Justin Verlander overcame an early jolt to grit out the World Series win that long eluded him, rookie Jeremy Peña hit a go-ahead home run and the Houston Astros beat the Philadelphia Phillies 3-2 to head home with a 3-2 lead. Buoyed by late defensive gems from Trey Mancini and Chas McCormick, the Astros moved to the brink of their second championship — the other was a scandal-tainted title in 2017. Houston went ahead just four pitches in against Noah Syndergaard on Peña’s run-scoring single. Then Philly’s Kyle Schwarber homered leading off the bottom half, harkening to the five-run lead Verlander wasted in Houston’s opening 6-5, 10-inning loss.
NFL
Jalen Hurts threw for 243 yards and two touchdowns and the Philadelphia Eagles overcame a slow start to get a 29-17 win over the Houston Texans Thursday night, giving them the first 8-0 start in franchise history. Hurts lost a fumble in a forgettable first half and game was tied at halftime. But C.J. Gardner-Johnson grabbed his NFL-best and career-high fifth interception before Hurts threw a 17-yard touchdown pass to A.J. Brown to give them the lead in the third quarter.
NBA
Orlando beat Golden State 130-129.
Denver downed Oklahoma City 122-110.
Meanwhile, off the court, the Brooklyn Nets suspended Kyrie Irving for at least five games without pay, saying they were dismayed by his failure to “unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs.” Hours after Irving refused to issue the apology that NBA Commissioner Adam Silver sought for posting a link to an antisemitic work on his Twitter feed, the Nets said that Irving is “currently unfit to be associated with the Brooklyn Nets.” The Nets added in a statement that they were “dismayed today, when given an opportunity in a media session, that Kyrie refused to unequivocally say he has no antisemitic beliefs, nor acknowledge specific hateful material in the film.” Irving did later issue an apology on Instagram.
A psychologist who worked for the San Antonio Spurs has sued the team and former player Josh Primo after she alleges that he exposed himself to her multiple times during private sessions. Psychologist Hillary Cauthen worked as a performance psychologist for the team. A lawsuit filed in Bexar County alleges that the 19-year-old Primo exposed his genitals to her nine times “despite her numerous complaints about Primo’s improper sexual conduct to the organization’s leadership.”
James Harden is expected to miss about a month because of a right foot tendon strain. Harden was injured during the Sixers’ loss at Washington on Wednesday and the 10-time All-Star will be evaluated again in two weeks. Harden stumbled on a drive to the basket early in the game and remained on his back in pain before he got up and returned to the game. Harden still scored 24 points. The Sixers are 4-5 heading into Friday’s home game against the New York Knicks.
NHL
The Boston Bruins beat the NY Rangers 5-2.
The NY Islanders downed St. Louis 5-2.
New Jersey squeaked by Edmonton 4-3.
Elswhere, Alex Ovechkin tied Gordie Howe for the most goals scored for one NHL team and Andrew Copp had a go-ahead goal with 3:50 left, helping the Detroit Red Wings beat the Washington Capitals 3-1. Ovechkin broke a scoreless tie midway through the second period, giving him 786 goals with Washington to equal Howe’s total with the Red Wings. Detroit’s Lucas Raymond pulled the Red Wings into a 1-all tie late in the second period on a power play. Dylan Larkin added an empty-net goal in the final minute to seal the victory.
NASCAR
Ross Chastain’s video game-inspired ride along the wall at Martinsville carried him across the finish line, into the NASCAR championship finale and around the world. Like it or not, the hands-free, foot-to-the-floor Chevy slingshot ride catapulted Chastain and NASCAR into the social media stratosphere. A championship is on the line this weekend at Phoenix Raceway, but there was nearly as much attention on Chastain’s bold move last week as on who will win the Cup Series title between him, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Christopher Bell.
