WASHINGTON -- Nationals ace Max Scherzer has determined that resting his ailing back is more important than pitching in the All-Star Game.

A three-time Cy Young Award winner and seven-time All-Star, Scherzer struck out 11 over seven shutout innings on Saturday against Kansas City. Hours later, Major League Baseball announced he would be replaced on the National League roster by Sonny Gray.

Scherzer experienced back tightness after beating Detroit on June 30. He worked through it against the Royals, but his back stiffened after the appearance.

Scherzer, manager Dave Martinez and general manager Mike Rizzo emerged from a postgame discussion with this conclusion: It would be in the best interest of Scherzer and the Nationals that he excused himself from pitching Tuesday night in Cleveland.

"Our season matters so much more than the All-Star Game," Scherzer said Sunday. "I know my body pretty well. I just know I'm not going to be at my best if I try and pitch on two days' rest and I'd really be jeopardizing our season if I were to try and do something like that."

He plans to represent the Nationals from the sideline on Monday and Tuesday night.

"It's a really cool honor. It's a really cool 48 hours," he said. "I still wanted to go and partake in everything that's there and especially be there for the Home Run Derby and the game and I get to take my daughter, so it's going to be fun."

With Scherzer leading the way, the Nationals have rallied to get back into the hunt in the NL East following a 19-31 start. The plan now is to keep the momentum going by watching the 34-year-old's health.

"The All-Star break couldn't come at a better time for him," Martinez said. "He'll get eight days now to recoup and get ready for the next start."

Scherzer won't get the ball again until Washington wraps up a three-game series in Philadelphia next Sunday.

"I need some rest right now to let this thing fully heal up so that I'm completely good to go in the second half," Scherzer said.

Philadelphia Phillies right-hander Jake Arrieta has bone spurs in his right elbow and will be checked during the All-Star break to see whether surgery is needed, manager Gabe Kapler said Sunday.

Kapler said the 33-year-old Arrieta recently told him about the trouble.

Earlier Sunday, a source had told ESPN's Buster Olney that the Phillies had been operating under the assumption that Arrieta could wait for surgery until after the season.

Arrieta has previously undergone surgery for the same issue, including a season-ending procedure in August 2011. He returned for the start of the 2012 season.

He was cagey about his health after Saturday's 6-5 loss to the New York Mets.

"Physically, I'm not in a great spot," he said. "I think we'll have a better idea over the next couple of days where I'm at."

Arrieta also hinted that he lacked a feel for his pitches during the outing.

It was a contentious outing for Arrieta, who hit three Mets batters, including Todd Frazier, then challenged the New York third baseman in his postgame comments.

"If Frazier's not happy about it, he can come see me and I'll put a dent in his skull," Arrieta said.

Frazier was unavailable for comment after the game, according to the Mets.

Arrieta underwent knee surgery early in 2019 but was ready to pitch by the start of the regular season. He is 8-7 with a 4.67 ERA in 18 starts this year.

He gave up a season-high 11 hits in the loss to the Mets.

"Overall I feel all right," Arrieta told reporters. "But we'll see. We'll see in the next couple of days."

NEW YORK -- Todd Frazier is tired of being plunked by pitches from the Philadelphia Phillies. And he's got no use for that tough talk from Jake Arrieta, either.

The tension between the Phillies and New York Mets escalated Saturday night when Arrieta threatened that if Frazier was still steamed about getting hit, "he can come see me and I'll put a dent in his skull."

"A little overboard," Frazier said before Sunday's series finale.

Frazier has been hit seven times by Phillies pitchers in the last two seasons, three this year and twice this weekend. The latest drilling came on a changeup by Arrieta and led to Frazier getting ejected.

Frazier said there was no bad blood between him and Arrieta, offering, "I know him really well."

"He can say what he wants," the Mets third baseman said. "I'm just sick of getting hit, especially by this team."

"We'll see what the commissioner wants to do. He saw what people are saying," he said. "The commissioner has his hands full. We'll see."

Major League Baseball is reviewing Arrieta's remarks to see if discipline is warranted.

