KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Andre Jackson pitched two-hit ball into the sixth inning in his first major league win, and the Pittsburgh Pirates beat the Kansas City Royals 4-1 for a three-game sweep. Jackson struck out a career-high seven and walked two in 5 2/3 innings. The 27-year-old right-hander, who made his big league debut in 2021 with the Los Angeles Dodgers, allowed one run in his 20th major league appearance. Bryan Reynolds and Jack Suwinski homered for the Pirates, and Vinny Capra hit an RBI double. It was the first sweep for Pittsburgh since June 27-29 versus San Diego. Kansas City was swept for the 12th time this year.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Tommy Edman hit a two-run homer off Josh Hader for his second walk-off hit in two days off the All-Star closer, and the St. Louis Cardinals beat San Diego 5-4. St. Louis trailed 4-3 before Masyn Winn doubled off Hader (0-3) with two outs in the ninth and Edman sliced a sinker to the opposite field and into the Cardinals bullpen behind the right-field wall. Edman’s 10th-inning single on Tuesday night gave St. Louis a 6-5 win. Edman also became the first Cardinals player with three stolen bases since Harrison Bader on April 23 last year. Edman has 20 this season.
DENVER (AP) — Darius Vines pitched six strong innings to win in his major league debut and Marcell Ozuna homered for the second time in as many games as the Atlanta Braves beat the Colorado Rockies 7-3 on Wednesday night to complete a season sweep. Kevin Pillar and Orlando Arcia also homered for the Braves, who finished 7-0 against the Rockies for their third season sweep of Colorado. Atlanta outscored Colorado 64-20 over the season sweep.
The Braves went 6-0 against Colorado in 2003 and 13-0 in 1993, the first year of the Rockies’ existence. Atlanta has won its last eight game at Coors Field against the Rockies, who lost for the ninth time in 10 games. The Braves are a major league-best 87-45, and have won 17 of their last 22.
IRVING, Texas (AP) — The conference commissioners who manage the College Football Playoff have met for the first time since a wave of realignment tore apart the Pac-12. The changing landscape raises the possibility that the number of automatic bids in the 12-team format could be tweaked. This is the final year of the four-team playoff. Southeastern Conference Commissioner Greg Sankey says more clarity is needed. Mid-American Conference Commissioner Jon Steinbrecher called honoring conference champions in the new format a ‘bedrock principle.’
UNDATED (AP) — The true opening weekend of the college football season is a five-day marathon. This season feels like the end of an era in college football, but when the games kick off all the off-the-field drama will fade away. Week 1 is light on marquee matchups and heavy on potential mismatches. Twelve ranked teams are favored by at least 20 points against FBS opponents. The main event will be Sunday night in Orlando, Florida, where there is a top-10 matchup between No. 5 LSU and No. 8 Florida State.
UNDATED (AP) — TCU is finally getting back on the field eight months after losing to Georgia in the College Football Playoff national championship game. The 17th-ranked Horned Frogs open the season at home against Colorado, which is playing its first game for new coach Deion Sanders. TCU won in Boulder in last year's opener. The Buffaloes rejoin the Big 12 from the Pac-12 next season. There are four new teams in the Big 12 this season. BYU, Cincinnati, Houston and UCF all play their openers at home. So do 11th-ranked Texas and No. 20 Oklahoma to start their final seasons in the league.
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — Indianapolis Colts running back Jonathan Taylor will miss the first four games this season and general manager Chris Ballard isn't sure if or when the 2021 NFL rushing champ might return. But the Colts want him back. Ballard says the Colts are hoping to patch up the differences that have emerged during Taylor's ugly contract dispute that led to a trade request. Taylor wanted an extension before starting the final year of his rookie deal. He was even allowed to find a trade partner. But when nothing materialized Taylor remained on the physically unable to perform list with an ankle injury.
LINCOLN, Neb. (AP) — The University of Nebraska laid claim to the world record for largest attendance at a women’s sporting event with 92,003 filling Memorial Stadium for the Cornhuskers’ volleyball match against Omaha. The university took aim at the record last spring when it announced it would hold a daylong celebration of a sport that enjoys immense popularity in this state of fewer than 2 million. The event began with an exhibition between in-state Division II powers Nebraska-Kearney and Wayne State and was followed by the Huskers’ three-set sweep of Omaha in a regular-season match. The previous attendance record was 91,648, set during a soccer match in Spain last year.
MANILA, Philippines (AP) — The opponent names will become more recognizable for USA Basketball now. Nikola Vucevic awaits on Friday, Jonas Valanciunas on Sunday, and if the Americans keep progressing through this FIBA World Cup the challenges will only get tougher. That's OK with them. Second-round play at the World Cup starts Friday with a 32-team field to start the tournament now down to 16 contenders for the Naismith Trophy. The U.S. is one of eight teams with 3-0 records and those are the teams that have the easiest path to the quarterfinals.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final L.A. Angels 10 Philadelphia 8
Final Toronto 7 Washington 0
Final Tampa Bay 3 Miami 0
Final N.Y. Mets 6 Texas 5
Final Pittsburgh 4 Kansas City 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Chicago White Sox 10 Baltimore 5
Final Cleveland 5 Minnesota 2
Final Seattle 5 Oakland 4
Final Houston 7 Boston 4
Final N.Y. Yankees 6 Detroit 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 3 Milwaukee 2
Final St. Louis 5 San Diego 4
Final Cincinnati 4 San Francisco 1
Final Atlanta 7 Colorado 3
Final L.A. Dodgers 7 Arizona 0