MLB
Anthony Volpe’s third-inning grand slam overcame Freddie Freeman’s record-setting home run, and the New York Yankees avoided a World Series sweep with an 11-4 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers that forced a Game 5. Freeman became the only player to homer in six straight World Series games, hitting a two-run drive in the first inning for the second consecutive night. Game 5 is 8:08 tonight in New York, with the Yankees ace Gerrit Cole and the Dodgers’ Jack Flaherty meeting in a rematch of Game 1. New York is seeking to become the first team to overcome a 3-0 Series deficit.
Two fans at Yankee Stadium were ejected from Game 4 of the World Series after one pried a foul ball out of the glove of Los Angeles Dodgers right fielder Mookie Betts on Tuesday night. Betts leaped at the wall in foul territory and initially caught Gleyber Torres’ pop up in the first inning, but a fan in the first row with a gray Yankees road jersey grabbed Betts’ glove with both hands and pulled the ball out. Another fan grabbed Betts’ non-glove hand. Betts reacted angrily, and Torres was immediately called out on fan interference.
Freddie Freeman broke a pair of World Series records Tuesday night when he homered yet again for the Los Angeles Dodgers in Game 4 against the New York Yankees. The slugger laced a two-run shot to right field in the first inning for the second consecutive night, making him the first major league player to go deep in the first four games of a World Series. Freeman also became the only player to homer in six straight World Series games. His streak dates back to the 2021 championship he won with Atlanta against Houston.
The World Series beat “Monday Night Football” in the battle for television viewers. The Los Angeles Dodgers' 4-2 victory over the New York Yankees in Game 3 of the Fall Classic averaged 13.64 million viewers on Fox, Fox Deportes and streaming according to early numbers by Nielsen. That beat the 13.4 million that tuned in for the Pittsburgh Steelers' 26-18 win over the New York Giants on ABC, ESPN, ESPN Deportes, ESPN2 and streaming. The audience for Yankees-Dodgers peaked at 14.25 million from 9-9:15 p.m. EDT. It was the most-watched Game 3 since 2018, when the Dodgers’ 18-inning victory over the Red Sox average 13.3 million.
NHL
Alex Ovechkin scored twice as the Washington Capitals beat the New York Rangers 5-3. Ovechkin's 855th and 856th goals put him 38 back of breaking Wayne Gretzky's NHL career record. Connor McMichael and Aliaksei Protas also scored for the Capitals, and Nic Dowd sealed it with an empty-net goal with 35.8 seconds remaining. Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin was arguably the best player on the ice with 41 saves despite allowing four goals. Matt Rempe fought Dylan McIlrath in his return to the New York lineup.
Leo Carlsson and Troy Terry scored power-play goals, Lukas Dostal turned aside 41 shots and the Anaheim Ducks beat the New York Islanders 3-1. Mason McTavish had two assists and Frank Vatrano added an empty-net goal in the final minute and had an assist. Mathew Barzal scored his second of the season and Ilya Sorokin finished with 21 saves but the Islanders lost for the third time in their last four games. The Ducks earned their first win in game three of a four-game road trip.
Samuel Ersson stopped 23 shots, Tyson Foerster broke a scoreless tie early in the second period and the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Boston Bruins 2-0. Joel Farabee added an empty-net goal with 24 seconds remaining and the Flyers won in Boston for the first time since a 3-2 victory on April 5, 2021. Ersson got his sixth career shutout and first this season. He survived a scare about five minutes into the third period when the puck got behind him after glancing off his skate. But he flopped backward on top of it and kept it from crossing the line.
Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 26 shots in what will likely be his final game in Pittsburgh as the Minnesota Wild beat the Pittsburgh Penguins 5-3 on Tuesday night. Frederick Gaudreau scored twice and Kirill Kaprizov added a goal and two assists. Kaprizov tied the franchise record with his sixth straight multipoint game. Mats Zuccarello and Jakub Lauko also scored for Minnesota. Rickard Rakell scored twice and Valtteri Puustinen got his first power-play goal for Pittsburgh. Sidney Crosby had three assists. Joel Blomqvist stopped 35 shots for Pittsburgh.
