In a game heard on WHOW, José Ramírez homered twice and drove in three runs, helping Aaron Civale and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 5-0 on Sunday.

The White Sox haven’t named a starter for Tuesday night’s series opener at Texas. RHP Jon Gray (6-5, 3.66 ERA) is scheduled to go for the AL West-leading Rangers.

Steven Matz and two relievers combined on a five-hitter, and the St. Louis Cardinals snapped the Chicago Cubs' eight-game winning streak with a 3-0 victory Sunday.

Tyler O’Neill, Andrew Knizner and Paul Goldschmidt drove in runs in the first two innings for the Cardinals before the pitchers took it from there.

Matz (2-7) allowed four hits in six innings with two strikeouts and no walks. He has not allowed an earned run over his last two starts, covering 12 innings.

Giovanny Gallegos tossed two hitless innings. JoJo Romero threw a scoreless ninth to pick up his first save in his 56th career appearance.

Matz has given up just one run over his last three starts covering 17 innings. He appears to have found a groove after struggling the first half of the season.

Matz was 0-6 with a 5.72 ERA before being demoted to the bullpen after giving up six earned runs in four innings of a 10-3 loss at Cincinnati on May 24. He made 10 bullpen appearances and was put back into the starting rotation on July 9.

St. Louis salvaged the final game of the four-game set and had lost its previous six home games to the Cubs.

Chicago starter Kyle Hendricks (4-5) allowed three runs on eight hits over seven innings. He entered the contest with a 13-3 career mark against St. Louis.

O’Neill brought in Lars Nootbaar with a single in the first. Nootbaar began the inning with a double.

St. Louis infielder Nolan Gorman was scratched right before the contest with lower back tightness. He is listed as day-to-day.

The Cardinals have yet to name a starter in the Tuesday opener of a three-game series with the Twins. Minnesota RHP Pablo Lopez (5-6, 4.13) will start in the first game in St. Louis on Tuesday. 

Cubs RHP Marcus Stroman (10-7, 3.51) will face Cincinnati LHP Andrew Abbott (6-2, 1.90) in the first of a four-game series on Monday in Chicago. Stroman has allowed two runs or fewer in five of six career starts against the Reds.

Chris Buescher pulled away on a restart with three laps to go to win at Richmond Raceway on Sunday and snag one of the final spots in NASCAR’s playoff field.

Buescher led 88 laps and was ahead by nearly 6 seconds when a caution came out with under 10 laps to go. That erased his lead over Virginia native Denny Hamlin, who was booed by his hometown crowd before the race.

But Hamlin got a poor final restart and Buescher easily pulled away for his first Cup Series win of the season, third of his career.

He and RFK Racing teammate Brad Keselowski led a combined 190 of the 400 laps in their Fords. Keselowski, now a part owner of the team, led 102 laps on the 0.75-mile oval.

Buescher started 26th and had to drive through the field for the win that locked him into the 16-driver playoff field. Buescher became the 13th race winner this year and there are three playoff spots up for grabs over the next month.

It was the 139th Cup win for primary team owner Jack Roush, second since Keselowski joined the ownership group.

Hamlin, winner last week at Pocono, finished second in a Toyota for Joe Gibbs Racing. Kyle Busch was third in a Chevrolet for Richard Childress Racing, followed by the Fords of Joey Logano from Team Penske and Ryan Preece of Stewart-Haas Racing.

Keselowski, despite being winless this season, is still mathematically in contention for the playoffs.

The race was slowed just three times by caution flags, with the final yellow sending the leaders to pit road for four tires with eight laps to go. When the green flag was shown again, Buescher used the inside line to pull away for his third career victory.

Hamlin’s bid for the victory ended on the second lap of the final sprint when he drove in too deep in the first turn and slid up the track. He finished 0.549-seconds behind Buescher.

All 36 cars that started the race were still running at the end.

The series moves to Michigan where Kevin Harvick, winless so far in this his final season, is the defending champion.

Yan Gomes drove in three runs and the Chicago Cubs got back to .500 with their sixth straight victory, beating the St. Louis Cardinals 10-3 after a testy start Thursday night.

In the first inning, Cubs outfielder Ian Happ bloodied St. Louis catcher Willson Contreras when he hit him in the head with a long follow-through on a swing, then was soon hit himself by a pitch from Miles Mikolas.

After a hug from former Chicago teammate Happ, Contreras left because of a cut on the scalp and was day to day to return to the lineup.

Andrew Knizner took over behind the plate, and Mikolas brushed back Happ to run the count to 3-1. With the next pitch, Mikolas hit Happ in the rear, with Mikolas (6-6) and Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol being ejected.

The game marked the beginning of a second four-game series between the two clubs in the span of four days.

At 51-51, Chicago is at the .500 mark for the first time since sitting at 19-19 following a victory May 12 in Minnesota.

Cody Bellinger, Christopher Morel and Mike Tauchman each had three hits for the Cubs to back left-hander Justin Steele (11-3). Steele improved to 4-1 in six career starts against St. Louis, allowing five hits and one run. He had four strikeouts and walked three.

Long reliever Dakota Hudson replaced Mikolas, who threw just 14 pitches. Hudson gave up a single before walking two to score Happ. A ground-rule double Morel added two runs for a 3-0 lead.

Hudson allowed nine hits and five earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, striking out three and walking two. It was the longest outing by a St. Louis reliever this season.

The Cubs added two runs with two outs in the third. Gomes and Miles Mastrobuoni each had an RBI single.

Nico Hoerner scored on a fielder’s choice in the fourth, giving Chicago a 6-0 advantage.

Knizner had his first multi-homer game. He led off the fourth with a home run and added a two-run homer in the eighth. The last catcher to come off the bench and do that was Ross on June 14, 2009 when played for Atlanta.

Mike Tauchman greeted reliever Andrew Suárez with a home run to start the sixth, making it 7-1. Gomes hit a two-run double in the seventh for a 9-1 lead. Tauchman also drove in a run in the ninth.

Cardinals LHP Jordan Montgomery (6-8, 3.37) is set to start Friday. The Cubs have yet to announce a starter.

In a game heard on WHOW, Josh Naylor drove in three runs, rookie Tanner Bibee pitched into the seventh inning and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 6-3 on Thursday night.

Naylor drove in two with a double and scored in a three-run third against Dylan Cease (4-4) that gave the Guardians a 4-0 lead. He also had a strange RBI double in the seventh when reliever Aaron Bummer deflected his soft comebacker with his bare hand. The ball trickled into center field, and Andrés Giménez scored on the play to make it 5-3.

Steven Kwan and Giménez each scored two runs, and the Guardians came away with the win even though they were 5 for 19 with runners in scoring position.

Bibee (7-2) gave up three runs and six hits over 6 2/3 innings. Emmanuel Clase pitched around two singles in the ninth, striking out Andrew Benintendi to end the game, for his 28th save in 35 chances.

Burger connected leading off the third.

Burger cut it to 4-3 with a two-run drive in the fifth - his 24th home run. 

It was the second career multi-homer game for Burger, who hit two in a win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on June 14.+

Cease lasted 5 2/3 innings, allowing four runs and nine hits.

The four-game series continues, with Cleveland going with RHP Xzavion Curry (3-0, 2.98 ERA) as the opener and RHP Touki Toussaint (0-3, 4.06) pitching for Chicago.

Denny Hamlin pulled away on the final restart and won his record seventh race at Pocono and the 50th of his career. Now the future Hall of Famer has a chance to build a ton of momentum as the Cup series heads to his home track at Richmond, Virginia.

Hamlin became just the 15th driver in NASCAR’s 75 years to win 50 races. His victory was also the 600th in NASCAR for Joe Gibbs Racing. 

Hamlin and Kyle Larson battled for the lead nearing the end before Larson crashed, finishing 20th. Larson claimed Hamlin nudged him; Hamlin said he did not. The victory came a year after Hamlin and then-teammate Kyle Busch were both disqualified after finishing 1-2 at the track. 

Hamlin’s teammate, Martin Truex Jr., expanded his points lead to 30 over William Byron with Hamlin 55 back.

Kevin Harvick won after starting 13th at the summer race last year. 

Practice and qualifying for the cup series is 11:30 am Saturday morning and race time is 2 pm on Sunday.

The XFinity Series is road racing this week at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. 

Austin Hill grabbed the lead when dominant Josh Berry slammed the wall on a restart in overtime at Pocono. It was Hill’s fourth victory of the season. Hill ended a 13-race winless drought and tied points leader John Hunter Nemechek for the victories lead. 

The two overtime laps were the only ones Hill led in the race. 

Berry won both stages before crashing. He finished 24th. Sam Mayer was second, followed by Cup Series regular Chase Elliott, Riley Herbst and Daniel Hemric. 

With six races left to determine the 12-car field for the playoffs, five spots remain open. Nemechek, who had won two straight, finished 32nd.

Ty Gibbs was last year's winner at Road America in the XFinity Series. 

Practice and qualifying is 4 pm this afternoon with race time 2 pm on Saturday. The Series rejoins the Cup series at Michigan next weekend.

The Craftsman Truck Series is in Richmond this weekend. Kyle Busch passed points leader Corey Heim on the final lap at Pocono and gave his Kyle Busch Motorsports its 100th victory in the truck series.

Busch has won twice in five starts in the series this year. His two wins tie him with five series regulars. 

Heim, with one fewer start than the rest of the contenders, stretched his points lead from 26 over defending champion Zane Smith to 42 points over Smith with Grant Enfinger, Ty Majeski and Ben Rhodes 59 back. 

The Richmond race is the last one to gain a spot in the 10-driver playoffs.

Chandler Smith won after starting second. 

Practice and qualifying for the trucks is 4 pm this afternoon. Race time is 6:30 pm Saturday night.

In a game heard on WHOW, Christopher Morel drove in two runs during a six-run fifth inning that featured only three hits, and the streaking Cubs beat the crosstown White Sox 10-7 on Wednesday night.

Ian Happ and Cody Bellinger hit back-to-back homers in the eighth for the Cubs (50-51), who erased a five-run deficit on the way to their fifth straight win and seventh in eight games. They moved within 4 1/2 games of an NL wild card with the deadline looming next week.

After Marcus Stroman struggled again, four Cubs relievers combined for 5 2/3 innings of one-hit ball. Javier Assad (1-2) got five outs for the win, and Adbert Alzolay worked the ninth for his 11th save.

Eloy Jiménez and Jake Burger helped the South Siders build a 7-2 lead.

Jiménez had four RBIs and Burger homered for the White Sox (41-62), who are 5-14 in July after dropping their fifth straight game.

Taking the mound amid trade rumors surrounding his future, White Sox right-hander Lance Lynn was charged with seven runs and seven hits in 4 2/3 innings. He did not speak with the media after the loss.

Jimenez helped get the scoring started in the first for Chicago.

After the Cubs tied the score at two in the second inning, Tim Anderson put the Sox back on top in the bottom half.

Sandwiched between Burger's home run and Jimenez's two-run single was a Luis Robert, Jr. fielder's choice.

Yoan Moncada had a 'web gem' worthy play in the top of the second inning for the Southsiders.

White Sox RHP Mike Clevinger (biceps inflammation) is expected to return this weekend, likely on Saturday against Cleveland. Grifol isn't ruling out a rehab start for the right-hander, but he doesn't think it's necessary. Clevinger pitched a simulated game Monday. 

Cubs LHP Justin Steele (10-3, 2.95 ERA) takes the mound Thursday night for the opener of a four-game series at St. Louis. RHP Miles Mikolas (6-5, 4.33 ERA) goes for the Cardinals.

White Sox RHP Dylan Cease (4-3, 4.04 ERA) starts Thursday night in the opener of a four-game series against Cleveland. RHP Tanner Bibee (6-2, 3.04 ERA) goes for the visiting Guardians. Hear tonight's action on WHOW.

Nolan Gorman hit two of St. Louis’ five home runs in the Cardinals' 11-7 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday.

Gorman connected leading off the second against All-Star starter Zac Gallen, then hit a two-run blast to dead center in the eighth off Scott McGough.

Gorman, who grew up in Phoenix and had a large contingent of friends and family on hand, has two multi-homer games this season and 22 homers on the season.

Goldschmidt, Lars Nootbaar and Andrew Knizner also homered to give the Cardinals the series victory over the slumping Diamondbacks, who have lost six of seven and are 3-9 since the All-Star break.

Andre Pallante (3-1) pitched 1 1/3 innings in relief of Jack Flaherty, who made his final start for the Cardinals before the trade deadline Tuesday.

Flaherty, who will be a free agent after the season, pitched five-plus innings, allowing eight hits and three runs. He walked two and struck out four.

He gave up a leadoff triple to Geraldo Perdomo in the first, but stranded him thanks to a pair of strikeouts.

Gallen (11-5) lost for the first time at home in 11 starts this season. He pitched 6 1/3 innings, allowing five runs, seven hits and two walks. He struck out eight.

Emmanuel Rivera and Christian Walker homered for Arizona. Corbin Carroll and Jake McCarthy had three hits each for the Diamondbacks. Each team had 15 hits.

The Cardinals return home to begin a four-game series against the Chicago Cubs. RHP Miles Mikolas (6-5, 4.33) was set to start for St. Louis on Thursday.

The Los Angeles Angels acquired right-handers Lucas Giolito and Reynaldo López from the Chicago White Sox on Wednesday night, signaling their determination to contend for a playoff spot with Shohei Ohtani.

The Angels traded two of their top minor league prospects — left-hander Ky Bush and catcher Edgar Quero — to the White Sox, who got a solid return for two talented veteran pitchers playing their final season before unrestricted free agency.

Los Angeles announced the deal shortly after Sports Illustrated cited an unidentified source in reporting the Angels will not trade Ohtani, the 2021 AL MVP. Ohtani will be an unrestricted free agent this winter, but the Angels clearly are pulling out all the stops to contend for their first playoff appearance in the two-way superstar’s six major league seasons.

Giolito is the centerpiece of the deal for the Halos, who were eager to add an experienced starting pitcher. The Los Angeles-area native was among the top available names on the market as an impending free agent unlikely to re-sign with the White Sox.

Giolito is 6-6 with a 3.79 ERA this season in 21 starts for Chicago. His 131 strikeouts are 10th in the AL, and he has limited opponents to a .211 average in his last nine starts.

Giolito is from Santa Monica, and he pitched alongside Atlanta’s Max Fried and St. Louis’ Jack Flaherty in high school in Studio City.

Giolito spent his past seven big league seasons in Chicago’s rotation, winning 59 games. He was an All-Star selection in 2019, and he threw a no-hitter on Aug. 25, 2020. He has finished in the top 11 in AL Cy Young voting three times in his career.

The Angels (52-49) have won six of their last seven to move four games behind the Blue Jays for the final AL wild-card spot, although the Yankees and Red Sox are also ahead of Los Angeles.

The trade was announced after the struggling White Sox dropped to 41-62 with a 10-7 loss to the Cubs. They have lost five in a row and 13 of 17 overall.

Bush, 23, was a second-round pick in 2021, and he is 1-4 with a 7.20 ERA while playing for two minor league teams this season. Quero is considered a future major league catcher, but his path to the show in Anaheim would be blocked by Logan O’Hoppe, who showed tremendous promise as a rookie early this season before a torn labrum sidelined him until next month.

In a game heard on WHOW, Dansby Swanson homered twice and drove in four runs, and the Cubs beat the crosstown White Sox 7-3 on Tuesday night for their fourth consecutive victory.

Christopher Morel and Nico Hoerner also connected for the North Siders, and Kyle Hendricks pitched four-hit ball into the seventh inning. Swanson and Hoerner each had three hits, and Hoerner had two of the team's five stolen bases.

The Cubs (49-51) won for the sixth time in seven games overall, putting them firmly on the bubble ahead of the Aug. 1 deadline. The rest of the week could go a long way in determining if the team is a seller or tries to rally into a playoff spot.

Andrew Vaughn had two RBIs in his return to the White Sox lineup after being sidelined by a bone bruise in his left foot. Michael Kopech (4-9) allowed five runs, four earned, and nine hits in five innings in front of a sellout crowd of 37,079 at Guaranteed Rate Field. 

Tim Anderson scampered home on the sacrifice fly and Vaughn followed with an RBI single.

Hendricks (4-4) allowed three runs, struck out four and walked one in 6 1/3 innings. The crafty right-hander improved to 2-6 in 12 career starts against the White Sox.

With two runners on in the ninth, Adbert Alzolay came in and struck out the side for his 10th save.

Right-handers Marcus Stroman (10-7, 3.09 ERA) and Lance Lynn (6-9, 6.18 ERA) take the mound on Wednesday night. Stroman is 1-3 with a 6.46 ERA in his last five starts for the Cubs. Lynn surrendered four homers in 6 2/3 innings when the White Sox lost 9-4 at Minnesota on Friday. Stroman and Lynn both could be on the move ahead of next week's trade deadline.

Pinch-hitter Corbin Carroll's two-run triple capped a three-run rally in the eighth inning and the Arizona Diamondbacks beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Tuesday night to snap a five-game losing streak.

Arizona rallied late to win for just the third time in 11 games since the All-Star break.

Trailing 1-0, Arizona tied it in the eighth off JoJo Romero (2-1), who had retired the side in order in the seventh in relief of Steven Matz. Ketel Marte led off with a triple to the gap in left-center and scored when Jake McCarthy punched a single up the middle through St. Louis’ drawn-in infield.

Chris Stratton relieved and retired two batters but walked pinch-hitter Dominic Canzone before Carroll, batting for Emmanuel Rivera, drove one to the center-field wall, where Dylan Carlson could not make the play.

Kyle Nelson (5-2) got one out in the eighth inning. Kevin Ginkel pitched the ninth for his third save.

Merrill Kelly returned from the injured list for Arizona and went six innings, giving up just one run on four hits. The right-hander, who threw 86 pitches, last appeared in a game June 24 before being sidelined with right calf inflammation.

Matz pitched six shutout innings for his longest outing of the season. The left-hander gave up five hits, walked one and struck out six.

The Cardinals’ run scored on a double steal in the third. Brendan Donovan doubled past the first-base bag with one out and moved to third on Paul Goldschmidt’s bloop single to right. With a full count on Nolan Arenado, Goldschmidt took off for second. Arenado struck out and catcher Carson Kelly threw to second, while Donovan ran home and beat the return throw.

Jack Flaherty (7-6, 4.39) starts for St. Louis against fellow RHP Zac Gallen (11-4, 3.18) in Wednesday’s series finale.

Adam Wainwright threw five solid innings in his first start since injury, Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer and then a tying single in the ninth against his former team, and the Cardinals rallied for a 10-6 win over the skidding Arizona Diamondbacks on Monday night.

It was a back-and-forth game that saw Wainwright and the Cardinals take a 5-2 lead after five innings, only to watch the Diamondbacks push ahead 6-5 heading into the ninth. But St. Louis rallied against closer Andrew Chafin, loading the bases with one out.

That's when Goldschmidt sent a full-count pitch into left field for a single that made it 6-all. Chafin (2-3) struck out Nolan Arenado for the second out but then walked Lars Nootbaar, which forced home Willson Contreras for a 7-6 lead.

