Jacoby Ellsbury and Carl Crawford each doubled twice and Adrian Gonzalez once as the Red Sox increased their major league high to 248 doubles, 35 more than the second-place New York Mets. And Crawford and Gonzalez drove in three runs each. Cook (3-5) regained control of his sinker after going 0-4 in his previous five starts. Of his 21 outs, 15 came on...

Sheets (4-1) had his longest outing since joining Atlanta’s rotation on July 15 after missing all of last season due to Tommy John surgery on his right elbow. He allowed one run on seven hits while walking one and striking out none. Freddie Freeman drove in two runs, Brian McCann went 2-for-3 with an RBI and Dan Uggla had a pair of hits for the...

After a sparkling start to his first campaign in the Majors, which included a spot on the American League All Star Team, Darvish (11-8) has fallen on hard times and is just 1-4 in his last six starts. “For anybody, when things don’t go right, you naturally feel frustrated,” Darvish told reporters. “A lot of players go through it....

Tim Byrdak, who was placed on the disabled list last week with soreness in his pitching shoulder, was give a diagnosis Monday of a torn anterior capsule in the shoulder. Byrdak, 38, learned the extent of the injury after having a magnetic imaging resonance exam in New York. His treatment options were still being considered and surgery was a possibility. The injury...

In men’s action at the joint WTA-ATP event, American Mardy Fish advanced to the third round with a 6-2, 6-0 win over Australian Matthew Ebden and Sam Querrey of the U.S. ousted Jurgen Melzer of Austria 6-3, 6-2. Vinci, ranked 28th, trailed 5-2 in the third set when she began winning points on her forehand against the Belgian. She advanced to...

The third-seeded Sharapova, who can seize the world’s top ranking from Victoria Azarenka depending on results this week, was demolished 6-0 6-1 by Williams in London but said the loss will motivate her ahead of the August 27-September 9 U.S. Open. “If I sat here and thought there was nothing I could do, that would probably be very...

KIAWAH ISLAND, S.C. — There are more than 30 acres of waste area at the Ocean Course, host to this week’s P.G.A. Championship, and although much of those areas is made of sand, none of it will be considered a bunker. Even the sandy pits and bowls near the greens will not be called bunkers. For the purposes of the tournament, there are no bunkers. Players will...

Phil Noble/ReutersManager Alex Ferguson in early July flanked by his two new Manchester United signings: Shinji Kagawa of Japan, left, and Nick Powell of England. “Real fans,” as Manchester United Manager Alex Ferguson put it, should not be concerned over the Glazer family’s debt-laden ownership of soccer’s most valuable team. “They have been great,”...