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• MLB: Rockies halt Guardians' win streak

  Charlie Blackmon's three-run homer capped a big fourth inning that propelled the Colorado Rockies to an 8-6 victory over Cleveland on Monday, ending the Guardians' season-high nine-game winning streak.

  The Rockies scored six times in the fourth to erase an early 4-1 deficit and end the American League Central-leading Guardians' longest sequence of consecutive wins since an AL-record 22-game run in 2017.

  Blackmon added a run-scoring double and finished 3 for 4 to lead the Rockies to their fourth win in six games. Elehuris Montero had a two-run single during the fourth-inning outburst, while Sean Bouchard also drove in two runs and scored twice for Colorado.

  Josh Rogers earned the win after allowing two runs over five innings in relief of Anthony Molina, who was pulled after permitting three runs and walking three over the first 1 2/3 innings.

  Colorado loaded the bases with one out in the fourth on a pair of walks issued by Cleveland starter Xzavion Curry and a single by Brendan Rodgers. After a fielding error by Guardians' second baseman Andres Gimenez let in a run, Montero laced a single to center to tie the game at 4-4 before Blackmon drove Curry's pitch over the right field wall to put the Rockies ahead.

  Curry lasted just 3 1/3 innings and surrendered seven runs - six earned - on six hits.

  Blackmon increased the lead to 8-4 with a sixth-inning double that plated Bouchard, who had reached on a walk.

  The Guardians inched closer when Bo Naylor singled in the seventh and scored on Jose Ramirez's two-out double, then further closed the gap against Colorado closer Jalen Beeks in the ninth.

  Tyler Freeman doubled with one out and Gimenez followed with a run-scoring single to cut the lead to 8-6. Beeks settled down and struck out Ramirez, however, before retiring Josh Naylor on a pop-up to notch his fifth save.

  Freeman went 3 for 5 and opened the game with a double before later crossing the plate on a Ramirez groundout for Cleveland's first run. The center fielder put the Guardians up 3-0 with an RBI single in the second, after Cleveland had pushed home a run earlier in the inning without a hit due to two walks issued by Molina and a hit batter.

  Bouchard delivered a run-scoring double in the bottom of the second to get the Rockies on the board, though Cleveland answered in the third when Ramirez doubled and came home on David Fry's single for a 4-1 advantage.

   

  Brewers down Cubs in ex-manager Counsell's return to Milwaukee

  The Milwaukee Brewers scored five times in the eighth inning, highlighted by a three-run homer by Willy Adames, to hand former manager Craig Counsell a loss in his return to American Family Field with Monday's 5-1 win over the Chicago Cubs. 

  Jackson Chourio added two hits, including a run-scoring double, to help the Brewers take the opener of this high-profile three-game series between National League Central foes, a rivalry made more intense by Counsell resigning as Milwaukee's manager in the offseason to take the same position with the Cubs.

  Counsell is the Brewers' all-time leader in wins by a manager with 707 and guided the club to five play-off appearances in nine seasons. The Wisconsin native was greeted by a chorus of boos from the Milwaukee crowd during a video montage put together by the Brewers to honour their ex-skipper before the game.

  Neither team scored over the first seven innings while receiving standout performances from their starting pitchers, but the Brewers broke out against the Chicago bullpen after Counsell removed Justin Steele before the start of the bottom of the eighth.

  Sal Frelick greeted reliever Mark Leiter with a single and Brice Turang drew a walk before Chicago third baseman Nick Madrigal mishandled a ground ball to allow Frelick to score the go-ahead run.

  Adames then walloped Hayden Wesneski's 3-0 pitch over the center field wall to stake the Brewers to a 4-0 lead. Joey Ortiz walked two batters later and Chourio drove him home with a double to increase the margin.

  The Cubs ended the shutout bid in the ninth when Seiya Suzuki walked, advanced to third on a Cody Bellinger single and scored on Patrick Wisdom's sacrifice fly. 

  Steele struck out eight while yielding just three hits over seven innings, while Robert Gasser held the Cubs to three hits and struck out seven through six scoreless innings. 

   

  Lodolo returns to lead Reds to a fourth straight win

  Nick Lodolo threw 5 1/3 effective innings in his return from the injured list as the Cincinnati Reds extended their winning streak to a season-high four games with a 3-1 victory over the St. Louis Cardinals.

