TENNIS
Jessica Pegula has pulled off a major upset at the U.S. Open by beating No. 1-ranked Iga Swiatek 6-2, 6-4 to reach her first Grand Slam semifinal. Pegula's victory last night in Arthur Ashe Stadium came after she had started her career with an 0-6 record in major quarterfinals. Swiatek served poorly in the first set and her forehand was a real problem. Pegula used terrific defense to keep forcing Swiatek to hit an extra shot. The No. 6-seeded Pegula is a 30-year-old American. She has won 14 of her past 15 matches and will play Karolina Muchova of the Czech Republic today for a berth in the final. Jannik Sinner and Jack Draper set up a men's semifinal matchup.
It's been 21 years since an American man won a Grand Slam title, but the country is guaranteed a male finalist at the U.S. Open this weekend. That's because Frances Tiafoe and Taylor Fritz set up an all-U.S. semifinal that will take place Friday. One of the two 26-year-olds will become the first man from the United States to play in a title match at any major tournament since Andy Roddick lost to Roger Federer in 2009. American men’s tennis matters for the first time in a long time — and there also will be two women from the country, Jessica Pegula and Emma Navarro, in the women’s semifinals Thursday.
On the men’s side, Top-ranked Jannik Sinner has reached the U.S. Open semifinals for the first time by getting past 2021 champion Daniil Medvedev 6-2, 1-6, 6-1, 6-4. Sinner took over as the title favorite after Week 1 exits by Novak Djokovic and Carlos Alcaraz. His victory on Wednesday night makes him the only man remaining in the field with a Grand Slam trophy. He won his first at the Australian Open in January by beating Medvedev in the final in five sets after dropping the first two. Sinner will go up against No. 25 Jack Draper of Britain on Friday for a berth in the title match.
MLB
Rookie Wyatt Langford had three hits, scored three runs and drove in two a night after his game-ending grand slam against the Yankees, and the Texas Rangers beat New York again 10-6. Juan Soto ended Nathan Eovaldi’s scoreless outing with a two-run shot in the fifth inning. But Aaron Judge, the majors’ home run leader with 51, had a season-high ninth consecutive game without going deep on an 0-for3 night. It was the sixth loss in eight games for the Yankees. They remained a half-game behind Baltimore for the best record in the American League and the AL East lead.
Jesse Winker hit his fifth career grand slam, Phil Maton wriggled out of an eighth-inning jam and the surging New York Mets matched a season high by winning their seventh straight game, 8-3 over the Boston Red Sox. The Mets completed a three-game sweep of Boston, which has lost six of its last seven, and have now won 14 of their last 19 games to pull within a half-game of Atlanta for the third NL wild-card spot. Maton retired Masataka Yoshida on a liner to strand runners at the corners in the eighth. Jarren Duran hit an RBI double for Boston in the third.
Kyle Schwarber matched a major league record with his 13th leadoff home run of the season, Kody Clemens and J.T. Realmuto also homered and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Toronto Blue Jays 4-2 to sweep a two-game series. Cristopher Sánchez (10-9) struck out seven in seven innings as the NL East-leading Phillies won their fourth straight. A day after hitting three home runs, Schwarber went deep for the fourth time in seven at-bats when he drove a 1-0 pitch from right-hander Bowden Francis into the second deck in right, matching Alfonso Soriano’s 2003 MLB record.
Shota Imanaga and two Cubs relievers combined on a no-hitter, leading Chicago over the Pittsburgh Pirates 12-0 on Wednesday night. Imanaga, a 31-year-old left-hander in his first season with the Cubs after pitching in Japan for eight seasons, struck out seven and walked two over seven innings. He threw 66 of 95 pitches for strikes. He needed 25 pitches to get through the second inning. Nate Pearson pitched a 1-2-3 eighth inning and Porter Hodge a perfect ninth in the Cubs’ 18th no-hitter, the first since Zach Davies, Ryan Tepera, Andrew Chafin and Craig Kimbrel combined to hold Los Angeles hitless at Dodger Stadium on June 24, 2021 and the first at Wrigley Field since Milt Pappas against the Padres on September 2nd, 1972.
