SOCCER
A person familiar with the negotiations tells The Associated Press that Mauricio Pochettino and the U.S. Soccer Federation are working toward a deal for him to be the men’s national team coach. Pochettino, a 52-year-old Argentinian, formerly coached Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain. The person says Pochettino has agreed to become the U.S. coach but no final deal has been reached. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the deal wasn't complete. He would succeed Gregg Berhalter, less than 22 months before the Americans host the 2026 World Cup. The USSF declined to comment.
MLB
JJ Bleday hit his first career grand slam, Shea Langeliers reached base five times for the second time in three games and the Oakland Athletics rallied to beat the New York Mets 7-6 in the longest nine-inning game in the pitch clock era. The game lasted 3 hours and 45 minutes and the teams combined to throw 425 pitches, the most in a nine-inning game this season. The A's won despite leaving a season-high 16 runners on base. Mark Vientos homered twice and Luis Torrens hit a two-run single for the Mets, who walked a season-high 11.
Zach Eflin pitched six impressive innings to improve to 4-0 since joining the Orioles, and Gunnar Henderson and Cedric Mullins homered in Baltimore’s 5-1 victory over the Boston Red Sox. Eflin has won all four starts since Baltimore acquired him from Tampa Bay before the trade deadline. He allowed a run and five hits, striking out a season-high eight without a walk. The Orioles pulled into a first-place tie with the idle New York Yankees atop the AL East. Boston is eight games behind. Nick Pivetta allowed three runs and three hits in five innings for the Red Sox.
Weston Wilson became the ninth Phillies player to hit for the cycle, Alec Bohm and Nick Castellanos had consecutive homers in the first inning and Philadelphia overpowered the Washington Nationals 13-3 on Thursday night. Wilson tripled and singled in the fourth; homered in the seventh and, then — with fans chanting “Double! Double!” — doubled to right in the eighth, with Alex Call failing on a diving attempt. Wilson had the 10th cycle in Phillies history — Chuck Klein did it twice — and he was the first home player to accomplish the feat at Citizens Bank Park since David Bell in 2004. Zack Wheeler improved to 12-5, moving one behind Atlanta’s Chris Sale for most wins in the National League.
Mitch Haniger hit a game-ending three-run double as the Seattle Mariners rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 4-3. Luke Raley, who homered in the bottom of the sixth to get Seattle on the scoreboard after Detroit led 3-0, opened the ninth with a single against Luke Holton. Will Vest (2-4) then relieved and gave up a single to Randy Arozarena before striking out the next two batters. After Jorge Polanco walked to load the bases, Haniger hit a fly ball that got past Tigers right fielder Ryan Vilade to clear the bases and give the Mariners the win. It was Haniger’s franchise-leading eighth walk-off. Reliever J.T. Chargois (2-0) pitched a scoreless ninth to get the win. With division-leading Houston off, Seattle pulled back into a tie with the Astros atop the AL West.
Carlos Santana hit a sacrifice fly off All-Star closer Kirby Yates in the ninth inning and the playoff-contending Minnesota Twins beat Texas 3-2. Santana’s deep fly to right-center came after Yates issued consecutive one-out walks and then threw a wild pitch. Willi Castro homered for the 68-53 Twins, who moved within four games of idle Cleveland for the AL Central lead. They currently hold the American League’s second wild card. The 56-66 Rangers dropped to 10 games behind Houston in the AL West, matching their biggest division deficit this season.
Jackson Chourio and Wiliam Contreras homered in the first inning and scored again during an eighth-inning comeback as the Milwaukee Brewers rallied for a 6-4 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Devin Williams earned his third save in as many opportunities and ended the game by striking out Mookie Betts and Shohei Ohtani. That save came one day after Williams preserved a 5-4 victory by retiring Ohtani, Betts and Freddie Freeman in order. The Brewers trailed 4-3 before scoring three runs in the eighth.
