The launch of Premiership Women’s Rugby has been hailed as a “new era” with the aim of making England home to the most “competitive, progressive and sustainable” domestic rugby competition in the world, says chief executive Belinda Moore.

PWR is replacing the Premier 15s and will manage the Allianz Premiership Women’s Rugby club competition, which kicks off in the autumn.

PWR has been established to deliver a 10-year strategy for women’s rugby in England, which includes starting a new 10-team league in partnership with the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and the clubs.

Women’s rugby is already seeing a steady rise in popularity with a record crowd of 9,668 watching Gloucester-Hartpury beat Exeter 34-19 in the Allianz Premier 15s final at ‘Queensholm’ – Kingsholm having been rebranded for the day – on Saturday.

Additionally, a record-breaking crowd of 58,498 watched England lift their fifth successive Six Nations crown after beating France at Twickenham in April, and PWR chief Moore has outlined the aims for the new competition.

She said: “Our ambition is to transform the league into the world’s most competitive, progressive, and sustainable domestic rugby competition.

“Elite women’s rugby in England has never been in a stronger place. We have just seen Gloucester-Hartpury win the Allianz Premier 15s with a thrilling victory over Exeter Chiefs, in front of a record crowd at the newly-named Queensholm.

“The final was the culmination of a season which has confirmed that we have strong player talent depth as the foundation to grow the league over the next decade.

“The new era starts today, and the competition’s new look and feel is designed to be powerful, dynamic, and eye-catching.

“It aims to capture the excitement and high energy of the league, the players, the fans, and the sport as a whole.”

Manchester United supporters blocked the entrance to the club’s Megastore on Tuesday to protest against the Glazer family amid the ongoing ownership saga.

Sheikh Jassim and Sir Jim Ratcliffe have tabled rival bids to take over the Old Trafford club.

But fans are growing frustrated over the progress of the process, which started last November when the Glazers announced their intentions to sell.

The protest was organised by fans’ group The 1958 and timed to coincide with the launch of the team’s new home kit.

Ratcliffe’s bid is designed to enable the Glazers to maintain some element of interest in the club, while the Qatari group is targeting a 100 per cent buy-out.

Announcing the protest on Monday evening, The 1958 posted on Twitter: “Everyone has a part to play in this battle against Glazer. For you, for us, for each other.”

Preston midfielder Daniel Johnson will leave the club when his contract expires at the end of the month.

The Jamaica international had been in discussions over a new deal with the Deepdale club but has now told them that he wants a new challenge.

He has made more than 300 appearances and scored 57 goals since arriving from Aston Villa in 2015.

Manager Ryan Lowe told the club’s website: “We’re disappointed but DJ wants a new challenge.

“I had a fantastic relationship with DJ and all the players did and I’m sure all the fans did too, but sometimes people want fresh challenges and that’s what DJ’s told us he wants to do, and we have to respect that decision.

“It’s disappointing because of what he’s done here over the years and we’d have liked to have had a better send off for him, if this was going to be the case.

“We’ve been in dialogue with him for a long time regarding him staying. We’ve done everything we possibly can to keep him, but we wish DJ all the best as he moves on to a new venture.”

The 30-year-old helped Preston win promotion from League One after arriving midway through the 2014-15 season and has been a feature of their midfield during eight years of mostly midtable finishes in the Championship.

He has been capped eight times by Jamaica since making his debut in 2020.

The 2023 Women's World Cup will be the "biggest ever", according to the European Club Association (ECA) head of women's football Claire Bloomfield.

Australia and New Zealand will host the tournament across July and August, with 32 teams competing in the competition for the first time in its history.

With women's football in a stronger position than ever before, Bloomfield is confident this year's World Cup will prove to be the best yet.

"This is undoubtedly going to be the biggest Women's World Cup ever," Bloomfield told Stats Perform at the inaugural ECA Women's Football Summit in London.

"You heard the FIFA chief of women's football, Sarai Bareman, talking about what a landmark occasion this was going to be. We have an extremely close alliance with FIFA, particularly through the extension of our new MOU, which references women's football for the first time.

"So we fully support the work that is going on to deliver this record-breaking World Cup.

"It's obviously an incredible showcase also for the players who are playing at European clubs, likely to be a record number of players from Europe, I'm sure.

"We will actually be travelling out to Australia and New Zealand to experience the competition and use it as an opportunity to strengthen our relationships with national teams and other stakeholders."

Bloomfield also emphasised the importance of the inaugural ECA summit for women's football.

