SPORTS DIGEST
BASEBALL
Houston Astros pitcher Justin Verlander joined the 2,500- strikeout club as he threw a complete game shutout in a 2- 0 win against the Angels in Anaheim. The former Detroit Tiger became the 33rd pitcher to reach the mark when he fanned Shohei Ohtani to lead off the ninth inning. It was his seventh and final strikeout of the night. He allowed five hits and one walk in 118 pitches. MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL: Arizona Diamondbacks 2 Milwaukee Brewers 8, Atlanta Braves 4 Chicago Cubs 1, Baltimore Orioles 1 Philadelphia Phillies 4, Boston Red Sox 6 Oakland Athletics 4, Detroit Tigers 0 Cleveland Indians 6, Kansas City Royals 3 Tampa Bay Rays 5, LA Angels 0 Houston Astros 2, Miami Marlins 6 LA Dodgers 5, Minnesota Twins 5 St Louis Cardinals 7, NY Mets 1 Toronto Blue Jays 12, Pittsburgh Pirates 3 Chicago White Sox 2, San Francisco Giants 3 Cincinnati Reds 6, Seattle Mariners 1 Texas Rangers 5, Washington Nationals P NY Yankees P.
BASKETBALL
Eric Gordon scored 27 points off the bench as the Houston Rockets saw off the Golden State Warriors 127105 in the second game of the Western Conference finals. Gordon was among five Rockets players to hit double- digits at the Toyota Centre to tie the best- of- seven series at 1- 1. James Hardenscored 27, PJ Tucker shot 22 and Trevor Ariza had 19 as the Rockets’ balanced attack outscored the Warriors in each of the four quarters. Kevin Durant top scored with 38 points for the Warriors, but Steph Curry had only 16, and shot one three- pointer from eight attempted. NBA PLAY-OFFS Western Conference Final: Houston Rockets 127 Golden State Warriors 105 ( Series tied 1- 1).
ICE HOCKEY
Jonathan Marchessault scored a brace for the second consecutive game as the Vegas Golden Knights beat the Winnipeg Jets 4- 2 to lead their Western Conference final series 2- 1. Marchessault got his first after just 35 seconds, reaching a Brayden Mcnabb pass and getting a shot past Connor Hellebuyck before bookending the scoring at the T- Mobile Arena with three seconds left to play. The Jets did draw level through Mark Scheifele, whose 13th goal in this season’ s play-offs was cancelled out 12 seconds later when James Neal found the net for Vegas. Alex Tuch extended the Knights’ lead to two going into the third. Scheifele finished off his double 18 seconds into the final frame to set up a nervy finish, but Marchessault scored an empty net goal. NHL PLAY-OFFS Western Conference Final: Vegas Golden Knights 4 Winnipeg Jets 2 ( Vegas lead series 2- 1).
TENNIS
ATP & WTA INTERNAZIONALI BNL D’ITALIA ( Rome) Men’s 3rd rd: Fabio Fognini ( Ita) bt Peter Gojowczyk ( Ger) 6- 4 6- 4, ( 9) David Goffin ( Bel) bt ( 5) Juan Martin Del Potro ( Arg) 6- 2 4- 5 ret, ( 1) Rafael Nadal ( Spa) bt Denis Shapovalov ( Can) 6- 4 6- 1, ( 4) Marin Cilic ( Cro) bt Benoit Paire ( Fra) 6- 3 6- 4, ( 10) Pablo Carreno- Busta ( Spa) bt Aljaz Bedene ( Slo) 6- 4 6- 7 ( 3- 7) 6- 2, ( 2) Alexander Zverev ( Ger) bt Kyle Edmund ( Gbr) 7- 5 7- 6 ( 13- 11). Women’s 3rd rd: ( 1) Simona Halep ( Rom) bt ( 13) Madison Keys ( USA) w/o ,(4) Eli naSvi to lin a(Ukr)bt (14) Daria Kasatkina ( Rus) 0- 6 6- 3 6- 2, ( 5) Jelena Ostapenko ( Lat) bt Johanna Konta ( Gbr) 2- 6 6- 3 6- 4, ( 11) Angelique Kerber ( Ger) bt Maria Sakkari ( Gre) 6- 1 6- 1, Anett Kontaveit ( Est) bt ( 8) Venus Williams ( USA) 6- 2 7- 6 ( 7- 3), Maria Sharapova ( Rus) bt Daria Gavrilova ( Aus) 6- 3 6- 4.