U.S. OPEN
Frances Tiafoe has reached the U.S. Open semifinals for the second time in three years when his quarterfinal opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, stopped playing because of an injury in the fourth set. Tiafoe was leading 6-3, 7-6 (5), 6-3, 4-1 Tuesday night when Dimitrov retired from the match. Tiafoe advances to an all-American semifinal against Taylor Fritz, guaranteeing the United States a representative in the men’s final. Fritz eliminated No. 4 Alexander Zverev in four sets earlier Tuesday to get to a Grand Slam semifinal for the first time.
Emma Navarro's first Grand Slam semifinal will come at the U.S. Open against Aryna Sabalenka. Navarro grabbed the last six games to beat Paula Badosa 6-2, 7-5 in the quarterfinals Tuesday to follow up her upset of defending champion Coco Gauff. There was no such drama in the second-seeded Sabalenka's 6-1, 6-2 victory over Paris Olympics gold medalist Zheng Qinwen at night. That was a rematch of the Australian Open final in January, which Sabalenka won for her second consecutive title there. In the men's quarterfinals Tuesday, Taylor Fritz earned his first berth in the final four at a major by eliminating 2020 U.S. Open runner-up Alexander Zverev in four sets.
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
Clay Holmes lost the feel for his sinker, his control and perhaps his job as the New York Yankees closer. The two-time All-Star Clay Holmes allowed a single and two walks before Texas rookie Wyatt Langford hit a game-ending grand slam in a 7-4 loss that dropped the Yankees out of first place behind Baltimore in the AL East for the first time in three weeks. Holmes has blown a major league-high 11 saves in 40 chances, and manager Aaron Boone did not voice his usual support after the game when asked whether he will consider changing closers.
David Peterson struck out a career-high 11 on his 29th birthday and Francisco Lindor drove in three runs as the New York Mets beat the slumping Boston Red Sox 7-2 for their sixth straight victory. Lindor launched his 30th homer and added a pivotal RBI double, drawing another chorus of “MVP! MVP!” chants from the Citi Field crowd. Pete Alonso and Mark Vientos also went deep for the Mets, who have won 13 of 18 overall. Vientos greeted Justin Slaten with a leadoff homer in the seventh after Lindor’s two-run shot in the third was the lone Mets hit off Red Sox starter Kutter Crawford, who whiffed eight in six innings.
Kyle Schwarber’s third homer of the game was a go-ahead, three-run drive in the ninth inning, and the Philadelphia Phillies rallied past the Toronto Blue Jays 10-9 after allowing six runs in the first. Schwarber hit his 12th leadoff homer of the season and went deep again in the fourth before his blast with no outs in the ninth on the ninth pitch he saw from Chad Green. He has 31 homers this season. Schwarber became the first Phillies player to have two three-homer games in a season. He has three such games in his career. He finished 5 for 6 with six RBIs.
Shohei Ohtani had an RBI triple in his first regular-season game back at Angel Stadium, and he scored on Mookie Betts’ three-run homer in the 10th inning of the Los Angeles Dodgers’ 6-2 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. Ohtani went 1 for 4 with his tying triple in the third inning after the two-way superstar received a warm welcome back to the stadium where he excelled for the Angels over the past six years. The Dodgers already led 3-2 in the 10th on Miguel Rojas’ RBI single before the Angels intentionally walked their former superstar slugger to get to Betts, who blasted the next pitch from Roansy Contreras.
Jeffrey Springs pitched a season-high six innings, Logan Driscoll hit a run-scoring single in his big-league debut, and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins 2-1. Springs permitted one run and four hits in his seventh start since returning from elbow surgery. He struck out four and walked two. Edwin Uceta struck two in a row after allowing consecutive singles to start the ninth. He was replaced by Garrett Cleavinger, who earned his fifth save in six chances when he retired pinch-hitter Christian Vázquez on a grounder to shortstop.
Cade Povich struck out 10 while pitching into the eighth inning, and the Baltimore Orioles took a big early lead on their way to a 9-0 victory over the White Sox, sending Chicago to its 12th consecutive loss. The White Sox dropped to 31-109 and became the first team since 1900 with at least three losing streaks of 12 games in the same season, according to Sportradar. The 1889 Louisville Colonels and 1899 Cleveland Spiders also did it. Chicago was shut out for the 16th time, is 11 defeats shy of tying the 1962 New York Mets for the most losses since 1900 and is on pace to finish 36-126.
