The San Francisco Giants designated second baseman Joe Panik for assignment on Tuesday, less than a week after acquiring Scooter Gennett from the Cincinnati Reds prior to the trade deadline.

Panik hit .235 with three homers and 27 RBIs in 103 games this season. In 643 career games with San Francisco, he hit .271 with 36 homers and 221 RBIs.

With the team turning second base over to Gennett, Panik became the odd man out on the roster.

"Nothing has driven me more than winning here in San Francisco," Panik said in a statement provided to multiple outlets. "I am forever grateful for the Giants taking the chance on me and allowing me to live out my life long dream. It is time for me to start the next chapter in my career. But in my heart I will always be a Giant."

A rookie in 2014, Panik played a large role that postseason as the Giants beat the Kansas City Royals for their third World Series championship in five seasons. In Game 7, Panik started a key double play when he dove to snare an Eric Hosmer grounder, then flipped the ball with his glove to shortstop Brandon Crawford, who threw to first.

Panik also had a clutch two-run homer off Adam Wainwright as the Giants beat the St. Louis Cardinals in Game 5 of the National League Championship Series to reach the World Series.

Seattle Mariners infielder Tim Beckham has been suspended 80 games without pay after testing positive for a performance-enhancing substance.

Major League Baseball announced the suspension Tuesday, effective immediately.

Beckham, the former No. 1 overall draft selection, tested positive for Stanozolol, according to MLB.

"I was given a product from a trusted source, who had advised me that it was safe to take," Beckham said in a statement. "Regrettably, the product was tainted."

Beckham also said he presented his case to an independent arbitrator and that he is "disappointed in the result."

"I accept full responsibility for putting myself in this position," Beckham said. "I sincerely apologize to the Mariners' organization, the fans, my teammates, and my family for this mistake. I look forward to resuming my career once my suspension has been served."

Beckham, 29, was batting .237 with 15 home runs and 47 RBIs this season.

Selected No. 1 overall by Tampa Bay in the 2008 draft, Beckham is a career .249 hitter with 63 homers in parts of six seasons with the Mariners, Rays and Baltimore Orioles.

The Mariners released a statement on the suspension, saying the team was "disappointed" that Beckham violated the policy.

Jessica Whittington travelled to the Czech Republic to experience RunCzech’s Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon

Described as a ‘hidden treasure’ of Europe, Olomouc is situated 179 miles south east of the Czech capital of Prague and for the past 10 years the city has welcomed runners for the annual Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon.

The event forms part of the RunCzech series which now features nine races in the Czech Republic, including the popular Volkswagen Prague Marathon in May and the Birell Prague Grand Prix in September, plus two in Italy.

The series also incorporates initiatives such as the RunCzech Running League and EuroHeroes Challenge, designed to encourage both recreational runners and elites.

This year’s Olomouc Half Marathon took place on Saturday June 15, with a total of 10,078 runners taking part in the day’s events – 3597 in the family run and 6481 in the half-marathon, including me!

Olomouc

The ancient capital of Moravia is a beautiful, historic city which boasts impressive Baroque architecture, including the 32-metre-high Holy Trinity Column, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

It is from the main square Horní námestí, where the Holy Trinity Column can be found, that the Olomouc Half Marathon starts and finishes.

The sixth-largest city in the Czech Republic, Olomouc is home to around 100,000 residents as well as an ancient university, the original medieval astronomical clock, six Baroque fountains and many other fine and unique monuments.

The three main parks – Smetana, Cech and Bezruc – cover an area of almost 50 hectares, with Smetana Park home to the Flora Olomouc exhibitions which the half-marathon route passes through.

“Olomouc is the historical capital of Moravia with such a concentration of monuments,” says Olomouc guide Stefan Blaho. “Prague is so packed with tourists. If you want to relax, just come to Olomouc because it is quiet and I think it is a little bit like a hidden treasure in Europe.

“I would recommend having a cup of coffee in some of the excellent bars and restaurants, seeing the Archdiocesan Museum because it is the only one with the European Heritage Label in our country and I would recommend having a walk to discover Olomouc’s parks because they are something amazing.”

The race

The Mattoni Olomouc Half Marathon offered a couple of firsts for me as I had never before visited the Czech Republic and I had also never taken part in an evening road race. I was excited to experience both!

Arriving on the Friday, I took in some of the city’s stunning sights on my way to pick up my race number at the Moravia Sport Expo on the edge of the Smetana Park. It was a quick and easy process.

Race day features four events – the half-marathon, relay and ‘2Run’ (10+11km) starting at 7pm local time (6pm UK) and the 3.5km family run starting at 5pm.

I arrived as the family event was taking place and there was a nice vibe in the Horní námestí start and finish area, which was a short walk from the bag drop and toilets.

Heading to the start line I knew I would need to run well within myself as the temperature was still 30°C and the recent English weather hadn’t acclimatised me to that sort of heat!

There was a great mood as we took to the starting pens, with the music and location making it feel very atmospheric.

The square was lined with spectators as we headed on to the cobbled section of the course and out into the city. The heat was quite intense but, by around 8km, where the route heads out of the city and is much more open as it passes fields, the temperature had cooled slightly and there were frequent water stations and showers to pass through, as well as bands playing as part of the Marathon Music Festival.

I’ll admit I began to feel a little under the weather from that point on but there was great support as I wound my way back towards the Horní námestí from fellow runners, marshals and spectators. I was well looked after when I crossed the finish line and received my hard-earned medal!

EuroHeroes

Launched in 2018 with the support of European Athletics, the EuroHeroes initiative aims to highlight new sporting stars from the continent and motivate the public to get active. The inaugural series featured two events – the Mattoni Karlovy Vary Half Marathon and Mattoni Ceské Budejovice Half Marathon – and this year it has expanded to include the Olomouc event and another half-marathon in Ústí nad Labem on September 21.

All four events in the 2019 series have a five-star certification rating from European Athletics Running for All, a cornerstone of the governing body’s running strategy, which requires organisers to have fulfilled a stringent set of safety, organisation and quality checks.

The EuroHeroes Challenge, which offers an additional prize structure, requires athletes to compete in at least two of the four series events and points are achieved at each event, with the two highest sets of points contributing to each athlete’s ranking.

“This is a sport that has tremendous success,” says RunCzech president and IAAF Road Running Commission chairman Carlo Capalbo.

“It’s phenomenal. It needs fans and a TV audience. We needed to create local legends.”

He adds: “Of course, our races are open to everybody, but there is a focus in terms of elite – only European athletes in order that we can support our champions. Above all, there is one main goal – to inspire more and more people.”

From next year, the hope is that winners of the EuroHeroes Challenge will receive a wild card entry into the European Championships half-marathon, with Capalbo explaining that it is set to be discussed at the next European Athletics Council meeting.

Britain’s 2016 European 5000m medallist and two-time Olympian Steph Twell was among those in Olomouc and after finishing fifth in 75:57 explained how she is looking forward to seeing the initiative develop.

“The EuroHeroes concept has great room for potential to create more windows of opportunity for athletes to compete across the year,” said the British 10km road champion.

“I think this is a great platform to really take off on, to understand my new competition in this half-marathon distance, who will also run the marathon.

“It’s an opportunity now to help support myself a little bit. I think it opens a lot of potential for the future to incorporate planning my training and racing around something that can support athletes.”

The elite women’s race was won by Lilia Fisikovici of Moldova in 73:32, while Italy’s Yassine Rachik claimed men’s race victory in 64:26. Read more on the elite races here.

Travel tips

My trip included a flight from London to Prague, which takes less than two hours, and then an onward three-hour journey by car.

However, train travel is also popular and from Prague airport visitors can hop on the AE (Airport Express) bus for 60 CZK (around £2.10) for a 30-minute journey to hlavní nádrazí (‘the main train station’). From here, there are several types of train that can be taken, including the yellow trains of RegioJet for a journey which will take around 2.5 hours.

Once in the city, transport is provided by a network of tram and bus lines. Staying at the NH Collection Olomouc Congress, I was just a 15-minute walk from the city centre so was able to travel by foot.

Active Times is the official ground handler for RunCzech events, with hotel packages, airport transfers, tours and other activities on offer.

RunCzech’s authorised travel agencies for the UK are 209events.com and runningcrazy.co.uk

THOROLD, Ontario — Erick Rudolph outfoxed local Merrittville Speedway stars Ryan Susice and Gary Lindberg to pick up his fourth Super DIRTcar Series win of the season on Monday night.

Just when the capacity crowd thought it would be a duel between two of their best drivers for the $8,000 payday, Rudolph’s No. 25r came roaring through the top of the field. Finally, Rudolph made the decisive move with five laps to go and captured the checkered flag.

Rudolph started in sixth and kept the top three in his sights all race. Before battling Lindberg, the pilot of the No. 25r’s toughest challenge was the Billy Whittaker Fast-Time Award recipient Billy Decker in his crimson red Gypsum Express No. 91. Decker had been fast all day and refused to let Rudolph get by easy.

