CLEVELAND (AP) — Paul DeJong hit a two-run homer as the Kansas City Royals caught Cleveland atop the AL Central by beating the Guardians 6-1 in a game delayed more than two hours by rain. The Royals, who lost 106 games last season, improved to a league-best 23-13 since the All-Star break, when they trailed the Guardians by seven games. Cleveland had been all alone in first since April 14 before dropping the first three games in this four-game series. The Guardians have lost nine of 12 and are just 17-21 since the break. DeJong homered in the second off Gavin Williams.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Kansas City Royals starter Michael Lorenzen will undergo an MRI on Wednesday after injuring his left hamstring in the second inning of Tuesday night’s 6-1 win over the Cleveland Guardians. Lorenzen got hurt while stretching as he covered first base. He tried to stay in the game, but exited after facing one batter. Manager Matt Quatraro said Lorenzen will fly back to Kansas City for imaging tests while the Royals finish their four-game series in Cleveland. Lorenzen was acquired in a July trade from Texas. He was coming off his best performance with the Royals, pitching seven scoreless innings last week against the Angels.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Jake Cronenworth hit a tiebreaking RBI single in San Diego’s two-run seventh inning, and the Padres beat the St. Louis Cardinals 7-5 for their third consecutive win. Manny Machado homered for San Diego, and Luis Arraez had three hits. Yuki Matsui pitched an inning for the win, and Tanner Scott handled the ninth for his 20th save in 22 chances. Padres right-hander Dylan Cease threw 96 pitches in 4 1/3 innings on a night when the gametime temperature was announced at 98 degrees. Paul Goldschmidt homered for St. Louis in its third loss in four games.
UNDATED (AP) — Kansas City receiver Kadarius Toney and Tennessee cornerback Caleb Farley, both first-round picks in the 2021 NFL draft, are among the cuts as teams trim their rosters for the regular season. Toney was on his second team since the New York Giants drafted him 20th overall three years ago. The Titans took Farley two picks later. Teams had to cut their rosters to 53 players from the training camp maximum of 90. Toney, Farley and hundreds of others will be eligible to return on practice squads that allow up to 17 players.
EAGAN, Minn. (AP) — NFL owners have approved a rule allowing private equity investors in their teams. They voted to let certain league-sanctioned firms buy up a stake of up to 10% in the 32 franchises that are steadily soaring in value. The previously prohibited practice was studied for the past five years. During that time the Denver Broncos sold for $4.65 billion and the Washington Commanders went for $6.05 billion. The NFL took this vote at a special meeting in Minnesota. It vetted three standalone funds and one consortium of five firms as the only allowable investors.
ATLANTA (AP) — The PGA Tour could use a change of scenery for its postseason. For the third straight year, the path to the FedEx Cup finale starts at the TPC Southwind in Memphis, Tennessee. The only playoff event that changes venues is the BMW Championship. The problem for the tour is that Memphis is the headquarters of FedEx, the company that pays the bills. The FedEx Cup began in big markets like New York and Boston and two of them moved around. Now it starts in Memphis and ends in Atlanta. It would be ideal to persuade FedEx to alternate out of Memphis.
UNDATED (AP) — The NCAA Division I Council will consider eliminating the 15-day spring transfer window for football as part of a move to decrease the overall number of days from 45 to 30 that players can declare their intentions to switch schools while maintaining immediate eligibility. The NCAA has announced the football oversight committees have recommended decreasing the transfer portal windows from two to one. The council will meet in October and if approved, the new one-window arrangement could go into effect this year from Dec. 9-Jan. 7.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — The new-look Big 12 begins play this weekend and the pressure is on to perform. The four newcomers have some tough games right out of the blocks with Arizona State playing perennial bowl contender Wyoming, Colorado facing FCS power North Dakota State, Utah against Baylor after its opener against Southern Utah, and Arizona facing Kansas State in Week 3. But they are not the only ones under immediate pressure to win. The entire league, which is trying to prove its playoff worth, will be watching to see what West Virginia does when it welcomes No. 8 Penn State to town on Saturday night.
BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Hall of Fame defensive tackle Warren Sapp never figured he'd get into coaching. But that changed when he visited Deion Sanders a year ago after Coach Prime had been hired at the University of Colorado. Sapp is serving as a graduate assistant and helping with the defensive line this season under Sanders. Sapp said he enjoys connecting with Gen Z players and working alongside another former Miami Hurricanes star in Damione Lewis.
TUESDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Philadelphia 5 Houston 0
Final Washington 4 N.Y. Yankees 2
Final Oakland 5 Cincinnati 4
Final Atlanta 8 Minnesota 6
Final Baltimore 3 L.A. Dodgers 2
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Texas at Chi White Sox 5:10 p.m. (Suspended)
Final Detroit 6 L.A. Angels 2
Final Kansas City 6 Cleveland 1
Final Boston 6 Toronto 3
Final Tampa Bay 3 Seattle 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 9 Pittsburgh 5
Final San Diego 7 St. Louis 5
Final San Francisco 5 Milwaukee 4
Final Miami 9 Colorado 8
Final N.Y. Mets 8 Arizona 3