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#SportsReport: NFL Opening Weekend Could Be Affected By Hurricane Irma

NFL football

NFL:

Hurricane Irma could alter the NFL's opening-week schedule.

A person familiar with the discussions tells The Associated Press the league is considering moving Sunday's Dolphins-Buccaneers game in Miami to another site or playing it earlier this week because of the hurricane. The person says the game could be held Thursday or Friday with Irma expected to threaten South Florida over the weekend. Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT Sunday.

In other NFL news:

— The Falcons have released defensive tackle Ra'Shede Hageman two days after he was placed on the commissioner's exempt list because of domestic violence charges in 2016. The team says in a statement that the move was made after a "thorough investigative process by local authorities." The NFL said Saturday its investigation is pending.

— Colts general manager Chris Ballard has announced that quarterback Andrew Luck will not play in Sunday's season opener against the Rams. Luck has not taken a snap or thrown a pass to a teammate since having January surgery to repair a partially torn labrum in his throwing shoulder.

— The Cardinals have signed former All-Pro punter Andy Lee to a two-year contract and released punter Matt Wile. Lee was first-team All-Pro in 2007, 2011 and 2012 and made the Pro Bowl in 2007, 2009 and 2011.

MLB:

J.D. Martinez has become the latest major league player to homer four times in a game, doing it in the Arizona Diamondbacks' 11th consecutive win.

Martinez went deep off four different pitchers as the Diamondbacks destroyed the Dodgers, 13-0 in Los Angeles. He tied the single-game, major-league mark by homering in each of the last three innings after Arizona carried a 2-0 lead into the seventh.

Brandon Drury and Adam Rosales also homered as part of a 14-hit attack against Rich Hill and the Dodgers' bullpen. That was more than enough support for Robbie Ray, who is 12-5 after limiting the NL West leaders to three hits while strikeout out a career-high 14 over 7 2/3 innings.

The rout keeps Arizona 6 ½ games ahead of Colorado for the first NL wild-card berth and leaves the Dodgers with a magic number of 13 for clinching a division crown.

Meanwhile, the longest winning streak of the major league season now belongs to the Cleveland Indians.

Trevor Bauer won his eighth straight decision and Jose Ramirez homered for the third time in two days as the Indians earned their 12th consecutive victory, 5-3 over the White Sox in Chicago.

Bauer was reached for two runs and just three hits over 6 1/3 innings to run his record to 15-8. He is 8-0 with a 2.46 ERA in 10 starts since opening the year 7-7 with a 5.59 earned run average.

Carlos Santana also homered for the Indians, who lead the AL Central by 10 games over Minnesota.

Elsewhere in the majors:

— Boston's lead in the AL East has been whittled down from 5 ½ to 2 ½ games over the New York Yankees within the last three days. Kendrys Morales launched a three-run shot before Jose Bautista and Raffy Lopez added round-trippers off Rick Porcello on the Blue Jays' 10-4 romp over the Red Sox. Porcello was chased in the third inning and suffered his major league-leading 16th loss after winning five of his previous six starts.

— Starlin Castro hit a two-run homer and had three RBIs as the Yanks whipped the Orioles, 7-4. Didi Gregorius started a New York comeback with a two-run blast in the fourth after homers by Tim Beckham and Chris Davis put Baltimore ahead, 3-0. Castro's home run put the Yankees ahead to stay in their third straight win.

— Alex Bregman provided a tiebreaking, two-run double while the Astros scored four times in the seventh to beat the Mariners, 6-2. Dallas Keuchel was sharp in Houston's fifth straight win, limiting Seattle to two runs and seven hits over 7 2/3s. Yuli Gurriel and Brian McCann had solo homers in the fifth for the Astros, who dropped their magic number to 12 for winning the AL West.

— Evan Longoria drove in three runs and Kevin Kiermaier was 3-for-5 with two RBIs as the Rays crushed the Twins, 11-4. Corey Dickerson and Logan Morrison homered to back Alex Cobb, who limited Minnesota to one run and three hits over 5 2/3s. The outcome leaves the Twins just a half-game ahead of Los Angeles for the second AL wild-card berth.

— The Angels set an American League record by using 12 pitchers in an 11-9 win at Oakland. Martin Maldonado hit two home runs for the Angels, who went ahead for good on Kole Calhoun's two-run triple in the 11th inning. Matt Olson homered twice for the Athletics, including a tying, two-run drive with two outs in the ninth.

— Rougned Odor belted a two-run homer and had three RBIs as the Rangers hammered the Braves, 8-2 to get within two games of an AL wild-card slot. Elvis Andrus and Nomar Mazara also went deep to help Texas move back over .500. Andrew Casher evened his mark at 9-9 with six innings of two-run ball.

— Anthony Rendon and Daniel Murphy both homered and combined for six hits and seven RBIs as the Nationals whipped the Marlins, 7-2. Rendon had three hits and four RBIs, while Murphy was 3-for-5 with three ribbies and two runs scored. A.J. Cole gave up one run over 5 2/3 innings as Washington cut its magic number to 13 for winning the NL East.

— Carlos Gonzalez worked out a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the ninth to push the Rockies past the Giants, 4-3. Charlie Blackmon homered in the fourth and sparked the winning rally with a leadoff double before scoring the winning run. Colorado survived homers by Joe Panik and Denard Span in stretching its lead over Milwaukee to 1 1/2 games for the second NL wild-card slot.

— The Brewers were 5-4 losers at Cincinnati on Billy Hamilton's solo blast with two out in the bottom of the ninth. The Reds carried a 4-0 lead into the seventh before Ryan Braun led off the inning with a homer and Orlando Arcia added a three-run shot later in the inning. The outcome keeps the Brewers 3 1/2 games behind the NL Central-leading Cubs.

— The Cubs absorbed a 12-0 thumping by the Pirates as Josh Bell smacked his 24th home run to break a National League record for rookie switch-hitters. Bell had three hits and four RBIs, including a two-run shot off Jake Arrieta in the first inning. Arrieta left the game in the third inning with a right hamstring injury.

— Carlos Martinez struck out 10 in a three-hitter that lifted the Cardinals past the Padres, 2-0 in San Diego. Yadier Molina supplied the scoring with a two-run single in the fourth, helping St. Louis get within five games of the NL Central lead. The Redbirds remain three games behind Colorado in the NL wild-card race.

— Homers by Eric Hosmer, Salvador Perez and Alcides Escobar carried the Royals to a 7-6 win at Detroit. Hosmer had three RBIs and rookie Jakob Junis improved to 7-2 despite yielding three runs and seven hits over five frames.

— Jose Reyes and Asdrubal Cabrera belted third-inning homers while the New York Mets were building a 10-0 lead in an 11-7 victory against Philadelphia. Gavin Cecchini laced a two-run single in a six-run fourth that chased starting Mark Leiter Jr. and put the Mets ahead by 10.

David Wright's bid to play this season is over.

The Mets third baseman will have surgery on his right rotator cuff Tuesday. Wright last played in the majors in May 2016 before undergoing surgery the following month for a herniated disk in his neck.

The seven-time All-Star and team captain cut short his comeback try in the minors last week after experiencing pain in his throwing shoulder.

TENNIS:

The U.S. Open men's and women's quarterfinals are set and the field includes both No. 1 seeds and a couple of surprises.

Kaia Kanepi became the first qualifier in 36 years to reach the women's quarters, doing it with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Daria Kasatkina. The 32-year-old Estonian is ranked 418th after missing much of the past two years due to an illness and problems with the soles of both feet.

Kanepi will take on No. 15 Madison Keys, who grabbed the last four games to eliminate fourth seed Elina Svitolina, 7-6, 1-6, 6-4. Keys will take on Kanepi in the first U.S. Open quarterfinal appearance for both players.

American Coco Vandeweghe reached her first U.S. Open quarterfinal by beating Lucie Safarova 6-4, 7-6 (2). The 20th-seeded Vandeweghe is into the round of eight at a Grand Slam tournament for the third time this season. She joins countrywomen Venus Williams, Sloane Stephens and Keys.

Women's top seed Karolina Pliskova needed just 47 minutes to eliminate American Jennifer Brady, 6-1, 6-0. Pliskova won 22 of 24 points on her first serve and broke her unseeded opponent's serve six times to advance to the quarters against Vandeweghe.

