Billy Vunipola has been beasted in training for the past month in anticipation of his return from suspension for England’s World Cup clash with Japan.

Vunipola was banned for the final warm-up match against Fiji and Saturday’s 27-10 victory over Argentina that opened Pool D after being sent off for a dangerous tackle against Ireland last month.

The powerful Saracens number eight is expected to be involved in Sunday’s next group assignment in Nice, especially with Tom Curry facing a suspension for his red card against the Pumas.

To help prepare one of their most potent carriers after a four-week absence from the field, Vunipola has received special attention from head of strength and conditioning Aled Walters.

“Unfortunately for Billy he was handed over to Aled Walters, which is not a pleasant experience for him,” attack coach Richard Wigglesworth said.

“There’s a group of lads who are given extra conditioning, lads who maybe didn’t get many minutes or didn’t play.

“Unfortunately for Billy that’s been him every time for the last few weeks. Aled has been working him hard and he looks good to go.”

Vunipola could slot straight in at number eight against Japan, with Ben Earl either moving to openside to cover for Curry or being rested altogether.

“Billy has got great physical presence and it’s great to have him back on the training field,” Wigglesworth said.

“But he’s a really smart player as well – he puts himself in great positions and he’s got great hands. He’s got more threat than just being a big ball carrier.

“He’s really smart and knows when to shift the ball and change the point of contact for other players as well. It’s great for us to have him available.”

England are in high spirits following their astonishing rout of Argentina in Marseille that was engineered despite Curry’s third-minute yellow card being upgraded to red on review.

While there is an acceptance they must sharpen up their attack – butchering a four-on-two overlap was the most glaring of several toothless moments against the Pumas – they have a solid platform to build from.

Assisting their forward preparations is line-out expert George Kruis, the former England second row who won 45 caps from 2014-20 and who has linked up with the squad at their Le Touquet base.

“George has lost a lot of weight. He’s had a bit of stick for his weight,” Wigglesworth said of his retired former Saracens team-mate.

“He actually compared his body to mine, which, considering he was 117kg when he played, was not the best compliment for him.

“George helps with the line-out. Him and Steve Borthwick chat for hours behind closed doors and I really don’t want to listen to those conversations. They have a proper line-out nause off.

“He helps the callers and with the line-out menu that they get. All that detail that I don’t need to know.

“It’s great to have him around because he has an affinity with so many of the lads. It’s been really nice having him for a few days.”

John and Thady Gosden’s Arrest is poised to throw down a Classic challenge in the Betfred St Leger, with wet weather in the Yorkshire area helping to put conditions in his favour.

The Frankel colt entered the Leger picture when winning the Geoffrey Freer Stakes at Newbury in August, a length-and-half-success that came on good to soft ground and signalled a return to winning ways for a horse who was sent off favourite for the Derby having impressed when the rain was falling in the Chester Vase.

An Indian summer threatened to put his chance of lining up on Town Moor in jeopardy, but the heavens have since opened and Doncaster was good to soft, soft in places on Tuesday afternoon.

Barry Mahon of owners Juddmonte said: “He’s in good shape, I think John and Thady are both happy with how he’s training.

“We’re just keeping an eye on the weather forecast because it looks to be changing a bit, it looked a bit unlikely that we’d be running last week but I think they’ve had a bit more rain than was anticipated and there looks to be more to come.

“At the minute we’re very much on track for Saturday, we’ll just monitor the ground later in the week.”

While the final British Classic of the season was under consideration early for Arrest, his training team now look particularly well-stocked for the race with Gregory the current favourite and Middle Earth a supplementary entry.

Frankie Dettori, who has ridden Arrest in all of his starts this season, is engaged to partner Gregory, the horse he rode to land the Queen’s Vase at Royal Ascot.

With the race still taking shape and conditions likely to change between now and Saturday, Arrest’s rider remains unconfirmed.

Mahon added: “I asked John that question this morning and he said he’d go away and think about it over the next 24 hours and come up with a plan.

“I suppose the ground could dictate what Frankie will do, if it came up soft then he might change his mind, I don’t know.

“We’ll have to see in the next 24 hours what John and Thady want to do.”

Fallen Angel will either head for the bet365 Fillies’ Mile at Newmarket or be roughed off until next season following her Group One breakthrough at the Curragh on Sunday.