Defenseman Brandon Montour had three goals and one assist, and the Seattle Kraken defeated the Montreal Canadiens 8-2 on Tuesday night. Jaden Schwartz scored once with two helpers and Chandler Stephenson added four assists. Oliver Bjorkstrand and Jamie Oleksiak had a goal and an assist each, while Ryker Evans and Eeli Tolvanen also scored. Joey Daccord made 28 saves. The Kraken chased Canadiens netminder Sam Montembeault with five goals on 10 shots. Backup Cayden Primeau stopped 10 of 13 the rest of the way for Montreal, which had won two games in a row.
Brady Tkachuk, Tim Stützle and Adam Gaudette each scored two goals as the Ottawa Senators beat the St. Louis Blues 8-1 on Tuesday night. Josh Norris scored a minute into the game, while Noah Gregor added another just three minutes later before Stützle added his first of the game. Linus Ullmark made 26 saves to record his second victory of the season. The Senators chased Blues’ starting goalie Joel Hofer after he let in five goals on 21 shots. Jordan Binnington allowed three goals in relief. Dylan Holloway scored for the Blues.
Tyler Toffoli scored the go-ahead goal midway through the third period, Jake Walman had his second straight 3-point game, and the San Jose Sharks beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 for their second straight win after going winless through their first nine games. Walman scored one goal and had two assists, Fabian Zetterlund scored a key third-period goal, and William Eklund added an empty-netter. Walman had three assists in Monday’s 5-4 overtime victory over Utah. Sharks goalie Vitek Vanecek had 26 saves. Akil Thomas and Alex Laferriere scored for the Kings and David Rittich turned back 17 shots.
WOMEN’S HOCKEY
Expansion is on the table for the six-team Professional Women’s Hockey League, and executives aren’t placing limitations on which North American markets they’ll consider in a bid to add as many as two franchises for the 2025-26 season. All North American markets are being considered, with PWHL official Amy Scheer telling The Associated Press the league has targeted more than 20 communities to be issued requests for proposals for expansion by next week. And that doesn’t include additional markets that might approach the league for consideration. Among the potential U.S. expansion candidates are Detroit and Pittsburgh, where the PWHL hosted neutral-site games during its inaugural season last year.
NBA
Nikola Jokic had 29 points, 18 rebounds and 16 assists, becoming only the second player in NBA history to reach those totals in a game, and the Denver Nuggets beat the Brooklyn Nets 144-139 in overtime on Tuesday night. Jamal Murray and Aaron Gordon each scored 24 points for the Nuggets, while Russell Westbrook added 22. Dennis Schroder scored 28 points for Brooklyn, which led by 17 in the second quarter. Cam Thomas scored 26 and Cam Johnson had 20. Nic Claxton added 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Kyrie Irving scored 16 of his 35 points in the third quarter, Luka Doncic had a late surge to finish with 24 points, nine assists and eight rebounds, and the Dallas Mavericks held off the Minnesota Timberwolves 120-114 in the first rematch of the Western Conference finals from last season. Anthony Edwards had 24 of his 37 points in the first quarter to set a Target Center record, going 7 for 13 from 3-point range. He also went just 6 for 12 from the free-throw line.
Domantas Sabonis had 28 points and 11 rebounds, De’Aaron Fox added 19 points and the Sacramento Kings dominated the reeling Utah Jazz 113-96 on Tuesday night. Jordan Clarkson scored 21 points and John Collins tallied 18 for the Jazz, who opened the season with four straight defeats and lost starting forwards Taylor Hendricks (broken leg) and Lauri Markkanen (back spasms) on back-to-back nights. The Jazz have lost their last two home games by a combined 58 points. Rookie Kyle Filipowski got his first extended playing time and scored 12 points.
