NEW YORK -- Mets All-Star Jeff McNeil was working the phone Friday, hoping to acquire a promising, four-pawed prospect with the trade deadline looming.

A ruff negotiation, indeed.

McNeil video chatted with his wife, Tatiana, from Citi Field prior to a game against the Pittsburgh Pirates, pleading to take home a puppy brought to the ballpark by the North Shore Animal League. With his spouse uncertain, McNeil clubbed a three-run homer in New York's 6-3 win over Pittsburgh -- just the leverage he thinks he needed.

"Hitting a home run after holding a puppy, I think that gives me a little bargaining chip," McNeil said. "My wife wants more homers, then we have to get a puppy."

McNeil, who leads the majors with a .340 batting average, said the couple planned to visit the puppy together Saturday and then make a decision.

He and his teammates took turns greeting the rescued dogs, who were held in a pen outside the home dugout during batting practice. McNeil fell hard for a pup with a fuzzy blond coat and a dark face.

The canine was the first thing on his mind after he hit his 10th homer of the season a few hours later.

"I got in the dugout and said I was getting a puppy," McNeil said.

CHICAGO -- The slugging Minnesota Twins set another record Friday night.

The players are enjoying the show.

Nelson Cruz went deep for the seventh time during a five-game homer streak, and the Twins became the fastest team to 200 homers in major league history during a 6-2 victory over the Chicago White Sox.

Max Kepler hit a three-run drive in the second inning for the landmark homer in Minnesota's 103rd game of the season. The previous mark was 122 games by the Texas Rangers in 2005.

"I just saw it flash across the screen," Kepler said of the record. "It's pretty cool. It's special."

Kepler, though, isn't surprised.

"I looked at the lineup before spring training started and I was like, 'This team can do damage,'" he said. "It was just a matter of if we stay healthy and have the right mindset, and we've done that so far.

"It's been pretty fun to watch."

The American League Central-leading Twins hit five homers in Thursday night's 10-3 victory over the White Sox, becoming the first team in major league history with nine five-homer games in a season.

Cruz finished with three hits and two RBIs, including a solo drive in the seventh for his 26th homer. He went deep three times in the series opener.

"Yeah, he's swinging the bat OK," Minnesota manager Rocco Baldelli said. "I don't know how much more locked in a person can get. This is major league baseball and pitchers are good and they have good stuff and they know what they're doing, too, so to watch a guy get on that kind of roll and help contribute -- and sometimes even carry the team -- is beautiful."

Minnesota right-hander Michael Pineda (7-5) allowed two runs and six hits in seven innings. He has a 2.87 ERA in his past eight starts.

Adam Engel homered for the slumping White Sox, who have dropped four straight and 12 of 15.

Chicago starter Dylan Cease (1-3) permitted five runs and seven hits in five innings in his third straight loss since winning his major league debut July 3. He struck out four and walked three.

Cease, the team's top pitching prospect, yielded each of his runs in the second inning. In his previous outing Sunday at Tampa Bay, he gave up all four of his runs in the second as well.

"If anybody is worried about Dylan Cease, I wouldn't be; he's going to be OK," White Sox manager Rick Renteria said. "He'll get through these little hiccups.

"Some of the things that we talk about when you're bringing up young players to the big leagues that have talent, you hope the transition is flawless, but some of them are going to get some hiccups and they're going to continue to grow and get better."

With one out in the second on Friday, Luis Arraez and Marwin Gonzalez singled and Jason Castro walked to load the bases. Byron Buxton drove in the first run with a sacrifice fly to shallow left.

Kepler followed with his 27th homer, a long drive to right on a 3-2 breaking ball. Jorge Polanco then doubled and scored on Cruz's base hit.

Engel connected for a two-run shot in the third, but Cruz's 432-foot drive to left-center off Ross Detwiler made it 6-2.

BACK ON TRACK

Minnesota's starters have pitched seven innings in each of the first two games of the series, providing a big boost for an overworked bullpen coming off a wild three-game series against the New York Yankees.

TRAINER'S ROOM

White Sox: OF Eloy Jimenez (right ulnar nerve contusion) went through a full workout, including batting practice -- in the cage and on the field -- and throwing to bases from the outfield. If he comes through the workout with no issues, he could be activated from the 10-day injured list early next week. "I'll talk to the trainers at the end of the day to see if he's felt any residual effects," Renteria said. "We'll have a better idea tomorrow."

