TOKYO -- Former Cleveland Indians outfielder Leonys Martin has signed a one-year deal with the Chiba Lotte Marines of Japan's Pacific League.

Martin, who overcame a life-threatening bacterial infection last summer, was designated for assignment last month by the Indians. He was batting .199 with nine home runs and 19 RBIs in 65 games.

Cleveland acquired Martin from the Detroit Tigers at the trade deadline last season, but he played only six games before becoming ill and being hospitalized.

"It's an honor to be given this chance by the Marines," Martin said in a statement issued by the team. "I'll do everything I can in order to be the best player and teammate that I can become."

The 31-year-old Cuban player made his major league debut with the Texas Rangers in 2011 and also played for the Seattle Mariners, Chicago Cubs and Tigers.

Martin recorded more than 30 steals in the 2013 and 2014 seasons with the Rangers and hit a career-high 15 home runs with the Mariners in 2016.

In 770 major league games over nine seasons, he had a .244 batting average with 58 home runs, 228 RBIs and 126 stolen bases.

Kolkata Knight Riders' IPL campaign next year will have a new think-tank after the management announced changes to the franchise's coaching set-up. The two-time IPL champions parted ways with head coach Jacques Kallis and assistant coach Simon Katich on Sunday, the former ending a nine-year relationship - as player and then coach - with the franchise.

Kallis was appointed Knight Riders' head coach in October 2015, taking over from Trevor Bayliss, the current England coach. Since his appointment, Knight Riders made three consecutive playoff appearances but failed to make the cut in 2019. Under Kallis and Katich, Knight Riders won 32 of their 61 games - a win-percentage of just over 50. In IPL 2019, the side finished fifth, losing out on playoff qualification based on net run-rate, after a six-match losing streak midway through the season.

Katich was appointed around the same time as Kallis, and the former Australia batsman also coached the team's Caribbean Premier League franchise, Trinbago Knight Riders, helping them win back-to-back titles in 2017 and 2018. The tenure with Trinbago also comes to an end for Katich, who will now coach the Manchester Originals team in the inaugural season of The Hundred.

Kallis, however, could remain a part of the Knight Riders brand, according to team CEO Venky Mysore.

"Jacques Kallis has been an integral part of the KKR family and will always remain so," Mysore said, while announcing the changes. "We will be exploring ways of working with Jacques as we pursue our vision of establishing the Knight Riders brand as a global brand."

Kallis, too, released a statement following the decision.

"After nine fantastic years with KKR since 2011, as a player, mentor and Head Coach, it's time to explore new opportunities," he said. "I would to like to thank the owners, management and fellow players for many happy memories."

Knight Riders are yet to announce replacements for the two coaches.

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ELKO, Minn. – Chandler Smith recovered from a mid-race spin to win the ARCA Menards Series Menards 250 at Elko Speedway on Saturday night.

Smith, who started seventh, was dominant throughout the race, able to drive way to a full straightaway lead on several occasions on his way to his third series victory of the season.

Although he had the dominant car, Smith did have to work for it. He slid in oil laid down in turn one by another competitor and spun on lap 146 and dropped to the tail of the lead lap.

By virtue of a fast car and numerous mid-race cautions that continued to jumble the running order, Smith was able to knife his way back to the lead by lap 209. From there, he was able to drive away to nearly a full straightaway lead crossing the stripe 4.147 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Ty Gibbs.

“I was so mad when I spun down there in one,” Smith said post-race. “I was the only one riding the top groove at that point and there was oil all over the place. It just went around so slow, like it was in slow motion. I though we might have had a tire go down or maybe even got hit. I was just mad. You definitely didn’t want to hear our radio traffic after that happened.”

For his part, Gibbs thought he could have challenged Smith for the win but lost track position on the final restart and couldn’t ever close the gap.

“Everyone jumbled up on the final restart,” Gibbs said. “We lost a ton of track position and just couldn’t make it up.”

Sam Mayer finished third.

“It was a crazy night out there but we don’t have any scratches on the car,” Mayer said. “We’ll take it. We have some K&N Pro Series races coming up over the next month so we won’t be back until Salem and Indy in the fall, but we think we’ll be able to come back and get us a win in one of those two races.”

