Update on the latest sports
APMLB-SCHEDULE
Rays foil Yankees’ playoff clinch
UNDATED (AP) —Brandon Lowe hit three home runs and the Tampa Bay Rays rolled to a 12-2 blowout of the Yankees that prevented New York from clinching a playoff spot. With a chance to pitch his team into the postseason, Yankees starter Jordan Montgomery was rocked for a career-worst seven earned runs in 2 2/3 innings. He gave up a pair of three-run homers to Lowe, who also went deep in the seventh against Michael King. Even with the embarrassing defeat before a booing Yankee Stadium crowd of 41,648, New York could still punch its postseason ticket Saturday with losses by Toronto and Seattle later in the day. Or, a victory Sunday would guarantee the Yankees an AL wild card.
In other big-league action:
—Vladimir Guerrero Jr. hit his 47th home run and the Toronto Blue Jays pushed their AL wild-card chase to the final day of the regular season by thumping the Baltimore Orioles 10-1. The Blue Jays launched five homers and Alek Manoah allowed one hit over seven innings to help Toronto close within one game of the wild card-leading New York Yankees. Toronto began the day tied with Seattle, one game behind Boston for the second wild-card spot. The Blue Jays lead the majors with a franchise-record 258 home runs
MLB-YANKEES-LEMAHIEU
LeMahieu has sports hernia, will need offseason surgery
NEW YORK (AP) — Yankees manager Aaron Boone says DJ LeMahieu (leh-MAY’-hyoo) has a sports hernia that will require offseason surgery, but the team’s leadoff hitter will attempt to play through the injury in October.
LeMahieu exited Thursday night’s victory in Toronto, received a cortisone injection Friday and was unavailable for the Yankees’ 4-3 loss to the Rays. He is out of the starting lineup again Saturday for a critical game against Tampa Bay. A win would clinch a playoff spot for the Yankees, who started the day with a one-game lead over Boston for the top AL wild card.
The team hopes he can play in the scheduled regular-season finale Sunday and potentially in the postseason.
In other MLB matters:
—Los Angeles Dodgers pitcher Clayton Kershaw has returned to the injured list days before the team begins a postseason defense of its World Series championship. The three-time Cy Young Award winner has forearm discomfort, the same injury that sidelined him for 57 games from Aug. 9 to Sept. 13. Kershaw left his start Friday night against Milwaukee after 1 2/3 innings. He gave up three runs with one strikeout. He is is 10-8 with a 3.38 ERA, his highest mark since a 4.26 ERA as a rookie in 2008.
—The Colorado Rockies have made Bill Schmidt their permanent general manager, promoting him from the interim GM spot he’d held since May. The Rockies were 74-85 when they made the announcement before playing at Arizona. The Rockies began the year in turmoil, having traded franchise star Nolan Arenado to St. Louis in the offseason, and were 9-17 after April. Colorado hasn’t had a losing month since May and is .500 since the All-Star break.
T25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL-SCHEDULE
Georgia pounds Arkansas…Michigan stays unbeaten
UNDATED (AP) — No. 2 Georgia pounded No. 8 Arkansas 37-0 in the Bulldogs’ second consecutive shutout, as Zamir White rushed for two touchdowns and recovered a blocked punt for another score.
Georgia raced to a 21-0 lead in the first quarter despite playing without quarterback JT Daniels, who was held out with a right lat injury. Stetson Bennett filled in for Daniels and passed for only 72 yards as the Bulldogs relied on their running game and top-rated defense to beat Arkansas.
Georgia improved to 5-0 overall and 3-0 in the Southeastern Conference. Arkansas was held to 10 first downs and 156 yards.
In other Top 25 action:
—Desmond Ridder threw two touchdown passes and ran for score late in the fourth quarter as No. 7 Cincinnati capitalized on its big opportunity and beat No. 9 Notre Dame 24-13 in a game the Bearcats hope can be the centerpiece of College Football Playoff resume. Cincinnati (4-0) wanted to use its first Top 10, regular-season matchup as a statement game, heading into its American Athletic Conference schedule. Notre Dame dropped to 4-1.
