MLB
New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 300th homer, reaching that milestone faster than any other player when he connected against the Chicago White Sox during a 10-2 victory. Judge hit that mark in his 955th game and 3,431st at-bat with a three-run drive in the eighth inning. The six-time All-Star and 2022 American League MVP drove a 3-0 up-and-in sinker Chad Kuhl into the White Sox bullpen in left for his major league-leading 43rd homer. Ralph Kiner reached 300 homers in his 1,087th game, and Babe Ruth did in his 3,831st at-bat.
Pete Alonso had four hits that included a fourth-inning homer and three RBIs to lead the New York Mets over the Oakland Athletics 9-1, stopping a four-game losing streak. Francisco Lindor had two hits and two RBIs while Mark Vientos had a go-ahead, run-scoring double for the Mets, who were outscored 31-5 in their previous four games. Lindor’s third-inning homer made him the 17th player to hit 100th for the Mets, who had dropped two games behind Atlanta for the last NL wild card. Alonso, eligible for free agency after the World Series. entered in a 9-for-48 slide (.188) since July 30.
Wyatt Langford hit a tying three-run homer with two outs in the ninth inning and Jonah Heim hit a two-run homer in the 10th to lead the Texas Rangers to a 9-7 win over the Boston Red Sox on Wednesday night, avoiding a three-game sweep. Langford’s seventh homer of the season came off Josh Winckowski. Matt Festa earned the win, with Kirby Yates recording his 21st save of the season with a scoreless 10th. Texas, the defending World Series champions, stopped a three-game losing streak and won for just the fifth time in its last 18 games.
Kyle Schwarber hit his seventh career grand slam, shaking the Philadelphia Phillies out of their mid-summer malaise and leading them to a 9-5 win over the Miami Marlins on Wednesday night. Alec Bohm added an RBI single and J.T. Realmuto bust the game open with two-RBI double in the seventh for a 9-5 lead. Jonah Bride hit a three-run homer off Phillies starter Tyler Phillips in the first inning. Manager Rob Thomons benched slumping All-Star shortstop Trea Turner.
Gunnar Henderson hit a two-run homer in the first, Dean Kremer stopped a four-start losing streak and the Baltimore Orioles salvaged a split of their two-game series against Washington with a 4-1 victory. Kremer outdueled DJ Herz in a sharply pitched game, allowing a run and five hits over six innings. Yennier Cano and Cionel Pérez each worked a perfect inning of relief, and Seranthony Domínguez followed with a 1-2-3 ninth for his second save since joining the Orioles before the trade deadline. Herz permitted two runs and four hits in six innings.
Alex Cobb got his first win in nearly a year and Andrés Giménez drove in three runs, sending the American League-leading Cleveland Guardians to a 6-1 victory over the Chicago Cubs. José Ramírez, Josh Naylor and Will Brennan also had RBIs for Cleveland, which swept the three-game series and extended its winning streak to five. The Guardians are 72-49 and have the best home record in the majors at 38-20. Cobb allowed one run and three hits in 5 2/3 innings with three strikeouts and two walks for his first win since a one-hitter for San Francisco against Cincinnati last Aug. 29.
Bobby Witt Jr. homered on a pitch outside the strike zone for the fourth time this season and Paul DeJong finished a triple short of the cycle, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 to avoid a series sweep. Witt homered into the left-center bullpen on a shoulder-high, full-count fastball from Louie Varland in the third inning, putting the Royals ahead 2-0 with his 24th home run this season. The pitch was 4.07 feet above the ground, the highest hit by a Kansas City player for a home run since pitch tracking started in 2008, according to MLB Statcast.
Akil Baddoo’s pinch-hit double in the 10th inning gave the Detroit Tigers a 3-2 come-from-behind win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday night. The teams were playing for the fifth time in eight days. Detroit trailed 2-0 with two out in the bottom of the eighth, but Matt Vierling doubled off Yimi Garcia and Kerry Carpenter hit his third homer in two games to tie the score. Tyler Holton held Seattle scoreless in the top of the 10th and Collin Snider walked Justyn-Henry Malloy to start the bottom of the inning. Baddoo pinch hit a deep fly ball over the head of Victor Robles to win the game.