The Phillies, meanwhile, are reviewing Arrieta. The right-hander has bone spurs in his right elbow and will be checked during the All-Star break to see whether surgery is needed.

Arrieta didn't speak to reporters before Sunday's game.

Phillies manager Gabe Kapler said the 33-year-old Arrieta recently told him about the trouble. Arrieta had season-ending surgery for bone spurs in 2011 while with Baltimore.

Arrieta is 8-7 with a 4.67 ERA. The 2015 NL Cy Young Award winner is in the second season of a three-year, $75 million contract he signed after leaving the Chicago Cubs.

Arrieta gave up a season-high 11 hits in just 4 1/3 innings during a 6-5 loss to the Mets. He also hit three batters.

Phillies pitchers have hit 12 Mets batters this year; Mets hitters have been plunked six times by the Phillies.

Umpire Tripp Gibson issued warnings to both teams after Frazier was hit. Mets manager Mickey Callaway was ejected after Arrieta later nailed Amed Rosario.

"If you're going to hit our guys, we get our chance," Frazier insisted.

Umpire crew chief Brian Gorman didn't issue warnings before Sunday's game.

Callaway said he didn't think there would be any, adding, "I didn't expect them to put out warnings last night."

The Phillies and Mets played a day before the All-Star break, then get time to cool off. They don't meet again until Aug. 30 at Citizens Bank Park.

Frazier drew a walk in his first at-bat, with Philadelphia starter Aaron Nola keeping the ball on the outside part of the plate.

Young Italian ends Night of the 10,000m PBs on a high, while third-placed Briton surges to national title and helps his country to European Cup team silver

Yeman Crippa brought another tremendous Night of the 10,000m PBs event to a close as he shone in the soggy conditions to clinch victory in the men’s A race in London.

The talented 22-year-old Italian won bronze at the Parliament Hill track last year but this time he jumped to the front of the 25-lap queue, holding off the attentions of Germany’s Amanal Petros to hit the line first and help his nation to European Cup team victory.

European bronze medallist Crippa wore a broad smile in the immediate aftermath of his success, albeit his winning time of 27:49.79 was outside the IAAF World Championships qualifying standard of 27:40.

Petros, a European U23 silver medallist in 2017, clocked 27:52.25 while Britain’s Ben Connor was roared to third place by the sizeable crowd, taking 17 seconds off his personal best as he finished in 27:57.60.

“I’m delighted,” said the newly-crowned British champion. “British Champs, third overall, sub 28 – it couldn’t have gone much better, really. I’ve blown up here before and I was wary of that, so I just stuck on the back of everyone and moved my way through.”

“It couldn’t have gone much better, really!” Chat with @bdconnor following his 27:57.60 PB for third and the British title at last night’s @NightOf10kPBs. @euancrumley pic.twitter.com/XD2wHbuNZw

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) July 7, 2019

After a day of near-perfect weather conditions for all the preceding races, the rain began to fall steadily just as the starting gun was fired on the final event of the meeting not long after Steph Twell’s memorable win in the women’s A race.

For much of the first half, the field was headed by the quartet of Belgium’s Soufiane Bouchikhi, Crippa, Turkey’s Aras Kaya and Norway’s former European marathon record holder Sondre Moen.

Happy to sit behind the pacemakers, and the trackside ‘WaveLight’ technology that was being used for the first time at the event, there was some catching up for the leaders to do by halfway if the tough world qualifying standard was going to be met.

It was former European cross country champion Kaya who moved to the front after 5000m, which was passed in 14:02.49.

Kaya began to fade, however, and it was Bouchikhi and Crippa who edged away as they picked up the pace with around 3000m left to go, while Connor began to make his presence felt.

After his Night of the 10,000m PBs win, Yemane Crippa is now targeting Salvatore Antibo’s Italian 5000m record of 13:05.59 at the London Diamond League. @atleticaitalia @London_DL pic.twitter.com/amVK0yKEIy

— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) July 7, 2019

The Briton was edged out of third spot by Petros but the pair began to haul in the weakening Bouchikhi and it looked clear, with two laps to go, that the race for top spot would be between the German and the Italian.