Having impressed in the Sweet Solera at Newmarket, the daughter of Too Darn Hot shot to the head of ante-post lists for next year’s 1000 Guineas with a comprehensive success in the Moyglare Stud Stakes, the second leg of an Irish Champions Festival double for trainer Karl Burke.

Fallen Angel could now bid for another top-level success on the Rowley Mile next month, although Burke is not ruling out the possibility of putting his star filly away until the spring.

https://x.com/curraghrace/status/1700880821463208085?s=20

“We went over there very hopeful and I thought she beat what looked a very strong field on paper and beat them comprehensively,” said the Spigot Lodge handler.

“The Fillies’ Mile is the obvious next step, if she goes anywhere before the end of the season that’s where she’ll go.

“We’re very excited about next year, obviously. That’s what Steve (Parkin, owner) dreams of is to win a Guineas and she’s one of the favourites for it now.

“It’s a long haul from now until the Guineas, but if all goes well hopefully she’s the type that could take us there.”

At Leopardstown on Saturday Fallen Angel’s stablemate Flight Plan also carried the colours of Clipper Logistics to big-race success, dominating from the front in the Group Two Dullingham Park Stakes to leave Burke considering a possible trip to America next month.

He added: “Danny (Tudhope) gave him a great ride, Leopardstown suits a horse from the front and Danny pulled it off to perfection.

“We’re thinking of going to Keeneland for a $1million race on October 7 (Coolmore Turf Mile). It’s a little bit of a tight turnaround for him, but that’s what we’ve got in our minds at the moment and we’re preparing him for that.

“If he performed really well he could possibly stay out there for the Breeders’ Cup, but we’d be concentrating on Keeneland at the moment. He wouldn’t want the ground to turn up too soft, which you can get at Keeneland in October, but otherwise I think he’d be tailor-made for that type of race.”

Ollie Sangster’s Star Stakes heroine Shuwari is on course for the Al Basti Equiworld, Dubai Rockfel Stakes having seen the form of her Sandown success franked in Ireland this weekend.

The daughter of New Bay is unbeaten in two starts and following a taking victory at Newbury on debut, advertised her top-class potential by scooping Listed honours at the Esher track.

Having started slowly on that occasion, she made stylish progress throughout the contest before edging out Karl Burke’s Fallen Angel by half a length in the closing stages.

That rival has given the form a boost by winning both the Sweet Solera Stakes and the Group One Moyglare Stud Stakes in impressive fashion and having missed out on an intended outing at Goodwood in the Prestige Stakes, Shuwari is now being prepared for Group Two action at Newmarket later this month.

“She’s fine and she is hopefully going to run in the Rockfel in a couple of weeks,” said Sangster.

“It’s always nice to have a nice form boost and that looks a fair filly there.

“Shuwari is all spot on and all on track for September 29.”

Another unbeaten prospect housed at Sangster’s historic Manton base is Per Contra, who has made a real impression in his first two outings.

The Wathnan Racing-owned colt did hold an entry for both Haydock’s Ascendant Stakes and this weekend’s Champagne Stakes at Doncaster, but his handler will wait a bit longer before next unleashing the talented son of Footstepsinthesand, with the Group Three Emirates Autumn Stakes (October 14) a possible option.

“He was in at Haydock, but the ground was a bit fast,” explained Sangster.

“He’s not going to be running in the Champagne Stakes this weekend and I’m going to step him up to a mile next and just take our time with him.

“Probably something like the Autumn Stakes at Newmarket.”

Alex De Minaur has grown fond of Britain through his relationship with girlfriend Katie Boulter but is gunning to lead Australia to victory in Davis Cup on Wednesday.

The likely match-up between world number 12 De Minaur and British number one Cameron Norrie at Manchester’s AO Arena could well be crucial in determining who gets off to the perfect start in this week’s group stage.

Born in Sydney, De Minaur has also spent a lot of his life in his mother’s home country of Spain, but his passion for Australia burns brightly, particularly when Britain are the opponents.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alex De Minaur ?? (@alexdeminaur)

“There’s years and years of history of rivalry between the two nations,” he told the PA news agency.

“With Katie, I’ve got to spend a little bit more time here in the UK and I’ve been able to get to know a couple of the Brits a little bit better.

“We always give each other a little bit of crap if our nation wins. It’s always a great competitive spirit between us.

“Katie’s shown me around. I’ve found a lot of spots that I quite enjoy so it’s been great, especially when the weather’s good. There’s a lot of similarities with Australia.