Tyler O'Neill followed with a crucial blow, hitting a three-run double off Kevin Ginkel that made it 10-6.

St. Louis snapped a three-game losing streak and improved to 7-4 since the All-Star break.

Arizona has dropped five straight, continuing an extended slide. The D-backs are 5-13 in July, which could change the team's approach to the rapidly approaching trade deadline on Aug. 1.

Goldschmidt crushed his 17th homer in the first for a 2-0 lead, hitting a fastball from Ryne Nelson off the batter's eye, far above the 407-foot sign on the center-field wall. The veteran first baseman spent his first eight seasons with the Diamondbacks - making six All-Star teams - before being traded to the Cardinals after the 2018 season.

It was Goldschmidt's 104th career homer at Chase Field - the most for any player since the park opened in 1998.

Arizona scored a run in both the first and second to even it 2-all. Corbin Carroll had a sacrifice fly, and Alek Thomas hit a two-out single that scored Emmanuel Rivera.

Wainwright returned to the mound after three weeks on the shelf with a right shoulder strain. He got better as his outing progressed, retiring nine hitters in a row at one point. He went five innings - even dropping down for a sidearm delivery at times - and gave up two runs on four hits while throwing 76 pitches.

Wainwright left with a 5-2 lead and was in line for his 199th career win, but the St. Louis bullpen couldn't hold it.

The D-backs scored twice in the sixth to cut the margin to 5-4 and then pushed ahead 6-5 in the seventh on Evan Longoria's pinch-hit, two-run double off Giovanny Gallegos (2-4). The 37-year-old third baseman is a three-time All-Star who has turned into a valuable role player this season in the desert.

Nelson gave up five runs on eight hits over six innings.

The series continues Tuesday night. The D-backs are expected to start RHP Merrill Kelly (9-4, 3.22 ERA), though Arizona still needs to make a roster move to bring him off the injured list. The Cardinals will counter with LHP Steven Matz (1-7, 4.67).

The Chicago White Sox open a brief two-game set with its crosstown rival Cubs tonight...

Hear the action tonight on WHOW. 

Making the playoffs will be the expectation this fall for the Clinton Maroons football team as the final week of the busy July schedule wraps up this week across the State.

For third-year coach Ron Bass and his captains, the expectations are high. Senior captain and quarterback Mason Walker believes this team has a chance to not only make the playoffs but win a playoff game.

Tristin Potts has been very happy with how his team has looked at 7-on-7 competitions and touts the improvements the team has made in the offseason.

Coach Bass says this team has set its goals high and he looks forward to watching them embark on those goals this fall.

The Maroons finish the 7-on-7 schedule tonight at Normal West and have their final day of summer camp on Wednesday. After that, 'dead week' is July 31 through Aug. 4 and the season officially gets underway Aug. 7 with the first day of practice.

 Cody Bellinger homered and drove in three runs, Jameson Taillon pitched into the sixth inning and the Chicago Cubs beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-2 on Sunday.

Dansby Swanson had two hits and Yan Gomes drove in two runs as Chicago closed out a 6-4 homestand. The Cubs won the last three games of their four-game set against the Cardinals.

Bellinger hit a two-run homer in the first and a sacrifice fly in the third. Continuing his hot stretch, the 2019 NL MVP is batting .381 (43 for 113) with 24 RBIs in 31 games since returning from a bruised knee on June 15.

Bellinger is batting .319 with 14 homers and 44 RBIs in 68 games for the Cubs, but he isn't interested in any declaration that he has re-established himself as one of the game's best hitters.

Nolan Arenado had three hits and Dylan Carlson had a pair of RBI singles for the disappointing Cardinals, who could be one of baseball's most active sellers ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline.

Jordan Montgomery (6-8) allowed seven runs, five earned, and six hits in six innings in his first loss since June 3. He went 4-0 with a 1.47 ERA over his previous seven starts.

Montgomery committed a costly two-out error in the first, dropping Ian Happ's soft comebacker. Bellinger then connected for his 14th homer, a 403-foot shot to the basket in center.

The Cubs broke it open with five runs in the third. Swanson singled in Seiya Suzuki, and consecutive doubles by Gomes and Trey Mancini plated three more runs.

Taillon (4-6) was charged with one run and seven hits in 5 2/3 innings. He struck out six and walked one.

The right-hander has been solid in three straight starts - including an eight-inning outing against the Yankees - after sliding to 2-6.

Taylor Motter started at second base for St. Louis after he was brought up from Triple-A Memphis. The Cardinals optioned infielder José Fermin and released right-hander Jake Walsh.

Adam Wainwright (3-4, 7.66 ERA) faces RHP Ryne Nelson (6-5, 4.82 ERA) at Arizona on Monday.

Kyle Hendricks (3-4, 3.38 ERA) takes the mound against White Sox RHP Michael Kopech (4-8, 4.29 ERA) on Tuesday at Guaranteed Rate Field.

Denny Hamlin chalked up his record seventh win at Pocono Raceway — “Eight, right?” he quipped — to nothing more than coming out ahead after a hard, respectful duel with Kyle Larson over the furious final laps.

Hamlin’s take: His Toyota held firm in the middle lane while Larson’s Chevrolet ran out of room on the outside when it got choked in a tight aerodynamic situation and sailed into the wall.

Larson’s view: His so-called good buddy Hamlin ran him up the track, smashed him into the wall and derailed his chance at the win.

Larson was furious. Hamlin shrugged it off. After all, he had the win at Pocono — and this time it counted.

Hamlin returned to victory lane Sunday a year after his first-place finish was thrown out, giving him a track-record seven wins and 50 overall in his Cup career.

Hamlin won for the second time this season and also gave Toyota its 600th NASCAR victory.

Hamlin passed Hall of Famer Jeff Gordon — for the second straight year — for most wins at the tri-oval track. Hamlin and his former Joe Gibbs Racing teammate Kyle Busch had their 1-2 finishes stripped a year ago by NASCAR for aerodynamics violations.

That made Hamlin the first disqualified Cup winner since April 17, 1960, when Emanuel Zervakis’ victory at Wilson Speedway in North Carolina was thrown out because of an oversized fuel tank.

The sold-out crowd — Pocono’s largest since 2010 — showered Hamlin with boos.

Larson faded to 20th and blamed Hamlin for shooting the No. 5 Chevrolet into the wall.

Hamlin won his 50th race in 635 career Cup starts spent entirely with Gibbs.

Tyler Reddick was second and Martin Truex Jr., who won last week at New Hampshire, was third. Kevin Harvick and Ty Gibbs rounded out the top five.

Austin Dillon chucked his helmet at former teammate Reddick’s car after the two were involved in a wreck. Dillon’s Ford slammed into the wall and its passenger side crumpled. Dillon threw his helmet as he walked off the track.

NASCAR heads to Richmond. Larson won the race in April while Harvick is the defending winner of last summer’s race.

Yasmani Grandal started a four-run sixth inning with a two-run double that followed Pete Alonso’s error and the Chicago White Sox beat New York 6-2 on Thursday in José Quintana’s Mets debut.

Grandal doubled to the warning track in right after the White Sox loaded the bases against Drew Smith.

The inning started when Alonso backed up on a grounder by Luis Robert Jr. that bounced off his glove. After Alonso’s fifth error of the season, Eloy Jiménez singled and Jake Burger walked. 

Then Oscar Colás hit a sacrifice fly.

Elvis Andrus hit his first triple since Aug. 18, 2021, a fly ball that soared over McNeil.

Jiménez hit an RBI single four batters in against Quintana (0-1).

Andrus lifted a sacrifice fly in the second.

Quintana, a 34-year-old left-hander who pitched for the White Sox from 2012-17, signed a $26 million, two-year contract with the Mets as a free agent, then fractured a rib during spring training. He allowed two runs and six hits in five innings, struck out three and walked none, retiring eight of his final nine hitters.

Michael Kopech (4-8) allowed two hits in 5 2/3 innings, both to Omar Narváez, and got his first win since May 24. He had been 0-4 with a 3.66 ERA over seven starts, a stretch that included a brief injured list stint due to right shoulder inflammation.

Kopech rebounded after getting two outs and throwing 38 pitches Friday at Atlanta in his return from the IL.

Kopech struck out five and walked four, Aaron Bummer got five outs and Gregory Santos two. Kendall Graveman pitched a 1-2-3 ninth to finish off the four-hitter.

Narváez singled in the third and homered in the fifth, his first home run since signing a $16 million, two-year contract with the Mets during the offseason.

Alonso hit an RBI single in the eighth to snap a 0-for-15 skid.

White Sox 1B Andrew Vaughn sat out for the second straight game and an X-ray was negative. 

Lance Lynn (6-8, 6.06 ERA) opposes RHP Joe Ryan (8-6, 3.77) in the opener of a three-game series Friday in Minnesota.

Jordan Walker and Paul DeJong each hit a two-run homer, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Chicago Cubs 7-2 on Thursday night for their sixth straight victory.

Nolan Arenado drove in two runs and Steven Matz pitched five effective innings as St. Louis won for the ninth time in 11 games overall. Paul Goldschmidt had two hits and scored two runs.

Marcus Stroman (10-7) pitched just 3 2/3 innings in possibly his final home start for the Cubs. The right-hander was charged with five runs - four earned - and seven hits. He struck out four and walked four.

Chicago (45-51) dropped to 7-9 in July, and Stroman could be one of the top pitchers on the market ahead of the Aug. 1 trade deadline. He is slated to face the crosstown White Sox on Wednesday.

Matz (1-7) allowed one run and three hits in his first win since Sept. 17 against Cincinnati.

St. Louis jumped in front on Willson Contreras’ RBI double in the first against his former team.