Michael Self finished fourth by inches over Corey Heim. Self was racing for position with General Tire Pole Award winner Christian Eckes on the final lap when the two made contact, sending Eckes for a smoky spin off turn four coming to the checkered. Eckes would finish eleventh, the final driver on the lead lap.

“Right now I can’t think of anything else from this race but the last lap,” Self said afterwards. “I absolutely hate that we got into Christian on the last lap. He’s not only my teammate but he’s one of my best friends. It puts a real damper on the night.”

The race was action-packed, with a slew of cautions for incidents throughout the middle stages of the race. One of those cautions involved championship contenders Bret Holmes and Travis Braden. The two made contact on the frontstretch on lap 198, with Holmes catching a piece of the wall and Braden receiving body damage to the rear end of his car. Four laps later the two came together again with Braden spinning. Holmes finished ninth while Braden finished 12th.

The finish:

Chandler Smith, Ty Gibbs, Sam Mayer, Michael Self, Corey Heim, Carson Hocevar, Joe Graf Jr., Hailie Deegan, Bret Holmes, Howie DiSavino III, Christian Eckes, Travis Braden, Eric Caudell, Dale Shearer, Tommy Vigh Jr., Tim Richmond, Mike Basham, Dick Doheny, Brad Smith, Alex Clubb.

MIDDLETOWN, N.Y. – Danny Dietrich continued his strong season with a victory in Saturday’s Ollie’s Bargain Outlet All Star Circuit of Champions feature at Orange County Fair Speedway.

The victory earned the Gettysburg, Pa., driver $10,000.

Dietrich, who nearly swept the evening program at Orange County Fair Speedway by winning his respective heat race, the evening’s dash, and finally the 25-lap main event, now owns four All Star Circuit of Champions victories in the state of New York over the course of his career, adding Orange County Fair Speedway to a list that already includes Weedsport Speedway, Lebanon Valley Speedway, and Fonda Speedway.

Despite crossing under the final checkers by a margin of victory exceeding four seconds, Dietrich did not take command for good until lap 19, taking advantage of Gerard McIntyre’s misfortune after the All Star Rookie of the Year contender made contact with the outside retaining wall while leading.

McIntyre led the majority of the 25-lapper, actually controlling 17 circuits, including the first, while attempting to keep Dietrich in his rearview mirror. Dietrich did slip by McIntyre to lead lap 12, but the New Oxford, Pa.-native battled back instantly to regain control the following circuit.

“That was a lot of fun. Hats off to my team for their hard work so far this weekend. We have one more night to go, so hopefully we can cap this weekend with another win,” Dietrich explained. “We were pretty good all night. We got close to Gerard [McIntyre] a few times before he made contact with the wall. I think we were just as good as him. Regardless, it was a great effort by everyone involved. I certainly wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t them.”

Although Dietrich was in pursuit of McIntrye from the drop of the green, the battle between the lead duo started to intensify on lap 11. McIntrye was in control ripping the top, but Dietrich was utilizing the shorter way around the speedway, closing-in on McIntyre inch by inch as the laps clicked off the counter.

By lap 12, Dietrich was in position to make a bid for the top spot, eventually sliding through turns three and four to sneak by McIntyre as the pair raced back to the flagstand. McIntyre retaliated in a hurry, quickly returning to the topside to drive back around Dietrich to lead lap 13.

With heavy traffic coming into play by lap 15, things really started to heat up between McIntyre and Dietrich, actually translating into a near-nose to tail battle during the next three circuits. Lap 19 is when trouble struck for McIntyre, slipping up the track just enough in turn two to make contact with Orange County’s unforgiving retaining wall.

After inheriting the top spot, Dietrich drove away to a four second advantage and the $10,000 prize.

Dale Blaney ended up second, followed by Tony Stewart, Aaron Reutzel and Justin Barger.

