Swiss cyclist Gino Mader has died at the age of 26 as the result of injuries suffered in a crash at the Tour de Suisse on Thursday, the Bahrain-Victorious team has announced.

Mader was involved in a high-speed crash on the descent of the Albula Pass late on stage six of the race along with American Magnus Sheffield, with both riders falling into a ravine.

Mader had been found “motionless in the water” according to a race statement, before being resuscitated by race doctors at the scene and airlifted to hospital in Chur.

However, Mader lost his fight for life on Friday morning.

“It is with deep sadness and heavy hearts that we have to announce the passing of Gino Mader,” a team statement said. “On Friday 16th June, following a very serious crash during stage 5 of the Tour de Suisse, Gino lost his battle to recover from the severe injuries he sustained.

“Our entire team is devastated by this tragic accident, and our thoughts and prayers are with Gino’s family and loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.

“Following the high-speed incident which occurred on the final descent of Thursday’s stage, the 26-year-old was resuscitated at the scene by medical staff who also performed CPR, before being airlifted to hospital.

“Despite the best efforts of the phenomenal staff at Chur hospital, Gino couldn’t make it through this, his final and biggest challenge, and at 11:30am we said goodbye to one of the shining lights of our team.”

Sheffield, 21, suffered a concussion and soft tissue damage in the crash, and was kept in hospital overnight for observation, the Ineos Grenadiers said.

Mader, who won a stage of the Giro d’Italia in 2021 and came second overall at the Tour de Romandie last year, was a hugely popular rider in the peloton and news of his death led to an outpouring of tributes.

Geraint Thomas wrote on Twitter: “I can’t believe what I’m reading. Such a sad sad day. Thoughts with everyone who knew and loved Gino.”

Former world champion Alejandro Valverde wrote: “There are no words. Terrible news. My support and love to his colleagues in @BHRVictorious as well as family and friends.”

Bahrain-Victorious managing director Milan Erzen said the team wanted to race on in Mader’s honour.

“We are devastated by the loss of our exceptional cyclist, Gino Mader,” he said. “His talent, dedication, and enthusiasm were an inspiration to us all. Not only was he an extremely talented cyclist, but a great person off the bike.

“We extend our deepest condolences to his family and loved ones, and our thoughts are with them during this difficult time.

“Bahrain Victorious will race in his honour, keeping his memory on every road we race. We are determined to show the spirit and passion Gino displayed, and he will always remain an integral part of our team.”

Race organisers said a doctor was at the scene of the crash within two minutes of it happening. It occurred with 14 kilometres of the 211km stage from Fiesch to La Punt remaining.

After the incident there was immediately criticism of a route that ended with a fast technical descent off the mountain to the finish line.

Former professional Adam Hansen, now president of the cyclists’ union the CPA, wrote on Twitter on Thursday night that such finishes were a “concern for riders” and said he has been working on a presentation to put to governing body the UCI and race organisers to better ensure rider safety.

Archie Watson is gearing up to send his biggest team to Royal Ascot next week, with King’s Stand Stakes contender Bradsell expected to fly the flag for the Upper Lambourn yard.

Last year’s winner of the Coventry Stakes on only his second start, he has run twice this term since finishing fourth in the Group One Phoenix at the Curragh last August.

Both of those outings have seen him finish third, in the Commonwealth Cup Trial at Ascot and the Sandy Lane at Haydock.

Though each of his five career starts have come over six furlongs, Watson is rolling the dice and going back in trip with the son of Tasleet.

He said: “We supplemented him for the King’s Stand. I thought on both his runs this season he travelled very strongly and shaped like a five-furlong horse. He’s run two very solid races and has really sharpened up.

“That is the route we are going and it is very sporting of Sheikh Nasser to supplement him and I’ve been delighted with him at home. Hopefully, he will have a campaign over five furlongs for the rest of the season.”

In only his seventh full season with a licence, having previously been an assistant to William Haggas, Watson has built a formidable CV which includes Ascot victories in the Windsor Castle Stakes, British Champions Sprint and the Coventry.

Glen Shiel provided Watson with his first Group One winner in 2020, two years after Soldier’s Call had scored in the Windsor Castle. And he will send another top juvenile team to the Berkshire venue, with Army Ethos tackling the Coventry, carrying the same colours as Bradsell for Victorious Racing and Fawzi Nass.

An easy three-and-a-quarter-length winner on debut at Ayr, Watson said: “He is a very nice colt. Ayr was always the plan and he won his race nicely.

