DETROIT (AP) — Miguel Cabrera hit his 511th home run to help the Detroit Tigers take a 4-0 lead over the Kansas City Royals in a game that was suspended by rain after four innings. Cabrera, who is retiring after the season ends this week, tied Mel Ott for 25th place all time. It was Cabrera’s 378th homer for Detroit, tying Norm Cash for second place in franchise history behind Al Kaline’s 399. The game, which was delayed for 80 minutes, will be resumed Thursday afternoon at 1 p.m. before the scheduled series finale.
MILWAUKEE (AP) — Tyrone Taylor hit two run-scoring doubles and the NL Central champion Milwaukee Brewers beat the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2. Taylor’s double in the seventh drove in Brian Anderson for the tiebreaking run. Anderson had doubled off Jacob Barnes (0-1). William Contreras doubled and scored on Taylor's hit and an error in the sixth. Taylor scored when Rowdy Tellez hit into a fielder’s choice. Joel Payamps (7-5) pitched a scoreless seventh for the win. Devin Williams pitched the ninth for his 36th save in 40 chances. The Cardinals have 89 losses for the first time since 1997.
DENVER (AP) — Freddie Freeman hit a three-run homer to reach 100 RBIs for the fourth time, and the Los Angeles Dodgers beat the Colorado Rockies 8-2 on Wednesday night in another step toward their third straight 100-win season. Freeman hit a three-run homer off Justin Lawrence in a four-run eighth inning, raising his season totals to 28 homers and 101 RBIs. The seven-time All-Star also reached 100 RBIs with Atlanta in 2013 and 2019 and in his first season with the Dodgers in 2022. Teammates Mookie Betts (106) and Max Muncy (104) have topped 100 RBIs this year and J.D. Martinez has 98. The Dodgers have never had four players drive in 100 runs in one season.
BOSTON (AP) — Champagne sprayed, cigar smoke wafted through the air and the Tampa Bay Rays passed around a fancy glass decanter of liquor while hip hop music blared from the speakers in the visitor’s clubhouse at Fenway Park. It was time to celebrate. What they were celebrating wasn’t obvious. The Rays donned ski goggles, covered their lockers with plastic and danced a victory dance for the traditional party that comes when a baseball team clinches a spot in the postseason. There was just one minor quibble: They didn’t clinch anything at all by beating the Boston Red Sox 5-0 on Wednesday night. The Rays secured a playoff spot 10 days earlier on a day they lost to Baltimore.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Shane Bieber shut down Cincinnati for six innings and the Cleveland Guardians sent manager Terry Francona off with a victory in his final home game, 4-3 over the Reds, whose playoff hopes are hanging by a thread. Bieber limited the Reds to one run and five hits in just his second start since July 15. The right-hander missed more than two months with elbow inflammation, one of several key injuries that contributed to the Guardians not defending their AL Central title. The Reds are 1 1/2 games behind Chicago and Miami for the last NL wild card with just three games left.
UNDATED (AP) — The number of spots reserved for conference champions when the College Football Playoff expands to 12 teams next year remains up in the air. Administrators who manage the sport wrapped up a day-and-a-half of meetings outside of Chicago that mostly focused on hearing from potential television partners. They didn't talk at all about whether five or six conferences champions should have automatic access to the playoff. CFP Executive Director Bill Hancock says the conference commissioners who make up the management committee heard from five potential television partners.
UNDATED (AP) — Utah has quietly emerged as a top-10 team with convalescing quarterback Cam Rising yet to play a down and a defense that so far has put up better numbers than the 2019 unit that’s regarded as the Utes’ best ever. The Utes must keep riding their defense until Rising returns. They play at No. 16 Oregon State this week. The best matchup Saturday has No. 11 Notre Dame at No. 17 Duke. No. 24 Kansas at No. 3 Texas and No. 13 LSU at No. 20 Mississippi are the other Top 25 matchups.
UNDATED (AP) — Michigan State has fired Mel Tucker, saying the suspended football coach failed to present adequate reasons why he should not be fired for cause after having what he described as consensual phone sex with an activist and rape survivor. The school said Wednesday that it terminated what’s left of Tucker’s $95 million, 10-year contract for acknowledging actions that subjected the institution to ridicule, among other reasons. The woman said Tucker sexually harassed her during the phone call in April 2022. Michigan State informed the 51-year-old Tucker that it planned to fire him on Sept. 18 and gave him a week to respond, which he did on Monday.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kansas City tight end Travis Kelce calls Taylor Swift’s appearance at the Chiefs' victory over the Chicago Bears bold but wants to remain private about any relationship with the superstar singer. Speaking on his podcast “New Heights with Jason and Travis Kelce,” Kelce discussed Swift’s well-publicized appearance in a suite at Arrowhead Stadium with his family during Sunday’s 41-10 victory. The 12-time Grammy Award winner sat next to Kelce’s mom, Donna, and yelled during the game. While he acknowledged being more vocal in the media spotlight than Swift, he said he wanted to respect both of their lives and keep the discussion focused on football.
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Ezekiel Elliott is set for a Dallas homecoming when his New England Patriots visit the Cowboys. Elliott figures there will be emotions when he returns to the place where he was a star for seven seasons alongside quarterback Dak Prescott. The two-time rushing champion believes he can keep the focus on getting the Patriots a victory. The Cowboys released the club's No. 3 career rusher in a cost-cutting move in the offseason. A slow start for Elliott is turning around after a short training camp. He's coming off a season-high 80 yards in a win over the New York Jets.
GUIDONIA MONTECELIO, Italy (AP) — The three letters Brooks Koepka represents in the Ryder Cup are USA. Not LIV. The five-time major champion stands out for many reasons at golf's biggest events. This time it's obvious. He's the only player from LIV Golf who has made it back to the Ryder Cup. Whether the rest of the players from LIV Golf got the short shrift is of no concern to Koepka. He says it was a rough road and everyone had the same chance. His advice is to play better. He did that by winning the PGA Championship and finishing second at the Masters.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
INTERLEAGUE
Final Arizona 3 Chicago White Sox 0
Final Cleveland 4 Cincinnati 3
Final Baltimore 5 Washington 1
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Kansas City at Detroit 1:10 p.m. (Suspended)
Final Tampa Bay 5 Boston 0
Final N.Y. Yankees 6 Toronto 0
Final Minnesota 6 Oakland 4
Final Texas 5 L.A. Angels 0
Final Houston 8 Seattle 3
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final N.Y. Mets 11 Miami 2
Final Philadelphia 7 Pittsburgh 6
Final Atlanta 6 Chicago Cubs 5
Final Milwaukee 3 St. Louis 2
Final Miami 4 N.Y. Mets 2
Final L.A. Dodgers 8 Colorado 2