Ireland are continuing to monitor the fitness of fly-half Johnny Sexton in the build-up to Saturday's World Cup Pool A match with Japan in Shizuoka.

Sexton did not train fully on Tuesday but skills coach Richie Murphy said on Tuesday that they expect him to be fit to play against the tournament hosts.

"We expect him to train fully on Thursday," said Murphy.

Murphy revealed that Bundee Aki and Peter O'Mahony have passed their head injury checks and are training fully.

Both players retired hurt during Sunday's comprehensive 27-3 win over Scotland but have successfully come through all three phases of their Head Injury Assessments and are available for selection for the encounter with Japan.

Sexton sustained a minor quadriceps niggle in the victory in Yokohama.

The Ireland skills coach insisted it "wouldn't be unusual" for Sexton to sit out a training session just 48 hours after playing in a Test.

"Johnny went through rehab today, but he had also done some work with the team; but he's being monitored," explained Murphy.

Robbie Henshaw continues to step up the recovery from his hamstring problem that kept him out of the World Cup opener.

Murphy revealed the Leinster centre is back running, and will be reviewed again in the next 48 hours.

While Henshaw is unlikely to be ready to face Japan this weekend, Ireland continue to make positive noises about his recovery.

"Robbie was in training today; he's in his return to play phase now," said Murphy. "He did a lot of running today and came through that no problem.

"We'll see what he's like on Thursday and make a decision on him them."

Keith Earls, Rob Kearney and Joey Carbery are all fit and available for selection for Japan, leaving Henshaw Ireland's only major injury concern - should Sexton recover from his thigh knock.

"Earlsy, Rob Kearney and Joey have all made really good progress, and it's a good situation," added Murphy.

"They were all at the point at the end of last week where they were effectively ready, but we didn't want to take any risks."

Six-day turnaround means 'some rotation'

Ireland can move a long way towards a quarter-final with victory over Japan on Saturday, but Murphy insisted Joe Schmidt's men were taking nothing for granted despite the hosts ranked being just ninth in the world.

Ireland are likely to mix up selection to face the Brave Blossoms, but Murphy insisted changes are not expected to be wholesale.

"The first thing is, we've a lot of respect for Japan. They are a very, very good side and they've proven that over the last couple of years," said Murphy.

"The team we pick will be the team we believe will be the right team to play a Test match six days after the last one.

"There could be some rotation in it but it will be fully focused on beating Japan."

Hands up if you're loving every second of Barcelona's ever-deepening crisis of faith, hapless away form and evident bewilderment, as every rival now plays them with the conviction that Spain's champions are there for the taking.

You won't be alone. It's one of sport's most enduring storylines, as teams that have lain waste to all opponents before them with absolute inevitability then wane, decline and get pulverised. It's not a matter of "maybe," only a matter of how well you prepare and cope. "Nothing's more certain than death, taxes and the collapse of possession football if it's not properly cared for," as Benjamin Franklin surely meant to say.

So, there will be widespread glee about Barcelona's sudden vulnerability, far further than among Madridistas, Espanyol fans and anyone of a Manchester United, Juventus or Arsenal persuasion who still resents either the manner or just the pain of those four Champions League final defeats since 2006.

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People find it fascinating, even enjoyable, when mighty edifices crumble and fall. They call it "Schadenfreude" in German, a deliciously malicious enjoyment of someone else's woes. Football has, metaphorically, become such a bloodlust sport that many will think that the only feasible remedy is to accept Ernesto Valverde's mea culpa on Saturday night after Barca lost in Granada for the first time since 1972 and sack him.

(A fun stat: Barca has lost there five times in club history, and every time it happened, they failed to win La Liga that season.)

During the buildup to Tuesday's Camp Nou meeting between La Liga's highest scoring teams thus far, with Villarreal matching Barca's 12 goals after five games, Valverde accepted the reality of his side's malaise. "Coaches are always fighting against the sack. That's not a novelty for me or any of my peers. Given the job I've got, it's results that dictate [my fate]. If Barca aren't leaders, then the manager's under intense scrutiny. But two good results can end a 'crisis.'"

A couple of weeks ago Messi admitted, "I think everyone worried that the coach might be sacked at the end of last season because we didn't meet our objectives, but it was more the players' fault than his."

