Top Ad
I DIG Radio
www.idigradio.com
Listen live to the best music from around the world!
I DIG Style
www.idigstyle.com
Learn about the latest fashion styles and more...
I Dig Sports

I Dig Sports

Kohli admits confusion over Pant and Iyer in batting order

Published in Cricket
Sunday, 22 September 2019 17:28

India's captain Virat Kohli revealed that Rishabh Pant was not supposed to bat at No. 4 in the third T20I against South Africa in Bengaluru. He admitted to a "miscommunication" between Pant and Shreyas Iyer, saying the latter was slated to bat at No.4 if India were two down within the 10th over.

As it turned out, India were 63 for 2 in the eighth over when Shikhar Dhawan advanced down the pitch and carved left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shamsi to extra-cover. However, Pant walked in ahead of Iyer, and Kohli put it down to a communication breakdown in the dugout.

"I think there was a miscommunication there," Kohli said. "That's what I understood afterwards. The batting coach [Vikram Rathour] had a word with both of them and there was a misunderstanding of who has to go [in] at what stage of the game. So, it was a bit funny afterwards because they both wanted to walk in. It would have been very funny if both had reached the pitch… three batsmen [would have been] in the field. Yeah, I think it was a miscommunication in the middle.

"We had it planned according to phases. So, after 10 overs we decided Rishabh would walk in. Before that Shreyas had to walk in. So, I think both of them got confused and didn't realise who had to walk in at what stage of the game."

There has been some debate over Pant's batting position and shot selection in recent times. Coach Ravi Shastri was critical of Pant's shot selection in the Caribbean and it came into the spotlight once again when he heaved a half-tracker straight into the lap of short fine leg against South Africa in Mohali.

Former India captain Sunil Gavaskar suggested that slotting Pant in at No. 5 would ease the pressure on him, helping him play his attacking, natural game.

"Giving him a bit of breathing space by slotting him at No. 5 could also help, for at that number he will invariably come in to bat where his aggressive batting is needed from the start rather than when he has to build his and the team's innings," Gavaskar wrote in Sunday Mid-Day. "Just like a little tweak in the grip can make a world of difference to a player as a bowler or as batsman, so also a little tweak in the batting order could change the fortunes of a player."

After coming in at No. 4 on Sunday, Pant tiptoed to 12 off 17 balls before fiercely slog-sweeping seamer Dwaine Pretorius over the fine-leg boundary. He added just one to his tally before holing out to long-off against left-arm fingerspinner Bjorn Fortuin for 19 off 20 balls. Two balls later, Iyer was stumped off a leg-side wide for 5 off 8 balls. From 63 for 1 India lost 5 for 35 and eventually the game.

Having spent his entire IPL career at Royal Challengers Bangalore, Virat Kohli knows that it is easier to chase at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium. He knows that the dew often sets in later in the evening and neutralises the threat posed by his spinners. Yet, with the series on the line, he chose to bat first in the third T20I against South Africa. He challenged himself and his team-mates to step out of their comfort zones, as India tune up for the T20 World Cup in Australia next year.

After Kohli became the first captain to decide against chasing in six T20Is at this venue, before Sunday, several batsmen dared to jump out of the crease to manufacture scoring opportunities, a departure from India's ODI-style T20 approach. Rishabh Pant was trialled at No.4 once again (although he wasn't supposed to bat at that spot), but India's experiments didn't quite come off, and a revamped South Africa side claimed a series-levelling victory.

Left-arm seamer Beuran Hendricks had Rohit Sharma nicking off for 9 in the third over, but Shikhar Dhawan laid down the marker when he hit Andile Phehlukwayo for back-to-back boundaries in the next over. He first shuffled across to off, aiming to pick up the ball over midwicket, but found enough time to adjust and punch it through the line. He then looked to cart the next ball over extra-cover, but instead only managed to carve it down to the third-man fence.

Dhawan usually prefers to bide his time - be it in T20 or ODI cricket - but here he hung up caution and decided to have a proper crack at South Africa's bowlers. He slugged left-arm wristspinner Tabraiz Shami's first two balls for six. In the next over he fiercely slog-swept left-arm fingerspinner Bjorn Fortuin through square leg. He regularly flitted around the crease in a bid to force the bowlers into bowling in his swinging arc.

