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#SportsReport: BoSox, Dodgers Game 3 Friday...Texans Whip Dolphins

wikipedia commons/bostonredsox.com

MLB

This year's World Series hasn't been a ratings winner.

An average of 13,442,000 people tuned to Fox for Boston's 4-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers on Wednesday night, down 13 percent from Houston's 7-6, 11-inning win over the Dodgers in the second game last year. This was the lowest Game 2 viewership since 12,917,000 for Kansas City's 7-2 victory over San Francisco in 2014.

The Red Sox have a two-games-to-none lead in the Fall Classic following 8-4 and 4-2 wins. Game 3 is Friday at 8:09 p.m. Red Sox Pitcher Rick Porcello will start against Dodgers’ Walker Buehler.

Also at the series:

Red Sox manager Alex Cora says no decision has been made on whether slugger J.D. Martinez will start Game 3 of the World Series after serving as the club's designated hitter Tuesday and Wednesday. Cora said Martinez got treatment for his sore ankle during Thursday's travel day and would receive more on Friday. If Martinez plays the outfield Friday, Cora has ruled out using Mookie Betts at second base.

Joc Pederson will return to the top of the Dodgers' batting order in Game 3 after Dodgers skipper Dave Roberts used Brian Dozier as his leadoff hitter in the first two games. Pederson is 3 for 17 during the postseason when at the top of the lineup.

Rich Hill has been selected by Dodgers manager Dave Roberts to start Game 4 on Saturday. Hill has compiled a 2.61 ERA in four games this postseason, including three starts.

Elsewhere in the MLB:

The Minnesota Twins and Toronto Blue Jays have completed their managerial search. Both clubs have taken members of Kevin Cash's coaching staff in Tampa Bay.

Rocco Baldelli replaces Paul Molitor as the Twins' skipper following a four-year stint as a Rays coach. The 37-year-old Baldelli was drafted by the Rays in 2000 and hit .278 with 60 home runs and 262 RBIs in 519 major league games from 2003-10. He also spent four years as a special assistant to the Rays.

Charlie Montoyo is replacing John Gibbons in Toronto after serving as Tampa Bay's bench coach this season. The 53-year-old Montoyo moved to the bench following a three-year run as Tampa Bay's third base coach.

Montoyo won seven International League South Division titles and two Governors' Cup championships with Durham of the International League.

In other MLB news:

Darnell Coles resigned as Milwaukee's hitting coach and the Brewers fired bullpen coach Lee Tunnell and head trainer Dan Wright. General manager David Stearns said Coles informed the team of his desire to seek other opportunities after four years as Milwaukee's hitting coach.

NFL

The Houston Texans now have a five-game winning streak since beginning the NFL season 0-3.

DeShaun Watson tied his career high by throwing for five touchdowns in the Texans' 42-23 victory over Miami. Watson had scoring passes of 73 and 49 yards to run his career total to 34, second-most in league history after 15 games.

Rookie Jordan Thomas caught the first two touchdown passes of his career, DeAndre Hopkins had 82 yards receiving and two scores and Will Fuller added 124-yards receiving and a touchdown.

Former Houston quarterback Brock Osweiler threw for 241 yards with an interception in his third straight start for the 4-4 Dolphins.

Sunday’s NFL Matchups:

The Philadelphia Eagles take on Jacksonville at 9:30 a.m.

The New York Jets go against the Chicago Bears at 1 p.m.

The Giants host Washington at 1 p.m.

Jets' Powell expected to make full recovery:

New York Jets coach Todd Bowles says running back Bilal Powell is expected to make a full recovery after he has surgery to repair a bulging disk in his neck.

Powell was injured during last Sunday's loss to Minnesota. Bowles clarified the injury by saying it is similar to the one from which wide receiver Quincy Enunwa returned this season.

Initially, Bowles said that it was "possible" Powell's injury could threaten his playing career because it "may be worse" than Enunwa's injury.

In other NFL news:

Bills running back LeSean McCoy is returning to practice on a limited basis as he makes his way back from a concussion. McCoy suffered the injury early in Buffalo's 37-5 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Sunday.

Two people with knowledge of the decision say the NFL has fired down judge Hugo Cruz for inadequate performance over a sustained period. Cruz was in his fourth season as an NFL official and a member of referee Carl Cheffers' crew.

