MLB
Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber set the MLB single-season record with his 14th leadoff home run Tuesday night against the Tampa Bay Rays before being removed from the game in the fourth inning due to a hyperextended left elbow. Schwarber sent a 1-0 fastball from Rays starter Taj Bradley 437 feet to center field, moving ahead of Alfonso Soriano, who had 13 leadoff homers in 2003 with the New York Yankees. Schwarber’s 35th homer of the season was the 45th leadoff homer of his career, with 32 coming since joining the Phillies in 2022.
Seth Lugo struck out 10 in seven innings and Salvador Perez hit two run-scoring singles to reach 100 RBIs for the second time as the Kansas City Royals beat the New York Yankees 5-0. Tommy Pham homered and Bobby Witt Jr. had an RBI single for the Royals in a potential American League playoff preview. Lugo carved up a full-strength Yankees lineup that entered leading the majors in homers and ranked second in runs. The right-hander allowed only three singles and walked none, retiring 17 straight batters after Gleyber Torres’ bloop hit to begin the bottom of the first. With his 16th win, Lugo tied Atlanta's Chris Sale and Detroit's Tarik Skubal for the major league lead.
Davis Schneider hit a two-run triple, Chris Bassitt struck out eight against his former team and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the New York Mets 6-2. The Mets lost for the second time in 12 games and fell into a tie with Atlanta for the final National League wild card. The Braves beat Washington 12-0. Ernie Clement scored three runs and Leo Jiménez reached base three times and drove in a run as the Blue Jays won for the second time in eight September games. Bassitt (10-13) allowed one run and five hits in six innings.
Cedric Mullins hit two homers and drove in three runs, Albert Suárez gave up one run and struck out a career-best eight over six innings and the Baltimore Orioles held off the Boston Red Sox 5-3. Adley Rutschman added a two-run single for the Orioles, who won for the only the second time in six games as they attempt to catch the AL East-leading New York Yankees. Triston Casas and Masataka Yoshida each had an RBI double for Boston, which has lost seven of its last 11 in its pursuit of Minnesota for the AL’s third wild-card spot.
Rookie Keider Montero pitched Detroit’s first individual shutout in three seasons and the Tigers beat the Colorado Rockies 11-0. Montero (5-6) was making his 14th major league start and became the first Tigers pitcher with nine shutout innings since Spencer Turnbull’s no-hitter in Seattle on May 18, 2021. The 24-year-old right-hander needed 96 pitchers while facing the minimum 27 batters. He allowed three singles and struck out five without walking a batter. Parker Meadows hit a solo homer in the first inning, his seventh, and drove in three runs.
Veteran stars Jacob deGrom and Max Scherzer will rejoin the Texas Rangers’ pitching rotation later this week after both had an extended absence due to injuries. Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said Tuesday that deGrom will pitch on Friday and Scherzer on Saturday. Texas is still hanging on the fringe of the AL playoff race, but is six games back for the final wild-card spot. The 36-year-old DeGrom will be making his season debut after missing more than a year because of Tommy John surgery. Scherzer — a three-time Cy Young winner — hasn’t pitched in about six weeks because of a shoulder injury.
Manny Machado hit a two-run homer to become San Diego’s career home runs leader, Fernando Tatis Jr. added a three-run drive and the Padres slugged past the Seattle Mariners 7-3. Machado’s 164th homer in a Padres uniform was a line drive to center field off George Kirby in the sixth inning and gave San Diego a 5-2 lead. Machado watched from home plate as the ball left the bat at nearly 109 mph. Tatis went opposite field to give the Padres a 3-2 lead with his first long ball since June 20 prior to a lengthy stint on the injured list due a stress reaction in his right thighbone.
Kyle Farmer hit a three-run home run in the second inning to provide a well-timed jolt for a sputtering lineup, and Matt Wallner and Carlos Santana also went deep for the Minnesota Twins in a 10-5 victory over the Los Angeles Angels. The Twins stopped a four-game losing streak. Pablo López improved to 15-8 by winning his fourth straight start on the strength of 10 strikeouts over seven innings without an earned run. He withstood a three-run homer by Zach Neto in the fifth that cut the lead to 6-4.
Lane Thomas hit a three-run homer and Cleveland’s bullpen was terrific once again, helping the Guardians beat the Chicago White Sox 5-0 after Ben Lively departed with a leg injury. Thomas also doubled and scored on Kyle Manzardo’s single in the second inning. With two on and one out in the sixth, he drove Gus Varland’s second pitch deep to left-center for his third homer since he was acquired in a July 29 trade with Washington. Six Cleveland relievers combined for seven innings of four-hit ball after Lively departed with a right thigh contusion.
