Right-hander Aaron Sanchez, who combined with three relievers to throw a no-hitter in his first start for the Houston Astros on Aug. 3, has undergone season-ending surgery on his throwing shoulder.

Astros manager A.J. Hinch said Wednesday that Sanchez had the surgery last week in California and indicated that his rehabilitation and recovery time likely will extend into next season.

The 27-year-old hasn't pitched since Aug. 20 because of what the team said was a sore right pectoral muscle. The team had expected him to return this season, but general manager Jeff Luhnow said last week that he would need the procedure on his right shoulder and wouldn't return this year.

Sanchez, who is 5-14 with a 5.89 ERA and 115 strikeouts this season, was acquired from Toronto in a trade on July 31.

Also on Wednesday, Hinch said that shortstop Carlos Correa would get a day off for Wednesday's series finale against Texas as the Astros ease him back into playing every day after he sat out almost a month. Alex Bregman will get the start at shortstop, and Aledmys Diaz will start at third.

David Price will not pitch again for the Red Sox this season, Boston manager Alex Cora said Wednesday.

Price has only made a single two-inning start since early August while dealing with a cyst in his wrist.

Cora said he expects the left-hander will have a procedure to address the issue before the end of the season with the goal of being healthy in time for next season.

"We need this guy healthy and ready to go," Cora said of Price.

The Red Sox (79-71) are nine games out of a wild-card spot with 12 games to play and can be eliminated from playoff contention as early as Thursday.

NEW YORK -- Giancarlo Stanton, who has played just nine games this season because of knee issues, has returned to the starting lineup with the Yankees on the cusp of clinching a division title.

Stanton was activated from the 60-day injured list and will bat fifth and play left field against the Los Angeles Angels on Wednesday night. He has been out since June 25 after straining the posterior cruciate ligament in his right knee. He's played just nine games this season due to various injuries and is returning with 10 days remaining in the regular season.

The Yankees can lock up the AL East on Wednesday night by beating the Angels or with a loss by Tampa Bay.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Stanton would probably get two at-bats and play four or five innings in the field Wednesday. If all goes well, he could be the designated hitter for a full game Thursday.

"Just building him up," said Boone, who plans to play Stanton regularly down the stretch to progress his timing and durability as October approaches.

Stanton, the 2017 NL MVP with Miami, is hitting .290 with one home run and seven RBIs. The 29-year-old slugger, in his second season with the Yankees, had been working out at the team's minor league complex in Tampa, Florida.

Stanton will be used at designated hitter and in left field. New York has rotated a number of players through the latter, especially since Mike Tauchman strained his left calf this month. Tauchman was expected to miss six to eight weeks.

With Stanton activated, reliever Dellin Betances was added to the 60-day IL just three days after his season debut. Betances partially tore the Achilles tendon in his left foot when he hopped on the mound Sunday at Toronto. Surgery has not been recommended but is still possible. Betances will get a second opinion.

The right-handed Betances had previously been out with an impingement in his pitching shoulder.

Pittsburgh Pirates closer Felipe Vazquez admitted to police that he tried to have sex with a 13-year-old girl and sent her nude photographs and videos of himself committing sexual acts, according to a criminal complaint released Wednesday by Pennsylvania State Police.

Vazquez, 28, was arrested Tuesday and charged with six counts in Pennsylvania and Florida, including multiple felonies, related to his contact with the now-16-year-old girl. A judge denied him bail in Pennsylvania, where the charges filed include statutory sexual assault, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of a minor and indecent assault.

Police said Vazquez met the girl while in the bullpen at PNC Park in Pittsburgh and communicated with her through text messages and social media. Vazquez, according to the complaint, "claimed initially that he refused to communicate with her due to her age," saying the girl appeared to be 16 or younger.

Vazquez told police he exchanged nude photos and videos with the girl, who was then 13, and drove to her home in Scottdale, Pennsylvania, about an hour outside of Pittsburgh. When Vazquez, then 26, arrived, the girl got into his car. She told police he pulled down her pants and tried to have sex with her.

Vazquez attempted to have sex with the girl, he told police, but he said he needed to leave because he had a game that night, according to the complaint.