“I think a lot of him. Obviously it looks a very strong Coventry on paper with Aidan’s horse (River Tiber), but I’m sure he will run a very good race and then go on to be a proper six-furlong stakes horse this year.”

Action Point, the first winner for first-season sire Blue Point, will run in the Windsor Castle, having won on debut and then finished runner-up to Maximum Impact at Ascot.

Watson said: “He’s a very nice horse, who has come on a lot physically from his last run.

“Reveiller, who won at Salisbury a couple of weekends ago, will go to the Norfolk and Lightning Leo, who won a strong-looking seven-furlong race at Yarmouth, goes to the Chesham, all being well.

“Aaddeey will go to the Copper Horse. He has done nothing wrong and won nicely on his first start for us. He probably would prefer a bit of cut in the ground, but I’m sure it will be lovely racing ground there.

“We are very lucky to have 15 or so horses going there. None of them are going to be favourites. They are 12-1 to 20-1 shots at a minimum, but I’m very happy with them all and they all deserve to be there, so fingers crossed.”

Norway manager Stale Solbakken joked that if Jack Grealish could train for England then he has no cause to worry about Erling Haaland’s treble celebrations ahead of Saturday’s clash with Scotland.

Solbakken understood the need for Haaland to revel in his success with Manchester City after last weekend’s Champions League final.

Solbakken has taken it easy with Haaland this week, more concerned with ensuring the striker recharges, and believes a homecoming welcome will lift his star man during the Euro 2024 qualifier in Oslo.

City celebrated in Ibiza after their Istanbul success against Inter before continuing the party on a bus parade in Manchester on Monday with Grealish throwing himself wholeheartedly into the fun.

When asked what the Norwegian people made of the scenes ahead of a big international, Solbakken said: “I think everyone understands that and I also think it’s a good idea to do that.

“Because, no matter how good you are, if you say (Pep) Guardiola is the best manager in the world and he has managed to do this treble once in Spain, once time in England, even when he had the best players representing the biggest clubs with the biggest budgets, you could think this would happen more often. But it doesn’t because it’s so, so difficult.

“And I don’t think you can postpone a celebration like that. You can’t say ‘let’s meet up in the summer when these national games are over and we party’. It’s not the same because the excitement is a little bit out of your body and you have to do it then.

“When he came here, he didn’t look like he had gone the Grealish way. If Grealish managed to train for England the first time, he should also manage to do it for us.”

Only one of Haaland’s 53 goals this season has come on the international stage but the 22-year-old has not played for his country since September and Solbakken believes an excited home crowd will help him overcome his heavy schedule.

“The biggest gift in that is the love the crowd will give him because it’s a long time since he has played in Norway and he didn’t participate in the two internationals earlier this year,” the former Wolves and Copenhagen manager said.

“Obviously the Norwegian people have seen him on telly for a long time without seeing him live. I think he has had one game here in a year.

“So that will probably pump him up and give him the five to 10 per cent he probably lacks due to the programme he has been through and all the feelings and emotions he has been through as well.”

Haaland was missed in March as Norway took one point from their opening two Group A games against Spain and Georgia, while Scotland sealed maximum return.

On the game, Solbakken said: “It’s more crucial for us than Scotland of course but no matter what, before the group started, this would always have been a key game.

“But it’s more that Scotland have had a really great start. I think we played two really good games but what messed it up a little bit, even though we only got one point, is that Scotland beat Spain.

“That means it looks much better for us if we can beat you and everyone is beating each other. If we win, also Spain are in trouble, because it’s two teams who can catch them.”

Fifty-one years of Wembley hurt was extinguished for Salford in the most bittersweet way in 2020 when supporters were locked out of their side’s first Challenge Cup final appearance since 1969 due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

It is sure to be an additional incentive for Paul Rowley’s buoyant side as they head into Saturday lunchtime’s quarter-final against Hull KR at Craven Park with arguably their best opportunity yet to re-converge on the sport’s most enduring showpiece.

For the second consecutive season, Rowley’s Red Devils have shattered expectations and head into their last-eight clash against their injury-plagued opponents on the back of seven wins out of eight and sitting just two points off the Super League summit.

“It’s a rare occurrence for Salford to get to any cup final, so to do it when there are crowd restrictions, it would have been easy to fall into that trap of thinking it’s always us, and we’re unlucky as a club maybe,” said Rowley.

