GREEN BAY, Wis. (AP) — Jordan Love threw for 292 yards and two touchdowns and the Green Bay Packers beat the Washington Commanders 27-18. Tight end Tucker Kraft caught six passes for a career-high 124 yards to help the Packers improve to 2-0 for the first time since 2020. Love and Kraft connected on an 8-yard touchdown play with 8:57 left to thwart the Commanders’ comeback attempt. Love’s other touchdown pass was a 5-yarder to Romeo Doubs in the first quarter. Washington gained just 11 yards in the first quarter and lost running back Austin Ekeler to an Achilles tendon injury late in the game.
NEW YORK (AP) — Aaron Judge has hit his 361st career home run, tying Hall of Fame outfielder Joe DiMaggio for fourth place in New York Yankees history. The two-time AL MVP went deep twice in the first three innings against the Detroit Tigers, with President Donald Trump in attendance at Yankee Stadium on the 24th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Judge launched homer No. 360 in the first inning, a 413-foot drive off Tyler Holton that put New York up 1-0. Judge matched DiMaggio in the third by driving a fastball from Sawyer Gipson-Long to the back of the Tigers’ bullpen in left-center field for his second homer of the game.
NEW YORK (AP) — President Donald Trump attended the New York Yankees victory over the Detroit Tigers in the Bronx, drawing mixed reactions from the crowd. The visit marks the 24th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks. Earlier Thursday, Trump honored victims at the Pentagon. Security was heightened at the stadium, with metal detectors and Secret Service agents present at every entrance. Trump greeted players before the game and predicted a Yankees win, recalling past games with late owner George Steinbrenner. Trump, who was born in Queens, has attended a series of major sporting events since returning to the White House in January.
Josh Allen and Lamar Jackson didn’t need to play a snap in the preseason. They were spectacular in their first game action of the season. Jackson led the Baltimore Ravens to a 15-point, fourth-quarter lead only to watch Allen rally the Buffalo Bills to a 41-40 victory. NFL coaches have to make difficult decisions each preseason, choosing whether to rest starters or put quarterbacks in harm’s way in meaningless games. Green Bay’s Jordan Love injured his hand in an exhibition game but was ready to play in Week 1. Sitting out doesn’t mean guys will be ineffective. Playing in preseason games doesn’t guarantee success early in the season, either.
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) — Two-time Olympic finalist Erriyon Knighton was banned for four years in a doping case of an anabolic steroid. It rules the 21-year-old United States sprinter out of the 2028 Los Angeles Games. The Court of Arbitration for Sport says its judges upheld separate appeals by the World Anti-Doping Agency and track and field investigators. They had asked for a maximum four-year ban after Knighton was cleared by a U.S. tribunal. Knighton placed fourth in the 200 meters at the Paris Olympics after being judged not at fault for a positive test for trenbolone. His ban expires in July 2029.
NEW YORK (AP) — The NHL says the five players acquitted of sexual assault charges stemming from an incident in 2018 will be eligible to sign a contract Oct. 15 and play Dec. 1. The league announced the decision Thursday to reinstate Dillon Dube, Cal Foote, Alex Formenton, Carter Hart, and Michael McLeod a little over a month since a judge in London, Ontario, found them not guilty. They were members of Canada’s 2018 world junior team at the time and not yet in the NHL. The NHL Players' Association in a statement said it was pleased Dube, Foote, Formention, Hart and McLeod will get a chance to resume their careers.
The WNBA playoffs are set to begin Sunday with New York looking to become the fourth team to repeat as champions and Minnesota trying to avenge last season’s heartbreaking loss in the Finals. Indiana is back in the playoffs, but missing star guard Caitlin Clark, who has been sidelined for the last two months with a groin injury and will miss the postseason. The Liberty will have a difficult road as they are the No. 5 seed and open up at Phoenix on Sunday. After starting out 9-0, injuries decimated New York and left the Liberty in the difficult position of having to win at least one game on the road in each series to win a second straight title.
LONDON (AP) — South Africa plays its first ever quarterfinal in the Women’s Rugby World Cup against six-time champion New Zealand on Saturday in Exeter. South Africa coach Swys de Bruin believes in miracles. He sacrificed a 57-10 loss to France last weekend to rest 10 front-line players for the Black Ferns, stack his bench with a 7-1 bomb squad, and urge his Springbok Women to enjoy the biggest game of their lives. There needs to be three other miracles this weekend if the established order is to be upset. Canada takes a perfect 7-0 record against Australia into their Bristol clash. France has beaten Ireland in their last eight games over eight years. England closes the quarterfinals on Sunday having won the last 27 games against Scotland.
TOKYO (AP) — From a start-up track league that didn’t pay its runners to the inability of the sport to put its best athletes on the track at the same time and place, track and field begins its world championships looking disorganized. The Olympics in Los Angeles, and a chance to capture the world’s imagination, are three years away, but there remain big questions about whether the sport is positioned to capture the momentum.
Paddy Donovan and Lewis Crocker square off Saturday with the IBF welterweight belt on the line. It’s billed as the first all-Irish world title fight. The setting is Windsor Park soccer stadium in Belfast. It's a rematch of their fight in March. Donovan was in control but was disqualified when he dropped Crocker with a punch after the eighth-round bell. Donovan said he didn’t hear it. The first bout had been to become mandatory challenger to Jaron “Boots” Ennis, but the American vacated the title to move up a division. So the rematch was upgraded to a world title fight.
INTERLEAGUE
Final Baltimore 3 Pittsburgh 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Chicago White Sox 5 Tampa Bay 1
Final Toronto 6 Houston 0
Final Cleveland 3 Kansas City 2
Final N.Y. Yankees 9 Detroit 3
Final Seattle 7 L.A. Angels 6
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Miami 5 Washington 0
Final Philadelphia 6 N.Y. Mets 4
Final San Diego 2 Colorado 0
NATIONAL FOOTBALL LEAGUE
Final Green Bay 27 Washington 18