Luis Severino combined with two relievers for a one-hitter to hand the New York Yankees a 3-0 win over the Detroit Tigers on Saturday.

Along with the solitary hit, Severino struck out 10 over 92 pitches, before being pulled after the seventh inning for Michael King and Clay Holmes to close the game out.

Tigers pitcher Beau Brieske struck out seven and gave up three hits in six innings, while Miguel Cabrera claimed his 3,033rd career hit, but the damage for the Yankees was done early.

Aaron Judge went deep off Brieske, mashing the rookie on the first pitch in the bottom of the first inning for his 21st home run for the season, before Anthony Rizzo followed suit.

The Pinstripes moved to 38-15 for the season with their fifth consecutive win, extending their lead over the Toronto Blue Jays atop the American League East.

Gore and Cronenworth propel Padres

MacKenzie Gore and Jake Cronenworth were vital for the San Diego Padres as they won their high-profile National League match-up, defeating the Milwaukee Brewers 4-0 on the road.

Gore continued the impressive start to his rookie season, striking out 10 and giving up only three hits over an astounding 108 pitches in six innings.

Cronenworth homered off Aaron Ashby meanwhile, as well as driving in three runs for the important win.

Pivetta continues impressive form for Red Sox

Nick Pivetta pitched for his fifth consecutive win as the Boston Red Sox won their third straight, defeating the Oakland Athletics 8-0.

Pivetta allowed only two hits and struck out seven over 100 pitches in seven innings, before Tanner Houck and Hirokazu Sawamura closed out for the Red Sox.

Alex Verdugo claimed three hits and two RBIs while Trevor Story doubled twice, as Boston moved to within a game from .500.

Billy Horschel shot a blistering seven-under 65 on Saturday to secure a five-stroke lead heading into the final round of the Memorial Tournament.

Horschel shot another bogey-free round on Saturday to extend his streak to 44 consecutive holes, with his last coming on the 10th hole in the first round.

One year after Jon Rahm built a six-stroke lead coming into the Sunday at the Memorial, before having to withdraw due to a positive Covid-19 test, Horschel will have a chance to see off the field with a healthy buffer.

After chipping in for birdie on the opening hole, Horschel played incisively from there as the course firmed, zeroing in on the pin and not leaving himself with much work on the greens at Muirfield Village.

The 35-year-old will be going for his seventh tournament win on the PGA Tour, with his last victory coming at the 2021 WGC Match Play, defeating Scottie Scheffler in the final.

World number three Cameron Smith commenced with a one-stroke lead on Saturday but started slowly with bogeys from the bunker on the opening two holes.

He recovered from another bogey to open the back nine to finish on even par for the round, remaining on eight-under for the tournament.

The Australian is tied for second with Aaron Wise, who steadied after a fast start on the front nine to score a three-under 68 on Saturday.

A three-way tie for third between Daniel Berger, Francesco Molinari and Jhonattan Vegas sits a further stroke back.

Meanwhile, defending champion Patrick Cantlay sits on six-under along with another four players.

Minjee Lee is threatening to run away with the U.S. Women's Open, taking a three-stroke lead heading into the final round on Saturday.

Lee fired a four-under 67 to move to 13-under after 54 holes, breaking the U.S. Women's Open 54-hole record of 201 set in 1999 by Juli Inkster by a single stroke.

The world number four started the third round slowly, scoring a bogey on the fifth hole to fall two shots behind Mina Harigae.

Lee responded quickly with a birdie on the sixth, before breaking the round open with four consecutive birdies between nine and 12.

Playing alongside Lee in the final group, Harigae faltered meanwhile, firing consecutive bogeys on the 11th and 12th hole respectively.

The past three third-round U.S. Women's Open leaders at Pine Needle have all gone on to win the tournament, including Lee's fellow Australian Karrie Webb in 2001.

Germany coach Hansi Flick says his side lacked "intensity" and "precision" in their 1-1 Nations League draw with Italy on Saturday.

