HOUSTON -- Look at her face. Look at the little girl, orange bow in her hair, fear in her eyes, pain and suffering evident. Look at her. Really look at her, no matter how difficult it may be. And then look at the people surrounding her, the adults with hands covering their mouths, because a little girl -- a little girl with an orange bow in her hair -- got hit with a line drive that screamed into the stands at the Chicago Cubs-Houston Astros game Wednesday.

Look at the entire scene, ugly and awful and entirely preventable, and then tell me Major League Baseball teams don't need to extend protective netting from foul pole to foul pole. It's time. It's well past time, actually. There is no argument against this, no humane argument at least, not when this keeps happening again and again and again and again and again -- and children wind up in the hospital, where the girl was taken following the incident, according to the Astros.

What will it take? Someone dying? Actually, that happened last August, when Linda Goldbloom, celebrating her 79th birthday and 59th wedding anniversary at a Los Angeles Dodgers game, was hit in the head with a foul ball and died of a brain hemorrhage. If a woman dying in the stands is not enough to convince MLB and its 30 teams to expand netting up and out, what will? The death of a child?

This is harsh, and this is blunt, and it has to be. Because the scene at Minute Maid Park on Wednesday after Cubs outfielder Albert Almora Jr.'s foul shot struck the girl was equal parts alarming, disconcerting and heartbreaking. In the fourth inning, the right-handed Almora yanked a Wade Miley pitch down the left-field line, just past the netting that currently extends to the far end of both dugouts. While the exit velocity on the swing was not made public, Statcast reported that it traveled 160 feet in 1.2 seconds, meaning it was going at least 90 mph. The pall it cast over the stadium was immediate.

Almora dropped to a knee. His eyes welled. He has two little boys. Tears spilled out. Miley tried to calm him. Manager Joe Maddon and teammate Jason Heyward consoled him. Nothing helped. "As soon as I hit it," Almora later said, "the first person I locked eyes on was her."

He saw her, the little girl with the orange bow.

MLB needs to see her, too, just as a reminder that every game without more protective netting runs the risk of more incidents. The 30 teams in the major leagues need to see her, too, to understand that no matter how much the law indemnifies them for foul-ball injuries, the moral imperative is to protect fans. The baseball-viewing public needs to see her, too, so it understands why more netting would only enhance the in-person viewing experience.

That's always the argument from the dwindling segment of fans who oppose netting. It's entirely ridiculous, of course. Fans sitting behind home plate tolerate netting without any complaint. When all 30 teams extended it to the ends of the dugouts last year, multiple team officials say, the concerns were limited to an insignificant number of fans. More netting would cost teams money and perhaps present logistical challenges. To which the proper response is: And?

Figuring out a solution -- protecting people -- is more than well worth whatever time and expense it takes. Stadiums in Japan and Korea feature netting from foul pole to foul pole, so it's clearly possible. And when players witness the horror of what happened Wednesday, it makes them even more steadfast in their stance that more netting isn't just a good thing but a necessary one.

"Let's just put fences up around the whole field," Cubs third baseman Kris Bryant told ESPN. "I mean, it's so sad when you see stuff like that happen.

"There's a lot of kids coming to the games -- young kids who want to watch us play," Bryant continued. "And the balls come in hard. I mean, the speed of the game is quick, and I think any safety measure we can take to make sure that the fans are safe, we should do it."

Bryant wasn't the only one calling for it. Outfielders Jason Heyward and Kyle Schwarber supported the idea. Nothing terrifies players more than a hard-hit foul ball into the stands. They understand that it's not about people focusing on their phones, not about preventing kids from partaking in one of baseball's great joys and sitting close to the field -- not about any of the talking points the anti-net crowd bleats every time this happens.

Here's the truth: Even the most astute baseball fan would have difficulty getting out of the way of a line drive when it's traveling 90 mph or 100 mph or 110 mph. Almora's foul ball reached the stands in barely a second. Knowing that, it's not a surprise that Bloomberg News estimated around 1,750 fans each year get hurt by foul balls and broken bats at major league games. The girl here wasn't the only one struck Wednesday; a man at Dodger Stadium was hit in the head by an Alex Verdugo foul ball as well.

