Update on the latest sports

August 24, 2021

MLB-SCHEDULE

Red Sox cruise pass Rangers

UNDATED (AP) — Travis Shaw hit a game-ending grand slam in the 11th inning, and the Boston Red Sox beat the Texas Rangers 8-4.

Shaw, who entered as a defensive replacement in the eighth, drove a 3-2 pitch off Dennis Santana over Boston’s bullpen. He flipped his bat and looked at the dugout before rounding the bases and getting mobbed at the plate. It was Shaw’s first hit since he was claimed off waivers from Milwaukee on Aug. 15.

In other Monday action:

— Jake Bauers hit a tiebreaking, two-run single with two outs in the ninth inning off struggling closer Lou Trivino, and the Seattle Mariners rallied past the Oakland Athletics 5-3. Ty France launched a tying homer off Trivino to start the ninth, handing the reliever his second straight blown save after converting 14 in a row. The A’s lost a third consecutive game by giving away a late lead. Matt Olson’s 32nd home run in the sixth put Oakland on top after Mitch Haniger’s tying, two-run shot in the top of the inning.

— Pinch-runner Breyvic Valera scored the tiebreaking run on a wild pitch in the eighth inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Chicago White Sox 2-1. Valera ran for Reese McGuire after the Blue Jays catcher singled off Craig Kimbrel to begin the inning. Valera took second on a wild third strike to Bo Bichette, advanced to third on a groundout, and scored when Kimbrel uncorked another wild pitch, this time to Teoscar Hernández. Tim Mayza pitched a perfect eighth inning to earn the win and Jordan Romano finished for his 12th save in 13 chances. The Blue Jays spoiled a strong outing by Chicago’s Lance Lynn and handed the White Sox their fourth loss in five games.

— Yoshi Tsutsugo homered and Bryan Reynolds tripled in the seventh to help the Pittsburgh Pirates rally to beat the Arizona Diamondbacks 6-5. With the game tied in the eighth, Noé (NOH’-way) Ramirez (0-1) walked three straight to load the bases before Jake Faria came in to face Ke’Bryan Hayes with one out. Hayes sent a dribbler to short on the 10th pitch of the at-bat, scoring Kevin Newman. Pirates reliever Anthony Banda (2-0) struck out the side in the eighth. David Bednar retired the side in order in the ninth for his second major league save.

— Giancarlo Stanton homered and drove in three runs to carry the New York Yankees to their 10th straight victory, cooling off the streaking Atlanta Braves 5-1. The Yankees snapped first-place Atlanta’s own nine-game winning streak in the first regular-season matchup in almost 120 years between teams that had won at least nine in a row. Stanton homered in the second inning off Huascar Ynoa (ee-NOH’-ah) and snapped a 1-all tie in the sixth with a two-out, two-run double. Gary Sanchez tacked on a two-run single in the eighth. Dansby Swanson homered for Atlanta. The win went to Jordan Montgomery.

— Rafael Ortega hit a walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning and the Chicago Cubs ended their longest home losing streak with a 6-4 win over the Colorado Rockies on Monday night. Manuel Rodriguez (2-2) earned the victory after pitching the ninth for Chicago, which snapped a 13-game skid at Wrigley Field. Reliever David Bard (7-9) allowed the game-winner after a walk-filled eighth inning helped the Cubs to get closer.

MLB-NEWS

Slumping Padres fire pitching coach

UNDATED (AP) — The slumping San Diego Padres have fired pitching coach Larry Rothschild. The 67-year-old Rothschild has been with the Padres for the past two seasons. San Diego has lost nine of its past 11 games and is now in third place in the NL West, 13 games behind the first place San Francisco Giants. The Padres fell one game behind the Cincinnati Reds for the second and final NL Wild Card slot after their latest loss. Ben Fritz will be the interim pitching coach for the rest of the season.