Vazquez admitted to later sending more text messages to the girl.

The charges in Pennsylvania followed two charges in Florida, where the girl and her family now live, for soliciting a child for unlawful sexual conduct using a computer or device and giving obscene material to a minor. The girl's mother found photographs allegedly sent from Vazquez on her daughter's device and called police, spurring the investigation.

Major League Baseball placed Vazquez on administrative leave after the arrest and is awaiting further information from police before considering disciplinary actions.

Jonnie Peacock, Libby Clegg and Hannah Cockroft among athletes on 43-strong British team for global event in Dubai in November

A British team of 43 athletes has been selected to compete at the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai in November.

A total of 11 reigning world champions from London 2017 feature in the squad, including 10-time world gold medallist Hannah Cockroft, grand slam champions Hollie Arnold and Sophie Hahn and two-time Paralympic gold medallists Aled Davies, Jonnie Peacock and Richard Whitehead.

Also among the returning world champions are Olivia Breen, Kadeena Cox, Sophie Kamlish, Sammi Kinghorn and Stef Reid.

Making her return to global competition after the birth of her son, Edward, in April, is double Paralympic champion Libby Clegg, who will be guided in the T11 200m by Thomas Somers.

Dan Greaves will not be competing, however, as the discus thrower has been ruled out of attending his seventh world championships due to injury.

? Pains me to write this but unfortunately due to injury I won’t be attending my 7th World Championships in Dubai in November.

Gutted that my body failed my mind!

Times like these are extremely annoying but sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture

Health is Happiness pic.twitter.com/VSO5ukrT9g

— Dan Greaves (@DiscusDan) September 17, 2019

Race Running makes its debut at the World Para Athletics Championships after featuring at last year’s European Championships, where the British team secured two titles and four medals.

Rafi Solaiman and Kayleigh Haggo will headline the RR3 100m, with European champion Gavin Drysdale and Ellie Simpson also among the best in the world over the discipline.

Sprinter Ola Abidogun earns his first British vest since the IPC European Championships in Swansea in 2014. The 2012 Paralympic silver medallist, who balances a career as a solicitor alongside his athletics, will race in the T47 100m and form part of the universal 4x100m relay squad.

“I am delighted to be able to select a team of 43 for the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai,” said British Athletics’ para athletics head coach, Paula Dunn.

“The event is a key competition in the cycle as well the final opportunity to take on the best in the world at a global championship before Tokyo, and I’m really excited to see how this team performs in two months’ time.

“Alongside this, we have four athletes making their senior debuts for the British squad and I’m very pleased to see them joining this team after demonstrating they are ready for this level of competition. It is testament to their hard work and progress during the season.”

She added: “We enjoyed our best ever world championships at the biggest edition of the event in London two years ago, but we are not complacent. Para-athletics is ever evolving and athletes from all countries have continued to improve since then. I expect our team to step up and show their ability on the international stage.”

British team for the World Para Athletics Championships in Dubai, November 7-15

Women
Kare Adenegan – T34 100m & 800m
Hollie Arnold – F46 javelin
Martina Barber – T20 long jump
Olivia Breen – T38 long jump & 100m
Jo Butterfield – F51 club throw
Lydia Church – F12 shot put
Libby Clegg (guide runner: Thomas Somers) – T11 200m & universal 4x100m relay
Hannah Cockroft – T34 100m & 800m
Kadeena Cox – T38 200m & 400m
Sabrina Fortune – F20 shot put
Kayleigh Haggo – RR3 100m
Sophie Hahn – T38 100m, 200m & universal 4x100m relay
Sophie Kamlish – T64 100m
Sammi Kinghorn – T53 100m & universal 4x100m relay
Maria Lyle – T35 100m & 200m
Anna Nicholson – F35 shot put
Stef Reid – T64 long jump
Ellie Simpson – RR3 100m
Ali Smith – T38 100m, 400m & universal 4x100m relay
Hannah Taunton – T20 1500m
Vanessa Wallace – F34 shot put

