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WORLD SERIES
Astros eye third straight win after Scherzer is scratched
WASHINGTON (AP) _ The Houston Astros were three innings away from taking a three-games-to-two lead in the World Series, quite a turnaround after they dropped the first two at home by a 17-7 margin.
The Astros carried a 4-0 lead into the seventh inning against the Nationals at Washington. Gerrit Cole has baffled the Nats after struggling in Game 1 of the series. Cole has limited Washington to two hits and one walk while striking out six over six innings.
Yordan (yohr-DAHN’) Alvarez and Carlos Correa belted two-run homers off emergency starter Joe Ross, who was reached for five hits over five innings.
Ross was pressed into service when scheduled starter when ace Max Scherzer couldn’t lift his arm this morning. He said he needed help from his wife to get dressed because of a muscle spasm and pinched nerve in his neck. Scherzer says he underwent treatment after the neck spasms started a few days earlier.
The three-time Cy Young Award winner had a cortisone shot in hopes of being ready for a possible Game 7.
Game 6 is slated for Tuesday in Houston.
NFL-SCHEDULE
Brees sharp in return as Saints dump Cardinals
UNDATED (AP) _ Drew Brees (breez) has passed his first test since missing five straight games with a torn ligament in his right thumb.
Brees passed for 373 yards and three touchdowns while the New Orleans Saints shut down the Arizona Cardinals in a 31-9 victory. He received great protection while completing 34 of 43 passes without being sacked.
Latavius Murray rushed 21 times for 102 yards and a touchdown and caught nine passes for 55 yards and a score. Murray started in place of Alvin Kamara, who was out due to knee soreness.
Cardinals rookie Kyler Murray completed 19 of 33 passes for 22 yards, but Arizona never found the end zone.
The Saints are 7-1 following their sixth consecutive victory. The Cardinals are 3-4-1.
Also in Week 8 of the NFL’s 100th season:
_ Tom Brady threw for 259 yards and two touchdowns as the Patriots knocked off the Browns, 27-13 to improve to 8-0 for the third time in team history. Brady completed 20 of 36 passes, hitting Julian Edelman on eight of them for 78 yards and both TDs. New England capitalized on three first-quarter turnovers by Cleveland to take a 17-0 lead before Bill Belichick (BEHL'-ih-chik) became the third coach in league history with 300 career victories.
_ Tevin Coleman scored three of his four touchdowns in the first half of the 49ers’ highest-scoring performance in 26 years, a 51-13 assault on the Panthers. Rookie Nick Bosa had three sacks to go along with an acrobatic interception to help San Francisco move to 7-0 for the first time since 1990. San Francisco intercepted three passes from Kyle Allen, who came into the game with no interceptions on 153 career attempts. Carolina falls to 4-3.
_ Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes to DK Metcalf while Seattle was forging a 24-0 halftime lead in a 27-20 victory over the Falcons. Chris Carson ran for 90 yards and a score as the 6-2 Seahawks dropped Atlanta to 1-7. Matt Schaub filled in for injured Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan and passed for 460 yards in his first start since 2015 with Baltimore.
_ The 5-3 Rams coasted to a 24-10 victory over the winless Bengals in London as receiver Cooper Kupp caught seven passes for a career-best 220 yards. Jared Goff went 17 of 31 for 372 yards, 273 of which came while Los Angeles was building a 17-10 halftime lead. Andy Dalton finished 32 of 52 for 329 yards and one touchdown for Cincinnati, which is 0-8 for the first time since 2008.
_ Detroit’s three-game losing streak is over after Matthew Stafford threw two of his three touchdown passes to Kenny Golladay in a 31-26 victory over the slumping Giants. Stafford's 41-yard flea flicker to Golladay early in the fourth put the 3-3-1 Lions ahead by 12 points. The 2-6 Giants dropped their fourth in a row despite rookie Daniel Jones, who finished with 311 passing yards and had career highs of 28 completions, 41 attempts and four TD passes.
_ The Chargers came away with a 17-16 triumph over the Bears when Chicago kicker Eddy Pineiro (pihn-YAYR'-oh) missed a 41-yard field goal as time expired. Philip Rivers threw an 11-yard touchdown to Austin Ekeler in the fourth quarter for the go-ahead touchdown with just over eight minutes left. Rivers was 19 of 29 for 201 yards as the 3-5 Chargers ended a three-game losing streak and dropped the Bears to 3-4.
