Fifty-six runs, 84 balls, five boundaries.

Fifty-eight runs, 94 balls, eight boundaries.

Those two innings were both played by David Warner, six weeks apart, in vastly different circumstances. The first was his battling contribution against India in the World Cup match at The Oval, a source of much criticism that Warner was going too slowly and digging a hole for his team. The second took place on Wednesday at Southampton in Australia's only pre-Ashes warm-up, on a dicey pitch that offered both vertical and lateral assistance to the pacemen.

While Warner wore plenty of public opprobrium for the India innings, his approach was to reap a strong and remarkably consistent World Cup showing with a trio of centuries. Now, as he turns to act two of Australia's long tour, Warner has reasoned that very similar tempo will be his best chance to not only contribute to the team's Ashes bid, but also find himself the Test hundred in England that has eluded him across two previous tours in 2013 and 2015.

Warner has spoken previously about listening to mellow mood music in training to keep calm - and it is a method that will come into its own in the longer form. "Yeah, definitely. That's probably why I had Lewis Capaldi on my playlist ... a bit mellow," Warner said. "For me it's about just relaxing when I'm out there. I always am relaxed but I think just at training you try different things and for me it's working. I enjoy that. The other guys laugh at me but that's how it is.

"I'm trying to train to get myself ready. I did it at home while I had the time off. I go running with the headphones in and it makes me feel like I don't want to stop after after I'm a kilometre in. I think when I look back and reflect on how I've played over here, I fought hard, in the first innings I think besides one dismissal I got some pretty good balls, and that's what happens in this game and you've got to try to forget about that and don't overthink it. I know the Lord's Test I was a bit upset and missed out with [38] and the other boys got 200.

"They're always in the back of your mind, but now it's just a bit hungrier and determined to play that longer innings. I think you saw that during the white ball that I hung in there a lot, the old me probably would have thrown the bat at it quite often and today that was all I was focusing on, making sure my feet and my decision making was on point. I was happy with that but I've got to try to get those three figures."

There are other lessons informing Warner's batting, drawn from his year banned from international cricket for his central role in the Newlands ball tampering scandal. Left with only club cricket to play in Sydney for Randwick Petersham, Warner found himself engaging in a type of cricket foreign to those blessed to play so often on truer pitches, faster outfields and against greater pace on the ball.

"Playing grade cricket at home helped me a lot with patience and having to wait to score," he said. "The fields they set were very obscure, there was no pace on the ball, regulation balls and they had deep point which was like 10 in front which was very unusual and I asked the guys at the other end 'how am I going to get behind point' and I just couldn't, so I had to scrap and I really enjoyed that. It made me wait for the ball and I had to scrap for those runs. I've sort of adapted that out here for that white ball and there it was quite challenging."

Multiple challenges were created by a Southampton surface that, by Warner's admission, had its preparation affected by both the Australian desire to see grass on the wicket, a recent lack of rain to provide the ideal amount of moisture, and then rain three days out from the game that prevented the ground staff from being more precise in their work. After 17 wickets fell on day one, a collective batting meeting was held and ideas shared - the sort of collaboration that will be vital to an Ashes win.

"It was just more about assessing how we all went and how we felt. People just throwing up some ideas and there were probably three or four of us who spoke about what our plans were and how we were trying to score on that wicket," Warner said. "We simply broke it down to ... you had to be scrappy, you had to move your feet, commit forward or commit back and you saw a couple of lbws there with guys caught on the crease.

"It was great more for mentality to go out there and switch from white ball to red ball and you couldn't have asked for more exciting conditions. You are not expecting a wicket to go up, down, sideways and swing. You had five different elements to deal with and I thought it was a great hit out for myself personally and a lot of the other guys as well."

There were other players, too, who adapted well. Not least James Pattinson with the ball and, late in the day Cameron Bancroft with the bat. The sight of Bancroft mixing with Smith and Warner in public for the first time since South Africa has already generated the odd newspaper headline, and with a few more runs on what will now be the final day of the fixture, the West Australian opener is a strong chance of finding his way into the Ashes tour party.

"You had to have fast feet, energy in your feet and I felt like today was good for me personally," Warner said. "The intent was good from Bangers too. Marnus in the first innings, he played very well, and I haven't see much of him in this format and he's scored a lot of runs in county cricket and he showed just there, if you play the line, and you play and miss, so be it, but he climbed in to it when he needed to and put it away when he needed to.