Men
Ola Abidogun – T47 100m & universal 4x100m relay
Paul Blake– T36 400m & 800m
Jonathan Broom-Edwards – T64 high jump
Mickey Bushell – T53 100m
Richard Chiassaro – T54 100m, 400m, 800m & 1500m
Aled Davies – F63 shot put
Gavin Drysdale – RR3 100m
Kyron Duke – F41 shot put
Jordan Howe – T35 100m
Harri Jenkins – T33 100m
Nathan Maguire – T54 100m, 400m, 800m & universal 4x100m relay
Owen Miller – T20 1500m
Jonnie Peacock – T64 100m & universal 4x100m relay
Ben Rowlings – T34 100m, 400m & 800m
Luke Sinnott – T63 long jump & T61 200m
Zak Skinner – T13 long jump & universal 4x100m relay
Andrew Small – T33 100m
Rafi Solaiman – RR3 100m
Isaac Towers – T34 400m & 800m
Richard Whitehead – T61 200m
Thomas Young – T38 100m

Juventus forward Cristiano Ronaldo has said he deserves to end his career with more Ballon d'Or awards than Barcelona's Lionel Messi and hopes to establish himself as the greatest player of all time.

Ronaldo, 34, has won the renowned France Football magazine trophy for the world's best player five times -- as many as Messi -- but is eager for more as he moves into the twilight of his career.

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"Messi's in the history of football," Ronaldo told broadcaster Piers Morgan in an interview with Britain's ITV on Tuesday.

"But I think I have to have six or seven or eight to be above him," he said, referring to the Ballon d'Or awards.

"I'd love it, I think I deserve it."

The Portugal captain said he was no friend of the Argentine but credited his rival for helping push him further in his own career.

"My relationship with him is, we are not friends, but we have shared this stage for 15 years," Ronaldo said. "I know that he has pushed me to be a better player and I have pushed him to be a better player as well."

Ronaldo, who also played for Manchester United and Real Madrid, has five Champions League winners' medals and led Portugal to victory at the 2016 European Championship and 2019 Nations League tournaments.

"I don't follow the records, the records follow me. I'm addicted to the success, and I don't think it's something bad, I think it's good," Ronaldo said.

"It motivates me. If you're not motivated, it's better to stop."

This should be about the game. About a club, Paris Saint-Germain, taking yet another crack at winning the biggest prize in club football after three straight seasons of controversial exits by wafer-thin margins. And their visitors Real Madrid, the game's ultimate blue bloods, halfway in rebuild mode as they pursue their 14th European Cup as an antidote to consecutive nightmarish domestic seasons.

But it's not. It's the Dysfunction Derby between two icebergs with far too much going on beneath the surface.

Real Madrid finished third in La Liga last year and the year before, by an average of 19 points: way off the pace of the eventual champions in both seasons, Barcelona. The unprecedented Champions League three-peat alleviated some of the rancour but most expected a revamp, particularly after the departures of Ronaldo and the resignation of Zinedine Zidane in the summer of 2018.

Instead, Zidane is back and rather than a rebuild, we've had a minor tweaking, with Eden Hazard and goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois (who arrived last summer and has been less than stellar at times) the only flashy newcomers. Nine of their 10 most frequently used outfield players thus far were also there for the first of their three straight Champions League titles; the other, Vinicius Junior, doesn't turn 20 until next summer.

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PSG was supposed to be the rising, Qatar-fueled force in European football, boasting both the heir apparent to the Cristiano Ronaldo-Lionel Messi duopoly (Neymar) and the next in line (Kylian Mbappe). The former tried every which way to leave, the latter is injured. As for the Qatari cash, it may have moved the needle until two seasons back but now, because of FFP and overly optimistic financial projections, they're forced to break even like any old mom-and-pop operation.

Just this past weekend Neymar, the most expensive player in the history of the game, finally made his return to action for PSG and was met with a cacophony of boos, insults and banners inviting him to get the hell out. Which, of course, he would have been only too happy to do if the club had reached a deal to send him back to Barcelona. Instead, as Neymar himself pointed out, PSG "blocked" the move. (Or, because every story is its own Rashomon with multiple sides, "refused to sell a star player for less than they thought he was worth.")

