WNBA PLAYOFFS
Alyssa Thomas tied a career-high with 28 points, DeWanna Bonner had 25 points and 10 rebounds, and the Connecticut Sun beat the Minnesota Lynx 90-75 last night to advance to their fifth straight WNBA playoff semifinals. Connecticut will play the New York Liberty on Sunday to kick off a best-of-five series. The Sun lost all four regular-season games with the Liberty this season. Tyasha Harris added 18 points off the bench for Connecticut. She made four of the Sun’s nine 3-pointers. Thomas also had 12 assists and six rebounds. Napheesa Collier led Minnesota with 31 points. Kayla McBride, who scored 28 points in Game 2 on Sunday, was held to 10 points on 3-of-12 shooting.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Mark Vientos had his first career multi-homer game, Brandon Nimmo homered, doubled and singled, and the New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 8-3. Kodai Senga threw six innings of two-run ball while Brett Baty also went deep for the Mets. Miami remains one-half game behind the Cubs for the third NL wild card. Senga (12-7) gave up seven hits, struck out three and walked two. Marlins star infielder Luis Arraez missed his second straight game because of a left ankle sprain. Arraez, who leads the major leagues in batting, stepped on a baseball during pre-game infield drills Tuesday.
Kevin Gausman tossed six shutout innings, outpitching Michael King as they traded strikeouts all night, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Yankees 6-1 for their fifth consecutive victory. Locked in a heated playoff race, the Blue Jays scored five times in the final two innings and stayed half a game ahead of Texas and Seattle for the second of three American League wild cards. Toronto hasn’t lost since getting swept at home in four games by the Rangers last week. Spencer Horwitz had three RBIs, Bo Bichette drove in two runs and the Blue Jays drew five walks in the eighth from two Yankees relievers — including four in a row and two with the bases loaded.
Marcus Semien drove in three runs and scored for the AL-best 115th time, Jonah Heim and Mitch Garver hit back-to-back homers and the playoff-chasing Texas Rangers beat the Boston Red Sox 15-5. Texas rookies Josh Jung and Evan Carter each added two-run homers. Left-hander Martin Perez struck out five while allowing three hits over 4 2/3 scoreless innings in relief of starter Jon Gray. Boston dropped its fifth consecutive series even after jumping ahead 4-0 on homers by Adam Duvall and Bobby Dalbec.
Nick Castellanos hit two home runs and saved the game with a brilliant throw as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 6-5 in 10 innings, handing the NL East champions their fifth loss in six games. The Braves rallied from a four-run deficit and had a chance to walk off with the win in the ninth after pinch-runner Luke Williams stole second and third. Orlando Arcia hit a fly ball down the right-field line that appeared deep enough to bring home the tagging Williams, but Castellanos threw him out at home. Bryson Stott won it with a two-out, two-run double.Nick Castellanos hit two home runs and saved the game with a brilliant throw as the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Atlanta Braves 6-5 in 10 innings, handing the NL East champions their fifth loss in six games. The Braves rallied from a four-run deficit and had a chance to walk off with the win in the ninth after pinch-runner Luke Williams stole second and third. Orlando Arcia hit a fly ball down the right-field line that appeared deep enough to bring home the tagging Williams. But Castellanos threw him out at home. Bryson Stott won it with a two-out, two-run double.
The Tampa Bay Rays are finalizing plans for a new ballpark in downtown St. Petersburg, which is a positive development for baseball fans in Florida. Indirectly, it could also mean great things for baseball fans in a couple of other cities. MLB Commissioner Rob Manfred has made it clear several times over the past few years that he’s interested in expanding to 32 teams. But he's said that wouldn't happen until all current 30 big league teams had stable stadium situations. Now that the Rays are settled, expansion could be on the horizon for the first time since 1998.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Mounsef Bakrar scored the only goal Matt Freese would need in the first half and New York City FC defeated Orlando City 2-0. Despite the loss, Orlando City clinched a playoff spot for the fourth straight season after D.C. United played to a 1-1 draw with Atlanta United. Bakrar netted his third goal of the season in his fifth appearance, scoring unassisted in the 40th minute to give NYCFC a 1-0 lead at halftime. NYCFC stretched its advantage to 2-0 on a goal by Talles Magno in the 68th minute. Andres Jasson notched an assist on Magno’s fourth goal this season.
Sebastián Driussi scored in the 44th minute and Austin tied the New York Red Bulls 1-1 last night. Austin (9-13-7) is unbeaten (4-0-3) in its last seven road matches against Eastern Conference opponents. New York (7-12-10) is winless in its last five games, going 0-3-2. The Red Bulls used an own-goal by Austin midfielder Emiliano Rigoni to grab a 1-0 lead in the 7th minute. Austin pulled even at halftime when Driussi took a pass from Jhojan Valencia and scored his 10th goal of the season. Austin returns home to host the LA Galaxy on Sunday. New York travels to play D.C. United on Saturday.
