U.S. OPEN
Jessica Pegula is back in the quarterfinals at the U.S. Open after a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Diana Shnaider. Monday's win put Pegula in her seventh Grand Slam quarterfinal. Now comes the hard part: Pegula is 0-6 at that stage over her career, and she plays No. 1 Iga Swiatek on Wednesday. The No. 6-seeded Pegula is on quite a run at the moment, having won 13 of her past 14 matches, all on hard courts. That included her second consecutive title in Canada and an appearance in the final at the Cincinnati Open, where she lost to No. 2 Aryna Sabalenka. Also reaching the quarterfinals were Karolina Muchova, Beatriz Haddad Maia, Daniil Medvedev and Jack Draper.
Top-seeded Jannik Sinner has reached the U.S. Open quarterfinals by beating No. 14 Tommy Paul 7-6 (3), 7-6 (5), 6-1. Sinner shook off a slow start Monday night and came through in the clutch at the end of tiebreakers that decided the first two sets. Sinner is two weeks removed from being cleared in a doping case stemming from two positive tests in March. He moved into a showdown against 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev, the last past winner at Flushing Meadows still in the men’s field. Sinner is a 23-year-old from Italy who claimed his first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open in January by defeating Medvedev in the final in five sets after dropping the first two.
Rafael Nadal has told a Spanish television show that he doesn’t think Jannik Sinner intended to use a banned substance and that the current No. 1-ranked man didn’t receive preferential treatment when he was cleared of doping after testing positive twice in March for trace amounts of an anabolic steroid. Nadal said Monday in an interview with “El Hormiguero" that he believes that people making decisions about matters such as that do what they think is right. Sinner was playing Tommy Paul in the fourth round of the U.S. Open on Monday night.
MLB
Luis Severino pitched seven crisp innings, Francisco Lindor sparked New York’s lineup again and the surging Mets crept closer to playoff position by beating the Boston Red Sox 4-1. Brandon Nimmo hit an RBI double and saved a run with a terrific catch in center field for the Mets, who have won five straight and 12 of 17 to move within a half-game of idle Atlanta for the final National League wild card. Greeted with “MVP!” chants throughout New York’s first home game following a 7-3 trip, Lindor scored one run, drove in another and reached base three times. He has reached safely in a career-high 31 consecutive games and is riding a 13-game hitting streak.
Giancarlo Stanton reached 25 homers for the 10th time in his big league career, Gerrit Cole struck out nine over six innings before his right calf cramped and the New York Yankees beat the Texas Rangers 8-4. Gleyber Torres had three hits for the AL-leading Yankees, including a two-run double in the third inning that put them ahead to stay. Anthony Rizzo had a two-run double in their five-run sixth inning after Aaron Judge doubled for his MLB-best 124th RBI. Cole left when he felt tightness while warming up for the seventh inning.
Santiago Espinal’s well-placed bloop single drove in two runs in the fifth inning, and the Cincinnati Reds beat Justin Verlander and the Houston Astros 5-3. Ty France had four hits as Cincinnati stopped Houston’s five-game win streak. Amed Rosario had two hits and drove in a run. Yainer Diaz had two hits and three RBIs for the Astros in the opener of a three-game interleague series. Verlander was charged with five runs and eight hits in 4 2/3 innings.
Joe Musgrove pitched six strong innings and Fernando Tatis Jr. went 0 for 4 in his first game back since June 21 as the San Diego Padres beat the Detroit Tigers 3-0. Luis Arraez had two RBI singles for the Padres, who jumped ahead of Arizona for the NL’s top wild-card spot. Tatis was activated from the 60-day injured list after being sidelined with a stress reaction in his right thighbone. The star right fielder received loud ovations during the pregame lineup announcements and when he ran out to his defensive position to start the game, gesturing to the fans along the way.
Gunnar Henderson tied a franchise record for shortstops with his 34th home run, and the Baltimore Orioles extended Chicago’s losing streak to 11 with a 13-3 rout of the White Sox. Chicago dropped to 31-108 and lost its 20th straight game in which Chris Flexen (2-14) started, setting a major league mark for most consecutive losses in a pitcher’s starts that had been held by Milwaukee’s Chris Capuano. Cedric Mullins homered with three RBIs, and Austin Slater and Henderson each drove in three runs. Chicago is on its third-longest skid this season after slides of 21 and 14.
Gavin Williams pitched seven sharp innings, and the Cleveland Guardians beat the Kansas City Royals 4-2. Lane Thomas and Josh Naylor each hit a two-run homer for AL Central-leading Cleveland, which won for the fourth time in five games. Williams allowed one run and one hit in an encouraging September performance after he went 1-4 with a 6.56 ERA in five starts last month. The right-hander retired his last 16 batters. The Royals finished with two hits in their season-high sixth consecutive loss.
Trevor Larnach and Brooks Lee homered to help the Minnesota Twins beat the Tampa Bay Rays 5-4. The Twins earned a second straight victory for the first time since they won three in a row from Aug. 15-17. They remained 3 1/2 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland and moved a game ahead of Kansas City for the AL’s second wild-card spot. Five Minnesota relievers combined for 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball. Jorge Alcala got four outs for the win, and Jhoan Duran handled the ninth for his 21st save. Playing in front of a Labor Day crowd of 11,636, Tampa Bay lost for the fourth time in five games.
Shea Langeliers led off the ninth inning with his second home run of the game, lifting the Oakland Athletics over the Seattle Mariners 5-4. Langeliers connected on a 3-2 pitch from Austin Voth (2-5) and kept the ball just fair inside the left-field foul pole to cheers from fans among the 12,167 in the Labor Day crowd at the Coliseum. Tyler Ferguson (3-2) struck out the side in order in the ninth for the victory.
