Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is confident Lewis Hamilton’s morale will not plummet despite his continued worst start to a Formula One season.

Hamilton fought back from his lowly 18th grid slot to finish ninth in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix.

But the British driver, in his final season with Mercedes before his blockbuster transfer to Ferrari, leaves Shanghai only ninth in the standings after failing to finish inside the top six at either of the opening five rounds.

Indeed, Sunday’s result marked the third time he has crossed the line in ninth this year. Hamilton also trails team-mate George Russell 5-0 in qualifying.

But Wolff said: “Lewis is a pro and he has behaved that way, trying to keep his morale up and the morale of the team up, even if the results have not come his way. I have no doubt this will last.”

Hamilton has now gone 50 races and 868 long days without a victory and he was exposed to yet another sobering afternoon in his uncompetitive Mercedes.

Following his worst qualifying result in seven years, Hamilton started on the quickest, but less-durable soft rubber, but just two laps into this 56-lap affair, his complaints began.

“I am making no ground on this tyre,” he said after dropping from 18th to 19th.

Hamilton made the first of his two pit-stops on lap nine and rejoined back in 19th, 53 seconds off Max Verstappen’s leading pace.

“That was the worst tyre, man,” said the despondent 39-year-old.

Hamilton was soon back on the intercom. “I can’t even catch him (Alpine’s Esteban Ocon), man,” he said. “This car is so slow.”

Hamilton’s fortunes improved on lap 21 when he stopped for a second time, with the virtual safety car (VSC) deployed after Valtteri Bottas broke down.

And as the marshals struggled to shift Bottas’ stricken Stake, the VSC was upgraded to a full safety car, promoting Hamilton up the order.

He would be 12th at the restart, but he was still bemused by his unruly machine.

“The car is just sliding around everywhere,” he said. “It just feels like something is broken. It is really bad.”

Daniel Ricciardo suffered floor damage after Lance Stroll thumped into the back of his RB, elevating Hamilton into 10th before he swatted Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg aside.

Hamilton was then up to eighth as Fernando Alonso made a maverick third stop for tyres. But the 42-year-old took advantage of his fresh rubber to blast back through the field, relegating Hamilton back a place with seven laps remaining.

The seven-time champion took the chequered flag nearly one minute behind Verstappen.

“This is the worst season so far, as I mentioned at the last race,” said Hamilton. “It definitely wasn’t better than expected because we expected to finish there today.

“I have never had so much understeer in my life. I thought I damaged my car because there was debris on the track at one point, but it was just the way I set the car up.

“We finished second in the sprint race yesterday and, with better decisions on setup today, we would have been where George finished. We have to keep fighting.”

Emile Cairess dedicated his stunning run at the London Marathon to his cousin, who was left in a coma after a car crash earlier this year.

Cairess finished third in the second fastest time by a British man in two hours, six minutes and 46 seconds.

The run should rubber-stamp his place Great Britain team for this summer’s Olympics.

But Cairess’ immediate thoughts were with his 22-year-old cousin, Oliver Burton, who is still in hospital but out of intensive care.

“He’s my little cousin, like a little brother to me, and a couple of months ago he was in a bad accident,” said Cairess, 26.

“He was in a coma for about a month and just came out of ICU a few days ago,

“It was so stressful, it was touch and go at some points but he’s made a fantastic recovery in the last couple of weeks.

“This morning I was really emotional. Hopefully I’ve made him proud today.”

Cairess did not even know he was third, behind winner Alexander Munyao of Kenya and 41-year-old Kenenisa Bekele, until about 200m from the finish line.

“I heard it over the tannoy,” he added. ” I passed about four people in the space of a minute around the 39km mark and I thought I’d already passed a few from the front group.

“I was like ‘there can’t be many more left so I must be in a decent position’ but I didn’t know, I could have been sixth or seventh. When I heard I was third it was a great feeling.”

Another Briton, Mahamed Mahamed, finished fourth, making it the first time two home runners have finished in the top four since Kevin Forster and Hugh Jones in 1988.

Mahamed was catching Cairess in the closing stages and although he could not quite overhaul his team-mate, he was still inside the Olympic qualifying time.