Die Mannschaft looked the brighter side in the first half, yet the best chance fell to the Azzurri, with Gianluca Scamacca striking the post from distance.

Roberto Mancini's side were much improved after the break, though, and Lorenzo Pellegrini put them ahead in the 70th minute.

However, Germany recovered a point three minutes later courtesy of Joshua Kimmich's neat finish after a scramble in the penalty area.

The result means Flick has not lost any of his first 10 matches in charge of the national team, becoming the third Germany coach to achieve that feat after Sepp Herberger and Josef Derwall.

Despite that, Flick was not impressed with his side's display and has urged his players to improve swiftly. 

"We started the game well then lost our way after 15, 20 minutes," he told a media conference.

"Italy played very well, and we made too many mistakes in the build-up. We lacked intensity and defensive solidity.

"These are the areas we need to improve so we can do better on Tuesday. We did not apply what we had practised in training and that's not the first time it has happened.

"Italy were far more cohesive and well-drilled than we expected, so it's positive that we managed to get the equaliser straight away.

"It confirms the Nations League allows you to always face very strong opponents. Our performance was fairly negative in general today, we can and must do more. We lacked intensity and our usual precision."

Italy shocked many by failing to qualify for the World Cup in Qatar later this year, but Flick has seen enough to suggest the Azzurri will not be away from the top table of world football for long.

"Italy is a nation that lives and breathes football," he added. "They are solid defensively. I admire Mancini and the way his Italy played at Euro 2020. We all slowly became Italy fans watching the way they played in that tournament.

"The Azzurri have everything they need to reboot and reconstruct another important era."

Germany are next in action on Tuesday when they welcome England to the Allianz Arena in Munich. 

Roberto Mancini says Italy have a "long road ahead" of them despite a much-improved display in a 1-1 Nations League draw with Germany on Saturday.

The Azzurri were beaten 3-0 by Argentina in Wednesday's Finalissima – a meeting between the European champions and Copa America winners – but they delivered a bright performance against Hansi Flick's side in Bologna.

Lorenzo Pellegrini put them ahead in the 70th minute, although Die Mannschaft sealed a point three minutes later when Joshua Kimmich powered home.

Despite an improved showing, Italy have still won just one of their last six games, and Mancini urged players and supporters alike not to get carried away.

"One result changes nothing, we've got a very long road ahead of us," he told RAI Sport. "The lads did really well. It's not easy as Germany are one of the best sides in the world right now.

"We were a little hesitant at the start, then slowly started to play. It's a pity we conceded the equaliser straight after. We were naive because it was not an easy game, especially at the start.

"It was the first time they [the players] played together, they did a great job. They suffered when they had to and attacked when they had to.

"The lads did really well. They played at the same level as what is a great national team at this moment."

Pellegrini's goal was created by substitute Wilfried Gnonto, who became the first player born after January 1, 2003 to play for Italy.

The FC Zurich forward looked at home on the international stage, and he said the past week has been a whirlwind for him.

"It was a strange and exhilarating week," he said. "The coach gave me a chance and I think I made the most of it.

"It's all going so fast. I just try to enjoy the moment and every training session because being here is a privilege."

Speaking about his excellent cross for the goal, the 18-year-old added: "I knew [Thilo] Kehrer was already booked, so when I got the ball I didn't think of anything other than taking him on.

"I was determined to get past him and the ball from that angle is the toughest for a goalkeeper and defender to deal with. If you are a striker, you need to make the difference and I did that tonight."

Andre Iguodala defended the Golden State Warriors and stalwarts Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green ahead of Game 2 of the NBA Finals, claiming their incredible careers should be appreciated "a lot more".

Iguodala, like Curry, Thompson and Green, is playing in his sixth Finals in eight years with the Warriors.

The veteran wing was the NBA Finals MVP in 2015, but his three team-mates have been the chief protagonists of a remarkable Golden State dynasty.

The previous five Finals have yielded three titles, yet the Warriors have work to do to add a fourth with this team after losing 120-108 in Game 1 at home to the Boston Celtics.

