The Boston Red Sox have acquired right-hander Andrew Cashner from the Baltimore Orioles in exchange for minor leaguers Elio Prado and Noelberth Romero, the teams announced Saturday.

Boston, which is looking for a starter with Nathan Eovaldi slated to go to the bullpen when he comes off the injured list, also received cash considerations in the deal.

Red Sox president Dave Dombrowski said Cashner would start Tuesday against the Toronto Blue Jays.

The 32-year-old Cashner is 9-3 with a 3.83 ERA in 17 starts for the Orioles this season. He has been hot of late, posting a 1.41 ERA in five starts since the start of June.

"He's excited to be here, excited to pitch," Dombrowski said. "Excited to join the club and excited to be a part of the pennant race. As far as what we like, he's been throwing the ball well ... as well as he ever has.

"Definitely gives us an improvement in that fifth spot where we scuffled for such a long time this year. ... We like a lot of things about him. We think he makes us better."

Cashner has a 55-82 record in his 10 major league seasons with the Orioles, Rangers, Marlins, Padres and Cubs. He is in the final season of a two-year, $16 million contract.

Baltimore agreed to send Boston $1,777,839 to cover all but $1,577,000 of the $3,354,839 Cashner is due from his $8 million salary this year. Baltimore also agreed to make contingent payments on some of Cashner's performance bonuses if he should achieve them.

Dombrowski said the team was happy to make the move ahead of the trade deadline.

"We think every game is important," Dombrowski said. "We really have scuffled in that fifth spot to get innings. This changes that at this point. We're embarking on a really important part of our schedule. That was important. We wouldn't have made a deal that we didn't feel comfortable making. I think we have a good pulse on who's available and not available at this time.

"... We have 70 games to play, basically. It gives us a chance to move right away."

The Red Sox are in third place in the AL East, 8.5 games behind the New York Yankees through Friday's game. They are also one game back in the AL wild-card standings.

Starting Monday, over 15 days, Boston plays 14 games against the Yankees (8) and second-place Tampa Bay Rays (6).

"We like how our club looks, but we've liked how our club has looked for a long time," Dombrowski said. "I think we've played better. We've won five out of six. But we have to continue forward because we've dug ourselves a hole as far as the division."

Romero and Prado, both 17, made their professional debuts in the Dominican Summer League. Romero, an infielder, hit .264 with two home runs in 29 games; Prado, an outfielder, hit .303 with nine steals and 26 runs scored in 33 games.

ESPN's Joon Lee and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Washington Nationals have placed ace Max Scherzer on the injured list with a mid-back strain, the team announced Saturday.

The move is retroactive to July 10, meaning Scherzer, who had experienced soreness in his middle back after his last start, is eligible to return July 20.

He had originally been scheduled to start Sunday, but manager Dave Martinez said Friday that an MRI on Scherzer's back came back negative. The three-time Cy Young Award winner threw from 75 feet on Friday.

Scherzer was 7-0 with a 0.84 ERA in his past nine starts before the All-Star break, and he withdrew from the All-Star Game.

To fill his spot on the roster, the Nationals recalled catcher Spencer Kieboom from Triple-A Harrisburg.

Records fell at the 89th English Schools Championships in Birmingham as the latest generation of teenage athletes showed their talent

Not only did Mia McIntosh break the championship record for the junior girls 75m hurdles in Birmingham but she set a British under-15 record too.

The Hertfordshire athlete clocked 10.75 (0.1m/sec) to smash Pippa Earley’s championships mark of 10.90 and the youngster’s time also took a tenth of a second off Shirin Irving’s national record of 10.85.

“I was mainly trying to break 11 dead because I’ve run 11.01 three times in a row previously,” McIntosh (pictured above) said. “So to finally get under that time is amazing. When I saw my time as I came through the line I was shocked.”

In warm yet cloudy conditions at the New Balance-sponsored event at the Alexander Stadium, Joel Pascall-Menzie smashed Mark Lewis-Francis’s championships record of 10.54 in the inter boys age group with 10.48 (1.1m/sec).

Was Pascall-Menzie (pictured below) expecting to run that fast? “I’d run the championship record the previous weekend,” he said, referring to a 10.54 he ran at the British League in Sheffield on July 6. “So I was hoping to run that kind of time again here.”