The Cardinals added four more in the fourth. Walker hit his ninth homer after a Tyler O’Neill double. Arenado added a two-run double.

DeJong made it 7-1 when he connected in the fifth against Michael Rucker. DeJong’s 13th homer went into the basket in right-center.

Yan Gomes had three hits for Chicago, including two triples. The veteran catcher entered with eight career triples in 12 seasons in the majors.

The four-game series resumes Friday when St. Louis RHP Jack Flaherty (7-5, 4.29 ERA) faces LHP Justin Steele (9-3, 2.96).

The NASCAR Cup Series continues its northeast swing this weekend as the top circuit taks to the Pocono triangle.

Martin Truex Jr. won on Monday in New Hampshire, his third victory of the season.

Truex has won twice on Monday this season and four times in his career. The victory was his first in 30 races in New Hampshire. 

Truex also regained the points lead by 17 over William Byron. Joey Logano finished second, followed by Kyle Larson, Kevin Harvick and Brad Keselowski. 

Kyle Busch finished last in a backup car after finishing just 71 of the 301 laps, ending a streak of seven consecutive top 10 finishes.

Chase Elliott - who seemingly needs a win to qualify for the playoffs - won after starting third when apparent winner Denny Hamlin and apparent runner-up Kyle Busch were disqualified for failing inspections.

Practice and qualifying is 1:30 pm Saturday. Race time is 1:30 pm Sunday.

John Hunter Nemechek won in overtime in New Hampshire, his second consecutive victory and fourth of this season as the XFinity Series joins the Cup series in Pocono. 

The New Hampshire race ended under the white flag after the 10th caution. Chandler Smith finished second, followed by Austin Hill, Daniel Hemric and Sammy Smith. Nemechek led 137 of 206 laps and gave Joe Gibbs Racing its 196th NASCAR Xfinity Series victory.

Nemechek’s points lead grew to 33 over Hill. 

Noah Gragson won after starting ninth last year. 

Practice and qualifying is this afternoon at 2:30. Race time is tomorrow afternoon at 4:30 pm.

The Craftsman Truck Series rejoins the top circuit this weekend in Pocono. 

Points leader Corey Heim passed Ty Majeski with 26 laps to go and never relinquished the top spot at Mid-Ohio, winning for the second time this season and for the first time on a road course.

Heim, with one fewer start than the rest of the contenders, leads defending series champion Zane Smith by 26 points and Majeski by 51 through 14 of 23 races. 

Heim is one of five drivers with two victories and has a series-best 11 top 10 finishes in 13 starts.

Practice and qualifying is 12:30 pm this afternoon. Race time is 11 am on Saturday. 

As the July competitive 7 on 7 season begins to wind down, teams will start assessing where they are as we get ever closer to the Aug. 6 first official day of fall football practice.

For Shelbyville football Coach Bill Duckett, this July has been about getting an inexperienced group of receivers reps with their returning quarterback.

According to Coach Duckett, his Rams football team graduates a lot of skill position players and so he notes they are keeping things simpler this summer as they get some new faces caught up to speed on their playbook.

The Rams went 8-2 last year, however, they had a disappointing exit in the first round of the IHSA 2A Playoffs losing to 14-seed Althoff Catholic in the first round of the playoffs.

In a game heard on WHOW, David Robertson retired Tim Anderson on a game-ending flyout that stranded runners on second and third, and the New York Mets beat the Chicago White Sox 11-10 Tuesday night after building a seven-run lead behind a pair of Francisco Álvarez home runs.

Hear tonight's action on WHOW.

Seiya Suzuki homered and drove in three runs on a four-hit night, and the Chicago Cubs poured it on late to beat the Washington Nationals 17-3 Tuesday night.

Patrick Wisdom hit his team-leading 17th homer in the seventh inning to put the Cubs ahead 4-3, and Chicago went on to score five more runs in the seventh and eight in the eighth.

Miguel Amaya and Michael Tauchman each drove in three runs for the Cubs, who finished with 20 hits.

The Cubs sent 13 men to the plate in the eighth. Nico Hoerner had two RBI singles in the frame.

Michael Fulmer (1-5), the first Chicago reliever, got four outs - three via strikeout.

Washington took a 3-0 lead in the first two innings against Jameson Taillon, who settled in after that, working 5 2/3 innings. Ross pulled Taillon after the big right-hander tumbled trying to field Dominic Smith’s infield single. Fulmer replaced Taillon, who had thrown 92 pitches and wasn't injured.

Washington RHP Trevor Williams (5-5, 4.42 ERA) faces Chicago RHP Kyle Hendricks (3-4, 3.57) Wednesday in the series finale.

Nolan Arenado’s three-run homer in the 10th inning lifted the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-2 win over the slumping Miami Marlins on Tuesday night.

JoJo Romero (2-0) pitched a perfect 10th for the Cardinals, who have won four straight games.

Cardinals starter Jordan Montgomery threw 92 pitches in his first appearance since a July 7 start was cut short by right hamstring tightness. He allowed one run and six hits, struck out five and walked two.

Marlins starter Edward Cabrera was dominant in his return from the 15-day injured list as he recovered from a right shoulder impingement felt at Seattle on June 13. Cabrera, who was on a pitch count, went five-plus innings, and allowed just one run on two hits. He struck out five and walked three.

Jon Berti had three hits and scored twice for the Marlins.

Cabrera didn’t allow a hit through our innings before Alec Burleson led off the fifth with an infield single and the only hard hit ball he allowed came on his last pitch of the night on Brendan Donovan’s 388-foot homer to lead off the sixth.

Berti led off the fifth with a triple and scored on Luis Arraez’s sacrifice fly.

Donovan tied it 1-1 with his career-high 11th homer.

Berti led off the seventh with a single and scored on a Jorge Soler single. Nolan Gorman’s double in the bottom half scored Dylan Carlson from first to tie the game at 2-all.

Montgomery was able to pitch out of a two-on jam in the second, aided by a diving catch by centerfielder Lars Nootbaar to rob Dane Myers of a potential run-scoring hit.

The Marlins will send RHP Sandy Alcantara (3-8, 4.64 ERA) in the series finale against the Cardinals and Dakota Hudson (1-0, 1.80 ERA) on Wednesday. Alcantara is 1-3 with 1.24 ERA in five career starts against his former team. Hudson will make his first start of the season in what projects to be a bullpen game for St. Louis.

A healthy and motivated group of Clinton football seniors are hoping to turn some heads this fall.

The Maroons hosted a 7-on-7 Monday night at Sprague Field with Sangamon Valley and Watseka. Seniors Noah Bass, Dawson Graves, TristIn Potts, and Colton Walker captain a team that just missed the postseason last year finishing 4-5. Graves is very pleased with how hard this team is working.

Walker has been very happy with the progress the team has made at 7-on-7s and in the weight room.

Noah Bass came to Clinton a few seasons ago from Tri-Valley and has seen a great deal of progress since he arrived.

Graves says the Maroons not only want to punch their ticket to the postseason this year but they want to win a playoff game.

While the Maroons were primarily a run-first team in 2022, Potts has been impressed with the progress of the passing game for Clinton so far in the preseason.

Monday night's 7-on-7 featured a lineman challenge. 

The Maroons open the 2023 fall season on Aug. 18 hosting Tremont.

olan Arenado drove in four runs, Miles Mikolas threw six solid innings on two days' rest, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Miami 6-4 on Monday night, extending the Marlins' skid to four games.

Mikolas (6-5) gave up three runs on seven hits. He threw three perfect innings Friday night against Washington in a game that was halted by rain.

Dylan Carlson drove in the other two runs and scored three for the underachieving Cardinals.

Pinch-hitter Nolan Gorman doubled with two outs in the sixth against reliever Dylan Floro (3-5). Carlson broke a 3-3 tie with an RBI single, and Arenado followed with a two-run double. Arenado is batting .340 (17-for-50) with 14 RBIs in his last 14 games.

Jordan Hicks allowed three hits in the ninth but escaped for his eighth save, helped by a double play. He got Jesús Sánchez to ground out with two runners on to end it.

Veteran reliever Ryan Tepera allowed a run in the seventh in his first appearance for St. Louis. He was pulled with the bases loaded and two outs for Giovanny Gallegos, who got Bryan De La Cruz to ground out. Gallegos stayed in and pitched a scoreless eighth.

Arenado had an RBI single in the third and a sacrifice fly in the fifth.

Jordan Montgomery (6-7, 3.23 ERA), who exited his last start on July 7 with hamstring tightness in the fifth inning, is set to start Tuesday. The Marlins had not announced a starter.

The Chicago White Sox opened the second half of the season by winning two out of three in Atlanta over the Braves.

Now the Sox have a big chance when they continue their NL East tour in New York against the Mets.

Hear tonight's action here on WHOW.

Keibert Ruiz hit a two-run homer and went 3 for 3 with a double to lead the Washington Nationals past the Chicago Cubs 7-5 on Monday night.

Jeimer Candelario also launched a two-run drive in his return to the lineup, and Stone Garrett doubled twice among his three hits. Luis Garcia added two RBIs for last-place Washington.

Ian Happ and Patrick Wisdom each had a two-run homer for the Cubs, who have lost three of four. Cody Bellinger got two hits and Christopher Morel contributed an RBI single.

MacKenzie Gore (5-7) went 6 1/3 innings to win for only the second time since April. The left-hander allowed five runs on five hits while striking out six and walking two.

Kyle Finnegan got four outs for his 12th save and first since May 27. He worked around a single and struck out the side in the ninth even though the righty said his “arm was dragging” a bit.

Drew Smyly (7-7) dropped his third straight decision, permitting five runs and eight hits in six innings despite striking out seven. The left-hander has a 9.86 ERA in his last four starts.

Patrick Corbin (6-10, 4.89 ERA) faces Chicago RHP Jameson Taillon (3-6, 6.15) on Tuesday.

In a game heard on WHOW, Dylan Cease won for the first time in nearly two months, Luis Robert Jr. had four hits that included a two-run homer and the White Sox beat Atlanta 8-1 on Sunday.

Jake Burger hit a two-run homer.

Robert had three singles before hitting a two-run homer off Michael Soroka in the sixth, Robert's 27th home run this season.

Andrew Benintendi had three hits and scored three runs.

Chicago had 14 hits, its most since June 28, and took two of three for its first series win since June 23-25 against Boston.

White Sox RF Eloy Jiménez left in the second inning with left groin tightness. Grifol said he doesn't expect Jiménez to be available in the next few days, for sure. Adding it doesn't look good for the next three, four, five days.

Lucas Giolito (6-5, 3.44) is scheduled to start when Chicago opens another series against an NL East team on Tuesday against RHP Carlos Carrasco (3-3, 5.16) and the New York Mets.

Masataka Yoshida hit a grand slam and a two-run triple, powering Kutter Crawford and the Boston Red Sox to an 11-5 blowout over the Chicago Cubs on Sunday.

Rafael Devers and pinch-hitter Triston Casas also homered for the surging Red Sox, who have won seven of eight. Crawford allowed one hit in six shutout innings.

Yoshida launched the second grand slam of his rookie season in Boston’s five-run fifth against All-Star lefty Justin Steele. Yoshida connected for his 11th homer on a 2-0 count after the Red Sox put together four straight hits, extending their lead to 6-0. Rob Refsnyder had an RBI single.

Yoshida added a two-run triple in the seventh, and a single in the ninth off catcher Tucker Barnhart. Yoshida’s streak of eight straight multi-hit games ended Saturday - it was the longest by a Red Sox left-handed hitter since Ted Williams in 1940.

Steele (9-3) allowed six runs and 10 hits over six innings after tossing a scoreless inning at Tuesday’s All-Star Game.

Cubs SS Dansby Swanson (bruised left heel) was eligible to be activated Sunday but remained on the injured list. He continued baseball activities.

Drew Smyly (7-6, 4.31) is scheduled to start Monday against Washington LHP MacKenzie Gore (4-7, 4.42).

Jack Flaherty won a fourth straight start for the first time in two years, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat Washington 8-4 on Sunday to open the second half by taking two of three from the Nationals.

Paul Goldschmidt hit a two-run homer and Nolan Gorman had three hits and two RBIs for St. Louis.

Flaherty (7-5) allowed three runs, three hits and three walks in six innings with seven strikeouts. He had not won four starts in a row since an 8-0 stretch from April 7 to May 19, 2021.

Keibert Ruiz homered in the second, ending Flaherty’s 13 2/3 innings scoreless streak.

Run-scoring singles by Andrew Knizner, Brendan Donovan and Lars Nootbaar in the fourth built a 3-1 lead for St. Louis, which had gone 0 for 8 with runners in scoring position.

Gorman homered in the fifth.

Goldschmidt hit a 443-foot drive to center in the sixth off Jordan Weems, Alec Burleson had an RBI groundout and Gorman added a run-scoring single for an 8-3 lead.

Miles Mikolas (5-5, 4.12) starts Monday’s opener of a three-game series against visiting Miami, which send LHP Jesús Luzardo (8-5, 3.29 ERA) to the mound.

If you are a Clinton Maroons baseball player entering sixth through ninth grades, baseball camps are scheduled for this week.

From 3 pm to 5 pm Monday and Tuesday, camps will be held at the junior varsity baseball field at Clinton High School. 

Newly minted high school varsity Coach Nate Ennis will lead the camps which will emphasize basic fundamentals of hitting, fielding, throwing, and base running. 

It will also introduce ballplayers to playing baseball with a purpose and having fun - something Coach Ennis hopes to bring to the program. 

Camps are free to attend. 

The 7-on-7 football competition season is in full swing and just about every coach you talk to will have a different set of priorities for the competitions that take place throughout July.

For Clinton High School football coach Ron Bass, he calls 7-on-7 competitions more of a teaching tool. He points out he emphasizes less of the score keeping and more of the competition component.

Some 7-on-7 competitions, like the Normal West and Washington events, offer alternate competitions to engage entire programs - such as lineman challenges which encompass weightlifting aspects. From year one to year two, Clinton saw great improvements among its big kids up front and Coach Bass says the year two to year three improvement is being noticed at these events.

The official start of the high school football season is Aug. 7. Coach Bass hopes to have everyone up to speed on the things they are doing which would lay the foundation for implementing more schemes and packages as the season goes along.

During June and July, Coach Bass has done some team-building activities with the kids. They've been paintballing and bowling with plans to have a golf outing still this summer. 

The high school football season gets an unofficial start in July with camps, 7-on-7s and in some cases, 11-on-11 scrimmages.

Tri-Valley football is coming off a runner-up finish in the Class 2A state finals last year. Coach Josh Roop says the 7-on-7 season for his team is about getting defensive coverages in place.

Coach Roop says his team is going to be very young this season so it will be important to get those kids reps this summer and in the preseason. He feels it's a good young group of players they will rely on this year.

Coach Roop notes his team is unlikely to participate in any 11-on-11 competitions this month. He believes each program has to evaluate how that change would impact each program individually and doesn't feel it would be a great benefit to his 2A program. 

In a game heard on WHOW, Paul DeJong had an RBI double in the 10th inning and the St. Louis Cardinals edged the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Sunday.

The Cardinals won their second straight on the South Side despite three errors that led to all of Chicago's runs being unearned.

St. Louis catcher Willson Contreras drilled a two-run homer and reached base four times with two hits, a walk and a hit by pitch. He’s 11 for 17 with two homers and five RBIs in his last five games.

It's off to the All-Star break for both squads. White Sox CF Luis Robert, Jr. will participate in this week's home run derby. 

The Cardinals host Washington starting Friday.

The White Sox open a three-game series at nine-game trip at Atlanta on Friday.

Yan Gomes hit a tying pinch-hit two-run single in the seventh inning following a fielding error by second baseman Gleyber Torres and Seiya Suzuki hit a go-ahead sacrifice fly in the eighth and the Chicago Cubs rallied for a 7-4 victory over the New York Yankees on Sunday.

Mike Tauchman opened the eighth with a single off Ron Marinaccio (4-4) before Nico Hoerner and Ian Happ walked.

Suzuki, who homered in the fifth for Chicago’s only hit off Domingo Germán, followed with a sacrifice fly off Clay Holmes as the Yankees deployed a five-man infield and Tauchman easily scored when right fielder Giancarlo Stanton’s throw was slightly up the line.

Hoerner scored the sixth run when Holmes threw a wild pitch over catcher Kyle Higashioka’s glove to the backstop and Tucker Barnhart added an RBI double in the ninth.

The Cubs (42-47) won for the fifth time in 14 games since getting to within a game of .500 following a 9-1 win over St. Louis June 24 in London.

Chicago rallied late after a frustrating opening inning when starter Kyle Hendricks was called for a pitch clock violation before his first pitch and Ross was ejected two batters into the game.

Rookie Anthony Volpe hit a two-run homer and Higashioka followed with a solo shot to gave the Yankees a 4-1 lead in the sixth.

Anthony Rizzo hit an RBI double after an eventful start to the game.

David Ross was ejected for the fourth time this season and second time in five days when he argued a pitch that plate umpire Alex MacKay called a ball, giving Stanton a 2-0 count.

Hendricks allowed four runs and 10 hits in 5 2/3 innings.

The Cubs host Boston in the opener of a three-game series Friday night.

The Chicago Cubs placed Dansby Swanson on the 10-day injured list Saturday because of a bruised left foot and anticipate it will be a short absence for their All-Star shortstop.

The move is retroactive to Thursday, a day after Swanson left in the seventh inning of Chicago’s 4-3 win at Milwaukee and he is eligible to return July 16 when the Cubs host the Red Sox.

In the first year of a seven-year, $177 million contract, Swanson is hitting .258 with 10 homers and 36 RBIs in 83 games. He was selected to his second All-Star team and replaced on the National League roster by Arizona’s Geraldo Perdomo.

To replace Swanson, infielder Miles Mastrobuoni was recalled from Triple-A Iowa. Mastrobuoni is hitting .145 in 29 games this year.

The 2023 MLB Draft kicked off Sunday night. History was made at the top of the draft, with LSU teammates Paul Skenes and Dylan Crews going No. 1 and No. 2, respectively, to the Pirates and Nationals. 

With the 13th pick in the MLB draft, the Cubs selected Maryland shortstop Matt Shaw. CBS Sports says Shaw is one of several collegiate infielders likely to come off the board in the teens. He's a well-rounded player who walked more than he struck out this season while also setting new career-highs in home runs and stolen bases.

The determinant on when he goes will be his expected position. A few scouts have expressed to CBS Sports the belief that he should at least begin his career at shortstop, but there's a camp who believes his arm is too light for the left side. Even if Shaw ends up at second base, his collection of average or better offensive tools should make him appealing.

Two picks later, the White Sox with the 15th pick took Ole Miss shortstop Jacob Gonzalez. CBS Sports says Gonzalez entered the spring with an opportunity to kick and push his way into the top five. Instead, he'll have to settle for going later in Round 1.

Gonzalez is an established quantity, having faced high-level competition the last few years with Team USA and within the SEC. He should remain at shortstop, and he has the potential to boast an average or better stick despite an unusual swing. 

Not only did he walk more than he struck out in each of the past two seasons, he has above-average raw strength from the left side - though it tends to play more to the gaps than it does over the fence. 