Zack Gelof homered early, Max Schuemann and Nick Allen drove in runs with 12th-inning bunts and the Oakland Athletics beat the Houston Astros 4-3. With the score 2-2, Daz Cameron’s bunt single to start the 12th sent Gelof, the automatic runner, to third. Schuemann then bunted to Héctor Neris, who spiked his throw home as Gelof scored on the sacrifice. Cameron to move to third on the error as the ball rolled in the field. With runners at the corners, Allen bunted into a forceout that scored Cameron for a 4-2 lead.
Andrew McCutchen hit a three-run blast to reach the 20-homer plateau for the 10th time in his career and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Miami Marlins 6-4. The 37-year-old designated hitter took Miami's Adam Oller to the first row of the bleachers in left field with two on in the fifth to give the Pirates a five-run lead. Eight of McCutchen's 20-homer seasons have come in Pittsburgh. That's second-most in franchise history behind Hall of Famer Willie Stargell. Jhonny Pereda had three hits for Miami.
Michael Harris II hit two of Atlanta’s four home runs and the Braves had 15 hits in a 12-0 rout of the Washington Nationals, despite losing starter Reynaldo López to a right shoulder injury after one inning. López left with right shoulder tightness after throwing 25 pitches. He and three relievers limited the Nationals — losers of seven of their last 10 games — to three hits. Sean Murphy hit a two-run shot and Orlando Arcia had solo homer. Ramón Laureano and Murphy each had two hits and three RBIs. MacKenzie Gore took the loss for Washington.
TJ Friedl had a two-run single and scored Cincinnati’s other run, all in the fifth inning, as the Reds beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-0. The Reds’ Elly De La Cruz stole two bases after walking in the first inning, raising his MLB-leading total to 64 stolen bases. He was thrown out in the third inning when the Cardinals pitched out. Rhett Lowder (1-1) earned his first win in his third big-league appearance. The 22-year-old, who was a first-round pick in the 2023 draft, worked five scoreless inning and finished with three strikeouts and no walks.
William Contreras had three hits and drove in a run, Garrett Mitchell hit a home run and the Milwaukee Brewers beat the San Francisco Giants 3-2. Aaron Civale (6-8) allowed two runs in 5 1/3 innings, pitching well against the Giants after throwing seven shutout innings against them two weeks ago and improving to 4-2 since being traded to the Brewers from the Rays in July. Matt Chapman hit an RBI double in the bottom of the first for the Giants and Mike Yastrzemski homered in the sixth inning. Aaron Roupp (0-1) settled down after a rough first inning to take the loss.
The Cubs rallied for the tying and go-ahead runs in a five-run eighth inning, when the Los Angeles Dodgers committed three errors in a 6-3 loss to Chicago that featured a matchup of Japanese star pitchers Yoshinobu Yamamoto ad Shota Imanaga. The NL West-leading Dodgers blew a 3-1 lead and lost to the Cubs for the second straight night, assuring their first series loss since Aug. 5-7 against visiting Philadelphia. Center fielder Pete Crow-Armstrong robbed Max Muncy of a potential two-run homer with two outs in the ninth.
WNBA
Breanna Stewart scored 27 points, Sabrina Ionescu had 14 points and 11 of New York’s season-high 33 assists, and the Liberty cruised by the Dallas Wings 105-91. New York became the first team this season to reach the 30-win plateau, with four regular-season games remaining. The Liberty hold a three-game lead over second-place Minnesota. New York shot 55% from the field, including 16 of 29 from 3-point range. Ionescu made four 3-pointers and Stewart, Jonquel Jones and Leonie Fiebich each added three. Arike Ogunbowale scored 23 points and Natasha Howard added 21 for Dallas.
Marina Mabrey scored a season-high 26 points and matched a career-high with six 3-pointers, Brionna Jones had 19 points and eight rebounds, and the Connecticut Sun beat the Los Angeles Sparks 86-66. Connecticut moved within one game of second-place Minnesota. Connecticut scored 15 straight points spanning the first-quarter break and led 43-32 at halftime. Alyssa Thomas finished with seven points, 11 rebounds and 12 assists. She also had one steal to become the franchise leader. Rickea Jackson scored 16 points, and Azura Stevens had 10 points and 17 rebounds for Los Angeles.