It was Crippa, who intends to return to London for the Muller Anniversary Games later this month, who won that contest, while Connor showed impressive strength to battle his way on to the podium.

Bouchikhi was ultimately fourth in 28:04.09, while there was a personal best of 28:06.27 for Moen in fifth.

The British team took silver, with the in-form Nick Goolab clocking 28:10.49 for eighth place on his 10,000m track debut and Matt Leach 21^st with 28:47.24.

Chris Thompson, who wasn’t running as part of the GB line-up, came 14^th in 28:28.55.

BOWMANVILLE, Ontario – On Saturday afternoon at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, it was an underdog team with a powerhouse manufacturer that emerged as victors in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.

For the first time since 2016, Rebel Rock Racing returned to the Pilot Challenge full time this season after running select races in 2017 and 2018. Co-drivers Robin Liddell and Frank Depew paired up to bring the program back to life, with Depew as team owner and Liddell as team manager.

That combination reached its pinnacle of success at CTMP, winning overall in the No. 71 Chevrolet Camaro GT4.R and earning Rebel Rock’s first victory in the Pilot Challenge. Liddell was able to keep the determined No. 60 KohR Motorsports Ford Mustang GT4 of Kyle Marcelli at bay to cross the finish line first by .587 seconds.

The win halts a rocky start to the season that, before last week’s finish of fifth at Watkins Glen, didn’t see a result within the top 20.

“To finally get here, and with Frank especially, in his first season – he’s had a very difficult start to the season, as I’m sure you’ve seen, and that puts a lot of pressure on him,” said Liddell. “But he’s a true sportsman and he’s a team player. He hasn’t wavered his support. He’s focused his mind on getting better.

“I’ve worked very hard with him and he’s worked very hard to get better. I think you saw the results of those efforts. It’s easy to overlook from the outside looking in, the amount of effort that any of these guys put into their racing. But without these guys, we wouldn’t have a series, especially in this championship, so we need to look after these guys and we need to give credit where credit’s due. Hats off to him, because he’s done a mega job.”

“I’ve never driven this track, so Robin and I came here in a rental car and drove around to show me the track,” added Depew. “We went pretty slow, but then I showed up here with the Camaro and I’d never been on this track. It’s a pretty daunting track. It took me a while and I was making pretty big jumps. I was about two seconds off the leader for this race, which I was pretty happy with.

“I kept the car where I needed to and then Robin did all the hard work. I think that, to be at this point and to actually win a race at this point, especially at a track I’ve never driven – because I’ve got a lot of experience at other tracks – is a tall order and an amazing accomplishment.”

Marcelli looked to defend his 2018 CTMP victory with co-driver Nate Stacy, looming large in Liddell’s mirror for the final 15 minutes of the race following a restart. The team ultimately wound up second place, the team’s best performance of the year thus far.

Another Canadian representative in the field, Montreal-based team Motorsports In Action, finished third on the podium with drivers Jesse Lazare, also from Montreal, and Corey Fergus.

In TCR, Mikey Taylor and Britt Casey Jr. overcame a pit road issue to collect the victory in the No. 17 JDC-Miller Motorsports Audi RS3 LMS.

The fire extinguisher was accidentally set off during a pit stop, creating confusion amongst the team as Taylor and Casey swapped spots. Then as Casey proceeded to exit the pit box, a tire blocked his path and forced the Audi up and over the equipment.

A drive-through penalty was assessed for the car that had led the entire race up until that point, dropping it down the charts and down a lap.

Casey was able to fight back through the field in outstanding fashion, skillfully navigating the top cars in the final 15 minutes of the race to come door-to-door with teammate Stephen Simpson in the leading No. 54 JDC-Miller Audi. The two bounced off each other, with Casey eventually able to pull away for the win by 3.854 seconds.

“It was super wild,” said Casey. “I think it all started as soon as the driver change happened…The only reason we were able to pit when we did was because Mikey was able to drive it for, like, and hour and 10 and no one else could do that. We led the whole first stint and managed the gap the entire time and it made my job a lot easier. I had more tools to work with at the end with tires, and we came back from a lap down, P10, and just methodical from there. It was like focus forward.”

