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#SportsReport: Red Sox Win AL Pennant

David Price
WikiMedia Commons
David Price

MLB

The Boston Red Sox are American League champions for the first time since their World Series run of 2013.

David Price worked six shutout innings and the Red Sox belted two home runs off Justin Verlander in a 4-1 victory over the Astros in Houston. Boston ended the Astros' reign as champions by sweeping the final four games of the series.

J.D. Martinez opened the scoring with a third-inning homer off Verlander, who also surrendered Rafael Devers' three-run blast in the sixth.

Price scattered three hits in the best postseason start of his career. He had been 0-9 in 11 playoff starts before shutting down Houston.

Houston failed to score until Marwin Gonzalez belted a solo shot off Matt Barnes in the seventh. It was one of just five hits for the Astros.

Jackie Bradley Jr. was named the series MVP. Bradley provided a go-ahead, three-run double in Game 2, a grand slam in the third game and a go-ahead, two-run homer that helped Boston take a 3-1 series lead.

The Red Sox are 5-0 on the road this postseason as they seek their fourth crown in 15 years. They will open the World Series at home against either the Dodgers or Brewers.

The victory means Chris Sale will likely be the Game 1 starter for Boston in the World Series. Manager Alex Cora said he expected his ailing left-hander to pitch Game 6 of the ALCS Saturday unless Boston wrapped up the pennant Thursday. Cora says Sale threw off flat ground Thursday and was feeling better since a stomach illness led to him spending a night in a hospital.

The Los Angeles Dodgers lead 3-2 as they head into game six of the NLCS against the Brewers Friday at 8:39 p.m.

Wainwright deal on hold:

Adam Wainwright will have to become a free agent before his contract agreement with the St. Louis Cardinals can be finalized.

Two people familiar with the deal tell The Associated Press that Wainwright's agreement has been put on hold because his guaranteed salary could not be reduced by more than 20 percent if he remains on the roster continuously. The contract is worth less than the minimum $15.6 million he would have to receive to stay on the roster.

NBA

The Los Angeles Lakers were unable to get a season-opening victory in their first game with LeBron James.

James finished with 26 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, but the Trail Blazers had three players score at least 21 points in a 128-119 victory over the Lakers.

Nic Stauskas gave Portland a huge off the bench, shooting 5-for-8 from 3-point range and finishing with 24 points. Damian Lillard paced the Blazers with 28 points and C.J. McCollum added 21, but the pair combined to shoot just 39 percent.

It was Portland's 18th consecutive home-opening victory, extending their NBA record.

Josh Hart had 20 points on 8 of 12 shooting off the bench for Los Angeles.

The opening festivities were tempered by the death this week of Trail Blazers owner Paul Allen. A "Rip City" baseball cap rested in Allen's courtside seat with a single rose.

In Thursday's other NBA action:

Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid led the 76ers to a 127-108 rout of the Chicago Bulls. Simmons had a triple-double by the end of the third quarter before finishing with 13 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists. Embiid poured in 30 points and had 12 boards for the 76ers, who coasting after building a 20-point lead in the third period.

Kelly Olynyk's putback of Dwyane Wade's missed jumper produced the go-ahead basket with 0.2 seconds left gave the Heat a 113-112 triumph over the Wizards in Washington. Josh Richardson led Miami with 28 points, Rodney McGruder added 20, and the Heat hit consecutive 3s late in the fourth quarter. John Wall scored 18 of his team-high 26 points in the first half for the Wizards, and Bradley Beal finished with 20 after the All-Star guards provided Washington's final eight points.

Friday on the Court:

The New York Knicks take on the Brooklyn Nets at 7:30 p.m.

The Celtics face off against Toronto at 8 p.m.

NFL

The Denver Broncos made life miserable for Arizona quarterback Josh Rosen while ending a four-game losing streak.

Rosen had two interceptions returned for first-quarter touchdowns and had five turnovers as the Cardinals absorbed a 45-10 beating by the Broncos. Todd Davis returned rookie Josh Rosen's deflected pass for a touchdown on the second play of the game and Chris Harris Jr. took another back 53 yards for a score with 2:02 left in the period to give Denver a 21-3 lead.

Rosen threw three interceptions, lost two fumbles and limped off the field following his fifth sack late in the game.

Emmanuel Sanders threw and caught touchdown passes for the 3-4 Broncos.

The 1-6 Cardinals are 0-4 at home for the first time since 1979.

NFL fines Raiders $20,000 for improper injury report:

The Oakland Raiders have been fined $20,000 for not downgrading guard Kelechi Osemele to out for a Week 5 game.

A person with knowledge of the fine told The Associated Press on Thursday that the team violated the league's injury report policy by not moving Osemele from questionable to out. The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the NFL has not announced the fine.

The Raiders lost to the Chargers in the road game, 26-10.