Willy Adames tied the major league record with his 13th three-run homer of the season, going deep on his 29th birthday to lift the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers over the St. Louis Cardinals 9-3 for their sixth win in seven games. Adams homered for the fifth consecutive game, matching the Brewers record shared by Jeromy Burnitz and Eric Thames. Adames’ 13 three-run homers equaled Ken Griffey Jr. in 1996 and his 99 RBIs set a career high, one more than his 2022 total. Rookie Jackson Chourio hit a grand slam and Rhys Hoskins also homered for the Brewers.
Freddie Freeman hit two homers and had five RBIs, Shohei Ohtani stole three bases and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 11-6. Teoscar Hernández went 5 for 5 to help Los Angeles take three of four games in a crucial series between NL West rivals. The first-place Dodgers now have a six-game lead over the Diamondbacks with 24 to play. Arizona and San Diego are jostling for second place. Ohtani had two hits and two walks while showing off his speed. He stole second and third base on back-to-back pitches in the seventh inning, bringing his total for the season to a career-high 46.
Bryan Reynolds and Andrew McCutchen homered during Pittsburgh’s four-run eighth inning, and the Pirates cooled off the Chicago Cubs with a 5-3 victory. Chicago returned home after closing out an 8-1 trip with six consecutive victories. It was hoping to add to its push for the third NL wild card against Pittsburgh, but it blew a 3-0 lead in the opener of a three-game series. The Pirates began the eighth with three straight hits against Jorge López. Reynolds connected for his 22nd homer, tying it at 3 with a drive to the bleachers. After Oneil Cruz struck out swinging, McCutchen launched his 18th homer.
Star right fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. was activated from the 60-day injured list by the San Diego Padres after being sidelined for more than two months with a stress reaction in his right thighbone. He went 0 for 4 but did advance two runners in the two-run eighth inning in a 3-0 win against the Detroit Tigers. Tatis last played on June 21. He was put on the injured list on June 24, retroactive to June 22. He received ovations when the lineups were announced and when he ran out to his defensive position at the start of the game.
NFL
The Kansas City Chiefs insist they are not thinking about last year’s opener against Detroit, when they played flat in a loss to the Lions. Patrick Mahomes is chief among them. But for a quarterback who is usually better than normal in Week 1, it was a strangely poor performance, and one he does not want to replicate Thursday night against Baltimore. The three-time Super Bowl MVP had by far the worst Week 1 performance of his career that night, completing barely more than 50% of his passes for just 226 yards with his fewest touchdown passes (two) and first interception in six season openers. In five previous openers, he had averaged 308 yards with 18 total touchdown passes and no interceptions.
Luke McCaffrey this weekend will become the latest member of his family to play in the NFL. Father Ed won three Super Bowls, older brother Christian is the reigning offensive player of the year and eldest brother Max played a handful of games in 2017 and ‘18. Luke is trying to make his own name in the league a rookie wide receiver with the Washington Commanders. The converted quarterback has already formed a strong bond with Jayden Daniels going back to offseason workouts and is expected to be one of the 2023 Heisman Trophy winner’s top offensive options.
San Francisco 49ers rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall was placed on the non-football injury list after he was shot during an attempted robbery. The move clears up a spot on the 53-man roster for the 49ers while Pearsall recovers after being shot in the chest Saturday in central San Francisco. Pearsall was hospitalized overnight and released on Sunday from the San Francisco General Hospital and Trauma Center. The team hasn’t given any indication on how long Pearsall will be out, but he must miss at least four games while on the non-football injury list.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Treshaun Ward totaled 138 offensive yards, including a 13-yard touchdown reception, against his former team as Boston College stunned No. 10 Florida State 28-13. A Tampa native who played at Florida State from 2019-22, Ward had 77 yards rushing and 61 yards receiving as the Eagles (1-0, 1-0 Atlantic Coast Conference) totaled 263 yards rushing. It was a resounding debut for BC coach Bill O’Brien, who was introduced in mid-February after Jeff Hafley’s departure to become the Green Bay Packers’ defensive coordinator.
INDYCAR
Pato O’Ward was not happy at all when NASCAR last week announced it would race in Mexico City at Autodromo Hermanos Rodríguez. O’Ward could not believe that NASCAR had beaten IndyCar to the punch, and his fellow competitors were equally incensed. NASCAR has never in the modern era held a points-paying Cup Series race outside the United States, and had somehow beaten IndyCar, which actually did used to race in Mexico, back into the market. As NASCAR celebrated this monumental moment, the IndyCar paddock was aghast. How did NASCAR get a race in Mexico before they did?
PARALYMPICS
Ella Sabljak helped Australia win the bronze medal in wheelchair rugby at the Paris Paralympics then turned her thoughts to growing the sport. As one of three women on the team, Sabljak is optimistic their success will encourage more women to participate. Pregnant archer Jodie Grinham of Britain clinched her second medal of the Games with gold in the mixed team compound event. Transgender athlete Valentina Petrillo failed to qualify for the final in the 400 meters of her visually impaired classification. Triathletes finally got the green light to swim in the Seine River after concerns about bacteria levels. Five-time champion Brazil remains unbeaten in blind soccer.
Frontier League Baseball
In local sports news, the TriCity ValleyCats are in the Frontier League postseason and will play the Ottawa Titans in the wild card matchup at home at 6:30 tonight.
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