“A big thing for me is coffee. They love their coffee here as well, the breakfast places are kind of the same vibe. And one thing that I didn’t have growing up in Australia or Spain is the countryside. I’ve grown really fond of the greenery.”

De Minaur is Australia’s ace in the pack and arrives in Manchester in the best form of his career having reached his first ATP Masters final in Canada before making the fourth round of the US Open to climb to the brink of the top 10.

Among the 24-year-old’s victims in Toronto was Norrie, extending his run of victories against British players to eight from the last nine matches.

De Minaur played down the significance of that result, saying: “I think Davis Cup is completely different. Every time we play it’s been a battle, even when we practise it goes one way or the other.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alex De Minaur ?? (@alexdeminaur)

“It’s always going to be a toss up but I’m looking forward to the challenge and hopefully I can lift my level and play some good tennis.

“I’ve played some great tennis over the last couple of months and I’m really happy with where my level is at. It’s going to be a very good test this group stage, a lot of very good players. Hopefully I can bring it all together and perform.”

De Minaur is the highest-ranked player in Manchester but there are decisions to be made for both British captain Leon Smith and Australia’s Lleyton Hewitt over who joins him in the tie.

Norrie has struggled for the past few months and has a patchy Davis Cup record but it would be a surprise if he does not play, with Dan Evans, Andy Murray and 21-year-old Jack Draper also in contention.

Evans is favourite to partner Neal Skupski in doubles, where Australia have former Wimbledon champions in Matt Ebden and Max Purcell.

Purcell could well get the nod to play singles after shooting up the rankings this season from outside the top 200 to 43, while Jordan Thompson and Thanasi Kokkinakis are Hewitt’s other options in the absence of the injured Nick Kyrgios.

In Britain’s favour will be the home crowd. The event has been well-promoted and around 8,000 people are expected for Wednesday’s tie and Friday’s meeting with Switzerland, while Sunday’s clash against France has sold out and will be played in a front of more than 13,000 fans.

“It’s great, ultimately that’s what Davis Cup is about,” said De Minaur. “We’re going to play the Brits in front of their home crowd so rightfully they’ll have amazing crowd support and it should be a great environment. I’ll be very happy to be a part of it.”

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Alex De Minaur ?? (@alexdeminaur)

Australia certainly have reason to feel they are the favourites given the form of their players and their run last year, when they made it all the way to the final before losing to Canada.

Asked if they can go one further this time, De Minaur said: “That’s the dream. Last year gave us a lot of hunger and fire and desire to really be able to accomplish this as a team.

“I think we showed what a team can do when they have each other’s back because on ranking we weren’t supposed to be a contender. We came together and we showed what it meant to play for Australia.

“We’ll do everything we can to do that but it starts here, we’ve got a very tough group and we’ve got to try and get out of here alive.”

The top two teams from the group will move on to the finals week in Malaga in November.

American investment firm 777 Partners have returned to the negotiating table at Everton but are now reportedly considering a majority purchase.

The group had been in talks earlier this summer over a partial investment only for rivals MSP Sports Capital to enter into an exclusivity agreement with Toffees owner Farhad Moshiri.

With the agreement now over after that potential investment fell through over repayments to existing lenders – although a £100million loan to help finalise the completion of a new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock was agreed – it appears 777 have re-entered talks.

However, reports suggest it is with a view to a full takeover of the club.

Everton have been seeking outside investment for some time in order to free up finances to complete the new stadium.

In January Moshiri, who has spent more than £500million on players since becoming the majority shareholder in 2016, said the club was not up for sale but admitted he was exploring funding options to cover the final stages of the £550m-plus build at Bramley-Moore which will is set to see the ground opened next season.

The 777 group, which did not comment when contacted by the PA news agency, currently own, or part own, Genoa, Standard Liege, Hertha Berlin, Vasco de Gama and Melbourne Victory and the London Lions basketball team and British Basketball League.

William Haggas is keeping his feet on the ground ahead of Desert Hero’s bid to carry the royal colours to Classic glory in the Betfred St Leger at Doncaster on Saturday.

It is 46 years since Dunfermline landed the Doncaster showpiece for the late Queen, who also won the 2000 Guineas, the 1000 Guineas and the Oaks as an owner.

Desert Hero already has a place in history, having provided the newly-crowned King and Queen with a first Royal Ascot success in the King George V Stakes in June, since when he has enhanced his Leger claims with victory in the Gordon Stakes at Goodwood.