India were fairly well placed at 62 for 1 in seven overs, but then the pitch suddenly became slower and South Africa's bowlers exploited it efficiently to throw a spanner in their works. When Dhawan advanced down the pitch to Shamsi once again, the spinner cleverly tossed the ball up higher and shifted his lines wider to draw a mis-hit to extra-cover. Soon after, Kohli similarly sent a full ball from Kagiso Rabada in the air where Phehlukwayo plucked an outstanding catch at deep midwicket.

ALSO READ - Monga: India haven't figured out their T20 game, but they're willing to change

Despite the pitch getting slower and wickets falling at both ends, India were keen to find higher gears. Pant took on Fortuin, but the left-armer slid one across the batsman and had him slicing a catch to long-off. Two balls later, Shreyas Iyer ventured out of the crease and was stumped by a leg-side wide.

Suddenly India lost 4 for 29 and although they had depth in their batting line-up - Washington Sundar at No. 9 and Deepak Chahar at 10 - they couldn't get the big hits away on a pitch that was now very responsive to the cutters and change-ups from Hendricks and Phehlukwayo. Not even Hardik Pandya could get the big hits away.

India scrambled only four boundaries after Iyer's dismissal in the 13th over and ended with a below-par 134 for 9.

"Yes, we wanted to go for a big score and that's exactly why we batted first," Kohli said of India's fresh T20 approach. "In the past, in certain games in T20 cricket, we have been 20-30 runs short, batting first. "That has cost us the game. So, the idea again, as I said at the toss, was to come out of our comfort zone and then try to get that big score because we are batting till No. 9. But quickly we realised the pitch didn't allow us to keep doing that."

Kohli reckoned that India would have been better off had they recalibrated their focus to 170 "rather than thinking of 200".

"Because of the intent we showed the pitch obviously didn't allow us to get to that total and we kept losing wickets. They [South Africa] hit the right areas and understood the pitch. It was a combination of good bowling and not great decision-making. These kinds of games will keep happening as long as we are wanting to come out of our comfort zones as a team and putting ourselves in a situation, which could be the case in a big game in a big tournament."

Kohli's bat-first decision also handicapped his bowlers who had to cope with the dew in the second innings. While Washington came away with 4-0-27-0 and Deepak Chahar found swing in the early exchanges, Navdeep Saini and Krunal Pandya struggled with their lines and lengths. Nearly every Indian fielder had a towel, often furiously wiping the ball with it in the break between overs.

Quinton de Kock took advantage of it, making a bruising, unbeaten 79 off 52 balls, and finished off the chase with nine wickets and 19 balls to spare. While such a heavy defeat might invite some pressure, Kohli said that India are ready to take more risks and "take the toss out of the way" in their run to the T20 World Cup.

"Nothing is a given or a guarantee before you start playing," Kohli said. "I think if we as a team are willing to get out of our comfort zones a lot more, then we will be unfazed with what happens at the toss. That's why we have people batting till nine. Unless you do that and start taking those risks, you are always going to be put under pressure somewhere or the other. We want to make sure we iron all of those things out before we head into the World Cup."

Nicole Bolton shows early-season form on return to action

Published in Cricket
Sunday, 22 September 2019 18:57

Nicole Bolton made an impressive return to action for Western Australia with back-to-back half-centuries on the opening weekend of the Women's National Cricket League (WNCL).

Bolton, who was part of the Australia squad that retained the Ashes in England in July, opted out of the tour of West Indies to focus on her mental health following a previous break from the game last season.

In the first two matches for Western Australia she struck 77 off 106 balls against Queensland and 63 off 80 balls against Tasmania to help her side begin with a brace of victories. In the Tasmania game she also picked up 2 for 26 from her 10 overs.

Speaking at the end of the West Indies tour, Australia coach Matthew Mott said he had been in contact with Bolton over recent weeks.

"Bolts and I have been in touch via WhatsApp and she's in a really good frame of mind and looking forward to the first round of the WNCL," Mott said. "For her it's just about reentering and getting back into the swing of things and hopefully scoring some runs, but she seems really happy which is great."

Australia will name their T20I and ODI squads on Wednesday for the series against Sri Lanka that starts at the end of month. After a cleansweep in the Caribbean, Mott said that he did not foresee many changes.

Bolton, who isn't considered as a T20I player, featured in the three ODIs on the Ashes tour with scores of 2, 1 and 4 while also playing in the Test.

