WASHINGTON -- Dallas Keuchel enjoyed being back on the mound after a longer-than-expected wait between major league starts. He would have been happier if a three-run lead hadn't slipped away.

Keuchel labored through five innings in his Atlanta debut, coughing up that 3-0 lead as the Braves lost 4-3 to the Washington Nationals on Friday night.

The Braves scored two in the second and another in the third against Washington starter Stephen Strasburg, but the Nationals rallied against Keuchel.

"It was really nice to get back at it," Keuchel said. "The most frustrating part is getting three runs early off Strasburg. ... Being granted three runs early off a really, really good pitcher is something I've got to take advantage of, and I usually do."

Keuchel, who couldn't find a deal he wanted during a tough offseason for veteran free agents, signed a one-year, $13 million contract on July 7 with the National League East-leading Braves, who hope he can help lead them to the postseason. The left-hander then made two minor league starts before he was recalled Friday from Double-A Mississippi.

It was the first major league appearance for Keuchel since he started Game 3 of last year's American League Championship Series for the Houston Astros.

Keuchel (0-1) never retired Washington in order and gave up four runs, three earned, on eight hits. He also hit two batters, but Atlanta manager Brian Snitker was pleased with his new starter's outing.

"He threw the ball extremely well," Snitker said. "He kept them off balance tonight. He had a good feel for what he was doing."

The Braves had won 11 of 13 entering the game to build a cushion atop the division. The third-place Nationals have won five straight and nine of 12 to move within a game of .500 for the first time since April 24.

Atlanta led 3-0 in the fourth thanks to a two-run homer by Austin Riley and an RBI double by Freddie Freeman, who has now driven in a run in nine consecutive games, matching an Atlanta record.

In the bottom half, Victor Robles lined an RBI triple and scored on Michael Taylor's squeeze bunt. Yan Gomes homered to tie it at 3-3.

Washington pushed ahead in the fifth, when Juan Soto led off with a triple and Anthony Rendon singled him home.

Strasburg (8-4) allowed three runs in six innings. With closer Sean Doolittle having worked two consecutive nights, Wander Suero allowed the first two runners to reach in the ninth before retiring the side for his first career save. Robles made a sliding catch in right field for the final out.

"It was little -- I wouldn't say hesitation -- but there was a little doubt in my mind as I was coming to make the play," Robles said through an interpreter. "I made the play and I was able to make the catch and win the game for the team."

Washington's much-maligned bullpen got three scoreless innings from four pitchers.

"We had a couple of guys in the bullpen who are down," manager Dave Martinez said. "The rest of the guys stepped up. We need them all and they proved it tonight."

SUSPENSION DROPPED

Braves third baseman Josh Donaldson saw his one-game suspension rescinded by Major League Baseball. He had appealed the penalty after a dust-up with Pittsburgh pitcher Joe Musgrove earlier this month. Donaldson was still fined for the incident.

Donaldson doubled and singled Friday night.

MOVES

The Nationals recalled right-hander Joe Ross from Triple-A Fresno. Washington has yet to announce a starter for Sunday, and Ross could get the call if he's not needed in the bullpen Saturday. Washington optioned infielder Adrian Sanchez to Double-A Harrisburg.

TRAINER'S ROOM

Nationals: 1B Ryan Zimmerman (plantar fasciitis in right foot) began his rehab assignment with Double-A Harrisburg. He played five innings and went 1-for-1 with a walk. He has missed 48 games with the injury, and Martinez said Zimmerman will work his way up to playing nine innings.

UP NEXT

Braves: Mike Foltynewicz (2-5, 5.53 ERA), who is 5-4 with a 4.02 ERA in 11 career starts against Washington, will start for Atlanta on Saturday.

Nationals: Anibal Sanchez (3-6, 3.84) is 3-0 in his past four starts.

NEW YORK -- Just when Cameron Maybin had been spared a roster spot amid the New York Yankees' latest roster crunch, the outfielder saw his playing time get snatched away anyway.

It wasn't Aaron Judge's return from the Yankees' injured list that did it, either. A victim of his own body, Maybin suffered a leg injury Friday night that manager Aaron Boone confirmed would land him on the IL, taking Judge's now former place.

