AP National Sports

By MICHAEL WAGAMAN Associated Press SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — The surprising San Francisco Giants became the first team to clinch a playoff spot this season, hitting four home runs to beat the San Diego Padres 9-1 on Monday night for their season-high eighth consecutive victory. After finishing 29-31 during the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, the Giants

By STEPHEN HAWKINS AP Baseball Writer ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Jose Siri homered twice and added a two-run single in his first big league start, Yordan Alvarez hit a pair of 400-foot homers and the AL West-leading Houston Astros overwhelmed the last-place Texas Rangers 15-1. Siri finished 4 for 5 and five RBIs while scoring

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — Derek Carr threw a 31-yard TD pass to Zay Jones after the Raiders squandered their first possession of overtime, beating the Baltimore Ravens 33-27 in the team’s first game with fans in Las Vegas. Carr’s second TD pass of the game came after Carl

AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Texas will star Casey Thompson at quarterback against Rice this weekend. The move comes after an inconsistent performance by Hudson Card in a 40-21 loss to Arkansas over the weekend. Coach Steve Sarkisian says both players will see time. Texas punted on six of its  first seven drives. Card was pulled

By JERRY BEACH Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Adam Wainwright won his fifth straight start in a rare matchup of 40-year-old pitchers, and the St. Louis Cardinals blanked the New York Mets 7-0. Paul Goldschmidt homered and had two RBIs for the surging Cardinals, who are in a tight race with Cincinnati and San

By The Associated Press Yankees ace Gerrit Cole is set to start on six days’ rest Tuesday night at Baltimore after being pushed back because of left hamstring tightness. Cole will have a new shortstop behind him, too, after New York moved error-prone Gleyber Torres to second base. Tyler Wade played shortstop during Monday’s comeback

By The Associated Press Parys Haralson, a former linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers and New Orleans Saints, has died. He was 37. The 49ers announced Haralson’s death. No details were provided. Haralson also served as San Francisco’s director of player engagement for two years. He played college ball at Tennessee before he was selected

By IAN HARRISON Associated Press TORONTO (AP) — Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his major league-leading 45th home run, Alek Manoah set a career high by pitching eight shutout innings of one-hit ball, and the Toronto Blue Jays routed the Tampa Bay Rays 8-1. Teoscar Hernández had his first career five-hit game and Bo Bichette added

WASHINGTON (AP) — Sandy Alcantara allowed one hit over eight sparkling innings and the Miami Marlins beat the Washington Nationals 3-0. With two outs in the seventh, Josh Bell lined a single off the base of the right-field fence to end Alcantara’s no-hit bid. The right-hander then retired his next four batters, leaving with seven

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Houston Astros starter Jake Odorizzi left his start in Texas with right foot soreness in the second inning. The right-hander got hurt after running to cover first base on a grounder. He took first baseman Yuli Gurriel’s toss on the run and reached with his right foot for the base to

NEW YORK (AP) — A day after coming out of a game in the third inning because of dizziness, Yankees slugger Aaron Judge says he isn’t sure of the cause. Judge hit a tying three-run homer with two outs in the eighth inning as New York rallied to beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5. He says

SEATTLE (AP) — Boston activated reliever Hirokazu Sawamura from the COVID-19 injured list and returned left-handed pitcher Austin Davis from the paternity list, giving a boost to the Red Sox bullpen going into a key series against Seattle. Red Sox manager Alex Cora said there could be more players coming off the COVID-19 IL in

By JOSH DUBOW AP Pro Football Writer LAS VEGAS (AP) — The Baltimore Ravens kept running backs LeVeon Bell and DeVonta Freeman on the practice squad for the opener against the Las Vegas Raiders. The Ravens signed the two veteran backs earlier in the week after losing their top three running backs to season-ending injuries

By TALES AZZONI AP Sports Writer MADRID (AP) — Sergio Canales has scored an 89th-minute winner with a beautiful run from near the midfield to help Real Betis defeat Granada 2-1 and end its winless streak in the Spanish league. Canales left three defenders behind him after picking up the ball near the midfield line

EUGENE, Ore. (AP) — Oregon freshman linebacker Justin Flowe is out indefinitely with a right foot injury. Flowe’s injury kept him out of the Ducks’ stunning 35-28 victory over Ohio State, which pushed Oregon up to No. 4 in the AP Top 25. Coach Mario Cristobal says Flowe’s injury was “pretty significant.” Flowe had 14

NASHVILLE, Tenn. _ (AP) — The NHL’s Nashville Predators’ home arena will require proof of COVID-19 vaccination or a negative test at least through Nov. 15. That makes the Predators the 14th NHL team using similar requirements. The Bridgestone Arena policy announced Monday applies to all events being held inside the facility. The Country Music

FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys have activated right guard Zack Martin off the COVID-19 reserve list Monday, but they are starting the week without defensive end Randy Gregory because of the health and safety protocols. Gregory went on the COVID-19 list four days after playing in the opener, a 31-29 loss to Tampa

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Gary Sánchez lined a winning single in the 10th inning, and the New York Yankees overcame a five-run deficit to beat the Minnesota Twins 6-5. Aaron Judge hit a tying three-run homer off Alex Colomé with two outs in the eighth inning. New York won

By PAUL NEWBERRY AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — JT Daniels has certainly done nothing to lose his job as Georgia’s starting quarterback. He led the second-ranked Bulldogs to five straight wins after taking over as the No. 1 signal-caller. Surely, he’ll be taking snaps again as soon as he’s healthy. Then again, when your

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer LOS ANGELES (AP) — Southern California has fired football coach Clay Helton two games into his seventh season in charge. Athletic director Mike Bohn made the move two days after an embarrassing 42-28 home loss to Stanford. Helton went 46-24 during his improbable tenure in charge of the longtime