Neymar, though, is nothing if not a pro. A maddening, infuriating, occasionally liberty-taking pro with a weird tendency to pick up injuries around the time of his sister's birthday, but a pro nonetheless. And one who can conjure magic out of thin air, as he did deep in an injury-time with a highlight-reel buzzer-beater that earned PSG a win over Strasbourg.

(He won't be involved on Wednesday -- a result of the ban he received for an expletive-ridden Instagram post berating referees after PSG were eliminated from the Champions League last year -- but his shadow will continue to loom large over the club's fortunes this season.)

Less than 24 hours later and some 600 miles away, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez faced the club's annual general meeting amid murmurs and discontent. "People say I know about numbers, but if there's something I know about, it's football!" said Perez. "There are clubs who win a league and then don't win anything in Europe for God-knows-how-many-years. And why are we great? Because we've won the European Cup 13 times."

Perez also had to fend off a question from the floor about club captain Sergio Ramos. The Spanish defender contributed greatly to four of those cups, most recently 16 months ago, but to some he's become a distraction and Ramos himself had to call a news conference last May to announce that he was going nowhere. Perez's questioner lamented Ramos' passion for social media, outside projects (like the Amazon fly-on-the-wall documentary about himself) and the fact that he "wore a pink hat that made him look like a Swedish tourist."

Tumultuous doesn't quite do the situation justice at either club. We crossed the "entertainment brand" rubicon years ago, so perhaps the above shouldn't be entirely surprising. But there's the collateral damage that comes (along with, let's face it, collateral revenue via sponsors and brand recognition) from hoarding superstars: both clubs' rosters groan under the weight of hefty veteran contracts they can't shed and the self-inflicted hurt these clubs brought upon themselves.

Then there's the fact that few saw this coming a year ago, which only makes this worse for both clubs.

PSG are on a knife-edge in terms of Financial Fair Play, UEFA rules that regulate each club's spending. This year and last, PSG's roster has been made up of a core of pricey superstars -- Angel Di Maria, Thiago Silva, Edinson Cavani, Marquinhos -- but also a smattering of youngsters and blue-collar role players. Guys like, say, Colin Dagba, who is 21 and made his top-flight debut only last year, or Eric Maxim Choupo-Moting, who made 31 appearances last year after joining from Stoke, a side that finished second-bottom in the Premier League the year before. It's also why, after years of free spending, they actually made a profit in the summer transfer window, padding out the squad with free agents (Ander Herrera from Manchester United), swaps (signing goalkeeper Keylor Navas from Real Madrid and sending Alphonse Areola the other way) and loans (Mauro Icardi from Inter).

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Navas and Herrera were on the bench for most of last season and Icardi was unwanted by Inter to the point that he was suspended for six weeks in the middle of the season last year and was told, publicly and repeatedly, his services were no longer needed. All three are pedigreed veterans with a chip on their shoulder and you can see the logic in tapping into their desire to resurrect their careers. But, perhaps most crucially, all three were also cheap.

Real Madrid had the opposite sort of summer, lavishing nearly $250 million on four players: defenders Ferland Mendy and Eder Militao, winger Hazard and forward Luka Jovic. The problem is that we haven't seen much of them yet -- between them, they've started just one game -- which makes it hard to get overly excited. Much of that has to do with injuries (Hazard only made his debut on Saturday) but much of it has to do with the fact that this is a side in flux.

Zidane has rotated systems and personnel and you should expect to see more of the same in Paris: Ramos is suspended while Marcelo, Isco, Marco Asensio and Luka Modric, stalwarts of the previous Champions League run, are all injured.

What Madrid fans have seen plenty of instead this season are Gareth Bale and James Rodriguez, two players they spent most of the summer trying to shed. Bale, one of the highest-paid players in the world, was told flat out by Zidane he was surplus to requirements. But unwilling to take a pay cut -- and with nobody wanting to match his $30 million-plus annual salary and pay a transfer fee -- he went nowhere.

Bale, whose performances have ranged from stellar to anonymous to M.I.A. (due to frequent injuries), was often harangued by fans and media alike for such crimes as failing to learn decent Spanish and being too obsessed with golf. (He has a nine-hole course in his ample backyard and some of his injuries have been blamed on his practice swings.) But when Zidane realized he was stuck with him, he took his lemons and made lemonade: Bale started Real Madrid's first three games and he, like James, has been one of the better performers.