Logan Webb threw 7 2/3 shutout innings, Grant McCray had his first career hit and home run, and the San Francisco Giants beat the Atlanta Braves 6-0 on Thursday to avoid a sweep. The Giants snapped a four-game losing skid behind Webb’s performance. The All-Star recorded his fourth straight win and held opponents to a run or fewer for the fourth consecutive start. He finished at least seven innings for the 14th time this season, most of any pitcher in the majors. Webb threw 104 pitches, striking out seven and holding the Braves to four hits.
The Yankees were off last night. They kick off a road trip with a three-game set against the Tigers, with the first game at 6:40 tonight in Detroit.
The Arizona Diamondbacks are in the midst of a stretch that most big-league clubs can only dream about, winners of six straight games, 20 of 25 since the All-Star break and 30 of 40 since late June. They’re fitting in quite well in the NL West, which is home to three of the game’s hottest teams. As pennant races around baseball heat up, the one out west looks like the best. San Diego has a 19-4 record since the All-Star break and Arizona is 20-5. The Dodgers aren’t playing poorly at all with a 15-9 record, but they’re struggling to hold their division lead.
The NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers will have to continue their playoff push without Christian Yelich. Yelich is undergoing season-ending back surgery Friday, putting an end to the 2018 NL MVP’s resurgent season. Yelich was leading the NL in batting average (.315) and on-base percentage (.406) when he went on the injured list in late July. But, he hasn’t played since getting removed from a game at Chicago’s Wrigley Field on July 23. Yelich has been dealing with back trouble for the last few years, and the issue landed him on the injured list twice this season.
Hall of Fame second baseman Ryne Sandberg says he is cancer-free. The Chicago Cubs great made the announcement on Instagram on Thursday, nearly seven months after he announced he had metastatic prostate cancer. Sandberg says he "Rang the Bell this morning!” He thanked his family, friends, medical team and fans for their support. Sandberg has kept well-wishers updated on his progress through an Instagram account and said last month that scans showed no signs of cancer. Sandberg hit .285 with 282 homers, 1,061 RBIs and 344 steals in 16 seasons in the majors. He made his big league debut with Philadelphia in 1981 and appeared in 13 games with the Phillies before he was traded to the Chicago Cubs in January 1982.
NFL PRESEASON
Rookie Drake Maye ran for a touchdown and led the New England Patriots on two of the team’s three scoring drives in a 14-13 preseason loss to the Philadelphia Eagles. The No. 3 overall draft pick out of North Carolina appeared in just one series in the Patriots’ preseason opener, but played the second and third quarters of this one. He finished 6 of 11 for 47 yards. Philadelphia sat starting QB Jalen Hurts for the second straight preseason game. Backup Kenny Pickett played the entire first half and completed 11 of 13 passes but for only 67 yards.
If Colin Kaepernick wants to join the Los Angeles Chargers, it will not be until next year at the earliest. And it will only be as an assistant coach according to coach Jim Harbaugh. “I love Colin, but he’s not going to be on the coaching staff, which is set for this year. And he’s not going to be playing on the roster either,” Harbaugh said after Thursday’s practice. Harbaugh told USA Today Sports earlier this week that he reached out to Kaepernick about joining his Chargers’ staff shortly after being named coach on Jan. 24. Kaepernick, who turns 37 on Nov. 3, still has hopes of returning to the playing field, despite not playing since 2016. He told Britain’s “Sky Sports News” during the recent Paris Olympics that he is still training.
WOMEN’S NATIONAL BASKETBALL ASSOCIATION
Breanna Stewart scored 27 points in just 20 minutes, Sabrina Ionescu had 18 points and six assists, and the New York Liberty cruised past the Los Angeles Sparks 103-68. New York scored the opening 10 points of the game and then held Los Angeles to just 10 first-quarter points in building a 19-point lead. Stewart and Ionescu combined to score 26 points in the first half, while the Sparks had just 28 and New York built a 29-point halftime lead. The Liberty won by at least 35 points for the third time, setting a WNBA single-season record.
