SPORTS SHORTS

Costa brace not enough to keep Chelsea perfect

LONDON (Reuters) – Diego Costa scored, twice but could not prevent Chelsea losing its 100 percent Premier League record in a controversial 2-2 draw at Swansea on Sunday.

The result left Manchester City two points clear of the Blues at the top of the table.

The fiery Spain striker scored in the 17th minute as Antonio Conte’s team took control of the game before conceding twice in quick succession.

In the 59th minute goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois gave away a penalty by fouling Gylfi Sigurdsson after a Swansea counter-attack and the Iceland international got up to convert it.

Then Gary Cahill was dispossessed by Leroy Fer and apparently fouled, but Fer was allowed to go on and score.

Nine minutes from the end Costa, who also received his third yellow card in four games, equalized with an overhead scissors kick that might have been penalized for dangerous play.

It all added up to one of the most dramatic Premier League games of the season so far, which Chelsea, which had 28 attempts on goal, dominated for almost an hour.

Chelsea left David Luiz, re-signed from Paris St Germain, on the substitute’s bench, but he may be needed for Friday’s televised game at home to Liverpool after Terry left the stadium on crutches with an ankle injury.

Jays end skid vs BoSox; Hill loses perfect game

Melvin Upton Jr. hit a two-run homer, J.A. Happ allowed two runs in six-plus innings to earn his 18th win and the Toronto Blue Jays defeated the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on Saturday afternoon to end a four-game losing streak.

The Blue Jays (78-63) moved to within one game of the firstplace Red Sox (79-62) in the American League East with the rubber match in the three-game series played late Sunday night.

Happ (18-4) allowed four hits and one walk. The left-hander struck out five.

Elsewhere, Atlanta ended New York Mets’ winning streak at six games in dramatic fashion, with Adonis Garcia singling with two outs in the 10th inning to drive in rookie Dansby Swanson for a 4-3 Braves’ walk-off victory.

Swanson singled leading off the 10th against Erik Goeddel (1-1) and A.J. Pierzynski followed with a single to put runners on the corners. Employing a five-man infield after one out, the Mets nearly escaped, but Garcia grounded a single through the middle off Josh Smoker to end it.

Also, left-hander Rich Hill was removed after pitching seven perfect innings as the Los Angeles Dodgers held the Miami Marlins to two hits to two hits in a 5-0 triumph.

Only 23 pitchers in major league history – and just one Dodger, Sandy Koufax in 1965 – have ever thrown a perfect game.

Dodgers manager, Dave Roberts, said he was doing “the best thing to do for us to win a championship” when he removed Rich Hill after seven perfect innings.

Hill was in just his third start with the Dodgers after being acquired from the Oakland Athletics in an August 1 trade. His Dodgers debut was delayed multiple times as he recovered from a blister on the middle finger of his left hand.

So with Hill at 89 pitches, matching the most he had in a start with the Dodgers (in his only other start he threw 81), rookie manager Dave Roberts made the move that likely will be scrutinized for some time.

“I feel sick to my stomach,” Roberts said immediately after the game. “Rich obviously had a perfect game and an opportunity of a lifetime. Just to take the personal side and understand there’s a great opportunity for him and his family, his teammates. But as a manager, you’re taking a lot of different information as far as we’ve been dealing with Rich’s blister. That’s cost him a lot of time this season."