"You know what he [Bancroft] is like, he scraps away, he's very good at that. We saw the way he did play out there, he had good intent, he was moving his feet forward and committing. Standing at one [first slip] I was saying this yesterday, I could see a lot of the guys' techniques from behind the stumps. Everyone is scrapping as hard but I know the bowlers were saying with him, when we put it in our areas you feel like you're going to nick off a lot of the guys, and for the guys that actually had that attention to detail and adapt, they've done very well."

As for Pattinson, Warner was unbridled in his happiness that this would be the only game of this tour where the Victorian was not on his side. "Facing Pattinson out there, I haven't faced him in a long time, obviously he's overcome those injuries which were affecting him mentally," he said. "It was great to see him come out and bowl the way he has done in the county stuff. To face him there, geez, it's exciting for us. He put the ball in the right areas, we played and missed a lot. Patto's length and line was impeccable and I found him very challenging to face."

Graham Thorpe admitted there were "no real excuses" for England's poor performance with the bat at Lord's but suggested the experience could prove just "the jolt" required to focus minds ahead of the Ashes.

England's first innings amounted to just 85. It was the first time they had been bowled out before lunch on the first day of a Lord's Test and the shortest innings, in terms of balls received, in their history of home Tests. It was also the fourth time in three years they had lost 10 wickets within a single session; a phenomenon that was almost unheard of until 2016.

But while Thorpe, England's batting coach, accepted the World Cup campaign - which finished little more than a week ago - had taken a toll on players both physically and mentally, he defended the decision to pick members of the limited-overs squad for this match. The five players from England's World Cup squad involved here contributed seven runs between them and were also responsible for at least one dropped chance. The first Ashes Test begins at Edgbaston on August 1.

"We can't run away from today's performance," Thorpe said. "And we can't make excuses. There are no real excuses for us being bowled out for 85 against Ireland. It's been a bad day. I'm very surprised and disappointed.

"It was a tough tournament, no doubt about it. And I don't think there's any harm in admitting where some of our players are [mentally]. There aren't too many sports where you win a World Cup and are playing again a week later. We have to accept that some players are in maybe a different headspace to others. That's natural and totally understandable.

"The players have to show an enormous amount of character and mental strength as well to be able to come back down from last weekend and to be playing this week. I'm sure some of the lads would have liked to stay up on Cloud 9 for longer but this is the nature of our sport and this is the nature of our schedule so we have to accept it.

"But we have to react to the fact we have an Ashes campaign coming up as well. Sometimes [experiences like this] can be a little jolt as well. In some respects, it will refocus minds. Hopefully the bump in the road puts some of the players back in a better place and we will be ready for Australia next week."

All the players involved in the World Cup were asked if they felt ready for this match by the England management ahead of selection. But while Ben Stokes and Jos Buttler were rested, the other five (Moeen Ali, Joe Root, Chris Woakes, Jonny Bairstow and Jason Roy) expressed a willingness to play.

"Those players were all asked if they wanted to play," Thorpe said. "And if we'd turned up at Edgbaston next week and been rolled over for 100 - and I'm not saying that can't happen - without having given anyone the opportunity [to play here] then in a way you're handing an excuse to the players also. So there's a balancing act and I think everyone would understand that.

"Sometimes you have to accept you have a bad day and you have to answer some questions. But you can't bury your head in the sands. The schedule is what it is and we have to do our best to give the players the opportunities to put them in the best place to start an Ashes series. This will probably stand the guys in good stead in red ball cricket."

Disappointed as he was in England's performance, Thorpe was pleased for his former teammate Tim Murtagh, who claimed a maiden five-wicket haul at Test level. The pair played together at Surrey

"Murts bowled fantastically well for Ireland," he said. "Ireland put our top order under pressure and didn't let go. It was a disappointing batting performance but congratulations to Ireland.

"I am really pleased for Tim. He has had a fantastic first-class career and he did the simple things well today. He put the ball in the right areas and put our batsmen under pressure. From a human perspective, I am pleased for him. I am disappointed we weren't able to respond to it but I am pleased for him. He is a workhorse as a bowler, he's very consistent and he will be over the moon to get on the honours board."

England require 122 in their second innings to avoid an innings defeat and make Ireland bat again.

An England home match? Try telling that to Tim Murtagh.

After Joe Root made the call to bat under glorious blue skies in St. John's Wood, Irish cricket aficionados wouldn't have been too displeased at being put in to have a bowl. After all, William Porterfield had a Middlesex stalwart amongst the cards in his pack to play.

While the hosts were without their veteran opening bowler in James Anderson, in Murtagh the visitors have the man who has bowled more balls in first-class cricket at Lord's than any other player in the past 16 seasons.