The last incident to stir the league and teams into action came in September 2017, when a 105-mph foul ball hit a young girl at Yankee Stadium and hospitalized her. This should galvanize the league similarly. As much as commissioner Rob Manfred tries to be hands-off and allow each team to determine its own ballpark configuration, this issue demands strong, proactive leadership. If Manfred came out Thursday, lamented the horrible injury and said he was mandating teams begin design efforts to ensure every team has pole-to-pole netting in place for the 2020 season, it would be an unmistakable message to fans that their concerns are a top priority of the league.

Remember, after the death of 14-year-old Brittanie Cecil at a hockey game, the NHL installed netting around every arena. Fans adjusted, because netting to the human eye is like white noise to the ear. Eventually, it became the norm, as standard as the netting in the back of a goal.

Surely MLB recognizes the fear about netting is a fallacy, that the threats to boycott games with extended netting are the idle blathering of the habitually self-absorbed. Albert Almora Jr., very clearly, is not such a person. When a security official at Minute Maid Park updated him on the girl's condition an inning after the incident, his head burrowed into her shoulder, his emotion spilling out. While he would not reveal what the security official said, he did say that her words allowed him to continue playing, which dovetailed with sources telling ESPN's Jesse Rogers that the prognosis was positive.

"God willing," Almora said, "I'll be able to have a relationship with this little girl for the rest of my life."

Hopefully sooner than later, Almora can connect with her, with her family, and give them a dose of good news. That the Chicago Cubs, the team whose uniform he wears, plan on extending netting to the foul poles of Wrigley Field, and that Major League Baseball, the league Almora represents with such class, plans on doing the same at 29 other stadiums. That her injury won't keep happening again and again and again and again and again. That a little girl with an orange bow in her hair can watch the best baseball players in the world without any fear, any pain, any suffering.

SONOMA, Calif. – In celebration of Toyota Racing Development’s 40th anniversary, Sonoma Raceway has named TRD – represented by president David Wilson – as Grand Marshal of the Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series Toyota/Save Mart 350.

Toyota, which made its NASCAR debut in the Goody’s Dash Series in 2000, has been the official vehicle and NASCAR event co-title sponsor at Sonoma Raceway since 2007.

The raceway joins TRD in celebrating an anniversary in 2019, as Sonoma marks 50 years of racing in wine country.

Since TRD’s debut in NASCAR, the organization has achieved more than 450 wins across all three professional series, including two Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series championships.

In Sonoma, TRD has visited victory lane five times, including Kyle Busch’s first NASCAR Cup Series road-course victory and Toyota’s first Sonoma victory in 2008.

TRD has also seen success in the other two NASCAR national series, NHRA, USAC, CART, IndyCar, IMSA, various grassroots series and off-road racing series, with multiple titles and race wins.

Off-the-track, TRD has been successful in adding technology gleaned from racing into its production vehicles.

“On behalf of all of our team members at TRD in both Costa Mesa, California and Salisbury, North Carolina, we’re honored that our partners and friends at Sonoma Raceway have chosen to pay tribute to TRD’s 40th anniversary by making TRD the Grand Marshal of this year’s Toyota/Save Mart 350,” said Wilson“From humble beginnings as a simple speed shop in Southern California to an organization employing more than 250 team members that contribute to championships and victories spanning numerous motorsports entrants across America, we’re proud of the rich history of our company.

“We look forward to celebrating that history at Sonoma Raceway.”

Wilson, TRD and Sonoma Raceway’s 50th anniversary will be honored on Friday, June 21, at the Children’s Champions NASCAR Banquet at Viansa Winery in Sonoma.

The gala is a fundraiser for the Sonoma Chapter of Speedway Children’s Charities.

Wilson and TRD representatives will also take part in the Pre-Race Show powered by Friedman’s Home Improvement on Sunday, June 23, including giving the official command to start engines.

