Judge 4 walks, still at 60 HR; Yankees win AL East, top Jays
TORONTO (AP) — Aaron Judge walked four times and stayed at 60 home runs, one shy of Roger Maris’ American League record, as the New York Yankees clinched the AL East title by beating the Toronto Blue Jays 5-2. The Yankees won the division for the first time since 2019. They celebrated their 20th division championship, tied for second-most with the Dodgers behind Atlanta’s 21. New York secured a first-round bye and home-field advantage in the Division Series. Judge lined out in his first at-bat and then drew four straight walks in his seventh straight game without a home run. The Yankees have eight games left in the regular season for Judge to tie or break the AL mark set by Maris in 1961. Toronto maintained its place atop the AL wild-card standings.
Cardinals clinch NL Central title by beating Brewers 6-2
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Andrew Knizner hit a two-run homer, Miles Mikolas pitched six strong innings and the St. Louis Cardinals clinched the NL Central title with a 6-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers. Paul Goldschmidt added two RBIs as St. Louis sealed its first division crown since 2019 and fourth straight playoff berth by defeating the team that won last year’s NL Central championship. This marks the third straight year the Cardinals have clinched a playoff spot with a victory over the Brewers. Milwaukee remains 1 1/2 games behind the Philadelphia Phillies for the final NL wild card.
NCAA puts Memphis on 3 years' probation, no tourney ban
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The NCAA put Memphis on three years of probation with a public reprimand and a fine while declining to punish Tigers coach Penny Hardaway or hand down an NCAA Tournament ban. The Independent Accountability Review Panel issued only its second decision Tuesday, with cases involving Louisiana State, Arizona, Kansas and Louisville still on the group’s docket. The IARP ruled that Memphis failed to monitor Hardaway as an athletics booster, provided impermissible benefits and other benefits to recruits. The panel also ruled that Memphis failed to cooperate with the investigation by delaying handing over requested documents.
Browns' star Garrett suffers sprain, banged up in car crash
CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Browns star defensive end Myles Garrett suffered a sprained shoulder, strained biceps and minor cuts when he flipped his Porsche in a frightening one-car accident on Monday. Garrett spent several hours being treated at a hospital after rolling his car on a rural road following practice. Despite the injuries, the Browns have not yet ruled out the star from Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Falcons. The Browns said doctors concluded Garrett did not have any fractures and he has cleared concussion protocol. The team returns to practice Wednesday.
Florida schools, South Carolina move home games ahead of Ian
GAINESVILLE, Fla. (AP) — Florida, South Carolina and South Florida are taking steps to salvage home football games as Hurricane Ian approaches. The Gators moved their game against Eastern Washington from Saturday to Sunday just before a slate of NFL games begin. The Gamecocks will host South Carolina State on Thursday night, two days earlier than previously scheduled. And the Bulls relocated their Saturday game against East Carolina from Tampa, Florida, to Boca Raton. Stetson canceled its home game scheduled for Saturday against San Diego. No. 23 Florida State and 22nd-ranked Wake Forest, meanwhile, are “closely monitoring” the storm and hoping to play as planned Saturday in Tallahassee.
CFP expansion talks head toward October after 7-hour meeting
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — The conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff have met for almost seven hours to work on expanding the postseason system from four to 12 teams as soon as the 2024 season. There is still much work to be done. CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock says “We will not wrap up this week.” The CFP management committee is scheduled to convene again at the Big Ten offices for a few hours Wednesday morning. They are set to meet again in person in Dallas on Oct. 20. Expansion talks were revived by the university presidents and chancellors who oversee the College Football Playoff last month.
US World Cup worries grow, 0-0 draw vs Saudis in last tuneup
The United States ended its World Cup tuneup matches in unimpressive fashion, playing a 0-0 draw against Saudi Arabia at Murcia, Spain. Oft-injured Gio Reyna left in the 30th minute because of muscle tightness. Christian Pulisic returned to the depleted U.S. lineup after missing Friday’s 2-0 loss to No. 24 Japan with an unspecified injury. That was one of four lineup changes by U.S. coach Gregg Berhalter. Ricardo Pepi was inserted at forward in a final audition for the 26-man World Cup roster. But he had a team-low 13 touches and no shots against the 53rd-ranked Saudis before Jesús Ferreira replaced him in the 59th minute.
Mickelson asks to remove name from lawsuit against PGA Tour
Phil Mickelson and three other LIV Golf players have asked a federal judge to remove their names from the antitrust lawsuit against the PGA Tour. Talor Gooch, Hudson Swafford and Ian Poulter filed separately to have their names removed from the lawsuit. That leaves only three players and Saudi-funded LIV Golf as plaintiffs. The players are Bryson DeChambeau, Peter Uihlein and Matt Jones. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in January of 2024. Mickelson has been the driving force among PGA Tour players in getting the Saudi-funded rival league going.
Rainy season: Guardians postpone celebration due to forecast
CLEVELAND (AP) — The Guardians might as well keep umbrellas in their bat rack. Cleveland was forced to postpone a celebration and flag-raising ceremony to honor its AL Central title before the opener of a three-game series against Tampa Bay due to a rainy weather forecast. The pregame pageantry has been pushed back until Saturday — for now. This is nothing new to the Guardians, who have been dodging rain drops all season. Due to Cleveland’s disagreeable, ever-changing weather, the Guardians have been rained out 10 times at Progressive Field this season, forcing the club to play a major league-high eight doubleheaders, six at home.
MLB playoff primer: Things to know as postseason nears
Major League Baseball’s postseason has a little more heft this year. The playoffs are rapidly approaching, with the final regular season games set for Oct. 5. The postseason begins two days later with a field of 12 teams, up from last year’s 10. The playoffs include a best-of-three format for the opening wild-card round. The three games will be scheduled on consecutive days from Oct. 7 to Oct. 9 at the higher seed’s field. The first team that gets two wins advances. After that, the playoffs will be business as usual. The division series will be best-of-five, while the league championship series and World Series will be best-of-seven.