Lions GM selects 3 Georgia players

Brad Holmes had Georgia on his mind during the NFL draft. The Lions general manager chose three Georgia Bulldogs among his seven picks — guard Tate Ratledge, safety Dan Jackson and wide receiver Dominic Lovett. “Before I got this job, I was living in Atlanta, Georgia for a long time, just scouting the Southeast,” Holmes, above, said. “And then when the Rams moved out to LA, just kind of stayed in Atlanta. But obviously, have been to Georgia practices a lot, and been around that program a lot. It’s unlike anything else that I’ve seen live in terms of college practice, in terms of just the intensity. (Nick) Saban at Alabama was very similar, but just the intensity, the physicality, the detail, the tempo, the whole thing, the energy. So when you can go through that kind of regimen and you practice like that, you know that they’re ready.” Holmes has also picked multiple players from Iowa and Alabama in recent drafts. “I never really go into it thinking we’re going to get these Iowa guys or these Georgia guys or these Alabama guys, but it just happened to fall that way,” Holmes said.

D-backs’ Suárez hits 4 HRs in game

Diamondbacks slugger Eugenio Suárez has had an all-or-nothing type of season. It’s safe to say that his performance Saturday night falls squarely into the “all” category. Suárez became the 19th player in Major League Baseball history to hit four homers in a single game, accomplishing the feat in an 8-7 loss to the Braves in 10 innings. The third baseman is the first player in the big leagues to do it since J.D. Martinez — also for the D-backs — in 2017. “What can I say — obviously it’s awesome,” Suárez said. “I never thought in my life that I would be able to hit four homers in a game.” Suárez came into the game batting .167 with six homers and 15 RBIs. After Saturday, he had 19 hits this season, including 10 homers. The 33-year-old hit a solo shot in the second, a two-run homer in the fourth and two more solo homers in the sixth and ninth. His fourth homer off Braves closer Raisel Iglesias tied it at 7 as the home crowd of more than 43,000 at Chase Field roared in disbelief. The four balls traveled a combined 1,655 feet, with the longest being a 443-foot shot to center for his third homer.

Sawe, Assefa win London Marathon

Running his first major marathon in unusually warm temperatures, Sabastian Sawe made it look easy. The 29-year-old Kenyan runner made a solo breakaway with more than six miles left and never looked like wavering in the sunshine as he cruised to victory in the London Marathon on Sunday. Sawe, above, pulled away from a leading group of nine runners about 90 minutes into the race and finished in 2 hours, 2 minutes and 27 seconds. Sawe made his move when his rivals slowed down at a drinks station — opting not to take any water despite temperatures that crept toward 64 as the elite runners were finishing. “I saw that was my opportunity to push,” Sawe said. In the women’s race, Tigst Assefa of Ethiopia secured her first London Marathon title after pulling away from Joyciline Jepkosgei near the end. Assefa made up for second-place finishes in London and the Paris Olympics last year, finishing in 2:15:50. It was the fastest time in a women’s-only marathon — but 25 seconds slower than the course record set by Paula Radcliffe in 2003 when it was a mixed race. —Associated Press