CLEVELAND (AP) — Rookie Jhonkensy Noel singled home Josh Naylor with the go-ahead run in the seventh inning and the Cleveland Guardians rallied for a 7-5 win over the Kansas City Royals, reclaiming sole possession of first place in the AL Central. The Guardians trailed 5-2 entering the seventh, but scored four times to take their first lead. Bo Naylor homered off Michael Wacha, while Josh Naylor, Will Brennan and Noel had RBI singles against Lucas Erceg. Eli Morgan pitched 1 1/3 scoreless innings for the win. Emmanuel Clase earned his AL-best 39th save — with his career-high 26th straight conversion — and matched Cody Allen’s franchise record with 149.
CLEVELAND (AP) — Royals starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen was placed on the 15-day injured list, one day after straining his left hamstring while covering first base against the Cleveland Guardians. Lorenzen, who was acquired in a July 29 trade with Texas, returned to Kansas City following the 6-1 victory at Progressive Field. The right-hander was scheduled to undergo an MRI, but the team has not disclosed the results. The 32-year-old Lorenzen exited the game after throwing 1 2/3 scoreless innings. Steven Cruz, a 6-foot-7 reliever, was recalled from Triple-A Omaha in a corresponding move.
ST. LOUIS (AP) — Nolan Arenado drove in Masyn Winn with two outs in the ninth inning, lifting the St. Louis Cardinals to a 4-3 victory over the San Diego Padres. Winn reached on a single off Robert Suarez (8-2), who came in to pitch the ninth. Rookie Victor Scott II kept the inning alive when he singled Winn to second, before Arenado singled to center. Ryan Helsley (6-4) pitched one inning for the win. San Diego’s Luis Arraez, who had three hits Tuesday, hit two doubles and two singles in five at-bats. It was his major league-leading sixth four-hit game this season. Manny Machado added two hits.
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Shohei Ohtani has homered leading off the game on his bobblehead night at Dodger Stadium. He sent a 1-2 pitch from Baltimore's Corbin Burnes to right-center shortly after Ohtani and his dog handled first pitch duties. The second Ohtani bobblehead giveaway this season is proving just as popular as the first. Only the first 40,000 fans at Wednesday's game received the bobblehead, which depicts a smiling Ohtani holding his dog named Decoy. Long lines of cars backed up on roads around the stadium five hours before the Dodgers hosted the Orioles. Ohtani carried his dog to the mound for the ceremonial first pitch. They later shared a hand-to-paw high five.
PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to let Russell Wilson cook. Coach Mike Tomlin has selected the nine-time Pro Bowler as the starting quarterback heading into Week 1. The move ended a largely perfunctory quarterback competition with Justin Fields in which the 35-year-old Wilson held the “pole position” as Tomlin put it for months and did little to cede ground. Wilson is the fourth different quarterback to start Week 1 for the Steelers in the past four years.
SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco star receiver Brandon Aiyuk wasn’t at the start of practice despite the team saying he was cleared by doctors to participate. Aiyuk had refused to practice all training camp as he seeks a long-term extension or a possible trade, with coach Kyle Shanahan citing a back injury as the official reason for what is essentially a contract dispute. Both Shanahan and general manager John Lynch said before practice that Aiyuk had been cleared by team doctors and the expectation was that he would practice. But Aiyuk was not on the field during the portion open to reporters and could be subject to fines.
FRISCO, Texas (AP) — Free agent running back Dalvin Cook is set to join the practice squad of the Dallas Cowboys after agreeing to a contract. The addition of Cook gives the Cowboys another option at a position in flux even with the return of two-time rushing champion Ezekiel Elliott. Cook was waived by the New York Jets with one game remaining last season before playing in the first of Baltimore's two playoff games. The 29-year-old spent his first six seasons in Minnesota.
UNDATED (AP) — After a brisk Week 0 warmup, Week 1 arrives with dozens of games from Thursday through Monday, including a few tasty matchups: No. 1 Georgia vs. No. 14 Clemson; No. 7 Notre Dame at No.20 Texas A&M; No. 19 Miami at Florida; No. 13 LSU vs. No. 23 Southern California. There is also a lot of filler on this slate. A total of 59 games will be FBS-FCS matchups. Add in the two played last week and 61 FBS-FCS games to open the college football season is by far the most since 2010, according to Sportradar.
