AP National Sports

BY STEVE OVERBEY Associated Press ST. LOUIS (AP) — Albert Pujols rewarded an adoring crowd by hitting a home run in his return to Busch Stadium, sending the Los Angeles Dodgers toward a 7-2 win over the St. Louis Cardinals. Justin Turner homered twice and Will Smith also homered for the playoff-contending Dodgers, who won

By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer MILWAUKEE (AP) — Eric Lauer allowed four hits in seven innings to lead the Milwaukee Brewers to a 10-0 victory over the Philadelphia Phillies. Avisaíl García hit a two-run homer in his return to the lineup and Eduardo Escobar knocked in three runs as the Brewers maintained their franchise-record

MIAMI (AP) — Pete Alonso hit two home runs, including the 100th of his career, and the New York Mets beat the Miami Marlins 9-4 to give Carlos Carrasco his first win with the team. Alonso launched a two-run homer in the first inning for No. 100 and added a solo shot in the ninth.

By MAUREEN MULLEN Associated Press BOSTON (AP) — Nelson Cruz homered twice and, at 41 years old, became the oldest player in major league history to hit 30 home runs in a season, powering the Tampa Bay Rays past the Boston Red Sox 12-7. Mike Zunino also homered twice and Jordan Luplow connected for the

By GEORGE HENRY AP Sports Writer ATLANTA (AP) — Ozzie Albies hit a tiebreaking, two-run homer off Ryne Harper in the seventh inning, Adam Duvall took Paolo Espino deep with an early three-run shot, and the Atlanta Braves beat the Washington Nationals 8-5. Albies, who had four RBIs and went deep for the fourth straight

By JAY COHEN AP Baseball Writer CHICAGO (AP) — Wade Miley pitched seven effective innings, Nick Castellanos homered and the Cincinnati Reds got a sorely needed victory, topping the Chicago Cubs 4-3. Cincinnati had dropped seven of nine to lose ground in the NL playoff race. Miley allowed one run and five hits. Jonathan India

By LARRY FLEISHER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — Marcus Semien homered again, Alejandro Kirk went deep twice and the surging Toronto Blue Jays beat the skidding Yankees 5-1 after New York ace Gerrit Cole exited early with a hamstring injury. Cole was pulled in the fourth inning with left hamstring tightness after allowing a

ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Brionna Jones had 18 points, 10 rebounds and three steals and Connecticut beat the Dallas Wings 83-56 for the Sun’s 10th win in a row. Connecticut (22-6) played frenetic and smothering defense, led by Briann January who helped limit the Wings to 27% shooting from the field. Dallas’ Arike Ogunbowale, who

By TODD KARPOVICH Associated Press BALTIMORE (AP) — Cedric Mullins homered for the third consecutive game and the Baltimore Orioles beat the Kansas City Royals 7-3. DJ Stewart and Austin Hays also connected for Baltimore, which evened the four-game series at one apiece. Orioles right-hander Mike Baumann, rated the team’s No. 10 prospect, was promoted

By JOHN PERROTTO Associated Press PITTSBURGH (AP) — Ben Gamel had a go-ahead two-run single in the sixth inning among his three hits and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Detroit Tigers 3-2. Gamel also made an outstanding catch in left field to end the top of the sixth, slamming into the fence to take away

By The Associated Press Derek Jeter, Larry Walker, Ted Simmons and the late Marvin Miller will be enshrined at the Hall of Fame, a year after the induction ceremonies were called off because of the coronavirus pandemic. The four were chosen last year. No new members have been picked since. With a mid-week ceremony instead

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — John Gant pitched five solid innings to get his first win since joining Minnesota and spoil Cleveland starter Aaron Civale’s impressive return from injury, leading the Twins to a 3-0 win over the Indians. Brent Rooker homered for the Twins, who have won six of their

By The Associated Press LEXINGTON, Ken. (AP) — Five-star recruit Shaedon Sharpe has committed to Kentucky, giving coach John Calipari his highest-rated player in five years. Sharpe announced his decision on Twitter after also considering Arizona, Kansas, Oklahoma City and the G League. A 6-foot-5 shooting guard, Sharpe is rated No. 4 in the 247

By LARRY FLEISHER Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — New York Yankees ace Gerrit Cole has exited his start against the Toronto Blue Jays with two outs in the fourth inning because of left hamstring tightness. Cole was pulled after allowing a sacrifice fly to Reese McGuire that gave Toronto a 3-1 lead.  After the

By JOHN WAWROW AP Sports Writer ORCHARD PARK, N.Y. (AP) — Each year, the Buffalo Bills bring in new competition in a bid to challenge cornerback Levi Wallace for the starting job. And each year, he finds himself back in his familiar spot opposite Tre’Davious White. That’s where Wallace is expected to once again line

By ROB MAADDI AP Pro Football Writer The NFL Players Association wants daily COVID-19 testing for fully vaccinated players. The league and the union agreed last week to update protocols so vaccinated players would be tested weekly instead of every 14 days as they were during training camp. That’s not enough, according to NFLPA president

By BRIAN MAHONEY AP Sports Writer NEW YORK (AP) — While the Americans are all done in singles at the U.S. Open, there’s still some home hopes in doubles. In fact, at least one U.S. man is already guaranteed to play for the title. Sam Querrey and Steve Johnson reached the semifinals of the men’s

By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — Two starters are injured, another tested positive for COVID-19 and a fourth was sent home as punishment. The star is regaining fitness after a bout with coronavirus. Less than a week into World Cup qualifying, much has gone wrong for the United States,

By TOM WITHERS AP Sports Writer CLEVELAND (AP) — Cleveland Indians manger Terry Francona is resting comfortably after undergoing toe surgery, his second operation since stepping aside for the season in July. Francona, who had hip replacement surgery in August, had the procedure Tuesday at the Cleveland Clinic. The surgery was to fix his left

By RONALD BLUM AP Sports Writer SAN PEDRO SULA, Honduras (AP) — Weston McKennie could be welcomed back to the U.S. national team in the future, coach Gregg Berhalter said after banishing him from a pair of World Cup qualifiers for violating team COVID-19 protocols. Berhalter said he made the decision not only for the