  Lodolo (4-2) gave up a solo homer to Paul Golschmidt in the first inning but was nearly spotless thereafter in his first start since missing just over two weeks with a groin strain. The left-hander permitted just four other hits and walked none while recording three strikeouts.

  Jeimer Candelario answered Goldschmidt's third homer in two games with a solo shot of his own in the bottom of the first inning before the Reds moved ahead with two unearned runs off Lance Lynn in the second. 

  Nick Martini opened Cincinnati's half of the inning by reaching on an error by St. Louis third baseman Nolan Arenado. Jonathan India then singled, and Will Benson followed with a base hit of his own to plate Martini for a 2-1 lead.

  Another St. Louis error, a misplay by Goldschmidt on a grounder off the bat of Jacob Hurtubise, allowed India to score the Reds' third run.

  The Cardinals didn't manage another hit after Lodolo exited, as Fernando Cruz and Sam Moll combined for 2 2/3 scoreless innings before Lucas Sims retired the side in order in the ninth for his first save of the season.

  St. Louis had a season-high run of five consecutive wins halted, though shortstop Masyn WInn extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a third-innng single.

  Lynn (2-3) worked six innings and allowed all three Cincinnati runs, though just one was earned due to the Cardinals' two errors in the second. 

   

• Medvedev battles into French Open second round after Koepfer triumph

  Daniil Medvedev staved off a Dominik Koepfer fightback to record a battling victory in the French Open first round on Monday.

  The world number five raced out the blocks on Court Simonne-Mathieu and eventually triumphed 6-3 6-4 5-7 6-3 in Paris.

  Medvedev, a five-time major runner-up and 2021 US Open champion, broke Koepfer's first service game in the French capital with that a seeming sign of things to come.

  Though the 28-year-old dropped his serve in the first set, Medvedev had little trouble in responding with the score finely poised at 3-2 to claim first blood at Roland-Garros.

  The fifth seed has only ever gone as far as the quarter-finals, three years ago, at the French Open but showed his clinical best to snatch the second set after holding all six service games for a narrow triumph.

  World number 65 Koepfer battled back in the third but the resilient Medvedev responded by breaking his German opponent early in the fourth set, finally securing victory in just over three hours.

  Data Debrief: Medvedev gets better of Koepfer again

  Medvedev has won all four of his meetings with Koepfer, with his most recent such victory seeing him reach the second round at Roland-Garros for the third time in eight attempts.

  Since the start of the 2021 season, Medvedev is 27-1 against players ranked outside the top 50 at major events, with his only loss in that run coming against Seyboth Wild in the French Open first round last year.

  Koepfer, meanwhile, extends to 1-17 against top-10 players in his career, earning his only such victory against over Gael Monfils – then ranked ninth in the world – at the 2020 ATP Masters 1000 event in Rome.

• Al-Nassr 4-2 Al-Ittihad: Ronaldo breaks Saudi Pro League scoring record in final-day win

  Cristiano Ronaldo claimed a piece of Saudi Pro League history after scoring twice in Al-Nassr's 4-2 final-day victory over 10-man Al-Ittihad on Monday.

  The five-time Ballon d'Or winner was on target in either half at Al Awal Park, moving to 35 goals across the 2023-24 league campaign in Saudi Arabia.

  Ronaldo opened the scoring on the stroke of half-time after receiving a long ball from Mohammed Al-Fatil, before doubling his tally – and Al-Nassr's lead – with a header from Marcelo Brozovic's corner.

  That second finish after Suwailem Al Manhali was dismissed for the visitors saw Ronaldo eclipse Abderrazak Hamdallah's 34-goal tally – in the 2018-19 season – for the most strikes in a single campaign.

  Abdulrahman Ghareeb then added another from the penalty spot before Meshari Al Nemer made sure of three points after late goals from Farhah Al Shamrani and Fabinho had pulled Al-Ittihad back into contention.

  Having already been unable to stop Al-Hilal secure the title, Al-Nassr finish second in the table – ending on 82 points after 26 wins from the 34-match campaign.

  Data Debrief: Al-Nassr dominance pays off

  Much will be made of the record-breaking Ronaldo, who has scored 50 goals in as many games across all competitions this season.

  Yet Al-Nassr were dominant from the off in this one, mustering nine shots on target to Al-Ittihad's three, while accumulating 2.73 expected goals (xG) – far superior to the visitors' 1.43 xG.