"This is a hugely significant landmark for ECA and for women's club football across Europe. We're really fortunate to have the leadership in our chairman, Nasser Al-Khelaifi and our ECA CEO Charlie Marshall, who truly believe in women's football," she said.

"And it's with this passion that they have all sought to drive women's football forwards that we're able to put on an event like this and bring stakeholders from all around the world to be with us as we celebrate the achievements of our women's football strategy so far."

The 2023 Women's World Cup starts on July 20, with co-hosts New Zealand taking on Norway.

Connections of Shaquille are keen to let the dust settle on his popular success at Royal Ascot, with a decision on his July Cup participation to be made closer to the time.

The three-year-old recovered from a tardy start to provide trainer Julie Camacho and her husband and assistant Steve Brown with a first taste of Group One success in Friday’s Commonwealth Cup.

There did not appear to be any fluke about the Charm Spirit colt’s defeat of hot favourite Little Big Bear in Berkshire and Brown admits the success has left the team in North Yorkshire on cloud nine.

“We’re back to reality, but obviously everyone is still on a high and there’s a great feel to the yard, which is wonderful. We’re looking forward to the next chapter, hopefully,” he said.

“We’ll plan to have a proper party at some stage. We had brunch on Monday morning for the staff and thanked them for their efforts and made them understand how important they are in all of this.

“It’s a bit of a whirlwind, but it’s a lovely feeling and one we hope we can replicate again soon.”

Brown reports Shaquille to have taken his exertions well, although he will not return to work until later in the week.

He added: “He’s come back really well, he’s in good form. He’s incredibly straightforward, physically and mentally he’s a very strong horse.

“That’s the one thing I’ve said throughout – we’ve never seen this horse look tired. He came back and he’s enjoyed a few days turned out in his paddock for a couple of hours a day and he’ll probably start some cantering exercise towards the end of the week.

“We like our horses to have a good recovery after they’ve run and Wednesday is physio day so he’ll be checked over to make sure everything is A1 before we start again.”

Brown admits he thought Shaquille had blown his chances of Royal Ascot success after rearing up just as the stalls opened and feels the coolness of jockey Oisin Murphy played a huge part in his recovery.

He said: “Your natural reaction is ‘this isn’t going to work out’ when you see a horse concede that amount of ground, but Oisin was just perfect on him, wasn’t he?

“He showed a wise head, really didn’t rush him and the performance came from the fact that the jockey was eminently sensible and every move he made was the correct one. I think without that we wouldn’t have won the race, so great credit to Oisin.”

Shaquille will be campaigned exclusively at Group One level for the rest of the season, with Newmarket’s July Cup, the Prix Maurice de Gheest at Deauville in August, the Sprint Cup at Haydock in September and the Qipco British Champions Sprint back at Ascot in October all in the melting pot.

“The July Cup is the next thing on the map. It comes around quite quickly and it’s one of those situations where you’ll know where you are in 10 days time as you’ll learn how looks and how he feels in himself. You can make a more informed decision closer to the time,” Brown went on.

“He’s obviously in it and he’s a leading fancy for the race. There’s three more domestic Group Ones and it might not be the worst thing in the world if you just concentrated on them, but obviously you’ve got the French race in early August as well.

“With any horse you need to be flexible with your thoughts, but those are the four races I think we’ll be looking at and we’ll just try to get him in the best possible shape for wherever he goes.

“I don’t think we’ll be going further afield at this moment in time. He’s still a young horse who is still maturing physically and mentally. I think we need to be sensible and recognise that.”

With Shaquille now a Group One-winning colt, there is bound to be interest from prospective buyers, but Brown revealed no firm offers have been made at this stage.

Brown said: “There’s been two or three expressions of interest in him, but no more than that at this moment in time that I’m aware of.

“I think that’s natural now we’ve moved into that sort of field. At the moment we’re just concentrating on his next race.”

England have decided to go with an all-seam attack for the second Ashes Test against Australia, but surprisingly selected Josh Tongue as the fourth seamer.

Moeen Ali, who struggled with a burst blister on his right index finger at Edgbaston, is left out in the only change from the narrow two-wicket defeat in the series opener.

All-rounder Moeen appeared to allay any concerns over his fitness by taking a full part in Monday’s net session, but captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have chosen to go with four seamers at Lord’s.

Tongue is preferred to the express pace of Mark Wood, who has not played Test cricket since December.

Seamers Chris Woakes and Matthew Potts were also overlooked.

Worcestershire bowler Tongue only made his Test debut against Ireland earlier this month but impressed with a maiden five-wicket haul and relished his chance to be the enforcer with a string of first-innings bouncers on a slow pitch at Lord’s.

England could have picked teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, called up to the squad on Friday, had they wanted to go with another spin option, but have opted for Tongue and will rely on Joe Root’s part-time off-breaks in their efforts to level the series in London.

England have decided to go with an all-seam attack for the second Ashes Test against Australia, but surprisingly selected Josh Tongue as the fourth seamer.

Moeen Ali, who struggled with a burst blister on his right index finger at Edgbaston, is left out in the only change from the narrow two-wicket defeat in the series opener.

All-rounder Moeen appeared to allay any concerns over his fitness by taking a full part in Monday’s net session, but captain Ben Stokes and head coach Brendon McCullum have chosen to go with four seamers at Lord’s.

Tongue is preferred to the express pace of Mark Wood, who has not played Test cricket since December.

Seamers Chris Woakes and Matthew Potts were also overlooked.

Worcestershire bowler Tongue only made his Test debut against Ireland earlier this month but impressed with a maiden five-wicket haul and relished his chance to be the enforcer with a string of first-innings bouncers on a slow pitch at Lord’s.

England could have picked teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed, called up to the squad on Friday, had they wanted to go with another spin option, but have opted for Tongue and will rely on Joe Root’s part-time off-breaks in their efforts to level the series in London.

Gavin Cromwell is eyeing a possible crack at the Debutante Stakes before bidding for Group One glory in the Moyglare Stud Stakes with his Royal Ascot winner Snellen.

The unbeaten filly just held on in a tight finish from Aidan O’Brien’s Pearls And Rubies in the Chesham over seven furlongs on Saturday.

Incredibly she was just Cromwell’s second Royal Ascot runner, with the first, Quick Suzy, winning the Queen Mary in 2021.

“It was great, pinch yourself kind of stuff really, to be honest. Very exciting and enjoyable, and a brilliant experience,” said Cromwell.

“She came home fine, 100 per cent. We’ll give a little break for a few weeks and we’ll make a plan.

“She’s entered in the Moyglare (September 10, Curragh) and has the Debutante (August 19, Curragh) as an option on the way as well. She’s home safe and sound and that’s the main thing.

“Ascot is a brilliant place and its very special to win there. Quick Suzy won there two years ago and there was only a small crowd after covid.

“There was a full house on Saturday and a massive atmosphere. It was a big occasion.

“We’re two from two there now so I’ll have to be very selective to keep up that strike-rate!”

Tottenham have announced Ange Postecoglou’s coaching staff with Ryan Mason staying on at the club in an assistant coach capacity.

Former Spurs midfielder Mason took charge of the final six matches of the 2022-23 campaign, but doubts were cast over his long-term future.

Mason, 32, repeatedly stated his readiness for management during his second interim stint with his old side.

However, the once-capped England international will remain at Tottenham as part of Postecoglou’s backroom set-up.

Spurs have also recruited a number of other coaches to work with their new manager with Chris Davies, formerly Brendan Rodgers’ assistant at Leicester, named as senior assistant coach.

Former Crystal Palace and Australia midfielder Mile Jedinak will begin work with Tottenham on July 1 as an assistant coach and Matt Wells, who returned to the club to help Mason during his interim spell, will remain involved in the first-team set-up.

Rob Burch makes a return to Spurs as goalkeeper coach following spells with Fulham and Bournemouth.

Ebor-winning jockey Louis Steward has announced that he will retire from race-riding after an 11-year career in the saddle.

Steward, 27, started as an apprentice and achieved plenty of success, including winning the Cambridgeshire and the Balmoral Handicap with Bronze Angel in 2014 for Marcus Tregoning.

Steward amassed close to 200 winners in his career, with a season-best of 37 in 2014, the year he partnered Mutual Regard to a 20-1 success in the valuable Ebor Handicap at York for Johnny Murtagh.

Michael Bell, for whom he rode 42 winners, was a staunch ally, although fellow Newmarket trainer Sir Michael Stoute provided Steward with his first Listed-race success when Sextant took the Stand Cup Stakes at Chester in the royal colours in 2019.

He also earned another Pattern-race success earlier this month when White Moonlight took the Listed Queen Of Scots Fillies’ Stakes at Musselburgh for Saeed bin Suroor.

“After some long and careful thoughts I’ve decided my time in the saddle has come to an end,” Steward announced on Twitter.

