LINE SCORES
BASEBALL – Carlos Correa’s walk-off home run lifted the Houston Astros to a 4-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Rays Thursday to force a game six in baseball’s American League Championship Series.
With a World Series berth on the line, the 2017 Major League Baseball champion Astros showed again they won’t go quietly, fending off elimination as they trimmed the deficit in the best-of-seven series to 3-2.
“I don’t want to go home yet,” Correa said. “We were down 0-3, we had a players’ meeting in the clubhouse and we said we don’t want to go home yet, so we better do something about it.
“We’re down 2-3 and still have a lot of work to do, but it’s a good start.”
The winner of the series will take on either
the Atlanta Braves or Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.
Marcell Ozuna homered twice and the Braves piled up six runs in the sixth inning on the way to a 10-2 victory in Arlington, Texas, that stretched their series lead to 3-1.
Correa belted a 1-1 fastball from Rays relief pitcher Nick Anderson into the centerfield seats to deliver a victory that keeps the Astros in the hunt to complete a rare comeback.
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NBA – Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey, whose tweet last year supporting Hong Kong freedom led to a China rift with the NBA, stepped down Thursday.
Morey departed of his own choice after guiding the Rockets basketball operations since the 2007-2008 season, making the decision after the Rockets were beaten in the second round of the NBA playoffs in the COVID-19 quarantine bubble in Orlando.
‘’After returning from Orlando and reflecting on what has been an amazing 14 years with the Houston Rockets, and after discussing my thoughts with family and close friends, I’ve decided I’ll be stepping away from the Rockets organization effective November 1,’’ Morey said in a statement.
His final campaign brought severe scrutiny after a tweet one year ago regarding Hong Kong protests that led to China suspending sponsorship deals with the NBA and pulling NBA game telecasts off Chinese television for a year, resuming only with last Friday’s fifth game of the
NBA Finals. (AFP)
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RUGBY – World Cup-holders South Africa pulled out of the Rugby Championship Friday owing to complications caused by the coronavirus, throwing the southern hemisphere tournament into disarray.
The Springboks, who haven’t played since winning the World Cup for the third time in Japan last year, cited government travel restrictions, player welfare and safety concerns for their withdrawal.
It means the competition in Australia from October 31 will be reduced from 12 games to six, involving only Australia, New Zealand and
Argentina. (AFP)
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GOLF – Britain’s Tyrrell Hatton, coming off a European Tour victory last weekend at Wentworth, fired a seven-under par 65 Thursday to grab a one-stroke clubhouse lead at the US PGA CJ Cup at Shadow Creek.
A day after his 29th birthday, the Englishman had three birdies and an eagle in his first five holes, finishing one ahead of American Russell Henley and two atop Spain’s Jon Rahm and American Tyler Duncan despite the trip over from England. (AFP)
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BOXING – Ukraine’s Vasyl Lomachenko and unbeaten American Teofimo Lopez fight Saturday in Las Vegas to unify major world lightweight boxing titles and decide which merits consideration as a world pound-for-pound best.
Lomachenko, 14-1 with 10 knockouts, comes off a unanimous decision victory over English southpaw Luke Campbell last August in London to keep the World Boxing Association and World Boxing Organization crowns. Lopez, nine years younger than his rival at age 23, is a New York-born son of Honduran immigrants who captured the International Boxing Federation title by stopping Ghana’s Richard Commey in the second round last December at Madison Square Garden, improving to 15-0 with 12 wins inside the distance.
The winner establishes himself as the top fighter in the 135-pound division and makes a case for a spot among the world’s finest boxers.