Josef Martinez scored two goals, and Ezequiel Barco had one goal and one assist as Atlanta United notched a 3-0 victory over Sporting Kansas City on Sunday night at Kansas City, Kan.

Martinez scored in the 39th and 76th minutes as he doubled his season output to four goals. The forward set an MLS single-season mark with 31 last year.

Barco tallied in the 47th minute, and Brad Guzan made three saves while recording his second straight shutout and third of the season. Atlanta United (3-3-2, 11 points) have won three of their past four games following a four-game winless streak to open the season.

The defending MLS champions entered the contest with an MLS-low six goals. The Five Stripes led the league with 70 last year.

Sporting KC (2-3-4, 10 points) are winless in their last five contests (0-2-3).

Atlanta United outshot Sporting KC 19-10. The Five Stripes had an 8-3 edge in shots on target.

The game was scoreless until the 39th minute when Martinez tallied on a rebound.

Barco delivered a right-footed blast from outside the box that Sporting KC's Tim Melia blocked. Martinez was in free for the rebound and sent a left-footed shot past Melia just before the goalkeeper crashed into him.

Sporting KC had two great scoring changes late in the first half.

A right-footed blast by midfielder Kelyn Rowe in the 44th minute appeared en route to the net, but it struck the face of Atlanta defender Miles Robinson. Two minutes later, forward Krisztian Nemeth sent a right-footed shot just over the top of the net.

Atlanta United wasted little time padding their lead in the second half. In the second minute, the ball came Barco's way at the top of the box, and the midfielder sent a left-footer through traffic and past Melia into the lower left corner of the net.

Guzan wasn't called on to make a save until the 66th minute, when he easily grabbed a header by Sporting KC defender Botond Barath.

Martinez put the game away 10 minutes later when he received a pass from Barco just inside the box. He struck a right-footed boot over Melia's reach to make it 3-0.

Melia made five saves for Sporting KC, who have allowed 11 goals in their past three matches, as defender Matt Besler has battled a hamstring injury.

UFC lightweight champion Khabib Nurmagomedov would like to defend his title three times over the next 11 months, according to his agent, Ali Abdelaziz.

As a devout Muslim, Nurmagomedov (27-0) is preparing to observe the one-month fasting period of Ramadan, which begins Monday. Abdelaziz said Nurmagomedov will continue to train, however, and has said he would like to fight in September, December and next April.

"He gave me very specific instructions," Abdelaziz told ESPN. "He said he wants to fight Sept. 7 and again in December. And if [former welterweight champion] Georges St-Pierre can figure things out with the UFC by April, that's the deal. He would like that fight in April."

St-Pierre, 37, announced his retirement from mixed martial arts in December. During that announcement, he said he would love to fight Nurmagomedov but claimed the UFC wished to go in another direction. Nurmagomedov considers St-Pierre a legend and has always wanted to face him.

Regardless of any development with St-Pierre, however, it is clear that Nurmagomedov wants to be active. He is currently serving a nine-month suspension from the Nevada State Athletic Commission for his role in a post-fight melee at UFC 229 in October. He is expected to return against interim champion Dustin Poirier at UFC 242 on Sept. 7 in Abu Dhabi.

"The lightweight division has a lot of contenders, and we need to keep the division going," Abdelaziz said. "Khabib has done this before. He fought [Edson Barboza], Al [Iaquinta] and Conor [McGregor] in less than one year [from December 2017 to October 2018]. If it can be Georges in April, he would love that fight. If not, it can be any contender."

When asked if Nurmagomedov, of Dagestan, has any interest in a rematch with McGregor, after the two continued to go back and forth on social media as recently as last month, Abdelaziz said it depends on whether McGregor reasserts himself as a No. 1 contender.

"To be honest, Conor is going to have to go out there and fight somebody like Justin Gaethje, Tony Ferguson or Cowboy [Donald Cerrone]," Abdelaziz said. "He's not a worthy enough opponent right now. That's the feeling from all of us, as a team."

Of course, Nurmagomedov's plan involves defeating Poirier at UFC 242 first -- and that has his full attention, according to Abdelaziz.

It will mark a special event for Nurmagomedov, as it will take place in the United Arab Emirates, and his father is expected to corner him. Abdulmanap Nurmagomedov has not been able to corner Nurmagomedov in fights in the U.S. due to visa issues.

"Mixed martial arts in the Middle East and North Africa became so big after Khabib won his fight against Conor because Khabib was honoring these people," Abdelaziz said. "To go to Abu Dhabi and put on a show for these people, to show these young, Muslim kids there is something called the UFC, and you can become a UFC champion -- doesn't matter what race or religion you come from -- it's very special for Khabib. He is an ambassador for that region."

