SPORTS DIGEST

BASEBALL

Jose Altuve fired the Houston Astros to a 5-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Altuve whacked a three-run homer in the third inning as the Astros tied with the Washington Nationals on 21 wins for the season – the most in the MLB. The Boston Red Sox found their range as they hammered the Minnesota Twins 17-6. The Red Sox hit five homers, two from Sandy Leon, and racked up a mammoth 10 runs in the ninth as the Twins were put to the sword. The Nationals were beaten 6-5 by the Philadelphia Phillies as Freddy Galvis drove in the winning run in the 10th inning. The Oakland Athletics left it late to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-6 as they scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth. Ryon Healy hit a two-run homer as the Athletics overturned a deficit for the second game running. MLB: Atlanta Braves 4 St Louis Cardinals 6 (14 innings), Baltimore Orioles 4 Chicago White Sox 0, Chicago Cubs 4 New York Yankees 5 (18 innings), Cincinnati Reds 4 San Francisco Giants 0, Colorado Rockies 5 Arizona Diamondbacks 2, Kansas City Royals 0 Cleveland Indians 1, LA Angels 3 Houston Astros 5, Minnesota Twins 6 Boston Red Sox 17, New York Mets 0 Miami Marlins 7, Oakland Athletics 8 Detroit Tigers 6, Philadelphia Phillies 6 Washington Nationals 5 (10 innings), Pittsburgh Pirates 2 Milwaukee Brewers 6, San Diego Padres P Los Angeles Dodgers P, Seattle Mariners 4 Texas Rangers 3, Tampa Bay Rays 1 Toronto Blue Jays 2.

BASKETBALL

The Cleveland Cavaliers notched a second straight whitewash as they booked their place in the Eastern Conference final. The Cavs, who routed the Indiana Pacers 4-0 in the first round, repeated the trick in the semi-final against the Toronto Raptors thanks to a 109-102 victory. Inevitably, Lebron James was the main man, scoring 35 points, with Kyrie Irving posting 27. The Cavs will wait for the winner of Boston Celtics and the Washington Wizards, who are locked at 2-2 in their series after the Wizards won 121-102. The Wizards set up the win by scoring 26 successive points in the third period as Bradley Beal ended with 29 points, with John Wall adding 27 and 12 assists. The Houston Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs are also tied at 2-2. James Harden racked up 28 points, with Eric Gordon adding 22 as the Rockets won 125-104. WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAY-OFF Semi-final: Houston Rockets 125 San Antonio Spurs 104 (Series tied 2-2) EASTERN CONFERENCE PLAY-OFF Semi-final: Toronto Raptors 102 Cleveland Cavaliers 109 (Cleveland win 4-0), Washington Wizards 121 Boston Celtics 102 (Series tied 2-2).

GOLF

OFFICIAL WORLD RANKINGS: 1 Dustin Johnson (USA) 13.29pts, 2 Rory Mcilroy (Nirl) 8.58, 3 Jason Day (Aus) 7.78, 4 Hideki Matsuyama (Jpn) 7.74, 5 Jordan Spieth (USA) 7.39, 6 Sergio Garcia (Spa) 7.23, 7 Henrik Stenson (Swe) 7.21, 8 Justin Rose (Eng) 5.56, 9 Rickie Fowler (USA) 5.43, 10 Justin Thomas (USA) 5.21, 11 Adam Scott (Aus) 5.21, 12 Jon Rahm (Spa) 5.08, 13 Alex Noren (Swe) 4.78, 14 Paul Casey (Eng) 4.34, 15 Patrick Reed (USA) 4.20, 16 Tyrrell Hatton (Eng) 4.06, 17 Charl Schwartzel (Rsa) 3.96, 18 Matt Kuchar (USA) 3.91, 19 Brooks Koepka (USA) 3.82, 20 Phil Mickelson (USA) 3.75. WOMEN’S WORLD RANKINGS: 1 Lydia Ko (Nzl) 8.83pts, 2 Ariya Jutanugarn (Tha) 8.52, 3 So Yeon Ryu (Kor) 8.51, 4 In Gee Chun (Kor) 6.61, 5 Lexi Thompson (USA) 6.39, 6 Shanshan Feng (Chn) 5.96, 7 Inbee Park (Kor) 5.88, 8 Sei Young Kim (Kor) 5.58, 9 Amy Yang (Kor) 5.54, 10 Ha Na Jang (Kor) 5.44.

ICE HOCKEY

The Nashville Predators booked their place in the Western Conference final for the first time in their history. The Predators beat the St Louis Blues 3-1 to claim a 4-2 series win. Paul Stastny raised the Blues’ hopes of extending the series, but goals from Roman Josi, Ryan Johansen and Calle Jarnkrok won it for the Predators who will meet either the Anaheim Ducks or the Edmonton Oilers. That contest will go to a deciding seventh game after the Oilers stayed alive in sublime fashion, making it 3-3 with a 7-1 win. WESTERN CONFERENCE PLAY-OFF Semi-finals: Edmonton Oilers 7 Anaheim Ducks 1 (Series tied 3-3), Nashville Predators 3 St Louis Blues 1 (Nashville Predators win 4-2).

TENNIS

ATP CHAMPIONS RANKINGS: 1 Andy Murray (Gbr) 11270pts, 2 Novak Djokovic (Ser) 7085, 3 Stan Wawrinka (Swi) 5685, 4 Roger Federer (Swi) 5125, 5 Rafael Nadal (Spa) 4735, 6 Milos Raonic (Can) 4135, 7 Marin Cilic (Cro) 3725, 8 Kei Nishikori (Jpn) 3650, 9 Dominic Thiem (Aut) 3615, 10 David Goffin (Bel) 3055, 11 Jo-wilfried Tsonga (Fra) 2825, 12 Grigor Dimitrov (Bul) 2820, 13 Lucas Pouille (Fra) 2696, 14 Tomas Berdych (Cze) 2690, 15 Jack Sock (USA) 2405, 16 Gael Monfils (Fra) 2365, 17 Albert Ramos-vinolas (Spa) 2180, 18 Pablo Carreno-busta (Spa) 2170, 19 Alexander Zverev (Ger) 2165, 20 Nick Kyrgios (Aus) 2155. Selected others: 53 Kyle Edmund (Gbr) 878, 56 Aljaz Bedene (Gbr) 863, 58 Daniel Evans (Gbr) 834. WTA RANKINGS: 1 Serena Williams (USA) 7010pts, 2 Angelique Kerber (Ger) 6945, 3 Karolina Pliskova (Cze) 5946, 4 Garbine Muguruza (Spa) 4627, 5 Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) 4475, 6 Johanna Konta (Gbr) 4425, 7 Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) 4255, 8 Simona Halep (Rom) 4206, 9 Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) 4060, 10 Elina Svitolina (Ukr) 3955, 11 Caroline Wozniacki (Den) 3910, 12 Venus Williams (USA) 3812, 13 Madison Keys (USA) 3737, 14 Elena Vesnina (Rus) 2885, 15 Petra Kvitova (Cze) 2835, 16 Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus) 2635, 17 Kristina Mladenovic (Fra) 2375, 18 Barbora Zahlavova Strycova (Cze) 2175, 19 Kiki Bertens (Ned) 1879, 20 Coco Vandeweghe (USA) 1868.