Denny Hamlin outlasted the competition at Michigan International Speedway, winning his third NASCAR Cup Series race this season and the 57th of his career on Sunday.

Hamlin, in the No. 11 Toyota, went low to pass William Byron on the 197th of 200 laps and pulled away from the pack.

The 44-year-old was prepared to leave his team to join his fiancée, Jordan Fish, who is due to give birth to their third child, a boy.

Hamlin said he would skip next week’s race in Mexico City if necessary to witness the birth. He’s also co-owner of 23XI Racing with Michael Jordan, which is involved in a lawsuit against NASCAR.

Chris Buescher finished second, followed by Ty Gibbs, Bubba Wallace and Kyle Larson.

MiLB

Saints drop series finale to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre

The Saints gave up four runs in the first inning and could never dig out of the hole losing their first home series of the season with a 7-2 defeat to Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in front of 6,705.

Edouard Julien was a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate with a home run, but the rest of the offense fell far short.

The loss dropped St. Paul to 30-30 on the season, while the RailRiders leave town at 29-31.

The Saints are off Monday before traveling to Indianapolis for a series against the Indians at Victory Field.

NBA

Nelson selected as winner of Daly Award

Longtime coach Don Nelson — a Basketball Hall of Famer and three-time NBA coach of the year — was announced as this year’s recipient of the Chuck Daly Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by the National Basketball Coaches Association.

Nelson, 85, retired in 2010 as the NBA’s all-time coaching wins leader with 1,335, just ahead of Lenny Wilkens’ 1,332. Nelson kept that top spot for nearly 12 years before now-retired San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich passed him in March 2022.

Nelson is one of only two coaches in NBA history to have at least 250 wins with three different franchises. He got to that mark with Milwaukee, Dallas and Golden State, and also coached New York briefly in his career.

Nelson and Daly were close friends. They went head-to-head 41 times as coaches: Nelson’s teams went 21-20 in those games.

MLB

Guardians send ‘Big Christmas’ to minors

Jhonkensy Noel, who hit a game-tying homer in Game 3 of the American League Championship Series, was optioned to Triple-A Columbus by the Cleveland Guardians.

Noel batted only .146 with two homers and nine RBIs in 46 games after making the opening day roster for the first time. The right-handed hitter found himself on the short side of a platoon in right field, limiting him to 103 at-bats.

Nicknamed “Big Christmas,” the 6-foot-3, 250-pounder belted a pinch-hit, two-run homer in the ninth inning of what became a 7-5 victory over the New York Yankees in 10 innings last Oct. 17.

WNBA

Sky’s Vandersloot out for season with torn ACL

The Chicago Sky will have to unravel a 2-5 start to the season without their floor general.

Guard Courtney Vandersloot sustained a torn right ACL in Saturday’s game against the Indiana Fever at the United Center and will miss the rest of the 2025 WNBA season, the team announced. Vandersloot will undergo surgery this week after an MRI on Saturday revealed the tear.

SOCCER

Aurora remain unbeaten with shutout of RKC

The Aurora remained unbeaten in USL W Heartland Division play with a 3-0 defeat of visiting RKC at the TCO Performance Center.

Kunie Hirai, Sage Wimes, and Natalie Tavana scored in the win.

Minnesota improved to 6-0 with the win, with five of those victories coming by shutout. RKC fell to 0-6.

Portugal tops Spain to win Nations League

Rúben Neves has scored the winning penalty kick as Portugal defeated Spain 5-3 in a shootout to win the Nations League.

Portugal goalkeeper Diogo Costa saved Álvaro Morata’s fourth penalty for Spain, then Neves converted his team’s fifth to seal the win after their match finished 2-2 after extra time.

Cristiano Ronaldo had kept Portugal in the game when he equalized in the 61st minute of regular time with his record-extending 138th goal after Mikel Oyarzabal had given Spain a 2-1 halftime lead.

Kylian Mbappé led France to third place earlier in the day with a 2-0 win over host nation Germany in Stuttgart.

World Cup in doubt, Italy fires head coach Spalletti

The fear that four-time champion Italy will fail to qualify for a third straight World Cup has cost coach Luciano Spalletti his job.

Spalletti announced that he is being fired and will leave after today’s World Cup qualifier against Moldova.

The move comes two days after Italy lost 3-0 at Norway in its opening qualifier.

Claudio Ranieri, who just concluded a successful season at Roma but had said he was retiring from coaching, is reportedly the federation’s top choice to replace Spalletti.

But the federation did not immediately name a replacement — and after the Moldova game, Italy doesn’t play again until September.

boxing

Returning Pacquiao enshrined in Hall of Fame

Manny Pacquiao’s fighting days aren’t finished yet, as he’s coming out of retirement at 46 for a shot at another title next month.

No matter what happens in the remaining stage, it’s hard to find many better resumes than the one he already assembled in a career that landed him in the International Boxing Hall of Fame.

Pacquiao was the headline name in the class of 2025 that was enshrined during a ceremony at the Turning Stone Casino in Verona, New York.

He will then return to training for his July 19 bout in Las Vegas against WBC champ Mario Barrios.

— From news services