From there, lapped traffic was the key to Rudolph tracking down the leader Gary Lindberg and second-place Ryan Susice. The No. 28t and No. 3rs may have had the right strategy for the track, but Rudolph would not be denied. He started entering turn three high and then rounding off the turn and running downhill through turn four. This allowed him to catch and run down the leaders when they reached traffic on the straightaways.

“I was a little bit better in lapped traffic and about the same speed one-on-one. It seemed like he [Gary Lindberg] needed to be in his specific lane. The local 358 Modifieds here are the best in the Northeast. It was tough out there. I don’t think I would have gotten him if it wasn’t for lapped traffic. Nevertheless, here we are in victory lane. The car was performing up to expectations,” said Rudolph.

The No. 25r team has been on an absolute hot streak as of late. For Rudolph, it comes down to the decisions they’ve been making as a team.

“We’ve been making the right decisions,” Rudolph said. “We show up at the track with the same car and we just gotta make the right decisions and wise choices. Hopefully, we can keep being smart. I’d like to thank all my fans, sponsors, and my crew here beside me. They’ve got my back no matter what and it’s nice knowing that. I’d like to thank the track for putting this race on.”

After leading a vast majority of the laps, Gary Lindberg, a surprise top-six qualifier in last year’s Billy Whittaker Cars 200, had to settle for second place.

“We had a good car for sure,” Lindberg said. “When I saw Erick [Rudolph] on that restart and I knew he was going to be fast. But then I didn’t see him after a few laps, so I thought we were good. But then I came upon those lapped cars and they were racing side by side and probably not watching the flagman either so I couldn’t get them.”

Last year’s Merrittville Speedway Super DIRTcar Series winner Ryan Susice finished third.

“We were just a little off from where we needed to be,” Suice said. “We were better on the long run and we had a caution right at the end. Congrats to Erick, he’s on fire. Gary had a hell of a run. I think it really speaks volumes about what we’ve got here in terms of competition to have two local guys up in the front.”

Chad Chevalier won the sportsman feature and Jeremy Cooper topped the four-cylinder race.

The finish:

Feature (100 laps): 1. 25-Erick Rudolph [6][$8,000]; 2. 28-Gary Lindberg [2][$4,000]; 3. 38RS-Ryan Susice [4][$2,500]; 4. 91-Billy Decker [1][$1,800]; 5. 6M-Mat Williamson [9][$1,600]; 6. 42P-Pete Bicknell [13][$1,400]; 7. 71-Mike Bowman [17][$1,300]; 8. 21A-Peter Britten [3][$1,200]; 9. 3B-Chad Brachmann [5][$1,100]; 10. 37S-Tyler Willard [20][$1,000]; 11. 99L-Larry Wight [7][$800]; 12. M1-Dave Marcuccilli [12][$700]; 13. 21J-Danny Johnson [22][$600]; 14. 9S-Matt Sheppard [10][$575]; 15. 26-Ryan Godown [16][$550]; 16. 35-Mike Mahaney [15][$525]; 17. 7F-Matt Farnham [14][$500]; 18. 96-Fred Carleton [21][$500]; 19. 111-Demetrios Drellos [8][$500]; 20. 98H-Jimmy Phelps [11][$500]; 21. 2X-Tom Neale [23][$500]; 22. 3RS-Dalton Slack [19][$500]; 23. 8-Mark D’Ilario [18][$500]; 24. 2L-Jack Lehner [25][$500]; 25. R2-Rusty Smith [26][$500]; 26. 17-Marcus Dinkins [27][$500]; 27. 2K-Rob Knapp [24][$500]; 28. 37-Paul StSauveur [28][$500]

OSKALOOSA, Iowa — Daryn Pittman became the first four-time winner of the prestigious 24th annual Sage Fruit Front Row Challenge presented by Musco Lighting Monday night.

The Owasso, Okla., native cashed in $20,000 for his win aboard the Roth Motorsports No. 83. In addition, Pittman’s crew chief, Brent Ventura, was named Snap-On Tools “Mechanic of the Race,” good for an impact wrench set.

Jason Martin was victorious in the $1,000 to win IMCA Racesaver 305 sprint car main event.

Before a lap could be completed in the feature, Rusty Hickman went upside down.  He walked away. Finishing second to Cory Eliason in the $1,000 Keith Hutton Memorial “King of the Hill” Max presented by DeBerg Concrete, Pittman led from the outset of the 30-lapper. Early on, Pittman’s lead came ahead of Eliason and Carson Macedo.