_ Unlike the Bears, Indianapolis was able to pull out a 15-13 win over Denver on Adam Vinatieri’s 51-yard field goal with 22 seconds to play. The NFL's career scoring leader overcame two earlier misses to send the 5-2 Colts to their third straight win. The 2-5 Broncos took a 13-3 lead on Royce Freeman’s second-half TD before the AFC South leaders rallied.
_ Deshaun Watson threw for 279 yards and three touchdowns, including the go-ahead score in the fourth quarter to lift the Texans past the Raiders, 27-24. Derek Fells grabbed the go-ahead, nine-yard scoring pass with about 6 ½ minutes left and finished with 58 yards receiving and two touchdowns. DeAndre Hopkins grabbed 11 catches for 109 yards as the 5-3 Texans handed the 3-4 Raiders their second consecutive loss.
_ Rookie Miles Sanders scored on a career-best 65-yard touchdown run as part of the Eagles’ 31-13 whipping of the Bills. Carson Wentz finished 17 of 24 for 172 yards and a touchdown in a game Philadelphia blew open by scoring TDs 83 seconds apart spanning halftime. The Eagles moved to 4-4 and prevented Buffalo from posting its first 6-1 start since 1993.
_ The Titans blew a 14-3 lead before Ryan Tannehill tossed an 8-yard scoring strike to A.J. Brown with 6:55 left to send 4-4 Tennessee to its second straight win, 27-23 over the Buccaneers. Tannehill passed for 193 yards and three TDs, including a pair of first-quarter scoring throws following Tampa Bay turnovers. Jameis (JAY’-mihs) Winston had four turnovers, but his two-yard scoring toss to Michael Evans gave the Bucs a 23-17 lead in the third quarter before Tampa Bay dropped to 2-6.
_ Gardner Minshew outplayed Sam Darnold while completing 22 of 34 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns in Jacksonville’s 29-15 win over the 1-6 Jets. Minshew connected with Keelan Cole and Chris Conley for first-quarter touchdowns that put the 4-4 Jaguars in control. New York quarterback Sam Darnold passed for 218 yards and two scores, but he also was sacked eight times and threw three interceptions just six days after he was picked off four times by New England.
NFL-VIKINGS-KEARSE ARREST
Vikings backup safety arrested on suspicion of DWI
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — Minnesota Vikings backup safety Jayron Kearse has been arrested in Minneapolis on suspicion of driving while impaired and with a loaded gun.
The Minnesota State Patrol says a trooper stopped Kearse just before 4 a.m. Sunday after seeing a Mercedes drive around a barricade onto a closed portion of Interstate 94 and "observed signs of alcohol impairment."
The patrol says Kearse had a blood alcohol level of 0.10 percent, above Minnesota's legal limit of 0.08 percent.
T25-COLLEGE FOOTBALL POLL
LSU No. 1 ahead of 'Bama, Ohio St in close poll vote
UNDATED (AP) — The No. 1 vs. No. 2 game between Alabama and LSU in two weeks looks set, though the order of the Crimson Tide and Tigers changed in the AP Top 25 in one of the closet votes ever.
Heading into an off date for both teams, LSU flip-flopped with Alabama to become the new No. 1 in The Associated Press college football poll. The Tigers received 1,476 points, two more than Alabama, for the closest margin between 1 and 2 since No. 1 Florida State was two points ahead of Auburn on Oct. 5, 2014.
No. 3 Ohio State was not far behind with 1,468 points. Eight points separating first from third is the fewest in the regular season since Dec. 3, 1979, when No. 1 Ohio State was 10 points ahead of No. 3 Southern California, with Oklahoma in between, two back of the Buckeyes.
Alabama received the most first-place votes this week with 21. LSU and Ohio State both got 17 first-place votes. No. 4 Clemson received seven first-place votes.
NBA-SCHEDULE
Thunder crush Warriors
UNDATED (AP) _ The NBA’s defending Western Conference champs find themselves 0-2 following their second consecutive blowout loss.
Oklahoma City had been 0-2 until Dennis Schroeder (SHROO’-dur) contributed 22 points in a 120-92 rout of Golden State. Danilo Gallinari added 21 points and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander had 19 points and nine rebounds as the Thunder bounced back from losses to the Jazz and Wizards.
The blowout matched Oklahoma City's largest margin of victory over the Warriors since the franchise moved from Seattle before the 2008-09 season.
Golden State never came close to recovering from a 70-37 halftime deficit. Stephen Curry scored 23 points for the Warriors, making 7 of 18 shots while his teammates made just 23 of 74.