Since 2004, the 37-year-old has sent 2327.5 overs down that famous Lord's slope, the bulk of them from the Nursery End, taking 296 wickets at an average of 23.62 and a strike rate of 47.1. To put that in perspective, the next closest in terms of balls bowled at the venue in the same period is Steven Finn (1572.2 overs, 194 wickets), while Anderson has 102 wickets from his 886.3 overs at the Home of Cricket, the majority of which have come in Test matches.

So it shouldn't have been a surprise that, given the chance to show his wares on the most prestigious stage, at the venue where he's plied his trade since 2006, Murtagh would be feasting on some home comforts. And that's not just talking about the dessert that he joked that he might be treating himself after taking outstanding figures of 9-2-13-5, the first five-wicket haul in Test cricket by an Irishman.

With Murtagh's record at the venue, you could perhaps forgive Jason Roy for being a bit nervous, facing a bowler so attuned to pacing in from the Nursery End. The England batsman was opening in first-class cricket for the first time since September 2015.

It only took 1.4 overs of Murtagh's spell to make that breakthrough. finding a bit of nip down that slope and kissing the edge. Fittingly, it was fellow Middlesex man Paul Stirling who took the catch at first slip, albeit in his wrists rather than his palms.

"To be honest, I thought it would take a bit longer than that if I did get there," Murtagh told Sky Sports at the lunch break. "But everything felt really good today. The ball came out nicely and just did a little bit off the wicket."

Consistency of line and length certainly paid off in his nine-over spell. According to Statsguru, 37 of his 54 deliveries were bowled at length, with 18 off those pitching outside off stump and 15 on the stumps. Of his eight full length deliveries, seven pitched outside off, and rewarded him with two wickets. CricViz said that the average percentage of balls bowled at a good line and length by a pace bowler in Test cricket is 34%. For Murtagh today, that figure was 69%.

England had no answers as Murtagh drew Rory Burns into a drive that carried through to Gary Wilson's gloves, Jonny Bairstow swung wildly to leave his stumps open, while Chris Woakes departed just two balls later after being struck on the pads. Ireland, playing just their third men's Test match, had unveiled the perfect weapon.

"The chance to play two, three, four Test matches, whatever I play in my career, is I guess a bit of an added bonus at my age. I'm just kind of revelling in every day."

Mark Adair, opening the bowling from the Pavilion End on Test debut, was having an impressive morning himself, and would have claimed the opening wicket of Roy in the second over had he not overstepped. But Ireland, if you pardon the pun, had 'dialled M for Murtagh'. [No I don't: Ed]

Two balls into his eighth over, the prize of a place on the Lord's honours board was won. Moeen Ali became the third of England's World Cup heroes to go for a duck, England had lost six wickets for seven runs, Murtagh had three wickets in his last six balls and had etched his name into Irish cricket history.

"It's as special as it gets for a cricketer. I guess growing up as a kid I dreamt of being on the honours board, though not in that dressing room," Murtagh said at his end-of-day press conference. "It's a fantastic sort of feeling, walking off at lunchtime holding the ball up, having taken five wickets in that first session was as good a feeling as I've had in my career."

Had anyone scoffed at the idea that the newest Test nation could compete with the joint-oldest when they took their seats this morning, those preconceptions were well and truly dispelled within the first hour of play. At the end of the day, 20 wickets had fallen in 83 overs, and while it's yet to be seen how strong an advantage Ireland's 122-run lead will prove to be, it was one that Murtagh was delighted with.

"If you'd offered us a 120 lead at the start of the day we'd have snapped your hand off.

"If you gave us a time to play England, this would be the time we'd have chosen, coming from a massive high of winning the World Cup, and I guess with an Ashes series around the corner, there'd maybe be eyes elsewhere."

With his 38th birthday just over a week away, Murtagh knows that his Test career is unlikely to be a long one. Having grown up in South London and changed his allegiances from his country of birth to that of his Dublin-born grandfather in 2011, it's not something he'd ever expected to experience, but he's enjoying every moment of it.

"The chance to play two, three, four Test matches, whatever I play in my career, is I guess a bit of an added bonus at my age. I'm just kind of revelling in every day.

"I thought the support today was fantastic, you could hear the Irish singing, and it felt like it was a bit of a home game for us. Hopefully a few more come through the gates tomorrow and get behind us tomorrow, as we'll need that extra lift."

Whichever way the game goes from here, on a day where the mercury hit 32C at the Home of Cricket, Tim Murtagh, his team-mates and all of the travelling Irish supporters certainly enjoyed their day in the sun.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- Tennessee Titans left tackle Taylor Lewan is facing a suspension after a test came up positive for the banned substance ostarine, according to a post he made via social media Wednesday.