The problems with Valverde

Three things are true of Valverde. First, while Barcelona were bristling with steely ambition and their key leaders were fit and on form, his "light hand on the tiller" approach to management was perfect. Just look at the good haul of trophies since he took over.

Secondly, now that the seas are extremely stormy, his style of coaching -- specifically the "pact" he struck with the squad leaders that rather than him being the outright boss (like an Alex Ferguson), he'd be primus inter pares, aka "first among equals" -- will need an upgrade. That he struck such a deal with Messi, Sergio Busquets, Gerard Pique and Luis Suarez made sense: His was the ultimate responsibility, but it was an extremely benign, consultative dictatorship.

It's a long way of saying that Valverde reckoned, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." It worked a treat ... up to a point. Now it's out of date. Things are broken. They're fixable but cracked.

The third thing that's true of Valverde, I'd argue, is that he isn't enjoying his work as much as he once did.

Yeah, I hear you: boo-hoo-hoo. He's well paid, and he knew the stresses and potential indignities of managing a huge, often self-destructive and deeply divided club such as FC Barcelona. You're playing the world's smallest violin in sympathy for him, right? But this is a decent, hard-working guy who's respected by the large majority of his squad, simply doing the same things that won him six trophies (and a UEFA Cup runners-up medal with Espanyol) before he took over at Barca.

He's not a dud. He is not someone to be dissed lightly, nor is sacking him the real solution to what's been going wrong.

The flaws are easy to list and interdependent. Fundamental to Barcelona's producing a brand of football that was hellish to combat and made them if not unique then brand leaders was positional play. Intricate, demanding and intelligent play that required both discipline and intelligence. Yet it has been abandoned by the club, in the first team at least, for some considerable time.

Eventually, under someone such as Xavi perhaps, it'll be restored, but will there be competent students to impose it?

That's an intriguing question for the future. Positional play helps possession play, as does the availability of Xavi and Andres Iniesta. Gradually, Barcelona's actual amounts of possession have declined, but much more startling has been the decline in strategy for why possession is important: what you can do with it to punish the opposition. In the cases of some players, "possession" has begun to mean "running with the ball" rather than letting the ball do the work. It's anathema to the Frank Rijkaard, Johan Cruyff, Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova school of thought.

Barcelona are not anywhere near as tough -- whether physically, spiritually, athletically or competitively -- as they were in the era when they could count on Puyol, David Villa, Samuel Eto'o, Iniesta, Xavi, Dani Alves, Pedro, Seydou Keita, Yaya Toure or Eric Abidal. Gradually -- and I think this is an inescapable truth -- they've gotten a little softer. The mix of technique, brains, character, strength, athleticism and height declined across the first-team squad.

There's also less pace. Several of those players who would feature in most people's "best XI" of the current squad are actively short of pace, either in explosive sprints or over a foot race. When the ball isn't moving quickly, this becomes a far greater Achilles' heel.

President Josep Bartomeu has been pretty obsessed with passing the buck, whether it existed or not, to the guys who did his football planning: Andoni Zubizarreta, Robert Fernandez, Pep Segura and the exceptional Joan Vila, three of whom should have been retained. Now he's left with an imbalanced squad in which two of the three full-backs, Junior Firpo and Nelson Semedo, aren't good enough, when there's that lack of pace and in which no one seems to have planned for the fact that the only centre-forward turns 33 in January, carries extra weight, struggles to get away from defenders and hasn't scored away from home in the Champions League in four years.

Luis Suarez remains an astonishingly clever, competitive and successful footballer, but the lack of strategy to replace him or make him compete for his place has shown either incompetence or fear of upsetting his major stakeholder, Messi.

Barcelona need to change formations

Let me propose a solution for Barcelona supporters. It's a good one too. Hopefully Valverde is reading this.

Apart from the instincts that Pique, Busquets, Jordi Alba and perhaps Arthur are still imbued with, the whole position-possession-pressing thing that made the modern Barca famous, admired and successful has pretty much departed, meaning that the 4-3-3 they currently play is out-of-date. It's a touchstone of the philosophy that, in due course, Victor Valdes, Puyol, Xavi and perhaps even Jordi Cruyff could reinstate, but right now, it's a relic.

