Masters champion Rory McIlroy took another step toward emerging out of the doldrums with two big shots at the end of his round Saturday that led to a 4-under 66 and gave him a share of the lead with Chris Gotterup in the Scottish Open.

McIlroy kept in range of Gotterup on another gorgeous day of sunshine along the Firth of Forth and then came into everyone’s view in the middle of the back nine at The Renaissance Club.

Following a 15-foot birdie on the par-3 14th, his shot from a greenside pot bunker hit the pin for a tap-in par to keep his momentum. McIlroy was in trouble again on the par-5 16th; in just a horrible lie he could advance it only some 70 yards. With the wind at his back and wispy grass beneath the golf ball, he hit sand wedge from 173 yards to 10 feet for birdie.

Gainer and Ruffels are battling to be major winners >> Golf wasn’t the first love of Cara Gainer or Gabriela Ruffels, who grew up wanting to be professional tennis players and came close to making it.

Now they’re in sight of becoming an unlikely major winner in their adopted sport.

Gainer, a No. 129-ranked Englishwoman, and Ruffels, a 71st-ranked Australian, will be in the final group at the Evian Championship on Sunday after powering through the field in the third round of the fourth major of the year in women’s golf.

MLB

Braves place third baseman Riley on injured list >> The Atlanta Braves placed two-time All-Star third baseman Austin Riley on the 10-day injured list with a strained right abdomen.

Riley was lifted for a pinch hitter in the fourth inning of the Braves’ 6-5 win at St. Louis on Friday night.

He said he first noticed discomfort while fielding a Pedro Pagés bunt in the second inning, and it got worse on a Willson Contreras groundout in the third.

After Sunday’s game in St. Louis, Atlanta will host the All-Star Game on Tuesday and then come out of the All-Star break with a three-game series against the New York Yankees starting Friday.

Judge becomes fastest to 350 homers >> Aaron Judge became the fastest player to hit 350 home runs, reaching the mark with a two-run drive for the New York Yankees in the ninth inning off the Chicago Cubs’ Brad Keller.

Judge hit his 35th home run of the season, a two-run drive that pulled New York to 5-2.

Playing in his 1,088th game, Judge bettered Mark McGwire’s 1,280.

Soccer

Bayer Leverkusen signs US midfielder Tillman >> Bayer Leverkusen has moved to replace Florian Wirtz by signing United States international Malik Tillman from PSV Eindhoven for a club-record fee.

The 23-year-old attacking midfielder signed a contract through June 2030, the Bundesliga club said Saturday.

Kicker magazine reported Leverkusen was paying PSV a fixed sum of 35 million euros ($41 million) for the player, making him the club’s most expensive incoming transfer.

Cycling

Milan wins Stage 8 in a sprint finish >> Italian rider Jonathan Milan timed his attack perfectly to win the eighth stage of the Tour de France in a sprint finish.

Milan overtook Australian Kaden Groves on his left and held off Belgian rider Wout van Aert to beat him by about half a bike length. Milan won Olympic gold with Italy in team pursuit at the 2021 Tokyo Games and this was his first Tour stage win to go with four on the Giro d’Italia.