The Seattle Mariners have placed right-hander Felix Hernandez on the injured list with a strained right shoulder, a day after he became the 36th pitcher in major league history to reach 2,500 strikeouts.

Hernandez (1-4, 6.52 ERA), 33, didn't make it out of the third inning in a 9-5 loss to the Boston Red Sox on Saturday, getting tagged for seven runs and six hits in 2⅓ innings. He has allowed 14 runs in his past two starts over 7⅓ innings and is 0-4 since winning his first start of the season.

He collected his milestone strikeout when he got rookie Michael Chavis looking with a 92 mph sinker. Hernandez is the fourth active pitcher to reach the mark, behind the Yankees' CC Sabathia, Houston's Justin Verlander and Washington's Max Scherzer.

The stumbling Mariners have lost 14 of 18 and have been outscored 23-6 in the first two games of a scheduled three-game series against the Red Sox.

They also optioned outfielder Braden Bishop to Triple-A Tacoma.

To fill the spots on the roster, they recalled right-hander Dan Altavilla from Double-A Arkansas and selected righty Parker Markel from Tacoma.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

LOS ANGELES -- It took Hyun-Jin Ryu 93 pitches to complete a shutout against the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday night.

On 58 of those pitches, his catcher, Russell Martin, barely moved his glove.

Martin is a veteran of 14 major league seasons. His career has taken him through two stints in Los Angeles, one with the New York Yankees, one in Pittsburgh and another in Toronto, a winding path that has consisted of more than 13,000 innings behind the plate. He was asked if he had ever encountered the type of precision being executed by Ryu, the Los Angeles Dodgers left-hander who consistently gets overlooked.

Martin nodded.

"Greg Maddux," he said, name-dropping the Hall of Fame right-hander he teamed with briefly on Dodgers teams in 2006 and 2008.

So, that good?

"Yeah," Martin said. "I mean, Maddux might have him by like a smidgen."

It makes sense.

Maddux excelled through an era dominated by offense largely because he exhibited pinpoint control of all his pitches. Ryu is doing the same, while on pace to set a record for strikeout-to-walk ratio. He doesn't possess a pitch as devastating as Maddux's two-seam fastball, but he commands five of them like few others can. And these days, he isn't missing spots, as evidenced by the two walks he has issued through seven starts this season.

"I definitely try to stay on top of it," Ryu said through an interpreter, "because ever since I started playing baseball, that was the one point of emphasis growing up -- to not give up walks."

Ryu carries a preposterous 22.50 strikeout-to-walk ratio heading into his Sunday start against the Washington Nationals, a mark that would set a record -- beating the 20.50 rate attained by a man named Candy Cummings back in 1875 -- if it were to somehow hold. It's early enough for the mere mention of such a possibility to sound ridiculous.

This, however, is not: When healthy, few, if any, have been better than Ryu over these past two years.

His ERA since the start of 2018, 1.99, is the lowest among those who have thrown at least 120 innings in that time. His strikeout-to-walk ratio in that time, 7.88, is the highest by a wide margin. His WHIP, 0.94, ranks third, trailing only Chris Sale and Justin Verlander.

"Very underrated," said Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner, who has often made the point that Ryu might have won the National League Cy Young Award last season had he not spent 15 weeks recovering from a severe groin injury. "I think he likes it that way."

The 32-year-old Ryu speaks a different language and carries himself nonchalantly. He resides in a rotation with one of baseball's most accomplished pitchers (Clayton Kershaw) and one of its most exhilarating (Walker Buehler). And he doesn't possess the wipeout, showstopping stuff to place him in the pantheon of baseball's greatest starters.

Ryu's success is a product of expertly sequencing five pitches -- fastball, cutter, sinker, curveball, changeup -- and throwing them to all four quadrants of the strike zone, a quality Dodgers catcher Austin Barnes considers "pretty unique." Ryu creates deception with his delivery, pinpoint control and near unpredictability in his pitch selection.