In other MLB news:

— Highly regarded Miami Marlins pitching prospect Edward Cabrera is scheduled to make his major league debut Wednesday at Washington. Cabrera is 3-4 with a 2.93 ERA in 13 starts at three minor league levels this year. He was sidelined early in the season by a biceps injury. The 23-year-old right-handed Dominican is 19-25 with a 3.54 ERA in five seasons in the minors.

VIRUS OUTBREAK-COLLEGE FOOTBALL

Big Ten teams forfeit if unable to play because of COVID-19

ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — The Big Ten is the latest Power Five conference to announce that a team must forfeit if it doesn’t have enough players available for a league game because of COVID-19.

The Big Ten said the team that forfeits will be assessed a loss in the conference standings and its opponent will be credited with a win. If both teams are unable to compete on the date of as scheduled conference game because of COVID-19, and the game can’t be rescheduled, it will be considered a no contest.

The Power Five conferences appear headed toward having similar forfeit policies.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL-AP PRESEASON ALL-AMERICA TEAM

Iowa State, Notre Dame highlight AP preseason All-Americans

UNDATED (AP) — Notre Dame and Iowa State each has three players on The Associated Press preseason All-America team. Eight teams have at least two first-team All-Americans.

Fighting Irish defensive back Kyle Hamilton is joined by teammates Cain Madden, a guard who transferred from Marshall in the offseason, and running back Kyren Williams, who made the team as an all-purpose player.

Iowa State running back Breece Hall is joined by two teammates: tight end Charlie Kolar and linebacker Mike Rose.

Oklahoma’s Spencer Rattler is the first-team quarterback.

COLLEGE FOOTBALL-FIESTA BOWL-SPORTS GAMBLING

Fiesta Bowl, Caesars announce sports betting partnership

PHOENIX (AP) — The Fiesta Bowl Organization has announced a multi-year partnership with Caesars Entertainment. It will pair one of the biggest postseason college football games with legal sports gambling in Arizona. It’s also the first partnership between a college bowl game and a sports betting company.

Caesars will host fan lounges at the Fiesta Bowl in Glendale and at the Guaranteed Rate Bowl, which is played at Chase Field in downtown Phoenix.

Sports betting goes live in Arizona on Sept. 9.

NFL-SCHEDULE

Winston TDs highlight Saints’ 23-21 preseason win over Jags

NEW ORLEANS (AP) — Jameis Winston passed for touchdowns of 43 and 29 yards to Marquez Callaway, and the New Orleans Saints defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars 23-21 in a preseason game.

Winston completed nine of 10 passes for 123 yards without an interception. The performance bolsters his candidacy to succeed Drew Brees as the Saints’ new starter. Taysom Hill passed for 138 yards and a touchdown for New Orleans. No. 1 overall draft choice Trevor Lawrence completed 14 of 23 passes for 113 yards for Jacksonville. Incumbent Jags starter Gardner Minshew was 13 of 21 for 149 yards and an interception.

NFL-NEWS

Newton to miss practices

UNDATED. (AP) — The Patriots say quarterback Cam Newton will miss at least three days of practice this week after traveling to a team-approved, out of town medical appointment over the weekend.

The team said in a statement that Newton went to the appointment on Saturday and tested negative each day for COVID-19. But due to a misunderstanding about tests conducted away from NFL facilities that is required by NFL and NFLPA protocols, he has been subjected to a five-day, re-entry cadence before he can return to the Patriots team facilities.

In other NFL news:

— Receiver CeeDee Lamb is among three more Dallas Cowboys players in COVID-19 protocols, making it five players and coaches sidelined by coronavirus concerns as the club switched to virtual meetings as a precaution. Lamb and safeties Malik Hooker and Israel Mukuamu joined defensive tackle Carlos Watkins and defensive coordinator Dan Quinn. Watkins and Quinn were sent home from the stadium before Saturday’s 20-14 preseason loss to Houston.