Bottom line? Things have not been what either side expected and maybe that's at the heart of the discomfort and restlessness among fans of the two clubs.

In these situations, the Champions League is a respite, albeit a double-edged one. A strong performance and a result and you can start to spin the narrative in your direction. If you're PSG, you remind folks that Mbappe will be back (though not on Wednesday: he's sidelined as are Edinson Cavani and Julian Draxler). And if you're Madrid, you sell the line that you're still the Gold Standard in Europe, that Zidane is still the alchemist Galactico whisperer and that Hazard is, in fact, a game-changer.

But there's a downside, too. Take a beating and it's more salt in the open sores. Restlessness and discomfort live in the same neighbourhood as frustration and anger.

For both these clubs, it's time to get out of town.

Trevor Bayliss believes a reduction in the number of first-class counties could help England bridge the "huge gap" between county and international cricket.

Victory at The Oval ensured England maintained their unbeaten home series record in Test cricket under Bayliss' five seasons as head coach, though he will probably be remembered best for coaching the side to their maiden World Cup victory earlier in the year.

But in a wide-ranging exit interview with ESPNcricinfo, Bayliss has questioned "whether the county game is producing the players we need" and suggested a reduction in the number of teams from 18 to ten in a bid to improve the quality of competition. He also feels the quality of county pitches must improve if developing players are going to be given the best opportunity to prepare for the higher level.

"You have to ask whether the county game is producing the players we need," Bayliss said. "Is the competition underneath [the England team] doing the job it should be? There's a huge gap between county and international cricket. Huge.

"Again and again, we've picked the best players in the county game. And again and again, they've found the gap too large to bridge. Our top players come back from county cricket and they're not complimentary about the standard. They don't think it helps prepare them for international cricket.

"The pitches are soft and damp. So bowlers get far too much assistance and batsmen don't get into the habit of building long innings. Those same bowlers then come into Test cricket and they find the pitches do almost nothing and the ball won't swing round corners. And the batsmen find the pace of the Test bowlers a shock.

"If you had better pitches - pitches that offered less to bowlers - you might start to see some fast bowlers developing. You might see more spinners developing. You might even see some better slip catchers because I think the big problem in English cricket is concentration. Players have forgotten how to concentrate for long periods of time. They just don't have to do it at county level.

"I'm not criticising groundsmen. They have a tough job, because there's too much cricket and the Championship starts in early April.

"But no one seems to want to get their head down and guts out a score. The attitude seems to be, 'I'd best get on with it before an impossible ball comes along.' But maybe that's partly because society has changed. Everything is quicker now.

"The ECB and the counties have to pull in the same direction. There has to be a collaborative approach ensuring that England is at the heart of it. Ultimately, a successful England team, across all formats, will naturally benefit the game at county level and even have a positive impact on grassroots.

"I think there are too many teams. If you had fewer - maybe ten - the best players would be in competition against each other more often and the standard would rise. I think you'd see tougher cricketers develop. Cricketers who are better prepared for the Test game.

Bayliss also expressed his incredulity over counties offering stints to overseas players who will, later in the same season, use that experience in Test series against England. Marnus Labuschagne, for example, prepared for the Ashes by representing Glamorgan and adapted to conditions so well that he finished the series as Australia's second-highest run scorer.

"I find it incredible that Marnus Labuschagne, Peter Siddle, Cameron Bancroft, James Pattinson and the like are invited over to play county cricket ahead of an Ashes series," he says. "There's no way Australia would allow England players to acclimatise in the Shield ahead of an Ashes series. And quite right, too. I think the ECB should have a look at that.

Bayliss he suggested there should be more knockout cricket at age-group level to help prepare players for high-intensity moments in the professional game. "Australian cricketers are tough and robust. They come up through a system which prepared them for Test cricket. From age-group cricket into club and Grade cricket, they play semi-finals and finals. So they get used to played knock-out cricket. They get used to playing under pressure. I think England could do with more of that.

Read the full interview here