Barcelona, away from home, simply do not possess the means to make that formation effective. It's a strength turned weakness. The solution is a 4-2-3-1. That formation, not a magical formula in itself, is a good fit for Barca's playing staff while addressing current weaknesses and turning them into strengths.

Frenkie De Jong was always going to require time to settle in and develop. He's 22 with only 12 Champions League matches and fewer international caps. But most of his impressive football at Ajax was part of the pivotal partnership in a 4-2-3-1. Let him enjoy that role next to Busquets (on rotation with Arthur/Rakitic and so on).

Busquets benefitted hugely from Ivan Rakitic playing as a "double-pivot" next to him for large parts of the past two seasons. In fact, Valverde's Barcelona were often lined up in a 4-4-2 last term. De Jong can be Busquets' bodyguard now.

Another new signing, Antoine Griezmann, doesn't like playing as a winger or very much as centre-forward. But right now, he could easily play as a No. 9 in front of Ousmane Dembele, Messi and Ansu Fati until Suarez trains away a kilo or two. After that, Suarez at No. 9 with permutations of Messi coming in off the right, Griezmann in the middle of the three and Ansu or Dembele on the left. That not only could augment the chance creation but also would offer Valverde the option of installing a high press.

The 4-2-3-1 formation probably asks the full-backs to fly forward far less than, say, Alba currently does. But with Alba and Roberto edging forward into midfield to flank Busquets and De Jong, a mixture of Pique, Jean-Clair Todibo, Clement Lenglet and Samuel Umtiti as the alert, high-line centre-backs and Marc-Andre ter Stegen happy to play the "sweeper-keeper" role, there are far more solutions than new problems.

Valverde has had the chutzpah to try to find solutions by dropping Busquets, promoting Ansu and Carles Perez and mysteriously giving Rakitic the kind of limited minutes that suggest he was either caught swearing in church or singing the Real Madrid anthem in the showers.

The burning question now is whether Valverde also the chutzpah to accept that 4-3-3 is now making his team weaker and change formation.

Australia's ODI and T20 captain Aaron Finch wants to make one more push at trying to play Test cricket again after a brief and ultimately unsuccessful stint last summer.

Finch was surprisingly drafted into the Test team for the UAE series against Pakistan last October, in the wake of the suspensions to Cameron Bancroft, David Warner and Steven Smith following the ball-tampering scandal, despite a middling first-class record.

He played five Tests, two against Pakistan away and three against India at home, making two half-centuries before he was dropped after the Boxing Day Test.

Finch's experiment at the top of the order in Tests had a huge impact on his limited-overs returns and put him under pressure heading towards the World Cup, but he regained his form and his confidence to lead Australia to the semi-final.

But after riding the rollercoaster last year, Finch is ready to have one more push at trying to play Test cricket again this summer.

"For me personally, it's about probably having one really good crack at trying to get back to the Test team again," Finch told SEN radio station. "The young guys who came in and did well throughout the back half of last summer did a really good job. I still think that I've got one really good crack at it left in me."

There are four Sheffield Shield games before the first Test against Pakistan for Finch to make his case although he is likely to miss one game when he is required to lead Australia's T20I team in six matches against Sri Lanka and Pakistan.

He played one County Championship game for Surrey during his stint in England after the World Cup, scoring 90 against Hampshire at The Oval. He only managed one game for Victoria last summer in between Test, ODI and T20I duties.

"Obviously [I'll] just try and get some runs, get some big runs there. That's my plan," Finch said. "I think, the young kids who have come in a taken their opportunities, Kurtis Patterson and Travis Head, these guys have come in and done reasonably well when they've played.

"Kurtis got a hundred in the last Test that he played. Will Pucovski and that whole crop of young batters who are coming through are so talented, so I think I've got one more push in it for myself. If it doesn't happen then it doesn't happen. I'm comfortable with that. It will be nice to play a few Shield games in a row to be fair. It's been a while since I've played more than one in a row."

Finch said he watched the Ashes with envy and still felt a desire to be part of Test cricket. He took heart from Matthew Wade's effort to get back to Test level and score two Ashes centuries after dominating Shield cricket last summer.