“Overall, the car was quite a dream to drive, so it wasn’t too difficult,” added Taylor. “But pity about that whole pit stop issue. We’ll work on that for the next one. I’m just happy we came back from it. I didn’t think we could win. I thought we could maybe podium if we got back on the lead lap, but yeah, a win is awesome.”

Similar to how Casey made his way up the field, Colin Mullan – who co-drives with Max Faulkner in the No. 52 L.A. Honda World Racing Honda Civic – snuck into second place as the top cars jockeyed for position amongst themselves and erred with either drives through the grass or contact that derailed the lap.

Jonathan Morley was an example of the latter, after making contact with Simpson’s Audi skidding far off the track line. Only with a monumental save did Morley hold onto third place for him and co-driver Gavin Ernstone to round out the TCR podium.

Lionel Messi's Argentina career began in 2005 with an absurd red card in a friendly against Hungary after he was adjudged to have thrown an elbow at a defender. Fourteen years later, equally bizarre circumstances saw him sent off for the second time in his career.

With eight minutes to go until half-time in the Copa America's game for third place that Argentina ultimately won 2-1, there is no doubt that he was guilty of a push on Chile's Gary Medel, who responded by repeatedly charging Messi with his chest. What followed, though, was hardly warranted.

The incident came after a series of fouls by both teams and led to referee Mauro Diaz de Vivar trying too hard to compensate for losing control. The Paraguayan official was never likely to have an easy game and, with scuffles breaking out across the pitch, he sent Messi and Medel off. After several more minutes of remonstrating and protest, both men left the pitch.

Argentina had taken the field driven by a sense of injustice, wounded by refereeing decisions that did not go their way in Tuesday's semifinal against Brazil. Chile, meanwhile, were fuelled by the bittersweet -- but mainly bitter -- sensation that an era was ending.

This was surely the last time that the greatest team in the country's history, Copa champions in 2015 and 16, would play together. They did not want to go out with a whimper, but quickly found themselves two goals down, with Argentina's sharp attack finding gaps in an ageing defence.

The ball may have been rolling when, after 12 minutes, Messi took a quick free kick to find a characteristically intelligent run by Sergio Aguero, who finished with aplomb. Ten minutes later, Giovani Lo Celso's delightful defence-splitting pass was collected by Pablo Dybala for Argentina's second.

Messi set up Dybala for what probably should have been the third, but the Juventus striker volleyed just wide, and it looked like a rout might be in the offing. But this great Chilean generation had no intention of being humiliated as they left the scene and the game turned ugly, with flare-ups and fouls aplenty.

Out of his depth, Diaz de Vivar overreacted. Perhaps the old ploy of trying to establish control by sending off one player from each side was premeditated or maybe he convinced himself that the next flashpoint would give him a chance to reach for the red and re-establish his authority.

But it was foolish. Medel, perhaps, was pushing his luck, but Messi had done nothing to merit his marching orders. Many of the Sao Paulo crowd had come to see the Argentinean No. 10 and they made the referee well aware of their feelings.

The knock-on effect for Argentina is that, if the red card stands, Messi will be suspended for the start of World Cup qualifying next year. Before then, though, there is some serious thinking to do.

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Caretaker coach Lionel Scaloni has been told he will stay in charge until the end of the year. If he is not going to be retained long-term, then that seems bizarre. Friendlies in September, October and November are vital for whipping the team into shape, so it makes no sense to keep a temporary coach, unless the top choice is not yet available.

There is much speculation that River Plate's Marcelo Gallardo will be the new man, but he might not want to free himself from club duties while his side are still in contention for the Copa Libertadores title they won against Boca Juniors earlier this year.

Scaloni would appear to want to stay on and can use the argument that his side finished the Copa America much better than they started the competition, but the truth is that Argentina's poor start was in large part down to the incoherence of the temporary coach.

He took over last August shouting loud about a new style based upon winning the ball, transferring it quickly to the wingers and being in a position to shoot within three or four seconds. The problem was that the idea did not work once Messi was available; Argentina could not possibly field him, as well as two open wingers and a centre forward.

