MLB:
The St. Louis Cardinals are in the National League Championship Series for the fourth straight year after Matt Adams slammed a go-ahead, three-run homer in the seventh inning of a 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Dodgers. Clayton Kershaw carried a one-hitter and a 2-0 lead into the seventh before surrendering back-to-back singles and Adams' home run. Kershaw was 0-2 with a 7.82 ERA in two games during the series after leading the league with 21 points and a 1.77 earned run average. Meanwhile Dodgers right-hander Josh Beckett is retiring. The announcement came after the Dodgers loss to the Cards in the NLDS. He cited surgery to repair a torn labrum in his left hip as his reason for leaving.
The St. Louis Cardinals will face the San Francisco Giants in the NLCS.
Ryan Vogelsong combined with four relievers on a four-hitter as the San Francisco Giants beat Washington 3-2 in Game 4 of the National League Division and advanced to the LCS. Joe Panik hit an RBI grounder in the Giants' two-run third, but San Francisco blew the 2-0 lead before Panik scored on a wild pitch in the seventh inning. The Nationals wasted Bryan Harper's game-tying homer and RBI double.
NFL:
NFL owners will meet today to discuss the league's personal conduct policy, vote on the sale of the Buffalo Bills and look at further international play. These are critical meetings for the owners, with Commissioner Roger Goodell under fire for his handling of the Ray Rice case, and with several high-profile player arrests involving domestic abuse.
Meanwhile, Minnesota Vikings running back Adrian Peterson will be in a Texas courtroom for the first time since being indicted last month on a felony child abuse charge.
Peterson is facing a charge of injury to a child. He has said he never intended to harm his 4-year-old son by spanking him with a tree branch earlier this year in Montgomery County, north of Houston.
A spokeswoman for Peterson's attorney says the NFL player will plead not guilty if asked to enter a plea during this morning's hearing in Conroe. If convicted, Peterson faces up to two years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Last month, the Vikings placed Peterson on indefinite paid leave so he could focus on his personal life.
MLS:
Landon Donovan will captain the United States on Friday in his national team finale. U.S. coach Jurgen Klinsmann says the 32-year-old Los Angeles Galaxy forward will start and play about 30 minutes against Ecuador in the exhibition at East Hartford, Connecticut. Donovan is retiring at the end of Major League Soccer's season.
NCAA:
Craig Robinson, the former Oregon State coach and President Barack Obama's brother-in-law, is joining ESPN as a college basketball analyst. The network says Robinson will call games and work in the studio for college sports channel ESPNU. Robinson was fired in May after going 94-105 in six seasons with the Beavers.
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