Men's top seed Rafael Nadal easily reached the quarterfinals by handling Alexandr Dolgopolov 6-2, 6-4, 6-1. Nadal is back into the quarters in Flushing Meadows for the first time since 2013, when he won his second of two U.S. Open titles.

Andrey Rublev has become the youngest men's quarterfinalist since Andy Roddick in 2001. The 19-year-old Rublev dispatched ninth seed David Goffin 7-5, 7-6, 6-3 to earn a match against Nadal.

Roger Federer took a medical timeout after the second set and otherwise showed no signs of trouble in a 6-4, 6-2, 7-5 victory against Philipp Kohlschreiber. Federer did not face a break point and won in straight sets for the second time in a row after being pushed to five sets in each of the first two rounds.

Next up for Federer is Juan Martin del Potro, who saved two match points and erased a two-set deficit to knock out No. 6 Dominic Thiem, 1-6, 2-6, 6-1, 7-6, 6-4. The 2009 Open champion used a pair of aces to erase match points for Thiem at 6-5 in the fourth set, then dominated the ensuing tiebreaker.

T25 FOOTBALL:

The 25th-rated Tennessee football team needed a second-half comeback and a big defensive play to win its season opener on the road.

John Kelly scored the tying touchdown on an 11-yard run with 1:29 remaining in regulation and added two more TD runs in overtime to help the Vols beat Georgia Tech, 42-41 in Atlanta.

Tennessee didn't clinch the victory until TaQuon Marshall was stopped on a two-point conversion after the Yellow Jackets elected to go for the win instead of a game-tying extra point that would have forced a third OT.

Marshall ran for 249 yards and set a Georgia Tech record with five rushing TDs.

T25

No. 1 Alabama has lost two key linebackers to season-ending injuries.

Terrell Lewis and Christian Miller were hurt in the season-opening 24-7 win over No. 3 Florida State. Coach Nick Saban says both are set for surgery.

Saban also says the son of receivers coach Mike Locksley has been killed. No details were immediately available.

Checking out other news involving top-25 college football teams:

— Florida State quarterback Deondre Francois will have season-ending left knee surgery on Tuesday. Coach Jimbo Fisher says the sophomore faces four to six months of rehabilitation after he was hurt during the fourth quarter of Saturday's loss to top-ranked Alabama in Atlanta.

— No. 17 Florida is sticking with quarterback Feleipe Franks despite a lackluster performance in the season opener. Franks completed 5 of 9 passes for 75 yards in a 33-17 loss to 11th-ranked Michigan in Arlington, Texas. The redshirt freshman fumbled twice and was sacked once. McElwain benched him early in the third quarter.

— The NCAA has granted limited immunity to 2 Mississippi State football players in its investigation of Ole Miss football. The information provided is disputed by Ole Miss and in a lawsuit filed by a clothing store implicated in rules violations by the two Bulldogs. That's brought scrutiny to the NCAA's use of limited immunity as a way of gathering information.

PGA:

Justin Thomas has added another big title to a season filled with big moments by outlasting Jordan Spieth and Marc Leishman on the back nine of the TPC Boston to win the Dell Technologies Championship.

Two shots behind at the turn, Thomas surged ahead with a short birdie and a 6-foot par save and closed with a 5-under 66 for a three-shot victory that was much tighter than the final margin. It was the fifth title of the season for Thomas, including his first major at the PGA Championship.

Spieth wasted a birdie-eagle-birdie-birdie start to his round with too many mistakes on the back nine. He closed with a 67 and was runner-up for the second straight week in the FedEx Cup playoffs. Spieth still went to No. 1 in the FedEx Cup.

Leishman shot 40 on the back nine.

NYRA:

The New York Racing Association said the meet set a record for all-sources wagering on racing at Saratoga with a handle of $676,709,490, which broke the previous record set in 2015. The $47,870,987 handle on Travers Day was the event's second highest.

"The 2017 Saratoga meet has truly been outstanding, and for that I would like to extend my gratitude to the fans, owners, trainers and jockeys who continue to make Saratoga so special," NYRA CEO and President Chris Kay said in a statement.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.

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