Thank you to everyone who sees this video and supports me. My family and I are so grateful to the Tennessee Titans organization and fans for your support. I will post the polygraph information next. #NoBadDays pic.twitter.com/lE9iEMmLxw

— Taylor Lewan (@TaylorLewan77) July 24, 2019

A source told ESPN's Adam Schefter that Lewan's A sample tested positive this summer but that the results of his B sample had not come back yet. If the samples match, he would face a four-game suspension.

Lewan, who can dispute the test results in an appeal, said he didn't knowingly use a banned substance.

"I've never taken anything that would cheat the game. I'm so sorry to the Tennessee Titans," Lewan said before pausing, taking a deep breath and wiping his eyes. "I'm sorry to the Titans, to the fans, that I won't be there for four games. I've never cheated myself, and I never want you guys to feel cheated. And I'm sorry. But I'm going to be better for this. I'm going to come back."

Lewan also posted apparent polygraph results on Instagram, and he said his supplements were tested by a third party.

He became the league's highest-paid offensive lineman last season after signing a five-year, $80 million deal that included $50 million guaranteed.

The Titans open up the season with a tough stretch of games that includes the Browns, Colts, Jaguars and Falcons.

Cleveland Cavaliers forward Kevin Love told The Athletic that he will withdraw from playing for the United States at this summer's World Cup in China.

Love told The Athletic that he called Team USA coach Gregg Popovich on Wednesday to inform him of his decision.

Love becomes the latest player to withdraw, joining Anthony Davis, James Harden, Damian Lillard, DeMar DeRozan, Bradley Beal, Eric Gordon, Tobias Harris and CJ McCollum.

The World Cup runs Sept. 1-15, and Team USA will spend a week in Australia playing exhibition games before going to Asia. The Americans open against the Czech Republic in Shanghai on Sept. 1.

Free agent Pau Gasol has agreed to a one-year, $2.6 million deal with the Portland Trail Blazers, league sources told ESPN on Wednesday.

Gasol, 39, joins a reshaped Blazers roster that is prepared to make a run for a return to the Western Conference Finals -- and perhaps beyond.

Gasol will join a center rotation that includes Hassan Whiteside and Zach Collins --- and Jusuf Nurkic once he returns from a serious leg injury. Portland had success with a center rotation that included Enes Kanter late in the season into the playoffs last season.

Gasol brings a sparkling future Hall of Fame resume across 18 NBA seasons, including two championships and six All-Star appearances.

Gasol signed with the Milwaukee Bucks after a buyout with the San Antonio Spurs last season, but he played only briefly before a season-ending foot injury, averaging a career-low 3.9 points and 4.6 rebounds in 30 games last season.

He discussed a free agent deal with the Blazers in 2016 before signing with San Antonio.

Gasol has played with Memphis, the Lakers, Bulls, Spurs and Bucks, and had an outstanding FIBA career with the Spanish national team.

The Chicago Cubs sent down struggling second baseman Addison Russell in a flurry of moves before Wednesday's game against the San Francisco Giants.

The team also activated All-Star catcher Willson Contreras from the injured list and scratched left-hander Jon Lester from his scheduled start because of an illness. Russell was sent to Triple-A Iowa to make room for Contreras.

On Monday, Russell admitted he has to play better after being called out by manager Joe Maddon over the weekend.

Russell, 25, had a day to forget on Saturday, as he missed two popups, got thrown out at home on a ground ball, didn't advance to third on a potential wild pitch and subsequently got doubled off second base.

"It's good for him as much as anything," Maddon said Wednesday. "We need to get him back to the player that he had been. He just hasn't been able to recapture that form. With everything considered, we thought it was best to get him some regular at-bats, hopefully clear his head up a little bit, running the bases, getting the signs, the focus returning.

"... It wasn't sending him out to send a message, necessarily. That wasn't it. The message is we need to get him better. The primary thing is to get Addison playing baseball like we know that he can."

"He's going to be important to this team if we keep moving forward," Kris Bryant said. "Sometimes you have to take a step back to move forward."

Going into Monday's game at San Francisco, Russell had made an out on the bases (not including pickoffs, caught stealing or forceouts) in one of every 41.5 plate appearances. According to ESPN Stats & Information research, that's the second-worst ratio of any player with at least 100 plate appearances this season.

Russell had only two plate appearances in the first two games of the Giants series. He has a .733 OPS this season in 55 games after serving the final 28 games of a 40-game suspension issued last season for violating the league's domestic violence policy.

