SPORTS DIGEST

BASEBALL

Russell Martin hit his 10th home run of the season to help the Toronto Blue Jays to a 4-2 Major League Baseball win over the Oakland Athletics. Francisco Liriano struck out five as the Blue Jays opened the homestand with a victory. Ezequiel Carrera and Ryan Goins each had RBI singles, with Justin Smoak also adding an RBI after a bases-loaded walk. Jose Altuve drove in three runs and Alex Breman hit back-to-back homers as the Houston Astros posted 10 runs after a two-hour rain delay on their way to a 13-4 win over the Philadelphia Phillies. Adam Engel and Matt Davidson slugged homers to earn the Chicago White Sox bragging rights after a 3-1 win over intercity rivals the Cubs. Salvador Perez and Mike Moustaskas had back-to-back home as the Kansas City Royals recorded a sixth straight victory with a 5-3 defeat of the Detroit Tigers. Kevin Gausman struck out eight in six innings as the Baltimore Orioles shut out the Tampa Bay Rays in a 5-0 triumph. Adam Jones hit his 19th homer of the season in the third inning and Manny Machado added a two-run single in the threerun eighth. Carlos Santana went deep twice in the Cleveland Indians’ 6-2 win over Cincinnati Reds and Giancarlo Stanton also hit a pair of homers as the Miami Marlins shut out the Texas Rangers 4-0. Randal Grichuk, Jose Martinez and Tommy Pham all went deep and Mike Leake threw seven scoreless innings in St Louis Cardinals’ 8-2 win over the Colorado Rockies. The Arizona Diamondbacks beat the Atlanta Braves 10-2, the Seattle Mariners blanked the Boston Red Sox 4-0, the Los Angeles Dodgers overcame the Minnesota Twins 6-4, the New York Mets triumphed 5-3 over the San Diego Padres and the Pittsburgh Pirates saw off the San Francisco Giants 10-3. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Arizona Diamondbacks 10 Atlanta Braves 2, Chicago Cubs 1 Chicago White Sox 3, Detroit Tigers 3 Kansas City Royals 5, Los Angeles Dodgers 6 Minnesota Twins 4, Philadelphia Phillies 4 Houston Astros 13, San Diego Padres 3 New York Mets 5, San Francisco Giants 3 Pittsburgh Pirates 10, Seattle Mariners 4 Boston Red Sox 0, St Louis Cardinals 8 Colorado Rockies 2, Tampa Bay Rays 0 Baltimore Orioles 5, Texas Rangers 0 Miami Marlins 4, Toronto Blue Jays 4 Oakland Athletics 2.

CRICKET

Batsman Cameron Steel has signed a new two-year deal with Durham. The California-born opener has made some impressive contributions, notably a maiden first-class century against Northamptonshire in June, and has featured in all three formats. Head coach Jon Lewis said: “He’s demonstrated real talent this year and contributed well in both the red and white ball format. He’s a good character to have in the dressing room and someone who has benefited greatly from a good run in the team this season.”

SPEEDWAY

FIXTURES Tonight Sgb Premiership: King’s Lynn vs Wolverhampton 7.30, Poole vs Somerset 7.30 Travel Plus National League: Birmingham vs Isle Of Wight 7.30 Tomorrow Sgb Premiership: Swindon vs Poole 7.30 Sgb Championship: Ipswich vs Edinburgh 7.30, Redcar Vs Workington 7.30, Sheffield vs Newcastle 7.30 Travel Plus National League: Isle Of Wight vs Stoke 7pm Friday Sgb Premiership: Somerset vs Wolvserhampton 7.30 Travel Plus National League: Lakeside vs Birmingham 8pm Intermediate Challenge: Edinburgh vs Buxton 7.30

TENNIS

WTA COLLECTOR SWEDISH OPEN (Bastad) 1st rd: (5) Carla Suarez Navarro (Spa) bt Jasmine Paolini (Ita) 6-1 6-0, Arantxa Rus (Ned) bt Patricia Maria Tig (Rom) 6-2 6-3, Elise Mertens (Bel) bt Irina Bara (Rom) 6-2 4-6 6-2, Kateryna Kozlova (Ukr) bt Mirjam Bjorklund (Swe) 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4), Aleksandra Krunic (Ser) bt Cornelia Lister (Swe) 6-1 6-2, Viktorija Golubic (Swi) bt Martina Trevisan (Ita) 6-4 6-3, Viktoriya Tomova (Bul) bt (8) Julia Goerges (Ger) 6-4 2-2 ret, (7) Katerina Siniakova (Cze) bt Rebecca Peterson (Swe) 6-3 3-6 6-1, Elizaveta Kulichkova (Rus) bt Ekaterina Alexandrova (Rus) 6-4 4-6 7-6 (7-5), (6) Kiki Bertens (Ned) bt Carina Witthoeft (Ger) 6-1 6-4, Barbora Krejcikova (Cze) bt Annika Beck (Ger) 6-0 6-0, (1) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) bt Pauline Parmentier (Fra) 6-3 3-6 6-2. WTA JIANGXI OPEN (Nanchang, China) 1st rd: Yafan Wang (Chn) bt Miyu Kato (Jpn) 6-1 6-4, Anastasia Rodionova (Aus) bt (5) Ying-ying Duan (Chn) 7-5 6-4, Jingjing Lu (Chn) bt Zarina Diyas (Kaz) 6-3 1-6 7-6 (8-6), Lin Zhu (Chn) bt (8) Risa Ozaki (Jpn) 6-0 7-5, (6) Jelena Jankovic (Ser) bt Jiaqi Kang (Chn) 6-2 7-5. ATP J. SAFRA SARASIN SWISS OPEN GSTAAD 1st rd: (8) Joao Sousa (Por) bt Santiago Giraldo (Col) 6-3 6-3, Radu Albot (Mol) bt Mikhail Youzhny (Rus) 4-6 7-6 (8-6) 7-5, Thiago Moura Monteiro (Bra) bt Alexandr Dolgopolov (Ukr) 7-6 (7-5) 3-6 6-3, (6) Robin Haase (Ned) bt Renzo Olivo (Arg) 6-1 6-4, Dustin Brown (Ger) bt (7) Dusan Lajovic (Ser) 6-3 7-6 (7-3). ATP GERMAN TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS 2017 (Hamburg) 1st rd: Andrey Kuznetsov (Rus) bt (2) Pablo Cuevas (Uru) 3-6 7-5 6-4, (3) Karen Khachanov (Rus) bt Rudolf Molleker (Ger) 6-4 6-3, Nicolas Kicker (Arg) bt Tommy Haas (Ger) 7-5 6-2, Philipp Kohlschreiber (Ger) bt Andrey Rublev (Rus) 6-3 6-1.