Baseball
With the Astros on their way to a second straight 100-loss season, the team fired manager Brad Mills and two coaches Saturday night. The team announced the moves in an e-mail almost two hours after it lost at home to the Diamondbacks, 12-4, to fall to a major league-worst 39-82. In July, the Astros had a franchise-record 12-game losing streak. In three seasons as Astros manager, Mills was 171-274. Also fired were hitting coach Mike Barnett and first base coach Bobby Meacham. Mills, 55, was the Red Sox bench coach from 2004-09. The Astros say first-year general manager Jeff Luhnow will name an interim manager and other staff members in a news conference Sunday morning . . . Shortstop Starlin Castro and the Cubs agreed to a seven-year extension worth $60 million, according to multiple reports. Chicago president Theo Epstein said on Saturday nothing had been finalized. Castro, a two-time All-Star at age 22, is hitting .280 this season with 12 home runs and 60 RBIs . . . Dodgers manager Don Mattingly was suspended two games by Major League Baseball, beginning with Saturday night’s game in Atlanta. Mattingly was also given an undisclosed fine ‘‘for excessive arguing’’ with umpire Angel Campos in Thursday’s 10-6 loss in Pittsburgh. Mattingly and outfielder Matt Kemp were ejected from the game. Dodgers bench coach Trey Hillman is filling in for Mattingly . . . The Rockies placed outfielder Carlos Gonzalez on the bereavement list after the death of his grandfather and recalled outfielder Charlie Blackmon from Triple A Colorado Springs.
Connecticut team stays alive in LLWS
Lefthander Matt Kubel baffled Nebraska’s bats and Patrick Steed helped ignite two big innings for Fairfield, Conn., in a 12-0 elimination-game win at the Little League World Series in South Williamsport, Pa. Steed walked and scored in a three-run third inning before getting an RBI double and scoring on Biagio Paoletta’s double in a six-run fourth. Connecticut gets a day off before playing Monday.
Basketball
Ibaka, Thunder agree to an extension
Serge Ibaka, who led the NBA in blocks last season, agreed to a multiyear contract extension with the Oklahoma City Thunder, bringing back another key player to a team that made the Finals last season. Yahoo! Sports reported the deal is for four years and $48 million . . . In the WNBA, Tina Charles had 23 points and nine rebounds to lead the host Connecticut Sun to an 85-74 win over the New York Liberty. Charles became the fastest player in league history to reach 1,000 rebounds, accomplishing it in her 89th game. Cappie Pondexter had 17 points for the Liberty . . . Katie Douglas had 29 points as the host Indiana Fever beat the Atlanta Dream, 86-72. Angel McCoughtry had 22 points for the Dream . . . Kristi Toliver scored 22 points and Alana Beard added 18 to help the Sparks win in Seattle, 82-71, for their sixth consecutive win . . . Police say Aquille Carr, 18, one the nation’s top high school players, was arrested in his native Baltimore on charges of assaulting the mother of his child. Carr has committed verbally to play at Seton Hall next year.
Tennis
Federer and Djokovic to meet in final
Top-ranked Roger Federer overcame an inconsistent serve and beat Swiss countryman Stanislas Wawrinka, 7-6 (7-4), 6-3, to reach the final of the Western & Southern Open in Mason, Ohio. Federer will play Novak Djokovic, who beat Juan Martin del Potro, 6-3, 6-2, in a reprise of their Olympic bronze-medal match that del Potro won. In the women’s semifinals, Li Na beat an ailing Venus Williams, 7-5, 3-6, 6-1, and will play Angelique Kerber, a 6-1, 2-6, 6-4 winner over Petra Kvitova.
Miscellany
Man dies during triathlon in Vermont
A man competing in the USA Triathlon in Burlington, Vt., died after being pulled from Lake Champlain in the swimming portion of the race. USA Triathlon officials said the man was in his 50s, but they did not release his name. The winners were Brian Duffy of West Chester, Pa., and Haley Chura of Atlanta . . . English Premier League team Arsenal agreed to sell midfielder Alex Song to Barcelona for $23.4 million . . . Olympic bronze medalist Troy Dumais captured the 3-meter springboard at the US national diving championships in Greensboro, N.C., defeating older brother Justin Dumais.