“Thank you to everyone from my family, friends, owners, trainers and the stable staff that have given me some wonderful memories that I’ll never forget. Looking forward to the next chapter!”

After losing the first Test at Edgbaston, England will be looking to level the Ashes when the second Test starts at Lord’s on Wednesday.

The Home of Cricket has staged 37 Ashes Test matches since 1884 with Australia holding a fine track record at the ground.

Here, the PA news agency takes a look at some of the main moments of Ashes history at Lord’s.

Home of the urn

The top prize up for grabs, England and Australia are vying to lift the small urn at the conclusion of the series.

The name “Ashes” was coined when England lost to Australia for the first time on home soil in 1882 and the Sporting Times published an obituary of English cricket, stating: “the body will be cremated and the ashes taken to Australia”.

England captain Hon Ivo Bligh vowed to “return the ashes” while on tour to Australia and was gifted a terracotta urn while away.

Although its contents are debated, the urn is said to contain the ashes of a bail and Bligh kept it until his death in 1927 when it was subsequently donated to the MCC.

The original urn can be seen at the MCC Museum at Lord’s and the winner of the Ashes will lift a replica along with the urn-shaped Waterford Crystal trophy introduced in the 1998-99 series.

Early history

The first Ashes Test at Lord’s took place in 1884 when Allan Steele’s 148 put England in the driving seat along with George Ulyett’s seven wickets to earn victory by an innings and five runs.

Another win followed in 1886, but Australia picked up their first success in 1888 after a low-scoring affair saw Charlie Turner shine with the ball and take 10 wickets across the match.

England then earned a six-wicket win in 1896, but it would be their last at Lord’s until 1934.

Clem Hill and Victor Gregory’s contribution of 135 each set Australia up for a 10-wicket win in 1899 and victories swiftly followed in 1909 and 1921.

Australian great Don Bradman then made his mark on English soil in 1930 with an incredible double century of 254, which led to the touring party declaring on 729 for six and easing to a six-wicket win.

Advantage Australia?

Centuries from Les Ames and Maurice Leyland gave England an innings victory in 1934, but Lord’s has certainly since been advantage Australia with the visitors exerting a 75-year period of dominance.

After drawing in 1938, Australia won by 409 runs in 1948 and went on to pick up another eight victories until 2009 when England finally broke their losing run.

Their last win at the ground came in 2015 when a huge double century from Steve Smith in the first innings allowed Australia to set England a target of 509 in the second innings, but they crumbled to 103 all out.

Australia’s overall Test record at the Home of Cricket makes for far better reading with the tourists winning 16 matches compared to England’s six, while 15 draws have taken place between both sides.

Lord’s Heroes

Alongside Bradman’s mammoth knock in 1930, Lord’s has thrown up plenty of memorable Ashes moments with most being in Australia’s favour.

Allan Border put on an impressive batting display with a first innings 196 to guide his team to victory in 1985.

Working with Greg Ritchie (94), the pair dragged their side back into the game from 101 for four to 398 for seven by the time the Australian captain was dismissed, setting them on track for a four-wicket win.

Their bowling has also showcased some fine moments and in 1972 Bob Massie produced one of the finest Test match debuts, taking eight for 84 in the first innings and eight for 53 in the second.

His ability to get the ball swinging like no one else saw him finish with match figures of 16 for 137, a record for a Test debutant until bettered by India’s Narendra Hirwani in 1988.

Lord’s is no stranger to impressive bowling spells and Glenn McGrath etched his name into the history books in 1997 with a first innings eight-wicket haul.

On his first tour of England, the seamer ripped through the England batting line-up, reducing them to 77 all out and taking eight for 38.

Although Australia ultimately hold the happier memories at Lord’s, Andrew Strauss’ 161 and Andrew Flintoff’s second innings five-for earned England a first victory at the ground in 75 years in 2009.

Last time out

Lord’s hosted the second Test of the last Ashes series in 2019, when an intriguing five days boiled down to a draw.

With day one washed out, Rory Burns and Jonny Bairstow made half-centuries on day two, but England were bowled out for 258 with Pat Cummins, Josh Hazlewood and Nathan Lyon taking three wickets each.

There was plenty of buzz in the build-up to the game with fast bowler Jofra Archer making his Test debut and his sheer speed became one of the talking points when his 92mph bouncer caught Steve Smith on the neck.

The Australian batter fell to the floor and was taken off the field, but returned after passing concussion protocols before being bowled lbw by Chris Woakes with Australia all out for 250.

Smith was subsequently ruled out of the fifth day of the Test with concussion and would go on to miss the Headingley Test, with Marnus Labuschagne brought into the team as the first concussion substitute.

Ben Stokes then smashed an unbeaten 115 as England declared on 258 for five, but despite three wickets each from Archer and Jack Leach, Australia managed to hold on for the draw.

Sport England funding is helping people with complex disabilities to get involved in tennis.

Research from the governing body has shown more than half of disabled people are physically inactive, and the funding means national disability charity Sense can expand its programme of sports across England and directly support an extra 5,000 people.

Lin Wallace, who has cerebral palsy, epilepsy and is blind, is a big tennis fan and has taken up sensory tennis, which uses special equipment, including balls that make a sound when they are hit.

The 64-year-old from Devon said: “Tennis is very important to me. When I’m being active, I feel calm. It’s part of how I support my physical and mental wellbeing.

“I’ve always wanted more opportunities to play. My vision loss has led me to find new ways of enjoying and playing the game and now, with sensory tennis, I can join in. Sensory tennis is designed for me and it makes me feel really happy. It’s my favourite sport.”

Paulette James, who is deafblind, non-verbal and has a learning disability, plays sensory tennis in Barnet, and her support worker has seen the difference the sport has made.

Nancy Williams said: “Paulette is very quiet but she knows what she wants. If we’re doing an activity she doesn’t enjoy, she’ll get up and stop, and since I’ve known her there’s not many things she likes to do. But then we found tennis.

“There is no day we have taken her there and she hasn’t enjoyed it. We’re so pleased she has something to look forward to.”

Mandy Burns, also from Barnet, was largely inactive before taking up sensory tennis.

Tracey Robson, who manages the sports sessions, said of the 60-year-old, who is deafblind: “Tennis is Mandy’s favourite thing.

“At first she was initially a bit confused about the concept, so we use hand-under-hand signing to help explain it to her. As the sessions have gone on, we’ve seen her smiling more and more.

“It’s amazing seeing the impact that sensory tennis has on Mandy and all the other participants. We have about 10-12 people that come every week and we’ve really seen the benefits. It helps build strength in the arms, which can help with other things like eating and signing.”

Louis Wickett-Padgham, head of sport and physical activity at Sense, believes playing tennis can help disabled people in different areas of their lives.

“Stories like Lin’s and Paulette’s show there’s no reason why people with more complex needs shouldn’t be able to enjoy sport – we just need to provide a more meaningful, appropriate way to do so,” he said.

“Tennis is a great example of a sport than brings really tangible benefits to players, as well as being a lot of fun.

“Playing tennis can improve motor skills, balance and co-ordination and, for people with complex disabilities, this can really help them to build up their independence and confidence both on and off the tennis court.

“With new Sport England funding, we hope to reach thousands more people through sports like sensory tennis, to help people with complex disabilities to lead more active, healthy lives, learn skills and make friends.”

Nathan Lyon is set to play his 100th consecutive Test when Australia and England meet at Lord’s from Wednesday.

The second Ashes Test sees the visiting spinner bring up an unprecedented landmark for a bowler and here, the PA news agency looks at his record in that time.

Six of the best

Lyon will become only the sixth man to play 100 consecutive Tests, with the others all specialist batters including one regular wicketkeeper – current England coach Brendon McCullum, whose 101 Tests without missing a game mark the next figure for Lyon to pass. McCullum took the gloves in 52 of those games.

India’s Sunil Gavaskar and Australia’s Mark Waugh played 106 and 107 consecutive Tests respectively, both in Lyon’s sights barring injury or a shock omission.

Allan Border’s Australian record of 153 successive appearances will surely remain out of reach, however, along with former England captain Sir Alastair Cook’s world record of 159.

Even the other regular bowlers on the list were all-rounders, with Sir Garry Sobers closest behind Lyon with 85 consecutive appearances for the West Indies.

Kapil Dev had separate runs of 66 and 65 for India, missing only one Test in his 131-match career, while Lord Ian Botham also played 65 in a row for England between 1978 and 1984.

In terms of specialist bowlers, spinner Anil Kumble’s 60 consecutive Tests for India from 1992 to 2000 is the longest run other than Lyon’s.

Five from 500

Lyon’s 495 Test wickets rank eighth all time and fourth among spinners, with the fairytale prospect of bringing up 500 and adding his name to the famous Lord’s honours board in the process.