Dodgers hitting coach Robert Van Scoyoc spent the 2018 season as a strategist with the division-rival Arizona Diamondbacks and found it almost impossible to craft game plans for Ryu.

"He doesn't have any consistent tendencies," Van Scoyoc said. "He knows how to pitch, he knows how to change speeds, and I think he reads the hitters very well. Even if he has a plan, he'll deviate from it. There's just not anything consistent about how he attacks each guy."

Ryu's fastball tops out at 93 mph, but, as Braves utility player Charlie Culberson pointed out, it appears much faster to an opposing hitter. Culberson teamed with Ryu in L.A. from 2016 to 2017 and made a pinch-hit appearance against him in the sixth inning Tuesday. Right-handed hitters like Culberson always have an advantage against lefties like Ryu because they have more time -- even if only a millisecond -- to read pitches.

Ryu began the at-bat by flipping a curveball Culberson took for a strike. The next offering was an inside fastball at 90 mph, a very hittable pitch in a time when so many pitchers approach 100 mph. Culberson didn't come close to getting his hands around in time. He was jammed badly and grounded into an inning-ending double play.

"A lot of times people might not know how good he is," Culberson said. "Yeah, he doesn't throw 95 miles an hour. But you don't have to. If you can spot up, can mix all your pitches and throw them all for strikes, you're going to be tough to hit."

Injuries have kept Ryu in the shadows. He pitched well in his first two seasons after coming over from South Korea, winning 28 games, compiling 344 innings and posting a 3.17 ERA from 2013 to 2014. But he spent the entire 2015 season recovering from shoulder surgery, returned in July 2016, made one start, got hurt again and underwent an arthroscopic procedure to remove damaged tissue from his elbow.

Ryu stayed healthy for most of the 2017 season. He was good -- 3.77 ERA, 1.37 WHIP, 2.58 strikeout-to-walk ratio -- but not great. What followed was his first healthy offseason in years, which led to a spectacular showing in 2018. This, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said, is simply the continuation.

The only goal now, Ryu said, is "staying healthy."

"I want to be a pitcher that my teammates can depend on every fifth day."

Ryu's Tuesday start was fittingly deemed a "Maddux," a term for nine scoreless innings with less than 100 pitches. (It was also, fittingly, forgotten after Mike Fiers completed a no-hitter minutes later.) Ryu retired the first 15 batters in order, required no more than 11 pitches to get through all but one inning and fired first-pitch strikes to 24 of the 30 batters he faced.

Roberts called it "complete domination."

But there was one pitch Ryu wanted back. It came at the start of the second inning, on a 1-2 count to Ronald Acuna Jr., when Martin asked for a fastball up and away. Ryu left it out over the plate and was fortunate Acuna flied out to the center-field warning track.

"Bad pitch," Ryu told Turner as he received the ball again, inducing a smile.

When Acuna came up again, to lead off the fifth, Martin called for a full-count cutter low and inside, a difficult pitch for a left-handed pitcher to execute against a right-handed hitter. Ryu spotted it perfectly to strike out the reigning NL Rookie of the Year. For the game's final pitch, against the left-handed-hitting Freddie Freeman, Martin asked for an 0-2 fastball above the strike zone, and Freeman awkwardly swung through it as if it were thrown 200 mph.

It dropped Ryu's 2019 ERA to 2.03, made him one of only seven pitchers to throw a shutout this season, and gave him 24 consecutive innings without a walk.

"He has a great feel for just throwing to the glove and putting the ball where he wants it," Barnes said. "And he does it with five different pitches."

USA tops the team standings after an action-packed weekend at the IAAF World Relays

There was more drama and excitement on the second day of  IAAF World Relays action in Yokohama, which saw the USA squad top the team standings overall.

After winning the first two finals on day one of the event in Japan, American teams won the women’s 4x100m, men’s 4x200m and mixed 4x400m on the second day, but there were plenty of surprises, too.