Checking out Sunday’s other NBA action:
_ The Grizzlies pulled out a 134-133 win over the Nets on Jae Crowder’s 3-pointer as time expired in overtime. Rookie Ja Morant led the Grizzlies with 30 points and handed out his ninth assist on Crowder's winning basket.
_ Andrew Wiggins made four 3-pointers in the final six minutes and finished with 25 points to propel the undefeated Timberwolves to a 116-109 victory over the Heat. Karl-Anthony Towns added 23 points and 11 rebounds for the Wolves, who are 3-0 for just the second time in franchise history.
NHL-SCHEDULE
Blues extend Wings’ losing streak
UNDATED (AP) _ The Detroit Red Wings were able to claw back from a two-goal deficit in the third period against the defending Stanley Cup champs on Sunday before absorbing their eighth consecutive loss.
David Perron (peh-RAHN’) was able to bail out the Blues by scoring 1:28 into overtime to complete a 5-4 victory over the Wings. Perron also collected three assists, including a pass on Ryan O’Reilly’s power-play goal with 4:18 left in regulation. O'Reilly had two goals and two assists to help the Blues withstand the Red Wings’ three-goal third period.
Elsewhere on NHL ice:
_ The Bruins coasted to a 7-4 win over the Rangers behind Brad Marchand’s two goals and three assists. Patrice Bergeron scored three goals for his fifth regular-season hat trick, and David Pastrnak (PAHS’-tur-nahk) set up five goals as Boston improved to 8-1-2.
_ The Islanders ran their winning streak to seven games as Mathew Barzal provided a goal and an assist in a 5-3 decision over the Flyers. Anders Lee, Derick Brassard, Ross Johnston and Ryan Pulock scored for New York, while Semyon Varlamov (SEHM’-yahn vahr-LAH’-mahv) stopped 27 shots.
_ Brian Boyle and Jayce Hawryluk each had a goal and an assist as the Panthers rolled to a 6-2 win over the Oilers. Aaron Ekblad, Noel Acciari (ah-CHAH’-ree), Evgenii Dadonov (dah-DAH’-nahv) and Frank Vatrano also scored to help Florida improve to 5-2-4.
_ Dylan Strome (strohm) had two goals and assisted on linemate Alex DeBrincat's (deh-BRIHN’-kats) score in helping the Blackhawks end a four-game skid with a 5-1 win over the Kings. David Kampf and Drake Caggiula (kah-ZHOO’-lah) also scored for Chicago, which had scored just twice in its previous three games.
_ Nick Paul produced his first career NHL multipoint game by furnishing two goals and an assist in the Senators' 5-2 victory over the Sharks. Brady Tkachuk (kah-CHUHK’) had a goal and two assists as Ottawa dropped San Jose to 1-2-1 on its five-game road trip.
NASCAR-MARTINSVILLE
Truex wraps up berth in title race
MARTINSVILLE, Va. (AP) _ Martin Truex Jr. has earned a spot in NASCAR's championship race for the third consecutive year with a dominating victory at Martinsville Speedway.
Truex led 464 of the 500 laps in becoming the first driver to claim a spot in the Nov. 17 title-race at Homestead-Miami Speedway. It marked the most laps led by a winner since Kyle Petty led 484 laps in 1992 at Rockingham.
Denny Hamlin was knocked to the ground in a confrontation with Joey Logano in the most intense action of an otherwise lackluster playoff race. They were having what appeared to be a civil conversation until Hamlin wagged his finger at Logano. Logano placed his hand on Hamlin's shoulder somewhat flippantly as he walked away, causing Hamlin to chase after him.
Hamlin finished fourth, behind championship non-contenders William Byron and Brad Keselowski.
PGA-ZOZO CHAMPIONSHIP
Woods widens lead at Zozo Championship
INZAI CITY, Japan (AP) _ Tiger Woods held a three-stroke lead when the final round of the Zozo Championship was suspended due to darkness.
Woods carded three birdies and a lone bogey through 11 holes when play was stopped.
Local favorite Hideki Matsuyama (hih-DEH’-kee maht-soo-YAH’-mah) was alone in second as he tried to chase down the reigning Masters champion.
LPGA-SOUTH KOREA
Jang beats Kang in South Korea
BUSAN, South Korea (AP) — Ha Na Jang birdied the third playoff hole to beat American Danielle Kang for the LPGA's BMW Ladies Championship.
Kang birdied eight of her first 13 holes in a final-round 64 that left her tied with Jang at 19 under. Jang had an eagle on three birdies on the back nine for a 65.
Amy Yang had a 67 and was three strokes behind in third.
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