Pascall-Menzie was also busy in the relay as he helped Essex break the inter boys championship record in the 4x100m in both the heats and final. In the rounds on Friday the team ran 41.58 to beat London’s 2010 best of 41.85, but in the final on late Saturday afternoon they improved to 41.04.

The junior girls 4x100m also saw a relay championship record, meanwhile, when Middlesex clocked 46.46 to beat Surrey’s 2012 mark of 47.37.

Emilie Oakden of Sussex was another championship record-breaker as she beat Sophie Ashurst’s mark of 3.55m with 3.62m. It was one of several lively pole vault contests on the back straight and saw Oakden go to No.3 on the UK under-15 girls all-time lists.

Top-class sprints finals are always a feature of the English Schools and one of the best this year was the junior girls’ 100m where Nia Wedderburn-Goodison of Middlesex ran 11.91 to beat Trezeguet Taylor by one hundredth of a second.

Tom Hewson sealed a hat-trick of English Schools titles with a win in the senior boys’ javelin. The Hampshire athlete threw a 70.80m PB, too, in order to see off the challenge of Max Law – and the mark was also the second-best by a British javelin thrower of any age this year.

“That was pleasing,” said Hewson (pictured below). “I knew I had 70m in my as I’ve been doing it in training over and over again. So it’s nice to do it in competition finally.”

A few records at the English Schools have truly stood the test of time. The oldest is Kevin Steere’s inter boys’ 3000m mark of 8:20.0 from 1971. Here, Will Barnicoat was not far away from it with 8:27.06 but he was simply happy to win with an impressive front-run that saw him draw 10 seconds clear of his rivals.

Similarly, Charlotte Alexander would have been hard pressed to beat Paula Radcliffe’s championship best of 9:04.37 in the senior girls’ 3000m but the Surrey athlete still impressed with an emphatic 9:35.08 victory.

Orla Brennan of Berkshire, whose parents were both English Schools winners in the 1970s, clocked 59.42 to beat Jasmine Jolly in an exciting senior girls 400m hurdles.

Shot put legend Geoff Capes never won an English Schools title but his grandson, Donovan Capes, took junior boys’ gold for Lincolnshire with 14.94m.

Also in the shot, Lewis Byng warmed up for the European Under-20 Championships in Sweden this month with an 18.57m win in the senior boys’ event.

Shot putters also shone on day one of the championships, including Nana Gyedu, who set a championship record which you can read about here.

Next year the event moves to Manchester for its 90^th edition but will doubtless return to Birmingham following its refurbishment for the 2022 Commonwealth Games.

Japanese runners dominate the half-marathon events in Italy

The Japanese long distance team completed a rare feat of taking home all six medals available in the half-marathon at the World University Games.

The streets of Naples were painted red and white following a triumphant team effort by Japan’s university athletes. In the women’s half-marathon Yuka Suzuki (74:10) led home Rika Kaseda (74:32) and Yuki Tagawa (74:36) to grab all available medals in the event.

The story was exactly the same in the men’s event. Akira Aizawa took the gold medal in 65:15 closely followed in by Taisei Nakamura (65:27) and Tatsuhiko Ito (65:48). It is needless to say that both teams also won the team events with top honours.

Back inside the stadium, Ukrainians Yuliia Chumachenko and Iryna Gerashchenko took top honours in the women’s high jump with Chumachenko jumping a personal best of 1.94m to beat her compatriot to the gold medal. Germany’s Imke Onnen equaled Gerashchenko’s height of 1.91m to take the bronze medal.

Elsewhere in the field events, Australia’s Matthew Denny threw 65.27m to win the men’s discus from Romanian Alin-Alexandru Firfirica (63.74m) and Germany’s Henning Prufer (63.52m). Britain’s Greg Thompson narrowly missed out on a medal finishing fourth with a throw of 62.46m.

The men’s long jump was another close final. Japanese athlete Yuki Hashioka was the only athlete to jump over eight metres. His best effort of 8.01m gave him a clear win over second placed Yann Randrianasolo of France (7.95m). The battle for the bronze was incredibly close with Darcy Roper of Australia (7.90m) jumping a centimetre further than South African’s Gilbert Johnson to claim the medal.