Mauricio Dubón drove in the go-ahead run with a 10th-inning single, closer Josh Hader worked two scoreless innings and the AL West-leading Houston Astros won their season-high eighth straight game by beating the Tampa Bay Rays 2-1. Pedro León advanced from second to third on Jeremy Peña’s fly to deep center off Garrett Cleavinger starting the 10th. Zach Dezenzo struck out, Jake Meyers and Dubón got Houston’s second hit of the game. The Rays also had two hits. Hader struck out three as Houston ended an 8-1 trip. Tampa Bay has lost seven of nine and dropped to 59-61.
Daulton Varsho hit a three-run home run, Jose Berrios dominated over seven innings and the Toronto Blue Jays finished off a three-game sweep of the Los Angeles Angels with a 9-2 victory on Wednesday night. Ernie Clement and Vladimir Guerrero Jr. each hit a two-run home run and Berrios gave up one run on two hits with a walk and five strikeouts as the Blue Jays pulled off their third series sweep of the season and second on the road. Varsho and Guerrero both had three hits and three RBIs, while Clement added a triple.
Martín Pérez beat his old team in his first victory since San Diego acquired him at the trade deadline, and the Padres defeated the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-2 for their 19th win in 22 games. Jake Cronenworth and David Peralta homered for the Padres, who swept six games from the Pirates this season. San Diego improved to a season-high 16 games over .500, sweeping the three-game series and winning eight series in a row for the first time since 2007. Pittsburgh has lost 10 consecutive games for the first time since June 13-22 last year.
Eugenio Suárez hit a grand slam and finished with five RBIs, Joc Pederson drove in two early runs and the Arizona Diamondbacks won their sixth straight game by beating the Colorado Rockies 11-4. Arizona swept the three-game series and has won 18 of 21, rocketing into postseason contention with its longest winning streak since last August. Following a 6-1 homestand, the NL champions go on a nine-game trip to Tampa Bay, Miami and Boston. Suárez had three hits, driving the first pitch he saw from Riley Pint into the left-center seats for a 10-3 lead in the sixth and his fourth career slam.
TJ Friedl homered twice on his 29th birthday, Jonathan India also hit two home runs and drove in four runs and the Cincinnati Reds completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 9-2 victory Wednesday night. Friedl and Barry Larkin — on April 28, 1994 — are the only Reds since at least 1901 with multihomer games on their birthday. Tyler Stephenson also homered to help the Reds sweep a three-game series for the first time since July 2-4 at the Yankees. The Reds have won their fourth straight — the first time that’s happened since they strung together seven in a row in early June — and moved into a tie with St. Louis for second place in the NL Central.
Devin Williams retired Shohei Ohtani, Mookie Betts and Freddie Freeman in order in the ninth inning to preserve the Milwaukee Brewers’ 5-4 victory over Los Angeles on Wednesday that snapped the Dodgers’ five-game winning streak. The Brewers got only four hits but capitalized on three Dodgers errors to end a three-game skid. Milwaukee is the only major league team that hasn’t lost at least four in a row at some point this season.
Michael Harris hit a grand slam in his first at-bat after missing nearly two months because of a hamstring injury, helping the Atlanta Braves rout the San Francisco Giants 13-2 on Wednesday night. Activated from the injured list before the game, Harris crushed an 0-1 curveball from Robbie Ray (2-2) into McCovey Cove for his first career grand slam and Atlanta’s fourth of the season. Grant Holmes (1-0) had six strikeouts in seven innings in his first career victory. The 28-year-old rookie allowed eight hits and two runs. Former Giants pitcher Luke Jackson and Jimmy Herget retired three batters each to finish the game. Matt Olson, Austin Riley and Sean Murphy also homered for Atlanta in the Braves’ third consecutive victory over the Giants.