“Sonoma Raceway’s relationship with Toyota and TRD dates back to their first entry in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2007, and their success on the track has been mirrored by our growing and robust promotional partnership with Toyota Motor Sales and the regional dealers,” said Steve Page, Sonoma Raceway president and general manager. “To top it off, David Wilson is celebrating his 30th anniversary with TRD this year, so we are delighted to honor David and his team of innovators at Toyota Racing Development as our Grand Marshals this summer.”

LAWRENCEBURG, Ind. – Sides Motorsports welcomes the return of Tim Kaeding this weekend as he joins Jason Sides as part of a two-car effort during the Music City Outlaw Nationals.

For the first time in history, the World of Outlaws NOS Energy Drink Sprint Car Series will invade Nashville Fairgrounds Speedway in Nashville, Tenn., on Friday and Saturday.

The paved Nashville oval will have dirt covering it.

“It will be something neat and something to do,” Sides said. “At the same time it will be different because it’s dirt on asphalt. Anything can happen when you have that scenario.”

The track is the closest to Sides’ shop – only a two and a half hour journey. That’s a welcome travel schedule following a recent busy week, with four races in three states during a one-week span.

Sides highlighted the action by scoring a top-10 result on Saturday at The Dirt Track at Charlotte in Concord, N.C., where he maneuvered from 15th to eighth during the Patriot Nationals finale.

“The biggest thing is you could see the track going black after the late models,” Sides said of Charlotte. “We tried staying out of the black for the first eight or 10 laps, knowing it’s been pretty abrasive. The goal is to keep the tires under you and not get too sideways. We were in tire conservation mode more than anything.

“The bottom was pretty decent the first little bit. The other guys went directly to the top in the black,” added Sides. “I think that’s what helped us conserve.”

BOSTON -- Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk was sent to the hospital for further evaluation after being hit hard into the boards by St. Louis Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist in the first period of Game 2 of the Stanley Cup Final on Wednesday night.

Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy did not have an immediate update after the game but was hopeful Grzelcyk would be available for Game 3, which will be staged Saturday in St. Louis.

The Blues defeated the Bruins 3-2 in overtime to tie the series at one game apiece.

Grzelcyk was collecting a puck along the boards behind Boston's net when he seemed to lose balance. That's when Sundqvist skated in for a check. Grzelcyk's head slammed into the glass and he fell down, holding his head. The defenseman laid on the ice for several minutes. He needed to be helped off the ice by trainers. Boston played the remainder of the game with only five defenseman.

Sundqvist received two minutes for boarding.

When asked about the hit after the game, Sundqvist said he had no comment.

Some Bruins teammates took umbrage to the hit.

"I don't think that's a hit we want in our game," said Boston forward David Backes. "It's from behind, elevated, into his head, into the glass. If that's a two-minute penalty, I think there's going to be a shortage of defensemen in this series by the end of it. That's in somebody else's hands.

"That's something I think if I'm making that hit, I'm probably watching from the bleachers for a few, but we'll see what happens with their player."

Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo said he would have to watch the play again, but he "definitely didn't like it."

"I thought he might have left his feet a little bit, got his head as pretty much for the primary contact," Carlo said. "So we'll see where it goes from there."

Cassidy offered his take.

"It was a hit from behind, that's what was called," the coach said. "His head got driven into the glass."

More than anything else, Cassidy was upset about losing a defenseman who has been an important part of Boston's postseason run.

"Losing the 15 to 16 minutes of Grizz's time, he's a good puck mover and a guy that can break down a forecheck when he's on," Cassidy said. "[The forecheck] was a strength of theirs tonight and a weakness of ours, breaking pucks out. He's good at the big escape more and the big clean pass to get our forwards moving. We lost some of that element."

Blues beat Bruins 3-2 in OT, tie Stanley Cup at game apiece

Carl Gunnarsson scored on a delayed penalty 3:51 into overtime, Jordan Binnington made 21 saves and the St. Louis Blues beat the Boston Bruins 3-2 on Wednesday night to tie the Stanley Cup Final at a game apiece.