— New York Jets linebacker Jarrad Davis will be sidelined through the first several weeks of the regular season with an ankle injury. Jets coach Robert Saleh said Monday that Davis’ injury will sideline him into the season, and the team will evaluate whether the linebacker will be placed on injured reserve to start the regular season. He is expected to return around the bye week in mid-October.

— The Minnesota Vikings are bringing back defensive end Everson Griffen. The signing represents another attempt to revive the defense from a dismal 2020 season. The 33-year-old was at the team facility for a tryout last week. He is a four-time Pro Bowl pick with 80 1/2 sacks in 11 seasons in the NFL.

— The Tennessee Titans may have seen enough to pick their kicker with one preseason game remaining. The Titans waived as injured kicker Tucker McCann on Monday, leaving Sam Ficken as the lone kicker on the roster after a strong week in practices and in Tennessee’s 34-3 win over Tampa Bay.

— The Kansas City Chiefs released veteran defensive end Taco Charlton, offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann and defensive back Will Parks on Monday as they made the next round of roster cuts ahead of their preseason finale. The Chiefs also waived linebacker Riley Cole and quarterback Anthony Gordon.

— Browns kicker Cody Parkey is being placed on injured reserve, meaning Chase McLaughlin will likely begin the season as Cleveland’s starter. Parkey, who had a solid season for the Browns in 2020 and is best known for his “double doink” miss for Chicago in the 2018 playoffs, sustained a quadriceps injury in Sunday’s exhibition win over the New York Giants.

NHL-OBIT-JIMMY HAYES

Jimmy Hayes, 31, Boston College star who played in NHL, dies

MILTON, Mass. (AP) — The Boston College hockey star and former NHL player Jimmy Hayes has died. A law enforcement official says medics on Monday were called to the Hayes home in the Boston suburbs, where he was pronounced dead. No other details were disclosed.

Hayes won a national championship at Boston College and went on to play seven seasons with four NHL clubs. The 6-foot-5 right wing was a second-round pick in the 2008 NHL draft by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Two years later, he helped Boston College to the national title. He also played for the Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and New Jersey Devils. Younger brother Kevin Hayes is a center for the Philadelphia Flyers. Jimmy Hayes was 31 years old.

WNBA-BIDEN-SEATTLE STORM

Biden praises WNBA champs for social justice activism

WASHINGTON (AP) — President Joe Biden has honored the 2020 WNBA champions Seattle Storm at the White House.

In doing so, he celebrated their success on the court and hailed the four-time title holders for changing lives with their activism. The visit by the Seattle Storm marks the first time that an NBA or WNBA team has visited the White House since the Cleveland Cavaliers were feted by Barack Obama in 2016. Presidents typically host college and major league sports champions for a White House ceremony. But the two big basketball leagues skipped such celebrations during President Donald Trump’s administration.

PGA-NORTHERN TRUST OPEN

Finau ends long PGA victory drought

JERSEY CITY, N.J. (AP) —Tony Finau (FEE’-now) is a winner on the PGA Tour again. Finally. Finau ended a drought of more than five years and 142 tournaments on the PGA Tour by winning The Northern Trust in a playoff. But he needed some help. Cameron Smith hit his tee shot over a wall and out of play on the first extra hole. Earlier, Jon Rahm played the closing stretch with two bogeys and no birdies to fall out of the lead.

Finau shot 30 on the back nine and closed with a 65 at Liberty National. The victory moves him atop the FedEx Cup.

GOLF-NC A&T-SMITH

Smith moves from NBA to college classes, golf at N.C. A&T

GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — J.R. Smith has gone from the NBA to attending classes and playing golf at North Carolina A&T.

The 16-year NBA veteran skipped college basketball in 2004. He went on to win two world championships and make millions. Now he’s a freshman walk-on for the Aggies. Smith says he was drawn to the Greensboro, North Carolina, school because of his interest in attending a Historically Black College or University. Smith was originally supposed to play college basketball in the same state at North Carolina under Roy Williams. Now Smith is focusing on finishing assignments like his first-ever Powerpoint presentation for an English class.