SPORTS DIGEST
BASEBALL
The bad blood between the Baltimore Orioles and the Boston Red Sox continued in Major League Baseball. Just 48 hours after the Orioles’ Adam Jones was subjected to racial abuse by Red Sox fans at Fenway Park there was more controversy when Orioles pitcher Kevin Gausman was ejected in the second inning for hitting a batter. Jones was also later sanctioned when challenging a strikeout decision. The Red Sox had the last laugh, though, as they won 4-2. Marwin Gonzalez’s hot streak continued for the Houston Astros, who beat the Texas Rangers 10-1. Gonzalez clubbed a fourth homer in the last three games while Carlos Correa had four hits in the rout for the American League West leaders. Aaron Judge’s 13th home run of the season helped the New York Yankees to an 8-6 win over the Toronto Blue Jays, extending their lead at the top of the AL East standings. Major League: Atlanta Braves 5 New York Mets 16, Boston Red Sox 4 Baltimore Orioles 2, Chicago Cubs 5 Philadelphia Phillies 4, Cincinnati Reds 7 Pittsburgh Pirates 2, Detroit Tigers 2 Cleveland Indians 3, Houston Astros 10 Texas Rangers 1, Kansas City Royals 6 Chicago White Sox 1, Los Angeles Dodgers 1 San Francisco Giants 4 (11 Innings), Minnesota Twins 7 Oakland Athletics 4, New York Yankees 8 Toronto Blue Jays 6, San Diego Padres 3 Colorado Rockies 11, Seattle Mariners 8 LA Angels 7, St Louis Cardinals v Milwaukee Brewers Postponed, Tampa Bay Rays 6 Miami Marlins 10, Washington Nationals 2 Arizona Diamondbacks 1.
BASKETBALL
The Cleveland Cavaliers are in a strong position to qualify for the Eastern Conference final in the NBA play-offs after moving 2-0 up on the Toronto Raptors. The Cavs won game two 125-103 in their tussle with the Raptors, who lost a fifth successive post-season against their opponents. Lebron James led the way with 39 points with Kyrie Irving contributing 22, leaving the Cavs needing two more wins from the remaining five games of their best-of-seven series. The San Antonio Spurs evened up their contest with the Houston Rockets at 1-1 after a 121-96 win. Kawhi Leonard top scored with 34 points, though the night was soured by a serious looking knee injury to Tony Parker. NBA Eastern Conference Play-off Semifinals: Cleveland Cavaliers 125 Toronto Raptors 103 (Cleveland Cavaliers lead Toronto Raptors 2-0) NBA Western Conference Play-off Semi-finals: San Antonio Spurs 121 Houston Rockets 96 (Series tied 1-1)
ICE HOCKEY
NHL Eastern Conference Play-off Semifinals: Pittsburgh Penguins 3 Washington Capitals 2 (Pittsburgh Penguins lead Washington Capitals 3-1). NHL Western Conference Play-off Semi-finals: Edmonton Oilers 3 Anaheim Ducks 4 (OT) (Series tied 2-2)
TENNIS
Greek tennis player Konstantinos Mikos has been banned for life after being found guilty of attempted match fixing. The 25-year-old has been shut out from the sport owing to four offences unearthed by the Tennis Integrity Unit (TIU) investigation. Mikos was found to have approached Alexandros Jakupovic, banned for life in December 2015, at a Greece F20 Futures tournament in November 2013. “The approach offered payment in return for agreeing to lose nominated sets and games in a match at the event,” read a statement from the TIU. “In addition, Mr Mikos was found to have operated two gambling accounts through which bets were placed on tennis between March 2012 and December 2013.” Anti-corruption hearing officer Jane Mulcahy imposed the lifetime ban, which comes into force immediately, and covers all forms of professional tennis. Mikos reached a career-high singles ranking of 933 in August 2014. ATP TEB BNP Paribas Istanbul Open, Istanbul, Turkey, 2nd rd: (3) Diego Sebastian Schwartzman (Arg) bt Jordan Thompson (Aus) 6-1 6-3, Dusan Lajovic (Ser) bt Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) 3-6 6-0 6-3, Laslo Djere (Ser) bt (4) Paolo Lorenzi (Ita) 6-4 6-3, (5) Viktor Troicki (Ser) bt Karen Khachanov (Rus) 6-4 7-6 (7-5). ATP BMW Open by FWU AG, Munich, Germany, 2nd rd: Horacio Zeballos (Arg) bt (5) Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, Guido Pella (Arg) bt (4) Fabio Fognini (Ita) 6-3 6-2, Hyeon Chung (Kor) bt (1) Gael Monfils (Fra) 6-2 6-4, Martin Klizan (Svk) bt (6) Mischa Zverev (Ger) 6-2 6-1. WTA Grand Prix S.A.R La Princesse Lalla Meryem, Rabat, Morocco, Quarter-finals: Sara Errani (Ita) bt (3) Daria Gavrilova (Aus) 7-6 (7-5) 6-4, Varvara Lepchenko (USA) bt Catherine Cartan Bellis (USA) 6-3 6-2, (1) Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) bt (7) Lauren Davis (USA) 6-4 3-6 6-3, Francesca Schiavone (Ita) bt Tatjana Maria (Ger) 6-1 4-6 6-3. WTA J&T Banka Prague Open, Prague, Czech Republic, Quarter-finals: Mona Barthel (Ger) bt Camila Giorgi (Ita) 7-6 (7-0) 7-6 (8-6), (3) Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) bt (8) Katerina Siniakova (Cze) 6-3 5-7 6-3, Kristyna Pliskova (Cze) bt Beatriz Haddad Maia (Bra) 6-7 (5-7) 6-4 6-2. ATP Millennium Estoril Open, Estoril, Portugal: 2nd rd: Ryan Harrison (USA) bt (5) Juan Martin Del Potro (Arg) w/o, (3) Gilles Muller (Lux) bt Pedro Sousa (Por) 6-3 6-2, (4) David Ferrer (Spa) bt Frederico Ferreira Silva (Por) 6-3 6-4, Taro Daniel (Jpn) bt Bjorn Fratangelo (USA) 6-4 6-4.