MLB
The Boston Red Sox have their first 100-win season since their 1946 American League pennant run.
David Price combined with two relievers on a four-hitter as the Red Sox picked up their third straight win, 1-0 over the Blue Jays. Price is 15-6 with a 3.42 after limiting Toronto to three hits and no walks with seven strikeouts over seven innings.
Aaron Sanchez was almost as effective, but he also uncorked a wild pitch that scored Rafael Devers in the fifth inning.
Craig Kimbrel worked the ninth for his 39th save, helping Boston improve to a major league-best 100-46. The Red Sox take on the Blue Jays Thursday at 7:00 p.m.
The Red Sox need to win just six of their final 16 games to break a club record for victories set in 1912, the year Fenway Park opened.
Boston's magic number to clinch the AL East dropped to seven with the Yankees' 3-1 loss at Minnesota. Jake Odorizzi no-hit New York until Greg Bird's RBI double ended his night.
Luis Severino was the victim of non-support, allowing just one run and four hits over 5 2/3 innings but falling to 17-8.
New York is just one game ahead of Oakland for the first AL wild card. The Yanks have the night off as they head home to take on the Blue Jays Friday at 7:05 p.m.
Checking out Wednesday's other major league action:
Cleveland's magic number to clinch the AL Central remains three after Blake Snell picked up his major league-leading 19th victory in the Rays' 3-1 win over the Indians. Snell had a no-hitter until Jose Ramirez led off the seventh with his 38th home run of the season. Ji-Man Choi hit a two-run homer in the first off Carlos Carrasco to help Snell improve to 19-5.
George Springer made a run-saving diving catch in the eighth inning and the Astros completed their first-ever three-game sweep at Comerica Park by holding off the Tigers, 5-4. Alex Bregman doubled home a pair in a four-run fifth that put the Astros ahead, 5-2. The hit allowed Bregman to become the first third baseman in major league history to have 50 doubles and 30 homers in a season.
Houston's lead in the AL West remains three games over Oakland after the Athletics blasted the Orioles, 10-0 in Baltimore. All the runs came in the third inning as Matt Chapman began the eruption with a two-run double and ended it with an RBI single. Matt Olson crushed a three-run homer and Daniel Mengden worked five hitless innings of relief as the A's coasted to their sixth consecutive victory.
Austin Hedges and Hunter Renfroe belted two-run homers while the Padres were building a 5-0 lead in a 5-4 victory over the sputtering Mariners. San Diego scored three unearned runs and sent Seattle to its fourth loss in five games. Nelson Cruz and Kyle Seager hit solo homers for the M's, who are 9 ½ games out of a playoff berth.
Jameson Taillon won his fourth straight start and Jacob Stallings drove in three runs in the Pirates' 4-3 win at St. Louis. Taillon allowed two runs and four hits in seven innings as the Bucs ended the Cardinals' three-game winning streak. The Redbirds' lead for the second NL wild card was cut to two games over the Dodgers.
The Rockies won a thriller against the Diamondbacks as DJ LeMahieu unloaded a two-run, walk-off homer in the bottom of the ninth to complete Colorado's 5-4 comeback over Arizona. Nolan Arenado was 3-for-4 with a solo blast and two RBIs for the Rockies, whose lead in the NL West remains 1 ½ games over Los Angeles. The Diamondbacks fell 3 ½ games behind Colorado despite homers from Eduardo Escobar and Alex Avila.
The Dodgers avoided a seven-game season sweep of the Reds by getting three RBIs apiece from Yasmani Grandal and Justin Turner in an 8-1 rout at Cincinnati. Joc Pederson homered and Grandal had three hits for the Dodgers. Turner hit a two-run single in a four-run fifth that put Los Angeles ahead, 6-1.
The Cubs' lead in the NL Central is down to one game after Curtis Granderson homered, tripled and scored three runs to lead the second-place Brewers to a 5-1 win at Wrigley Field. Granderson also got three hits and Mike Moustakas had a two-run single for Milwaukee, which took two of three in the series. Six Brewers pitchers combined to hold Chicago to six hits, with Josh Hader stricking out three in the eighth to improve to 6-1.
