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DARLINGTON, S.C. — Noah Gragson shot past Sheldon Creed on the final lap to defend his Xfinity Series victory at Darlington Raceway on Saturday night.

Gragson, tracking leader Creed, looked like his chance at victory might’ve slipped away when NASCAR Cup Series champion Kyle Larson took over second. But as Larson and Creed fought side-by-side, touching several times in the final laps, Gragson moved low around Creed, who’s car had a flat tire and gave off sparks against the wall.

Gragson and his team climbed the fence in celebration of his fourth win this season.

“We won this race here last year and we put on one hell of a show for the fans,” Gragson said.

Creed ended second, followed by A.J. Allmendinger, Justin Allgaier and Larson.

Gragson had led 82 of 147 laps.

The race was red-flagged for 2 hours, 37 minutes after rain hit the track. It ended under the lights.

Larson warmed up for this year’s playoff opener Sunday by running the Xfinity event. Larson got up to third near the end of the opening, 45-lap stage. After hitting wall earlier, Larson apparently ran over debris to flatten his tire and drop a lap down to 35th.

Still, he moved in contention at the end, but just couldn’t clear Creed.

How difficult is Darlington?

Ty Gibbs and Justin Allgaier bumped each other on a pace lap while heating up their tires for the start.

Then after stage one, Anthony Alfredo and John Hunter Nemechek wrecked in the caution period. Alfredo had significant damage and lost several laps as his crew tried to get him back out. During the lengthy rain delay, Alfredo said he got sick in the car and apologized to Nemechek.

Denny Hamlin, second all-time at Darlington with five Xfinity wins, was scheduled to race here. But chose to rest with lingering soreness from the wreck he was in at Daytona last week. Another playoff team of Hamlin’s, Christopher Bell, took the Xfinity seat and finished seventh.

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Reports: AL batting leader Kwan headed to IL

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Reports: AL batting leader Kwan headed to IL

CLEVELAND — Guardians leadoff hitter Steven Kwan is headed to the injured list with a hamstring strain, and Cleveland will call up prospect Kyle Manzardo, according to multiple reports.

Kwan, who entered the weekend leading the AL in batting, underwent an MRI after leaving Saturday’s game with tightness.

The team has the results and intends to place Kwan on the 10-day injured list on Monday, The Associated Press reported.

Kwan’s injury is giving the Guardians a chance to add the hard-hitting Manzardo, who was acquired last year from Tampa Bay at the trade deadline for pitcher Aaron Civale.

Manzardo is a middle-of-the-lineup slugger who might be able to bolster Cleveland’s light-hitting offensive attack. He entered the season ranked No. 83 among the top 100 prospects in MLB, according to ESPN’s Kiley McDaniel.

The Guardians didn’t want to rush Manzardo, so they had him open the season at Triple-A Columbus. But the 23-year-old has been on a tear with the Clippers, hitting eight homers and driving in 14 runs in the last 14 games.

The Guardians believe he’s ready to take on major league pitchers.

“He’s been good against left-handed pitching, his approach against lefties has improved,” president of baseball operations Chris Antonetti said before the Guardians beat the Los Angeles Angels 4-1 in their series finale on Sunday.

“He’s worked really hard at his defense, both his footwork around the bag and his throwing and he continues to put up and manage really good at-bats.”

Manzardo will likely be used primarily as the team’s designated hitter, but can spell Josh Naylor at first base.

Kwan’s injury is a blow to the Guardians and the two-time Gold Glove winner, who has been among baseball’s best hitters this season.

Before getting hurt while running down a fly ball, the 26-year-old Kwan was batting .353 with a league-leading 47 hits and 28 runs. He has gone 74 straight plate appearances before his last strikeout.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Ohtani clubs 2 HRs, now tied for MLB lead at 10

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Ohtani clubs 2 HRs, now tied for MLB lead at 10

LOS ANGELES — Shohei Ohtani went 4-for-4 with two home runs, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Atlanta Braves 5-1 on Sunday afternoon to sweep the three-game series.