One point of conjecture will be where he bats for Victoria. There was a lot of debate last year about his selection as a Test opener given in his 44 first-class innings prior to his Test debut he had batted no higher than No. 4 for either Victoria or Surrey.

Victoria coach Andrew McDonald was adamant Finch would not open in his only game for Victoria last season and the compromise was that he batted at No. 3 against Queensland ahead of the first Test against India.

"We haven't spoken about that just yet," Finch said. "There's a lot of quality players in Victoria at the moment so getting a game might be the first start. I think middle order will probably be my preferred spot. I know doing the opening duties last summer was one of first times I'd really done it in the longer format but you take any opportunity you can when you play for Australia."

The improved fitness levels of Mohammed Shami. Jasprit Bumrah's outswinger to right-hand batsmen. Also, India's fast-bowling bench strength, and the facilities now available in the country; all these are indicators of Indian fast bowling's great health, according to former pace spearhead Zaheer Khan. Still, Zaheer would like to see Navdeep Saini given a chance in Test cricket.

"The longer format, that's the format that suits Saini," Zaheer told Mumbai Mirror. "Saini has got the pace and consistency in length."

Saini, who was among India's reserves for the World Cup, put his pace and short-ball skills on full display on the tour of Florida and the Caribbean in August. On T20I debut, Saini was on a hat-trick after getting Nicholas Pooran and Shimron Hetmyer off consecutive balls in Lauderhill. He finished that game with figures of 3 for 17, and the Player of the Match award.

In the Test matches that followed, Bumrah was at his lethal best, with 13 wickets in four innings at an average of 9.23, including only the third hat-trick by an Indian in the format. Chief among Bumrah's weapons in this series was the ball that moved away from the right-hand batsmen, and his newfound ability to bowl this delivery consistently makes him all the more potent, Zaheer said.

"I have always said that if he had that outswinger for the right-handers, he will be a nightmare for the batting sides. I am glad that it has happened now," Zaheer said. "He needs to work on his fitness and keep doing the things that have brought him this far. With experience he will keep getting better and better."

ALSO READ: Jasprit Bumrah - The complete bowler, whatever the format

Zaheer said Shami - who had finished third on the Test-wicket charts in the West Indies, taking nine at 17.77 - was reaping the benefits of the work he had put into his fitness. "With Shami we all knew about the wrist position and the upright seam. The only iffy thing was fitness but now he has worked on that."

During the World Cup in England this year, Shami had spoken of how he had worked hard on that aspect of his cricket. Leg issues kept him out for parts of 2016 and 2017, and when he returned for India, it seemed obvious that his fitness levels were down. That phase culminated with him missing out on the Afghanistan Test in Bengaluru in June last year, after failing a fitness test.

"I was heavy after the injury, I used to feel tightness in my knee after long spells, so I knew I had to do something extra if I had to play for a longer time," Shami had said during the World Cup. "I have cut down on my food, I follow a diet and people laugh about it when I tell them that. It's not strict, but I avoid stuff doctors tell me to. I don't eat sweets or bread, it has helped me a lot."

Zaheer said the "hunger" Shami has shown to get to where he is at the moment was commendable. "He has been phenomenal in terms of getting his fitness level up to the standard that is required. This has been a huge plus for him. Ability was always there. Just that some injuries had kept him out for a year. He has come back strongly. A lot of credit has to go to him for how he is managing himself and the hunger that he has shown to come back and play at the top level."

When asked what has made the biggest difference in getting Indian fast bowling to the healthy state it is now in, Zaheer said: "Over the years, the infrastructure has improved. There is this access to better fitness facilities. There are these processes in place like the one at the National Cricket Academy where players are taken care of since Under-14s. There is also a proper passing of knowledge and that is helping in a big way."

PHOENIX -- The Arizona Diamondbacks made it obvious that they appreciated Paul Goldschmidt in his return to the desert, honoring him with a tribute video before the game and multiple ovations throughout the evening.

Clearly, everyone thought this night was a pretty big deal.

Except for the man being honored. The stoic first baseman had work to do.

Goldschmidt smacked a two-run homer in his Chase Field reunion, Yadier Molina also had a two-run shot, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Diamondbacks 9-7 on Monday for their sixth straight win.