Tyler Flowers beat out an infield single with two out in the ninth to score Charlie Culberson with the tiebreaking run in the Braves' fifth consecutive win, 2-1 at San Francisco. The Giants took a 1-0 lead on Evan Longoria's RBI single in the third, but Freddie Freeman's run-scoring single tied it three innings later. The Giants have dropped 11 straight, their longest losing streak since 1951 and two off the franchise record.
The Phillies' 5-1 loss at Washington gives the Braves a 7 ½-game lead in the NL East. Bryce Harper smacked a two-run homer before Juan Soto and Ryan Zimmerman added solo shots, sending Philadelphia to its fifth consecutive loss. Aaron Nola surrendered two round-trippers and was reached for four runs over five innings, leaving the Cy Young candidate 16-5 with a 2.42 ERA.
Francisco Arcia hit a pair of solo homers and a two-run double as the Angels whipped the Rangers, 8-1. Jose Fernandez hit a two-run shot and Felix Pena worked six shutout innings of six-hit ball to help Los Angeles get back to .500.
The Mets scored nine runs off three home runs in a 13-0 dismantling of the Marlins. Jay Bruce launched a grand slam, Amed Rosario hit a three-run shot and Dominic Smith added a two-run blast to back Zack Wheeler's eight shutout innings of four-hit ball. The start of the game was held up 5 1/2 hours by rain, causing Game 2 of the scheduled doubleheader to be postponed and pushed back to Thursday at 3:10 p.m. The pair will then face off at 6:40 p.m.
The White Sox knocked off the Royals, 4-2 on Tim Anderson's two-run homer in the 12th inning. Jose Rondon also hit a two-run shot for the White Sox, who ended a seven-game skid and avoided becoming the third big league club with at least 90 losses.
Elsewhere in the majors:
Tigers shortstop Niko Goodrum left Wednesday's game against the Astros in the second inning with a bruised quad following a collision with teammate Christin Stewart on a shallow fly ball to left field in the second inning. Goodrum tried to avoid Stewart as the left fielder grabbed a shallow fly ball, but the shortstop tripped over his teammate.
Yankees All-Star closer Aroldis Chapman could return next week from nearly a month on the disabled list. Chapman has not pitched since Aug. 21 because of left knee tendinitis, which has bothered him throughout the season.
Cubs right-hander Yu Darvish has undergone arthroscopic surgery on his right elbow to clean out loose debris. Darvish was declared out for the season last month after an MRI revealed a stress reaction in the elbow.
The Yankees are set to achieve their goal of coming under baseball's luxury tax threshold for the first time since the penalty started in 2003. Red Sox and Nationals remain the only teams on track to pay the tax this year, according to Aug. 31 figures compiled by the commissioner's office for clubs and obtained by The Associated Press.
NFL
Green Bay coach Mike McCarthy says Aaron Rodgers will be given the whole week to get ready for the Packers' game on Sunday against the NFC North rival Minnesota Vikings.
Rodgers threw three touchdown passes in the fourth quarter in last week's come-from-behind 24-23 win over the Chicago Bears after returning in the second half from a knee injury.
He reached for the back of his left leg after a Bears lineman landed on him during a sack.
Rodgers said after the game he would undergo more tests, though he planned to play against Minnesota.
In other NFL news:
Nick Foles will start for the Eagles against the Tampa Buccaneers on Sunday. The Super Bowl MVP has filled in since Carson Wentz tore two knee ligaments in Week 14 last year.
Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hopes his balky right elbow will be good to go Sunday against Kansas City. The 36-year-old says he banged his elbow on Pittsburgh's next-to-last offensive snap during last week's ugly tie in Cleveland.
