August 19, 2025 4:30 am
No. 1 Texas and No. 2 Penn State each had three players selected for the preseason AP All-America team. The Southeastern Conference had 12 players on the 27-man first team determined by media members on the AP Top 25 voting panel. Alabama, Clemson, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Pittsburgh each had two players on the first team. Ohio State safety Caleb Downs and Florida center Jake Slaughter are returning first-team AP All-Americans. Clemson’s Cade Klubnik was the overwhelming preseason choice for first-team quarterback after throwing for 3,639 yards with 39 touchdowns and just six interceptions.
August 18, 2025 4:31 am
CHICAGO (AP) — Dansby Swanson hit a tiebreaking sacrifice fly in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 4-3 in the rubber game of the weekend series. Pete Crow-Armstrong and Ian Happ each had two hits for Chicago, which had dropped four of five before Saturday’s 3-1 victory. Next up is a big five-game series against major league-leading Milwaukee, beginning with a split doubleheader Monday at Wrigley Field. The Cubs are eight games back of the Brewers in the NL Central.
August 18, 2025 4:33 am
CINCINNATI (AP) — Austin Hays’ single with the bases loaded in the 10th inning gave the Cincinnati Reds a 3-2 victory over Milwaukee on Sunday, ending the Brewers’ franchise-record winning streak at 14 games. Milwaukee had barely pulled out the previous two games in Cincinnati for its longest streak ever in one season and the longest in the majors since the St. Louis Cardinals won 17 straight from Sept. 11 to Sept. 28, 2021. This time, Spencer Steer’s sacrifice bunt in the 10th advanced designated runner TJ Friedl to third. After intentional walks to Elly De La Cruz and Will Benson loaded the bases, Hays laced a single to down the third-base line for his second career walk-off hit.
August 18, 2025 4:34 am
CHICAGO (AP) — Caleb Williams took advantage of his first preseason playing time. He connected with Olamide Zaccheaus for a 36-yard touchdown on the opening drive as the Chicago Bears cruised to 38-0 preseason victory over the Buffalo Bills on Sunday night. After sitting out a 24-24 tie with Miami last week, Williams came out firing against Buffalo in his first chance to operate coach Ben Johnson’s offense during a game. The first pick in the 2024 draft led a 92-yard TD drive to start the game. Williams hit on six of his first seven throws, then left after the second possession. He finished 6 of 10 for 102 yards.
August 18, 2025 4:32 am
CLEVELAND (AP) — Coach Kevin Stefanski is expected to announce this week the Cleveland Browns starting quarterback for the Sept. 7 opener against the Cincinnati Bengals. Stefanski said on Sunday that he wants to talk to the team first. The Browns had a day off after their 22-13 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. They return to practice on Monday, preparing for Saturday’s preseason finale against the Los Angeles Rams. Joe Flacco has taken most first-team snaps during camp. Kenny Pickett and Shedeur Sanders have been limited by injuries. Dillon Gabriel played well against the Eagles, completing 13 of 18 passes.
August 18, 2025 4:35 am
OWINGS MILLS, Md. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler’s latest victory came with flair. He rallied from a four-shot deficit in the BMW Championship against Robert MacIntyre. Clinging to a one-shot lead, Scheffler chipped in from 82 feet on the 17th hole for a birdie that all but sealed his fifth victory of the year. Scheffler shot 67 at Caves Valley. He turned a four-shot deficit into a two-shot victory. And he’s the first player since Tiger Woods to win five-plus times on the PGA Tour in consecutive years. Harry Hall was the only player to move into the top 30 to reach the Tour Championship.
August 17, 2025 7:48 am
CHICAGO (AP) — Seiya Suzuki hit a tiebreaking single in the eighth inning, and the Chicago Cubs beat the Pittsburgh Pirates 3-1 on Saturday for a sorely needed victory. Kyle Tucker hit a leadoff single against Evan Sisk (0-1) and stole second before coming home on Suzuki’s grounder into center field. Nico Hoerner tacked on a two-out RBI double following an intentional walk to Ian Happ. Chicago (69-53) had dropped four of five, including a 3-2 loss in the series opener on Friday. Cubs left-hander Shota Imanaga pitched seven innings of three-hit ball. Andrew Kittredge (3-3) got three outs before Brad Keller handled the ninth for his first save. Tommy Pham homered for Pittsburgh (52-72), which lost for the sixth time in seven games. Rookie Mike Burrows permitted one run and five hits in five innings. Imanaga retired his first 10 batters before Pham connected for his sixth homer in the fourth, a 428-foot drive to left. The Cubs got the run back in the bottom half when Tucker scored on Carson Kelly’s two-out single.
August 17, 2025 7:50 am
PITTSBURGH (AP) — For a high school football coach, Teddy Bridgewater can still sling it. The well-traveled Bridgewater threw for a pair of first-quarter touchdowns in Tampa Bay’s 17-14 preseason win over Pittsburgh on Saturday night, thrusting himself into the competition with Kyle Trask to be Baker Mayfield’s backup in the process. While Buccaneers coach Todd Bowles isn’t quite ready to say whether there’s now a choice to be made between Bridgewater and Trask, Bridgewater’s performance less than two weeks after signing provided pretty compelling evidence that there’s still plenty left in the 32-year-old’s right arm. Bridgewater, who joined the Buccaneers last week after being suspended from his high school coaching job in Miami for self-reporting that he provided financial benefits to his players, was sharp in his three series of work.
August 16, 2025 4:37 am
CHICAGO (AP) — Jack Suwinski hit a tiebreaking solo homer in the ninth inning to give the Pittsburgh Pirates a 3-2 win over the struggling Chicago Cubs. Suwinski, a Chicago native, hit Daniel Palencia’s (1-3) 1-1 fastball the opposite way, into the left-field bleachers for his third homer. The Pirates ended a five-game losing steak and sent the Cubs to their fourth loss in five games. Pete Crow-Armstrong broke out of a 3-for-41 slump by going 3 for 3 with his first RBI since July 30. Crow-Armstrong also was hit by a pitch and scored a run. The Cubs All-Star was thrown out twice on the bases; trying to stretch a single to double in the fourth and was caught stealing in the ninth after leading off with a single.
August 16, 2025 4:35 am
CHICAGO (AP) — The Pittsburgh Pirates recalled left-handed pitcher Evan Sisk and right-hander Colin Holderman from Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday before their series opener against the Cubs in Chicago. In a corresponding move, the Pirates designated lefty Ryan Borucki for assignment. Right-hander Cam Sanders had been optioned to Indianapolis on Wednesday following a 12-5 loss at Milwaukee that extended the last-place Pirates’ slide to five games.
