MLB
WASHINGTON (AP) - Justin Turner’s homer capped a startling and record-setting seven-run rally in the sixth inning as the Dodgers roughed up starter-turned-reliever Patrick Corbin, and Los Angeles beat the Washington Nationals 10-4 on Sunday night to take a 2-1 lead in their NL Division Series.
Russell Martin and pinch-hitter Kiké Hernández added a pair of two-run doubles in the sixth as LA became the first team in major league history to score that many runs in one postseason inning with two outs and two strikes.
The Dodgers can advance to the NL Championship Series for the fourth consecutive year by closing the best-of-five NLDS in Game 4 at Washington on Monday, when LA sends Rich Hill to the mound against Max Scherzer.
The Dodgers entered the sixth trailing 2-1 after Juan Soto’s two-run homer for Washington off eventual winner Hyun-Jin Ryu in the first and Max Muncy’s solo shot off Aníbal Sánchez in the fifth.
Sánchez, who struck out nine, was replaced for the sixth by $140 million lefty Corbin, who hadn’t made a relief appearance since 2017. He was charged with six runs.
Martin tacked on a two-run homer in the ninth.
ST. LOUIS (AP) - Dansby Swanson hit a tying double with two outs in the ninth inning and Adam Duvall delivered a two-run single as the Atlanta Braves rallied past the St. Louis Cardinals 3-1 on Sunday to take a 2-1 lead in the NL Division Series.
Atlanta had managed just four hits before breaking through against Carlos Martínez. With two out and runners on the corners, Swanson tied it at 1 with a drive off the wall in left.
Swanson pumped his arms as he celebrated on second base after his third hit of the game. He came through after an intentional walk to Brian McCann.
Duvall, who entered as a pinch-hitter in the eighth, then hit a liner into center field to put the Braves ahead to stay.
Game 4 is Monday at Busch Stadium. Atlanta needs one more win to advance to the NL Championship Series for the first time since 2001.
NEW YORK (AP) - Didi Gregorius hooked a slump-busting grand slam during a seven-run third inning and the New York Yankees pummeled the Minnesota Twins again, cruising to an 8-2 victory Saturday for a 2-0 lead in their AL Division Series.
Uber driver-turned-rookie big leaguer Randy Dobnak struggled in an unexpected start, and the Twins lost their record 15th consecutive postseason game, including 12 straight against the Yankees. The latter is the longest postseason skid for one club against another in baseball history, topping Boston’s dominance over the Angels from 1986-2008. Minnesota hasn’t won a playoff game since Johan Santana bested the Yankees in their 2004 Division Series opener.
Coaches and players on both sides have downplayed that history, most of which predates current rosters. It’s all too familiar for fans in Minnesota, where the teams will play Monday’s Game 3 in the best-of-five series.
HOUSTON (AP) - Gerrit Cole carried his splendid September into an outstanding October and Alex Bregman handed fans chanting MVP the mighty swing they craved and the Houston Astros survived a wild ninth inning to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 3-1 on Saturday night for a 2-0 lead in the AL Division Series.
Cole set an Astros postseason record with 15 strikeouts in 7 2/3 scoreless innings to win his franchise-record 17th straight decision. The 15 strikeouts tied for third-most in a postseason game, the highest total since Roger Clemens had 15 in the 2000 AL Championship Series for the New York Yankees against Seattle.
Cole (1-0) extended his major league record with his 10th straight game with at least 10 Ks. The Rays were unable to string anything together off of him on a night he induced 33 swings and misses - the most since MLB started tracking the stat in 2008 - and threw a career-high 118 pitches.
Game 3 of the best-of five series is Monday.
NBA
BEIJING (AP) - Houston Rockets general manager Daryl Morey tried Sunday to defuse the rapidly growing fallout over his deleted tweet that showed support for Hong Kong anti-government protesters, saying he did not intend to offend any of the team’s Chinese fans or sponsors.
A short time after Morey posted that statement, the NBA said it was “regrettable” that the deleted tweet offended many in China. And all that followed several companies in China, including some of the NBA’s major business partners there, lashing out over Morey’s original tweet.
The uproar started when Morey tweeted an image that read “Fight for Freedom. Stand with Hong Kong.” referring to the four-month old protest movement that has upturned the semi-autonomous Chinese territory. That led to Houston owner Tilman Fertitta turning to Twitter to say that Morey does not speak for the Rockets, and sparking an outcry that included the Chinese Basketball Association - whose president is Yao Ming, the former Rockets star center - saying it was suspending its relationship with the team.
Other criticism came from Tencent, a major media partner of the NBA in China with a streaming deal that is worth $1.5 billion over the next five years, and Chinese state television - both of which said they would not be showing Rockets games.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) - The University of Kansas has apologized for its risque Late Night at the Phog event in which rapper Snoop Dogg performed, stripper poles were wheeled onto the Allen Fieldhouse floor and fake money was shot over the heads of prospective recruits.
Athletic director Jeff Long said Friday night “we expected a clean version of the show.”