"It's all what you make of it, and for me this was just another game," Goldschmidt said. "I'm appreciative of all the fans coming out, cheering me on, the standing ovation. But I just didn't want to make too big a deal of it."

For Goldschmidt, the real importance of the game was that his team won again. The Cardinals have a 3 1/2-game lead over the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central. St. Louis has five games remaining in the regular season, and Milwaukee has six.

The Diamondbacks -- who have hung around the fringes of the NL wild-card race for months -- were officially eliminated from postseason contention Monday.

"We left some money on the table throughout the course of the season, and those are the things that we are going to have to address and tighten up a little bit," Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said.

Goldschmidt had a big night in his return to Arizona after playing eight years for the Diamondbacks from 2011 to '18. He got a loud ovation from fans in the first inning before drawing a walk.

In the third, he drove a changeup from Alex Young just over the right-center-field fence for his 32nd homer of the season and 100th in his career at Chase Field, the most in the stadium's history.

"Good for Goldy," St. Louis manager Mike Shildt said. "Obviously, in the moment, but it's just a really special return for him, I'm sure. Really class job with the tribute."

Adam Wainwright (14-9) won his fifth straight start, though he didn't have his best stuff. He gave up eight hits and five runs over five innings.

Young (7-5) gave up six earned runs over five innings. He struck out five and walked two.

Arizona fell behind 6-2 in the fifth inning after Molina's two-run homer but scored three runs off Wainwright in the fifth to pull within one.

St. Louis got breathing room in the eighth inning when Harrison Bader ripped a solo homer to left field and the offense added two more runs in the ninth. Carlos Martinez earned his 24th save.

The Cardinals were sharp in another win, despite coming off an intense four-game sweep of the Chicago Cubs, who are also fighting for playoff position. Goldschmidt said the team's even-keeled manner has been an asset.

"We don't get too down or too excited," Goldschmidt said. "We just play hard every day."

GOLDY'S RETURN

Goldschmidt acknowledged the crowd after the video tribute, waving his hat.

The 32-year-old first baseman hit .297 with 209 homers and 710 RBIs in his Diamondbacks tenure while helping the team make the playoffs in 2011 and '17. He made six NL All-Star teams and won three Gold Gloves.

He was traded during the offseason for catcher Carson Kelly, pitcher Luke Weaver, infielder Andy Young and a draft pick.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Diamondbacks: Lovullo said RHP Taijuan Walker (Tommy John surgery) threw a 20-pitch bullpen session, and the pitcher "was very encouraged" by the outing. If Walker still feels good on Tuesday, he could pitch in a game before the end of the season on Sunday. ... RHP Weaver could pitch in another game this season after a successful return Sunday. Weaver (forearm tightness) threw two scoreless innings against the Padres in his first outing since May 26.

UP NEXT

Cardinals: St. Louis will start RHP Jack Flaherty (10-8, 2.96 ERA). He gave up just one run over eight innings in a win over the Cubs on Friday. He threw a season-high 118 pitches.

Diamondbacks: Arizona will start RHP Mike Leake (12-11, 4.38). He's 3-1 with a 2.48 ERA in his past five starts.

Here's a pessimistic tidbit, at least for Rays fans: Tampa Bay could set a franchise record for wins and yet still miss the playoffs. After beating the Red Sox 7-4 on Monday to improve to 93-64, the Rays climbed a half-game ahead of the Indians for the second wild card. (They're 1½ games behind the A's.)

It was a nice comeback, as the Rays were trailing 4-0 in the bottom of the fourth when they slammed three home runs and scored six runs: Ji-Man Choi hit a three-run homer off Jhoulys Chacin, Brandon Lowe tied it with a 441-foot blast to right-center and then Willy Adames hit a two-run shot off Bobby Poyner.

The Rays won 97 games during their World Series season in 2008; they would have to win all five of their remaining games to get to 98. They host the Yankees on Tuesday and Wednesday and finish up with three in Toronto. But if the Indians win their six remaining games -- on the road against the White Sox and Nationals -- they also finish with 98 wins, which would force a play-in game, assuming the A's finish better than that. If the Indians win that game, the Rays go home empty-handed.

That the Rays are in this position isn't a complete surprise. They won 90 games last year, including a 41-25 record in the second half. Given the paucity of go-for-it teams in a weak American League, the Rays were likely playoff contenders. Their biggest obstacle appeared to be the Yankees and Red Sox looking like potential 100-win teams. The Yankees were; the Red Sox were not.

But when you dig deeper, maybe it is a surprise the Rays are still hanging with Oakland and Cleveland. For all the attention awarded the Yankees for their string of injuries, the Rays have also played through a long list of setbacks. Consider:

-- They've had one healthy member of the rotation all season in Charlie Morton. Not including the starts made by opener Ryne Stanek, Blake Snell is second on the team with 22 starts. The Yankees have five pitchers with at least 22 starts, including three with at least 28.

-- Jose Alvarado started the season lights-out as the team's primary closer with a 1.38 ERA in April, but he threw just 17 innings since then and is out for the season with elbow inflammation.

-- Joey Wendle, who produced a 4.3-WAR season in 2018, hurt his hamstring four games into the season, returned on April 21, and four days later, suffered a fractured wrist when hit by a pitch. He's back now but has never gotten on track at the plate, perhaps hampered by the wrist.

-- Rookie Brandon Lowe saw his playing time increase after Wendle's injuries and made the All-Star team, but he just returned after missing the entire second half with leg issues.

-- Yandy Diaz had performed very well with a .270/.343/.480 line and 118 OPS+ but has been out since July 22 with a fracture in his foot.

The good news is Snell and Tyler Glasnow -- who was 6-1 with a 1.86 ERA when he down on May 10 -- are back on the mound, although still on limited pitch counts. Snell started Monday, his second game back since July, but lasted just 1⅔ innings and 52 pitches before Kevin Cash hooked him. Part of that was the pitch count, but Snell was struggling big time with his location and walked three batters. Still, with Yonny Chirinos also back, the Tampa staff is in its best shape since that dominant run early in the season.

Cash and pitching coach Kyle Snyder deserve a lot of credit for massaging the staff through the summer. The Rays are second in the majors in relief appearances (only the Red Sox have more). Some of that is a result of deploying the opener, but it's also the ripple effect of juggling the rotation without Snell, Glasnow and Chirinos.

Emilio Pagan, acquired from Oakland in the offseason as a bullpen depth piece, has been the big surprise in the pen, taking over as closer from Alvarado and Diego Castillo and posting a 2.38 ERA with 20 saves. But when he allowed two hits with one out in the ninth Monday, Cash turned to rookie lefty Colin Poche to face Mitch Moreland. Alex Cora countered with pinch hitters Christian Vazquez and Xander Bogaerts, getting the platoon advantage, but Poche struck out both to get his second save. He was the eighth Tampa reliever of the game.

So how does the wild-card race shake down the rest of the week? FanGraphs pegs the A's with a 95.8% chance of making the playoffs, the Rays at 66% and the Indians at 38.3% (plus Cleveland still has a non-zero chance of beating the Twins in the AL Central). I'm not sure I'd peg the Rays as 2-to-1 favorites over the Indians, even if Cleveland does have that six-game road trip. Led by Shane Bieber and Mike Clevinger and an underrated bullpen, the Indians have a 3.20 ERA since the beginning of July, best in the majors.

Here's how the pitching matchups line up for each team:

Tuesday

Oakland: Homer Bailey at Angels (Dillon Peters)

Tampa Bay: Brendan McKay vs. Yankees (undecided)

Cleveland: Mike Clevinger at White Sox (Hector Santiago)

Wednesday

Oakland: Brett Anderson at Angels (Andrew Heaney)

Tampa Bay: Charlie Morton vs. Yankees (undecided)

Cleveland: Shane Bieber at White Sox (Ross Detwiler)

Thursday

Oakland: Mike Fiers at Mariners (Felix Hernandez)

Cleveland: Aaron Civale at White Sox (Dylan Cease)

Friday

Oakland: Sean Manaea at Mariners (Justus Sheffield)

Tampa Bay: Tyler Glasnow at Blue Jays (T.J. Zeuch)

Cleveland: Zach Plesac at Nationals (Austin Voth)

Saturday

Oakland: Tanner Roark at Mariners (Marco Gonzales)

