Update on the latest sports
APNFL-SCHEDULE
Jones, Patriots breeze past Jets as Wilson throws 4 INTs
UNDATED (AP) — Mac Jones was smart and efficient, Damien Harris and James White had touchdown runs and the New England Patriots took advantage of a nightmarish outing by Zach Wilson in a 25-6 victory over the New York Jets.
Zach Wilson’s first pass ended up in the other team’s hands. So did his second. By the time a nightmarish four quarters were over the New York Jets quarterback had tossed four interceptions in an ugly loss to fellow rookie Mac Jones and the New England Patriots on Sunday.
Wilson said he didn’t blame Jets fans who booed him at MetLife Stadium. The No. 2 overall pick was 19 of 33 for 210 yards and the four INTs. He struggled right away against the Patriots as the Jets fell into an early 10-0 hole.
Jones, the No. 15 overall pick in the draft, went 22 of 30 for 186 yards for the Patriots.
New England beat New York for the 11th straight game.
Elsewhere around the NFL:
— Sam Darnold threw for 305 yards and two touchdowns, and the Carolina defense turned in another strong performance in a 26-7 win over the New Orleans Saints. Darnold improved to 2-0 as the starter, connecting on TDs to Brandon Zylstra and D.J. Moore as Carolina jumped to a 17-0 lead by outgaining the Saints 274-65 in the first half. Christian McCaffrey added 137 yards from scrimmage and scored his first touchdown of the season. Jameis Winston was held to 111 yards passing, intercepted twice and sacked four times.
— Baker Mayfield came back after hurting his left shoulder to throw a touchdown pass and run for a TD, leading the Cleveland Browns to a 31-21 win over Houston. The Texans were in the game until starting quarterback Tyrod Taylor injured his hamstring. Nick Chubb had a 26-yard TD run for the Browns. Taylor completed 10 of 11 passes in the first half and had the Texans tied at 14-14. He was replaced in the second half by rookie Davis Mills.
— Josh Allen threw two touchdown passes, Zach Moss ran for two scores and the Buffalo Bills knocked out Miami quarterback Tua Tagovailoa (TOO’-ah tuhng-ah-vy-LOH’-ah) early with a rib injury on the way to a 35-0 win. Devin Singletary rushed for 82 yards and another touchdown for the Bills. Buffalo has won six consecutive games in the series, doing so by an average of 20 points per game. This marks only the second time the Bills have won six in a row against the Dolphins. It was Miami’s second-worst shutout loss at home. Tagovailoa lasted only two series.
— Matt Prater still has plenty of leg left at 37. The Arizona kicker broke the franchise record with a 62-yard field goal to end the first half, putting the Cardinals up 24-23 over the Minnesota Vikings. Prater’s kick breaks the Cardinals record of 61, set by Jay Feely against Cincinnati in 2012. And it’s not even Prater’s longest career kick. He’s the NFL record holder with a 64-yarder for Denver against Tennessee in 2013. Prater has been a long-kicking specialist since entering the NFL with Detroit as an undrafted free agent in 2006.
— Justin Fields played the second half after Andy Dalton exited with a knee injury against his former team, and the rookie quarterback used Chicago’s stellar defensive performance to direct the Bears to a 20-17 victory over Joe Burrow and the Cincinnati Bengals. Roquan Smith returned an interception 53 yards for his first career touchdown, one of three straight picks thrown by Burrow during the decisive stretch in Chicago’s first win of the season.
— Jimmy Garoppolo threw one touchdown pass and ran in for a score, leading the San Francisco 49ers to a 17-11 victory over the Philadelphia Eagles. Nick Bosa had two sacks and San Francisco’s stingy defense shut down Jalen Hurts. Hurts completed just 12 of 23 passes for 190 yards. He ran for 82 yards, including a 1-yard TD in the fourth quarter.
— Derek Carr threw for 382 yards and two touchdowns as the Las Vegas Raiders toppled Pittsburgh 26-17 Carr completed 28 of 37 passes for the Raiders as Las Vegas improved to 2-0. Carr’s 61-yard rainbow to Henry Ruggs midway through the fourth quarter gave the Raiders the cushion they needed to beat the Steelers for the sixth time in eight meetings. The Steelers fell to 1-1 and played the second half without star outside linebacker T.J. Watt. Watt left in the second quarter with a groin injury and did not return.