QB Jones leads Giants' rally vs. Bucs in 1st start

Published in Breaking News
Sunday, 22 September 2019 17:49

TAMPA, Fla. -- Rookie quarterback Daniel Jones had an impressive first start in place of Eli Manning, rallying the New York Giants from an 18-point first-half deficit to a 32-31 victory over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Sunday.

Jones accounted for four touchdowns, including a seven-yard run on fourth down that put the Giants ahead for the first time with 1:16 remaining in the game.

"We had a chance there at the end of the game. That's all you can ask for," said Jones about the eight-play, 75-yard game-winning drive. New York's previous four possessions resulted in three punts and a turnover. "We kinda struggled to move the ball there at points and -- just a great job, great job moving the ball down the field as a team. We got some guys open, and they made plays. So great job, loved the fight and loved the grit of this win."

Jones finished 23-of-36 for 336 yards with two passing and two rushing touchdowns, flashing the poise and playmaking ability that made the Giants fall in love enough to make him the No. 6 overall pick in this year's draft.

Giants co-owner Steve Tisch told ESPN this was the beginning of a "new chapter." He was immensely impressed by the poise and composure of his 22-year-old quarterback. So too were his teammates. They raved about Jones afterward for the way he handled the huddle and seemed to fit in seamlessly in his first NFL start. There was even a moment in the second quarter with the Giants trailing 12-3 where Jones -- who rarely curses -- stepped into the huddle and yelled, "Let's f------ score!" according to wide receiver Russell Shepard.

Moments later, Jones kept the ball on a zone-read play for the go-ahead score.

The Giants (1-2) topped 17 points for the first time this season against a Todd Bowles-led defense that had looked solid the first two weeks. They escaped with the victory after Tampa Bay missed a 34-yard field goal attempt as time expired.

It was the Giants' first victory first victory when trailing by 18+ points at the half since 1949, according to Elias. They had lost 55 straight. Jones also became the second player since the 1970 merger to record two rushing TDs and two passing TDs in his first NFL start. The other was Detroit's Eric Hipple in 1981.

Manning had been the team's full-time starter for all but one game since 2004, but coach Pat Shurmur made the switch after last week's loss to the Buffalo Bills, saying that Jones was the better option for the Giants. The rookie proved Shurmur correct, at least in his first career start.

Jones led the Giants on four touchdown drives and flashed playmaking ability throughout. He ran for a touchdown in the first and second halves and used his legs on numerous occasions to create positive gains on plays that would have otherwise been dead.

"You can start to see -- and as you get to appreciate him as a player -- there's plenty of things he needs to do better. But as you get to -- there's certain things that I knew about this kid when we drafted him: He was tough, he was competitive, and in my opinion he's a winner," Shurmur said. "Now, the rest of it is just pure quarterback stuff. And because of those first three things, that's why he's gonna have a chance moving forward."

Jones rallied the Giants from a 28-10 halftime deficit. He hit tight end Evan Engram in stride running across the field for a 75-yard touchdown on the opening possession of the second half. He made a brilliant throw across his body deep downfield to fellow rookie Darius Slayton after shuffling around the pocket later in the third quarter. Later in that same drive, Jones dropped a perfectly placed ball into the arms of Sterling Shepard in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown, cutting the lead to 28-25.

play
1:07

Jones loves the Giants' grit after win over Bucs

Daniel Jones recaps his first NFL win with Sal Paolantonio, which was achieved with a go-ahead TD run in the final minute and the Bucs missing a field goal at the buzzer.

What Jones showed on the field in his first career start was much the same as what the team has seen ever since he stepped into the building earlier this year. He checked all the boxes this spring and summer, and completed better than 85 percent of his passes during the preseason.

The lone knock was ball security. After three fumbles in the preseason, Jones lost a fumble on one of his four snaps late in the season-opening loss to the Dallas Cowboys. He also lost a pair of fumbles on Sunday when he was sacked in the third and fourth quarters against the Bucs.

But the positives significantly outweighed the negatives in this outing. Jones displayed impressive composure and poise not usually seen from rookie quarterbacks. It looked like he belonged right from the start when he completed five of his first six passes in the first quarter.

Jones' first career touchdown came on a 7-yard scamper early in the second quarter. It was a zone-read on which he kept the ball and outraced the nearest defender to the pylon. Bucs coach Bruce Arians noted in the week leading up to the game that the biggest difference between Manning and Jones was the youngster's mobility.

