Sports News Roundup: Todd hangs on to lead headed; Judge homers again, Yankees sink Red Sox and more

MLB roundup: Judge homers again, Yankees sink Red Sox Aaron Judge homered for a career-high fourth straight game, Gio Urshela hit his first career grand slam and the New York Yankees continued their hot start to the abbreviated season with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox on Saturday night.

Following is a summary of current sports news briefs.

Todd hangs on to lead headed into final round in Memphis

Brendon Todd held on to the lead at the WGC FedEx St. Jude Invitational on Saturday, despite an uneven third round that saw him hit four bogeys and five birdies to finish the day at a one-under-par 69. Todd, who sunk a 22-foot putt for a birdie on eight, said he was battling with his swing throughout the day.

MLB roundup: Judge homers again, Yankees sink Red Sox

Aaron Judge homered for a career-high fourth straight game, Gio Urshela hit his first career grand slam and the New York Yankees continued their hot start to the abbreviated season with a 5-2 victory over the visiting Boston Red Sox on Saturday night. The Yankees won their fifth straight thanks to the early power by Judge and Urshela and now have 14 homers in their first seven games while getting off to a 6-1 start.

NHL roundup: Petry, Habs upend Penguins in OT

Jeff Petry scored at 13:57 of overtime as the Montreal Canadiens opened their qualifying series with an upset win over the Pittsburgh Penguins in Toronto on Saturday night. Brendan Gallagher's centering pass was deflected toward the high slot. Petry's shot from above the right hash marks sailed past Penguins goaltender Matt Murray.

Athletics: South Africa's Van Niekerk tests positive for COVID-19 in Italy - report

South Africa's Olympic 400 metres champion Wayde van Niekerk tested positive for COVID-19 in Italy last week, according to the Gazzetta dello Sport newspaper. Van Niekerk, who romped to Olympic gold four years ago in a world record time of 43.03 seconds, was set to participate in a meet in Trieste - his first competition outside of South Africa since 2017 following a serious knee injury.

Tennis: Privilege to be back on court, says Palermo top seed Martic

Top seed Petra Martic said it would be a privilege to be back on court at the Palermo Ladies Open, which marks the return of the professional tennis season on Monday after shutdown due to the coronavirus outbreak. The world number 15 was relieved the tour, which was suspended in early March, was restarting with the tournament in Italy followed by the Prague Open from Aug. 10.

Golf: Horsfield wins English Open for first European Tour title

Sam Horsfield sealed his maiden European Tour crown on home soil on Sunday, winning the English Open in Birmingham after a final round of 68 to finish ahead of Belgian Thomas Detry. Overnight leader Horsfield was on course for a comfortable victory but the 23-year-old had to endure a nervy finish after Detry took the lead with a fine birdie on the penultimate hole to come into contention.

Coronavirus rattling league as possible cases force more delays

Major League Baseball (MLB) postponed Saturday's game and Sunday's double-header between the St. Louis Cardinals and Milwaukee Brewers after initial rapid tests showed another player and "multiple" staff on the Cardinals may have COVID-19. MLB is scrambling to keep its coronavirus-shortened season on track after numerous games were postponed due to positive test results, with an outbreak on the Miami Marlins injecting uncertainty just days after the delayed, truncated season began.

NBA roundup: Warren erupts for 53 as Pacers edge 76ers

T.J. Warren scored a career-high 53 points to lead the Indiana Pacers past the visiting Philadelphia 76ers 127-121 on Saturday near Orlando. Warren was 20 of 29 from the field, including 9 of 12 from beyond the 3-point arc. Warren's previous career high was 40.

Athletics: Lyles says Coleman must be more responsible after missed tests

World 200 metres champion Noah Lyles has said fellow American sprinter Christian Coleman must show more responsibility after he was provisionally suspended for breaching whereabouts rules. Coleman, the 100m world champion, narrowly escaped a ban last year for missing three doping tests but was suspended in June after again breaching the rules. He may now miss next year's Olympic Games in Tokyo.

Players focus on scoring and fighting not protests as NHL returns

There were goals and fights but no spectators or protests as the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Rangers 3-2 on Saturday and the National Hockey League delivered a businesslike relaunch of its coronavirus-hit season. The first game since the COVID-19 pandemic halted play on March 11 got off to an explosive start as the Hurricanes' Jaccob Slavin potted the first goal 61 seconds into the contest and quickly saw the Rangers' Ryan Strome and Carolina's Justin Williams dropping the gloves and pummeling each other.

(With inputs from agencies.)