MLB:
The Los Angeles Dodgers continue to own the second-best record in Major League Baseball. Unfortunately for them, they are staring at the possibility of playing in the National League Wild Card game.
San Francisco still leads the NL West by 2 1/2 games over the Dodgers following the Giants’ 3-2 win over the Mets. Darin Ruf furnished a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning to give the Giants a three-game sweep of the Mets.
Kris Bryant’s second home run in as many days put San Francisco ahead, 2-0 lead in the first inning and helped the Giants improve to a major league-best 83-44.
The Mets wasted Pete Alonso’s two-run blast and finished 2-11 in a 13-game stretch against the Giants and Dodgers.
The Dodgers kept pace as Max Scherzer won his eighth straight decision in a 4-0 shutout of the Padres. Scherzer struck out 10 and limited the slumping Padres to two hits over 7 2/3s.
The Dodgers made the most of five hits as Austin Barnes smacked a two-run homer in the third to open the scoring.
Los Angeles completed a three-game sweep and won for the 16th time in its last 18 games.
The Padres are two games behind Cincinnati for the second NL wild card.
In Thursday’s other major league action:
Nick Ahmed and Carson Kelly slammed two-run homers while the Diamondbacks built an 8-2 lead before fending off the Phillies, 8-7. Arizona almost wasted a strong outing by Zac Gallen, who was reached for two unearned runs and five hits over five innings. The Phils scored five in the ninth before losing for the seventh time in nine games, putting them six games behind the NL East-leading Braves.
Jonathan India smacked a three-run homer and Sonny Gray tossed six shutout innings to lead the Reds to a 5-1 victory over the Brewers. India’s blast made it 4-0 in the fifth, one inning before Nick Castellanos went deep. Cincinnati is back within 8 1/2 games of the NL Central-leading Brewers after avoiding a three-game sweep.
The Pirates trailed 7-3 before exploding for eight runs in the seventh inning of an 11-7 comeback over the Cardinals. Bryan Reynolds and Wilmer Difo hit two-run singles to tie it, Gregory Polanco added a two-run double and Yoshi Tsutsugo capped the rally with a two-run homer. St. Louis led 7-1 until Colin Moran’s two-run homer in the third.
Jorge Alfaro and Miguel Rojas homered for the Marlins in a 7-5 win versus the Nationals. Rookie Bryan De La Cruz had three hits to raise his average to .353 since Miami acquired him from Houston on July 30. Brian Anderson had two hits and two RBIs for the Marlins, who won their second straight since an eight-game losing streak.
The Yankees squandered a 6-0 lead before running their winning streak to 12 games with a 7-6 downing of Oakland. Giancarlo Stanton, Brett Gardner and Joey Gallo hit home runs, but the Yankees needed Aaron Judge’s RBI single in the ninth to get within four games of the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays. Matt Chapman, Sean Murphy and Josh Harrison homered for the Athletics, who dropped their fifth in a row to fall two games behind the AL West-leading Houston Astros.
Carlos Rodón returned to the mound and allowed two runs over five innings of the White Sox’s 10-7 win at Toronto. Rodón was reached for five hits hours after being activated off the injured list. Luis Robert hit a two-run home run for the White Sox, who also got solo shots from José Abreu (ah-BRAY’-oo), César Hernández and Eloy (EE’-loy) Jiménez.
Bobby Dalbec homered twice and had seven RBIs in the Red Sox’ 12-2 dismantling of the Twins. Chris Sale joined Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax as the only pitchers in big league history to strike out the side in order on just nine pitches three times in their career. Rafael Devers hit his 30th to help Sale improve to 3-0 in three starts since coming back from Tommy John surgery.
The Royals beat the Mariners, 6-4 as Salvador Perez crushed his fourth career grand slam in a five-run sixth. Perez has hit five of his 35 home runs this season during the first seven games of Kansas City's road trip. Kyle Seager hit his 30th home run for Seattle, which fell 3 1/2 games out of a wild-card berth.
First-inning homers by Myles Straw and Bradley Zimmer sparked the Indians’ 10-6 win over the Rangers. Zimmer had three RBIs for Cleveland, which wasted a 4-0 lead before Andres Gimenez delivered an RBI double in a four-run fourth. Owen Miller also homered for the Indians.
Pedro Severino launched a grand slam and had a career-high six RBIs as the Orioles clobbered the Angels, 13-1. Keegan Akin allowed one run over seven innings to help Baltimore win its second straight since a 19-game losing streak. Akin blanked Los Angeles after Shohei Ohtani smacked his major league-leading 41st home run on the game’s second pitch.