The Los Angeles Dodgers and San Diego Padres played a terrific series over the weekend in San Diego, before crowds of 44,000-plus each game, with the Dodgers winning on Friday and Saturday with runs in the top of the ninth, and then Hunter Renfroe providing one of 2019's signature moments with two outs in the bottom of the ninth on Sunday:

SHOOT YOUR SHOT ????#FriarFaithful pic.twitter.com/lNkmgSq7vD

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 5, 2019

I love everything about this highlight. The game on the line, the blast, the bat raised in triumph, the call from Don Orsillo, Padres fans going crazy, Renfroe rounding the bases in joy, the celebration at home plate, with Eric Hosmer taking the time to carefully toss his helmet aside and Austin Hedges jumping all over Renfroe:

Time to celebrate! #PadresWin pic.twitter.com/yvfHtYuMj7

— San Diego Padres (@Padres) May 5, 2019

The win was even more dramatic considering the circumstances leading up to Kenley Jansen's final pitch. Kirby Yates, so dominant all season as the closer, had allowed both of those ninth-inning runs to pick up the losses on Friday and Saturday. On Sunday, Chris Taylor's two-run homer off Robbie Erlin in the eighth gave the Dodgers a 5-4 lead.

Then the Padres loaded the bases with no outs off Jansen -- including two bunt singles by Manuel Margot and Wil Myers -- only to look like they would squander that opportunity when Greg Garcia inexplicably struck out looking on a 3-2 cutter down the middle to end a nine-pitch at-bat and Francisco Mejia popped up to first base.

Renfroe, by the way, has five career grand slams, tied for second most in the majors since his debut in 2016, behind Manny Machado's seven. It was the first pinch-hit walk-off grand slam in Padres history and their first walk-off win of the season. What could have been a demoralizing series instead ends on a positive note.

Can the Padres hang with the big boys all season? The victory leaves them 2.5 games behind the Dodgers and 1.5 games behind the Arizona Diamondbacks in the NL West. On paper, the Dodgers certainly remain the heavy favorites to win the division. They have the talent and the track record, so FanGraphs projects them as the much better team moving forward and gives them an 89 percent chance to win the division compared to the Padres' odds of 3.9 percent.

Still, there have been a good number of positives so far for San Diego. Some thoughts on the up-and-coming exciting young Padres:

1. The young rotation has been excellent, with a 3.52 ERA, fourth best in the majors. Rookie Chris Paddack has been the breakout star, but Matt Strahm (3.03 ERA) and Nick Margevicius (3.47) have been solid, while Eric Lauer (4.30 ERA) and Joey Lucchesi (5.00 ERA) have been a little less consistent. Cal Quantrill and Pedro Avila also have made spot starts, meaning four rookies have started a game while Lauer and Lucchesi are in their second seasons.

Can they keep it going? The group has done a good job of limiting walks and home runs and has allowed the third-lowest exit velocity among rotations, behind only the Dodgers and Rays. These guys are good and pitching with a lot of confidence.

Margevicius is the big surprise, jumping from Class A to the majors, but his deception and pitching smarts help make up for a lack of premium velocity. You also wonder how a rotation of four lefties will play out over an entire season and the depth will be tested at some point if there are innings limits on Paddack of Margevicius. There is also the possibility of signing Dallas Keuchel, probably after the draft in June if he's still in play.

2. Kirby Yates is fine. Yes, the back-to-back losses weren't pretty, but he's fine. I know there is always doubt when a guy comes out of nowhere like Yates basically did last season, but he has been dominant for more than a season. He's fine. If Hosmer comes up with Max Muncy's grounder on Friday night instead of having it glance off his glove, Yates pitches a scoreless inning and nobody worries about what happened Saturday.

3. Manny Machado has been fine ... but needs to do better. He's hitting .236/.317/.449 with eight home runs and 19 RBIs after hitting one home run on Friday and two on Saturday. His defense at third has been excellent (plus-5 defensive runs saved) and he's filled in nicely at shortstop with Fernando Tatis Jr. on the injured list. I do wonder if he has been trying to do too much -- his strikeout rate is way up from 2018 (14.7 percent to 22.5) because his swing-and-miss rate is up over 8 percentage points.

Here's why I think you'll start seeing Machado's numbers go up. He's hitting .167 with zero strikes and .200 (4-for-20) when putting the first pitch in play. Last year, he hit .432 with zero strikes and .467 when putting the first pitch in play (49-for-105). This stretch of four home runs in five games should cut down on his overanxiousness and get him going.

