Torres became the youngest player in AL history to homer in four straight games with his seventh-inning blast Friday against the Angels.

LeBron James played all but one minute in the first three quarters and led the Cavaliers to victory.

LeBron James averages 33.2 points per game with 9.3 rebounds and 4.8 assists in Game 7s. He’s going to bring it against the Celtics — we know that much.

Eventually, the talking stops. Jürgen Klopp and his players have done all the interviews. They have been through all the tactics and there will come a time on Saturday evening, in the bowels of the NSC Olimpiyskiy, when they will be in their dressing room, fighting their nerves and, as Klopp acknowledged, those are the moments when Real Madrid’s experience will count in favour of the 12-times champions.

Liverpool’s opponents will be trying to emulate the great Ajax and Bayern Munich sides of the 1970s by winning this competition three seasons in a row, bringing their number of triumphs to 13 in total. Madrid, in Klopp’s words, “work like a clock from Switzerland” and, no matter how Liverpool have prepared for Cristiano Ronaldo, the lesson of history shows the five-times Ballon d’Or winner usually manages to leave his mark on these occasions.

• Remarkable breakaway catapults Briton to the front
• Simon Yates falls out of contention amid stage drama

On one of the most extraordinary days in Giro d’Italia history Chris Froome produced a performance that ripped the breath away, obliterating his rivals with a solo 80km escape to seize the maglia rosa with two stages remaining.

It was remarkable to watch, especially up close. For not only did Froome defy a series of brutal climbs and temperatures that climbed into the 80s but he continued to take massive chunks of time out of the overnight leader, Simon Yates, and then Tom Dumoulin during a breakaway that began on the Colle Delle Finestre and lasted more than two hours.

No one really knows why a cricket ball swings. It is a problem that foxes the finest scientific minds, as much of a conundrum as the true size of the universe, the life-span of a proton and quite why James Hildreth has never been picked for England.

Oh, the mechanics of the movement are clear enough. That is all to do with what they call laminar flow, the way the air passes over the two sides of the ball. But the when and the where of it, why one ball should swing and another not, why certain grounds should be especially conducive to it, whether the weather has any effect or what that effect might be – all that is a mystery.

The ‘Peter Pan’ of north London rugby is planning to celebrate whatever the result of Saturday’s Premiership final against Exeter at Twickenham

Schalk Brits will be celebrating win, lose or draw after Saturday’s Premiership final. The South African hooker brings the curtain down on nine remarkable years with Saracens after yet another final, before beginning another career in finance, starting with a masters degree at Oxford.

He admits the doubts of whether he may have a bit more rugby left in him have been surfacing more than usual of late – at the start of the season he was described as “Peter Pan” by his director of rugby – but it is not a decision the 37-year-old seems to regret.

Another day returned another Rory McIlroy milestone at Wentworth. After the Northern Irishman had produced his finest opening round at the PGA Championship he recorded a 65 on day two, playing the West Course bogey-free for the first time.

Related: Ryder Cup: Thomas Bjorn completes his selection of vice-captains

Lonzo Ball averaged 10.9 points and 7.2 assists in 52 games for the Lakers last season.

Can the Cavs avoid elimination against the Celtics on Friday night? Follow along here for the latest updates from Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals.