MLB:
In baseball, in the American League, Boston beat Tampa Bay 2-1 to remain atop the AL East, the Yankees bested Seattle 5-1, Oakland topped Cleveland 9-1, Detroit won against Minnesota 8-3, and it was Toronto over the Angels 7-2.
In the National League, the Mets beat St. Louis 7-4, Atlanta bested Arizona 7-4, the Dodgers defeated San Francisco 9-5, the Cubs won against San Diego 5-3, and it was Milwaukee over Colorado 6-4.
In interleague play, Pittsburgh topped Houston 7-1, Baltimore bested Washington 8-1, Cincinnati blanked Texas 3-0, Kansas City beat Miami 1-0, and it was the White Sox over Philadelphia 9-1.
The Major League Baseball post season will open with the American League wild-card game on Tuesday, Oct. 4 and could run through Nov. 2 if the World Series goes to a seventh and deciding game. The American League champ will host the first game of the Fall Classic on Tuesday Oct. 25.
The L.A. Dodgers have placed left-handers Brett Anderson and Scott Kazmir on the disabled list, tying the 2012 Boston Red Sox for the major league record with 27 players on the DL this season. Anderson has a blister on his pitching hand while Kazmir is out with neck inflammation.
Meanwhile Red Sox manager John Farrell says knuckleballer Steven Wright should start Friday night against Kansas City. Wright threw an extended bullpen session yesterday after dealing with a strained right shoulder.
Olympics:
The Olympic flag has arrived in Tokyo, host of the next Summer Games. Preparations are underway for the 2020 Olympics in the Japanese capital.
Meanwhile the International Weightlifting Federation says 3 gold medalists, 8 other medalists fail retests of 2008 Beijing Olympic samples, face loss of medals.
Tennis:
Top-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska had little trouble advancing yesterday in round-of-16 play at the Connecticut Open at New Haven, beating Jelena Ostapenko. Olympic doubles champs Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina also advanced to the third round in the singles competition yesterday.
Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic are the top seeds for the U.S. Open, with Williams barely holding her top spot. Both exited early in the Rio Olympics' tennis competition with Williams afterward saying she'd been dealing with a shoulder problem. Djokovic blamed a sore left wrist for his short stay at Rio. Williams has won the U.S. Open six times.
LLWS:
Warwick, Rhode Island, has been eliminated from contention at the Little League World Series in Pennsylvania -- losing to Johnston, Iowa, yesterday 3-2. Iowa tied and then won the game on two successive hits after Warwick starter Colin Lemieux had to be pulled due to the tournament's pitch limits.
NFL:
Quarterback Tom Brady's mystery disappearance from Patriots practices in recent days has been solved. Brady says he suffered a "silly accident" -- cutting his right thumb with a pair of scissors while trying to get something out of his cleats. He says he wanted to play but coach Bill Belichick decided Brady should sit out practice.
Minnesota Vikings quarterback Teddy Bridgewater has resumed throwing with his sore shoulder. Coach Mike Zimmer has kept up his silence about Bridgewater's status. Bridgewater threw a few dozen short and medium-length passes in practice Tuesday. It's the first time he's thrown in front of reporters in a week. He didn't play in the preseason game at Seattle. Coach Zimmer has refused to discuss the injury. ESPN.com previously reported the shoulder problem, which Zimmer didn't confirm or deny.
In other training camp news:
— The Giants have welcomed Victor Cruz back to practice after the receiver missed the past two weeks with a groin injury. Cruz is hoping for a comeback after two injury-plagued seasons. He missed last season with a calf injury and had his 2014 season ended after six games by a knee injury.
— Broncos linebacker DeMarcus Ware has returned to practice on a limited basis with an eye on having him ready for the season opener against Carolina. Ware missed training camp with a back issue that kept him out of five games in 2015 but said he feels much better than he did at the end of last season. Quarterback Trevor Siemian didn't throw in practice because of a sore right shoulder. Coach Gary Kubiak said Siemian is day to day but is still the starter for Saturday's preseason game against the Los Angeles Rams.
— Dallas receiver Dez Bryant will miss Thursday's preseason game at Seattle after sustaining a concussion in practice. Coach Jason Garrett says that Bryant was hurt Monday when the receiver's head hit the shoulder pads of safety Barry Church.
—Chargers right guard D.J. Fluker didn't practice and is likely out for Sunday's preseason game at the Minnesota Vikings with a right foot injury.
— Linebacker Vince Williams signed a three-year contract with the Steelers that will keep him in Pittsburgh through the 2018 season. Williams, a 2013 sixth-round pick out of Florida State, is one of the Steelers' top reserve inside linebackers.
— Tennessee Titans tight end Craig Stevens is retiring at the age of 31. Stevens had 12 catches for 121 yards and two touchdowns last season for Tennessee, where he spent his entire eight-year NFL career.
Curt Schilling:
The state of Rhode Island has reached a $25.6 million settlement with two of the financial backers it sued over the failure of pitcher Curt Schilling's 38 Studios video game firm. The settlement was filed yesterday but must get a court's approval. The state is still in litigation with Schilling and another backer.
Cycling:
A North Conway, New Hampshire, triathlete is dead in a bicycling accident in a section of national forest land in western Maine. Oxford County authorities say Jim Soroka was going roughly 45 miles-an-hour last weekend when his bike ran off a steep mountain road at Evans Notch. He was dead at the scene.
NCAA:
Rutgers has hired Steve Hayn to be the university's senior adviser to men's basketball coach Steve Pikiell. Both were assistants together at Central Connecticut State. Hayn has 23 years of coaching experience -- including 17 as a head coach.
Big Ten women's volleyball coaches have picked national champion Nebraska to win the conference this coming season, with defending conference titlist Minnesota picked to finish second. Rutgers came in last in the projection.
Notre Dame cornerback Devin Butler has been formally charged after allegedly punching a police officer and slamming the officer to the ground over the weekend. He's facing felony counts of resisting law enforcement and battery against a public safety official. Coach Brian Kelly announced Sunday that Butler had been suspended indefinitely from the team. He remains enrolled at the university.
Paralympics:
The Court of Arbitration for Sports has upheld the International Paralympic Committee's decision to bar Russia from its games due to a state-backed doping program. The court said its judges ruled that the International Paralympic Committee "did not violate any procedural rule" in banning the Russian team two weeks ago. An appeal by Russia's Paralympic committee to Switzerland's federal court is possible, though unlikely, according to remarks by Alexei Karpenko, an attorney representing the Russian athletes.
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