an appeal, Ingebrigtsen was reinstated. It remains unclear as to whether or not Butchart will now keep his spot.

His team-mate Marc Scott was 14th in 13:47.12 but another story began to develop minutes after all but two of the competitors had finished.

Braima Suncar Dabo of Guinea-Bissau had been lapped twice and was firmly in last place as he took the bell behind Jonathan Busby, who was also well adrift. However, the man from Aruba began to really struggle and, with around 200m to go, was having trouble maintaining forward momentum let alone any kind of running stride.

As Busby began to effectively dissolve in the Qatari heat, Dabo stopped to lend a hand and both men shuffled over the line.

Busby was tended to by medics at the finish but still had the wherewithal to stop his watch! He had recorded what was listed as a personal best of 18:10.68, after all, but was officially disqualified due to the assistance he received, while Dabo’s 18:10.87 stands.

Britain’s Ben Connor led the second heat for 2000m but ultimately had to settle for 13th in 13:36.92 as Paul Chelimo, finishing with one shoe, won in 13:20.18 from Telahun Haile Bekele (13:20.45) and Filip Ingebrigtsen (13:20.52). Henrik Ingebrigtsen also qualified in a time of 13.21.22.

Coleman in charge for 100m qualifying

The first track action came in the men’s 100m preliminary heats, with Taymir Burnet of the Netherlands fastest overall thanks to his run of 10.23 and the first ‘winner’ of the championships.

The big sprinting names entered the stage at the first round proper and Christian Coleman looked in ominously good form in his pursuit of gold, qualifying fastest for tomorrow’s semi-finals as all three British competitors also progressed.

If the American has been affected by the controversy surrounding him following the charges – since dropped – around his missed drugs tests, then it didn’t show as he clocked 9.98 and looked thoroughly untroubled in winning the sixth and final heat.

South African Akani Simbine was second-fastest overall in 10.01 (-0.3) after winning heat one, while defending champion Justin Gatlin clocked 10.06 (-0.8) to finish third-fastest overall, just ahead for former world champion Yohan Blake, who clocked 10.07 (-0.3).

Britain’s Adam Gemili finished third in Gatlin’s heat, which featured a top quality field, running 10.19 to book his slot behind Canada’s Andre de Grasse (10.13).

British champion Ojie Edoburun had to rely on a fastest loser’s spot, his 10.23 in the opening heat, meaning he qualified by just eight thousandths of a second.

The smoothest progress from a British point of view was made by Zharnel Hughes, who won heat three in 10.08 (-0.8), albeit he wasn’t entirely happy with his performance.

“I know the start wasn’t amazing but I’ll work on it,” said the European champion. “I’ll have to find the setting on the block, it’s a bit different from what I’m using but once I find it I’ll be fine.”

Asked about the conditions in the Khalifa International Stadium, he replied: “Beautiful, beautiful, I love it here.”

Sharp misses out in women’s 800m

There was a surprise in the women’s 800m as Britain’s Lynsey Sharp, fourth-fastest in the world this year, failed to qualify for tomorrow evening’s semi-finals.

Running in the sixth and final heat, the Scot had looked well placed for one of the three automatic qualifying spots but faded in the closing stages and clocked 2:03.57 which meant she had to settle for fourth place and narrowly missed out on a fastest loser’s place.

Uganda’s Winnie Nanyondo was the fastest qualifier overall in 2:00.36 ahead of Jamaican Natoya Goule (2.01.01), while America’s world leader Ajee’ Wilson had no qualifying trouble, controlling her race throughout to clock 2:02.10 and finish first in heat one.

European indoor and British champion Shelayna Oskan-Clarke also progressed, her late charge giving her a time of 2:02.09 for second place in heat two behind American Raevyn Rogers’ 2:02.01.

Alex Bell was another athlete who had to rely on her closing speed to make sure of qualification, just taking third place in the penultimate heat in 2:03.34.

Big names progress in men’s 400m hurdles

Karsten Warholm barely broke sweat, despite the Doha heat, to win the opening heat of men’s 400m hurdles qualifying. The defending champion clocked 49.27 ahead of Irishman Thomas Barr, second in 49.41.

It was Qatari athlete Abderrahman Samba who qualified fastest, however, thanks to his run of 49.03 in heat three.

Commonwealth champion Kyron McMaster (49.60) also went safely through, as did American Rai Benjamin (49.62), while Britain’s Chris McAlister was an automatic qualifier from heat five in fourth place with 49.73.

Cheers for Chepkoech in women’s 3000m steeplechase

Kenya’s Beatrice Chepkoech received one of the biggest cheers of the night from the noisy African contingent in the stands as she qualified fastest from the women’s 3000m steeplechase heats in a time of 9:18.01 from America’s Courtney Frerichs (9:18.42), while defending champion Emma Coburn was sixth-fastest 9:23.40, two places behind fastest European Anna Emilie Moller (9:18.92).