It has been a steep fall for Russell. Once the Cubs' shortstop of the future, he hit 21 homers and drove in 95 runs during the 2016 title year. But his stats have declined each year since, as his off-field problems have mounted. He lost his shortstop job to Javier Baez, who has become an All-Star.

The moves leave the Cubs with one true shortstop on the roster along with three catchers. David Bote will get more reps behind Baez while the emergence of rookie Robel Garcia at second base also made Russell expendable.

Contreras had been on the 10-day IL since July 14 because of a right foot strain. He will start at catcher and bat fifth in his return to Chicago's lineup.

Contreras, 27, is batting .286 with 19 home runs and 55 RBIs this season.

Right-hander Tyler Chatwood, who has pitched just two innings since June 27, will replace Lester as Chicago's starter.

Lester, 35, is 9-6 with a 3.87 ERA in 19 starts this season.

Information from ESPN's Jesse Rogers was used in this report.

Chris Davis was in a horrific slump.

It was September 2015, back when Davis was still one of the most feared hitters in baseball. He'd gone 2-for-his-last-43 and had struck out in more than half of those at-bats. The Baltimore Orioles were getting throttled by the Tampa Bay Rays at home. With Tampa Bay leading 11-0 late, Baltimore manager Buck Showalter used the opportunity to give his workhorses a breather. He pulled Adam Jones. He pulled Manny Machado. He pulled Matt Wieters. As for Davis, who was due up in the bottom of the ninth, Showalter left him in there. He left him in there because Davis begged him to, knowing full well all it takes is one good swing to turn things around. And with Kirby Yates on the mound, the odds of a good swing were better than usual.

Going into that laugher at Camden Yards, Yates was sporting a 9.82 ERA, and had allowed six home runs in 11 innings during a season in which he'd been sent down to the minors on three different occasions. The righty reliever had served up gopher balls in each of his three previous big league appearances, including a two-homer outing against the Texas Rangers that resulted in him getting demoted. Again. A couple weeks later, thanks to September call-ups, he was back in The Show and doing the mop-up thing against Baltimore.

Predictably, Yates started Davis off with a fastball. Just like he'd started off the previous five hitters he'd faced that night with a fastball. At 91 mph, the offering was about letter-high and on the outer edge of the plate, where Davis could easily get his hulking arms fully extended. The ball practically had "Hit Me" inscribed on it. And hit it is exactly what Davis did. He hit it high, he hit it far, and he hit it over the fence. An epic bat-flip ensued.

That one good swing was the start of many good swings for Davis. The next day, he hit two bombs. The day after that, he hit two more. In his final 30 games after taking Yates deep, he hit over .300 and mashed 11 home runs. He finished with an MLB-best 47 dingers, and promptly cashed in by signing a seven-year, $161 million contract that offseason.

For Davis, and pretty much every hitter who faced the reliever, Kirby Yates was just what the doctor ordered.

"THAT'S THE WORST I'd ever pitched in my life," says Yates of his nightmare 2015 campaign. "I never struggled that bad. I knew when I'd go to the mound that every hitter who stepped in the box was probably better than what I could do."

Nearly four years later, Yates is back at Camden Yards, a changed man. Now the closer for the San Diego Padres, he has gone from mop-up to lockdown. Standing in front of his visitors locker before a late-June game against the Orioles, he wears a red T-shirt that says "YATERS GONNA YATE" on the front of it. A gift from ESPN NFL Insider Field Yates (no relation), it's but one symbol of the growing attention the 32-year-old hurler is drawing these days.

Earlier this season, he won National League Reliever of the Month for April, a month-ish (counting the end of March) in which he went 14-for-14 in save opportunities and posted a 0.56 ERA. Three weeks ago, he was named an All-Star for the first time in his career. Now, with the July 31 trade deadline looming and the rumor mill working overtime, it's as if Yates is almost single-handedly powering it.

In a game in which pitching wins championships and bullpenning is all the rage -- especially in the postseason -- you can never have enough arms. And so every year around this time, relievers become the talk of the town. In 2016, Aroldis Chapman and Andrew Miller dominated the deadline buzz. The following season, it was David Robertson and Justin Wilson. Last year, it was Brad Hand and Zack Britton. This time around, it's Yates and ... well ... a few other guys who could best be described as consolation prizes in the Kirby Yates Sweepstakes.

To be clear, the odds of San Diego holding on to Yates are just as good, if not better, than the odds of them trading him. For starters, the Padres, buoyed by the addition of superstar Manny Machado and rookie phenom Fernando Tatis Jr., were in the thick of a crowded NL wild-card race coming out of the All-Star break. As such, they could very well decide to roll the dice and try to sneak into the playoffs this year.

