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Cruz powers Pirates
PITTSBURGH (AP) -- Oneil Cruz hit a tie-breaking single in the bottom of the eighth inning and the Pittsburgh Pirates completed a sweep of Cincinnati with a 1-0 win on Sunday.
Pirates rookie shortstop Konnor Griffin doubled off the centerfield wall against Reds reliever Tony Santillan (1-1) with two outs in the eighth. Pinch hitter Jake Mangum worked a full count walk and Cruz followed by lacing a single to center. Griffin beat TJ Friedl's throw home with ease as Pittsburgh responded to getting swept at home by St. Louis by taking three straight from the Reds.
Gregory Soto (3-0) got the last four outs after taking over following a brilliant performance by starter Braxton Ashcraft.
A day after seven pitchers combined to issue 11 walks -- including an MLB-record tying seven straight at one point -- Cincinnati rookie Chase Burns was far more efficient while matching Ashcraft pitch for pitch
Ashcraft bounced back from a rocky performance in a loss to St. Louis with the best start of his young career. The 26-year-old allowed four hits over 7 2/3 innings with a pair of walks and six strikeouts. He also benefited from a couple of excellent defensive plays behind him.
Second baseman Brandon Lowe -- all 5-foot-9 of him -- climbed the ladder to rob JJ Bleday of a hit to end the sixth, a snag that came with Friedl on second base representing the go-ahead run. Third baseman Nick Gonzales threw out Cincinnati's Spencer Steer at the plate to help Pittsburgh get out of a two-on, one-out threat in the eighth.
Burns, a 23-year-old rookie, was perhaps even better. The hard-throwing right-hander, whose fastball easily tops 100 mph, allowed a leadoff infield single to Cruz, then retired 16 straight before Joey Bart's single with one out in the sixth. Burns allowed three hits in seven-plus innings, with a walk and seven strikeouts, to lower his ERA to 2.20.
Young shines with Trump looking on
DORAL, Fla. (AP) -- The only person who gave Cameron Young any trouble on Sunday was, well, Cameron Young.
He called a one-stroke penalty on himself while playing the par-4 second hole, after he caused his ball to move in the fairway. And then he made par anyway.
It was that sort of week: Young was unflappable and unbeatable. He went wire-to-wire alone on the lead at the Cadillac Championship, a final round of 4-under 68 getting him to 19 under for the week and six shots clear of world No. 1 Scottie Scheffler (68).
"When the golf course is difficult, when the conditions are difficult, that tends to make it easier for me mentally," Young said.
With President Donald Trump in place to watch most of the round at Trump National Doral, Young picked up $3.6 million for the second-biggest payday of his career. He made $4.5 million earlier this year for winning The Players Championship.
Trump arrived with several members of his family -- including granddaughter Kai Trump, who plans to play at the University of Miami when she enrolls later this year -- shortly after noon and remained until the tournament was over. He stood for the ovation as Young walked up the 18th hole, as a number of fans in attendance were allowed to move into the fairway for a look at the final putts of the week.
A bit more than an inch of rain fell on the course in the early morning hours Sunday, delaying a planned 7:30 a.m. start (which had already been rescheduled Saturday in anticipation of bad weather) to the final round by two hours. And the Blue Monster was no longer a monster, not with everything softened by the rain.
The average scores in the first three rounds were between 71 and 71.6. The average score Sunday, with preferred lies, was 69. There were nine birdies -- total -- on the par 18th in the first three rounds and 12 at the finishing hole on Sunday alone.
Scheffler finished second for the third consecutive start, after finishing a shot behind Rory McIlroy at the Masters and losing a playoff to Matt Fitzpatrick at Hilton Head. Those were near-misses; this one wasn't.
That's how good Young was. Even the best player in the world never had a real chance on Sunday.
Young called the violation on himself with his ball in the middle of the fairway on the second hole -- it moved at address, something he said has happened to him before -- and said he didn't hesitate to do the right thing.
"Your heart sinks when you see it move," Young said. "But it moved. That's part of what's golf about. There's no one who's going to give me a penalty there but myself."
Ben Griffin (68) was third at 12 under, while Si Woo Kim (70), Sepp Straka (66) and Adam Scott (64) tied for fourth at 11 under.
Scott likely clinched a spot in the U.S. Open -- which would be his 100th consecutive major start, assuming he starts in the PGA Championship later this month -- after shooting 66-64 on the weekend. Scott finished at 11 under, meaning he should remain comfortably inside the top 60 in the world ranking and qualify for the U.S. Open.
"To win a major I'm going to need to put four days together, not just a weekend coming from behind," said Scott, who was the winner of the World Golf Championships Cadillac Championship -- until this week, the most recent PGA Tour event at Doral -- in 2016. "I feel like my game is there. I'm doing all the things that I think I need to do to be in that kind of contention."