Long said in a statement the school fell short of providing a “family atmosphere” during the annual kickoff for the school’s beloved basketball program.
The rowdy performance came with the Jayhawks already facing a high-level NCAA infractions case that includes a charge against Hall of Fame coach Bill Self.
AUTO RACING
DOVER, Del. (AP) - Kyle Larson pulled away in the final stage and won the playoff race Sunday at Dover International Speedway to snap a 75-race winless streak and earn an automatic berth in the next round.
Larson had nine runner-up finishes in the No. 42 Chevrolet since his last win Sept. 9, 2017, in Richmond, but got the coveted playoff victory he needed at Dover to keep the Chip Ganassi Racing driver in championship contention.
Larson has six career Cup victories and his first one in the playoffs. He led 154 laps late after Denny Hamlin went from dominant to dud midway through the race. Hamlin led 219 laps before fading in race where playoff drivers Chase Elliott and reigning series champion Joey Logano both fell out of contention.
GOLF
LAS VEGAS (AP) - Kevin Na lost a three-shot lead on the back nine, saved his chances with a clutch par putt on the 17th hole and won the Shriners Hospitals for Children Open in a playoff Sunday when Patrick Cantlay three-putted the second extra hole.
It was a wild finish at the TPC Summerlin made possible mainly by Na’s mistakes.
He chopped his way to a triple bogey on the 10th hole. He hit into the water on the par-5 16th and made bogey.
He closed with a 1-under 70.
Cantlay lost his late lead with a tee shot in the water on the 17th, and he lost the playoff by missing a par putt from just under 6 feet.
THE COLONY, Texas (AP) - Cheyenne Knight won her first LPGA Tour title in what she figured would be her last event of a tough rookie season, closing with a 5-under 67 for a two-shot victory before home support in Texas at the Volunteers of America Classic.
Knight had missed the cut in half of her 18 starts on the LPGA Tour and assumed she would be going back to the qualifying series. Instead, he pulled ahead of Jaye Marie Green and made a key birdie on the 17th hole to stay in front at Old American Golf Club.
Along with a two-year exemption, the 22-year-old Knight is eligible for the Asia Swing and will reach the CME Globe Tour Championship next month.
Brittany Altomare (67) and Green (69) finished two shots back.
TRACK AND FIELD
DOHA, Qatar (AP) - The United States won the men’s 4x400 relay, the final event of the track and field world championships.
A strong second leg from Michael Cherry put the U.S. into a clear lead, before Rai Benjamin held off Jamaica on the final lap for the win in 2 minutes 56.69 seconds.
The bronze went to Belgium.
Britain failed to finish after falling at a changeover.
The United States finished the championships top of the medal table with 14 gold medals, 11 silver and four bronze for a total 29.
The United States dominated the women’s 4x400-meter relay by using two hurdlers in the final.
The U.S. took the lead on the opening leg with Phyllis Francis, stretched the advantage with hurdlers Sydney McLaughlin and Dalilah Muhammad, before Wadeline Jonathas brought the win home in 3 minutes 18.92 seconds.
Nia Ali has won the women’s 100-meter hurdles for the United States, the Olympic silver medalist’s first time on the podium at the world championships.
Ali took the lead early and held on to win in 12.34 seconds. Fellow American Kendra Harrison chased down the 2015 champion Danielle Williams for the silver in 12.46, one-hundredth of a second faster than the Jamaican.
The United States won the men’s 4x100-meter relay, handing Christian Coleman and Noah Lyles their second gold medals of the championships, while Jamaica won the women’s final.
Joe Kovacs of the United States won the shot put with the biggest throw for 29 years in a contest decided by just a single centimeter.
Kovacs threw 22.91 meters in the final round to overtake the mark of 22.90 set by both U.S. thrower Ryan Crouser and New Zealander Tomas Walsh.
HORSE RACING
BALTIMORE (AP) - Baltimore officials and the owners of the historic racetrack that hosts the Preakness Stakes reached an agreement Friday to keep the Triple Crown series’ middle jewel in the city.
The agreement, which is subject to approval of the General Assembly during its next session, ends a bitter dispute between owner The Stronach Group and the city over the future of Pimlico Race Course. Located in northwest Baltimore, the second-oldest track in America has been home to the famed annual race since 1909, but it is in need of a major overhaul, which has previously been estimated at nearly half a billion dollars.
Under the plan, The Stronach Group would donate the site to the city for community development in and around the track and an area hospital. The company would also build a new clubhouse, and the track would be rotated 30 degrees to the northeast to create parcels of land that could be sold for private development. The grandstand, whose dilapidated state forced the closure of 6,670 seats before this year’s Preakness, would be demolished.
“By these recommendations, if approved, we can preserve the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico for generations to come and move forward with our redevelopment plans for the Park Heights community, Sinai Hospital and the Northern Parkway corridor,” Baltimore Mayor Bernard “Jack” Young said in a statement Saturday announcing the deal.
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