October 8, 2022 3:47 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Josh Bell and Manny Machado smashed two of San Diego’s four home runs off Max Scherzer, and the Padres romped past the New York Mets 7-1 in their playoff opener. Yu Darvish shut down the Mets once again, and San Diego also got long balls from Jurickson Profar and slumping Trent Grisham against an ineffective Scherzer – booed off the mound in the fifth inning at Citi Field. The three-time Cy Young Award winner exited his first postseason start for New York down 7-0, a massive disappointment after Scherzer was signed to a $130 million contract in December. San Diego needs one win over the next two days to take the best-of-three National League wild card series and advance to face the top-seeded Dodgers.
October 7, 2022 3:44 am
DENVER (AP) – Stephon Gilmore batted away Russell Wilson’s pass to Courtland Sutton in the end zone on fourth-and-1 from the 5 to give the Indianapolis Colts a 12-9 overtime victory over the Denver Broncos on Thursday night. Gilmore also intercepted Wilson’s pass in the fourth quarter to help set up Chase McLauglin’s tying field goal. McLauglin connected from 47 yards 4:10 into overtime to give the Colts (2-2-1) the lead in the first game in NFL history that pitted quarterbacks with at least four Pro Bowl appearances each, but it featured zero touchdowns. The Broncos (2-3) decided against a tying chip-shot field goal by Brandon McManus, and Wilson lined up in the shotgun next to running back Melvin Gordon, then threw incomplete over the middle.
October 7, 2022 3:47 am
Major League Baseball wasn’t able to coax fans to ballparks at pre-pandemic levels this season, though attendance did jump substantially from the COVID-19 affected campaign in 2021. The 30 MLB teams drew 64.6 million fans for the regular season that ended Wednesday, which is up from the 45.3 million who attended games last season. This year’s numbers are still down from the 68.5 million who attended games in 2019, which was the last season that wasn’t affected by the pandemic. The Los Angeles Dodgers led baseball with an average of 47,672 fans flocking to games while the Oakland Athletics drew just 9,849 per game to rank last.
October 7, 2022 3:46 am
NEW YORK (AP) – Higher velocity and increased shifts led to the major league batting average dropping to .243, its lowest since 1968. Defensive shifts and 100 mph pitches set records this season, contributing to the worrisome offensive drop Major League Baseball is trying to address. When the average dropped this low more than a half-century ago, MLB lowered the pitcher’s mound. Next year’s rules changes announced last month include the first restriction on shifts, a decision made over the objection of the players’ association.
October 6, 2022 3:46 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Miguel Andujar had three hits, Diego Castillo added two and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the playoff-bound St. Louis Cardinals 5-3 in the regular season finale. Kevin Newman, Rodolfo Castro and Ji Hwan Bae drove in runs for Pittsburgh. Manny Banuelos (2-1) picked up the win in relief. Johan Ramirez worked the ninth for his second save of the season and first with the Pirates. Tommy Edman had three of St. Louis’ eight hits. Cardinals slugger Albert Pujols was given the day off in the final regular season game of his 22-year career. St. Louis hosts Philadelphia in the wild-card round of the playoffs.
October 6, 2022 3:50 am
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 the AL title after sitting out the final day of the regular season. McNeil sat out until the eighth inning and made it first-time batting champions in both leagues, his .326 average one point ahead of the Dodgers’ Freddie Freeman. Arraez’s average was the lowest for an AL batting champion since Boston’s Carl Yastrzemski at .301 in 1968.
October 6, 2022 3:49 am
The owner of a sports memorabilia auction house says he has offered $2 million to the fan who caught Aaron Judge’s American League-record 62nd home run. JP Cohen, president of Memory Lane Inc. in Tustin, California, told The Associated Press on Wednesday that he has texted and emailed Cory Youmans, who caught Judge’s milestone shot Tuesday night at Globe Life Field in Arlington, Texas. Cohen says Youmans has not yet replied. Youmans grabbed the historic souvenir on the fly as it sailed into the front row of section 31 in left field.
October 5, 2022 3:57 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Albert Pujols drove in two more runs and the St. Louis Cardinals went on to beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 8-7 in 10 innings Tuesday night. Pujols hit a two-run single in the third inning to push his career total to 2,218 RBIs. That came a night after he broke a tie with Babe Ruth for second place on the career list. Hank Aaron holds the record with 2,287. Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol then removed the 42-year-old Pujols at the end of the inning. St. Louis opens postseason play Friday when it hosts a best-of-three National League wild-card series. Juan Yepez gave the Cardinals the win when he hit a tiebreaking single with one in the 10th inning.
October 5, 2022 3:50 am
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) – Yankees slugger Aaron Judge led off the nightcap with his American League-record 62nd home run and Gerrit Cole set the franchise single-season strikeouts record even as New York lost 3-2 in Texas for a doubleheader split. Leody Taveras hit a two-run homer for the Rangers in the fifth inning of the second game Tuesday night. Texas had lost 5-4 in the opener to extend its losing streak to seven games. Judge drove the third pitch of second game into the first row of seats in left field to end his long, tiring chase to break Maris’ mark that had stood since 1961. He had gone 1 for 5 with a single and scored the decisive run in the opener.
October 5, 2022 3:53 am
The entire Major League Baseball playoff picture is now set. The four matchups in the wild-card round were locked in Tuesday night, right before the last day of the regular season. Every series starts Friday and is a best two of three. Plus, the higher seed will host every game. In the National League, the San Diego Padres visit the New York Mets while the Philadelphia Phillies play at the St. Louis Cardinals. In the American League, the Seattle Mariners visit the Toronto Blue Jays while the Tampa Bay Rays play at the Cleveland Guardians. The postseason was expanded from 10 teams last year to 12 this season.