Ohtani launched a hanging curveball from Braves started Max Fried 412 feet over the center-field fence for a two-run homer in the first inning. He added a pair of singles in the third and the sixth before leading off the eighth inning with a 464-foot blast off reliever A.J. Minter deep into the left center field bleachers.

It was Ohtani’s first multihomer game with the Dodgers and the 17th of his career. He is now tied with Atlanta’s Marcell Ozuna, the AngelsMike Trout and the OriolesGunnar Henderson for the major league lead with 10 home runs this season.

“I just feel like we’re overall playing really well,” Ohtani said through interpreter Will Ireton. “So that’s really helping me have quality at-bats. Just feeling good overall.”

Ohtani’s 25 extra-base hits are tied for the second most through the Dodgers’ first 40 games of a season since 1900, according to ESPN Stats & Information research. (Adrián González had 26 in 2015.)

Ohtani’s four hits also tied a career high. He’s batting .364, tied for the MLB lead with the PhilliesAlec Bohm.

“He just keeps doing things that we just hadn’t seen haven’t seen before,” Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said. “That’s deep. People don’t hit the ball out there, whether you’re left-handed or right-handed.”

Teoscar Hernandez added a two-run homer and James Paxton took a shutout into the seventh inning for the Dodgers. Paxton (4-0) finished with 6⅔ innings pitched, 5 hits and 1 run allowed, 2 walks and 3 strikeouts to remain unbeaten on the season.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Red Sox end Twins’ winning streak at 12 games

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Red Sox end Twins' winning streak at 12 games

MINNEAPOLIS — Ceddanne Rafaela hit the first Red Sox home run in seven games, Rafael Devers added another and Boston ended Minnesota’s 12-game winning streak by beating the Twins 9-2 on Sunday.

Vaughn Grissom and Dominic Smith had two-run doubles, and Boston ended a three-game slide in which it scored just four runs.

“Losing two out of three here [stinks], but winning this one is very gratifying,” Red Sox manager Alex Cora said. “It took a total team effort.”

Ryan Jeffers homered and Trevor Larnach had an RBI single for Minnesota.

The Twins’ 12-game winning streak was tied for the second longest in team history behind a 15-win run in June 1991, the last season Minnesota won the World Series.

“It did feel like every time an opportunity arose in the past 12 games, it felt like we were always coming through,” Carlos Correa said. “Today was just one of the days that we’re not able to do that. But at the same time, looking at the big picture, it’s been a couple of good weeks. We’ve just got to keep going. It’s a fun team.”

With one out in the fifth, Rafaela hit a full count offering from Joe Ryan into the first row of the left-center-field seats for a two-run home run and a 3-1 lead. Rafaela hit the team’s previous round-tripper in Boston’s 17-0 win over the Cubs on April 27.

“I was just focusing to hit the ball and then good things happen,” said Rafaela, who played some old-school pepper before the game with hitting coach Pete Fatse to better get the barrel on the ball.

Grissom had a two-run double to give the Sox a 5-1 eighth-inning lead. Smith, the next batter, added a two-run double with the ball going off the glove of Manuel Margot, who was battling the sun on a cloudless 69-degree afternoon.

Devers hit a two-run shot in the ninth.

Boston starter Cooper Criswell, who threw five shutout innings in each of his prior two starts, allowed one earned run and struck out five in 4⅓ innings, but needed 80 pitches to do so.

Brennan Bernardino (1-1), the first of five Red Sox relievers, earned the win.

Tossing his team-high fifth quality start of the season, Ryan (1-2) allowed four hits and three earned runs while striking out five.

With the season’s second-largest home crowd of 29,638 in attendance, Jeffers hit a solo home run in the third inning for a 1-0 lead, a frame after Minnesota had a golden opportunity for some early damage.

Max Kepler, Correa and Larnach each singled to start the Minnesota second, but Criswell struck out Willi Castro and Carlos Santana before Jose Miranda hit a harmless bouncer back to Criswell.

“There are moments where if you’re able to do something, they really are tipping points, turning points,” Twins manager Rocco Baldelli said. “We’ve been doing it, today we just didn’t do it.”

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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