"It'll be a while," Boone said of Maybin's potential return.

Boone had no idea exactly how the left calf strain occurred, but his guess was that it might have happened in the third inning of the Yankees' 4-1 win over the Houston Astros, as Maybin was scoring on catcher Gary Sanchez's two-run home run.

"I just know when he was running around third, he felt what he described as a pop or whatever," Boone said.

Maybin is the fifth Yankee to go on the IL this season with a calf strain. Sánchez, Troy Tulowitzki, Giancarlo Stanton and Kendrys Morales had similar injuries on the same leg. Only Sánchez and Stanton have returned from those injuries.

Cameras caught the 32-year-old Maybin clearly hobbled near home plate as Sanchez completed his 23rd home run trot of the season. While Sanchez moved in to celebrate the 481-foot blast, Maybin gave him a soft hug. It didn't have the same life and energy with which he normally bestows congratulatory hugs to his teammates.

As soon as the embrace ended, Maybin was visibly limping as he walked into the Yankees' dugout.

Maybin had an MRI. He had already left the ballpark once reporters were allowed into the clubhouse after the game, and so he was unable to address them.

Still, his teammates are pulling for the player many considered among the most key additions the team had during its recent stretch of poor injury luck. When Maybin was acquired from Cleveland's farm system in a late-April trade in which the Yankees reportedly swapped him for $25,000, they were without Judge and fellow outfielders Stanton and Clint Frazier.

"He's been huge for us," center fielder Aaron Hicks said. "He's a guy that's been getting clutch hits for us, and been playing good baseball. He's been playing great defense, and he's been really good for us."

In 42 games with the Yankees, Maybin is batting .314 with five home runs and 14 RBIs. He also has scored 27 runs.

Earlier this week, Maybin was at the heart of speculation about what the Yankees might do with their roster once Judge came off the IL from his left oblique strain. Because Maybin was largely viewed as a second outfielder on the three-man bench, there was a belief that he might be designated for assignment to make room for Judge.

The Yankees instead optioned reliever Nestor Cortes Jr. following Thursday's game, sparing Maybin's spot on the roster. It especially seemed like the right move considering Maybin had homered in four straight games at the start of this week.

How was he able to keep his focus amid the external chatter about his future in pinstripes?

"Like I've been saying, what can I do? Nothing I can do, nothing I can control but my preparation and my effort and how I play," Maybin said Thursday. "I really always focused on controlling what you can control, and that's my preparation, my effort, my energy, and everything else will happen how it should happen, and how it shakes out."

Hicks, who took Maybin's place in the lineup following the mid-game injury, expects to be back in the Yankees' batting order Saturday. Originally, Hicks was slated to be given the day off Friday as he nursed a sore shoulder that he said received a cortisone shot the day before.

According to Hicks and Boone, an MRI on the center fielder's right shoulder revealed simple inflammation.

Aaron Judge is off the injured list and back in the Yankees' lineup. Along with the return of Giancarlo Stanton this week and the recent trade for Edwin Encarnacion, the team's regular lineup should look something like this:

3B DJ LeMahieu

RF Judge

1B Luke Voit

C Gary Sanchez

LF Stanton

DH Encarnacion

SS Didi Gregorius

2B Gleyber Torres

CF Aaron Hicks

Yes, that's an imposing nine. The Yankees are already averaging 5.52 runs per game, fourth in the majors, but that's with Judge, Stanton, Encarnacion and Gregorius playing just a combined 43 games so far. It's not unreasonable to believe this team could score six runs a game the rest of the season.

The last team to do that over a full season was the 2000 White Sox, which I never would have guessed. I would have thrown out the 2009 Yankees or some other Yankees or Red Sox team from the 2000s, or maybe the late '90s Indians or Mariners. The 2000 White Sox? They only had two regulars -- Frank Thomas and Magglio Ordonez -- who slugged .500. They were fifth in the American League in home runs with 216 and third with a .286 average. They hit .300 with RISP, however, and .301 with men on, so they were pretty clutch. Still, not a team remembered as an offensive powerhouse.