Kahleah Copper scored 29 points in her return to Chicago, Brittney Griner had 23 points, nine rebounds, six assists and five blocks and the Phoenix Mercury beat the short-handed Sky 85-65. Copper, the 2021 Finals MVP, was 12 of 19 from the field in her first game against Chicago since being traded in February. Copper scored 13 points in the first quarter, on 5 of 8 shooting, to help Phoenix build a 30-12 lead. Copper finished the half with 18 points and Griner added 12 as the Mercury extended their lead to 50-28 at the break. The Mercury led by double figures for the entire second half.
Napheesa Collier had 17 points and 12 rebounds for her 13th double-double of the season, Courtney Williams added 14 points and five assists, and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Washington Mystics 79-68. Williams broke a tie at 63-all on a 3-pointer with 4:24 remaining and Collier followed with a personal 4-0 run to make it 70-63 with 2:50 left. Kayla McBride added a 3-pointer to help the Lynx pull away in the final minutes. McBride scored 12 points on the night, as did Alanna Smith. Smith finished with 12 points and eight rebounds as the Lynx improved to 18-8.
NBA
The Boston Celtics will get its championship rings on Oct. 22, and the rival New York Knicks will be there for the celebration. The NBA schedule was released Thursday for the coming season, and Game 1 on the slate is the Celtics hosting the Knicks on opening night. The league released 1,200 of the 1,230 games on the schedule Thursday. The other 30 will be slotted in December, depending on how teams fare during the NBA Cup. Some were previously known, such as Miami and Washington playing in Mexico City on Nov. 2 and the San Antonio Spurs and Indiana Pacers playing a home-and-home in Paris on Jan. 23 and Jan. 25.
GOLF
Chris Kirk is in the lead at the FedEx St. Jude Championship. Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele are in the mix as they have been all year. The surprise at the start of the PGA Tour postseason might have been Hideki Matsuyama. He's been through a lot the last week. He lost his wallet in London last week when someone snatched his bag. He also lost his caddie and coach for the start of the FedEx Cup playoffs. Their passports were in the stolen bag and they had to go back to Japan. All that and Matsuyama still shot 65.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Jeremiah Smith might be the next big thing for No. 2 Ohio State. The pass-catching prodigy from Miami Gardens, Florida, was the country’s top-rated high school recruit when he signed with Ohio State in December and enrolled early amid a frenzy of hype. Since then, the 6-foot-3, 215-pound Smith has shown flashes of being what everybody expects he’ll be for the No. 2 Buckeyes. He’s impressed coaches and teammates with his work ethic, route-running and acrobatic catches as he goes against the Buckeyes' experienced defensive backs in preseason practice. Smith is a cousin of Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith.
COLLEGE SWIMMING
Notre Dame has suspended its men’s swimming program for at least one year after an external review found members of the team violated NCAA rules by wagering among themselves on results of their competitions. The review also found that team members failed to “treat one another with dignity and respect.” Athletic director Pete Bevacqua said in a statement Thursday that not all team members participated in the poor conduct and that coach Chris Lindauer and his staff fully cooperated with the review. Members of the team will be permitted to transfer, though NCAA sanctions would follow those found to have broken rules against gambling.
LITTLE LEAGUE WORLD SERIES
1 p.m.
Barquisimeto, Venezuela vs. Matamoros, Mexico
3 p.m.
Hinsdale, Illinois vs. Wailuku, Hawaii
5 p.m.
Taoyuan, Chinese Taipei vs. Sydney, Australia
7 p.m.
Lake Mary, Florida. vs. Puyallup, Washington
In Thursday action, Japan shut out Puerto Rico 11-0, Mountain beat Metro 9-1, Cuba topped Europe-Africa 4-1, and Southwest blanked New England 9-0.
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