No. 9 hitter Brayan Rocchio drove in four runs and the Cleveland Guardians beat Kansas City 7-1, extending the Royals’ losing streak to a season-high seven. Kansas City was held to two runs or fewer for the fifth straight game. The Royals’ losing streak is its longest since a 10-game skid from June 5-16 last year. Since tying Cleveland for the AL Central lead on Aug. 27, the Royals have dropped 5 1/2 games behind the Guardians, who have won five of six. Kansas City maintained a 4 1/2-game lead for the final AL wild card.
Seth Brown homered in the fourth inning and hit a game-ending single in the ninth that led the Oakland Athletics over the Seattle Mariners 3-2 for their second straight walk-off win. With the score 2-2, JJ Bleday walked with one out in the ninth against Trent Thorton). Shea Langeliers singled and Brown capped a seven-pitch at-bat by grounding a single past the outstretched glove of second baseman Jorge Polanco and into center. The hit set off cheers among the crowd of 3,924, the smallest as the Coliseum since a May 6 game against Texas drew 2,895.
Keibert Ruiz was a triple shy of the cycle, Jacob Young also had three hits and the Washington Nationals beat the Miami Marlins 6-2. Patrick Corbin continued his recent stretch of solid starts with 5 2/3 innings of two-run ball and Joey Gallo hit a three-run homer for the Nationals, who are 8-0 against the Marlins this season after going 6-26 against their NL East opponent the previous two seasons. Corbin (5-12) allowed seven hits and matched a season-high with eight strikeouts. Connor Norby and Cristian Pache drove in runs for Miami, and Max Meyer (3-5) took the loss.
Chris Sale reached 200 strikeouts for the first time since 2019 and earned the 16th win of his comeback season, pitching seven strong innings to lead the Atlanta Braves past the Colorado Rockies 3-0. The Braves maintained their slender lead over the Mets for the final NL wild card. New York beat Boston 7-2. Sale is now 16-3 after his sixth straight win. He has gone 15 straight starts allowing no more than three earned runs. Raisel Iglesias earned his 29th save and extended his scoreless streak to 22 1/3 innings. The loss went to Kyle Freeland, who dropped to 4-7.
Paul Skenes pitched five effective innings while struggling with his location, and the Pittsburgh Pirates handed the Chicago Cubs another tough loss with a 5-0 victory. Skenes worked out of bases-loaded jams in the first two innings. The rookie right-hander allowed four hits and walked four, but he struck out six. After Skenes departed, Colin Holderman, Carmen Mlodzinski and David Bednar combined for four innings of one-hit ball. Chicago had won six in a row — all on the road — before losing the first two in its three-game series against Pittsburgh at Wrigley Field.
Michael Siani hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the 12th inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Milwaukee Brewers 7-4. Siani came to the plate after a wild pitch by Elvis Peguero put runners on second and third. He lined an opposite-field single into left field to give the Cardinals a 6-4 lead. Siani then stole second and advanced to third on catcher William Contreras’ throwing error, setting up a sacrifice fly by Alec Burleson. Ryan Helsley pitched two innings for the win, striking out four. The All-Star closer was going for his 43rd save before Willy Adames hit a two-out RBI double in the 11th for Milwaukee.
Shohei Ohtani has returned to the stadium and the city where he did just about everything except win. The two-way superstar was back at Angel Stadium on Tuesday night for his first regular-season game as a visitor with the Los Angeles Dodgers. Ohtani left the Angels as a free agent last winter after six losing seasons, making a move that took him a whole lot farther than just those 30 miles up the I-5 freeway. After becoming a baseball sensation despite playing for the perpetually struggling Angels, Ohtani is now on the best team in the majors.
WNBA
Skylar Diggins-Smith scored 18 points, Jewell Loyd added 17 and the Seattle Storm bounced back from a tough loss at Connecticut last weekend to beat the (Connecticut) Sun 71-64. The Storm got hammered inside in a 93-86 loss at Connecticut on Sunday when they allowed 56 points in the paint. The Sun led by 12 in the first quarter on Tuesday and nine in the middle of the second with a big rebounding advantage and 20 points in the paint. By the end, the Storm had a 40-34 advantage inside and won the rebounding battle 31-30. DeWanna Bonner had 26 points and Brionna Jones 21 for the Sun.