Kayla McBride scored 12 of her 15 points in the third quarter, Napheesa Collier had 14 points and eight rebounds, and the Minnesota Lynx beat the Atlanta Dream 76-64 on Tuesday night. It was tied at 50-all with four minutes left in the third quarter before Minnesota closed on a 13-4 run to take a 63-54 lead. McBride, who only had two points in the first half, scored seven during the run. Carleton also finished with 14 points for Minnesota. Allisha Gray scored 17 points, going 8 of 8 at the free-throw line, and Rhyne Howard added 14 points for Atlanta.
The WNBA playoff picture is still jumbled with the final postseason spot coming down to three teams — Chicago, Atlanta and Washington. All three teams will play each other at least once over the last nine days of the season. The Mystics face both the Sky and Dream this week, including a home-and-home set against Atlanta. Chicago visits Atlanta next Tuesday. The Sky have a one-game advantage over the Dream and a two-game lead over the Mystics, though they lost star rookie Angel Reese for the season with a wrist injury.
NFL
Tyreek Hill’s teammates and coaches used words like “triggering” and a “shame” to describe body camera footage showing a police officer yanking the Miami Dolphins receiver out of his sports car and forcing him face-first onto the ground during a traffic stop. The incident outside the Dolphins’ home stadium has drawn national attention. Quarterback Tua Tagovailoa says it led to a lot of conversation in the locker room among Hill’s teammates, some of whom privately shared their own personal experiences with police.
The NFL said it is investigating the latest civil lawsuit filed against Cleveland Browns quarterback Deshaun Watson to determine if he violated the league’s personal conduct policy. On Monday, a woman in Texas accused Watson of sexual assault in 2020 while he played for Houston. League spokesman Brian McCarthy said the league is reviewing the complaint. In the lawsuit, the woman alleges Watson forced himself on her sexually during an incident at her apartment. Watson was suspended 11 games by the league in 2022 after more than two dozen women accused him of sexual assault and inappropriate conduct during massage therapy sessions. The Browns traded five draft picks for the three-time Pro Bowler in 2022.
NFL kickers benefited from sloppy and rusty offensive performances in Week 1. With many teams struggling to move the ball effectively and consistently, kickers got a chance to provide plenty of scoring. They delivered at a record-setting pace. Kickers made 21 of 23 field goals from 50 yards or longer, an astounding 91.3% success rate. That number was the most 50-plus yarders in a single week in NFL history, surpassing the previous high of 15 in Week 3 last year. On the other side, passing numbers were way down. That helped created more opportunities for the kickers because more drives stalled or went nowhere in some cases after turnovers.
Former NFL running back Adrian Peterson has been ordered by a Texas judge to turn over personal assets to help pay a debt that has ballooned to more than $12 million. A court-appointed receiver has been seeking to collect money from Peterson as part of a judgment against the four-time All-Pro running back over a loan he failed to repay to a Pennsylvania lending company. On Monday a judge in Houston granted a request by the receiver for law enforcement to accompany him to Peterson’s home in suburban Houston so he can inventory assets that can be sold off. Attorneys for Peterson did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment.
SOCCER
Former Tottenham and Chelsea manager Mauricio Pochettino has been hired to succeed Gregg Berhalter as U.S. men’s national team coach, 21 months before the Americans host the 2026 World Cup. A 52-year-old Argentine, Pochettino became the 10th U.S. coach in 14 years and its first foreign-born leader since Jurgen Klinsmann from 2011-16. Pochettino has coached Espanyol, Southampton, Tottenham, Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain, winning a 2022 Ligue 1 title. Pochettino had been in negotiations since mid-August. Matt Crocker, the USSF’s sporting director in charge of the search, was Southampton’s academy director when Pochettino started at that club.
NBA
The NBA has expanded the permissible scope of coach’s challenge reviews on some out-of-bounds plays, saying Tuesday that if a foul should have been called on the play it now can be assessed shortly after the fact. The league’s Board of Governors approved the move at its meeting in New York, after it was unanimously recommended by the league’s competition committee last week. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver was scheduled to speak about the meeting later Tuesday. The change will take effect this season.
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
Auburn quarterback Payton Thorne has taken heat from a different source after struggling in a loss to California: Angry sports bettors. Thorne said on The Next Round podcast that he has heard from some fans in person and on social media while others “hit you up on Venmo, all types of stuff.” Thorne was intercepted four times in a 21-14 loss to Cal. The NCAA said in May that one in three high-profile athletes received abusive message from those with betting interests during the NCAA basketball tourneys.
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