“It would be fantastic for the fans to experience what they were robbed of last time. But we really try and just focus on our jobs. It’s important we just stick to the task and don’t get derailed or carried away, and you just hope we take the opportunities when they come to us.”

Salford’s unfortunate recent history in the Challenge Cup can also be traced back to 1998, their best chance to repeat their previous final appearance, when they were edged out in the dying seconds of their semi-final by underdogs and eventual winners Sheffield Eagles.

Painful reminders of the importance of not getting carried away are illustrated on the balance sheet, which show Salford operating one of the tightest budgets in Super League.

They recently launched a community share offer scheme in a bid to become the top-flight’s first wholly fan-owned club.

In that context on-field results have been remarkable, as Rowley’s men have built on last year’s run to the play-off semi-finals with an expressive style of rugby that has won plaudits and points in equal measure, and which included a 26-16 win over Rovers two weeks ago at Magic Weekend.

For Rowley, a Wembley appearance would be a timely reward for the successes his current squad are fashioning against the odds on an almost weekly basis, as well as a welcome profile boost in an increasingly tough financial climate.

“There are no silver spoons at this club,” added Rowley. “We don’t have a carpet rolled out and we go into a rusty old gym and a team room that has nothing posh about it.

“Keeping our feet on the ground is never a difficult proposition. But as one of the old school people, the Challenge Cup was the thing you dreamed about growing up.

“The history and heritage that goes with it is something quite remarkable, and it’s something we want to continue. This is the first of three opportunities to win a trophy and I’d like any sort of success for this group because I think it’s a special one.”

Reading have been charged by the EFL with multiple breaches of its financial regulations for repeatedly failing to pay their players in the 2022-23 season.

The charges relate to three separate occasions on which players’ wages were not paid on time and in full as the team were relegated from the Championship.

Owner Dai Yongge has also been charged with allowing the club to be in breach of the EFL’s financial rules.

Reading were docked six points in April for breaking profit and sustainability rules which ultimately led to them finishing in the bottom three and dropping into League One.

Manager Paul Ince was sacked later that month with the club on a winless run of eight games.

He was replaced by interim boss Noel Hunt who failed to win any of his five matches in charge.

An EFL statement read: “The charges relate to the club failing to meet their obligations to pay its players’ wages on time and in full on or around 31 October 2022, 30 November 2022 and 28 April 2023.

“Yongge Dai, the club’s owner, has also been charged with causing the club to be in breach of EFL regulations despite his commitment to fund the cash requirements of the club.

“The club and Mr Dai have until 4pm on Thursday 29 June 2023 to respond to the charges.”

Zak Crawley punched the first ball of the much-awaited Ashes through the covers for four but England’s progress was stymied within the first half hour by Ben Duckett’s dismissal at Edgbaston.

The opening exchange of this series has frequently gone Australia’s way, from Steve Harmison’s alarming wide in 2006 to Rory Burns being bowled round his legs by Mitchell Starc 18 months ago.

Australia’s decision to omit Starc – with Josh Hazlewood returning to the line-up – led to captain Pat Cummins taking the new ball and he served up a full and wide delivery that was clattered by Crawley.

An expectant crowd roared their approval as the ball raced away to the boundary, with Crawley and Duckett settling quickly to vindicate Ben Stokes’ decision to bat first under gloriously sunny skies.

The first hint of trouble came when Duckett (12) inside edged Hazlewood for his second four but his luck immediately ran out. Hazlewood continued to dangle the carrot, sticking to a fuller and wider line which this time drew a thin outside edge that was gratefully accepted by wicketkeeper Alex Carey.

Crawley, despite speculation about his place in the side after a lean run of form, and Ollie Pope continued to keep England ticking at more than four an over, prompting Cummins to turn to Nathan Lyon’s off-spin in the 10th over.

After Lyon’s opening foray, England were on 47 for one after Crawley (22 not out) clattered the off-spinner authoritatively just wide of mid-off for his third four.

QPR director of football Les Ferdinand has stepped down from the role.

Ferdinand, 56, spent eight years as a player at the club and returned to Loftus Road in 2014, initially as head of football operations.

QPR were relegated from the Premier League in 2015 and have spent the last eight years in the Championship, narrowly avoiding relegation last season.

Ferdinand told the club’s official website: “This has not been an easy decision. My life is football, I love football and I want to stay in football, but I do feel this is the right time for me to step down from my position here.

“Everyone knows how special Queens Park Rangers is to me and it has been a privilege to be back at the club.

“There have been challenging times and I have had to make some very difficult decisions but every decision I have made has been with the best interests of the club at heart.”

