MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Bobby Witt Jr. homered on a pitch outside the strike zone for the fourth time this season and Paul DeJong finished a triple short of the cycle, helping the Kansas City Royals beat the Minnesota Twins 4-1 to avoid a series sweep. Witt homered into the left-center bullpen on a shoulder-high, full-count fastball from Louie Varland in the third inning, putting the Royals ahead 2-0 with his 24th home run this season. The pitch was 4.07 feet above the ground, the highest hit by a Kansas City player for a home run since pitch tracking started in 2008, according to MLB Statcast.
CINCINNATI (AP) — TJ Friedl homered twice on his 29th birthday, Jonathan India also hit two home runs and drove in four runs and the Cincinnati Reds completed a three-game sweep of the St. Louis Cardinals with a 9-2 victory Wednesday night. Friedl and Barry Larkin — on April 28, 1994 — are the only Reds since at least 1901 with multihomer games on their birthday. Tyler Stephenson also homered to help the Reds sweep a three-game series for the first time since July 2-4 at the Yankees. The Reds have won their fourth straight — the first time that’s happened since they strung together seven in a row in early June — and moved into a tie with St. Louis for second place in the NL Central.
CHICAGO (AP) — New York Yankees slugger Aaron Judge hit his 300th homer, reaching that milestone faster than any other player when he connected against the Chicago White Sox during a 10-2 victory. Judge hit that mark in his 955th game and 3,431st at-bat with a three-run drive in the eighth inning.. The six-time All-Star and 2022 American League MVP drove a 3-0 up-and-in sinker Chad Kuhl into the White Sox bullpen in left for his major league-leading 43rd homer. Ralph Kiner reached 300 homers in his 1,087th game, and Babe Ruth did in his 3,831st at-bat.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — Star receiver Brandon Aiyuk was back out at San Francisco 49ers practice as a spectator as his contract hold in enters a fourth week still in search of a resolution. Aiyuk had mostly stayed off the field the past two weeks after making waves with his boisterous handshakes with general manager John Lynch and coach Kyle Shanahan two weeks ago. Aiyuk skipped the entire offseason program and hasn’t practiced yet in training camp as he seeks either a long-term contract with San Francisco or a trade to a team that can agree with the receiver on a new deal and give the 49ers enough compensation to part with him.
UNDATED (AP) — A person with knowledge of the deal tells the AP that the New England Patriots have traded four-time Pro Bowl edge rusher Matthew Judon to the Atlanta Falcons for a third-round draft pick. The person spoke on condition of anonymity Wednesday because the teams haven’t announced the trade. Judon had 28 sacks in his first two seasons with the Patriots before having four in four games last year when he was limited by injuries. Judon became available because of a contract dispute. He has a base salary of $6.5 million this season and is seeking a new deal. The Falcons needed a pass rusher to bolster a defense that hasn’t had a player with double-digit sacks since Vic Beasley had 15 1/2 in 2016.
BEREA, Ohio (AP) — Minnesota Vikings rookie quarterback J.J. McCarthy will miss the season after undergoing surgery on his right knee. McCarthy had an operation on Wednesday to repair a torn meniscus suffered at some point during his preseason debut last weekend against Las Vegas. The former Michigan standout had a solid training camp and had been expected to back up starter Sam Darnold. Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell delivered the news on McCarthy shortly after the team arrived for two days of joint practices with the Browns. McCarthy was the 10th overall pick in the NFL draft after helping the Wolverines to a national title.
UNDATED (AP) — At least one true freshman has made the Associated Press All-America team seven of the last eight seasons. The trend continued last year with Alabama safety Caleb Downs making the second team while Purdue safety Dillon Thieneman made the third team. Downs has since transferred to Ohio State. The freshmen who figure to make the biggest impact this season will be catching passes rather than defending them. Ohio State's Jeremiah Smith heads a list of talented freshman wideouts.
CORAL GABLES, Fla. (AP) — New Miami quarterback Cam Ward is a legitimate Heisman Trophy candidate who transferred in from Washington State after flirting with the NFL this past spring. He's already the ACC's preseason player of the year. And he hasn't thrown a pass yet for Miami, but it’s already his team. He threw for 311 yards per game last season and in his four college seasons he’s piled up 13,876 yards and 119 touchdowns. The only quarterback in college football entering this season, at any level, with more career yards is Oregon transfer Dillon Gabriel, who has 14,865.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Scottie Scheffler starts the final leg of his remarkable year in the PGA Tour's FedEx Cup playoffs. But it's really not about three postseason tournaments for someone like Scheffler. For the No. 1 player in the world, it's all about the Tour Championship. Scheffler says the FedEx Cup and the $25 million bonus is not a season-long race because it really comes down to the last week. But he understands those are the rules. The postseason starts with the FedEx St. Jude Championship for the top 70 players. The key is to be among the top 50 who advance to next week's second playoff event.
NASCAR has ruled that Austin Dillon’s win at Richmond Raceway will not count toward eligibility for the Cup Series playoffs. Dillon will keep credit for his first victory of the season but his playoff eligibility was revoked Wednesday because of “actions detrimental to stock car auto racing or NASCAR as determined in the sole discretion of NASCAR.” Desperate to win for the first time in nearly two years, Dillon sent NASCAR champions Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano into the wall in rapid succession on the final lap to clear a path toward victory.
MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — The PGA Tour has released its 2025 schedule and it looks a lot like this year's schedule. PGA Tour Commissioner Jay Monahan says its fair to assume there won't be any involvement with Saudi-funded LIV Golf until at least 2026 or beyond. He says negotiations are ongoing for an investment deal with the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia. The only change to next year's schedule is putting the Memorial and Canadian Open back to their original spots. The Memorial this year was a week before the U.S. Open. Now the Canadian Open will precede the U.S. Open.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Baltimore 4 Washington 1
Final Cleveland 6 Chicago Cubs 1
Final N.Y. Mets 9 Oakland 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Kansas City 4 Minnesota 1
Final Texas 9 Boston 7
Final Detroit 3 Seattle 2
Final Houston 2 Tampa Bay 1
Final N.Y. Yankees 10 Chicago White Sox 2
Final Toronto 9 L.A. Angels 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final San Diego 8 Pittsburgh 2
Final Arizona 11 Colorado 4
Final Cincinnati 9 St. Louis 2
Final Philadelphia 9 Miami 5
Final Milwaukee 5 L.A. Dodgers 4