UP NEXT

White Sox right-hander Ivan Nova (5-9, 5.49 ERA) faces Twins left-hander Martin Perez (8-3, 4.37 ERA) on Saturday night in the third of four in the series. Nova is coming off a complete-game victory against Miami. Perez allowed five runs in four innings for a no-decision Monday against the New York Yankees.

BOSTON -- As he continues working the phones in the lead-up to Wednesday's trade deadline, New York Yankees general manager Brian Cashman said Friday that he has discussed potential moves with every big league team -- except one.

"I'm fully engaged with every team," Cashman said, "except for the Boston Red Sox."

Fitting comment, considering the Yankees are in the middle of a four-game set with their rivals at Fenway Park. Boston won the opening meeting with a 19-3 beatdown Thursday and followed it up with a 10-5 win Friday.

It was during that opening blowout that starting pitcher Masahiro Tanaka became the first Yankee in nearly 100 years to allow 12 earned runs in a single outing. Carl Mays gave up 13 runs in a start against Cleveland on June 17, 1923, the most by a Yankees pitcher since ERA was first tracked in 1913.

Tanaka's rough outing served as a reminder of the Yankees' need to shore up their pitching before the deadline.

Overall, Yankees starters allowed 40 runs over their previous five games entering Friday. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that's the most runs allowed in a five-game span within a season since the 2008 Rangers. The previous time the Yankees did it was in July 1912.

"We've entered this process with the deadline with a pretty good feel of what we'd like to do, what we're willing to pay for, and also having the built-in discipline of walking away if we can't find the right matches in any of those circumstances," Cashman said before Friday's game. "That's regardless of what's been happening in the past week."

Cashman reiterated his desire to focus on adding arms ahead of the deadline, if possible.

"I'm looking at pitching, both rotation and pen," said Cashman, who addressed reporters near the visitors' dugout at Fenway Park. "Don't really see much, if anything, on the position-player side to be dealing with. Our main focus is pitching and seeing if there are any matches on the pitching front."

Clearly, those matches have yet to materialize. Cashman hinted at the fact that might have to do with the comparatively high asking prices potential trade partners have floated.

Asked, then, whether any of his minor league prospects were considered "untouchable," Cashman said they weren't, but he did acknowledge a tier existed.

"Some are more realistic than others. So if you're going to play in certain waters, there's only going to be a smaller category of legitimate options that I would be interested in on certain guys," Cashman said.

Among the most-rumored high-value minor leaguers the Yankees might be forced to trade, outfielders Clint Frazier and Estevan Florial and pitcher Deivi Garcia headline the list.

Cashman said the goal in these next five days is to "reinforce our club and add to it if possible." He is also well aware, however, that making a move might not happen.

"So our fallback clearly would be to maintain what we have on our current roster," he said.

That also means holding out hope he'll be able to utilize the pitchers the Yankees have rehabbing through various injuries (Jonathan Loaisiga, Dellin Betances, Jordan Montgomery and Luis Severino).

Three of the four missing arms could be starters once they get fully healthy later this season. One of them, Severino, could pitch both as a starter and out of the bullpen, depending upon where the Yankees are in their playoff push and how Severino has advanced through the later stages of his rehab.

"We'll be able to stretch him out to some degree. To what level that is -- is it 45 pitches? Seventy-five pitches? One-hundred pitches? That remains to be seen," Cashman said. "But as long as his rehab gets completed, he's going to be a legitimate option at some point for us to deploy."

BOSTON -- Reigning American League MVP and Boston Red Sox outfielder Mookie Betts homered three times in four innings against the New York Yankees on Friday night, helping Boston roll to a 10-5 win.

Betts finished the evening 4-for-5 with five RBIs and four runs.

He led off the game with a towering homer over the Green Monster off Yankees starter James Paxton, following up with a line shot over the Monster in the third inning and adding another in the fourth. The three-homer game from Betts marked his fourth from the leadoff spot, passing Alfonso Soriano for the most in MLB history. Betts became the eighth player in MLB history with five three-homer games, joining the likes of Alex Rodriguez, Mark McGwire, Sammy Sosa, Carlos Delgado and Joe Carter.

"It's been a long year," Betts said after the game. "Obviously not the same as last year, but you have to roll with the punches. Today was a good day. Gotta get ready for tomorrow."

With two chances to hit a fourth home run, Betts doubled in the sixth inning to drive in Michael Chavis and grounded out in the eighth. Betts said he didn't think much about the opportunity to hit his fourth homer.

