Houston Astros outfielder Jake Marisnick has lost his appeal of a two-game suspension resulting from a violent home plate collision with Los Angeles Angels catcher Jonathan Lucroy on July 7.

Lucroy, who was carted off after the collision, suffered a concussion and a broken nose on the play that Marisnick later called "a split-second decision at full speed."

Joe Torre, MLB's chief baseball officer, said July 11 that he thoroughly reviewed the play from all angles. While acknowledging he didn't believe Marisnick intended to injure Lucroy, Torre said the actions warranted discipline because they violated MLB rules designed to protect catchers from that type of situation.

Marisnick also was fined by Major League Baseball for the play. He will miss games against the Cleveland Indians on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Since the play, Marisnick has talked with Lucroy and apologized.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

CINCINNATI -- Jordan Lyles is heading back to the Milwaukee Brewers, who are desperate for starting pitching as they try to repeat as NL Central champions.

The Brewers acquired the right-hander from the Pittsburgh Pirates on Monday for pitching prospect Cody Ponce, giving them a familiar name in their injury-depleted rotation. Lyles has struggled since the end of May.

"I'm definitely looking forward to a change,'' Lyles said during a conference call. "This last month hasn't gone in my favor. I've pitched poorly. We got off to a really good start, hot start, and kind of faced after some injuries here and there.''

Lyles worked out of the bullpen for Milwaukee last fall, going 1-0 with a 3.31 ERA in 11 appearances for the Brewers while helping the club win the NL Central title. Lyles translated his success with Milwaukee into a one-year contract with the Pirates and earned a spot in the starting rotation out of spring training.

He won five of his first six decisions, and then fell into a deep slump. He had a 9.58 ERA in eight starts since the end of May, leaving him 5-7 overall with a 5.36 ERA.

"It was never for a lack of preparation or a lack of work,'' manager Clint Hurdle said. "There's still enough career in front of this guy to find out whether his niche is as a starter or whether his niche is in the bullpen.

"He gave us everything he had. Some days it was really good, some days it wasn't as good.''

The Brewers were a game behind division co-leaders St. Louis and Chicago on Monday, but their rotation has been decimated in July. Milwaukee All-Star right-hander Brandon Woodruff went on the injured list with a strained left oblique and right-hander Jhoulys Chacin was sidelined by a strained muscle in his side. Left-hander Gio Gonzalez developed a tight shoulder in the seventh inning of his start Friday against the Cubs.

"I think every season takes its own twists and turns, and every season brings up unexpected situations and circumstances,'' general manager David Stearns said. "Certainly, we went into the season with what we thought was a very deep pitching staff with numbers we thought could help us get through the rigors of a major league season."

Lyles was scheduled to start Monday against the Reds in Cincinnati when he was dealt. Alex McRae (0-2, 7.71) was picked to take his place. Hurdle isn't sure who will fill Lyles' spot in the rotation long-term.

Pittsburgh could be involved in more deals as the Wednesday trade deadline approaches. The Pirates had lost eight straight and were 2-14 since the All-Star break, slipping behind the Reds into last place in the NL Central.

Ponce, a second-round pick in the 2015 draft, is 1-3 with one save, 44 strikeouts and a 3.29 ERA in 27 appearances at Double-A Biloxi this season.

WASHINGTON -- Max Scherzer is back on the 10-day injured list, unwelcome news for the Washington Nationals as they push for a wild card berth and try to catch the Atlanta Braves in the NL East.

The Nationals announced Monday that Scherzer was placed on the IL with a minor rhomboid strain. The injury is in the same area as the inflammation under his right shoulder that forced the ace right-hander to the IL for 19 days earlier this month.

Scherzer was dominant in June and won seven consecutive starts as Washington worked its way back into playoff contention following a 19-31 start. He returned from the IL last Thursday and allowed three runs in five innings in a no-decision against the Rockies. The next day, he had an MRI that revealed the injury.

Last week, Nationals manager Dave Martinez said he was relieved the famously intense Scherzer, known as "Mad Max," would be back on the mound, giving him an outlet for his competitive energy. But on Monday, Martinez said Scherzer needs to be cautious about his recovery.