The championships were concluded with a series of thrilling track races. Three athletes were all in contention for the gold down the final straight of the men’s 800m with Algeria’s Mohamed Belbachir (1:47.02) just managing to get ahead of Moroccan Moad Zahafi (1:47.64) and Czech athlete Lukas Hodbod (1:47.97).

Germany’s Caterina Granz took top honours in the women’s 1500m in a season’s best of 4:09.14. Australia’s Georgia Griffith was a very close second in 4:09.89 with Canadian Courtney Hufsmith taking the bronze in a personal best time of 4:11.81. Britain’s Dani Chatterton finished eighth in 4:16.32.

As with most big championship races, the men’s 5000m went off at a comfortable pace. Switzerland’s Jonas Raess was able to make the decisive move to take the gold medal in 14:03.10. France’s Yann Schrub was a very narrow second with 14:03.24 as the podium positions went to the last metre. Belgium’s Robin Hendrix was third with 14:04.06.

The relays are always an exciting finale to the end of a big championships and the World University Games proved to be the perfect platform for drama. Switzerland took the gold in the women’s 4x100m, clocking a time of 43.72 and beating Australia (43.97) and New Zealand (44.24) by fine margins following the disqualification of the Polish team.

Japan won yet another gold in the men’s event, clocking (38.92) with China second (39.01) and South Korea third (39.31). Favourites Brazil finished last in 1:23.05 after a baton drop while the Ghanaian team were disqualified.

Ukraine won the women’s 4x400m event in 3:30.82 while Mexico won the men’s in 3:02.89.

A day one athletics report is here, while a day two round-up is here, a day three report here, a day four report here and a day five report here.

Simona Halep pays tribute to her family and says she played the best match of her career to beat Serena Williams 6-2 6-2 and win her first Wimbledon title.

WATCH MORE: The moment Simona Halep wins her first Wimbledon title

READ MORE: Halep stuns Williams to win Wimbledon

Available to UK users only.

Serena Williams says she is not feeling overburdened by the weight of history despite missing another chance to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title.

The 37-year-old American was outplayed by Romania's Simona Halep, who won her first Wimbledon title in a 6-2 6-2 win.

Defeat means Williams has now lost three Slam finals in the past year.

"Someone told me I shouldn't look at the records, I should just focus on my game. That's what I've been doing since I got to 18," she said.

Williams' last major title came at the 2017 Australian Open - when she was eight weeks pregnant - and moved her within one more of Margaret Court's all-time record.

Williams took a year off the tour as she gave birth to her daughter Olympia in September 2017, returning to the sport six months later.

She has lost to Germany's Angelique Kerber in last year's Wimbledon final and then Japan's Naomi Osaka in a controversial US Open final where an extraordinary outburst saw her call umpire Carlos Ramos a "thief" and a "liar".

This latest defeat - against an inspired Halep, who chased down everything Williams threw at her - came after a frustrating year in which she has been hampered by a knee injury.

"It seems like every Grand Slam final I'm in recently it has been an unbelievable effort to get there," she said.

"It would be interesting to see how it would be under different circumstances."

Williams is already the oldest woman to win a Grand Slam title - her victory in Melbourne two years ago coming aged 35 years and 125 days - and she does not think her age is a barrier to clinching that elusive 24th.

"I feel like I'm still incredibly competitive or else I wouldn't really be out here," she said.

"For the most part, I feel like I'm on the right track. I'm just going in the right direction in terms of getting back to where I need to be."

Two-time Grand Slam champion Tracy Austin suggested the weight of Williams matching Court's record might be "getting into her head".

"I just have to figure out a way to win a final," Williams said.

"Maybe playing other finals outside of Grand Slams would be really helpful just to get in the groove so by the time I get to a Grand Slam final I'm used to what to do and how to play."

Lack of match practice hampered Williams - Navratilova

Williams had only played five tournaments this year going into Wimbledon, pulling out of Miami and Rome because of a troublesome knee injury.

The seven-time Wimbledon singles champion breezed into the final here, dropping just two sets and spending little over eight hours on court.

But she came unstuck against Halep, whose athleticism enabled her to retrieve balls and keep Williams moving.

"That's where match play and fitness comes into play," Martina Navratilova, a nine-time Wimbledon singles champion and BBC Sport analyst, said.