The men’s 4x100m was the final event of the weekend and in front of a crowd of more than 20,000, Brazil claimed victory in the same Yokohama International Stadium where the nation’s football team won the FIFA World Cup in 2002.

Holding off 9.88 100m metre man Noah Lyles of the USA and Britain’s world relay champion team-member Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake, Paulo André Camilo de Oliveira stormed down the home straight to anchor Brazil to victory in a world-leading time of 38.05 to USA’s 38.07 and Britain’s 38.15.

While teams were racing for World Relays titles and prizes, places for the IAAF World Championships in Doha later this year were also up for grabs, with the top 10 teams in the men’s and women’s 4x100m and 4x400m all securing world championships places, along with the top 12 teams in the mixed 4x400m.

Mitchell-Blake was joined in the GB team by his fellow world gold medallists CJ Ujah and Adam Gemili, who was seen icing his hamstring after the race, plus Harry Aikines-Aryeetey. Speaking afterwards, Aikines-Aryeetey said: “We’re happy with our third place but obviously we came here for more.

“We’re defending world champions, Commonwealth champions, European champions but we still need to improve because the rest of the world is improving as well.”

.@HarryAA100m: “We’re defending world champions, Commonwealth champions, European champions but we still need to improve because the rest of the world is improving as well. We’re happy with our third place but obviously we came here for more…” @IAAFYokohama19 @stuartweir pic.twitter.com/HqOUynApm8

— Athletics Weekly (@AthleticsWeekly) May 12, 2019

China finished fourth in 38.16, while France were fifth in 38.31 and Jamaica sixth in 38.88.

Mikiah Brisco, Ashley Henderson, Dezerea Bryant and Aleia Hobbs formed USA’s winning women’s quartet as they clocked 43.27 to claim the 4x100m title ahead of Jamaica with 43.29, Germany with 43.68 and Brazil with 43.75.

The GB team had been unable to get the baton round in the heats.

The USA’s win in the 4x200m was claimed by Christopher Belcher, Bryce Robinson, Vernon Norwood and Remontay McClain as they ran 1:20.12 ahead of South Africa’s 1:20.42 and Germany’s 1:21.26.

Further proof of just how unpredictable relays can be came in the women’s 4x200m final as a strong squad of Elaine Thompson, Stephenie Ann McPherson, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce and Shericka Jackson all lined up for Jamaica but struggled with the changeovers.

They initially battled to finish fourth but moved up to third after the third-placed USA team was disqualified. France won in 1:32.16 ahead of China with 1:32.76, while Jamaica’s time was 1:33.21 ahead of Japan’s 1:34.57 in fourth.

“It’s an experience and we look forward to having another opportunity to do it again,” said two-time Olympic 100m champion Fraser-Pryce. “Poor baton exchange was definitely the reason for us finishing third.”

Comment from @realshellyannfp on Jamaica’s struggles in the women’s 4x200m final. “It’s an experience and we look forward to having another opportunity to do it again.” #Yokohama2019 #WorldRelays @stuartweir pic.twitter.com/k34ayDCjic

— Athletics Weekly (@AthleticsWeekly) May 12, 2019

The women’s 4x400m came down to an exciting finish as Poland powered to victory, with Justyna Święty-Ersetic crossing the finish line with 3:27.49 on the clock to deny the USA team, who clocked 3:27.65. Italy were third in 3:27.74 and the GB team of Emily Diamond, Laviai Nielsen, Zoey Clark and Amy Allcock secured sixth in 3:28.96.

“It’s a decent start,” said Diamond. “Hopefully we can get one of the medals in Doha.”

“It’s a decent start and hopefully we can get one of the medals in Doha…” @EmilyDiamond11 speaks with @stuartweir after GB’s sixth place in the women’s 4x400m final at @IAAFYokohama19 @BritAthletics pic.twitter.com/taLWRyijQC

— Athletics Weekly (@AthleticsWeekly) May 12, 2019

There was also thrilling finish to the men’s 4x400m as world champions Trinidad and Tobago came through to take the title in 3:00.81, just 0.03 ahead of USA’s Paul Dedewo who dived over the line.

