Sports

By NICK PERRY Associated Press TŪROA SKI AREA, New Zealand (AP) — New Zealand’s Tūroa ski area is usually a white wonderland at this time of year, its deep snowpack supporting its famed spring skiing. This season, it’s largely a barren moonscape, with tiny patches of snow poking out between vast fields of jagged volcanic

By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Jeff McNeil stayed on top without taking a swing. Nursing a four-point lead in the big league batting race, McNeil was not in the New York Mets’ starting lineup Wednesday for their regular-season finale against Washington. He only played defense after entering late and finished

PHILADELPHIA (AP) — Joel Embiid and James Harden were done with their preseason debuts long before Montrezl Harrell scored the go-ahead basket with 26 seconds left, and the Philadelphia 76ers beat Cleveland 113-112 in Donovan Mitchell’s first game with the Cavaliers. Embiid had 12 points and six rebounds in 18 minutes before taking a seat

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — John Rhys Plumlee threw for 316 yards and two touchdowns, both coming in the second half to Ryan O’Keefe, and UCF scored 31 unanswered points to beat SMU 41-19 in a game postponed because of tropical weather. UCF trailed 13-10 at halftime before scoring four touchdowns in the second half. O’Keefe

By JANIE McCAULEY AP Baseball Writer OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Stephen Vogt homered in his final game before retirement and scored the first run on a sacrifice fly after Shohei Ohtani pitched no-hit ball into the fifth, and the Oakland Athletics beat the Los Angeles Angels 3-2 on Wednesday.Mike Trout hit his 40th home run

By The Associated Press FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — Gonzalo Higuaín scored two goals in his first match since announcing he will retire after the season, and Inter Miami clinched a playoff spot with a 4-1 victory over Orlando City. Higuaín gave Miami a 2-0 lead in the 38th minute and his penalty kick in the

By MIKE FITZPATRICK AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Francisco Lindor and the New York Mets geared up for the playoffs with a 9-2 rout of the Washington Nationals, completing a fantastic regular season with the second-most wins in franchise history. Jeff McNeil won the major league batting crown without taking a swing, and

MIAMI (AP) — Don Mattingly went out as a winner in his final game as Miami’s manager when rookie Peyton Burdick homered and drove in four runs to lead the Marlins over the NL East champion Atlanta Braves 12-9. Matt Olson and Marcell Ozuna homered for the Braves, who finished 101-61 and have a bye

By NOAH TRISTER AP Baseball Writer BALTIMORE (AP) — Otto Lopez hit a tiebreaking two-run single in the seventh inning, and the Toronto Blue Jays beat the Baltimore Orioles 5-1 to secure a split of their doubleheader. Terrin Vavra hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth to lift Baltimore to a 5-4

By KRISTIE RIEKEN AP Sports Writer HOUSTON (AP) — Framber Valdez struck out 10 in five shutout innings to lead the Houston Astros to 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Phillies in the regular-season finale. Christian Vazquez hit a solo homer and Chas McCormick and Yordan Alvarez drove in runs early to help Houston to its

By W.G. RAMIREZ Associated Press HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — Las Vegas Raiders star defensive end Maxx Crosby looked as if he was in pursuit of a quarterback the way he sprinted out of the locker room with urgency at the team’s practice facility. Everyone in the room immediately came to attention. False alarm, Crosby was

By JOE REEDY AP Sports Writer COSTA MESA, Calif. (AP) — The Los Angeles Chargers overhauled their defense during the offseason after being one of the worst units last year against the run. Four games into the season, it still remains a work in progress. The Chargers are allowing 109.8 yards per game on the

By STEVE MEGARGEE AP Sports Writer GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Stopping the run remains the greatest challenge for the Green Bay Packers defense. That issue is particularly imperative this week as the Packers prepare to face NFL rushing leader Saquon Barkley and the New York Giants on Sunday at London’s Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The

By MARK GONZALES Associated Press CHICAGO (AP) — Luis Arraez won the AL batting title, hitting a third-inning double after walking twice to finish the season at .316, and the Minnesota Twins rolled to a 10-1 victory over the Chicago White Sox. Arraez was all but assured of topping the Yankees’ Aaron Judge for the

By RONALD BLUM AP Baseball Writer NEW YORK (AP) — Minnesota’s Luis Arraez finished with the lowest average for an American League batting champion since 1968, and the Mets’ Jeff McNeil won the National League title. The New York Yankees’ Aaron Judge missed out on a Triple Crown, edged by Arraez .316 to .311 for

By STEVE HERRICK Associated Press CLEVELAND (AP) — José Ramirez drove in two runs and had four hits, Aaron Civale pitched six solid innings and the Cleveland Guardians defeated the Kansas City Royals 9-2 in their final tune-up for the postseason. Cleveland opens the wild-card round against Tampa Bay on Friday at Progressive Field.  The

By GREG BEACHAM AP Sports Writer THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. (AP) — Matthew Stafford has been one of the NFL’s most-durable quarterbacks over the past dozen years of his career despite getting sacked a whopping 444 times over his 14 seasons in the league. The past 16 sacks have happened in the Los Angeles Rams’ first