MLB:
The San Francisco Giants have increased their lead in the NL West to two games over the Los Angeles Dodgers.
The Giants are 40 games over .500 after putting together a four-run ninth in a 7-4 victory at Colorado. The Rockies led 4-3 until Lamonte Wade Jr. lined a two-run single and scored on Evan Longoria’s two-run double.
Brandon Crawford homered and Brandon Belt had three hits for the NL West leaders, who are the first major league team with 90 wins.
Tyler Rogers helped San Francisco get its fourth straight victory, working a scoreless eighth to move to 6-1.
The Cardinals did the Giants a favor by beating the Dodgers, 5-4. Yadier Molina homered and winning pitcher Adam Wainwright came within two outs of a complete game.
Tyler O’Neill added a solo home run in the eighth inning as the Cardinals snapped a four-game losing streak.
Givoanny Gallegos recorded the final two outs in the ninth inning with the potential winning run at the plate for his fifth save.
Checking out the rest of Wednesday’s major league slate:
Bryan De La Cruz had three hits, including a game-winning single that lifted the Marlins past the Mets, 2-1. Miami starter Sandy Alcantara struck out a career-best 14 and allowed one run in nine innings. The right-hander gave up four hits and threw a career-high 114 pitches.
The Cubs made it eight wins in their last nine games as Jason Heyward hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the 10th inning to complete a 4-1 downing of the Reds. Ian Happ homered for the third straight game, extending his hitting streak to a career-high nine games and helping the Cubs win their third consecutive series. Joey Votto homered for Cincinnati, which lost for the fourth time in six games and fell one game behind San Diego for the second NL wild card.
The Padres were 8-5 winners over the Angels as Yu Darvish threw six innings of one-run ball to earn his first victory in 11 starts. Adam Frazier had two hits and three RBIs during an eight-run second. Mark Melancon pitched the ninth for his 37th save, tops in the majors.
Juan Soto crushed a go-ahead homer in the seventh inning of the Nationals' 4-2 decision over the Braves. Washington relied on its bullpen after Sean Nolin was ejected eight pitches into his start for throwing behind Freddie Freeman. Adam Duvall and Eddie Rosario hit solo homers for Atlanta, which continues to pace the NL East by 2 1/2 games over Philadelphia.
Milwaukee leads the NL Central by 12 games after Eduardo Escobar hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the sixth inning to send the Brewers past the Phillies, 4-3. Milwaukee’s bullpen covered 5 1/3 scoreless innings in relief of Freddy Peralta. Bryce Harper homered for the Phillies, who dropped two of three in the series.
The Red Sox knocked off the Rays, 2-1 as Hunter Renfroe belted a two-run homer in the eighth inning and threw out Joey Wendle trying for a triple from right field for the final out of the ninth. Boston avoided a three-game sweep in a game that was scoreless entering the eighth inning. Red Sox starter Nathan Eovaldi struck out eight while limiting the AL East leaders to three hits over seven innings.
The Blue Jays have a seven-game winning streak after Teoscar Hernández singled home the tiebreaking run in the seventh inning of Toronto’s 6-3 victory over the Yankees. Vladimir Guerrero Jr. capped the scoring for the Jays with his 41st home run, a ninth-inning solo shot off Aroldis Chapman. The Yankees fell a half-game behind Boston for the first AL wild card and are just 1 1/2 games ahead of the Blue Jays for the second slot.
The Mariners avoided a three-game sweep by scoring four times in the ninth inning of an 8-5 win over the Astros. José Marmolejos hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two out in the ninth before J.P. Crawford slammed a two-run homer. The Mariners trailed most of the game before tying it at 4 on a two-run double by Jarred Kelenic with two out in the seventh.
The Athletics' 5-1 win over the White Sox puts Oakland within three games of the Yankees for the second AL wild card. Frankie Montas was sharp over seven innings as he limited the runaway AL Central leaders to six hits and a run while fanning seven over seven frames. Matt Chapman opened the scoring with a solo homer and Chad Pinder delivered an RBI triple as the A's ended a four-game slide.
Joe Ryan carried a perfect game into the seventh inning of his second big league appearance to lead the Twins to a 3-0 shutout of the Indians. Ryan retired his first 19 batters before Amed Rosario lined a single, Cleveland’s only hit of the night. Ryan struck out four over seven innings, throwing 61 strikes in 85 pitches.
The Tigers were 5-1 winners over the Pirates as Miguel Cabrera and Robbie Grossman each had four hits. Cabrera was 4 for 4 with a double and three RBIs to help Detroit avoid a sweep. Grossman was 4 for 5 and scored three runs.
Jose Trevino drove in three runs and Nathaniel Lowe had three hits as the Rangers beat the Diamondbacks, 8-5. Arizona’s Luke Weaver retired his first nine batters before Texas broke through with three runs while sending nine to the plate in the fourth. The Rangers’ fourth straight win ties a season high.
The Orioles erupted for nine runs in the eighth inning of a 9-8 stunner against the Royals. Ryan Mountcastle capped the fireworks with a two-run homer after two Kansas City outfielders collided on a ball hit by Cedric Mullins, allowing two runs to score. Salvador Pérez hit his 42nd homer for Kansas City and trails Shohei Ohtani by one for most in MLB.