— Cornelius Johnson caught both of Cade McNamara’s touchdown passes and No. 14 Michigan remained unbeaten with a 38-17 victory over Wisconsin. The Badgers lost starting quarterback Graham Mertz to a chest injury. They were trailing 13-10 and had the ball to start the third quarter when Mertz was sacked by Daxton Hill on a third-and-9 play. Mertz and tight end Jake Ferguson both went to the locker room with chest injuries after that play. Neither returned to the game.
—Grayson McCall threw for 212 yards on 13-of-13 passing with two touchdowns to Isaiah Likely as No. 16 Coastal Carolina rolled to a 59-6 victory over Louisiana Monroe to start Sun Belt Conference play. The Chanticleers started 5-0 for a second straight season and have won 16 of their last 17 games..
T25 COLLEGE FOOTBALL-MISSISSIPPI-MINGO
Ole Miss No. 2 receiver Mingo out for Alabama game
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — Mississippi wide receiver Jonathan Mingo didn’t dress for Saturday’s game at No. 1 Alabama. The 12th-ranked Rebels’ No. 2 receiver was wearing shorts during pregame warmups with a boot on his left foot.
An Ole Miss spokesman said coach Lane Kiffin would address his injury after the game.
—Nick Sciba kicked a 29-yard field goal with 22 seconds left and No. 24 Wake Forest beat Louisville 37-34 to remain unbeaten. Sam Hartman threw for 324 yards and two touchdowns to lead the offense for the Demon Deacons.
NFL-NEWS
Colts put Nelson on IR
UNDATED (AP) — The Indianapolis Colts have placed three-time All-Pro left guard Quenton Nelson on injured reserve, a move that will keep him out at least three weeks.
Nelson had started all 54 games, including playoffs, since Indy drafted him with the sixth-overall selection in 2018. He sprained his right ankle in last Sunday’s loss at Tennessee. Coach Frank Reich (ryk) had already decided not to play Nelson or right tackle Braden Smith on Sunday at Miami.
Elsewhere in the NFL:
—Tampa Bay Buccaneers tight end Rob Gronkowski will miss his return trip to New England because of a rib injury. A person familiar with the situation says Gronkowski did not travel with the Super Bowl champions for Sunday night’s anticipated matchup with the Patriots. Gronkowski was listed as doubtful on Friday. It’s the first game he has missed since he came out of retirement to play alongside Tom Brady with the Buccaneers.
—The Baltimore Ravens have activated running back Le’Veon Bell from the practice squad and put defensive end Derek Wolfe on injured reserve. The Ravens play at Denver on Sunday. Bell was one of three prominent veterans Baltimore brought in to help the backfield after injuries to J.K. Dobbins and Gus Edwards. Latavius Murray and Devonta Freeman have played already for the Ravens.
—Almost a year and a half after Don Shula died, the Miami Dolphins finally held a public celebration of his life on Saturday. The event couldn’t be held last year because of the pandemic. It was fitting that Miami chose this weekend for its Shula celebration and alumni reunion. The Dolphins on Sunday play host to the Indianapolis Colts, the other NFL team that Shula coached in his Hall of Fame career. Shula had 347 wins, including playoffs. That’s still unmatched for any coach in the league’s history. George Halas had 324 and New England coach Bill Belichick enters this weekend with 312.
NHL-CAPITALS-BACKSTROM
No timetable for injured Backstrom to play
ARLINGTON, Va. (AP) — Washington Capitals center Nicklas Backstrom says he’s taking his hip injury rehab slowly and has no timetable on when he’ll be able to play.
The 33-year-old Swede has ruled out having another surgery on his left hip. He had arthroscopic surgery on it in 2015. The Capitals could put Backstrom on long-term injured reserve to get salary-cap relief. That would force him to miss at least the first 10 games of the season.
Backstrom was Washington’s most consistent player and leading scorer last season with 53 points in 55 games.
COLLEGE BASKETBALL-MAUI INVITATIONAL
Maui Invitational to be played in Las Vegas
MAUI, Hawaii (AP) — The Maui Invitational is relocating to Las Vegas this year because of the COVID-19 pandemic and ongoing travel restrictions in Hawaii.
It will be held at the Mandalay Bay Resort and Casino from Nov. 22-24. The original field of eight schools remains in place for the marquee early season event: Texas A&M, Wisconsin, Butler, Houston, Oregon, Chaminade, St. Mary’s and Notre Dame.
The Maui Invitational was played in North Carolina last year.