Jones finished with 28 yards on four rushes, but it was his ability to escape pressure on multiple plays that proved invaluable. As one coach told ESPN recently about Manning, when a play with him at the helm was off schedule, it "was over."

That clearly was not the case with Jones, as the Giants' offense scored more points Sunday than it had in the first two games combined. Not that the unassuming Jones was ready to proclaim his greatness after one start. He was asked after the game to give a postgame speech.

"No speech," Jones said. "Giants on three."

The Rams have run zone coverage a league-high 79% of the time this season, which could be a bad sign for Baker Mayfield. Mayfield has averaged 10.1 yards per dropback against man coverage but just 4.8 against zone, per ESPN pass coverage metrics powered by NFL Next Gen Stats.

Seth Walder, ESPN Analytics11h ago

Royals become record-tying fourth 100-loss team

Published in Baseball
Sunday, 22 September 2019 17:05

MINNEAPOLIS -- Kansas City has become Major League Baseball's fourth 100-loss team this season, matching the major league record.

The Royals were defeated 12-8 by the AL Central-leading Minnesota Twins on Sunday, joining the Baltimore Orioles, Detroit Tigers and Miami Marlins as clubs with 100 defeats. The only other season to feature four 100-loss clubs was 2002, when the Tigers, Milwaukee Brewers and Tampa Bay Rays each dropped 106 games and Kansas City fell on the final day of the season for its 100th loss.

It's also a banner year for baseball's best. There have never been four 100-win teams in the same season, but that could change. The New York Yankees (102), Houston Astros (102) and Los Angeles Dodgers (100 wins) already have eclipsed the mark, and the Atlanta Braves (96) Minnesota (95) and Oakland Athletics (94) could still get there.

Three teams reached 100 wins in both 2017 and '18. Before then, there were only three 100-game winners in 1942, '77, '98, 2002 and '03.

Cards rally against Cubs to clinch playoff spot

Published in Baseball
Sunday, 22 September 2019 16:55

CHICAGO -- Paul Goldschmidt and the St. Louis Cardinals celebrated the franchise's first postseason berth in four years with a champagne toast in the visitor's clubhouse.

It was another sweet finish.

Goldschmidt hit a tiebreaking double in the ninth inning and the Cardinals clinched a playoff spot by rallying past the Chicago Cubs 3-2 on Sunday for their first four-game sweep at Wrigley Field in almost a century.

"Just relentless on our guys' part," manager Mike Shildt said. "That's the way we play baseball. That's the way we compete."

NL Central-leading St. Louis qualified for October for the first time it won the division in 2015. It also stayed three games ahead of Milwaukee.

It was the fifth consecutive win for the Cardinals, who came back for a 9-8 victory Saturday on consecutive homers by Yadier Molina and Paul DeJong against Craig Kimbrel in the ninth.

This time, Chicago manager Joe Maddon sent a dominant Yu Darvish (6-8) back to the mound to go for his first complete game since 2014. But the result was the same in the Cubs' fifth consecutive one-run loss and sixth straight overall.

"If you just play back the tape it's almost unbelievable that it turned out this way," Maddon said.

Pinch hitter Jose Martinez sparked the winning rally with a leadoff triple that glanced off the glove of diving center fielder Albert Almora Jr.

"It was hit hard and it went over my head and I missed it," Almora said. "That's it."

Dexter Fowler followed with a sacrifice fly, tying it at 2. After rookie Tommy Edman singled and stole second, Goldschmidt hit a grounder down the third-base line to put the Cardinals in front for good in the Cubs' rainy home finale.

"I swung and missed a couple times at some pitches in the middle," Goldschmidt said. "Luckily, I was able to hit that last one down the line."

Miles Mikolas pitched 7 2/3 innings of two-run ball and Tyler Webb (2-1) got the last out of the eighth for the win. Andrew Miller worked the ninth for his sixth save.

Nicholas Castellanos hit his career-high 27th homer for Chicago (82-74), which dropped four games back of the Brewers for the second NL wild card. The Cubs finished with a 51-30 home record after losing their last six games of the year at Wrigley.

It was the first four-game series sweep for St. Louis (89-67) at Chicago's famed ballpark since May 1921.

"It kind of seems that we've got the magic going," Edman said. "At any point, we know we're not out of it."

