MLB – Major League Baseball
Last Night
Detroit Tigers 7, Tampa Bay Rays 1
Philadelphia Phillies 9, Chicago Cubs 6
Chicago White Sox 4, Los Angeles Angels 3 – 10 Innnings
Tigers 7, Rays 1 – Meadows and Torkelson homer as Tigers move closer to the postseason with a 7-1 win over Rays
Parker Meadows and Spencer Torkelson homered, and the Detroit Tigers strengthened their bid for an AL wild card with a 7-1 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Detroit moved 10 games over .500 with its fourth consecutive victory. It is tied with Kansas City for second in the wild-card standings behind Baltimore. The Tigers play the Rays on Thursday before finishing the season with three home games against the lowly Chicago White Sox. Detroit is 29-11 since Aug. 10, thanks to ace Tarik Skubal, one of the favorites for the AL Cy Young Award, and a cast of young pitchers.
Phillies 9, Cubs 6 – Castellanos homers as the Phillies beat the Cubs 9-6 and clinch first-round bye in playoffs
Nick Castellanos, Trea Turner and Kody Clemens homered, and the Philadelphia Phillies beat the Chicago Cubs 9-6 and clinched a first-round bye in the playoffs. Castellanos had three hits and scored three times. Bryson Stott also had three hits and Brandon Marsh drove in three runs for the Phillies, who claimed their first NL East title in 13 years on Monday night. Coupled with Milwaukee’s 2-1 loss to Pittsburgh, Philadelphia secured the bye and home-field advantage in the NLDS. Nico Hoerner homered twice for Chicago, and Isaac Paredes hit four singles.
White Sox 4, Angels 3 – F/10 – Sox remain at 120 losses as Benintendi singles in 10th for 4-3 win over Angels
The Chicago White Sox avoided a record-breaking 121st loss for the second straight game, beating the Los Angeles Angels 4-3 on Andrew Benintendi’s 10th-inning single. Chicago is tied with the 1962 New York Mets for the modern major league record for losses in a season. It plays Los Angeles again on Thursday before finishing its schedule with three games at Detroit. Benintendi delivered the go-ahead hit for the second time in as many games when he lined a one-out single to left-center against José Quijada, helping the 38-120 White Sox put off infamy for the second night in a row. Designated runner Miguel Vargas scored from second.
Tonight
Tampa Bay (Alexander 6-5) at Detroit (Olson 4-8), 1:10 p.m. News/Talk/Sports 94.9 WSJM 12:45
L.A. Angels (Anderson 10-14) at Chicago White Sox (Flexen 2-15), 2:10 p.m.
Cubs are off
WNBA – Women’s National Basketball Association Playoffs – Round 1 (best of three)
Last Night
Connecticut Sun 87, Indiana Fever 81 (CON wins 2-0)
Minnesota Lynx 101, Phoenix Mercury 88 (MIN wins 1-0)
Sun 87, Fever 81 – Alyssa Thomas helps the Connecticut Sun eliminate Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever
Alyssa Thomas had 19 points and 13 assists to help the Connecticut Sun sweep Caitlin Clark and the Indiana Fever out of the playoffs with an 87-81 win Wednesday night. The third-seeded Sun will now face Minnesota in the semifinals which begin Sunday. Clark played much better in Game 2 than she did in her postseason debut last Sunday. The AP Rookie of the Year finished with 25 points and nine assists, but it wasn’t enough. Aliyah Boston added 16 points and 19 rebounds.
Lynx 101, Mercury 88 – Napheesa Collier scores 42 to tie playoff record, and the Lynx swept the Mercury
Napheesa Collier scored 42 to tie a WNBA playoff record for points in a game, and the Minnesota Lynx swept the Phoenix Mercury 101-88 on Wednesday night. Collier tied Breanna Stewart and Angel McCoughtry for the 42-point record when she made 1 of 2 free throws with 3:18 left in the fourth quarter. It was one of just two misses from the free-throw line in 14 attempts for Collier, who was subbed out with 58.3 seconds left. Minnesota plays again on Sunday against Connecticut, which advanced to its sixth consecutive semifinals after an 87-81 victory over Indiana earlier Wednesday.
NFL – National Football League – Week 4
Tonight
Dallas Cowboys at New York Giants, 8:15 p.m.
NFL – Caleb Williams and Bears offense upbeat over return of Keenan Allen to practice
The Chicago Bears passing game is starting to take off and quarterback Caleb Williams expects it can improve at an even faster rate this week against the Los Angeles Rams with wide receiver Keenan Allen back. The veteran receiver missed the past two games because of an injury. Without him, the passing game made its first big strides as Williams set a Bears rookie record with 363 passing yards in the 21-16 loss to Indianapolis last week. There are still obstacles to overcome, like learning the nuances of the offense better.
NHL – National Hockey League Preseason
Last Night
Detroit Red Wings 4, Chicago Blackhawks 2
NHL – Blue Jackets honor Johnny Gaudreau before their first home game since his death
An emotional video tribute to Johnny Gaudreau and 13 seconds of silence , for his uniform number, opened the Columbus Blue Jackets’ first game at Nationwide Arena since the star player’s death nearly a month ago. The tributes came just prior to the Blue Jackets’ 3-0 preseason victory over the St. Louis Blues on Wednesday night. Gaudreau and brother Matthew were killed Aug. 29 near their boyhood home in New Jersey when police said they were struck by a suspected drunken driver while they were riding bicycles on the eve of sister Katie’s wedding. The driver who police say struck them is charged with two counts of death by auto, along with reckless driving, possession of an open container and consuming alcohol in a motor vehicle.