4. They need to figure out second base. Padres second basemen are hitting .169/.259/.338. Ian Kinsler is back in good graces and did have a good week with seven hits and two home runs. Luis Urias, demoted after a 24-at-bat trial run, has been tearing it up in Triple-A (.338/.408/.794), so he could be back for another shot. For now, it's Kinsler, but Urias deserves another opportunity.

5. The fans matter! All three games against the Dodgers were basically sellouts. Yes, there were a lot of Dodgers fans in attendance, but the series drew more than 133,000 fans. A series at home against the Dodgers in the first of week of May last year drew just 65,000.

6. A rivalry is reborn. As the attendance numbers show, Padres-Dodgers is back on. This was just the first three of 19 games between the clubs. Here's hoping those three games in San Diego the final week of the season will matter.

Lucky 13th: The Pirates had their own come-from-behind walk-off home run, this one from Starling Marte in the 13th inning to stun the A's:

It's time to Partay!#RAISEIT pic.twitter.com/qRnjvzJOoM

— Pirates (@Pirates) May 5, 2019

That's now two games the A's have lost after leading in extra innings -- the same as the rest of MLB combined (ouch).

It's hard to know what to make of the Pirates. They just lost Jameson Taillon for at least four weeks with an elbow strain, so the strength of the team takes a hit. They're a game over .500, but have been outscored by 26 runs. They're 1-5 in blowout games and have been outscored 52-12 in those games. A poor record in blowout games is almost always a sign of a bad team, but the Pirates actually have good run prevention so far. They just haven't scored (only the Giants and Marlins have scored fewer runs), so they're rarely on the good end of a blowout.

Here's one reason if you want to believe in the Pirates:

#Pirates are 16-15 which is a bit remarkable when you see these fWAR numbers coming into today:

Dickerson 16 PA 0.1
Marte 95 PA 0.0
Cervelli 95 PA -0.1
Polanco 39 PA -0.2

Those were the only position players over 2.0 fWAR for #Pirates in 2018.

— David Todd (@DTonPirates) May 5, 2019

If those four start playing better ... well, you never know.

Brewers sweep Mets: Quite the weekend at home for the Brewers. They won 3-1 on Friday as Josh Hader earned a two-inning save, striking out the final three batters with two runners on base. They won 4-3 in 18 innings on Saturday, with Ryan Braun singling in two runs to win it. With Hader unavailable, the bullpen allowed just two runs over 12⅔ innings. On Sunday, Christian Yelich returned to the starting lineup and did this:

He's baaaaack! #ThisIsMyCrew pic.twitter.com/C9Ncexy4Ux

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 5, 2019

Meanwhile, Lorenzo Cain made yet another spectacular catch:

Silver lining sign meet Gold Glove candidate. #NotToday pic.twitter.com/jAGkidxenX

— Milwaukee Brewers (@Brewers) May 5, 2019

He left the game with a hand bruise after slamming into the wall, but X-rays were negative.

In case you missed it: Cain's catch was amazing, but the play of the weekend went to Kevin Pillar on Saturday night:

"Pillar back, he's gonna run out of room, folks...NO HE CAUGHT IT!" --Duane Kuiper#SFGiants pic.twitter.com/VsnYWL6Muk

— San Francisco Giants (@SFGiants) May 5, 2019

NASHVILLE, Tenn. – Reigning ARCA/CRA Super Series champion Josh Brock survived constant challenges from Donnie Wilson to win the North/South Super Late Model Challenge 100 Sunday at Fairgrounds Speedway Nashville.

Brock and Wilson engaged in a nearly race-long war for the lead, with Wilson making multiple attempts to take the lead from Brock. Each time Brock would fend off Wilson, allowing him to take the checkered flag.

Three-time PASS South champion Matt Craig tried to put himself in contention late in the race, but settled for third.

Johnny VanDoorn and reigning CARS Super Late Model Tour champion Jared Fryar completed the top-five.

Sunday’s race was sanctioned by the ARCA/CRA Super Series, Southern Super Series and CARS Super Late Model Tour.

The finish:

Josh Brock, Donnie Wilson, Matt Craig, Johnny VanDoorn, Jared Fryar, Anthony Sergi, Jack Dossey III, Giovanni Bromante, Jeremy Pate, Austin Kunert, Casey Roderick, Stephen Nasse, Molly Helmuth, Cole Williams, Nolan Pope, Scotty Tomasik, Jett Noland, Hunter Jack, Justin Crider, Logan Runyon, Tim Hollis, Chris Davidson, Connor Okrzesik, Kyle Bryant, Trey Bayne, Lee Tissot, Wayne Grubb, Michael House, Christian Rose, Greg Van Alst, Spencer Wauters, Johnny Brazier, Colten Nelson.

