Update on the latest sports
APMLB-SCHEDULE
Orioles handle Ohtani
UNDATED (AP) — A day after ending a 19-game losing streak, the major league-worst Baltimore Orioles handled Shohei Ohtani and the Los Angeles Angels again.
Baltimore got a grand slam and six RBIs from Pedro Severino in a 13-1 victory on Thursday. Ohtani led off the game with a homer, his MLB-leading 41st. But that was the only highlight for the Angels, who have lost five of six. Baltimore won two games in a row for the first time since July 30-31 and took its first series since a three-game sweep of Washington from July 23-25. Keegan Akin picked up his second career win.
In MLB action elsewhere:
—Jonathan India hit a three-run homer, Nick Castellanos also went deep and the Cincinnati Reds beat the NL Central-leading Milwaukee Brewers 5-1 to avoid a three-game sweep. Sonny Gray allowed three hits in six scoreless innings for the Reds, who still trail the Brewers by 8 1/2 games. Cincinnati does hold the second NL wild card spot. Gray struck out six while walking only two batters and didn’t give up his first hit until Avisail Garcia’s two-out single in the fourth. It was the second consecutive scoreless outing for Gray, who hasn’t allowed a run in his last 13 innings.
MLB-NEWS
Phillies’ Hoskins out for season with abdominal tear
UNDATED (AP) — Rhys Hoskins will miss the rest of the season with an abdominal tear that requires surgery.
Hoskins leads the Philadelphia Phillies with 27 homers and 71 RBIs, and the news is a major blow to the team’s playoff hopes. Philadelphia entered Thursday trailing first-place Atlanta by five games in the NL East. Hoskins had been playing through an abdominal injury all season, but he aggravated it when he dove awkwardly for a ball at Washington on Aug. 5. He returned on Sunday and hit two homers at San Diego, but playing in the field made the injury worse.
NFL-NEWS
Titans’ outbreak now at nine; QB Ryan Tannehill on COVID list
UNDATED (AP) — The Tennessee Titans’ coronavirus outbreak has grown to nine people. Quarterback Ryan Tannehill is among three players added to the reserve/COVID-19 list Thursday.
General manager Jon Robinson says Tannehill, tight end Geoff Swaim and linebacker Justin March-Lillard are joining four other players on the reserve/COVID-19 list. That makes three Titans starters out, along with coach Mike Vrabel and special teams coordinator Craig Aukerman.
Robinson says the Titans are close to being either 97% or 98% vaccinated or with antibodies present, indicating a person recently or previously had COVID-19. Tannehill said at the start of training camp he was in the process of being vaccinated.
The Titans host Chicago in the preseason finale Saturday night.
In other NFL news:
— Buffalo Bills coach Sean McDermott has expressed frustration with his team’s relatively low vaccination rate while saying there’s little more he can do to persuade his players to get the shot. The Bills are considered to be at the lower end of the NFL scale in having about 80% of their players vaccinated. McDermott’s comments came two days after four unvaccinated Bills players were required to go into five days of self-isolation after having contact with a team trainer who tested positive for COVID-19. And he spoke shortly after receiver Isaiah McKenzie revealed he faces NFL discipline for violating the league’s COVID-19 protocols for unvaccinated players by failing to wear a mask inside the team’s facility.
— Odell Beckham Jr.’s comeback is closer to completion. Beckham, who has slowly increased his activities since the Browns opened training camp last month, took his first snaps in team drills during Thursday’s practice — a major step in his return from season-ending knee surgery. Beckham suffered a torn anterior cruciate ligament in Week 7 last season against Cincinnati and wasn’t a part of Cleveland’s run to the playoffs.
— New York Giants running back Saquon (SAY’-kwahn) Barkley participated in 7-on-7 drills for the first time this preseason during the final day of joint practices between the Giants and Patriots. It was the latest step in his nine-plus months of rehabilitation from surgery after he suffered a torn ligament in his right knee. Patriots quarterback Cam Newton also returned for the first time since what coach Bill Belichick called a “misunderstanding” of NFL COVID-19 protocols last week.
— The Chicago Bears have waived receiver Javon Wims. He had 28 receptions for 266 yards and two touchdowns in three seasons. The NFL suspended Wims for two games in November for punching New Orleans Saints safety C.J. Gardner-Johnson. And in the Bears’ 21-9 playoff loss at New Orleans, Wims dropped a touchdown when he let a pass go right through his arms and bounce off his jersey number after he raced into the end zone behind defenders on a trick play.
NHL-NEWS
Flyers sign center Sean Couturier to $62M, 8-year extension
UNDATED (AP) — The Philadelphia Flyers have signed top center Sean Couturier (koo-TOOR’-ee-ay) to an eight-year contract extension worth $62 million.
Couturier counts $7.75 million against the salary cap with his contract that begins after next season and runs through 2029-30. He won the Selke Trophy in 2020 as the NHL’s best defensive forward. Couturier had 18 goals and 23 assists last season.
The eighth pick in the 2011 draft has 443 points in 692 regular-season games and 22 more in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The 28-year-old has earned a reputation as a 200-foot player who excels at faceoffs and plays through significant injuries.
In other NHL news:
—The Calgary Flames re-signed forward Dillon Dube to a three-year, $6.9 million contract Thursday. The 23-year-old Dube had 11 goals and 11 assists in 51 games last season. He has 18 goals and 25 assists in 121 games in three seasons with the Flames. Selected 56th overall in the 2016 draft, he captained Canada’s winning team in the 2018 world junior championship.
— The Carolina Hurricanes have agreed to terms on an eight-year contract with forward Andrei Svechnikov (SVEHCH’-nih-kahv). That deal is set to keep the No. 2 overall draft pick from 2018 with the franchise through the 2028-29 season. It will also pay the 21-year-old an average annual value of $7.75 million per season. Svechnikov has been a fixture and physical presence on Carolina’s top line alongside Sebastian Aho and Teuvo Teravainen (TOO’-voh tehr-uh-VY’-nehn). He was a restricted free agent and the team had long been in talks with him about an extension. The Hurricanes have reached the playoffs in all three of Svechnikov’s seasons.