Even if they concede this season and make a couple of trades that could help them in the future, there's an argument to be made that said future could arrive as early as next season. In which case, it wouldn't hurt to have the infinitely affordable Yates -- whose 2019 salary is just $3 million and whose contract runs through 2020 -- lurking in the back end of the Pads' pen. Then there's this: Because Yates is (A) really good, (B) really cheap and (C) would be more than just a two-month rental for the acquiring team, general manager A.J. Preller's asking price might be steeper than contenders are willing to pay.

Regardless of which tack Preller ultimately takes, Yates will continue to be the flavor of the month until the calendar flips to August. It's a testament to the path his career has taken. A testament to the power of change.

THE TRANSFORMATION FROM garbage time to prime time started with a change in repertoire.

Unceremoniously traded twice in a span of six weeks following his miserable 2015 campaign -- both times for a wad of cash -- Yates landed on his feet in the Bronx, where he managed to crack the New York Yankees' Opening Day roster. Prior to that, he'd relied mainly on a four-seam fastball and a slider. But in New York, he found himself surrounded by a bunch of hurlers who were fond of using the split-fingered fastball as a change-of-pace option. Guys such as Nathan Eovaldi, Tyler Clippard and Chasen Shreve. But the splitter that really caught his eye was Masahiro Tanaka's.

"I loved his grip," Yates says. It didn't hurt that Tanaka's split has been one of the most effective pitches in the game. So modeling his hold after Tanaka's -- pointer finger on the left seam, middle finger just outside the right seam -- Yates started messing around with a splitter of his own, but only while playing catch with teammates.

Back home in Arizona that winter, following a mediocre 2016 campaign with the Yankees that featured an ERA north of five and a prolonged stint in the minors, he continued to experiment with the splitter. Five days a week, he played catch with Alex Cobb, a former Rays teammate whose splitter was so filthy earlier in his career it had its own nickname ("The Thing").

"He was able to help with the thought process and how to get consistent break," Yates says of Cobb. "The more I did that, the more comfortable I got, and I was able to take it into the season and explore a little bit. I started seeing results with it, and it just kept getting better."

Eventually, Yates' splitter got good enough that the Padres -- who claimed Yates off waivers in April 2017 -- outlawed his slider. Says longtime San Diego pitching coach Darren Balsley: "We just came to the conclusion as an organization that his split-finger was going to be more successful than his slider."

At first, Yates resisted. After all, he was already 30 years old and had been in the bigs for three years. No way he was going to let a bunch of has-beens and number crunchers he barely knew tell him how to do his job. But in a series of group meetings, Padres brass hammered him with evidence. They showed him video. They presented him with data. Even his teammates got in on the intervention. "If it's difficult for me to catch," veteran reliever Craig Stammen told his throwing partner, "it's going to be difficult for the hitters to hit."

And it has been. Damn near impossible, in fact. Since the beginning of the 2017 season, when Yates first introduced his split-fingered fastball, opponents are hitting .139 against it. No other pitcher in baseball has allowed a lower average against their splitter (minimum 500 pitches). In the past three years since debuting the new offering, Yates has a combined ERA of 2.49, less than half of what it was during his first three seasons in the majors (5.25). Says Balsley: "His slider was a workable major league pitch, but his split-finger is a plus-plus offspeed pitch."

If you ask Yates, though, he'll tell you his splitter isn't the only change he made. That even though everyone makes a big deal out of the pitch and attributes his ascendance to it, there's more to it than that. Way more.

ARIZONA'S NICE AND all, but it's no Kauai.

Of the 40 Hawaiians who've ever played in the majors, 37 of them came from either Oahu or the Big Island. Pitcher Steve Cooke, a 35th-round pick of the Pittsburgh Pirates who started 88 games during the '90s, was born on Kauai, but he moved to Oregon as a child. The Yates brothers are the other two.

"Kauai's a little harder to leave," says Tyler Yates, a former MLB pitcher and the oldest of the three Yates brothers. "Once you leave, you want to get back home as soon as possible. It's all about the families." In the Yates family, ocean tides are just as much a part of the DNA as nucleotides. Dad Gary, a SoCal native, visited Kauai on a surf trip in 1970 and never left. His three boys (Tyler, Spencer, Kirby) grew up riding the waves that crashed onto the western shores of the island, in the shadows of the Pacific Missile Range Facility. Even as their respective baseball careers took off, the Yates boys always made time for surfing. Maybe a little too much time.