Castellanos also scored the first run of the game when he scampered home on Yadier Molina's passed ball in the first. But DeJong tied it with his 29th homer, a massive drive to Waveland Avenue in the third.

It was still tied when Castellanos led off the sixth with a drive to center for his 16th homer in 49 games since he was acquired in a July 31 trade with Detroit.

The Cubs were without Kris Bryant for most of the day after the slugger sprained his right ankle trying to beat out a double play in the third. X-rays taken at the ballpark were negative.

ONE SWEET TUNE

Gary Pressy threw out a ceremonial first pitch before his 2,687th and final game as the organist at Wrigley. He also led the crowd in the singing of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game" during the seventh-inning stretch.

Pressy is retiring after beginning his career at Wrigley in 1986.

ABOUT THE NUMBERS

The announced attendance was 38,606, bringing the season total at Wrigley to 3,094,865. The Cubs' attendance last year was 3,181,089, but that included a crowd of 38,450 for the Cubs' NL Central tiebreaker loss to the Brewers.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Cardinals: An MRI on Kolten Wong's ailing left hamstring showed a Grade 2 strain. The infielder is hoping to return during the Cardinals' last series of the season against Chicago in St. Louis. "I'm hoping to give this enough time where it definitely won't hinder me going on," he said.

Cubs: SS Javier Baez could return to the field Tuesday at Pittsburgh for the first time since he broke his left thumb. He struck out as a pinch hitter Saturday in his first plate appearance since the injury. "The biggest thing is just closing his glove on defense," Maddon said. "So if he's able to do that and he's making great progress you may see him."

UP NEXT

Cardinals: RHP Adam Wainwright (13-9, 3.83 ERA) starts the opener of a three-game series at Arizona on Monday night. Wainwright is 4-0 in September, allowing one earned run in 27 innings. LHP Alex Young (7-4, 3.27 ERA) pitches for the Diamondbacks.

Cubs: Following an off day, Chicago begins a three-game set at Pittsburgh on Tuesday night. The team hasn't announced its starting pitchers for the series. RHP Mitch Keller (1-5, 7.74 ERA) pitches for the Pirates in the opener.

Crumbling Cubs lose 5th straight 1-run game

Published in Baseball
Sunday, 22 September 2019 17:37

CHICAGO -- The Chicago Cubs keep making history, just not the kind they want, as their season continues to fade away.

On Sunday, they became just the second team in 100 years to get swept at home in a four game series and lose all four by a single run. They also became the first major league team since 2011 to lose five straight one-run games. It's the first time it's happened to the franchise since 1915.

Chicago is now four games back of the Milwaukee Brewers for the second wild-card spot.

"If you play back the tape, it's almost unbelievable that it turned out this way," an incredulous Joe Maddon said after losing 3-2 to the St. Louis Cardinals. "The last six have been wash and repeat."

The Cubs completed their home schedule losing their final six games at Wrigley Field, five by one run, as they also lost to the Cincinnati Reds, both Tuesday and Wednesday, before the Cardinals swept them. It's all but dashed their playoff hopes.

"How did it that all happen?" Maddon asked rhetorically. "How did we lose all those four games? They were one run better than us every night, and we were really evenly matched, and that's all I will concede."

Three of the four losses to the Cardinals came with the Cubs leading or with the game tied in as late as the ninth inning.

On Sunday, starter Yu Darvish was attempting to finish off his first complete game of the season, but everything changed after Jose Martinez hit a triple to lead-off the inning. Three batters later the Cardinals took the lead for good when Paul Goldschmidt doubled home Tommy Edman who had singled.

Cubs closer Craig Kimbrel blew Saturday's save and was unavailable for Sunday's contest, but Maddon said he would have left Darvish in the game either way.

"I saw Jake (Arrieta) pitch pretty well when he won his Cy Young, but this is like equivalent of all that," Maddon said. "He absolutely deserved a better fate."

Darvish has been a strikeout machine for the Cubs, fanning 12 more in 8.1 innings on Sunday. In doing so, he became the fourth different Cubs pitcher, since 1920, to record at least 10 strikeouts in three consecutive games.

"It's tough, for sure," Darvish said. "But we did our best."

A dazed locker room tried to put into words a last week that saw their playoff odds plummet from 77% entering Monday to 2.4% on Sunday, according to Fangraphs data.

