Wild World of Sports

FIFA World Cup
The World Cup semifinals, which take place Tuesday and Wednesday, were set on Saturday. England defeated Sweden 2-0 and Croatia beat host Russia on penalty kicks after playing to a 2-2 draw through an extra period. France meets Belgium on Tuesday at 2 p.m. ET on Fox in the first semifinal and Croatia plays England on Wednesday at 2 p.m., again on Fox. The winners meet for the championship on Sunday.

Baseball
The Houston Astros beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1 on Sunday to sweep their four-game series. Jose Altuve hit a solo home run for the Astros. … Mark Reynolds became the 15th player in MLB history to drive in 10 runs in a game when he homered twice and drove in, uh, 10 in the Washington Nationals’ 18-4 win over the Miami Marlins on Saturday. … Rosters and starters are set for the MLB All-Star Game July 17. Atlanta Braves outfielder Nick Markakis is a first-time pick and waited longer for All-Star honors than any other player (1,928 games). He was one of four Braves named to the National League team. The Cleveland Indians and Boston Red Sox each had five on the American League team.

NASCAR
Erik Jones got his first Monster Energy Cup Series victory on Saturday night. It took two overtimes but the 22-year-old passed Martin Truex Jr. on the last lap at Daytona International Speedway to win the Coke Zero Sugar 400 on Saturday night. AJ Allmendinger was third. A nine-car wreck put a sudden end to the first overtime.

Golf
Kevin Na birdied six of the first 10 holes and picked up his first win on the PGA Tour in nearly seven years at A Military Tribute at the Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va. He finished at 19-under 261. Na, 34, hadn’t won since October of 2011.

 
 
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman