BASEBALL
Stephen Scott singled home the go-ahead run in the seventh inning, and the Portland Sea Dogs closed out their regular-season home schedule Sunday with an 8-5 win over the Binghamton Rumble Ponies in an Eastern League game at Hadlock Field.
It was the fifth consecutive win for Portland, which now has a three-game lead in the Northeast Division second-half standings over the Somerset Patriots heading into a season-ending six-game series at Somerset. The Sea Dogs need two wins to qualify for the playoffs.
Ceddanne Rafaela drove in four runs, and Scott, David Hamilton and Tyler Dearden all had three hits. Hamilton was a home run shy of a cycle.
AUTO RACING
INDYCAR: Will Power withstood a challenge from Team Penske teammate Josef Newgarden to close out a season of consistency and win his second IndyCar championship.
Power finished third at Laguna Seca Raceway in Monterey, California, to beat Newgarden for the championship by 16 points. Outgoing champion Alex Palou won the season finale, ahead of Newgarden.
FORMULA ONE: Championship leader Max Verstappen again made light work of starting down the grid as he won the Italian Grand Prix to leave him within touching distance of a second successive title.
Verstappen now has a 116-point lead over Charles Leclerc, who finished second after another questionable strategy decision from Ferrari on its home track. With just six races remaining, the Dutch driver could clinch the title at the next race in Singapore next month.
GOLF
EUROPEAN TOUR: Shane Lowry tapped in for birdie at the 18th hole and then watched as Rory McIlroy’s long eagle putt on the final hole stopped less than an inch short, allowing Lowry to claim a one-shot victory at the BMW PGA Championship in Virginia Water, England.
It was Lowry’s first win since the British Open at 2019 and came after a bogey-free performance over three days at Wentworth. The tournament was reduced to 54 holes, with no play on Friday after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.
Lowry finished with a 7-under 65 for a 17-under total of 199.
McIlroy and Jon Rahm were tied for second, one shot back. Talor Gooch, who plays on the LIV circuit, was another shot back in fourth place.
LPGA: Ally Ewing ran off five straight birdies on the back nine and closed with a 7-under 65 to hold off Xiyu Lin and win the Kroger Queen City Championship in the LPGA Tour’s return to Cincinnati.
It’s the third LPGA Tour victory for Ewing, a 29-year-old American who played bogey-free on a rain-softened course but was pushed to the very end. Lin birdied two of her last three holes for a 65.
Maria Fassi of Mexico had a 71 and finished alone in third, her best LPGA finish.
CHAMPIONS TOUR: Padraig Harrington had seven birdies in a closing round of 3-under 68 for a one-shot victory – his third of the year – over Y.E. Yang (66) in the Ascension Charity Classic in St. Louis.
Harrington finished at 14-under 199.
CYCLING
SPANISH VUELTA: Remco Evenepoel, 22, became the first Belgian to win a major three-week race since Johan De Muynck won the Giro d’Italia in 1978, while Juan Sebastian Molano of Colombia won the closing 21st stage in Madrid.
Evenepoel finished 2 minutes, 2 seconds ahead of runner-up Enric Mas in the overall standings.
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