This is the first time the Warriors have lost Game 1 at home in the Finals, although the last team to suffer such a defeat were the 2013 Miami Heat, who recovered to win the championship.

Although these circumstances are new, there is little Curry, Thompson and Green have not yet achieved, and they were the subject of praise from Iguodala on Saturday.

"The overall sentiment for those three guys, after we won the first one, was that they were going to continue to be this dominant for this long," he said.

"I think we take it for granted because we're so close to our athletes now, we're so close to them on social media. We start to forget and take for granted.

"We should appreciate them a lot more. It's a really long run to go to the Finals, for this group, six out of eight years. It doesn't happen every day.

"Only the greats, real greats do it – LeBron's the only one around our era that's been able to have the same effect in terms of winning and getting this far.

"We've made it look normal, where people take it for granted and take certain shots at us. In previous generations, throughout sports in general, people understood how tough it really was."

Coach Steve Kerr is backing his key men to bounce back, even if the series opener was particularly painful as the Warriors threw the game away in a fourth quarter in which they were outscored 40-16.

Aided by a 17-0 run, that is the Celtics' biggest point differential in any single quarter of any road playoff game in their history.

"Draymond and Steph have been in the Finals six times now," Kerr said.

"They've seen it all, they've seen everything. They've won championships, they've lost championships. They've had their hearts broken, they've had parades.

"This is all part of it. That's the right mental approach, and it's one that is borne out of experience."

Meanwhile, Thompson suggested the early setback could benefit the Warriors after they "got comfortable".

"It was a harsh reminder but something we all needed to go through, including myself," he said. "It's about how we respond tomorrow, which I am very excited for."

Rafael Nadal versus Casper Ruud has the air of one of sport's great mismatches ahead of the French Open title match.

Nadal's record at Roland Garros is spectacularly intimidating as he bids for a record-extending 14th title on the Paris clay, having won all 13 of his past finals.

In sharp contrast, Ruud has never played a grand slam final. Nor until this week had he played a semi-final at this level, or a quarter-final.

Nadal will be chasing a 22nd title at the majors on Sunday, and Ruud a first; and yet there are factors that offer the underdog hope, not least the fact the favourite is pushing his body into a new fresh hell every time he steps onto court.

Coach Carlos Moya told ATPTour.com that Nadal, hampered by a long-bothersome foot problem, was carrying "a lot of wear and tear".

"But it's the final push," said Moya, anticipating one last gargantuan effort from the man who turned 36 this week.

"So far, Rafa has done an astonishing job of surviving without playing his best tennis."

Ahead of what could be a far tighter final than Saturday's one-sided women's showpiece, Stats Perform assesses the form and the stakes affecting both players.


One last swing at glory for Nadal?

It has long been the case that Nadal has nothing left to prove. Yet it is the Spaniard's instinct to want to push himself to new heights, and his quarter-final win over Novak Djokovic encapsulated that drive.

"All the sacrifices and all the things that I need to go through to try to keep playing really makes sense when you enjoy moments like I'm enjoying in this tournament," Nadal said after booking his place in the final. He was the beneficiary of Alexander Zverev's injury-forced retirement in the semi-finals, and now a first career match against Ruud awaits.

Should Nadal win, at the age of 36 years and two days, he would become the oldest men's singles champion at Roland Garros in history, surpassing his compatriot Andres Gimeno, who was 34 years, 10 months and one day old when he captured the 1972 title.

No other man in history has reached double figures for titles at a single grand slam, with Novak Djokovic's nine Australian Open wins the next most in a major. Across his 13 previous Roland Garros finals, Nadal has dropped only seven sets.

Given his injury problems, it is highly possible this will prove to be Nadal's final French Open. He has an astonishing overall record of 332-34 in sets won and lost at Roland Garros, emerging victorious from 111 of his 114 matches.