T25 FOOTBALL

No. 13 West Virginia had no trouble rebounding from its blowout loss at Iowa State.

Will Grier was 17 of 27 for 353 yards and three touchdowns before sitting out the fourth quarter of the Mountaineers' 58-14 dismantling of Baylor. Grier had 302 passing yards by halftime, when West Virginia had already compiled 435 total yards in taking a 41-0 lead. Grier had TD tosses of 25 and 65 yards to David Sills during the Mountaineers' 31-point second quarter.

West Virginia allowed just 287 total yards and improved to 6-1.

The other top-25 game had Georgia Southern spoiling Appalachian State's first game as a ranked team. Shai Werts rushed for 129 yards, including a 47-yard touchdown run in Georgia Southern's 34-14 rout of the 25th-rated Mountaineers. Werts was just 1-for-3 passing, but the completing was a 57-yard scoring strike to Darion Anderson early in the second quarter.

Wesley Fields had scoring runs of 10 and 18 yards in the Eagles' fifth straight win.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL

An external investigation of the Maryland football program under coach DJ Durkin has determined that the team "did not have a toxic culture," but was problematic enough to where players feared speaking out.

The 198-page report was obtained by The Associated Press and was compiled by an independent commission of eight people. It said the culture of the program was not the reason behind the death of offensive lineman Jordan McNair, but it did not include any recommendations about Durkin's future status with the program.

McNair died on June 13, two weeks after collapsing on the field during a preseason workout.

Durkin was placed on paid leave before the season.

NBA

The Detroit Pistons remain unbeaten, which means the Cleveland Cavaliers are still winless.

Andre Drummond had 26 points and 22 rebounds as the Pistons knocked off the Cavaliers, 110-103 in Detroit. Blake Griffin scored 26 points on the heels of his 50-point performance in Tuesday's victory against the 76ers.

Reggie Jackson had 16 points for the Pistons, who are 4-0 for the first time in 10 years.

Kyle Korver had a team-high 22 points for the Cavaliers, who were without forward Kevin Love due to a sore left foot.

Cleveland is off to its first 0-5 start since 2003, LeBron James' rookie season.

Meanwhile, James' new team has won two straight since an 0-3 start. He had 28 points, 11 assists and 11 rebounds in pushing the Lakers past the Nuggets, 128-111. Kyle Kuzma scored 22 points and JaVale McGee added 21 to complement James' 74th career triple-double.

Nikola Jokic scored 24 points in Denver's first loss.

Checking out Thursday's other NBA action:

Jayson Tatum scored 24 points and the Celtics turned a 16-point, halftime deficit into a 101-95 victory at Oklahoma City. Marcus Morris added 21 points and Al Horford scored 19 as Boston against the Thunder, who remain one of the NBA's two winless teams.

Damian Lillard scored 34 of his 41 points after halftime and CJ McCollum added 22 points as the Trail Blazers topped the Magic, 128-114. Orlando trailed just 102-99 with about eight minutes left before Lillard and McCollum re-entered the game and combined to score 22 of Portland's final 26 points

Friday Night on the Court:

The New York Knicks host the Golden State Warriors at 7:30 p.m.

The Brooklyn Nets take on New Orleans at 8 p.m.

Harden to miss at least 2 games:

The Houston Rockets will spend some time without their reigning MVP as they try to rebound from their 1-3 start.

James Harden will miss at least two games because of a hamstring injury suffered in Wednesday' loss to Utah. General Manager Daryl Morey said Thursday that Harden had a Grade 1-Plus hamstring strain and that he'd sit out on Friday and Tuesday against Portland before being re-evaluated.

Harden scored 29 points Wednesday night.

In other NBA news:

Bulls forward Bobby Portis will miss four to six weeks because of a moderately sprained medial collateral ligament in his right knee. The fourth-year pro was averaging 10.5 points this season before his injury in Wednesday's win over Charlotte. He joins a lengthy list of injured Bulls players, including guard Kris Dunn, Lauri Markkanen and Denzel Valentine.

Cavaliers All-Star Kevin Love missed the Pistons game with a sore left foot. Love is averaging 19.0 points and 13.5 rebounds but is shooting just 32.3 percent from the field.

NHL

The Nashville Predators have continued their strong start by erasing three one-goal deficits in New Jersey.