Tampa Bay: Ryan Yarbrough at Blue Jays (Trent Thornton)

Cleveland: Adam Plutko at Nationals (Patrick Corbin)

Sunday

Oakland: Homer Bailey at Mariners (Justin Dunn)

Tampa Bay: Blake Snell at Blue Jays (Clay Buchholz)

Cleveland: Mike Clevinger at Nationals (Max Scherzer)

Of course, Scherzer might not pitch that final Sunday if the Nationals have a playoff spot clinched (almost certainly will happen). That will help the Indians. If we end up tied after Sunday's action, the Rays would have Morton ready to go on Monday or for the wild-card game, and the Indians would have Bieber lined up for the same scenario. Of course, if a play-in game is required -- let alone with if we end up in a three-way tie -- then that creates all kinds of potential chaos for the wild-card game on Oct. 2.

Then again, if the Rays are forced into a bullpen game, perhaps no team is better equipped. They've been playing those types of games all season long.

Great throw of the night No. 1: Have to highlight this 305-foot throw from Mookie Betts to nail Avisail Garcia at third base:

Great throw of the night No. 2: And here's Bryce Harper luring the Nationals into sending Juan Soto home:

.@bryceharper3 recorded his 13th outfield assist in the first, tying his career high set in 2013. ? pic.twitter.com/msochVmGCx

— Philadelphia Phillies (@Phillies) September 23, 2019

Alas, the Nationals beat the Phillies 7-2, and the Phillies' tragic number is down to one. Next year, Bryce.

Star names are heading back to Scotland in 2020 thanks to a thrilling double bill

Glasgow was at the centre of the indoor athletics season this year when the Emirates Arena played host to the European Championships – and world class athletics will be heading to the venue once again in 2020 when the Scottish city stages both the Müller Indoor Grand Prix and, for the first time ever, the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships.

Getting Olympic and Paralympic year off and running in earnest, February 15 will see the finest athletes on the planet arrive in town for the Müller Indoor Grand Prix – the number one ranked indoor meet in the world – and what promises to be an amazing afternoon of sport at the very highest level.

The Müller Indoor Grand Prix was last staged in Glasgow in 2018 and saw the likes of Dina Asher-Smith, Elaine Thompson, Su Bingtian and Adam Gemili competing in front of what is always a vociferous crowd.

That showpiece will be swiftly followed by the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships on February 22-23, as Britain’s best battle it out for national titles and places on the team bound for the IAAF World Indoor Championships in Nanjing.

The SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships has taken place in both the EIS Sheffield and, for the past two years, Arena Birmingham. However, British Athletics Major Events Director Cherry Alexander OBE believes the decision to head north of the border makes perfect sense.

“The Müller Indoor Grand Prix will be the best indoor event ever staged in Scotland, with athletics fans in for a treat as world stars come to town,” she says.

“Olympic and Paralympic year is always very special and I am sure that the atmosphere will be amazing at Emirates Arena. Staging the British Athletics Indoor Season in Glasgow truly reflects the UK-wide interest in our sport and I am proud that we are taking the SPAR British Athletics Indoor Championships to Scotland for the first time – it is long overdue.

“This announcement demonstrates the strength of collaboration between British Athletics and our home nations athletics partners.”

Scotland scrum-half Ali Price is out of the World Cup because of a foot injury suffered in Sunday's defeat by Ireland.

The Glasgow Warriors player, 26, came on as a second-half substitute in place of Greig Laidlaw in the 27-3 loss in Yokohama.

Edinburgh's Henry Pyrgos will fly out as Price's replacement.

It comes a day after Scotland lost back-row Hamish Watson for the rest of the tournament, with Magnus Bradbury called up to replace him.

"We're disappointed for Ali to have to return home so early in the tournament," said Scotland head coach Gregor Townsend.

"Both Ali and Hamish invested a lot of effort in being in their best physical shape for the World Cup and it's a shame they've only been involved in one game.

"However, we have a lot of belief in our wilder group and the two new players who have been given this opportunity."

Scotland face Samoa in their next Group A match in Kobe on Monday (11:15 BST), before meetings with Russia and Japan.