"Just not really sure how that happens," outfielder Ian Happ said. "It's bad luck. It's a lot of things. And it's not fun. We played pretty good baseball. It just didn't turn our way."

Anthony Rizzo added: "This is growing pains. You take the good with the bad, wherever you can, and you learn. And try to grow as a person."

The Cubs play their final six games of the season on the road and could be without Kris Bryant who sprained his ankle as he hit first base early in Sunday's game.

Astros clinch AL West behind Springer's 3 HRs

Published in Baseball
Sunday, 22 September 2019 16:21

HOUSTON -- George Springer, Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros put a check mark in the September box.

And amid the celebration of clinching their third straight American League West title, they were already thinking ahead to what they might achieve in October.

"You can't ever take the first goal for granted," Verlander said. "I know everybody says we're going to win the World Series, but you can't do that without this first. So, step one complete. Now we have the divisional round coming up and we'll ... prepare for that and try to win 11 games."

Springer hit a career-high three homers, Verlander posted his MLB-leading 20th win and the Astros secured the division crown in grand fashion, routing the Los Angeles Angels 13-5.

A crowd at Minute Maid Park that was cheering from Verlander's first pitch got even louder as Springer homered three times in the first four innings. The Astros kept breaking away and improved to 102-54, a half-game ahead of the New York Yankees for the best record in the majors.

After the final out, the Astros held a bouncing group hug in the middle of the diamond and posed for a team picture. It hasn't been determined who they will face in the playoffs as they try for their second World Series championship in three years.

Manager AJ Hinch spoke to the team in the clubhouse as the players broke out the bubbly and began a spraying celebration.

"I don't ever want to disrespect the things we've already accomplished, but when you're in the moment everything feels like it's the best of all time," Hinch said. "We've done a lot of good things around here over the last five years that I've been here. Every accomplishment seems to be building and building to being better. I like hanging flags; flags for divisions matter, flags for the World Series matter, and I want our guys to appreciate that."

Springer, the MVP of the 2017 World Series, had two chances to tie the big league record for home runs in a game. He popped up with the bases loaded in the fifth and grounded out in the seventh.

Verlander (20-6) yielded six hits and two runs in five innings to reach 20 wins for the second time in his career and the first since winning the AL MVP and Cy Young Award in 2011, when he went 24-5 for Detroit. This year's AL Cy Young front-runner struck out five to leave him six strikeouts shy of becoming the 18th pitcher in MLB history to reach 3,000.

The 36-year-old righty has fanned 288 this season, second most in his career and second in the majors behind teammate Gerrit Cole.

Verlander, who leads the AL with a 2.53 ERA, is the first Astros pitcher to win 20 games since Dallas Keuchel went 20-8 during his Cy Young campaign in 2015.

It's the second time Verlander has started a game in which the Astros clinched the division after he did it soon after he was acquired from Detroit in 2017.

"The last time I clinched the division for the Houston Astros we went on to do some pretty special things that year," he said. "Glad to be out there. These moments as an organization are so special. I'm just so happy to be a part of it."

play
0:35

Astros celebrate after clinching AL West

The Houston Astros storm the field after earning consecutive division titles for the first time since winning three straight in 1997-1999.

The Astros won their ninth division title. They took the NL West in 1980 and 1986, the NL Central in 1997-99 and 2001 and their three most recent titles in the AL.

Springer homered in his first three at-bats to help Houston take a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning. The Astros added six runs in the fifth, highlighted by a two-run homer from Alex Bregman to make it 10-2.

"The first at-bat was huge just because we're all waiting to get the lead so we can feel like we're going to clinch," Hinch said. "George does it within the first couple of pitches. He followed it up with a couple more homers. ... Our vibe was really good today. We wanted to celebrate today."

The Astros added six runs in a fifth, highlighted by a two-run homer from Alex Bregman to make it 10-2.

Springer, who has a career-best 38 home runs this season, got to work immediately, sending Jose Rodriguez's first pitch into left-center field for his franchise-record 12th leadoff homer this season. That left him one shy of the MLB record for leadoff homers in a season, set by Alfonso Soriano with the Yankees in 2003.

Jared Walsh and Michael Hermosillo hit back-to-back triples with two outs in the second to tie it up.

Los Angeles manager Brad Ausmus was asked if seeing the Astros celebrate on Sunday could provide motivation to his team.

