Update on the latest sports
APMLB-SCHEDULE
O’Neill homers, Cards win 2-1 to salvage split with Dodgers
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tyler O’Neill hit a tiebreaking homer, Cardinals relievers combined for five scoreless innings, and St. Louis salvaged a split of its four-game series against the Los Angeles Dodgers with a 2-1 win.
The Cardinals climbed within three games of the San Diego Padres for the final NL wild-card spot, while the Dodgers fell 2 1/2 games behind the NL West-leading San Francisco Giants.
O’Neill’s fifth-inning drive off Phil Bickford was his 25th homer this season. The blast made a winner out of Alex Reyes, who pitched two scoreless innings in his fifth appearance since being demoted from the closer’s role.
In other afternoon action:
— Miguel Cabrera and Robbie Grossman each had four hits, and the Detroit Tigers avoided a sweep by beating the Pittsburgh Pirates 5-1. Cabrera was 4 for 4 with a double and three RBIs. He doubled off the Clemente Wall in right field to score Grossman in the first, singled home Akil Baddoo in the third and bounced one up the middle in the fifth to bring in Jonathan Schoop. Grossman was 4 for 5 and scored three runs. He singled in his first three at-bats and hit a solo home run just inside the right field foul pole in the seventh.
MLB-NEWS
Yankees’ Taillon out with ankle tear, Britton has TJ surgery
UNDATED (AP) — Yankees starter Jameson Taillon was added to the 10-day injured list with a partial tear of a tendon in his right ankle, and manager Aaron Boone also said reliever Zack Britton had season-ending Tommy John surgery Wednesday.
The reeling Yankees are feeling more optimistic about ace Gerrit Cole, who left a start Tuesday with left hamstring tightness. Cole played catch Thursday and plans to throw a bullpen Friday or Saturday with an eye toward a return to game action Monday or Tuesday. The Yankees have lost five straight and nine of 11 since winning 13 in a row.
NFL-COWBOYS/BUCCANEERS
Bucs and Cowboys kick off NFL season
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Tom Brady and the Super Bowl champion Buccaneers open the 2021 NFL season Thursday with a prime-time matchup against Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys.
Tampa Bay is hoping to become the first team to win back-to-back titles since Brady led the 2003 and 2004 New England Patriots to consecutive crowns. The Bucs return all 22 starters from the squad that finished last season on an eight-game winning streak, including a 31-9 rout of the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl.
The Cowboys are coming off a 6-10 finish in which they played most of the season without quarterback Dak Prescott. He’s due to play Thursday night for the first time since suffering the severe ankle injury that ended his year last October. He didn’t play in the preseason, either, after straining his right shoulder early in training camp.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
—The Pittsburgh Steelers have made outside linebacker T.J. Watt the highest-paid defensive player in the league. A person with knowledge of the agreement tells The Associated Press that Watt has signed a four-year extension worth $112 million. Watt was set to enter the final season of the rookie deal he signed in 2017. The 26-year-old has become one of the best pass rushers in the league. His 49 1/2 sacks over his first four seasons ranks sixth all time by a player over that span.
—The Baltimore Ravens listed running back Gus Edwards and cornerback Marcus Peters as limited in practice after ESPN reported the team feared each player has a torn ACL. ESPN cited an unidentified source in each report Thursday. Losing Edwards would be another major blow to Baltimore’s backfield after the Ravens lost running back J.K. Dobbins to a season-ending knee injury in their final preseason game.
TENNIS-US OPEN
Women’s semifinal matches on tap
NEW YORK (AP) — A pair of unseeded teenagers are taking the stage tonight in the U.S. Open women’s semifinals: 18-year-old Emma Raducanu (ra-doo-KA’-noo) of Britain and 19-year-old Leylah Fernandez of Canada.
The 73rd-ranked Fernandez takes on No. 2 seed Aryna Sabalenka in the first semifinal. That will be followed by the 150th-ranked Raducanu against No. 17 seed Maria Sakkari (SA’-ka-ree) of Greece. Raducanu is the first female qualifier to get to the final four at the U.S. Open in the professional era, which began in 1968. None of the four women remaining in the tournament has ever played in a Grand Slam final.
In other action Thursday, Jamie Murray of Britain and Bruno Soares of Brazil reached the men’s double final. The seventh-seeded duo defeated the eighth-seeded team of John Peers of Australia and Filip Polasek of Slovakia.
Murray and Soares, who won the U.S. Open and Australian Open doubles together in 2016, will face Rajeev Ram of the U.S. and Joe Salisbury of Britain for the championship.
NBA-JORDAN-LAKERS
Lakers add longtime Clippers big man DeAndre Jordan
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Center DeAndre Jordan has signed with the Los Angeles Lakers, adding another seasoned NBA veteran to their experienced roster.
Jordan is a 13-year NBA veteran who spent his first 10 seasons down the Staples Center hallway with the Los Angeles Clippers. He led the league in field goal percentage five times and won two rebounding titles during his decade with the Clippers, who reversed the franchise’s image as longtime losers during his partnership with Chris Paul and Blake Griffin. The 33-year-old Jordan has played for the Mavericks, Knicks and Nets since leaving LA in 2018.
FBC-CONFERENCE REALIGHNMENT
AP source: Big 12 presidents set to vote on adding 4 schools
UNDATED (AP) — The Big 12 Conference is moving quickly to add new schools.
Trustees at Central Florida and Cincinnati have called special meetings for Friday related to conference membership. Both of those schools have been identified as potential Big 12 members along with BYU and Houston. The Big 12 is losing Texas and Oklahoma to the Southeastern Conference no later than 2025. A person familiar with the Big 12′s expansion plans tells The Associated Press that conference presidents are scheduled to vote on applications for entry into the league at a meeting Friday.
GAMBLING-ARIZONA
Sports betting starts in Arizona in time for NFL season
PHOENIX (AP) — Arizona’s first sports betting operations are now open in time for the start of the NFL season with live wagers allowed on college and professional sports.
Betting began Thursday online and at the FanDuel Sportsbook at the downtown Phoenix arena where the Phoenix Suns play and at temporary betting windows at the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Chase Field. The action was made possible by a new law enacted by the Legislature and signed by Republican Gov. Doug Ducey last spring. Online fantasy sports wagering became legal late last month. Before that, Arizona was one of the few U.S. states where it was still banned.
GONZAGA-FEW-DUI
Gonzaga coach Few smelled of alcohol prior to DUI arrest
SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Newly released legal documents say Gonzaga basketball coach Mark Few’s breath smelled of alcohol and he had bloodshot eyes on the night he was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence, though he initially told a police officer he had not been drinking.
The document says the officer questioned him further and Few eventually said he had two beers that day, with his last beer coming about four hours before he was pulled over. Few was arrested after a breath test showed blood-alcohol concentrations of .119 and .120, which is above the legal limit of .08. He was eventually cited and released.