"I just wasn't as disciplined as I needed to be," says Kirby, who signed with the Rays in 2009 after going undrafted out of Yavapai College in Arizona. Every winter, he returned home to the Garden Island, where his catch partner was someone who shared his last name, and his training facility was whichever local field happened to be empty that day. He'd get in the weight room every now and then, but not nearly as much as he'd get in the water. "If the waves were good, I was gonna go surf."

He'd wake up before sunrise, throw his Scovel board in the back of Tyler's black Dodge pickup, and together the two brothers would ride out to Polihale. Or Housings. Or Majors Bay or Kini Kini. Wherever the conditions were best. Spencer, the most avid surfer among them, would usually join them. Even Gary would tag along. Sometimes he'd get out there and body surf. Other times he'd be content to just hang on the beach and watch his boys. On a good day, they'd spend four or five hours, riding waves that were double or even triple overhead. Afterward, on the way back home, they'd stop at the Salt Pond Country Store on Kaumualii Highway and chow down on Spam musubi. As winter breaks go, you could do a whole lot worse.

"It was awesome," says Tyler, who retired from baseball in 2009 and is now a Kauai County police officer. "But [Kirby] realized where his career was going and he knew he was a lot better than that. We all did. Especially by the numbers he put up the minors leagues. So he rededicated himself. He didn't want to suck."

Following the 2016 campaign, instead of going back home like he'd done every year since turning pro, Yates -- who'd posted a 5.23 ERA with the Yankees that season -- decided to hone his craft in Arizona. He worked out there. He played catch there. Instead of pacing off 60 feet at Kalawai Park and pitching to his pops, he threw at a high-tech facility called Pro Advantage. Eventually, he bought a home in Chandler: Like his father before him, what started off as a temporary visit to an unfamiliar land turned into a permanent stay because, well, it just felt like the right place at the right time.

"But [Kirby] realized where his career was going, and he knew he was a lot better than that. We all did. Especially by the numbers he put up in the minor leagues. So he rededicated himself. He didn't want to suck."

Former MLB pitcher Tyler Yates on his younger brother

At first, the pitcher didn't tell his family. In fact, it wasn't until that first winter, when Tyler Yates called his little bro to find out when he was coming home, that he found out about Kirby's relocation plans.

"Hey, dude," said Tyler through the phone. "You coming home?"

"Nope," said Kirby.

Tyler didn't have to ask why. He'd lived the big league life. He knew exactly what Kirby needed to do.

"Go get it, dude," he told his baby brother. "The beach and surfing will always be here. You only have a short window to play ball, so go ahead and do it."

Kirby did just that.

"I had to get more serious and focused, and understand that if I'm gonna be a big leaguer, this is something I gotta do," says the 5-foot-10 righty, whose left shoulder features a tattoo of the Hawaiian islands, along with the word "Kali," which is his dad's name in Hawaiian (and the middle name of all three Yates brothers). "I was doing it on my own [in Kauai]. There are days you show up in the weight room and you're not feeling it, and you cut your workout short because you got no motivation or nobody there to push you."

In Arizona, Yates had a small army of fellow pitchers to push him, many of whom were former teammates from his days with the Rays. Guys such as Drew Smyly, Matt Moore and Merrill Kelly. He had Cobb, who became his splitter whisperer. He had a real training facility and, for the first time in his career, a real personal trainer. His hips became more flexible. His core grew stronger. Although the professional development wasn't without personal cost, Yates wouldn't do anything differently.

"It was hard to do," he says of making the decision to give up his winters in Kauai. "But it's changed my career."

IT'S NOT LIKE Kirby Yates doesn't ever get the chance to see his family anymore.

Earlier this month, they flew to Cleveland for the All-Star festivities. Before that, in June, they visited during a homestand in San Diego. Even though Petco Park is nearly 3,000 miles from the Aloha State, it's practically around the corner compared to, say, Tampa or the Bronx. Of course, the way Yates has been dominating -- his 1.05 ERA through July 22 was best among MLB relievers -- he could find himself on the move again in the very near future.

With one week left until the trade deadline and a league littered with patchwork bullpens, the kid from Kauai is at the tippy top of many a general manager's wish list. That is, if the Padres decide to part with him.

"He's as good a reliever as there is in the game today," says one NL evaluator. "But relievers are fickle. If it were me, I would trade him. I think they trade him."

Regardless of what goes down between now and the end of the month, be it rumors or the real deal, Yates doesn't sound like someone who's about to let himself get distracted.

"This is the position I always strived to be in," he says. "It's not like I was pitching terribly and saying, 'Yeah, I want to be a middle reliever for the rest of my life.' Everybody in the bullpen wants to be a closer. Maybe everybody else didn't think I was capable of doing it, but I did. I don't want to take my foot off the pedal."