"Not a whole lot," Betts said, "but in my last at-bat there, I might as well take a shot at it."

Before Friday's game, Betts met with a child from the Make-A-Wish foundation, 10-year-old Nico Sapienza, who asked him to hit a home run for him.

"I'm glad he came," Betts said. "He's our good-luck charm. He's a great kid. I think him and his family had fun down at BP. If I can use the platform I have to make people smile like that, then I know I've done something well."

"For him to walk him around and meet everybody, it was a great day for everybody," manager Alex Cora said. "I know that Mookie feels good about what happened. I don't know if he promised anything, but if he did promise, well ... it was a great night for everybody that was involved with that."

The trio of homers from Betts marked the fourth straight day a player has hit three home runs, including Mets second baseman Robinson Cano on Tuesday, Cardinals shortstop Paul DeJong on Wednesday and Twins DH Nelson Cruz on Thursday.

That extended the MLB record for most consecutive days with a three-homer game. According to Elias Sports Bureau research, when Cruz hit three Thursday, it was the first time in major league history that there had been a three-homer game on three consecutive days.

Betts' three-homer game was the 15th in MLB this season -- there were 14 each of the past two seasons.

Betts is the fourth Red Sox player to have a three-homer game against the Yankees at Fenway Park, joining Steve Pearce (2018), Kevin Millar (2004) and Mo Vaughn (1997). No player has ever hit four home runs in a game against the Yankees.

BOSTON -- Mookie Betts admits this regularly: He hasn't remotely lived up to his own expectations so far this season. At the depths of his struggles earlier in the year, when the reigning American League MVP's batting average dipped as low as .260 after reaching .346 in 2018, Betts struggled to find his swing, failing to turn on pitches. Fly balls popping out to right field became common sights during Betts' at-bats in the first half of the season, and Red Sox fans openly wondered what had happened to Boston's offensive catalyst.

As concerns around Betts permeated throughout the season's first half, the team struggled to put together consistent offensive production. Betts told ESPN.com earlier this season that he spent much of the 2018 season reinventing his swing with the input of teammate J.D. Martinez. This year, he'd found maintaining that swing to be much easier said than done.

"Last year, I feel like I was working towards something, building a new swing," Betts said in June.

A three-homer night might be enough to finally silence talk concerning whether Betts will come back around. He has found that swing again, as Betts' three shots off of New York Yankees left-hander James Paxton showed Friday, finishing the evening 4-for-5 with four runs, a double, 5 RBIs and a career-high 14 total bases in a 10-5 victory. It's only the eighth time a Red Sox hitter has recorded 14 total bases or more in a game. Betts extended the longest on-base streak in the majors to 23 games, during which he's hitting .383/.464/.670 with five homers and 10 doubles, raising his overall line to .289/.399/.507. On the season, Betts has struggled against lefties, hitting .236/.352/.330 after hitting .368/.471/.736 against southpaws last season, so breaking out in a Paxton start was a nice additional development.

"I don't necessarily know what was different tonight," Betts said after the game. "I just hadn't really been playing well this year. There's a lot of work going on behind the scenes. It's just a matter of showing it in the game."

Manager Alex Cora said Betts hasn't felt good at the plate all season.

"He's been fighting his mechanics," Cora said. "He's crushed balls to right-center, center field with nothing to show for it. Today, he was able to get some pitches that probably a few days ago or a week ago that were deep fly balls to center."

Boston's lineup has struggled with inconsistent performance all season. Despite the team ranking among the AL leaders in offensive production, Cora has routinely expressed his frustration with the Red Sox bats not coming through in timely situations. The top of the lineup has seen some reshuffling. Cora entered the season with left fielder Andrew Benintendi in the leadoff spot, followed by Betts in the 2-hole, in line with sabermetric trends in the game to have a team's best hitter hit second. Betts now finds himself back in the leadoff spot, where he spent all of last year.

"You just can't quit," Betts said. "It's a long season, and things can turn around fast. I was determined to get things rolling and try to be that catalyst at the top for [Rafael] Devers and Bogey [Xander Bogaerts], who've had amazing years. If I can score some runs, I know we can string together some wins."

Boston already ranked among the best offensive teams in baseball in the first half, hitting .272/.336/.497 over the course of the first half, tied for the most runs in baseball with the Minnesota Twins, but Betts' recent tear at the plate is having a clear impact on the bottom line. After Friday's win, the Red Sox have improved upon their status as the baseball's hottest offense in July, hitting .297/.357/.535 with an MLB-best 148 runs scored.