"Right now, we just want him to understand, 'Let's just take our time and get it right so this doesn't continue to be an issue,'" Martinez said.

Martinez said he was the "wrong person to ask" about whether the injuries were related, noting that Scherzer now has a muscle strain instead of inflammation.

The move to the IL is retroactive to July 26, which means Scherzer could pitch as soon as Aug. 5.

"That's not by any means a target date," Martinez said. "We just want him to be 100 percent."

The three-time Cy Young Award winner is 9-5 with a 2.41 ERA.

Washington recalled right-hander Erick Fedde from Double-A Harrisburg to take Scherzer's place on the roster. Fedde was slated to start Tuesday night against the Braves in Scherzer's rotation spot. He is 1-1 with a 3.40 in 13 appearances (eight starts) this season.

The Philadelphia Phillies have acquired left-hander Jason Vargas in a trade Monday with the division rival New York Mets.

The Mets received minor league catcher Austin Bossart in the deal, which could help improve a Phillies starting rotation that has struggled throughout the season.

The Phillies also received cash considerations. Vargas is owed $2,666,667 of his $8 million salary for the remainder of this season, and his contract includes an $8 million club option for 2020 with a $2 million buyout.

Vargas, 36, is 6-5 with a 4.01 ERA in 19 games -- 18 starts -- this season. The 14-year veteran got off to a terrible start but has fared better over the past two months, going 5-3 with a 3.34 ERA over his last 12 starts.

The Phillies (55-50) are 6 1/2 games behind the first-place Atlanta Braves (62-44) in the National League East despite entering Monday with a 4.59 combined ERA for their starting pitchers, the fifth-worst mark in the league.

The move also marks the second substantial trade in as many days for the Mets, who bolstered their pitching depth Sunday by acquiring star right-hander Marcus Stroman from the Toronto Blue Jays.

Vargas made headlines earlier this season when he threatened to fight a reporter during a testy postgame exchange in the clubhouse.

ESPN's Jeff Passan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The 2019 Arizona Diamondbacks had the bad fortune to be born in the same division as the Los Angeles Dodgers. The Diamondbacks have had plenty of good surprises this year, and they have the third-best run differential in the National League. They're also 15 games out of first place, as the Dodgers are on pace to win 104 games. According to FanGraphs' playoff odds, the Diamondbacks haven't had better than a 5% chance to win the NL West at any point this season, and they hit 0.0% on June 4.

But the rest of the National League (and Ketel Marte) have kept Arizona in the middle of a playoff race nevertheless. The Diamondbacks are 3.5 games behind the second wild-card spot, and their chances of claiming a playoff spot are somewhere from 10% to 50%, depending on which baseball stats site you go to. The question that will hang over the trade deadline the next three days -- for the Diamondbacks and at least six other teams directly and for the rest of baseball indirectly -- is how much that wild-card spot is worth.

Last week, when the Diamondbacks were just two games out, Arizona general manager Mike Hazen suggested ... not that much:

Mike Hazen doesn't sound convinced into buying: "The belief that a .500 team is going to win the World Series, get through the wild-card format that we have and win the World Series is, I don't think objectively that's a position we should be staking ourselves to."

— Zach Buchanan (@ZHBuchanan) July 22, 2019

For a rebuttal, we'll turn to the 2017 Minnesota Twins, who earned the second wild-card spot and faced the most difficult postseason gauntlet in major league history:

The Twins lost, immediately. One game -- which was hardly competitive after the fourth inning -- and they were bounced, almost as though they had never won anything at all. But they had won something. You can see it in that video. It's just a matter of figuring out the value of what they won.

This is Major League Baseball's eighth season under this playoff format: All six division winners are guaranteed entry into the division series, and two wild cards in each league play each other in a one-game round to join those six. We can say with near certainty that the Dodgers, New York Yankees, Houston Astros and Atlanta Braves -- all of them in first place, and all strong or prohibitive favorites to win their respective divisions -- will be looking to make trades before Wednesday's trade deadline. Most will gladly trade two, three or four future wins for an extra win right now, knowing that the win right now could tilt a playoff series or the World Series.