UNDATED (AP) — College football season begins in earnest this week with a full slate of games highlighted by three Top 25 matchups. The race for the playoff already has begun. It’s not even Labor Day and No. 10 Florida State's playoff hopes are teetering following its loss to Georgia Tech in Ireland. The rest of the top teams pick up the chase this week. The top games Saturday pit No. 14 Clemson against No. 1 Georgia in Atlanta and No. 7 Notre Dame at No. 20 Texas A&M. No. 23 Southern California is matched against No. 13 LSU in Las Vegas Sunday.
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah is 15-4 in season-openers under head coach Kyle Whittingham. A 33-17 loss to USC in 2020 is the only season opening setback at home in Whittingham’s tenure. Many of those 15 wins have come by lopsided margins. Now, following an injury plagued 2023 season, the Utes seeking a return to punishing teams on offense and defense — starting with FCS opponent Southern Utah.
UNDATED (AP) — No. 22 Kansas will open the season Thursday night against Lindenwood at Children's Mercy Park, the home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City. The Jayhawks will play two home games there and four at Arrowhead Stadium while their on-campus stadium gets rebuilt. Kansas has big aspirations in the Big 12 after winning nine games a year ago. Star quarterback Jalon Daniels is back and healthy, Devin Neal could set the school rushing record, and the Jayhawks have several more starters back on both sides of the ball. Lindenwood only recently moved from Division II to the Football Championship Subdivision.
UNDATED (AP) — West Virginia's Jahiem White became one of the nation’s top freshman running backs last year. It was a rise whose origins came through the kindness of a new teacher and her family. White grew up in Miami, raised by a single mom simply trying to make ends meet. He wasn’t happy when she moved the family to York, Pennsylvania, where she had other relatives. That’s where White met his sixth-grade teacher. Amanda Poff. Eventually, Poff and her husband welcomed White into their home permanently. White went to school two hours from Penn State’s campus. He’ll get the chance to play the eighth-ranked Nittany Lions for the first time Saturday.
UNDATED (AP) — Fans of Washington, Oregon, Southern California and UCLA thought their viewing headaches would end with the move from the Pac-12 to the Big Ten. Not so fast. Huskies and Ducks fans who subscribe to Comcast might not be able to see their team’s openers on Saturday due to a carriage dispute with the Big Ten Network. Comcast is blacking out live events involving the four new Big Ten schools in their home markets. The root of the problem is that Comcast wants to keep BTN on an expanded tier instead of basic while also not agreeing to pay the in-market rates with the four West Coast schools moving to the conference.
ATLANTA (AP) — Scottie Scheffler is the best player in golf. And now the other 29 players at the Tour Championship are spotting him a two-shot lead. Shane Lowry says he's used to giving his friends a few shots at home. But he says his friends are not named Scottie Scheffler and Xander Schauffele. The Tour Championship and its staggered start depending on FedEx Cup ranking gets underway on Thursday. One change already in place for restored East Lake is to insert interior out-of-bounds stakes left the 18th to keep players from trying to take an easier route down the adjacent 10th fairway.
WEDNESDAY SCORES
MAJOR LEAGUE BASEBALL
INTERLEAGUE
Final Houston 10 Philadelphia 0
Final Oakland 9 Cincinnati 6
Final Washington 5 N.Y. Yankees 2
Final Atlanta 5 Minnesota 1
Final L.A. Dodgers 6 Baltimore 4
AMERICAN LEAGUE
Final Cleveland 7 Kansas City 5
Final Seattle 6 Tampa Bay 2
Final Texas 3 Chicago White Sox 1
Final Boston 3 Toronto 0
Final Texas 4 Chicago White Sox 3
Final Detroit 3 L.A. Angels 2
NATIONAL LEAGUE
Final Chicago Cubs 14 Pittsburgh 10
Final St. Louis 4 San Diego 3
Final Milwaukee 5 San Francisco 3
Final Colorado 8 Miami 2