“Me and Mahamed have been racing since we were 13, so we’ve always been neck and neck,” said Cairess.

“We’ve always progressed together so it’s fantastic to see him doing so well. A lot of people drop out of the sport but we kept going and it’s paid off for us.”

Munyao managed to shake off veteran Ethopian Bekele, who was bidding for a first London Marathon win some 20 years after he took Olympic 10,000m gold, with around three miles to go.

“At 40km I thought I could win the race,” he said. “It’s the biggest win in my career because it is my first major marathon.

“There was a little fear because I know Bekele is a threat but I was confident over the last few kilometres.”

Before the start of the men’s race and the mass race, tributes were paid to last year’s winner Kelvin Kiptum, who died in a car accident in February.

Olympic champion Peres Jepchirchir smashed the women’s-only world record to win a thrilling women’s race.

The Kenyan kicked for home as she turned on to The Mall and won in 2:16.16.

Four runners were in with a shout down the final straight and Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa came in second, ahead of Joyciline Jepkosgel in third with Megertu Alemu fourth.

The previous world record for a women-only race was 2:17.01 by Mary Jepkosgei Keitany in London in 2017.

“I’m so happy for today’s victory,” said Jepchirchir. “I wasn’t expecting to run a world record. I thought there might be one – but I didn’t think it would be me.”

Marcel Hug won a record fourth-consecutive men’s wheelchair race, the Swiss ‘Silver Bullet’, 38, clocking 1:28.33.

Daniel Romanchuk of the United States was second with Britain’s David Weir third in his 25th consecutive London Marathon.

Weir, 44, said: “Keeping up with Marcel for 20 miles, it was one of the best races I’ve done on this course.

“Some of these guys are 10 or 20 years younger than me. But I promised myself I’d come back and get on the podium.”

The women’s wheelchair race was won by a distance by another Swiss, Catherine Debrunner.

Kikkuli will take a step up in grade in Sandown’s Chasemore Farm Stud Staff Heron Stakes next month after shedding his maiden tag at Newmarket’s Craven meeting.

A half-brother to the mighty Frankel and by Juddmonte’s Classic-winning sire Kingman, the Harry Charlton-trained colt made an encouraging debut on the Rowley Mile behind subsequent Listed winner Zoum Zoum last autumn.

On his seasonal return at HQ, the last foal out of Frankel’s dam Kind advertised his star potential when outbattling Charlie Appleby’s Creative Story in the hands of Ryan Moore.

He will now make the move up to Listed level as connections seek further evidence of his limit, where a positive performance will put the talented prospect in line for further big-race assignments at Royal Ascot.

“It was brilliant to see what he did and he had a big run at Newmarket last year (on debut) when he was about 75-80 per cent. That was a big run and the form of the race was franked,” said Barry Mahon, Juddmonte’s European racing manager.

“Tuesday was good and I thought in the last furlong if he wanted to give it up he could have, and he didn’t. He stuck his head out and went on and Ryan was complimentary of him.

“He came out of the race well and we will now look forward to the Heron (Stakes) with him. It looks to be the next logical step and if he is ready for another step up after that it brings you nicely into Royal Ascot and a whole host of races.

“We’ll concentrate on the Heron next and see where we go from there, we look forward to it.”

Michael Malone believes the Denver Nuggets face "a hell of a series" against the Los Angeles Lakers, with LeBron James pledging to improve after his team were beaten in Game 1 on Saturday.

The Nuggets and the Lakers faced off in the Western Conference finals last season, and they were reunited for Game 1 of this year's first-round series at Ball Arena on Saturday.

It's advantage Denver after Nikola Jokic had 32 points and 12 rebounds in a 114-103 win over Los Angeles, their ninth victory in the teams' last nine head-to-head meetings.

The reigning NBA champions were made to work for their success, though, having gone into halftime down 60-57, with James scoring 19 first-half points. 

However, the NBA's all-time leading scorer was limited to just eight second-half points and didn't attempt a shot in the fourth quarter until the final 80 seconds.

Though the Lakers ultimately ran out of steam, Denver coach Malone expects another tough test when the teams reconvene for Game 2 on Monday.

"We're not going anywhere," Malone said. "This is the playoffs. No team in the playoffs, if you get down 12 early, you're not going to just take your ball and go home. 

"We still have plenty of fight left in us and we know that we are better than what we were playing early.

"That's a good team over there. They came into the playoffs playing extremely well, and they showed it. 

"LeBron was on course, I thought he was about to have 50 points tonight, the way he was playing and shooting the ball.

"We've got to watch the film to see what we can do better. This is going to be a hell of a series."

James' 27 points came in support of Anthony Davis, who had 32, while the Nuggets had two other players match Jokic's double-double, with Jamal Murray tallying 22 points and 10 assists and Aaron Gordon adding 12 points and 11 rebounds.

James, who is appearing in the playoffs for the 17th time in 21 seasons, says the team won't get too low with plenty of time remaining to rescue the series. 

"I thought we played some good ball tonight, just could have been better," he said. "You don't have much room for error versus Denver, especially on their home floor.

"They're just a team that's been through everything. Obviously, they're the defending champions, so you've got to execute, you've got to make shots, you've got to defend.

"I don't ever get into the 'here we go again' mindset. It's one game, they protected their home court. We have another opportunity on Monday to come back and be better."

England have been tapping into the knowledge of veteran attack guru Brian Ashton to achieve their aim of filling Twickenham.

The Red Roses ran in 14 tries in an 88-10 victory over Ireland that places them on the brink of claiming a sixth consecutive Guinness Women’s Six Nations title when they face France on Saturday.

A thrilling attacking performance before a 48,778 crowd was born out of the belief that in order to play in front of a full house of Twickenham at next year’s home World Cup, they must play appealing rugby.

And helping them achieve that aim is Ashton, a former England men’s head coach regarded as a visionary in the game whose expertise has been enlisted by Red Roses boss John Mitchell.

“Brian makes us ask questions. ‘If this is the picture, what is the easiest way that you can take the wins?’” said Dow, who ran in a hat-trick against Ireland.

“I do think it is about asking those questions and having Brian Ashton available throughout the week…I absolutely adore the man.

“The way he phrases things almost makes you re-think the philosophy of rugby. I think in the English brand the philosophy is ‘let’s kick to the corner, let’s take the territory’. But is that the philosophy of all rugby? Can we expand that?

“At the end of the day, professional rugby is a business in its own way. We need to be proving to the whole of England that we can play an exciting brand of rugby.”

While England march on by overwhelming the opposition in front of them, Ireland’s blowout highlights the gulf in class in the women’s game and affects the credibility of the Six Nations.

The Red Roses have accumulated 228 points after four rounds and France are the only European team capable of taking the wind out of their sails when the rivals clash in Bordeaux.

“I 100 per cent think teams will catch up and as much as we may be on top now, it is on us to try and work to keep that place and demand more from ourselves,” Dow said.

“Because as much as we’d love the game to grow, we want to keep the gap ourselves and continue to prove that we can be the best.”

Ruth Jefferson’s Sounds Russian is pencilled in for Perth on Wednesday after  his satisfactory comeback in the Rendlesham Hurdle at Haydock.

The Sholokhov gelding has always shown plenty of ability and won a good prize at Kelso in October 2022, going on to finish fourth in the Many Clouds and then coming home runner-up in both the Rowland Meyrick and the Cotswold Chase.

He was a contender for the 2023 Cheltenham Gold Cup off the back of those performances but unfortunately his race ended at the 17th fence when Ahoy Senor fell and brought him down, with the incident inflicting a knee injury that later required an operation to remove 12 chips of bone.

That kept him off for 11 months but he returned to action at Haydock in February, finishing fifth, and he is now set for the Listed Gold Castle Novices’ Hurdle.

“He came out his race at Haydock really well, there wasn’t much else to run him in without going to a big festival,” said Jefferson.

“He was always going to come on for the run so I’ve put him in at Perth, we may as well learn if he goes right-handed.

“If he does it will open up opportunities next year, if he doesn’t then I’ll know for sure.

“He’s always lugged a little bit left-handed so I’ve never run him right-handed, but we may as well have a go and find out now he’s nine.

“He’d been out for a long time and when you’re coming back on tacky ground it’s not like the start of the season.

“I knew in the back of my head I’d done as much as I could and he hadn’t been for a gallop, it was a perfectly acceptable run and we were happy enough.”

It is 20 years ago since Attraction blazed a trail to 1000 Guineas glory at Newmarket – the last Classic winner trained in the north.

Trained by Mark Johnston and bred by her owner, the Duke of Roxburghe, out of his once-raced mare Flirtation and the sire Efisio, nobody could have predicted the heights she would go on to reach.

Especially when she began life as an early two-year-old at Nottingham in April, with perhaps the height of ambitions ending at Royal Ascot.

They would be achieved, via Thirsk and then the Hilary Needler at Beverley before she bolted up in the Queen Mary, winning by three lengths.

She only ran once more as a juvenile, when she was even more impressive in the Cherry Hinton, her first spin over six furlongs.

Her season ended prematurely there and she was not sighted again until the Classic, via a racecourse gallop at Ripon which has almost gone down in folklore.

What made Attraction stand out from the rest – apart from her inherent ability – was her unusual action, with her legs seemingly heading off in all directions, but it certainly did not slow her down.

The man who rode her in all but the first three of her runs was Kevin Darley, who said: “I only rode her once that year before the Guineas and that was when she had her racecourse gallop at Ripon.

“When you rode her, she actually felt balanced, it just felt right, but you could obviously see one leg flicking out to the right and the other to the left.

“Looking at her, you wouldn’t have thought she’d want quick ground, but the one time she ran on soft in France, she couldn’t handle it at all, she was happy just feeling herself on a sound surface.”

Sent off second favourite in the Guineas behind Sir Michael Stoute’s Fillies’ Mile winner Red Bloom, despite tackling a trip two furlongs further than she had attempted before, Darley was positive from the outset and never saw another rival.

“I think she caught a few by surprise in the Guineas because a lot of people thought she was all speed and that she would be vulnerable over a mile,” recalled the rider.

“Speed was her forte, there’s no doubt about that, but when she had to dig deep, she did – and that was credit to her, she never gave in really.

“When she won the Queen Mary, we weren’t thinking of her in terms of a Guineas horse, but after she won a Cherry Hinton by five lengths, we started to think maybe she could get a mile.

“Leading up to the Guineas, she’d had one or two niggly problems and when she went to Ripon, she wasn’t working with a superstar and to be fair, she didn’t work that brilliant, to be honest.

“But I think what had happened was, she was getting a bit complacent at home and that trip to Ripon set her alight. She went there with a hairy coat and didn’t look right at all but as soon as she did that gallop, the lights came on again.”

For the first half of the season against her own generation, she simply had no peers, adding an Irish Guineas and the Coronation Stakes, taking her unbeaten run to eight.

“After Newmarket, Mark sent her over for the Irish Guineas, when she was good again in beating Alexander Goldrun, who turned out very good, and then she won the Coronation,” Darley went on.

“That really suited her there (Ascot), there were concerns, as it was her first time round a bend, but it actually helped her, as she was able to fill herself up and give herself a breather – and she was able to go again. She was looking unbeatable at that point.

“She found it tougher against the older fillies in the second half of the season and finished second to Soviet Song twice either side of her run in France, but all credit to her that she ended the year with a win in the Sun Chariot.”

Kept in training at four, am ambitious trip to Hong Kong was not rewarded and she looked a fraction off her former self when beaten in the Hungerford at Newbury, so it was all credit to her again when her career ended with victory in the Matron Stakes in Ireland.

Darley said: “The year after, she ran disappointing in Hong Kong, it was probably the wrong thing to do sending her there, in hindsight.

“After that, she had her niggles but it was very nice she was able to go out with a win in Ireland, it showed what a true equine athlete she was, all she wanted to do was race and win and please you.

“She hasn’t been too bad as a broodmare either, Elarqam was a nice horse for Mark.

“She’s bang up there with the best I rode. I’ve always said ability-wise, the best I rode was High Chaparral, as he went on and became a dual Derby winner and won two Breeders’ Cup Turfs.

“She was the best I was associated with all the way through though – and without a doubt, she was the best filly I ever rode.

“I just can’t believe it is 20 years ago!”

Max Verstappen powered to another dominant win in Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix – as Lewis Hamilton complained his car was “slow” and “broken” after he finished ninth.

Verstappen emerged unscathed from two safety car periods to secure his 38th win from the last 49 staged in Formula One on his unstoppable march towards a fourth straight championship.

But for Hamilton, now 50 races and 868 long days without a victory, this marked another sobering afternoon in his uncompetitive Mercedes.

McLaren’s Lando Norris delivered an impressive performance to finish second, one place ahead of Verstappen’s Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, with Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz fourth and fifth for Ferrari.

George Russell could manage only sixth for Mercedes as the grid’s once-dominant team endured another race to forget.

F1 is back in Shanghai following a five-year absence, and it was a venue that Hamilton once ruled, winning a record six times here.

But the sport has a new king now, with Verstappen securing his fourth win from the opening five rounds – his only downfall in Australia when his Red Bull engine expired. For Hamilton, hampered by starting only 18th, his worst-ever season continued.

As Verstappen blasted away from his marks to convert his pole position into an all-too predictable early lead, Hamilton was evidently struggling for speed in his Mercedes.

Hamilton started on the quickest, but less durable soft rubber, but just two laps into this 56-lap affair, his complaints began.

“I am making no ground on this tyre,” he said after dropping from 18th to 19th. Hamilton made the first of his two pit-stops on lap nine, and re-joined back in 19th, 53 seconds behind Verstappen.

“That was the worst tyre, man,” said the despondent 39-year-old after switching to the medium rubber.

Up front and Fernando Alonso, who moved from third to second following a fine move around the outside of Perez at the opening bend, was starting to slip down the order.

On lap five, Perez sailed past the evergreen Spaniard, before Norris swooped ahead at the penultimate corner two laps later.

Back to Hamilton, and he was now 15th after making his way ahead of RB’s Yuki Tsunoda at the first bend. But his mood had not improved.

“I can’t even catch him (Alpine’s Esteban Ocon), man,” he said. This car is so slow.”

Speed has not been a problem for Verstappen since he denied Hamilton a record eighth crown at the 2021 decider in Abu Dhabi.

Temporarily demoted to third by virtue of changing tyres earlier than his competitors, the Red Bull star breezed past Leclerc on lap 16 before re-taking the lead from Norris three laps later.

Hamilton’s fortunes improved on lap 21 when he stopped for a second time with the VSC deployed after Valtteri Bottas broke down. And as the marshals struggled to shift Bottas’ stricken Stake, the VSC was upgraded to a full safety car, promoting Hamilton up the order. He would be 12th at the re-start, but he was still bemused by his machine.

“The car is just sliding around everywhere,” he said. “It just feels like something is broken. It is really bad.”

In came the safety car on lap 26, but it was back out moments later after Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll clumsily thudded into the back of Daniel Ricciardo, and Kevin Magnussen punted Yuki Tsuonda off.

Ricciardo suffered floor damage, elevating Hamilton into 10th and a single-point paying position before he swatted Haas’ Nico Hulkenberg aside for ninth on lap 41.

Hamilton was then up to eighth as Alonso made a maverick third stop for tyres. But the 43-year-old took advantage of his fresh rubber to blast back through the field, relegating Hamilton back to ninth with seven laps remaining. Alonso would cross the line in seventh.

Verstappen took the chequered flag 13.7 sec clear of Norris to extend his championship lead to 25 points with Hamilton – almost one minute behind his one-time rival – still searching for a top-six finish this season.

Scottie Scheffler’s PGA Tour dominance looks to be showing no signs of slowing down as the world number one heads into the final day of the RBC Heritage with a one shot lead on 16 under.

Fresh off securing his second Masters title in three years, the 27-year-old shot up the leaderboard at Hilton Head on Saturday with a bogey-free third round score of eight under 63.

He leads by one stroke from Austria’s Sepp Straka, while America’s Collin Morikawa sits outright third on 14 under.

Northern Ireland’s Rory McIlroy carded a second straight round of 68 to be tied for 12th place on 10 under.

Meanwhile, defending champion Matt Fitzpatrick is tied for 25th after the Englishman carded a third round score of 70.

Nikola Jokić had 32 points and 12 rebounds and got ample help from his teammates as the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets continued their recent mastery of the Los Angeles Lakers with a 114-103 win in their Western Conference playoff opener on Saturday.

Jamal Murray tallied 22 points and 10 assists, Aaron Gordon added 12 and 11 rebounds and Michael Porter Jr. contributed 19 points and eight boards as the Nuggets won their ninth straight against the Lakers.

Anthony Davis matched Jokic with 32 points and 14 rebounds and LeBron James scored 27 points, but D’Angelo Russell was held to 13 points on 6-of-20 shooting – including 1 of 9 from 3-point range – and Rui Hachimura managed just seven points in 31 minutes.

Los Angeles hasn’t beaten Denver since Dec. 16, 2022, and will try again Monday in Denver, where the Nuggets are 34-8 this season.

Denver’s lead was down to 103-96 with five minutes left but Porter Jr. hit a 3 and Jokic dunked off a turnover by James to push the lead to 12.

Knicks’ reserves step up in win

Jalen Brunson and Josh Hart each scored 22 points and the New York Knicks got a huge lift from their bench for a 111-104 victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference first-round series.

Deuce McBride outscored the 76ers by himself with 13 points in the second quarter and finished with 21 on 7-of-12 shooting, including 5 of 7 from long range. Bojan Bogdanovic added 13 points and Mitchell Robinson came off the bench to add eight points, 12 rebounds and four blocks.

Joel Embiid had 29 points, eight rebounds and six assists and Tyrese Maxey scored 33 points for the 76ers, who will try to even the series in Game 2 on Monday.

Embiid was listed as questionable to play and went down with 2:49 left in the first half with an apparent injury to his surgically repaired knee. He walked to the locker room area and missed the rest of the first half but returned to start the second.

Hart made a pair of huge 3-pointers in the fourth quarter, the second extending the Knicks’ lead to 107-100 with one minute remaining.

Edwards powers Timberwolves past Suns

Anthony Edwards scored 18 of his 33 points in the third quarter and grabbed nine rebounds to lift the Minnesota Timberwolves to a tone-setting 120-95 win over the visiting Phoenix Suns in their series opener.

Karl-Anthony Towns had 19 points, Nickeil Alexander-Walker added 18 and Rudy Gobert tallied 14 points, 16 rebounds and stellar defence to help Minnesota to its first home win in the playoffs in 20 years.

Edwards keyed a 19-4 run to close the third quarter for a 20-point cushion and put a bow on his performance by stealing the ball from Kevin Durant and finishing with a slam on the other end to give the Timberwolves a 111-91 lead with 3:37 left.

Durant scored 31 points on 11-of-17 shooting, but Devin Booker was held to 18 on 5 for 16 from the field. The Suns were outrebounded 52-28 and outscored 52-34 in the paint.

Game 2 is in Minnesota on Tuesday before the best-of-seven series shifts to Phoenix for Game 3.

Zack Wheeler took a no-hitter into the eighth inning and Brandon Marsh hit a two-run homer as the surging Philadelphia Phillies defeated the lowly Chicago White Sox, 9-5 on Saturday.

Wheeler held the White Sox hitless until Korey Lee’s one-out single in the eighth. The right-hander struck out eight, walked two and threw 75 of 106 pitches for strikes.

A night earlier, Spencer Turnbull didn’t allow a hit until Gavin Sheets’ one-out single in the seventh.

The Phillies won their fifth straight and moved five games over .500 in April for the first time since 2019.

Marsh’s home run in the second off Michael Soroka gave Philadelphia a 3-0 lead and Trea Turner’s two-run double in the seventh made it 9-0.

The White Sox scored their first runs of this series with five in the ninth but dropped to a major league-worst 3-17.

Streaking Mets beat Dodgers

Starling Marte belted a go-ahead, three-run homer and Pete Alonso made a stellar defensive play to lift the New York Mets to their sixth straight victory, 6-4 over the struggling Los Angeles Dodgers.

Marte finished with four RBIs and Francisco Lindor drove in two runs as the Mets improved to 12-3 after an 0-5 start.

The Dodgers went 2 for 12 with runners in scoring position and left 13 on base. They have lost three consecutive series for the first time since June, and three straight series at home for the first time since August 2018.

Marte’s 432-foot shot off reliever Ryan Brasier in the sixth snapped a 2-2 tie.

Los Angeles had the bases loaded in the sixth trailing 5-4 before Max Muncy grounded to Alonso, who fielded the ball near the edge of the outfield grass, sprinted in and dove to tag the bag for the third out.

New York won despite issuing 10 walks, its most since Aug. 15. They last walked 10 in a win on May 13, 2014, in a 12-7 victory over the Yankees.

D’Arnaud homers again in Braves’ win

Charlie Morton combined with three relievers on a five-hitter and the Atlanta Braves defeated the Texas Rangers 5-2 for their sixth straight win.

Morton gave up two runs and four hits with two walks in six innings. Joe Jimenez and A.J. Minter each pitched one inning and Raisel Iglesias worked the ninth for his sixth save in as many chances.

D’Arnaud, who drove in six runs with three home runs on Friday, hit a two-run shot in the eighth off Austin Pruitt to close the scoring.

Luis Guillorme had an RBI double and scored on Michael Harris’ single before Matt Olson’s sacrifice fly snapped a 2-2 tie in the second.

Luca Brecel fell victim to the so-called ‘Crucible curse’ as qualifier David Gilbert reeled off the final four frames to claim a stunning 10-9 win over the defending champion on the opening day of the World Snooker Championship in Sheffield.

The Belgian became the 19th first-time champion to fail to defend his title at the famous venue as Gilbert, a semi-finalist in 2019, surged back level with three successive half-centuries then dispatched a nerveless 65 which proved enough to secure a famous win.

When Brecel shook hands with only one snooker required, it marked a stunning end to his kamikaze reign as champion, which had seen the 29-year-old switch his focus firmly to high-value acquisitions off the table while he struggled to reach a solitary ranking quarter-final on it.

For Gilbert it completed a stunning revival, having won a single Crucible match in the four years since his run to the last four, during which he found himself frequently questioning his motivation to continue.

A missed green off its spot when Brecel stood on the brink of victory at 9-8 proved one of many decisive moments as Brecel mixed a display of stunning potting with wild shot choices and careless errors that constantly prevented him from making the decisive move.

Brecel had blasted two centuries and two more breaks over 70 in a quickfire opening session that he shaded 6-3, seemingly dispelling fears that he was returning to Sheffield woefully ill-prepared to avoid the fate of so many former champions.

A break of 115 helped Gilbert hang onto his opponent’s coat-tails but he failed to take a series of chances in the early stages of their resumption, and Brecel had one foot in the last 16 at 9-6 before Gilbert summoned his dramatic twist.

Earlier, Judd Trump rode his luck to establish a 6-3 overnight lead over Hossein Vafaei.

Third seed Trump looked sharp and focused against the dangerous Iranian qualifier, but Vafaei was left to rue a series of missed opportunities ahead of their resumption on Sunday afternoon.

The 29-year-old could easily have headed into the mid-session interval with a 4-0 lead over the 2019 champion, but instead it was Trump who kept his nerve to carve a 3-1 advantage that he never looked likely to relinquish.

Stephen Maguire produced two centuries but could not shake off ninth seed Ali Carter, who takes a 5-4 lead into their conclusion on Sunday.

The Scot, a two-time semi-finalist, made a storming start with breaks of 93 and 114 but showed his frustration as untimely errors scattered the rest of the session, before a nervy 55 in the ninth frame enabled him to keep in touch with the two-time former finalist.

Zhang Anda, the 11th seed, trails 5-2 after the opening session against qualifier Jak Jones, in a low-quality match that was hauled off two frames early due to slow play.