The climb out of the pits of his slump meant Betts has been spending time watching extra film, coming in early for batting practice and asking for advice from the coaching staff and teammates. Of course, a down year for Betts is a career year for most players, as he still rates among the top 20 position players in baseball in FanGraphs WAR at 3.5.

"Mookie's always been the same Mookie," Chris Sale told Boston media last week. "I couldn't imagine what it's like winning MVP and having to show up the next year and having to do it again. We all know what he's capable of. He's been unbelievable for us the entire year. I know he's not hitting .370 like he was last year, but I don't think we need him to."

Before watching his star outfielder hit three homers, Cora approached Betts during batting practice to check in. As his star has been heating up, he has been asking the team's right fielder for some predictions. Betts hasn't been able to come up with answers, which is always a good sign for Cora in regard to the reigning MVP.

"He keeps telling me, 'I don't know what happened,'" Cora said. "I'm glad that's his answer, because last year, he never really thought about anything. Just go out there and compete and perform, and today was a great one."

Ryan Crouser takes shot put title, while Allyson Felix qualifies for 400m final on her comeback

World leader Christian Coleman claimed his first national 100m title at the USA Championships, as did Teahna Daniels who sprang a surprise to take the women’s win on Friday.

Coleman, who claimed silver at the 2017 world championships behind team-mate Justin Gatlin, clocked 9.99 (1.0m/sec) after running 9.96 in the semi-finals as Michael Rodgers was second in the final and Christopher Belcher third as they both clocked 10.12.

Gatlin ran 10.16 in his semi-final but did not run in the final, with his place for the IAAF World Championships in Doha already secured as a defending champion.

Daniels just missed out on a podium place at the NCAA Championships but at the national trials in Des Moines, Iowa, she was on top, powering to victory in a time of 11.20 against a -1.7m/sec headwind.

What a win! Congratulations to @_teahnad on clinching the @MichelobULTRA Women’s 100m! #ToyotaUSATFoutdoors pic.twitter.com/6c378cysfp

— USATF (@usatf) July 27, 2019

As well as her fourth place at the NCAA Champs, the 22-year-old has won the under-23 NACAC title this summer and finished third at the Prefontaine Classic and fourth in the Monaco 200m, with her 100m PB of 10.99 having been set in Sacramento in May.

Olympic silver medallist English Gardner was second in 11.25 and Morolake Akinosun third in 11.28 as world under-20 record-holder Sha’Carri Richardson, who is third on this summer’s world rankings with 10.75 behind Elaine Thompson and Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce, placed eighth and last in 11.72 to miss a place for the global event in Doha. Reigning world champion Tori Bowie did not enter the 100m, already having her world championships place confirmed.

World shot put leader and reigning Olympic champion Ryan Crouser threw 22.62m to win his third US title ahead of Joe Kovacs (22.31m) and Darrell Hill (22.11m), while Conor McCullough won the hammer with a PB of 78.14m.

Donald Scott won the triple jump with a wind-assisted leap of 17.74m (+2.7m/sec) ahead of Will Claye (17.70m) and Omar Craddock (17.55m). Reigning world champion Christian Taylor has a bye through to Doha.

After day two wins in the 110m hurdles (13.78) and discus (49.47m) plus PBs in the pole vault (5.00m) and javelin (60.74m), Devon Williams won the decathlon with a score of 8295 points. Solomon Simmons scored 8225 in second and Harrison Williams 8188 in third.

Making her comeback just eight months after having her baby, 11-time world gold medallist Allyson Felix secured her place in the 400m final after running 51.45 to place third in her semi-final, won by Shakima Wimbley in 50.20.

today i’ll step on the starting line for the first time in over a year. it might sound cliche, but making it there is a huge victory.
•
8 months ago this was my world. it’s been a tough road. i’m far from my best, but grateful for this opportunity & most importantly our health. pic.twitter.com/g1seQSp169

— Allyson Felix (@allysonfelix) July 25, 2019

World leader Michael Norman ran 44.04 to go quickest in the men’s semi-finals as Paralympic medallist and double amputee Blake Leeper clocked 44.38.

The first day of USA Championships action had seen Lopez Lomong and Molly Huddle clock respective times of 27:30.06 and 31:58.47 to retain their 10,000m titles.

Keturah Orji won a fourth successive triple jump title with a leap of 14.56m, while Sam Matthis won the discus with a throw of 66.69m and Ariana Ince the javelin with a throw of 61.06m.

