Harvick rolls to Cup-best seventh victory
Kevin Harvick broke a tie atop NASCAR’s Big 3 with a dominant performance, easily winning at Michigan International Speedway for his Cup-high seventh victory of the season.
His No. 4 Ford finished 3-plus seconds ahead of Brad Keselowski’s No. 2 Ford on Sunday.
Kyle Busch, who started the day with the points lead, finished third in his No. 18 Toyota more than 4 seconds behind Harvick.
Busch has won six races this year and Martin Truex Jr. has finished in first four times. The rest of the field has combined to win just six of 23 races.
Truex Jr., the third driver in NASCAR’s Big 3 with Harvick and Busch, was 14th in the 40-car field.
Keselowski said he couldn’t be more aggressive late in the 200-lap race because Harvick was simply so far ahead.
LORENZO WINS MOTOGP RACE IN AUSTRIA >> Ducati rider Jorge Lorenzo edged MotoGP champion Marc Marquez to win the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg. After swapping the lead several times during the race, Marquez overtook Lorenzo again on the final lap but slowed after slipping on his Honda and ultimately finished 0.130 seconds behind in second.
Tennis
NADAL EARNS 80TH ATP TITLE >> Rafael Nadal won his 80th ATP World Tour title and spoiled Stefanos Tsitsipas’ 20th birthday. The topranked Nadal beat the unseeded Greek upstart 6-2, 7-6 (4) in Toronto for his fourth Rogers Cup crown and fifth victory of the year. He has 33 ATP World Tour Masters 1000 titles. HALEP BEATS STEPHENS AGAIN FOR ROGERS TITLE >> Top-ranked Simona Halep outlasted third-ranked Sloane Stephens 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4 to win her second Rogers Cup title in Montreal. The 26-year-old Romanian star also won the hardcourt event in 2016. In a rematch of Halep’s French Open final victory, she overcame Stephens in the match that had 15 service breaks. Halep has won her last six meetings with the 25-yearold American.
Golf
CONE WINS ELLIE MAE >> Trevor Cone won the Ellie Mae Classic for his first Web.com Tour title, closing with a 6-under 64 for a four-stroke victory over Josh Teater.
Cone, a 25-year-old former Virginia Tech player who started the year with only conditional status on both Web.com and Mackenzie tours, finished at 23-under 257 at TPC Stonebrae in Hayward. He opened with rounds of 64, 63 and 66 to take a one-stroke lead into the final round
Cone earned $108,000 to jump from 135th to 37th on the money list with $131,580. The top 25 next week after the regular-season ending Portland Open will earn PGA Tour cards.
Teater finished with a 67. GILLMAN WINS SECOND U.S. WOMEN’S AMATEUR >> Kristen Gillman won the U.S. Women’s Amateur for the second time, beating Alabama teammate Jiwon Jeon 7 and 6 in the 36-hole final at The Golf Club of Tennessee in Kingston Springs.
Soccer
IN MLS ACTION >> Ismael Tajouri-Shradi scored his second goal of the game in the 88th minute to give New York City FC a 3-2 victory at Toronto FC. David Villa also scored for New York (14-5-5) . ... Luciano Acosta completed a hat trick in the 96th minute to give D.C. United a 3-2 victory over 10man
Orlando City in Washington.
MESSI WINS 33RD TITLE WITH BARCELONA >> Lionel Messi won his 33rd title with Barcelona to become the most successful player in the Catalan club’s history. Barcelona beat Sevilla 2-1 in the Spanish Super Cup in Tangier, Morocco, as Messi overtook Andres Iniesta, who had 32 titles when he left this summer for the Japanese league.
Swimming
LEDECKY LEADS AMERICAN DOMINANCE IN TOKYO >> American Katie Ledecky won the 1,500-meter freestyle, a new Olympic event, at the Pan Pacific Championships in Tokyo. Her time of 15 minutes, 38.97 seconds, was the 10th fastest in history. She now owns nine of the top 10 times in that event and the world record.
The United States was overpowering in the pool at the Pan Pacs especially on the final day.
The Americans won 18 gold medals, ahead of Australia with eight and Japan with six. The Americans also led the overall medal table with 43.
The meet was extra important
for American Ryan Murphy. He took the 200 backstroke in 1:53.57, edging Japanese Ryosuke Irie in 1:55.12 and American Austin Katz in 1:56.00. Murphy also won the 100 backstroke earlier in the meet.
Other American winners on Sunday included Kathleen Baker in the 200 backstroke, Zane Grothe in the 800 freestyle, Michael Andrew in the 50 freestyle, and Micah Sumrall in the 200 breaststroke.
In the final relays, Australia took the women’s 400 medley in 3:52.74, ahead of the United States (3:53.21) and Japan (3:55.03).
The United States won its seventh gold medal of the day, taking the men’s 400 medley relay in 3:30.20, edging Japan (3:30.25) and Australia (3:30.52).
Softball
U.S. WINS WORLD TITLE, SECURES OLYMPIC SPOT >> Kelsey Stewart’s single drove in the winning run in the bottom of the 10th inning as the United States beat Japan 7-6 in the final of the women’s world softball championship in Makuhari, Japan.
The tournament doubles as a qualifier for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. The U.S. secured its spot in the Olympics earlier Sunday when Japan beat Canada 3-0. Japan is automatically in the 2020 tournament as host.
Sunday’s final was a rematch of the gold-medal game at the 2008 Olympics that Japan won by a score of 3-1.
Track and field
DUPLANTIS SETS UNDER-20 WORLD MARK IN POLE VAULT >> Armand Duplantis, 18, won a thrilling pole vault competition and British sprinter Dina Asher-Smith powered to her third gold medal at the European Athletics Championships in
Berlin.
Sweden’s Duplantis soared to an under-20 world record of 6.05 meters. He set it at 5.95 before breaking it twice and extended his own personal best by 12 centimeters.
Asher-Smith, who had already won the women’s 100 and defended her 200 title, led Britain to gold in the 4x100 relay. She overtook her Dutch and German rivals on the final straight as Britain won in a world-leading 41.88 seconds.
NFL
EAGLES SIGN QUARTERBACK >> The Philadelphia Eagles signed quarterback Christian Hackenberg and waived rookie offensive lineman Ian Park.