NFL
Chicago Bears defensive coordinator Alan Williams has resigned, saying he needs to tend to his health and his family. Williams' resignation comes just two games into his second season. In a statement, Williams thanked the Bears and their front office and ownership, and vowed to coach again. He missed last week’s loss at Tampa Bay for what the team said were personal reasons after working the opener against Green Bay. Coach Matt Eberflus called the defense in Williams’ absence and figures to do so again when the Bears visit Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday.
The run-deficient Minnesota Vikings have acquired running back Cam Akers in a trade with the Los Angeles Rams. The fourth-year player had fallen out of favor with the Rams' coaching staff. The deal was pending Akers passing a physical exam. The Vikings will send a 2026 conditional sixth-round draft pick to the Rams for Akers and a 2026 conditional seventh-round draft pick. Akers was the 52nd overall pick in the 2020 draft out of Florida State. He fell behind Kyren Williams on the depth chart this year. The Vikings are last in the NFL in rushing.
Police in suburban Chicago are checking on the authenticity of Instagram videos that appear to show missing former NFL player Sergio Brown discussing the recent death of his mother. Maywood police said Tuesday they are investigating and did not provide an update Wednesday. Brown is still considered a missing person. Authorities began searching for Brown after 73-year-old Myrtle Brown’s body was found Saturday behind her home in Maywood. A medical examiner has ruled her death a homicide and says she was injured during an assault. Police have asked anyone with information about Sergio Brown's whereabouts to contact them.
Body camera footage of Cavaliers executive Koby Altman undergoing field sobriety tests shows him being told he nearly caused an accident before being arrested and charged with driving while impaired. Altman was arrested Friday near downtown Cleveland. He was first stopped by Ohio State Highway Patrol officers for a traffic violation before refusing a breath test and being taken into custody. The Cavaliers released an brief initial statement a day after Altman’s arrest. They followed up with more comment Wednesday, a day after the bodycam video emerged and Altman pleaded not guilty through his attorney in court. The 41-year-old Altman has been with the team since 2012.
Fourteen NFL teams are 1-1 and Pro Picks also has an even record through two weeks. It takes a couple of games for most teams to find their way and to figure it out. The San Francisco 49ers didn’t need much time picking up where they left off. The Niners opened with a pair of road wins and now have won 12 straight regular-season games. Their only loss in the past 15 games was in the NFC championship when they lost both quarterbacks to injuries. Brock Purdy has looked sharp in his return from elbow surgery, Christian McCaffrey has been dynamic and San Francisco is clicking heading into Thursday night’s home opener against the New York Giants.
The New York Giants are on the road to take on the San Francisco 49ers at 8:15 tonight.
SOCCER
Lionel Messi returned to Inter Miami’s lineup last night. It was a short-lived comeback and he will now miss at least one more match. Messi was subbed off in the 37th minute of Inter Miami’s match against Toronto, after spending a few minutes laboring with what appeared to be a leg issue. He was stretching during play, then eventually took off his captain’s armband and simply waited for play to stop so he could depart. Inter Miami went on to win 4-0 and got all four of those goals after Messi departed. Inter Miami Gerardo “Tata” Martino says Messi will miss Sunday's game at Orlando.
Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham made $100 million moves in the offseason and the England stars proved their worth on Champions League debuts for their new clubs. Kane’s precisely taken penalty quickly restored Bayern Munich's two-goal lead against Manchester United early in the second half of a 4-3 win. Bellingham's 94th-minute goal in a 1-0 win over newcomer Union Berlin made it six for him in six straight wins for Madrid this season. Back home in England, Arsenal thrashed PSV Eindhoven 4-0 in its first Champions League appearance after a six-year absence.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Week 4 of the college football season will be the most consequential yet. Six games matching team ranked in the AP Top 25 will be played Saturday. That’s one short of a record for one weekend and an opportunity to identify serious playoff contenders, maybe expose pretenders, and set the tone for conference races. The headliners include: No. 6 Ohio State at No. 9 Notre Dame; No. 19 Colorado and Deion Sanders visiting No. 10 Oregon and No. 13 Alabama looking to right itself against No. 15 Mississippi.
The family of LSU safety Greg Brooks says the Tigers defensive back has undergone surgery to remove “a large brain tumor." The family says in a social media post that “doctors successfully performed the procedure" and that biopsy results are pending. Brooks left the team last week just days before the 12th-ranked Tigers’ 41-14 victory at Mississippi State. Coach Brian Kelly said Monday that he could not estimate when Brooks might return to football. Kelly declined to go into specifics about his condition earlier this week because the family was not yet ready to have that information made public. Brooks transferred to LSU from Arkansas before last season. LSU hosts the Razorbacks this Saturday.
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