The USA team was later disqualified for a lane infringement, leaving Jamaica to move up to second in 3:01.57, while Belgium was third, Japan fourth and the GB team of Rabah Yousif, Dwayne Cowan, Martyn Rooney and Cameron Chalmers fifth in 3:04.96.

USA won the mixed 4x400m in 3:16.43 from Canada with 3:18.15 and Kenya with 3:19.43.

Team standings

1 United States 54 points
2 Jamaica 27 points
3 Japan 27 points
4 Germany 18 points
5 Poland 17 points
6 Brazil 16 points
7 PR of China 15 points
8 Italy 15 points
9 France 13 points
10 Great Britain & N.I. 13 points

‘I just wanted to fight hard, play well and put a few blows into the top five’
By ELLIE MAWSON in Manchester

England’s former World No.1 Laura Massaro exited her penultimate event, the Manchester Open, at the quarter finals stage following her announcement this week that she will retire at the end of the season.

The former world champion, in her last appearance in Manchester, provided a tough battle for Egypt’s World No.3 Nour El Tayeb at the National Squash Centre, but it was not enough to stop the top seed from claiming an 11-7, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6 victory.

El Tayeb’s win means that there will be four different continents represented in the semi-final stage of the PSA World Tour Silver tournament, which is the first event to be held in Manchester since the award-winning 2017 PSA World Championships, as New Zealand’s Joelle King, Wales’ Tesni Evans and United States’ Amanda Sobhy all secured wins.

“I was happy to play Laura,” said 26-year-old El Tayeb following her victory. “I wanted to give her something to remember me by. It’s the last two tournaments for her and I have always looked up to her. I’d love to work with her one day, she is the most professional on tour, and I wish I could have half of her career.”

Massaro added afterwards: “I played well yesterday and today. Being able to fight back against the World No.3 was my only goal really.

“When I announced my retirement, I didn’t want to have an events procession. I wanted to fight hard, play well and put a few blows into the top five girls in the world and I’ll be looking to do the same thing at the British Open.”

World No.3 El Tayeb will now face Tesni Evans for a place in the final after Wales’ World No.9 conquered England’s No.1 Sarah-Jane Perry in an epic five-game battle.

Evans, 26, was forced to come from one-game down as the two players took part in a high-quality battle much to the delight of the packed-out crowd inside the National Squash Centre. However, it proved to be Evans’ day as she closed out a tight 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 1-11, 13-11 win.

“You can see SJ is back now and playing at her best,” said 26-year-old Evans. “I’m just really happy that I got over the line. I was struggling at the end of the fourth and mentally just down, but I wasn’t going down without a fight, the problem is she doesn’t do that either, so it was just a battle to the end.”

The other semi-final will see New Zealand’s World No.5 Joelle King and United States’ No.1 Amanda Sobhy go head-to-head after they claimed respective 3-0 wins over England’s former World No.3 Alison Waters and Egypt’s World No.7 Nouran Gohar.

Number two seed King was in dominant form to power past Englishwoman Waters by an 12-10, 11-9, 11-6 scoreline

“I was 2-0 up so I didn’t want to give Alison a sniff or allow her back into the match,” said 30-year-old King following her impressive win.

“I’m happy to be off in three. She was down and out in the fifth yesterday and she managed to come back and win. I’m really pleased to stay strong at the end of each game. It was really close and that can be the decider in the match, so I’m pleased to be off in three.

“It’s nice to see so many people out here supporting us.”

Meanwhile, World No.8 Sobhy defeated Egypt’s Gohar in a comfortable performance from the American to claim an 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 victory in just 26 minutes.

“We haven’t played in a while and she just had a good result [in El Gouna],” said 25-year-old Sobhy afterwards. “I kind of knew what to expect from her, she is a relentless player, so you just have to absorb it and chip at it.

“It was a good day, I had to catch her off guard a little bit, but she just keeps coming back and I just had to hang in there in that third game and capitalise on any mistakes. I’m really glad to be off in three.