Bills coach Sean McDermott says rookie quarterback Josh Allen will make his first career start on Sunday against the Chargers. Allen replaces second-year pro Nathan Peterman, who threw for just 24 yards and two interceptions before he was pulled in favor of Allen in the second half of last weekend's 47-3 loss at Baltimore.
Wide receiver Martavis Bryant is back with the Raiders less than two weeks after being released. His return comes after Oakland's passing game went flat in the second half of Monday's 33-13 loss to the Rams.
The Texans placed cornerback Kevin Johnson and right tackle Seantrel Henderson on injured reserve. Henderson is out for the season after sustaining an ankle injury in the first quarter on Sunday which required surgery. Johnson got his second concussion this season and is designated to return, which means he could come back in eight weeks.
Jaguars running back Leonard Fournette missed practice Wednesday because of a strained right hamstring suffered in their season-opening win over the Giants. The fourth overall pick in the 2017 NFL draft ran nine times for 41 yards before leaving the game in the second quarter.
Carolina officially placed starting right tackle Daryl Williams on injured reserve Wednesday with a knee injury and signed free-agent tackle Chris Clark.
Baltimore takes on Cincinnati Thursday at 8:20 p.m.
NBA
Thunder All-Star guard Russell Westbrook underwent an arthroscopic procedure on his right knee. That puts his availability for the season opener on Oct. 16 against the Golden State Warriors in doubt.
The team says Westbrook decided after suffering inflammation in the knee this past weekend that he'd have the procedure.
He averaged 25.4 points, a league-leading 10.3 assists and 10.1 rebounds last season.
WNBA
Breanna Stewart led the Storm to their third WNBA title Wednesday night, scoring 30 points in a 98-82 victory over the Washington Mystics in Game 3 of the best-of-five series.
Natasha Howard added career-high 29 points and 14 rebounds for the Storm. Seattle won 26 games during the regular season — 11 more than the 2017 campaign — entered the playoffs as the No. 1 seed, and swept the finals.
Stewart was the league MVP and was selected the Finals MVP after averaging 25.6 points in the three games. She scored 17 points in the first half as the Storm raced to a 47-30 lead.
Washington reached the Finals for the first time in franchise history.
"There's been a huge transformation with the culture of this team," said Delle Donne, who was acquired by Washington before the 2017 season. "Last year we were brand new. I didn't know (Toliver's' favorite) beer. That's a pretty important thing to know about Panda. Now I can go to the bar and order her everything she needs.
Toliver, seated next to the first-team All-WNBA player, chimed in. "I'm going to need a lot tonight."
Alysha Clark had 15 points for Seattle.
Washington battled Seattle and history. Since the league went to a best-of-five format in 2005, four teams trailed 0-2. Each lost Game 3. The Mystics joined that unwanted club. Poor perimeter shooting contributed. Washington finished 8 of 23 on 3-pointers in Game 3 and 11 for 60 (18.3) in the series.
Despite the misfires, Washington rallied from down 18 points to trailing 72-67 with 6:49 remaining. Starting with a Stewart 3-point play, Seattle countered with eight consecutive points and pulled away.
NHL
The Columbus Blue Jackets have given coach John Tortorella a two-year contract extension through the 2020-21 season.
The 60-year-old Tortorella has led the Blue Jackets to the playoffs in his first two full seasons and is the franchise's all-time leader in wins. Columbus is 129-87-23 record since being named coach in October 2015.
Elsewhere around the league:
Blues starting goaltender Jake Allen is expected to miss the first week or more of training camp because of back spasms. Allen is out at least 10 to 14 days, which would put him in position to return for the end of the preseason. St. Louis signed veteran Chad Johnson during the offseason to replace Carter Hutton as Allen's backup.
Predators forward Austin Watson has been suspended without pay for the entire preseason and first 27 games of the regular season for domestic abuse. Commissioner Gary Bettman handed down the suspension of Watson, who pleaded no contest in July to a charge of domestic assault stemming from an incident in June. A league investigation determined Watson engaged in unacceptable off-ice conduct.
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