If Ruud looks too closely at Nadal's career numbers, they might become dizzying. The veteran has won 62 of his 91 titles on clay, once enjoyed an 81-match winning streak on the surface (2005-07) and has spent a record 871 consecutive weeks inside the ATP top 10, from 2005 to the present day.

He has never won the Australian Open and French Open in the same year, so that is now achievable, given his success at Melbourne Park in January, when he nudged one clear of Djokovic and Roger Federer on the all-time list of most men's singles slam wins.

"We haven't spoken about number 22," said Moya. "Obviously, it's on the horizon, but that would add pressure to Rafa. It's not necessary."


Would it be Ruud to crash the party?

Nadal said Ruud's run has been "not a surprise at all", and there were some experts who fancied the Norwegian to come through the bottom half of the draw before the tournament began, albeit with most making Stefanos Tsitsipas a likelier finalist.

A curiosity is the fact Ruud has trained at the Rafa Nadal Academy in Mallorca since 2018, and he has often practised with Nadal. This, though, is their first encounter in competition. The last first-time meeting in a men's French Open final came in 1997 when Gustavo Kuerten beat Sergi Bruguera.

Ruud, 23, would be the youngest men's singles grand slam winner since 20-year-old Juan Martin del Potro beat Roger Federer in the 2009 US Open final. That was a sensation of a result, with the Argentinian ending Federer's five-year reign in New York, and Ruud may find some encouragement from such an upset.

Ruud leads the ATP Tour since the start of the 2020 season in clay-court wins (66), finals (nine) and titles (seven), yet all of his eight career titles have come at ATP 250 level, a relatively low tier of the professional game where the biggest names rarely compete.

He stepped up by reaching the final of the Miami Open, an ATP 1000 tournament, in April, but was beaten to the title by Carlos Alcaraz.

Sunday's challenger from Oslo, whose father and coach Christian Ruud was an ATP top-50 player in his mid-1990s prime, is a former junior world number one.

He has now become Norway's first grand slam finalist and must tackle arguably the most daunting challenge in the men's game.

Nadal said of Ruud on Friday: "I think in the academy we were able to help him a little bit. I like to see a good person achieving his dreams. I'm happy for him, I'm happy for his mom, dad.

"I know them very well. They are a super healthy family and great people. As always, I am super happy when I see these great people having success."

Nadal did not go on to say he would disbar Ruud from his academy should there be a shock outcome on Sunday.

Perhaps the thought of Ruud winning simply never crossed Nadal's mind.

Billie Jean King says it is time for female tennis players to stop being treated like "second-class citizens" and backed Amelie Mauresmo to redress the balance at the French Open.

Mauresmo apologised after this week stating that there had only been one women's match at Roland Garros played in the night session as the men's game is more appealing.

Iga Swiatek, who won her second grand slam title in Paris on Saturday, described the French Open tournament director's comments as "disappointing and surprising".

The legendary King has called for female players to be in the spotlight more and expects that to be the case on Court Philippe-Chatrier next year, when Mauresmo will oversee the clay-court major for a second time after a difficult start to her tenure.

"You've got to put them when it's prime time, and you have got to figure it out and you want to give equal opportunity to both genders," King said during a press conference at Roland Garros.

"Always. You always want to make sure you do the right thing by each person. They should have the same amount of women's matches as they do men's. Real easy.

"Right now we are playing two out of three sets, we will get out of there faster.

"I think the men should change that. If we keep treating us like second-class citizens we will stay second-class citizens. You want to make everyone feel important

"We should have more matches, but I think Amelie will take care of that next year. Knowing her, she's a winner."

World number one Swiatek swept 18-year-old Coco Gauff aside to lift the Coupe Suzanne Lenglen for a second time on Saturday, winning 6-1 6-3 to extend her astonishing run of victories to 35.

Sadio Mane has become Senegal's record goalscorer after his hat-trick secured a 3-1 win over over Benin in their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier on Saturday.

The Liverpool forward scored twice from the penalty spot and netted another in Dakar to move onto 32 goals in 90 games for his country.