“It’s nice not to play the top three, which I have done for most of the season. The level is so deep at the moment that anyone can beat anyone on any given day and fortunately I showed up today.”

The semi-finals take place today (Sunday May 12) at 16:30 local time (UTC+1) and the action will be broadcast live on SQUASHTV (rest of world), Eurosport Player (Europe only) and to multiple broadcasters around the world. 

PSA $76,000 Women’s Manchester Open 2019, National Squash Centre, Manchester, England.

Quarter-finals:
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) bt [5] Laura Massaro (ENG) 11-7, 15-17, 11-4, 11-6 (52m)
[6] Tesni Evans (WAL) bt [3] Sarah-Jane Perry (ENG) 7-11, 11-9, 11-9, 1-11, 13-11 (68m)
[8] Amanda Sobhy (USA) bt [4] Nouran Gohar (EGY) 11-9, 11-2, 11-8 (26m)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) bt [7] Alison Waters (ENG) 12-10, 11-9, 11-6 (31m)

Semi-finals:
[1] Nour El Tayeb (EGY) v [6] Tesni Evans (WAL)
[2] Joelle King (NZL) v [8] Amanda Sobhy (USA)

Report by ELLIE MAWSON (PSA Media Team). Edited by ALAN THATCHER.
 

Pictures courtesy of PSA

N. WOODSTOCK, N.H. — Scott Payea showed the heart of a two-time defending ACT champion on Saturday by taking his first win of the season in the Caron Fabrication Spring Green at White Mountain Motosports Park.

Payea took the lead for good on lap 66 of the 119-lap event and held strong over the second half of the event for his 16^th career ACT Late Model Tour victory.

Combined with his heat race victory and lap leader bonuses, Payea earned the maximum amount of points possible at an ACT event. The big day was sorely needed by Payea and his RPM Racing team after they stunningly failed to make the main event at Barre, VT’s Thunder Road just six days before.

Wayne Helliwell started on the pole by virtue of earning a +8 in qualifying under ACT’s “plus-minus” system. But after a caution came out for a multi-car tangle just one lap into the event, it was Christopher Pelkey sticking his nose out front. The sophomore ACT runner led the next 10 laps before Helliwell regained the top spot.

The three-time ACT champion continued to pace the field until the third caution came out on lap 28 for Mike Kenison’s spin. Rich Dubeau had started to challenge Helliwell prior to the caution, and when the green flag flew again, Dubeau swept around the outside into the lead.

All the while, Payea had been following Dubeau to the front from his seventh starting spot. Payea got around Helliwell for second on lap 35 and had Dubeau in his sights when the fourth yellow flag flew on lap 48 for Trent Goodrow’s accident. Helliwell was forced to retire from the event during the same caution for personal reasons.

The outside proved the fast way once again on the restart with Payea moving into the lead for the first time. Three laps later, seven-time White Mountain Motorsports Park Champion Quinny Welch took over the second spot.

After the fifth and final caution on lap 63 for Jesse Switser’s spin, Welch was able to poke his bumper in front for two laps before Payea moved back on top. Welch gave it everything he had over the final 54 laps, but Payea hung steady through traffic and eventually took the win by six car lengths.

Welch’s second-place finish matched the best result ever by a WMMP regular in an ACT event at the track. Dubeau took third and unofficially moved into the points lead by three over Jimmy Hebert, who came from 18^th to finish fourth.

Patrick Laperle, rookie Ryan Kuhn, Pelkey, Tyler Cahoon, Mathieu Kingsbury and Stacy Cahoon rounded out the top 10.

In the Wells River Chevrolet Flying Tigers, defending champion Shane Sicard picked up where he left off with a season-opening win. Sicard crossed the line second in the caution-free 35-lap feature but inherited the win when Christian Laflamme was disqualified for a suspension infraction.

Apparent third-place finisher Nathaniel Parkin was also disqualified for a chassis infraction. This handed the second spot to Colin Cornell with Dwayne Lanphear completing the podium.