Not that his teammates are the least bit worried about that.

"He's been at a place in his career where he was struggling," Stammen says. "He understands that things can change on a dime. Right now he's having a ton of success and things are going well. He's going to ride that wave as long as he can."

It might not have the size or the shape of the waves back on Kauai, but for now, it'll have to do.

SAN FRANCISCO -- "A wide net."

That's how one executive described the first-place Chicago Cubs' search for help with the trade deadline just a week away. In past years, the team's July needs were very specific -- think closer Aroldis Chapman in 2016 -- but this time around, there are a few more holes to fill.

It isn't a stretch to think that the Cubs could use a front- or back-end right-handed and left-handed reliever and both a bench bat and a starting one to slot near the top of the order. If they can get any combination of the above, they'll be a little closer to a complete team. Right now, the parts are better than the sum. They need help.

"I'm not a rainmaker," manager Joe Maddon said from the visitors dugout on Tuesday at Oracle Park. "I don't bring ideas to them [the front office]. I don't think that's my job. But I react to what they say."

The conversations are ongoing. While names such as Nicholas Castellanos, Eric Sogard and those lefty Giants relievers (Will Smith and Tony Watson) have been discussed, the "wide net" includes many more players not yet ready for public consumption. Don't forget that the names that leak usually do for a reason: to drum up business for the sellers. As in most years, the Cubs are ready to pounce but won't push the envelope and mortgage the farm simply because there probably isn't a single player who can push them over the top like Chapman did.

"I've only been on the selling side, so that weighs on a team a little bit," reliever Brad Brach said. "The buying side is slightly more exciting. I like to follow it."

Bullpen help

Veteran Pedro Strop's struggles this season (5.47 ERA) underscore the Cubs' need for another righty, but their lack of lefty pitchers might be even more urgent.

Kyle Ryan has carried the load, but it's not enough. The market has been slow to develop simply because many teams, such as the Giants and Arizona Diamondbacks, are hanging around the playoff race. Those teams might not be buyers, but lefties Smith, Watson and Andrew Chafin might not go anywhere -- and if they do move, it'll come very near deadline day.

"The reliever market is at a standstill," one National League executive said. "But that will change by next week, obviously."

At the plate

Plenty has been written and said about hitters such as Whit Merrifield and Castellanos, but the lefty Sogard might be the Cubs' most attainable bat, given that he won't cost them a lot and his game should carry over to a new team.

Sogard has been an on-base machine for the Toronto Blue Jays, featuring a .370 OBP batting first in the order; and this year, he is getting on equally against lefties and righties. The Cubs were interested in the offseason, according to a source familiar with his situation, so there's plenty of reason to think they still are.

The Cubs have so many potential moving parts that it's hard to know what the priority is. Understanding how valuable relief arms are in October -- and how short the Cubs are in their pen -- the team might have to put its best assets into acquiring pitchers and hope for the best at the plate.

This is the one time of year when players are as curious as fans.

"Overall, guys are excited about what's going to happen," Brach said. "The organization has made it clear that they want to add pieces to help us win."

Is it realistic to add up to three impact players? Probably not, but that's what the Cubs need right now to feel safe in the tight NL Central -- and in October. With seven days to go, the chaos hasn't even begun.

Andy Murray will team up with brother Jamie in the doubles at the Citi Open in Washington next week.

The tournament is Murray's fourth since undergoing hip resurfacing surgery in January and his first on a hard court.

The brothers, 32 and 33 respectively, played together to help Great Britain win the Davis Cup in 2015.

"They called us and said Andy really wanted to come back to DC and wanted to play doubles with his brother," said Mark Ein, Citi Open manager.

"We're putting a real focus on doubles at the event - it's a terrific piece of the competition and entertainment value for fans so we were thrilled he wanted to return."

The brothers played with different partners in the men's doubles at Wimbledon, with Jamie and Neal Skupski exiting in the first round while Andy and Pierre-Hugues Herbert reached the second round.

Andy Murray played singles in Washington last year and was reduced to tears after finishing his last-16 win at 03:02 local time.

He withdrew from his quarter-final against Australian Alex de Minaur set to take place later that day, saying it was "unreasonable".

Earlier this year, Murray said on Instagram he would "probably not" return to Washington after tournament director Keely O'Brien "rinsed him" by saying that as a "global role model" he should show it is "not ok to just give up".

Jamie Murray won the Citi Open doubles title last year with former partner Bruno Soares - a pairing that also won Australian and US Open titles.