SPORTS digest

Black Bears rally past Scrappers in 9th inning

GRANVILLE, W.VA.

Henry Pujols hit a grand slam home run for the Mahoning Valley Scrappers, but the West Viginia Black Bears won 9-8 in 10 innings when Brett Kinneman belted a two-run, walk-off homer.

The Scrappers trailed 5-1 after the Black Bears scored five in the bottom of the fifth against Cameron Mingo, but Pujols’ grand slam highlighted a six-run sixth as Mahoning Valley (32-22) took a 7-5 lead.

West Virginia (21-35) tied it at 7 when Grant Koch hit a two-run shot in the bottom of the eighth.

The Scrappers regained the lead in the 10th when Tyler Freeman’s sacrifice fly drove in Jose Fermin, but Erick Algarin served up Kinneman’s home run in the bottom of the inning.

The Scrappers are off today for the New York-Penn League All-Star break.

Freeman. left fielder Hosea Nelson, DH Mitch Reeves and pitchers Luis Santos and Randy Valladares will represent the Scrappers in the NY-PL All-Star Game on Tuesday night at Medlar Field at Lubrano Park in State College, Pa.

Blaney winning streak reaches 29 years

Hartford

It took Dale Blaney until Aug. 25 last season at Attica Raceway Park to keep his streak of winning at least one Sprint Car feature every season alive.

The 54-year-old Hartford driver once again found himself looking for that elusive first win of the season on Saturday night at Sharon Speedway. In a year that saw the National Sprint Car Hall of Fame racer compete in a limited schedule due to a work-related injury, Blaney made just his third start of the season in Jimmy Morris’ No. 4N. But passed race-long leader, A.J. Flick, on lap 20 and raced on to the 30-lap win.

The $3,000 victory extended his “410” Sprint Car feature streak, which began in 1990 at Sharon Speedway.

Other winners Saturday included Chris Schneider (Gibson Insurance Agency Stock Cars), Chas Wolbert (HTMA/Precise Racing Products RUSH Sportsman Modifieds and Eric Wilson (Summit Racing Equipment Econo Mods).

Sharon Speedway will host another Menards “Super Series” event Saturday with an appearance by the FAST Series for the “410” Sprint Cars in a $3,000 to-win, $300 to-start event along with the first appearance of the season by the E-Mods. The RUSH Sportsman Modifieds and Econo Mods will also return. It’s Kams Electric Service Night. Pits open at 4 p.m. with grandstands at 5, Sprint qualifying at 6:30 and heat racing at 7. Grandstand admission is $15 for those 14 and over. Pit passes are $30.

Rafael Nadal drops out of Western & Southern

MASON

Rafael Nadal dropped out of the Western & Southern Open on Sunday night, scuttling a reunion of the “Big Four.”

Nadal withdrew a few hours after he won his fifth title of the year in Toronto, beating Stefanos Tsitsipas 6-2, 7-6 (4). Instead of playing more grueling matches in Cincinnati, he’ll take a week to get some rest and get ready for the U.S. Open.

“No other reason than personally taking care of my body and trying to keep as healthy as I feel now,” Nadal said in a statement.

And so the “Big Four” reunion will have to wait for at least a few more weeks. Nadal, Roger Federer, Novak Djokovic and Andy Murray haven’t played in the same tournament in more than a year. With Nadal’s withdrawal, Federer becomes the top player in the men’s bracket in Cincinnati.

Halep defeats Stephens in finals at Montreal

MONTREAL

Top-ranked Simona Halep outlasted third-ranked Sloane Stephens 7-6 (6), 3-6, 6-4 on Sunday to win her second Rogers Cup title.

The 26-year-old Romanian star also won the hard-court event that rotates between Toronto and Montreal in 2016 in Montreal.

In a rematch of Halep’s French Open final victory, she overcame Stephens in the match that had 15 service breaks. Halep has won her last six meetings with the 25-year-old American.

Staff and wire reports