The finish:

1. 48-Danny Dietrich [1]; 2. 11-Dale Blaney [3]; 3. 14-Tony Stewart [6]; 4. 87-Aaron Reutzel [4]; 5. 5-Justin Barger [5]; 6. W20-Greg Wilson [13]; 7. 13-Paul McMahan [8]; 8. 70-Brock Zearfoss [9]; 9. K4-Chad Kemenah [7]; 10. 70X-Justin Peck [14]; 11. 40-George Hobaugh [10]; 12. O7-Gerard McIntyre [2]; 13. 10-Joe Kata [16]; 14. 26-Cory Eliason [19]; 15. 99-Skylar Gee [11]; 16. J4-John Garvin [17]; 17. IO7-Mark Coldren [12]; 18. 90-Jordan Givler [15]; 19. 55-Darren Schott [18]; 20. 87jb-Jim Bob [20]

DODGE CITY, Kan.– Current series points leader Kip Hughes overcame some early adversity to race to Dodge City Raceway Park victory lane as the Sooner Late Model Series made its first appearance atop the three-eighths-mile clay oval on Saturday.

Hughes battled past early leader Adam Schrag on the 11th round and led the remained of the 25-lapper for his fourth series win of the year.

While Hughes topped the late model forces, Clay Sellard added his second consecutive IMCA Modiifed win, Alex Wiens scored his first career DCRP win in IMCA Sport Modifieds, Mike Petersilie bested the IMCA Stock Cars and Reagan notched his third IMCA Hobby Stock win of the year.

In Sooner Late Model action, the night started off with Kip Hughes suffering engine problems in hot laps and missing out on heat race action.

“We hurt a brand new motor in hot laps, fortunately we had some spares with us and were able to get it changed out pretty quick,” Hughes explained.

Adam Schrag jumped into the early lead, but soon had Hughes pressuring him for the point.  Hughes finally slipped under to take command on the 11th round and held point until the race’s only caution flew with ten laps to go when Schrag came to a stop on the track.

Back under way, Hughes paced the final ten rounds ahead of Adam Popp with Steven Hawkins outlasting Scott Phillips over the closing circuits for the show position and Mark Brill rounding out the top five.

In the 20-lap IMCA Modified feature, Bucklin’s Clay Sellard broke into the lead on the second lap and le the rest of the way to make it two in a row.

It wasn’t without challenge though, as reigning track champion Nick Link closed in and pulled alongside on the bottom on the 13th lap.  Sellard was able to fend off the challenge and took Link’s line away to secure the win.

Link settled for second with current points leader William Nusser in third while Trent Gray nipped Ryan Heger at the line for fourth.

The 15-lap IMCA Sport Modified turned into a showdown between the Wiens brothers Alex and Kyle, both from Newton.

A. Wiens gunned into the initial lead from the pole position but soon had K. Wiens pressuring for the point. After some side-by-side battling along the way, A. Wiens prevailed for his first DCRP score with K. Wiens in second.  Bart Baker crossed the stripe third with Mike Lunow and Brian May also in the top five.

A past IMCA Modified winner at DCRP, Hoisington’s Mike Petersilie outdueled Troy Burkhart to get his first 20-lap IMCA Stock Car win atop the 3/8-mile clay oval.

After Robbie Perkins and Donald Kaup traded tuns leading the initial handful of circuits, Burkhart battled into the lead with Petersilie moving in to challenge for the point.

The duo battled wheel-to-wheel for several round before Petersilie battled into the front on the 11th round.  Petersilie kept Burkhart at bay the rest of the way to secure the win with Burkhart, Chris Oliver, Michael Pepper and Donald Kaup rounding out the top five.

Bucklin’s Reagan Sellard raced around Matt O’Hair on the 11th of 15 laps to pick off his third IMCA Hobby Stock feature win in the last four events.

O’Hair had wrestled the lead away from Dion Priddy on the fourth lap and then held off Sellard until the final handful of rounds.  The two-time and defending track champion raced on to victory lane ahead of O’Hair with Priddy, Cody Ghumm and Brett Copeland rounding out the top five.

While current points leader R. Sellard padded his Hobby Stock points lead and William Nusser maintained his Modified points lead, a pair of points leaders ran into feature issues with both Angel Munoz (Stock Cars) and Jeff Kaup (Sport Modifieds) both exiting a lap into their respective features after being collected in incidents.

WHEATLAND, Mo. – Jimmy Owens continued his mastery of Lucas Oil Speedway by capturing the first night of the CMH Diamond Nationals – Presented by Super Clean on Saturday night.

In a race that saw three different leaders, Owens fought off several challenges from Earl Pearson Jr. to secure his second straight Lucas Oil Late Model Dirt Series victory and his fourth-career Diamond Nationals. Saturday night’s $15,000-to-win event marked Owens’ 63rd series win.

