Two-way star Shohei Ohtani won his fourth MVP award in a unanimous vote for the National League honor and Aaron Judge earned the American League accolade for the third time. Ohtani won a MVP for the third straight year, his second in the NL with the Los Angeles Dodgers after two in the AL with the Los Angeles Angels. All four have been unanimous. Judge became the New York Yankees’ fourth three-time winner, edging Seattle’s Cal Raleigh with 17 first-place votes to 13 for the switch-hitting catcher. The vote was the closest for an MVP since the Angels’ Mike Trout topped Houston’s Alex Bregman by 17-13 in 2019.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — The New England Patriots are winners of eight straight games. Rookie TreVeyon Henderson rushed for two touchdowns and made a TD catch as the Patriots beat the New York Jets 27-14 on Thursday night. Drake Maye threw for 281 yards and a TD. New England is 9-2, the best record in the NFL pending this weekend's games. The Patriots matched their longest winning streak since Tom Brady’s final season with the team in 2019. New York's Justin Fields threw a touchdown pass to John Metchie III but was otherwise ineffective through the air as the Jets fell to 2-8.
FOXBOROUGH, Mass. (AP) — Justin Fields ran for an early score lead against the New England Patriots. But once he stopped running, the Jets struggled to move the ball. On Thursday night, Fields ran five times for 28 yards and a touchdown on the opening drive and was the team’s leading rusher with 67 yards. But he completed just 15 of 26 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown in the 27-14 loss to New England. The Jets snapped a two-game winning streak. The Patriots earned their eighth straight victory.
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — The Dallas Cowboys have Marshawn Kneeland on their minds as they get back to the business of football. Star quarterback Dak Prescott and his teammates practiced Thursday, exactly a week after Kneeland was found dead of an apparent suicide after leading officers on a chase when he didn't pull over for a traffic stop. Prescott thought of Kneeland several times during the workout and said he tried to run a little harder each time it happened. The players know there will be emotions when they play their first game without Kneeland at Las Vegas on Monday night.
A.J. Brown is right that the Philadelphia Eagles need to fix their offense. His constant complaining isn’t helping the situation, though. Brown has made it clear through cryptic posts on social media and public comments that he’s not happy with his role. It hasn’t been a distraction to the team... yet. There was drama surrounding Brown last season when veteran pass rusher Brandon Graham said on his radio show that Brown and Jalen Hurts had a damaged relationship. It didn’t stop the Eagles from winning the Super Bowl. And, they’ve continued winning.
CFP selection committee chairman Mack Rhoades has been replaced by Arkansas athletic director Hunter Yurachek following an announcement that Rhoades had stepped down from the role and taken a leave of absence as the athletic director at Baylor while the school investigates unspecified allegations against him. While not going into additional details, Baylor vice president Jason Cook said Thursday the allegations against Rhoades do not involve Title IX, student-athlete welfare or NCAA rules violations, and do not involve the football program. Cook said the university takes the allegations seriously and is in the process of conducting a thorough investigation. Rhoades didn’t respond to a message from The Associated Press.
SANTO DOMINGO, Dominican Republic (AP) — Baseball and bets go hand-in-hand in the Dominican Republic, where professional athletes, musicians and even legislators go public with their wagers. For every legal bet in the Caribbean country, officials estimate there are countless more illegal ones. It’s a widespread practice that has come under scrutiny following U.S. federal indictments of Cleveland Guardians pitchers Emmanuel Clase and Luis Ortiz. They are accused of taking bribes from unnamed sports bettors in the Dominican Republic to throw certain pitches and help those bettors win at least $460,000. Ortiz has pleaded not guilty, while Clase’s attorney has said his client is innocent.
NEW YORK (AP) — Cleveland Guardians closer Emmanuel Clase has pleaded not guilty to charges that he took bribes to help gamblers win bets on the pitches he threw. The 27-year-old three-time All-Star appeared in Brooklyn federal court Thursday. He was arrested earlier at JFK airport after returning to the country from his native Dominican Republic. Teammate and countryman Luis Ortiz pleaded not guilty Wednesday to similar charges. The two have been on non-disciplinary paid leave since July, when MLB began investigating what it said was unusually high in-game betting activity when they pitched. Prosecutors say the two accepted thousands of dollars in bribes to help unnamed gamblers in the Dominican Republic win at least $460,000 on bets placed on their pitches.
TOKYO (AP) — It’s become an annual ritual: Shohei Ohtani wins a Most Valuable Player award and Japan celebrates with newspaper extra editions being handed out at a major train station. The two-way Japanese star claimed his fourth career MVP award and the extras have hit the streets in Tokyo. Congratulatory messages came in immediately from the top of the government and from down on the sidewalk.
LONDON (AP) — Queensberry Promotions says former world heavyweight boxing champion Joseph Parker failed a drug test on the day of his loss to Fabio Wardley. British fighter Wardley stopped his opponent from New Zealand in the 11th round at the O2 Arena in London on Oct. 25. It was a fight to determine who would become WBO mandatory challenger to undisputed world champion Oleksandr Usyk. Parker became the WBO champion in 2016 when he beat Andy Ruiz Jr. on a majority decision. He then lost the title to Anthony Joshua in March 2018 at the Principality Stadium in Cardiff.