Anyway, what makes this Yankees lineup so scary is that all nine regulars are potentially league average hitters or better. Here is each player's OPS+ over the 2018-2019 seasons:

LeMahieu: 97

Judge: 148

Voit: 154

Sanchez: 111

Stanton: 128

Encarnacion: 123

Gregorius: 121

Torres: 123

Hicks: 117

LeMahieu is the only guy below average, but he's been well above average so far in 2019 with a 117 mark thanks to .314/.360/.466 numbers. Hicks is the one guy struggling in 2019, hitting .194 after beginning the season on the IL.

I don't know if this will be the greatest lineup ever -- let's see how things play out before we get into that -- but it could certainly be the deepest. I checked Baseball-Reference.com to see if any team has ever had all nine (or eight) regulars with an OPS+ of 100 or higher before. Using a cutoff of 400 plate appearances and considering teams in the live ball era (since 1920), we get a few teams that fit the criteria ... including one team with 10 players above average.

2009 Angels: 10

All nine regulars -- Mike Napoli, Kendrys Morales, Howie Kendrick, Erick Aybar, Chone Figgins, Juan Rivera, Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu and Vladimir Guerrero -- were above average, as was utility guy Maicer Izturis. Nobody had a huge season -- Morales was the team's best hitter with a .306/.355/.569 line and 139 OPS+ -- and the Angels finished second to the Yankees in runs scored (5.45 per game). They won 97 games and lost to the Yankees in the American League Championship Series.

2018 Dodgers: 9

So this just happened! The only hitch is the Dodgers didn't really have a regular second baseman. Logan Forsythe is listed as the regular on Baseball-Reference, but he had just 211 plate appearances with a 53 OPS+. They also moved guys all over the field, so defining their regulars isn't easy. They also added Manny Machado, who didn't meet the 400 plate appearances requirement, but had a 121 OPS+, so he gave them a 10th above-average regular. The Dodgers led the National League with 804 runs (4.93 per game).

2016 Cardinals: 8

This one's a little tricky as well, as the Cardinals had Matt Carpenter and Jedd Gyorko playing multiple positions. But you could fill out this lineup:

C Yadier Molina: 111

1B Brandon Moss: 106

2B Gyorko: 111

SS Aledmys Diaz: 134

3B Carpenter: 136

LF Matt Holliday: 107

CF Randal Grichuk: 102

RF Stephen Piscotty: 113

The Cardinals did lead the NL in home runs, but were just third in runs (4.81 per game).

1979 Reds: 8

The last remnants of the Big Machine featured a fading Johnny Bench (123 OPS+) and Joe Morgan (107) and slugger George Foster (155). Cesar Geronimo had the most games in center field and had just a 78 OPS+, but fourth outfielder Dave Collins had 429 PAs and a 109 OPS+. They won the NL West, but weren't really a great offense, scoring just 731 runs (third in the league).

1976 Reds: 8

This team had one of the most balanced offenses of all time, leading the NL in basically every category: runs, home runs, average, OBP, slugging, stolen bases, walks, doubles, triples and fewest strikeouts. The starting eight:

C Johnny Bench: 109

1B Tony Perez: 118

2B Joe Morgan: 186

SS Dave Concepcion: 107

3B Pete Rose: 141

LF George Foster: 141

CF Cesar Geronimo: 125

RF Ken Griffey Sr.: 140

What a lineup. Geronimo had his best season, hitting .307. Bench and Perez had better seasons than this one, but were still above average. Morgan was a beast, the MVP for the second year in a row. They scored 857 runs and averaged 5.29 runs per game in a year in which the league average was just 3.98 per game. By comparison, the AL average in 2019 is 4.79 per game.

1950 Red Sox: 8

This team hit .302 and scored 1,027 runs (6.67 per game!). And that's with Ted Williams playing just 89 games (he had a 168 OPS+ and drove in 97 runs). Vern Stephens and Walt Dropo each drove in 144 runs and Johnny Pesky, Al Zarilla and Dom DiMaggio each had .400-plus OBPs. The only catch: They didn't have a regular catcher with 400 PAs, although Birdie Tebbetts got the most PAs there and did have a 101 OPS+. They won 94 games, but finished third.