The Carabao Cup so often provides big Premier League clubs the opportunity to blood their academy products on the verge of breaking into the first team. So with the competition's third round getting underway on Tuesday, and England's biggest clubs joining the fray, we take a look at the most promising youngsters looking to make their mark with the Big Six in the League Cup this season.

Gabriel Martinelli | 18 | Forward | Arsenal

Given that Arsenal remain thin on striking backup, it would do no harm for Martinelli to make a splash in the tie against Nottingham Forest. Big things are expected from the 18-year-old forward, and that is borne out by the fact that, rather than be sent back out on loan after joining from Ituano in July, he has immediately been involved with the first-team squad. He made his Premier League debut in the closing stages of the win at Newcastle in August and will surely be given the nod to start on Tuesday. "I got a little shy because I only saw [my new teammates] on television, on video games," he said of his first few days in north London, but this week he can make massive strides towards sharing a stage with them.

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Charlie Brown | 20 | Forward | Chelsea

While Tammy Abraham has been making the headlines in Chelsea's first team, there are those who think Brown could be even better. The striker, who celebrated his 20th birthday on Monday, joined from Ipswich's academy in 2016 and has barely stopped scoring since. Last season he was top scorer in the UEFA Youth League with 11 goals -- five more than his closest competition -- and has stepped up against senior opponents too, netting five times in the Football League Trophy in the past year. Brown is left footed and, while a rapier-like finisher, also adept at linking the play and dropping deep. Grimsby, who Chelsea face on Wednesday, would appear the perfect opponents for a long-awaited senior debut.

Taylor Harwood-Bellis | 17 | Defender | Manchester City

With City so short of centre-back options, it would be a major boost if the 17-year-old Harwood-Bellis put in a commanding display against Championship high-fliers Preston. Pep Guardiola confirmed on Saturday that he is now a member of the first-team squad and appears to have been impressed by what he has seen so far. "He is aggressive, he wins duels, he pays attention," Guardiola said of the Stockport-born defender, who is also composed and confident on the ball. "From now on, he will train with us. Whether he will play or not, we'll see." Harwood-Bellis, who is believed to have impressed greatly during Manchester City's preseason trip to Asia, may well get the call to do it all again at Deepdale.

Troy Parrott | 17 | Forward | Tottenham

Parrott has set tongues wagging excitedly in recent months and looks likely to feature in Spurs' trip to League Two side Colchester United. The forward has made waves with a number of sublime goals of late, particularly a staggering scooped effort for Ireland's Under-21s earlier this month. Real Madrid and Juventus are among those credited with an interest in the 17-year-old, but Mauricio Pochettino has big plans for the academy product and a debut this week looks certain. "We cannot put his name in the spotlight every day because we're not going to help him by doing that," the Spurs manager said recently. Patience is definitely going to be vital for Parrott's development but he is staking an irresistible claim.

Rhian Brewster | 19 | Forward | Liverpool

Brewster's name may already sound familiar and that is because he has been trailed as one of Liverpool and England's most exciting young strikers for several years. His progress in the past year and three quarters has been hampered by serious injuries to his ankle and knee that he sustained in an Under-23 match against Manchester City; he recovered well enough to make the bench for the Champions League semifinal epic against Barcelona and then the final against Spurs, so the esteem in which Jurgen Klopp holds him appears clear enough. Having been courted by Bundesliga sides over the summer -- Borussia Monchengladbach were among those said to be interested -- he opted to stay put and should finally get his reward in the form of a first-team debut when Liverpool face MK Dons. The signs are that he will be worth the wait.

James Garner | 18 | Midfielder | Manchester United

Such is United's current form that anyone who impresses in the local derby against League One side Rochdale could find themselves in Ole Gunnar Solskjaer's Premier League team before they know it. Garner certainly has a chance to push on this season given their midfield issues, and the 18-year-old already has a modicum of first-team experience. He came on as a late substitute in the Premier League win at Crystal Palace in February and impressed during preseason, heightening hopes that he can follow Mason Greenwood into the senior spotlight. Garner, who has been with United for a decade, has exceptional vision and passing range while looking happy to get stuck in, too. He has captained England's Under-17s and there is genuine hope that he will be a future leader for United, too. A strong showing on Wednesday could be the kind of green shoot his club are desperate for.