Haggas has been pleased with the Sea The Stars colt since his latest triumph – but while expectations from the wider racing community are high ahead of his trip to Town Moor this weekend, the Newmarket handler is not getting carried away.

“He’s in good form and doing well – he worked this morning and he went nicely. He’s done now so we just have to hope for the best,” he told Sky Sports Racing.

“He was impressive at Goodwood with cut in the ground and he won on top of the ground at Royal Ascot, so I don’t think that bothers him too much.

“Obviously the softer it is the more accent it puts on stamina and he may not be a strong stayer at a mile and six and a half (furlongs), but we’ll see – I think he will.”

There were genuine concerns the royal patronage of racing would fade with the late Queen’s passing 12 months ago, but joyous scenes in the Royal Ascot winner’s enclosure following Desert Hero’s success were a huge boost to the sport.

Haggas said: “It’s wonderful that they’ve taken up the mantle from the King’s late mother and are enjoying it with great gusto. It’s terrific that they’ve got a horse that is obviously quite useful and they’re enjoying him enormously, I know that.

“Everyone who is involved in horse racing in any shape or form would like to win a Classic, whether they breed it, own it, train it, ride it or look after it.

“The Classic is everyone’s dream, so they’re no different to everyone else.”

Haggas knows Desert Hero will not have things all his own way, with a clutch of talented rivals set to be in opposition.

He added: “There doesn’t looks to be too many that shouldn’t be there. John (Gosden) has got the strongest hand with Gregory, Middle Earth and Arrest, and Aidan’s (O’Brien) horse (Continuous) was very impressive in the Voltigeur.

“I suppose Gregory and Continuous are the two, but they’re the front two in the market. Chesspiece is very solid and we’re pretty solid too, so I think it’s a good renewal and it will be a good, fun race.”

Desert Hero has also been given an entry in the Melbourne Cup, but Haggas is not looking beyond this weekend’s big-race assignment.

He said: “Obviously it’s in our minds, but much will depend on what happens on Saturday.”

Harry Wilson revealed how the Wales dressing room serenaded David Brooks with “his song” after the Bournemouth forward scored his first international goal since beating cancer.

Brooks was diagnosed with stage-two Hodgkin lymphoma in October 2021 while on Wales duty.

The 26-year-old announced he was cancer-free in May last year, but it has been a long road back to form and fitness as Brooks’ body took time to recover from the full effects of the disease.

So it was no surprise the entire Wales squad wildly celebrated the stoppage time goal that Brooks scored to seal a 2-0 European Championship qualifying victory over Latvia on Monday.

It was Brooks’ first Wales goal since scoring the winner in a Nations League tie against the Republic of Ireland in November 2020.

“When the news broke that he had his illness we were on camp and it hit us hard,” Wilson said after the Riga success.

“He’s a big part of the group. He’s been my room mate for years and it was tough for us all.

“To see how strong he’s been through it all, how he’s come back and regained his fitness. He’s had setbacks along the way and picked up a few injuries.

“His body was completely shut down for a while and it’s going to happen, but it’s how he’s dealt with those setbacks.

“Now he’s fully fit he showed his quality at the end. At that moment in the game a lot of players would have snatched at that chance, but he was so calm to wait for the keeper to go down and just lifted it over him.”

Wales supporters are used to belting out the ‘Brooks will tear you apart again’ song to the tune of Joy Division’s ‘Love Will Tear You Apart’ in tribute to him.

Wilson said: “The other day when he came on against South Korea the fans must have sang his song for a good 15 to 20 minutes.

“They were singing it again at the end when we went to them to show our appreciation.

“I think he must have done an interview so he was the last one back in the dressing room.

“We had it going as well and I think it shows what a massive member of this group he’s been and how much he’s been missed over the couple of years he’s been out of the squad.”

Wales’s win – only their second in 14 games – has put them back in the mix for a top-two spot and automatic qualification while easing the pressure on boss Rob Page.

They have drawn level with Armenia on seven points and trail Croatia and Turkey by three.

Next month’s visit from group favourites Croatia will be followed by a November double-header away to Armenia and at home to Turkey.

Wilson said: “We’ve done well at home in the past against big teams when we’ve got the ‘Red Wall’ behind us. We’ll be looking to do that again.

“We know Armenia away is going to be tough, hostile and the pitch might not be great, but you’ve got to deal with that when you go to these places.

“We feel it’s back in our hands now and we have to make sure we put on performances like we have done before.