Scott Bloomquist, the defending CMH Diamond Nationals winner, started from the pole and led the first 10 laps until Owens charged to the lead after starting fifth. Pearson moved by Bloomquist on lap 20 using the top groove and within just a few laps caught the front-running Owens.

Owens and Pearson then dueled side-by-side for several laps as the two went back-and-forth for the top spot. Owens eventually pulled away from Pearson in heavy lapped traffic and he went on the record his ninth career win at Lucas Oil Speedway.

For the second night in a row, Pearson ran second to Owens. Mike Marlar edged out Bloomquist in the waning laps to secure the third spot. Bloomquist was fourth, with current series point leader Jonathan Davenport coming home in fifth after starting in 13th.

“We are rolling right now,” Owens said. “This is a big win for us. My car owner Leon Ramirez is here. My crew has worked their tails off in the last week. I didn’t want to see any cautions. We are still struggling on restarts. It’ll be awesome to get to back here tomorrow night and race. The crew is pumped up. It’s a great feeling to get back to victory lane at Lucas Oil Speedway.”

“We couldn’t get off the corner,” commented Pearson. “Everybody knows that Jimmy is so good here. He has won countless times here before. We tried to run with him for 12 to 15 laps. He could move around a lot better than us. We finished second to Jimmy last night and again here tonight. We’ll come back tomorrow night and give it another shot.”

Marlar continued his streak of solid finishes with the series by coming home in third.

“We changed some stuff on the car before the feature. It was a fun track to race on tonight. We went with something out of the ordinary and it worked. Congrats to Jimmy on the win, he deserves this win. It was good to race against Scott [Bloomquist] again, and it’s good to see him back. He and I battled the whole race.”

The finish:

Jimmy Owens, Earl Pearson Jr., Mike Marlar, Scott Bloomquist, Jonathan Davenport, Shanon Buckingham, Billy Moyer, Jesse Stovall, Rick Eckert, Hudson O’Neal, Tony Jackson Jr., Tim McCreadie, Kyle Bronson, Shannon Babb, Josh Richards, Tyler Erb, Billy Moyer Jr., Devin Moran, Stormy Scott, Mason Oberkramer, Gavin Landers, Mitch McGrath, Jake Neal, Logan Martin, Payton Looney, Terry Phillips, Will Vaught, Michael Norris.

OXFORD, Maine – Calvin Rose Jr. raced to his first super late model win of the season Saturday night in Budweiser Championship Series stock car racing action at Oxford Plains Speedway.

Rose, a former champion in the second-tier Street Stock class, took the lead away from four-time track champion Timmy Brackett about a quarter of the way through the 50-lap, caution-free race, then stayed in front of fast-closing Curtis Gerry.

It was the secondSuper Late Model win for Rose.  Gerry, who lined up 19th, again impressed, earning runner-up honors without the benefit of a restart.  Brackett, who has been luckless all season long, ended up with the third-place trophy after the checkered flag waved.

Dan Winter was fourth across the finish line, followed by Cole Butcher.  Scott Robbins, Jeff White, Ryan Deane, Scott McDaniel and Reid Lanpher filled out the top-10.

Billy Childs Jr. didn’t lead every lap of the Allen’s Coffee Flavored Brandy Street Stock main event, but no one ever got all of the way by the 2018 champion in the 30-lap race and he scored his first triumph of this season.

Matt Dufault, the division’s defending champion and current points leader, put on a show in the outside groove, challenging Childs before earning runner-up spoils.  David Whittier, who led a couple of laps while battling Childs from the outside groove, was the third-place finisher.  Rick Spaulding, the previous week’s winner, charged from the back of the pack to finish fourth. Skip Stanley rounded out the top five.

Defending Bandit division champion Dustin Salley continued to dominate in Budweiser Championship Series four-cylinder competition, winning his fifth race this season in his third different winning ride. Rookie Alex Mowatt was the best of the rest, followed by Chad Wills, Tyler Green and Travis Verrill.

Brady Childs raced to his fifth victory of the year in Rookie class competition to remain atop the championship standings.  Owen Stuart was forced to settle for runner-up honors, snapping a two-race winning streak. Maddie Herrick earned third-place hardware, ahead of Derek Cook and Jeremy Turner.