Gonzalez's upside pales in comparison to the positions players ranked ahead of him, but he has a chance to be a solid player.

At 21, the Cardinals took Arizona outfielder Chase Davis. Davis wasn't ranked among the CBS top players in the spring on account of his woeful in-zone contact rate -- you have to be able to hit strikes to make it in the pros. He clearly recognized that flaw in his game and worked to level up. He succeeded, greatly improving his in-zone contact rate and reducing his overall strikeout rate from 22.8% to 14.8%. 

The rest of Davis' game required no tinkering. He has good strength (stemming from a swing that has and will continue to earn him comparisons to Carlos González) and a firm command over the strike zone. He's also athletic enough to profile as an above-average defender in right.

Mahomet-Seymour fireballer Blake Wolters, a projected first round pick, fell to the second round being selectd by the Royals with the 44th pick.

The White Sox took LSU right-hander Grant Taylor in the second round with the 51st overall pick. 

With a compensation second round pick, the Cubs took Arkansas right-hander Jaxon Wiggins with the 68th pick. 

The Cardinals did not have a second round pick. 

The three-day, 20-round selection process, held in Seattle to coincide with the MLB All-Star break, will continue Monday and conclude Tuesday.

William Byron won the rain-shortened NASCAR race at Atlanta on Sunday night for his series-leading fourth victory of the season. It was the second win in Atlanta in the last two years for Byron, who took the NASCAR points lead.

The threat of rain affected strategy as drivers fought to move toward the front of the field before weather delayed or ended the race.

On lap 185, with 75 laps to go, NASCAR ordered cars to pit road due to rain and the possibility of lightning. Cars were covered while officials waited to see if the rain ended.

Only six minutes later, fans were warned of severe weather within eight miles of the track and were encouraged to leave the stadium immediately, and NASCAR called the race soon after that announcement.

Daniel Suarez, looking for his first win of 2023, was second. AJ Allmendinger was third, followed by Michael McDowell.

The race became official after 130 laps. After that, the weather watch factored heavily into race strategy.

Kevin Harvick, a three-time Atlanta winner, had a spin with 89 laps remaining. Harvick was able to drive to pit road without a caution, but the spin all but ended his hopes of a win in his final Atlanta race.

The increased threat of rain placed an increased emphasis on drivers to compete for top spots in the second stage, perhaps contributing to two wrecks that knocked out Ross Chastain, Kyle Larson and Austin Hill.

Denny Hamlin and Alex Bowman were involved in another crash late in the second stage, leaving Brad Keselowski and Ryan Blaney at the front of the field. The stage ended under caution.

Despite the stage win, Keselowski was left with a big decision as he talked with his crew about the threat of rain and the possibility of staying on the track. He chose to pit for fuel, saying he had no real choice.

A collision between Bubba Wallace and Ryan Preece caused another caution early in the final stage, leaving Byron in the lead, ahead of Suarez.

Chase Elliott, still looking for his first win of the season, finished 13th. Elliott won for the first time at his Atlanta home track in the 2022 summer race.

The NASCAR Cup Series moves to New Hampshire Motor Speedway in Loudon next Sunday.

Shane van Gisbergen won on the streets of Chicago in his NASCAR Cup Series debut, becoming the first driver to win his debut since Johnny Rutherford in 1963.

It was by all accounts a smashing success in downtown Chicago despite all the uncontrollables that could have set NASCAR back in its debut in the street course style racing.

This weekend, the top circuit returns to oval racing at Atlanta Motorspeedway.

Chase Elliott won from the pole position during last year's summer race. Joey Logano won the spring race in March.

Practice and qualifying is Saturday afternoon at 4:30 pm. Race time is 6 pm Sunday evening.

Cole Custer was declared the winner of the XFinity street race in Chicago after a lightning strike and persistent rain flooded parts of the course. The last half of the race, which had been set to resume Sunday after it was suspended Saturday because of lightning, was canceled.

Custer's victory was his second this year and the 12th of his career. 

Austin Hill won after starting fifth last year and won the spring race in March.

Xfinity practice and qualifying is at 3 pm Saturday and race time is 7 pm tomorrow night.

The Craftsman Truck Series is back on the road course this week at Mid-Ohio in Lexington, Ohio.

Carson Hocevar took the lead with 40 laps remaining in Nashville and held on through a restart with three laps to go for his second victory of the season two weeks ago. 

Corey Heim leads the point standings despite having raced only 12 times in the 13 events run so far this year. He's 16 ahead of defending series champion Zane Smith and 31 ahead of Grant Enfinger. 

Heim has finished in the top 10 in 10 of his 12 starts. Smith, Enfinger, Christian Eckes and Hocevar each have won twice.

Parker Kligerman won after starting second during last year's summer race while Eckes was the winner of the spring race in Atlanta.

Practice and qualifying is 3 pm this afternoon and race time is 12:30 pm tomorrow afternoon. 

Victor Caratini hit a tiebreaking home run off Michael Fulmer in the eighth inning, and the Milwaukee Brewers recovered from a blown three-run lead to beat the Chicago Cubs 6-5 Thursday and gain a split of their four-game series.

Cody Bellinger was 4 for 4 with three RBIs for the Cubs, finishing a triple shy of the cycle and raising his average to .298. His 12-game hitting streak matched his career best, set with the 2019 Los Angeles Dodgers. He his hitting .467 (21 for 45) with three doubles, a home run, six RBIs and 10 runs during the streak.

Milwaukee led 4-1 in the sixth inning and 5-3 in the eighth before Yan Gomes’ two-run homer off J.C. Mejía (1-0).

Caratini, who played for the Cubs from 2017-20, connected on a 1-2 changeup that Fulmer (0-5) left over the middle of the plate and drove the ball into the right-field second deck for his fifth home run this season.

Fulmer has lost six straight decisions since beating Boston for Minnesota last Aug. 30.

Mejía got his second major league win, his first since May 24, 2021, for Cleveland at Detroit.

Joel Payamps allowed a leadoff single to pinch-hitter Trey Mancini in the ninth, then got three straight outs for his third save in four chances. Chicago went 1 for 9 with runners in scoring position.

Cubs starter Marcus Stroman gave up four runs, four hits and four walks in five innings. He is 0-2 in three starts after winning seven in a row from May 19 to June 20.

Cubs SS Dansby Swanson didn’t play after leaving in the seventh inning of Wednesday night’s game because of a bruised left heel.

Cubs RHP Jameson Taillon (2-6, 6.93 ERA) returns to the Bronx for the first time since leaving the Yankees for a $68 million, four-year contract with the Cubs, starting Friday night’s opener of a three-game. LHP Carlos Rodón makes his Yankees debut after recovering a strained left forearm and bad back that had sidelined him since spring training. 

Jack Flaherty pitched shutout ball for his second straight start to help the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Miami Marlins 3-0 to avoid a series sweep.

St. Louis dropped the first three games of the series. Two were one-run defeats, including a 10-9 walk-off loss Wednesday night.

Flaherty (6-5) struck out five, walked two and allowed nine hits. He also threw six scoreless innings against the New York Yankees on July 1 and has lowered his ERA from 4.95 to 4.27 in the two starts.

Chris Stratton replaced Flaherty in the seventh after Miami loaded the bases on a pair of two-out singles and a walk. Stratton got Jesús Sánchez to hit into an inning-ending forceout.

Despite Flaherty giving up the two singles to Luis Arraez and one to Jorge Soler, Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol decided to keep Flaherty in the game for one more hitter before he walked Bryan De La Cruz on his season-high 111th pitch.

Giovanny Gallegos pitched a 1-2-3 eighth. One night after his throwing error allowed a Marlins win, Jordan Hicks got three outs for his sixth save.

Nolan Arenado’s two-out solo homer off Marlins rookie Eury Pérez in the sixth went 405 feet to right-center and put St. Louis ahead 1-0. It was Arenado’s 17th home run of the season and tied him with Nolan Gorman for the team lead.

Alec Burleson singled on a ground ball to right in the seventh, which scored Gorman and made it 2-0.

Gorman had a leadoff double in the seventh and drove in Lars Nootbaar in the eighth with a double.

St. Louis will play a three-game series at the Chicago White Sox before the All-Star break. LHP Jordan Montgomery (6-7, 3.28) will start Game 1.

In a pair of games heard on WHOW, the Toronto Blue Jays rallied twice to beat the Chicago White Sox twice in a doubleheader Thursday.

Hear tonight's action on WHOW.

A significant rules change is being made starting with the upcoming winter 2023-24 basketball season.

Last month, the IHSA announced the foul limit is going to be reduced to five fouls with a two free throw bonus after that, eliminating the one-and-one scenarios, and the fouls reset after each quarter.

It mirrors what the NBA does and the IHSA says this is to prevent injuries during rebounding situations during the one-and-one. Clinton High School boy's basketball coach Vic Binkley was surprised this was the rules change the IHSA decided to implement this year.

Coach Binkley indicates end-of-game situations will be handled very differently for coaches and he believes there will be a variety of things coaches will have to consider when deciding to foul.

The IHSA allowed limited experimentation with shot clocks last season during tournaments and shootouts. Many coaches reacted positively to that experiment. 

The scheduled game between the Chicago White Sox and Toronto Blue Jays was postponed because of rain and is set to be made up as part of a doubleheader on Thursday.

Toronto's José Berríos (8-6, 3.74 ERA) and Chicago's Lance Lynn (5-8, 6.47) will meet in Game 1 after having their scheduled starts pushed back a day. Yusei Kikuchi (7-3, 4.08 ERA) gets the ball in the nightcap for the Blue Jays. The White Sox have not announced a starter.

The Blue Jays are not scheduled to visit the White Sox again this season.