The last few weeks have seen Scaloni trying to find a way out of the confusion that he created and, to his credit, by the end of the Copa his team was more compact and had created a circuit of passing through the middle of the field that brought Messi into play strikers working heroically.

The opening half hour against Chile featured Argentina's best football of the tournament and the opening goal -- that quick free kick from Messi to Aguero -- brought back memories of the Diego Maradona-inspired strike by Claudio Caniggia against Nigeria in the 1994 World Cup.

Argentina await their first senior title since the year before that goal, when they won the 1993 Copa America in Ecuador, but while it is striking that so many talented attackers have not subsequently been able to get their hands on silverware, the main problems are at the other end of the pitch.

Lack of defensive pace remains a thorn in the side. Scaloni has changed some of the names, but the way that Paraguay scored in group-stage play, as well as the nature of Brazil's second goal in the semifinal, highlights the need for a new generation of quicker, better defenders.

Chile, meanwhile, need a new generation of everything. They pushed themselves as hard as they could in this tournament, but there is only ever one winner in the long-term battle between athlete and time. It was fitting in a way that, when Alexis Sanchez limped off early in this game, he was replaced by Junior Fernandes, himself 31.

Results will suffer, but a major rebuilding job is unavoidable and it will begin in their next game: A September friendly in the U.S., against Argentina.

Usman Khawaja and Marcus Stoinis are fitness doubts for Australia ahead of their World Cup semi-final after both sustained injuries during defeat to South Africa at Old Trafford.

Khawaja retired hurt on 6 with what was subsequently described as a "hamstring strain" by a team spokesperson and will undergo a scan on Sunday. His captain, Aaron Finch, admitted he was not especially optimistic about the outcome.

"It doesn't look ideal for Usman," Finch said. "He'll have a scan tomorrow and if we need a replacement - and I think we will - but until you get the definitive scan it's hard to know. But it's not looking great for him, in all honesty. He's done a couple of hamstrings before and he said it feels a bit similar."

Australia's other concern is over Stoinis, who clutched his right side after throwing a ball in from the boundary and only bowled three overs. He then received treatment while batting and was run-out when it appeared he was unwilling - or unable - to stretch and dive when called through for a sharp run by his partner, David Warner.

Stoinis had previously suffered an injury to his other side earlier in the tournament. He, too, will undergo scans on both sides on Sunday.

"Marcus is just a bit sore in his side," Finch said. "We'll have to wait for the scans."

Australia have already lost Shaun Marsh in recent days. Marsh was hit by a delivery from Pat Cummins while batting in the nets and subsequently diagnosed with a broken arm. Peter Handscomb has joined the squad as his replacement.

Watch on Hotstar (India only) - David Warner's 122

There was some silver lining in losing to South Africa. Had Australia won, they would have been obliged to play in the first semi-final on Tuesday. As it is, defeat means they have to play in the second semi-final on Thursday, giving their players slightly longer to recover.

They also know they have reinforcements close at hand. Australia A are currently touring England, so any potential replacements should be able to join up with the senior squad quickly having already acclimatised to conditions.

But it was something of a surprise when Khawaja returned to complete his innings after Australia lost their seventh wicket. Their pursuit seemed almost hopeless at that stage - they required 51 runs off 28 balls - and Khawaja ran the risk of exacerbating the injury. As it was, he added another 12 runs and was unable to pull off an unlikely victory.

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"He didn't aggravate it," Finch said. "It didn't work out the way we planned, but he put the team first, which is a great quality to have. He was more than happy to go back out."

The desperation Australia showed in the final moments of the match, however - not least in sending Khawaja back out to bat - and the disappointment they showed in defeat did suggest they would have rather played in the first semi-final. Not only would that have avoided the need to travel - the first semi-final is in Manchester, where Australia have been based for some time - but they would have faced New Zealand who would appear to be, according to the rankings at least, the weakest of the four teams left in the competition.

As it is, Australia will face the No. 1-rated hosts at Edgbaston, where England have won their last 10 international games.