Over at the Canadian Championships, Aaron Brown retained his men’s 100m title in a close finish ahead of Andre De Grasse – 10.021 to 10.024. Crystal Emmanuel won the women’s title in 11.17. Brittany Crew won the shot put with a throw of 18.65m.

USA Championships results can be found here.

Britain's Andy Lapthorne reached his fifth quad singles final in six years at the British Open Wheelchair Tennis Championships after a superb fightback to beat Dutchman Sam Schroder.

Trailing by a set and 4-0, Lapthorne turned the match around to earn a 2-6 7-5 6-2 victory in Nottingham.

Gordon Reid's bid to reach the singles final ended with a 6-2 3-6 6-2 defeat by world number one Gustavo Fernandez.

Jordanne Whiley reached the women's doubles final with Japan's Yui Kamiji.

Whiley and Kamiji won 6-3 6-1 against another British and Japanese pairing in Lucy Shuker and Momoko Ohtani.

Whiley and Kamiji will meet Dutch top seeds Diede de Groot and Aniek van Koot - who they lost to in the Wimbledon semi-finals - for the trophy on Saturday.

World number three Lapthorne plays Niels Vink of the Netherlands in his final on Sunday after his extraordinary comeback in Friday's semi-final.

"Heart and desire is what it's all about this week," Lapthorne said.

"As long as I compete well, that's all I can do. I love winning, I love competing, I love playing those kind of matches.

"Playing matches like that, against a guy that pushes me to my limit and pushes me to dig deep within myself is the reason I play the game."

Despite his singles disappointment, Reid has another chance to win silverware when he partners compatriot Alfie Hewett in the men's doubles final on Saturday.

World number five Alexander Zverev says he was surprised Ivan Lendl decided to announce midway through the Hamburg Open that their partnership has ended.

The announcement came a few days after Zverev claimed eight-time Grand Slam winner Lendl talked more about "golf and his dog" than tennis.

The pair teamed up last year, with the 22-year-old German going on to win the season-ending ATP Finals in November.

"We both felt like we were going different directions," Zverev said.

"I have nothing but respect for him. We worked well for 10 months and it's been very nice having him by my side, winning London.

"It's also about personalities and maybe we didn't fit yet. Maybe it will change but for now it's over."

Lendl, who previously coached Britain's former world number one Andy Murray, said he still has a "lot of belief" that Zverev can fulfil his potential.

"I think that one day he may become a great player, but currently he has some off-court issues that make it difficult to work in a way that is consistent with my philosophy," Lendl said.

Despite the timing of the news, second seed Zverev has still reached the semi-finals of the Hamburg Open - his home tournament - after a gutsy comeback win against Serbia's Filip Krajinovic in the quarter-finals.

Zverev trailed by a set and a break before fighting back to win 2-6 7-5 6-2 in two hours and 20 minutes.

The world number five will play defending champion Nikoloz Basilashvili, who won 6-2 6-3 against France's Jeremy Chardy, in the last four.

Austrian top seed Dominic Thiem lost 7-6 (7-3) 7-6 (7-5) to Russian Andrey Rublev, while another upset saw Spain's Pablo Carreno Busta beat Italian third seed Fabio Fognini 3-6 6-2 7-6 (7-4).

British number two Cameron Norrie reached the Atlanta Open semi-finals after compatriot Dan Evans missed out on a spot in the last four.

Norrie, 23, reached his third semi-final of 2019 with a 7-5 6-4 win over Australian Alexei Popyrin.

Norrie will face either American second seed Taylor Fritz or Serbia's Miomir Kecmanovic as he bids to reach the second ATP final of his career.

Evans, 29, suffered a straight-set loss to big-serving American Reilly Opelka.

Opelka, 21, hit 23 aces on his way to a 7-6 (7-3) 7-5 victory.

After edging the first set, Opelka fought back from 15-40 to break world number 55 Evans's serve for a 6-5 lead in the second and served out the match to love.

Opelka, ranked 57th, meets Australian Alex de Minaur in the semi-finals.

De Minaur, 20, progressed after compatriot Bernard Tomic retired as he trailed 6-2 3-0 after just 39 minutes.

Tomic, 26, called for the trainer at the end of the first set - seemingly indicating he felt pain in his torso when serving - and eventually decided he could not continue any more.

Earlier this month, Tomic was fined his full Wimbledon prize money of £45,000 for not meeting the "required professional standard" during his 58-minute first-round defeat by Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.