Jonathan India led off Cincinnati’s nine-run first inning with a 436-foot homer and the Reds cruised to their second straight victory over the Houston Astros, 12-5 on Wednesday night. The Reds went to work right away against Spencer Arrighetti (7-12), with India hitting his 11th career lead-off homer and the first since July 12. Elly De La Cruz had a double and a single in the first, two RBIs and his major league-leading 62nd stolen base. Tyler Stephenson and Amed Rosario each drove in two runs during the outburst. Reds starter Nick Martinez (7-6) pitched into the sixth, allowing four runs and six hits. He struck out seven. Brett Suter went the final 3 1/3, allowing a run and three hits for his first save.
Mickey Moniak hit a three-run homer in the first inning and Griffin Canning pitched 6 2/3 strong innings in the Los Angeles Angels’ 10-1 victory over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Shohei Ohtani went 0 for 4, finishing his two-game return to Angel Stadium 1 for 8 with an RBI triple and two runs scored. Taylor Ward homered in his third straight game, and rookie Niko Kavadas also homered in the Angels’ second victory over the Dodgers in the last 14 games of the Freeway Series. Bobby Miller struggled again for the major league-leading Dodgers, yielding seven runs in five innings.
Fernando Tatis Jr. hit an RBI single with two outs in the 10th inning to give the San Diego Padres a 6-5 victory over the Detroit Tigers on Wednesday night. Playing his second game back after being on the injured list since June 22, Tatis singled to left off Jason Foley (3-5) to bring in automatic runner Jackson Merrill, who hit a three-run homer in the fourth and finished a triple shy of the cycle as the Padres overcame a 5-0 deficit. Tatis’ jersey was ripped off during a wild celebration near third base. The Tigers intentionally walked Luis Arraez to get to Tatis. Jeremiah Estrada (5-2) pitched the 10th for the victory.
Yandy Díaz hit a two-run homer to complete an eight-run fourth inning and the Tampa Bay Rays beat the Minnesota Twins 9-4. All eight runs came off Louie Varland (0-6), who was recalled from Triple-A St. Paul to follow opener Ronny Henríquez. Taylor Walls had a two-run single and José Caballero had an RBI single in the inning. The Rays also scored on a pair of fielder’s choice grounders and an errant pickoff throw by Varland. Carlos Santana hit his 20th homer during a four-run seventh for the Twins, who have gone 5-11 since August 18. Tyler Alexander (6-4) got the win.
Jonathan Cannon pitched into the sixth inning and the Chicago White Sox homered three times, snapping their 12-game losing streak with an 8-1 victory over the Baltimore Orioles. Nicky Lopez, Andrew Vaughn and Dominic Fletcher went deep for the White Sox, who improved to 32-109 this season. They need to go 11-10 the rest of the way to avoid matching the modern record of 120 losses by the 1962 New York Mets. Gunnar Henderson homered for Baltimore.
Tommy Pham hit his first home run for Kansas City, a tiebreaking, three-run drive in a four-run fourth inning, and the Royals stopped a season-high, seven-game losing streak with a 4-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians. Seth Lugo allowed one run and five hits in seven innings. At 15-8 is one behind Detroit’s Tarik Skubal and Atlanta’s Chris Sale, who lead the major leagues in wins. Kansas City closed within one percentage point of Minnesota for the second AL wild card spot. The Royals and Twins are both 4 1/2 games behind AL Central-leading Cleveland.
Mitch Garver and Luis Urías both drove in four runs, George Kirby struck out nine in six innings and the Seattle Mariners beat the Oakland Athletics 16-3 on Wednesday night. Seattle, which entered the day 5 1/2 games back of the last AL wild card spot, recorded a season high in runs and snapped a four-game losing streak to get back to .500. The Mariners scored seven times in the seventh inning to pull away, sending 12 batters to the plate. They added four more runs in the eighth.
Xavier Edwards hit an RBI single in the 10th inning and the Miami Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 4-3 on Wednesday night. Automatic runner Griffin Conine advanced to third on Nick Fortes’ groundout. Edwards followed with a soft line drive off Derek Law that bounced into left field for Miami’s first win of the season against Washington after eight losses. John McMillon pitched the top of the 10th for the win in a game that attracted a season low 6,156 at LoanDepot Park. Nationals starter MacKenzie Gore retired the first 16 before issuing a walk. Fortes then broke up Gore’s no-hit bit with an RBI double.
Jarred Kelenic hit a three-run home run and the Atlanta Braves continued their mastery of the Colorado Rockies with a 5-2 victory on Wednesday night. Charlie Morton pitched five innings to pick up the win, allowing two runs on five hits and three walks while striking out eight. Atlanta starters have now gone 23 straight games allowing three runs or fewer, the longest streak in the majors this season. Raisel Iglesias extended his scoreless streak to 23 1/3 innings and picked up his 30th save. The Braves are now 16-3 against Colorado since the start of the 2022 season.