But from the beginning of this playoff format, it has been unclear whether teams fighting for the wild-card spots will make the same calculation. A wild-card spot is, undeniably, good and better than missing the playoffs. But how good is it? Would a team so willingly trade a top prospect when (A) the race for a wild-card spot is so crowded, (B) the wild-card spot guarantees only one postseason game, perhaps not even in a team's home ballpark and (C) the team that emerges victorious from that wild-card game is at a disadvantage for the rest of the postseason because it probably had to use its ace (maybe both of its aces!) to win that game?

Eight years in, the question is a little easier to answer. We can see, in at least a foggy and inexact way, which teams make more trades at the deadline. Since 2014, there have been 63 teams with playoff odds of at least 25% on July 31. For example, this year's Tampa Bay Rays have a 3% chance of winning the American League East and a 42% chance of winning a wild-card spot (through Saturday); their total chances of making the playoffs are 45%.

We took those 63 teams from the previous five years and sorted them into four buckets, based on what percentage of their total playoff odds came from their wild-card odds, specifically:

1. The wild card onlies (with wild-card odds that are more than 80% of total playoff odds): 15 teams

2. The wild card leaners (50% to 79%): 16 teams

3. The division leaners (20% to 49%): 17 teams

4. The division favorites (less than 20%): 15 teams

If we were doing this for 2019 teams, the Rays would be in Group 1, and the Yankees would be in Group 4. The Twins would be in Group 3, and the Cleveland Indians in Group 2.

Then we assigned each of the 63 teams a score, from 1 to 4, for how active they were at that year's July trade deadline:

1. Acquired nothing of note

2. Acquired some player but more of a role/depth player (e.g., Adam Warren last year)

3. Acquired solid, not cheap players -- a starting position player, high-leverage reliever or midrotation starter (e.g., Nathan Eovaldi last year)

4. Acquired a superstar, one of the two or three biggest names available (e.g., Manny Machado last year) or a comparable package of solid players

These are subjective ratings, they exclude trades made in June or August, and we didn't factor in whether a player was a pure summer rental or signed for multiple seasons. This is a very rough exercise. But we can now assay each group of teams by competitive outlook to see how active they were, on average, by our Trade Deadline Activity score.

• The wild card onlies averaged a 2.7 score

• The wild card leaners averaged 2.6

• The division leaners averaged 2.9

• The division favorites averaged 3.2

What we see -- again, based on subjective assessments and inexact definitions -- is that division favorites are more likely to empty their farm to get the biggest names at the trade deadline. They make these trades even though, by the playoff odds, they're already nearly certain to be in the postseason. That's the math that GMs have, more or less, settled on: If you're going to trade a great prospect for a rental, you strongly prefer the certainty of knowing you'll be playing in October.

But wild card onlies also are very active -- not quite as active but almost as active. The 2017 Diamondbacks' playoff odds were split 0/87 at the trade deadline, and they went out and got J.D. Martinez. The 2015 Toronto Blue Jays traded for David Price and Troy Tulowitzki, though at the time they seemed to be only wild-card contenders. (As it turned out, they erased a six-game lead and won the division.) Only one of the 15 wild card onlies made no trades at all.

It is undeniable that winning a wild card isn't as likely to lead to a World Series as winning a division. The 2014 San Francisco Giants -- a wild card -- pulled off a World Series title, but the other 27 wild-card teams since 2012 have failed. Half of those 28, of course, lost immediately. Of the 14 that moved on, only six won their division series; of those six that moved on, only two won their league championship series. Division winners play, on average, 8.7 playoff games. Wild-card winners, on the other hand, play 4.7.

But there are more factors to consider. A wild-card contender isn't just playing for the (admittedly unlikely) World Series parade. The team is also playing to avoid the failure of missing the postseason completely -- and to avoid the extra failure of falling out of a pennant race before the season is over. Failing to win a World Series is disappointing, but more or less expected and terrifyingly out of a GM's control; failing to draw crowds in mid-September because you aren't in a pennant race is disappointing and a reflection of a season's worth of failure.