1931 Yankees: 8

Runs were easy to come by in 1931, as the AL averaged 5.14 per game. The Yankees led the way with 1,067 -- 6.88 per game, more than a run more than the No. 2 team. The eight regulars all met our criteria: Bill Dickey (119), Lou Gehrig (194), Tony Lazzeri (107), Lyn Lary (113), Joe Sewell (109), Babe Ruth (218), Earle Combs (125) and Ben Chapman (135). With Gehrig (.341/.446/.662, 46 HR, 185 RBI) and Ruth (.373/.495/.700, 46 HR, 162 RBI) leading the way, they're definitely in the discussion as greatest offense of all time. They finished in second place, however, behind the Philadelphia A's.

Back to the 2019 Yankees. The impressive thing about this finally healthy lineup is that it isn't just full of good hitters who barely cross the 100 adjusted OPS mark. You have power throughout, with eight of the nine regulars capable of 25-plus home runs during a full season. Two of the guys have hit 50 in recent seasons. Encarnacion and Sanchez are tied for the AL lead with 23.

In some regards, it reminds of the 2009 Yankees. Eight of the nine regulars posted an OPS+ of 118 or higher. That team hit 244 home runs and scored 915 runs (5.65 per game). Only Melky Cabrera and his 93 OPS+ prevented them from making this list.

Of course, that team is famous for something besides scoring a lot of runs: It's the last Yankees team to win the World Series.

The Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games venue will host the athletics plus the opening and closing ceremonies

Plans detailing the design for the redevelopment of Alexander Stadium ahead of the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games have been published.

The release of the plans comes as a public consultation into the revamp begins.

The Perry Barr venue, which is the home of UK Athletics, will host the athletics plus the opening and closing ceremonies at the Games, set to take place from July 27 to August 7, 2022.

New artist impressions of the stadium have been released “revealing Birmingham City Council’s intentions to create a legacy asset the city and its residents can be truly proud of”.

The changes to the 40-year-old stadium, which currently hosts the British Championships and Diamond League events annually, will include an increase in permanent seating capacity from 12,700 to 18,000, allowing up to 40,000 during the Games through additional temporary seating.

The competition track will be re-laid and a six lane, 400m warm-up track will be built. A new western stand will replace the Main, Knowles and Nelson stands, while there will be new tiered seating to the north and south.

Other key features include the installation of new stadium lighting and a practice throwing field, improved public realm and parking provision and a new access road from the A453 Aldridge Road for event and maintenance use.

Cllr Ian Ward, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: “We’re now in an exciting phase of the design process where we would like to share our plans for the future with the community and hear their thoughts.

“The team has designed a redeveloped stadium which will meet the needs and aspirations of the community for generations to come. This is about creating a destination venue, shaping a legacy beyond the Commonwealth Games.

“We are making lots of information and detail available, so I encourage as many people as possible to come along, have a look at the designs and provide their feedback.”

All consultation material is now live on the council’s Be Heard consultation website at www.birminghambeheard.org.uk/place/alexander-stadium

The deadline for providing feedback is 5pm on Friday July 12, 2019.

Dynamic New Athletics (DNA) makes its debut, with Bogdan Bondarenko and Pavel Maslák among the biggest names on show in Minsk

Using the new “DNA” (Dynamic New Athletics) format which traditionalists will either love or loathe, athletics forms part of the second edition of the multi-sport European Games, to which British Athletics has chosen not to send a team.

The 24 countries’ mixed-gender line-ups at the event in Minsk, Belarus, which features athletics action from June 23 to 28, will face each other in six-way knockout matches over four rounds, including the final.

Each match is composed of nine events – men’s 100m, women’s long jump, women’s javelin, women’s 100m, mixed 4x400m relay, men’s 110m hurdles, men’s high jump, women’s 100m hurdles and the hunt (mixed medley relay).

Within each match, the winner scores 12 points for the win, 10 points for second, eight points for third and so on.