Luken Baker singled home the go-ahead run with two outs in the 10th inning to give the St. Louis Cardinals a 3-2 victory over the Milwaukee Brewers on Wednesday night. The Cardinals won two of three from the NL Central-leading Brewers, with extra-inning victories each of the last two nights. St. Louis won 7-4 in 12 innings on Tuesday. St. Louis' Sonny Gray allowed just one run in seven innings. Milwaukee's Eric Haase hit a tying leadoff homer in the eighth.
Zac Gallen pitched six hitless innings for his 50th career victory and the Arizona Diamondbacks held on to beat the San Francisco Giants 6-4 on Wednesday night. Gallen (11-6) had eight strikeouts, threw 63 of 100 pitches for strikes and overcame four walks to win for the second time six starts. The Giants didn’t get their first hit until Gallen was gone. Tyler Fitzgerald singled off reliever Kevin Ginkel leading off the seventh, then scored on Wade’s sixth home run of the season. Eugenio Suárez and Pavin Smith hit solo home runs to help the Diamondbacks (79-61) move within five games of the NL West-leading Los Angeles. Arizona holds the second NL wild-card spot.
Gold Glove third baseman Matt Chapman have agreed to a $151 million, six-year contract with the San Francisco Giants for 2025-30, giving up his chance to become a free agent after the season. Chapman will get a $1 million signing bonus, payable next year, and annual salaries of $25 million. He joined the Giants as a free agent in March, agreeing to a contract guaranteeing $54 million over three seasons. That deal gave him the right to opt out after 2024 and 2025. It included a $2 million signing bonus and a $16 million salary for 2024.
WNBA
Caitlin Clark became the fastest player in WNBA history to reach 100 3-pointers in a season and finished with 24 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for her second career triple-double as the playoff-bound Indiana Fever beat the Los Angeles Sparks 93-86. Clark connected on her second 3 of the game and 100th of the season midway through the third quarter and added two more to reach 102. The No. 1 overall draft pick is the first rookie with 100 3s. She also became the first rookie and fifth WNBA player with multiple triple-doubles in a season. Aliyah Boston had 24 points and 14 rebounds for the Fever.
NFL
The NFL season kicks off Thursday night at Arrowhead Stadium with a rematch of the AFC championship game. Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs will raise their championship banner and begin their quest to become the first team to three-peat in the Super Bowl era. Game time is 8:20 p.m. Lamar Jackson and the Baltimore Ravens owe them one. Despite leading the NFL with 13 wins last season, the Ravens fell short against the Chiefs, losing 17-10 at home. Jackson ended up winning the NFL MVP award for the second time in five years but it was bittersweet after another playoff disappointment.
NHL
Fans and Columbus Blue Jackets players gathered for an emotional candlelight vigil outside the team’s arena to remember Johnny Gaudreau and brother Matthew, who died last week when they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while riding bicycles in their home state of New Jersey. The crowd of roughly 1,000 was encouraged at 7:49 p.m. to light their candles, and for the next 13:21 — for Johnny’s jersey No. 13 Matthew’s No. 21 — they stood in silence watching a nearby video screen as a slideshow played of the brothers from childhood, through their teenage years and into college hockey, the pros, marriages, baptisms and lives filled with joy and love.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Colorado-Nebraska was once a Big Eight rivalry that evolved into a Big 12 rivalry. The Buffaloes and Cornhuskers took a break when it would have been a Big 12-Big Ten game and then reconnected as Pac-12-Big Ten matchup. Now, that the Buffs are back in the Big 12, the rivalry has circled back to check that Big 12-Big Ten box. Got all that? Conference realignment can be hard to keep up with, but we're just glad Colorado and Nebraska are playing. Especially with both programs looking for a big win under second-year coaches.
OLYMPICS
Ugandan Olympic athlete Rebecca Cheptegei has died at a Kenyan hospital where she was being treated for burns over 80% of her body from an attack by her partner. A hospital official confirmed her death on Thursday. Police say Cheptegei’s partner, Dickson Ndiema, bought a can of gasoline, poured it on her and set her ablaze during a disagreement Sunday. A report filed by the local chief said the couple was heard fighting over the land where her house was built before the fire started.
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