"Serena was out of breath in the longer rallies and she couldn't catch up physically because she hadn't had to move as much before in her previous matches.

"That's why her timing was off because she had to move too much to the ball."

Williams says her knee "feels great" and plans to play events in Toronto and Cincinnati in the hard-court swing which culminates at the US Open in late August/early September.

"With a knee injury you're not able to do an exercise bike or extra running so she did look fatigued against Halep," fellow American Austin added.

"She's happy to be pain-free but I'd like to see her really commit for the next year and play enough tournaments to be match tough enough."

Austin's BBC colleague John McEnroe, a seven-time Grand Slam winner, added: "She has to get herself even fitter because at this level she can be exposed."

'She hasn't played enough quality opposition'

Williams had only won two matches against opponents ranked inside the world's top 50 this year coming into Wimbledon, including a memorable three-set victory over Halep - then ranked as the world's best player - at the Australian Open.

And, seeded 11th at Wimbledon, she reached the final without being tested by anyone of significant calibre.

Her highest-ranked opponent was Germany's world number 17 Julia Gorges, who she beat in straight sets.

"Serena hasn't played top-quality opposition and when she is a little bit off against quality opposition - which happened against Kerber, Osaka and now Halep - the ball is not coming as easy as it does against the other players," Navratilova added.

"Serena doesn't have a Plan B because normally she doesn't need it. She aces her way out of trouble, she powers through people.

"But nothing worked against Halep because the ball came back with interest and she wasn't used to seeing that. She didn't know what to do."

Austin added: "She was trying to draw from her past experiences, trying to hit harder, tried to hit closer to the lines and by the end when she was a set and 4-2 down she looked like she had nothing left to give.

"She had lost her spirit."

Simona Halep says controlling her nerves and forgetting about who she was playing enabled her to play the match of her life and win Wimbledon.

The Romanian's 56-minute 6-2 6-2 demolition of Serena Williams earned her a second Grand Slam title.

"The nerves were positive this time. I felt them in the stomach," she said. "I always play well when I have emotions.

"I didn't think at all against who I play. I've always been intimidated a little bit when I faced Serena."

Williams had been the pre-match favourite to win a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam title but could not find an answer to Halep's brilliant returning game and movement around the court.

"I decided before the match that I'm going to focus on myself and on the final of Grand Slam, not on her," said Halep, 27.

"That's why I was able to play my best, to be relaxed, and to be able to be positive and confident against her.

"I'm very sure that was the best match of my life."

Past experience helps Halep to victory

Before winning the French Open in 2018 for her maiden Grand Slam title, Halep had often been viewed as something of a choker having lost in three previous major finals.

But she said those experiences had helped her here - on a surface that, as a player of 1.68m, she never thought she would be able to win on against "all these players that are very tall and serving with a lot of power".

"The finals I lost in the past helped me to be different when I face this moment," she said. "It's never easy to face a Grand Slam final. You can get intimidated by the moment. You can get nervous, too nervous.

"I have learned that it's a normal match, not thinking that much about the trophy, just going there and try to be the best as you can.

"So I did that. I said that every time I would play a final of Grand Slam, I will do exactly the same thing. So today I did it."

A trophy - and a dream membership to club

While Halep fell to her knees to celebrate her win and kissed the trophy repeatedly, she seemed almost as pleased to be wearing a little badge that meant she was now a member of the All England Club.

"It feels good," was the first thing she said when she walked into her news conference pointing at the purple-and-white round badge.

"I wanted this badly. When I started the tournament, I talked to the people from the locker room that my dream is to become a member here. So today it's real and I'm really happy.

"I met [Wimbledon chairman] Philip [Brook]. He told me: 'Any time you want, you can come, have dinner, have lunch, playing a little bit tennis.' I will come for sure."

She was equally thrilled to have delivered on something her mum told her when she was growing up - that if she wanted to do "something really special in tennis" she would need to play in a Wimbledon final.

Watching her daughter do that - and win - her mum Tania had no more words.

"She didn't say anything because she was crying," smiled Halep. "I just hugged her and I kissed her. I knew she's very emotional. I just told her that we'll talk later."

Watch the winning moment as Simona Halep puts in a fantastic performance to beat Serena Williams 6-2 6-2 in 55 minutes to win her first Wimbledon title.