The second wild card was born in an interesting time. From 2006 through 2015, only four teams in the majors won more than 98 games. The median win total for a division champ was 92 games. It was easy, at the time, to see a wild card as "cheap" when the division was such a reasonable goal to chase. It was, perhaps, easy to figure that a team was better off saving its future resources and trying to make a run at the following season's division title.

But in the past three years, six teams have won 100 games, and FanGraphs' playoff odds expect three more to do so this year. The median win total for a division has shot up to 96. Next year's division title looks tough.

For teams such as the Diamondbacks, Rays, Giants and Oakland Athletics, it might be daunting to consider the odds of winning the World Series through a crowded wild-card race and then a wild-card berth. Hazen's Diamondbacks are, according to FanGraphs, only about 1-in-500 to win the World Series, and objectively, that might not be a position they should be staking themselves to.

But as long as superteams rule their divisions, the odds of winning it all any other way are close to impossible. It's a real dilemma, and over the next few days those teams -- and others -- will be trying to figure it out.

British and Irish Lions bosses have started talks with the home unions over the creation of a women's team.

Meetings have been held with the English, Scottish and Welsh rugby unions with another scheduled with the Irish Rugby Union.

The men's team has been touring since 1888 and the growth in the women's game has led to calls for a female tour.

"We can confirm that we've begun initial discussions with the home unions," said a Lions spokesman.

"They have been positive, informative and constructive."

A women's schedule could target USA and Canada where the women's game is stronger than the traditional tour venues of Australia and South Africa.

No timescale has been set, but in June Lions chief executive Ben Calveley said it was a case of "when, not if" a women's Lions tour takes place.

Discussions have covered financial viability, timing and tour destinations.

Lions tours have traditionally been to the southern hemisphere men's rugby strongholds of New Zealand, South Africa and Australia.

New Zealand are ranked number one in the world in the men's and women's games.

But World Rugby's women's rankings have Canada fourth in the world and USA fifth. Australia are ranked seventh and South Africa 11th.

A tour in North America would also aim to boost the image of the game and the Lions brand in a market where men's rugby has struggled to make an impact.

The Lions are among the sport's biggest brands, and arguably its most commercially powerful.

It was estimated in 2017 that each four-year cycle between tours generates a turnover of £39m and more than 35,000 fans travelled to New Zealand for the last tour, with close to half buying packages from the in-house travel operator, Lions Rugby Travel.

Profits are distributed back to the four home unions and ploughed into the development of the game.

A successful women's tour in North America is viewed as a major commercial opportunity.

Pressure for the creations of a women's Lions has increased since the success of the 2017 Women's World Cup and the advent of a women's Barbarians team the same year.

The Barbarians played their first match against international opposition when they faced USA Eagles in April 2019, and followed that with a Test against England at Twickenham on 2 June.

Wales wing Jasmine Joyce played for the Barbarians and said the Lions should follow their example and create a women's team.

England captain Sarah Hunter told BBC Sport that the women's Lions should have a separate identity to the men and not just copy the existing formula.

Timing is another potential discussion point. Men's Lions tours are scheduled every four years, clashing with women's World Cup.

Women's tours would probably have to be scheduled in different years which risks clashing with the men's Rugby World Cup.

INDIANAPOLIS – The first look at the entry list for the second annual Driven2SaveLives BC39 powered by NOS Energy Drink was released by USAC officials on Monday.

Six weeks out from the event, 26 cars are already entered for the mega event on The Dirt Track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sept. 4-5.

Among those entered for the two-night NOS Energy Drink USAC National Midget Series extravaganza include 2017 series champion Spencer Bayston from Lebanon, Ind., aboard a car for owner Brodie Hayward.

Bayston and Tyler Thomas are the two past series winners signed up for the event thus far.

Thomas has shown his prowess in USAC’s AMSOIL National Sprint Car division as well, capturing a victory at Kokomo (Ind.) Speedway in September of 2018.

He’s joined by a pair of drivers who’ve won in a USAC Sprint Car but are still seeking their first National Midget wins under USAC sanctioning in Brent Beauchamp and Matt Westfall.