Adam Sicard also got his title defense off on the right foot by beating out a huge Woodsville Guaranty Savings Bank Strictly Stock Mini field for the win. A rough start to the event played into Sicard’s hands as he sliced from the 14^th starting position to grab the lead on lap five of the 25-lap event. He then survived one more caution and cruised to the victory.

Dustin Jackson finished second with Jason Fallman third.

Norman Forest lucked into a season-opening victory in the WMMP Dwarf Cars. Forest was running third with two laps left in the 20-lap feature when Andy Hill got into the back of Bobby Brown in turn four, sending Brown for a spin and earning both drivers a trip to the rear. Forest held off Dave Gyger on the green-white-checkered sprint to the finish.

Ethan Tyrrell got his first podium finish in third.

Owen Bouche grabbed the lead on lap six of the 15-lap Dads 4 By Tool & Supply Kids Truck feature and sailed off to the win. Luke Peters came in second.

The finish:

1. ( 7 ) Scott Payea ( 37VT ) , Colchester, VT , 119 Laps
2. ( 12 ) Quinten Welch ( 78NH ) , Groveton, NH , 119 Laps
3. ( 6 ) Rich Dubeau ( 30NH ) , Plainfield, NH , 119 Laps
4. ( 18 ) Jimmy Hebert ( 58VT ) , Williamstown, VT , 119 Laps
5. ( 13 ) Patrick Laperle ( 91QC ) , St-Denis, QC , 119 Laps
6. ( 5 ) #Ryan Kuhn ( 72MA ) , E. Bridgewater, MA , 119 Laps
7. ( 2 ) Christopher Pelkey ( 64VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 119 Laps
8. ( 17 ) Tyler Cahoon ( 38VT ) , Danville, VT , 119 Laps
9. ( 11 ) Mathieu Kingsbury ( 9QC ) , Blainville, QC , 119 Laps
10. ( 10 ) Stacy Cahoon ( 83VT ) , St. Johnsbury, VT , 119 Laps
11. ( 23 ) Jean-Francois Dery ( 21QC ) , Quebec, QC , 119 Laps
12. ( 20 ) #Stephen Donahue ( 2VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 119 Laps
13. ( 25 ) Jeff Marshall ( 32NH ) , Gilman, VT , 119 Laps
14. ( 19 ) Joel Hodgdon ( 36VT ) , Craftsbury Common, VT , 119 Laps
15. ( 21 ) Claude Leclerc ( 11QC ) , Lanoraie, QC , 118 Laps
16. ( 4 ) Oren Remick ( 21NH ) , Monroe, NH , 118 Laps
17. ( 24 ) Corey Mason ( 1NH ) , Groveton, NH , 118 Laps
18. ( 9 ) Dylan Payea ( 7NH ) , Milton, VT , 118 Laps
19. ( 28 ) Peyton Lanphear ( 22VT ) , Waterbury, VT , 116 Laps
20. ( 27 ) Scott Coburn ( 72VT ) , Barre, VT , 116 Laps
21. ( 29 ) David LaBrecque ( 57NH ) , Thornton, NH , 116 Laps
22. ( 15 ) Chip Grenier ( 9VT ) , Graniteville, VT , 85 Laps
23. ( 30 ) Reilly Lanphear ( 21VT ) , Waterbury, VT , 71 Laps
24. ( 3 ) Jesse Switser ( 10ME ) , Whitfield, NH , 63 Laps
25. ( 14 ) Scott Corey ( 22NH ) , Lyndonville, VT , 63 Laps
26. ( 26 ) #Trent Goodrow ( 31MA ) , Carver, MA , 63 Laps
27. ( 1 ) Wayne Helliwell Jr. ( 27NH ) , Dover, NH , 48 Laps
28. ( 8 ) Mike Kenison ( 3NH ) , Lancaster, NH , 28 Laps
29. ( 16 ) Craig Bushey ( 05VT ) , Fairfax, VT , 1 Laps
30. ( 22 ) Jonathan Bouvrette ( 41QC ) , Blainville, QC , 1 Laps

BAKERSFIELD, Calif. — Taking the lead from Troy Rutherford on lap five, Damion Gardner scored the $3,000 victory at Bakersfield Speedway.