Toronto beat Chicago 4-3 on Tuesday after Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning against Joe Kelly. White Sox slugger Luis Robert Jr. hit a three-run drive in the sixth for his 25th homer.

Hear both of today's games on WHOW.

Mike Tauchman doubled in two runs and scored in a three-run ninth inning off All-Star closer Devin Williams and the Chicago Cubs rallied to beat the Milwaukee Brewers 4-3 on Wednesday night.

Cody Bellinger greeted Williams (4-2) in the ninth with a bloop single to center. After Christopher Morel struck out, Jared Young singled on a dribbler to third. Both runners advanced on a groundout and Tauchman sliced an opposite-field double to left to tie it at 3.

Tauchman scored the go-ahead run when Nico Hoerner reached on a throwing error by third baseman Brian Anderson.

Michael Rucker (2-1) got the victory with two innings of scoreless relief. Adbert Alzolay threw a perfect ninth for his fifth save in six opportunities.

Milwaukee scored twice in the sixth inning to go in front 3-1. Willy Adames opened with his 13th homer, sending an 0-1 pitch from Justin Steele 390 feet to left-center. Jahmai Jones singled with one and stole second. Anderson, activated earlier in the day off the paternity list, delivered a two-out RBI single to center.

Chicago pieced together a run in the third. Tauchman was hit by a pitch to open and took second when first baseman Owen Miller mishandled a pickoff attempt. Tauchman advanced on Seiya Suzuki’s slow-roller infield single to third and scored on Ian Happ’s single to center. Adrian Houser then got Dansby Swanson on a double-play grounder to second.

Milwaukee answered in the bottom half when Andruw Monasterio singled,

advanced on a ground out and came home on William Contreras’ single to center.

The Cubs loaded the bases with one out in the fifth, sandwiching walks to Tauchman and Ian Happ around Suzuki’s third single of the game. Houser finished his outing by enticing Swanson into a double-play grounder to third.

Cubs SS Dansby Swanson left in the seventh inning because of a left heel contusion.

Freddy Peralta (5-7, 4.67 ERA) starts for the Brewers in the series finale on Thursday, opposed by RHP Marcus Stroman (9-6, 2.69).

An errant throw by the Cardinals' Jordan Hicks allowed Yuli Gurriel to score from first with one out in the ninth inning Wednesday night, and the Miami Marlins rallied to beat the St. Louis Cardinals 10-9.

With Gurriel on first after a single and pinch-runner Garrett Hampson on second, Joey Wendle hit a dribbler back to Hicks (1-5). The pitcher's high, errant throw got past Goldschmidt to allow both runners to score.

The Cardinals took their first lead of the game when Jordan Walker blasted a two-run homer 444 feet to left center off Marlins closer A.J. Puk (4-2) in the ninth to make it 9-8.

St. Louis came from behind to tie the game twice - once in the third and again in the fourth - before Bryan De La Cruz put Miami ahead 7-6 in the sixth with an RBI double.

Garrett Cooper made it a two-run lead in the sixth with a single, which was needed, as the Cardinals cut the deficit to one run in the seventh with an RBI double from Willson Contreras that scored Nolan Arenado.

Arenado doubled three times, including a two-run double in a five-run third inning that tied it at 5.

The Marlins had squandered a five-run lead built after chasing Cardinals starter Matthew Liberatore in the first inning with five hits, a walk and four runs.

Luis Arraez led off the first with a double, Soler singled and De La Cruz singled to drive in Arraez. Cooper had a two-run double, Gurriel walked, and Dane Myers added an RBI.

Right-hander Dakota Hudson, who was recalled from Triple-A Memphis earlier Wednesday, replaced Liberatore after just seven batters and retired Stallings and Jon Berti to stop the onslaught at 4-0.

Jean Segura made it 5-0 in the second when he drew a bases-loaded walk.

In the third, Arenado and Contreras hit back-to-back two-run doubles, and Nolan Gorman tied it with a two-run blast to center field for his 17th home run of the season.

Miami starter Bryan Hoeing allowed five hits, five runs, struck out three and walked three in three innings.

Jacob Stallings homered in the third, giving Miami a short-lived 6-5 lead, which the Cardinals tied in the fourth.

Segura was ejected from the game by home plate umpire Jeff Nelson after disagreeing on a called third strike in the seventh.

The loss put the Cardinals 16 games under .500, which matches a season low. St. Louis was 16 games under on June 16 amid a six-game losing streak. This is the Cardinals’ slowest start to a season since beginning 35-50 in 1990. The Cardinals blew their 18th save opportunity of the season.

Marlins RHP Eury Perez (5-6, 4.82) will take the mound against RHP Jack Flaherty (5-5, 4.60) for the Cardinals in Thursday's series finale.

Chicago White Sox All-Star Luis Robert Jr. and two-time champion Pete Alonso of the New York Mets are set to participate in baseball’s Home Run Derby in Seattle on Monday.

Robert posted on Instagram hours before the official announcement that he would participate in the Home Run Derby. The Cuban outfielder also was selected to his first All-Star team.

Robert earned the top seed in an eight-player field announced Wednesday that includes Seattle’s Julio Rodríguez, 2018 American League MVP Mookie Betts, Toronto’s Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Tampa Bay’s Randy Arozarena, Texas’ Adolis García and Baltimore’s Adley Rutschman. Alonso, who won in 2019 and 2021, will try to join Ken Griffey Jr. (1994, 1998 and 1999) as the only three-time champions.

Robert will go against the eighth-seeded Rutschman (11 home runs) in the first round, with second seed Alonso facing the seventh-seeded Rodriguez (13). Third-seeded Betts (23) meets six seed Guerrero Jr. (13), and fourth-seeded García (21) faces five seed Arozarena (16).

The seeding was determined by home run totals through Tuesday. Tiebreakers went to the player with the most homers since June 15.

Robert and countrymen Arozarena and García are participating for the first time. They will try to join two-time champion Yoenis Céspedes as the only Cuba natives to win the Derby.

The high school football season gets its unofficial start in July with camps, workouts, and 7-on-7s.

Tonight, Monticello High School hosts its first 7-on-7 of the month. The Sages host 7-on-7 competitions each Wednesday evening in July. Coach Cully Welter really puts a lot on the schedule for his team in July.

For the Hall of Fame coach looks to the 7-on-7 competitions to install offense and work on their defensive schemes.

Coach Welter has always touted the fact he gets terrific buy-in during the spring and summer workout schedule, particularly from athletes that are not involved in other sports. He says 7-on-7s are the same way.

Monticello will host the 7-on-7 competitions on its new turf at the main field on campus. Coach Welter has been very pleased with the way that the renovation that was complete during the spring has improved their summer program.

In a game heard on WHOW, Vlad Guerrero, Jr. hit a two-run homer in the eighth inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox 4-3 on Tuesday night.

White Sox RHP Michael Kopech (right shoulder inflammation) remains on course to return soon after the All-Star break, GM Rick Hahn said. The team planned to give him some extra rest, but decided to put him on the 15-day injured list after a loss to the Los Angeles Angels last week. 

3B Yoán Moncada (lower back inflammation) will continue to ramp up activity in hopes that he'll be ready for a rehab assignment following the All-Star break, Hahn said. 

The White Sox hope to have closer Liam Hendriks (right elbow inflammation) throwing off the mound by the weekend. 

Hahn said RHP Mike Clevinger (right biceps inflammation) is expected to throw a sideline session on Saturday. Assuming no setbacks, he is expected to return soon after the break. 

Toronto RHP José Berríos (8-6, 3.74) looks to continue his dominance over Chicago, while RHP Lance Lynn (5-8, 6.47) gets the ball for the White Sox. Berrios is 13-6 with a 3.26 ERA in 23 starts against the White Sox and tossed seven scoreless innings in a win at home on April 25.

Hear tonight's action on WHOW.

Jesús Sánchez homered, singled twice and had four RBIs and the Miami Marlins beat St. Louis 15-2 in another short outing by Cardinals starter Adam Wainwright on Tuesday.

Jorge Soler and Joey Wendle each doubled twice while Garrett Cooper also went deep and had two singles for the Marlins, who finished with a season-high in runs against Wainwright and four relievers.

Marlins starter Jesús Luzardo (7-5) struck out eight in six scoreless innings.

Miami’s Luis Arraez went 1-for-3 and walked twice, dropping his major league-leading batting average to .387.

Wainwright (3-4) had his third consecutive outing of less than four innings. He was lifted after consecutive one-out walks in the fourth. The 41-year-old Wainwright gave up seven runs, four earned, and seven hits.

Position players Alec Burleson and Jacob Stallings pitched for the Cardinals and Marlins. Burleson got the last two outs in the eighth and Stallings allowed Lars Nootbaar’s RBI single and Edman’s sacrifice fly in the ninth.

The Cardinals have not announced a starter for the third game of the series Wednesday while the Marlins will go with RHP Bryan Hoeing (1-2, 3.72).

Left fielder Ian Happ threw out two runners at the plate in extra innings, and the Chicago Cubs pulled out a wild 7-6 win over the Milwaukee Brewers in 11 innings Tuesday after squandering a late lead for the second consecutive game.

Dansby Swanson homered and Miguel Amaya hit a two-run double to help the Cubs build a 6-2 cushion. But the Brewers scored twice in the eighth and twice more in the ninth to tie it.

In the bottom of the 10th, pinch-runner Andruw Monasterio was placed at second base as the automatic runner. He tried to score the winning run on Owen Miller's one-out single to left but was cut down at home by Happ on a call that stood following a replay review.

Miller was thrown out trying to advance to second, ending the inning.

Chicago went ahead in the 11th. Automatic runner Cody Bellinger moved to third with one out on a wild pitch by Clayton Andrews (0-1). After Amaya struck out, Nico Hoerner beat out an infield single to put the Cubs up by a run.