FOLLOW REACTION: Simona Halep beats Serena Williams, women's final - TV, radio & text

WATCH MORE: 'Fedal' Friday, hot dog winners & Fergie time - day 11 funnies

Available to UK users only.

Simona Halep won her first Wimbledon title and crushed Serena Williams' latest bid for a record-equalling 24th Grand Slam success with a devastating 56-minute display of athleticism.

The Romanian won 6-2 6-2 in front of an incredulous Centre Court, running after everything the American threw at her.

"It was my best match," the 27-year-old said after her second Grand Slam title following her 2018 French Open success.

For 37-year-old Williams, it was a third major final defeat in 12 months.

"She played out of her mind, it was a little bit deer in the headlights for me," she said.

Halep shows no nerves as expectation weighs on Williams

Williams, like in last year's final defeat by Angelique Kerber, seemed weighed down by public and personal expectations as she quickly fell 4-0 behind in the opening set.

Halep had said beforehand that she had no pressure on her and that is exactly how she played.

From the outset she looked relaxed and confident, attacking the Williams serve and keeping the rallies long and deep to force the American into errors.

While Williams closed her eyes at changeovers to try to regroup, Halep kept her eyes on the prize and kept her cool to take the victory on her second match point, when the American sent a forehand into the net.

Halep's level never dropped in an almost perfect display in which she made just three unforced errors to Williams' 26.

"I knew that I have to be aggressive, be 100% for every ball, and that I don't have to let her come back into the match because she's so powerful and so strong," Halep said. "She knows how to manage every moment. So I knew that I have to stay there, which I did pretty well today."

Defeat means Williams' wait for a first Grand Slam title since becoming a mum continues, as does her pursuit of an eighth Wimbledon singles title.

"I definitely knew that she was just playing her heart out," the American said. "I felt like, OK, what do I need to do to get to that level?

"When someone plays lights out, there's really not much you can do. You just have to understand that that was their day today."

Halep sticks to the perfect gameplan

Seventh seed Halep, in her first major final since winning the French Open last year and having lost her world number one ranking, flew under the radar at these championships while much of the focus was on Williams and her record chase.

But she executed the perfect gameplan - stifling Williams' biggest weapon in her serve - and it was credit to her returning ability that Halep restricted the American to just two aces when she had fired 45 during her other matches.

Halep's movement around the court contrasted with a sluggish Williams - who at one point was urged to "wake up" by one shout from the crowd - and her tenacity in the rallies forced the American to overcook her shots through what felt like desperation at times.

A break in the first game set the tone, with Williams firing wide before a Halep hold to love underlined her determination to win. The net helped Halep in the next game, with her shot scraping over but Williams' return bouncing back at the American.

With just 11 minutes on the clock Halep had won the first four games and she barely slowed, facing just one break point - which she saved.

Williams started to get herself a bit more into the match early in the second set but when she came to the net for a volley with the whole court at her disposal and only managed to find the net, giving Halep the break, she must have known it was not going to be her day.

Halep won the next three games in a row, falling to her knees with her arms raised to the sky in celebration as Centre Court rose to its feet in appreciation of one of the greatest Wimbledon final performances.

The stats around Halep's brilliant victory

Analysis

BBC tennis correspondent Russell Fuller: "At the start of the second set you could see that Simona Halep was still that bit better, actually a lot better. I don't think anyone is going to feel short-changed by the 56 minutes of tennis that they have seen today because they have seen one of the all time great Wimbledon final performances."

Two-time Grand Slam champion Tracy Austin on BBC TV: "Unbelievable tennis from Simona Halep. She put herself in such a bubble mentally and she didn't let herself begin to think about the end of the match. She said this was a chill year. She really took the pressure off herself."

Three-time Wimbledon singles champion John McEnroe: "I'm shocked. She obviously is a tremendous and, at this stage in her career, superior athlete. But I didn't think it would intimidate Serena Williams as much as it did today. Halep completely and thoroughly outplayed her. It wasn't even a match. There's only a handful of times in your life when you feel as though you're in the zone like that and that was one of them."

Nine-time Wimbledon singles champion Martina Navratilova: "I think it's essential for Serena Williams to play more matches. You can't fake it. You need those matches. History can get in the way, and it can get difficult to get rid of those nerves."