West Indies 188 for 1 (Matthews 107*, Nation 63*) beat Ireland 116 for 3 (Waldron 55*, Garth 45, Taylor 2-19) by 72 runs

Hayley Matthews' maiden T20I century helped West Indies women rout Ireland by 72 runs in the third and final T20I, thus clinching the series 3-0.

Matthews' 107 not out off 62 balls, studded with seven fours and nine sixes, powered West Indies to 188 for 1. Along with Chedean Nation, she added 162 in a record second-wicket stand - it was the fourth-highest stand in women's T20Is and the highest for the second wicket. In response, Ireland opener Mary Waldron scored an unbeaten 55 off 62 balls but they could manage only 116 for 3 in their 20 overs.

Kim Garth, captaining Ireland once again in the absence of Laura Delany, put West Indies in after winning the toss. Matthews and Britney Cooper added 26 for the opening stand in five overs before medium-pacer Sophie MacMahon got Cooper caught-behind. Nation then joined Matthews and the two hammered the bowlers by scoring at 10.80 runs per over.

West Indies brought up their 100 on the last ball of the 14th over. Until then, Matthews was still on a relatively sedate 39-ball 41 but the next four balls - bowled by legspinner Celeste Raack - produced 22 runs, including three successive sixes. After that, Matthews hit at least one boundary per over, except the 18th. She brought up her century off 59 balls with a four off the first ball of the final over, while Nation remained unbeaten on 63 off 46.

It was never going to be an easy chase; a target of 189 or more has been chased down only once in women's T20Is. Ireland themselves have never touched 180. Still, they fought, with Waldron and Garth putting up 94 for the second wicket. But they couldn't keep up with the climbing asking rate.

Waldron brought up her maiden half-century - off 59 balls - in the 19th over but the result was decided well before that.

BOSTON -- St. Louis Blues defenseman Carl Gunnarsson struck up a conversation with coach Craig Berube in the team's restroom before Game 2's overtime against the Boston Bruins on Wednesday night.

This would become the postseason's most unlikely setting for one of its grandest predictions.

As Blues forward Oskar Sundqvist relayed afterward, Berube told the team that he was using the bathroom after the third period when Gunnarsson walked up and stood next to him.

"And all Gunnarsson said to him was, 'I just need one more chance,'" Sundqvist said. "It was true, apparently. It worked out."

After ringing the puck off the post late in the third period, Gunnarsson scored the winning goal in Game 2 at 3 minutes, 51 seconds of overtime, draining a shot past Tuukka Rask from the blue line on a delayed penalty against Boston.

The Blues' 3-2 victory knotted the Stanley Cup Final at a game apiece. Game 3 is set for Saturday in St. Louis.

It was Gunnarsson's first career playoff goal in his 57th career postseason game -- and just the third time in NHL history that a player's maiden playoff tally came in overtime of a Stanley Cup Final game.

"I don't score too many, but nothing comes even close to this," Gunnarsson said. "So it's a pretty good feeling right now."

Gunnarsson had every reason to make his powder room proclamation, because he had beaten Rask twice before at TD Garden this season. On Jan. 17, he blasted a shot from the slot past Rask in a Blues win, one of just three goals he scored in an injury-riddled season. On Wednesday night in Game 2, with 1:57 left in the third period of a 2-2 game, Gunnarsson beat Rask with a shot, but it hit the iron and trickled away.

"[I shot it] as hard as I could, yeah," Gunnarsson said of his third-period shot. "I knew I had it past him, but then I saw it sitting in the crease. I was hoping someone would poke it in, but that didn't happen.

"But luckily I was able to score in the OT."

Blues defenseman Colton Parayko said Gunnarsson made that "one more chance" count.

"That was an absolutely howitzer," Parayko said of the winner. "He's an unbelievable defender. I've been here for four years, and he does it all. He's been outstanding."

Despite his success in Boston, Gunnarsson isn't exactly known for his offensive acumen.