None of the three British athletes qualified but Elizabeth Bell came remarkably close, clocking 9:30.31 to move to third on the national all-time lists for sixth place in heat two.

There was also a personal best for Aimee Pratt, who was eighth in heat one with 9:38.91.

It was a painful night for Rosie Clarke in more ways than one, the British champion suffering from a fall during heat three as she finished 12th in 9:49.18.

A field events report can be found here.

Check out the dedicated Doha 2019 section on our website here.

Disappointing crowds watch first day of IAAF World Champs in Doha and marathon runners melt but at least the stadium air-con works

Rarely has the venue for a major athletics event been subjected to such scrutiny. Fears ranged from red-hot temperatures to potentially paltry crowds. Never mind the athletes, would the people of Doha and the Khalifa International Stadium rise to the occasion and deliver a great event?

British 400m runner Martyn Rooney is a veteran of eight IAAF World Championships and has experienced plenty of hot host cities over the years. “But this is on a different level,” he warned.

It is certainly true on the streets of the Qatari capital but inside the stadium the air-con system – with large cooling pipes circling the track and smaller fans under spectator seats – really does work. At about 6pm, for example, it was 34C in Doha but a more tolerable 25C inside the Khalifa Stadium.

It was a different story in the women’s marathon, though. Despite starting the race at midnight on the city’s Corniche promenade, it was impossible to create the same kind of microclimate as inside the stadium and there was mild carnage as runners struggled in temperatures of 32.7C with 73% humidity. Britain’s Charlie Purdue was among the many athletes to drop out on a course that was also bereft of security and fencing to keep spectators off the course, not that there were many.

Back in the main arena, there were plusses and minuses. Commentary from Geoff Wightman and Katharine Merry with Iwan Thomas in the in-field is a tried-and-trusted formula. The only problem is that the acoustics are not ideal and I could barely make out much of what they were saying from my press seat about 20 metres from the finish line.

The AW seating position also featured what is commonly described in football or theatre circles as “a restricted view”. We basically could not see most of the action on the first bend or the majority of the high jump run-ups due to a stairway and bridge used for athletes to wearily trudge up off the track en route to the mixed zone.

General organisation in the stadium was not brilliant either. Then again it rarely is on the first day of a major championship due to teething problems. Spectators were frustrated not to be able to bring water into the venue (flags were also banned although a number made it in), whereas some female fans were frustrated by delays at the security controls because there weren’t enough female staff to frisk them.

Not that there were many spectators anyway. In perhaps the most disappointing – yet predictable – aspect of the first session of these championships, the arena was barely half full.

The top tier of seating around the venue was covered up – with the canvas sheets ironically carrying the words “reaching new heights” – and plenty of other seats were empty. Transport to the stadium is not easy, which does not help. Usain Bolt’s absence is also a factor.

For most of the evening this created an underwhelming atmosphere. The noise level rose during 5000m and steeplechase heats, however, with the crowd rising even more to appreciate one of the finest moments in IAAF World Championships history as Braima Dabo of Guinea-Bissau helped an exhausted Jonathan Busby of Aruba across the 5000m line in 18:10. It was sportsmanship at its finest and reminiscent of Derek Redmond being helped around the track by his father at the 1992 Olympics.

Faith in humanity ever so slightly restored…..#WorldAthleticsChamps #Doha2019 pic.twitter.com/QpCs72DNaa

— Vedder (@VedderMKC) September 27, 2019

To be fair, there were also no finals at the Khalifa Stadium to attract fans. The organisers have removed morning sessions from the programme, so Friday evening’s action was basically a traditional morning session of heats and rounds but moved into an evening slot.

For many years it has always been a challenge to fill seats at morning sessions. But there will be no excuses for Doha if the stadium is half empty again when the track and field finals begin on Saturday evening.

As for fans watching on television, there were some minor innovations during the first session. During the 100m heats viewers were given a sprinter’s eye view of the action, for example, courtesy of small cameras on the start line that caught the expression on the athletes’ faces.

I have a feeling the presentation team might be keeping their main tricks under their sleeve until the track and field finals begin. There is a promise that onscreen graphics will help guide confused spectators through the combined events in particular.

So what to make of day one in Doha? From the half-full stadium to only being able to see half of the action on the first bend, it was far from perfect and it’s hard not to draw comparisons with the busier championships in London two years ago and the promise of a vibrant event in Eugene in 2021.

Thing is, as the organisers, athletes and spectators get set for the second evening session of the championships, will they be treating the show so far as glass that is half empty or half full? With a complete programme of track and field finals yet to come, surely the latter.

Check out the dedicated Doha 2019 section on our website here.