“We were all disappointed with how the summer camp went, not just the results (defeats to Armenia and Turkey) but the performances as well.

“We couldn’t wait to get back on camp and put right what went wrong in the summer. We put a bit of pressure on ourselves but we never do it the easy way.”

Andre Fabre is planning on racking up the air miles with his two smart fillies Place Du Carrousel and Mqse De Sevigne.

Last year’s Prix de l’Opera winner Place Du Carrousel beat the boys in the Prix Foy and proved her stamina over a mile and a half in the process.

She is now bound for the Prix de l’Arc de Triomphe, but after that possible trips to the Breeders’ Cup and Hong Kong are in the offing.

Mqse De Sevigne, who has won Group Ones over a mile and 10 furlongs in her last two races, is heading to Newmarket next for the Sun Chariot Stakes before she runs in the Breeders’ Cup Mile.

Fabre said of Place Du Carrousel, who passed up an option against her own sex in the Prix Vermeille: “I wanted to run her against the colts to see how she did because that is what she is going to be running against in the Arc. I was quite happy.

“She proved she stayed 12 furlongs well.

“I need to discuss things with the owner, but if she remains in good shape she’s quite fresh because she hasn’t run much this year, we could look at big races in the States or in Hong Kong.

“She’s proving that she can handle any sort of ground, but the Arc will be tough. She’s going to run well.”

Of Mqse De Sevigne, Fabre added: “She’s a very nice filly. She will go to Newmarket next back over a mile.

“Her plan is the Breeders’ Cup Mile so running her at Newmarket will sharpen her up a little bit – a mile race will be perfect.

“She has really improved this season, she’s got stronger, but we always liked her. Ground doesn’t matter to her, the ground is always nice at Newmarket.

“Alexis (Pouchin) has a good relationship with her and he will probably be on at Newmarket.”

Ben White is adamant Scotland have learned plenty of lessons from their defeat by South Africa and as a result will become a better team for the remainder of the World Cup.

The scrum-half was “absolutely gutted” by the way the Scots started the tournament, losing 18-3 to the defending world champions in Marseille on Sunday.

It was the first time Gregor Townsend’s side had failed to score a try in a match since November 2020 – the 22-15 defeat at home to France – and was also their lowest-scoring outing since their first game of the 2019 World Cup when they lost 27-3 to Ireland.

Scotland must now win all three of their remaining Pool B matches against Tonga, Romania and Ireland if they are to have a chance of qualifying for the quarter-finals.

White believes the intense test they were handed by South Africa will stand them in good stead for the rest of the campaign.

“It is a World Cup and we’re not out so we have to regroup,” said the 25-year-old. “Playing a team of that quality is only going to better us going forward in this tournament.

“There is going to be a lot of learning from it. I know Gregor is really big on us developing as a team and learning from these situations so we will improve and get better and we will come back better against Tonga.

“We’ve got to make sure now that we’re even more accurate, that we’re better in every moment and we will do that. We’ll learn and get better from it and we will give ourselves a chance of getting out of the group.”

Scotland went into their opener against South Africa with a genuine belief that they could beat them. And although they never got their renowned attacking game properly up and running on Sunday, they went in at half-time buoyed by an encouraging finish to a tightly-contested first half that ended 6-3 to the Boks.

South Africa took control in the second half, however, and the dejected Scots have been licking their wounds over the last few days, trying to reset and regroup ahead of their next game against Tonga in Nice on Sunday, September 24.

“It was gutting, absolutely gutting because you prep for 12 weeks and when you get your foot in the door as we did, you want to try and kick on from that,” said White, who will join Toulon after the World Cup.

“They’re a top side and if you give them a sniff, they’ll take their chances. They were the better team on the day.

“We missed quite a few chances and when we got good field positions we weren’t good enough at all. That’s on us to improve.

“Some of it was down to South Africa though. It’s a great challenge playing the world champions. They’re a top team and for 50 minutes we were in it and had weathered a fair few storms in the first half.

“I felt like if we could have just come out in the second half and built a bit of pressure through our possession game and looked to get the ball a little bit wider into Darcy (Graham) and Duhan (Van der Merwe)’s hands, we could have caused them some troubles but credit to them, they stopped us doing that. It felt like they were slowing us down and we have to learn from that.”

A VAR who made what referees’ chief Howard Webb described as an “error” in awarding a goal to Manchester City in the last round of Premier League matches has been selected as a fourth official for the coming weekend.