QPR appointed Gareth Ainsworth as head coach in February after sacking Neil Critchley, who lasted just 12 games in the role.

Critchley had replaced Michael Beale, who left Loftus Road in November to become Rangers manager having guided QPR to seventh in the table.

QPR chairman Amit Bhatia added: “In an industry where individuals with genuine authenticity and integrity appear to be scarce, Les’ sincerity and honesty have always set him apart, and have made him so special and so valued by the board.”

New signing Sam Lammers is hoping to become “settled” at Rangers in the coming years after spending much of his time as an Atalanta player out on loan.

The 26-year-old forward joined the Serie A side three years ago from PSV Eindhoven but he made just one start for the Bergamo outfit and was farmed out three times, to Eintracht Frankfurt, Empoli and Sampdoria.

Having signed a four-year contract with Rangers, Lammers is confident he will be given a proper chance to establish himself at Ibrox as he bids to get his career back on track.

“This is what I’ve been searching for,” he told Sky Sports. “After this season I made it clear for myself that I wanted a new place to settle down, a new home because even last year I was at two clubs and before that I was on loan in Germany.

“I think now is time to settle somewhere and it’s good to sign a permanent deal with Rangers. The confidence of the club is key for me to sign.

“Coming into a new country is not easy. When you go from Holland to Italy it’s a change of language, a change of culture and everything.

“It gets easier but you feel at home after one year or six months, you need time to settle, and it didn’t happen for me in the last two years so I’m happy that I have the possibility to do that here.”

During his first loan spell at Eintracht Frankfurt, Lammers encountered the Rangers support for the first time. The Dutchman was an unused sub for the Bundesliga side as they defeated the Gers on penalties in the Europa League final in Seville just over a year ago.

“When we got to the final, it felt as if it was the best-supported clubs of the Europa League colliding,” said Lammers.

“It was, from both sides, very impressive. At that game you could see how big the club is and how it lives here in Scotland also.”

Lammers has scored only 27 career goals, the majority of which came on loan at Heerenveen in 2018-19. However, he insists his game is about more than just scoring.

“I know for a striker the main target is to score a lot of goals and I know I can do that also,” he said. “I’m aware of this being a big part of being a striker and this is also my goal at Rangers to do that, but I’m not a typical striker who is only hanging inside the box for his one or two chances.

“I want to help the team, I can drop out of the striker position. With my legs you would expect me maybe to be a target man but that’s not what I am.

“I want to score more goals again because I know I have it in me. In the past I scored a lot of goals then in the last couple of years not so much, but sometimes in the clubs I was at it wasn’t easy as you didn’t get a lot of chances.

“I think the attacking style of play at Rangers also fits me.”

Ipswich manager Kieran McKenna has signed a new four-year deal after guiding the club to promotion to the Sky Bet Championship in his first full season in charge.

Ex-Manchester United coach McKenna earned plenty of admirers following a goal-laden 2022-23 campaign, but has committed his future to Ipswich.

“I’ve loved almost every minute of my time at the club so far and it’s a proud and joyous day to be able to extend my stay,” McKenna told the official club website.

“I look forward to leading the club in the challenges ahead. It’s clear to see the club is ambitious and moving in a positive direction, but we need to work hard each day to keep going.

“We have fantastic support, great owners, a really strong board and a staff and group of players who are fighting to keep pushing the club forward.

“That’s great to be a part of and I’m really looking forward to the next steps.”

McKenna, a one-time Tottenham trainee, took over at Ipswich at the end of 2021 on a three-and-a-half-year deal, but his new terms keep him contracted to the club until 2027.

Seminal moments have been slow in coming to Odsal in recent years and opinions are split over whether Thursday night’s first match trialling a new rugby league tackle law represented a significant step in the fight against concussion or an idea the sport should swiftly forget.

The crumbling venue, witness to World Cup ties and a record six-figure Challenge Cup crowd in 1954, hosted the first match in an initial eight-week experiment at academy level which bars tackles above armpit height at first contact, and penalises all contact with the head at neck.

The match between the respective under-18 teams of Bradford and Leeds, which was won by the latter 50-32, featured the expected stratospheric penalty count, with 57 interventions by referee Matthew Lynn overall, including 49 for high tackles.

The trial is part of a bid to reduce the number of concussions in the game, with the intention, if it is backed up by data, of enshrining the new tackle technique in law across both community and academy fixtures in the game, though not at the elite level.