Pittman pulled away from the field and entered lapped traffic by the seventh circuit.  Behind him, defending champion, Kyle Larson, was on the move. Larson took fourth from Ian Madsen on lap eight, and third from Macedo on lap 13.

Pittman’s lead at the halfway mark was 4.4 seconds over Eliason, and he had put five lapped cars between himself and second. Larson gained speed during the middle stages, grabbing second from Eliason on lap 16. Pittman kept cruising, however, and built his lead to 6.5 seconds with 10 laps to go.

Pittman rolled the bottom well.  Larson gained a little ground, trailing by 2.8 seconds with five to go, but he ran out of time chasing Pittman, who lapped up to 10th place.  Following Pittman and Larson were Eliason, Macedo and Brian Brown.

Pittman set quick time over the 31-car field, while Skylar Gee, Brock Zearfoss, Eliason and Shane Stewart were heat winners taking home plenty of contingencies, including $500 from Rudeen Racing.  Andrew Schuerle claimed the B main.

The finish:

Daryn Pittman, Kyle Larson, Cory Eliason, Carson Macedo, Brian Brown, Parker Price-Miller, Danny Dietrich, James McFadden, Shane Stewart, Dominic Scelzi, Mark Dobmeier, Skylar Gee, Marcus Dumesny, Travis Rilat, Shane Golobic, Trey Starks, Chase Johnson, Andrew Schuerle, Austin McCarl, Brock Zearfoss, Aaron Reutzel, Rusty Hickman.

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Manchester United are pursuing a deal for Tottenham midfielder Christian Eriksen in the final 48 hours of the transfer window, sources have told ESPN FC.

Eriksen, 27, has told Spurs he wants to leave the club this summer and, while United are interested, there is an acceptance it will be difficult to pull off with time running out before Thursday's deadline.

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Tottenham put a £130 million price tag on the Denmark international at the start of the summer but, in the absence of a formal bid, sources have told ESPN FC they could be willing to accept a compromise.

Eriksen has just a year left on his contract and chairman Daniel Levy is reluctant to let a prize asset walk away for free next summer. Tottenham are in talks over deals for Bruno Fernandes and Giovani Lo Celso as they look for a replacement.

Ole Gunnar Solskjaer is keen to bolster his midfield after losing Marouane Fellaini and Ander Herrera in the last six months. United, according to sources, have backed away from deals for Fernandes and Newcastle's Sean Longstaff leaving Eriksen as a key target.

There remains doubt about Paul Pogba's future amid renewed interest from Real Madrid. Solskjaer is keen to keep the France midfielder at Old Trafford but an offer of £180m would be considered.

Pogba has said publicly he wants a "new challenge." United have spent £145m on Daniel James, Aaron Wan-Bissaka and Harry Maguire this summer.

Juventus and Inter Milan remain interested in Romelu Lukaku, although a move to Juventus is unlikely after United pulled out of negotiations to sign Paulo Dybala.

Lukaku has not featured for United during preseason because of an ankle injury but was pictured training with Anderlecht on Tuesday.

United remain tight-lipped on whether the striker was given permission to train with another club and only said that the players were given a day off on Monday and are expected back at Carrington on Tuesday.

Australia fast bowler Jhye Richardson has been added to the National Performance Squad that will tour India later this month, continuing his comeback after dislocating his shoulder in March. The 22-year-old fast bowler will work with former Australia quick Glenn McGrath at the MRF Pace Foundation and could feature in the squad's matches against the MRF Academy.

Richardson injured his shoulder while fielding in an ODI against Pakistan in Sharjah. He was named in the preliminary World Cup squad, but was eventually ruled out in May. He featured in a club match in Darwin last month, where he took 1 for 67 in ten overs, and also joined the Australia A squad for their training camp in Brisbane in early June.

Cricket Australia physiotherapist Kevin Sims said Richardson was "ready to bowl in matches" after completing that outing in Darwin.

"He is bowling off his full run and has good shoulder function," Sims said. "The plan is for him to play matches in both formats while on tour and we expect he will be able to bowl however many overs are required in the games he plays."

However, an Ashes return is unlikely for the young bowler, who made his Test debut in January against Sri Lanka, and has taken an impressive 39 wickets in 25 international matches.

In an interview with ESPNcricinfo last month, Richardson was upbeat after having clocked 130 kph in the match in Darwin.

"Obviously I was very, very rusty," he said. "It was the first game in three or four months so I couldn't expect miracles. In terms of shoulder wise, I coped fine. The pace was okay. Probably a little bit better than I expected. From all reports here, the day's gone well. After today, it gives me a little bit more confidence that I'm ready to go.

"Practice is always good, but just being able to play in a game over bowling in the nets with no batter, just gives myself a better idea of where I'm at, and where I'm at I'm pretty happy with."

Richardson has replaced Western Australia team-mate Aaron Hardie in the 14-member squad that will be coached by former Australia opener Chris Rogers and also includes batsmen Ben McDermott and Josh Philippe, as well as legspinners Lloyd Pope and Daniel Fallins. The team will play three one-dayers and three T20s against the MRF Academy, starting later this week.

Squad: Tom Andrews, Oliver Davies, Dan Fallins, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Cameron Green, Ryan Hadley, Jhye Richardson, Lachlan Hearne, Josh Inglis, Ben McDermott, Jonathon Merlo, Todd Murphy, Josh Philippe, Lloyd Pope

The 2019-20 Indian domestic cricket season will kick off with the Duleep Trophy on August 17, with top-order batsmen Shubman Gill, Faiz Fazal and Priyank Panchal captaining India Blue, India Green and India Red respectively. The tournament was earlier a contest between the five zones in the country but is now a face-off between three hand-picked sides.

Gill and Panchal have been integral parts of the India A squads in recent times, and have impressed in the opportunities they got in the home series against Sri Lanka A, and away against West Indies A this year.

Gill's best hit was a 96-ball 109 (retired hurt) against the Sri Lankans in Belgaum in early June, and has since hit three half-centuries against West Indies A in the one-dayers. The 19-year-old batsman admitted to being disappointed after he was ignored for the senior team's tour of the Caribbean, but he has continued to make a strong case for himself, and the leadership of India Blue in the Duleep Trophy could be an indication of what the selectors think about his future.

Panchal, who will captain India Red, has also been in good form: against Sri Lanka A, his 160 in Belgaum helped India A win the four-dayer by an innings and 205 runs. More recently, in the second four-dayer in the Caribbean, Panchal hit 58 and 68 in a seven-wicket win. Abhimanyu Easwaran, who scored 233 in the same first-class match against Sri Lanka A in Belgaum and has opened often with Panchal for India A this year, is a part of the India Red ranks too - a 14-man squad, as opposed to the 15-man line-ups Blue and Green have.

As for India Green, 33-year-old Fazal, who hasn't been in action for India A of late, is the captain. The squad includes exciting youngsters like Rahul Chahar and Ishan Porel, as well as strong domestic performers like Dhruv Shorey, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Ankit Rajpoot and Tanveer-Ul-Haq in the mix.

Two star performers from the Plate Group of Ranji Trophy 2018-19 - Sikkim's Milind Kumar, the top run-scorer with 1331 runs at an average of 121, and Bihar left-arm spinner Ashutosh Aman, who picked up a chart-topping 68 wickets - have been rewarded too. Milind will turn out for India Green, and Aman for India Blue.

A number of other prominent domestic performers have been included in the three squads, with wicketkeeper Akshay Wadkar, left-arm-spinning allrounder Aditya Sarwate and offspinner Akshay Wakhare, apart from Fazal, featuring from among the Ranji Trophy-winning Vidarbha side.

Squads

India Blue: Shubman Gill (capt), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rajat Patidar, Ricky Bhui, Anmolpreet Singh, Ankit Bawne, Snell Patel (wk), Shreyas Gopal, Saurabh Kumar, Jalaj Saxena, Tushar Deshpande, Basil Thampi, Aniket Choudhary, Diwesh Pathania, Ashutosh Aman

India Green: Faiz Fazal (capt), Akshath Reddy, Dhruv Shorey, Siddhesh Lad, Priyam Garg, Akshdeep Nath, Rahul Chahar, Dharmendrasinh Jadeja, Jayant Yadav, Ankit Rajpoot, Ishan Porel, Tanveer-Ul-Haq, Akshay Wadkar (wk), Rajesh Mohanty, Milind Kumar

India Red: Priyank Panchal (capt), Abhimanyu Easwaran, Axar Patel, Karun Nair, Ishan Kishan (wk), Harpreet Singh Bhatia, Mahipal Lomror, Aditya Sarwate, Akshay Wakhare, Varun Aaron, Ronit More, Jaydev Unadkat, Sandeep Warrier, Ankit Kalsi