Past USAC Western States Midget champion Shannon McQueen is entered, along with West Coast wheelman Cody Swanson, a two-time USAC Western States Midget winner in his career.

Meanwhile, Aaron Leffel is a two-time champion on the USAC Speed2 Midwest Thunder Midget trail, and Justin Peck has won in midgets and has also been a victor with the Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions on the sprint car side.

Teams can file their entries for the event at https://www.thebc39.com/, where they may also purchase pit and parking passes for the two-night event.

With the expansion of grandstand seating around the quarter-mile dirt oval, teams purchasing pit passes for the BC39 will be able to add a grandstand seat.

Five-hundred reserved seats in Tier 3 (lower level) have been made available for purchase at a discounted rate until Aug. 15. Unsold tickets at that time will be made available at public prices and may sell out.

Oklahoma’s Brady Bacon was victorious in the inaugural BC39 in 2018, collecting $15,000 for the victory, which featured a USAC National Midget Series event record of 110 entries.

BC39 Entry List (as of July 29)

1ST – TBA (Daryl Saucier)
2 – Ryan Hall, Midlothian, Texas (Mark Bush)
2x – Matt Linder, Hoschton, Ga. (Mark Bush)
3N – Jake Neuman, New Berlin, Ill. (Jim Neuman)
7u – Kyle Jones, Kennedale, Texas (Trifecta Motorsports)
8 – Randi Pankratz, Atascadero, Calif. (Wally Pankratz)
11L – Aaron Leffel, Springfield, Ohio (Chuck Taylor)
11T – TBA (Chuck Taylor)
14H – TBA (Mike Dickerson)
15s – Shannon McQueen, Bakersfield, Calif. (Broc Garrett)
15x – Carson Garrett, Littleton, Colo. (Broc Garrett)
17 – Justin Peck, Monrovia, Ind. (Bus Racing Team)
19 – Spencer Bayston, Lebanon, Ind. (Brodie Hayward)
20 – Cody Weisensel, Sun Prairie, Wis. (Kevin Weisensel)
21D – Justin Dickerson, Pittsboro, Ind. (Mike Dickerson)
28 – Ace McCarthy, Tahlequah, Okla. (Jim Neuman)
41 – Oliver Akard, Ft. Myers, Fla. (Dan Akard)
43 – Brent Beauchamp, Avon, Ind. (Kevin Arnold)
50 – Tony DiMattia, Malvern, Pa. (Tony DiMattia Motorsports)
54 – Matt Westfall, Pleasant Hill, Ohio (Steve Bordner)
56A – Colten Cottle, Kansas, Ill. (Travis Young)
57A – TBA (Bill Ecker)
57D – Daniel Robinson, Ewing, Ill. (McCreery Motorsports)
71s – Cody Swanson, Norco, Calif. (Marcie Campbell)
88 – Tyler Nelson, Olathe, Kan. (Tyler Nelson)
91T – Tyler Thomas, Collinsville, Okla. (Brian Thomas)

DALLAS, N.C. – Everyone mourns the loss of a loved one, and whether it is a parent, sibling, cousin, or a close friend, everyone has their own way of coping with the situation.

Local short-track racer and Dallas, N.C. native Adam Vandiver chose to do it through racing, a sport his ancestors took part in on a national stage in the past.

Adam’s father, Tom Vandiver, and uncle, Jim Vandiver, were among the top independent NASCAR Grand National Series (now Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series) performers throughout the 1970’s.

With Jim behind the wheel and Tom turning the wrenches, they were a team to beat alongside factory teams such as the Wood Brothers, Petty Enterprises and Junior Johnson & Associates.

Jim Vandiver had career highlights that included a third-place finish in the 1972 Daytona 500 and a runner-up effort in the 1969 Talladega 500. In all, he collected five top-five and 24 top-10 finishes in just 85 career top-level NASCAR starts.

He is also the only undefeated driver at Talladega (Ala.) Superspeedway in the ARCA Menards Series, with victories in both 1970 and again in 1975.