Bradford head of youth Ryan Hunkin said: “I went in open-minded, I didn’t know what it would be like, and I don’t think it was as bad as people were expecting.

“We knew there would be more penalties and they had more energy at half-time than normal because of the stop-start nature, but kids adapt. It’s the ideal age for them to try it because they adapt quickly at this age, and they soon pick it up.”

Both teams gave away two penalties each in the opening two sets, including in the first tackle of the game, and rumblings of discontent were clear among the players and the handful of spectators in the cavernous old stadium.

The inevitable stalls in momentum were mitigated by the opportunity for a more expansive game, with both sides tending to limit themselves to two men in the tackle, for fear that a third would inevitably incur another penalty.

Striking the right balance is crucial for Hunkin, who added: “As a spectacle I don’t think it was where it will be in eight weeks. It’s a start, and we’ve got to start somewhere. But it’s a contact sport and we want to try and keep it a contact sport.”

Rugby league’s approach to lowering concussion levels in the sport differs markedly from the approach of rugby union, which sparked controversy with its out-of-the-blue announcement in January that it was lowering the allowed tackle height to below the waist in all forms of the community game from July.

The backlash was such that the Rugby Football Union subsequently amended its new tackle height to below the sternum, although there remains resistance to the changes that are due to come into force next month.

While league officials hope their more inclusive move will ensure broader backing within the game, there is clearly concern in some quarters, and Hunkin’s counterpart at Leeds, John Bastian, reflected a markedly more measured response to the trial among the Rhinos backroom staff.

“I understand what the RFL are doing but something has to be better than that for us to make our sport safer because that is very, very difficult to watch and play in,” said Bastian.

“It was very complex for both teams and very complicated to play any rugby with any skill or momentum. The rules are being challenged by the Rugby Football League. That’s fine but it made the rules more complicated tonight.”

There was also an acknowledgement of the huge task facing officials in calling near-constant infractions in the tackle while maintaining a focus on other aspects of the game.

Elite referee Marcus Griffiths, who is effectively leading the roll-out from an officials’ perspective, praised the performance of Lynn, but stressed the importance of respecting the difficulties faced by referees in rolling out the new rules.

“It’s a massive ask to referee that way because we’re taught certain ways of identifying tackles and foul play, and we’re having to adapt too,” said Griffiths.

“He’s done an amazing job. It was challenging at times out there, and it’s a massive learning curve. At times, we’re going to need arms around officials because it’s challenging.

“To go out and give 57 penalties, it’s frustrating and at times you’re going to have players taking out their frustrations on you.”

Jason Robinson insists England must look to his 2007 runners-up rather than the triumphant vintage of 2003 for inspiration to drive their World Cup quest this autumn.

Either France, Ireland, South Africa or New Zealand are tipped to become champions in what is expected to be the fiercest battle yet for the global crown currently held by the Springboks.

England, meanwhile, are outsiders as Steve Borthwick continues to find his feet, having taken over an under-performing side from the sacked Eddie Jones in September.

Managing only two wins in the recent Six Nations has done little to rouse hopes, but Robinson recalls the 2007 tournament as an example of how quickly a team’s fortunes can be reversed.

“The reality is that England have got a better group than most and they’ve got to top it. And then when you get into the knockout stage it’s anybody’s,” Robinson, the Asahi Super Dry ambassador for the 2023 World Cup, told the PA news agency.

“I don’t think there has ever been a World Cup where there are so many teams in contention and I would say England are in the mix, but they are going to have to build some form.

“I would never have said we’d get to the final in 2007 with the form that we had in the lead up to it, not a chance. We were playing crap.

“We limped through the pool stages in 2007, getting beaten 36-0 by South Africa. I pulled my hamstring in that game. It was a real slap in the face for us.

“While we didn’t have form in the team, we still had some good players. The defeat against South Africa was the shock we needed.

“We got through the pool and then we found some form against Australia in the quarters. We beat France who were hosts and suddenly we were in the final. We could have won that too had Mark Cueto (who had a try controversially disallowed after it was ruled his left foot had made contact with the touchline) not had six toes!

“What happened to us in 2007 gives hope. It can be done – in sport you can turn things around in a very short space of time.

“Sometimes you get written off and you’ve got to take that on the chin and try to find a way to win.

“This England team have got some great players, but they’ve got to find form and also find the way they want to play.”

Robinson played in both the 2003 and 2007 World Cup finals and, although he was part of the greatest side to emerge from these shores, he sees the semi-final victory over New Zealand four years ago as the finest single performance.