— Matthew Stafford led Los Angeles on two late scoring drives and Matt Gay made a tiebreaking field goal with 2:23 to go to give the Rams a 27-24 victory at Indianapolis. Stafford finished 19 of 30 with 278 yards, two touchdown passes and one interception. The Colts fell to 0-2 for the first time in coach Frank Reich’s four-year tenure. And it could get worse with a three-game road trip looming and the status of quarterback Carson Wentz in doubt. He left with a right ankle injury midway through the fourth quarter and did not return, dooming Indy’s comeback hopes.
— Courtland Sutton’s career day helped the Denver Broncos beat woeful Jacksonville 23-13, handing the Jaguars their 17th consecutive loss. Sutton finished with nine catches for 159 yards, including a shoe-string grab in the third quarter that surely rates among his best plays in four seasons. In Denver’s first game without Jerry Jeudy, Sutton showed he can be Teddy Bridgewater’s go-to guy.
NFL-NEWS
Bucs’ Gronkowski ties record with 2 TD catches
UNDATED (AP) — Tampa Bay tight end Rob Gronkowski has two scoring catches in a game yet again. Gronkowski caught touchdown passes of 20 yards and 1 yard from Tom Brady in the first half against the Atlanta Falcons. He has two scoring catches in three consecutive games, including the playoffs.
Gronkowski has tied the NFL record for consecutive games with multiple TD catches by tight ends. He also has set the Tampa Bay record for consecutive games with at least two touchdown catches for a player at any position.
New England tight end Ben Coates also had three consecutive games with multiple TD catches in 1994.
MLB-SCHEDULE
Berríos tops old team, Jays score 5 in first, beat Twins 5-3
UNDATED (AP) — José Berríos pitched into the seventh inning to beat his former team, Bo Bichette homered in a five-run first inning and the Toronto Blue Jays increased their lead in the playoff race by beating Minnesota 5-3.
Toronto now leads the Yankees by 1 1/2 games for the second AL wild-card spot. The Blue Jays are one game behind Boston for the top slot.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. had three hits and an RBI as the Blue Jays improved to 15-3 in September. Traded to Toronto on July 30 after six seasons with the Twins, Berríos faced his ex-teammates for the first time. He allowed three runs and four hits, and improved to 5-3 with a 3.39 ERA in 10 starts with the Blue Jays.
Elsewhere in the majors:
— Wily Peralta gave up three hits in seven innings, and Eric Haase and Dustin Garneau homered for the Detroit Tigers in a 2-0 win over the AL East-leading Tampa Bay Rays. Peralta and three relievers limited the Rays to five singles as Detroit, third in the AL Central won for the seventh time in 10 games. Tampa Bay has 12 games to play and began the day with a 7 1/2-game lead in the AL East and headed to its second straight division title. Peralta walked three and threw a season-high 100 pitches.
— Gerrit Cole stumbled when the New York Yankees needed an ace-like outing, allowing seven runs over 5 2/3 innings in a costly 11-1 defeat to the Cleveland Indians. New York dropped 1 1/2 games behind Toronto for the second AL wild card and 2 1/2 games back of wild card leader Boston with 12 games left. Harold Ramirez hit a pair of two-run singles and drove in a career-high four runs before leaving with a right shoulder injury.
— José Abreu matched the major league RBI lead and the Chicago White Sox moved closer to the AL Central title with a 7-2 win over the Texas Rangers. Yasmani Grandal homered for the second game in a row. His leadoff homer in the fourth inning ignited a five-run outburst that Abreu capped with a two-run single to give him 113 RBIs. The magic number is four for Chicago to win the division title over second-place Cleveland. Lucas Giolito worked in the sixth inning for his 10th victory. Rangers starter Jordan Lyles didn’t make it out of the fourth.
— Jose Siri and Chas McCormick hit back-to-back home runs in the eighth inning, rallying the AL West-leading Houston Astros over the Arizona Diamondbacks 7-6. Carlos Correa also homered as the Astros held their comfortable division lead over Oakland. Houston won for the fourth time in five games and cut Tampa Bay’s lead for the best record in the AL to 3 ½ games. Astros starter Zack Greinke was tagged for five runs on five hits with three strikeouts in four innings. He has allowed 21 runs over 19 innings in his last four outings.
— San Diego center fielder Fernando Tatis Jr. dropped Nolan Arenado’s bases-loaded popup and heaved the ball home, leading to a five-run first inning, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat the Padres 8-7 for an eight-game winning streak. Tatis’ brutal error and mental mistake — he chose not to make an easy throw to second or third for a forceout — came one day after his dugout dustup with teammate Manny Machado. San Diego’s Jake Arrieta left soon after the error with an injury. St. Louis completed a three-game sweep and opened a three-game lead for the second NL wild card.