Steph Twell wins individual race as Eilish McColgan leads Britain to European Cup team victory at Parliament Hill in London

Steph Twell had what many believe was her greatest race as a senior as she won the women’s event at the Night of the 10,000m PBs in a superb 31:08.13.

It gave her a clear win over last year’s winner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter of Israel and moved her to sixth all time in the UK as third-placed Eilish McColgan moved to seventh with 31:16.76.

Twell plans to tackle the Berlin Marathon this autumn, however, instead of the IAAF World Championships in Doha, while similarly McColgan hopes to focus on the 5000m in Doha instead of the 10,000m.

The women’s championships race was the penultimate event of the meeting and athletes had their eyes on the World Championships qualifying mark of 31:50 and initially a huge group were on pace including seven Britons at 2km although many would pay for their aggressive starts,

Salpeter ignored the pacemakers and blasted the first lap in 73 seconds and after a kilometre in 3:05.70 she had a three-second lead on a main pack which was led by pacemakers Roselida Jepketer and Eva Cherono with McColgan, Twell and Alice Wright near the front.

By 3km the Israeli (9:18.55) had extended the lead to seven seconds, which closed a little at 4km (12:28.33 to 12:34.94) and it was similar as Salpeter led past halfway in 15:37.62 to the chasing pack’s 15:43.09 with Twell and McColgan still well placed.

The margin was the same at 6km (18:44.57) but at 7km (21:53.58) the gap was down to five (21:58.17). In the next kilometre Twell closed but McColgan had to let go.

At 8km Salpeter (25:01.28) was barely ahead of Cherono, who dropped out, and a strong-looking Twell (25:03.25). With four laps remaining it was down to the two with Twell on Salpeter’s shoulder but seemingly biding her time.

At 9km in 28:09.86 there was barely a stride between them as a huge crowd at the Parliament Hill venue roared their support.

Twell made her move on the penultimate lap when she saw a big group ahead that she was about to lap and she powered through the bell. Completing the final kilometre in 2:58 she won by over seven seconds.

She said: “I can’t believe how easy I felt and I’m delighted. The crowd were amazing. I’ve never heard a roar like that and it really lifted me.”

Twell was shortly after celebrating with her mentor Wendy Sly and a glass of Prosecco, although the Aldershot athlete was curiously not actually part of the GB winning team.

McColgan was, however, and she ran her usual superb last lap and almost caught Salpeter, who ran 31:15.78 and won the European Cup from the Scot.

“I wanted to win but I’m pleased with that and the time,” said McColgan, who was also watched by her mother, Liz, the former world champion at the distance. “This is one of the best events I’ve ever done in terms of atmosphere and support.”

Liz Westphall and Fionnuala  McCormack completed the top five whereas other Britons to place highly were Wright 9th in 32:27.57, Verity Ockenden 12th in 32:34.47, Charlotte Arter 14th in 32:40.63 and Sarah Inglis 17th in 32:52.51.

The women’s B race highlighted the pacer lights perfectly as the runners stayed around the 33:00-paced light almost all the way. Emily Hosker-Thornhill helped in the traditional pacer method and stayed within the lead group for 20 minutes after halfway was reached in 16:29 before ending her workout. Elinor Kirk also helped with the pacing but they were the only two Brits in the race.

With a 72-second last lap, Belgium’s Nina Lauwaert won in 32:52.29 narrowly ahead of Belarus athlete Nina Savina (32:52.66) and Sevilay Eytemis of Turkey (32:54.66).

Such is the progress of women’s 10,000m running thanks to this event it was notable that while a few years ago there was one competitor in the British Championships that here the C race alone had 33 women.

Most were Brits but the race was led home by Hanne Verbruggen of Belgium, who won in 33:30.67 and who said she would have run in the B race but her national federation omitted to enter her.

Abbie Donnelly was the leading Brit in third in 33:56.13. With runners spread over four minutes this was one of the few events to encounter lapping problem and both Sophie Harris and Charlene Jacobs-Conradie thought they had finished after getting the bell prematurely the lap before but were persuaded by the AW correspondent to reluctantly complete another lap!