NCAA – UNLV and Air Force to remain in Mountain West with financial incentives
UNLV and Air Force have decided to remain in the Mountain West, allowing the conference to thwart off attempts at further poaching by the Pac-12 and American Athletic Conference, according to a person with knowledge of the decision. The person spoke to The Associated Press on Wednesday night on condition of anonymity because the schools had not made their intentions public. The Mountain West declined to comment on its internal discussions. The conference has already lost five members to the rebuilding Pac-12 over the last two weeks, incuding Utah State earlier this week.
NCAAFB – UNLV QB to sit out season after agent says payment for transfer wasn’t paid
UNLV quarterback Matthew Sluka has decided to sit out the rest of the undefeated team’s season because of a dispute over a $100,000 NIL payment that was promised but never paid after he agreed to transfer to the Rebels last winter, Sluka’s agent told The Associated Press. Sluka’s announcement came in a social media post. The Rebels are 3-0 led by the Holy Cross transfer, who can preserve his last year of college eligibility by not playing in any more games.
NFL – Notre Dame will lean on a stifling defense against high-scoring Louisville
Miami (Ohio) turned up the heat on Notre Dame in the first half last weekend. Then the Fighting Irish defense stood up and held fast. Nobody expected anything less from a unit with a defensive-minded head coach, Marcus Freeman, and three preseason All-Americans. And now as the offense tries to find its footing, the defense has become the constant No. 16 Notre Dame can rely upon as it prepares to host high-scoring No. 15 Louisville on Saturday. Freeman says “in our red zone defense, there’s a belief, a mindset, ‘put the ball down, we’re right where we want to be.’”
NCAAFB – Georgia-Alabama showdown not as consequential with 12-team CFP, still big
The biggest games of the college football regular season are not quite as important as they used to be. No. 2 Georgia visits No. 4 Alabama on Saturday in a monster showdown of two Southeastern Conference superpowers. Now that the College Football Playoff includes 12 teams, the consequences for losing regular-season games are not as great, but the games still can be.
MCCAA – Michigan Community College Athletic Association
Yesterday
Men’s Soccer
Owens Community College 3, Lake Michigan College 2
Women’s Soccer
Owens Community College 5, Lake Michigan College 1
Women’s Volleyball
Southwestern Michigan College 3, Macomb Community College 1
Tonight
Women’s Volleyball
Lake Michigan College at Southwestern Michigan College, 6:30 p.m.
MHSAA – Michigan High School Athletic Association
Last Night
Girls Volleyball
Battle Creek Lakeview 3, St. Joseph 0
Portage Northern 3, Lakeshore 0
Mattawan 3, Portage Central 2
Gull Lake 3, Battle Creek Central 0
Kalamazoo Central 3, Kalamazoo Loy Norrix 0
Our Lady of the Lake 3, New Buffalo 0
River Valley 3, Eau Claire 0
Bridgman 3, Saugatuck 0
Girls Golf
SMAC Conference at Milham Park GC (Loy Norrix)
- Portage Central 327
- St. Joseph 355
- Gull Lake 350
- Lakeshore 378
- Battle Creek Lakeview 382
- Portage Northern 394
- Mattawan 397
Boys Soccer
Our Lady of the Lake 0, Michigan Lutheran 0 – TIE
Bridgman 2, New Buffalo 1
Edwardsburg 5, Niles 0
Plainwell 1, Otsego 1 – TIE
Paw Paw 8, Three Rivers 0
Sturgis 2, Vicksburg 0
Berrien Springs 5, Brandywine 0
Dowagiac 1, Buchanan 1 – TIE
Watervliet 3, Coloma 2
Fennville 2, South Haven 1
Allegan 4, Parchment 1
Schoolcraft 2, Constantine 1
Kalamazoo Chrisitan 4, Delton-Kellogg 0
Kalamazoo Hackett 7, Lawton 1
Holland Black River 3, Saugatuck 3 – TIE
Bloomingdale 7, Bangor 1
Hartford 10, Comstock 2
Last Night
Boys Soccer
St. Joseph at Lakeshore, 6:30 p.m.
Battle Creek Central at Mattawan, 6:30 p.m.
Portage Central at Battle Creek Lakeview, 6:30 p.m.
Gull Lake at Kalamazoo Central, 6:30 p.m.
Portage Northern at Loy Norrix, 6:30 p.m.
Kalamazoo Hackett at Edwardsburg, 5:00 p.m.
Dowagiac at Three Rivers, 6:30 p.m.
Covert at Howardsville Christian, 5:00 p.m.
Bronson at Buchanan, 5:00 p.m.
Berrien Springs at Coloma, 6:00 p.m.
Pentwater at Saugatuck, 6:00 p.m.
Comstock at Leslie, 5:30 p.m.
Kal. Christian at Hillsdale Academy, 5:30 p.m.
Girls Volleyball
Michigan Lutheran at Howardsville Chr., 6:00 p.m.
Brandywine at Dowagiac, 6:00 p.m.
Otsego at Edwardsburg, 6:00 p.m.
Sturgis at Niles, 6:00 p.m.
Plainwell at Paw Paw, 6:00 p.m.
Vicksburg at Three Rivers, 6:00 p.m.
Portage Northern at Schoolcraft, 6:00 p.m.
South Haven at Holland Black River, 6:30 p.m.
Allegan at Gobles, 6:30 p.m.
Coloma at Martin, 6:30 p.m.
Watervliet at Galesburg-Augusta, 6:30 p.m.
Fennville at Delton-Kellogg, 6:30 p.m.