— Rookie Jarred Kelenic homered, doubled twice and wrapped up his impressive series, leading the Seattle Mariners over the Kansas City Royals 7-1. Kelenic also walked and scored twice as the Mariners remained four games behind Toronto for the second AL wild-card spot. Kelenic, who entered the season as one of the top minor league prospects in baseball, went 5 for 9 with three home runs, two doubles, three walks and seven RBIs in the three-game series.
— Patrick Wisdom set a Cubs rookie record with his 27th homer, hitting a three-run drive that capped a five-run comeback in the eighth inning and sent Chicago over the Milwaukee Brewers 6-4. The Brewers’ ninth-inning rally fell short and the magic number for wrapping up their first NL Central title since 2018 remained at three. Christian Yelich singled home two runs in the Milwaukee ninth with a two-out single. Omar Narváez singled and Luis Urías walked to load the bases. The Cubs brought in Michael Rucker, who retired Jace Peterson on a flyball to earn his first career save.
— Juan Soto homered to back Paolo Espino, and the Washington Nationals beat Colorado 3-0 to end the Rockies’ rare five-game road winning streak. Soto hit a 454-foot drive in the third inning off Jon Gray, Soto’s 26th home run this season. Soto is hitting .362 with a 1.178 OPS since the All-Star break.
— Kiké Hernández’s game-tying RBI single caromed off the second-base bag and into shallow center field, sparking a three-run, seventh-inning rally that carried the AL wild-card leading Boston Red Sox to an 8-6 victory Sunday over the Baltimore Orioles and a sweep of their three-game series. It was the fifth straight win for Boston, which entered the day leading Toronto by one game and the Yankees by 1 ½ in the playoff chase. J.D. Martinez had a solo homer and Kevin Plawecki added a two-run single for the Red Sox. Trey Mancini had a three-run double for the Orioles, who lost 12 of the final 13 meetings against the Red Sox after sweeping a season-opening three-game series.
— Lewin Díaz led off the bottom of the 10th with a two-run homer off Chad Kuhl, and the Miami Marlins beat Pittsburgh 6-5 to deny the Pirates what would have been their first series sweep this season. Díaz’s drive off Kuhl bounced off the façade in right-center for his first game-ending home run of his big league career. In a see-saw game, Hoy Park put Pittsburgh ahead with a two-run homer in the ninth off Dylan Floro, and Bryan De La Cruz hit a tying single against Chris Stratton with two outs in the bottom half.
MLB-RANGERS-ARIHARA
Arihara designated for assignment by Rangers
ARLINGTON, Texas (AP) — Right-hander Kohei Arihara (KOH’-hay ar-ih-HAH’-rah) has been designated for assignment by the Texas Rangers. The 29-year-old Japanese pitcher signed a two-year contract with the Rangers last winter. Arihara’s spot on the 40-man roster was filled when right-hander Mike Folytnewicz (fohl-tih-NAY’-vihch) was reinstated from the COVID-related injury list.
Arihara could be outrighted to the minor leagues if he clears waivers. He is due $2.6 million next season. He could also get an invitation to Rangers spring training as a non-roster player.
Arihara is 2-4 in 10 starts. He missed more three months after surgery for an aneurysm in his throwing shoulder.
PGA TOUR CHAMPIONS
Darren Clarke wins PGA Tour Champions playoff in Sioux Falls
SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Darren Clarke won the Stanford International on Sunday for his third PGA Tour Champions victory of the season, beating K.J. Choi with a birdie on the second hole of a playoff. Clarke, the 53-year-old major champion from Northern Ireland, closed with a 5-under 65 at Minnehaha Country Club, birdieing the par-4 18th to match Choi and Steve Flesch at 12-under 198.
Choi, the second-round leader, finished with a 69. Flesch, eliminated with a bogey on the first extra trip down 18, shot a 66.
T25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL-POLL
Clemson, Ohio State slip; Penn State jumps to 6th
UNDATED (AP) — Clemson and Ohio State slipped to the back of the top 10 in The Associated Press college football poll on Sunday and Penn State jumped four spots to No. 6 after another weekend in which lots of ranked teams had issues.
The defending national champion Crimson Tide remained an overwhelming No. 1 after holding on to beat Florida 31-29, Alabama’s closest margin of victory during its current 17-game winning streak.
No. 2 Georgia received the other three first-place votes. No. 3 Oregon moved up a spot and No. 4 Oklahoma slipped one after a close victory over Nebraska. Iowa was No. 5 for a second straight week.
The last time Clemson and Ohio State were both ranked below No. 8 was Nov. 2, 2014, when Ohio State was 13th and Clemson was 19th.