"I liked hearing it," Berube said of Gunnarsson's talk before overtime. "He hit the post in the third there and he felt good about himself, obviously, which he should have. He had a hell of a game, I thought, and I'm really happy for him that he ended up getting that game winner."

It was the kind of moment the Blues searched for in their Game 1 loss to the Bruins, needing someone to make a play as they trailed by a goal deep into the third period. In Game 2, they were a different team in a variety of ways -- controlling the game with their forechecking, keeping the Bruins' offense in check and getting high-danger scoring opportunities against Rask deep into the game.

But they needed a play in overtime, and Gunnarsson provided it.

"First game we weren't happy; today, we came out flying, and I think we played a great game for 60-plus minutes," Gunnarsson said. "That's just the team we are. We come back like that. We never give up. For me to put it in there and get the winner, it's a great feeling."

The goal gave the Blues their first Stanley Cup Final victory in franchise history, sending the series back to St. Louis, where a sold-out watch party was flush with anticipation for Saturday's Game 3.

The goal also forever entered the Carl Gunnarsson Urinal Goal Proclamation into the annuls of Stanley Cup playoffs lore.

"You don't hear that story very often. That's not a place to have a conversation," Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo said. "But I guess it works."

LeBron James' sons will attend Sierra Canyon School in Chatsworth, California, in the fall, a source with knowledge of the situation told ESPN.

Bronny James, 14, and Bryce James, 11, are moving from the Crossroads School in Santa Monica, California, to Sierra Canyon, which enrolls students from preschool to 12th grade. A source said the James family's decision was motivated by basketball.

The Los Angeles Daily News reported that Bronny James is expected to be teaming up with Dwyane Wade's son, Zaire, who also is transferring to Sierra Canyon.

Bronny James will enter the ninth grade next season. Zaire Wade is currently a junior at American Heritage High School in Plantation, Florida.

LeBron James indicated that the two teenagers would be joining forces in the fall with an Instagram Story post on Wednesday night.

Sierra Canyon was home to the sons of former NBA stars Scottie Pippen and Kenyon Martin last season, when Scotty Pippen Jr. and KJ Martin played there.

Bronny James already is a social media star, amassing 1 million followers in 24 hours after joining Instagram this week.

NEW YORK -- The Chicago Cubs and St. Louis Cardinals are set to play at London next season in a two-game series at West Ham's Olympic Stadium on June 13 and 14.

St. Louis will be the home team for both games, according to a draft of the 2020 preliminary schedule obtained by The Associated Press.

Chicago will be at Philadelphia from June 8-10, then has a pair of off days. The Cubs will be off June 15 and then start a homestand at Wrigley Field against the New York Mets and Boston Red Sox.

"I've had experience traveling over there and the time difference is pretty dramatic, especially when you go that way," Cubs manager Joe Maddon said Wednesday. "When you come back, you're always able to catch up, when you're going back in time as opposed to forward in time. I don't even know what to expect in something like that. You know your head's going to be swimming a little bit, you've got that brain fog, you just do."

Players are used to traveling coast to coast in the U.S., but that is a three-hour time difference. Cubs right fielder Jason Heyward said he has never crossed the Atlantic.

"It's going to be like nothing we've ever experienced, so I won't know until we get to it," he said.

The New York Yankees and the Red Sox are scheduled to meet in Major League Baseball's first games in Europe, at London's Olympic Stadium on June 29 and 30. Having converted the venue to baseball for that series, MLB expects to get the field prepared more quickly the second time around.

"Once you get there, you're going to have a lot of adrenaline, you're going to probably be well enough to play those games and be excited and charged up," Maddon said. "When you come back adrenaline's gone, and then you get back into this regular schedule, that would be the larger concern. But having said all that I think it's great. I'm a big fan of Europe. If jets could even become more efficient, I think it would be a great situation to have a team or teams over there. That would be really the kind of expansion you're looking for. But it would have to be a scheduling thing. It would have to be all kinds of considerations just based on jet lag because the brain fog will beat you up. "