Mane's treble moved him beyond Henri Camara's tally of 31 for the champions of Africa.

The 30-year-old's record-breaking achievement comes amid intense speculation over his future following another outstanding season for Jurgen Klopp's side.

On Friday, the attacker quipped that he would do what the people of his Senegal want him to do, amid reports he could be on his way to Bayern Munich.

Italy and Germany played out a 1-1 draw in their Nations League Group A3 opener in Bologna on Saturday.

Roberto Mancini's side suffered a 3-0 defeat to Argentina in Wednesday's Finalissima – a meeting between the European champions and Copa America winners – but they were much improved at Stadio Renato Dall'Ara.

The Azzurri, who hit the post in the first half through Gianluca Scamacca, went ahead in the 70th minute courtesy of Lorenzo Pellegrini's fourth international goal.

However, Germany levelled soon after as Joshua Kimmich stole in to snatch a point for Hansi Flick's men.

Germany had been comfortably the better side in the early stages, with Serge Gnabry forcing Gianluigi Donnarumma into a smart stop from a tight angle in the 15th minute.

Thomas Muller saw a powerful strike superbly blocked by Alessandro Florenzi shortly before the half-hour mark, while at the other end Scamacca struck the base of Manuel Neuer's right-hand post with an effort from distance.

Scamacca headed wide from a promising position soon after the restart, before Matteo Politano had an effort deflected narrowly wide.

Then 18-year-old debutant Wilfried Gnonto had an almost immediate impact after being introduced in the 65th minute, whipping in a wonderful cross from the right that Pellegrini steered in from close range. 

Italy's lead lasted just three minutes, though, as Kimmich clipped home from 10 yards to ensure the spoils were shared. 

Andy Murray missed out on a place in the Surbiton Trophy final when American Denis Kudla denied the three-time grand slam champion on Saturday.

Murray had won their one previous match emphatically on a hard court in San Diego last year, and he had early control of the semi-final this time at the Challenger Tour event.

However, Murray could not force a second-set breakthrough and lost the tie-break on the way to a 5-7 7-6 (7-4) 6-3 defeat.

The Scot, a title winner at Wimbledon in 2013 and 2016, served 15 aces to Kudla's 12. Murray won just 45 per cent of points on his second serve, though, an area where he will hope to improve as the grass season progresses.

He heads to Stuttgart next week before playing at Queen's Club in the run-up to Wimbledon.

World number 81 Kudla, who reached the third round at Wimbledon last year before losing to Novak Djokovic, said: "This is definitely, probably, the biggest win of my career.

"The conditions were super windy, but in the warm-up I felt I was hitting the ball clean."

Kudla will face Australian Jordan Thompson in Sunday's final and added: "There's something about England and grass, I just feel comfortable and at ease. I feel like a different tennis player after being terrible on clay for two months."

Gareth Southgate was perplexed as to why Hungarian children booed England players when they took the knee before the Three Lions' shock Nations League defeat on Saturday.

Dominik Szoboszlai's second-half penalty gave Hungary a shock 1-0 victory at the Puskas Arena.

The League A Group 3 game was supposed to be played behind closed doors as punishment for racist behaviour in the same stadium during Euro 2020 last year.

Yet children were allowed to attend the game and a crowd of 35,000 watched England's record 22-game unbeaten run come to an end in Budapest.

There were boos when England players took the knee prior to kick-off in the same stadium where some of Southgate's players were subjected to racist abuse during a World Cup qualifier in September.

England manager Southgate told Channel 4: "The first thing is that is why we do it [take the knee], to try to educate people around the world. I have no idea why people would choose to boo that gesture.

"I think very often, young people especially, they can't know why they are doing it really, so they are being influenced by older adults. The UEFA decision [to allow people into the ground], that is for other people to decide.

"I think we've made our stand as a team, everybody knows what we believe and what we stand for. I think tonight, I've got to focus on the football. When you lose, you can't be talking too much about other areas because I think that would be a lack of responsibility for the result."