On his previous visits to the Home of Cricket, he took one for 53 and two for 27 in 2015 and three for 68 before a wicketless second innings in 2019.

He needs 24 wickets to catch former West Indies paceman Courtney Walsh for the next spot on the list, though compatriot Glenn McGrath could remain out of reach in sixth, 68 ahead of Lyon.

England’s long-standing new-ball pair James Anderson (686) and Stuart Broad (588) are in the top five along with the other spinners on the list – Sri Lankan Muttiah Muralitharan clear on 800, Australia great Shane Warne taking 708 and India’s Anil Kumble splitting Anderson and Broad with 619.

Since his debut in August 2011, Lyon has missed only four of the 125 Tests Australia have played – against India at Perth in 2012 and Hyderabad the following year, plus the first two games of the 2013 Ashes in England.

Since being recalled at Old Trafford in August 2013 he has been ever-present, taking 419 wickets at an average of 30.60 including 20 of his 23 five-wicket hauls.

He has four 10-wicket matches along the way, with his best figures of eight for 50 in an innings and 13 for 154 in a match both set in 2017 against India and Bangladesh respectively.

His run of 99 Tests so far includes 109 wickets in 29 Ashes Tests and 99 in 21 against India, with double figures of Tests too against South Africa (13) and Pakistan (12). Eight games against New Zealand, seven each against the West Indies and Sri Lanka and two against Bangladesh complete the list.

Spencer Strider struck out 10 in seven innings and Marcell Ozuna hit a go-ahead home run in the seventh for the red-hot Atlanta Braves, who recorded their 11th win in 12 games with a 4-1 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Monday.

Ozuna snapped a 1-1 tie with his third homer in five games, while Ronald Acuna Jr. added a two-run shot later in the seventh to help Atlanta take the opener of this three-game series between division leaders. 

The Braves are now 18-3 since June 3 and own the National League's best record at 51-27.

Strider improved to 9-2 by holding the AL Central-leading Twins to one run and three hits while extending his MLB-leading strikeout total to 146. The right-hander's only blemish came when he allowed a solo homer to Joey Gallo in the second inning.

Minnesota starter Sonny Gray matched Strider for six innings before surrendering Ozuna's blast and a two-out single by Michael Harris that chased him from the game. He was charged with three runs and struck out five in 6 2/3 innings. 

 

Ohtani's 26th home run helps Angels edge White Sox

Shohei Ohtani retook sole possession of the major league home run lead and Mike Trout scored on a wild pitch in the bottom of the ninth inning to give the Los Angeles Angels a 2-1 win over the Chicago White Sox.

Trout led off the bottom of the ninth with a walk against Reynaldo Lopez and Ohtani greeted reliever Aaron Bummer with a walk before the two stars executed a double steal to put two on with none out. After Bummer struck out Brandon Drury, the left-hander uncorked an errant pitch that allowed Trout to slide into home plate with the deciding run.

Ohtani tied the contest at 1-1 with his 26th homer of the season, a 446-foot blast into the right field seats off Dylan Cease in the fourth inning that snapped a tie with Atlanta's Matt Olson for the most in the majors.

Both Cease and the Angels' Reid Detmers engaged in a stellar pitching duel from that point on. Detmers yielded a run on just two hits and two walks while striking out 10 in seven innings. Cease also fanned 10 while allowing one run on five hits in six innings.

Luis Robert homered for the fourth time in three games in the first inning to account for Chicago's lone run. 

 

Orioles withstand long delay to rout Reds

A rain delay of nearly two hours wasn't enough time to slow down the Baltimore Orioles' bats in a 10-3 win over the suddenly struggling Cincinnati Reds.

Five Baltimore players each collected two hits as the Orioles overcame a 1-hour, 44-minute stoppage in the second inning to earn their third consecutive win. Austin Hays gave Baltimore a 2-1 lead with a two-run single before the delay and finished with three RBIs, while Adley Rutschman drove in two runs in the rout.

Jordan Westburg, ranked the Orioles' No. 3 prospect by MLB.com, made his big league debut and recorded his first hit with a fifth-inning single. The second baseman also drove in a run on a fielder's choice.

The Reds were dealt a third straight loss following a 12-game winning streak that was the club's longest since 1957. Cincinnati dropped a half-game behind Milwaukee for first place in the NL Central after the Brewers defeated the New York Mets, 2-1, on Monday. 

Spencer Steer homered and knocked in all three Cincinnati runs while finishing 3 for 3.

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