NFL
Thomas Hennessy became a long snapper in high school because he simply wanted to be part of a team. He developed into one of the top players at his position, went to Duke and is now in his eighth NFL season with the New York Jets. The long snapper is perhaps one of the most overlooked and underappreciated jobs in sports. In his own words, Hennessy takes The Associated Press through what it takes to be a successful long snapper, from the mentality, stance and grip to the snap of the football and completing a play.
Star receiver Brandon Aiyuk was back out at San Francisco 49ers practice as a spectator as his contract hold in enters a fourth week still in search of a resolution. Aiyuk had mostly stayed off the field the past two weeks after making waves with his boisterous handshakes with general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan two weeks ago. Aiyuk skipped the entire offseason program and hasn’t practiced yet in training camp as he seeks either a long-term contract with San Francisco or a trade to a team that can agree with the receiver on a new deal and give the 49ers enough compensation to part with him.
A person with knowledge of the deal tells the AP that the New England Patriots have traded four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons for a third-round draft pick. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the teams haven’t announced the trade. Judon had 28 sacks in his first two seasons with the Patriots before having four in four games last year when he was limited by injuries. Judon became available because of a contract dispute. He has a base salary of $6.5 million this season and is seeking a new deal. The Falcons needed a pass rusher to bolster a defense that hasn’t had a player with double-digit sacks since Vic Beasley had 15 1/2 in 2016.
Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy will miss the season after undergoing surgery on his right knee. McCarthy had an operation on Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus suffered at some point during his preseason debut last weekend against Las Vegas. The former Michigan standout had a solid training camp and had been expected to back up starter Sam Darnold. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell delivered the news on McCarthy shortly after the team arrived for two days of joint practices with the Browns. McCarthy was the 10th overall pick in the NFL draft after helping the Wolverines to a national title.
SOCCER
Kylian Mbappé has pulled on Real Madrid's famous white jersey for the first time in a competitive match and marked the occasion with the second goal in a 2-0 win over Atalanta in the UEFA Super Cup. Mbappé started and played 82 minutes at the National Stadium in Warsaw. He met a pass from Jude Bellingham across the area with a shot into the top corner in the 68th minute. Federico Valverde tapped home a cross from Vinícius Junior in the 59th to set Madrid on its way to a record sixth victory in the Super Cup. It is an annual match between the Champions League winners (Madrid) and the Europa League champions (Atalanta).
GOLF
Scottie Scheffler starts the final leg of his remarkable year in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs. But it's really not about three postseason tournaments for someone like Scheffler. For the No. 1 player in the world, it's all about the Tour Championship. Scheffler says the FedEx Cup and the $25 million bonus is not a season-long race because it really comes down to the last week. But he understands those are the rules. The postseason starts with the FedEx St. Jude Championship for the top 70 players. The key is to be among the top 50 who advance to next week's second playoff event.
The PGA Tour has released its 2025 schedule and it looks a lot like this year's schedule. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan says it’s fair to assume there won't be any involvement with Saudi-funded LIV Golf until at least 2026 or beyond. He says negotiations are ongoing for an investment deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The only change to next year's schedule is putting the Memorial and Canadian Open back to their original spots. The Memorial this year was a week before the U.S. Open. Now the Canadian Open will precede the U.S. Open.
NASCAR
NASCAR has ruled that Austin Dillon’s win at Richmond Raceway will not count toward eligibility for the Cup Series playoffs. Dillon will keep credit for his first victory of the season but his playoff eligibility was revoked Wednesday because of “actions detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.” Desperate to win for the first time in nearly two years, Dillon sent NASCAR champions Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano into the wall in rapid succession on the final lap to clear a path toward victory.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
At least one true freshman has made the Associated Press All-America team seven of the last eight seasons. The trend continued last year with Alabama safety Caleb Downs making the second team while Purdue safety Dillon Thieneman made the third team. Downs has since transferred to Ohio State. The freshmen who figure to make the biggest impact this season will be catching passes rather than defending them. Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith heads a list of talented freshman wideouts.
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