Southgate said there could be no excuse for a substandard display from England, although he questioned referee Artur Dias' decision to award Hungary a penalty when Reece James was adjudged to have fouled Zsolt Nagy.

"We have to accept that we did not do enough to win the game, a draw would have been the fair outcome," he said. "We did not create too many clear-cut chances and the actual result hinged on a decision which is harsh but probably won't be overturned.

"Once it has been given as a penalty, he probably will not overturn it. You see challenges like that in the box, Reece James puts his body between the ball and the forward makes a meal of it. Away from home sometimes you will get those calls.

"It has [been a long season], but the heat was a factor and took a lot out of the players, and we tried to refresh the team earlier than normal.

"The balance of finding out about new things and the consistency of the regular team, I have to look at whether I got that right.

"I don't want to be too harsh on them, these are games where we need to learn from. They are bitterly disappointed because we want to keep winning matches. If we want to be a team right at the top tier of football, we need to come here and win."

Iga Swiatek said it was "special" to have produced a longer winning run than Serena Williams and ominously vowed she can take her game to another level after triumphing at the French Open.

The world number one outclassed Coco Gauff on Court Philippe-Chatrier to win her second grand slam title, beating the teenager 6-1 6-3.

Swiatek's victory was her 35th in a row, one more than Williams' best winning streak from 2013, and the Pole is the first player to prevail in nine WTA Tour finals in a row.

Venus Williams is the only other woman since the start of 2000 to have reeled off 35 consecutive victories, while Swiatek and Serena Williams are the only women in the same period to have won six titles in the first six months of a year.

Swiatek expressed her pride at having gone one better than superstar Serena.

She said: "It may seem pretty weird, but having that 35th win and kind of doing something more than Serena did, it's something special.

"Because I always wanted to have some kind of a record. In tennis it's pretty hard after Serena's career. So that really hit me.

"Obviously winning a grand slam too, but this one was pretty special because I felt like I've done something that nobody has ever done, and maybe it's gonna be even more. This one was special."

The two-time French Open champion added: "Before the match, before the tournament, I was like, 'Okay, is it going to be even possible to beat Serena's result?'.

"I realised that I would have to be in a final. I was, like, 'Ah, we will see how the first rounds are going to go'. I didn't even think about that before. But right now I feel like the streak is more important. I kind of confirmed my good shape."

Swiatek has been on another level to her rivals this year but says there is room for improvement.

"For sure," she said. "There is always something to improve, honestly. I'm still not a complete player. Especially, I feel like even on the net I could be more solid.

"This is something that Coco actually has, because I think she started working on that much, much earlier than me. There are many things. I'm not going to tell you, because it may sound like I'm concerned about some stuff."

Conor Coady says it was "a massive disappointment" to be booed for taking the knee ahead of England's Nations League loss to Hungary.

The Three Lions were jeered by a crowd mostly composed of young fans in Budapest after they made the gesture just before kick-off at Puskas Arena.

Dominik Szoboszlai's second-half penalty was the only goal of the game as Gareth Southgate's side laboured to a first defeat against their hosts for 60 years.

Saturday's match was originally scheduled to be played behind closed doors following racial abuse aimed towards England players on their last visit in September.

Speaking afterwards, Coady admitted such antagonism saddened him and his team-mates, but they remain undeterred in their commitment to the gesture.

"It's a massive disappointment," he told Channel 4. "It's important people understand why we are trying to do.

"It's not something you want to hear, but we want to keep pushing the message from our point of view."

Elsewhere, Coady acknowledged England must take the lessons of their defeat and turn them around ahead of further Nations League tests and the Qatar 2022 World Cup looming.

"We need to learn very quickly," he added. "We wanted to come here and win, started off quite well and they grew into the game. It's important we bounce back.

"We need to look at ourselves because these are big games. We are always looking to improve."

England now travel to Munich to face Germany next Tuesday before returning to Coady's home ground of Molineux to take on Italy and Hungary once more.

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