ST. JOSEPH, Mo. (AP) — Quarterback Patrick Mahomes arrived at training camp Tuesday with the understanding that he and his Kansas City Chiefs teammates need to be better in 2023 if they want to repeat as Super Bowl champions. Mahomes earned Most Valuable Player honors last season and captured his second Lombardi Trophy. If the Chiefs hope to improve, much of the challenge falls on Mahomes. Following the offseason departure of free agent receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Mecole Hardman, it’s up to Mahomes to build connections with a group of young receivers including Kadarius Toney, Skyy Moore and this year’s second-round selection Rashee Rice. The good thing, according to head coach Andy Reid, is how much Mahomes relishes challenges.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Dairon Blanco tripled, doubled twice, singled and drove in three runs and the Kansas City Royals overcame Spencer Torkelson’s two-homer night to outscore the Detroit Tigers 11-10 on Tuesday. Blanco tripled and scored to help the Royals tie it at 2 in the third, and had a run-scoring single to cap a five-run fourth. He doubled and scored in both the sixth and eighth innings for his first career four-hit game. Seven consecutive Royals reached safely in the fourth en route to a 7-2 lead. Freddy Fermin and Drew Waters had RBI doubles and Edward Olivares slapped a two-run single through a drawn-in infield. Torkelson had career highs with five RBIs and 10 total bases.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Arenado’s three-run homer in the 10th inning lifted the St. Louis Cardinals to a 5-2 win over the slumping Miami Marlins. Arenado’s homer off A.J. Puk (4-4) was his first game-ending homer since Aug. 14, 2019 and the fourth of his career. JoJo Romero (2-0) pitched a perfect 10th for the Cardinals, who have won four straight games. The Marlins have lost five straight, matching a season high from May 2-6. Cardinals starter Jordan Montgomery threw 92 pitches in his first appearance since a July 7 start was cut short by right hamstring tightness. He allowed one run and six hits, struck out five and walked two.
DENVER (AP) — Fernando Abad picked his first victory in more than six years as the Colorado Rockies used a bullpen game featuring seven pitchers to beat the Houston Astros 4-3 on Tuesday night. This had all the hallmarks of a high-scoring Coors Field affair when it was 3-3 after the first inning. But the pitching took over and the only run allowed after the early fireworks came courtesy of Ezequiel Tovar, who lined a shot off the fence in right-center for a triple to score C.J. Cron in the fourth. Reliever Jake Bird was roughed up for three runs as he opened the game on the mound for the Rockies. From there, the bullpen surrendered just five hits. Justin Lawrence picked up save No. 6 with a perfect ninth.
ATLANTA (AP) — Geraldo Perdomo gave Arizona the lead with a two-run double in the ninth inning and the Diamondbacks took advantage of Atlanta’s worst pitching effort of the season to beat the Braves 16-13. It was Arizona’s first game in which each team had at least 13 runs and the first in the majors since the Chicago White Sox beat the Cubs 17-13 on Aug. 27, 2021. The NL East-leading Braves have lost three straight. Arizona snapped a four-game losing streak. Christian Walker homered twice and had three hits and five RBIs for Arizona. Corbin Carroll had two hits, scored three runs and drove in two. Miguel Castro (5-3) pitched a scoreless eighth and Kevin Ginkel struck out the side in the ninth for his first save.
NEW YORK (AP) — Major League Baseball had a night of offense not seen in 129 years, with 12 teams scoring double-digit runs. Three games ended 11-10 on the same day for the first time Twelve teams tied May 30, 1884, for the second-most with double-digit runs in one day, trailing only 13 on July 4, 1894, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. The Chicago Cubs topped the scoring by routing Washington 17-3 and Arizona outlasted Atlanta 16-13. San Francisco beat Cincinnati, the New York Mets topped the Chicago White Sox and Kansas City edged Detroit, all by 11-10.
DALLAS (AP) — The name of the annual Texas-Oklahoma football matchup has been changed back to the Red River Rivalry, ditching the unpopular Red River Showdown used since 2014. Allstate was announced Monday as the new title sponsor of the game played every year at the Cotton Bowl amid the Texas State Fair in Dallas. The game was long known as the Red River Shootout before being changed to the Red River Rivalry in 2005. The rivalry dates to 1900 and this year’s meeting on Oct. 7 will be the 119th matchup between the Longhorns and Sooners.
UNDATED (AP) — Northwestern has been added to a long list of American universities to face a scandal in athletics and may eventually join the trend of making large payouts following allegations of sexual abuse. A former Wildcats football player filed the first lawsuit against Pat Fitzgerald and members of the school’s leadership on Tuesday, seeking damages stemming from a hazing scandal that cost the former football coach his job. More lawsuits are expected to follow from former football and baseball players as well as from student-athletes who played other sports for the private school.
NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Kirby Smart says complacency is the biggest challenge his Georgia Bulldogs face while trying to add a third straight national football championship. Smart and his Bulldogs also don’t have history on their side. Winning back-to-back national championships is tough enough. No Division I program has strung together three consecutive college football titles since Minnesota between 1934 and 1936. Smart said Tuesday at Southeastern Conference Media Days that he and his staff have not talked with the Bulldogs about having a chance to do something not done in nearly 90 years. He says they have looked at how the Chicago Bulls strung together three straight NBA titles and other teams his Bulldogs may have heard about.
HOYLAKE, England (AP) — Rory McIlroy is laying low in his quest to end nine years without winning a major. He canceled his news conference for the second straight major. Everything is lining up for him at Royal Liverpool for the British Open. He's coming off a win at the Scottish Open. He won the British Open the last time it was on these Hoylake links. Still to be determined is whether he fits that model of players who win all their majors in a short period of time. Padraig Harrington is one of those players. He says McIlroy needs to be patient.
HOYLAKE, England (AP) — Jay Monahan is back to work as PGA Tour commissioner. And the clock is ticking. Along with working toward a definitive agreement with the Saudi backers of LIV Golf, he has to look his players in the eye and do some explaining. Monahan stepped away from the tour for five weeks with a medical situation. He had said he expected to be called a hypocrite for doing a deal with the Saudis. It's tougher to overcome the label as a traitor. The question is whether he can survive this. That depends on whether top players accept answers and accept them coming from Monahan.
TUESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Cleveland 10 Pittsburgh 1
Final San Diego 9 Toronto 1
Final L.A. Dodgers 10 Baltimore 3
Final N.Y. Mets 11 Chicago White Sox 10
Final Colorado 4 Houston 3
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Kansas City 11 Detroit 10
Final Texas 5 Tampa Bay 3
Final L.A. Angels 5 N.Y. Yankees 1
Final Oakland 3 Boston 0
Final Minnesota 10 Seattle 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final San Francisco 4 Cincinnati 2
Final Philadelphia 4 Milwaukee 3
Final Arizona 16 Atlanta 13
Final St. Louis 5 Miami 2
Final San Francisco 11 Cincinnati 10
Final Chicago Cubs 17 Washington 3