Buddy Hield scored a season-best 28 points, Brandin Podziemski had 19 points and fueled a furious second-half comeback, helping the Golden State Warriors rally from 20 down early to beat the New Orleans Pelicans 124-106. Zion Williamson had a season-high 31 points on 12-for-20 shooting and eight rebounds and Brandon Ingram scored 30 points for New Orleans. Jonathan Kuminga, who started the initial three games for Golden State but had been shooting 33.3% from the field averaging 8.0 points, came off the bench to score 17.
MAJOR LEAGUE SOCCER
Felipe Carballo scored his first goal with New York in the 25th minute and the Red Bulls beat the Columbus Crew 1-0 on Tuesday night in the opening game of the best-of-three series. New York won a road game during the MLS Cup playoffs for the first time since 2017. It was also the Red Bulls’ first postseason win in Columbus following four straight losses. Carballo volleyed home a header from Dylan Nealis on a corner kick. New York goalkeeper Carlos Coronel made a huge save of DeJuan Jones’ close-range shot in the 83rd. Coronel is the first New York goalkeeper to record at least eight saves in a postseason match since Ryan Meara (8) against the Crew in 2020.
Jefferson Diaz scored the decisive goal in a 5-4 shootout after Minnesota and Real Salt Lake played to a scoreless draw in regulation, and United beat RSL in the first game of a best-of-three series on Tuesday night. It marked Minnesota’s first MLS Cup playoff win via a penalty kick shootout in club history. United can clinch a spot in the Western Conference semifinals with another victory over RSL on Saturday. Diaz sent RSL goalkeeper Zac MacMath the wrong way in the sixth round and then Braian Ojeda had a shot deflect off the crossbar. Minnesota goalkeeper Dayne St. Clair secured his eighth clean sheet of the season.
NFL
The Indianapolis Colts are benching Anthony Richardson to start Joe Flacco at quarterback on Sunday at Minnesota, two people with knowledge of the decision tell The Associated Press. Coach Shane Steichen said Monday he was evaluating whether Richardson would remain the starter. The fourth pick in the 2023 NFL draft was 10 of 32 passing and got sacked five times in the Colts' 23-20 loss to Houston over the weekend. Richardson also drew outside criticism for taking himself out of the game for a play because he said he was tired. Flacco started two games for Indianapolis earlier this season when Richardson was out with a right hip injury.
Houston Texans receiver Stefon Diggs will miss the rest of the season after tearing the ACL in his right knee Sunday. Coach DeMeco Ryans made the announcement Tuesday, calling Diggs being out a huge loss. Diggs suffered the non-contact injury in the third quarter of Houston’s win over the Colts on Sunday. He was running a route and pulled up and grabbed at his right knee before falling to the ground.
The Carolina Panthers have traded wide receiver Diontae Johnson and a sixth-round pick in 2025 to Baltimore for the Ravens’ 2025 fifth-rounder. Johnson has been Carolina’s leading wide receiver since being acquired in an offseason trade with the Pittsburgh Steelers. He has 30 receptions for 357 yards and three touchdowns. He did not play in Sunday’s 28-14 loss to the Denver Broncos because of a rib injury.
The 1-year-old daughter of San Francisco 49ers cornerback Charvarius Ward has died after battling heart problems since her birth. Ward posted on Instagram that his daughter, Amani Joy, died on Monday morning. Amani Joy Ward was born prematurely with Down syndrome and had open-heart surgery in April 2023. The 49ers said in a statement that the team is devastated by her death.
COLLEGE SPORTS
Florida freshman Olivier Rioux is the world's tallest teenager. The 7-foot-9 walk-on center also is an intriguing basketball prospect. The happy-go-lucky Canadian who owns a spot in the Guinness record book will make basketball history when he plays for the 21st-ranked Gators this season. The cheerful 18-year-old better known as “Oli” will become the tallest to play college hoops, supplanting Kenny George of UNC Asheville (2006-08). Rioux is two inches taller than former NBA giants Gheorghe Muresan and Manute Bol and would actually look down on popular big men Yao Ming, Tacko Fall and Shawn Bradley.
© 2024 Associated Press. All rights reserved.