Osemele has been bothered by a knee injury and also did not play in Oakland's game at London on Sunday, a loss to Seattle.

Sunday’s NFL Matchups:

The New England Patriots take on the Chicago Bears at 1 p.m.

The Bills go against the Colts at 1 p.m.

The New York Jets take on the Vikings at 1 p.m.

The Philadelphia Eagles face off against Carolina at 1 p.m.

In other NFL news:

The Saints have placed veteran receiver Ted Ginn Jr. on injured reserve. The 12-year veteran has played in four games this season and has caught 12 passes for 135 yards and two touchdowns. But Ginn has regularly appeared on New Orleans' official injury report because of knee soreness since early in Week 2. New Orleans also has signed offensive tackle Michael Ola.

Browns starting cornerback E.J. Gaines has a concussion and will miss Sunday's game at Tampa Bay. Gaines had started the past two games after starter Terrance Mitchell was placed on injured reserve with a wrist injury. T.J. Carrie will move into Gaines' starting spot.

Jets defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers says he is feeling better following a "procedure" to help deal with an unspecified illness. Rodgers returned to work this week on a full-time basis after missing the team's past two games. He and Coach Todd Bowles will determine over the next few days whether Rodgers will call the defensive plays against Minnesota on Sunday.

With their secondary depleted by injuries, the Bengals signed cornerback KeiVarae Russell off the practice squad for their upcoming game in Kansas City. Russell was the Chiefs' third-round pick in 2016.

Cowboys’ receiver Terrance Williams has been suspended three games for violating the NFL's substance-abuse policy. He will serve the ban while on injured reserve because of lingering issues from offseason surgery for a broken right foot. The suspension will be in effect Sunday when the Cowboys visit Washington. The final game of the ban will be Nov. 11 at Philadelphia. But Williams will miss at least three more games after that while on injured reserve.

NHL

The Toronto Maple Leafs began Thursday with four players ranked among the top seven in NHL scoring. Pittsburgh managed to shut down the Leafs as Evgeni Malkin had a three-point night in the Penguins' 3-0 victory at Toronto.

Malkin opened the scoring with a power-play goal midway through the first period. He also added a third-period goal before setting up Kris Letang fourth goal of the season.

Matt Murray protected the lead and the shutout by making 16 of his 39 saves in the third period.

Toronto ended a five-game winning streak dropping to 6-2-0.

Elsewhere on NHL ice:

Steven Stamkos ended his season-long goal drought by netting the game-winner in the second period of the Lightning's 3-1 victory over Detroit. Brayden Point also scored for Tampa Bay, Alex Killorn added an empty-netter and Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 29 shots.

Gabriel Landeskog completed a hat trick by scoring the tying and winning goals in the third period of Colorado's 5-3 comeback win at New Jersey. Mikko Rantanen had a goal and three assists against the Devils, who were the league's only unbeaten team.

Logan Couture also registered a hat trick and Martin Jones handled 24 shots as the Sharks dumped the Sabres, 5-1. Joe Pavelski and Joonas Donskoi also scored tallied for San Jose, which was back home following a 2-2-1 road trip.

Cam Atkinson provided a pair of goals while the Blue Jackets scored three times in a seven-minute span of the second period to beat the Flyers, 6-3. Sergei Bobrovsky had 32 saves as he and Columbus bounced back from Saturday's 8-2 loss to the Lightning.

The Oilers pulled out a 3-2 win over the Bruins on Leon Draisaitl's goal 37 seconds into overtime. Cam Talbot made 27 saves in Edmonton's second straight win since an 0-2 start.

Bryan Little and Dustin Byfuglien set up each other's goals while the Jets scored three times in the third period to knock off Vancouver, 4-1. Patrik Laine and Andrew Copp also scored to back Connor Hellebuyck's 26-save performance.

Clayton Keller scored a third-period goal and had an assist as the Coyotes topped the Blackhawks, 4-1. Corey Crawford lost in his first NHL game since suffering a concussion last December, yielding three goals on 29 shots.

The Islanders rolled to a 7-2 win at Los Angeles as Valtteri Filppula furnished two goals and an assist. Andrew Ladd had a goal and two assists, while defenseman Scott Mayfield set up three scores.

USA GYMNASTICS

The attorney for former USA Gymnastics President Steve Penny says her client had no clue of a Texas grand jury indictment when he traveled to Tennessee on a family vacation.

The Walker County district attorney's office says Penny was arrested Wednesday by a fugitive task force after being indicted for allegedly tampering with evidence tied to the sexual assault investigation of imprisoned gymnastics doctor Larry Nassar.

Penny's attorney, Edith Matthai, says her client was arrested at a vacation cabin in Gatlinburg, Tennessee, while he was with his wife and three children.

She says authorities made no attempts to order Penny to Texas before the arrest. The attorney said Penny is "confident that when all the facts are known it will be shown that he did nothing criminal."

© 2018 Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.