After eight events, these points will determine the starting positions in the final event, the hunt. This handicap medley relay runs as 800m (men), 600m (women), 400m (men), 200m (women). The team in the lead after eight events will start first and subsequent teams will then be set off at intervals afterwards, with each point representing approximately 0.333 seconds.

Gold, silver and bronze will be awarded for the best teams in the final. Individual medals for each discipline will be awarded based on the best performances in the qualification matches held on day one.

The semi-finals are on June 26 and the final is on June 28. A schedule can be found here.

The participating nations, including Germany, Poland, France, Spain and Ireland, have sent what are in many cases far from their top teams.

World indoor 400m champion Pavel Maslak of Czech Republic, European 100m hurdles champion Elvia Herman of Belarus and European 100m bronze medallist Jak Ali Harvey are among the biggest names on show.

Former European 400m hurdles champion Sara Slott Petersen lines up for Denmark, while Ireland’s team includes sprinter Luke Lennon-Ford and hurdler Paul Byrne.

Bogdan Bondarenko competes for Ukraine and speaking with European Athletics about the new DNA format the 2013 world high jump champion said: “I appreciate all the efforts of global and European Athletics to bring our sport to the new level and make it much more attractive for spectators.

“Athletics should continue to develop in a modern fashion. That is why I’m really excited to try a new and very interesting format of our event as part of DNA in Minsk.

“I’m wondering how the high jump duels will run as we will have only three attempts. I always liked such tactical games so much. It’s how I have competed for many years.”

Wales are set to play two Tests in New Zealand in July 2020.

The trip to his home country will be new coach Wayne Pivac's first tour in charge of Wales, after he takes over from fellow Kiwi Warren Gatland following the 2019 World Cup in Japan.

New Zealand Rugby chief executive Steve Tew has confirmed the All Blacks will host Wales twice and Scotland once in July.

Dates and venues are still to be confirmed.

New Zealand will also have a new coach in charge, as Steve Hansen - himself a former Wales head coach - will also step down from his role after the World Cup.

Wales have never won a Test in New Zealand and have not beaten them since 1953, with the All Blacks having won 31 games and Wales just three between the two nations.

Out-of-contract Scotland scrum-half Sam Hidalgo-Clyne has joined French Top 14 side Racing 92 to provide injury cover.

The 25-year-old, capped 12 times, left Scarlets by mutual consent last week after a year in Llanelli.

He has signed for Racing as a medical joker, easing the burden on the squad during the Rugby World Cup period.

The club are set to be without first-choice scrum-half Maxime Machenaud, who is likely to be in the France squad for the global showpiece in Japan.

A former Pro12 young player of the year, Hidalgo-Clyne spent the latter part of last season on loan at Harlequins in the English Premiership, after joining Scarlets from Edinburgh a year ago.

Last capped in June 2018, he will link up with Scotland fly-half Finn Russell at his new club in Paris.

He is not part of Gregor Townsend's World Cup training squad, and will join his new team-mates on 1 July.

Racing finished fourth in last term's Top 14 before being knocked out of the play-offs by La Rochelle, and reached the European Champions Cup quarter-finals, where they suffered a narrow defeat by Toulouse.

SONOMA, Calif. – After Denny Hamlin won his second Daytona 500 in February, his sponsor FedEx offered Hamlin the opportunity to design his throwback paint scheme for the Bojangles Southern 500 at Darlington Raceway.

FedEx asked Hamlin to design two schemes and have Joe Gibbs Racing employees vote on which one would hit the track for the Southern 500. Hamlin chose to honor Darrell Waltrip, who announced recently he was retiring from his role as a commentator on FOX Sports NASCAR broadcasts.

The shop voted in early June for a car similar to the one Waltrip drove to his final Monster Energy NASCAR Cup Series win – at Darlington Raceway – in 1992.

“When FedEx asked me to design my Darlington scheme, it was right around the time that Darrell announced his retirement, so it was an easy decision for me,” Hamlin said. “Darrell carried the banner for the No. 11 car for so many years, and I’ll be proud to drive this throwback scheme in his honor in September.”