Racing Mark Alexander’s No. 4 Trench Shoring / All Coast Construction Spike, Gardner became the sixth different winner in as many races with the AMSOIL USAC/CRA Sprint Car Series.

Gardner’s 30-lap triumph was the 81st series win of his career as he was followed by Rutherford, fast-qualifier Jake Swanson, Cody Williams and Trent Carter.

Swanson posted his 17th career Woodland Auto Display Fast Time Award over the 17-car field with a time of 12.636.

The finish:

Feature (30 laps): 1. Damion Gardner (3), 2. Troy Rutherford (2), 3. Jake Swanson (6), 4. Cody Williams (9), 5. Trent Carter (5), 6. Eddie Tafoya Jr. (10), 7. Steve Hix (1), 8. Chris Gansen (11), 9. James Herrera (17), 10. Joel Rayborne (15), 11. Austin Williams (7), 12. Tommy Malcolm (12), 13. Ricky Kirkbride (14), 14. Brody Roa (4), 15. Matt McCarthy (8), 16. A.J. Bender (16), 17. Austin Ervine (13). NT

PERRIS, Calif. – Brandon Robinson registered a flawless performance to reign supreme in Saturday’s Vance & Hines So-Cal Half-Mile presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys at the Southern California Fairgrounds.

Robinson controlled the once stopped and restarted main event from the front from the race’s opening lap. In doing so, he became the first AFT Twins presented by Vance & Hines rider to claim more than one victory this year.

“They all feel amazing. It’s great to be up here,” Robinson said. “Any time you’re on the box is good, but winning… this is what it’s all about. This is what we put in all the hard work for. My team busted their butts. My team owner, Jerry Kennedy, gives us everything we need to win. My crew chief, Brent Armbruster — the guy is amazing. We make a lot of decisions together, but there are some times he bails me out and gets the bike right. Man, he hit the nail on the head again tonight. This one is for my team.”

While Robinson took the checkered flag with nearly two seconds to spare and relatively little drama following the restart, prior to the red flag a titanic showdown was taking shape.

At the time of the stoppage, Robinson found himself relentlessly hounded by an inspired Sammy Halbert, who teased the potential to overtake Robinson on either the inside or the outside. But a potentially historic victory (the factory Harley squad is looking for its first win since 2016 and the first for the XG750R) would have to wait at least another week, as the fallout of the red flag foiled Halbert’s hopes.

After a Henry Wiles spill reset the main event eight laps in, Robinson powered away at the restart while Halbert dropped several spots down the order.

Championship leader Briar Bauman was the primary beneficiary. He immediately slotted into second and held strong throughout to extend his perfect podium record on the season with a runner-up result.

Halbert battled his way forward and ultimately made his way back onto the box with a charge to third. His encouraging performance was amplified by that of his teammate, Jarod Vanderkooi, as the two combined to give the resurgent works Harley outfit a 3-4 result at Vance & Hines’ home race.

Defending double AFT Twins Champion Jared Mees finished fifth.

Ryan Wells, the 2016 Roof Systems AFT Singles presented by Russ Brown Motorcycle Attorneys champion, backed up his first podium of the season at the Arizona Super TT with his first win of the year in a virtual wire-to-wire triumph at the So-Cal Half-Mile.

On a track that had proven difficult to overtake all night, the majority of the fireworks in the AFT Singles Main came early. Two-time ‘19 race winner Jesse Janisch grabbed the holeshot but was immediately overhauled around the outside by Morgen Mischler.

Wells squared them both up, however, and stole away the lead before the opening lap was out. The race was effectively decided at that point, as Wells never put a wheel wrong or provided a rival an opportunity to stick a wheel by him.