Tony Harrington will be on the touchline for the Newcastle v Brentford match on Saturday, and will also be the referee for Friday night’s Championship game between Hull and Coventry as he continues his return from injury.

Harrington and assistant VAR Adam Nunn checked and cleared Nathan Ake’s goal for City against Fulham on September 2, which put them 2-1 up in a game they ultimately won 5-1.

Ake’s header went low into the bottom corner, narrowly passing by his team-mate Akanji who was stood in an offside position. Harrington and Nunn determined that Akanji’s presence had no significant impact on Fulham goalkeeper Bernd Leno.

Fulham head coach Marco Silva strongly disagreed with the decision to give the goal, and Webb admitted last week that it should not have counted.

“From the outset I think this should have been disallowed. It certainly appears Akanji has an impact on Leno the goalkeeper who seems to hesitate,” Webb told the ‘Match Officials: Mic’d Up’ programme.

“We think it’s a clear situation of offside. Unfortunately it wasn’t identified on the day. This was an error.”

Matt Olson extended his major-league lead with his 49th and 50th home runs of the season, but the Philadelphia Phillies chased Kyle Wright and beat the Atlanta Braves, 7-5, on Monday to split a doubleheader between the National League East's top two teams. 

In the opener, Braves closer Raisel Iglesias blew a save opportunity by allowing two runs in the ninth, but Kevin Pillar and Orlando Arcia had RBI hits in the 10th to lift Atlanta to a 10-8 win.

Olson had a three-run homer in the third inning and a solo shot in the sixth to become the first left-handed hitter to reach the 50-home run milestone since Chris Davis had 53 for the Baltimore Orioles in 2013.

The first baseman is only the second player in Braves history to hit the mark along with Andruw Jones, who hit 51 in 2005. 

The Phillies hung six runs on Wright in three-plus innings and Brandon Marsh had a solo homer in the fifth to add insurance as Philadelphia stayed atop the NL wild card standings. The Phillies' lead over Chicago for the top spot was trimmed to two games, however, after the Cubs rallied for a 5-4 victory over the Colorado Rockies. 

Atlanta's win in the opener reduced the Braves' magic number to four to capture their sixth straight NL East title, which they can clinch by winning the final two contests of this four-game series. 

Heim's grand slam highlights Rangers' rout of Blue Jays

Jonah Heim capped a five-run seventh inning with a grand slam as the Texas Rangers pulled away for a 10-4 win over the Toronto Blue Jays in the opener of a key four-game series between American League playoff contenders.

The victory put the Rangers a half-game ahead of slumping Seattle for the AL's final wild card spot and allowed Texas to close the gap on first-place Houston in the AL West. The Astros were dealt a 4-0 loss by the Oakland Athletics, while the Mariners suffered their fourth straight loss with an 8-5, 11-inning defeat to the Los Angeles Angels.

Texas is now two games back of the Astros and also moved within a half-game of Toronto for the AL's second wild card.

Heim also had an RBI double in the top of the sixth inning before connecting for his third career grand slam, a blast off Genesis Cabrera that staked the Rangers to a 10-3 lead.

Evan Carter added two hits, including his first major league home run, to back six solid innings from Rangers starter Dane Dunning. Corey Seager and Robbie Grossman also finished with two hits and an RBI.

Dunning struck out seven while allowing three runs to record his 10th win of the season. 

Cavan Biggio homered for Toronto and drove in two of the Blue Jays' four runs.

Woodruff throws first shutout as NL Central-leading Brewers trounce Marlins

Brandon Woodruff spun a six-hitter for his first career shutout and the Milwaukee Brewers racked up 17 hits in a 12-0 rout of the Miami Marlins that opened a four-game series.

Woodruff struck out seven while issuing just one walk in a 106-pitch masterpiece that helped Milwaukee to its third win in four games. The Brewers maintained a three-game edge on the second-place Chicago Cubs in the NL Central standings.

The right-hander got plenty of offensive support as the Brewers battered Miami starter Jesus Luzardo for six runs in five innings, then scored five times off the Marlins' bullpen in the sixth.

Willy Adames led the charge with three hits and four RBIs, while Tyrone Taylor went 3 for 5 with two RBIs and Mark Canha homered among his two hits.

The Marlins entered the series having won eight of 10 to get back into the NL wild-card race, where they now trail Arizona by 1 1/2 games for the final spot. The Diamondbacks came through with a 4-3 win over the New York Mets on Monday.