The Phillies’ fading playoff hopes have taken another blow.
Rhys Hoskins says he will miss the rest of the season with an abdominal tear that requires surgery. Hoskins leads the Phillies with 27 homers and 71 RBIs despite playing through the injury all season.
He spent two weeks on the injured list, returned to the lineup Sunday and hit two homers in a win at San Diego.
The Phillies have dropped six of their last eight to fall five games behind the NL East-leading Braves.
Also around the majors:
— Mookie Betts was 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk in his return to the Dodgers' lineup. The outfielder missed 16 games with right hip inflammation. He's hitting .272 with 17 homers and 44 RBIs.
— Giants second baseman Donovan Solano tested positive for the coronavirus Thursday and will be sidelined for at least 10 days. Manager Gabe Kapler said the club had completed contact tracing and only hitting coach Justin Viele will be away from the team as a result of Solano’s positive test.
NFL:
The Tennessee Titans’ coronavirus outbreak has grown to nine people. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill was among three players added to the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday.
General manager Jon Robinson says Tannehill, tight end Geoff Swaim and linebacker Justin March-Lillard are joining four other players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. That makes three Titans starters out, along with coach Mike Vrabel and special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman.
Meanwhile, Bills coach Sean McDermott has expressed frustration with his team’s relatively low vaccination rate while saying there’s little more he can do to persuade his players to get the shot. The Bills are considered to be at the lower end of the NFL scale in having about 80% of their players vaccinated. McDermott’s comments came two days after four unvaccinated Bills players were required to go into five days of self-isolation after having contact with a team trainer who tested positive for COVID-19.
In other NFL news:
Odell Beckham Jr.’s comeback is closer to completion. The Browns wide receiver took his first snaps in team drills during Thursday’s practice, a major step in his return from season-ending knee surgery. Beckham suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Week 7 last season against Cincinnati and wasn’t a part of Cleveland’s run to the playoffs.
Giants running back Saquon Barkley participated in 7-on-7 drills for the first time this preseason during the final day of joint practices between the Giants and Patriots. It was the latest step in his nine-plus months of rehabilitation from surgery after he suffered a torn ligament in his right knee.
Patriots quarterback Cam Newton returned for the first time since what coach Bill Belichick called a “misunderstanding” of NFL COVID-19 protocols last week. Newton is trying to hang onto the starting job as he competes with Mac Jones, who was taken 15th overall in this year’s draft.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL:
Memphis coach Penny Hardaway has added 16-year NBA veteran Rasheed Wallace as an assistant coach on a staff that also features former coach Larry Brown.
Wallace won the 2004 NBA championship with the Detroit Pistons where he was coached by Brown. He was a four-time All-Star and reached 14 postseasons.
The announcement comes a day after five-star Emoni Bates announced his commitment to Memphis for the upcoming season.
NHL-NEWS
NHL forwards Sean Couturier and Andrei Svechnikov have accepted eight-year contracts.
The Philadelphia Flyers have inked Couturier to a $62 million package that counts $7.75 million against the salary cap. The deal begins next season and runs through 2029-30.
The 2020 Selke Trophy winner had 18 goals and 41 points as Philadelphia’s top-line center last season.
Svechnikov’s contract with the Carolina Hurricanes also carries an average annual value of $7.75 million a year. The 21-year-old Svechnikov has been a fixture and physical presence on Carolina’s top line alongside Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen.
PGA-BMW CHAMPIONSHIP:
Rory McIlroy holed an eagle putt from just outside 10 feet on the par-5 16th on his way to an 8-under 64, giving him a share of the lead with Jon Rahm and Sam Burns through one round of the PGA’s BMW Championship.
McIlroy hasn’t opened with a score this low since a 64 at the Tour Championship last year.
Rahm had five birdies on the front and kept bogeys off his card, the 15th time in his last 17 rounds he’s shot in the 60s.
Sergio Garcia is one shot back and one ahead of Abraham Ancer (AN’-sur) and Patrick Cantlay.
HOCKEY-WOMEN’S WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS:
The US women’s hockey team has seen their winning streak at the women’s championships end at 29 games.
Jamie Lee Rattray scored twice as Canada overwhelmed the United States 5-1 to win Group A. It is the first loss for the Americans in the tournament since the Canadians beat them 3-2 in a shootout on April 2, 2013.
Canada posted a 4-0 record in group play, while the United States was 3-1.
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