With one out in the bottom half, Miller tried to tag up from third and score the tying run on Brice Turang’s pop fly to left. He was thrown out at the plate by Happ to end the game, setting off a celebration as Cubs players poured out of the dugout after halting their three-game skid.

Kyle Hendricks gave Chicago a solid start and Daniel Palencia (1-0) got the win in his major league debut.

Hendricks gave up four hits and two runs - one earned - in six innings. He walked one and struck out five.

The loss dropped Milwaukee (46-40) a game behind first-place Cincinnati in the NL Central, after the Reds beat the Nationals 8-4 earlier in the day.

The Cubs placed INF Nick Madrigal on the 10-day injured list with a right hamstring strain and activated INF Patrick Wisdom from the 10-day IL. RHP Brad Boxberger was transferred to the 60-day IL.

All-Star lefty Justin Steele (9-2, 2.43 ERA) starts Wednesday for the Cubs against Adrian Houser (3-2, 3.88) in the third of a four-game set. Steele is 1-2 with a 2.23 ERA in 11 career games (10 starts) vs. Milwaukee. Houser is 1-2 with a 5.14 ERA in six career starts against Chicago.

Jahmai Jones hit a pinch-hit, three-run double in his first big league appearance since 2021, helping the Milwaukee Brewers rally for an 8-6 win over the Chicago Cubs on Monday.

With the bases loaded and two outs in the seventh inning, Jones hit a line drive on the first pitch from reliever Anthony Kay that one-hopped off the center field wall and scored Raimel Tapia, Christian Yelich and Owen Miller, tying the game at 6.

The Brewers completed their comeback from a six-run deficit in the eighth inning with an RBI single by Willy Adames and a sacrifice fly by Miller - both off Mark Leiter Jr. (1-2) - to take an 8-6 lead.

Brewers All-Star reliever Devin Williams allowed a double by Nico Hoerner and a walk to Ian Happ in the ninth, and then struck out All-Star Dansby Swanson to earn his 18th save.

Joel Payamps (3-1) pitched a perfect eighth inning for Milwaukee.

The Cubs took a 6-0 lead after three innings and held a 6-3 lead until the seventh when their bullpen let them down in the seventh.

Julian Merryweather loaded the bases on a single and two walks before being replaced by Kay.

Cubs starter Drew Smyly lasted only 3 ? innings, giving up three runs.

Brewers starter Julio Teheran went six innings and allowed six runs, three in the second and three in third.

Swanson, who snapped an 0-for-9 streak, and Christopher Morel each had two hits and scored two runs for the Cubs. Nick Madrigal and Tucker Barnhart each had two RBI.

It's been an up-and-down season for the Chicago White Sox as momentum seems to disipate as soon as it gets started.

The southsiders welcome the Blue Jays to town for the holiday hoping to get on a roll heading to the all-star break.

Hear this week's action on WHOW.
 

Nick Fortes hit a go-ahead RBI single in a seventh inning rally to open a seven-game homestand for Miami in a 5-4 win over the St. Louis Cardinals Monday night.

Pinch hitter Yuli Gurriel tied it in the seventh with a two-run double against reliever Andre Pallante after two straight walks. The Marlins then inserted the speedy Jon Berti to pinch run for Gurriel, and Berti scored on Fortes’ ground-ball single.

Marlins reliever Tanner Scott worked a scoreless eighth to preserve the lead despite giving up a single to Paul DeJong and hitting Dylan Carlson with a pitch.

And A.J. Puk got the final three outs for his 14 save of the season.

DeJong had broken a 2-2 tie in the sixth with an RBI double for the Cardinals, who are last place in the NL Central.

Willson Contreras led off the inning with a double against Garrett then scored on DeJong’s line drive off reliever Andrew Nardi. Huascar Brazoban (3-1) got the last two outs of the seventh for the win.

Garrett struck out six and allowed seven hits and two runs.

Contreras, who was 3 for 4, tied it in the second inning with his ninth home run of the season - a solo shot that went 383 feet to left. He also singled in the first and finished a triple shy of the cycle.

Cardinals starter Miles Mikolas struck out two and gave up two runs and four hits in six innings. After giving up all four hits in the first two innings, he retired 14 straight batters and did not allow a runner until back-to-back walks of Garrett Cooper and Jean Segura in the seventh to start the Marlins' rally.

Pallante (2-1) replaced Mikolas with the tying runs on base and took the loss.

Miami used a three-hit first to take a 2-0 lead. Luis Arraez led off with a single, Jorge Soler doubled, Bryan De La Cruz drove in Arraez with a grounder and Jesus Sanchez hit an RBI double.

Arraez was 1 for 4 bringing his batting average to .388.

Nolan Arenado’s sacrifice fly in the seventh drove in Lars Nootbaar to make it 4-2.

June is somewhat the unofficial second season for high school basketball. 

Clinton High School varsity basketball coach Vic Binkley was very impressed with the dedication and buy-in he got from his team this summer as they did a lot of competing in central Illinois and lots of workouts.

For the upcoming 2023-24 edition of the Clinton Maroons, size will again be limited and so Coach Binkley says a lot of his focus this summer was guarding teams and opponents with size.

Also part of this summer for Coach Binkley was getting the younger kids engaged in basketball and excited to be a Maroons varsity basketball player. So he hosted a week of camps for youth of a wide range of ages and he is very excited about what he saw.

Coach Binkley is very excited about the changes at the high school gym and cannot wait for his athletes to get on it and for the community to see it. 

On the WHOW, Jake Burger hit his 18th home run and the Chicago White Sox beat the Oakland Athletics 8-7 on Sunday to avoid a three-game sweep.

Hear Tuesday's action on WHOW.

Jordan Montgomery beat the Yankees for the second time since they traded him last summer, pitching the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-1 win over Gerrit Cole on Sunday that completed a disappointing 3-3 trip for New York.

On a day Yankees manager Aaron Boone was ejected for the fifth time this season, Montgomery (6-7) allowed an unearned run, two hits and three walks in 6 2/3 innings. He held New York hitless until Gleyber Torres doubled with two outs in the sixth.

Givoanny Gallegos relieved after Jake Bauers' two-out RBI single in the seventh and struck out pinch-hitter Billy McKinney. Gallegos walked Oswaldo Cabrera on four pitches starting the eighth, then retired his next three batters.

Jordan Hicks allowed a hit and a walk in the ninth, then retired Kyle Higashioka on a groundout to end a three-hitter.

With the Cardinals ahead 2-1, Brendan Donovan hit a two-run homer in the seventh off Jimmy Cordero.

New York split a six-game trip that began in Oakland against the major league-worst Athletics and ended at the Cardinals, who are last in the NL Central.

Cole (8-2) allowed two runs and in five innings with two walks and five strikeouts.

Jordan Walker and Knizner hit run-scoring singles in the fourth. St. Louis added a run in the eighth when Dylan Carlson stole third and continued home when Higashioka's threw bounced down the left-field line for an error.

Miles Mikolas (4-5, 4.44) will face LHP Braxton Garrett (4-2, 3.53 ERA) on Monday night in the opener of a four-game series at Miami.

Shane van Gisbergen won his Cup Series debut on a rainy Sunday in downtown Chicago, chasing down Justin Haley and Chase Elliott in a memorable finish to the series’ first street race.

After passing Elliott, van Gisbergen dueled with Haley in the final laps before the three-time Supercars champion moved in front for good. Haley held on for second, and Elliott was third.

The 34-year-old van Gisbergen, a New Zealand native, became the first driver to win his Cup Series debut since Johnny Rutherford in the second qualifying race at Daytona in 1963.

He got a chance to drive the No. 91 Chevrolet in Chicago as part of Trackhouse Racing’s Project 91. Trackhouse is owned by Marks, and the goal for the Project 91 program is to give international drivers a shot at NASCAR.

Kyle Larson finished fourth in Chicago, followed by Kyle Busch and Austin Cindric. Christopher Bell won the two stages and led a race-high 37 laps, but faded to 18th.

The race was scheduled for 100 laps and 220 miles, but it was shortened because of fading sunlight after the start was delayed for more 90 minutes because of a historic rainfall that flooded the course. The last half of the Xfinity Race, set to resume after it was suspended Saturday because of lightning, was canceled.

There also was a massive pileup on the 50th lap involving 14 cars turning on East Jackson Drive from Michigan Avenue, clogging the course and almost assuredly drawing a smile from regular Chicago drivers familiar with the area.

The series heads to Atlanta next weekend.

Josh Naylor hit a two-run single in the 10th inning and the Guardians regrouped to beat the Chicago Cubs 8-6 on Sunday after Emmanuel Clase blew a four-run lead in the ninth.

Aaron Civale pitched three-hit ball over six innings after the start of the game was delayed nearly two hours by rain. Andrés Giménez homered in the third and scored the go-ahead run in the 10th.

Giménez opened the inning as the automatic runner on second base and moved up on Amed Rosario’s single. A groundout by José Ramírez left runners on second and third before Naylor drove them in with a single up the middle against Adbert Alzolay (1-4) to put Cleveland back on top 8-6.

Sam Hentges (1-0) retired all three batters in the bottom half, sending the Cubs to their sixth loss in seven games.

Cleveland had a 6-1 lead in the eighth before Christopher Morel hit a solo homer for Chicago off Trevor Stephan.

Drew Smyly (7-5, 3.96) tries to bounce back from one of his worst starts this season as the Cubs open a four-game series Monday afternoon in Milwaukee. Smyly lasted just 3 2/3 innings and matched season highs by allowing seven runs and nine hits in Wednesday’s loss to Philadelphia. RHP Julio Teheran (2-3, 2.95) pitches for the Brewers.