"You hope for the younger guys," he said. "Older guys probably just look the other way. ... It's a lot more fun to be on that side."

Aledmys Diaz singled with no outs in the second and Springer connected off Rodriguez (0-1) again with two outs to put the Astros up 3-1.

There were two outs in the fourth when Springer sent a fastball from Jose Suarez into the seats in left field to make it 4-2.

The record of four homers has been done 18 times, mostly recently by J.D. Martinez for Arizona in 2017. This was the 14th time in a regular-season game in franchise history that an Astros player has hit three homers and the second time this season after rookie Yordan Alvarez also did it.

Team Europe seal third straight Laver Cup win in Geneva

Published in Tennis
Sunday, 22 September 2019 12:31

Alexander Zverev won a deciding rubber against Milos Raonic in Switzerland to earn Team Europe a dramatic 13-11 win over Team World in the Laver Cup.

Zverev beat Raonic 6-4 3-6 10-4 for Team Europe's third victory in a row.

Team World were 7-5 down overnight but John Isner and Jack Sock overcame Roger Federer and Stefanos Tsitsipas 5-7 6-4 10-8 in the doubles to put them 8-7 up.

Taylor Fritz beat Dominic Thiem to make it 11-7 but Team Europe won after Federer beat Isner and Zverev also won.

Fritz secured a narrow 7-5 6-7 (3-7) 10-5 victory over Thiem, while 20-time Grand Slam winner Federer, playing in his home country, claimed a 6-4 7-6 (7-3) win over Isner in Geneva.

Both sides had player withdrawals for injuries on the final day, with Rafael Nadal pulling out for Team Europe and Nick Kyrgios for Team World.

Nadal was supposed to partner Federer in the doubles and face Kyrgios in a singles tie.

The Spaniard was replaced by Tsitsipas in the doubles, while Thiem came in for him in the singles ties - in which Fritz stood in for Kyrgios.

Team World have yet to win the competition since its inception three years ago.

"I'm very proud of my team," said Team Europe skipper Bjorn Borg. "I'm a very happy captain."

Soccer

Galaxy dominate Rapids in MLS Cup Round 1

Galaxy dominate Rapids in MLS Cup Round 1

COMMERCE CITY, Colo. -- Rookies Gabriel Pec and Joseph Paintsil scored first-half goals, Riqui Puig...

Wave season finale moved over field safety fears

Wave season finale moved over field safety fears

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsSunday's NWSL regular-season finale between San Diego Wave FC and R...

Ten Hag on Utd exit: 'Dream has come to an end'

Ten Hag on Utd exit: 'Dream has come to an end'

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsErik ten Hag has thanked Manchester United fans for their support i...

2026 FIFA


2028 LOS ANGELES OLYMPIC

UEFA

2024 PARIS OLYMPIC


Basketball

Nuggets' Murray exits game, in concussion protocol

Nuggets' Murray exits game, in concussion protocol

EmailPrintMINNEAPOLIS -- Denver Nuggets guard Jamal Murray was placed in the NBA's concussion protoc...

Brown critical of 'Ray Lewis'-like foul on Tatum

Brown critical of 'Ray Lewis'-like foul on Tatum

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsJaylen Brown had 25 points in the Boston Celtics' 124-109 victory o...

Baseball

Report: Montgomery opts in for $22.5M in '25

Report: Montgomery opts in for $22.5M in '25

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsAs anticipated, left-handed pitcher Jordan Montgomery exercised his...

Giants' Snell, 2-time Cy Young winner, opts out

Giants' Snell, 2-time Cy Young winner, opts out

EmailPrintOpen Extended ReactionsSAN FRANCISCO -- Left-hander Blake Snell has exercised his right to...

Sports Leagues

  • FIFA

    Fédération Internationale de Football Association
  • NBA

    National Basketball Association
  • ATP

    Association of Tennis Professionals
  • MLB

    Major League Baseball
  • ITTF

    International Table Tennis Federation
  • NFL

    Nactional Football Leagues
  • FISB

    Federation Internationale de Speedball

About Us

I Dig® is a leading global brand that makes it more enjoyable to surf the internet, conduct transactions and access, share, and create information.  Today I Dig® attracts millions of users every month.r

 

Phone: (800) 737. 6040
Fax: (800) 825 5558
Website: www.idig.com
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Affiliated