When his father Tom passed away in January, Adam was in the process of building a new race car, and decided to have his car wrapped in memory of his father and his uncle.

“When Dad passed away about five months ago, I decided to do one side of the car the design of mine and his first car … and the other side a design like him and his brother’s NASCAR Grand National Series car from back in the 70’s.”

Even though Adam Vandiver was not born during the heyday of his elders’ career, he was quick to recall all the amazing stories he heard growing up.

“I’ve heard more crazy stories than anyone will ever know,” Adam Vandiver laughed. “I guess that is where I get my wild side from.”

Having been around his family from an early age, Adam Vandiver knew he would end up being in a race car one day, because racing was big in the household.

“The influence in racing growing up was huge; it was all I was ever brought up in,” he noted.

Vandiver made his debut in the car at East Lincoln Speedway for the $1,000-to-win Stock 4 race on Saturday night and said in advance of the event he would do whatever it took to win.

Though he came up one spot short and finished second, the younger Vandiver was still pleased with his effort.

“It would have meant a lot to win this race tonight, and I said going into it that I would tear it up if I had to, but it was a solid night,” he said. “Winning was the only thing on my mind, and even though we came up just shy of that, we still had a great run for this car.”

Vandiver made laps over the weekend with a heavy heart and a special color scheme, but the racer’s mentality placed inside him by his father told him to race as hard as he can in pursuit of a checkered flag.

“There’s no give up here,” said Vandiver. “That was the one of the biggest things my dad always taught me.”

CONCORD, N.C. — Hendrick Motorsports has named Cliff Daniels as the new crew chief for seven-time Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson.

Daniels will assume the role immediately and be atop the pit box for the No. 48 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 team during Sunday’s road-course race at Watkins Glen Int’l.

Daniels, 31, won the 2016 Cup Series championship as Johnson’s race engineer. The Smithfield, Va., native joined the No. 48 team in December 2014, moved into Hendrick Motorsports’ competition systems group following the end of last season and then rejoined the No. 48 team as Johnson’s race engineer last month at Sonoma (Calif.) Raceway.

“We have great confidence in Cliff’s ability to win races with Jimmie and the team,” said Hendrick Motorsports owner Rick Hendrick. “He’s a natural leader and tremendously talented from both a technical and communication standpoint. Cliff’s familiarity with Jimmie and the No. 48 team culture will benefit us a ton. He will bring the spark that’s been our missing ingredient.”

Daniels will replace Kevin Meendering, who will remain with Hendrick Motorsports in a senior competition role. Meendering joined the No. 48 team following the 2018 season.

“Kevin is a talent,” Hendrick said. “We have areas where he can make a major impact and help all four of our teams be successful. Everyone thinks the world of him, and we plan to keep him as a key member of our organization for as long as he wants to be here.”

Through 21 races in 2019, Johnson, 43, has one pole position and eight top-10 finishes, including three top fives. He is currently 17th in the driver standings, 12 points below the playoff cutline.

“Cliff has really shined since he came back to the No. 48,” Johnson said. “When he returned, there was an immediate change in the team dynamic that all of us felt. We’ve worked together for a long time, have a ton of mutual respect and a shared vision. I have no doubt the strong connection and working relationship is going to pay dividends right away.

“I’m so grateful to Kevin. He’s a truly awesome person who I think very, very highly of. I’m looking forward to continuing to work with him in his new role. He’s a brilliant guy and will make all of us better.”

Daniels is a former stock car driver who raced late models in and around Virginia at tracks like Langley, Southside and South Boston. After earning a mechanical engineering degree from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, he was hired by RAB Racing in 2011.

He was a race engineer for driver Tony Stewart at Stewart-Haas Racing for two seasons (2013 and 2014) before joining Hendrick Motorsports.

“We have an opportunity to win an eighth championship and a lot more races with Jimmie,” Daniels said. “I’m proud to be in this position and have total faith in the team and our ability to perform at the level everyone expects. We have the best driver, the best organization and the best leadership, so everything we need to be successful is in place.

“It’s always been my goal to become a crew chief, and I’m thankful to Mr. Hendrick for his confidence.”