Kyle Turris capped the comeback by scoring 3:35 into overtime to give the Predators a 4-3 win over the Devils. Filip Forsberg tied it for the final time by netting a power-play goal with 6:20 left in regulation before Turris allowed Nashville to improve to 8-2-0.

Nico Hischier scored twice for the Devils, who are 0-2-1 since winning their first four games.

Elsewhere on NHL ice:

Patric Hornqvist and Phil Kessel each scored twice in the Penguins' 9-1 blowout over the Flames in Calgary. Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Jack Johnson, Jake Guentzel and Matt Cullen also tallied to help Pittsburgh improve to 3-0-0 on its four-game Canadian trip.

The Sabres beat the Canadiens, 4-3 on Kyle Okposo's power-play goal with 61 seconds to play. Sam Reinhart also had a third-period goal, Jason Pominville scored twice and Jeff Skinner had three assists in the Sabres' third straight win.

Zdeno Chara provided a pair of goals as the Bruins blanked the Flyers, 3-0 to improve to 9-0-1 in their last 10 meetings with Philadelphia in Boston. Jaroslav Halak handled 26 shots in his second shutout of the season and 44th of his career.

Alex DeBrincat had a goal and an assist as the Blackhawks dumped the Rangers, 4-1. Nick Schmaltz set up Alexandre Fortin's tiebreaking goal in the second period and Corey Crawford made 18 saves in Chicago's third win in four games.

Evan Bouchard notched his first NHL goal for the Oilers in a 4-1 win against the Capitals. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had a goal and an assist for Edmonton, which also received tallies from Alex Chiasson and Connor McDavid in halting a two-game slide.

The Wild also earned a 4-1 win over the sputtering Kings as Eric Fehr and Jonas Brodin scored their first goals of the season. Devan Dubnyk stopped 23 shots and had an assist to help Minnesota send Los Angeles to its sixth straight loss.

Boone Jenner and Anthony Duclair each scored twice and the Blue Jackets rallied from a two-goal deficit to beat the St. Louis Blues, 7-4. Josh Anderson had a goal and an assist as Columbus stopped a two-game skid.

The Stars knocked off the Ducks, 5-2 as Jason Dickinson had two goals and an assist in his first multipoint game. Anaheim wasted Ryan Getzlaf's two goals and dropped its fourth in a row.

Clayton Keller and Brad Richardson scored during Arizona's three-goal third period before Lawson Crouse added an empty-netter to cap a 4-1 victory over the Canucks. Alex Goligoski scored in the second period for the first goal by a Coyotes defenseman this season.

Saturday on the Ice:

The New Jersey Devils host Florida at 12 p.m.

The New York Islanders face off against the Flyers at 1 p.m.

Boston goes against Montreal at 7 p.m.

The Buffalo Sabres take on Columbus at 7 p.m.

Wilson's suspension stands:

NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman has upheld the 20-game suspension that was given to Washington Capitals forward Tom Wilson for an illegal check to an opponent's head in a preseason game.

Bettman determined that the initial ruling by the Department of Player Safety on Oct. 3 "was supported by clear and convincing evidence." The union handled Wilson's appeal last week and felt his hit didn't merit a suspension since it didn't break a rule.

Wilson's fourth ban in less than 13 months is costing him nearly a quarter of the 82-game regular season

In other NHL news:

Rangers forward Matt Beleskey has been assigned to Hartford of the American Hockey League after clearing waivers. Beleskey has appeared in just one game with New York since he was acquired in the February trade that sent Rick Nash to Boston. The 30-year-old Beleskey has 75 goals and 82 assists in 473 NHL games.

PGA

Cameron Champ is the first-round leader at the Sanders Farms Championship in Mississippi.

Champ opened with a 7-under 65 for a one-shot advantage over Cameron Tringale.

Rory Sabbatini, D.J. Trahan, Andrew Romero, Chad Ramey and Robert Streb are two off the pace.

WTA

Former top-ranked women's tennis player and reigning Australian Open champion Caroline Wozniacki says she was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis ahead of this year's U.S. Open.

She made the announcement after being eliminated from the year-end competition following a 5-7, 7-5, 6-3 loss to Elina Svitolina in her third round-robin match at the WTA Finals.

© 2018 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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