“This was one of my favorite cars.  We had a lot of good days in it,” said Waltrip. “That No. 11 is special as it is one of the winningest numbers in NASCAR.  Can’t thank Denny and FedEx enough and I look forward to seeing it in victory circle.”

DENVER, N.C. – Ryan Repko may have had an unorthodox way of breaking into the national spotlight, but he made his journey pay off last weekend with an appearance in the NASCAR Xfinity Series for JD Motorsports.

Repko, a 19-year-old who recently wrapped up his freshman year at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, made two rather-stratospheric leaps to reach the point he’s at now in his racing career.

He began racing in quarter midgets, like most of his peers, but made the jump straight from quarter midgets up into limited late models and late models during his teenage years – bypassing the traditional stop-gap step of Bandoleros and Legend cars that many others have used to foster short-track success.

From there, Repko hung in among the best in late-model racing before making his ARCA Menards Series debut with Mason Mitchell Motorsports in the summer of 2017 – a leap from late models straight into national, full-sized stock cars which skipped the NASCAR K&N Pro Series or similar developmental levels.

Fast forward to last Sunday, and Repko found himself at the wheel of Johnny Davis’ iconic No. 01 Chevrolet Camaro, making his debut start in the Xfinity Series at Iowa Speedway.

“I don’t necessarily recommend doing the whole racing thing how we did it, but at least in our case, it’s worked out OK,” said Repko. “I recommend doing the Legend car step, at least, between quarter midgets and late models. I remember, our first limited (late model) race I went out thinking I had this, and we went out and ran 10th or so after winning a bunch in quarter midgets. It was a culture shock.

“A lot of that comes down to funding, and that’s a place that’s obviously vital in this sport, but we’ve certainly made the best of the opportunities we’ve had and I’m thankful we’ve now been able to make it to this kind of a stage where I can show a bit more of what I’m capable of.”

Though Repko finished five laps behind the leaders in 22nd, he was second among the four JD Motorsports cars entered in the 250-lap event, behind only teammate Tyler Matthews in 20th.

A sold result didn’t mean there wasn’t anxiety beforehand, however.

“I had extreme nerves all weekend, because I’m an overthinker,” Repko admitted. “I was more or less scared out of my mind. In my head, there were all these different mistakes that I could have made, but I feel like I did a pretty good job of not being noticed for mistakes.

“At the first yellow, though, I couldn’t help but think, ‘We’re here. We did it.’”

Repko had a steep learning curve throughout the weekend, mostly because the majority of Xfinity Series practice was rained out, but kept his car in one piece and brought it home with hardly a scratch on it.

“When I was getting ready for qualifying … you want to drive it as hard as you can, but then you start thinking, ‘well, what if it doesn’t stick?’” noted Repko. “Luckily, we didn’t have that happen, but we didn’t qualify where we wanted to – mostly because I only had 20 laps of practice due to the rain. I got enough laps to think about overnight, and that was about it.

“As far as the race went, I feel like I learned a lot. The cars drive a little bit like the ARCA cars, but you don’t feel them roll quite as much,” Repko explained. “Other than Daytona (for a test session), that was the biggest track I had ever been on, so I had a lot to learn. I feel like we did alright, though.”

Of all his memorable moments from the weekend, however, there was one that stood out for Repko – perhaps because it was just as unorthodox as the rest of his journey to this point.

“I almost fell out of the truck when they were starting the ride-around (lap) after driver intros,” Repko laughed. “That was called not paying attention, and not realizing that they take off that fast. I was just taking it all in, and then it’s like, ‘whoa, we’re moving!’ They put handles on those things for a reason.

“It was a rookie mistake, but it’s something we can laugh about now, for sure.”

Repko isn’t sure when his next Xfinity Series start with JD Motorsports will be at this juncture, but his focus is more set on the big picture than the individual pieces of the puzzle.

“We’re going to run multiple races with JD, but I’m looking long-term,” Repko said. “I don’t want to have any sort of bad reputation in the sport and I don’t want to go anywhere. Hopefully, this is just the first step to even more great things.

“We have to assess how I did over the weekend and what I need to improve on before we nail down the next step more specifically, but we’ll be back before too long.”