LONDON -- In the end, the Centre Court crowd cheered. But it came after Novak Djokovic had fallen, howled, cupped his hand to his ear and shown all manner of frustration, both with himself and the world on the way to his sixth Wimbledon final.

Djokovic had inhabited every character in his persona as he got through the men's semifinal challenge of Roberto Bautista Agut 6-2, 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Friday. He got wound up by the crowd, he slid around on the baseline as if he were on clay, he dispatched those beautiful sweeping forehands, he fell in dramatic style, nudged those deft drop shots so they kissed the top of the net and clocked up the sets. It was your typical Djokovic knockout match. Appreciate it while you can.

Perhaps the most evident underlying emotion among the spectators watching this match was anticipation for what was to come. There was a restlessness. From the outside, it appeared like they were relaxed watching the first semifinal, perhaps even underappreciating Djokovic and Bautista Agut, regarding them as entrée to the main course of the other semifinal, between Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal.

For all his grace on the court, his effortless style and his No. 1 ranking, Djokovic still seems to thrive most when he manages to cast himself as an outlier on Centre Court, a place he has already won four titles. The crowd roared when opponent Bautista Agut got on the front foot and took the second set. Perhaps it was that classic British mentality of favoring the underdog -- even Djokovic suggested as much in his postmatch news conference -- or maybe it's that they have never really taken Djokovic to their hearts in the same way they have Roger and Rafa. As Djokovic walked to his chair after having lost that second set, he motioned toward the crowd to increase the volume in favor of Bautista Agut. He was welcoming the challenge while still recognizing that this is his court, one that he marks winning the tournament on by eating the grass. "I had enough support here over the years, so I don't complain," Djokovic said afterward.

Before the match started, many expected this to be a straightforward task for Djokovic; a case of get the job done, get the rackets strung up and watch Nadal-Federer. But while the first set was a walk-through for Djokovic -- almost rope-a-dope at times as he tempted Bautista Agut to hit winners and then watched them fly over the baseline -- the second set saw the Spaniard stamp his authority on Centre Court.

This was Bautista Agut's first Grand Slam semifinal, and his pre-Wimbledon expectations were so low he had booked his stag do for this week in Ibiza. But on this warm July afternoon, instead of moving to the relentless sounds and lights of Pacha or Amnesia, he was in his own dance with Djokovic on Centre Court. He threw everything at Djokovic, but it took him a set to work out how best to cope with the unrelenting nature of his game. "We finally have a match now," was the verdict of one Wimbledon veteran behind the press box when Bautista Agut broke Djokovic for the first, and only, time. It was the catalyst Djokovic needed, triggering urgency and a longer, lower-pitch growl behind every shot. It was Djokovic's Hulk mode. Eric Bana, watching on from the Royal Box, would have appreciated the transition, having played the character in 2003.

"It's nothing unusual," Djokovic said afterward. "You go through these kinds of emotional moments, especially in big matches like this, all the time. I mean, at least on my side. Sometimes I show my emotions, sometimes I don't. It's nothing really in particular."

From losing that second set, Djokovic was more settled but still gesticulated to his box, and at one point let out a remarkable wolflike howl into the sky after sending a forehand long -- it was like the sound you make when you've just shut the house door and realized the keys are still inside. That came when Djokovic already had the third set in the bag and had just missed out on breaking Bautista Agut at the start of the fourth. It proved to be a short-term frustration, as he eventually broke the Spaniard twice and came through 6-2.

After the fist-pumping celebration to acknowledge a job done, he stood in the middle of Centre Court and welcomed applause from all four sides. He turned his hands to the air. It was his court again. But he will remember how the crowd rallied behind the underdog. He will remember his own frustration at how his game was derailed in the second set. And he will use that as motivation on Sunday when he goes up against an old foe in Federer. But don't expect him to treat this like just "another Wimbledon final."

"Of course, I'm going to be excited and nervous and everything that you can think of," Djokovic said. "I'm going to do my best to control that in some way and be able to portray my best tennis in [a] balanced, hopefully, state throughout the match."

But with Djokovic, don't expect it to be an emotionless display. Expect him to be fighting against the world, chasing that moment of calm at the end where he soaks in the deserved recognition.