COMMERCE, Ga. – Defending Top Fuel world Steve Torrence rolled to his second straight victory on Sunday with a win at the 39th annual Arby’s NHRA Southern Nationals at Atlanta Dragway.

Ron Capps (Funny Car) and Andrew Hines (Pro Stock Motorcycle) were also winners in their respective categories at the seventh of 24 events during the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series season.

Torrence, whose first career Top Fuel win came in Atlanta in 2012, used his 3.863-second pass at 320.20 mph in his Capco Contractors dragster to defeat Brittany Force’s 3.989-second run at 274.00 mph in a final round matchup that featured the top two qualifiers of the weekend and the two most recent Top Fuel world champs. It is the 29th career win for the Top Fuel points leader and third at the track.

Torrence, who became the first repeat winner in the class this season, also picked up round wins against Luigi Novelli, Scott Palmer and Shawn Reed to earn his second victory in three years at Georgia’s House of Speed.

“When you have a group of guys that sticks together and that continuity is there, that’s the reason for success,” Torrence said. “As a driver, I need to do my job and give them the best driving ability I possible can because they’re giving me the best race car they possibly can. My guys are second to none and I would put them up against anybody out here. We went down the track every time we needed to and we’ve had a really good car. It’s really cool to have Arby’s out here and be the first guy to ever win the Arby’s Southern Nationals.”

Force, the No. 1 qualifier, reached the final round with wins against Cameron Ferre, Antron Brown and Jordan Vandergriff.

In Funny Car, Capps secured his first win of the season in his NAPA Auto Parts Dodge Charger SRT Hellcat, going 4.068 seconds at 315.34 mph to win on a holeshot against Tim Wilkerson’s 4.052-second run at 310.05 mph in the final round. It also gives Capps his 62nd career victory, continuing his impressive string of 11 straight seasons with at least one win.

Capps beat Shawn Langdon, John Force and Don Schumacher Racing teammate Tommy Johnson Jr. to reach the final round, earning his third career win at Atlanta Dragway.

“An average race car driver could have probably won in that car today,” said Capps, whose first win with crew chief Rahn Tobler came in Atlanta in 2012. “This was a car you dream about driving. Rahn Tobler pulled out the vintage Rahn Tobler, and that just gave me more and more confidence. It was just amazing and to get a Hellcat win was huge.”

Wilkerson beat Cruz Pedregon, Bob Tasca III and points leader Robert Hight to reach the finals.

Five-time Pro Stock Motorcycle world champion Hines earned his second straight victory, third overall this year and 51st in his career after going 6.865 seconds at 195.05 mph on his Screamin’ Eagle Vance & Hines Harley-Davidson to defeat Jerry Savoie in the final round. It also marked the 100th career win for Harley-Davidson in the class, a streak that Hines started with his first career victory in 2004.

It was another noteworthy accomplishment for Hines, who became the first rider to claim 50 wins in the class last weekend and has three victories in four races to open the Pro Stock Motorcycle season. The class points leader beat Melissa Surber, Ryan Oehler and Hector Arana Jr. to reach the final round.

“It was a good day and my motorcycle is nothing like I’ve ever had in my career,” said Hines, who now has three wins at Atlanta Dragway. “It’s working really well and doesn’t do much wrong. All in all, it was a fantastic day. To get 100 wins for Harley-Davidson, it’s monumental. It was a very big struggle at first, and there’s been trials and tribulations, but it’s really nice to get the 100th.”

Savoie knocked off Cory Reed, Steve Johnson and Eddie Krawiec en route to the finals.

COMMERCE, Ga. – Mike Castellana claimed his second victory in three years at Atlanta Dragway in the E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod Drag Racing Series presented by J&A Service on Sunday.

Castellana ran 5.825 seconds at 248.29 mph in his supercharged Al-Anabi Performance Chevrolet Camaro, picking up the final-round win when Jose Gonzalez suffered a red-light start.

It marks the ninth career E3 Spark Plugs NHRA Pro Mod victory for Castellana, who qualified ninth and also earned round wins over Brandon Snider, Jeremy Ray and defending world champion Mike Janis, running a 5.809 at 248.48 in the semifinals.

“I knew everything would come together, but I didn’t expect it this quick,” said Castellana, who failed to qualify at the first three races of the season. “(Crew chief) Frank (Manzo) and my team do a great job. We feel real confident now. We’re making progress with the car and we’ll be ready for Virginia.”