BASEBALL-NEWS
Derek Jeter and the rest of the Baseball Hall of Fame’s Class of 2020 finally had their day at Cooperstown.
The former New York Yankees shortstop and captain received raucous applause from a crowd that included NBA luminaries Michael Jordan and Patrick Ewing, along with several of Jeter’s former teammates.
Larry Walker was the second Canadian to be inducted at Cooperstown, joining former pitcher Ferguson Jenkins. Walker was a slugger for the Expos, Rockies and Cardinals.
Former catcher Ted Simmons also was enshrined as was union boss Marvin Miller.
The 2020 Class had to wait an extra year for induction due to the pandemic.
In other baseball news:
White Sox left fielder Eloy Jiménez is day to day with a severely bruised right knee. He was hit by a foul ball while sitting in the dugout during Tuesday’s game at Oakland.
TENNIS-FRENCH OPEN:
Novak Djokovic has pulled off his third straight comeback win to keep his calendar Grand Slam hopes alive.
The top-ranked player dropped the opening set and had to survive 17 aces by sixth seed Matteo Berrettini in a 5-7, 6-2, 6-2, 6-3 victory. Djokovic fired 12 aces and was broken just once the entire match, keeping him in line to become the first men's player to complete a calendar Slam since Rod Laver in 1969.
Djokovic also is gunning for his 21st Grand Slam title, one more than Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer.
Meanwhile, Olympic gold medalist Alexander Zverev has made it back to the semifinals a year after finishing as the U.S. Open runner-up. The 24-year-old from Germany saved a set point in the opener and wound up beating unseeded Lloyd Harris 7-6, 6-3, 6-4. Zverev will take a 16-match winning streak into his contest against Djokovic.
On the women’s side, Emma Raducanu has become the second teenager in two days to reach the semifinals. The 18-year-old qualifier from Britain upset Olympic gold medalist Belinda Bencic 6-3, 6-4. Raducanu joins Leylah Fernandez of Canada, who earned her semifinal spot a day after her 19th birthday.
Maria Sakkari has reached her second Grand Slam semifinal of the year by beating fourth-seeded Karolina Pliskova, 6-4, 6-4. Sakkari never faced a break point and wound up with nearly twice as many winners. The 17th-seeded Sakkari never made it past the fourth round in 20 appearances at major tournaments until getting to the final four at the French Open in June.
NFL:
The Minnesota Vikings have signed right tackle Brian O’Neill to a contract extension, securing their most reliable blocker for the long term.
O’Neill was drafted in the second round out of Pittsburgh in 2018 and would have been eligible for free agency next year. He cracked the lineup as a rookie and has started 42 games in his first three seasons.
In other NFL news:
Curtis Samuel’s chances of playing in Washington’s season opener took a hit Wednesday when the wide receiver appeared to tweak a groin injury that has been bothering him for months. Samuel was supposed to practice for the second time in three days after missing all of camp with the groin injury and a stint on the NFL’s COVID-19 list.
The Ravens have signed Le’Veon Bell to their practice squad, adding another backfield option in the aftermath of J.K. Dobbins’ season-ending injury. Bell was cut early last season by the New York Jets, then rushed for 328 yards in 11 games with Kansas City.
The Texans will be without kicker Kaʻimi Fairbairn when they open the season against the Jaguars on Sunday. Fairbairn missed the final preseason game Aug. 28 against Tampa Bay with what the team called a minor pulled muscle in his leg.
NHL:
The Pittsburgh Penguins will open the upcoming season without their captain.
Sidney Crosby has undergone surgery to address a lingering issue with one of his wrists. General manager Ron Hextall said Crosby would need a minimum of six weeks to recover, which would keep him out of the lineup until at least October 20.
In other NHL news:
The Flames signed defenseman Connor Mackey and forward Brad Richardson. The 36-year-old Richardson has 107 goals and 139 assists in 825 regular-season games over 16 seasons with five teams, all in the Western Conference.
GOLF-NEWS:
Steve Stricker has filled out his U.S. Ryder Cup team with six captain’s picks.
The list does not include Patrick Reed, who has a 7-3-2 record.
Stricker added Tony Finau, Xander Schauffele, Jordan Spieth and Harris English. That was expected. They were next in line in the standings.
He also added Daniel Berger and Scottie Scheffler. That gives the Americans six rookies, the most for a Ryder Cup since 2008.
In other golf news:
The British Open is heading back to Royal Portrush. The R&A says the world’s oldest major championship will return to the Northern Irish venue in 2025 after a successful staging of the British Open there in 2019.
BEIJING OLYMPICS:
Some of the world’s largest broadcasters, including NBC, are being asked by human rights groups to cancel plans to cover the upcoming Winter Olympics in Beijing.
The request comes in an open letter from rights groups representing minorities in China including Uyghurs (WEE’-gurz), Tibetans, Hong Kong residents and others.
NBC has paid $7.75 billion for the rights to the next six Olympics. Those payments are estimated to account for about 40% of the International Olympic Committee’s income.
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