“TTs have never been my super strong suit so I knew getting a podium (at the Arizona Super TT), we had worked out the bugs that needed to be worked out,” Wells said. “The Yamaha was awesome. It was huge for me to come in here and get the win. To lead all 15 laps… it was a long race for me mentally. It felt awesome to lead some laps and come out with the win. I can’t say enough about the whole Estenson racing family. That pit over there is literally a family. The camaraderie is awesome and I couldn’t get a win for a better group.”

Michael Inderbitzin emerged from the pack and slotted into second in the early going. Inderbitzin kept Wells honest throughout on his way to his first AFT Singles podium.

Dalton Gauthier finished third to complete the podium.

Cory Texter picked right up where he left off at the Texas Half-Mile, going two-for-two in AFT Production Twins action by scooping up a second consecutive victory on Saturday night.

Texter jumped out into the lead from the start and never relinquished the lead in the 15-lap main.

Ryan Varnes planted himself on Texter’s outside hip over the opening handful of laps and for a time appeared capable of pushing Texter to the flag. However, matching Texter’s stone-cold consistency on the slick Half-Mile proved too much of an ask.

As a result, Texter cleared open some space at the front en route to a .959-second margin of victory, while Varnes found himself reeled back into a three-way battle for the runner-up spot with Kayl Kolkman and Michael Inderbitzin.

Despite the late pressure, Varnes managed to hold on for second, while Kolkman narrowly fended off Inderbitzin’s challenge for the last spot on the podium in the race’s final corner by a meager .072 of a second.

AFT Singles title leader Dalton Gauthier rounded out the top five.

“I just have a good bike and a good team behind me,” Texter said. “I’m having fun and enjoying myself this year, and that’s what’s important. This class is no joke; there are some great riders in it, and I knew this Main Event would be tough. I’m not typically fast on these slick racetracks, so we’re two-for-two on tracks I didn’t think we’d do well on. I’m pretty happy with that.”

TUCSON, Ariz. — It’s Derek Kraus’ world and we’re all just living in it.

Tucson was twice as nice for the Stratford, Wis., native on Saturday night, as he swept the Port of Tucson Twin 100s for his third and fourth K&N Pro Series victories of the season and first wins on the West coast.

Coming off the second Twin 100 victory at South Boston Speedway in the K&N Pro Series East (where he has two victories this year), Kraus and the No. 16 Bill McAnally Racing team established a goal to win both races and take a stranglehold in the championship standings coming into Arizona.

They did exactly that.

“That was the goal coming into this race,” Kraus said. “Now we got the points lead going into the next K&N West race. That was really good and we’ll look to stay consistent the rest of the season. We just had to stay patient and it paid off at the end.”

In the first Twin 100, Kraus took the lead from pole sitter Tanner Gray going into turn one and never relinquished the top spot, leading all 100 laps.

Gray, Hailie Deegan, Jagger Jones and Brittney Zamora rounded out the top five finishers in race one.

Race two was a different story for Kraus, who didn’t grab the lead until past the halfway point. But once he did, it was smooth sailing to another victory.

Gray came home second for the second consecutive race, with Zamora finishing a career-best third after leading 26 laps from the pole. Trevor Huddleston and Matt Levin completed the top five.

The finishes:

Race No. 1: Derek Kraus, Tanner Gray, Hailie Deegan, Jagger Jones, Brittney Zamora, Matt Levin, Trevor Huddleston, Todd Souza, Dustin Ash, John Wood, Kody Vanderwal, Ron Jay, Bobby Hillis Jr, Austin Thom, Takuma Koga, Travis Milburn, Bill Kann.

Race No. 2: Derek Kraus, Tanner Gray, Brittney Zamora, Trevor Huddleston, Matt Levin, Jagger Jones, Dustin Ash, Travis Milburn, Takuma Koga, Bill Kahn, Austin Thom, Kody Vanderwal, Ron Jay, Bobby Hillis Jr., Hailie Deegan, Todd Souza.