Emily Engstler had a career-high 19 points to lead a dominant performance by the Washington Mystics’ bench in a critical 90-86 win over the Dallas Wings. Both teams started the night 9-23 and coming off losses after three straight wins had reignited their playoff hopes. They began two games behind Chicago and Atlanta in the battle for the final playoff berth. Ariel Atkins added 14 points and Julie Vanloo and reserve Shatori Walker-Kimbrough had 11 each for the Mystics. Washington’s bench scored 50 points to just 13 for the Wings. Arike Ogunbowale had 21 points to lead Dallas.
A’ja Wilson scored 30 points and had 14 rebounds, Chelsea Gray added 13 points and 10 assists and the Las Vegas Aces beat Chicago 90-71, handing the Sky their seventh straight loss. Tiffany Hayes, who stepped into the starting lineup for an injured Kelsey Plum, added 20 points for the Aces, while Jackie Young had 15. Wilson has now scored 139 points in her last four games, tying Maya Moore for the most in a four game WNBA stretch. Michaela Onyenwere had 15 points to lead Chicago and Angel Reese extended her rookie record for double-doubles to 25 with 12 points and 16 rebounds.
Kelsey Mitchell has become the perfect backcourt running mate with Caitlin Clark, and the two guards have led the Indiana Fever’s resurgence since the Olympic break. Now they have Indiana in the playoffs. The team has won six of its seven games and is over .500 for the first time since June 13, 2019. The Fever improved to 17-16 with Sunday’s win over Dallas. They had gone an WNBA-record 189 straight games without a winning record, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Indiana clinched its first playoff appearance since 2016 when Chicago and Atlanta both lost Tuesday night.
NFL
San Francisco 49ers general manager John Lynch expects rookie receiver Ricky Pearsall to make a full recovery after he was shot last weekend during an attempted robbery. Pearsall was hit in the chest and hospitalized overnight after the shooting in central San Francisco. He was released from the hospital Sunday and was already back at the team facility Monday. The Niners placed Pearsall on the non-football injury list, which will sideline him for at least four weeks, giving him time to recover from the shooting and a separate shoulder injury that had limited him all summer.
All-Pro left tackle Trent Williams ended his contract holdout and reported to the San Francisco 49ers to finalize a new deal that have him a significant raise and guaranteed money. Williams’ agency, Elite Loyalty Sports, posted on social media Tuesday that Williams’ new deal will pay him $82.66 million over three years with a $25.69 million signing bonus and $48 million guaranteed at signing. Williams had been back home in Texas for all of training camp while seeking a new deal, accumulating more than $5 million in mandatory fines for missing camp and three preseason games.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Florida State has fallen out of The Associated Press Top 25 college football poll after starting the season 0-2. The Seminoles are just the third team to go from preseason top 10 to unranked in the first regular-season poll since the rankings expanded to 25 in 1989. Georgia and Ohio State remain 1-2 after comfortable wins to open the season. No. 3 Texas and No. 4 Alabama each moved up a spot, putting three Southeastern Conference teams in the top four along with Georgia. Notre Dame moved up to No. 5.
PARALYMPICS
Jarryd Wallace and Noelle Lambert begin competition at the Paralympics in the long jump Wednesday and Thursday respectively. Wallace is a Paralympic veteran, Lambert a newbie. Wallace has become a mentor to Lambert as they both get ready to compete in the long jump for the first time at the games. They both have transitioned from success in the sprints and are excited to be in a full Stade de France after the airless atmosphere of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics.
SAILING
The America’s Cup organizers have called off Wednesday's races due to stormy weather, a day after lightning struck near a sailing yacht. The race committee opted to push back the day's races to an unspecified date after storms gathered over Barcelona’s Mediterranean coast and unleashed more lightning and steady rain. The decision came after a race was called off on Tuesday when lightning struck a few hundred meters from Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli’s racing boat. Organizers immediately ordered for the race against Team Emirates New Zealand to be abandoned.
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