The All Blacks were flattened 19-7 on a dramatic night in Yokohama that saw the tone set through a defiant response to the Haka.

“While we won the World Cup in 2003, England’s game against New Zealand in 2019 is the best I’ve ever seen an England team play. That’s the standout England game for me,” cross-code star Robinson said.

“I was blown away by how England approached the game. I’ve never seen New Zealand dominated like that before.

“We mixed up our game so well. We were physical, we played smart, we played around them, we played through them. When I watched it I thought ‘wow’.”

:: Asahi Super Dry is offering fans a host of beyond expected experiences, including tickets to the sold-out tournament, through retail promotional packs and QR codes on pint glasses in pubs, bars, restaurants nationwide.

Tiger Woods won the US Open when he defeated Rocco Mediate at the first hole of sudden death after the pair could not be separated over an 18-hole play-off, on this day in 2008.

Woods forced the play-off at Torrey Pines when he converted a 15-foot birdie putt on 18 which saw the pair tied on one under after four rounds in California.

Mediate, who was bidding to become the oldest US Open winner at 45, led by one on the final tee but Woods drew level when he produced a birdie for the tie to be decided by sudden death.

Mediate missed a putt to save par and bogeyed the first hole which saw Woods take advantage and seal his 14th major victory on the same day he celebrated 500 weeks as world number one.

Woods admitted the 2008 US Open was his greatest victory to date having recovered from knee surgery two months prior and suffering with pain throughout the tournament.

“I don’t know how it even got this far but I’m very, very fortunate to have played 91 holes and come out on top,” Wood said.

“I think this is the best, just because of all the things I had to deal with.

“It’s a close one with the first (major) that I won (at the 1997 Masters).

“I dealt with a few things this week and just had to keep plugging along.

“I wasn’t feeling my best, I didn’t get off to the greatest of starts and when I finally got off to a good start (in the play-off), I screwed that up by finding the bunker on three.”

Shohei Ohtani pitched six strong innings and continued his home run barrage with his 22nd of the season in the Los Angeles Angels’ 5-3 win over the Texas Rangers on Thursday.

The Japanese superstar held the AL West-leading Rangers to two runs and six hits in six innings and belted a two-run homer off reliever Brock Burke in the eighth inning to extend the Angels’ lead to 5-2.

Ohtani tied Pete Alonso of the New York Mets for the major league home run lead with his seventh in 10 games. He is batting .489 (22 of 45) with 16 RBIs during a 12-game hitting streak.

Chad Wallach homered in the second inning and Mickey Moniak snapped a seventh-inning tie with a blast off Rangers ace Nathan Eovaldi to put the Angels on top to stay.

Angels closer Carlos Estevez walked the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth and had to be replaced by Jacob Webb, who got the first two outs before walking in a run. Webb then struck out Adolis Garcia to end it, giving Los Angeles its ninth win in 11 games.

In a marquee pitching matchup, both Ohtani and Eovaldi didn’t disappoint.

Eovaldi was bidding to become the second 10-game winner in the majors, but instead lost for the first time since April 12. He surrendered three runs and five hits over seven innings, walking two and striking out nine.

Phillies edge Diamondbacks to move over .500

The defending National League champion Philadelphia Phillies went back over the .500 mark for the first time in more than a month with a 5-4 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks.

Bryson Stott hit his second home run in three games to back 6 2/3 strong innings from Aaron Nola to help Philadelphia win for the 10th time in 12 games and improve to 35-34.

Arizona scored four runs in the third inning to take a 4-3 lead, but the Phillies went ahead for good in the fourth on run-scoring hits from Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper.

Every Philadelphia starter had at least one hit, with two each from Stott, Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Alec Bohm.

Rays beat Athletics to reach 50 wins

Luke Raley hit a go-ahead home run in the eighth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays edged the Oakland Athletics 4-3 to become the first team to win 50 games.

Manuel Margot also went deep, and rookie Taj Bradley struck out the first six Oakland batters and 11 in all as Tampa Bay gained a split of the four-game series.

The Athletics loaded the bases with no outs in the seventh, but Jake Diekman got Seth Brown to ground into a double play and struck out Brent Rooker to keep the game tied at 3.

Nevada governor Joe Lombardo signed into law Thursday a $380 million public financing package to help build a stadium for the Athletics on the Las Vegas strip. The team said in a statement the Nevada governor’s signing of the funding package was “a significant step forward in securing a new home for the Athletics.”